the covering Vail Whereby the Holy Place was parted from the most Holy which is always meant by the word Parocheth as I showed upon Exod. XXVI 31. which is here used And though the word Masach be added to it which constantly signifies the outward Vail at the entrance of the Sanctuary yet it is plain that the inward Vail which was at the entrance of the most Holy Place is here intended for the other was committed to the care of the Gershonites v. 25. And cover the Ark of the Testimony with it By this it is evident they went into the Holy Place unto the very Ark over which they threw this Covering Verse 6 Ver. 6. And shall put thereon the covering of Badgers Skins Not any of those wherewith the Tabernacle was covered XXVI Exod. 14. but a Covering made on purpose for this use to defend the Ark from the injury of the Weather when they carried it on their shoulders And shall spread over it a Cloath wholly of blue Or of perfect blue This was the third Covering of the Ark which till it was laid upon it the Levites might not approach it And since the Tabernacle was the Image of Things in the Heavens as not only the Apostle but the Jews themselves say the Ark in particular being a Figure of the Celestial Throne of God it is not an unreasonable Conceit of R. Bechai that this blue coloured Cloth was spread over it as an Emblem of the Skies which are spread like a Curtain between us and the Majesty on High And shall put in the Staves thereof It is not said they shall put them in the Rings for they were never to be taken out of them XXV Exod. 15. Nor do the Hebrew words signifie that they should put them in but it should be translated put the Staves thereof that is upon their shoulders So Aben Ezra interprets it which seems to me the most simple Exposition Or fit and dispose them under the Covering that they might be laid on their shoulders Or order them so in the Rings which is Chaskun's Explication that they might fall into the two Notches which were in the Staves to keep the Ark from sliding up and down Ver. 7. And upon the Table of Shewbread they shall Verse 7 spread a Cloth of blue It is not said wholly of blue as it is of the former which shows it was of something a different colour And put thereon the dishes Upon which the Bread was set And the spoons and bowls c. See XXV Exod. 29. And the continual bread i. e. The Bread which stood continually in the Presence of God Shall be thereon Even when the Table was carried from place to place Which shows that they provided this Bread according to the order XXV Exod. 30. all the time they were in the Wilderness And it was not hard to procure so much Corn from their Neighbours bordering upon the Wilderness as would be sufficient for this purpose and for others which I shall note in their proper places particularly from the Land of Midian where Moses his Father in Law lived which was not far from Sinai as appears from III Exod. 1. where they were at present Ver. 8. And they shall spread upon them a Cloth of Scarlet and cover the same with a covering of Badgers skins These had a triple covering as well as the Verse 8 Ark being holy Things and having a holy Thing that is the Bread of the Presence as it is called in the Hebrew because it stood before God continually in the Dishes upon the Table And shall put in the staves thereof That it might be ready to be carried XXV Exod. 27 28. Verse 9 Ver. 9. And they shall take a Cloth of blue Like that which covered the Table v. 7. And cover the Candlestick of the Light See XXV Exod. 31. and XXXVII 17 c. And his Lamps and his Tongs c. XXV Exod. 37 38. XXXVII 23. And all the Oyl Vessels thereof For God commanded them to bring pure Oyl to feed the Lamps continually XXVII Exod. 20. which was put no doubt in Vessels to preserve it for daily use With which they minister unto you With which Oyl they keep the Lamps continually burning Verse 10 Ver. 10. And they shall put it and all the Vessels thereof within a covering of Badgers skins There were but two Coverings for the Candlestick and its Vessels it being of lesser value than the Table of Shewbread and what belonged to it And shall put it upon a bar Rather upon a bier for the word we here translate bar is different from that used before v. 6 8. which we translate staves and signifies any Instrument whereby things are removed from one place to another We translate it indeed a Staff XIII 23. whereon two of them that went to spy out the Land carried the Cluster of Grapes they had cut down Which was laid no doubt upon something that was broad as this Bar was whereon they carried the Candlestick Which had no Rings belonging to it and therefore I take it was carried upon some thing resembling a Bier on which Corps are carried to their Grave in this Country See v. 12. and so the LXX 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ver. 11. And upon the golden Altar So called Verse 11 because it was overlaid with pure Gold XXX Exod. 3. They shall spread a Cloth of blue c. As they did upon the Candlestick v. 9. And shall put to the Staves thereof Into the Rings which were made on purpose that it might be carried upon the Staves XXX Exod. 4 5. Ver. 12. And they shall take all the Instruments of Verse 12 the Ministry wherewith they minister in the Sanctuary I do not see what can be meant by these but the holy Garments which Aaron and his Sons put on in the time of their Ministration For all other Things have been already mentioned and these are called the Clothes of Service XXXI Exod. 10. where they are immediately mentioned after all the fore-named Furniture of the Tabernacle And shall put them in a Cloth of blue and cover them with a covering of Badgers skins As they did the Candlestick and the Altar of Incense v. 9 11. And put them on a bar By this it appears that the Hebrew word Mot which we translate a Bar signifies a broad Instrument for Carriage such as I have described v. 10. Ver. 13. And they shall take away the Ashes from the Verse 13 Altar Of Burnt-offering which was often cleansed from its Ashes VI Lev. 10 11. but then especially when it was to be removed What they did with the Fire which was always to burn upon it VI Lev. 12 13. is not here related but we may suppose that it was carried upon the Grate which had Rings on purpose that it might be carried separate from the Altar See XXVII Exod. 4. And spread a purple Cloth thereon As being an holy thing though not of such Sanctity as those before-named
17. And he shall offer the Ram for a Sacrifice of Peace-offerings unto the LORD with the basket of unleavened Bread And the Cakes and Wafers which accompanied the Peace-offering that nothing might be wanting to compleat the Feast which was to be made upon them The Priest shall offer also his Meat-offering and his Drink-offering By this it appears that these were distinct from the Basket of Unleavened Bread c. as I observed v. 15. Verse 18 Ver. 18. And the Nazarite shall shave the Head of his Separation i. e. The Hair of his Head which was consecrated to God shall be shaved off that it may be presented unto him For having now fulfilled his Vow this Hair was holy it not having been defiled as that Hair was which he shaved off before v. 9. At the Door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation That it might be publickly known he had ended his Vow And shall take the Hair of the Head of his Separation His Hair which was consecrated to the LORD And put it in the fire Where it was burnt Which is under the Sacrifice of the Peace-offerings In the Court of the Women as they tell us in Middoth cap. 2. sect 5. where there were four Rooms and that in the North-east corner was the Room of the Nazarites In which they boiled their Peace-offerings and having polled their Hair put it under the Pot where the Sacrifice was boiling which as L'Empereur there observes out of Abarbinel was offered out of Joy that their Vow was fulfilled and therefore they put their Hair to be there burnt as a Testimony that their Nazariteship was at an end and that they had no further Obligation to let their Hair grow in observance of this Law And according to this account that Question is resolved which many have made Whether the Nazarites Hair was to be burnt with holy Fire viz. that on the Altar or with common For it was burnt with that which was under the Pot or Cauldron in which the Peace-offerings were boiled which was common Fire And indeed it had been unseemly to burn Hair upon the Altar it being God's Table where his Meat was set before him for it would not have been grateful at one of our Feasts Yet the Fire under the Peace-offerings may in some sort be called holy as it was imployed to boil holy Meat and in that regard more Sacred than other Vulgar Fire There are those who think no account can be given of such Ordinances as these but only this that it was so general a Custom and so very ancient among Mankind to let their Hair grow on purpose and to plait it in Locks that they might at a certain time cut it off and devote it to some of their Gods that in all likelyhood the Israelites would have followed their Superstition if God to prevent it had not instituted a way of doing what the rest of the World did without their Idolatry For the Directions which God here gives about it are manifestly opposite to the way of the Gentiles For the Nazarites are here directed to cut their Hair when the time of their Separation was compleated at the Door of the Tabernacle where it was also to be burnt whereas the Gentiles hung their Hair when they had cut it upon Trees or Consecrated it to Rivers as I observed v. 5. or laid it up in their Temples there to be preserved The Hebrew Nazarites also are required to offer various sorts of Sacrifices when they cut their Hair of which we rarely read any thing among the Gentiles And all the time of their Separation were to drink no Wine nor eat Grapes c. which was not known among the Heathen From whence it is one may think that they are so often put in mind of the LORD in this Law of the Nazarites Who are said to be Separated unto the LORD v. 1 5 6. and the Consecration of his God is said to be upon his Head v. 7. and all the days of his Separation he was holy to the LORD v. 8. unto whom he consecrated the days of his Separation v. 12. To put them in mind that though they used this Rite which was common to other Nations yet it was in honour of the LORD only whom they acknowledged to be the Author of Health and Strength and Growth For the Devil also had his Nazarites as appears from IX Hosea 10. All this is said and much more with a specious show of Truth by a most ingenious and learned Friend of mine now with God in his excellent Book de Legibus Hebraeorum Ritualibus c. Lib. III. Dissert 1. cap. 6. But there are two things wanting to make this Opinion probable First None can tell how the World came by such a Custom of letting their Hair grow for Sacred uses unless they had it from Moses Who tells us whence he derived it viz. from God who appointed this Rite for such Reasons as then were plain but now perhaps do not appear to us Besides Secondly there is not the least Evidence that this Custom was so old as Moses his time which to me seems not likely but rather that it was derived among the Gentiles from an imperfect Knowledge of what is here ordained by Moses For the chief part of this Nazariteship consisting in letting their Hair grow and consecrating it unto God the Gentiles took it to be a piece of great Devotion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. as Theodoret speaks Quaest. XXVIII in Levit. not to cut off their Childrens Hair but let it grow and after a certain time dedicate it to their Daemons Many Authors have written much of this Custom for which there was a certain day appointed at Athens viz. the third day of the Feast called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Which day was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because then the Hair of their grown Children was shorn off and sacrificed to Diana See Petr. Castellanus in his Syntagma de Festis Graecorum Where he quotes a passage out of Hesychius p. 28. who says That before they cut off their Hair they brought a Measure of Wine which they offered to Hercules and then all that were present drunk of it Which is some imitation of the Drink-offering here mentioned by Moses which was offered at the Completion of their Nazariteship And Grotius and Huetius have made it so plain that the Attick Laws were derived from Moses that I cannot doubt but this Custom also flowed from the same Fountain And if we must give an account of the reason of this Institution among the Hebrews I think that of Maimonides is better then this against which I have excepted viz. that this Law about their Hair was made in opposition to the opinion of the ancient Idolaters called Zabij who held all things which were separated from the Body to be impure as the Hair the Nails and the Blood From whence all Barbers among them were accounted impure Persons because they cut Men's Hair
the Doom was irreversible Ver. 40. And they rose up early Or But they rose Verse 40 up c. In the Morning The next Morning after they were told what God had decreed against them And gat them up into the top of the Mountain They resolved they would go up or they prepared themselves for it for they did not yet actually go up as appears by the following words Saying Lo we be here We are ready to do as Joshua and Caleb exhorted us XIII 30. XIV 9. They seem now to be as forward as before they were backward to go to possess the Land which their rising early signified And we will go up to the place which the LORD hath promised They pretend now to depend upon his Promise and to trust he will make it good For we have sinned Are sensible of our Sin and repent of it Or though we have sinned yet we hope he will make good his Promise Ver. 41. And Moses said wherefore now do you Verse 41 transgress the Commandment of the LORD Why do you still continue in your Disobedience to God who commands you to return and not to go forward v. 25. But it shall not prosper You shall not succeed in your Enterprise which these words show they stood ready to take in hand Ver. 42. Go not up Though they sought the Verse 42 renewal of God's Promise with Tears v. 39. and now were ready to testifie their Repentance with the hazard of their Lives he would not recal the Sentence passed upon them For the LORD is not among you The Cloud did not stir to conduct them by which they might have understood that their Attempt was presumptuous That ye be not smitten before your Enemies Who without God's help would be too strong for them Verse 43 Ver. 43. For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you Either they were removed out of the Valley where they were before v. 25. Or their main Body being there below they sent a strong Party to possess themselves of the top of the Mountain and to make good the Pass against the Israelites And ye shall fall by the Sword Lose your Lives in the Attempt Because ye are turned away from the LORD therefore the LORD will not be with you This was a powerful Reason to check their Motion and to restrain them from their Attempt But after the manner of obstinate Sinners they go on still in their Unbelief as the next words inform us Verse 44 Ver. 44. But they presumed to go up to the Hill top They audaciously endeavoured to ascend the Mountain against the Divine Command Which is a strange instance of hardned Infidelity Nevertheless the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD and Moses departed not out of the Camp The Cloud stood still over the Tabernacle and therefore Moses and the Levites and the Ark which went before them when they first removed from Sinai X. 33. did not stir out of the place where they were encamped to conduct them But this seems to signifie that all the other Camps except that of the Levites i. e. the whole Body of armed Men moved without the guidance of God who would not favour them because they moved against his express Command Ver. 45. Then the Amalekites came down and the Verse 45 Canaanites With whom the Amorites also joyned I Deut. 44. Which dwelt in that Hill Who had posted themselves there and possessed themselves of the top of the Mountain v. 43. and see v. 25. And smote them Having a great advantage of them that were climbing up the Hill from whence they came pouring down upon them And discomfited them It is not said how great a slaughter they made of them but it is likely it was not small because they chased them a good way Thus began God's threatning to be immediately fulfilled that their Carcases should fall in that Wilderness v. 29. by their own wilfulness Even unto Hormah A place in the Confines of Canaan near the dead Sea So called from the destruction that was here made of the Israelites and afterward of the Canaanites XXI 3. I Judg. 17. And upon the occasion of this Calamity which befel the Israelites and the great Mortality which followed while they stayed in the Wilderness Moses is thought to have penned the XC Psalm In which he signifies the Life of Man was now shortned and reduced to Seventy or Eighty Years that is made but half as long as the Lives of their Fore-fathers CHAP. XV. Chapter XV Verse 1 Ver. 1. AND the LORD spake unto Moses saying We read in I Deut. ult that they abode in Kadesh where the foregoing murmuring was many days During which time and in the latter part of this second Year after they came out of Egypt it is very probable all that we read in this Chapter and in the four following was transacted Verse 2 Ver. 2. Speak unto the Children of Israel and say unto them These words were not directed to the whole Congregation but to the younger sort who had not forfeited the favour of God as their Fathers had done Several of which it is likely were already dead according to the Doom God had passed upon them and the rest lookt upon themselves as disinherited XIV 12. and therefore these Precepts were not delivered to them When ye come into the Land of your Habitations which I give unto you This shows he speaks to the Children of the Murmurers whom he promised to bring into the Land of Canaan XIV 31. and would therefore have well instructed in the manner of Sacrificing wherein God's Worship and Service very much consisted which is the reason why he further explains what he had heretofore said about this matter But hence it appears that they were not bound to observe these Laws till they came to Canaan Ver. 3. And will make an offering by fire unto the LORD This comprehends all the Sacrifices which were burnt upon the Altar either in whole or in part Verse 3 A Burnt-offering This was the principal and most ancient Sacrifice of all other which was wholly burnt upon the Altar every Morning and every Evening XXIX Exod. 40. of which he treats in the first of Leviticus Or a Sacrifice This undoubtedly signifies Peace-offerings as appears from v. 8. and from the words here following and likewise from the use of the word Sacrifice in other places XVIII Exod. 12. XVII Levit. 5 8. And from this consideration also that Sin-offerings had no Meat-offerings attending on them but only in the Case of a Leper XIV Lev. 10. In performing a Vow or in a Free-will-offering These words explain what he means by a Sacrifice viz. Peace-offerings which were offered in performance of some Vow or freely of their own accord VII Lev. 16. XXII 21. or by God's command upon their Solemn Feasts as it here follows And in your solemn Feasts Mentioned XXIII Levit. See there v. 37. and XXIX Numb 39. To make a sweet savour unto the
good Words to which they would no longer trust Or given us Inheritence of Fields and Vineyards But told us it shall be bestowed forty years hence when we are all dead This still shows they took him for a Deluder of them with deceitful Promises Wilt thou put out the Eyes of these Men Some of them spake this in the name of the rest who were now with Dathan and Abiram and the meaning is Dost thou think to blind us so that none of us shall discern this Imposture Or shall we suffer thee to lead us about like blind Men whither thou pleasest sometimes towards Canaan and now back again towards the Red Sea and Egypt We will not come up A peremptory Resolution not to own his Authority which they denied at the first v. 12. Ver. 15. And Moses was very wroth For such behaviour Verse 15 and Language was so provoking that it was no wonder it incensed the meekest Man upon Earth XII 3. Yet the LXX translate the words as if he only took it very heavily 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it made him exceeding sad And said unto the LORD respect not their Offering He calls the Incense which they were about to offer by the Name of Mincha which commonly signifies a Meat-offering but sometimes any inanimate thing that was consumed in honour of God as Incense was and must so signifie in this place for they offered nothing else And when Moses desires it may not be accepted he means a great deal more that God would give some Sign of his dislike to it Hence it seems plain to me That Dathan and Abiram as well as Korah quarrelled at the confining the Priestood unto Aaron's Family for Moses calls this their Offering by the Acceptance or Rejection of which this Controversie was to be decided I have not taken one Ass from them This seems to be an Appeal to God against their unjust Charge that he acted Arbitrarily and did with them what he list v. 13. From which he was so far that he declares before God he had not taken i. e. received by way of Gift or Reward So the LXX and the Vulgar understand it the smallest thing for such a single Ass was much less extorted any thing from them Nor have I hurt any one of them None can say that I have done any kind of Evil to them but contrarily all good Offices For that he did not seek himself appeared in this That he had not advanced his own Family to the Priestood but left them in the number of the other Levites upon the same level with Korah and his Company Ver. 16. And Moses said unto Korah be thou and all thy Company before the LORD c. He repeats what he had said to him before v. 6 7. only adding that he would have Aaron also there together with Verse 16 them So it follows Thou and they and Aaron to morrow Before the LORD i. e. In the Court of the Tabernacle See v. 7. where by an extraordinary Commission from the Divine Majesty this Trial was to be made And therefore Aaron himself did not now go into the Sanctuary to offer Incense which was the proper and only place allowed by the Law but stood with them without As in another great necessity he offered Incense in the midst of the Congregation v. 46 47. Both which was done by a Dispensation from him that made the Law Ver. 17. Take every Man his Censer and put Incense Verse 17 in them and bring ye before the LORD every Man his Censer Let every Man of them stand before the LORD at the Door of the Tabernacle to do the Office of Priests to which they pretended as good a right as Aaron and his Sons Two hundred and fifty Censers This shows that the Incense being offered by so great a number as it appears it was v. 35. they did not offer it in the Sanctuary which would not contain so many Persons Thou also and Aaron each of you his Censer This seems to signifie as if Korah was commanded to stand by Aaron since he pretended to be his equal which made the Hand of God the more remarkable upon him when he was struck with Lightning and no harm came to Aaron who stood by him But it may be doubted what way Korah perished Ver. 18. And they took every Man his Censer That is the Two hundred and fifty Men did as they were commanded but Korah went first to muster up as Verse 18 many as he could get together against Moses v. 19. and then seems to have gone to his Tent v. 24. Herein these Men submitted to the way of decision which Moses propounded though they had so boldly denied his Authority For they could not but think that God whom they owned to be among them v. 3. would approve of them if they were in the right and make good their Allegation That all the Congregation were holy by accepting their Incense as much as Aaron's To whom they did not deny an equality with themselves but only a Superiority And put fire in them From the Altar of Burnt-offering which stood in the Court at the Door of which they were placed I Lev. 5. for Aaron durst not take it from any other place his Sons having lost their Lives for offering with strange Fire The remembrance of which it is likely deterred these Men from doing other wise who did not as yet put in the Fire but only took their Censers and put Incense in them which is all that is ordered in the preceding Verse and put Fire in afterwards And stood in the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation with Moses and Aaron As if they were nothing inferiour to them Verse 19 Ver. 19. And Korah gathered all the Congregation against them The LXX translates it Korah gathered all his Congregation i. e. all the Men of his Faction But the Hebrew words import that he gathered all the Congregation of Israel at least all the great Men who are sometimes called by the Name of all the Congregation XIV 1. whom he got together that they might be Witnesses at least of the issue of this Trial though their coming together with Korah and his Company rather than with Moses and Aaron is too plain an Indication that they were inclined if not to throw off yet to doubt of their Authority Vnto the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation Where they themselves stood v. 18. And so did Moses and Aaron but the Israelites that Korah had gathered together stood on his side as appears from the foregoing words and from v. 24. And the Glory of the LORD The SCHECHINAH or Divine Majesty came forth out of the most Holy Place where it usually resided Appeared unto all the Congregation Openly shewed it self in the sight of all the People and it is likely in such an amazing manner as it had done before XIV 10. But where it appeared we are not told I suppose in the Cloud which was just
Lightning and perhaps scorched as they likewise sometimes are The latter seems most probable from what follows v. 37. and from the like punishment by Fire from the LORD which is said to devour Nadab and Abihu and yet their Bodies remained intire X Lev. 2 4. This was the more astonishing because Moses and Aaron who stood with them at the Door of the Tabernacle v. 18. had no hurt Verse 36 Ver. 36. And the LORD spake unto Moses saying Immediately after the Death of those Men. Ver. 37. Speak unto Eleazar the Son of Aaron the Priest Who it is likely stood by them as next Successor to Aaron in the Office which was disputed And therefore perhaps imployed in what follows rather than Aaron that his Succession might be confirmed Though others will have it that it was below the Dignity of Aaron to perform such a mean Office and besides he might have been in danger to be polluted by the dead Bodies of the Men that were burnt That he take the Censers out of the Burning Out of the place where the Men were burnt as some understand it Or which differs not much from among the dead Bodies which were burnt Burning being put for Bodies burnt as Captivity XXI 1. for those that were carried Captive or made Prisoners as we there translate it But there is no need of either of these Additions burning signifying the Fire which burnt in them which he orders Eleazar to throw out that the Censers might be brought away And scatter thou the Fire yonder The Men were burnt as soon as ever they put fire to the Incense in their Censers v. 18. which flaming at the Door of the Tabernacle where they stood near the Altar from whence they took the Fire God commanded to be thrown away without the Camp into that place I suppose where they were wont to throw the Ashes VI Lev. 11. or rather into some unclean place where they threw the Dust scraped from the Walls of Leprous Houses XIV Lev. 41. For it was to show that God abhorred their Offering For they are hollowed Or had Fire from the Altar put into them which some think sanctified them But the plain reason is given in the next verse because they offered them before the LORD i. e. they had been employed to an holy use and that by God's command v. 6 17. and therefore God would not have them hereafter serve for any other Ver. 39. The Censers of these Sinners against their Verse 39 own Souls Who have brought destruction upon themselves by their Presumption Let them make of them Either Aaron or Eleazar were to cause them to be beaten into such Plates as here follow Broad Plates for a covering of the Altar Of Burnt-offering which was covered with Brass XXVII Exod 12. but these Plates were to be laid upon that Covering which it had already for the end mentioned in the Conclusion of this verse And hereby also the proper Covering of the Altar lasted the longer For they offered them before the LORD Presented them before the LORD when they offered Incense in them v. 35. Therefore they are hallowed Or holy That is I will have them separated for this reason to my use alone and no other It is a thing worthy to be taken special notice of that the Impiety of the Men that offered Incense did not discharge their Censers of the discriminative Respect as our famous Mr. Mede speaks due unto things sacred As these in some sort were by being presented to the LORD which made it unlawful to imploy them to common uses For as the LORD himself is that singular incommunicable and absolutely Holy One and his Service and Worship therefore incommunicable to any other so should that also which is consecrated to his Service be in some proportion incommunicably used and not promiscuously and commonly as other things are See Book I. Discourse 2. p. 18. And they shall be a Sign unto the Children of Israel That God accepts no Sacrifice which is not presented by the Hands of the Sons of Aaron This the Levites were to remember who attended upon the Priest when they saw these Plates laid upon the Altar of Burnt-offering every day Verse 39 Ver. 39. And Eleazar the Priest took the brazen Censers c. By this it appears these Censers were made of the same Metal though it was not said before that Aaron's Censer was of and wherewith the Altar was overlaid He took them up out of the burning no doubt immediately upon the foregoing Commands and as soon as the Mutiny was quite quelled they were employed as Moses had directed Ver. 40. To be a Memorial unto the Children of Israel This explains what is meant by a Sign v. 38. viz. to put them in mind or rather to keep in their memory That no Stranger Though he were an Israelite nay a Levite if he were not as it here follows of the Seed of Aaron he was reputed a Stranger to this Office Come near to offer Incense before the LORD Presume to execute the Office of a Priest in the Sanctuary That he be not as Korah and his Company Destroyed in a dreadful manner By this it appears that Korah perished as well as the Two hundred and fifty Men and it is likely as they did by Fire from the LORD As the LORD said unto him i. e. To Eleazar By the hand of Moses Ver. 36 37. Ver. 41. But on the morrow An astonishing Instance Verse 41 of the incurable hardness and insensibility of some Mens hearts which were not in the least altered by God's terrible Judgments and singular Mercies but instantly forgat both All the Congregation of the Children of Israel Not merely the Rulers of the People as this Phrase sometimes signifies but all the People in general v. 47. who were incited it is probable by that lewd Rout which Korah had gathered together against Moses and Aaron v. 19. Some of which were swallowed up but most of them remained still alive to do more Mischief Murmured against Moses and against Aaron In such a mutinous and threatning manner as demonstrated the contagious Nature of a Seditious Humour beyond all example For from a discontented Party who grumbled that they were not preferred suitably to the opinion they had of themselves it spread it self into the whole Body of the People And so infected them as to kindle a new Flame as soon as the former had been extinguished by such a terrible Vengeance as one would have expected should not have left the smallest Spark of this mutinous Humour in them Saying Ye have killed the People of the LORD So they impudently call those Men whom God himself had declared by a visible Token to be presumptuous Sinners against their own Souls Some imagine they quarrelled with Moses and Aaron because they had not prevailed with God to pardon them which they could as well have done as procured this Judgment upon them But the displeasure which God here expresses against this
new Murmuring shows this not to be a true Excuse for them Verse 42 Ver. 42. And it came to pass when the Congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron Their Murmuring presently proceeded to an Insurrection That they looked toward the Tabernacle of the Congregation i. e. Moses and Aaron implored help from God which is implyed in their looking toward his Dwelling-place And behold the Cloud covered it One would think by this that it had for some time withdrawn it self from the Tabernacle when the dead Bodies of Korah's Company lay dead at the Door of it And the Glory of the LORD appeared To comfort them in this Distress and to show he was ready to support and vindicate them Verse 43 Ver. 43. And Moses and Aaron came before the Tabernacle of the Congregation Perhaps for Safety and Security or to hear what Directions God would give them Ver. 44. And the LORD spake unto Moses saying Out of the Tabernacle before which he stood waiting for the LORD's Orders Ver. 45. Get ye up from among this Congregation Verse 44 He speaks to Aaron and Eleazar I suppose as well as Verse 45 unto Moses That I may consume them as in a moment As he was inclined to do before v. 21. and now had a greater reason And they fell on their faces To beseech God not to punish the People as they deserved v. 22. Ver. 46. And Moses said unto Aaron By God's Verse 46 Direction Take a Censer and put Fire therein from off the Altar Near to which they now were v. 43. And put on Incense Upon the Fire but not till he came into the midst of the Congregation v. 47. And go quickly unto the Congregation With the Incense which regularly was to be offered only at the golden Altar within the Sanctuary but now in this extraordinary Case by God's special Order Aaron is sent with it into the Camp that they might all be Witnesses of his Power with God and that by his Authority he was settled in the Priesthood And make an Atonement for them Which was usually performed by the Blood of a Sacrifice but there was not time for that and therefore now it was made by the Incense wherewith their daily Sacrifices Morning and Evening were concluded and was accompanied by the Prayers of the People while the Priest as he offered it made Intercession for them CXLI Psalm 2. Thus as St. Hierom glosses Currens ira Dei Sacerdotij voce prohibebatur the Divine Anger coming with full speed upon them was stopped by the Voice of the Priest Which was a notable Type of the Power of our great High Priest and Intercessor with God the LORD Jesus For there is Wrath gone out from the LORD Who would not wholly grant their Prayer for a Pardon v. 45. but inflicted some Punishment upon them The Plague is begun A Pestilence in all probability of which several immediately died Verse 47 Ver. 47. And Aaron took as Moses commanded A Censer and Fire from the Altar with Incense ready to be put upon it v. 46. And ran According to the Command of Moses v. 46. who bad him go quickly Into the midst of the Congregation Perhaps into the midst of each of the four Camps of Judah Reuben Ephraim and Dan mentioned in the second Chapter being broke out every where And behold the Plague was begun among the People He saw People die on all sides of him And he put on Incense Whereupon he put Incense upon the Fire which he brought along with him from the Altar v. 46. And made an Atonement for the People Interceded with God for them and obtained what he desired Verse 48 Ver. 48. And he stood between the dead and the living This seems to intimate that the Plague began in the Skirts of their Camps and was proceeding into the heart of them where Aaron stood as a Mediator for those who were not yet smitten And the Plague was stayed A stop was put to its progress Which was a further Evidence of Aaron's right to the Priesthood by God's appointment who not only preserved him when he offered Incense together with Korah's Company v. 17. but now makes him an Instrument of preserving others from destrustion Ver. 49. Now they that died in the Plague were Fourteen Verse 49 thousand and seven hundred Who it is likely were of the forwardest Men to associate themselves with Korah v. 19. Besides them that died about the matter of Korah Whose just number is not known for besides the Two hundred and fifty Men mentioned v. 25. the whole Families of Korah Dathan and Abiram were swallowed up Ver. 50. And Aaron returned unto Moses unto the Verse 50 door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation To carry back his Censer And the Plague was stayed Or rather For the Plague was stayed and so having done his business he returned to the Tabernacle CHAP. XVII Chapter XVII Ver. 1. AND the LORD spake unto Moses saying Verse 1 Not long after the Plague was stayed For though there had been enough done to satisfie the People that Aaron was advanced to the Priesthood by God's appointment and not by Moses his Affection to his Kindred yet their Minds had been so poisoned by Korah and his Complices with the contrary Opinion that it was necessary to do still more to root it out Which was the occasion of what follows Verse 2 Ver. 2. Speak unto the Children of Israel Order them to bring what I require thee to take of them And take of every one of them i. e. Of every Tribe A Rod. Or a Staff as the Hebrew word Matteh is often translated Which some take for an ordinary Walking-staff or for the Staff which was the Badge of their Authority as Princes of the several Tribes neither of which seems to me to be true For what reason have we to think that every Man's Staff which he commonly used was made of the Wood of an Almond Tree as these were one may probably conclude from the 8th verse And therefore I take it they were all now cut off from some Tree of that kind and it is likely from one and the same Tree that none might fancy there was any difference between them For the Miracle was great enough which here follows without supposing as some do that these Rods were all of some other common Wood and yet Aaron's Rod produced Almonds which were not the proper Fruit of it Though it must be confessed that if they were not of the wood of an Almond Tree the wonder was greater that his Rod should bring forth Almonds and struck their Minds more strongly According to the House of their Fathers In the Hebrew it is Father in the Singular Number denoting the principal Person or Patriarch as we call them of whose House or Family he was to take one Rod. Of all their Princes according to the House of their Fathers This explains the meaning more fully that the Prince of every Tribe who was
unto another who was of the Tribe of Ephraim Whereby his own Children were reduced to a mean condition being not so much as Priests but mere Levites This demonstrates he acted not from himself because he acted not for himself but was contented to have the Supreme Authority placed where God pleased both in Church and State and to leave his own Family in an inconsiderable employment This shows him to have had a Principle which raised him above all other Law-givers who always took care to advance their own Families and establish them in some share of that greatness which they themselves possessed This likewise demonstrates that the future Rulers of this Nation had no temptation to advance the Credit of Moses beyond what it really was since they were not descended from him but were of other Tribes Ver. 23. And he laid his hands upon him and gave Verse 23 him a charge as the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses He did all things which the LORD required to create him his Successor as the Jews speak For thus by laying on of hands they in after times made a Man a Member of the Sanhedrin both of the great and of the small which continued to the time of the destruction of the second Temple as Mr. Selden shews Lib. II. de Synedr cap. 7. n. 1. And this solemn Designation of Joshua to the Government by the Divine Authority was a clear Indication that God continued to be their King as he became in a special manner when he brought them out of Egypt as I observed upon III Exod. 10. and he still reserved it to himself to appoint Governours under him out of what Tribe he pleased as he did Joshua at this time out of the Tribe of Ephraim and not Caleb who was of the Tribe of Judah and also a Man as valiant as he was vertuous XIV Josh 11. For there was no Tribe that could lay claim unto this Dignity without the Gift of God And this is one of the principal Reasons why the government of this People before they had Kings was as Josephus calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is the Empire of God because he stirred them up Judges to rule them when he pleased Which being of his immediate appointment are so far acknowledged by him that when they were weary of Samuel's Government and desired a King God declared that it was not Samuel but himself whom they rejected And another reason was as our Mr. Thorndike observes because God by his Oracle of Vrim and Thummim prescribed how they were to proceed in their Publick Affairs Review of the Right of the Church pag. 133. CHAP. XXVIII Chapter XXVIII Verse 1 Ver. 1. AND the LORD spake unto Moses saying Having numbred the People and appointed his Successor to bring them to their Inheritance which he had ordered to be divided among them proportionable to the number of each Tribe nothing was more necessary than to perswade them to be truly religious whereby they might be preserved in the enjoyment of it Unto which Moses is commanded to direct them in this and in the following Chapters Which may be thought to have been delivered also in the eighth Month of the last Year of their Travels in the Wilderness Ver. 2. Command the Children of Israel and say unto Verse 2 them These Commands had been given before but are here repeated because this was a new Generation who either had not heard them when they were first delivered Eight and thirty years ago or at least had need to have their Memories refreshed Some things also are now more particularly explained concerning the Sacrifices which were to be offered at certain times and they are reduced into a certain order some being daily others weekly others monthly and some anniversary All which were of such importance that Moses being shortly to leave them thought good to repeat most of them once more in the Book of Deuteronomy My Offering and my Bread The word and is not in the Hebrew but the words are my Offering my Bread Which Isaac Abarbinel thus excellently explains Concerning Offerings for Sin and Trespass-offerings and the rest I shall not need to admonish you but concerning my daily Sacrifices which properly of themselves are my own Oblation my daily Bread or my Food which the Divine Presence dwelling among them required XXIX Exod. 42 44 45. And so others by the word Bread understand Meat or Food in general as we translate it v. 24. though it may have a particular respect to the Meat-offering which was made of Meal and always accompanied the Burnt-Offerings Which seem here to be peculiarly meant though some think these words relate to all the Sacrifices some part of which were God's Portion For my Sacrifices made by fire The whole Burnt-offerings are most properly called Ische Sacrifices made by fire being all consumed upon the Altar where the heavenly Fire burnt continually ready for that purpose For a sweet savour unto me So the Burnt-offering is called I Lev. 9 13 17. See there I shall only add the Paraphrase of the Hierusalem Targum which is this My offering of Bread which ye offer on the Altar doth not the fire devour it And yet it is acceptable to me from you as an Odor in which I am well pleased Shall ye observe to offer unto me Be very careful to see duly performed This being the Food saith Abarbinel which to speak after the manner of Men was offered by God's Fire upon his own Altar for his Dinner and Supper In due season For that reason this Sacrifice was to be constantly offered saith the same Author that the Divine Fire which came down from Heaven to consume the Sacrifices might not be disappointed and burn there in vain without any thing to do From this place the Jews endeavour to make out their Custom of having Stationary men as they call them to attend the daily Sacrifice taking Moatho in its season as if it had been Omatho in its stations but chiefly relying upon the first words of this verse command the Children of Israel who could not all be present at the daily Sacrifice and therefore some particular Persons were chosen to represent all the rest For they thought it very undecent to have a Sacrifice made for a Man and he not stand by it and therefore the first Prophets ordained Twenty four Courses of Men chosen out of the Priests Levites and People to stand in the Temple when the daily Sacrifice was offered in the name of all Israel and pray that God would accept it for them as if they were all present This account the Mischna gives of them in Taanith and other places where they say these Men were held so necessary that it was an usual Speech among them without Stations the World could not stand For without Sacrifices that is the Worship of God the World would be undone and Sacrifices could not be maintained without Stations See Voysin de Jubilaeo cap. 25.
them So this word bring near signifies to offer them unto God As they were VIII 10 11. Before Aaron the Priest In his presence That they may minister unto him Unto Aaron and the rest of the Priests who were the immediate Ministers of God and the Levites were given to minister unto them Which they did many ways especially while they remain'd in the Wilderness where they had a peculiar Charge which otherwise would have been incumbent on the Priests not only to guard the Tabernacle and keep a Watch night and day about it but also to take it down and to carry it when they removed and to set it up again when they rested as we read in the following part of this Chapter and in the next When they came into the Land of Canaan and were settled there they had less to do of this kind But as the Charge of the Tabernacle still lay upon them as it had done before so did other Works in the Courts of the LORD'S House and in the Chambers where they waited on the Priests which are particularly mentioned in 1 Chron. XXIII 28 29 c. And in David's time their Work was still more increased for he appointed them to be Singers in the House of the LORD and to play upon several sorts of Instruments 1 Chron. XXV which they did Morning and Evening 1 Chron. XXIII 30. Porters perhaps there were before who stood at the several Gates of the Tabernacle as afterward of the Temple and are said therein to minister in the House of the LORD 1 Chron. XXVI 12. as also Guards of the Treasury of God's House and of things dedicated to him v. 20. But as he increased the number of them so he settled them in their Courses that there might be a constant Attendance with greater ease As for those of them that were made Judges and Officers not only in Matters concerning the LORD but in the Service of the King as we read there 1 Chron. XXVI 29 30. it no more belongs to what is said of them here than what follows there v. 31. that there were found among them mighty Men of Valour See upon v. 10. Verse 7 Ver. 7. And they shall keep his Charge and the charge of the whole Congregation It highly concerned Aaron in particular and the whole Congregation in general that the Tabernacle should be well guarded And this was the Levites great business at present who took this Charge from off their hands by attending that Service which all of them were bound to perform Before the Tabernacle of the Congregation This exactly expresses in what their Ministry consisted which was not performed in the Tabernacle where the Priests only officiated in the Holy Place as the High Priest in the most Holy but before it in the External Part of it where they assisted the Priests in their Service To do the Service of the Tabernacle Such Service as I have mentioned before v. 6. Ver. 8. And they shall keep By guarding them and keeping a continual Watch about them Verse 8 All the Instruments of the Tabernacle of the Congregation Every thing belonging to it And the charge of the Children of Israel to do the Service of the Tabernacle By which Service at the Tabernacle they took upon them the Charge which otherwise was incumbent on the whole Congregation who were to take care that the holy Things were kept both safe and secure and also separate to the Sacred Uses to which they were appointed These words which are often repeated to do the Service of the Tabernacle are to be carefully noted because the Levites did not serve in the Tabernacle which belonged only to the Priests but served the Tabernacle by guarding it and taking it down and carrying it c. as was said before Ver. 9. And thou shalt give the Levites unto Aaron Verse 9 and to his Sons They were first presented unto God v. 6. and God bestowed them as a Gift upon the Priests See VIII 19. They are wholly given unto him out of the Children of Israel To attend upon the Priests and to obey their Orders for which they paid them nothing but they were to do it freely being given to them to be their Servants by God who paid them their Wages Ver. 10. And thou shalt appoint Aaron and his Sons Verse 10 and they shall wait on their Priests Office Or thou shalt appoint them to wait on their Priesthood Which he had shown before was very different from the Levitical Office but to make them more mindful of their Dignity he repeats it again that Aaron and his Sons alone should officiate as Priests viz. in offering Sacrifice in setting the Bread upon the Holy Table looking after the Lights and burning Incense Which they were to perform in their own Persons and not appoint any others as their Deputies to do them for none of these things could be performed by the Levites Whose business it was to look after the fine Flour of which the Bread was made to prepare it and the Frankincense which was to be burnt and abundance of such like things which are particularly mentioned 1 Chron. IX 27 28 29 31 32. But they could not make the Anointing Oyl or the sweet Perfume mentioned XXX Exod. 23 34. for they were most holy and therefore the Priests only could compound them And the Stranger that cometh nigh By Stranger is meant any one though a Levite that was not of the Sons of Aaron who alone had the priviledge to approach unto God Shall be put to death God himself sent out a Fire to consume Korah and his Company who presumed to offer Incense being but bare Levites and not Priests Chap. XVI Verse 11 Ver. 11. And the LORD spake unto Moses saying To make the Matter more clear he further tells Moses the reason why he took the Levites from among the the Children of Israel to be his after a peculiar manner Verse 12 Ver. 12. And I behold I have taken the Levites from among the Children of Israel Take notice of the Reason why I have taken the Levites from among the rest of the Israelites v. 9. for it is by my Order and Appointment Instead of all the First-born that openeth the Matrix c. To make an exchange with them for all their First-born which I have heretofore challenged as my own and now take the Levites in their stead Therefore the Levites shall be mine As all the First-born were which now shall be theirs and the Levites be mine Ver. 13. Because all the First-born are mine By Verse 13 a special Right which is mentioned in the next words For on the day that I smote all the First-born in the Land of Egypt The Title whereby he laid a Claim to all the First-born was that great Miracle as R. Levi of Barcelona calls it which he wrought when he destroyed all the First-born of their Neighbours in Egypt and touched not one of theirs By which sparing Mercy he acquired
of them both together In the first Month of the second year after they were come out of the Land of Egypt In which Month they were commanded to keep the Passover in memory of their wonderful Deliverance from the Land of Egypt Verse 2 Ver. 2. Let the Children of Israel also keep the Passover at his appointed season Aaron having been lately consecrated and having offered all sorts of Sacrifices for himself and for the People and God having declared his acceptance by Fire from Heaven VIII IX Lev. God commanded the People should keep the Passover which he had lately admonished them was one of the Feasts of the LORD XXIII Lev. 5. But the first order for the observation of it being that they should keep this Service when they came to the promised Land XII Exod. 25. they might thence conclude there lay no Obligation upon them to keep it here in the Wilderness And therefore by a Special Precept they are required to keep it when the year was come about to the time of its first Observation that the memory of so singular a Benefit might not presently slip out of their mind See XIII Exod. 5. Ver. 3. In the fourteenth day of this Month at Even Verse 3 ye shall keep it in his appointed Season So it was ordained XII Exod. 6. XXIII Lev. 5. According to all the Rites of it With unleavened Bread and bitter Herbs and the other Rites mentioned XII Exod. 9 10. And according to all the Ceremonies thereof If there be any difference between Ceremonies and Rites I should think this belongs to their Eating it in haste with their Loyns girt Shoes on their Feet and Staves in their hands XII Exod. 11. Unto which they were not bound when they came into the Land of Canaan when they were no longer Travellers but it is likely were observed here in the Wilderness when they were in an unsettled Condition Ver. 4. And Moses spake unto the Children of Israel Verse 4 that they should keep the Passover According to all the Rites and Ceremonies belonging to it Ver. 5. And they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first Month at Even It was not hard to procure so much Flour as would serve to make Verse 5 unleavened Bread for that Even from some of their Neighbours about the Wilderness See IV. 7. In the Wilderness of Sinai Where they rested almost a whole Year But after they removed from thence were so uncertain in their Motions from place to place that they did not Circumcise their Children who consequently could not eat of the Passover And therefore we never read of its being kept after this during their forty Years stay in the Wilderness nor would they have been obliged as I said to keep it now without this Special Command Yet their Doctors say That this is written by Moses as a reproach to the Israelites that they observed no Passover in the Wilderness but this one alone Yet there are Christian Writers who deliver it as the Opinion of the Hebrews themselves that they kept another Passover a little before they ended their Wandrings in the Wilderness viz. in the first Month of the Year wherein Miriam died See Selden de Synedr Lib. II. cap. 2. n. 1. According to all that the LORD commanded Moses so did the Children of Israel They kept the Passover on the fourteenth Day at Even but perhaps did not keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven Days following For here is no mention of that and it had not been easie to provide so much Bread the want of which was supplied by Manna Verse 6 Ver. 6. And there were certain Men who were defiled by the dead Body of a Man And by a late Law for there is Nothing about this in the Original Law of the Passover XII Exod. no Unclean Person might eat of Holy Things VII Lev. 20. That they could not keep the Passover on that day On the fourteenth Day of the first Month at Even when the rest kept the Passover who were not defiled And they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day On the very Day that the Passover was kept Ver. 7. And these Men said unto him Though Verse 7 they came before them both whom they found sitting together yet they applied themselves to Moses only as the Supreme Judge in such singular Cases For the Judges which were constituted by the Advice of Jethro could not resolve this hard question and therefore they resorted to Moses unto whose Judgment all difficult Causes were reserved XVIII Exod. 22 26. See Selden L. II. de Synedriis cap. 1. n. 3. We are defiled by the dead Body of a Man And therefore some may think should have been excluded out of the Camp according to what was ordained V. 2. and consequently kept from coming with such Questions or about any other Business to Moses But it must be considered that when this hapned the Law now mentioned was not given for this was in the first Month of the second Year and that Law was not given till the second Month when the Camps were formed Wherefore are we kept back It was against their will that they were defiled by the dead Body of a Man which perhaps they were bound to bury and therefore they expostulate with Moses about their being denied the Liberty which others had pleading in effect it was not their Fault that they were defiled by the Dead but rather their Unhappiness and therefore why might they not challenge a Right in this Sacrifice as well as others seeing they had not forfeited it by any voluntary Guilt That we may not offer an Offering of the LORD The Passover is called the KORBAN of the LORD because it was to be killed and its Blood sprinkled which shows it to be properly a Sacrifice and then eaten by God's Commandment in a grateful remembrance of an exceeding great Benefit which shows it to be an Eucharistical Sacrifice For though the first Sacrifice in Egypt was to procure Deliverance to them and to avert the Evil which fell on the Egyptians by the destroying Angel Yet ever after it was a Thanksgiving for Deliverance then wrought by God's special favour to them Of which there was a compendious Commemoration made in their Paschal Rites XII Exod. 25 26 27. In his appointed season among the Children of Israel For if they did not perform this Service now they knew it was not lawful to be done at any other time Verse 8 Ver. 8. And Moses said unto them stand still Or wait here a while In which words Moses himself acknowledges the difficulty of the case which he could not resolve till he had first consulted the Divine Majesty about it Which teach Judges not to be ashamed to confess their Ignorance and take advice in Matters dubious as the Hierusalem Targum here observes But I see no such good ground for the other part of his Observation on this Verse that there being four difficult
was kindled Or When the LORD heard it he demonstrated he was highly offended by sending a Fire among them And the Fire of the LORD burnt among them Some take this Phrase Fire of the LORD to signifie a great Fire as Mountains of the LORD are high Mountains Which came either from Heaven like Lightning as in 2 Kings I. 12. or from the Pillar of Cloud and Fire over the Tabernacle where the Glory of the LORD appeared some times like unto Fire And consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the Camps Where the mixt Multitude were as I observed X. 25. who came out of Egypt and may well be supposed to have stirred up the Israelites to complain of their tedious Journey which had not yet brought them near to the Land of Cannan And perhaps some of them lagged behind on purpose that they might complain of Weariness as some take it or rather of want of stronger Food But Bochartus hath demonstrated that this word which we translate the uttermost parts signifies in all or throughout Of which he gives many Instances out of Lud. de Dieu upon XXXIII Ezek. 1. See XIX Gen. 4. XLVII 2 c. Hierozoicon P. I. L. II. cap. 34. And therefore so it should be here rendred Consumed some in every part of the Camp where they began to make Complaints one to another of their being still in a Wilderness Ver. 2. And the People cried unto Moses Of whose Verse 2 power with God they had great Experience but had reason to distrust their own Interest in him because of their murmuring Humour For it is like they are the same People that cried now to Moses who before complained v. 1. And when Moses prayed unto the LORD As they begg'd he would The Fire was quenched Went out and no signs of it appeared So the Hebrew Phrase signifies it sunk What number of them was burnt we are not told it is likely nor many because the terrour of it instantly made them deprecate God's Displeasure by Moses their Intercessor which put a stop to it Ver. 3. And he called the name of the place Taberah Which for another reason was also called Kibroth-hattaavah v. 34. They are mentioned indeed in IX Deut. 22. as if they were two distinct places but Verse 3 it is plain by the story that the things which occasioned both these Names hapned in one and the same station And therefore they were only different Names for the same Place unless we suppose Kibroth-hattaavah to have been the name of that particular piece of Ground in that place where the Lusters were buried Because the Fire of the LORD burnt amâ—ng them This is the reason of the Name of Taberah which signifies a burning which was imposed on this place to preserve the Memory both of God's Judgments and of his Mercy Verse 4 Ver. 4. And the mixt Multitude that was among them The Hebrew word hasaphsuph is well translated by Bochartus Populi colluvies undecunque colâ—cta the Dregs or Scum of the People gathered together from all parts For the doubling of words increases their sense in the Hebrew Language and makes the same with the Superlative Degree in other Tongues Of which he gives many Instances in his Hierozoicon P. II. Lib. V. cap. 6. See XIII Lev. 19. where Adamdameth signifies exceeding red as hasaphsuph here doth a very great collection of all sorts of People both Egyptians and other Neighbouring Nations who were invited by their wonderful Deliverance out of Egypt to joyn themselves to the Israelites as Proselytes to their Religion See XII Exod. 38. The Jews in Tanchuma say there were Forty thousand of them and Jannes and Jambres at the Head of them Fell a lusting He doth not say for what and the Jews have taken the liberty to fancy what they please Some of them say that they lusted after such Women as Moses had lately forbidden them to marry So the Paraphrase of Vzielides Moses heard the People weeping because those that were near of kin to them were forbidden in Marriage And he makes as if these Proselytes petitioned Moses to abrogate those Laws about Incest Such Conceits others have indulged to themselves as Mr. Selden shows Lib. II. de Synedr Cap. IV. p. 202. when the words in the end of this Verse and v. 13 18. plainly show they lusted for Flesh to eat And the Children of Israel also Though the mixt multitude were the first Fomentors of this Discontent yet it run among the Children of Israel throughout the whole Camp And rose so high that they fell into a great Passion Wept again They had shed some Tears it seems before when they complained verse 1. but now they wept aloud out of Anger Vexation and Grief Or else this weeping again refers to their first Murmuring a Year ago like unto this XVI Exod. 3. And said They could not refrain from bursting out into such discontented Language as argued they were extreamly angry or rather inraged Who shall give us flesh to eat It is an Expression of a vehement impatient Desire mixed with Despair after flesh-Meat Which they needed not to have wanted if they would have killed their Cattel which they brought with them out of Egypt in great abundance XII Exod. 38. but they preserved them for breed when they came to Canaan and if they killed them daily they would not have lasted long to suffice Six hundred thousand People besides Women and Children See v. 21 22. Besides this while they continued in the Wilderness they were not permitted to eat any Flesh but only their share of the Peace-offerings that were offered at the Altar XVII Levit. 3 4 5. Which lasted the Jews think till they came to the Land of Canaan when this Restraint was taken off XII Deut. 15 16. And indeed the Wilderness was so barren a place that they could there have no great increase of Cattel scarce sufficient for Sacrifice They were angry therefore that they were not yet brought to a Country where they might have had all sorts of Flesh without killing their own Cattel and have taken their fill of that and all other Food as appears by the next Verse at as easie rates as they had done in Egypt Whereas now they despaired as I said of getting any such Food for so such Questions as this signifie CXIII Psal 5. LIII Isa 8. VIII Joh. 16. Verse 5 Ver. 5. We remember the fish This shows that all kind of Food is comprehended under Flesh for which they longed particularly this which is one sort of Flesh 1 Corinth XV. 39. Which we did eat in Egypt freely Or for nothing For they could easily catch them in the River of Egypt which abounded with them XIX Isa 8. and in the Sea also which was not far from them wherein was exceeding great plenty of excellent Fish The Cucumbers and the Melons c. None of which grew here in the Wilderness but were there in such Plenty and Perfection that they were the
derived its Original from hence was Seventy two and makes it appear they were only Seventy and with Moses their Head Seventy one sect 8. And it is not unworthy our notice that about the same time as he observes sect 12. that this number of Seventy Judges was here constituted in the Wilderness the great Judicature in Areopagus was constituted among the Greeks viz. in the Reign of Cecrops the first King of Athens after the Ogygian Flood when according to Eusebius the People of Israel were brought out of Egypt The Marmora Arundeliana indeed say this Court was erected in the time of Cranaus but that makes no great difference for he was the Successor of Cecrops We do not find of what number it consisted but it is certain it was the highest 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of all the Courts among the Greeks And it is no less observable that as that Court began about the same time with the Constitution of this among the Hebrews so they both ended in the Reign of the Emperor Vespasian as the said Mr. Selden shows in that Book cap. 16. sect 10. And bring them unto the Tabernacle of the Congregation That there they might be as it were consecrated unto God and that the People might know they received their Authority from him That they may stand there with thee As those Men who were to be sharers with him in his Authority and were like to him in Wisdom Piety and Descent So Maimonides glosses upon these words in Hilk Sanhedr cap. 2. where he saith none were made Members of the Sanhedrim but Priests and Levites and such of the Israelites as were descended from the noblest Families and quotes these words to prove it Verse 17 Ver. 17. And I will come down In a visible manner verse 25. And talk with thee there To declare perhaps in their Audience that he appointed them to the Office of being the Assistants of Moses in the Government And I will take of the Spirit which is upon thee and put it upon them He did not take away from Moses any of the Gifts which he had bestowed upon him nor did he diminish them but conferred upon these Men some of the Gifts which are here meant by Spirit viz. of Wisdom and Judgment and Courage with all others that were needful in a Governor This R. Solomon Jarchi illustrates by the comparison of a great Lamp set up in a room at which many others are lighted without the least diminution of its Light See further verse 25. And they shall bear the burden of the People with thee By this it appears it was the Spirit of Government which God intended to give them that they might ease Moses by assisting him with the same Authority that he had to hinder or to appease such Mutinies as now the People were faln into That thou bear it not thy self alone That all the Murmurings of the People might not be only against him but some of their Complaints might be diverted unto others Who might also help him in the judging of such Causes as had hitherto been reserved to him alone For it is plain that these Seventy Persons made an higher Court than any of those constituted by the advice of Jethro Cornelius Bertram indeed fansies that these Rulers of Thousands Hundreds Fifties and Tens not being sufficient for the business committed to them though he likewise conceives they had some of their several Families joyned with them God appointed these Seventy for their assistance to whom they were to bring all Causes which they could not determine before they troubled Moses with them Lib. de Repub. Jud. cap. 6. But our learned Mr. Thorndike in his Rights of the Church chap. 2. hath well observed that those Captains were to be in place only during the Pilgrimage of the Wilderness For when they came to the Land of Promise the Law provided that Judges and Ministers should be ordained in every City XVI Deut. 18. who if there fell any difference about the Law were to repair to the place where God dwelt to the Successors of Moses and these Seventy for Resolution in it XVII Deut. 11 12. For as he judiciously notes in his Review p. 69. sutable to what is here delivered they were assumed to assist Moses in his great Office of judging the hardest Causes and by that Law XVII Deut. 8 c. were afterwards made a standing Court resident at the Place of the Tabernacle to judge the last Result of all Causes concerning the Law and to determine all Matter of Right not determined by the Letter of the same Ver. 18. And say thou unto the People All that he said hitherto concerned Moses himself in answer to his Request Now he tells him what he should Verse 18 say to the People in answer to their Complaint Sanctifie your selves Here the word Sanctifie seems to signifie no more but to prepare and make themselves ready to receive what they desired So the Chaldee expounds it and so the word is translated by us several times in the Book of Jeremiah VI. 4. XII 3. LI. 28. Against to morrow He seems at the same time to gratifie Moses and satisfie them for his setting the Seventy Elders before the LORD and their eating Flesh succeed one another Or else he immediately gathered the Elders and the next day the Quails came for their Food And ye shall eat Flesh for ye have wept in the Ears of the LORD c. You shall have what you long for with such vehemence that it hath made you utter Complaints against the LORD Verse 19 Ver. 19. Ye shall eat not one day As they did about a Year ago XVI Exod. 12 13. Nor two days nor five days c. Not for a short time only Verse 20 Ver. 20. But even a whole Month. So long the Hebrews gather from hence they staid in this part of the Wilderness of Paran Or rather a little longer For they came hither on the twenty third Day of the second Month in the Even on which if we suppose the Fire to have burnt among them v. 1. and that the next Morning which is scarce credible they lusted after Flesh and in a tumultuous manner demanded it of Moses who promised they should have it we must allow a little time for the constituting of the Seventy Elders And suppose it was done on the twenty fifth Day and that the next Day the Quails came as we translate it they were two Days in gathering them From whence if we begin this Month it will appear they stayed here longer than that space Vntil it come out at your Nostrils Till you be glutted with it and vomit it up so violently that it come not only out at your Mouth but at your Nostrils And it be loathsom to you Which was both the Cause and the Effect of Vomiting Because that ye have despised the LORD Forgetting all that he had done for them as if it had been nothing and slighting his Servant
over the Ark of the Testimony IX 15. not in the Door of the Tabernacle for there Korah and his Company stood See XVI Exod. 10. And the end of the LORD 's appearing was to to give Sentence in this case and to declare by a visible Token whom he accepted as his Priests Thus the Glory of the LORD appeared the first time that Aaron and his Sons offered Sacrifice IX Lev. 6 23. Ver. 20. And the LORD spake unto Moses and Verse 20 Aaron saying A little before they put Fire in their Censers Ver. 21. Separate your selves from this Congregation Verse 21 Viz. From Korah and his Company and the People they brought along with them who seemed to favour them v. 19. That I may consume them in a moment As he did Korah and his Companions Ver. 22. And they fell on their faces To pray to Verse 22 God as they had done before v. 4. O God The most mighty The God of the Spirits of all Flesh Who hast created the Souls of all Mankind so Flesh often signifies all Men VI Gen. 13. and therefore searchest into their most secret Thoughts and Inclinations So these words signifie XXVII 16. Shall one Man sin Korah who was the chief Incendiary and Contriver of this Sedition And wilt thou be wroth with all the Congregation Many of which he thought might through weakness be seduced into this Faction having no Malice at all in their hearts Which God knew perfectly and therefore he begs of him that he would make a distinction between such as these and the Men that misled them Verse 23 Ver. 23. And the LORD spake unto Moses saying He bad him rise up having granted his Petition Verse 24 Ver. 24. Speak unto the Congregation Whom Korah had gathered together and brought along with him to the Door of the Tabernacle v. 19. Get ye up from about the Tabernacle of Korah Dathan and Abiram Which it seems was not far off or wheresoever it was there a great number of People was gathered together to see what would be the Conclusion of this Contest The word Tabernacle is in the Singular Number but includes all the Tents belonging to these Men as appears from v. 26. Or perhaps they had set up one great Tabernacle for the word here is Mischean which may be thought to signifie more than Ohel a Tent v. 26. unto which abundance of People resorted as the place that Korah and the rest had appointed for the general Rendevouz as we now speak of all their Party For here Dathan and Abiram it is evident v. 27. were with him but there is no mention at all of On which makes it probable he had forsaken them as Moses wisht all the People to do on which Condition God promised to pardon them Ver. 25. And Moses rose up and went unto Dathan and Verse 25 Abiram To try I suppose if he could reduce them to their Obedience and prevent their ruine He seems to have had no hopes of Korah but lookt upon him as incorrigible And the Elders of Israel followed him Either the LXX Elders who were lately chosen out of the rest XI 16. or the whole Body of those who were called by that Name and were Men of Authority attended upon him to make this Action more solemn and to let Dathan and Abiram see how much Moses was reverenced by better Men than themselves who refused to come to him v. 12 14. Ver. 20. And spake unto the Congregation saying Verse 26 It seems Dathan and Abiram refused to hear him as they did to come to him for here is no mention of any thing he spake to them but only to the Congregation who were gathered about their Tents Depart I pray you from the Tents of these wicked Men. I suppose now they were gone to their own Tents where their Families were from which he beseeches the People to remove with all speed And he doth not mean merely that they should remove their Persons from them but their Tents and their Goods and Cattle And touch nothing of theirs Because all belonging unto them was under an Anathema which God had passed upon them That is was devoted to destruction and therefore not to be touched XIII Deut. 17. Lest ye be consumed in all their sins Destroyed with them who had sinned so grievously as to fall under the Curse before-mentioned Verse 27 Ver. 27. So they gat up from the Tabernacle of Korah Dathan and Abiram Where the greatest number of People were gathered together as I observed v. 24. For here is the same word Mischean again in the Singular Number denoting some spacious Habitation where perhaps they held their Consultations and unto which there was the greatest resort On every side From which we may conclude that the People had come from all quarters of the Camp to these Rebels either to joyn with them or out of Curiosity to see how things would go And Dathan and Abiram With Korah also it may be thought because he is mentioned in the beginning of the Verse Yet this Conclusion cannot be drawn from thence for it is not said he was now there but that it was the Tabernacle of Korah Dathan and Abiram where they used I suppose to meet Came out From the Tabernacle before-mentioned And stood in the door of their Tents Of their own Tents where they commonly dwelt And their Wives and their Sons and their Children With their whole Families This was the highest degree of audacious and hardned Infidelity whereby they declared that they feared not what Moses who had given the greatest proof he was a Man of God could do unto them Ver. 28. And Moses said Unto all the People of Israel or to the Elders and as many as could Verse 28 hear him Hereby you shall know I will now give you an evident Demonstration That the LORD hath sent me to do all these works That I have been commissioned by God to do all the things with which those Men find fault particularly to take upon me the Government of them and to put Aaron and his Family into the Priesthood and make the Levites only their Ministers c. See v. 2 3 13 14. For I have not done them of my own mind In the Hebrew the words are And that not out of my heart It was none of my own device or contrivance I did it not out of an ambitious desire to be great myself or out of private affection to my Brother Ver. 29. If these Men die the common death of all Verse 29 Men. In the Hebrew it is As die all Mankind that is a Natural Death as we now speak Or they be visited after the visitation of all Men. i. e. Such Judgments of God come upon them as are usual and common in the World viz. a Pestilence the Sword or Famine The LORD hath not sent me Then look upon me as an Impostor Ver. 30. But if the LORD make a new thing Verse 30 In the Hebrew the words are If
whose Ashes the Jews thought so much depended that they took care the Priest who was to see her burnt should be put apart in a Chamber of the Temple called the House of Stone that they might be certain he was free from all pollution by a Grave or a dead Corps For the Ashes of this burnt Cow being the great and only cleanser for that Defilement they took suitable care that he should not be defiled who went to burn her See Dr. Lightfoot's Temple Service chap. 17. sect 2. where he describes out of Maimonides and others how solemnly the Priest was attended when he went about this work And the Apostle had reason to mention the Ashes of this Heifer wherewith the Water was made for sprinkling the Unclean as the Principal Thing that sanctified to the purifying of the Flesh i. e. taking away bodily Defilements With which he compares the Blood of Christ as infinitely more powerful for the purifying of the Conscience from dead works IX Hebr. 13 14. In which words dead works there is a respect as our Dr. Jackson observes to the main intention of these Ashes which were for the Purification of those defiled by dead Bodies And he seems to me also not to be led by Fancy but by a solid Judgment when he considered these Ashes also as a notable Figure of the everlasting Efficacy of Christ's Blood of which the Apostle there discourses For if the frequent occasion for the use of the Water of Purification had not spent all the Ashes of this Heifer now slain and burnt by Eleazar they might have been preserved for this purpose without any danger of Putrifaction for a longer time than the Law of Ceremonies lasted For Ashes being well kept never perish and therefore are an Emblem of Immortality But it must be considered that the frequent use of these Ashes might exhaust the whole stock of them made at this time and make it necessary the Priests should burn another Heifer for the same end as the Jews say they did though so rarely as I shall note below that this burning of a red Heifer was not reiterated if we may believe them till the destruction of Solomon's Temple Which makes them a more notable Figure though not a perfect one for no such can be found of the Power of Christ's Blood to purifie us for ever without the repetition of it continually which was the imperfection of the Legal Sacrifices that they must be often offered Verse 5 Ver. 5. And one shall burn the Heifer in his sight her Skin and her Flesh and her Blood with her Dung shall he burn There was a great Pile of Wood to which they set fire immediately after he had done Sprinkling in which this Heifer was more intirely burnt than any publick Expiatory Sacrifice before-mentioned v. 2. for here the remainder of the Blood is ordered to be burnt because this was of all other things the most unclean and to be utterly consumed at a distance from the Sanctuary Verse 6 Ver. 6. And the Priest shall take Cedar-wood and Hysop and Scarlet These three things composed that Instrument which the Priest made use of for sprinkling of leprous Persons or Houses when they were to be cleansed XIV Lev. 6 7 49 50 c. where see what I have noted And the Apostle mentions two of them as used by Moses himself when he sprinkled the Book of the Covenant and all the People with the Blood of the Sacrifice IX Hebr. 19. Which though not mentioned in Exodus yet the Apostle knew was the ancient way of Sprinkling And therefore these things which were used of old as Cleansers either of inward or outward Filth are ordered here to be thrown into the fire while the Heifer was burning in it whose Ashes were to be the great Means of Mens Purification from the highest Pollutions And cast it He speaks as if these three things being bound together became one Into the midst of the burning of the Heifer To denote the great vertue which the Water made of the Ashes of all these things should have to cleanse those who were sprinkled with it one of these things viz. Hysop being ordered to be dipt into the Water for that purpose v. 18. Ver. 7. The Priest shall wash his Clothes and shall Verse 7 bathe his Flesh in Water and afterward he shall come into the Camp Though we do not find that Eleazar was imployed either in killing or in burning this Heifer which were only to be done in his presence yet having touched her Blood he became unclean And therefore was to use these Ceremonies for his Cleansing before he returned to the Camp as Aaron did when he had offered the great Sacrifice of Expiation on the Day of General Atonement XVI Lev. 24. And shall be unclean until the Even So as not to come into the Camp I suppose much less to the Sanctuary until Sun-set Which was but a short time considering the greatness of this Heifers impurity this being the common time of remaining Unclean for the smallest Defilements XI Lev. 24 25 27 c. Ver. 8. And he that burneth her shall wash his Clothes Verse 8 in Water c. This was a general Maxim among the Jews that the Bodies of those Beasts whose Blood was carried into the Holy Place polluted those that touched them Which is justified by XVI Lev. 28 And therefore he that burnt this Heifer whose Blood was sprinkled towards it was to do the same as he that carried the Scape-Goat into the Wilderness was also bound to do XVI Lev. 26. Ver. 9. And a Man that is clean Free from any Legal Defilement Shall gather up the Ashes of the Heifer They were Verse 9 the principal Ashes though the Ashes of the Cedar-wood Hysop and Scarlet-wooll were also mingled with them which being taken up were pounded and sifted as the Jews tell us And lay them up without the Camp in a clean place The Jews say that the Heifer in after times being burnt on the pitch of Mount Olivet which was over against the Temple they laid up some part of the Ashes in a place near that Mount for the Sprinkling of the People and another part was delivered to the XXIV Courses for the Sprinkling of the Priests and another third part laid up for a Memorial in the Inclosure of the Court of the Temple See Dr. Lightfoot in the place before-named But there is no certainty of this and it contradicts in part what is here commanded that they should be laid up without the Camp See v. 12. And it shall be kept Laid up 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the LXX translate it to be reserved and kept for the use of those who had defiled themselves by the Dead unto whom it was delivered when they had occasion for it And this word reserved or kept imports that these Ashes were not for the use of that Generation only but for all Posterity And as Manna which was commanded in the same
Provocations for their number was within Eighteen hundred and twenty as many as they were at their last muster and partly that the Land they were now going to possess might be the more easily divided among the Tribes in just and equal proportions From twenty years old and upwards throughout their Father's house all that are able to go to war in Israel All this is explained in the first Chapter v. 2 3. Verse 3 Ver. 3. And Moses and Eleazar the Priest spake with them With the Heads of the several Tribes who it is likely were to assist in this numbring as they did in the former I Numb 4 16 17. In the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho saying See XXII 1. Verse 4 Ver. 4. Take the Sum of the People These words are not in the Hebrew but some words of this kind are to be understood that they spake with them about numbring the People from twenty years old and upwards as it here follows As the LORD commanded Moses and the Children of Israel which went forth out of the Land of Egypt He bad them proceed according to the directions God had formerly given in the second month of the second year after they came out of Egypt I Numb 1. Verse 5 6. Ver. 5 6. Reuben the eldest Son of Jacob. This numbring being performed as the former was Moses uses more concise Language in the account he gives of it as he doth in the foregoing verse and in this and those that follow Where he sets down the number of every Tribe and the Families from whence they sprung without saying Those that were numbred of the Tribe of Reuben were c. as he doth I Numb 21 c. The Children of Hanock of whom came the Family of the Hanochites c. The four Sons of Reuben whose Families here follow are mentioned both in Genesis XLVI 9. and in Exodus VI. 14. and are here mentioned again because he intends to set down the Names both of the Children and Grand-children of one of his Sons which he did not before Ver. 7. These are the Families of the Reubenites Verse 7 The word we translate Families rather signifies Nations Gentes or Kindreds as we translate it XXII Psal 27. For all that sprung from those LXX Persons who came with Jacob into Egypt are called by this name of Mispecoth which the LXX here translate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 People Which were divided into Houses as the Hebrews call them and those Houses into particular Persons This is plain from VII Josh 14. where for the discovery of him that had sinned in the accursed Thing God commanded the Israelites to be brought by their Tribes and then that Tribe by the Families belonging to it and that Family which the LORD took by Housholds and that Houshold Man by Man And they that were numbred of them were forty and three thousand and seven hundred and thirty This being compared with I Numb 21. it appears this Tribe was less than it was eight and thirty years ago by near three thousand Men For some whole Housholds had been destroyed as it follows v. 9. Ver. 8. And the Sons of Pallu Eliab He speaks Verse 8 in the Plural Number when there was but one Son of Pallu which is very usual in the Scripture Language See XIX Gen. 29. XXI 7. XLVI 7. and in this very Chapter v. 42. Eliab He doth not say from him came the Family of the Eliabites for he made only an Houshold in the Family as we call it of the Palluites Verse 9 Ver. 9. And the Sons of Eliab Nemuel and Dathan and Abiram The same must be observed of these that Families did not spring from them but they were Housholds belonging to the Family of the Palluites This is that Dathan and Abiram They are here again mentioned partly to set a new Brand upon them for their insolent Rebellion against Moses and partly to show how the Reubenites came to be so diminished Famous in the Congregation See XVI 2. Who strove against Moses and against Aaron in the company of Korah They joyned with Korah who seems to have been the chief Incendiary For he is mentioned first in the XVI 1. When they strove against the LORD Who had appointed Aaron alone to be the High-Priest and his Sons to Minister in the Priest's Office which these Men would have usurped XVI 11. where it is said expresly They were gathered together against the LORD Verse 10 Ver. 10. And the Earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up together with Korah These words seem to import that Korah was swallowed up with Dathan and Abiram as I have observed upon XVI 32. See there But it must be acknowledged that these words may receive another Interpretation and that very natural in this manner The Earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up viz. Dathan and Abiram and the rest mentioned XVI 32. and then the next words veeth Korah may be thus translated and as for Korah who was the great Incendiary when that Company died i. e. he died when the Company which offered Incense died for there is in many places a defect of a word to be supplyed from the word that follows This is a very easie construction and agrees with the Psalmist CVI. 17. where he mentions only Dathan and Abiram's Company as swallowed up and then adds v. 18. A fire was kindled in their Company i. e. in the other Company of Rebels and the flame burnt up the wicked viz. Korah and those that were with him What time the fire devoured two hundred and fifty men XVI 35. If the Interpretation now mentioned of the foregoing words be admitted then Korah must be added to the number of the Two hundred and fifty Men which Moses takes occasion to explain in this place And they became a sign A Monument of God's displeasure against those that affront his Ministers to give warning unto all Posterity not to follow their pernitious Courses Ver. 11. Notwithstanding the Children of Korah died Verse 11 not As those of Dathan and Abiram did but their Family continued famous in David's time For perhaps they left their Father and departed from the Tents of those wicked Men as Moses by God's command exhorted the Congreation XVI 24 26. and they obeyed v. 27. Ver. 12 13. The Sons of Simeon after their Families Verse 12 13. c. His Sons reckoned up here just as they are XLVI Gen. 10. and VI Exod. 15. only one of them viz. Ohad is here omitted because either he had no Children or his Family was extinct before this time The first of them also viz. Nemuel is there called Jemuel and Jachin in 1 Chron. IV. 24. is called Jarib there being some reason in process of time for such alterations Verse 14 Ver. 14. These are the Families of the Simeonites twenty and two thousand and two hundred There was a wonderful decrease of this Tribe in the space of thirty and eight years For they were fewer
in Egypt See this there explained And she bare unto Amram Aaron and Moses and Miriam their Sister Who seems to have been born before Moses if not before Aaron II Exod. 4. Ver. 60. And unto Aaron was born Nadab and Abihu Eleazar and Ithamar VI Exod. 23. where he tells the name of their Mother Ver. 61. And Nadab and Abihu died when they offered Verse 60 strange Fire before the LORD See X Lev. 2. Verse 61 and the third Chapter of this Book v. 4. But Eleazar who was the eldest next to them was now alive and made High-Priest and it is likely Ithamar also being under Twenty years old when the People murmured upon the Report of the Spies and so not cut off with that wicked Generation XVI 29. All this is here recounted to show that the Tribe of Levi was preserved by the blessing of God as well as the rest of the Israelites though they were to have no Inheritance in the Land of Canaan Ver. 62. And those that were numbred of them were Verse 62 twenty and three thousand c. So they were a thousand more than at the last numbring III. 39. For they were not numbred among the Children of Israel But by themselves for the reason following Because there was no Inheritance given them among the Children of Israel For God was their Inheritance as he told them XVIII 20 c. And therefore they were ordered not to be numbred Thirty eight years ago no more than now I Numb 49 c. The Jews are something curious in their Observations upon these words among or in the midst of the Children of Israel from whence they conclude that the Levites might have Lands out of the Bounds of the Land of Canaan though not within it among their Brethren Ver. 63. These are they that were numbred by Moseâ— Verse 63 and Eleazar the Priest who numbred the Children of Israel in the plains of Moab c. By a special command of God v. 1 2 c. Ver. 64. But among these there was not a Man of them whom Moses and Aaron the Priest numbred when they numbred the Children of Israel in the Wilderness of Verse 64 Sinai See the first Chapter of this Book v. 1 2 c. so exactly were God's Threatnings fulfilled as well as his Promises Chapter XXVII Verse 65 Ver. 65. For the LORD had said of them they shall surely die in the Wilderness He had pronounced this irreversible Sentence upon the whole Congregation XIV 23 28 29. where he swears they should not enter into the Land of Canaan because they had brought or entertained an evil report of it See also II Deut. 14 15. And there was not left a Man of them save Caleb the Son of Jephunneh and Joshua the Son of Nun. Whom God promised to spare because they were of another Spirit XV. 24 30 38. And their survival was as remarkable an instance of the truth of God's word as the Death of all the rest CHAP. XXVII Verse 1 Ver. 1. THEN came the Daughters of Zelophehad the Son of Hepher c. Who are mentioned before XXVI 33. just as they are here only their Genealogy is here more fully set out that their Father was the Grandson of Manasseh the Son of Joseph from whom he was lineally descended but left no Sons behind him Now these young Women hearing Moses say as he doth in the foregoing Chapter that the LORD commanded the Land of Canaan should be divided among those that were now numbred and observing that only Males from Twenty years old were numbred v. 2. presently apprehended that they being Females were excluded from having any Inheritance among the Israelites and so the Family of the Hepherites XXVI 32. would be extinguished This was the ground of what follows Whereby it appears that every body was immediately acquainted with the Laws which Moses received from God and that there was a faithful Register kept of every one that was born in every Family and Tribe to prevent all Disputes about the true Heirs to Mens Estates Ver. 2. And they stood before Moses c. To represent Verse 2 before him and the rest of the Judges who were now assembled the Case which I have mentioned Before Moses and Eleazar the Priest and before the Princes and all the Congregation These made up the greatest Court of Judicature that at any time sate For by Princes are meant either the Heads of the Tribes or the highest of the Judges appointed XVIII Exod. called the Heads of the People v. 25. And by all the Congregation is meant the LXX Elders mentioned in this Book XI 24. For they are called col ha edah the whole Congregation and sometimes only Edah the Congregation as R. Solomon observes See Bertram de Republ. Jud. p. 72. Now at the Head of all these sat Moses and next to him Eleazar the Priest By the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation Near to which this august Assembly it is likely was wont to sit when they met together that Moses might presently if there were occasion go and consult with God himself in any difficult matter that came before them And thus Mr. Selden observes out of Maimonides that in future times the great Sanhedrim followed the Tabernacle sitting sometimes in one place sometimes in another according as that was settled As after they came to Canaan it was first at Shiloh then at Mizpeh and afterwards at Gilgal Nob Gibeon the House of Obed-Edom till at last it was fixed in Jerusalem Lib. II. de Synedr cap. 15. n. 4. As concerning that which the Talmudists say concerning the proceedings in this case of Zelophehad's Daughters nothing certain can be determined But they give this account of it That they first brought this Cause into the Courts appointed by the advice of Jethro XVIII Exod. 21. and began with the Rulers of ten who knowing not what to say to them they went to those of fifty and from thence to the Centurions and at last to the Chiliarchs None of which durst adventure to give Judgment but referred the Cause by reason of its difficulty to Moses who brought it to the SCHECHINAH as they speak i. e. to the Divine Majesty Seld. ib. cap. 16. n. 1. Verse 3 Ver. 3. Saying Our Father died in the Wilderness Among the rest mentioned v. 64 65. of the foregoing Chapter They seem to have drawn up their Cause in the form of a Petition or as Mr. Selden speaks in the Legal Phrase presented a Libel to the Court containing the intire matter of their Petition and that artificially enough And he was not one of them that gathered themselves together against the LORD in the Company of Korah They use the very words of Moses concerning that rebellious Company XVI 11. And instance in this Sin rather than any other either to show that their Father had a due regard to the Authority of Moses who they hoped therefore would be the more favourable to his Posterity or
and our Learned Dr. Lightfoot in his Temple Service chap. 7. sect 3. Ver. 3. And thou shalt say unto them this is the offering Verse 3 made by fire which ye shall offer unto the LORD That Offering which he peculiarly speaks of is the daily Sacrifice which was appointed long ago before the Tabernacle was set up XXIX Exod. 38 39. See my Notes there And add this that God's promise to meet them there v. 42 43. and afterward to dwell among them v. 45. seems to depend upon this constant Service which he expected should be paid to him which if neglected he withdrew himself from them Two Lambs of the first year day by day continually This is expresly required in XXIX Exod. 38. Only here it is added without spot or perfect in its kind which was required in all Sacrifices particularly in the first Lamb which they offered when they came out of Egypt XII Exod 5. See there Ver. 4. The one Lamb shalt thou offer in the Morning and the other Lamb shalt thou offer at Even The very words in XXIX Exod. 39. Verse 4 Ver. 5. A tenth part of an Ephah of Flour for a Verse 5 Meat-offering mingled with the fourth part of an hin of beaten Oyl This also is there explained XXIX Exod. 40. Verse 6 Ver. 6. It is a continual Burnt-offering To be continued throughout all your Generations every day as it is expressed XXIX Exod. 42. For it was in the nature of a daily Prayer to God that he would graciously continue his Mercy unto Israel as Abarbinel observes and increase their Corn Wine and Oyl which they acknowledged hereby they received from him Which was ordained in Mount Sinai There Moses received both this Law and all the rest which are mentioned in the Book of Exodus concerning the Service of God and the place where it was to be performed and his Ministers c. And this sufficiently shows that he speaks here to those who were so young at the first Institution of these Laws that they gave the less heed to them or had forgotten them And there are those who think that for Eight and thirty years they had difused them which they gather from XII Deut. 8. But I do not take it to be likely that Sacrifices were wholly omitted during that space though perhaps not so regularly performed as when they came to Canaan For to suppose that is to suppose that the Fire from Heaven either went out or burnt continually to no purpose and that the Divine Majesty had no entertainment set upon his Table and consequently did not keep House and dwell among them all that time In short that there was no Worship of God at the Tabernacle All these Arguments may convince any Man there were offered at least the daily Sacrifice Morning and Even and those on the Sabbath For a sweet savour a Sacrifice made by fire unto the LORD See XXIX Exod. 41. Ver. 7. And the Drink-offering thereof shall be the fourth Verse 7 part of a hin for the one Lamb. So it was ordained also in Mount Sinai as appears from the same XXIX Exod. 40. And in this very Book there is a general Rule given to this new Generation that this should be the least quantity of Wine which should be offered with a Burnt-offering or Peace-offering See XV Numb 5. Which was a thing so constantly practised that the Heathen never sacrificed but they poured Wine upon the Flesh as it flamed upon the Altar For though Water was sometimes poured upon the Sacrifices yet Nonnus saith Lib. IV. Dionysiac it was when Men knew not the use of Wine for after that was found out they never sacrificed without it See Fort. Scacchus Myrother 2. cap. 42. In the holy place Upon the Altar of Burnt offerings which stood in the holy place near to the door of the Tabernacle XXIX Exod. 42. Shalt thou cause the strong Wine to be poured out unto the LORD for a Drink-offering The Hebrew word Schecar commonly signifies any sort of strong Drink but here the noblest and most generous Wine for it was not lawful to use any other Liquor in their Sacrifices The Heathens had this Reverence to their Gods that they alway offered to them the most excellent Wine they had Which appears by those words we meet withal so often in Homer both in his Iliads and Odysses of Mens pouring out their Sacrifices 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 black Wine or of the deepest Colour red as Blood which was the richest of all other And Herodian speaking of the vast profuseness of Haliogabalus who offered Hecatombs of Oxen every Morning with great multitudes of Sheep upon which he heaped all manner of Spices adds this also Lib. V. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. pouring out many flaggons of the oldest and most excellent Wine on the Altars So that Rivers of Wine and Blood ran mixed together Verse 8 Ver. 8. And the other Lamb shalt thou offer at Even c. All the foregoing verses relate to the Morning Sacrifice and this only briefly prescribes that the other Lamb should be offered in the same manner at Even with the very same Meat-offering and Drink-offering And as no Sacrifice was to precede the Morning Burnt-offering but it was to be offered first so this at Even was to conclude all the Sacrifices of the Day and none to be offered after it A Sacrifice made by fire a sweet savour unto the LORD As acceptable to him as the Morning Sacrifice Verse 9 Ver. 9. And on the Sabbath day two Lambs of the first year without spot He doth not mean that whereas every Morning and Evening they offered one Lamb on the Sabbath day they should offer two but that there should be two Lambs offered on the Sabbath over and above the daily Offering as appears from verse 10. Whether one of them was to be offered in the Morning and the other added at the Evening Sacrifice it is not said but it is most probable the Sacrifices on the Sabbath were so ordered For the Jews say that at the time of this additional Sacrifice in the Morning of the Sabbath they sang at the Temple the Song of Moses Deut. XXXII dividing it into six parts and singing one part every Sabbath so that in six Weeks they had finished it and then began again And at the Evening Sacrifice they sang that Song of his Exod. XV. at which times the Priest sounded the Trumpets three times more than they did at the ordinary Songs And two tenth deals of flour for a Meat-offering mingled with Oyl and the Drink-offering thereof As the Burnt-offerings were double on this day so a double quantity of Flour is ordered for the Meat-offering that attended the Burnt-offering for only a tenth part of an Ephah v. 5. was offered on other days and consequently there was to be as much more Oyl and Wine than daily And here it may be sit to note that as soon as the Drink-offering was poured out