_Generations; descendants of Aaron, whose names are specified; and of Moses, whose children are left unnoticed among the rest of the Levites, ver. 27. This enhances the merit of the Jewish legislator, and shews his modesty and disinterestedness. (Haydock)_... [ Continue Reading ]
_Presence; or as it is expressed, (1 Paralipomenon xxiv. 9,) under the hand of Aaron, by his direction, and in quality of his assistant, (Calmet) while he lived. Eleazar succeeded him in the high priesthood; (Josue xxiv. 33,) and his children possessed that dignity, till the posterity of Ithamar cam... [ Continue Reading ]
_To him, and to the other priests, who had to perform the higher offices. The Levites did not approach near the altar, except when they had to carry it and the tabernacle. (Calmet)_... [ Continue Reading ]
_And. Hebrew, "They shall watch over him, and over all the congregation," to assist the priests in their sacred office, and to take care that the people behave respectfully. (Haydock) --- All were bound to prevent any sacrilegious abuse. (Menochius)_... [ Continue Reading ]
_To whom. Samaritan and Septuagint, "to me." They must serve God in the persons of his priests. They are called a gift, people bestowed, as the Nothnim, to serve in the meanest functions; and hence the Nathineans take their name. The Gabaonites were employed by Josue in this quality, Josue ix. 23. -... [ Continue Reading ]
_Mine. God claimed the first-born, on account of having spared them, Exodus xii. 23. He requires that all males shall be redeemed, except those of the tribe of Levi, whom he claims as his peculiar portion, as the price of the redemption of those who were living in Egypt, when the destroying angel pa... [ Continue Reading ]
_Month; at which time the first-born were to be redeemed, chap xviii. 16. (Menochius) --- If only those of 20 years of age had been counted, they could not have amounted to nearly an equal number with the first-born of all the other tribes. (Calmet)_... [ Continue Reading ]
_Names. These had been long ago dead. (Menochius)_... [ Continue Reading ]
_Five hundred, expressed by the letter c, has, according to Kennicott been put for 200, which the Hebrews denote by a similar letter, r. See 2 Kings xxiii. 8, and 1 Paralipomenon xi. 11, for other mistakes. (Haydock)_... [ Continue Reading ]
CHAPTER III.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thereof. The Gersonites had the care of the veils around the court, and of the cords and gates. The priests guarded the tabernacle, ver. 32. The sons of Caath carried the altars, (ver. 31,) and the Merarites took care of the cords, which were attached to the pillars of the court, ver. 37. Hebrew ma... [ Continue Reading ]
_Sanctuary, with respect to the things mentioned, ver. 31. (Menochius) --- The Samaritan copy observes, that they also carried the brazen laver, as we find they did, chap. iv. 14. All these things were folded up in the violet curtains of the sanctuary, while the ark was covered with the veil which h... [ Continue Reading ]
_Eleazar had authority over the Levites, as his father had over the priests also. Thus we find princes of the priests, different from the sovereign pontiff. (Matthew ii. 4.; xvi. 21.; Luke iii. 2.) Eleazar had also a particular charge of the Caathites, (chap. iv. 16,) and was to take care that they... [ Continue Reading ]
_Sons, the children of Aaron. Those of Moses were among the Levites, 1 Paralipomenon xxiii. 13. They did not remain with their father. --- In the, &c. Hebrew, "to guard the," &c., in order to supply for the rest of the Israelites, ver. 9. (St. Augustine, q. 4.)_... [ Continue Reading ]
And Aaron; a word omitted in the Samaritan and Syriac, and in the oldest Hebrew manuscript, and marked in the printed copies as dubious. (Kennicott) --- Thousand. If we collect the different sums, we shall find other 300; so that the Levites would be 27 more than the first-born of the other tribes,... [ Continue Reading ]
_Cattle. These were kept by the Levites, and were not intended for sacrifice. (Menochius)_... [ Continue Reading ]
_Levites, omitting the 300, as ver. 39. For each of these 273, five sicles were to be paid, the price of the redemption of a child who had been vowed, Leviticus xxvii. 6. The money was to be paid either by those who were counted last, or by a tax laid upon all the people, or it was determined by lot... [ Continue Reading ]