time as they did to the Sun at his rising and when he entred into the several Signs Besides the continual Burnt-offering and his Drink-offering This is so often particularly mentioned lest any should imagine it might be spared when there were such liberal Offerings of several kinds Ver. 16. And on the fourteenth day of the first Month Verse 16 is the Passover of the LORD See XII Exod. 6 18. XXIII Lev. 5. where it is called the LORD's Passover See XII Exod. 27. Ver. 17. In the fifteenth day of this Month is the Feast The fourteenth day at Even the Feast of the Passover was kept as appears from XII Exod. 14. Verse 17 But on the fifteenth day began another Feast called the Feast of unleavened Bread See XXIII Lev. 6. Seven days shall unleavened Bread be eaten See XII Exod. 15. XIII 6 7. XXIII Lev. 6. Verse 18 Ver. 18. On the first day shall be an holy Convocation ye shall do no manner of servile work therein See XII Exod. 16. XXIII Lev. 7. Verse 19 Ver. 19. But ye shall offer a Sacrifice made by fire for a Burnt-offering unto the LORD The Solemnity was ordained before and Offerings also in general prescribed to be made seven days See XXIII Lev. 8. but the particular Sacrifices not set down tell now Two young Bullocks one Ram and seven Lambs of the first year they shall be unto you without spot The same Sacrifices which were appointed to be offered upon every first day of the Month v. 11. Verse 20 Ver. 20. And their Meat-offering shall be of flour mingled with Oyl three tenth deals shall ye offer for a Bullock and two tenth deals for a Ram. The very same which were appointed on the first day of every Month v. 12. Verse 21 Ver. 21. A several tenth deal shalt thou offer for every Lamb throughout the seven Lambs Just as it was in the forementioned Sacrifice v. 13. And though the Drink-offerings be not mentioned they must be understood to be the same because they always accompanied the Meat-offerings of Burnt-Sacrifices which were not compleat without them Verse 22 Ver. 22. And one Goat for a Sin-offering to make atonement for you As it was in the New Moon v. 15. But Meat and Drink-offerings did not accompany Offerings for Sin save only in the case of a Leper who was to bring three Offerings a Sin-offering a Trespass-offering and a Burnt-offering for his cleansing with three tenth parts of an Ephah of Flour XIV Lev. 10 c. Ver. 23. Ye shall offer these beside the Burnt-offering Verse 23 of the Morning which is the continual Burnt-offering There are two things that are here to be remarked that these Offerings as I noted before should not put by the continual Burnt-Sacrifice but be added to it and that all these were offered in the Morning after the daily Morning Sacrifice and were not part of the Evening Sacrifice which concluded all Ver. 24. After this manner ye shall offer daily throughout Verse 24 the seven days Upon every one of the days of unleavened Bread v. 17. which though it was a great Expence yet was but a fitting Acknowledgment of God's wonderful goodness to them in bringing them out of the Land of Egypt with all their Flocks and their Herds which was the foundation of all their happiness afterwards by making them a free People The Meat of my Sacrifice made by fire Here is the very same word with that v. 2. where he calls this Sacrifice his lechem which we there translate his bread but here very properly his meat or food Which was set upon his Table the Altar every day and by his fire from Heaven consumed which according to the language of Men was called his eating of it as the Heathen Gods also are said to eat the Fat of their Sacrifices XXXII Deut. 38. Of a sweet savour unto the LORD Very acceptable to him as hath been often observed It shall be offered beside the continual Burnt-offering and his Drink-offering There is the greatest care taken by the frequent repetition of this that they should not think to save their daily Sacrifice by these others which were to be added to it and not to supply the place of it See v. 15. Verse 25 Ver. 25. And on the seventh day ye shall have an holy Convocation ye shall do no servile work therein This last day of the Feast was equal to the first XXIII Lev. 7 8. and is called a Feast unto the LORD XIII Exod. 6. Verse 26 Ver. 26. Also the day of the First-fruits Called the Feast of Harvest the First-fruits of their Labours XXIII Exod. 16. and the Feast of Weeks when they brought the First-fruits of Wheat-harvest XXXIV Exod. 22. XVI Deut. 10. The Jews in their Writings commonly call this Feast by the name of Atzereth and so do the Chaldee Paraphrase upon this place though Abarbinel observes that this alone of all the three great Feasts is never called so in the holy Scripture It is hard therefore to tell why the Jews call it so in a singular manner but our learned Dr. Lightfoot hath made several probable Conjectures about it one of which and most pertinent to this place is because there was a restraint as the word signifies upon the People from bringing their First-fruits till this Feast If any did they received them not from them but laid them by till this day came See Temple Service chap. 14. sect 4. When ye bring a new Meat-offering unto the LORD Mentioned XXIII Lev. 16. Which were two Loaves made of their first Corn v. 17. where they are called the First-fruits unto the LORD After your Weeks be out That is the seven Weeks which they were to number from the morrow after the Sabbath XXIII Lev. 15. i. e. after the first day of unleavened Bread When they offered another sort of First-fruits which must be carefully distinguished from those here mentioned viz. of the Barley Harvest which began at the Passover when they were to bring a Sheaf of their First-fruits unto the Priest XXIII Lev. 10. the presenting of which Sheaf was an Introduction to Harvest and procured them liberty to begin to put the Sickle into the Corn which now after seven Weeks they reaped and carried in at this Feast when they brought these new First-fruits unto the LORD All which is a Description of that which in the New Testament is called the Feast of Pentecost being fifty days as we read there in Leviticus after the other great Feast Ye shall have an holy Convocation ye shall do no servile work See XXIII Lev. 21. Ver. 27 But ye shall offer the Burnt-offering for a Verse 27 sweet savour unto the LORD Over and above the Burnt-offering which was prescribed to be offered with the two loaves before-mentioned XXIII Lev. 18. unto which this was an additional Sacrifice plainly distinct from it Two young Bullocks one Ram seven Lambs of the first year The very same that were ordered to be
was interrupted by this Defilement so that it could not proceed further but after the usual Purification was to be begun anew by shaving off this polluted Hair and letting new Hair grow instead of it By this it appears that Moses here speaks only of such as made this Vow for a limited time for perpetual Nazarites who were consecrated to God for all their life were never shaven whatsoever Defilement they contracted On the seventh day shall he shave it For so many days Uncleanness by the dead lasted XIX 11. and the seventh day was the day of Cleansing from that Uncleanness v. 12. All other legal Uncleannesses polluted a Nazarite so as to make him stand in need of such Purifications as other Men used in those cases but this alone polluted him so as utterly to put him out of that state which as it here follows was to be begun again Verse 10 Ver. 10. And on the eighth day he shall bring two Turtles or two young Pigeons to the Priest c. The very same Sacrifice which was offered for one that had been defiled by a running-Issue XV Levit 14. Verse 11 Ver. 11. And the Priest shall offer the one for a Sin-offering and the other for a Burnt-offering As in the fore-named case XV Levit. 15. To make an Atonement for him Which was to be done before the Burnt-offering would be accepted For that he sinned by the dead He had not properly sinned but contracted a legal Uncleanness by touching a dead Body or being where it was Which though it was against his Will yet was a Defilement in the account of the Law and a kind of Sin because it was a breach of a Ceremonial Law and therefore thus to be purged The reason of which and such like Precepts Abarbinel observes in his Preface to the Book of Leviticus Cap. IV. was only this to make Men very cautious how they contracted any Defilement as the Nazarite might do in the time of his Separation and put himself to much trouble Which is the foundation of a famous Saying among their wise Men Diligence begets Caution and Caution Purity and Purity Holiness and Sanctity And shall hallow his Head the same day Consecrate his Hair afresh to the LORD after his Head hath been shaved Ver. 12. And he shall consecrate unto the LORD the Verse 12 days of his Separation This is a further Explication of what was said just before in the end of the foregoing Verse That from the eighth day he shall begin to compute the time of his Nazariteship for so many days as he at first vowed unto the LORD And shall bring a Lamb of the first year for a Trespass-offering Which was to be offered even for ignorant Offences by the Law made before V Levit 15. But the days that were before his Defilement by the dead Shall be lost Shall not be reckoned as the LXX hath it but go for nothing as we speak though they were so many that he had almost fulfilled his Vow If for instance he had vowed to be a Nazarite for a whole Year and in the twelfth Month hapned upon a dead Carcass all the foregoing eleven Months were lost and he was to begin his Year's Vow again And this as often as such an Accident hapned if it were before the time that his Vow was compleated Which may seem very hard if we do not seriously consider the Intention of it Which was to oblige them to the strictest care to preserve themselves holy and pure in all things as they were plainly taught to be by the watchful Diligence they were bound to use to avoid this legal Defilement here mentioned For none could absolve them from this Vow till it was fulfilled in the Exactness that is here required For as they tell the Story in the Talmud Queen Hellen having taken a Vow upon her for seven Years by coming into the Holy Land was engaged for seven Years more and being defiled toward the later end of them was obliged for another seven Years which was Twenty and one Years in all See Dr. Lightfoot of the Temple Chap. XVIII Because his Separation was defiled His first Separation was defiled by a dead Body which made it necessary he should begin a new one It might happen also that he might die before he had fulfilled the time he vowed to be a Nazarite In which case Maimonides saith any of his Sons might go on where he left and at the end of the days which his Father had vowed offer the Sacrifices here appointed and be shaved in his stead So the Mischna Sotae Cap. III. Sect. VIII But Maimonides acknowledges there is no foundation for this in Scripture but it relyes wholly upon Tradition See Wagenseil on that place Annot. 4. Verse 13 Ver. 13. And this is the Law of the Nazarite Of putting an end to his Nazariteship When the days of his Separation are fulfilled At the end of the time he vowed to continue in this state He shall be brought By the Priest Vnto the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation That the Sacrifices here prescribed might be offered for him Ver. 14. And he shall offer his Offering unto the Verse 14 LORD i. e. The Nazarite was to present these following Offerings unto the LORD For the Priests offering them is not mentioned till v. 16. One He-lamb of the first Year without blemish for a Burnt-offering and one Ewe-Lamb c. Here are all sorts of Offerings which he was obliged to make in the conclusion of his Nazariteship A Burnt-offering as an Acknowledgment of God's Sovereign Dominion A Sin-offering imploring Pardon for any Omissions of which he might have been guilty during this Vow And a Peace-offering in Thankfulness to God who had given him Grace both to make and to keep and to fulfil this Vow Ver. 15. And a Basket of unleavened Bread Cakes Verse 15 of fine Flour mingled with Oyl and Wafers of unleavened Bread anointed with Oyl Besides the fore-mentioned Sacrifices here are three Oblations more prescribed to compleate his Thankfulness Of which see XXIX Exod. 2. And their Meats-offering and their Drink-offerings This seems to relate to the Burnt-offering and Peace-offering before-mentioned v. 14. which were to have their proper Meat-offering and Drink-offering besides the Basket of unleavened Bread with the Cakes and the Wafers See VII Levit. 12. XV Numb 2 3 c. Where these accessory Offerings are ordered to accompany the Burnt-offerings and Peace-offerings though Sin-offerings had none Verse 16 Ver. 16. And the Priest shall bring them before the LORD Unto the Altar of Burnt-Offerings as the Nazarite had already brought them to the Door of the Tabernacle v. 14. And shall offer his Sin-offering and his Burnt-offering Though the Burnt-offering be first named v. 14. as the principal Sacrifice of all other yet the Sin-offering was first offered by which his Peace being made with God the two other Offerings which followed were acceptable to him Verse 17 Ver.
observes Lib. II. de Jure Belli Pacis cap. 13. sect 3. The Land was promised by Oath non personis sed populo nor to Persons but to the People viz. to the Posterity of those unto whom God sware to give it v. 23. Now such a Promise as he observes may be performed at any time because it is not tied to certain Persons Save Caleb the Son of Jephunneh and Joshua the Son of Nun. They are excepted because they had distinguished themselves from the rest by their eminent Faith and Courage in the midst of a perverse Generation Ver. 31. But your little Ones All under twenty Verse 31 Years old Which ye said should be a prey He upbraids them with their discontented and distrustful Language v. 3. Them will I bring in and they shall know the Land That is enjoy it Which ye have despised XIII 32. Ver. 32. But as for you your Carcases they shall fall Verse 32 in this Wilderness He repeats it again to make them sensible of the certainty of it and in their own words v. 2. to humble and put them to confusion Ver. 33. And your Children shall wander So the Verse 33 Chaldee interpret what in the Hebrew is shall feed or graze as Sheep do in the Desarts Or rather after the manner of the Arabian Shepherds who could not stay long in one place but were forced to remove their Tents to another that they might find Pasture for their Flocks So R. Solomon interprets it Forty Years Reckoning from their first coming out of Egypt from whence they were brought into the Wilderness a Year and a half ago and now are condemned to make up their time of wandering in it full forty Years And bear your Whoredoms That is the Punishment of their Whoredoms as Idolatry is peculiarly called XV. 39. XXXIV Exod. 15. III Jerem. 14. Of which they had been guilty presently after they came out of Egypt when they made the golden Calf and worshipped it and continued other Idolatrous Practices XVII Lev. 5 7. Which God punishes now that he visits their present Rebellion For it was not that alone to which he threatens this Punishment but he reckons with them for all the rest of their Iniquities IX Deut. 18 24. especially for the greatest of them all which he declared he would not forget to punish upon any new occasion See XXXII Exod. 34. which they now gave him It must be acknowledged also that other heinous Sins are called by this Name of Whoredoms in Scripture as well as Idolatry LXXIII Psalm 26. See Mr. Selden L. III. Vxor Hebr. cap. 23. p. 489. Vntil your Carcases be wasted in the Wilderness This is the third time he reflects upon their foolish wish v. 29 32. Verse 34 Ver. 34. After the number of the days in which ye searched the Land even forty days XIII 25. Each day for a year shall ye bear your Iniquities even forty years Reckoning the time past since they came into the Wilderness which was a Year and an half So that the meaning is they should wander forty Years in the Wilderness before they got out of it Which is not to be understood so precisely as to want nothing at all of it For they came out of Egypt on the fifteenth Day of the first Month on the morrow after the Passover XXXIII 3. and they came into Canaan and pitched in Gilgal upon the tenth Day of the first Month of the one and fortieth Year after their departure from Egypt IV Josh 19. and consequently there wanted five Days of full forty Years And ye shall know my breach of Promise In the Hebrew the words are no more then these Ye shall know my breach Which the Ancients understand of Gods breaking in upon them to take vengeance of them for their Sin So the LXX 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ye shall know the fury of my Anger and the Vulgar translates it ultionem meam my Vengeance That is you shall find that I am the Avenger of Iniquity And it is the same if we understand my breach to signifie God's departure from them who had so shamefully departed from him Or according to our Translation it signifies a Revocation of the Blessing promised to them Which was so nullified that they were left without any hope of having the like Promise of entring into Canaan renewed to them Ver. 35. I the LORD have said Decreed and Verse 35 pronounced this Sentence I will surely do it to all this evil Congregation Break from them or break in upon them to consume them and utterly disinherit this untoward Generation That are gathered together against me Whom they accused as well as Moses and Aaron v. 2 3. In this Wilderness they shall be consumed and there shall they die The repetition of this so frequently v. 29 32 33. was to convince them the Decree was peremptory and irreversible Ver. 36. And the Men which Moses sent to search the Verse 36 Land That is Ten of them Who returned XIII 25 26. And made all the Congregation to murmur against him by bringing up a slander upon the Land XIII 31 32. XIV 2. Ver. 37. Even those Men c. died by the Plague Either by the Pestilence threatned v. 12. or by Lightning or some other sudden Death About Verse 37 which there is a dispute among the Hebrew Doctors in the Gemara on Sota cap. 7. sect 11. where some of them say they died of a Quinsey which choaked them or as others their Tongues swelled and hung out of their Mouths down to their Navels and were full of Worms c. So that their Punishment was suitable to their Sin as they conclude with their Tongues they offended and in their Tongues they suffered Before the LORD Whose Glory appeared upon the Tabernacle before them all v. 10. unto which I take these words to relate signifying that they died in his Presence and perhaps by a flash of Fire from thence on that very Day upon which this Murmuring was raised by their false Report Verse 38 Ver. 38. But Joshua the Son of Nun and Caleb the Son of Jephunneh which were of the Men that went to search the Land Here Joshua is mentioned with Caleb and placed first as in the 6th verse as Caleb was in verse 30. Which shows there was no difference made between them Lived still This is set down to show God's faithfulness in his promise to them Who I suppose were now in the Company of the rest of the Searchers of the Land before the LORD and had no hurt when all the other Ten fell down dead on a sudden which made their Preservation the more remarkable Verse 39 Ver. 39. And Moses told all these sayings unto all the Children of Israel Acquainted them with the Doom which God had passed upon them And the People mourned greatly Were extreamly afflicted at the news but did not beseech him to pray for them as at other times XI 2. because he had told them
to keep the Jews from following their Customs but they rather imitated what was practised among the Jews Particularly Bochartus observes out of Philostratus there were Waters in Cappadocia sacred to Jupiter which were very sweet and pleasant to those who were innocent and swore truly but quite contrary to those who were perjured Whose Eyes Hands and Feet were presently seiz'd and infected with Blotches and filthy Ulcers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is the very Disease here mentioned if we believe Josephus who saith the Woman's Belly swelled by the Dropsie till at last it burst And Philostratus adds that the whole Body of such People grew Consumptive nor could they stir from those Waters but there they lay deploring their Misery See Bochart L. I. Canaan cap. 28. p. 589 590. Which agrees so perfectly with what the Jews say of this bitter Water that it is most likely this Story of the Cappadocian Water was derived from thence For they say not only the Belly of the Woman swelled and her Thigh rotted but every Member of her Body felt the Effects of this deadly Poyson which spread to the very Hairs of her Head as they tell us in Ratboth quoted by Wagenseil upon the Mischna which saith the same cap. 1. Sotae sect 7. And therefore Huetius justly thinks the Fable of the Stygian Lake and several other Rites of finding out the truth of secret Crimes were invented by the Greeks from this Example Demonst Evang. Propos IV. cap. 11. n. 2. Many Authors have collected several sorts of Trials of this kind and lately Guil. Saldenus in his Otia Theologica Exercit. V. n. 24 25. But above all see Huetius his Quaestiones Alnetunae L. II. cap. 12. n. 22. where he gives a large account how far this Rite of trying Womens Chastity by drinking this Water was spread among the most barbarous Nations And the Woman shall say Amen Amen The word Amen is doubled to express her full consent and her earnest desire that God would deal with her according to her deserving The Mischna will have the first Amen refer to those words The LORD make thee a Curse and the second to the next words and an Oath among thy People So that she prayed God both might come upon her if she were guilty We may as well say that one of these Amens relates to the first part of the Adjuration v. 19. and the other to the second part v. 21. Or as Abarbinel doth that there being a double Curse one that her Belly should swell and another that her Thigh should rot she said a double Amen praying both might befal her if she were guilty And as the Talmudists understand it they were an Imprecation upon her self For so they say in Schevnot Whosoever saith Amen to an Oath or Curse seems to pronounce the Oath or Curse with his own Mouth See Wagenseil upon Mischna Sotae cap. 2. sect 5. Annot. 3. Where he produces a great deal more out of the Scripture it self in confutation of the Opinion of our Learned Fuller who in his Miscellanies affirms That Amen is only an Asseveration but never a Form of Swearing Ver. 23. And the Priest shall write these Curses Verse 23 Several Opinions are related in the Mischna concerning the words that were to be written Which some would have to begin at v. 19. If no Man have lien with thee c. and to continue to this Verse But others think they began at those words v. 21. The LORD make thee a Curse and an Oath c. and that the last words were omitted The Woman shall say Amen Amen Which of these Opinions is the true neither the Gemara nor Maimonides have determined In a Book Every Scroll of Parchment wherein any thing was written the Jews call Sepher a Book In which it hath been commonly said the Name of the Woman was written together with the Curse but there is nothing either in the Scripture or in Antiquity to countenance this And he shall blot them out with the bitter Water Or rather Into the bitter Water That is he was to scrape out the words he had written into the Water and so make the Woman drink it Or as the Jews explain it wash the words he had written with the bitter Water till they were quite blotted out See Wagenseil in Mischna Sotae cap. 3. sect 3. Who observes a great many Curiosities which the Jews have about the Parchment and the Ink upon and with which these Curses were written and that they were not valid if they were written by a Lay-man or by a Priest that was not of Age or if they were written before she was adjured or if he blotted out one word before the rest were written c. See there cap. 2. sect 4. Hottinger forgot himself when he said The Scroll it self was thrown into the Water Thesaur Philolog L. II. cap. 2. for no such thing appears Verse 24 Ver. 24. And he shall cause the Woman to drink c. viz. After he had offered the Jealousie-Offering upon the Altar v. 26. And if she refused to drink the Water into which the Curses were scraped they forced her to it with this preceding Admonition My Daughter if thou art confident of thine Innocence do not fear to drink this Water which will do thee no more hurt than dry Poison laid upon the Flesh of a living Creature c. If hereupon she confessed that she had been poluted the Water was straightway poured out because there was no holiness in it as Maimonides saith For it is called holy v. 17. not because it was sanctified to this use but only because it was taken out of the Laver which was an holy Vessel See Selden L. III. Vxor Hebr. cap. 15. who observes also in the foregoing Chapter that if after a Man had brought his Wife to this Trial he chanced to die before this Adjuration she was freed from taking the Potion but lost her Dowry And the Water that causeth the Curse Or that is loaded with Curses which have been scraped into it Shall enter into her and become bitter Produce those direful Effects before-mentioned if she be guilty Ver. 25. Then the Priest shall take the Jealousie-Offering Verse 25 out of the Woman's hand Into which he had put it before he adjured her v. 18. And shall wave the Offering before the LORD How this Waving was performed hath been shown before upon Leviticus Rasi here expresses it in four words he moved the Oblation to and fro up and down Something like to which Pythagoras seems to intimate in that Symbol of his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Worship turning round Which Plutarch ascribes to Numa in whose Life he says a great many observable things concerning turning round in their Sacred Offices Which was a Rite in use among the Gentiles who when they saluted their Gods standing with their Heads uncovered turned about their Bodies to the Right-hand As Christoph Arnoldus observes out of Suetonius and others in his
or both of them because they were near Jordan which ran into them And by the Coast of Jordan Where the Canaanites were also seated as is evident from XI Deut. 30. For there were both Western and Eastern Canaanites as appears from XI Josh 3. and they are frequently joyned with the Perizzites particularly I Judg. 4. who were a fierce sort of rough People that dwelt in the woody part of the Mountains So that the Intentions of the Men who made this Report was to represent to the People that whether they invaded the Land by the Southern Parts or the Eastern they would find both strongly guarded by a mighty People much superiour to them in force Which account the following verse shows put the People into a Tumult Ver. 30. And Caleb stilled the People It is plain by this that the People understood by their way of speaking Countenances and Gestures that the meaning of these Men who made this Report which was not false in it self was that though the Country indeed was very rich and desirable yet it was impossible for them to drive the Inhabitants out of it Which put them into a mutinous Disposition as Caleb perceived by their Looks and their Muttering and therefore stept forth before it brake out to quiet their Spirits with his Account of the Country and Inhabitants in which Joshua no question joyned with him It is not indeed here mentioned because Caleb perhaps stood next to those who began to make a Commotion and therefore spake first but he was seconded by Joshua we may be sure because we find him mentioned in the next Chapter and in the first place together with Caleb as indeavouring to appease the Tumult And he is not only exempted from the Punishment inflicted upon the People for their Rebellion XIV 30 38. but is expresly said to have followed the LORD fully as well as Caleb XXXII 12. Before Moses The Hebrew Phrase El Moscheh may signifie that he stilled them as they were coming towards Moses in a Seditious manner or quieted them so far as to make them hearken to Moses or as we render it in his Presence when they were ready to fly in his Face One of the Doctors in the Gemara before-mentioned cap. 9. saith That Joshua being about to speak they bitterly reproached him and would not suffer him to proceed And therefore Caleb thought good to give them a great many blandishing words and to call Moses this Son of Amram which lookt like Contempt of him whereby he stilled them and disposed them to listen to him And then he said Is not he the Person that brought us out of Egypt that divided the Red Sea for us to pass through it that gave us Manna from Heaven What if he should bid us make Ladders and climb up into the Skies should we not obey him And said Let us go up at once Or go up immediately without a stop And possess it He speaks as if it were already their own as indeed it was by God's gift and they need only enter and take possession of it For we are able to overcome it There will be no such difficulty as these Men represent in the Conquest of it Ver. 31. But the Men that went up with him The Verse 31 rest of the Company that went to search the Land who if they had not persisted in their Unbelief the People perhaps might have been perfectly appeased by Caleb and Joshua Said We be not able Now they open their Minds more plainly in their Reply to Caleb Whom they oppose directly and declare their Opinion downright that they were not an equal Match for their Enemies To go up against the People To beat them out of the Mountains which they inhabited For they are stronger than we These Men had no confidence in the Promise and Power of God on which Caleb and Joshua relyed but measured all things by Human strength Ver. 32. And they brought up an evil report of the Verse 32 Land which they had searched unto the Children of Israel In the heat of their Opposition they now disparage the Country which they had before praised v. 27. and also stretch their Report of the Inhabitants beyond the Truth Saying The Land through which we have gone to search is a Land that eateth up the Inhabitants thereof Unless we suppose that there was a great Plague at this time in the Country as the Hebrews do who love to excuse their Fore-fathers sins this was a gross lie But take it as they suppose yet this was a very malignant Report For if they saw the People of the Country every where as they passed along carrying their Neighbours to their Graves as the Jews tell the Tale this which they should have ascribed to the Providence of God who sent this Mortality that they might have fewer Enemies to oppose them and that these Spies might pass more freely and less observed they most wickedly ascribe to the badness of the Air which being very unhealthful to the Natives might well be thought would be much more so to Strangers Thus bad Minds as the aforesaid Gemara glosses well enough upon this Story turn that which God intends for their Benefit into their Hurt And if we had any better Authority for this Story the word achal which we translate eat up would well enough agree with it For as Maimonides observes in the first part of his More Nevoch cap. 30. it is used in the Holy Scriptures concerning any kind of Consumption Destruction or Desolation As here in this Book XI 1. XXVI Lev. 38. 2 Sam. II. 26 c. And all the People that we saw in it were Men of great Stature The Hebrew Phrase is Men of Measures 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the LXX translate it Men of larger size than the rest of Mankind Which we have no reason to think was true But having seen the Sons of Anak in one part of the Country they imagined all the rest of the People to be near unto their Stature For this is the Description of that Giant of Gath mentioned 1 Chron. XX. 6. where he is called a Man of Measure and 2 Sam. XXI 20. where he is called in the Plural Number as they are here a Man of Measures 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Man above the common bigness And thus very great Houses are called Houses of Measure XXII Jerem. 24. Ver. 33. And there we saw the Giants Men of Verse 33 greater Bulk and Strength than the biggest of those very great Men see VI Gen. 4. which they spake of in the foregoing words The Sons of Anak They had mentioned this once before v. 28. and now repeat it again because they were struck with such a Terror at the sight of them that they were always at their Tongues end Just as Homer mentions 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Bochartus makes the Comparison Lib. I. Canaan cap. 1. Which came of the Giants Who were descended from a Gigantick Race of Men
These words relate only to the Trespass-offerings immediately before-named which were attended with a recompense of the Wrongs done either unto the LORD V Lev. 15 16. or unto their Neighbours VI Lev. 5. V Numb 8 9. Shall be most holy for thee and for thy Sons To be used by none else as it follows in the next verse Verse 10 Ver. 10. In the most holy place shalt thou eat it i. e. In the place where they performed their Sacred Office in that part of the Tabernacle next the Sanctuary which is called most holy in comparison with the rest which were further off because none might enter into it but the Priests alone See Note upon VI Lev. 16. where it is said expresly It shall be eaten in the holy place in the Court of the Tabernacle of the Congregation And see v. 26. and X. 12 13. Every Male shall eat it And none else as the places fore-mentioned expresly limit it II Lev. 3 10. VI. 18 29. VII 6. It shall be holy unto thee Peculiarly separated from the use of all other Persons but only Aaron and his Sons Verse 11 Ver. 11. And this is thine Now he mentions the less holy things as before the most holy which he bestowed upon him and his whole Family The Heave-offerings of their Gift with all the Wave-offerings of the Children of Israel That is the Breast of their Peace-offerings which are here called their Gift which was waved before the LORD and the right Shoulder heaved and then given to the Priest for his Portion VII Lev. 30 31 32 33 34. And so was the right Shoulder of the Ram which was offered for the Nazarite VI Numb 19 20. I have given them unto thee and unto thy Sons and to thy Daughters with thee c. These were not confined to the Males only but might be eaten by their Daughters also X Lev. 14. Every one that is clean in thy House shall eat of it Not only their Wives and their Daughters that were not married but those who were Divorced or Widows and returned to their Fathers House without Children or had Children begotten by a Priest See XXII Lev. 13. together with their Servants also whether bought with their Money or born in their House though not hired Servants or mere Sojourners XXII Lev. 10 11. But these things were to be eaten in a clean place X Lev. 14. somewhere within the Camp as afterward in Jerusalem XII Deut. 6 7 17 18. And no unclean Person permitted to eat of them VII Lev. 20 21. XXII 4. And besides when any Israelite killed an Ox a Sheep or a Goat for his own use he was bound to give the Priest the Shoulder the two Cheeks and the Maw as the Jews understand XVIII Deut. 3. Ver. 12. All the best of the Oyl and all the best of Verse 12 the Wine c. The Greek translate the Hebrew word Cheleb fat by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 marrow XLV Gen. 18. but here 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the First-fruits of the Oyl c. signifying these First-fruits were to be of the very best of all the things here mentioned which were to be brought in the beginning of the Vintage and of the Harvest The precise quantity of which is no where determined but they say it was at least the sixtieth part of the whole See XXII Exod. 29. XXIII 19. XVIII Deut. 4. where he speaks of the First-fruits which every private Man was to offer beside which there was a First-fruits offered in the Name of the whole Congregation XXIII Lev. 10 17. All which belonged to the Priests as a Reward of their Service The First-fruits of them which they shall offer unto the LORD them have I given thee Our Mr. Thorndike thus distinguishes the two sorts of First-fruits mentioned here and in other places The one was to be taken by the Priests at the Barn and Wine-Press as he thinks that here spoken of was The other was to be brought to the Sanctuary viz. those mentioned XXII and XXIII Exod. and XXVI Deut. 1 2. The quantity of either of them being in the moderate account a fiftieth part as S. Hierom determines upon XLV Ezek. which is agreeable to the Jewish Constitutions in Maimonides of First-fruits cap. 2. and of Separations cap. 3. But the Scripture XLV Ezek. 13. requires only the sixtieth part See Rights of the Church in a Christian State p. 210. Verse 13 Ver. 13. And whatsoever is first ripe in the Land which they shall bring unto the LORD shall be thine Some take this to signifie the First-fruits of all other things besides Corn Wine and Oyl mentioned in the foregoing Verse But it being a different word from that which we translate First-fruits viz. Biccurim not Reshith it is most likely he here intends either the things first ripe as we translate it before the rest of the Harvest and Vintage or those voluntary Offerings of this sort which any one pleased to make which seem to be intended in these words which they shall bring unto the LORD i. e. of their own good will over and above the ordinary First-fruits The Jews generally understand by Biccurim such things as are ripe before the rest either in the Field as elsewhere whether they were Wheat Barley or any other sort of Grain or Figs Grapes Pomegranets Olives or Dates which they bound about with a Rush and said Let this be for the First-fruits Which every Man might bring in what measure he pleased none being appointed by the Law Every one that is clean in thy House shall eat of it The whole Family of the Priests if they were under no pollution See v. 11. Ver. 14. Every thing devoted in Israel shall be thine Verse 14 Of those things which the Hebrews call Cherem a thing devoted Moses speaks in XXVII Lev. 21 28. And they were either simply devoted in such words as these Let this thing be a Cherem Or with an addition determining it to a certain use Let this be a Cherem offered by me for holy uses The first sort were wholly the Priests but the latter were employed about the Temple or the Vessels of it or the Priests Garments And these devoted things which became the Priests Portion differed in this from Free-will-offerings that every thing which was offered as a Cherem might be eaten only by the Priests in the Holy Place but other Free-will-offerings by the whole Family in any clean place Ver. 15. Every thing that openeth the Matrix in all Verse 15 Flesh which they bring unto the LORD whether it be of Men or Beasts shall be thine That which first came out of the Womb of any Creature was to be the Priests if it were a Male. If a Female were the First-born and a Male followed next that was not the Priests because it did not open the Womb as the Hebrews expound it See XIII Exod. 2. Nevertheless the First-born of Man shalt thou surely redeem and the Firstling of unclean Beasts shalt
that is bitten when he looketh upon it The Jews generally have so much understanding as to say that the mere beholding of it did not cure them but that they were to look up to God as the Scripture speaks when they beheld it and expect a Cure from him So the Author of the Book of Wisdom XVI 7. He that turned himself toward it was not healed by the thing which he saw but by thee that art the Saviour of all And therefore he calls it in the foregoing Verse A Sign of Salvation to put them in remembrance of the Commandment of the Law Shall live Be cured and restored to perfect health Which the Jews think the greater Miracle because naturally it would have made the Inflamation greater So Nachmanides this rather would have increased the Disease for they who are bit by venomous Beasts according to the Prescriptions of Physicians must not see the Image of the Beast by whom they are bitten But this was commanded by God that the Israelites might know both their Disease and their Medicine came from God who made that whose Aspect was hurtful to be the Means of their Cure Ver. 9. And Moses made a Serpent Whence this Verse 9 place seems to have been called Zalmonah XXXIII 41. which imports an Image Similitude or Resemblance of a Thing represented by it And another place thereabouts as Dr. Lightfoot observes called Maaleh Akrabbim seems to have had its name from the same thing it signifying the going up of Scorpions XV Josh 3. Of Brass Pollished that it might resemble a Serpent of a flaming Colour and being very glittering might be the better seen far and near So several of the Hebrew Writers particularly Nachmanides and Abarbinel who observe that God did not bid him make a Serpent of Brass but only a Saraph v. 8. i. e. a Resemblance of a Flaming Serpent which could not be made so well of any other Metal as of Brass those Saraphs which we render fiery Serpents being fiery Red like Copper or Brass Of which there was good store not far off from this place for the next Station to Zalmonah where they now were was Punon or Pinon as Moses tells us XXXIII 42. a place belonging to the Edomites who had an ancient Duke of this Name XXXVI Gen. 41. 1. Chron. I. 52. famous for Mines of Brass as Bochartus shows out of several of the Fathers who speak of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 From whence Moses perhaps had this Brass Hierozoicon P. II. L. III. cap. 13. And put it upon a Pole As he had been directed in the foregoing verse And it came to pass that if a Serpent had bitten any Man Which was not present Death but made an Inflamation and such Ulcers as some conceive as were incurable When he beheld the Serpent of Brass he lived Though Naturalists say the sight of Brass was hurtful to those who were bitten yet hence they received their Cure as the sight of Christ crucified naturally filled his Crucifiers only with Anguish when they beheld him whom they had pierced and were convinced he was their Messiah but by the Grace of God became their only Salvation through Faith in him The Hebrews cannot but acknowledge a Mystery in this brazen Serpent as Moses Gerundensis calls it which our LORD Christ himself hath explained in his Discourse with Nicodemus III John 14. As Moses lifted up the Serpent in the Wilderness even so must the Son of Man be lifted up that whosoever believeth in him should not perish c. Where he doth not compare himself to the Brazen Serpent for what likeness can there be found between the Serpent and the Seed of the Woman or how should Light before-shadowed by Darkness as Dr. Jackson speaks but he compares the lifting up of this Serpent on the Pole with his Lifting up or Crucifixion on the Cross For so he himself expresses his Death and the manner of it XII John 32. And I if I be lifted up from the Earth will draw all Men unto me And their looking on the Serpent in the Wilderness as evidently represented Mens believing on Christ and their Cure the powerful Vertue of Christ's Death to preserve all those that believe on him from perishing as he speaks in the place named before and procuring for them everlasting Life For by his Death our Saviour destroyed him that had the power of death that is the Devil as the Apostle's words are II Hebr. 14. which was notably represented in this Brazen Serpent put upon a Pole which was not a Figure of Christ but of the old Serpent himself the Devil as wounded bruised and dead by the Lifting up of Christ upon the Cross where he intirely disarmed him of all his Power to hurt us I cannot tell whence Justin Martyr concluded this Brazen Serpent to have been made in the form of a Cross as he saith it was in his Second Apology unless we conceive it to have been made with Wings at the bottom of its Neck which might give it that Figure But his observation in his Book against Trypho p. 322 338. seems very considerable that there must be some Mystery in it that God who forbad all manner of Images should now command one to be made of which he saith one of the Jews confessed he could never hear a Reason from their Doctors Who cannot understand it till they believe in Christ and him crucified whose Victory over the Devil by his Cross and Passion was herein most lively represented I shall only add that this Lifting up the Brazen Serpent was a thing so publick and so well known to all Neighbouring Nations that the fame of it in all likelyhood went into India Where they still set up an Idol in form of a wreathed Serpent upon a Perch six or seven Foot high which they solemnly worship And carrying it along with them in their Travels set it up every Morning for the Company to pay their Adorations to it So Taverneir relates in his Travels to that Country p. 28. And see the present Lord Archbishop of Canterbury's excellent Treatise of Idolatry p. 351 c. with Huetius his Demonstr Evang. p. 96. and his Quaestiones Alnetanae cap. 12. n. 25. where he shows the Talismans in all likelyhood were an imitation of this Serpent Of which the Jews were so fond that they burnt Incense to it in the days of Hezekiah and had done so we know not how long 2 Kings XVIII 4. Which may make it the less wonder that the poor Indians should worship a Serpent upon a Pole when they that should have understood better committed such a foul Idolatry as to do Divine Honour to the Figure of the greatest Enemy of God and of Mankind Verse 10 Ver. 10. And the Children of Israel set forward After they had been at two other places which Moses now omits for brevitys sake because he intended hereafter to give an exact account of all their Removals at one view Which he doth in the
to Palestine Though it is very probable the People of both these Countries were descended from Abraham by one of the Sons he had by Keturah XXV Gen. 2. Now shall this Company The Army of Israel encamped in the Plains of Moab v. 1. Lick up all round about us i. e. Devour us and all our Neighbours or our whole Country unless we joyn together to oppose them As the Ox licketh up the Grass of the Field They use this Metaphor to signifie how easily the Israelites would conquer them without a timely resolute and unanimous Opposition and likewise what an Universal Desolation they would make For the words are in the Hebrew the green of the Field i. e. not only the Grass but the Leaves of Trees which Oxen eat as Bochartus observes out of the Scripture as well as other Authors XXVII Isai 20. And to lick up is not lightly to touch with the Tongue but to eat and consume See Hierozoicon P. I. Lib. II. cap. 31. And Balak the Son of Zippor was King of the Moabites at that time He was mentioned before v. 2. but here recorded to have been King of the Country who endeavoured to secure himself by the assistance of his Neighbours and Allies Unto whom he sent this Embassy to advise with them what Course it was best for them to take for their common Safety Ver. 5. He sent Messengers therefore The Result of the Treaty with Midian was That with joynt Consent they should send Ambassadors of each Nation and of the same Quality on the following Message Verse 5 v. 7. And this Counsel it is likely was given by the Midianites for Balak saith nothing of it by his Messengers but it was resolved on when they came there as the most effectual Means for their Security This I think the word therefore imports Vnto Balaam A famous South-sayer or Diviner as he is called in XIII Josh 22. That is one who pretended to foretel Future Things and discover Secrets c. though not by good and allowable Arts but such as were absolutely prohibited to God's People XVIII Deut. 10. He had been formerly a good Man and a true Prophet till loving the wages of Vnrighteousness he apostatised from God and became a Rosem which we translate a Diviner That is saith Aben-Ezra an Astrologer who observing when Men were under a bad Aspect of the Stars pronounced a Curse upon them which sometimes coming to pass gained him a great Reputation But this is not the import of that word as I shall show in its proper place Let it suffice now to observe that the Jews are so much of this Opinion that he had been a better Man than he was now that they take him as St. Hierom observes to be the same Person who in the Book of Job is called Elihu But Origen and some others think he was no Prophet but only one of the Devils Sorcerers of whom he went to Enquire but God was pleased to put the Devil by and give what Answer he thought fit which Balaam himself plainly discerned and therefore calls himself He who heard the words of God c. On which side the Truth lies we shall be able to judge when we come to consider what passed between God and him in the following History The Son of Beor Who was also called Bosor as some gather from 2 Pet. II. 15. though that place may have another Interpretation To Pethor A City in Aram or Mesopotamia XXIII 7. XXIII Deut. 4. This was the ancient Name of the place which in after times the Syrians called Bosor by an easie change of two Letters which is very usual So Grotius understands those words 2 Pet. II. 15. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Balaam not the Son but of the City of Bosor Which is by the River of the Land of the Children of his People i. e. Near to Euphrates which is commonly in these Books called by the Name of the River XV Gen. 18. and many other places This determines Aram which was the Name of several Countries thereabouts to signifie that which is called in Scripture Aram Naharaim that is the Aram which lay between the two famous Rivers of Euphrates and Tygris The former of which was called by way of Eminence the River though the other also was eminent because it was nearest and best known to the Israelites And Ptolemy mentions a City called Pachoria in his time upon this River which some take to be Pethor And it is very probable that Abraham before he came into Canaan lived here about XXIV Gen. 4 10. XXIV Josh 2. And here Jacob also served for his Wife and begat all the Patriarchs except Benjamin whence the Israelites acknowledged their Father to have been a poor Aramite or Syrian as we translate it XXVI Deut. 5. By which means some Relicks of true Religion still remained in this Country though mixed with a great deal of Superstition To call him To invite him to come to them Saying There is a People come out of Egypt Which all the Power of Pharaoh could not hinder They cover the face of the Earth Are exceeding numerous And they abide over against me Lye incamped not far from me and are ready to invade my Country Ver. 6. Come now therefore I pray thee They Verse 6 were to speak in the Name of the King of Moab whose words these are said to be v. 7. there being no King perhaps at this time in Midian but several little Princes who are called Kings XXXI 8. And Curse me this People It seems they had an Opinion in those days which prevailed much in after times That some Men had a power by the help of their Gods to blast not only particular Persons but whole Armies so that they should not be able to effect their Designs This they are said to have done sometimes only by bare words of Imprecation of which there was a Set-form among some People which Aeschines calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the determinate Curse Sometimes they also offered Sacrifices and used certain Rites and Ceremonies with Solemn Charms a famous instance of which we find in the Life of Crassus Where Plutarch tells us That Attejus Tribune of the People made a Fire at the Gate out of which Crassus was to march unto the War against the Parthians into which he threw certain Things to make a Fume and offered Sacrifices to the most angry Gods with horrid Imprecations upon him which he saith according to ancient Tradition had such a power that no Man who was loaded with them could avoid being undone For they are too mighty for me I am not able to deal with them without thy help Peradventure But I hope c. For the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is not a Particle of Doubting but of Hoping Non est particula dubitantis sed benè ominantis sperantis as Forsterus observes XXXVII Isai 4. II Zephan 3. I shall prevail that I may smite them and that I may drive
LORD would come to meet him or no v. 3. but now he confidently expects it though he endeavoured it appears from XXIV 1. still to compass his bad ends by his Enchantments Verse 16 Ver. 16. And the LORD met Balaam This is never said before but only that God met him by his Angel as the Jews interpret it which I take to be much short of what is here said that the LORD himself now met him That is there was a glorious Appearance of the SCHECHINAH to him though not in such lustre I suppose as when it appeared to Moses which so amazed him that after this he never went so much as to enquire what he should say or do For though he doubted perhaps of what the Angel said yet now he was fully assured the Israelites must be blessed And he put a word in his mouth Instructed him what he should say to Balak And said go again unto Balak and say thus Viz. All that we read v. 18 19 20 c. which is a great deal more than he had said before Verse 17 Ver. 17. And when he came to him behold he stood by his Burnt-offering and the Princes of Moab with him See v. 6. And Balak said unto him what hath the LORD spoken He was more solicitous to know his doom than he was before when he askt no such question and plainly demonstrated that he believed Balaam went to enquire of the LORD Ver. 18. And he took up his Parable See v. 7. And said rise up Balak and hear If this word Verse 18 rise up hath respect to the outward Reverence which was wont to be shown to all Messages brought from God which was expressed by rising up to receive them as appears from the story of another King of Moab III Judges 20. then after the Sacrifice was ended at which they stood Balak sat down until Balaam could be ready to acquaint him with the Mind of God But it may have respect only to the Mind and signifie stir up thy self to attend awaken thy thoughts and listen to what I say And hearken unto me thou Son of Zippor The same thing repeated with more earnestness For to give ear as the word is in the Hebrew imports something more than merely to hear viz. diligent and earnest attention of Mind to what is spoken Ver. 19. God is not a man that he should lie Do Verse 19 not imagine that God is like to one of us He can by no Sacrifices or Prayers or other Means be induced to break his word And therefore it is in vain for me any longer to importune him to curse Israel when he hath said he will bless them Neither the Son of Man An usual variation of the Expression of the same thing VIII Psal 4. That he should repent Alter his Mind when he hath absolutely resolved any thing Balak seems to have fancied that by the change of the place where he sacrificed v. 13. he might procure a change of the Divine Counsels Hath he said and shall he not do it What should hinder for he wants no power to execute his Will and he cannot be moved to revoke his Word by better Information nor can any thing happen which he did not foresee to make him do otherwise than he intended Or hath he spoken and shall he not make it good This is the same with the former after the Prophetical manner of speaking Omnia perjuga repetendo as Conradus â—ellicanus glosses ad exagerationem Only the foregoing words may be thought to refer to his Threatnings and these to his Promises Verse 20 Ver. 20. Behold I have received commandment to bless and he hath blessed and I cannot reverse it In these words he applies the general Proposition in the foregoing verse to his particular Case God hath ordered me to pronounce a Blessing upon Israel for he himself hath blessed them and I can neither reverse that Blessing nor go against his Order Verse 21 Ver. 21. He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel Both the word aven which we translate iniquity and the word amal which we translate perverseness signifie frequently in Scripture the highest wickedness viz. Idolatry And so Onkelos here understood it when he thus paraphrased these words I see that there are none who worship Idols in the House of Jacob nor any Servants of Trouble and Vanity so they called Idols in Israel And accordingly the Vulgar Latin expresly translates this verse thus There is no Idol in Jacob nor is there any Image seen in Israel Which seemed so clear a truth to Johannes Forsterus a famous Professor of the Hebrew Tongue in the beginning of the Reformation that in his Explication of both these words in his Lexicon he saith From this place all the Prophets borrowed these Phrases and translated them to express Impiety i. e. Idolatrous Worship devised according to Mens own humours and desires and by the Instinct of the Devil For Moses was the Fountain of all the Prophets Thus he writes upon the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and he repeats it again upon the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So that this is the reason Balaam gives why God had blessed and he could not curse them because they were free from Idolatry unto which unless they could be seduced there was no hope that God would deliver them unto the power of their Enemies For which reason Balaam afterwards counselled this Prince to entice them to this Sin by beautiful Women as the only way to move God to be angry with them There are indeed a great many that take these words in the common sence for all manner of Sin which God is said not to see in this People i. e. so as to mark it out for Punishment For though they were many ways great Offenders yet he had such an indulgent Kindness to them that he would not correct them for every Sin which they committed But this returns to the former Exposition that they were safe as long as they kept themselves from the great Transgression that is Idolatry The LORD his God is with him They worshipping God alone were therefore under his special Care and Protection Onkelos renders it the WORD of the LORD his God is his help And so the Hiâ—rosol Targum And the shout of a King is among them God being their King he prophesies that they should always triumph over their Enemies For he alludes to the Shouts which are made when a King or great Captain returns victorious with the Spoils of those he hath vanquished So the meaning of the whole verse is this in brief Since they do not worship Idols but cleave to the LORD their God and serve him alone he is present with them not only to preserve them from their Enemies but to give them glorious Victories over them Verse 22 Ver. 22. God brought them out of Egypt That they might be his Worshippers and Servants which if they continue he will not
desert them For God brought them forth from thence that they might be his peculiar People and he their King and their God as he often saith himself XI Lev. 45. XXII 23. XXV 38. XV Numb 41. all which places are observed by the Author of Cepher Cosri Pars II. sect 50. He hath as it were the strength of an Vnicorn Some would have this referred to God who brought them out of Egypt by a mighty Power because he speaks in the Plural Number of those to whom the former Sentence belongs But this is no good reason for the Scripture frequently varies the Number when the same Person is spoken of And in XXIV 8. it is expressly said God brought him i. e. Israel out of Egypt and he hath the strength c. Which every one allows is spoken of the Israelites who are said to have the strength of this Creature with whom they are compared or rather the heighth as the Hebrew word certainly signifies XXV Psal 4. The strength of the Hills or rather the heighths of the Hills as it is in the Margin are his also and XXII Job 25. The Almighty shall be thy defence and thou shalt have plenty of Silver So the sence led our Interpreters to translate the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which may be literally here rendered great heaps of Silver These are the only places where this word is found The only difficulty is what Creature it is which is here called Reem which we translate as many others have done an Vnicorn which though most now take to be a fabulous Creature that is not in being yet Tho. Bartholinus in his Anotomical Histories Centur. II. Histor 61. tells us that an Ambassador from the King of Guinea to the Duke of Curland assured him at Copenhagen that there is a Beast in Africa of the bigness of an ordinary Horse very swift and fierce which hath a Horn in its Forehead about three Spans in length the dead Carcase of which he had seen though never one alive But if this be supposed to be true it is not the Creature here meant for it is plain by the Scripture that the Reem hath two Horns XXXIII Deut. 17. where we read of the Horns of the Vnicorn as we translate it to which the two Tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh are compared See also XXII Psal 27. Therefore the famous Bochartus after along discussion of other Opinions thinks it most probable that the Reem is a kind of Goat which the Arabians called Algazel and is now called Gazellas which is a tall Creature some of them as high as a Stag with long and sharp Horns So that Balaam foretels the Israelites should be as eminent among other People as the Reem was among other kinds of Goats Unless we will think it refers to what the Arabians observe that it is proper to this Animal to carry its Head very high and to erect its Ears which is an excellent Emblem of the People of Israel who being lately oppressed in Egypt were asserted by God into a state of Liberty and raised to a great height of Glory in order to be advanced unto an higher Hierozoicon P. I. Lib. III. cap. 27. At this Onkelos seems to have aimed when he translates these words thus Fortitude and Exaltation are his taking Reem not for a proper Name but for an Appellative as if it were derived from Ramam which signifies to exalt I shall only add that there is one who refers these words neither to God nor to the Israelites but to Egypt before-mentioned As if the sence was though the Egyptians were as strong as an Vnicorn they were not able to detain the Israelites any longer in Bondage to them but God brought them thence with a mighty Hand and out-stretched Arm So Joseph Hispanus Lib. III. Ikkarim cap. 8. Verse 23 Ver. 23. Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob neither is there any divination against Israel Neither I nor any Body else have power to hurt them by all the secret Arts of Sorcery and Sooth-saying which are practised in the World It is not proper here to mention the various sorts of them but it is manifest from ancient History that these curious Arts as St. Luke calls them had got a kind of Soveraignty in the Eastern Nations who for many Ages were much addicted to them One of our own Church hath said many excellent things concerning the Original of this Sorcery and Idolatry which commonly accompanied each other to whom I refer the Reader See Dr. Jackson's Original of Vnbelief c. cap. 19. The Vulgar Latin takes these words as if they were spoken in praise of the Israelites that there were no Enchantments or Divinations used among them nor any other Diabolical Arts which were forbidden by their Law in several places From these they being as free as from Idolatry mentioned v. 21. they were secure of God's favour to them And so we acknowledge in the Margin of our Bibles the words may be translated There is no Enchantment in Jacob or among them From which God intended in all Ages to preserve them by the Prophets he raised up to them And thus R. Solomon expounds this verse either to signifie that they could not be cursed because they were not given to Enchantments and Divinations or that they needed not to make use of Diviners and Magicians having all that was needful for them to know revealed to them by God's Prophets and by Vrim and Thummim c. According to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel what hath God wrought The LXX translate the first words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when time shall be or upon all occasions not only now but in future Ages Men shall relate with admiration what God hath wrought for this People Not only in bringing them out of Egypt but in conducting them into Canaan in drying up Jordan as he did the Red Sea and subduing the Canaanites as he overthrew Pharaoh and his Host c. If there be any difference between Jacob and Israel the former signifies this People when they were in their low estate and the latter when they were eminently exalted in both which God did wonderful things for them which astonished all that observed them Ver. 24. Behold the People shall rise up as a great Verse 24 Lion The Hebrew word Labi certainly signifies a Lioness which is no less but rather more fierce than a Lion and so represented by Herodotus Lib. III. cap. 108. and many other Authors mentioned by Bochartus in his Hierozoicon P. I. Lib. III. cap. 1. And lift up himself as a young Lion The Hebrew word Ari is used in general for any Lion whatsoever without respect unto age They that would have it signifie a younger sort take it for a Lion full grown and adult as they speak of a middle Age between Cephir which signifies a young Lion and Sachel which signifies an old And the Israelites are here said to rise up and
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
rather to insinuate that he was not guilty of such a Crime as might make Men justly forfeit what they had for their Children as well as for themselves For all the Family of Dathan and Abiram perished and it is taken notice of as a singular Mercy that the Children of Korah did not XXVI 10 11. But died in his own Sin i. e. For his own Sin which God had declared should not affect the Children XIV 31. For to that General Sin in which all the People were engaged these words seem to refer And so it was his own sin not with respect to the rest of the People for they were all alike guilty but with respect to his Children it being a personal Guilt in which they were not concerned The Jews commonly say that Zelophehad was the Man that was stoned for gathering Sticks on the Sabbath-day For which they have no authority but a fancy of R. Aquiba who is sharply reproved for it by another considerable Rabbi who saith it is a rash Judgment for if it were true since the Scripture conceals it he ought not to have revealed it but hath reproached a just Man for any thing that appears See Selden Lib. II. de Synedr cap. 1. sect 9. And had no Son As was found when the People were numbred XXVI 33. Ver. 4. Why should the name of our Father be done Verse 4 away from among his Family One Family of the Tribe of Manasseh viz. the Hepherites being in danger to be wholly extinguished R. Judah will have the word Name in this place to signifie as much as hereditary possession and so he thinks it signifies XXV Deut. 6. as Mr. Selden observes out of Pesikta Lib. de Successionibus cap. 14. Because he hath no Son Merely for want of Issue-Male when he hath left many Daughters Give unto us therefore a possession among the Brethren of our Father Let us come in for a share among those that are descended from Manasseh Which if they did the Name of their Father could not be thereby preserved but by the Son of one of these Daughters taking upon him not the Name of his Father that begat him but of his Mother's Grand-father viz. Hepher which was ordered afterwards by a general Law XXV Deut. 6. Verse 5 Ver. 5. And Moses brought their Cause before the LORD This was too difficult a Cause though there seemed to be a great deal of Reason on their side to be judged by the great Court before-mentioned and therefore it was referred to Moses alone as other weighty Causes used to be See XV. 32. XXV 4. for neither Eleazar nor any other Person before whom it was brought v. 2. are here mentioned as the Judges of this matter And he durst not judge it though the equity appeared very plain without bringing it before the LORD for his direction which he could have upon all important occasions XXV Exod. 22. VII Numb 89. Verse 6 Ver. 6. And the LORD spake unto Moses saying This shows that the Cause was devolved upon Moses alone for the LORD tells him and no other Person how it should be determined Verse 7 Ver. 7. The Daughters of Zelophehad c. The LORD approves of their Claim and gives a Sentence in their favour Thou shalt surely give them a possession of an inheritance among their Father's Brethren Because the word for them in the Hebrew is of the Masculine Gender some think it signifies they were to be considered as if they had been Sons And thou shalt cause the Inheritance of their Father to pass unto them So that they were to enjoy what would have faln to his share had he been alive ob indutam defuncti patris personam as the Lawyers speak because they stood in the place of their dead Father and represented his Person And accordingly they put in their Claim at the Division of the Land and had their Portion therein according to this Decision XVII Josh 2 3 c. How the Portion was divided among them according to the Hebrew Doctors Mr. Selden shows at large in his Book de Successionibus in bona defunctii cap. 23. Ver. 8. And thou shall speak unto the Children of Israel Verse 8 saying Upon this occasion he passes this special Case into a General Law to be hereafter observed If a Man die and have no Son then ye shall cause his Inheritance to pass unto his Daughter It being a reason as Maimonides observes More Nevochim P. III. cap. 42. that what a Man leaves should come to his Family and to those who are next of Kin to him for the nearer any Person is to us we are inclined by natural affection to have the greater regard to him But all this is to be understood of Land as for Money and moveable Goods which were of his own getting the Father might dispose of them by his Will to whom he pleased Ver. 9. And if he have no Daughter then ye shall give his Inheritance unto his Brethren Unless his Father was alive who undoubtedly the Jews say was Verse 9 the next Heir but not mentioned because it was not necessary Or as some say because it was too sad a thing to speak of a Fathers burying all his Children without Issue See Selden de Success in bona defuncti cap. 12. Where he observes that according to the Rule v. 11. it must come to the Father because he is nearest of kin to it And therefore the Jews interpret this as if Moses had said If he have Daughter he shall give his inheritance to the next of his Kindred to his Father for instance and afterwards ye shall give it to his Brethren i. e. the Children of his Father And the same is to be said of the Grandchildren unto whom the Brethren of a Father dying without issue are heirs For the Grandfather stands in the same relation to a Father that a Father doth to his Son Verse 11 Ver. 11. And if his Father have no Brethren then ye shall give it to his Kinsman that is next of Kin to him of his Family and he shall possess it To his Brothers Children or to those who are descended from them or from his Fathers ' Brethren But no consideration was to be had of his Mother's Kindred as the Jewish Lawyers say who could never be capable of the Inheritance Which they gather not only from these words which determine the Inheritance to his Family i. e. the Family of the Father before-mentioned not to the Family of the Mother but from the frequent mention of the Father of Mischpachoth which we translate Families or rather Kindreds of the Fathers in the Books of Moses Chronicles Ezra and others From whence this solemn Maxim of the Talmudists The Family or Kindred of the Mother is never called by the name of Kindred That is it hath not the effect of a Kindred in Successions to Inheritances Which is the same with that in the ancient Book Siphri Families follow the Fathers as Mr. Selden
offered upon every New Moon and every day of the Feast of unleavened Bread v. 11 19 c. whereas that in Leviticus is one young Bullock two Rams and seven Lambs Ver. 28. And their Meat-offering of flour mingled Verse 28 with Oyl three tenth deals unto one Bullock c. The very same that is prescribed to accompany the Burnt-offering on the New Moon and in the Feast of Unleavened Bread v. 12 20. Ver. 29. And a several tenth deal unto one Lamb Verse 29 throughout the seven Lambs So it is ordained before in the former Cases v. 13 21. Verse 30 Ver. 30. And one Kid of the Goats to make an atonement for you Beside the Kid prescribed for the same purpose when the two Loaves were offered XXIII Lev. 19. which was accompanied with two Lambs for a Sacrifice of Peace-offerings So that there were a great many Sacrifices offered at this famous Festival though it did not last so long as that of the Passover Verse 31 Ver. 31. Ye shall offer them beside the continual Burnt-offering He still takes care that this daily Sacrifice should not be omitted by reason of such a number of other Sacrifices which were to attend upon it but not to put it by v. 10 15 23. They shall be unto you without blemish This might have been sufficiently understood from what was said of the daily Offering v. 3. and of all the other prescrib'd in this Chapter v. 11 19. But least any prophane Person might think there was no need to be so scrupulous about these Sacrifices because it is only said two young Bullocks one Ram and seven Lambs of the first year v. 27. these words are also here added to take away all doubt they shall be unto you without blemish i. e. as perfect as all the rest are ordered to be It is observable that there is not so much as one Peace-offering ordered in all this Chapter which was a sort of Sacrifice that was most for the benefit of those that brought them to the Altar But all Burnt-offerings except a few Sin-offerings which were wholly for the honour of God and acknowledgment of his Sovereign Dominion over them and of the Duty they owed him And as the Sin-offerings were shadows of that great Sacrifice of God's own Son which was one day to be offered for the Sins of Men out of his infinite love to them so the whole Burnt-offerings which were always of the most perfect Creatures the finest Flour the choicest Fruits of the Earth and the best Liquor were shadows of that excellent degree of Piety which the Son of God intended to bring into the World which would move Men out of love to God to give themselves wholly up to him and devote all they had even their own Lives to his Service CHAP. XXIX Chapter XXIX Ver. 1. AND in the seventh Month. Which was Verse 1 anciently the first Month of the Year but now the seventh reckoning from that wherein the Passover was kept which for a special reason was made the first See X Exod. 2. On the first day of the Month ye shall have an holy Convocation ye shall do no servile work So it was ordained before in XXIII Lev. 24 25. It is a day of blowing of Trumpets unto you In that place of Leviticus it is called a memorial of blowing of Trumpets from Morning until Evening Which the Jews fancy was to awaken them to Repentance upon the great Day of Expiation which followed on the tenth day of this Month. But it was manifestly intended quite contrary to excite them unto Joy and Gladness For Zichron teruah is a memorial of Jubilation Triumph and Shouting for Joy the word teruah being never used in Scripture but for a sound or shout of Gladness as the Chaldee word Jabbaba which is here used by the Paraphrast always signifies And this agrees with their Notion who think it was a special remembrance of the Creation of the World at which the Angels rejoyced Or it might be ordained to stir up the People to a grateful remembrance of all God's Benefits the Year past Whatsoever was the cause certain it is this seventh Month was very famous on this account that more solemn days were to be kept in it than in all the Year besides And upon that account the People might be awakened by this blowing of Trumpets to observe them aright Verse 2 Ver. 2. And shall offer a Burnt-offering for a sweet savour unto the LORD Over and above all other Sacrifices which were heretofore ordered upon this day as appears from v. 6. One Bullock one Ram and seven Lambs of the first year without blemish This is less than was appointed upon the foregoing Festivals XXVIII 19 27. because those very Sacrifices were also to be offered upon this day on another account as I shall observe on v. 6. Verse 3 Ver. 3. And their Meat-offering shall be of flour mingled with Oyl three tenth deals for a Bullock and two for a Ram. This is the proportion appointed by a general Rule for all Sacrifices of this kind See the XVth Chapter of this Book v. 6 9. Ver. 4. And one tenth deal for one Lamb c. So it is there appointed v. 4. Ver. 5. And one Kid of the Goats for a Sin-offering to make an atonement for you As is appointed in the foregoing Festivals XXVIII 15 22 30. Ver. 6. Beside the Burnt-offering of the Morning with Verse 5 his Meat-offering It was appointed before that in Verse 6 the beginning of every Month there should be a Burnt-offering offered of two Bullocks c. XXVIII 11 12. which was not to be omitted in the beginning of this Month but these other Sacrifices added to the Offerings of every New Moon Which made this a greater New Moon than any other being the first Moon of the old Civil Year And the daily Burnt-offering and his Meat-offering and their Drink-offering With which the Solemnity of the Day began and then followed the proper Sacrifices belonging to it According to their manner Or in the order which God appointed which I observed before on XXVIII 11. was this That first the daily Burnt-Sacrifice was offered then the Sacrifices appointed for the first day of every Month and then those appointed for this first day of the seventh Month. For a sweet savour a Sacrifice made by fire unto the LORD Which was acceptable to the Divine Majesty when performed according to his directions Ver. 7. And ye shall have on the tenth day of this Verse 7 Month an holy Convocation This solemn Assembly is ordered twice before in the Book of Leviticus XVI 29. XXIII 27. and here repeated perhaps for the sake of Eleazar and Joshua who were newly advanced to their several Offices that they might take special Notice of it and see it observed And ye shall afflict your Souls That was the special intention of it as we read in both the forenamed places that they might receive the benefit of the atonement
as long as they lived yet they found this temperament that if one who had been High-Priest but removed from his Office was alive when the slaughter was committed after his death both he that killed the High-Priest or any other unawares and the High-Priest himself who had done the same were set free from the City of Refuge See Selden Lib. II. de Synedr cap. 9. sect 6. and Lib. III. cap. 8. sect 3. There may seem to be some inequality in this Law because as some High-Priests lived long and others but a short time so some Man-slayers fled to the City at the beginning of their Priesthood and others just before their death But it must be considered that this could not be better ordered than to make the Man-slayer's Liberty depend upon the death of the High-Priest whensoever it fell out that an higher value might be set upon him and that it might represent our Deliverance only by the Death of the Son of God of which many great Men look upon this as a Type or Shadow though it must be confessed there is not the least signification of this in the N. Testament And since the great Expiation which the High-Priest made every year on the Day of Atonement did not procure such Men their Liberty I cannot look upon it as the effect of the High-Priest's Death but only as that which followed upon it by vertue of this Law For the High-Priest having a great power every where and particularly in these Cities of the Priests and Levites over whom he was the chief it is possible the Man-slayer might be confined here by some peculiar Act of his Authority which expiring together with himself he was released Ver. 26. But if the slayer shall at any time During Verse 26 the Life of the High-Priest Come without the border of the City of Refuge whither he was fled If he went beyond the Bounds of the Fields in which he had liberty to walk and might not be touched For if a Tree was planted as the Misna resolves in Maccoth within the Borders of the Fields of the City though the Boughs stretched themselves beyond the Borders yet the Man-slayer was safe under the Tree In like manner when Churches became places of Refuge the Civil Law allowed the priviledge to extend to the Church-gate and the Council of Toledo to thirty Paces from the Church which Pope Nicholas enlarged to forty Thus among the Heathen the Bounds of the Refuge at the Temple of Diana at Ephesus was sometimes more and sometimes less as Ritterhusius observes in his Book before-named where he shows how far it was extended by Alexander and afterwards farther by others And Tacitus Lib. III. Annalium mentions a Temple of hers to which was granted by several Emperours duobus millibus passuum eandem sanctitatem the same Sanctity for two Miles round about it Verse 27 Ver. 27. And the avenger of blood find him without the borders of the City of his Refuge and the avenger of blood kill the slayer he shall not be guilty of death The Court of Judgment were not to put him to death though perhaps he was obnoxious to the Judgment of God because he had killed an innocent Person But he was free from the Punishment of the Law that Men-slayers might be the more careful to keep within their Bounds which was a profitable restraint upon them for the Publick Good All Men seeing how much God hated Murder by the confinement of him who had slain a Man unawares to a kind of Imprisonment But it may be said on the other side that he who killed a Man-slayer in this case was perfectly guiltless because he did not herein act as a Private Person but executed a Sentence against him who was condemned by Publick Authority Which gave no protection to the Man-slayer but within the Borders of his City of Refuge leaving him to the Avenger of Blood if he came out of those Bounds till the death of the High-Priest After which if the Avenger of Blood killed him no doubt he was to be punished as a Murderer Verse 28 Ver. 28. Because he should have remained in the City of his Refuge until the death of the High-Priest These words give the reason why the Avenger of Blood was not to be punished in this case because the Man-slayer was guilty of breaking another Law and so in some sort accessory to his own death for he might have been safe if he had pleased But after the death of the High-Priest the slayer shall return to the Land of his possession Where he was not only to remain safe but to be restored to all his Honours if he had any before he fled to the City of Refuge Ver. 29. So these things shall be for a Statute of Judgment Verse 29 unto you A Rule whereby to judge between Man-slayers and Murderers Throughout all Generations The like Clauses are usual in the ancient Civil Law Hoc perpetua lege sancimus Hoc generali in perpetuum valitura lege decernimus c. In all your dwellings This the Jews interpret as an obligation upon them to have Courts of Judgment wheresoever they dwell Thus R. Solomon upon these very words They teach us saith he the use of Courts of Judgment which ought to be even out of the Land all the time that they were used in the Land So the ancient Book Siphri and many others mentioned by our most Learned Selden Lib. II. de Synedr cap. 5. n. 1. Ver. 30. Whoso killeth any person the murderer shall Verse 30 be put to death by the mouth of Witnesses This direction for their proceedings in this Case was to be the Rule in all others of like nature by examining Witnesses who were to be competent Upon which account ten sorts of Persons were uncapable to be Witnesses according to the Hebrew Doctors viz. Women Servants Minors Fools the Deaf and Dumb the Blind Impious and audacious People near Relations and those that had been convicted of bearing false witness and they endeavour after their manner to find Reasons against all these in the Law it self See Selden Lib. II. de Synedr cap. 13. n. 11. But one witness shall not testifie against any person to Verse 12 cause him to die This was such an established Rule in the Civil Law that it saith ubi numerus testium non adjicitur sufficiunt duo where the number of Witnesses is not mentioned two suffices Pluralis enim locutio duorum numero contenta est For where Witnesses in the Plural Number are spoken of two are enough to answer the intention of the Law Which number therefore are frequently mentioned expresly in Scripture as necessary in all Cases XVII Deut. 6. particularly in this of Murder XIX 15. Yet where there was but one Witness or not two who both together saw the Man killed so that he who was accused of the Murder could not be put to death he was thrown into a very strait Prison and there