Evening before The dressing of them as the Hebrews describe it consisted in cleansing the Snuff-dishes and snuffing those Lamps they found burning and supplying them with new Oyl and in putting new Cotton as we now speak and Oyl into those that were gone out and lighting them at some of the Lamps which still continued burning He shall burn Incense upon it The manner of it is described by Dr. Lightfoot in his Temple Service Chap. 9. Sect. 5. Ver. 8. And when Aaron lighteth the Lamps at even See concerning this XXVII 20. He shall burn Incense upon it As he did in the Morning A perpetual Incense In the same sense that the Morning and Evening Sacrifice is called a continual Burnt-offering XXIX 38 42. this is called perpetual Incense because it was never intermitted twice a day And one reason why it was thus continually burnt was because of the vast number of Beasts that were slain and cut to pieces and washt and burnt every day at the Sanctuary which would have made it smell like a Shambles as Maimonides speaks if this sweet Odour had not perfumed it and the Garments of the Priests who there ministred Whence saith he that Speech of our Rabbins This sweet Odour might be smelt as far as Jericho Whereby the Reverence due to God's House was preserved which would have been contemptible if there had been an ill smell constantly in it as he truly observes More Nevoch P. III. c. 45. Before the LORD For this Altar stood right over against the Mercy-seat v. 6. Throughout your Generations In all future Ages Ver. 9. Ye shall offer no strange Incense thereon None but that which by God's own order is directed to be made in the latter end of this Chapter Nor Burnt-sacrifice nor Meat-offering neither shall ye pour Drink-offering thereon There was another Altar appointed without the Holy Place for all these which as they might not be offered any where else so this Altar was appropriated for an Offering more grateful than all their Burnt-sacrifices or Meat and Drink-offerings So Porphyry seems to have learnt from this place for he was acquainted with these Books It is most sit to worship the Gods with Incense both because it is more grateful and also more pure than an Hecatomb for Blood doth not at all delight the Gods Accordingly we find in XVI Numb 46 47. that the wrath of God was appeased when it broke out in a Plague upon the People meerly by offering Incense whereby he is said to make an atonement for them Ver. 10. And Aaron shall make an atonement upon the horns of it once a year with the blood of the Sin-offering of atonement Only once a year the Blood of that great Sin-offering which was made for the general Atonement of the People was to be put upon the Horns of this Altar though no Sacrifice might be burnt upon it Once in the year Upon the great Day of Expiation which was the tenth day of the seventh Month when the High Priest was first to go with the Blood of the Sin-offering into the most Holy Place and sprinkle it before the Mercy-seat and then come out into the Sanctuary and there put the Blood upon the Horns of this Altar and sprinkle it upon it also with his Finger seven times as we read XVI Lev. 18 19. Shall he make atonement upon it The Atonement mentioned so often in this Verse seems to relate to the Altar it self as it is explained XVI Lev. 18. which was hereby cleansed from the Impurities which it was supposed to have contracted by the Sins of those who constantly officiated there It is most holy unto the LORD This may be meant of that Solemn Expiation upon the Day of Atonement which was the most holy Rite in all their Religion for that Sacrifice is called by the peculiar Name of the Sin-offering of Atonement or Expiation XXIX Numb 11. Or it may be expounded of this Altar it self which by this was declared to be separated to the most holy Service in which none should presume to officiate but they who were thereunto consecrated Which was the reason of the heavy Punishment upon King Vzziah for attempting that which belonged to the Priests only as we read 2 Chron. XXVI 18 19 20. Ver. 11. And the LORD spake unto Moses saying This is often repeated in this Chapter v. 17 22 34. and in the next to show that God did not deliver all his Precepts to Moses in the Mount without intermission but gave him some time to rest and then spake to him again Ver. 12. When thou takest the sum of the Children of Israel after their number This was done twice by God's own order Numb I. and XXVI From whence it doth not follow that it could not be done lawfully without a special Command for there might be reasonable Causes why the Rulers of the People might think fit to order them to be numbred especially in time of War The reason why this is here mentioned seems to be because besides the Offerings made voluntarily XXV 2. every Man also paid half a Shekel towards the building of the Tabernacle and providing all the Furniture of it for which directions had been given in the foregoing Chapters This appears from XXXVIII 25 26. They shall give every man a ransom for his soul This was an homage whereby they acknowledged they were God's redeemed ones and whereby they also preserved their Lives which were in danger if they did not pay it Vnto the LORD To be imployed about his House That there be no Plague among them c. Which God might have justly inflicted if they had not made him this Acknowledgment for increasing and multiplying them according to his Promise Ver. 13. This shall they give half a shekel A Shekel wanted not much of our half Crown See XXIII Gen. 15. and Bishop Cumberland's Treatise of Scripture Weights and Measures Chap. 4. After the shekel of the sanctuary There the Standard was kept by which such money was to be examined as Justinian commanded the Weights and Measures whereby all others were to be regulated to be kept in the great Church of every City For I see no reason to think that there were two sorts of Shekels among the Jews one Sacred and the other Common but much reason against it for a Shekel of the Sanctuary which is the Rule of the rest XXVII Lev. 25. was in value but twenty gerahs which is the same with aguroth 1 Sam. II. 36. and is by the LXX translated 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 An half shekel shall be the offering of the LORD This was a Tax which was continued in following times for the Reparation of the Tabernacle and afterwards of the Temple XVII Matth. 24. For Cicero in his Oration pro Flacco speaks of Gold sent every year in the Name of the Jews out of Italy and all the Provinces to Jerusalem which Mr. Selden thinks was this half Shekel paid for the maintaining the Publick Sacrifices
aut fossulas angulares c. such little deep holes as resemble those that are in one of the Stomachs of those Animals that chew the Cud called Reticulum See L. I. de Vestitu Sacerd. Hebraeorum c. 17. And thou shalt make the Mitre of Linen See v. 37. where the Mitre is mentioned And thou shalt make the girdle of needle-work It is mentioned before v. 4. under the name of Abanet or Abnet which no doubt signifies a Girdle or Belt yet not like our common Girdles but like that which we call a Schash being made of twined Linen and Worsted of divers colours as we find XXXIX 29. where blue and purple and scarlet signifies Wooll or Worsted-yarn of these colours Such were the Girdles of all the Priests which they wore all the year the High Priest as well as the rest except upon one day that of Expiation when he had on a Girdle of fine Linen only not mixed with Woollen These Girdles were of such a length that they might go round the Body more than once as Josephus tells us L. III. Antiq. c. 8. For if we may believe him they were Two and thirty Ells long and four Fingers broad being hollow within When they were not in the Act of Ministration both ends of them hung down to their very feet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. as the same Josephus speaks for comeliness sake that they might appear more goodly to the beholders which agrees to what Moses saith in the next Verse that they as all the Priestly Garments v. 2. were made for glory and beauty But when they went about any holy work belonging to their Office they threw them over their left shoulder that they might not be an hindrance to them The use of this Girdle was to girt their Coat close to them which they tuckt up also in the Girdle when they went about their Ministry to the middle of their Leggs that it might not incumber them in their Service Of needle-work This was a different sort of work from Taschbetz which we translate broidered v. 4. and from Choscheb which we translate cunning v. 6 15. and is here called Rokem Which signifies the same with Choscheb as to the variety of Colours and Figures in the Work but Choscheb as the Hebrew Doctors tell us was done by weaving and Rokem with a Needle as we rightly take it Of the two Choscheb was the most artificial as the word seems to intimate being wrought on both sides with the same Figures whereas Rokem was only on one side This they gather from XXVI 31. where the Vail is ordered to be made of the Work called Choscheb which it's probable was glorious on both sides both within and without the most Holy Place Josephus saith this Girdle was wrought with Flowers of the several Colours mentioned XXXIX 29. Ver. 40. And for Aarons sons thou shalt make Coats The Coats of all the Priests as well as of the High Priest were embroidered as Maimonides expresly affirms And it seems to be the sense of v. 4. where he is commanded to make Garments not only for Aaron but for his Sons i. e. all the rest of the Priests among which the broidered Coat may well be thought to belong to them See XXXIX 27. And thou shalt make for them girdles The Girdles of the inferiour Priests were the very same with that of the High Priest as well as their Tunicks or Coats being to bind their Coats to their Body And bonnets How these differed from the Mitre of the High Priest in their Form not in their Matter see v. 37. For glory and for beauty The Garments of all the Priests were contrived to make them appear in a splendid and comly manner when they ministred to the glorious Majesty of God being of sine Linen which was worn by the greatest Persons made with great Art especially their Coats and Girdles which were finely adorned as I have shown in the Verses foregoing with elegant Figures and rich Colours for blue or sky-colour purple and scarlet belonged to Kings and Persons of Honour But the Garments of the High Priest were above all the rest most glorious and design◠so to be v. 2. For besides those common to him with all the Priests which were very costly he had others far more precious particularly the Ephod and its Girdle the Breast-plate set with Stones of great value the Robe and the Crown of Gold The two Stones also on the shoulders of the Ephod were not only precious in their kind but for their bigness being so large that Twelve Names were engraven in them containing Six and thirty Letters All which considered Philo had reason to say L. de Sacerd. Hon. it is manifest the Law drest up their Priest 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the venerableness and honour of a King For the Priesthood in old time was so honourable that Kings themselves discharged it which is the reason that in Scripture Princes and Priests have the same Name of Cohenim To all which I may add That they took such care all their Garments should be for glory and beauty that when they were foul they did not wash them nor repair them when they had any breach in them but new ones were bought and the old imployed about the Lamps in the Feast of Tabernacles See Mr. Selden L. III. de Synedr c. 11. p. 142. Ver. 41. And thou shalt put them upon Aaron thy brother and his sons with him As we read he did VIII Lev. 6 7 c. 13. and this was part of Aaron's Consecration v. 3. of this Chapter And shalt anoint them He anointed Aaron by pouring the holy Oyl upon his Head VIII Lev. 12. but he anointed his Sons only by sprinkling some of it upon their Garments as he did upon his also with the Blood of the Sacrifice XXIX 21. VIII Lev. 30. And consecrate them By the Sacrifice of a Ram called the Ram of Consecration the Blood of which he put upon the tip of their right ear c. XXIX 20. VIII Lev. 22 23 c. and by the Wave-offering which he put into their hands that they might wave them before the LORD XXIX 24. VIII Lev. 27. From whence the phrase for consecrate here in this place is in Hebrew fill their hand And sanctifie them By the foregoing Ceremonies For they were set apart to the Divine Service by putting on their Garments anointing them and offering the Sacrifice of Consecration and by washing them with Water as appears from VIII Lev. 6 7 12. where it is said he anointed Aaron to sanctifie him and v. 30. having sprinkled their Garments it is said he sanctified Aaron and his Garments and upon his Sons and upon his Sons Garments with him Ver. 42. And thou shalt make them linen breeches Though these are mentioned in the last place yet they were put on the first of all the Priests Garments after them the Coat which being girt about with the Girdle the Bonnet
Unction which is here mentioned v. 21. of this Chapter where a mixture is ordered to be made of the Blood of the Sacrifice and of the anointing Oyl which was order'd to be sprinkled both upon Aaron and his Sons and upon their Garments and was a part of their Consecration For it was done accordingly at that time as we read VIII Lev. 30. So that Aaron himself had a double Unction one proper to him alone as High Priest upon whose Head the holy Oyl was poured another common to him with his Sons as he was a Priest whose Garments were sprinkled with the Oyl and Blood mingled together Ver. 8. And thou shalt bring his sons and put coats upon them The High Priest was first habited and then his Sons in the order I have described v. 5. Ver. 9. And thou shalt gird them with girdles c. See v. 5. And the Priests office shall be theirs c. That is as long as the holy Garments were upon them the Priesthood was upon them but if they were not upon them neither was the Priesthood upon them They are the words of Maimonides in Celi Hammikdash c. 10. Or the meaning may be they shall enjoy in perpetual Succession the Office of Priests as their Father and his Successors the Office of High Priests And thou shalt consecrate Aaron and his sons Thus doing they shall be compleatly consecrated For in the Hebrew the phrase is Shall fill the hand of Aaron c. which was done after the manner prescribed v. 22 23 24 c. Which shows that this was the principal part of their Consecration or at least the consummation of it And there was besides this a peculiar Offering which both Aaron and his Sons are commanded to offer in the day of their anointing VI Lâ—â— 20 21. Ver. 10. And thou shalt cause a bullock The young bullock he commanded him to take v. 1. To be brought before the Tabernacle of the Congregation In order to its being offered to God for in this and in the following Verses the Sacrifices are prescribed which were to be made at the Consecration of Aaron and his Sons which were three The first is this here mentioned which was an Offering for Sin as appears from v. 14. For till their Sins were expiated they were not fit to offer any thing to God much less to offer for the Sins of others The next was an Holocaust or whole Burnt-offering as a Gift or Present whereby they were recommended to God And the third was a Peace-offering on which they made a Feast and by that were initiated into God's Family And Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the bullock This was the form in all Sacrifices both Burnt-offerings I Lev. 4. and Peace-Offerings III Lev. 2 8. by which they devoted the Sacrifice to be the LORD's But in Sin-offerings there being a Solemn Confession of Sins made XVI Lev. 21. he that laid his hands on the Beast seemed thereby to have transferred the Guilt from himself unto the Sacrifice desiring it might be accepted for him Ver. 11. And thou shalt kill the bullock before the LORD Though Moses was never Consecrated after the manner of Aaron yet he was made a Priest for this peculiar purpose by an extraordinary Commission from God By the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation Where the Altar of Burnt-offering was placed at the crection of the Tabernacle XL. 6 29. Ver. 12. And thou shalt take of the blood of the bullock and put it upon the horns of the Altar with thy finger Some have fancied that he means upon the horns of the Altar of Incense because when a Priest offered a Sin-offering for himself he was so to do IV Lev. 7. But it is to be considered that Aaron and his Sons for whom this Sacrifice was offered were not yet Priests but common Men who by this Sacrifice were to be made Priests Whose blood therefore was to be put upon the horns of the Altar of Burnt-offering as is expresly required in other Sin-offerings IV Lev. 25 30. And pour all the blood All the rest of the blood Beside the bottom of the Altar This shows he speaks of the Altar of Burnt-offering at the bottom of which there was a Trench into which they poured the Blood of the Sacrifice as I shall show hereafter Ver. 13. And thou shalt take all the fat that covereth the inwards He means that part of the Beast which is called the Omentum in which all the Bowels are wrapped which in IX Lev. 19. is simply called that which covereth This hath a great deal of fat upon it to keep the Bowels warm and was much used in ancient Sacrifices both among the Greeks and Romans who herein followed the Jews Nay the Persians also offered to the Gods nothing but the Omentum or a part of it as Bochartus observes out of Strabo See Hierozoic P. I. L. II. c. 45. And from the Condition and Situation of the Omentum the Heathen Diviners made their Conjectures insomuch that some think it had the name of Omentum because they made their good or bad Omens from thence And the Caul that is above the Liver Our Interpreters take this for the Diaphragm or the Midriff upon which the Liver hangs But Bochartus hath demonstrated I think that it signifies the greatest lobe of the Liver upon which the Bladder of Gall lies L. II. Hierozoic P. I. c. 45. The only Argument against it is that this Jothereth as the Hebrews call it is said here to be above the Liver and therefore must signifie the Diophragm upon which the Liver depends But the Particle Al signifies upon as well as above and is to be here so translated upon or by the Liver And the reason why this lobe of the Liver was peculiar to the Altar was because of the fat that is upon it And the two Kidneys c. For the same reason the Kidneys were appropriated to God which had one of their names from the fat that is upon them which Homer as the same Bochartus there observes calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ver. 14. And the flesh of the bullock and his skin c. The Burnt-offering being flead the skin of it was given to the Priest VII Lev. 8. But in Sin-offerings the skin was burnt and the Flesh also in some cases and that also without the Camp not at the Altar IV Lev. 11 12. VIII 17. The Heathen sometimes burnt the skin even of their Holocausts as Bochart shews P. I. Hierozoic L. II. c. 34. Shalt thou burn with fire c. The Hebrew word here for burn is quite different from that in the foregoing Verse which is used concerning the burning of Incense which soon vanished into smoke as the fat there mentioned did But the flesh and the skin and the dung were burnt with a stronger fire and were longer before they were consumed and therefore burnt without the Camp where the Ashes were poured out
as a thing abominable It is a Sin-offering The Priest might eat of any Sin-offering whose Blood was not brought into the Sanctuary or rather it was his Duty so to do X Lev. 17. because it argued that the Peoples Sin was born and taken away by the Priest It may seem strange then that Moses who was in the place of a Priest is ordered to burn all this Sin-offering and not permitted to eat of it though Aaron and his Sons could not because they were not yet Priests The best reason I have found of it is that it was to signifie the imperfection of the Legal Dispensation since the Sins of the Priests themselves could not be taken away by the Priests of the Law or their Sacrifices but were to expect a better Sacrifice or a better High Priest as Dr. Jackson's words are in his Consecration of the Son of God c. 26. n. 2. Ver. 15. And thou shalt also take one ram One of the Rams mentioned above v. 1. Aaron and his Sons shall put their hands upon the head of the Ram. See concerning this v. 10. Ver. 16. And thou shalt slay the Ram. Where the Bullock was killed by the Door of the Tabernacle v. 11. And thou shalt take his blood and sprinkle it round about upon the Altar It was a different Sacrifice from the other and therefore had different Ceremonies belonging to it some of the Blood of the Bullock being only put on the Horns of the Altar v. 12. How the Blood was sprinkled round about upon the Altar will be explained I Lev. 11. Ver. 17. And thou shalt cut the Ram in pieces That the Parts might the more easily be burnt upon the Altar And wash the inwards of him c. Upon which there was a great deal of fat which being put upon the pieces and the Head made them consume the sooner by nourishing the flame Thus Homer represents the Sacrifice of the Greeks as Bochart observes when they offered to Jupiter They cut the Thighs in pieces and then covered them over with fat 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Iliad 2. v. 423. Vid. Hieroz Pars I. Lib. II. 2. c. 45. p. 472. Ver. 18. And thou shalt burn the whole Ram upon the Altar it is a Burnt-offering unto the LORD c. By this it appears that as the former was a Sin-offering so this was an Holocaust or Burnt-offering which would not be received till their Sins were expiated by the foregoing Sacrifice Nothing of which was offered at the Altar but some of the fat only because as R. Levi ben Gerson observes the Offerers were not yet worthy that God should accept any Offering from them Ver. 19. And thou shalt take the other Ram. Mentioned v. 1. And Aaron and his Sons shall put their hands upon the head of the Ram. See v. 10. This it will appear afterward v. 28 32. was a Peace-offering upon which being now reconciled to God and received into his favour they feasted with him at his Table Ver. 20. Then shalt thou kill the Ram. Where the Bullock was killed which was first offered v. 11. And take of his blood Which was received in a Bason And put it upon the tip of the right ear of Aaron and his Sons c. This being peculiarly called the Ram of Consecration v. 22 31. the Blood of it was not put upon the Horns of the Altar as in this first Sacrifice v. 12. nor meerly sprinkled round about the Altar as in the second v. 16. but put upon Aaron and his Sons And first upon the tip of their ears to signifie that they should hearken to the Divine Prescriptions and then upon their Thumbs and great Toes in which lye the strength of the Hands and Feet to denote their ready and strenuous performance of every thing required of them And being put upon the tip of their right ear and the Thumb of their right hand and the great Toe of their right foot it may well be thought to signifie the most exact and perfect obedience the right hand being every where represented as the most excellent and strongest to do any Execution To this purpose Abarbinel discourses on this place whose words are these All this tended to make the Priest understand that he ought to apply himself diligently to the study of the Law and to imploy his hands with the same diligence in his Sacred Ministry and to walk in the way of God's Precepts c. Some of the Jews consider these things so scrupulously as to say the Priests might not use their left hand in their Ministry no more than Minister with unwashen hands And sprinkle the blood upon the Altar round about i. e. The remainder of the Blood It is no improbable conjecture of Fortunatus Scacchus that from hence the Heathens learnt their Taurobolia and Criobolia which in process of time they disguised with Infernal Rites and Ceremonies For a deep hole being made in the Ground the Priest to be conserrated was put into it and then Planks being laid over it with a great many holes in them the Bullock or the Ram was slain over them and their Blood running down into the hole the Priest received it on his Eyes his Ears his Nose his Mouth nay he besmeared his Body with it And this was accounted the highest Consecration of a Priest the virtue of which lasted Twenty years before it was renewed and he that was thus consecrated was had in the greatest Honour and Veneration Thus filthily did the Devil pervert the most simple and cleanest Rites which Moses prescribed of putting a little Blood with a fragrant Oyl on the tip of one of their Ears Thumbs and Toes Myrothec 2. Sacr. Elaeochrism c. 77. Ver. 21. And thou shalt take of the blood that is upon the Altar Some of that which was sprinkled as the foregoing Verse directs round about the Altar Or perhaps some of the Blood was left in the Bason upon the Altar for that use And of the anointing Oyl Which is afterward ordered to be made XXX 23 c. And sprinkle it upon Aaron and upon his Garments and upon his Sons and upon the Garments of his Sons with him By which sprinkling both they and their Garments were separated to an holy use as it follows in the next words And he shall be hallowed and his Garments c. See upon v. 7. This may be lookt upon as a lively Representation of our Purification by the Blood of Jesus Christ and by his Holy Spirit Ver. 22. And thou shalt take of the Ram the fat All the Fat in general was to be the LORD's III Lev. 3. The Rump Here he seems to reckon up the particulars And the Rump of a Sheep was the principal in those Eastern Countries where their Tails are of a prodigious bigness and exceeding fat as Bochartus observes P. I. Hieroz L. II. c. 45. and Job Ludolphus in his Histor Aethiop L. I. c. 10. n. 16. and in his Comment in Histor L. I. c.
meaning is Thou shalt do thus before them if they doubt whether I have appeared to thee as he feared they would v. 1. to convince them of it Ver. 6. And the LORD said furthermore unto him Put now thy hand into thy bosom c. He did not ask for a new sign but the LORD was graciously pleased to grant him a further Confirmation of his Faith or rather of the Faith of the Israelites And he put his hand into his bosom and when he took it out behold it was leprous as Snow It was a wonderful thing that out of the same place should come both the Disease and the Cure as we read in the next Verse that by putting his hand into his bosom again it became sound and it was the greater wonder because the Leprosie was a Disease that was very hard to be cured R. Elieser in the place fore-named doth not give so good a reason for this sign as for the former though it is not a bad one For he making a Question Why God should give them a sign by an unclean thing and not by a clean makes this Answer to it Because as a Leper is unclean and makes others so in like manner Pharaoh and the impure Egyptians had defiled the Israelites but God showed by Moses's drawing his hand out of his bosom again pure and clean that he would deliver and purge the Israelites from the silthiness of the Egyptians I should think rather that the Leprosie represented God's smiting the Egytians with his Plagues and the Cure of it God's removal of those Plagues at Moses his Prayer But there is no end of such Conceits Therefore I shall ra-rather observe that God commanding him to work all these wonders before Pharaoh ver 21. it is very probable this gave occasion to the fabulous Story which was invented in future Ages that Moses was a Leper and the Israelites infected with that and other scabby Diseases For so Josephus tells us L. I. contra Apion the Tale was told in Manetho's History and thence descended unto others that Moses was driven out of the Country 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 See Justin L. XXXV c. 2. Tacitus L. V. Histor c. 3. because he had the Leprosie Which as Manetho perhaps did not maliciously devise out of his own head so those Historians from whom he borrowed his Work might have but an imperfect Tradition of the Truth derived from this Passage of Moses appearing with a leprous Hand before Pharaoh which was presently noised about the Country without the other part of his being immediately cured And thus Helladius Besantinus an Egyptian Writer in his Chresto-Mathia mentions one who said Moses was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because his Body 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was markt with white leprous spots And unto this lye he calls Philo to be a Witness The very same is affirm'd by Philemaeus Hephaestionis as J. Meursius observes in his Notes upon the fore-named Author Ver. 7. And he plucked it out of his bosom and behold it was turned again as his other flesh A manifest token as Con. Pellicanus rightly takes it that God could with as much ease restore his oppressed People to perfect liberty Ver. 8. And it shall come to pass if they will not believe thee nor hearken to the voice of the first sign Here he gives the reason why he was pleased to add another sign to the former that he might overcome the incredulity which he foresaw would be in many of them That they will believe the voice of the latter sign Yield their consent to that which is plainly taught them by both these signs viz. that God had appeared to him and ordered him to say what he did And he saith they would believe because it was rational to suppose they would though he likewise supposes in the next Verse some might still remain incredulous and therefore he adds another Ver. 9. Thou shalt take of the Water of the River and pour it upon the dry Land and the Water shall become Blood This sign was not wrought now when God talked with him as the two former were for he was in the Desert far from the River here spoken of and near no River at all Therefore in case the Israelites did not believe upon the sight of the two former signs this is ordered to be wrought when he came into Egypt for their Conviction by taking the Water of Nilus and turning it into Blood Which might be well looked upon as an Indication that God was able to spoil that Water which was the great Instrument of the fertility of that Country and make their Land barren And also put them in mind that the cry of the innocent Blood of their Infants which had been drown'd in that River was come up to God There was a necessity that Moses should be instructed with all these Powers because with an unusual Commission which would not have been credited if he had not brought such extraordinary proof of it All the Prophets after him did not work Miracles which were necessary only when some great Change was to be made in the World as there was now at their bringing out of Egypt After which they were to be put into a new form and order by a body of peculiar Laws both Civil and Religious which when they were notoriously violated God was pleased by such wonders as Moses wrought to turn their hearts back again as he did in the days of Elijah 1 Kings XVIII 37. Ver. 10. And Moses said unto the LORD O my Lord. This is a Form of Speech whereby he declines this great Imployment and desires to be excused The Reason of which follows I am not Eloquent In the Hebrew Am not a man of words i. e. not a good Speaker or not accustomed to make Speeches or as some take it a Man of few words and therefore unfit to be sent to the Israelites and much more to the King of Egypt to whom none but great Orators make Addresses Clemens in his Epistle to the Corinthians makes this an Argument of Moses his Humility and saith he added these words from I know not what Authour 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I am a reek from a Pot. Neither heretofore nor since thou hast spoken unto thy Servant This hath been always my Imperfection that I could not speak fluently nor do I find that I am altered since thou hast been pleased to appear to me and give me this Commission But I am slow of speech and of a slow tongue Cannot bring forth my words readily nor pronounce them well The Jews think he had some impediment in his Speech so that he could not pronounce some Letters or Words exactly at least not without such difficulty that it was long before he could bring them forth But the LXX understand these words slow of speech as if he had but a weak small or slender voice speaking voce gracili exili as it may be translated in Latin which
Divinations upon the Water as a Magician Hierozoic P. 2. L. IV. Cap. XV. And thou shalt stand by the Rivers brink against he come Perhaps Pharaoh as the same Bochart observes had forbid him to come any more to the Court and so God directs him to take this occasion to meet with him And the Rod which was turned into a Serpent shalt thou take in thine hand To give him the greater Authority and to put Pharaoh in fear at the sight of that Rod which had lately swallowed up all the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Greg. Nyssen calls them Magical Staves which encountred him Ver. 16. And thou shalt say the LORD God of the Hebrews hath sent me unto thee saying See V. 3. To which add that it is plain by this whole Story that all the Messages delivered by Moses and all the Answers which Pharaoh returned were true and formal Treaties of a Solemn Embassage as Dr. Jackson speaks upon which Moses was sent to the King of Egypt from the LORD God of the Hebrews that is their King as he was become in a peculiar manner under whom Moses acted as his Deputy or Viceroy Let my People go that they may serve me c. The merciful kindness of God to an hardned Sinner is here very remarkable in renewing his Message and giving him Warning of what would come upon him if he did not yield Whereas he might in Justice have inflicted it without any Notice of his Intentions He sets before him also his Sin and his Danger in being hitherto Disobedient and behold hitherto thou wouldst not hear i. e. thou hast provoked the Divine Majesty by disregarding several Messages I have brought to thee from him Ver. 17. Thus saith the LORD Attend to this new Message I bring to thee in his Name In this thou shalt know that I am the LORD He had askt in a contemptuous way Who is the LORD and said after a supercilious manner I know him not v. 2. nor indeed cared to know him but slighted him and his Messengers as the word know not sometime signifies being as much as not to regard Therefore now he bids Moses tell him He would make him know that he was the Omnipotent LORD of the World by the change of the Waters of the River which Pharaoh perhaps adored into Blood Behold I will smite with the Rod that is in mine hand God and Moses are represented in this History as one Person according to what he had said v. 1. of this Chapter and therefore it was the same thing to say the LORD whose words Moses had begun to recite will smite or to say I will smite See v. 16. It is to be observed also that Aaron smote the River v. 19. but it being by Moses his Direction and Order it was counted his Act so that he might say I will smite c. The Waters of the River and they shall be turned into Blood This Plague was the more remarkable because as Theodoret here observes they having drowned the Hebrew Children in this River God now punishes them for it by giving them bloody Water to drink XII Wisd 7 8. And if they had the same Notions then that the Egyptians had in future times the Plague was the more terrible because it fell on that which they thought had some Divinity in it and as the same Theodoret observes was honoured as a God because it made Plenty when it overflow'd its Banks The Hebrew Doctors add another reason for this Punishment because the Egyptians had hindred them from their wonted Baptisms as the Authour of The Life and Death of Moses speaks that is saith Gaulmyn from Purifying themselves in the River by Bathing after they had lain in of their Children which in the scarcity of Water in that Country could no where be done but in the River Ver. 18. And the Fish that is in the River shall die c. Here are three grievous Effects of this Plague It deprived them of their most delicious Food for so their Fish were XI Numb 5. And took away the Pleasure they had of washing by the Rivers side because it stank both by the death of the Fish and the corruption of the Blood through the heat of the Sun by which means the Water was made unfit for their Drink Ver. 19. And the LORD spake unto Moses After he had been with Pharaoh and delivered this Message to him Say unto Aaron take thy Rod and stretch out thy hand This Warning being despised by Pharaoh who would not relent God requires them actually to do as he had threatned And now Moses had delivered his Rod to Aaron that he might by his Authority execute this Judgment Vpon the Waters of Egypt These are general words comprehending all the particulurs following Vpon their Streams There were seven Branches into which the River Nile was divided before it fell into the Sea which seem to be here understood being called IX Isa 15. the seven Streams or Rivers of Egypt Vpon their Rivers There were several Cuts made by Art out of every Stream to draw the Water into their Grounds which seem to be here meant by Rivers And upon their Ponds These were digged to hold rain water when it fell as it did sometimes and near the River also they digged Wells it is likely which may be here intended And upon all Pools of Water There were here and there other Collections of Water particularly in their Gardens derived by Pipes from the River into Cisterns In Vessels of Wood or of Stone Wherein Water was kept in private Houses for their present use Ver. 20. And Moses and Aaron did so as the LORD commanded c. This first Plague our Primate Vsher makes account was inflicted about the XVIIIth day of the Sixth Month which in the next year and ever after became the Twelfth Month. Artapanus tells this Story otherwise but it is evident he had heard of it among the Gentiles and Ezekiel the Tragaedian relates it all right together with the following Miracle See Euseb Praepar Evang. L. IX Cap. XXIX p. 442. Nor is there any thing more frequent in the Roman Story as Huetius observes L. II. Alnet Quaestion Cap. XII n. 12. than Relations of Rivers of Blood flowing out of the Earth Pits full of Blood showres of Blood and Waters of Rivers changed into Blood c. And he lift up the Rod and smote the Waters that were in the River c. Here is mention only of Smiting the Water in the River And it is likely that only the Waters of the River were turned into Blood as it here follows at the first lifting up of his Rod and then all the rest of the Waters mentioned in the precedent Verse Ver. 21. And the Fish that was in the River died c. All the effects of this Plague which were threatned v. 18. See there immediately following The first of which was the death of the Fish which perished in such great numbers that
Selden shows L. IV. de Jure N. G. c. 2. An Officer of Justice was not bound to flee if he chanced in the Execution of his Office to kill a Man that resisted him Nor a Master if he killed his Scholar or a Father his Son when he gave him Correction Ver. 14. But if a man come presumptuously The Vulgar Latin rightly translates it industriously or with design to kill him for it is opposed to ignorance The Hebrew word also carries in it a signification of boiling anger which doth not alter the Case For if a Man in the height of his Rage resolved to kill another and laid wait for him to execute his Design it was justly judged to be wilful Murder and punished with Death Which was far more equal than Plato's Law That such a Man should only be banished for three years as he that on a sudden killed a Man in his Anger only for two L. IX de Legibus p. 867. Vpon his Neighbour The Hebrew Doctors by Neighbour understand only an Israelite or a Proselyte of Justice As for others they were not put to death if an Israelite killed one of them Which was not the intent of this Law whereby God would have all Men that lived among them safe and secure from being murdered To slay him with guile By which it appeared the Act was designed and deliberate For two things are denoted by this word with guile first fore-thought and then delay as Isaac Karo observes See L'Empereur in Bava kama cap. 3. sect 6. Thou shalt take him If it be inquired who should take him it seems to be determined XIX Deut. 12. where the Elders of the City were to fetch away a wilful Murderer from the City of Refuge In after times the King ordered it as Moses did while he lived 1 Kings I. ult II. 29. By which places it appears That if a Man refused to come from the Altar being judged upon proof to be a wilful Murderer or other high Offender he might be there killed as Georg. Ritterhusius shows L. de Jure Asylorum c. 8. where he observes out of Plutarch in his Laconioa that Agesilaus declared publickly at the Altar of Pallas where he sacrificed an Ox that he thought it lawful to kill one that treacherously assaulted him even at the Altar And thus the practice was among Christians as he there shows when their Temples became Sanctuaries to Malefactors From my Altar This was an Asylum as well as the Cities of Refuge but under many Limitations both with respect to the part of the Altar and to the Persons that fled thither and to the Crime they had committed as Mr. Selden shows in the place above-mentioned p. 475. That he may die Though he was the High Priest and in the Act of Sacrifice he was to be taken away without delay if he had committed wilful Murder If it was involuntary then he was to be taken from thence and carried to the City of Refuge For God would not have a Pious place as Conradus Pellicanus glosses be a Protection to Impiety See Mr. Selden L. III. de Synedr c. 8. p. 100. Maimonides his Observation is pertinent enough upon this occasion That the Mercy which is shown to wicked Men is no better than Tyranny and Cruelty to the rest of God's Creatures and therefore though such Persons sought to God for his Patronage by betaking themselves to that which was dedicated to his Name he would not afford them any protection but commanded them to be delivered up to Justice More Nevoch P. III. c. 39. Ver. 15. And he that smiteth his Father or Mother So as to wound them and to make the Blood come or to leave a mark of the stroke by making the flesh black and blue as we speak Selden L. II. de Synedr c. 13. p. 556. Shall be surely put to death Strangled say the Hebrews see v. 12. by the Sentence of the Judge there being competent Witnesses of the Fact as in other Cases The giving them saucy words or making mows at them which signified Contempt was punished also with Whipping There was no need to say any thing of killing them for all wilful Murder was punished with Death And Solon it is commonly noted made no Law about this because it was not to be supposed any Man would be so wicked Nor was this Crime known among the Persians as Herodotus saith in his days Nor do we find any mention of it in the Law of the XII Tables But in after times there were most severe Punishments enacted against Parricide which are described at large by Modestinus And Diodorus Siculus tells us of the like among the Egpytians See Hen. Stephanus in his Fontes Rivi Juris Civilis p. 18. Plato would have him that killed either Father or Mother Brethren or Children not only to be put to Death but to be disgraced after his Execution by throwing his dead Body naked into a common place without the City where all the Magistrates in the Name of the People should every one of them throw a Stone at his head and then carrying him out of the Coasts leave him without Burial L. IX de Legibus p. 873. Ver. 16. He that stealeth a Man By a Man the Hebrews understand an Israelite whether he was a Freeman or but a Servant as Mr. Selden observes L. VI. de Jure N. G. c. 2. And selleth him No Israelite would buy him and therefore such Plagiaries sold him to Men of other Nations Which made the Crime to be punished with Death because it was a cruel thing not only to take away his Liberty but make him a Slave to Strangers Or if he be found in his hand Though he had not actually sold him yet his intention was sufficiently known by his stealing him Shall be surely put to death I observed above v. 12. they interpret this Phrase every where to signifie strangling If it be said any where his blood shall be upon him it signifies stoning Maimonides makes this the reason why such a Man was condemned to die because it might well be thought he intended to kill him whom he violently carried away at least as I understand it if he could not find means to sell him More Nevoch P. III. c. 41. Ver. 17. And he that curseth his Father or his Mother c. The Hebrews take this Law to concern those who cursed their dead Parents no less than those who cursed them when they were alive but not without Praemonition and Witnesses as in other Capital Crimes And not unless they cursed their Parents by some proper Name of God as Mr. Selden observes out of the Jewish Doctors L. II. de Synedr c. 13. This and the other Law v. 15. enacted Death as the Punishment of such Crimes because they were a sign saith Maimonides More Nevoch P. III. c. 41. of a desperate Malice and audacious Wickedness being a subversion of that Domestick Order which is the prime part of good Government
people go up with him But stay at the bottom of the Mount as they did before the giving the X. Commandments XIX 17. below the place where the Elders were So I think Maimonides rightly understands this place in his More Nevoch P. II. c. 32. where speaking of the several degrees of Prophecy or Familiarity with God he observes that Moses was here placed in the Supreme degree he alone being allowed to come near the LORD below him was Aaron placed and below him Nadab and Abihu and below them the LXX Elders and beneath them the rest of the People Which is the meaning of that saying of their Wise men Moses is a wall by himself and Aaron a wall by himself that is they were in separate Apartments at this glorious Appearance of God Ver. 3. And Moses came From the Mount where he had received the Precepts mentioned in the three foregoing Chapters And told the People all the words of the LORD and all the Judgments Some understand here by the words of the LORD the Ten Commandments called the Ten Words XXXVIII 18. But these words the People heard spoken by God himself and not by the report of Moses Therefore I take these words to signisie rather what he had spoken in the latter part of the foregoing Chapter from the 20th Verse to the end And then by all the Judgments he means those Laws which he had received for their good Government in the XXI XXII Chapters and the former part of the XXIII And all the people answered with one voice and said In all likelyhood Moses had told the Elders what God had said to him and they went and told it to the People who gave the following Answer to them For thus it was before XIX 6 7. All the words that the LORD hath said will we do They had consented before in general to do whatsoever God required of them having him for their King and Governour XIX 6 7 8. but now they consent in particular after God had declared what he would have them do in the XX Chapter and Moses had also reported the rest of the Judgments delivered in the XXI XXII XXIII Chapters Ver. 4. And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD Both the Ten Commandments and all the rest of the Judgments delivered in the foregoing Chapters God indeed wrote the Ten Commandments himself but for the present Moses made a Record of them that the People might not only hear but read what they had to do And rose up early in the morning The next morning it is likely after he had received those Judgments and delivered them to the People and wrote them in a Book which was upon the seventh day of Sivan as I observed XX. 21. That is on the sixth of our June as Jac. Capellus reckons Therefore on the eighth of Sivan he built the Altar c. as it here follows And builded an Altar under the hill At the foot of the Hill where the People were allowed to stand This Altar was to represent God to whom Sacrifices were offered upon it And twelve Pillars according to the twelve Tribes of Israel This was to represent all the People The Gentiles abusing such Pillars to Idolatrous uses the erecting of them is afterward forbidden in the Law But before the building of the Tabernacle Moses here erects them as Jacob had piously done in former times XXXV Gen. 14. See Selden L. II. de Jure N. G. c. 6. p. 185. Ver. 5. And he sent young men of the Children of Israel These are said by the Hebrews to be the First-born as Onkelos here expresly translates it He sent the First-born and the Paraphrase ascribed to Vzielides follows him adding this reason Because the Aaronical Priests were not yet consecrated The Arabick and Persian Versions say the same as Mr. Selden hath observed L. I. de Succession ad Pontif. c. 1. and most Interpreters have been of the same mind But I have often observed before particularly XIX 22. that I can see no proof of this that they only officiated as Priests every Man anciently in his own Family having a right to offer Sacrifice till the Law of Moses restrained it to the Family of Aaron Therefore I take these young men to have been the choicest Persons among them whether First-born or others who had been appointed to Minister unto God For Joshua who is called here v. 13. Moses his Minister is in XI Numb 28. called his young man Such were fittest for all Service especially for that of Sacrificing to God For which they anciently chose the strongest and properest Persons as we see in the Greek story of Jason which our Learned Dr. Spencer observes p. 140. whose Sacrifices were led to the Altar by the young men of his Company i. e. Men of greatest strength and beauty L. I. Argonaut And this so far remained after the Priesthood was consined to the Family of Aaron that no Man was permitted to officiate at the Altar after he was Fifty years of Age that is when he was past his best as we speak the flower and strength of his Age VIII Numb 25. Fortunatus Scacchus conjectures that there were XII of these young Men one of each Tribe who offered in the Name of their Brethren Myrothec Sacr. Elaeochrism p. 2. c. 59. Which offered Burnt-offerings and sacrificed Peace-offerings of Oxen unto the LORD Though Oxen are only mentioned yet there were other Creatures Sacrificed as appears from IX Hebr. 19 20. And in following times Peace-offerings might be either of Calves or Lambs or Goats as we sind in III Lev. and so might Burnt-offerings also see I Lev. 2 10. Our Learned Primate Vsher thinks also there were Expiatory Sacrifices offered together with these Burnt-offerings and Peace-offerings and that in the first place ad A. M. 2513. mens 3. Ver. 6. And Moses took half the blood and put it in basons It may be a question whether he spake of the Blood of all the Sacrifices or only of the Expiatory if there were any or of the Burnt-offerings or Peace-offerings But which way soever that be determined this half of the Blood it is certain was reserved to be sprinkled on the People v. 8. Concerning the word Agganot which we translate Basons the Learned Reader may consult Bochartus in his Hierozoic P. I. p. 549. And half of the Blood he sprinkled on the Altar The Altar representing God as was said before v. 4. this Blood sprinkled upon it signified that he for his part engaged to be faithful in the Covenant he now made with them and they with him by performing all the Promises he had newly made them by Moses in the latter end of the foregoing Chapter especially those four great Promises of Plenty Health numerous Off-spring and Long-life v. 25 26. together with the driving out the People of Canaan from before them v. 27 c. Ver. 7. And he took the Book Some have made it a difficulty to find what Book
Therefore Nachmanides more reasonably conceives that these Rings were indeed in the corners of the Ark but not in the higher as R. Solomon would have them but in the lower and therefore said here to be in the feet For the Scripture calling the top of every thing the head of it the bottom is commonly there called the feet And so the Ark by placing the Rings and Staves in the bottom was carried on high upon the Priests shoulders representing God who is highly exalted And two rings shall be on the one side of it and two rings on the other side of it That is in the length of it as Josephus expresly testifies and not in the breadth Ver. 13. And thou shalt make staves of Shittim-wood Of such a length that the Ark might be at a decent distance from those that carried it And overlay them with Gold With Plates of Gold as the Ark it self was v. 14. Ver. 14. And thou shalt put the staves into the rings by the sides of the Ark. The Hebrews say these staves were ten Cubits long That the Ark may be born with them Upon the shoulders of the Levites particularly the Sons of Korah See Numb IV. 4 5 6 c. VII 9. For it was a Crime to carry it any other way either in their Hands or drawn in a Cart. Compare 1 Chron. XIII 7. with XV. 15. Ver. 15. And the staves shall be in the rings of the Ark. Continue and remain in the Rings whence they were once put therein They shall not be taken from it When they set down the Ark they were not to take out the staves and put them in again when it was to be carried but let them as was said continue in the rings that there might be no danger of letting them fall which had been a great irreverence and because they would be best preserved and take less harm there than any where else and if they had occasion to remove the Ark suddenly all would be ready and the Levites were hereby kept from touching the Ark or coming nearer to it than the ends of the staves Ver. 16. And thou shalt put into the Ark the testimony which I will give thee The two Tables of Stone containing the Ten Commandments which are called the Testimony and the Two Tables of Testimony XXXI 18. because they testified what the Will of God was which they had consented to observe and were therefore publick authentick Instruments attesting the Covenant between God and them Whence the Ark which contained these is called the Ark of the Testimony as I observed above v. 10. v. 22. and in a great many other places of the XL Chapter And in one place it is called the Testimony XXX 36. and the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD X Deut. 8. because then Ten words were the principal part of the Covenant to which they stood obliged And perhaps the Book of the Covenant which Moses made with them XXIV 7. is comprehended under the name of the Testimony For though we read in 1 Kings VIII 9. there was nothing in the Ark save the two Tables of Stone c. yet the Apostle mentions some other things that were not in yet by or before the Ark IX Hebr. 4. But I assert nothing in this matter And shall only further observe that this direction for putting the Testimony or Tables of Stone into the Ark is given before any order is taken for making a Covering to it which follows after And therefore he was to put in the Law before the Cover was set on For though v. 21. this be mentioned again and put after the Cover is named yet the meaning is that he should set on the Cover having put in the Law And it is repeated that he should be very careful of this because the Cherubims were to protect and defend it Ver. 17. And thou shalt make a Mercy-seat The Hebrew word Capporet litterally signifies a Covering of any thing And that is the proper signification of this Mercy-seat as we translate it which was the Covering of the Ark. For it had no Door but was open at the top so that they might put the Tables of the Covenant into it and then it was to be fastned above by this Cover which any one may discern by its dimensions was exactly fit for it Others will have it called Capporet not from Capar to cover but from Cipper to expiate and render propitious And so indeed the Apostle calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the propitiatory because God here showed himself to be propitious and appeased by the Blood of the Sacrifices which was sprinkled before this place But the reason of this Translation may be because when Sins are pardoned they are said in Scripture to be covered The LXX put both these together in their Translation which is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Of pure Gold Not of Wood crusted over with Gold but all as Abarbinel speaks of solid Gold because it was the Cover of the Ark in which were the Tables of the Covenant written with God's Finger than which nothing was more precious Two cubits and an half shall be the length thereof c. Which was the length of the Ark v. 10. as the breadth was a Cubit and a half both of that and this Which shows this was the Cover of the Ark being most exactly adapted to it Ver. 18. And thou shalt make two Cherubims of gold We read of Cherubims in the beginning of the World and have good reason to believe thereby is meant Angels See III Gen. 24. But in what shape they appeared we are not told nor is there the least signification of it here in this place but what we can gather from v. 20. So that I can only say this they were of such a shape as the Angelical Ministers appeared in which attended upon the Divine Majesty in the Mount or rather such as god showed Moses a pattern of whereby to represent these heavenly Ministers For both the Ark and all belonging to it were made according to the model God gave him not from any Egyptian pattern as some imagine Bochart seems to me to speak judiciously when he saith they were not Figures of Angels but rather Emblems whereby the Angelical Nature was in some sort expressed Hierozoic P. I. L. 2. c. 25. And were therefore ordered to be made as Maimonides conjectures that the Jews might be confirmed in the belief of the Existence of Angels which is the second Article of their Faith next to the belief of God And he commanded two to be made because if there had been but one it might have led them into a dangerous Errour that this was the Figure of God whereby they might have been inclined to worship it But there being two of them ordered with this Declaration the LORD our God is one God it led them into right thoughts that God had many of these Angelical Ministers Thus he More Nevoch P. III. c. 45. Of beaten
understood of his Vnction also which was to be by day and not by night and to be repeated seven times And by the same reason the Sacrifices were also to be repeated though if he ministred before they were offered the Doctors held it not to be illegitimate as he shows in the end of that Chapter When he cometh into the Tabernacle of the Congreation to minister in the holy place At this entrance into the Tabernacle he was to put them on for seven days together before he could go to minister in the Sanctuary Ver. 31. And thou shalt take the Ram of the Consecration That is all the rest of the Flesh which was not burnt on the Altar nor given to Moses Who having had their share v. 22 26. the Remainder as the manner was in Peace-offerings belonged to those that brought the Sacrifice And seethe his flesh in the holy place At the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation as we read expresly VIII Lev. 31. and as it is explained in the next Verse that there they should eat it Fire was taken from the Altar to boil it Ver. 32. And Aaron and his Sons shall cat the flesh of the Ram. That is Feast with God in his own House as Persons now compleatly qualified to minister unto him And the bread that is in the basket All the remaining Bread and Cakes which were presented unto God after that which was burnt upon the Altar as his part v. 23 24 c. By the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation Hence it appears that this Sacrifice had something in it peculiar from other Peace-offerings which might be carried home and eaten there after God and the Priests had had their parts But this was to be eaten in God's own House where they were Ministers as a thing more holy and therefore Aaron and his Sons and Daughters could not eat of it as all the Family did of other Sacrifices of this kind Ver. 33. And they shall eat those things Aaron and his Sons alone were to eat them and no Body else with them Wherewith the atonement was made The atonement was not made by these things but by the Bullock which was offered in the first place which made them fit to have their hands filled with these things as the Hebrew phrase is for Consecrating v. 23 24. to compleat their Sanctification And therefore the words should be thus translated They shall eat those things for whom the atonement or expiation was made To consecrate and to sanctifie them Their Consecration and Sanctification began by the Sacrifice for Sin and was compleated by this now mentioned But a stranger shall not eat thereof None that are not of the Family of Aaron to whom alone this holy Food belonged Nor were all his Domesticks allowed to eat of it though they might eat of other Peace-offerings but only Aaron and his Sons who being consecrated Persons were to eat these things which had a special holiness in them being part of the Sacrifice of Consecration and therefore appertained only to such Persons as had been consecrated Because they are holy Had a special holiness as I said in them which made it fit only for such Persons to eat them Ver. 34. And if ought of the flesh of the consecrations or of the bread remain unto the morning He and his Sons being not able to eat it all Then thou shalt burn the remainder with fire This is a further argument that there was a peculiar holiness in this Sacrifice of which only Aaron and his Sons might eat for if this had been like to the flesh of other Peace-offerings it might according to the following Law have been kept two days before it was eaten VII Lev. 15 16 c. It shall not be eaten Upon the second day Because it is holy Is of a more than ordinary Sanctity being offered to make Men holy to God and therefore the greatest care was taken it should not be in danger to be in the least corrupted Ver. 35. And thus shalt thou do unto Aaron and unto his Sons according to all things which I have commanded thee This is the sum of what I have to command thee concerning the Consecration of Aaron and of his Sons Seven days shalt thou consecrate them They shall not be made compleat Priests in less time than I have appointed Which no doubt was to make them sensible of the weight of their Office Ver. 36. And thou shalt offer every day a Bullock for a Sin-offering for atonement Lest he should think that only the Ram of Consecration should be offered seven days together he here expresly directs the Bullock for a Sin-offering should be so often repeated The reason of it follows because it was for atonement Which appears by the next words to signifie that it was not only for the atonement of the Priest but of the Altar it self which was by this Sacrifice made fit for God's Service And that 's the reason perhaps why he saith in the Plural Number it was for atonements So the Hebrew Text. And thou shalt cleanse the Altar when thou hast made an atonement for it The Altar was not capable of any guilt therefore this word atonement is here used improperly to signifie that by these repeated Sacrifices it was set apart to be a place where Expiations should be made Or simply this Expiation of the Altar was no more but of a common making it a sacred Place or as Fortunatus Scacchus understands it it was purified by these Rites from that desilement it must be supposed to have contracted by the hands of the Workmen that made it for all Vessels in the sense of the Law were looked upon as made unclean by the touch of any unclean Person And therefore perhaps the Altar was also washed with Water as the Priests were which is here called its cleansing And thou shalt anoint it to sanctifie it To perfect its Sanctification or Separation from common use it was anointed with the holy Oyl mentioned in the next Chapter as Aaron and his Sons were For as by the Blood of the Bullock it was Expiated so by this anointing it was Consecrated which is meant by sanctifying it Ver. 37. Seven days thou shalt make an atonement for the Altar and sanctifie it Many think that these were not distinct seven days from those in which the Priests were expiated and consecrated as the Bullock for the Cleansing of the Altar was not a distinct Bullock from that for the Priests but the same Sacrifice served for both This Opinion I shall consider in the conclusion of this Book XL. 17 18. and now only observe that thus not only the Priests among the Heathen but their Altars also were dedicated by their Taurobolia and Criobolia which I mentioned v. 20. for we find an ancient Inscription wherein one is said to have set up PETRAM TAVROBOLIATAM an Altar consecrated by besmearing it with the Blood of those Sacrifices as Fortunatus Scacchus interprets it