The appointment of A. M. 2553. B. C. 1451. An. Ex. Isr. 40. NUMBERS. refuge, which ye shall appoint for the manslayer, that he may flee thither and to them ye shall add forty and two cities. 7 So all the cities which ye shall give to the Levites shall be forty and eight cities: them shall ye give with their suburbs. C d 8 And the cities which ye shall give shall be of the possession of the children of Israel: from them that have many, ye shall give many; but from them that have few, ye shall give few every one shall give of his cities unto the Levites, according to his inheritance which he inheriteth. 9 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 10 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, 'When ye be come over Jordan into the land of Canaan; 11 Then ye shall appoint you cities to be cities of refuge for you; that the slayer may flee thither, which killeth any person "at unawares. 12 And they shall be unto you cities for refuge from the avenger; that the manslayer die not, until he stand before the congregation in judgment. cities of refuge. A. M. 2553. 14 Ye shall give three cities on this side Jordan, and three An. Ex. Isr. 40. cities shall ye give in the land of Canaan, which shall be cities of refuge. 15 These six cities shall be a refuge, both for the children of Israel, and for the stranger, and for the sojourner among them; that every one that killeth any person unawares may flee thither. 16 "And if he smite him with an instrument of iron, so that he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death. 17 And if he smite him with throwing a stone, wherewith he may die, and he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death. 18 Or if he smite him with an hand weapon of wood, wherewith he may die, and he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death. 19 P The revenger of blood himself shall slay the murderer: when he meeteth him, he shall slay him. 20 But if he thrust him of hatred, or hurl at him by laying of wait, that he die; 13 And of these cities which ye shall give, 21 Or in enmity smite him with his hand, * six cities shall ye have for refuge. that he die he that smote him shall surely be : - Heb. with a 12, 14. Lev. xxiv. 17. Deut. xix. 11, 12.stone of the hand. -P Ver. 21, 24, 27. Deut. xix. 6, 12 Josh. xx. 3, 5.- -9 Gen. iv. 8. 2 Sam. iii. 27. xx. 10. 1 Kings ii. 31, 32.-- Exod. xxi. 14. Deut. xix. 11. latter often served for the protection of the most profligate characters. Cities of refuge among the Hebrews were necessary, because the old patriarchal law still remained in force, viz., that the nearest akin had a right to avenge the death of his relation by slaying the murderer; for the original law enacted that whosoever shed man's blood, by man should kis blood be shed, Gen. ix. 6, and none was judged so proper to execute this law as the man who was nearest akin to the deceased. As many rash executions of this law might take place, from the very nature of the thing, it was deemed necessary to qualify its claims, and prevent injustice; and the cities of refuge were judged proper for this purpose. Nor do we ever read that they were ever found inefficient, or that they were ever abused. Verse 12. Until he stand before the congregation in judgment.] So one of these cities was not a perpetual asylum; it was only a pro tempore refuge, till the case could be fairly examined by the magistrates in the presence of the people, or the elders their representatives; and this was done in the city of place where he had done the murder, Josh. xx. 4, 6. If he was found worthy of death, they delivered him to the avenger that he might be slain, Deut. xix. 12; if not, they sent him back to the city of refuge, where he remained till the death of the high-priest, ver. 25. The law against murder. A. M. 2553. B C. 1451. An. Ex. Isr. 40. CHAP. XXXV. put to death; for he is a murderer: the revenger of blood shall slay the murderer, when he meeteth him. a 22 But if he thrust him suddenly without enmity, or have cast upon him any thing without laying of wait, 23 Or with any stone, wherewith a man may die, seeing him not, and cast it upon him, that he die, and was not his enemy, neither sought his harm: 24 Then the congregation shall judge between the slayer and the revenger of blood according to these judgments: 25 And the congregation shall deliver the slayer out of the hand of the revenger of blood; and the congregation shall restore him to the city of his refuge, whither he was fled: and he shall abide in it unto the death of the highpriest, which was anointed with the holy oil. 26 But if the slayer shall at any time come without the border of the city of his refuge, whither he was fled; d 27 And the revenger of blood find him without the borders of the city of his refuge, and the revenger of blood kill the slayer; he shall not be guilty of blood : e C e a Exod. xxi. 13. b Ver. 12. Josh. xx. 6.- Josh. xx. 6. d Exod. xxix. 7. Lev. iv. 3. xxi. 10.- Heb. no blood shall be to him. Exod. xxii. 2.- fCh. xxvii. 11.- - Deut. xvii. 6. xix. 15. Matt. xviii. 16. 2 Cor. xiii. 1. Hebr. x. 28. Before the cities of refuge were appointed, the altar appears to have been a sanctuary for those who had killed a person unwittingly; see on Exod. xxi. 13, 14. Verse 19. The revenger of blood] O goel haddam, the redeemer of blood; the next in blood to him who was slain. See on the preceding verse. Verse 30. But one witness shall not testify against any] This was a just and necessary provision. One man may be mistaken, or so violently prejudiced as to impose even on his own judgment, or so wicked as to endeavour through malice to compass the life of his neighbour: but it is not likely that two or more should be of this kind; and even were they, their separate examination would lead to a discovery of the truth, and to their conviction. Verse 31. Ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer] No atonement could be made for him, nor any commutation so as to save him from death. All the laws of the civilized world have either adjudged the murderer to death, or to a punishment equivalent to it; such as perpetual imprisonment, in a dungeon, under ground, on a stone floor, without light, and to be fed on a small portion of bread and water. In such circumstances a man could live but a short time; and though it is not called the punishment of death, yet, from its inevitable consequences, it only differed from it by being a little longer respite Blood defiles the land. A. M. 2553. B. C. 1451. An. Ex. Isr. 40. 28 Because he should have remained in the city of his refuge until the death of the high-priest: but after the death of the highpriest the slayer shall return into the land of his possession. 29 So these things shall be for a statute of judgment unto you throughout your generations in all your dwellings. 30 Whoso killeth any person, the murderer shall be put to death by the mouth of witnesses: but one witness shall not testify against any person to cause him to die. 31 Moreover, ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer, which is "guilty of death; but he shall be surely put to death. 32 And ye shall take no satisfaction for him that is fled to the city of his refuge, that he should come again to dwell in the land, until the death of the priest. 33 So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are : for blood it defileth the land: and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but 'by the blood of him that shed it. 34 m Defile not therefore the land which ye shall inhabit, wherein I dwell: for "I the LORD dwell among the children of Israel. Heb. faulty to die.- Ps. cvi. 38. Mic. iv. 1. -k Heb. there can be no expiation for the land. Gen. ix. 6. m Lev. xviii. 25. Deut. xxi, 23.- n Exod. xxix. 45, 46. than was usual where the punishment of death was awarded. See the note on Gen. ix. 6. Verse 32. Until the death of the priest.] Probably intended to typify, that no sinner can be delivered from his banishment from God, or recover his forfeited inheritance, till Jesus Christ, the great High-priest, had died for his offences, and risen again for his justification. Verse 33. For blood it defileth the land] The very land was considered as guilty till the blood of the murderer was shed in it. No wonder God is so particularly strict in his laws against murderers, 1. Because he is the author of life, and none has any right to dispose of it but himself. 2. Because life is the time to prepare for the eternal world, and on it the salvation of the soul accordingly depends; therefore it is of infinite consequence to the man that his life be lengthened out to the utmost limits assigned by Divine Providence. As he who takes a man's life away before his time may be the murderer of his soul as well as of his body, the severest laws should be enacted against this, both to punish and prevent the crime. The Mosaic citics of refuge have in general been considered, not merely as civil institutions, but as and in this light St. Paul seems to have considered types or representations of infinitely better things; them and the altar of God, which was a place of general refuge, as it is pretty evident that he had them in view when writing the following words: "God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath; that by two immutable things (his oath and promise), in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation who have FLED for REFUGE to lay HOLD upon the HOPE set before us;" Heb. vi. 17, 18. Independently of this, it was a very wise political institute; and while the Of the daughters of Zelophehad. patriarchal law on this point continued in force, this law had a direct tendency to cool and moderate the spirit of revenge, to secure the proper accomplishment of the ends of justice, and to make way for every claim of mercy and equity. But this is not peculiar to the ordinance of the cities of refuge; every institution of God is distinguished in the same way, having his own glory, in the present and eternal welfare of man, immediately in view. CHAPTER XXXVI. The inconveniences which might be produced by daughters, inheritrixes, marrying out of their own tribe, remedied on the recommendation of certain chiefs of the tribe of Joseph, who stated the case of the daughters of Zelophehad, 1-4. The daughters of Zelophehad are commanded to marry in their own tribe, 5, 6; which is to be an ordinance in all similar circumstances, 7-9. The daughters of Zelophehad marry their father's brothers' sons, and thus their inheritance is preserved in their own tribe, 10-12. The conclusion of the commandments given by the Lord to the Israelites in the plains of Moab, 13. AND the chief fathers of the command concerning the daugh A. M. 2553. An. Ex. Isr. 40. a A. M. 2553. B. C. 1451. An. Ex. Isr. 40. families of the children ters of Zelophehad, saying, Let of Gilead, the son of Machir, them marry to whom they the son of Manasseh, of the families of the think best; only to the family of the tribe sons of Joseph, came near, and spake before of their father shall they marry. Moses, and before the princes, the chief fathers of the children of Israel: C 2 And they said, The LORD commanded my lord to give the land for an inheritance by lot to the children of Israel: and my lord was commanded by the LORD to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother 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. d 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. 7 So shall not the inheritance of the children of Israel remove from tribe to tribe: for every one of the children of Israel shall keep himself to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. 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" For Mahlah, Tirzah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married unto their father's brothers' sons: 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. 5 And Moses commanded the children of Israel according to the word of the LORD, 13 These are the commandments and the saying, The tribe of the sons of Joseph 'hath judgments, which the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses unto the children of Israel said well. 3. 6 This is the thing which the LORD doth P in the plains of Moab, by Jordan near Jericho. a Ch. xxvi. 29. b Ch. xxvi. 55. xxxiii. 54. Ch. xxvii. 1, 7. Josh. xvii. 3, 4. whom they shall be. - Lev. xxv. 10.Heb. be wives.- h Ver. 12. Tob. i. 9. Josh. xvii. d Heb. unto f Ch. xxvii. 7. NOTES ON CHAP. XXXVI. Verse 2. To give the inheritance of Zelophehad unto his daughters.] See this case spoken of at large on chap. xxvii. 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. Masoretic notes. 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 exblood, thou mayest be made an heir according to the tracted from thy soul, that, being justified by Christ's hope of an eternal life. Amen, Amen. covenant;" Ezek. xx. 35-37. "I will bring you into the WILDERNESS of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face, Verse 8. Every daughter that possesseth an inherit-like as I pleaded with your fathers in the WILDERNESS ance] This law affected none but heiresses; all of the land of Egypt. And I will cause you to pass others were at liberty to marry into any of the other under the rod, and bring you into the bond of the 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 Ainsworth, "are taught to hold fast their inheritance in his promises, and their right in Christ, which they hold by faith; that as the Father hath made them meet to be partakers of the inheritance among the saints in light, Col. i. 12, so they may keep the faith and grace which they have received to the end." Verse 13. These are the commandments, &c.] See these different terms analysed and explained, Lev. XXV. 5. 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, exhibit a series of providential wonders. Every where, and in every circumstance, God appears; and yet there is no circumstance or occasion that does 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 to-day 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. Oh, watch and "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. The THIRTY-FOURTH, called 7 bemidbar, begins chap. i. 1, and ends chap. iv. 20. The THIRTY-FIFTH, called w nasa, begins chap. iv. 21, and ends chap. vii. 89. The THIRTY-SIXTн, called by behaalothecha, begins chap. viii. 1, and ends chap. xii. 16. xiii. 1, and ends chap. xv. 41. The THIRTY-SEVENTH, called shelach, begins chap. korach, begins chap. The THIRTY-EIGHTн, called п and ends chap. xxv. 9. The FORTY-FIRST, called or pinechas, begins chap. xxv. 10, and ends chap. xxx. 1. mattoth, begins The FORTY-SECOND, called 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 is the symbol: for & aleph stands for 1000, resh for 200, phe for 80, and cheth for 8. א 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 177 badad, alone: The Lord ALONE did lead him, Deut. xxxii. 12. daleth stands for 4, repeated here, 8, and a beth for 2. Its sedarim, or Masoretic sections, are 32, expressed by the word 5 leb, heart, Ps. li. 12: Create in me a clean HEART, O God; in which word a beth stands for 2, and lamed for 30. Its chapters are 36, expressed by the word lu, Oh! Deut. xxxii. 29: Oh that they were wise! in which word lamed stands for 30, and vau for 6. The number of its open sections is 92; its close or shut sections, 66; together, 158; expressed in the memorial word 5 chelkecha: I am THY PORTION; in which word p koph stands for 100, lamed for 30, , caph for 20, and cheth for 8. 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. PREFACE TO THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY. W E have borrowed the name of this book, as in former cases, from the Vulgate Latin, Deuteronomium, as the Vulgate has done from the Greek Version of the Septuagint AEUTE povolov, 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 no 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 CEUTεpovoμor, 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, 7977 798 ELLEH HADDEBARIM, these are the words; and in the best rabbinical Bibles its running title is M37 700 SEPHER DEBARIM, the book of debarim, or the book of the words. Our Saxon ancestors termed it Seo æfter 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 discourse 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 to 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 obli gation 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 |