Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

Of the daughters

Á. M. 2553.
B. C. 1451.

NUMBERS.

k

of Zelophehad.

A. M. 2553.
B. C. 1451.

and my lord was commanded | one of the children of Israel An. Exod. Isr. by the LORD to give the inherit- shall keep himself to the in- An. Exod. 1st. ance of Zelophehad our brother heritance of the tribe of his fathers.

40.

unto his daughters.

3 And if they be married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the children of Israel, then shall their inheritance be taken from the inheritance of our fathers, and shall be put to the inheritance of the tribe whereunto they are received; so shall it be taken from the lot of our inheritance.

4 And when the jubilee of the children of Israel shall be, then shall their inheritance be put unto the inheritance of the tribe whereunto they are received: so shall their inheritance be taken away from the inheritance of

the tribe of our fathers.

5 And Moses commanded the children of Israel according to the word of the LORD, saying, The tribe of the sons of Joseph Chath said well.

1

[ocr errors]

40..

8 And every daughter, that possesseth an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Israel, shall be wife unto one of the family of the tribe of her father, that the children of Israel may enjoy every man the inheritance of his fathers.

9 Neither shall the inheritance remove from one tribe to another tribe; but every one of the tribes of the children of Israel shall keep himself to his own inheritance.

10 Even as the LORD commanded Moses, so did the daughters of Zelophehad:

11 m For Mahlah, Tirzah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married unto their father's brother's sons :

n

12 And they were married into the families of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of the family of their father. g

6 This is the thing which the LORD doth command concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, . Let them & marry to whom they think best; only to the family of the tribe of their father shall they marry.

7 So shall not the inheritance of the children of Israel remove from tribe to tribe for every

с

Chap. xxvii. 1, 7; Josh. xvii. 3, 4. - Heb. unto whom they shall bee Lev. xxv. 10.- Chap. xxvii. 7.- Heb. be wives. _h Ver. 12; Tob. î. 9. Heb. cleave to thee, &c.

Here Moses determines that heiresses should marry in their own tribe, that no part of the ancient inheritance might be alienated from the original family.

Verse 6. Let them marry to whom they think best] Here was latitude sufficient, and yet a salutary and reasonable restraint, which prevented a vexatious mixture of property and possession.

Verse 8. Every daughter that possesseth an inheritance] This law affected none but heiresses; all others were at liberty to marry into any of the other tribes. The priests and Levites, who could have no inheritance, were exempt from the operation of this law. Jehoiada had the king of Judah's daughter to wife, 2 Chron. xxii. 11. And another priest had for wife one of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, Ezra ii. 61. "By reason of such marriages," says Mr. Ainsworth," there might be kindred between Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, who was of the daughters of Aaron, and Mary the virgin, the mother of our Lord, who was of the lineage of David, and tribe of Judah;" Luke i. 5, 36; iii. 23-31.

Verse 11. Mahlah, Tirzah, &c.] For a curious account of these names, see the notes on chap. xxvii. 7. Verse 12. And their inheritance remained in the family] "By this example, and the law of inheritances in the Holy Land, the people of God," says Ains-1

[merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][merged small]

THUS ends the book of Numbers, containing a series of astonishing providences and events. Scarcely any piece of history in the sacred writings is better calculated to impress the mind of a serious reader with a sense of the goodness and severity of God. In every transaction his holiness and justice appear in closest union with his benevolence and mercy. From such a Being what have the wicked not to fear! From such a Father and Friend what have the upright not to hope! His justice requires him to punish iniquity, but his mercy inclines him to pardon all who truly repent and believe in the Son of his love.

The journeyings of this people, from the time they left Egypt, ehxibit a series of providential wonders. Every where, and in every circumstance, God appears: and yet there is no circumstance or occasion that does

[merged small][ocr errors][merged small]

not justify those signal displays of his GRACE and his JUSTICE. The genuine history of God's providence must be sought for in this book alone; and as every occurrence happened as an example, we have authority to conclude that in every case where his own glory and the salvation of man are interested, he will interfere and give the fullest proofs that he is the same loday that he was yesterday, and will continue unchangeable for ever and ever. Reader, are these matters ensamples to thee? Art thou, like the Israelites, come into the plains of Moab, on the very verge of the promised land? Jordan alone separates thee from the promised inheritance. O, watch and pray, that thou come not short of the glory of God. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death; see then that the sting of death, which is sin, be extracted from thy soul, that, being justified by Christ's blood, thou mayest be made an heir according to the hope of an eternal life. Amen, amen.

"I will bring you into the WILDERNESS of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face, like as I pleaded with your fathers in the WILDERNESS of the land of Egypt. And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and bring you into the bond of the covenant," Ezek. xx. 35-37.

“He (Christ) is the Mediator of the New Testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance," Heb. ix. 15.

SECTIONS in the Book of Numbers, carried on from Leviticus, which ends with the THIRTY-THIRD.

Masoretic notes.

חקת

chukkath, begins

The THIRTY-NINTH, called chap. xix. 1, and ends chap. xxii. 1. The FORTIETH, called pha balak, begins chap. xxii. 2, and ends chap. xxv. 9.

The FORTY-FIRST, called a pinechas, begins chap. xxv. 10, and ends chap. xxx. 1.

The FORTY-SECOND, called no mattoth, begins chap. xxx. 2, and ends chap. xxxii. 42. The FORTY-THIRD, called 'yon masey, begins chap. xxxiii. 1, and ends chap. xxxvi. 13.

MASORETIC Notes on NUMBERS.

The number of verses in this book is 1,288, of which no is the symbol: for Naleph stands for 1000, resh for 200, phe for 80, and n cheth for 8.

The middle verse is the 20th of chap. xvii. And the man's rod whom I shall choose shall blossom. (N. B. In our English Bibles this is ver. 5 of chap. xvii.)

Its pareshioth, or larger sections, are 10, expressed by the letters of the word 112 badad, alone: The Lord ALONE did lead him, Deut. xxxii. 12. daleth stands for 4, repeated here, 8, and 2 beth for 2. Its sedarim, or Masoretic sections, are 32, expressed by the word leb, heart, Psa. li. 12: Create in me a clean HEART, Q God; in which word beth stands for 2, and lamed for 30.

Its chapters are 36, expressed by the word 1 lu, O! Deut. xxxii. 29: O that they were wise! in which word lamed stands for 30, and vau för 6.

The number of its open sections is 92; its close or shut sections, 66; together 158; expressed in the memorial word pn chelkecha: I am THY PORTION;

The THIRTY-FOURTH, called bemidbar, begins in which word p'koph stands for 100, lamed for 30, chap. i. 1, and ends chap. iv. 20.

[blocks in formation]

caph for 20, and cheth for 8.

[ocr errors]

Though this sort of notations may appear trifling to some, yet to an upright Jew they were of much consequence. The very technical words used in such cases put him always in mind of something in which the glory of God and the happiness and salvation of his own soul were concerned. See the note at the end of Genesis, and see the concluding notes on the Book of Deuteronomy.

Revised and corrected for a new edition, Aug. 4th, 1827.—A, CLARKE.

731

PREFACE TO THE BOOK

OF

DEUTERONOMY.

WE E have borrowed the name of this book, as in former cases, from the Vulgate Latiri, Deuteronomium, as the Vulgate has done from the Greek version of the Septuagint, AcuTepovoμtov, which is a compound term literally signifying the second law, because it seems to contain a repetition of the preceding laws, from which circumstance it has been termed by the rabbins ni mishneh, the iteration or doubling.

It appears that both these names are borrowed from chap. xvii. 18, where the king is commanded to write him a copy of this law; the original is mishneh hattorah, a repetition or doubling of the law, which the Septuagint have translated to devтrpovoμiov, this second law, which we, properly, enough, translate a copy of the law: but in Hebrew, like the preceding books, it takes its name from its commencement, ELLEH HADDEBARIM, these are the words; and in the best rabbinical Bibles its running title is 770 SEPHER DEBARIM, the book of debarim, or the book of the words. Our Saxon ancestors termed it Deo æpter æ, the after law.

The Book of Deuteronomy contains an account of what passed in the wilderness from the first day of the eleventh month of the fortieth year after the departure of the Israelites from Egypt to the seventh day of the twelfth month of the same; making in the whole a history of the transactions of exactly five weeks, the months of the Jews being lunar. The history is continued about seven days after the death of Moses; for he began to deliver his first dis course to the people in the plains of Moab the first day of the eleventh month of the fortieth year, chap. i. 3, and died on the first day of the twelfth month of the same year, aged 120 years. As the Israelites were now about fo enter into the promised land, and many of them had not witnessed the different transactions in the wilderness, the former generation having been all destroyed except Joshua and Caleb; to impress their hearts with a deep sense of their obligation to God, and to prepare them for the inheritance which God had prepared for them, Moses here repeats the principal occurrences of the forty years, now almost elapsed; shows them the absolute necessity of fearing, loving, and obeying God; repeats the ten commandments, and particularly explains each, and the ordinances belonging to them, adding others which he had not delivered before; confirms the whole law in a most solemn manner, with exceeding great and precious promises to them that keep it, and a denunciation of the most awful judgments against those who should break it; renews the covenant between God and the people; prophesies of things which should come to pass in the latter days; blesses each of the tribes, prophetically, with the choicest spiritual and temporal blessings; and then, having viewed the whole extent of the land, from the top of Mount Nebo or Pisgah, he yielded up the ghost, and was privately buried by God, leaving Joshua the son of Nun for his successor.

The Book of Deuteronomy and the Epistle to the Hebrews contain the best comment on the nature, design, and use of the law; the former may be considered as an evangelical commentary on the four preceding books, in which the spiritual reference and signification of the different parts of the law are given, and given in such a manner as none could give who had not a clear discovery of the glory which was to be revealed. It may be safely asserted that very few parts of the Old Testament Scriptures can be read with greater profit by the genuine Christian than the Book of Deuteronomy.

PREFACE TO DEUTERONOMY.

The contents of the different chapters may be thus briefly summed up :

On the first day of the eleventh month of the fortieth year, after the departure from Egypt, the Israelites being then on the east side of Jordan, in 'the land of the Moabites, Moses gives them a brief recapitulation of what took place in the wilderness, from their leaving Mount Horeb till they came to Kadesh; chap. i.

Their travels from Kadesh till they come to the country of the Amorites, with the defeat of Sihon their king; chap. ii.

The war with Og, king of Bashan, with the dividing his land and that of Sihon among the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh; chap. iii.

Moses exhorts them to observe the Divine precepts; threatens those who should violate them; and appoints Bezer, Ramoth, and Golan, to be the cities of refuge on the east side of Jordan; chap. iv.

Repeats the decalogue, and tells the people what effect the publication of it had on their fathers, when God spoke to them from the mount; chap. v.

Exhorts them to love God with all their heart, and promises them an abundance of good things; chap. vi.

Repeats the command to exterminate the Canaanites, and all vestiges of their idolatry; chap. vii.

Recites the many interpositions of God's kindness which they had received during their forty years' travel in the wilderness, and strongly exhorts them to remember those mercies, and not to forfeit a continuance of his favours by ingratitude and disobedience; chap. viii. Shows them that they were to pass Jordan in a short time, and that God was about to bring them in, not on account of their goodness, but of his mercy; chap. ix

Gives an account of the second tables of the law, which he made at the command of God; mentions their journey from Beeroth to Jotbath, the choosing of the Levites, and the necessity of having the heart circumcised; chap: x.

Continues an account of God's mighty acts in their behalf, and shows the blessings which should come on them who kept his law, and the curse on those who were disobedient. The blessings to be pronounced on Mount Gerizim, and the curses on Mount Ebal; chap. xi. Commands them to destroy all monuments of idolatry in the land, to offer the different offerings and sacrifices, and to avoid eating of blood; chap. xii...

Ordinances against false prophets, idolatrous cities, &c.; chap. xiii.

Forbids their cutting themselves at funerals, recapitulates the law concerning clean and unclean animals, and exhorts them to remember the Levites; chap. xiv.

Every seventh year shall be a year of release for the poor of usury; first-born, &c.; chap.xv. Concerning the annual feasts, passover, pentecost, and tabernacles; the establishment of judges and officers; no groves to be planted near the altar of God; chap. xvi.

Idolaters are 'to be put to death; difficult cases in equity to be referred to the superior judges; of a king and his duties; chap. xvii.

All divination is prohibited. The grand promise of an EXTRAORDINARY PROPHET. How false prophets are to be distinguished; chap. xviii.

The laws relative to the cities of refuge, and how the intentional murderer is to be treated; chap. xix.

Laws relative to the carrying on of war; who should be sent back from the army, how they are to treat the Canaanites, and how they are to commence sieges; chap. xx.

How to make expiation for an uncertain murder; marriages with captives; rights of the first-born, &c.; chap. xxi.

Things lost or strayed are to be restored to their right owners; men and women must not interchange apparel; improper mixtures to be avoided; of the tokens of virginity; adulterers and adulteresses to be put to death; chap. xxii.

Eunuchs, bastards, Moabites, and Ammonites, are not to be permitted to enter into the congregation of the Lord. Harlots not to be tolerated; chap. xxiii.

PREFACE TO DEUTERONOMY.

Laws relative to divorce; privileges of the newly-married man; concerning pledges, wages, gleanings, &c.; chap. xxiv.

More than forty stripes shall not be given.. If a man die childless, his brother shall take his wife. Of weights, measures, &c.; chap. xxv.

[ocr errors]

Different ceremonies to be used in offering the first-fruits; tithes. Of full self-consecration to God; chap. xxvi.

The words of the law to be written on stones, and to be set up on Mount Ebal. The tribes which stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the obedient, and those which should stand on Mount Ebal to curse the disobedient. Who they are that are to be cursed; chap. xxvii.

The blessings of those who are faithful; curses against the disobedient; chap. xxviii, A recital of the covenant of God, made not only with them, but for their posterity; chap. xxix. Promises of pardon to the penitent; good and evil, life and death, are set before them; ch. xxx. Moses, being now 120 years old, delivers a copy of the law which he had written into the hands of the priests, to be laid up in the ark, and to be publicly read every seventh year; a charge is given to Joshua; chap. xxxi.

The prophetical and historical song of Moses: he is commanded to go up to Mount Nebo that he may see the promised land; chap. xxxii. The prophetical blessing of the twelve tribes. chap. xxxi..

The indescribable happiness of Israel;

Moses views the promised land from the top of Mount Nebo, dies, and is privately buried by the Lord. The Israelites mourn for him thirty days. Joshua takes command of the people. The character of Moses; chap. xxxiv.

At the close of this book I have added a number of useful TABLES, such as no edition of the Bible ever could boast, viz.:

Table I. A perpetual table, showing through the course of 13 lunar cycles (which embrace every possible variation) the day of the week with which the Jewish year begins, and on which the passover is held; as also the lengths of the months Marchesvan and Cisleu. Table II. Containing the whole variations in the reading of the Pareshioth or sections of the law for every year of the Jewish cycle of 247 years.

Table III. To find, with the help of Table IV., the day of the week upon which any Jewish new moon or festival happens.

[ocr errors]

Table IV. To determine upon what day of the week any Jewish month commences for any given year; as also the day of the week upon which the Jews celebrate their principal -fasts and festivals.

Table V. Containing the order of reading the Pareshioth and Haphtaroth for 90 Jewish years, ì. e., from A. M. 5572 to A. M. 5661, both inclusive, connected with the corresponding dates in the CHRISTIAN-ERA, according to the Gregorian or new style. Table VI. Containing the year of the Jewish lunar cycle, the golden number, the first day of the Jewish passover, Easter Sunday, and the commencement of each Jewish year according to the Gregorian Calendar, A. D. 1812 to A. D. 1900, both inclusive. All concluded with an explanation of the preceding tables. To them succeeds A Chronology of the Pentateuch, with the Book of Joshua; or a Systematic Arrangement of Events from the creation of ADAM, A. M. 1, to the birth of Peleg, A. M. 1757, and thence to the death of Joshua, A. M.2561. This chronology includes two tables, viz.: Table I. The birth and death of all the patriarchs, from Adam, A. M. 1, to Rhea, son of Peleg, A. M. 1787. Table II. A chronology of ancient kingdoms synchronized with the sacred history, from A. M. 1757, B. C. 2247, to A. M. 2561, B. C. 1443. The whole so calculated as to prevent the necessity of having recourse to systems of chronology for historic facts in anywise connected with those mentioned in the SACRED WRITINGS. The great utility of these tables will, I think, be at once evident to every Biblical critic, chronologist, and antiquary; and for the immense labour employed in their construction the editor, no doubt, will have their hearty thanks. ADAM CLARKE.

« AnteriorContinuar »