Concerning the tithe of the A. M. 2514. 30 And all the tithe of the rod, the tenth shall be holy An. Exod. Isr. 2. the land, whether of the seed unto the LORD. Abib or Nisan. of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD's: it is holy unto the LORD. 31 › And if a man will at all redeem aught of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof. 32 And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under a A. M. 2514. 33 He shall not search whether it be good or bad, neither shall he change it and if he change it at all, then both it and the change thereof shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed. 34 b These are the commandments which the LORD commanded Moses for the children of Israel, in Mount Sinai. * Gen. xxviii. 22; Num. xviii. 21, 24; 2 Chron. xxxi. 5, 6, 12; y Ver. 13.Neh. xiii. 12; Mal. iii. 8, 10. -z See Jer. xxxiii. 13; Ezek. xx. 37; Mic. vii. 14. a Ver. 10.- b Chap. xxvi. 46. and the Amalekites, Deut. xxv. 19; 1 Sam. xv. 3: and when the tenth came, he touched it with the but in all these cases the people commanded to be de-coloured rod, by which it was distinguished to be the stroyed were such sinners as God's justice did not tithe calf, sheep, &c., and whether poor or lean, perthink proper to spare longer. And has not every fect or blemished, that was received as the legitimate system of law the same power? And do we not con- tithe." It seems to be in reference to this custom that cede such power to the civil magistrate, for the wel- the Prophet Ezekiel, speaking to Israel, says: I will fare of the state? God, who is the sovereign arbiter cause you to pass under the rod, and will bring you of life and death, acts here in his juridical and legisla- into the bond of the covenant—you shall be once more tive capacity; but these are victims to justice, not re- claimed as the Lord's property, and be in all things ligious sacrifices. devoted to his service, being marked or ascertained, by especial providences and manifestations of his kindness, to be his peculiar people. It may be necessary just farther to note that two kinds of vows are mentioned in this chapter-1. The 17 neder, (see on chap. vii.,) which comprehends all those things which, when once devoted, might be redeemed at a certain price, according to the valuation of the priest. 2. Then cherem, those things vowed to God of which there remained no power of redemption; they were most holy, i. e., so absolutely devoted to God that they could neither be changed, alienated, nor redeemed probably because no mental reservation had been made, as in the above case may be supposed. On this ground the word was afterward applied to the most solemn and awful kind of excommunication, meaning a person so entirely devoted to the stroke of vindictive justice, as never to be ca- | pable of receiving pardon; and hence the word may be well applied in this sense to the Canaanites, the cup of whose iniquity was full, and who were consigned, without reprieve, to final extermination. Verse 30. All the tithe of the land] This God claims as his own; and it is spoken of here as being a point perfectly settled, and concerning which there was neither doubt nor difficulty. See my view of this subject Gen. xxviii., after ver, 22, to which I do not see the necessity of adding any thing, Verse 34. These are the commandments] This conclusion is very similar to that at the end of the preceding chapter. I have already supposed that this chapter should have followed the 25th, and that the 26th originally terminated the book. Mr. Ainsworth, the whole of whose writings are animated with the spirit of piety, concludes this book with the following excellent remarks: "The tithes in Israel being thus sanctified by the commandment of God to his honour, the maintenance of his ministers, and the relief of the poor, it taught them and teaches us to honour the Lord with our substance, (Prov. iii. 9,) acknowledging him to be the author of all our increase and store; (Deut. viii. 13–18; Hos. ii. 8-;) to honour his MINISTERS, and to communicate unto them in all good things, (1 Tim. v. 17, 18; Gal. vi. 6,) that they who sow unto us spiritual things should reap our carnal things, (1 Cor. ix. 11,) and to give ALMS of such things as we have, that all things may be clear unto us, (Luke xi. 41,) yea, even to sell that we have, and give alms; to provide ourselves bags that wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, Luke xii. 33." They who forget their Maker, his ministers, and the poor, are never likely to hear that blessed word in the great day: Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you; for I was hungry, and ye gave me meat; thirsty, and ye gave me drink; naked, and ye clothed me; sick and in prison, and ye came unto me." Verse 32. Whatsoever passeth under the rod] The signification of this verse is well given by the rabbins: "When a man was to give the tithe of his sheep or calves to God, he was to shut up the whole flock in one fold, in which there was one narrow door capable of letting out one at a time. The owner, about to give the tenth to the Lord, stood by the door with a rod in his hand, the end of which was dipped in ver- READER, thou hast now gone through the whole of milion or red ochre. The mothers of those lambs or this most interesting book; a book whose subject is calves stood without the door being opened, the too little regarded by Christians in general. Here young ones ran out to join themselves to their dams; thou mayest discover the rigid requisitions of Divine and as they passed out the owner stood with his rod justice, the sinfulness of sin, the exceeding breadth of over them, and counted one, two, three, four, five, &c., | the commandment, and the end of all human perfec Concluding remarks. tion. CHAP. XXVII. And now what thinkest thou of that word, "Whatsoever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law?" Rom. iii. 19. But who are under the law-the condemning power of the pure, rigid, moral law of God? Not the Jews only, but every soul of man all to whom it is sent, and who acknowledge it as a Divine revelation, and have not been redeemed from the guilt of sin by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ; for "cursed is every one that continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the law to do them." By this law then is the knowledge, but not the cure, of sin. Hear then what God saith unto thee: "If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what farther need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron? For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law; Heb. vii. 11, 12. Now of the things which we have spoken, this is the sum: We have such a high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man; ibid. viii. 1, 2. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins; ibid. x. 4. But Christ being come a high priest of good things to come,-neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. And for this cause he is the Mediator of the New Testa ment, that, by means of death, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. And without shedding of blood is no remission. So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many, and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time, without sin, unto salvation;" Heb. ix. 11, 12, 15, 22, 28. law for righteousness (for justification) to every one that believeth. "Unto him, therefore, who hath loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen." Rev. i. 5, 6. We see then that Christ was the END of the SECTIONS in the Book of Leviticus, carried on from Exodus, which ends with the TWENTY THIRD, Masoretic notes. The TWENTY-FOURTH, called " vaiyikra, begins chap. i. 6, and ends chap. vi. 7. The TWENTY-FIFTH, called 13 tsav, begins chap. vi. 8, and ends chap. viii. 36. The TWENTY-SIXTH, called ''w shemini, begins chap. ix. 1, and ends chap. xi. 47. The TWENTY-SEVENTH, called yn tazria, begins chap. xii. 1, and ends chap. xiii. 59. The TWENTY-EIGHTH, called yn metsora, begins chap. xiv. 1, and ends chap. xv. 33. קדשים xix. 1, and ends chap. xx. 27. The THIRTY-FIRST, called emor, begins chap. xxi. 1, and ends chap. xxiv. 23. The THIRTY-SECOND, called ''Da behar Sinai, begins chap. xxv. 1, and ends chap. xxvi. 2. The THIRTY-THIRD, called 'pn bechukkothai, begins chap. xxvi. 3, and ends chap. xxvii. 34. These sections, as was observed on Exodus, have their technical names from some remarkable word, either in the first or second verse of their commencement. MASORETIC Notes on Leviticus. The number of verses in vaiyikra, i. e., Leviticus, is 859. The symbol of which is .pe final stands for 800, 1 nun for 50, and teth for 9. The middle verse is the 11th of chap. xv.: And he that toucheth the flesh, &c. rial Its pareshioth, or larger sections, are 10, the memosymbol of which is taken from Gen. xxx. 11: ba gad, a troop cometh: in which beth stands for 2, aleph for 1, 1 gimel for 3, and 7 daleth for 4. Its sedarim, or Masoretic sections, are 23. The symbol of which is taken from Psa. i, 2, 7an yehgeh: In thy law shall he MEDITATE day and night. Its perakim, or modern chapters, are 27. The memorial sign of which is 'n veeyeheh, Gen. xxvi. 3 : AND I WILL BE with thee, and will bless thee. The number of its open divisions is 52; of its close divisions, 46: total 98. The memorial sign of which is ny tsach, Cant. v. 10; My beloved is WHITE and ruddy. In this word ytsaddi stands for 90, and n cheth for 8. VERSES 859. WORDS 11,902. LETTERS Computed to be 44,989. See the concluding note on GENESIS. Finished the correction of Exodus and Leviticus, April 2, 1827.-A. CLARKE. THIS, which is the fourth book in order of the Pentateuch, has been called NUMBERS, from its containing an account of the numbering and marshalling the Israelites in ther journey through the wilderness to the promised land. Its ENGLISH name is derived from the title it bears in the VULGATE Latin, Numeri, which is a literal translation of the Greek word Apivo, its title in the SEPTUAGINT; and from both, our SAXON ancestors called it Level, numeration, "because in this the children of Israel were numbered," Fon pam pe Irnahela beaɲn pæɲon on pære getealde. This title, however, does not properly apply to more than the three first chapters, and the 26th. This book, like the preceding, takes its name among the HEBREWS from a distinguishing word in the commencement. It is frequently called 17 VAIDABBER, and he spoke, from its initial word; but in most Hebrew Bibles its running title is 7 BEMIDBAR, in the wilderness, which is the fifth word in the first verse. The contents of the book of Numbers are briefly the following: On the first day of the first month of the second year after the departure from Egypt, the tabernacle being erected, and it and the priests consecrated, Moses is commanded to make a census or enumeration of the people, the Levites excepted, who were appointed to watch over, guard, pitch, and carry the tabernacle and its holy furniture; chap. i. To form the vast mass of the people into a regular camp, each tribe by itself under its own captain or chief, known by his proper standard, and occupying an assigned place in reference to the tabernacle; chap. ii. Moses is commanded to separate the Levites to the service of the tabernacle, whom God chooses to take, instead of the first-born of every family, which he claimed as his own. When these were selected in their families, &c., the sum amounted to 22,273; chap. iii. All this tribe is appointed to serve the tabernacle in a variety of offices, each person from the age of thirty till fifty, after which he was excused from farther service; chap. iv. When these points were settled, God commands them to purify the camp by the expulsion of every unclean person, and establishes the trial of the suspected adulteress by the waters of jealousy; chap. v. He next institutes the laws relative to Nazarites; and lays down the form according to which the people shall be blessed; chap. vi. Then follows a particular account of the offerings made to the tabernacle by the princes, or chiefs of the twelve tribes, and the amount of those offerings; chap. vii. When this work was finished, the Levites were consecrated to their respective services and the duration of the service of each ascertained; chap. viii. The passover is commanded to be kept, and the first one is celebrated in the wilderness on the 14th of the first month of the second year after their departure from Egypt chap. ix. Moses is commanded to make two silver trumpets; he is informed of their use, in what order the different tribes shall march, with the ceremonies at fixing and removing the tabernacle and the departure of the people from the wilderness of Sinai on the twentieth day of the second month of the second year of their exodus from Egypt; chap. x. PREFACE TO NUMBERS. The people murmuring, the fire of the Lord consumes many of them; it ceases on the intercession of Moses: they murmur again, quails are sent, and they are smitten with a great plague; chap. xi. Miriam and her brother Aaron rise up seditiously against Moses, having conceived some dislike against his Cushite wife, and supposing that he assumed too great an authority over the people at this sedition the Lord is displeased, and smites Miriam with the leprosy ; chap. xii. Twelve spies are sent to examine the promised land; they pass through the whole, return at the end of forty days, and by bringing an evil report, dishearten the people; chap. xiii. In consequence of this the whole congregation meditate a return to Egypt: God is displeased, and pronounces that all of them, from twenty years old and upwards, shall die in the wilderness. They repent, attack the Amalekites contrary to the commandment of God, and are discomfited; chap. xiv. A number of ordinances and directions are given relative to the manner of conducting the worship of God in the promised land: different laws are repeated, and a Sabbath-breaker stoned to death; chap. xv. Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and their associates, form an insurrection against Moses: they are swallowed up by an earthquake; the congregation murmur, and 14,700 of them are cut off; chap. xvi. As a proof that God had called Aaron and his family to the priesthood, his rod, or staff, buds, and miraculously brings forth blossoms and fruit, and is commanded to be laid up before the testimony; chap. xvii. The charges of the priests and Levites, and the portions they were to have of the Lord's offerings, for their support in the work; chap. xviii. The ordinances of the red heifer; the water of purification, and its uses; chap. xix. The death of Miriam; the waters of Meribah. The Lord tells Moses that, because he did not sanctify him in the eyes of the congregation, he shall not bring the people into the promised land. The king of Edom refuses the Israelites a passage through his territories. Aaron is stripped of his sacerdotal vestments on Mount Hor, and they are put on Eleazar, his son, who is to be a high priest in his stead. Aaron dies, and the people mourn for him thirty days; chap. xx. Arad, one of the Canaanitish kings, attacks Israel, and he and his people are utterly destroyed. The people murmur for lack of bread and water; fiery serpents are sent among them, they repent; are healed by looking at a brazen serpent. They journey and come to Beer, where they find water; Sihon, king of the Amorites, attacks them, and is defeated; so is likewise Og, king of Bashan, and the people possess the lands of both; chap. xxi. Balak, king of Moab, sends for Balaam to curse Israel; he departs, is opposed by an angel, and reproved by his ass, whom God, for the purpose, miraculously endued with the gift of speech. He comes to Balak, king of Moab, and shows him that Jehovah had limited his power; chap. xxii. Balak offers sacrifices, and Balaam, under the influence of God, prophesies good concerning Israel; chap. xxiii. Continuing to foretell the prosperity of Israel, and the destruction of their enemies, the king of Moab dismisses Balaam in great wrath; chap. xxiv. The Israelites, seduced by the women of Moab and Midian, commit fornication and idolatry: the chiefs are hanged-bold act of Phinehas; chap. xxv. A second census or enumeration of the people takes place, and the amount is 601,730, among whom not one of those of the first census was now found except Joshua and Caleb ; chap. xxvi. From the case of the daughters of Zelophehad a law is made to enable daughters to inherit. Moses ascends Mount Abarim, sees the promised land, and constitutes Joshua his successor; chap. xxvii. PREFACE TO NUMBERS. A repetition of the laws relative to burnt-offerings, the Sabbath, the passover, first-fruits, &c.; chap. xxviii. The three solemnities of the seventh month are commanded to be held on the first, tenth, and fourteenth days of the month; chap. xxix. Several laws and ordinances concerning vows of different kinds, made by various persons; when they should be confirmed, and in what cases annulled; chap. xxx. Twelve thousand Israelites go against the people of Midian and slay them, their five kings, and Balaam their prophet; and the Israelites take immense booty in persons, cattle, gold, silver, and precious stones, of which they make a great offering to the Lord, because in this contest they lost not one man; chap. xxxi. The children of Reuben and Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, request to receive for their inheritance the territories of Sihon and Og on the east side of Jordan; their desire is granted on the condition of their going over armed with their brethren, to assist them in conquering the land; chap. xxxii. 4 A circumstantial account of the forty-two journeys of the Israelites from their departure from Rameses till their arrival at Jordan. They are commanded to expel all the ancient inhabitants; chap. xxxiii. The borders of the land are described, and the persons appointed by God, who should assist Joshua in dividing the land among the nine tribes and half; chap. xxxiv. Forty-eight cities are to be assigned to the Levites, out of the twelve tribes, for their goods and for their cattle and out of these they were to appoint six cities of refuge for the person who had unawares slain his neighbour; to one of which cities the manslayer was to escape, and tarry there till the death of the high priest; chap. xxxv. A law established that the daughters to whom the paternal inheritance descends, shall not marry out of their own tribes, lest their inheritances should become alienated and lost by being blended with those of other tribes; chap. xxxvi. See the case of Zelophehad's daughters, chap. xxvii. In this book, which comprehends the history of between thirty-eight and thirty-nine years, we have in one word a distinct account of the several stages of the Israelites' journey in the wilderness, the various occurrences on the way, their trials, rebellions, punishments, deliverances, conquests, &c., with several laws and ordinances not mentioned in the preceding books, together with a repetition and explanation of some others which had been previously delivered; the whole forming a most interesting history of the justice, mercy, and providence of God. 606 |