III. (1) THESE ALSO ARE THE GENERATIONS OF AARON AND MOSES... — The name of Aaron is placed first, not only because he was the elder brother, but also because the ministry of Moses was restricted to his own person, and his sons are merely classed amongst the rest of the Levitical families in 1 Chron... [ Continue Reading ]
WHOM HE CONSECRATED... — Literally, _filled their hand._ The rites of consecration are described at length in Exodus 29:1, where the command given to Moses is related. and in Leviticus 8:1, where the account is given of the actual consecration, on which occasion the appointed sacrificial offerings w... [ Continue Reading ]
DIED BEFORE THE LORD. — The account is given in Leviticus 10:1, where the same expression “before the Lord” is used both in regard to the offering of strange fire by Nadab and Abihu, and also in regard to their death. AND THEY HAD NO CHILDREN. — To die childless was regarded not only as a reproach,... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY SHALL KEEP HIS CHARGE. — The word rendered _charge_ may mean the directions which the Levites should receive from Aaron (comp. Genesis 26:5); or — as seems more probable from the use of the same word in this and the following verse with reference to the congregation — it may refer to the ch... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY ARE WHOLLY GIVEN UNTO HIM. — Hebrew, _Given, given are they to him._ This repetition of the word _nethunim_ (given) is emphatic. The same repetition occurs in Numbers 8:16, where the Levites are represented as “wholly given” to the Lord instead of the firstborn; and in Numbers 3:19 of that chap... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU SHALT APPOINT. — Or, _number._ The word is the same as that which is used for the numbering of the Israelites generally (Numbers 1:19) and for the numbering of the Levites (Numbers 3:15).... [ Continue Reading ]
ON THE DAY THAT I SMOTE ALL THE FIRSTBORN. — The command given to Moses respecting the sanctification or separation of the firstborn, both of man and of beast, is recorded immediately after the account of the exodus and of the institution of the Passover (Exodus 13:1). It does not clearly appear, ho... [ Continue Reading ]
FROM A MONTH OLD AND UPWARD... — The males of the other tribes had been numbered “from twenty years old and upward” (Numbers 1:3). The firstborn males, however, among all the children of Israel, in whose place the Levites were taken, wer-directed to be numbered “from a month old and upward” (Numbers... [ Continue Reading ]
BEHIND THE TABERNACLE WESTWARD. — As the position of the twelve tribes in respect of the tent of meeting had been already determined, so in this and the following verses the position of the priests and Levites is fixed. On the east side of the tent Moses and Aaron and Aaron’s sons were to encamp, on... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THE TABERNACLE OF THE CONGREGATION. — Better, _in the tent of meeting._ It is important to distinguish between the _ohel_ — i.e., the tent — and the _mishkan_ — _i.e.,_ the tabernacle — which was the building of shittim wood with its curtains which was within the tent. The word _ohel,_ where it o... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE HANGINGS OF THE COURT... — See Exodus 27:9 and Note. AND THE CORDS OF IT FOR ALL THE SERVICE THEREOF. — The pronominal suffixes do not seem to refer to the court, the cords belonging to which appear to have been under the custody of the Merarites (Numbers 3:37), but to the _mishkan_ or Tabe... [ Continue Reading ]
ON THE SIDE OF THE TABERNACLE SOUTHWARD. — The south has its name in Hebrew (_Teman_) from _Yamin, the right hand,_ because when a man stands with his face towards the east the south is on his right hand.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ELEAZAR THE SON OF AARON THE PRIEST... — In virtue, as it should seem, of the descent of Moses and Aaron from Kohath, the Kohathites had the most honourable portion of the service of the Tabernacle assigned to them; and hence, as the priests belonged to the Amramites, one of the four families of... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE PILLARS OF THE COURT ROUND ABOUT... — See Notes on Exodus 27:9.... [ Continue Reading ]
KEEPING THE CHARGE OF THE SANCTUARY... — The word _mikdash_ (sanctuary) appears to be of a more comprehensive import than _mishkan,_ the shittimwood building, or _ohel,_ the tent which covered it, and it seems to include the court which surrounded the Tabernacle, as in Leviticus 12:4; Leviticus 21:1... [ Continue Reading ]
AND AARON... — In the Hebrew text the word Aaron has certain marks over it, known as _puncta extraordinaria,_ denoting that it is to be regarded as spurious or doubtful. It is omitted in the Samaritan and Syriac versions and in a few MSS. There appears. however, to be no sufficient reason for its re... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THOU SHALT TAKE THE LEVITES FOR ME (I AM THE LORD)... — Or, _And thou shalt take the Levites for Me — for Me, Jehovah._ The assertions which have been frequently made respecting the transference of the priesthood of the firstborn to the Levites appear to be altogether without foundation. For (1)... [ Continue Reading ]
TWENTY AND TWO THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED AND THREESCORE AND THIRTEEN. — The extremely small number of the firstborn in proportion to a male population of 600,000 of twenty years of age and upwards — i.e., to a population of about 1,000,000 males — has been a fruitful source of difficulty, and, in some ca... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE CATTLE OF THE LEVITES INSTEAD OF THEIR CATTLE. — There appears to have been no numbering of the cattle. Had it been otherwise, an argument might have been used in support of the prospective reference of the command to number the firstborn, derived from the fact that it would have been imposs... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU SHALT EVEN TAKE FIVE SHEKELS APIECE BY THE POLL. — It is not stated in what manner the 273 families of whom the redemption money was exacted were determined. Inasmuch, however, as the law of the redemption of the firstborn by the payment of five shekels came into operation from this time (Numbe... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THOU SHALT GIVE THE MONEY... — The verse may be rendered thus: _And thou shalt give the money to Aaron and to his sons: even the redemption money of those who are over and above amongst them. _... [ Continue Reading ]
REDEEMED BY THE LEVITES. — i.e., who were redeemed by the substitution of the Levites in their place.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE MONEY OF THEM THAT WERE REDEEMED. — Better, _the ransom_ (or, _redemption_)_ money._... [ Continue Reading ]