A Prophecy of Esau and Jacob

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; 

³⁵ Therefore shall ye abide at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation day and night seven days, and keep the charge of the Lord, that ye die not; for so I am commanded.” — during the seven days of their consecration; and the penalty being death in case of failure, was to make them more careful and cautious of transgressing; and which was the more necessary;

— for so I am commanded; that is, to declare unto them, that if they did not punctually observe the above orders, they must expect to die.

³⁶ So Aaron and his sons did all things which the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses. — after all these preliminaries, they had still to undergo a week’s probation in the court of the tabernacle before they obtained permission to enter into the interior of the sacred building for their official duties.

Posted in Books of Moses

Note the Five types of Offerings in Leviticus:

Leviticus 1:2 “Speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them: ‘If any man of you bring an offering unto the Lord

Leviticus 1:3 ‘If his offering be a burnt sacrifice
Leviticus 2:1 ‘And when any will offer a meat offering
Leviticus 3:1 ‘And if his oblation be a sacrifice of peace offering
Leviticus 4:3 ‘If the priest … a young bullock … for a sin offering
Leviticus 5:6 ‘And he shall bring his trespass offering

Compare to the Five types of Offerings during the Millennium in Ezekiel:

Ezekiel 46:12 ‘Now when the prince prepares a voluntary burnt offering, or peace offerings unto the Lord
Ezekiel 44:29 ‘They shall eat the meat offering and the sin offering and the trespass offering

Leviticus 5

¹ “‘And if a soul sin and hear the voice of swearing, and is a witness, whether he hath seen or known of it, if he does not utter it, then he shall bear his iniquity. — swearing; the case appears to be that of one who has been put upon his oath as a witness by a magistrate, and fails to utter all he has seen and heard;

² Or if a soul touch any unclean thing, whether it be a carcass of an unclean beast, or a carcass of unclean cattle, or the carcass of unclean creeping things, and if it be hidden from him, he also shall be unclean and guilty. — of unclean cattle; cattle are normally clean; became unclean perhaps by being worshipped as an idols by any of the heathens;

³ Or if he touch the uncleanness of man, whatsoever uncleanness it be, that a man shall be defiled thereby, and it be hid from him, when he knoweth of it, then he shall be guilty. — if he touch the uncleanness of man; the dead body of a man, or the bone of a dead body, or a grave, or any profluvious person:

⁴ Or if a soul swear, pronouncing with his lips to do evil or to do good, whatsoever it be that a man shall pronounce with an oath, and it be hid from him, when he knoweth of it, then he shall be guilty in one of these.

— if a soul swear; a rash oath, without duly considering the nature and consequences of the oath, perhaps inconsiderately binding himself to do anything wrong, or neglecting to perform a vow to do something good. In all such cases a person might have transgressed one of the commandments unwittingly, and have been afterwards brought to a sense of his delinquency.

⁵ And it shall be, when he shall be guilty in one of these things, that he shall confess that he hath sinned in that thing; — it shall be, when he shall be guilty; that he shall confess that he hath sinned in that thing; make a voluntary acknowledgment of his sin from his own conscience, and before it come to the knowledge of the world. 

⁶ and he shall bring his trespass offering unto the Lord for his sin which he hath sinned, a female from the flock, a lamb or a kid of the goats for a sin offering; and the priest shall make an atonement for him concerning his sin.

— he shall bring his trespass offering unto the Lord for his sins which he hath sinned; a trespass offering differed from a sin offering in the following respects: that it was appointed for persons who had either done evil unwittingly, or were in doubt as to their own criminality;

— MSG

³ “Or if you touch human uncleanness, any sort of ritually contaminating uncleanness, and you’re not aware of it at the time, but later you realize it and you’re guilty;

⁴ “Or if you impulsively swear to do something, whether good or bad—some rash oath that just pops out—and you aren’t aware of what you’ve done at the time, but later you come to realize it and you’re guilty in any of these cases;

^5-6 “When you are guilty, immediately confess the sin that you’ve committed and bring as your penalty to God for the sin you have committed a female lamb or goat from the flock for an Absolution-Offering.

“In this way, the priest will make atonement for your sin.

⁷ “‘And if he is not able to bring a lamb, then he shall bring for his trespass, which he hath committed, two turtledoves or two young pigeons unto the Lord: one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering.

— one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering; one of the turtle doves or pigeons, whichsoever were brought, was offered up as a sin offering, and the other that remained was offered up as a burnt offering;

— so that the poor man had two sorts of offerings out of what he brought, when the rich had but one; and may indicate the completeness of his sacrifice, and the full atonement made by it.

⁸ And he shall bring them unto the priest, who shall offer that which is for the sin offering first, and wring off his head from his neck, but shall not divide it asunder.

⁹ And he shall sprinkle of the blood of the sin offering upon the side of the altar, and the rest of the blood shall be wrung out at the bottom of the altar: it is a sin offering.

— and he shall sprinkle; here again there is a striking difference between the ritual in the sacrifice and that in the case of the sin offering described in the previous chapters; the blood is simply to be thrown on the walls of the altar, whilst in the ordinary sin offering, the priest had not only to dip his finger seven times in the blood of the sacrifice, but had to put it on the horns of the altar;

¹⁰ And he shall offer the second for a burnt offering according to the ordinance; and the priest shall make an atonement for him for his sin which he hath sinned, and it shall be forgiven him. — a trespass offering differed from a sin offering in that it was appointed for persons who had either done evil unwittingly, or were in doubt as to their own criminality;

¹¹ “‘But if he is not able to bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons, then he that sinned shall bring for his offering a tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a sin offering. He shall put no oil upon it, neither shall he put any frankincense thereon, for it is a sin offering.

— the trespass offering appointed in such cases was a female lamb or kid; if unable to make such an offering, he might bring a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons; the one to be offered for a sin offering, the other for a burnt offering; or if even that was beyond his ability, the law would be satisfied with the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour without oil or frankincense.

¹² Then shall he bring it to the priest and the priest shall take his handful of it, even a memorial thereof, and burn it on the altar according to the offerings made by fire unto the Lord: it is a sin offering.

¹³ And the priest shall make an atonement for him for his sin that he hath sinned in one of these, and it shall be forgiven him; and the remnant shall be the priest’s as a meat offering.’”

¹⁴ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

¹⁵ “If a soul commit a trespass and sin through ignorance in the holy things of the Lord, then he shall bring for his trespass unto the Lord a ram without blemish out of the flocks, with thy valuation in shekels of silver according to the shekel of the sanctuary, for a trespass offering. — and sin through ignorance; if at the time of its committal he did not know that it was a transgression;

¹⁶ And he shall make amends for the harm that he hath done in the holy thing, and shall add a fifth part thereto and give it unto the priest; and the priest shall make an atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering, and it shall be forgiven him.

— and shall add the fifth part thereto; besides paying the principal, the fifth part of the value of the holy property thus restored is to be added to the original amount; for example, if he has had profited to the value of four shekels, now he should pay five shekels; for the fifth of the shekels they add the fifth part to the four shekels;

¹⁷ “And if a soul sin, and commit any of these things which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of the Lord, though he knew it not, yet is he guilty and shall bear his iniquity. — yet he is guilty, and shall bear the iniquity; be chargeable with guilt, and is liable to punishment, and must make an atonement and satisfaction for it;

¹⁸ And he shall bring a ram without blemish out of the flock, according to thy valuation for a trespass offering unto the priest; and the priest shall make an atonement for him concerning his ignorance wherein he erred and knew it not, and it shall be forgiven him.

— in the case of the trespass-offering, the animal sacrificed was usually a ram, this fact alone clearly distinguishes the trespass-offerings from the sin-offerings, for which all kinds of sacrifices were offered from an ox to a pigeon;

¹⁹ It is a trespass offering; he hath certainly trespassed against the Lord.” — it is a trespass offering; that is, though the prescribed fifth part is here dispensed with, it is still a trespass offering, for his conscience tells him that he has trespassed against the Lord.

Leviticus 6

¹ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

² “If a soul sin and commit a trespass against the Lord by lying unto his neighbor about that which was delivered to him to keep, or in dealings, or in a thing taken away by violence, or hath deceived his neighbor,

— or in a thing taken away by violence: without the will and knowledge of the owner; privately and secretly, but being suspected, is challenged with it, and denying it, is made to swear, which he does falsely;

³ or has found that which was lost and lieth concerning it, and sweareth falsely — in any of all these that a man doeth, sinning therein, — in any of all these that a man doeth, sinning therein; by unfaithfulness in a trust, cheating, defrauding, lying, and false swearing.

⁴ then it shall be, because he hath sinned and is guilty, that he shall restore that which he took violently away, or the thing which he hath deceitfully gotten, or that which was delivered him to keep, or the lost thing which he found, — or the thing which he hath deceitfully gotten; by outwitting him, by extortion, by false accusation, or detention of wages;

⁵ or all that about which he hath sworn falsely. He shall even restore the principal thereof, and shall add a fifth part more thereto, and give it unto him to whom it appertaineth, on the day of his trespassoffering.

⁶ And he shall bring his trespass offering unto the Lord, a ram without blemish out of the flock, according to thy valuation, for a trespass offering, unto the priest. — he shall even restore it in the principal; whatsoever he has embezzled, or cheated another of, or detained from the right owner, the whole of that was to be restored: and shall add the fifth part more thereto; to the principal;

⁷ And the priest shall make an atonement for him before the Lord; and it shall be forgiven him for any thing of all that he hath done in trespassing therein.” — and the priest shall make an atonement for him before the Lord; by offering the ram he brought, by which a typical, for atonement to be presented before the Lord;

⁸ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

⁹ “Command Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the law of the burnt offering: It is the burnt offering because of the burning upon the altar all night unto the morning, and the fire of the altar shall be burning in it. — command Aaron and his sons; having instructed the people concerning the sacrifices to be brought by them, Moses now proceeds, at God’s command, to direct the priests respecting several parts of their official services;

— better, “This, the burnt-offering, shall be upon the fire on the altar all night unto the morning,” the meaning is, the evening burnt-offering was to be so managed and laid on piece after piece, so that the fire might be constantly maintained by it; that the morning burnt-offerings were to be kept burning all the day from morning to night also;

¹⁰ And the priest shall put on his linen garment, and his linen breeches shall he put upon his flesh, and take up the ashes which the fire hath consumed with the burnt offering on the altar; and he shall put them beside the altar.

— he shall put them beside the altar; during the second Temple, a priest was appointed by lot to take off from the altar every morning at least a shovelful of ashes and carry it outside the camp, and when the ashes accumulated they were entirely removed to the same place.

¹¹ And he shall take off his garments and put on other garments, and carry forth the ashes outside the camp unto a clean place.

— and he shall put off his garments; that is, the priest shall change the sacred robes in which he ministered at the altar; for other garments, though less holy, were not common, since the removing of the ashes was still a sacerdotal function.

¹² And the fire upon the altar shall be burning in it; it shall not be put out. And the priest shall burn wood on it every morning and lay the burnt offering in order upon it; and he shall burn thereon the fat of the peace offerings. — the wood for the burnt-offering of the morning is kindled from the fire which has been kept in all night.

¹³ The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out. — the fire shall ever be burning; this fire, which first came down from heaven (Leviticus 9:24), was to be continually fed with fuel especially provided by the congregation, and with the daily burnt offerings.

¹⁴ “‘And this is the law of the meat offering: The sons of Aaron shall offer it before the Lord, before the altar. — the sons of Aaron shall offer it; though in the chapter before us it literally means Aaron’s sons, the phrase is intended to comprise his lineal descendants who succeeded to the priestly office.

¹⁵ And he shall take from it his handful of the flour of the meat offering, and of the oil thereof and all the frankincense which is upon the meat offering, and shall burn it upon the altar for a sweet savor, even the memorial of it unto the Lord.

¹⁶ And the remainder thereof shall Aaron and his sons eat. With unleavened bread shall it be eaten in the holy place; in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation they shall eat it. — the males only might eat these, because they were most holy things; whereas the daughters of Aaron might eat other holy things, Numbers 18:11.

¹⁷ It shall not be baked with leaven. I have given it unto them for their portion of My offerings made by fire; it is most holy, as is the sin offering and as the trespass offering.

— be regarded as “most holy” and the way in which it was prepared was: on any meat offerings being presented, the priest carried them to the altar, and taking a handful from each of them as an oblation, he salted and burnt it on the altar; the residue became the property of the priests;

¹⁸ All the males among the children of Aaron shall eat of it. It shall be a statute for ever in your generations concerning the offerings of the Lord made by fire. Every one who toucheth them shall be holy.’” — every one that toucheth them shall be holy; that is; the meaning is that any one who touches the sacrifices of the first order of holiness must be a descendant of Aaron and a male;

¹⁹ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

²⁰ “This is the offering of Aaron and of his sons, which they shall offer unto the Lord in the day when he is anointed: a tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a perpetual meat offering, half of it in the morning and half thereof at night.

— in the day when he is anointed; that is, when he is anointed or when his anointing ceremony is completed, and he entered upon the duties of his office;

²¹ In a pan it shall be made with oil; and when it is baked thou shalt bring it in, and the baked pieces of the meat offering shalt thou offer for a sweet savor unto the Lord. —

as a new law, with a special formula, and is inserted here in its proper place in the sacrificial instructions given for the priests, as it would have been altogether out of place among the general laws for the laity.

²² And the priest from among his sons, who is anointed in his stead, shall offer it. It is a statute for ever unto the Lord; it shall be wholly burned.

— and the priest of his sons; that is, any one of his descendants who succeeds to the high priesthood is to do the same in all times to come, since it is a statute to last as long as the priesthood continues;

— it shall be wholly burnt; unlike the ordinary meat offerings brought by the laity, which, with the exception of a handful, was the perquisite of the officiating priest (Leviticus 2:2-3), the high priest could not eat of this because he presented it himself, since it would be unseemly both to offer it to God and at the same time eat it himself; nor was an ordinary priest allowed to eat it, because he was subordinate in rank to the officiating high priest.

²³ For every meat offering for the priest shall be wholly burned; it shall not be eaten.” — it shall not be eaten; no part of it shall be eaten by the priest, as it was when the offering was for the people;

²⁴ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

²⁵ “Speak unto Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘This is the law of the sin offering: In the place where the burnt offering is killed shall the sin offering be killed before the Lord; it is most holy. — it is most holy; sacred to the Lord, offered up to him, and accepted by him, and typical of the most pure and holy sacrifice and an offering for sin, in the room and stead of his people.

²⁶ The priest who offereth it for sin shall eat it; in the holy place shall it be eaten, in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation. — the priest that offereth it for sin shall eat it; thereby signifying that he bore the sin of the person that brought the offering, and made atonement for it;

²⁷ Whatsoever shall touch the flesh thereof shall be holy; and when there is sprinkled of the blood thereof upon any garment, thou shalt wash that whereon it was sprinkled in the holy place.

— whatsoever shall touch the flesh thereof shall be holy; none but holy persons, such as were devoted to holy services, even the priests and their sons, might touch and eat of the flesh of the sin offering;

²⁸ But the earthen vessel wherein it is boiled shall be broken; and if it is boiled in a brazen pot, it shall be both scoured and rinsed in water.

— all that did so were sacred persons; and even what were the earthen vessel used in preparing and eating it, dishes and knives, were to be put to no other use, not to any common service, or for anything but holy things;

²⁹ All the males among the priests shall eat thereof; it is most holy. — all the males among the priests; ot only did the officiating priest, whose perquisite the flesh of the sin offering became, and his male children, partake of it, and he could invite any other priests and their sons to the meal; but leaving their daughters a bit bewildered.

³⁰ And no sin offering, from which any of the blood is brought into the tabernacle of the congregation for reconcilement thereby in the holy place, shall be eaten: it shall be burned in the fire. — it shall be burnt in the fire; none was to be eaten.

Posted in Books of Moses

Leviticus 3

¹ “‘And if his oblation be a sacrifice of peace offering, if he offer it of the herd, whether it be a male or female, he shall offer it without blemish before the Lord. — a sacrifice of peace offering; the peace offering consisted of two kinds, the peace offering from the herd (Leviticus 3:1-5), and the peace offering from the flock (Leviticus 3:6-15);

— as in the case of the burnt offering (Leviticus 1:3), the ox is mentioned first, because it is most costly and more important; whether it be a male; whilst in the case of the burnt offering (Leviticus 1:3; Leviticus 1:10) only the male was allowed, there is no distinction of sex here, nor is there any limitation of age. All that was required was that it should be without any defect;

— they were called peace-offering, because in them God and his people did, as it were, feast together to ireflect prosperity and happiness generally, in token of friendship. The peace-offerings were offered by way of supplication; and “thank-offering” is sometimes used as another class of peace-offering.

² And he shall lay his hand upon the head of his offering, and kill it at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation; and Aaron’s sons the priests shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about. — not on the north side of the altar, where the burnt-offering was killed, as also the sin-offering, and the trespass-offering, but in the very entrance of the court where the brazen altar stood;

— and Aaron’s sons the priests shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about; in like manner as the blood of the burnt offering was;

³ And he shall offer from the sacrifice of the peace offering an offering made by fire unto the Lord: the fat that covereth the inwards and all the fat that is upon the inwards,

⁴ and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them which is by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys — it shall he take away. 

⁵ And Aaron’s sons shall burn it on the altar upon the burnt sacrifice, which is upon the wood that is on the fire: it is an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto the Lord. 

— and Aaron’s sons; after the offerer has killed the victim, taken out the choice parts and offered them to the officiating priest, the latter shall burn it, that is, the whole collection of the fat pieces described in Leviticus 3:3-4, upon the ashes of the continual burnt offering, which was the daily offering of the lamb.

⁶ “‘And if his offering for a sacrifice of peace offering unto the Lord be of the flock, male or female, he shall offer it without blemish. — of the flock; that is, of sheep or goats; they might be either male or female, provided only that they were without any defect; to give to God means to give the best.

⁷ If he offer a lamb for his offering, then shall he offer it before the Lord. — if he offer a lamb for his offering; which was of the flock, it must be of the first year; this is a principle that whereever this word is used in the law, it signifies one of the first year;

⁸ And he shall lay his hand upon the head of his offering and kill it before the tabernacle of the congregation; and Aaron’s sons shall sprinkle the blood thereof round about upon the altar. — and he, the man that brought the offering, shall lay his hand upon the head of the lamb;

⁹ And he shall offer from the sacrifice of the peace offering an offering made by fire unto the Lord; the fat thereof and the whole rump, it shall he take off hard by the backbone: and the fat that covereth the inwards and all the fat that is upon the inwards,

¹⁰ and the two kidneys and the fat that is upon them which is by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys — it shall he take away. — as in verse 4 above, livers and kidneys are always taken away; but why?

¹¹ And the priest shall burn it upon the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire unto the Lord. 

¹² “‘And if his offering be a goat, then he shall offer it before the Lord. — and if his offering be a goat; the directions about the goat as a peace offering are the same as those about an ox.

¹³ And he shall lay his hand upon the head of it and kill it before the tabernacle of the congregation; and the sons of Aaron shall sprinkle the blood thereof upon the altar round about. 

¹⁴ And he shall offer thereof his offering, even an offering made by fire unto the Lord: the fat that covereth the inwards and all the fat that is upon the inwards, 

¹⁵ and the two kidneys and the fat that is upon them which is by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys — it shall he take away. — as in verse 4 and 10 above, livers and kidneys are always taken away; but why? Maybe they were considered as delicacies, and God wants them to be returned so that the families of the offerers could enjoy in the celebration?

¹⁶ And the priest shall burn them upon the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire for a sweet savor; all the fat is the Lord’S. 

¹⁷ It shall be a perpetual statute for your generations throughout all your dwellings, that ye eat neither fat nor blood.’” — that is, the law not to eat the fat or blood of sheep or goats, is to be binding upon the Israelites throughout all their future generations, and is applicable to any place wherever they may dwell.—

Leviticus 4

¹ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

² “Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, ‘If a soul shall sin through ignorance against any of the commandments of the Lord concerning things which ought not to be done, and shall do against any of them, — if a soul sin through ignorance; the next kind of sacrifices appointed were for the expiation of particular sins, and are therefore called sin-offerings; the first sort of these were for sins of ignorance.

— and shall do against any of them; it must be something done, and not merely said: hence the Jews say, that as the neglect of circumcision, and of the Passover, does not come under this exemption, because they ought to know;

— but what about if a man eats the fat that is above the kidneys, thinking it is the fat that is above the heart; or that lies with a woman forbidden by the law, thinking her to be his wife; or that commits idolatry, by bowing to the idol, thinking that the law only forbids sacrifice, incense, and libation, but not bowing; or that profanes the Sabbath, thinking it is still before evening on Friday.

³ if the priest who is anointed shall sin, bringing the sin upon the people, then let him bring for his sin which he hath sinned a young bullock without blemish unto the Lord for a sin offering. — even the chief priest could be a frail being, and often does, like the rest of the people; or to which he was liable as they; or “to make the people guilty” as it could be read; “so that the people sin” or “making the people to sin;”

⁴ And he shall bring the bullock unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord, and shall lay his hand upon the bullock’s head and kill the bullock before the Lord. — and the priest shall bring the bullock; that is, the high priest himself; it is evident that God never had any infallible priest in his service upon the earth;

⁵ And the priest who is anointed shall take of the bullock’s blood and bring it to the tabernacle of the congregation; — and bring it to the tabernacle of the congregation; out of the court where the bullock was slain, into the holy place, where were the veil that divided between the holy of holies, and the altar of sweet incense;

⁶ and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle of the blood seven times before the Lord, before the veil of the sanctuary. — the treatment of the blood was special in this sin-offerings; the high priest himself sprinkled the blood seven times within the tabernacle and smeared it on the horns of the altar of incense;

— seven times; a number of completeness; and prescribed here, either to show that his sins needed more than ordinary purgation, and more exercise of his efforts and repentance; before the veil; the inner veil dividing between the holy place and the holy of holies;

— whereas the other ‘inferior’ sin-offerings, it was smeared on the horns of the altar of burnt-offering outside the tabernacle; Leviticus 4:25, Leviticus 4:30, Leviticus 4:34; and no mention of sprinkling of the blood seven times;

⁷ And the priest shall put some of the blood upon the horns of the altar of sweet incense before the Lord, which is in the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall pour all the blood of the bullock at the bottom of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. — and the priest shall put; that is, the high priest. —

⁸ And he shall take off from it all the fat of the bullock for the sin offering: the fat that covereth the inwards and all the fat that is upon the inwards, 

⁹ and the two kidneys and the fat that is upon them which is by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys — it shall he take away,

¹⁰ as it was taken off from the bullock of the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall burn them upon the altar of the burnt offering. — the priest was to lift off “all the fat” from the sacrifice, that is, the same fat portions as in the peace-offering, and burn it upon the altar of burnt-offering.

¹¹ And the skin of the bullock and all his flesh, with his head, and with his legs, and his inwards, and his dung” — The skin of the bullock, and all the flesh, together with the head and the shank and the entrails (Leviticus 1:9) and the dung;

— in fact the whole bullock, was to be carried out by him (the sacrificing priest) to a clean place before the camp, to which the ashes of the sacrifices were carried from the ash-heap (Leviticus 1:16), and there burnt on the wood with fire.

¹² even the whole bullock shall he carry forth outside the camp unto a clean place, where the ashes are poured out, and burn him on the wood with fire; where the ashes are poured out shall he be burned. — — outside the camp; during the Second Temple this third place is outside Jerusalem, called the place of ashes;

¹³ “‘And if the whole congregation of Israel sin through ignorance, and the thing be hid from the eyes of the assembly, and they have done something against any of the commandments of the Lord concerning things which should not be done, and are guilty,

¹⁴ when the sin which they have sinned is known, then the congregation shall offer a young bullock for the sin, and bring him before the tabernacle of the congregation.

¹⁵ And the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands upon the head of the bullock before the Lord; and the bullock shall be killed before the Lord. — the elders of the congregation represent the whole congregation;

¹⁶ And the priest who is anointed shall bring of the bullock’s blood to the tabernacle of the congregation; 

¹⁷ and the priest shall dip his finger in some of the blood and sprinkle it seven times before the Lord, even before the veil. — the treatment of the blood is again special in this sin-offerings; the high priest shall sprinkle the blood seven times within the tabernacle before the veil and smear it on the horns of the altar of incense;

¹⁸ And he shall put some of the blood upon the horns of the altar which is before the Lord, that is in the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall pour out all the blood at the bottom of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. 

¹⁹ And he shall take all his fat from him and burn it upon the altar.

²⁰ And he shall do with the bullock as he did with the bullock for a sin offering; so shall he do with this. And the priest shall make an atonement for them, and it shall be forgiven them.

²¹ And he shall carry forth the bullock outside the camp and burn him as he burned the first bullock: it is a sin offering for the congregation. — and the priest that is anointed shall bring of the bullock’s blood; that is, the high priest, as the Targums of Jonathan explain it:

— again, outside the camp; during the Second Temple this place is outside Jerusalem, called the place of ashes;

²² “‘When a ruler hath sinned, and done something through ignorance against any of the commandments of the Lord his God concerning things which should not be done, and is guilty, — when a ruler hath sinned, that is, the king, judge, or subordinate, was the party concerned in this sin;

²³ or if his sin wherein he hath sinned come to his knowledge, he shall bring his offering, a kid of the goats, a male without blemish. — he shall bring his offering, a kid of the goats, a male without blemish; his offering was to be a “kid of the goats”

²⁴ And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the goat, and kill it in the place where they kill the burnt offering before the Lord: it is a sin offering.

²⁵ And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and shall pour out his blood at the bottom of the altar of burnt offering. — the priest shall sprinkle the blood; but no mention of seven times;

²⁶ And he shall burn all his fat upon the altar, as the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall make an atonement for him concerning his sin, and it shall be forgiven him.

²⁷ “‘And if any one of the common people sin through ignorance while he doeth something against any of the commandments of the Lord concerning things which ought not to be done, and be guilty,

²⁸ or if his sin which he hath sinned come to his knowledge, then he shall bring his offering, a kid of the goats, a female without blemish, for his sin which he hath sinned.

²⁹ And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the sin offering, and slay the sin offering in the place of the burnt offering. 

³⁰ And the priest shall take of the blood thereof with his finger, and put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and shall pour out all the blood thereof at the bottom of the altar. — the priest shall put the blood upon the horns of the altar; but no mention of any sprinking of blood;

³¹ And he shall take away all the fat thereof, as the fat is taken away from off the sacrifice of peace offerings, and the priest shall burn it upon the altar for a sweet savor unto the Lord; and the priest shall make an atonement for him, and it shall be forgiven him. 

³² “‘And if he bring a lamb for a sin offering, he shall bring it a female without blemish. — and if he bring a lamb; those who were unable to bring a goat might offer a female sheep as the less valuable animal, provided it was without blemish;

³³ And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the sin offering, and slay it for a sin offering in the place where they kill the burnt offering.

³⁴ And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and shall pour out all the blood thereof at the bottom of the altar. 

³⁵ And he shall take away all the fat thereof, as the fat of the lamb is taken away from the sacrifice of the peace offerings, and the priest shall burn them upon the altar, according to the offerings made by fire unto the Lord; and the priest shall make an atonement for his sin that he hath committed, and it shall be forgiven him.

Posted in Books of Moses

The Targum Jonathan provides a good preamble to the book of Leviticus:

And it was when Mosheh had completed to erect the tabernacle that Mosheh reasoned and judged in his heart, and said:

“To Mount Sinai, whose excellency is the excellence only of an hour and its holiness the holiness but of three days, I could not ascend till the time that the word was spoken to me; but the excellence of this the tabernacle of ordinance is an eternal excellency, and its holiness an everlasting holiness; therefore is it right that I should not enter within it until the time that I am spoken with from before the Lord.”

Leviticus 1

¹ And the Lord called unto Moses, and spoke unto him out of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying,

— when the Lord first communicated to Moses that He was about to deliver the Israelites from Egypt, “He called unto him” from the burning bush (Exodus 3:4). When the Lord was about to give to Moses the Ten Commandments for the people of Israel, “He called unto him” from the top of Sinai (Exodus 19:3; Exodus 19:20);

— and now when the Lord is about to give to His chosen people, through His servant Moses, the laws by which their Divine worship is to be regulated, “He called unto him” from the tent of meeting (Leviticus 1:1).

² “Speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them: ‘If any man of you bring an offering unto the Lord, ye shall bring your offering of the cattle, even of the herd and of the flock.

— the act of offering was to be voluntary on the part of the worshipper, but the mode of doing it was in every point defined by the Law; and any member of the congregation might bring his voluntary offering if he could afford.

³ “‘If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish. He shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord. — without blemish; or perfect, having no part wanting, nor any part superfluous, nor any spot upon it

⁴ And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. — and he, the offer of the offering, shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering to make atonement for him; this phrase belongs more especially to the sin-offerings and the trespass-offerings;

— the high priest, Aaron, would be more concerned with other duties: another daily ‘burnt offering’ stands first in Leviticus for several reasons; it was offered twice daily, besides on other occasions;

⁵ And he shall kill the bullock before the Lord; and the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall bring the blood and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

— and he shall kill the bullock; the sacrificer himself, the offerer, not by the priest, slaughtered the animal on the north side of the altar, by cutting its throat, while a priest or an assistant held a bowl under the neck to receive the blood;

— in later times, however, the offering was generally performed by Levites; sprinkle the blood; this was to be done by the priests, by Aaron’s sons initially. 

⁶ And he shall flay the burnt offering and cut it into his pieces.

⁷ And the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire upon the altar, and lay the wood in order upon the fire.

⁸ And the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall lay the parts, the head, and the fat in order upon the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar;

⁹ but his inwards and his legs shall he wash in water. And the priest shall burn all on the altar to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto the Lord. — a sweet savour, or a soothing odour; the word ‘savour’ in old English is applied to the smell as well as the taste of a thing.

¹⁰ “‘And if his offering be of the flocks, namely, of the sheep or of the goats, for a burnt sacrifice, he shall bring a male without blemish. — those who could not offer a bullock, were to bring a sheep or a goat; and those who were not able to do that, were accepted of God, if they brought a turtle-dove, or a pigeon.

¹¹ And he shall kill it on the side of the altar northward before the Lord; and the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall sprinkle his blood round about upon the altar.

¹² And he shall cut it into his pieces, with his head and his fat; and the priest shall lay them in order on the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar,

¹³ but he shall wash the inwards and the legs with water. And the priest shall bring it all and burn it upon the altar: it is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto the Lord.

¹⁴ “‘And if the burnt sacrifice for his offering to the Lord be of fowls, then he shall bring his offering of turtledoves or of young pigeons. — those who could not offer a bullock or a sheep or a goat; they are to bring turtle-doves or pigeons; a single pigeon or turtle-dove formed a sacrifice, but they are often offered in pairs; and there are no rule in respect to sex;

¹⁵ And the priest shall bring it unto the altar, and wring off his head, and burn it on the altar; and the blood thereof shall be wrung out at the side of the altar.

¹⁶ And he shall pluck away his crop with his feathers, and cast it beside the altar on the east part, by the place of the ashes.

¹⁷ And he shall cleave it with the wings thereof, but shall not divide it asunder. And the priest shall burn it upon the altar, upon the wood that is upon the fire: it is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto the Lord.

Leviticus 2

¹ “‘And when any will offer a meat offering unto the Lord, his offering shall be of fine flour; and he shall pour oil upon it and put frankincense thereon. — the old use of the word “meat” in the sense of “food,” in contrast to “flesh,” creates some confusion of thought;

— to make a sweet odour in the court of the tabernacle, on a part of it; which otherwise would have been bad odour, by reason of the blood that was sprinkled and the flesh that was burned there daily;

— second; and put frankincense thereon; various spices: stacte, onycha and galbanum; these sweet spices with pure frankincense; are holy to the Lord, and to be used for him only; Exodus 30:34;

² And he shall bring it to Aaron’s sons the priests; and he shall take from it his handful of the flour thereof and of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof; and the priest shall burn the memorial of it upon the altar to be an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto the Lord.

— and he, the offer of the food offering, shall bring it to Aaron’s sons the priests; the high priest, Aaron, would be more concerned with other duties: involves in daily ‘burnt offering’ which was offered twice everyday;

— a sweet savour, or a soothing odour; the word ‘savour’ in old English is applied to the smell as well as the taste of the food.

³ And the remnant of the meat offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons’: it is a thing most holy of the offerings to the Lord made by fire. — a offering most holy; offerings consisted of two classes, the (just) holy and the most holy;

— the wave offerings (Leviticus 23:20; Numbers 6:20), the firstborn of sacrificed animals, the firstlings of oil, wine, and corn, (Numbers 18:17); and the paschal sacrifices, belonged to the holy, and might be eaten entirely or partially in any place within the holy city by the officiating priests and their families.

— the incense offering, the shew-bread (Exodus 30:26-29; Leviticus 24:9), the sin and trespass offerings (Leviticus 6:25-29; Leviticus 7:1; Leviticus 7:6; Leviticus 14:13), and the meat offerings here described, belonged to the most holy. They could be eaten in the court of the sanctuary only by the priests, (Leviticus 10:12-14).

⁴ “‘And if thou bring an oblation of a meat offering baked in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil.

⁵ And if thy oblation be a meat offering baked in a pan, it shall be of fine flour, unleavened, mingled with oil.

⁶ Thou shalt part it in pieces and pour oil thereon: it is a meat offering.

⁷ And if thy oblation be a meat offering baked in the frying pan, it shall be made of fine flour with oil.

⁸ And thou shalt bring the meat offering that is made of these things unto the Lord; and when it is presented unto the priest, he shall bring it unto the altar.

⁹ And the priest shall take from the meat offering a memorial thereof and shall burn it upon the altar: it is an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto the Lord.

¹⁰ And that which is left of the meat offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons’: it is a thing most holy of the offerings of the Lord made by fire. — the term meat was and is properly given to any kind of provision, and the greater part of this offering was to be eaten for food, not burned; they of the most holy.

¹¹ “‘No meat offering which ye shall bring unto the Lord shall be made with leaven; for ye shall burn no leaven nor any honey in any offering of the Lord made by fire. — leaven, in this instance, is the emblem of pride, malice, and hypocrisy, and honey of sensual pleasure.

¹² As for the oblation of the firstfruits, ye shall offer them unto the Lord, but they shall not be burned on the altar for a sweet savor.

¹³ And every oblation of thy meat offering shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou allow the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering. With all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt. — with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt; every animal offering was to be accompanied by salt;

— salt was used in meat offerings, and in all others, because it was a symbol of the perpetuity of the covenant, which from thence is called a covenant of salt forever, Numbers 18:19 namely, the covenant of the priesthood, to which these sacrifices belonged;

— hence the Targum of Jonathan says, “because the twenty and four gifts of the priests are appointed with a covenant of salt; therefore salt shalt thou offer with all thy oblations.”

¹⁴ And if thou offer a meat offering of thy firstfruits unto the Lord, thou shalt offer for the meat offering of thy firstfruits green ears of corn dried by the fire, even corn beaten out of full ears.

¹⁵ And thou shalt put oil upon it and lay frankincense thereon: it is a meat offering.

¹⁶ And the priest shall burn the memorial of it, part of the beaten corn thereof and part of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof: it is an offering made by fire unto the Lord.

— every independent meat-offering was to be prepared without leaven, and a portion given to the Lord as fire-food, for a savour of satisfaction upon the altar; and the rest was to be scrupulously kept away from being used by the offerer, as a most holy thing, and to be eaten at the holy place by the priests only;

— it is unfortunate that while the law was given the children of Israel were travelling throught the desert for the next thirty-nine years or so, with their main food, the manna, and only offerings of animal sacrifices could be offered; they could not practice the first-fruit offerings; but the law was provided here when the crossed the Jordan and became settled cultivators.

Posted in Books of Moses

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Exodus 39

¹ And of the blue and purple and scarlet they made clothes of service to do service in the holy place, and made the holy garments for Aaron, as the Lord commanded Moses. 

² And he made the ephod of gold, blue and purple and scarlet, and finetwined linen. 

³ And they beat the gold into thin plates, and cut it into wires to work it in the blue and in the purple and in the scarlet and in the fine linen, with skillful work. 

⁴ They made shoulder pieces for it to couple it together; by the two edges was it coupled together. 

⁵ And the embroidered girdle of his ephod that was upon it was of the same, according to the work thereof: of gold, blue and purple and scarlet, and finetwined linen, as the Lord commanded Moses. 

⁶ And they wrought onyx stones enclosed in clasps of gold, graven as signets are graven, with the names of the children of Israel. — the names of the twelve tribes of Israel are not specified here; question remains whether Joseph has two portions? If so who gives way; Dan or Levi?

⁷ And he put them on the shoulders of the ephod, that they should be stones for a memorial to the children of Israel, as the Lord commanded Moses. 

⁸ And he made the breastplate of skillful work, like the work of the ephod: of gold, blue and purple and scarlet, and finetwined linen. 

⁹ It was foursquare. They made the breastplate double: a span was the length thereof and a span the breadth thereof, being doubled. 

¹⁰ And they set in it four rows of stones: the first row was a sardius, a topaz and a carbuncle; this was the first row; — the Targum Jonathan adds the names of three tribes, Reuben, Shimeon, and Levi and Targum Jerusalem says the same in chapter 28:17 Reuben, Shemeon, Levi;

¹¹ and the second row, an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond; — there are some differences of opinions from here: the Targum Jonathan adds the names of the three tribes, Jehudah, Dan, and Naphtali; whereas Targum Jerusalem says Jehudah, Issakar, and Zebulon;

¹² and the third row, a ligure, an agate, and an amethyst; — the Targum Jonathan adds the names of the three tribes, Gad, Asher, and Issakar; but Targum Jerusalem says Dan, Naphtali, and Gad;

¹³ and the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They were enclosed in clasps of gold in their enclosings. — the Targum Jonathan adds the names of the three tribes, Zebulon, Joseph, and Benjamin; but Targum Jerusalem says Asher, Joseph, and Benjamin;

¹⁴ And the stones were according to the names of the children of Israel — twelve, according to their names like the engravings of a signet, every one with his name according to the twelve tribes. 

¹⁵ And they made upon the breastplate chains at the ends of wreathed work of pure gold. — no mention is made of the Urim and Thummim, perhaps they are incorporated inside or behind the ephod;

¹⁶ And they made two clasps of gold and two gold rings, and put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate. 

¹⁷ And they put the two wreathed chains of gold in the two rings on the ends of the breastplate; 

¹⁸ and the two ends of the two wreathed chains they fastened in the two clasps, and put them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod at the front. 

¹⁹ And they made two rings of gold and put them on the two ends of the breastplate, upon the border of it which was on the side of the ephod inward; 

²⁰ and they made two other golden rings and put them on the two sides of the ephod underneath, toward the front of it over against the other coupling thereof, above the embroidered girdle of the ephod. 

²¹ And they bound the breastplate by his rings unto the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it might be above the embroidered girdle of the ephod, and that the breastplate might not be loosed from the ephod, as the Lord commanded Moses. 

²² And he made the robe of the ephod of woven work, all of blue. 

²³ And there was a hole in the midst of the robe, as the hole of a jacket of mail, with a band round about the hole, that it should not rend. 

²⁴ And they made upon the hems of the robe pomegranates of blue and purple and scarlet, and twined linen. 

²⁵ And they made bells of pure gold, and put the bells between the pomegranates upon the hem of the robe, round about between the pomegranates: 

²⁶ a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate, round about the hem of the robe to minister in, as the Lord commanded Moses. 

²⁷ And they made coats of fine linen of woven work for Aaron and for his sons, 

²⁸ and a miter of fine linen and goodly bonnets of fine linen, and linen breeches of finetwined linen, 

²⁹ and a girdle of finetwined linen, and blue and purple and scarlet needlework, as the Lord commanded Moses. 

³⁰ And they made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold, and wrote upon it a writing, like the engravings of a signet: Holiness to the Lord.

³¹ And they tied unto it a lace of blue to fasten it on high upon the miter, as the Lord commanded Moses.

³² Thus was all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation finished, and the children of Israel did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses; so did they.

³³ And they brought the tabernacle unto Moses: the tent and all his furniture, his clasps, his boards, his bars and his pillars and his sockets; 

³⁴ and the covering of rams’ skins dyed red, and the covering of badgers’ skins, and the veil of the covering; 

³⁵ the ark of the Testimony and the staves thereof, and the mercy seat; 

³⁶ the table and all the vessels thereof, and the showbread; 

³⁷ the pure candlestick with the lamps thereof, even with the lamps to be set in order, and all the vessels thereof, and the oil for light; 

³⁸ and the golden altar, and the anointing oil, and the sweet incense, and the hanging for the tabernacle door; 

³⁹ the brazen altar and his grate of brass, his staves and all his vessels, the laver and his foot; 

⁴⁰ the hangings of the court, his pillars and his sockets, and the hanging for the court gate, his cords and his pegs, and all the vessels of the service of the tabernacle for the tent of the congregation; 

⁴¹ the clothes of service to do service in the holy place, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest and his sons’ garments to minister in the priest’s office. 

⁴² According to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so the children of Israel made all the work. 

⁴³ And Moses looked upon all the work, and behold, they had done it as the Lord had commanded; even so had they done it. And Moses blessed them. 

Exodus 40

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¹ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

² “On the first day of the first month shalt thou set up the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation. — the new year was now approaching, and as it was approaching, its first day on the month of Nisan was naturally chosen as most fit for the inauguration of the new structure.

³ And thou shalt put therein the ark of the Testimony, and cover the ark with the veil. 

⁴ And thou shalt bring in the table and set in order the things that are to be set in order upon it; and thou shalt bring in the candlestick and light the lamps thereof. 

⁵ And thou shalt set the altar of gold for the incense before the ark of the Testimony, and put up the hanging of the door to the tabernacle. 

⁶ And thou shalt set the altar of the burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation. 

⁷ And thou shalt set the laver between the tent of the congregation and the altar, and shalt put water therein. 

⁸ And thou shalt set up the court round about, and hang up the hanging at the court gate. 

⁹ And thou shalt take the anointing oil, and anoint the tabernacle and all that is therein, and shalt hallow it and all the vessels thereof; and it shall be holy. 

¹⁰ And thou shalt anoint the altar of the burnt offering and all his vessels, and sanctify the altar; and it shall be an altar most holy. 

¹¹ And thou shalt anoint the laver and his foot, and sanctify it. 

¹² And thou shalt bring Aaron and his sons unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and wash them with water. 

¹³ And thou shalt put upon Aaron the holy garments, and anoint him and sanctify him, that he may minister unto Me in the priest’s office.

¹⁴ And thou shalt bring his sons and clothe them with coats; 

¹⁵ and thou shalt anoint them, as thou didst anoint their father, that they may minister unto Me in the priest’s office. For their anointing shall surely be an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations.” 

¹⁶ Thus did Moses: according to all that the Lord commanded him, so did he. 

¹⁷ And it came to pass in the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, that the tabernacle was reared up. 

¹⁸ And Moses reared up the tabernacle, and fastened his sockets and set up the boards thereof, and put in the bars thereof and reared up his pillars. 

¹⁹ And he spread abroad the tent over the tabernacle, and put the covering of the tent above upon it, as the Lord commanded Moses. 

²⁰ And he took and put the testimony into the ark, and set the staves on the ark, and put the mercy seat above upon the ark. 

²¹ And he brought the ark into the tabernacle, and set up the veil of the covering and covered the ark of the Testimony, as the Lord commanded Moses. 

²² And he put the table in the tent of the congregation upon the side of the tabernacle northward, outside the veil. 

²³ And he set the bread in order upon it before the Lord, as the Lord had commanded Moses. 

²⁴ And he put the candlestick in the tent of the congregation opposite the table, on the side of the tabernacle southward.

²⁵ And he lighted the lamps before the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.

²⁶ And he put the golden altar in the tent of the congregation before the veil;

²⁷ and he burned sweet incense thereon, as the Lord commanded Moses.

²⁸ And he set up the hanging at the door of the tabernacle. 

²⁹ And he put the altar of burnt offering by the door of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation, and offered upon it the burnt offering and the meat offering, as the Lord commanded Moses. 

³⁰ And he set the laver between the tent of the congregation and the altar, and put water there for washing. 

³¹ And Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet thereat. 

³² When they went into the tent of the congregation and when they came near unto the altar, they washed, as the Lord commanded Moses. 

³³ And he reared up the court round about the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the hanging of the court gate. So Moses finished the work. 

³⁴ Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 

³⁵ And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 

³⁶ And when the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the children of Israel went onward in all their journeys; 

³⁷ but if the cloud were not taken up, then they journeyed not until the day that it was taken up. 

³⁸ For the cloud of the Lord was upon the tabernacle by day and fire was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys. 

— throughout the book of Exodus the term, “Urim and Thummim” is not used; the earliest encounter is in Leviticus 8:8: “And he [Moses] put the breastplate upon him [Aaron]. Also he [Moses] put in the breastplate the Urim and the Thummim.” Hence the Urim and the Thummim are incorporated inside the ephod with the breastplate of twelve previous stones.

Posted in Books of Moses

“To be an enemy of the US is dangerous, but to be a friend is fatal”
― Henry Kissinger

Exodus 37

¹ And Bezaleel made the ark of shittim wood. Two cubits and a half was the length of it, and a cubit and a half the breadth of it, and a cubit and a half the height of it. 

² And he overlaid it with pure gold within and without, and made a crown of gold for it round about. 

³ And he cast for it four rings of gold to be set in the four corners of it: even two rings upon the one side of it, and two rings upon the other side of it. 

⁴ And he made staves of shittim wood and overlaid them with gold. 

⁵ And he put the staves into the rings on the sides of the ark, to bear the ark. 

⁶ And he made the mercy seat of pure gold. Two cubits and a half was the length thereof, and one cubit and a half the breadth thereof. 

⁷ And he made two cherubims of gold. Beaten out of one piece made he them on the two ends of the mercy seat: 

⁸ one cherub on the end on this side, and another cherub on the other end on that side; out of the mercy seat made he the cherubims on the two ends thereof. 

⁹ And the cherubims spread out their wings on high, and covered over the mercy seat with their wings with their faces one toward another; even toward the mercy seat were the faces of the cherubims. 

¹⁰ And he made the table of shittim wood. Two cubits was the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof. 

¹¹ And he overlaid it with pure gold, and made thereunto a crown of gold round about. 

¹² Also he made thereunto a border of a handbreadth round about, and made a crown of gold for the border thereof round about. 

¹³ And he cast for it four rings of gold, and put the rings upon the four corners that were in the four feet thereof. 

¹⁴ Over against the border were the rings, the places for the staves to bear the table. 

¹⁵ And he made the staves of shittim wood to bear the table, and overlaid them with gold. 

¹⁶ And he made the vessels which were upon the table — his dishes and his spoons and his bowls and his covers for covering — of pure gold. 

¹⁷ And he made the candlestick of pure gold; of beaten work made he the candlestick. His shaft, and his branch, his bowls, his buds and his flowers were of the same. 

¹⁸ And six branches came out of the sides thereof: three branches of the candlestick out of the one side thereof, and three branches of the candlestick out of the other side thereof. 

¹⁹ Three bowls were made after the fashion of almonds on one branch, with a bud and a flower, and three bowls were made like almonds on another branch, with a bud and a flower — so throughout the six branches going out of the candlestick. 

²⁰ And on the candlestick were four bowls made like almonds, with his buds and his flowers, 

²¹ and a bud under two branches of the same, and a bud under two branches of the same, and a bud under two branches of the same, according to the six branches going out of it. 

²² Their buds and their branches were of the same; all of it was one beaten work of pure gold. 

²³ And he made his seven lamps and his snuffers and his snuff dishes of pure gold. 

²⁴ Of a talent of pure gold made he it, and all the vessels thereof. 

²⁵ And he made the incense altar of shittim wood. The length of it was a cubit and the breadth of it a cubit; it was foursquare, and two cubits was the height of it. The horns thereof were of the same. 

²⁶ And he overlaid it with pure gold, both the top of it and the sides thereof round about, and the horns of it; also he made for it a crown of gold round about. 

²⁷ And he made two rings of gold for it under the crown thereof, by the two corners of it, upon the two sides thereof, to be places for the staves to bear it. 

²⁸ And he made the staves of shittim wood and overlaid them with gold. 

²⁹ And he made the holy anointing oil and the pure incense of sweet spices, according to the work of the perfumer. 

Exodus 38

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¹ And he made the altar of burnt offering of shittim wood; five cubits was the length thereof and five cubits the breadth thereof; it was foursquare, and three cubits the height thereof. 

² And he made the horns thereof on the four corners of it; the horns thereof were of the same, and he overlaid it with brass. 

³ And he made all the vessels of the altar: the pots and the shovels and the basins, and the fleshhooks and the firepans; all the vessels thereof made he of brass. 

⁴ And he made for the altar a brazen grate of network, under the rim thereof beneath, unto the midst of it. 

⁵ And he cast four rings for the four ends of the grate of brass, to be places for the staves. 

⁶ And he made the staves of shittim wood and overlaid them with brass. 

⁷ And he put the staves into the rings on the sides of the altar to bear it; he made the altar hollow with boards. 

⁸ And he made the laver of brass and the foot of it from brass, from the looking glasses of the women assembling, who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. 

⁹ And he made the court: on the south side southward the hangings of the court were of finetwined linen, a hundred cubits. 

¹⁰ Their pillars were twenty and their brazen sockets twenty; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver.

¹¹ And for the north side the hangings were a hundred cubits. Their pillars were twenty and their sockets of brass twenty, the hooks of the pillars and their fillets, of silver. 

¹² And for the west side were hangings of fifty cubits, their pillars ten and their sockets ten, the hooks of the pillars and their fillets, of silver. 

¹³ And for the east side eastward, fifty cubits. 

¹⁴ The hangings of the one side of the gate were fifteen cubits, their pillars three and their sockets three. 

¹⁵ And for the other side of the court gate, on this side and that side, were hangings of fifteen cubits, their pillars three and their sockets three. 

¹⁶ All the hangings of the court round about were of finetwined linen. 

¹⁷ And the sockets for the pillars were of brass, the hooks of the pillars and their fillets, of silver; and the overlaying of their capitals, of silver, and all the pillars of the court were filleted with silver.

¹⁸ And the hanging for the gate of the court was needlework: of blue and purple and scarlet, and finetwined linen; and twenty cubits was the length, and the height in the breadth was five cubits, corresponding to the hangings of the court.

¹⁹ And their pillars were four and their sockets of brass four; their hooks, of silver, and the overlaying of their capitals and their fillets, of silver. 

²⁰ And all the pegs of the tabernacle and of the court round about were of brass. 

²¹ This is the account of the tabernacle, even of the tabernacle of testimony, as it was counted according to the commandment of Moses for the service of the Levites, by the hand of Ithamar, son of Aaron the priest. 

²² And Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the Lord commanded Moses. 

²³ And with him was Aholiab, son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver and a skillful workman, and an embroiderer in blue and in purple and in scarlet, and fine linen. 

²⁴ All the gold that was used for the work in all the work of the holy place, even the gold of the offering, was twenty and nine talents, and seven hundred and thirty shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary. 

²⁵ And the silver of those who were numbered in the congregation was a hundred talents, and a thousand seven hundred and threescore and fifteen shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary: 

²⁶ a bekah for every man, that is, half a shekel, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, for every one who went to be numbered from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty men. 

²⁷ And of the hundred talents of silver were cast the sockets of the sanctuary and the sockets of the veil: a hundred sockets from the hundred talents, a talent for a socket. 

²⁸ And of the thousand seven hundred seventy and five shekels he made hooks for the pillars, and overlaid their capitals and filleted them. 

²⁹ And the brass from the offering was seventy talents, and two thousand and four hundred shekels. 

³⁰ And therewith he made the sockets for the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the brazen altar and the brazen grate for it, and all the vessels of the altar, 

³¹ and the sockets of the court round about, and the sockets of the court gate, and all the pegs of the tabernacle, and all the pegs of the court round about. 

Posted in Books of Moses

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Exodus 35

¹ And Moses gathered all the congregation of the children of Israel together and said unto them, “These are the words which the Lord hath commanded, that ye should do them: — the narrative of what relates to the construction of the sanctuary is now resumed from Exodus 31:18.

² Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be for you a holy day, a Sabbath of rest to the Lord. Whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death. — six days shall work be done; work for the tabernacle, but on the seventh day they must not strike a stroke, no, not at the tabernacle work; the honour of the sabbath was above that of the sanctuary;

— shall be put to death; the Targum of Jonathan adds, by the casting of stones, stoning outside the camp being the punishment of sabbath breakers, Numbers 15:35.

³ Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the Sabbath day.” — ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the sabbath day; this law seems the need to be emphasized, again and again; continuing; it is said to be throughout their generations as elsewhere, where the law of the sabbath is repeated;

⁴ And Moses spoke unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, “This is the thing which the Lord commanded, saying, 

⁵ ‘Take ye from among you an offering unto the Lord. Whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, an offering of the Lord: gold and silver and brass; — let him bring it, an offering of the Lord; or an offering to him, otherwise not; if brought stubborn and grudgingly it would not be acceptable, for God loves a willing and cheerful giver: gold, silver, and brass;

⁶ and blue and purple and scarlet, and fine linen and goats’ hair; 

⁷ and rams’ skins dyed red, and badgers’ skins, and shittim wood; 

⁸ and oil for the light, and spices for anointing oil and for the sweet incense; 

⁹ and onyx stones, and stones to be set for the ephod and for the breastplate. 

¹⁰ “‘And every wisehearted among you shall come and make all that the Lord hath commanded: 

¹¹ the tabernacle, his tent and his covering, his clasps, and his boards, his bars, his pillars and his sockets; 

¹² the ark and the staves thereof, with the mercy seat and the veil of the covering; 

¹³ the table and his staves and all his vessels, and the showbread; 

¹⁴ the candlestick also for the light, and his furniture and his lamps with the oil for the light; 

¹⁵ and the incense altar and his staves, and the anointing oil, and the sweet incense, and the hanging for the door at the entrance of the tabernacle; 

¹⁶ the altar of burnt offering with his brazen grate, his staves and all his vessels, the laver and his foot; 

¹⁷ the hangings of the court, his pillars and their sockets, and the hanging for the door of the court; 

¹⁸ the pegs of the tabernacle, and the pegs of the court and their cords; 

¹⁹ the clothes of service to do service in the holy place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons to minister in the priest’s office.’” 

²⁰ And all the congregation of the children of Israel departed from the presence of Moses. 

²¹ And they came every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, and they brought the Lord’S offering to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation, and for all his service and for the holy garments. 

²² And they came, both men and women, as many as were willinghearted, and brought bracelets and earrings, and rings and tablets, all jewels of gold; and every man who offered, offered an offering of gold unto the Lord. 

²³ And every man with whom was found blue and purple and scarlet, and fine linen and goats’ hair, and red skins of rams and badgers’ skins, brought them. 

²⁴ Every one who offered an offering of silver and brass brought the Lord’S offering; and every man with whom was found shittim wood for any work of the service brought it.

²⁵ And all the women who were wisehearted spun with their hands and brought that which they had spun, both of blue and of purple, and of scarlet and of fine linen. 

²⁶ And all the women whose heart stirred them up in wisdom spun goats’ hair.

²⁷ And the rulers brought onyx stones, and stones to be set for the ephod and for the breastplate, 

²⁸ and spices, and oil for the light and for the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense. 

²⁹ The children of Israel brought a willing offering unto the Lord, every man and woman whose heart made them willing to bring for all manner of work, which the Lord had commanded to be made by the hand of Moses.

³⁰ And Moses said unto the children of Israel, “See, the Lord hath called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur of the tribe of Judah. — both Bezalee and Aholiab; Aholiab, though subordinate to Bezaleel, was the director of his own department, that of weaving and embroidery (Exodus 38:23), and had to instruct in it as Bezaleel had in his.

³¹ And He hath filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, — God hath filled Bezaleel with his Spirit, in wisdom, in understanding;

³² and to devise skillful works, to work in gold and in silver and in brass, 

³³ and in the cutting of stones to set them, and in carving of wood to make any manner of skillful work. 

³⁴ And He hath put in his heart that he may teach, both he and Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan. — and he hath put in his heart that he may teach; instruct others in the things be had knowledge of; the Lord not only gave him gifts of wisdom, understanding, and knowledge, to devise and contrive curious works;

³⁵ Them hath He filled with wisdom of heart, to work all manner of work of the engraver and of the skilled workman, and of the embroiderer in blue and in purple, in scarlet and in fine linen, and of the weaver —even of those who do any work and of those who devise skillful work.” 

Exodus 36

¹ Then Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wisehearted man in whom the Lord put wisdom and understanding to know how to work all manner of work for the service of the sanctuary, wrought according to all that the Lord had commanded. 

² And Moses called Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wisehearted man in whose heart the Lord had put wisdom, even every one whose heart stirred him up, to come unto the work to do it. 

³ And they received from Moses all the offering which the children of Israel had brought for the work of the service of the sanctuary, to make it thereby. And they brought yet unto him freewill offerings every morning. 

⁴ And all the wise men who wrought all the work of the sanctuary came every man from his work which they made, 

⁵ and they spoke unto Moses, saying, “The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work which the Lord commanded to make.” 

⁶ And Moses gave a commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, “Let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary.” So the people were restrained from bringing, 

⁷ for the supply they had was sufficient for all the work to make it, and too much. 

⁸ And every wisehearted man among them who wrought the work of the tabernacle made ten curtains of finetwined linen, and blue and purple and scarlet; with cherubims of skillful work made he them. 

⁹ The length of one curtain was twenty and eight cubits, and the breadth of one curtain four cubits; the curtains were all of one size. 

¹⁰ And he coupled the five curtains one unto another, and the other five curtains he coupled one unto another. 

¹¹ And he made loops of blue on the edge of one curtain from the selvage in the coupling. Likewise he made in the outermost side of another curtain, in the coupling of the second. 

¹² Fifty loops made he in one curtain, and fifty loops made he in the edge of the curtain which was in the coupling of the second; the loops held one curtain to another. 

¹³ And he made fifty clasps of gold, and coupled the curtains one unto another with the clasps. So it became one tabernacle. 

¹⁴ And he made curtains of goats’ hair for the tent over the tabernacle; eleven curtains he made them. 

¹⁵ The length of one curtain was thirty cubits, and four cubits was the breadth of one curtain; the eleven curtains were of one size. 

¹⁶ And he coupled five curtains by themselves and six curtains by themselves. 

¹⁷ And he made fifty loops upon the outermost edge of the curtain in the coupling, and fifty loops made he upon the edge of the curtain which coupleth the second. 

¹⁸ And he made fifty clasps of brass to couple the tent together, that it might be one. 

¹⁹ And he made a covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed red, and a covering of badgers’ skins above that. 

²⁰ And he made boards for the tabernacle of shittim wood, standing upright. 

²¹ The length of a board was ten cubits, and the breadth of a board one cubit and a half. 

²² One board had two tenons equally distant one from another. Thus did he make for all the boards of the tabernacle.

²³ And he made boards for the tabernacle, twenty boards for the south side southward. 

²⁴ And forty sockets of silver he made under the twenty boards: two sockets under one board for his two tenons, and two sockets under another board for his two tenons. 

²⁵ And for the other side of the tabernacle, which is toward the north corner, he made twenty boards 

²⁶ and their forty sockets of silver: two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board. 

²⁷ And for the sides of the tabernacle westward he made six boards. 

²⁸ And two boards made he for the corners of the tabernacle in the two sides. — —

²⁹ And they were coupled beneath and coupled together at the head thereof to one ring; thus he did to both of them in both the corners. 

³⁰ And there were eight boards, and their sockets were sixteen sockets of silver, under every board two sockets. 

³¹ And he made bars of shittim wood: five for the boards of the one side of the tabernacle, 

³² and five bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the tabernacle for the sides westward. 

³³ And he made the middle bar to extend through the boards from the one end to the other. 

³⁴ And he overlaid the boards with gold, and made their rings of gold to be places for the bars, and overlaid the bars with gold. 

³⁵ And he made a veil of blue and purple and scarlet, and finetwined linen; with cherubims he made it of skillful work. 

³⁶ And he made thereunto four pillars of shittim wood and overlaid them with gold. Their hooks were of gold, and he cast for them four sockets of silver. 

³⁷ And he made a hanging for the tabernacle door of blue and purple and scarlet, and finetwined linen, of needlework, 

³⁸ and the five pillars of it with their hooks. And he overlaid their capitals and their fillets with gold, but their five sockets were of brass. 

Posted in Books of Moses

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Exodus 33

¹ And the Lord said unto Moses, “Depart and go up hence, thou and the people whom thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I swore unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, ‘Unto thy seed will I give it.’ 

— the land which I swore unto Abraham, Isaac and to Jacob; saying, unto thy seed will I give it: meaning the land between the two great rivers, which as he had promised with an oath to their fathers to give it to them, he would faithfully observe it, though they were unworthy of such a favour.

² And I will send an angel before thee; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite and the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite” — and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; who were now the inhabitants of the land, and these he promises drive out, to make way for their possession of it;

— and that “by his hand” as the Targum of Jonathan interprets it, by the hand of the angel. Only six nations are mentioned, though there were seven; the Girgashite is omitted, but added in the Septuagint version.

³ unto a land flowing with milk and honey. For I will not go up in the midst of thee, for thou art a stiffnecked people, lest I consume thee on the way.” — unto a land flowing with milk and honey; abounding with all the necessaries and good things of life;

— for I will not go up in the midst of thee; lest I consume thee, for “God is a consuming fire” Exodus 32:10; Leviticus 10:2; Hebrews 12:29;

⁴ And when the people heard these evil tidings they mourned, and no man put on his ornaments. — when the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned; it was something that these sinful people felt the tidings to be “evil” to shrink from the presence of God;

— his near presence, by day and by night, constantly (Exodus 13:22), and they dreaded a change, which they felt must involve a loss, and one the extent of which they could not measure; “an angel” they thought, is a poor consolation when we are craving for God himself!

⁵ For the Lord had said unto Moses, “Say unto the children of Israel, ‘Ye are a stiffnecked people. I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment and consume thee. Therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee.’” — I will come up; that is, If I were to go up for one moment in the midst of thee, I should consume thee;

— therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee; put them aside altogether; show thy penitence by giving up their use; denies them the tokens of his presence they had been blessed with; token of their sorrow the Lord required of his offending people; and mourn for their sin.

— that I may know what to do unto thee; that I may either inflict my judgments, or suspend them, as thou art penitent or impenitent.

⁶ And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by Mount Horeb. — and the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments; that is, left off their ornaments, ceased to wear them altogether.

⁷ And Moses took the tabernacle and pitched it outside the camp, afar off from the camp, and called it the tabernacle of the congregation. And it came to pass that every one who sought the Lord went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation, which was outside the camp. 

— perhaps this tabernacle was a model of the tabernacle that had already been erected, this, a hasty draft from the pattern showed him in the mount, designed for direction to the workmen, and used in the mean time as a tabernacle of meeting between God and Moses about public affairs;

— or, did Moses, with the help of a few hundreds of the Levites among the thousands available, moved the sanctuary and pitched it outside the camp, afar off from the camp; to signify to them that they were unworthy of close proximity;

— the Targum of Jonathan says “the tabernacle he took away from thence” seems like this tabernacle was the original taken away; and pitched outside the camp;

— the King James and Geneva Study Bible versions say “without the camp” such old English usage is misleading; hence better to use the 21st Century King James Version or KJ21.

⁸ And it came to pass, when Moses went out unto the tabernacle, that all the people rose up and stood every man at his tent door, and looked after Moses until he had gone into the tabernacle. — when Moses went out; all the people rose up; probably Moses “went out” at set times each day;

— and the people watched for his going, and “rose up,” as a mark of respect and reverence. They felt that he went to the tent mainly to pray for them;

— the Targum of Jonathan says adversely about the people being wicked: “that all the wicked people arose, and stood, every man at the door of his tent, and looked with the evil eye after Mosheh, when he entered the tabernacle.”

⁹ And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord talked with Moses. — and as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended; that is, from the top of Mount Sinai in which the Lord was;

— and all the people rose up and worshipped, everyman in his tent door; it was awesome sight, so they bowed, not to Moses, for he was gone into the tabernacle out of sight, but a deep fear and adorating bow to the Lord in the pillar of cloud.

¹¹ And the Lord spoke unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he returned again into the camp; but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle.

— face to face, or, mouth to mouth, as Numbers 12:8; not that God hath face or mouth, or that Moses could behold it, which is denied, Exodus 33:20; but the sense is, he spake with him freely and familiarly, plainly, cordially, openly, not by an angel in a dream or vision, as he did to other prophets;

— but his servant Joshua departed not out of the tabernacle; probably Joshua abode there to assist and direct those who resorted thither to seek God in Moses’s absence; and Joshua seems to be appointed for this work rather than Aaron, or any other of the elders, because they had one way or other been guilty of the idolatry; and he was the general of the army at the battle with Amalek;

¹² And Moses said unto the Lord, “See, Thou sayest unto me, ‘Bring up this people,’ and Thou hast not let me know whom Thou wilt send with me. Yet Thou hast said, ‘I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in My sight.’ 

— I know thee by name; God had shown this knowledge when He called on Moses out of the burning bush (Exodus 3:4), and again, probably, when he “called unto him out of the midst of the cloud” (Exodus 24:16); it implies a very high degree of Divine favour. God “knows by name” only those whom he greatly regards.

¹³ Now therefore, I pray Thee, if I have found grace in Thy sight, show me now Thy way, that I may know Thee, that I may find grace in Thy sight; and consider that this nation is Thy people.” — shew me now thy way: either the way which he himself would take, the way of his providence in bringing the children of Israel into the land of Canaan;

¹⁴ And He said, “My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.” — my presence shall go with thee; or before thee, both with Moses and before the people; meaning the Angel of his presence he had before promised;

¹⁵ And he said unto Him, “If Thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. — that is, Let us rather die in the wilderness with thy presence and favour, than go into Canaan without God’s presence;

¹⁶ For wherein shall it be known here that I and Thy people have found grace in Thy sight? Is it not in that Thou goest with us? So shall we be separated, I and Thy people, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth.” — and if thou wilt lead the people up to Canaan, consider that we are thine own people, to whom thou must acknowledge thyself as our God.

¹⁷ And the Lord said unto Moses, “I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken; for thou hast found grace in My sight, and I know thee by name.” — and I know thee by name; he owns the truth of the thing, on which Moses had formed his plan, and what can be a greater blessing than to partake of the special plan of God, and to be personally known to him;

¹⁸ And he said, “I beseech Thee, show me Thy glory.” — Moses repeats, in a more definite form, his request above in verse 13 “show me now Thy way.” He asks to be allowed to see Gods’s glory; but is told in reply that he cannot see this in its fulness;

¹⁹ And He said, “I will make all My goodness pass before thee; and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee, and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.” 

²⁰ And He said, “Thou canst not see My face, for there shall no man see Me and live.” — thou canst not see my face; the full display of his glory, that light inaccessible, before which the angels stand, but which would be insufferable to mortal eyes; this no man can see and live.

²¹ And the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by Me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock.

²² And it shall come to pass, while My glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with My hand while I pass by; 

²³ and I will take away Mine hand, and thou shalt see My back parts, but My face shall not be seen.” 

— MSG

God said, “Look, here is a place right beside me. Put yourself on this rock. When my Glory passes by, I’ll put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with my hand until I’ve passed by. Then I’ll take my hand away and you’ll see my back. But you won’t see my face.”

Exodus 34

¹ And the Lord said unto Moses, “Hew thee two tablets of stone like unto the first, and I will write upon these tablets the words that were in the first tablets which thou brokest. — hew thee two tables; something is always lost by sin, even when it is forgiven. The first tables were “the work of God” (Exodus 32:16). the second were hewn by the hand of Moses.

² And be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning unto Mount Sinai, and present thyself there to Me on the top of the mount. — and present thyself there to me on the top of the mount; where the pillar of cloud stood, and near it Moses was to stand and wait to hear what would be said unto him, and to see what would be made to pass before him.

³ And no man shall come up with thee, neither let any man be seen throughout all the mount; neither let the flocks nor herds feed before that mount.” — neither let the flocks nor herds feed before that mount; or over against it, or rather “near” it; Moses was to be alone, and no one was to be seen in any part of the mount.

⁴ And he hewed two tablets of stone like unto the first; and Moses rose up early in the morning and went up unto Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tablets of stone. —and Moses rose up early in the morning: and went up unto Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him; which was the third time of his going there, and every time he continued forty days and forty nights;

⁵ And the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. — and the Lord descended in the cloud; the same with the cloudy pillar, which had gone up from the door of the tabernacle, and was on high in the air over the mount, and on which the Lord now descended in it;

⁶ And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, — the Lord, the Lord God proclaims, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious. . . ”

⁷ keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children unto the third and to the fourth generation.” 

— MSG

So Moses cut two tablets of stone just like the originals. He got up early in the morning and climbed Mount Sinai as God had commanded him, carrying the two tablets of stone. God descended in the cloud and took up his position there beside him and called out the name, God. God passed in front of him and called out,

“God, God, a God of mercy and grace, endlessly patient—so much love, so deeply true—loyal in love for a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, rebellion, and sin. Still, he doesn’t ignore sin. He holds sons and grandsons responsible for a father’s sins to the third and even fourth generation.”

— Targum of Jonathan

And he hewed two tables of stone like the former: and Mosheh arose in the morning and ascended Mount Sinai, as the Lord had instructed him, and took in his hand the two tables of stone. And the Lord made His Shekinah to pass by before his face, and proclaimed,

The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and nigh in mercies, abounding to exercise compassion and truth; keeping mercy and bounty for thousands of generations, absolving and remitting guilt, passing by rebellions, and covering sins; pardoning them who convert unto the law, but holding not guiltless in the great day of judgment those who will not convert; visiting the sins of fathers upon rebellious children upon the third and upon the fourth generation.

⁸ And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped. — Moses made haste, and bowed his head; as the Divine glory passed before him, Moses bowed his head in adoration, worshipping God, and not daring to look until the glory had gone by.

⁹ And he said, “If now I have found grace in Thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray Thee, go among us, for it is a stiffnecked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for Thine inheritance.” — O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go amongst us;

— as the Lord had signified as if he would not go among them, but leave them to the conduct of a an angel; and Moses had before prayed that his presence or face might go with them;

¹⁰ And He said, “Behold, I make a covenant. Before all thy people I will do marvels such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation; and all the people among whom thou art shall see the work of the Lord, for it is a fearsome thing that I will do with thee. 

— for it is a terrible thing that I will do with thee; restrains this to Moses and interprets this of the wonderful shining of the skin of his face, when he came down from the mount, which made the children of Israel afraid to come nigh him;

¹¹ Observe thou that which I command thee this day. Behold, I drive out before thee the Amorite and the Canaanite, and the Hittite and the Perizzite, and the Hivite and the Jebusite. 

— the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite; six nations are only mentioned, though there were seven, the Girgashites being omitted, because either they left the land before; or because they were subjugated by the others; but they are retained in the Septuagint version.

¹² Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee. — lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee; be the means of drawing them into the same sinful practices with themselves, especially into idolatrous ones, and so of bringing ruin and destruction on them.

¹³ But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their Asherah poles. — and cut down their groves; which were clusters of trees, where they had their temples and their idols, and did service to them, and where, besides idolatry, many impurities were committed.

¹⁴ For thou shalt worship no other god; for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God, — whose name is Jealous; who hath made himself known by, and glories in that name; the jealous God, who cannot endure any competitor or corrival; whereas the false and puny gods of the heathens were contented with multitudes of partners.

¹⁵ lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee and thou eat of his sacrifice, — and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice; invite to eat of what remained, that was offered to the idol: hence it appears, that having feasts at sacrifices, and eating things offered to idols in a festival way, are very ancient practices;

¹⁶ and thou take their daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods. — and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods; by the means of tempting and drawing them into idolatrous practices, as the wives of Solomon were a snare to him.

¹⁷ “Thou shalt make thee no molten gods. — thou shalt make thee no molten gods; it is just possible that the Israelites when they worshipped the golden calf may have conceived that they were not breaking the second commandment, which forbade the adoration of any “graven image.” An express law was therefore made against “molten images.”

¹⁸ “The Feast of Unleavened Bread shalt thou keep. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, in the time of the month of Abib; for in the month of Abib thou camest out from Egypt. — the feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep; which was instituted at the time of their coming out of Egypt, and on that account, and then observed, Exodus 12:15 and afterwards repeated, and the month expressed in which they were to keep it;

¹⁹ “All that openeth the womb is Mine, and every firstling among thy cattle, whether ox or sheep, that is male. — all that openeth “the womb” is mine, and every firstling among thy cattle, whether ox or sheep, that is male, shall be sanctified, and set apart for his use;

²⁰ But the firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb; and if thou redeem him not, then shalt thou break his neck. All the firstborn of thy sons thou shalt redeem. And none shall appear before Me empty. — and none shall appear before me empty; at the grand festivals, the Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles;

²¹ “Six days thou shalt work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest; in plowing time and in harvest thou shalt rest. — in earing and in harvest thou shall rest; that is, in the time of ploughing, and in the time of reaping and gathering in the harvest;

²² And thou shalt observe the Feast of Weeks of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the year’s end. — the feast of weeks; called in Exodus 23:16, “the feast of harvest,” and in the New Testament “the day of Pentecost”

²³ Thrice in the year shall all your menchildren appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel. — the God of Israel; who had chosen them to be his special people, had redeemed them out of Egypt, and done great things for them since; had made a covenant with them.

²⁴ For I will cast out the nations before thee and enlarge thy borders; neither shall any man desire thy land when thou shalt go up to appear before the Lord thy God thrice in the year. — neither shall any man desire thy land; I will not only tie their hands, that they shall make no invasion upon you, but I will take off their thoughts and affections from such an enterprise, which it was very easy for God to effect many ways.

²⁵ “Thou shalt not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leaven, neither shall the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover be left until the morning. — thou shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven; that is, not to kill the passover while there was any leaven in their houses; so the Targum of Jonathan says “You shall not sacrifice the victim of My passover before you have done away with leaven;”

²⁶ The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring unto the house of the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not boil a kid in his mother’s milk.” — the first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring; this, and another law in this verse, concerning not seething a kid in his mother’s milk, are repeated from Exodus 23:19.

²⁷ And the Lord said unto Moses, “Write thou these words, for according to the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel.” — write for thee these words, that is, put them in writing for thine own use and the use of thy people.

²⁹ And it came to pass, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of testimony in Moses’ hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses knew not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him. 

— the skin of his face shone, while he talked with him: the Targum of Jonathan is, “Mosheh knew not that the visage (form) of his face shone with the splendour which had come upon him from the brightness of the glory of the Lord’s Shekinah in the time of His speaking with him.”

³⁰ And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come nigh him. — behold, the skin of Moses’ face shone; darted out rays of light and glory all around him, Aaron and the people were afraid to go near Moses when they saw the brightness of his face.

— they were afraid, their fear arose from a sense of guilt; the beaming radiance of his countenance made him appear to their awe-struck consciences of a flaming sword from heaven.

³¹ And Moses called unto them, and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned unto him; and Moses talked with them. — and Moses talked with them; after he had put a vail on his face, of which there is an account in the following verses;

— he talked with them friendly, and told them all that had happened to him in the mount; what a glorious sight he had been indulged with; what a proclamation of the grace and goodness of God had been made to him; and what laws and ordinances God had enjoined him and their observance.

³² And afterward all the children of Israel came nigh, and he gave them in commandments all that the Lord had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. 

— and afterward all the children of Israel came near; that is, after Aaron and the rulers had had a conversation with Moses, then the whole body of the people by turns were admitted to come before him, and hear the laws of God from him;

³³ And until Moses had done speaking with them, he put a veil on his face. — and till Moses had finished speaking with them, he had a veil over his face.

³⁴ But when Moses went in before the Lord to speak with Him, he took the veil off until he came out. And he came out, and spoke unto the children of Israel that which he was commanded. 

— and he came out, and spake unto the children of Israel that which he was commanded; out of the tabernacle with the law and commands now given, for these he had already declared;

— but after times, and all such times when he went in to the Lord to inquire of him his mind and will concerning certain things, in which the people wanted information, when, upon his return, he acquainted them with whatsoever the Lord ordered to be done.

³⁵ And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone; and Moses put the veil upon his face again, until he went in to speak with Him. 

— and Moses put the veil upon his face again, until he went in to speak with him; this he did from time to time, when he came out from the Lord he put on his veil, and when he went in again, he takes it off.

— MSG

When Moses finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face, but when he went into the presence of God to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out.

When he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, they would see Moses’ face, its skin glowing, and then he would again put the veil on his face until he went back in to speak with God.

Posted in Books of Moses

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Q. Could one unexpected day the Jews bring out the Ark of the Covenant and cause both the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque to collapse?

Exodus 31

¹ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

² “See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. — I have called by name. God “calls by name” only those whom he appoints to some high office, as Moses (Exodus 3:4; Exodus 33:12), Cyrus (Isaiah 45:3, 4), and here Bezaleel and Aholiab;

³ And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom and in understanding and in knowledge and in all manner of workmanship, — I have filled him with the spirit of God; wisdom, understanding and knowledge; and in all manner of artistic workmanship;

⁴ to devise skillful works: to work in gold and in silver and in brass, — to be skillful goldsmiths or brasiers;

⁵ and in cutting of stones to set them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship. — to be a first-class artisan, competent to take charge of both the plain and ornamental work, which the building of any sacred edifice required;

⁶ And I, behold, I have given with him Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and in the hearts of all who are wisehearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded thee: — Aholiab, of the tribe of Dan; to be a partner with Bezaleel, as Moses and Aaron, Joshua and Zerubbabel,

⁷ the tabernacle of the congregation, and the ark of the Testimony and the mercy seat that is thereupon, and all the furniture of the tabernacle,

⁸ and the table and his furniture, and the pure candlestick with all his furniture, and the altar of incense,

⁹ and the altar of burnt offering with all his furniture, and the laver and his foot,

¹⁰ and the clothes of service, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons to minister in the priest’s office,

¹¹ and the anointing oil and sweet incense for the holy place. According to all that I have commanded thee shall they do.”

¹³ “Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, ‘Verily My Sabbaths ye shall keep; for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that ye may know that I am the Lord who doth sanctify you. — it is a sign between me and you; throughout your generations; a token of the covenant between them, of his being their God and they his people in a peculiar sense;

— one which no other nations of the world observe; of his sanctifying and separating them from all other people; for this was not a sign between him and other nations, but between him and the people of Israel only; and was to be observed throughout their ages;

¹⁴ Ye shall keep the Sabbath therefore, for it is holy unto you. Every one who defileth it shall surely be put to death; for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. — for it is holy unto you; a day that was set apart of God for holy exercises, and by doing any servile work upon it, or not observing it in a religious way, shall surely be put to death;

— every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death; this is a serious enactment, and must be regarded in conjunction with the dignity attached to Sabbath observance by its having become the special covenant sign between God and His people;

¹⁵ Six days may work be done, but on the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord. Whosoever doeth any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.

— but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest; from worldly labour, and was typical of spiritual rest here, and holy to the Lord; separated from other days, and entirely devoted to the worship and service of God, and to be kept holy to the Lord in all holy and religious exercises, as hearing and studying the word, and praying;

¹⁶ Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations for a perpetual covenant. — for a perpetual covenant, or by a perpetual covenant, or it is a perpetual covenant, that is, not to be obsolete but a perpetual agreement.

¹⁷ It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel for ever; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.’” — t is a sign, repeated for emphasis as a sign of the covenant between God and Israel;

¹⁸ And He gave unto Moses, when He had made an end of communing with him upon Mount Sinai, two tablets of testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God. — written with the finger of God, that is, by God himself, and not by an angel; but with the power or Spirit of God;

Exodus 32

¹ And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron and said unto him, “Arise, make us gods which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what has become of him.”

— how ridiculous the assertion that “the people” did not know what had become of Moses! They knew that he was up there with God. The elders, Aaron, Joshua and Hur, would have told them that; the fire on the mount would have burned in on all minds the confirmation. They were just rebellious!

² And Aaron said unto them, “Break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.” — Aaron’s compliance just a reflection of his cowardice; he knew as well as what he should have said, but, like many another man in influential position, when beset by popular cries, he was frightened, and yielded when he should have ‘set his face like a flint.’

³ And all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. — all the people brake off the golden earrings; Aaron had miscalculated the strength of the people’s fanaticism; ot the slightest resistance was offered to his requirement. “All the people,” with one accord, surrendered their earrings ready for idol worship.

⁴ And he received them from their hand, and fashioned it with an engraving tool after he had made it a molten calf; and they said, “These are thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt!” — a molten calf; it has been usual to regard the selection of the “calf” form for the image as due to Egyptian influences;

— a sacred bull, called Apis, was worshipped at Memphis, and another, called Mnevis, at Heliopolis, both being regarded as actual incarnate deities.

⁵ And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation and said, “Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord.” — and when Aaron saw the molten calf, he made proclamation, “tomorrow is a feast to the Lord;”

— the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem paraphrase it, “and Aaron saw Hur slain before him,” for reproving them of their idolatry, that is, Aaron, fearing they would also take away his life if he opposed them, he quickly grant his approval of idol worship;

⁶ And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play. — they rose up early; to show their zeal these idolaters began early in the morning, and offered burnt-offerings; and to play; to dance and sing, as was done by the Egyptians in the worship of their Apis or Ox;

⁷ And the Lord said unto Moses, “Go, get thee down; for thy people which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. — the Lord said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; Moses was, of course, wholly ignorant of all that had occurred in the camp. The thick cloud which covered the top of Sinai had prevented his seeing what occurred in the plain below;

— for thy people which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves; their works, their ways and their manners; their minds, the imaginations of their hearts, were first corrupted, and this led on to a corruption of actions, and defiled themselves yet more and more, and made themselves abominable in the sight of God;

⁸ They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molten calf and have worshiped it, and have sacrificed thereunto and said, ‘These are thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt!’”

— they have turned aside quickly, quickly after the law was given them, and they had promised to obey it; quickly after God had done such great things for them, and declared his kind intentions to do greater.

⁹ And the Lord said unto Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiffnecked people. — it is a stiff-necked people; it is generally explained as “obstinate,” but rather means “perverse,” the metaphor being taken from the horse that stiffens his neck against the pull of the rein, and will not be guided by the rider.

¹⁰ Now therefore let Me alone, that My wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them; and I will make of thee a great nation.” — now, therefore, let me alone, the Targum of Jonathan says, “and now leave off thy prayer, and do not cry for them before me;” as the Prophet Jeremiah was often bid not to pray for this people in his time, which was a token of God’s great displeasure with them;

— full text from Targum of Jonathan

And now, cease from thy prayer, and cry not for them before Me; for I will let My anger burn like strong fire against them, and consume them, and I will make thee a great people.

¹¹ And Moses besought the Lord his God and said, “Lord, why doth Thy wrath wax hot against Thy people, whom Thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? — and Moses besought the Lord his God; if God would not be called the God of Israel, yet he hoped he might address him as his own God.

¹² Why should the Egyptians speak and say, ‘For mischief did He bring them out, to slay them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against Thy people.

— turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people; not that there is any turning or any change of his mind, or any such passions and affections in him as expressed here; but this is said after the manner of men concerning him, when he alters the course of his dealings with men according to his unalterable will.

¹³ Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Thy servants to whom Thou sworest by Thine own self and saidst unto them, ‘I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever.’” — to whom thou swarest by thine own self; which he did, because he could swear by no greater; and for the confirmation of his covenant and promise, Genesis 22:16.

¹⁴ And the Lord repented of the evil which He thought to do unto His people. — and the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people; he did not do what he threatened to do, but a change of mind and did what Moses desired he would;

¹⁵ And Moses turned and went down from the mount, and the two tablets of the testimony were in his hand. The tablets were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written. — Moses carries them in both hands, being of stone; Targum of Jonathan says “and the two tables of the testimony were in his hands,”

¹⁶ And the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tablets. — and the tables were the work of God; not of angels or men; the stones were made and formed by God into the shape they were; and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables; 

¹⁷ And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, “There is a noise of war in the camp.” — Joshua had waited upon the middle of the mount for Moses, and so knew neither what the people had done, nor heard what God had said to Moses;

— and when Joshua heard the noise of the people, as they shouted; dancing about the calf: when Moses went up into the mount, Joshua went with him, and tarried in a middle part of the mount all the forty days until he returned;

¹⁸ And Moses said, “It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome; but the noise of them that sing do I hear.” — but the noise of them that sing do I hear; as at a merry entertainment; Moses, who knew what the children of Israel had done, and what they were about, could better judge of the nature of the sound he heard than Joshua could, who knew nothing of what was transacting;

¹⁹ And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing; and Moses’ anger waxed hot, and he cast the tablets out of his hands and broke them beneath the mount. — and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount of Sinai; at the foot of it:

— he brought the tables, told them what they were, and writing them with his own fingers, engraving them himself on such tables of stone; and then broke them to pieces, to denote that they had broken these laws, and deserved to be broke in pieces and destroyed themselves; and this he did before their eyes;

²⁰ And he took the calf which they had made and burned it in the fire and ground it to powder, and strewed it upon the water and made the children of Israel drink of it. — ground it to powder; melted it either into one great mass, or rather into divers little fragments, which afterwards by a the or other instruments he, by the help of many others, might soon grind to powder, or dust of gold.

²¹ And Moses said unto Aaron, “What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them?” — and Moses said unto Aaron; having destroyed the calf, and thereby expressed his abhorrence of their idolatry, he examines the cause and reason of it; and begins with Aaron, though his own brother, with whom he had committed the government of the people during his absence; —

²² And Aaron said, “Let not the anger of my lord wax hot. Thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief. — and Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot; Aaron cuts a poor figure, making a shuffling excuse and betraying more dread of the anger of Moses than of the Lord.

²³ For they said unto me, ‘Make us gods which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what has become of him.’ — we wot not what is become of him; their words because they carried in them some reflection on Moses for staying so long in the mount;

— and as if that contributed much to this affair, and which put the people on forming such a scheme, they concluding he must be dead by then, as the Targum of Jonathan says, be consumed in the mountain, by the flaming fire from before the Lord.

²⁴ And I said unto them, ‘Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off.’ So they gave it to me. Then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.” — and there came out this calf; he speaks of it as if the gold became in the form of a calf without any design, or without using any methods to put it in this form; as if done by the work of magic;

— the Targum of Jonathan says,

And I said to them, Whoever hath gold, let him deliver and give it to me; and I cast it into the fire, and Satana entered into it, and there came out of it the similitude of this calf!

²⁵ And when Moses saw that the people were naked (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies), — Moses saw that the people were naked; the obvious meaning of the word פרע, parua (unrestrained) used here; it is the sense they were stripped of their ornament and armour, besides their jewels; and gotten out of control;

²⁶ then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, “Who is on the Lord’S side? Let him come unto me.” And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. — the tribe of Levi, Moses’ own tribe, now distinguished itself by immediately returning to its allegiance and obeying the call to fight on the side of Moses;

²⁷ And he said unto them, “Thus saith the Lord God of Israel: ‘Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.’”

— and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp; not into the tents, where good men might be bemoaning their sins, but throughout the streets, where many were loitering, they showed no sign of any remorse by these idolaters;

— and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour; who were idolaters; none were to be spared on account of relation, friendship or acquaintance.

²⁸ And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses, and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men. — about 3000 men fell by their sword on that day; and if Levi stood the test, how did Aaron escape his penalty?

— the Levites were to slay those of this wickedness; yet escaped being executed but those who openly stood forth; those who persisted in shouting and dancing, after night were dying, even into the morning; these sinners feel secure and jovial in their sin.

²⁹ For Moses had said, “Consecrate yourselves today to the Lord, even every man upon his son and upon his brother, that He may bestow upon you a blessing this day.” — consecrate yourselves; that is, offer a sacrifice, “and make atonement for yourselves before the Lord,” as the Targum of Jonathan says;

³⁰ And it came to pass on the morrow that Moses said unto the people, “Ye have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up unto the Lord. Perhaps I shall make an atonement for your sin.” — and I will go up unto the Lord: on the top of Mount Sinai: and I shall make atonement for your sin; not by any sacrifice offered, but to intercede on their behalf for God to forgive their sin;

³¹ And Moses returned unto the Lord and said, “Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made themselves gods of gold. — Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin; he had labored to show the people the heinous nature of their sin, and to bring them to repentance.

³² Yet now, if Thou wilt forgive their sin — and if not, blot me, I pray Thee, out of Thy book which Thou hast written!” — as a true mediator of his people, Moses was ready to stake his own life for the deliverance of the nation, and not just to live before God himself.

³³ And the Lord said unto Moses, “Whosoever hath sinned against Me, him will I blot out of My book. — whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out: Ezekiel 18:4; “the soul that sinneth, it shall die.”

³⁴ Therefore now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee; behold, Mine angel shall go before thee. Nevertheless in the day when I visit I will visit their sin upon them.”

— my angel shall go before thee; the promise is, as nearly as possible, a repetition of the original one, “Behold, I send an angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared” Exodus 23:20;

³⁵ And the Lord plagued the people, because they made the calf which Aaron made. — the Lord plagued the people, because they made the calf; no immediate judgements were inflicted, but this early lapse into idolatry was always mentioned as an aggravation of their subsequent apostasies;

— the Lord plagued the people; I will visit their sin upon them; when I shall punish them for their other sins, which I foresee they will commit; and I will remember and punish this also.

Posted in Books of Moses

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Q. Could on one unexpected day the Jews bring out the Ark of the Covenant and cause both the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque to collapse?

Exodus 29

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¹ “And this is the thing that thou shalt do unto them to hallow them, to minister unto Me in the priest’s office: Take one young bullock and two rams without blemish, — this is the thing that thou shalt do unto the priests; that is, Aaron and his sons; their consecration had been commanded in the preceding chapter;

² and unleavened bread and cakes unleavened tempered with oil, and wafers unleavened anointed with oil — of wheat flour shalt thou make them — unleavened bread; unleavened bread, as used to be eaten at the time of the Passover, seems to have been required as purer than leavened, since fermentation was viewed as a species of corruption.

³ and thou shalt put them into one basket and bring them in the basket, with the bullock and the two rams. — in the basket, with the bullock and the two rams; along with the bread, cakes, and wafers; ãnd to be brought to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, to the altar, in order to be slain and sacrificed.

⁴ And Aaron and his sons thou shalt bring unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and shalt wash them with water. — and shalt wash Aaron and his sons; water is so natural a symbol of purity, and ablution so apt a representative of the purging from sin; also to signify that they must be clean who bear the vessels and work of the Lord;

⁵ And thou shalt take the garments, and put upon Aaron the coat and the robe of the ephod and the ephod and the breastplate, and gird him with the embroidered girdle of the ephod. — and the robe of the ephod: which was all of blue, and had pomegranates and golden bells at the hem of it; this was put over the broidered coat;

— and the breastplate; with the Urim and Thummim in it, or the twelve precious stones on which were engraven the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, which hung down over the breast by wreathen chains of gold, from the shoulder pieces of the ephod;

⁶ And thou shalt put the miter upon his head and put the holy crown upon the miter. — and Moses shall put the holy crown upon the mitre; the holy crown was a plate of gold or a diadem which had these words, “holiness to the Lord” engraven on it;

— and says the Targum of Jonathan, “And thou shalt set the mitre on his head, and put the diadem upon which is engraven the Name of Holiness upon the mitre;” the mitre was on top of Aaron’s head, and upon his forehead;

⁷ Then shalt thou take the anointing oil, and pour it upon his head and anoint him. — and Moses shall pour the oil upon Aaron’s head, between his eyebrows; and anoint him;

— the Investiture of Aaron’s sons; they do not seem to have been anointed, as Aaron was, by having the holy oil poured upon their heads, but only by having some of it sprinkled upon their garments.

⁹ And thou shalt gird them with girdles, Aaron and his sons, and put the bonnets on them. And the priest’s office shall be theirs for a perpetual statute; and thou shalt consecrate Aaron and his sons. — and thou shall consecrate Aaron and his sons; or “fill the hand of them” that is, with sacrifices to offer for themselves and others;

¹⁰ “And thou shalt cause a bullock to be brought before the tabernacle of the congregation, and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the bullock. — “to be brought before the tabernacle” means outside the tabernacle; and thus the altar was a much larger one;

— and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the bullock; not Aaron first alone, and then his sons, but all together, not one after another;

¹¹ And thou shalt kill the bullock before the Lord by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. — and thou shalt kill the bullock before the Lord; that is, Moses being ordered to do it, who now officiated as a priest; Aaron and his sons not yet completely invested with that office, or thoroughly consecrated to it, yet;

¹² And thou shalt take of the blood of the bullock, and put it upon the horns of the altar with thy finger, and pour all the blood alongside the bottom of the altar. — that some of the victim’s blood should be smeared upon the altar’s horns; and the remainder should be poured at its base;

¹³ And thou shalt take all the fat that covereth the inwards, and the caul that is above the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat that is upon them, and burn them upon the altar.

¹⁴ But the flesh of the bullock and his skin and his dung shalt thou burn with fire outside the camp. It is a sin offering. — shalt thou burn with fire outside the camp; so the Messiah, the antitype, suffered outside the gates of Jerusalem a most painful and shameful death;

¹⁵ “Thou shalt also take one ram, and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram. — and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram; confessing their sins, acknowledging their guilt, and by this act transferring the same to the ram, which was to be a burnt offering, and was typical of the imputation of sin to the Messiah, or the Son of God, the Christ;

¹⁶ And thou shalt slay the ram, and thou shalt take his blood and sprinkle it round about upon the altar. — and thou shall take his blood, and sprinkle it round about upon the altar; the blood being received into a basin, it was not to be put upon the altar with the finger, as the blood of the bullock, but was to be sprinkled probably with a bunch of hyssop, round about upon the altar;

— this may signify that his blood has its virtue and efficacy from that, to make atonement for the sins of men, and to cleanse men from their sins.

¹⁷ And thou shalt cut the ram in pieces, and wash the inwards of him and his legs, and put them on top of his pieces and on top of his head; — and put them unto his pieces, and unto his head; lay them together, so that they might be entirely consumed at once;

¹⁸ and thou shalt burn the whole ram upon the altar. It is a burnt offering unto the Lord: it is a sweet savor, an offering made by fire unto the Lord. — for a smell of sweet savour, or a sweet smelling savour; an offering pleasing to God;

¹⁹ “And thou shalt take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram. —and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands on the head of the ram, as they were to do, and did, upon the head of the other;

²⁰ Then shalt thou kill the ram, and take of his blood and put it upon the tip of the right ear of Aaron, and upon the tip of the right ear of his sons, and upon the thumb of their right hand, and upon the great toe of their right foot, and sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about.

— and put it upon the tip of the right ear of Aaron, and upon the tip of the right ear of his sons; upon the great toe of their right foot, it sanctified their whole walk in life, their “going out,” and their “coming in;” and sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about; as was done with the blood of the other ram;

²¹ And thou shalt take of the blood that is upon the altar and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it upon Aaron and upon his garments, and upon his sons and upon the garments of his sons with him; and he shall be hallowed, and his garments, and his sons and his sons’ garments with him.

²² “Also thou shalt take of the ram the fat, and the rump, and the fat that covereth the inwards, and the caul above the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat that is upon them, and the right shoulder (for it is a ram of consecration),

²³ and one loaf of bread and one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer out of the basket of the unleavened bread that is before the Lord.

²⁴ And thou shalt put all in the hands of Aaron and in the hands of his sons, and shalt wave them for a wave offering before the Lord. — and shalt wave them for a wave offering before the Lord: which was waved or shook to and fro, from east to west, and from north to south, to or before him, whose are the four winds of the world;

— this was done by Moses and Aaron; “both were employed in waving, both the owners and the priest, how? the priest put his hand under the hand of the owner and waved, and in this Aaron and his sons were the owners and Moses the priest.”

²⁵ And thou shalt receive them from their hands, and burn them upon the altar for a burnt offering, for a sweet savor before the Lord. It is an offering made by fire unto the Lord. — for a sweet savour before the Lord; that it might be pleasing and acceptable to him;

²⁶ “And thou shalt take the breast of the ram of Aaron’s consecration, and wave it for a wave offering before the Lord; and it shall be thy part.

²⁷ And thou shalt sanctify the breast of the wave offering and the shoulder of the heave offering, which is waved and which is heaved up, of the ram of the consecration, even of that which is for Aaron and of that which is for his sons.

²⁸ And it shall be Aaron’s and his sons’ by a statute for ever from the children of Israel, for it is a heave offering; and it shall be a heave offering from the children of Israel from the sacrifice of their peace offerings, even their heave offering unto the Lord.

²⁹ “And the holy garments of Aaron shall be his sons’ after him, to be anointed therein and to be consecrated in them. — and the holy garments of Aaron shall be his son’s after him; the son that succeeded him in the priesthood; for the priesthood continued in Aaron’s family by succession, the eldest son being high priest;

³⁰ And that son who is priest in his stead shall put them on seven days, when he cometh into the tabernacle of the congregation to minister in the holy place. — shall put them on seven days; the next successor was to wear the garments seven days running;

³¹ “And thou shalt take the ram of the consecration and boil his flesh in the holy place. — in the courtyard at the door of the tabernacle, where it was both boiled and eaten;

³² And Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram, and the bread that is in the basket by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

³³ And they shall eat those things with which the atonement was made, to consecrate and to sanctify them; but a stranger shall not eat thereof, because they are holy. —but a stranger shall not eat thereof, because they are holy;

— meaning not just one of another nation, but of another family, though an Israelite; the Targum of Jonathan renders it, a profane or common person, a layman, one that was not a priest; who, though he was of the seed of Israel, yet not being of the seed of Aaron, as he might not eat of the above things, because they were devoted to holy uses;

³⁴ And if aught of the flesh of the consecrations or of the bread remain unto the morning, then thou shalt burn the remainder with fire. It shall not be eaten, because it is holy. — it was not to be given to a stranger, nor to be cast to dogs;

³⁵ “And thus shalt thou do unto Aaron and to his sons, according to all things which I have commanded thee. Seven days shalt thou consecrate them. — to make it the more solemn and efficacious, the entire sacrifice and ceremony are to be repeated every day for seven days;

³⁶ And thou shalt offer every day a bullock for a sin offering for atonement; and thou shalt cleanse the altar when thou hast made an atonement for it, and thou shalt anoint it to sanctify it. — and thou shall offer every day a bullock for a sin offering for atonement; that is, every day of the seven days of consecration;

³⁷ Seven days thou shalt make an atonement for the altar and sanctify it; and it shall be an altar most holy. Whatsoever toucheth the altar shall be holy. — whatsoever toucheth the altar shall be holy; that is, must be holy; nothing which is not holy must touch it;

— that such should be holy who were of the sons of Aaron, but of the rest of the people it was not lawful for them to draw nigh; the Targum of Jonathan adds “lest they be burned with the fiery flame which cometh from the holy place.”

³⁸ “Now this is that which thou shalt offer upon the altar: two lambs of the first year, day by day continually. — two lambs day by day continually; which is the daily sacrifice;

³⁹ The one lamb thou shalt offer in the morning, and the other lamb thou shalt offer at evening. — a lamb offered upon the altar every morning, and the other every evening “between the two evenings” hā·‘ar·bā·yim.

⁴⁰ And with the one lamb a tenth part of flour mingled with a fourth part of a hin of beaten oil, and a fourth part of a hin of wine for a drink offering.

⁴¹ And the other lamb thou shalt offer at evening, and shalt do thereto according to the meat offering of the morning and according to the drink offering thereof, for a sweet savor, an offering made by fire unto the Lord.

⁴² “This shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord, where I will meet you to speak there unto thee. — this shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations; to be offered up morning and evening in every age; at “the tabernacle of meeting, where I will meet you.”

⁴³ And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and [the tabernacle] shall be sanctified by My glory. — and there will I meet with the children of Israel; not only with Moses or with Aaron, and his sons, but with the people themselves, by granting them his gracious presence in public ordinances; “and (Israel) shall be sanctified through My glory.”

— “the tabernacle” is added, since they are not in the original; but it makes more sense to substitute the space with Israel, that is, the people that are sanctified by his glory;

⁴⁴ And I will sanctify the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar. I will sanctify also both Aaron and his sons to minister to Me in the priest’s office. — the tabernacle and the altar were sanctified, or set apart for holy uses, as well as cleansed and expiated by sacrifices;

— I will sanctify also both Aaron and his sons, to minister to me in the priest’s office;

⁴⁵ And I will dwell among the children of Israel and will be their God. — I will dwell among the children of Israel; it is the fulfilment of this promise by the presence of the Shekinah within the Tabernacle; will watch over them as a nation, by a peculiar providence;

⁴⁶ And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them. I am the Lord their God. — I am the Lord their God; of which he had given full proof and evidence by what he had done for them, and would yet give more; and to have the Lord our God with the greatest protection and happiness that can be enjoyed.

Exodus 30

The tabernacle, and subsequently the Temple, were arranged in three compartments: the outermost court, which was accessible to all Israelites; the second, which could only be trodden by the priests alone; and the third, where the Shekinah dwelt in solitude, broken only once a year by the foot of the High Priest.

¹ “And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon; of shittim wood shalt thou make it. — an altar to burn incense; not an altar to burn sacrifices: cows bulls, lambs and others; here it is called the incense of spices or perfumes;

² A cubit shall be the length thereof and a cubit the breadth thereof. Foursquare shall it be, and two cubits shall be the height thereof. The horns thereof shall be part of the same. — the main altar outside for sacrifices is much larger, five cubits square and three cubit in height;

³ And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, the top thereof and the sides thereof round about, and the horns thereof; and thou shalt make unto it a crown of gold round about. — the top thereof, and the sides thereof, and the horns thereof: all and each of them were covered with gold; this altar had a top;

⁴ And two golden rings shalt thou make for it under the crown of it, by the two corners thereof; upon the two sides of it shalt thou make it; and they shall be for places for the staves to bear it.

⁵ And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood and overlay them with gold. — and thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood; that is, of the same wood the altar itself was made;

⁶ And thou shalt put it before the veil that is by the ark of the Testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the Testimony, where I will meet with thee. — this altar to burn incense is to be placed in the sanctuary just before the veil; between the candlestick and the table of shewbread, outside the Holy of Holies;

⁷ And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning. When he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it. — Aaron was to burn sweet incense upon this altar every morning and every evening;

⁸ And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at evening, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations. — a perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations; no “strange incense” was to be offered upon it;

⁹ Ye shall offer no strange incense thereon, nor burnt sacrifice, nor meat offering; neither shall ye pour drink offering thereon. — burnt sacrifice and meat offering are offered in another larger altar outside the sancturay;

¹⁰ And Aaron shall make an atonement upon the horns of it once in a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonements. Once in the year shall he make atonement upon it throughout your generations. It is most holy unto the Lord.” — this atonement made on the Day of Atonement; once in the year; the tenth day of the seventh month;

¹¹ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

¹² “When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel according to their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the Lord when thou numberest them, that there be no plague among them when thou numberest them.

— that there be no plague among them; if a man did not feel his need of “ransom,” and gladly pay the small sum at which the ransom was fixed, he would show himself so proud and presumptuous that he might well provoke a Divine “plague,” or punishment;

¹³ This they shall give, every one that passeth among them that are numbered: half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (a shekel is twenty gerahs); a half shekel shall be the offering to the Lord. — king David offended in not demanding payment of this tribute or atonement-tax when he numbered the people.

¹⁴ Every one who passeth among them that are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give an offering unto the Lord.

¹⁵ The rich shall not give more and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when they give an offering unto the Lord to make an atonement for your souls.

¹⁶ And thou shalt take the atonement money of the children of Israel, and shalt appoint it for the service of the tabernacle of the congregation, that it may be a memorial unto the children of Israel before the Lord, to make an atonement for your souls.”

— MSG

God spoke to Moses: “When you take a head count of the Israelites to keep track of them, all must pay an atonement-tax to God for their life at the time of being registered so that nothing bad will happen because of the registration.

“Everyone who gets counted is to give a half-shekel (using the standard Sanctuary shekel of a fifth of an ounce to the shekel)—a half-shekel offering to God. Everyone counted, age twenty and up, is to make the offering to God.

“The rich are not to pay more nor the poor less than the half-shekel offering to God, the atonement-tax for your lives. Take the atonement-tax money from the Israelites and put it to the maintenance of the Tent of Meeting. It will be a memorial fund for the Israelites in honor of God, making atonement for your lives.”

¹⁷ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

¹⁸ “Thou shalt also make a laver of brass, with his foot also of brass, for washing; and thou shalt put it between the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, and thou shalt put water therein. — a round, cauldron-shaped vessel for use by the officiating priests to wash before their entrance on their ministry; and denotes in general the necessity of purity; 

¹⁹ For Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat.

²⁰ When they go into the tabernacle of the congregation, they shall wash with water, that they die not. Or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn offering made by fire unto the Lord,

²¹ so they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they die not. And it shall be a statute for ever to them, even to him and to his seed throughout their generations.”

²² Moreover the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

²³ “Take thou also unto thee principal spices: of pure myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half as much (even two hundred and fifty shekels), and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty shekels, — details and directions are here given for making the holy anointing oil, and the incense to be used in the service of the tabernacle.

²⁴ and of cassia five hundred shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, and of olive oil a hin.

²⁵ And thou shalt make from it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment compound according to the art of the perfumer; it shall be a holy anointing oil.

²⁶ And thou shalt anoint the tabernacle of the congregation therewith, and the ark of the Testimony,

²⁷ and the table and all his vessels, and the candlestick and his vessels, and the altar of incense,

²⁸ and the altar of burnt offering with all his vessels, and the laver and his foot;

²⁹ and thou shalt sanctify them, that they may be most holy. Whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy. — the Targum of Jonathan interprets it of persons that approach these holy places, and things so anointed, shall be sanctified, while others would be consumed, paraphrasing the words thus;

“and consecrate them, and they shall be most holy. Every one of the priests who approacheth to them shall be sanctified; but of the rest of the tribes, (whoever toucheth them) shall be consumed by the fiery flame from before the Lord.”

³⁰ And thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons and consecrate them, that they may minister unto Me in the priest’s office.

³¹ And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, ‘This shall be a holy anointing oil unto Me throughout your generations.

³² Upon man’s flesh shall it not be poured, neither shall ye make any other like it, according to the composition of it. It is holy, and it shall be holy unto you.

³³ Whosoever compoundeth any like it, or whosoever putteth any of it upon a stranger, shall even be cut off from his people.’”

— the word stranger is commonly used to imply the Gentiles, or such as were not an Israelite; but sometimes it indicates those that are not of the priestly line, and is shown here; as the Targum of Jonathan says: one that is not of the seed of Aaron;

³⁴ And the Lord said unto Moses, “Take unto thee sweet spices: stacte and onycha and galbanum; these sweet spices with pure frankincense, of each shall there be a like weight. — various spices: stacte, onycha and galbanum; these sweet spices with pure frankincense; are holy to the Lord;

³⁵ And thou shalt make it a perfume, a confection according to the art of the perfumer, tempered together, pure and holy.

³⁶ And thou shalt beat some of it very small, and put it before the testimony in the tabernacle of the congregation where I will meet with thee; it shall be unto you most holy.

— thou shalt . . . put it before the testimony; some pieces of the incense were to be continually before the ark of the covenant, that is, upon the altar of incense; it was to be put there in order to be burnt, and to be smelled to.

³⁷ And as for the perfume which thou shalt make, ye shall not make it for yourselves according to the composition thereof; it shall be unto thee holy for the Lord. — ye shall not make to yourselves according to the composition thereof; that is, for your own use, for the scenting of your rooms, or to snuff up, or smell to;

³⁸ Whosoever shall make like unto that, to smell thereto, shall even be cut off from his people.” — the recipe for the incense as well as for the oil in the tabernacle “it shall be unto thee holy for the Lord;” that is, are sort off copyrighted by the Most High; anyone who duplicate this recipe and use it for themselves would be put to death.

Posted in Books of Moses

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Q. Could on one unexpected day the Jews bring out the Ark of the Covenant and cause both the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque to collapse?

Exodus 27

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¹ “And thou shalt make an altar of shittim wood, five cubits long and five cubits broad; the altar shall be foursquare, and the height thereof shall be three cubits. — ñot of gold but of brass; the height thereof shall be three cubits; a proper height for a man to minister at;

² And thou shalt make the horns of it upon the four corners thereof. His horns shall be of the same, and thou shalt overlay it with brass. — his horns shall be of the same; these horns were projections pointing upward in the form either of a small obelisk, or of the horn of an ox; they were projections at the four top comers, probably not unlike the horns of bulls, whence their name; the length of the horns is not specified;

³ And thou shalt make his pans to receive his ashes, and his shovels and his basins and his fleshhooks and his firepans. All the vessels thereof thou shalt make of brass. — and his basins: to receive the blood of the sacrifice, and out of which it was sprinkled, as the word signifies, and may be rendered sprinkling basin;

— and his fire pans; which were a kind of censers in which coals of fire were taken off from the altar of burnt offering, and carried to the altar of incense, all the vessels thereof thou shalt make of brass; as being fittest for the use of this altar.

⁴ And thou shalt make for it a grate, a network of brass; and upon the network shalt thou make four brazen rings at the four corners thereof.

⁵ And thou shalt put it under the rim of the altar beneath, that the network may be even to the middle of the altar.

⁶ And thou shalt make staves for the altar, staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with brass.

⁷ And the staves shall be put into the rings, and the staves shall be upon the two sides of the altar to bear it.

⁸ Hollow with boards shalt thou make it. As it was shown thee on the mount, so shall they make it.

⁹ “And thou shalt make the court of the tabernacle: For the south side southward there shall be hangings for the court of fine twined linen of a hundred cubits long for one side.

¹⁰ And the twenty pillars thereof and their twenty sockets shall be of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets shall be of silver.

¹¹ And likewise for the north side, in length there shall be hangings of a hundred cubits long, and his twenty pillars with their twenty sockets of brass, and the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver.

¹² And for the breadth of the court on the west side shall be hangings of fifty cubits, their pillars ten and their sockets ten.

¹³ And the breadth of the court on the east side eastward shall be fifty cubits.

¹⁴ The hangings on one side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits, their pillars three and their sockets three.

¹⁵ And on the other side shall be hangings of fifteen cubits, their pillars three and their sockets three.

¹⁶ And for the gate of the court shall be a hanging of twenty cubits of blue and purple and scarlet, and fine twined linen wrought with needlework; and their pillars shall be four and their sockets four.

¹⁷ All the pillars round about the court shall be filleted with silver; their hooks shall be of silver and their sockets of brass.

¹⁸ The length of the court shall be a hundred cubits, and the breadth fifty everywhere, and the height five cubits of fine twined linen, and their sockets of brass.

¹⁹ All the vessels of the tabernacle for all the service thereof, and all the pins thereof, and all the pins of the court, shall be of brass.

²⁰ “And thou shalt command the children of Israel that they bring thee pure oil of beaten olives for the light to cause the lamp to burn always.

²¹ In the tabernacle of the congregation outside the veil, which is before the Testimony, Aaron and his sons shall tend it from evening (‘ereḇ) to morning before the Lord (יְהוָ֑ה). It shall be a statute for ever unto their generations on behalf of the children of Israel.

Exodus 28

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¹ “And take thou unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister unto Me in the priest’s office, even Aaron, with Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons.

² And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, for glory and for beauty.

³ And thou shalt speak unto all who are wisehearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron’s garments to consecrate him, that he may minister unto Me in the priest’s office.

⁴ And these are the garments which they shall make: a breastplate and an ephod, and a robe and an embroidered coat, a miter and a girdle; and they shall make holy garments for Aaron thy brother and his sons, that he may minister unto Me in the priest’s office.

⁵ “And they shall take gold and blue and purple and scarlet, and fine linen;

⁶ and they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue and of purple, of scarlet and fine twined linen, with skillful work.

⁷ It shall have the two shoulder pieces thereof joined at the two edges thereof, and so it shall be joined together.

⁸ And the embroidered girdle of the ephod which is upon it shall be of the same, according to the work thereof: even of gold, of blue and purple and scarlet and fine twined linen.

⁹ And thou shalt take two onyx stones, and engrave on them the names of the children of Israel:

¹⁰ six of their names on one stone, and the other six names of the rest on the other stone, according to their birth.

¹¹ With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet, shalt thou engrave the two stones with the names of the children of Israel. Thou shalt make them to be set in clasps of gold.

¹² And thou shalt put the two stones upon the shoulders of theephod for stones of memorial unto the children of Israel; and Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord upon his two shoulders for a memorial.

¹³ And thou shalt make clasps of gold,

¹⁴ and two chains of pure gold at the ends; of wreathed work shalt thou make them, and fasten the wreathed chains to the clasps.

¹⁵ “And thou shalt make the breastplate of judgment with skillful work; according to the work of the ephod thou shalt make it: of gold, of blue and of purple, and of scarlet and of finetwined linen shalt thou make it.

¹⁶ Foursquare it shall be, and doubled: a span shall be the length thereof and a span shall be the breadth thereof.

¹⁷ And thou shalt set in it settings of stones, even four rows of stones: the first row shall be a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle; this shall be the first row.

¹⁸ And the second row shall be an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond;

¹⁹ and the third row a ligure, an agate, and an amethyst;

²⁰ and the fourth row a beryl and an onyx and a jasper. They shall be set in gold in their enclosings.

²¹ And the stones shall be with the names of the children of Israel, twelve according to their names, like the engravings of a signet; every one with his name shall they be according to the twelve tribes.

²² And thou shalt make upon the breastplate chains at the ends, of wreathed work of pure gold.

²³ And thou shalt make upon the breastplate two rings of gold, and shalt put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate.

²⁴ And thou shalt put the two wreathed chains of gold in the two rings which are on the ends of the breastplate.

²⁵ And the other two ends of the two wreathed chains thou shalt fasten in the two clasps, and put them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod at the front of it.

²⁶ And thou shalt make two rings of gold, and thou shalt put them upon the two ends of the breastplate in the border thereof, which is on the inner side of the ephod.

²⁷ And two other rings of gold thou shalt make, and shalt put them on the two sides of the ephod underneath, toward the forepart thereof, over against the other coupling thereof, above the embroidered girdle of the ephod.

²⁸ And they shall bind the breastplate by the rings thereof unto the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it may be above the embroidered girdle of the ephod, and that the breastplate be not loosed from the ephod.

²⁹ And Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel on the breastplate of judgment upon his heart when he goeth in unto the holy place, for a memorial before the Lord continually.

³¹ “And thou shalt make the robe of the ephod all of blue;

³² and there shall be a hole in the top of it, in the middle thereof. It shall have a binding of woven work round about the hole of it, as it were the hole of a jacket of mail, that it be not rent.

³³ And beneath upon the hem of it thou shalt make pomegranates of blue and of purple and of scarlet round about the hem thereof, and bells of gold between them round about:

³⁴ a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe round about.

³⁵ And it shall be upon Aaron when he ministers; and his sound shall be heard when he goeth in unto the holy place before the Lord and when he cometh out, that he die not.

³⁶ “And thou shalt make a plate of pure gold and engrave upon it, like the engravings of a signet: Holiness to the Lord.

³⁷ And thou shalt put it on a blue lace, that it may be upon the miter; upon the forefront of the miter it shall be. — a mitre is a type of a headgear, a turban, almost like an imperial crown.

³⁸ And it shall be upon Aaron’s forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things which the children of Israel shall hallow in all their holy gifts. And it shall be always upon his forehead, that they may be accepted before the Lord.

³⁹ “And thou shalt embroider the coat of fine linen, and thou shalt make the miter of fine linen, and thou shalt make the girdle of needlework.

⁴⁰ “And for Aaron’s sons thou shalt make coats, and thou shalt make for them girdles, and bonnets shalt thou make for them, for glory and for beauty.

⁴¹ And thou shalt put them upon Aaron thy brother and his sons with him; and shalt anoint them and consecrate them and sanctify them, that they may minister unto Me in the priest’s office.

⁴² And thou shalt make them linen breeches to cover their nakedness; from the loins even unto the thighs they shall reach.

⁴³ And they shall be upon Aaron and upon his sons when they come in unto the tabernacle of the congregation, or when they come near unto the altar to minister in the holy place, that they bear not iniquity and die. It shall be a statute for ever unto him and his seed after him.

Posted in Books of Moses

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Exodus 25

¹ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, — when on the mount, and in the midst of the cloud with him;

² “Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring Me an offering. From every man who giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take My offering. — of every man that giveth it willingly, with his heart, ye shall take my offering; or take what was offered to him, be it more or less, and of whatsoever person, high and low, rich and poor, so be it it is freely given from the heart;

³ And this is the offering which ye shall take from them: gold and silver and brass; — gold, and silver, and brass; the supply of these metals possessed by the Israelites at this time probably included what they had inherited from their forefathers, what they had obtained from the Egyptians, and what may have been found amongst the spoils of the Amalekites;

⁴ and blue and purple and scarlet, and fine linen and goats’ hair; — these are to be made into yarn, and wove, and was much used in the garments of the priests, in the curtains of the tabernacle, and in the vail between the holy and the most holy place;

⁵ and rams’ skins dyed red, and badgers’ skins, and shittim wood; — and rams’ skins died red; of these were made a covering for the tent or tabernacle; other materials enough to furnish planks for the construction of the ark;

⁶ oil for the light, spices for anointing oil and for sweet incense; — oil for the light; such is needed that the “sanctuary,” which is to be built, will be lighted; that anointing oil will be needed, and that spices will be a necessary ingredient in such oil;

⁷ onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod and in the breastplate. — and stones to be set in the ephod, and in the breastplate; two onyx stones were set in the ephod, one of the garments of the high priest, and an onyx stone, with eleven other precious stones, were set in the breastplate of the high priest:

— these stones were doubtless among the jewels set in gold and silver the Israelites had of the Egyptians, and brought with them out of Egypt.

⁸ And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them. — and let them make me a sanctuary; an holy place to dwell in, and so called from his dwelling in it;

— that I may dwell among them; the purpose of the sanctuary is here definitely declared by the Lord Himself. It was to be the constant witness of His presence among His people.

⁹ According to all that I show thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it. — the sanctuary is to be constructed in accordance with a model shown to Moses in the mount, which he must conform to in all points.

¹⁰ “And they shall make an ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof. — the ark of the covenant was the central point of the sanctuary; it was designed to contain the testimony; others are the table of shew-bread, and the seven-branched candlestick, or lamp-stand;

¹¹ And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold; within and without shalt thou overlay it, and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about. — within and without shalt thou overlay it; so that nothing of the wood could be seen;

¹² And thou shalt cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in the four corners thereof; and two rings shall be on the one side of it, and two rings on the other side of it. — four rings of gold; though the ark was not to be carried in procession, like some pagan arks, yet it would have to be carried when the Israelites resumed their journeyings.

¹³ And thou shalt make staves of shittim wood and overlay them with gold.

¹⁴ And thou shalt put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, that the ark may be borne with them. — that the ark might be borne with them; which staves overlaid with gold, and put into golden rings;

¹⁵ The staves shall be in the rings of the ark; they shall not be taken from it. — the staves were to remain always in the rings, whether the ark was in motion or at rest; that there might never at any time be a necessity for touching the ark itself, or even the rings. He who touched the ark risked his life;

¹⁶ And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee. — the stone tables of the Ten Commandments are called the Testimony, or the tables of the Testimony;

¹⁷ “And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof. — a mercy seat of pure gold, to serve as a lid, covering it exactly.

¹⁸ And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold; of beaten work shalt thou make them at the two ends of the mercy seat. — the cherubim were fixed to the mercy-seat, and of a piece with it, and spread their wings over it; they stretched out their wings, and their faces were turned towards the mercy seat;

¹⁹ And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end; even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof. — they were made not only of the same kind of metal with that, but out of the same mass or lump of gold, a lid of gold being made commensurate to the ark, what remained above that measure, at the ends of it, were beaten and formed into two cherubim.

²⁰ And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another. Toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be. — the two wings of both cherubs were to be elevated and advanced so as to overshadow the mercy seat, and, as it were, protect it.

²¹ And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. — and thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; over it, as a covering for it: this situation of the mercy seat above the ark; 

²² And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the Testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel. — and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim; hence the Lord is frequently described as “dwelling between the cherubim;”

— the theocracy was to be a government by God in reality. There was to be constant “communing” between God and the earthly ruler of the nation, and therefore a place of communing.

²³ “Thou shalt also make a table of shittim wood: two cubits shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof. — a table was to be made of wood, overlaid with gold, to stand in the outer tabernacle, to be always furnished with the shew-bread.

²⁴ And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, and make thereto a crown of gold round about. — a crown of gold round about; that is, on both sides and at both ends; and a border, or edging of gold, something to prevent what was placed on the table from readily falling off.

²⁵ And thou shalt make unto it a border of a handbreadth round about, and thou shalt make a golden crown for the border thereof round about. — and thou shalt make a golden crown to the border thereof round about; this was not the same spoke of in the former verse;

— but another; that was above, and upon the table, this below and under it; or rather that was, as it may be better expressed, a lip, rim, or border, that went round within the table; and this crown, surrounded that on the edge of it.

²⁶ And thou shalt make for it four rings of gold, and put the rings in the four corners that are on the four feet thereof. — and put the rings in the four corners that are on the four feet thereof; as there were four feet at the four corners of the table, to each foot a ring was fastened; the use of these follows.

²⁷ Over against the border shall the rings be for places for the staves to bear the table. — shall the rings be for placing of the staves to bear the table; into these rings staves were to be put, to carry the table from place to place, as while in the wilderness, and before the tabernacle had a fixed settled place for it.

²⁸ And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood and overlay them with gold, that the table may be borne with them. — and thou shall make the staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold; in like manner as the staves for the ark, and which were made of the same wood;

²⁹ And thou shalt make the dishes thereof and spoons thereof and covers thereof and bowls thereof for pouring; of pure gold shalt thou make them. — all the above said vessels were to be made of pure gold;

³⁰ And thou shalt set upon the table showbread before Me always. — the Hebrew expression translated “showbread” is literally, “bread of face,” or “bread of presence”—bread, that is, which was set forth always before the presence of God;

³¹ “And thou shalt make a candlestick of pure gold; of beaten work shall the candlestick be made: his shaft and his branches, his bowls, his buds, and his flowers shall be of the same. — a lampstand rather than a candlestick; its purpose was to support seven oil-lamps. Its height appears to have been about three feet, and its width two feet. 

³² And six branches shall come out of the sides of it: three branches of the candlestick out of the one side, and three branches of the candlestick out of the other side. — from the sides of the candlestick, that is, of the upright stem in the middle, there were to be six branches, three on either side;

— added to one in the middle, there would be seven candlesticks; representing the seven true Churches of God of Revelation 2 and 3; they are “true” Churches despite their weaknesses and limitations;

³³ Three bowls made like unto almonds with a bud and a flower on one branch, and three bowls made like almonds on the other branch with a bud and a flower — so for the six branches that come out of the candlestick. — there were three bowls or cups in the form of almond nuts to each branch, which were probably to hold oil for the lamps;

³⁴ And on the candlestick shall be four bowls made like unto almonds, with their buds and their flowers. — and in the candlestick shall be four bowls; that is, in the trunk or body of it; the branches had but three apiece, made like unto almonds, with their knops and their flowers; as the bowls on the branches had with them;

³⁵ And there shall be a bud under two branches of the same, and a bud under two branches of the same, and a bud under two branches of the same, according to the six branches that proceed out of the candlestick.

— and there shall be a knop under two branches of the same; that is, from the middle of the knop, which probably was like a pomegranate; this clause is repeated twice in this verse, signifying there should be a knop under each of the three branches on one side, and three on the other side;

— the buds signify a living significance, each growing from something small into something big; such is a parallel with the mustard seed, the Kingdom of God, which will grow into an enormous Kingdom.

He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. 

Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches” Matthew 13:31-21

³⁶ Their buds and their branches shall be of the same. All of it shall be one beaten work of pure gold. — their knops and their branches shall be of the same; of the same metal, gold; that is, of the same highest quality of substance or essence, like gold is;

³⁷ And thou shalt make the seven lamps thereof; and they shall light the lamps thereof, that they may give light over the face of it. — the candlestick represents the light of God’s word; his seven Churches, as light to the world,

³⁸ And the tongs thereof and the snuff dishes thereof shall be of pure gold; — tongs, trays and snuffers thereof shall be of pure gold; but snuff-dishes; these were shallow vessels used to receive the burnt fragments of wick removed by the tongs.

³⁹ of a talent of pure gold shall he make it, with all these vessels. — the signification of the seven-armed candlestick is apparent from its purpose, viz., to carry seven lamps, which were trimmed and filled with oil every morning, and lighted every evening, and were to burn throughout the night.

⁴⁰ And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shown thee on the mount. — the symbolical character of the candlestick is clearly indicated in the Scriptures. The prophet Zechariah (Zechariah 4:1-14) sees a golden candlestick with seven lamps and two olive-trees, one on either side, from which the oil-vessel is supplied;

— and the angel who is talking with him informs him that the olive-trees are the two representatives of the kingdom and priesthood, the divinely appointed organs through which the Spirit of God was communicated to the covenant nation;

— and in Revelation 1:20, the seven churches, that is, the Church, which would proceed to represent the Kingdom of God, are shown to the holy seer in the form of seven candlesticks standing before the throne of God.

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Exodus 26

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¹ “Moreover thou shalt make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue and purple and scarlet. With cherubims of the work of a skilled embroiderer shalt thou make them. — with ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet; the ground of these curtains was fine linen, twined or doubled;

² The length of one curtain shall be eight and twenty cubits, and the breadth of one curtain four cubits; and every one of the curtains shall have one measure. — and everyone of the curtains shall have one measure; be of equal length and breadth, that is, the same with all the other curtains.

³ The five curtains shall be coupled together one to another, and other five curtains shall be coupled one to another. — the five curtains shall be coupled together one to another, so as to form two grand divisions, each eleven yards wide.

⁴ And thou shalt make loops of blue upon the edge of the one curtain from the selvage in the coupling, and likewise shalt thou do on the uttermost edge of another curtain, in the coupling of the second. — at the coupling; that is, at the selvedge, nearest to the place where the two curtains were to be coupled together.

⁵ Fifty loops shalt thou make in the one curtain, and fifty loops shalt thou make on the edge of the curtain that is in the coupling of the second, that the loops may take hold one to another.

⁶ And thou shalt make fifty clasps of gold, and couple the curtains together with the clasps; and it shall be one tabernacle.

⁷ “And thou shalt make curtains of goats’ hair to be a covering upon the tabernacle; eleven curtains shalt thou make. — curtains of goats’ hair; the flower or down of goats, the softer and finer part of their hair,

⁸ The length of one curtain shall be thirty cubits, and the breadth of one curtain four cubits; and the eleven curtains shall be all the same measure.

⁹ And thou shalt couple five curtains by themselves and six curtains by themselves, and shalt double the sixth curtain at the forefront of the tabernacle. — the Tent over the Dwelling, consisting of eleven curtains of cloth made of goats’ hair, each 30 cubits long, and 4 cubits wide, fastened together so as to form a single large curtain, 30 cubits broad, and 44 cubits long.

¹⁰ And thou shalt make fifty loops on the edge of the one curtain that is outmost in the coupling, and fifty loops on the edge of the curtain which coupleth the second.

¹¹ “And thou shalt make fifty clasps of brass, and put the clasps into the loops, and couple the tent together, that it may be one.

¹² And the remnant that remaineth of the curtains of the tent, the half curtain that remaineth, shall hang over the backside of the tabernacle.

¹³ And a cubit on the one side and a cubit on the other side, of that which remaineth of the length of the curtains of the tent, shall hang over the sides of the tabernacle on this side and on that side to cover it.

¹⁴ And thou shalt make a covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed red, and a covering above of badgers’ skins. — and a covering above of badgers’ skins; this was a fourth covering of the tabernacle; the first was of linen curtains, the second of goats’ hair, the third of rams’ skins, and the fourth of badgers’ skins, which seems to have been thicker and courser, since shoes were made of them;

¹⁵ “And thou shalt make boards for the tabernacle of shittim wood standing upright.

¹⁶ Ten cubits shall be the length of a board, and a cubit and a half shall be the breadth of one board.

¹⁷ Two tenons shall there be in one board, set in order to join one to another. Thus shalt thou make for all the boards of the tabernacle.

¹⁸ And thou shalt make the boards for the tabernacle, twenty boards for the south side southward.

¹⁹ And thou shalt make forty sockets of silver under the twenty boards: two sockets under one board for his two tenons, and two sockets under another board for his two tenons.

²⁰ And for the second side of the tabernacle on the north side, there shall be twenty boards

²¹ and their forty sockets of silver: two sockets under one board and two sockets under another board.

²² And for the sides of the tabernacle westward, thou shalt make six boards.

²³ And two boards shalt thou make for the corners of the tabernacle at the two sides.

²⁴ And they shall be coupled together beneath, and they shall be coupled together above the head of it into one ring. Thus shall it be for them both; they shall be for the two corners.

²⁵ And there shall be eight boards with their sockets of silver, sixteen sockets: two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board.

²⁶ “And thou shalt make bars of shittim wood: five for the boards of the one side of the tabernacle,

²⁷ and five bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the side of the tabernacle, for the two sides westward.

²⁸ And the middle bar in the midst of the boards shall reach from end to end.

²⁹ And thou shalt overlay the boards with gold, and make their rings of gold for places for the bars; and thou shalt overlay the bars with gold.

³⁰ And thou shalt raise up the tabernacle according to the fashion thereof which was shown thee on the mount.

³¹ “And thou shalt make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet, and finetwined linen of skillful work; with cherubims shall it be made.

³² And thou shalt hang it upon four pillars of shittim wood overlaid with gold; their hooks shall be of gold, upon the four sockets of silver.

³³ And thou shalt hang up the veil under the clasps, that thou mayest bring in thither within the veil the ark of the Testimony; and the veil shall divide unto you between the holy place and the Most Holy.

³⁴ And thou shalt put the mercy seat upon the ark of the Testimony in the Most Holy Place.

³⁵ And thou shalt set the table outside the veil, and the candlestick opposite the table on the side of the tabernacle toward the south; and thou shalt put the table on the north side.

³⁶ “And thou shalt make a hanging for the door of the tent of blue and purple and scarlet and finetwined linen, wrought with needlework.

³⁷ And thou shalt make for the hanging five pillars of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold, and their hooks shall be of gold; and thou shalt cast five sockets of brass for them.

Posted in Books of Moses

The cases mentioned in previous chapters and below, give rules of justice for the Israelites then, and the British developed their common law from there, and is still in use for deciding similar matters in many of the Commonwealth of Nations.

We are taught by these laws, that we must be very careful to do no wrong, either directly or indirectly. If we have done wrong, we must be very willing to make it good, and be desirous that nobody may lose by our wrong doing.

Exodus 23

¹ “Thou shalt not raise a false report. Put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness. — thou shalt not raise a false report, a false accusation; of a neighbour, or of any man whatever, either secretly by private slanders, whispers, backbiting or tale bearing;

— and here with some parallels from Proverbs:

¹⁶ These six things doth the Lord hate, yea, seven are an abomination unto Him:
¹⁷ a proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,
¹⁸ a heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,
¹⁹ a false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren. Proverbs 6:16–19

² Thou shalt not follow the multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause, following many, to divert judgment. — sometimes we cannot avoid hearing a false report, slanders, whispers, backbiting or tale bearing, but we must not hear it with pleasure, nor easily give credit to it;

— a judge is not to be influenced by names or numbers in giving his judgement, but to judge according to the truth of the matter, as they appear to him; that is, in judging a cause, thou shalt not simply go with the majority, if it bents on injustice, but form your own opinion and adhere to it.

³ Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause. — neither shalt thou countenance; Hebrew, honour or favour; a poor man in his cause; thus we are properly cautioned against an opposite error which we may be also in danger of falling into, that of respecting the poor man’s cause, out of pity and compassion, when the cause of the other man is more just;

⁴ “If thou meet thine enemy’s ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again. — thou shalt surely bring it back to him; so far shalt thou be from revenging his injuries, that thou shalt render good to him, whereby if thou dost not reconcile him, thou wilt at least procure peace to thyself, and an honour to yourself.

⁵ If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him. — verses 4 & 5 version from MSG:

“If you find your enemy’s ox or donkey loose, take it back to him. If you see the donkey of someone who hates you lying helpless under its load, don’t walk off and leave it. Help it up.

⁶ “Thou shalt not divert the judgment from thy poor in his cause. — a judge should beware, lest through motives of compassion, or an affectation of popularity, he be biassed in favour of the poor; or, on the other hand, he must not despise a man because he is poor and without friends;

⁷ Keep thee far from a false matter, and the innocent and righteous slay thou not; for I will not justify the wicked. — keep thee far from a false matter; hold aloof, that is, from anything like a false accusation;

— neither bring one, nor countenance one, else those mayest cause the death of an innocent and righteous man, and bring down on thyself the vengeance of him, who will not justify the wicked.

⁸ And thou shalt take no bribe, for the bribe blindeth the wise and perverteth the words of the righteous. — a bribe perverts the words of the righteous; either the sentences of judges, as a gift perverts their judgment, and they give a wrong decree.

⁹ “Also thou shalt not oppress a stranger; for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. — this verse is a repetition of Exodus 22:21, but the precept is there addressed to the people at large, while it is here addressed to the judges in reference to their official duties.

¹⁰ “And six years thou shalt sow thy land and shalt gather in the fruits thereof, — six years . . . the seventh year; the land Sabbatical year which is commanded here was an institution wholly unknown to any nation but the Hebrews.

¹¹ but the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie still, that the poor of thy people may eat; and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard and with thy olive trees. — that the poor of thy people may eat: that which grows up of itself;

— in like manner thou shall deal with thy vineyard, and with thy oliveyard; that is, these were not to be pruned, nor the grapes and olives gathered;

— the 70 years the Kingdom of Judea went into captivity in Babylon is due to their 490 years negligence of keeping the land Sabbath according to II Chronicles 36:19-21:

And I will scatter you among the nations, and will draw out a sword after you; and your land shall be desolate and your cities waste.

“‘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” Leviticus 26:33-34

¹² “Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest, that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid and the stranger may be refreshed. — the law of the weekly Sabbath is here repeated in conjunction with that of the Sabbatical year, to mark the intimate connection between the two, which were parts of one and the same system;

¹³ And in all things that I have said unto you be circumspect; and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth. — and in all things that I have said unto you, be circumspect; or be careful to keep them punctually and constantly;

— and make no mention of the name of other gods; neither call upon them, nor swear by them, nor make vows to them; but view them with the utmost detestation and abhorrence;

¹⁴ “Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto Me in the year. — this is the first mention of the three yearly Festivals: the feast of Unleavened bread, in its connection with the Paschal Lamb, is spoken of in Exodus 12 to Exodus 13: but the two others are first named here.

¹⁵ Thou shalt keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, at the time appointed in the month of Abib, for in it thou camest out from Egypt; and none shall appear before Me empty), — the Feast of Unleavened Bread, or the Passover, see Exodus 12:1-20, Exodus 12:43-50; Exodus 13:3-16; Exodus 34:18-20; Leviticus 23:4-14;

— the Feast of Unleavened Bread, or sometimes call the Passover, is a composite Feast of seven days, not two separate feasts; the killing of the Passover is on the fourteenth of Abib, but the eating, with unleavened bread, is on the fifteenth;

— for more, see What time is ben ha arbayim?

¹⁶ and the Feast of Harvest, the firstfruits of thy labors which thou hast sown in the field, and the Feast of Ingathering, which is at the end of the year when thou hast gathered in thy labors out of the field.— “the feast of harvest,” fiftieth day after the day after Passover, or Pentecost; and the Feast of Ingathering, or Feast of Booths, or Tabernacles; and none shall appear before me empty;

¹⁷ Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord God. — three times in the year all thy males, but do not prohibit the inclusion of women and boys, shall appear before the Lord; later it was revealed by God’s prophets to be in the city of Jerusalem;

¹⁸ “Thou shalt not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the fat of My sacrifice remain until the morning. — the fat of my sacrifice; the fat of my feast; the fat of the Paschal lambs was burnt on the altar with incense the same evening; thus the whole lamb was consumed before the morning.

¹⁹ “The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the Lord thy God. “Thou shalt not boil a kid in his mother’s milk. — the Targum of Jonathan says, “you are not permitted to dress or to eat of flesh and milk mingled together.”

²⁰ “Behold, I send an angel before thee to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. — an angel is to guide Israel on its journey to Canaan or Judea and Samaria: his instructions must be received with the same respect and fear as those of God Himself; for Yehovah will Himself be speaking in him.

²¹ Have regard for him, and obey his voice. Provoke him not, for he will not pardon your transgressions, for My name is in him. — beware of him and obey his voice; hearken to what he says, and readily obey as he orders: provoke him not; by unbelief, by murmurings and complaint; observe his directions and instructions, laws and commands;

— for My name is in him; God as Elohim (Exodus 21:6) and His Name Yehovah are in the Scriptures almost convertible terms. He said His Name could even been in a man, like Moses representing God to Pharaoh (Exodus 7:1), or as judges to Israel (Exodus 21:6);

— also, the Father is in the Son, and the Son in the Father; the nature and perfections of God are in the Word and Son of God, and so his name Yehovah, which is peculiar to him; Christ is also Yehovah our saviour and redeemer;

²² But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries. — and do all that I speak; by him; or whatsoever he had spoke, or was about to speak; for as yet all the laws and statutes were not delivered;

— then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries; which they should either meet with in their passage through the wilderness of Sinai, or when they came into the land of Canaan; or even the land between the Nile and the Euphrates (Genesis 15);

²³ For Mine angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites and the Hittites, and the Perizzites and the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites; and I will cut them off. — and I will cut them off; and I, not the Israelites, will cut them off; but these words are conditional, on the basis that they keep the laws and statutes of God, “if they followed Him and hearkened to His voice.”

²⁴ Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their works; but thou shalt utterly overthrow them and quite break down their images. — thou shalt not bow down nor serve them, that is, give them neither outward worship with thy body, nor inward with thy mind, nor follow their numerous worship of idols.

²⁵ And ye shall serve the Lord your God, and He shall bless thy bread and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee. — take sickness away; half the sicknesses from which men suffer are directly caused by sin, and would disappear if men led godly, righteous, and sober lives. Others, as plague and pestilence, are scourges sent by God to punish those who have offended Him.

²⁶ None shall cast their young nor be barren in thy land; the number of thy days I will fulfill. — there shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren; abortions, untimely births, and barrenness, when they exceeded a certain average, were always reckoned among signs of God’s displeasure;

— the number of thy days I will fulfil; which was fixed for each of them; bless them in the land with bountiful provision, health, fruitfulness, and length of life; in the days of Moses, and even today, was threescore years and ten, or fourscore;

²⁷ “I will send My fear before thee and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee. — I will send my fear before thee; and they that fear will soon flee: I, not the children of Israel, will strike a terror into the inhabitants of Canaan, which shall facilitate their conquest;

²⁸ And I will send hornets before thee which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite from before thee. — I will send hornets before thee; these words are to be taken literally, for hornets, which are a sort of wasps, whose stings are very penetrating and venomous;

— or may be interpreted either figuratively, and so may signify the same as fear before which should fall on the Canaanites upon hearing the Israelites were coming;

— which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee; which three are mentioned instead of the rest, probably they were more infested and distressed with the hornets, and drove out of their land before the children of Israel arrival.

²⁹ I will not drive them out from before thee in one year, lest the land become desolate and the beast of the field multiply against thee. — lest the land should become desolate, there being an insufficient population to keep down the weeds and maintain the tillage;

³⁰ Little by little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased and inherit the land. — until thou be increased, and inherit the land; for as their enemies were driven out gradually, by little and little,

— so the Iseaelites multiplied gradually, until at length they became a sufficient number to fill all the cities and towns in all the nations of Canaan, and take an entire possession of it, as their inheritance given unto them by God.

³¹ And I will set thy bounds from the Red Sea even unto the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and thou shalt drive them out before thee. — and thou shalt drive them out before thee; someitimes at once, “driven out” rather than exterminated, sometimes slowly by degrees, as often observed.

³² Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods. — thou shalt make no covenant with them; that is, no peace treaty; as to take them to be their allies and friends; but they were always to consider them as their enemies, no arrangement by which one part of the land shall be thine and another theirs;

— the Egypt–Israel peace treaty and the Oslo Accords are thus a violation of the above, but could only appeal to men;

³³ They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against Me; for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee.” — they shall not dwell in thy land; they will surely be a snare unto thee: idolatry would be the cause of their ruin and destruction.

Exodus 24

¹ And He said unto Moses, “Come up unto the Lord, thou and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship ye afar off. — seventy of the elders; these are not the “judges” of Exodus 18:21-26, who were not yet appointed; but were heads of tribes and families who had exercised authority over the Israelites in Egypt;

² And Moses alone shall come near the Lord; but they shall not come nigh, neither shall the people go up with him.” — neither shall the people go up with him to any part of the mount;

³ And Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the judgments; and all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words which the Lord hath said will we do.” — all the words which the Lord hath said will we do: this they readily and hastily promise, because they were not aware of their own weakness, and because they did not understand the comprehensiveness and rigidity of God’s law.

⁴ And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord, and rose up early in the morning and built an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel. — and Moses wrote the words of the Lord; that there might be no mistake; as God dictated them on the mount;

— the words Moses wrote were in Paleo-Hebrew alphabet; not modern Hebrew; and Moses wrote them without vowels, without spaces, and without any punctuations. To explore more on this subject, see What are the Oracles of God? Part I, Part II;

⁵ And he sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the Lord. — and he sent young men of the children Israel; to the altar under the hill, they were the firstborn of the children of Israel; and so the Targum of Jonathan says;

⁶ And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. — and Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basins; this he put into basins, and set by, in order to sprinkle on the people;

— and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar; to atone for the people: as the Targum of Onkelos adds, “to atone on behalf of the people.”

⁷ And he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the audience of the people; and they said, “All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient.” — the book of the covenant; that is, the book which he had written overnight, the collection of laws and promises made;

⁸ And Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words.” — and sprinkled it on the people; not on the whole body of the people, who could not be brought nigh enough, and were too numerous to be all sprinkled with it;

— either this was sprinkled on the young men that offered the sacrifices in the name of all the people; or on the seventy elders, as the heads of the Israelites.

⁹ Then went up Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; — then went up Moses and Aaron with his two oldest sons, Nadab and Abihu; after the above things were done, the words of the Lord were told the people, and the book of the covenant read unto them, to which they agreed, sacrifices were offered, and the blood of them sprinkled on the altar, and on the people;

¹⁰ and they saw the God of Israel. And there was under His feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness. — they saw the God of Israel; certainly in human form, as Isaiah saw Him, otherwise they would have fell dead;

¹¹ And upon the nobles of the children of Israel He laid not His hand. Also they saw God, and ate and drank. — the nobles; the seventy elders, and other persons, already mentioned;

— He laid not his hand; God did not smite them with death, or pestilence, or even blindness. It was thought to be impossible to see God and live: (Genesis 32:30; Judges 6:22, 23).

¹² And the Lord said unto Moses, “Come up to Me onto the mount, and be there; and I will give thee tablets of stone, and a law and commandments which I have written, that thou mayest teach them.” — come up to me into the mount, and be there; for as yet Moses was not got up to the top of the mount, only up some part of it with the elders, though at some distance from the people: but now he is bid to come up higher;

¹³ And Moses rose up with his minister Joshua, and Moses went up onto the mount of God. — Moses rose up, and his minister Joshua; the close connection of Joshua with Moses is here, for the first time, indicated; his employment as a general against Amalek (Exodus 17:9-13).

¹⁴ And he said unto the elders, “Tarry ye here for us until we come again unto you; and behold, Aaron and Hur are with you. If any man have any matters to arbitrate, let him come unto them.” — Moses said unto the elders; he understood that his stay in the mount was about to be a prolonged one;

¹⁵ And Moses went up onto the mount, and a cloud covered the mount. — and Moses went up into the mount; to the top of it, and as it seems alone, leaving Joshua behind in a lower part of the mountain;

¹⁶ And the glory of the Lord abode upon Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days; and the seventh day He called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud. — and the glory of the Lord abode upon Mount Sinai; the divine Shekinah or Majesty, some visible token of it, an exceeding great brightness and splendour for six days;

— and on the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud; in which the glory of God was, and which seems to favour the first sense of the preceding clause, that it was the glory of God the cloud covered.

¹⁷ And the sight of the glory of the Lord was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel. — the sight of the glory of the Lord; to the Israelites in the plain below, the appearance on the top of the Mount was “like devouring fire.” A light like that of a conflagration rested on the top of the Mount all the time that Moses was away.

¹⁸ And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and got himself up onto the mount; and Moses was on the mount forty days and forty nights. — forty days and forty nights, the whole time without eating and drinking (Deuteronomy 9:9). The number forty was certainly significant, since it was not only repeated on the occasion of his second protracted stay upon Mount Sinai.

Posted in Books of Moses

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Exodus 21

¹ “Now these are the judgements which thou shalt set before them: — now these are the judgements; the judicial laws and legal precedents, respecting the state of the people of Israel, so called because they are founded on justice and equity, and are according to the judgement precedents before;

² If thou buy a Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve; and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing. — if thou buy an Hebrew servant; every Israelite was free-born; but slavery (through poverty, debt, or crime) was permitted under certain restrictions.

³ If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself; if he was married, then his wife shall go out with him. — if he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself; that is, if he came into his servitude on his free will;

— if he were married, then his wife shall go with him; that is, if he had a wife, a daughter of Israel, as the Targum of Jonathan says; “but if (he be) the husband of a wife, a daughter of Israel, his wife shall go out with him.”

⁴ If his master has given him a wife, and she has borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself.

— if his master have given him a wife; if, however, the Hebrew slave, being previously unmarried, had been allowed by his master to take to wife one of his female slaves, then, when the husband claimed his freedom, both she and her children remained in his master’s stronghold.

⁵ And if the servant shall plainly say, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’ — if a man has no rights, he is thankful for small mercies, and responds with warm feeling to those who treat him kindly.

⁶ then his master shall bring him unto the judges (Elohim). He shall also bring him to the door or unto the doorpost, and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall serve him for ever. — his master shall bring him unto the judges (Elohimin in the original Hebrew); a formal act, a divine act, santifies by God as if they are God’s envoy, hence these judges are acting as Elohim; “for my name is in him” Exodus 23:21

⁷ “And if a man sell his daughter to be a maidservant, she shall not go out as the menservants do. — if a man sell his daughter; Hebrew girls might be redeemed for a reasonable sum. But in the event of her parents or friends being unable to pay the redemption money, her owner was not at liberty to sell her elsewhere.

⁸ If she please not her master who hath betrothed her to himself, then shall he let her be redeemed. To sell her unto a strange nation he shall have no power, seeing he hath dealt deceitfully with her. — then shall he let her be redeemed, either by herself or friends, or any other person that will redeem her, but not selling her to a foreigner.

⁹ And if he has betrothed her unto his son, he shall deal with her after the manner of daughters. — he shall deal with her after the manner of daughters; as if she was his daughter, and give her a dowry: or the son shall treat her after the manner the daughters of Israel are treated when married;

¹⁰ If he take for himself another wife, her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage shall he not diminish. — her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage, shall he not diminish; neither deny it her in whole, nor lessen it in part, but give her her full due of each.

¹¹ And if he does not do these three unto her, then shall she go out free, without money. — then shall she go out free without money; be dismissed from her servitude, and not obliged to pay anything for her freedom;

¹² “He that smiteth a man so that he die shall be surely put to death. — shall surely be put to death; by the order of the civil magistrate, and by the hand of such as shall be appointed by him; for this is the law of God;

¹³ And if a man lie not in wait, but God deliver him into his hand, then I will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee. — his life is taken away by him, though not purposely and maliciously; a distinction being drawn between accidental and intentional killing, then I will appoint thee a place, an asylum, whither he shall flee;

¹⁴ But if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbor to slay him with guile, thou shalt take him from Mine altar, that he may die. — if a man come presumptuously; rather, if a man come maliciously, or with premeditation; the Targum says then he may be slain by the sword by the priests;

¹⁵ “And he that smiteth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death. — so sacred and inviolable is that reverence which children owe to their parents, that, by the law of God, it was death not only to strike them, but even to curse or outrageously revile them, Exodus 21:17;

¹⁶ “And he that stealeth a man and selleth him, or if he shall be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.

¹⁷ “And he that curseth his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. — and he that curseth his father, or his mother; though he does not smite them with his hand, yet if he smites them with his tongue, or speaks evil of them, shall surely be put to death; or be killed by casting stones, as the Targum of Jonathan, or with stoning;

¹⁸ “And if men strive together and one smite another with a stone or with his fist, and he die not but keepeth to his bed, — the law imposed a fine, which was to be fixed at such an amount as would at once compensate the sufferer for the loss of his time, and defray the cost of his cure in his sick bed.

¹⁹ if he rise again and walk abroad upon his staff, then shall he that smote him be acquitted; he shall only pay for the loss of his time, and shall cause him to be thoroughly healed.

²⁰ “And if a man smite his servant or his maid with a rod, and he die under his hand, he shall be surely punished. — and if a man smite his servant or his maid with a rod; a Canaanitish servant or maid, as the Targum of Jonathan says;

²¹ Notwithstanding, if he continue a day or two, he shall not be punished; for he is his money. — for he is his money; that is, his possession bought with his money; 

²² “If men strive and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no misfortune follow, he shall be surely punished according as the woman’s husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. — the husband may impose a fine, and if it be unreasonable, the judges shall have a power to moderate it.

²³ And if any misfortune follow, then thou shalt give life for life, — the Targum of Jonathan, “but if there is death in her, then ye shall judge or condemn the life of the murderer for the life of the woman;’

— God intends it to be “life for life” especially against a woman with child; but men feel it too excessive hence soften it to a pecuniary or monetary compensation to be paid;

²⁴ eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, — in civil cases, it was given to regulate the procedure of the public magistrate in determining the amount of compensation in every case of injury, but did not encourage feelings of private revenge;

— but the Son of God says something radically different later, “Ye have heard that it hath been said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say unto you that ye resist not evil, but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. Matthew 38-39;

²⁵ burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe. — the Targum of Jonathan says, the price of the pain of burning for burning, and indeed, in everyone of these cases, the law could not be well literally executed;

²⁶ “And if a man smite the eye of his servant or the eye of his maid, that it perish, he shall let him go free for his eye’s sake. — this law was made to deter masters from using their servants with cruelty, since they would loose their own profit and advantage.

²⁷ And if he smite out his manservant’s tooth or his maidservant’s tooth, he shall let him go free for his tooth’s sake. — all other principal members of the body, which they reckon to be twenty four, are included, as the fingers, toes and so on;

²⁸ “If an ox gore a man or a woman, so that they die, then the ox shall be surely stoned, and his flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be acquitted. — injuries to the person might arise either from man or from animals; protection from both was needed;

— an ox killed by stoning would not be bled in the usual way, and would be “unclean” for food; the flesh should not even be disposed of to the Gentiles, but had to be buried.

²⁹ But if the ox were wont to push with his horn in times past, and it hath been testified to his owner, and he hath not kept him in so that he hath killed a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned and his owner also shall be put to death.

³⁰ If there be laid on him a sum of money, then he shall give for the ransom of his life whatsoever is laid upon him.

— MSG (28-32)

“If an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox must be stoned. The meat cannot be eaten but the owner of the ox is in the clear.

But if the ox has a history of goring and the owner knew it and did nothing to guard against it, then if the ox kills a man or a woman, the ox is to be stoned and the owner given the death penalty.

If a ransom is agreed upon instead of death, he must pay it in full as a redemption for his life. If a son or daughter is gored, the same judgment holds. If it is a slave or a handmaid the ox gores, thirty shekels of silver is to be paid to the owner and the ox stoned.

³¹ Whether he hath gored a son or hath gored a daughter, according to this judgment shall it be done unto him.

³² If the ox shall push a manservant or a maidservant, he shall give unto their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.

³³ “And if a man shall open a pit, or if a man shall dig a pit and not cover it, and an ox or an ass fall therein,

— the MSG (33-34)

“If someone uncovers a cistern or digs a pit and leaves it open and an ox or donkey falls into it, the owner of the pit must pay whatever the animal is worth to its owner but can keep the dead animal.

the owner of the pit shall make it good and give money unto the owner of them, and the dead beast shall be his.

³⁵ And if one man’s ox hurt another’s, so that he die, then they shall sell the live ox and divide the money from it, and the dead ox also they shall divide.

³⁶ Or if it be known that the ox used to push in times past and his owner hath not kept him in, he shall surely pay ox for ox, and the dead shall be his own.

— the MSG (35-36)

“If someone’s ox injures a neighbor’s ox and the ox dies, they must sell the live ox and split the price; they must also split the dead animal. But if the ox had a history of goring and the owner knew it and did nothing to guard against it, the owner must pay an ox for an ox but can keep the dead animal.”

The cases mentioned above give rules of justice then, and the British developed their common law from there, and is still in use for deciding similar matters in many of the Commonwealth of Nations.

We are taught by these laws, that we must be very careful to do no wrong, either directly or indirectly. If we have done wrong, we must be very willing to make it good, and be desirous that nobody may lose by any wrong doing.

Exodus 22

¹ “If a man shall steal an ox or a sheep, and kill it or sell it, he shall restore five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep. — five oxen . . . four sheep; the principle of the variation is not clear; perhaps the theft of an ox was regarded as involving more audacity, and so more guilt in the thief.

² “If a thief be found breaking in and be smitten so that he die, there shall no blood be shed for him. — if a thief, in breaking into a dwelling in the night, was slain, the person who slew him did not incur the guilt of blood;

³ If the sun be risen upon him, there shall be blood shed for him, for he should make full restitution. If he have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft. — if the sun be risen upon him. If the entry is attempted after daybreak. In this case it is charitably assumed that the thief does not contemplate murder;

— a robber breaking into a house at midnight might, in self-defense, be slain with impunity; but if he was slain after sunrise, it would be considered murder, for it was not thought likely an assault would then be made upon the lives of the occupants. In every case where a thief could not make restitution, he was sold as a slave for the usual term.

⁴ If the theft be certainly found in his hand alive, whether it be ox or ass or sheep, he shall restore double. — if the theft be certainly found in his hand alive; or “in finding be found” be plainly and evidently found upon him, before witnesses; so that there is no doubt of the theft; 

— he shall restore double; two oxen for an ox, two asses for an ass, and two sheep for a sheep; the thief being convicted in his own conscience of his evil, makes confession, or, however, the creatures are found with alive, and so more useful being restored;

⁵ “If a man shall cause a field or vineyard to be eaten, and shall put in his beast and shall feed in another man’s field, of the best of his own field and of the best of his own vineyard shall he make restitution.

⁶ “If fire break out and catch in thorns, so that the stacks of corn or the standing corn or the field be consumed therewith, he that kindled the fire shall surely make restitution.

⁷ “If a man shall deliver unto his neighbor money or stuff to keep, and it be stolen out of the man’s house, if the thief be found, let him pay double.

⁸ If the thief be not found, then the master of the house shall be brought unto the judges to see whether he has put his hand unto his neighbor’s goods.

⁹ “For all manner of trespass, whether it be for ox, for ass, for sheep, for raiment, or for any manner of lost thing which another challengeth to be his, the cause of both parties shall come before the judges; and whom the judges shall condemn, he shall pay double unto his neighbor.

¹⁰ “If a man deliver unto his neighbor an ass, or an ox, or a sheep, or any beast to keep, and it die or be hurt or driven away, no man seeing it,

¹¹ then shall an oath of the Lord be between them both that he hath not put his hand unto his neighbor’s goods; and the owner of it shall accept thereof, and he shall not make it good.

¹² And if it be stolen from him, he shall make restitution unto the owner thereof.

¹³ If it be torn in pieces, then let him bring it for witness, and he shall not make good that which was torn.

¹⁴ “And if a man borrow aught from his neighbor, and it become hurt or die, the owner thereof being not with it, he shall surely make it good.

¹⁵ But if the owner thereof be with it, he shall not make it good; if it be a hired thing, it came for his hire.

¹⁶ “And if a man entice a maid who is not betrothed, and lie with her, he shall surely endow her to be his wife.

The cases mentioned above give rules of justice then, and the British developed their common law from there, and is still in use for deciding similar matters in many of the Commonwealth of Nations.

We are taught by these laws, that we must be very careful to do no wrong, either directly or indirectly. If we have done wrong, we must be very willing to make it good, and be desirous that nobody may lose by any wrong doing.

¹⁷ If her father utterly refuse to give her unto him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins. — if her father refused to give her to him, he was to weigh (pay) money equivalent to the dowry of maidens, that is, to pay the father just as much for the disgrace brought upon him by the seduction of his daughter, as maidens would receive for a dowry upon their marriage.

¹⁸ “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. — the fact that witchcraft is often nothing but jugglery to deceive the people, and only those witches were to be put to death who would not give up their witchcraft assisted by evil spirits when it was forbidden. —

¹⁹ “Whosoever lieth with a beast shall surely be put to death. — according to the Targum of Jonathan, the death of such a person was by stoning, for it says, he “shall be stoned to death.”

²⁰ “He that sacrificeth unto any god, save unto the Lord only, he shall be utterly destroyed. — according to the Targum of Jonathan, the death of such a person “shall be slain with the sword;”

²¹ “Thou shalt neither vex a stranger nor oppress him, for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. — thou shall not vex a stranger; one that is not born in Israel, but comes into another country to sojourn;

— nor oppress him; by taking his goods, by refusing to assist him with advice when asked, to trade with him, or to give him lodging, and furnish him with the necessaries of life.

²² Ye shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child. — law against oppressing widows and orphans. With the stranger are naturally placed the widow and orphan; like him, weak and defenceless; like him, special objects of God’s care.

²³ If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto Me, I will surely hear their cry; — I will surely hear their cry; the Targum of Jonathan says, “I will hear the voice of their prayer, and will avenge them.”

²⁴ and My wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless. — and I will kill you with the sword; with the sword, says the Targum of Jonathan;

— it designs one of God’s sore judgments, the sword; the meaning is, that when such evils should become frequent among them, God would suffer a neighbouring nation to break in upon them in an hostile way, and put them to the sword;

²⁵ “If thou lend money to any of My people who are poor among thee, thou shalt not be to him as a usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury. — interest not to be taken on money lent to the poor; especially to fellow Israelites;

— on the other hand, the lending of money upon interest to foreigners was distinctly allowed (Deuteronomy 23:20), and no limit placed upon the amount of interest that might be taken.

²⁶ If thou at all take thy neighbor’s raiment in pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him by the time the sun goeth down, — if he gave his upper garment as a pledge, he was to give it him back towards sunset, because it was his only covering; as the poorer classes use them as garment for warmth;

²⁷ for that is his only covering. It is his raiment for his skin. Wherein shall he sleep? And it shall come to pass, when he crieth unto Me, that I will hear, for I am gracious.

— for I am gracious; or equitable; and therefore everything cruel and uncompassionate is abominable to him, and he will take care in his providence that the injured person shall be redressed and the injurer punished.

²⁸ “Thou shalt not revile the judges, nor curse the ruler of thy people. — Thou shalt not revile, speak evil, show disrespect, to the judges and magistrates, for they are also acting as ‘ělôhı̂ym, or as gods;

²⁹ “Thou shalt not delay to offer the first of thy ripe fruits and of thy liquors. The firstborn of thy sons shalt thou give unto Me. — like the firstfruits of the soil, the firstborn of men and animals are also to be given to God; who spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for all of us as well.

³⁰ Likewise shalt thou do with thine oxen and with thy sheep: seven days it shall be with his dam; on the eighth day thou shalt give it to Me.

— the main object of forbidding sacrifice before the eighth day would appear to have being in regard for the health and comfort of the mother, which needed the relief obtained by suckling of its offspring;

³¹ “And ye shall be holy men unto Me; neither shall ye eat any flesh that is torn by beasts in the field: ye shall cast it to the dogs.

— neither shall ye eat any flesh that is torn of beasts; partly, because the blood was not taken out of it; partly, because the clean beast was ceremonially defiled by the touch of the unclean.

Posted in Books of Moses

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Exodus 19

¹ In the third month after the children of Israel had gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the Wilderness of Sinai. — the Targum of Jonathan says “In the third month of the Exodus of the sons of Israel from the land of Mizraim, on that day, the first of the month, came they to the desert;”

² For they had departed from Rephidim, and had come to the desert of Sinai and had pitched camp in the wilderness; and there Israel camped before the mount. — for they were departed from Rephidim; after they had fought with Amalek, and came to the western part of the mount to Horeb, where the rock was smitten for them; and they were come from that now, and encamped at Sinai;

³ And Moses went up unto God, and the Lord called unto him out of the mountain, saying, “Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel: — and Moses went up unto God; who was in the pillar of cloud upon the top of the mount; this was on the second day, according to the Targum of Jonathan: “the Lord called unto him out of the mountain;”

⁴ ‘Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you unto Myself. — the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem paraphrase the words, “and I bore you on clouds, as on eagles’ wings;” which covered and protected and sustained them, as the eagles’ wings do its young;

⁵ Now therefore, if ye will obey My voice indeed and keep My covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine.

— above all people: for all the earth is mine; while claiming a peculiar right in Israel, God does not mean to separate Himself from the other nations, to cease to care for them, or give them up to their own devices;

— He is always “the Most High over all the earth” (Psalm 83:18), “a light to lighten the Gentiles,” one who “judges the people righteously, and governs all the nations upon earth” (Psalm 67:4). Israel’s prerogative does not rob them of their birthright. He maybe the favoured son; but they, too, “are, all of them, children of the Most High” (Psalm 82:6).

⁶ And ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.” — “if ye will obey My voice indeed and keep My covenant” ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation;

— and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests; instead of being in a state of servitude and bondage, as they had been in Egypt; and an holy nation” being separated from all others, and devoted to the worship and service of the true God.

⁷ And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the Lord commanded him. — Moses called for the elders, they formed the usual channel of communication between Moses and the people, reporting his words to them, and theirs to him.

⁸ And all the people answered together and said, “All that the Lord hath spoken we will do.” And Moses returned the words of the people unto the Lord. — all that the Lord hath spoken we will do; obey his voice in all things he directs unto, or keep the covenant he should make with them, and observe whatever was required on their parts;

⁹ And the Lord said unto Moses, “Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee for ever.” And Moses told the words of the people unto the Lord. — and the Lord said unto Moses; and the Targum of Jonathan added, on the third day;

¹⁰ And the Lord said unto Moses, “Go unto the people and sanctify them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes — and let them wash their clothes; which to be understood both of their garments and their bodies also; teaching them by these outward things the necessity of internal purity and holiness, to appear before God;

¹¹ and be ready against the third day; for the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people upon Mount Sinai. — and be ready against the third day; not the third day of the month, but the third day from hence, this being the fourth, and the morrow the fifth, and the third day, the day following that, the sixth;

— for the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people upon Mount Sinai; which must be understood, consistent with his omnipresence, and is only expressive of some visible display of his power, and of some sensible token of his presence to the people;

¹² And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, ‘Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount or touch the border of it. Whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death. — whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death; which severe law was made to deter them from any attempt to go up the mountain, since it was death even to touch it;

¹³ There shall not a hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned or shot through; whether it be beast or man, it shall not live.’ When the trumpet soundeth long, they shall come up to the mount.”

— the Targum of Jonathan seems to understand it, as if punishment would be immediately inflicted upon such a person, not by the hands of men, but by the hand of God; for it says, such an one shall be stoned with hailstones, and fiery darts shall be spread upon him; or, as the Jerusalem Targum, shall be shot at him.

¹⁴ And Moses went down from the mount unto the people, and sanctified the people; and they washed their clothes. — and Moses went down from the mount unto the people; the same day that he went up, the fourth day of the month:

— touch it; rather “touch him,” the person who had touched the mount was not to be touched, since the contact would be pollution.

¹⁵ And he said unto the people, “Be ready against the third day. Come not at your wives.” — come not at your wives; it was the general sentiment of antiquity that a ceremonial uncleanness attached even to the chastest sexual connection.

¹⁶ And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.

— there were thunders, and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled, at the sound of it being so loud and terrible, it pierced their ears and hearts;

¹⁷ And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the nether part of the mount. — out of the camp; an open space outside the camp before the mountain into which Moses led the representatives of the people, their officials so bringing them as near to God as was permitted.

¹⁸ And Mount Sinai was altogether in smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire; and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. — the whole mount quaked greatly, as in Psalm 68:8, “The earth shook, the heavens also dropped at the presence of God: even Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God.”

— because the Lord descended upon it in fire; in flaming fire, as the Targum says, which set the mountain on fire, and caused this prodigious smoke; for if he, who is a consuming fire, but toucheth the hills and mountains, they smoke, Psalm 104:32;

— the Targum:

And all the mount of Sinai was in flame; for the heavens had overspread it, and He was revealed over it in flaming fire, and the smoke went up as the smoke of a furnace, and all the mountain quaked greatly.

¹⁹ And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long and waxed louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by a voice.

— Moses spake; what he said is not here recorded; it is highly probable, as has been observed by some, that he uttered those words related of him in Hebrews 12:21 “I exceedingly fear and quake”: such an impression did this loud and strong voice of the trumpet make upon him:

— and God answered him by a voice; a still and gentle one, in order to encourage and comfort him; and so the Targum of Jonathan paraphrases it, “with a gracious and majestic voice, and pleasant and gracious words.”

²⁰ And the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mount; and the Lord called Moses up to the top of the mount, and Moses went up. — and the Lord called Moses up to the top of the mount; who either was at the bottom of it with the people, or in a higher ascent of it between God and them;

²¹ And the Lord said unto Moses, “Go down. Charge the people, lest they break through to gaze unto the Lord, and many of them perish. — charge the people, lest they break through unto the Lord to gaze; to see if they could observe any similitude or likeness of God,

— that they might make an image like unto it; to prevent which, the Lord, knowing the vanity and curiosity of their minds, ordered Moses to give them a strict charge not to transgress the bounds set them, or whatever was placed for bounds;

²² And let the priests also, who come near to the Lord, sanctify themselves, lest the Lord break forth upon them.” — and let the priests also, which come near unto the Lord; either the firstborn, as the Jews generally interpret it, or the sons of Aaron, who should be, and were potentially, though not official actually priests;

²³ And Moses said unto the Lord, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai; for Thou charged us, saying, ‘Set bounds about the mount and sanctify it.’” — for thou chargedst us, saying, set bounds about the mount, and sanctify it; and accordingly bounds have been set,

— that the people may not go up it, and the place has been declared sacred, that so none will presume to do it, according to the solemn charge that has been given;

²⁴ And the Lord said unto him, “Away! Get thee down, and thou shalt come up, thou and Aaron with thee; but let not the priests and the people break through to come up unto the Lord, lest He break forth upon them.”

— but let not the priests and the people break through to come up unto the Lord, lest he break forth upon them; it required the immediate presence of Moses below, and immediate care was to be taken by him;

— lest the priests and people, led by a vain curiosity, should attempt to ascend the mount, and come to where God was, to see if they could observe any likeness of him; which would so provoke him, that in just retaliation, as they had broke through the bounds set, he would break forth on them by inflicting sudden death upon them.

²⁵ So Moses went down unto the people and spoke unto them. — and spake unto them: charging them to keep their distance, and not presume to pass the line he had drawn, or the fence he had made.

Exodus 20

¹ And God spoke all these words, saying: — ‘I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt.’ God speaks to the nation as a whole, establishing a special relation between Himself and them, which is founded on His redeeming act, and is reciprocal, requiring that they should be His people, as He is their God;

² “I am the Lord thy God, who have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. — which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt: where they had been afflicted many years, and reduced to great distress, but were brought forth with an high hand;

— out of the house of bondage: where they had been servants and slaves, but now were made free, and were become a body politic, a kingdom of themselves, under their Lord, King, Lawgiver.

³ “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. — there shall not be to thee another god, or other gods, to wit, idols, which others have, esteem, and worship as gods;

⁴ “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. — anything that is in heaven; as of God, Deu 4:15 Isaiah 44:9,20, angels, sun, moon, or stars, which the heathens worshipped, Deu 4:19 17:3.

— or in the earth; as of men, and beasts; or in the water; as of fishes, such as Dagon was; or serpents, crocodiles, and such other Egyptian deities; although Moses only speaks of idols, there is no doubt that by implication he condemns all the forms of false worship, which men have invented for themselves.

⁵ Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them; for I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me, — unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; as all idolaters must be thought to do;

— “the third and fourth generation” of them that hate me, the term is a strong one, and denotes those who persistently and defiantly oppose themselves to God, because sometimes parents lived to see these, and so with their eyes beheld the punishment inflicted upon their posterity for their sins;

⁶ and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me and keep My commandments. — showing mercy unto thousands; rather, to the thousandth generation, as is distinctly expressed in Deuteronomy 7:9.

⁷ “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain. — the Lord will not hold him guiltless; punishment will assuredly overtake the perjured man, if not in this life, then in another.

⁸ “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. — it is taken for granted, that the sabbath was instituted before. God’s blessing and sanctifying a seventh day is derivedn right from the beginning, (Genesis 2:3) so that this was not the enacting of a new law, but the reviving of an old law.

⁹ Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work; — that all should be done on the six days that could possibly be done, and nothing left to be done on the seventh;

¹⁰ but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. In it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates. — resting from every work is the basis of the observance of the Sabbath; it shall be a day of holy rest from things worldly, and of devotion to things heavenly;

¹¹ For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. — the Lord blessed the sabbath day, that is, made it a day of blessing; as of conferring his blessings and favours upon those that religiously observe it.

¹² “Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. — that thy days may be long, that their, that is, thy parents, may prolong thy days, or the days of thy parents’ life;

¹³ “Thou shalt not kill. — from the peculiar duties owed by children to their parents, the Divine legislator went on to lay down those general duties which men owe to their fellow-men.

¹⁴ “Thou shalt not commit adultery. — thou shalt not commit adultery; this commandment forbids all acts of uncleanness, with all those desires which produce those acts and war against all kinds of filthiness, as bestiality, sodomy, whoredom, fornication.

¹⁵ “Thou shalt not steal. — either by deceit or violence, or without his knowledge and consent, take away another man’s goods;

¹⁶ “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. — this forbids; speaking falsely in any matter, laying false charges, lying, equivocating, and any way devising and designing to deceive our neighbour.

¹⁷ “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house; thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor’s.” — thou shalt not covet; the foregoing commands implicitly forbid all desire of doing that which will be an injury to our neighbour;

¹⁸ And all the people saw the thunderings and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they removed and stood afar off. — and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off; their minds were not only terrified and distressed, and their bodies shook with fear;

— but they could not stand their ground, but were obliged to retreat, who but just before were curious to draw near, and gaze and see what they could; the Targum says, and the people stood twelve miles off;

¹⁹ And they said unto Moses, “Speak thou with us and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.” — let not God speak with us, lest we die; the phenomena of thunder and lightning had been one of the plagues so fatal to Egypt, and as they heard God speaking to them now, they were apprehensive of instant death also.

²⁰ And Moses said unto the people, “Fear not; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.”

— fear not; that is, think not that this thunder and fire are designed to consume you; but that his dreadful manifestation of his majesty and justice, may be now and ever before your eyes, and in your memories, as an effectual preservative from straying away from him.

²¹ And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was. — the Targum says in verse 18 above, the distance was twelve miles off;

— and Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was; the thick cloud, and so Moses passed through the darkness, and the cloud, to the thick darkness where יְהוָה Yehovah was;

²² And the Lord said unto Moses, “Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel: ‘Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. — ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven; descending on Mount Sinai in a cloud and fire, and talked with them out of the cloud and fire, and delivered to them with an audible voice the above ten commands;

²³ Ye shall not make with Me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold. — to make Gods of silver and gods of gold are specially forbidden, because it was idolatry of the same kind; the golden calf or any molten images is no isolated phenomenon;

— Jeroboam set up molten images at Dan and Bethel for the northern Ten Tribes but there were no uprising! “Dead fish goes with the flow!”

²⁴ An altar of earth thou shalt make unto Me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings and thy peace offerings, thy sheep and thine oxen. In all places where I record My name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee. — in all places where I record my name; or where my name is recorded; or, “cause it to be mentioned” that is, where I am worshipped in sincerity; I will come unto thee, and will bless thee;

Note the Five types of Offerings summarised in Leviticus:

Leviticus 1:2 “Speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them: ‘If any man of you bring an offering unto the Lord

Leviticus 1:3 ‘If his offering be a burnt sacrifice
Leviticus 2:1 ‘And when any will offer a meat offering
Leviticus 3:1 ‘And if his oblation be a sacrifice of peace offering
Leviticus 4:3 ‘If the priest … a young bullock … for a sin offering
Leviticus 5:6 ‘And he shall bring his trespass offering

Compare to the Five types of Offerings during the Millennium in Ezekiel:

Ezekiel 46:12 ‘Now when the prince prepares a voluntary burnt offering, or peace offerings unto the Lord
Ezekiel 44:29 ‘They shall eat the meat offering and the sin offering and the trespass offering

²⁵ And if thou wilt make Me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone; for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it. — thou hast polluted it; and so made it unfit for use: how this should be done hereby is not easy to understand; no good reason seems easy to human understanding but probably the will and pleasure of God (Gill);

— the real object was that altars should not be elaborately carved with objects that might superinduce idolatry: Pulpit Commentary;

— the Targum of Jonathan

And you, the priests, who stand to minister before Me, shall not ascend to My altar by steps, but by (sloping) bridges; that thy shame may not be seen thereupon.

²⁶ Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto Mine altar, that thy nakedness be not uncovered thereon.’ — Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar; but afterward God appointed an altar ten cubits high. One can speculate they went not up to that by steps, but by a sloping ascent.

— MSG

God said to Moses, “Give this Message to the People of Israel: ‘You’ve experienced firsthand how I spoke with you from Heaven. Don’t make gods of silver and gods of gold and then set them alongside me. Make me an earthen Altar. Sacrifice your Whole-Burnt-Offerings, your Peace-Offerings, your sheep, and your cattle on it.

Every place where I cause my name to be honored in your worship, I’ll be there myself and bless you. If you use stones to make my Altar, don’t use dressed stones. If you use a chisel on the stones you’ll profane the Altar. Don’t use steps to climb to my Altar because that will expose your nakedness.’”

Posted in Books of Moses

Exodus 17

¹ And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the Wilderness of Sin after their journeys, according to the commandment of the Lord, and pitched camp in Rephidim; and there was no water for the people to drink. — being a sandy desert place there was no water for the people to drink.

² Therefore the people chided Moses and said, “Give us water that we may drink.” And Moses said unto them, “Why chide ye me? Why do ye tempt the Lord?” — and Moses said unto them, why chide ye with me? as if it was I that brought you hither,

— whereas it is the Lord that goes before you in the pillar of cloud and fire, and as if I kept water from you, or could give it you at pleasure; how unreasonable, as well as how ungenerous is it in you to chide with me on this account;

³ And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses and said, “Why is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?” — to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst: which is intolerable to any, and especially to children and cattle, which require frequent drinking;

⁴ And Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, “What shall I do unto this people? They are almost ready to stone me!” — they be almost ready to stone me; this is the first which we hear of stoning as a punishment.

⁵ And the Lord said unto Moses, “Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod with which thou smotest the river, take in thine hand and go. — go on before the people, lead them on nearer to Mount Sinai or Horeb, within sight of which they now were; “and see if they will stone thee.”

⁶ Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink.” And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. — I will stand before thee there, in my cloudy pillar, which shall stand over that place.

⁷ And he called the name of the place Massah [that is, Temptation], and Meribah [that is, Chiding], because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

— Is the Lord among us or not? to protect and provide for us according to his word; will he be as good as his word, or will he not? Words which implied that to them it was very doubtful.

⁸ Then came Amalek and fought with Israel in Rephidim. — then came Amalek, a grandson of Esau; the Amalekites had not been previously (except in the anticipatory flashforwarding in Genesis 14:7) mentioned as a tribe or nation;

— their hatred could be the old grudge of the children of Esau returning against the children of Israel; because of the affair of the birthright and blessing which Jacob stole from Esau, who were now on their march for the land of Canaan, claiming their birthright land which came to children of Esau thereby;

⁹ And Moses said unto Joshua, “Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.” — Joshua; he was a prince of the tribe of Ephraim; chosen as a leader to fight the Amalekites;

¹⁰ So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek; and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.

— Hur; according to Josephus (Ant. Jud., iii. 2, § 4) Hur was the husband of Miriam, and so the brother-in-law of Moses and Aaron. He was a descendant of Judah through Pharez and Hezron;

— to the top of the hill; to the top of Mount Sinai or Horeb, not so much to see the battle fought, as to be seen by Joshua and his warriors;

¹¹ And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. — Moses was getting old and was tired; his strongest arm will fail with being long held out; but it is God only whose hand is stretched out still;

¹² But Moses’ hands were heavy; and they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat thereon. And Aaron and Hur held up his hands, the one on the one side and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.

— both the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem paraphrase the words, “when Moses lift up his hands in prayer, the house of Israel prevailed, but when he restrained his hands from prayer, the house of Amalek prevailed.”

¹³ And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. — Amalek being distinguished from “his people” has established a strong sense that Amalek was the title of their king, or chief of the army (hence Chief Amalek in Genesis 36:16), and that it became the title to the kings of that nation of the Amalekites, as Pharaoh was to the kings of Egypt, or Caesar to Rome;

— that’s a significant truth; a truth during Moses time during the Exodus; more probable, later, is that the name Agag had evolved into a title for their king in place of Amalek; as stated by Balaam, employed by the king of the Moabites, to pronounce a ‘curse:’ 

“He (the children of Israel) shall pour the water out of his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters; and his king shall be higher than Agag (hence, used in this way, it is more likely that Agag is the title of a king rather than the name of one king; and Agag was named as the king of the Amalekites in Samuel’s experience: 1 Samuel 15:8), and his kingdom (of Israel) shall be exalted” Numbers 24:7.

¹⁴ And the Lord said unto Moses, “Write this for a memorial in a book, and recount it in the ears of Joshua; for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.” — I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek; the extermination of Amalek, here prophesied, was partly accomplished in part by Saul (1 Samuel 15:8) and David (1 Samuel 30:17);

— Moses must write what had been done, what Amalek had done against Israel; write their bitter hatred; write their cruel attempts; let them never be forgotten, nor what God had done for Israel in saving them from Amalek.

¹⁵ And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovahnissi [that is, The Lord my banner]; — Moses built an altar; primarily, no doubt, to sacrifice thank-offerings upon it, as an acknowledgment of the Divine help in giving Israel the victory.

¹⁶ for he said, “Because the Lord hath sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.” — the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation; until they are utterly destroyed; and so in fact he had, and thus it was;

— the Targum of Jonathan is, “he by his word will make war against those that are of the house of Amalek, and destroy them to three generations, from the generation of this world, from the generation of the Messiah, and from the generation of the world to come.”

Exodus 18

¹ When Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel His people, and that the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt,

— as both the Amalekites and Midianites were descended from Abraham, and stood in blood-relationship to Israel, the different attitudes which they assumed towards the Israelites foreshadowed and typified the twofold attitude which the heathen world would assume towards the kingdom of God.