Numbers · Chapter 1

V. 1. In the wilderness-Where now they had been a full year or near it, as may be gathered by comparing this place with Exodus 19:1 40:17.

Verse 1. The Lord spake unto Moses-on the first day of the second month] As the tabernacle was erected upon the first day of the first month, in the second year after their coming out of Egypt, Exodus 40:17; and this muster of the people was made on the first day of the second month, in the same year; it is evident that the transactions related in the preceding book must all have taken place in the space of one month, and during the time the Israelites were encamped at Mount Sinai, before they had begun their Journey to the promised land.

Verse 1. In the wilderness of Sinai — Where now they had been a full year or near it, having left Egypt about thirteen months. Compare this place with Exodus 19:1, and 40:17.

GENEALOGICAL ENROLMENT AND MUSTER OF THE ADULT MALES, 1-46. At the close of the third book of Moses the temple in the wilderness — the tabernacle — had been erected, the law of sacrifices instituted, the Aaronic priesthood inducted into their sacred office, and rules for holiness of life, and for the isolation of Israel from the Gentile world, had been ordained. At the opening of the present book the tabernacle has been standing one month. The purpose of the Sinaitic sojourn has now been accomplished, and the vast host must begin their eastward and northward march toward the Land of Promise. From childhood they had been taught to turn their eyes from the banks of the Nile towards the hills of Canaan, where Abraham, their national father, was buried. Thither had their ancestors borne, in princely procession, the embalmed body of the patriarch Jacob to find a resting place, and to that land of the covenant were the Hebrews now bearing the mortal part of Joseph, the benefactor of his father’s family. But mighty foes are intrenched in that land, and other strong enemies will stand in their path to bar their entrance. Even the desert swarms with foes. War is imminent. Bloody battle fields must be trodden before they can sit down in houses which they have not builded, and pluck the fruit of olive yards which they have not planted. Out of the crowd of fugitives hastening from the yoke of Egypt there must emerge a compact military organization; for though Jehovah, the God of battles, the Man of war, is leading them to victory, he purposes to employ human allies, and he wishes to put them into the condition of the highest efficiency. For the military organization a census must be taken. The census in this chapter is not an enumeration de novo, but rather a muster on the basis of numerical and genealogical data already in the possession of the tribes. This is shown by the accordance of the number who have paid the atonement money with the total number enrolled in this chapter as fighting men.

1. The Lord — JEHOVAH. The ineffable name was translated into the Greek by the Seventy by the word Kuriov, Lord. Our English translators unwisely followed the Septuagint, and adopted the appellative Lord for the significant, chosen, proper name Jehovah, the one eternal and immutable Being. We notify the reader that this is the ground of our preference of Jehovah to Lord throughout this Commentary. (See notes on Exodus 3. 14, and 6:2.) Spake — Either to the ear in audible words, as is strongly suggested in Exodus 33:11, and Numbers 12:8; or by the urim and thummim, as in Exodus 28:30; Numbers 27:21; or to the spiritual perception of Moses in such a manner as to give certainty to the communication. A consideration of the three places in which Jehovah spake to him and gave him audience inclines us to the theory of uttered words as the usual mode of communication. These three places were, 1.) The mercy-seat in the most holy place, the principal abode of the oracle. Numbers 7:89. We believe that it was from the mercy-seat between the cherubim that Moses was addressed in this chapter. 2.) At the door of the tabernacle, near the altar of burnt offering. Exodus 29:42. 3.) Out of the cloudy pillar. Exodus 33:9; Numbers 12:5, 6; Psalm 99:7. Moses — The reader of the three preceding books has already become too well acquainted with this great man to need an introduction. His character is above eulogy, his great deeds are too numerous for recital. He is the embodiment of the Old Testament as Jesus is of the New. “The law came by Moses, but grace and truth by Jesus Christ.” His agency in the religious instruction and spiritual elevation of mankind will have grateful mention in the anthems of the blood-washed throng in heaven, for they shall sing “the song of Moses and the Lamb.” See Exodus 2, Introductory, (3.) Wilderness of Sinai — A wild and mountainous region in Arabia Petraea, between the two branching gulfs of the Red Sea. It is a heap of lofty granite rocks, with steep gorges and deep valleys, abounding in water and luxuriant vegetation in the rainy season. These valleys are then beautiful. The Israelites sojourned in that part of the desert which lies north of Mount Sinai.

“Long as the Desert of Sinai has been known to Christian pilgrims, yet it may almost be said never to have been explored before the beginning of this century. We are still at the threshold of our knowledge concerning it. The older travellers never troubled themselves to compare the general features of the desert with the indications of the sacred narrative, and therefore they missed the cardinal points of dispute. We are still, therefore, in the condition of discoverers; and if we are thus compelled to abstain from positive conclusions, it is a suspense which we need not be afraid to avow, and which in this instance is the less inconvenient, because the very uniformity of nature by which it is occasioned, also enables us to form an image of the general scenes, even where the particular scene is unknown; and many will feel at a distance what many, I doubt not, have felt on the spot, that in speaking of such sacred events, uncertainty is the best safeguard for reverence, and suspense, as to the exact details of form and locality, is the most fitting approach for the consideration of the presence of Him who made darkness his secret place, his pavilion round about him, with dark water and thick ‘clouds to cover them.’” STANLEY’S Sinai and Palestine. Tabernacle of the congregation — Literally, the tent of appointment, or stated meeting, (with Jehovah.) The Septuagint calls it “the tent of witness,” and the Vulgate “the tent of the covenant.” The book of the Law, the witness of the covenant, was kept here. The tabernacle had been standing one month. Exodus 40:17. To distinguish it from the more temporary tent, the dwelling of Moses during the first year of the Exodus — the ante-Sinaitic tabernacle — this second structure is called the Sinaitic tabernacle. It was constructed by Bezaleel and Aholiab after the model shown to Moses on the mount. Exodus 26:30. It was a portable mansion-house and temple, the miniature of the great temple of Solomon. Its position was significant and commanding. On the east, between it and the camp under the lead of Judah, were the tents of the priests; southward, between it and the camp of Reuben, were the Kohathites placed; on the west, between it and the camp of Ephraim, the Gershonites had their abodes; and on the north, between it and the camp of Dan, was the station of the Merarites. In proportion to the wealth of the people, it was more costly and magnificent than the world-renowned edifice at Jerusalem. For a minute description see Exodus 36-38. Second month — This gives a clew to the period of time occupied by the events narrated in Leviticus, namely, one month, during the encampment at Mount Sinai.

V. 2. Take the sum-This is not the same muster with that Exodus 38:26, as plainly appears, because that was before the building of the tabernacle, which was built and set up on the first day of the first month, Exodus 40:2, but this was after it, on the first day of the second month. And they were for different ends; that was to tax them for the charges of the tabernacle; but this was for other ends, partly that the great number of the people might be known to the praise of God’s faithfulness, in making good his promises of multiplying them, and to their own encouragement: partly for the better ordering their camp and march, for they were now beginning their journey; and partly that this account might he compared with the other in the close of the book, where we read that not one of all this vast number, except Caleb and Joshua were left alive; a fair warning to all future generations to take heed of rebelling against the Lord. It is true, the sums and numbers agree in this and that computation, which is not strange, because there was not much time between the two numberings, and no eminent sin among the people in that interval, whereby God was provoked to diminish their numbers. Some conceive that in that number, Exodus 30:11-16 and 38:25,26, the Levites were included, which are here excepted, Numbers 1:47, and that in that interval of time, there were grown up as many more men of those years as there were Levites of the same age. Israel-So the strangers mixed with them, were not numbered. Their fathers-The people were divided into twelve tribes, the tribes into great families, Numbers 26:5, these great families into lesser families called the houses of their fathers, because they were distinguished one from another by their fathers.

Verse 2. Take ye the sum, &c.] God, having established the commonwealth of Israel by just and equitable laws, ordained every thing relative to the due performance of his own worship, erected his tabernacle, which was his throne, and the place of his residence among the people, and consecrated his priests who were to minister before him; he now orders his subjects to be mustered, 1. That they might see he had not forgotten his promise to Abraham, but was multiplying his posterity. 2. That they might observe due order in their march toward the promised land. 3. That the tribes and families might be properly distinguished; that all litigations concerning property, inheritance, &c., might, in all future times, be prevented. 4. That the promise concerning the Messiah might be known to have its due accomplishment, when in the fulness of time God should send him from the seed of Abraham through the house of David. And, 5. That they might know their strength for war; for although they should ever consider God as their protector and defence, yet it was necessary that they should be assured of their own fitness, naturally speaking, to cope with any ordinary enemy, or to surmount any common difficulties.

Verse 2. Take ye the sum — This is not the same muster with that spoken of Exodus 38:26, as plainly appears, because that was before the building of the tabernacle, which was built and set up on the first day of the first month; (Exodus 40:2;) but this was after it, on the first day of the second month. And they were for different ends; that was to tax them for the charges of the tabernacle; but this was for other purposes, as partly, that the great number of the people might be known to the praise of God’s faithfulness, in making good his promises of multiplying them, and for their own encouragement: partly for the better ordering of their camp and march, for they were now beginning their journey; and partly that this account might be compared with the other in the close of the book, where we read that not one of all this vast number, except Caleb and Joshua, were left alive; a fair warning to all future generations to take head of rebelling against the Lord. It is true, the sums and numbers agree in this and the former computation mentioned, (Exodus 38:26,) which is not strange, because there was not much time between these two numberings, and no eminent sin among the people in that interval, whereby God was provoked to diminish their numbers. Some, indeed, suppose, that in that number (Exodus 30. and 38.) the Levites were included, who are here excepted, (verse 47,) and that in that interval of time there were grown up as many more men of those years as there were Levites of the same age. Israel — So the strangers mixed with them were not numbered. Their fathers — The people were divided into twelve tribes, the tribes into great families, (Numbers 26:5,) these great families into lesser families, called the houses of their fathers, because they were distinguished one from another by their fathers.

Verse 2. Take ye the sum. The Israelites had been numbered, for the purpose of subscribing half a shekel towards the erection of the tabernacle. Now they are numbered for war; and were afterwards numbered in the plains of Moab for the purpose of entering the land, and dividing it by lot and fair proportions.—Every male by their poll. This is a general rule with Moses, as with other historians, to name the males only; the females are rarely named, except on some particular occasions.

2. Take ye the sum — The chief object of this enrolment was probably for the more efficient organization of the military force of the nation. It may, however, have also subserved other purposes. After their families — This census was more than an individual enumeration: it was a tribal and family registration, and was necessary for the efficient organization of the army. The difference between the terms “families” and house of their fathers is not clear. From Joshua 7:14, (see note,) we infer that the former includes the latter, though Prof. Bush suggests that the latter is merely explanatory of the former. See Exodus 6:13-19, note. An incidental but very important result of this family registration was the documentary provision which it afforded for tracing the lineage of the Messiah. The formation of family surnames is seen in Numbers 26:5-7, like the English John-sons, the Scotch Macs, and the Irish O’s and Fitz’s. The number of their names — Although the Hebrew for sum and number would indicate some difference, it is not clear what it is. The majority of the versions translate them as synonymous.

Verse 3. From twenty years old and upward] In this census no women were reckoned, nor children, nor strangers, nor the Levites, nor old men, which, collectively, must have formed an immense multitude; the Levites alone amounted to 22,300. True-born Israelites only are reckoned; such as were able to carry arms, and were expert for war.

Verse 3. That are able to go forth to war — It would seem from this that none of the aged and infirm were numbered, as being unable to go to war. Among several other nations as well as the Jews, particularly the Romans, all who were of age to bear arms were obliged, upon some occasions, to go forth to battle. And hence it is that we read of the kings of Israel bringing such numerous armies into the field as appear hardly credible to those who judge of their manners by ours.

3. Twenty years — From the son of twenty years. This was the law ever afterwards. The word able does not occur in the Hebrew. If it had been written, the names of the sick and aged men would not have been enrolled, and the enumerators must have added to their functions those of surgical examiners. Exemptions from military service were established on Divine authority several years afterwards. See Deuteronomy 20:5-8. There is not the least hint in the text of an upper limit to the military age. Yet Josephus asserts that this census enrolled only the fighting men between twenty and fifty years of age. It is quite probable that subsequent legislation fixed the maximum age at fifty years, and that Josephus (Ant., 3:12, 4) has carried the law back too far. For if there had been such a maximum age it would have been expressed with the minimum. Moreover, since the grand total of this military muster-roll is exactly the same as that of the poll-offering in Exodus 38:26, it would follow, according to Josephus’s statement, that all above fifty years must have been exempted from the offering. Of this immunity there is no hint, either in the original command (Exodus 30:11-16) or in the report of its execution. Exodus 38:26. Thou and Aaron shall number — Number is not the idea of the Hebrew, but rather review, muster, arrange. Moses and Aaron were to constitute a board of superintendence, while the details of the census were to be attended to by a commission of twelve distinguished men, one from each tribe. These would be sufficient, for the chief labour of the census had already been performed. In arranging for the service of the newly-erected tabernacle, nine months before, it had been ordained that each person enumerated should pay half a shekel, about twenty-seven cents, atonement money, “a ransom for his soul unto the Lord.” See Exodus 30:12. Since the atonement money had already been offered, (Exodus 38:25-28,) we infer that a census had already been taken in the tribes, or in subdivisions of tribes, and records made of the results. The office of the census board, just appointed by God, was, probably, to collect and classify those registrations which had already been made, and draw out the people into military divisions.

Ver. 4. Head of the house of his fathers. The princes of the patriarchs by birth seem to have kept their dignity of seniority till after the time of king Saul, when promotions at court caused it to fall into disuse. This custom was prevalent among gentile tribes.

GENEALOGICAL ENROLMENT AND MUSTER OF THE ADULT MALES, 1-46. At the close of the third book of Moses the temple in the wilderness — the tabernacle — had been erected, the law of sacrifices instituted, the Aaronic priesthood inducted into their sacred office, and rules for holiness of life, and for the isolation of Israel from the Gentile world, had been ordained. At the opening of the present book the tabernacle has been standing one month. The purpose of the Sinaitic sojourn has now been accomplished, and the vast host must begin their eastward and northward march toward the Land of Promise. From childhood they had been taught to turn their eyes from the banks of the Nile towards the hills of Canaan, where Abraham, their national father, was buried. Thither had their ancestors borne, in princely procession, the embalmed body of the patriarch Jacob to find a resting place, and to that land of the covenant were the Hebrews now bearing the mortal part of Joseph, the benefactor of his father’s family. But mighty foes are intrenched in that land, and other strong enemies will stand in their path to bar their entrance. Even the desert swarms with foes. War is imminent. Bloody battle fields must be trodden before they can sit down in houses which they have not builded, and pluck the fruit of olive yards which they have not planted. Out of the crowd of fugitives hastening from the yoke of Egypt there must emerge a compact military organization; for though Jehovah, the God of battles, the Man of war, is leading them to victory, he purposes to employ human allies, and he wishes to put them into the condition of the highest efficiency. For the military organization a census must be taken. The census in this chapter is not an enumeration de novo, but rather a muster on the basis of numerical and genealogical data already in the possession of the tribes. This is shown by the accordance of the number who have paid the atonement money with the total number enrolled in this chapter as fighting men.

1. The Lord — JEHOVAH. The ineffable name was translated into the Greek by the Seventy by the word Kuriov, Lord. Our English translators unwisely followed the Septuagint, and adopted the appellative Lord for the significant, chosen, proper name Jehovah, the one eternal and immutable Being. We notify the reader that this is the ground of our preference of Jehovah to Lord throughout this Commentary. (See notes on Exodus 3. 14, and 6:2.) Spake — Either to the ear in audible words, as is strongly suggested in Exodus 33:11, and Numbers 12:8; or by the urim and thummim, as in Exodus 28:30; Numbers 27:21; or to the spiritual perception of Moses in such a manner as to give certainty to the communication. A consideration of the three places in which Jehovah spake to him and gave him audience inclines us to the theory of uttered words as the usual mode of communication. These three places were, 1.) The mercy-seat in the most holy place, the principal abode of the oracle. Numbers 7:89. We believe that it was from the mercy-seat between the cherubim that Moses was addressed in this chapter. 2.) At the door of the tabernacle, near the altar of burnt offering. Exodus 29:42. 3.) Out of the cloudy pillar. Exodus 33:9; Numbers 12:5, 6; Psalm 99:7. Moses — The reader of the three preceding books has already become too well acquainted with this great man to need an introduction. His character is above eulogy, his great deeds are too numerous for recital. He is the embodiment of the Old Testament as Jesus is of the New. “The law came by Moses, but grace and truth by Jesus Christ.” His agency in the religious instruction and spiritual elevation of mankind will have grateful mention in the anthems of the blood-washed throng in heaven, for they shall sing “the song of Moses and the Lamb.” See Exodus 2, Introductory, (3.) Wilderness of Sinai — A wild and mountainous region in Arabia Petraea, between the two branching gulfs of the Red Sea. It is a heap of lofty granite rocks, with steep gorges and deep valleys, abounding in water and luxuriant vegetation in the rainy season. These valleys are then beautiful. The Israelites sojourned in that part of the desert which lies north of Mount Sinai.

“Long as the Desert of Sinai has been known to Christian pilgrims, yet it may almost be said never to have been explored before the beginning of this century. We are still at the threshold of our knowledge concerning it. The older travellers never troubled themselves to compare the general features of the desert with the indications of the sacred narrative, and therefore they missed the cardinal points of dispute. We are still, therefore, in the condition of discoverers; and if we are thus compelled to abstain from positive conclusions, it is a suspense which we need not be afraid to avow, and which in this instance is the less inconvenient, because the very uniformity of nature by which it is occasioned, also enables us to form an image of the general scenes, even where the particular scene is unknown; and many will feel at a distance what many, I doubt not, have felt on the spot, that in speaking of such sacred events, uncertainty is the best safeguard for reverence, and suspense, as to the exact details of form and locality, is the most fitting approach for the consideration of the presence of Him who made darkness his secret place, his pavilion round about him, with dark water and thick ‘clouds to cover them.’” STANLEY’S Sinai and Palestine. Tabernacle of the congregation — Literally, the tent of appointment, or stated meeting, (with Jehovah.) The Septuagint calls it “the tent of witness,” and the Vulgate “the tent of the covenant.” The book of the Law, the witness of the covenant, was kept here. The tabernacle had been standing one month. Exodus 40:17. To distinguish it from the more temporary tent, the dwelling of Moses during the first year of the Exodus — the ante-Sinaitic tabernacle — this second structure is called the Sinaitic tabernacle. It was constructed by Bezaleel and Aholiab after the model shown to Moses on the mount. Exodus 26:30. It was a portable mansion-house and temple, the miniature of the great temple of Solomon. Its position was significant and commanding. On the east, between it and the camp under the lead of Judah, were the tents of the priests; southward, between it and the camp of Reuben, were the Kohathites placed; on the west, between it and the camp of Ephraim, the Gershonites had their abodes; and on the north, between it and the camp of Dan, was the station of the Merarites. In proportion to the wealth of the people, it was more costly and magnificent than the world-renowned edifice at Jerusalem. For a minute description see Exodus 36-38. Second month — This gives a clew to the period of time occupied by the events narrated in Leviticus, namely, one month, during the encampment at Mount Sinai.

V. 5. Reuben-The tribes are here numbered according to the order or quality of their birth, first the children of Leah, then of Rachel, and then of the handmaids.

Verse 5. Reuben — The tribes are here numbered according to the order or quality of their birth, first the children of Leah, then of Rachel, and then of the handmaids.

5-15. These are the names — Chosen by the Divine Executive of the Hebrew nation. Little is known of these “renowned” men. Elishama was grandfather of Joshua, (1 Chronicles 7:26, 27,) and Nahshon was brother-in-law of Aaron. Exodus 6:23. His name occurs in the genealogy of Jesus Christ, (Matthew 1:4 and Luke 3:32,) where it is spelled Naasson. He was the first phylarch, or captain, of Judah, and the first prince to present his offering at the dedication of the tabernacle. One general comment applies to all these chiefs. Their names appear in connexion with the census, and as phylarchs of their tribes, in chaps. 2 and 10; and again as liberal donors of gold, silver, incense, and animals at the dedication of the tabernacle, in chap. 7. Deuel — For Reuel. Chaps. 2:14. Supposed to be a mistake of r, resh, for d, daleth. The weight of evidence is in favour of Deuel. Numbers 7:42, 47; 10:20.

5-15. These are the names — Chosen by the Divine Executive of the Hebrew nation. Little is known of these “renowned” men. Elishama was grandfather of Joshua, (1 Chronicles 7:26, 27,) and Nahshon was brother-in-law of Aaron. Exodus 6:23. His name occurs in the genealogy of Jesus Christ, (Matthew 1:4 and Luke 3:32,) where it is spelled Naasson. He was the first phylarch, or captain, of Judah, and the first prince to present his offering at the dedication of the tabernacle. One general comment applies to all these chiefs. Their names appear in connexion with the census, and as phylarchs of their tribes, in chaps. 2 and 10; and again as liberal donors of gold, silver, incense, and animals at the dedication of the tabernacle, in chap. 7. Deuel — For Reuel. Chaps. 2:14. Supposed to be a mistake of r, resh, for d, daleth. The weight of evidence is in favour of Deuel. Numbers 7:42, 47; 10:20.

5-15. These are the names — Chosen by the Divine Executive of the Hebrew nation. Little is known of these “renowned” men. Elishama was grandfather of Joshua, (1 Chronicles 7:26, 27,) and Nahshon was brother-in-law of Aaron. Exodus 6:23. His name occurs in the genealogy of Jesus Christ, (Matthew 1:4 and Luke 3:32,) where it is spelled Naasson. He was the first phylarch, or captain, of Judah, and the first prince to present his offering at the dedication of the tabernacle. One general comment applies to all these chiefs. Their names appear in connexion with the census, and as phylarchs of their tribes, in chaps. 2 and 10; and again as liberal donors of gold, silver, incense, and animals at the dedication of the tabernacle, in chap. 7. Deuel — For Reuel. Chaps. 2:14. Supposed to be a mistake of r, resh, for d, daleth. The weight of evidence is in favour of Deuel. Numbers 7:42, 47; 10:20.

5-15. These are the names — Chosen by the Divine Executive of the Hebrew nation. Little is known of these “renowned” men. Elishama was grandfather of Joshua, (1 Chronicles 7:26, 27,) and Nahshon was brother-in-law of Aaron. Exodus 6:23. His name occurs in the genealogy of Jesus Christ, (Matthew 1:4 and Luke 3:32,) where it is spelled Naasson. He was the first phylarch, or captain, of Judah, and the first prince to present his offering at the dedication of the tabernacle. One general comment applies to all these chiefs. Their names appear in connexion with the census, and as phylarchs of their tribes, in chaps. 2 and 10; and again as liberal donors of gold, silver, incense, and animals at the dedication of the tabernacle, in chap. 7. Deuel — For Reuel. Chaps. 2:14. Supposed to be a mistake of r, resh, for d, daleth. The weight of evidence is in favour of Deuel. Numbers 7:42, 47; 10:20.

5-15. These are the names — Chosen by the Divine Executive of the Hebrew nation. Little is known of these “renowned” men. Elishama was grandfather of Joshua, (1 Chronicles 7:26, 27,) and Nahshon was brother-in-law of Aaron. Exodus 6:23. His name occurs in the genealogy of Jesus Christ, (Matthew 1:4 and Luke 3:32,) where it is spelled Naasson. He was the first phylarch, or captain, of Judah, and the first prince to present his offering at the dedication of the tabernacle. One general comment applies to all these chiefs. Their names appear in connexion with the census, and as phylarchs of their tribes, in chaps. 2 and 10; and again as liberal donors of gold, silver, incense, and animals at the dedication of the tabernacle, in chap. 7. Deuel — For Reuel. Chaps. 2:14. Supposed to be a mistake of r, resh, for d, daleth. The weight of evidence is in favour of Deuel. Numbers 7:42, 47; 10:20.

5-15. These are the names — Chosen by the Divine Executive of the Hebrew nation. Little is known of these “renowned” men. Elishama was grandfather of Joshua, (1 Chronicles 7:26, 27,) and Nahshon was brother-in-law of Aaron. Exodus 6:23. His name occurs in the genealogy of Jesus Christ, (Matthew 1:4 and Luke 3:32,) where it is spelled Naasson. He was the first phylarch, or captain, of Judah, and the first prince to present his offering at the dedication of the tabernacle. One general comment applies to all these chiefs. Their names appear in connexion with the census, and as phylarchs of their tribes, in chaps. 2 and 10; and again as liberal donors of gold, silver, incense, and animals at the dedication of the tabernacle, in chap. 7. Deuel — For Reuel. Chaps. 2:14. Supposed to be a mistake of r, resh, for d, daleth. The weight of evidence is in favour of Deuel. Numbers 7:42, 47; 10:20.

5-15. These are the names — Chosen by the Divine Executive of the Hebrew nation. Little is known of these “renowned” men. Elishama was grandfather of Joshua, (1 Chronicles 7:26, 27,) and Nahshon was brother-in-law of Aaron. Exodus 6:23. His name occurs in the genealogy of Jesus Christ, (Matthew 1:4 and Luke 3:32,) where it is spelled Naasson. He was the first phylarch, or captain, of Judah, and the first prince to present his offering at the dedication of the tabernacle. One general comment applies to all these chiefs. Their names appear in connexion with the census, and as phylarchs of their tribes, in chaps. 2 and 10; and again as liberal donors of gold, silver, incense, and animals at the dedication of the tabernacle, in chap. 7. Deuel — For Reuel. Chaps. 2:14. Supposed to be a mistake of r, resh, for d, daleth. The weight of evidence is in favour of Deuel. Numbers 7:42, 47; 10:20.

V. 12. Deuel-Called Reuel, Numbers 3:14, the Hebrew letters Daleth and Resh being often changed.

5-15. These are the names — Chosen by the Divine Executive of the Hebrew nation. Little is known of these “renowned” men. Elishama was grandfather of Joshua, (1 Chronicles 7:26, 27,) and Nahshon was brother-in-law of Aaron. Exodus 6:23. His name occurs in the genealogy of Jesus Christ, (Matthew 1:4 and Luke 3:32,) where it is spelled Naasson. He was the first phylarch, or captain, of Judah, and the first prince to present his offering at the dedication of the tabernacle. One general comment applies to all these chiefs. Their names appear in connexion with the census, and as phylarchs of their tribes, in chaps. 2 and 10; and again as liberal donors of gold, silver, incense, and animals at the dedication of the tabernacle, in chap. 7. Deuel — For Reuel. Chaps. 2:14. Supposed to be a mistake of r, resh, for d, daleth. The weight of evidence is in favour of Deuel. Numbers 7:42, 47; 10:20.

5-15. These are the names — Chosen by the Divine Executive of the Hebrew nation. Little is known of these “renowned” men. Elishama was grandfather of Joshua, (1 Chronicles 7:26, 27,) and Nahshon was brother-in-law of Aaron. Exodus 6:23. His name occurs in the genealogy of Jesus Christ, (Matthew 1:4 and Luke 3:32,) where it is spelled Naasson. He was the first phylarch, or captain, of Judah, and the first prince to present his offering at the dedication of the tabernacle. One general comment applies to all these chiefs. Their names appear in connexion with the census, and as phylarchs of their tribes, in chaps. 2 and 10; and again as liberal donors of gold, silver, incense, and animals at the dedication of the tabernacle, in chap. 7. Deuel — For Reuel. Chaps. 2:14. Supposed to be a mistake of r, resh, for d, daleth. The weight of evidence is in favour of Deuel. Numbers 7:42, 47; 10:20.

Verse 14. Eliasaph, the son of Deuel.] This person is called Reuel, Numbers 2:14. As the d daleth is very like the r resh, it was easy to mistake the one for the other. The Septuagint and the Syriac have Reuel in this chapter; and in Numbers 2:14, the Vulgate, the Samaritan, and the Arabic have Deuel instead of Reuel, with which reading a vast number of MSS. concur; and this reading is supported by Numbers 10:20; we may safely conclude therefore that דעואל Deuel, not רעואל Reuel, was the original reading. See Kennicott.

An ancient Jewish rabbin pretends to solve every difficulty by saying that “Eliasaph was a proselyte; that before he embraced the true faith he was called the son of Reuel, but that after his conversion he was called the son of Deuel.” As Reuel may be translated the breach of God, and Deuel the knowledge of God, I suppose the rabbin grounded his supposition on the different meanings of the two words.

Verse 14. Deuel — Called Reuel, Numbers 2:14, the Hebrew letters daleth and resh being often changed.

5-15. These are the names — Chosen by the Divine Executive of the Hebrew nation. Little is known of these “renowned” men. Elishama was grandfather of Joshua, (1 Chronicles 7:26, 27,) and Nahshon was brother-in-law of Aaron. Exodus 6:23. His name occurs in the genealogy of Jesus Christ, (Matthew 1:4 and Luke 3:32,) where it is spelled Naasson. He was the first phylarch, or captain, of Judah, and the first prince to present his offering at the dedication of the tabernacle. One general comment applies to all these chiefs. Their names appear in connexion with the census, and as phylarchs of their tribes, in chaps. 2 and 10; and again as liberal donors of gold, silver, incense, and animals at the dedication of the tabernacle, in chap. 7. Deuel — For Reuel. Chaps. 2:14. Supposed to be a mistake of r, resh, for d, daleth. The weight of evidence is in favour of Deuel. Numbers 7:42, 47; 10:20.

5-15. These are the names — Chosen by the Divine Executive of the Hebrew nation. Little is known of these “renowned” men. Elishama was grandfather of Joshua, (1 Chronicles 7:26, 27,) and Nahshon was brother-in-law of Aaron. Exodus 6:23. His name occurs in the genealogy of Jesus Christ, (Matthew 1:4 and Luke 3:32,) where it is spelled Naasson. He was the first phylarch, or captain, of Judah, and the first prince to present his offering at the dedication of the tabernacle. One general comment applies to all these chiefs. Their names appear in connexion with the census, and as phylarchs of their tribes, in chaps. 2 and 10; and again as liberal donors of gold, silver, incense, and animals at the dedication of the tabernacle, in chap. 7. Deuel — For Reuel. Chaps. 2:14. Supposed to be a mistake of r, resh, for d, daleth. The weight of evidence is in favour of Deuel. Numbers 7:42, 47; 10:20.

Verse 16. These were the renowned] Literally, the called, of the congregation-those who were summoned by name to attend. The order of the tribes In the above enumeration may be viewed thus:—

1. Reuben Sons of Leah

2. Simeon “

3. Judah “

4. Issachar “

5. Zebulun “

6. Ephraim Sons of Rachael

7. Manasseh ”

8. Benjamin “

9. Dan 1st son of Bilhah, Rachel's maid.

10. Asher 2d son of Zilpah, Leah's maid.

11. Gad 1st son of Zilpah.

12. Naphtali 2d son of Bilhah.

16. Heads of thousands in Israel — This language sounds so much like Exodus 18:21 that it is probable that the assistant judges, carefully chosen by Moses at the suggestion of Jethro his father-in-law, were named by the Lord associates of Moses and Aaron in completing the registration. The Hebrew for the renowned of the congregation is, the called of the congregation, a select number, suggesting a representative body, to whom Moses often spoke when it is said that he addressed all the congregation. “The social condition of the Israelites in the wilderness bore a close resemblance to that of the nomad tribes of the East in the present day. The head of the tribe was an hereditary dignity, vested in the eldest son, or some other to whom the right of primogeniture was transferred, and under whom were other inferior heads, also hereditary.” — Jamieson.

GENEALOGICAL ENROLMENT AND MUSTER OF THE ADULT MALES, 1-46. At the close of the third book of Moses the temple in the wilderness — the tabernacle — had been erected, the law of sacrifices instituted, the Aaronic priesthood inducted into their sacred office, and rules for holiness of life, and for the isolation of Israel from the Gentile world, had been ordained. At the opening of the present book the tabernacle has been standing one month. The purpose of the Sinaitic sojourn has now been accomplished, and the vast host must begin their eastward and northward march toward the Land of Promise. From childhood they had been taught to turn their eyes from the banks of the Nile towards the hills of Canaan, where Abraham, their national father, was buried. Thither had their ancestors borne, in princely procession, the embalmed body of the patriarch Jacob to find a resting place, and to that land of the covenant were the Hebrews now bearing the mortal part of Joseph, the benefactor of his father’s family. But mighty foes are intrenched in that land, and other strong enemies will stand in their path to bar their entrance. Even the desert swarms with foes. War is imminent. Bloody battle fields must be trodden before they can sit down in houses which they have not builded, and pluck the fruit of olive yards which they have not planted. Out of the crowd of fugitives hastening from the yoke of Egypt there must emerge a compact military organization; for though Jehovah, the God of battles, the Man of war, is leading them to victory, he purposes to employ human allies, and he wishes to put them into the condition of the highest efficiency. For the military organization a census must be taken. The census in this chapter is not an enumeration de novo, but rather a muster on the basis of numerical and genealogical data already in the possession of the tribes. This is shown by the accordance of the number who have paid the atonement money with the total number enrolled in this chapter as fighting men.

1. The Lord — JEHOVAH. The ineffable name was translated into the Greek by the Seventy by the word Kuriov, Lord. Our English translators unwisely followed the Septuagint, and adopted the appellative Lord for the significant, chosen, proper name Jehovah, the one eternal and immutable Being. We notify the reader that this is the ground of our preference of Jehovah to Lord throughout this Commentary. (See notes on Exodus 3. 14, and 6:2.) Spake — Either to the ear in audible words, as is strongly suggested in Exodus 33:11, and Numbers 12:8; or by the urim and thummim, as in Exodus 28:30; Numbers 27:21; or to the spiritual perception of Moses in such a manner as to give certainty to the communication. A consideration of the three places in which Jehovah spake to him and gave him audience inclines us to the theory of uttered words as the usual mode of communication. These three places were, 1.) The mercy-seat in the most holy place, the principal abode of the oracle. Numbers 7:89. We believe that it was from the mercy-seat between the cherubim that Moses was addressed in this chapter. 2.) At the door of the tabernacle, near the altar of burnt offering. Exodus 29:42. 3.) Out of the cloudy pillar. Exodus 33:9; Numbers 12:5, 6; Psalm 99:7. Moses — The reader of the three preceding books has already become too well acquainted with this great man to need an introduction. His character is above eulogy, his great deeds are too numerous for recital. He is the embodiment of the Old Testament as Jesus is of the New. “The law came by Moses, but grace and truth by Jesus Christ.” His agency in the religious instruction and spiritual elevation of mankind will have grateful mention in the anthems of the blood-washed throng in heaven, for they shall sing “the song of Moses and the Lamb.” See Exodus 2, Introductory, (3.) Wilderness of Sinai — A wild and mountainous region in Arabia Petraea, between the two branching gulfs of the Red Sea. It is a heap of lofty granite rocks, with steep gorges and deep valleys, abounding in water and luxuriant vegetation in the rainy season. These valleys are then beautiful. The Israelites sojourned in that part of the desert which lies north of Mount Sinai.

“Long as the Desert of Sinai has been known to Christian pilgrims, yet it may almost be said never to have been explored before the beginning of this century. We are still at the threshold of our knowledge concerning it. The older travellers never troubled themselves to compare the general features of the desert with the indications of the sacred narrative, and therefore they missed the cardinal points of dispute. We are still, therefore, in the condition of discoverers; and if we are thus compelled to abstain from positive conclusions, it is a suspense which we need not be afraid to avow, and which in this instance is the less inconvenient, because the very uniformity of nature by which it is occasioned, also enables us to form an image of the general scenes, even where the particular scene is unknown; and many will feel at a distance what many, I doubt not, have felt on the spot, that in speaking of such sacred events, uncertainty is the best safeguard for reverence, and suspense, as to the exact details of form and locality, is the most fitting approach for the consideration of the presence of Him who made darkness his secret place, his pavilion round about him, with dark water and thick ‘clouds to cover them.’” STANLEY’S Sinai and Palestine. Tabernacle of the congregation — Literally, the tent of appointment, or stated meeting, (with Jehovah.) The Septuagint calls it “the tent of witness,” and the Vulgate “the tent of the covenant.” The book of the Law, the witness of the covenant, was kept here. The tabernacle had been standing one month. Exodus 40:17. To distinguish it from the more temporary tent, the dwelling of Moses during the first year of the Exodus — the ante-Sinaitic tabernacle — this second structure is called the Sinaitic tabernacle. It was constructed by Bezaleel and Aholiab after the model shown to Moses on the mount. Exodus 26:30. It was a portable mansion-house and temple, the miniature of the great temple of Solomon. Its position was significant and commanding. On the east, between it and the camp under the lead of Judah, were the tents of the priests; southward, between it and the camp of Reuben, were the Kohathites placed; on the west, between it and the camp of Ephraim, the Gershonites had their abodes; and on the north, between it and the camp of Dan, was the station of the Merarites. In proportion to the wealth of the people, it was more costly and magnificent than the world-renowned edifice at Jerusalem. For a minute description see Exodus 36-38. Second month — This gives a clew to the period of time occupied by the events narrated in Leviticus, namely, one month, during the encampment at Mount Sinai.

18. Assembled all the congregation — Here literalists like Colenso find a difficulty so insuperable as to impeach the veracity of Moses. The whole congregation, adults and children, male and female, could not have been less than two million four hundred thousand. These could not be assembled in one place for the transaction of business. Nor was there any need of such an assembly. A representative of each group of families already enrolled for the atonement money could carry his register to the census board and make his report. Or there might have been a polling place in each tribe, like city ward balloting places. The journeying of Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem, the city of David, for enrolment, might have been in accordance with the practice begun in the wilderness, of each person gathering to his own tribal centre for registration. The system of appointing a head man in each tribe, charged with the preservation of the pedigrees of the families, corresponds with the practice of the Arabs at the present day. Assembled on the first — Thus on the very day the order was given the people begin to obey it. True obedience is always prompt and unquestioning. Pedigrees, families, and house of their fathers indicate more than four generations in Egypt. According to the number of their names — This oft-recurring phrase in this census implies a previous enumeration. See note on verse 2. By their polls — Hebrew, By their skulls. Septuagint, Head by head. That is, the census is to be individual as well as family and tribal. It was not to be after the manner in which Xerxes counted his army on the plain of Doriscus, where an enclosure was made containing ten thousand men when closely packed, and filled one hundred and seventy times, showing that his army was not three times as large as that with which Moses marched through the wilderness.

V. 19. He numbered them-For ought that appears in one day.

GENEALOGICAL ENROLMENT AND MUSTER OF THE ADULT MALES, 1-46. At the close of the third book of Moses the temple in the wilderness — the tabernacle — had been erected, the law of sacrifices instituted, the Aaronic priesthood inducted into their sacred office, and rules for holiness of life, and for the isolation of Israel from the Gentile world, had been ordained. At the opening of the present book the tabernacle has been standing one month. The purpose of the Sinaitic sojourn has now been accomplished, and the vast host must begin their eastward and northward march toward the Land of Promise. From childhood they had been taught to turn their eyes from the banks of the Nile towards the hills of Canaan, where Abraham, their national father, was buried. Thither had their ancestors borne, in princely procession, the embalmed body of the patriarch Jacob to find a resting place, and to that land of the covenant were the Hebrews now bearing the mortal part of Joseph, the benefactor of his father’s family. But mighty foes are intrenched in that land, and other strong enemies will stand in their path to bar their entrance. Even the desert swarms with foes. War is imminent. Bloody battle fields must be trodden before they can sit down in houses which they have not builded, and pluck the fruit of olive yards which they have not planted. Out of the crowd of fugitives hastening from the yoke of Egypt there must emerge a compact military organization; for though Jehovah, the God of battles, the Man of war, is leading them to victory, he purposes to employ human allies, and he wishes to put them into the condition of the highest efficiency. For the military organization a census must be taken. The census in this chapter is not an enumeration de novo, but rather a muster on the basis of numerical and genealogical data already in the possession of the tribes. This is shown by the accordance of the number who have paid the atonement money with the total number enrolled in this chapter as fighting men.

1. The Lord — JEHOVAH. The ineffable name was translated into the Greek by the Seventy by the word Kuriov, Lord. Our English translators unwisely followed the Septuagint, and adopted the appellative Lord for the significant, chosen, proper name Jehovah, the one eternal and immutable Being. We notify the reader that this is the ground of our preference of Jehovah to Lord throughout this Commentary. (See notes on Exodus 3. 14, and 6:2.) Spake — Either to the ear in audible words, as is strongly suggested in Exodus 33:11, and Numbers 12:8; or by the urim and thummim, as in Exodus 28:30; Numbers 27:21; or to the spiritual perception of Moses in such a manner as to give certainty to the communication. A consideration of the three places in which Jehovah spake to him and gave him audience inclines us to the theory of uttered words as the usual mode of communication. These three places were, 1.) The mercy-seat in the most holy place, the principal abode of the oracle. Numbers 7:89. We believe that it was from the mercy-seat between the cherubim that Moses was addressed in this chapter. 2.) At the door of the tabernacle, near the altar of burnt offering. Exodus 29:42. 3.) Out of the cloudy pillar. Exodus 33:9; Numbers 12:5, 6; Psalm 99:7. Moses — The reader of the three preceding books has already become too well acquainted with this great man to need an introduction. His character is above eulogy, his great deeds are too numerous for recital. He is the embodiment of the Old Testament as Jesus is of the New. “The law came by Moses, but grace and truth by Jesus Christ.” His agency in the religious instruction and spiritual elevation of mankind will have grateful mention in the anthems of the blood-washed throng in heaven, for they shall sing “the song of Moses and the Lamb.” See Exodus 2, Introductory, (3.) Wilderness of Sinai — A wild and mountainous region in Arabia Petraea, between the two branching gulfs of the Red Sea. It is a heap of lofty granite rocks, with steep gorges and deep valleys, abounding in water and luxuriant vegetation in the rainy season. These valleys are then beautiful. The Israelites sojourned in that part of the desert which lies north of Mount Sinai.

“Long as the Desert of Sinai has been known to Christian pilgrims, yet it may almost be said never to have been explored before the beginning of this century. We are still at the threshold of our knowledge concerning it. The older travellers never troubled themselves to compare the general features of the desert with the indications of the sacred narrative, and therefore they missed the cardinal points of dispute. We are still, therefore, in the condition of discoverers; and if we are thus compelled to abstain from positive conclusions, it is a suspense which we need not be afraid to avow, and which in this instance is the less inconvenient, because the very uniformity of nature by which it is occasioned, also enables us to form an image of the general scenes, even where the particular scene is unknown; and many will feel at a distance what many, I doubt not, have felt on the spot, that in speaking of such sacred events, uncertainty is the best safeguard for reverence, and suspense, as to the exact details of form and locality, is the most fitting approach for the consideration of the presence of Him who made darkness his secret place, his pavilion round about him, with dark water and thick ‘clouds to cover them.’” STANLEY’S Sinai and Palestine. Tabernacle of the congregation — Literally, the tent of appointment, or stated meeting, (with Jehovah.) The Septuagint calls it “the tent of witness,” and the Vulgate “the tent of the covenant.” The book of the Law, the witness of the covenant, was kept here. The tabernacle had been standing one month. Exodus 40:17. To distinguish it from the more temporary tent, the dwelling of Moses during the first year of the Exodus — the ante-Sinaitic tabernacle — this second structure is called the Sinaitic tabernacle. It was constructed by Bezaleel and Aholiab after the model shown to Moses on the mount. Exodus 26:30. It was a portable mansion-house and temple, the miniature of the great temple of Solomon. Its position was significant and commanding. On the east, between it and the camp under the lead of Judah, were the tents of the priests; southward, between it and the camp of Reuben, were the Kohathites placed; on the west, between it and the camp of Ephraim, the Gershonites had their abodes; and on the north, between it and the camp of Dan, was the station of the Merarites. In proportion to the wealth of the people, it was more costly and magnificent than the world-renowned edifice at Jerusalem. For a minute description see Exodus 36-38. Second month — This gives a clew to the period of time occupied by the events narrated in Leviticus, namely, one month, during the encampment at Mount Sinai.

V. 20. By their generations-That is, the persons begotten of Reuben’s immediate children, who are here subdivided into families, and they into houses, and they into particular persons.

Verse 20. By their generations — That is, the persons begotten of Reuben’s immediate children, who are here subdivided into families, and they into houses, and they into particular persons.

GENEALOGICAL ENROLMENT AND MUSTER OF THE ADULT MALES, 1-46. At the close of the third book of Moses the temple in the wilderness — the tabernacle — had been erected, the law of sacrifices instituted, the Aaronic priesthood inducted into their sacred office, and rules for holiness of life, and for the isolation of Israel from the Gentile world, had been ordained. At the opening of the present book the tabernacle has been standing one month. The purpose of the Sinaitic sojourn has now been accomplished, and the vast host must begin their eastward and northward march toward the Land of Promise. From childhood they had been taught to turn their eyes from the banks of the Nile towards the hills of Canaan, where Abraham, their national father, was buried. Thither had their ancestors borne, in princely procession, the embalmed body of the patriarch Jacob to find a resting place, and to that land of the covenant were the Hebrews now bearing the mortal part of Joseph, the benefactor of his father’s family. But mighty foes are intrenched in that land, and other strong enemies will stand in their path to bar their entrance. Even the desert swarms with foes. War is imminent. Bloody battle fields must be trodden before they can sit down in houses which they have not builded, and pluck the fruit of olive yards which they have not planted. Out of the crowd of fugitives hastening from the yoke of Egypt there must emerge a compact military organization; for though Jehovah, the God of battles, the Man of war, is leading them to victory, he purposes to employ human allies, and he wishes to put them into the condition of the highest efficiency. For the military organization a census must be taken. The census in this chapter is not an enumeration de novo, but rather a muster on the basis of numerical and genealogical data already in the possession of the tribes. This is shown by the accordance of the number who have paid the atonement money with the total number enrolled in this chapter as fighting men.

1. The Lord — JEHOVAH. The ineffable name was translated into the Greek by the Seventy by the word Kuriov, Lord. Our English translators unwisely followed the Septuagint, and adopted the appellative Lord for the significant, chosen, proper name Jehovah, the one eternal and immutable Being. We notify the reader that this is the ground of our preference of Jehovah to Lord throughout this Commentary. (See notes on Exodus 3. 14, and 6:2.) Spake — Either to the ear in audible words, as is strongly suggested in Exodus 33:11, and Numbers 12:8; or by the urim and thummim, as in Exodus 28:30; Numbers 27:21; or to the spiritual perception of Moses in such a manner as to give certainty to the communication. A consideration of the three places in which Jehovah spake to him and gave him audience inclines us to the theory of uttered words as the usual mode of communication. These three places were, 1.) The mercy-seat in the most holy place, the principal abode of the oracle. Numbers 7:89. We believe that it was from the mercy-seat between the cherubim that Moses was addressed in this chapter. 2.) At the door of the tabernacle, near the altar of burnt offering. Exodus 29:42. 3.) Out of the cloudy pillar. Exodus 33:9; Numbers 12:5, 6; Psalm 99:7. Moses — The reader of the three preceding books has already become too well acquainted with this great man to need an introduction. His character is above eulogy, his great deeds are too numerous for recital. He is the embodiment of the Old Testament as Jesus is of the New. “The law came by Moses, but grace and truth by Jesus Christ.” His agency in the religious instruction and spiritual elevation of mankind will have grateful mention in the anthems of the blood-washed throng in heaven, for they shall sing “the song of Moses and the Lamb.” See Exodus 2, Introductory, (3.) Wilderness of Sinai — A wild and mountainous region in Arabia Petraea, between the two branching gulfs of the Red Sea. It is a heap of lofty granite rocks, with steep gorges and deep valleys, abounding in water and luxuriant vegetation in the rainy season. These valleys are then beautiful. The Israelites sojourned in that part of the desert which lies north of Mount Sinai.

“Long as the Desert of Sinai has been known to Christian pilgrims, yet it may almost be said never to have been explored before the beginning of this century. We are still at the threshold of our knowledge concerning it. The older travellers never troubled themselves to compare the general features of the desert with the indications of the sacred narrative, and therefore they missed the cardinal points of dispute. We are still, therefore, in the condition of discoverers; and if we are thus compelled to abstain from positive conclusions, it is a suspense which we need not be afraid to avow, and which in this instance is the less inconvenient, because the very uniformity of nature by which it is occasioned, also enables us to form an image of the general scenes, even where the particular scene is unknown; and many will feel at a distance what many, I doubt not, have felt on the spot, that in speaking of such sacred events, uncertainty is the best safeguard for reverence, and suspense, as to the exact details of form and locality, is the most fitting approach for the consideration of the presence of Him who made darkness his secret place, his pavilion round about him, with dark water and thick ‘clouds to cover them.’” STANLEY’S Sinai and Palestine. Tabernacle of the congregation — Literally, the tent of appointment, or stated meeting, (with Jehovah.) The Septuagint calls it “the tent of witness,” and the Vulgate “the tent of the covenant.” The book of the Law, the witness of the covenant, was kept here. The tabernacle had been standing one month. Exodus 40:17. To distinguish it from the more temporary tent, the dwelling of Moses during the first year of the Exodus — the ante-Sinaitic tabernacle — this second structure is called the Sinaitic tabernacle. It was constructed by Bezaleel and Aholiab after the model shown to Moses on the mount. Exodus 26:30. It was a portable mansion-house and temple, the miniature of the great temple of Solomon. Its position was significant and commanding. On the east, between it and the camp under the lead of Judah, were the tents of the priests; southward, between it and the camp of Reuben, were the Kohathites placed; on the west, between it and the camp of Ephraim, the Gershonites had their abodes; and on the north, between it and the camp of Dan, was the station of the Merarites. In proportion to the wealth of the people, it was more costly and magnificent than the world-renowned edifice at Jerusalem. For a minute description see Exodus 36-38. Second month — This gives a clew to the period of time occupied by the events narrated in Leviticus, namely, one month, during the encampment at Mount Sinai.

21. Those that were numbered — That is, mustered or marshalled on the basis of the prior enumeration in Exodus 38:26, the total of which agrees with that here given. About thirty-eight years after this census another was taken on the table-lands of Moab, east of the Jordan, just before entering into Canaan. We tabulate the results for the convenience of the reader. They eloquently portray the hardships of that wilderness-life during more than a third of a century in which the people actually decreased instead of doubling their number, as they doubtless would have done even in Egyptian servitude:

1st Cen. 2d Cen.

Ch. 1. Ch. 26.

1. Judah 74,600 76,500

2. Dan 62,700 64,400

3. Simeon 59,300 22,200

4. Zebulun 57,400 60,500

5. Issachar 54,400 64,300

6. Naphtali 53,400 45,400

7. Reuben 46,500 43,730

8. Gad 45,650 40,500

9. Asher 41,500 53,400

10. Ephraim 40,500 32,500

11. Benjamin 35,400 45,600

12. Manasseh 32,200 52,700

Total 603,550 601,730

It is a corroborative proof of the correctness of this census that the totals, when arranged in the order of magnitude, correspond nearly with the order of birth of the heads of the tribes. Judah, Simeon, Dan, and Naphtali, among the six oldest, are among the six highest. The sons of Joseph — Ephraim and Manasseh — though each less than the average of the other tribes, because a generation later, yet, counted as one, rank second in the first census and first in the second census. Hence the prediction, Joseph shall be a fruitful bough, is fulfilled. Yet Dr. Adam Clarke sees “no very satisfactory reason for so great a difference” between Judah, of the first generation, and Manasseh, of the second. The real comparison is between Joseph’s descendants and Judah’s. There is only a difference of nineteen hundred. It will be observed that the lowest denomination of figures is neither units nor tens, except Gad, but hundreds. This is a singular coincidence in the figures of a census. It is not reasonable to suppose such an occurrence would happen in eleven enumerations out of twelve. The explanation is, that as the chief reason for this first enumeration was the military organization of the nation, fractions of hundreds — the smallest military division — were rejected if less than fifty, and counted as even hundreds if above fifty. Or the supernumerary units may have balanced the losses from sickness or casualties, it being the purpose of the muster to exhibit the available military strength of the Hebrews. We observe the fulfilment of two predictions as already begun in the first census: 1, That relating to the precedence of Judah, foreseen by Jacob on his dying bed two hundred years before; (Genesis 49:8;) and, 2, That relating to the superiority of Ephraim, the younger, to Manasseh, the elder, predicted by the same patriarch. Genesis 48:19, 20. The decline in the second census was not permanent.

LEVITES EXEMPTED FROM THE CENSUS, AND ASSIGNED TO THE TABERNACLE

GENEALOGICAL ENROLMENT AND MUSTER OF THE ADULT MALES, 1-46. At the close of the third book of Moses the temple in the wilderness — the tabernacle — had been erected, the law of sacrifices instituted, the Aaronic priesthood inducted into their sacred office, and rules for holiness of life, and for the isolation of Israel from the Gentile world, had been ordained. At the opening of the present book the tabernacle has been standing one month. The purpose of the Sinaitic sojourn has now been accomplished, and the vast host must begin their eastward and northward march toward the Land of Promise. From childhood they had been taught to turn their eyes from the banks of the Nile towards the hills of Canaan, where Abraham, their national father, was buried. Thither had their ancestors borne, in princely procession, the embalmed body of the patriarch Jacob to find a resting place, and to that land of the covenant were the Hebrews now bearing the mortal part of Joseph, the benefactor of his father’s family. But mighty foes are intrenched in that land, and other strong enemies will stand in their path to bar their entrance. Even the desert swarms with foes. War is imminent. Bloody battle fields must be trodden before they can sit down in houses which they have not builded, and pluck the fruit of olive yards which they have not planted. Out of the crowd of fugitives hastening from the yoke of Egypt there must emerge a compact military organization; for though Jehovah, the God of battles, the Man of war, is leading them to victory, he purposes to employ human allies, and he wishes to put them into the condition of the highest efficiency. For the military organization a census must be taken. The census in this chapter is not an enumeration de novo, but rather a muster on the basis of numerical and genealogical data already in the possession of the tribes. This is shown by the accordance of the number who have paid the atonement money with the total number enrolled in this chapter as fighting men.

1. The Lord — JEHOVAH. The ineffable name was translated into the Greek by the Seventy by the word Kuriov, Lord. Our English translators unwisely followed the Septuagint, and adopted the appellative Lord for the significant, chosen, proper name Jehovah, the one eternal and immutable Being. We notify the reader that this is the ground of our preference of Jehovah to Lord throughout this Commentary. (See notes on Exodus 3. 14, and 6:2.) Spake — Either to the ear in audible words, as is strongly suggested in Exodus 33:11, and Numbers 12:8; or by the urim and thummim, as in Exodus 28:30; Numbers 27:21; or to the spiritual perception of Moses in such a manner as to give certainty to the communication. A consideration of the three places in which Jehovah spake to him and gave him audience inclines us to the theory of uttered words as the usual mode of communication. These three places were, 1.) The mercy-seat in the most holy place, the principal abode of the oracle. Numbers 7:89. We believe that it was from the mercy-seat between the cherubim that Moses was addressed in this chapter. 2.) At the door of the tabernacle, near the altar of burnt offering. Exodus 29:42. 3.) Out of the cloudy pillar. Exodus 33:9; Numbers 12:5, 6; Psalm 99:7. Moses — The reader of the three preceding books has already become too well acquainted with this great man to need an introduction. His character is above eulogy, his great deeds are too numerous for recital. He is the embodiment of the Old Testament as Jesus is of the New. “The law came by Moses, but grace and truth by Jesus Christ.” His agency in the religious instruction and spiritual elevation of mankind will have grateful mention in the anthems of the blood-washed throng in heaven, for they shall sing “the song of Moses and the Lamb.” See Exodus 2, Introductory, (3.) Wilderness of Sinai — A wild and mountainous region in Arabia Petraea, between the two branching gulfs of the Red Sea. It is a heap of lofty granite rocks, with steep gorges and deep valleys, abounding in water and luxuriant vegetation in the rainy season. These valleys are then beautiful. The Israelites sojourned in that part of the desert which lies north of Mount Sinai.

“Long as the Desert of Sinai has been known to Christian pilgrims, yet it may almost be said never to have been explored before the beginning of this century. We are still at the threshold of our knowledge concerning it. The older travellers never troubled themselves to compare the general features of the desert with the indications of the sacred narrative, and therefore they missed the cardinal points of dispute. We are still, therefore, in the condition of discoverers; and if we are thus compelled to abstain from positive conclusions, it is a suspense which we need not be afraid to avow, and which in this instance is the less inconvenient, because the very uniformity of nature by which it is occasioned, also enables us to form an image of the general scenes, even where the particular scene is unknown; and many will feel at a distance what many, I doubt not, have felt on the spot, that in speaking of such sacred events, uncertainty is the best safeguard for reverence, and suspense, as to the exact details of form and locality, is the most fitting approach for the consideration of the presence of Him who made darkness his secret place, his pavilion round about him, with dark water and thick ‘clouds to cover them.’” STANLEY’S Sinai and Palestine. Tabernacle of the congregation — Literally, the tent of appointment, or stated meeting, (with Jehovah.) The Septuagint calls it “the tent of witness,” and the Vulgate “the tent of the covenant.” The book of the Law, the witness of the covenant, was kept here. The tabernacle had been standing one month. Exodus 40:17. To distinguish it from the more temporary tent, the dwelling of Moses during the first year of the Exodus — the ante-Sinaitic tabernacle — this second structure is called the Sinaitic tabernacle. It was constructed by Bezaleel and Aholiab after the model shown to Moses on the mount. Exodus 26:30. It was a portable mansion-house and temple, the miniature of the great temple of Solomon. Its position was significant and commanding. On the east, between it and the camp under the lead of Judah, were the tents of the priests; southward, between it and the camp of Reuben, were the Kohathites placed; on the west, between it and the camp of Ephraim, the Gershonites had their abodes; and on the north, between it and the camp of Dan, was the station of the Merarites. In proportion to the wealth of the people, it was more costly and magnificent than the world-renowned edifice at Jerusalem. For a minute description see Exodus 36-38. Second month — This gives a clew to the period of time occupied by the events narrated in Leviticus, namely, one month, during the encampment at Mount Sinai.

GENEALOGICAL ENROLMENT AND MUSTER OF THE ADULT MALES, 1-46. At the close of the third book of Moses the temple in the wilderness — the tabernacle — had been erected, the law of sacrifices instituted, the Aaronic priesthood inducted into their sacred office, and rules for holiness of life, and for the isolation of Israel from the Gentile world, had been ordained. At the opening of the present book the tabernacle has been standing one month. The purpose of the Sinaitic sojourn has now been accomplished, and the vast host must begin their eastward and northward march toward the Land of Promise. From childhood they had been taught to turn their eyes from the banks of the Nile towards the hills of Canaan, where Abraham, their national father, was buried. Thither had their ancestors borne, in princely procession, the embalmed body of the patriarch Jacob to find a resting place, and to that land of the covenant were the Hebrews now bearing the mortal part of Joseph, the benefactor of his father’s family. But mighty foes are intrenched in that land, and other strong enemies will stand in their path to bar their entrance. Even the desert swarms with foes. War is imminent. Bloody battle fields must be trodden before they can sit down in houses which they have not builded, and pluck the fruit of olive yards which they have not planted. Out of the crowd of fugitives hastening from the yoke of Egypt there must emerge a compact military organization; for though Jehovah, the God of battles, the Man of war, is leading them to victory, he purposes to employ human allies, and he wishes to put them into the condition of the highest efficiency. For the military organization a census must be taken. The census in this chapter is not an enumeration de novo, but rather a muster on the basis of numerical and genealogical data already in the possession of the tribes. This is shown by the accordance of the number who have paid the atonement money with the total number enrolled in this chapter as fighting men.

1. The Lord — JEHOVAH. The ineffable name was translated into the Greek by the Seventy by the word Kuriov, Lord. Our English translators unwisely followed the Septuagint, and adopted the appellative Lord for the significant, chosen, proper name Jehovah, the one eternal and immutable Being. We notify the reader that this is the ground of our preference of Jehovah to Lord throughout this Commentary. (See notes on Exodus 3. 14, and 6:2.) Spake — Either to the ear in audible words, as is strongly suggested in Exodus 33:11, and Numbers 12:8; or by the urim and thummim, as in Exodus 28:30; Numbers 27:21; or to the spiritual perception of Moses in such a manner as to give certainty to the communication. A consideration of the three places in which Jehovah spake to him and gave him audience inclines us to the theory of uttered words as the usual mode of communication. These three places were, 1.) The mercy-seat in the most holy place, the principal abode of the oracle. Numbers 7:89. We believe that it was from the mercy-seat between the cherubim that Moses was addressed in this chapter. 2.) At the door of the tabernacle, near the altar of burnt offering. Exodus 29:42. 3.) Out of the cloudy pillar. Exodus 33:9; Numbers 12:5, 6; Psalm 99:7. Moses — The reader of the three preceding books has already become too well acquainted with this great man to need an introduction. His character is above eulogy, his great deeds are too numerous for recital. He is the embodiment of the Old Testament as Jesus is of the New. “The law came by Moses, but grace and truth by Jesus Christ.” His agency in the religious instruction and spiritual elevation of mankind will have grateful mention in the anthems of the blood-washed throng in heaven, for they shall sing “the song of Moses and the Lamb.” See Exodus 2, Introductory, (3.) Wilderness of Sinai — A wild and mountainous region in Arabia Petraea, between the two branching gulfs of the Red Sea. It is a heap of lofty granite rocks, with steep gorges and deep valleys, abounding in water and luxuriant vegetation in the rainy season. These valleys are then beautiful. The Israelites sojourned in that part of the desert which lies north of Mount Sinai.

“Long as the Desert of Sinai has been known to Christian pilgrims, yet it may almost be said never to have been explored before the beginning of this century. We are still at the threshold of our knowledge concerning it. The older travellers never troubled themselves to compare the general features of the desert with the indications of the sacred narrative, and therefore they missed the cardinal points of dispute. We are still, therefore, in the condition of discoverers; and if we are thus compelled to abstain from positive conclusions, it is a suspense which we need not be afraid to avow, and which in this instance is the less inconvenient, because the very uniformity of nature by which it is occasioned, also enables us to form an image of the general scenes, even where the particular scene is unknown; and many will feel at a distance what many, I doubt not, have felt on the spot, that in speaking of such sacred events, uncertainty is the best safeguard for reverence, and suspense, as to the exact details of form and locality, is the most fitting approach for the consideration of the presence of Him who made darkness his secret place, his pavilion round about him, with dark water and thick ‘clouds to cover them.’” STANLEY’S Sinai and Palestine. Tabernacle of the congregation — Literally, the tent of appointment, or stated meeting, (with Jehovah.) The Septuagint calls it “the tent of witness,” and the Vulgate “the tent of the covenant.” The book of the Law, the witness of the covenant, was kept here. The tabernacle had been standing one month. Exodus 40:17. To distinguish it from the more temporary tent, the dwelling of Moses during the first year of the Exodus — the ante-Sinaitic tabernacle — this second structure is called the Sinaitic tabernacle. It was constructed by Bezaleel and Aholiab after the model shown to Moses on the mount. Exodus 26:30. It was a portable mansion-house and temple, the miniature of the great temple of Solomon. Its position was significant and commanding. On the east, between it and the camp under the lead of Judah, were the tents of the priests; southward, between it and the camp of Reuben, were the Kohathites placed; on the west, between it and the camp of Ephraim, the Gershonites had their abodes; and on the north, between it and the camp of Dan, was the station of the Merarites. In proportion to the wealth of the people, it was more costly and magnificent than the world-renowned edifice at Jerusalem. For a minute description see Exodus 36-38. Second month — This gives a clew to the period of time occupied by the events narrated in Leviticus, namely, one month, during the encampment at Mount Sinai.

GENEALOGICAL ENROLMENT AND MUSTER OF THE ADULT MALES, 1-46. At the close of the third book of Moses the temple in the wilderness — the tabernacle — had been erected, the law of sacrifices instituted, the Aaronic priesthood inducted into their sacred office, and rules for holiness of life, and for the isolation of Israel from the Gentile world, had been ordained. At the opening of the present book the tabernacle has been standing one month. The purpose of the Sinaitic sojourn has now been accomplished, and the vast host must begin their eastward and northward march toward the Land of Promise. From childhood they had been taught to turn their eyes from the banks of the Nile towards the hills of Canaan, where Abraham, their national father, was buried. Thither had their ancestors borne, in princely procession, the embalmed body of the patriarch Jacob to find a resting place, and to that land of the covenant were the Hebrews now bearing the mortal part of Joseph, the benefactor of his father’s family. But mighty foes are intrenched in that land, and other strong enemies will stand in their path to bar their entrance. Even the desert swarms with foes. War is imminent. Bloody battle fields must be trodden before they can sit down in houses which they have not builded, and pluck the fruit of olive yards which they have not planted. Out of the crowd of fugitives hastening from the yoke of Egypt there must emerge a compact military organization; for though Jehovah, the God of battles, the Man of war, is leading them to victory, he purposes to employ human allies, and he wishes to put them into the condition of the highest efficiency. For the military organization a census must be taken. The census in this chapter is not an enumeration de novo, but rather a muster on the basis of numerical and genealogical data already in the possession of the tribes. This is shown by the accordance of the number who have paid the atonement money with the total number enrolled in this chapter as fighting men.

1. The Lord — JEHOVAH. The ineffable name was translated into the Greek by the Seventy by the word Kuriov, Lord. Our English translators unwisely followed the Septuagint, and adopted the appellative Lord for the significant, chosen, proper name Jehovah, the one eternal and immutable Being. We notify the reader that this is the ground of our preference of Jehovah to Lord throughout this Commentary. (See notes on Exodus 3. 14, and 6:2.) Spake — Either to the ear in audible words, as is strongly suggested in Exodus 33:11, and Numbers 12:8; or by the urim and thummim, as in Exodus 28:30; Numbers 27:21; or to the spiritual perception of Moses in such a manner as to give certainty to the communication. A consideration of the three places in which Jehovah spake to him and gave him audience inclines us to the theory of uttered words as the usual mode of communication. These three places were, 1.) The mercy-seat in the most holy place, the principal abode of the oracle. Numbers 7:89. We believe that it was from the mercy-seat between the cherubim that Moses was addressed in this chapter. 2.) At the door of the tabernacle, near the altar of burnt offering. Exodus 29:42. 3.) Out of the cloudy pillar. Exodus 33:9; Numbers 12:5, 6; Psalm 99:7. Moses — The reader of the three preceding books has already become too well acquainted with this great man to need an introduction. His character is above eulogy, his great deeds are too numerous for recital. He is the embodiment of the Old Testament as Jesus is of the New. “The law came by Moses, but grace and truth by Jesus Christ.” His agency in the religious instruction and spiritual elevation of mankind will have grateful mention in the anthems of the blood-washed throng in heaven, for they shall sing “the song of Moses and the Lamb.” See Exodus 2, Introductory, (3.) Wilderness of Sinai — A wild and mountainous region in Arabia Petraea, between the two branching gulfs of the Red Sea. It is a heap of lofty granite rocks, with steep gorges and deep valleys, abounding in water and luxuriant vegetation in the rainy season. These valleys are then beautiful. The Israelites sojourned in that part of the desert which lies north of Mount Sinai.

“Long as the Desert of Sinai has been known to Christian pilgrims, yet it may almost be said never to have been explored before the beginning of this century. We are still at the threshold of our knowledge concerning it. The older travellers never troubled themselves to compare the general features of the desert with the indications of the sacred narrative, and therefore they missed the cardinal points of dispute. We are still, therefore, in the condition of discoverers; and if we are thus compelled to abstain from positive conclusions, it is a suspense which we need not be afraid to avow, and which in this instance is the less inconvenient, because the very uniformity of nature by which it is occasioned, also enables us to form an image of the general scenes, even where the particular scene is unknown; and many will feel at a distance what many, I doubt not, have felt on the spot, that in speaking of such sacred events, uncertainty is the best safeguard for reverence, and suspense, as to the exact details of form and locality, is the most fitting approach for the consideration of the presence of Him who made darkness his secret place, his pavilion round about him, with dark water and thick ‘clouds to cover them.’” STANLEY’S Sinai and Palestine. Tabernacle of the congregation — Literally, the tent of appointment, or stated meeting, (with Jehovah.) The Septuagint calls it “the tent of witness,” and the Vulgate “the tent of the covenant.” The book of the Law, the witness of the covenant, was kept here. The tabernacle had been standing one month. Exodus 40:17. To distinguish it from the more temporary tent, the dwelling of Moses during the first year of the Exodus — the ante-Sinaitic tabernacle — this second structure is called the Sinaitic tabernacle. It was constructed by Bezaleel and Aholiab after the model shown to Moses on the mount. Exodus 26:30. It was a portable mansion-house and temple, the miniature of the great temple of Solomon. Its position was significant and commanding. On the east, between it and the camp under the lead of Judah, were the tents of the priests; southward, between it and the camp of Reuben, were the Kohathites placed; on the west, between it and the camp of Ephraim, the Gershonites had their abodes; and on the north, between it and the camp of Dan, was the station of the Merarites. In proportion to the wealth of the people, it was more costly and magnificent than the world-renowned edifice at Jerusalem. For a minute description see Exodus 36-38. Second month — This gives a clew to the period of time occupied by the events narrated in Leviticus, namely, one month, during the encampment at Mount Sinai.

Verse 25. Forty and five thousand six hundred and fifty.] Mr. Ainsworth has remarked that Gad, the handmaid’s son, is the only one of all the tribes whose number ends with fifty, all the others are by thousands, and end with hundreds; which shows God’s admirable providence and blessing in multiplying them so, that no odd or broken number was among all the tribes. But See Clarke on “Numbers 1:46”.

GENEALOGICAL ENROLMENT AND MUSTER OF THE ADULT MALES, 1-46. At the close of the third book of Moses the temple in the wilderness — the tabernacle — had been erected, the law of sacrifices instituted, the Aaronic priesthood inducted into their sacred office, and rules for holiness of life, and for the isolation of Israel from the Gentile world, had been ordained. At the opening of the present book the tabernacle has been standing one month. The purpose of the Sinaitic sojourn has now been accomplished, and the vast host must begin their eastward and northward march toward the Land of Promise. From childhood they had been taught to turn their eyes from the banks of the Nile towards the hills of Canaan, where Abraham, their national father, was buried. Thither had their ancestors borne, in princely procession, the embalmed body of the patriarch Jacob to find a resting place, and to that land of the covenant were the Hebrews now bearing the mortal part of Joseph, the benefactor of his father’s family. But mighty foes are intrenched in that land, and other strong enemies will stand in their path to bar their entrance. Even the desert swarms with foes. War is imminent. Bloody battle fields must be trodden before they can sit down in houses which they have not builded, and pluck the fruit of olive yards which they have not planted. Out of the crowd of fugitives hastening from the yoke of Egypt there must emerge a compact military organization; for though Jehovah, the God of battles, the Man of war, is leading them to victory, he purposes to employ human allies, and he wishes to put them into the condition of the highest efficiency. For the military organization a census must be taken. The census in this chapter is not an enumeration de novo, but rather a muster on the basis of numerical and genealogical data already in the possession of the tribes. This is shown by the accordance of the number who have paid the atonement money with the total number enrolled in this chapter as fighting men.

1. The Lord — JEHOVAH. The ineffable name was translated into the Greek by the Seventy by the word Kuriov, Lord. Our English translators unwisely followed the Septuagint, and adopted the appellative Lord for the significant, chosen, proper name Jehovah, the one eternal and immutable Being. We notify the reader that this is the ground of our preference of Jehovah to Lord throughout this Commentary. (See notes on Exodus 3. 14, and 6:2.) Spake — Either to the ear in audible words, as is strongly suggested in Exodus 33:11, and Numbers 12:8; or by the urim and thummim, as in Exodus 28:30; Numbers 27:21; or to the spiritual perception of Moses in such a manner as to give certainty to the communication. A consideration of the three places in which Jehovah spake to him and gave him audience inclines us to the theory of uttered words as the usual mode of communication. These three places were, 1.) The mercy-seat in the most holy place, the principal abode of the oracle. Numbers 7:89. We believe that it was from the mercy-seat between the cherubim that Moses was addressed in this chapter. 2.) At the door of the tabernacle, near the altar of burnt offering. Exodus 29:42. 3.) Out of the cloudy pillar. Exodus 33:9; Numbers 12:5, 6; Psalm 99:7. Moses — The reader of the three preceding books has already become too well acquainted with this great man to need an introduction. His character is above eulogy, his great deeds are too numerous for recital. He is the embodiment of the Old Testament as Jesus is of the New. “The law came by Moses, but grace and truth by Jesus Christ.” His agency in the religious instruction and spiritual elevation of mankind will have grateful mention in the anthems of the blood-washed throng in heaven, for they shall sing “the song of Moses and the Lamb.” See Exodus 2, Introductory, (3.) Wilderness of Sinai — A wild and mountainous region in Arabia Petraea, between the two branching gulfs of the Red Sea. It is a heap of lofty granite rocks, with steep gorges and deep valleys, abounding in water and luxuriant vegetation in the rainy season. These valleys are then beautiful. The Israelites sojourned in that part of the desert which lies north of Mount Sinai.

“Long as the Desert of Sinai has been known to Christian pilgrims, yet it may almost be said never to have been explored before the beginning of this century. We are still at the threshold of our knowledge concerning it. The older travellers never troubled themselves to compare the general features of the desert with the indications of the sacred narrative, and therefore they missed the cardinal points of dispute. We are still, therefore, in the condition of discoverers; and if we are thus compelled to abstain from positive conclusions, it is a suspense which we need not be afraid to avow, and which in this instance is the less inconvenient, because the very uniformity of nature by which it is occasioned, also enables us to form an image of the general scenes, even where the particular scene is unknown; and many will feel at a distance what many, I doubt not, have felt on the spot, that in speaking of such sacred events, uncertainty is the best safeguard for reverence, and suspense, as to the exact details of form and locality, is the most fitting approach for the consideration of the presence of Him who made darkness his secret place, his pavilion round about him, with dark water and thick ‘clouds to cover them.’” STANLEY’S Sinai and Palestine. Tabernacle of the congregation — Literally, the tent of appointment, or stated meeting, (with Jehovah.) The Septuagint calls it “the tent of witness,” and the Vulgate “the tent of the covenant.” The book of the Law, the witness of the covenant, was kept here. The tabernacle had been standing one month. Exodus 40:17. To distinguish it from the more temporary tent, the dwelling of Moses during the first year of the Exodus — the ante-Sinaitic tabernacle — this second structure is called the Sinaitic tabernacle. It was constructed by Bezaleel and Aholiab after the model shown to Moses on the mount. Exodus 26:30. It was a portable mansion-house and temple, the miniature of the great temple of Solomon. Its position was significant and commanding. On the east, between it and the camp under the lead of Judah, were the tents of the priests; southward, between it and the camp of Reuben, were the Kohathites placed; on the west, between it and the camp of Ephraim, the Gershonites had their abodes; and on the north, between it and the camp of Dan, was the station of the Merarites. In proportion to the wealth of the people, it was more costly and magnificent than the world-renowned edifice at Jerusalem. For a minute description see Exodus 36-38. Second month — This gives a clew to the period of time occupied by the events narrated in Leviticus, namely, one month, during the encampment at Mount Sinai.

GENEALOGICAL ENROLMENT AND MUSTER OF THE ADULT MALES, 1-46. At the close of the third book of Moses the temple in the wilderness — the tabernacle — had been erected, the law of sacrifices instituted, the Aaronic priesthood inducted into their sacred office, and rules for holiness of life, and for the isolation of Israel from the Gentile world, had been ordained. At the opening of the present book the tabernacle has been standing one month. The purpose of the Sinaitic sojourn has now been accomplished, and the vast host must begin their eastward and northward march toward the Land of Promise. From childhood they had been taught to turn their eyes from the banks of the Nile towards the hills of Canaan, where Abraham, their national father, was buried. Thither had their ancestors borne, in princely procession, the embalmed body of the patriarch Jacob to find a resting place, and to that land of the covenant were the Hebrews now bearing the mortal part of Joseph, the benefactor of his father’s family. But mighty foes are intrenched in that land, and other strong enemies will stand in their path to bar their entrance. Even the desert swarms with foes. War is imminent. Bloody battle fields must be trodden before they can sit down in houses which they have not builded, and pluck the fruit of olive yards which they have not planted. Out of the crowd of fugitives hastening from the yoke of Egypt there must emerge a compact military organization; for though Jehovah, the God of battles, the Man of war, is leading them to victory, he purposes to employ human allies, and he wishes to put them into the condition of the highest efficiency. For the military organization a census must be taken. The census in this chapter is not an enumeration de novo, but rather a muster on the basis of numerical and genealogical data already in the possession of the tribes. This is shown by the accordance of the number who have paid the atonement money with the total number enrolled in this chapter as fighting men.

1. The Lord — JEHOVAH. The ineffable name was translated into the Greek by the Seventy by the word Kuriov, Lord. Our English translators unwisely followed the Septuagint, and adopted the appellative Lord for the significant, chosen, proper name Jehovah, the one eternal and immutable Being. We notify the reader that this is the ground of our preference of Jehovah to Lord throughout this Commentary. (See notes on Exodus 3. 14, and 6:2.) Spake — Either to the ear in audible words, as is strongly suggested in Exodus 33:11, and Numbers 12:8; or by the urim and thummim, as in Exodus 28:30; Numbers 27:21; or to the spiritual perception of Moses in such a manner as to give certainty to the communication. A consideration of the three places in which Jehovah spake to him and gave him audience inclines us to the theory of uttered words as the usual mode of communication. These three places were, 1.) The mercy-seat in the most holy place, the principal abode of the oracle. Numbers 7:89. We believe that it was from the mercy-seat between the cherubim that Moses was addressed in this chapter. 2.) At the door of the tabernacle, near the altar of burnt offering. Exodus 29:42. 3.) Out of the cloudy pillar. Exodus 33:9; Numbers 12:5, 6; Psalm 99:7. Moses — The reader of the three preceding books has already become too well acquainted with this great man to need an introduction. His character is above eulogy, his great deeds are too numerous for recital. He is the embodiment of the Old Testament as Jesus is of the New. “The law came by Moses, but grace and truth by Jesus Christ.” His agency in the religious instruction and spiritual elevation of mankind will have grateful mention in the anthems of the blood-washed throng in heaven, for they shall sing “the song of Moses and the Lamb.” See Exodus 2, Introductory, (3.) Wilderness of Sinai — A wild and mountainous region in Arabia Petraea, between the two branching gulfs of the Red Sea. It is a heap of lofty granite rocks, with steep gorges and deep valleys, abounding in water and luxuriant vegetation in the rainy season. These valleys are then beautiful. The Israelites sojourned in that part of the desert which lies north of Mount Sinai.

“Long as the Desert of Sinai has been known to Christian pilgrims, yet it may almost be said never to have been explored before the beginning of this century. We are still at the threshold of our knowledge concerning it. The older travellers never troubled themselves to compare the general features of the desert with the indications of the sacred narrative, and therefore they missed the cardinal points of dispute. We are still, therefore, in the condition of discoverers; and if we are thus compelled to abstain from positive conclusions, it is a suspense which we need not be afraid to avow, and which in this instance is the less inconvenient, because the very uniformity of nature by which it is occasioned, also enables us to form an image of the general scenes, even where the particular scene is unknown; and many will feel at a distance what many, I doubt not, have felt on the spot, that in speaking of such sacred events, uncertainty is the best safeguard for reverence, and suspense, as to the exact details of form and locality, is the most fitting approach for the consideration of the presence of Him who made darkness his secret place, his pavilion round about him, with dark water and thick ‘clouds to cover them.’” STANLEY’S Sinai and Palestine. Tabernacle of the congregation — Literally, the tent of appointment, or stated meeting, (with Jehovah.) The Septuagint calls it “the tent of witness,” and the Vulgate “the tent of the covenant.” The book of the Law, the witness of the covenant, was kept here. The tabernacle had been standing one month. Exodus 40:17. To distinguish it from the more temporary tent, the dwelling of Moses during the first year of the Exodus — the ante-Sinaitic tabernacle — this second structure is called the Sinaitic tabernacle. It was constructed by Bezaleel and Aholiab after the model shown to Moses on the mount. Exodus 26:30. It was a portable mansion-house and temple, the miniature of the great temple of Solomon. Its position was significant and commanding. On the east, between it and the camp under the lead of Judah, were the tents of the priests; southward, between it and the camp of Reuben, were the Kohathites placed; on the west, between it and the camp of Ephraim, the Gershonites had their abodes; and on the north, between it and the camp of Dan, was the station of the Merarites. In proportion to the wealth of the people, it was more costly and magnificent than the world-renowned edifice at Jerusalem. For a minute description see Exodus 36-38. Second month — This gives a clew to the period of time occupied by the events narrated in Leviticus, namely, one month, during the encampment at Mount Sinai.

V. 27. Threescore and fourteen thousand-Far more than any other tribe, in accomplishing Jacob’s prophecy, Genesis 49:8-12.

Verse 27. Threescore and fourteen thousand — Far more than any other tribe, in accomplishing Jacob’s prophecy, Genesis 49.

Ver. 27. The tribe of Judah were threescore and fourteen thousand and six hundred; men fit for war, women, children and strangers not being counted here. It appears from Genesis 38. that Judah left his father’s house, and married very young; he had also a son by Tamar, which accounts for the superior increase of his tribe.

GENEALOGICAL ENROLMENT AND MUSTER OF THE ADULT MALES, 1-46. At the close of the third book of Moses the temple in the wilderness — the tabernacle — had been erected, the law of sacrifices instituted, the Aaronic priesthood inducted into their sacred office, and rules for holiness of life, and for the isolation of Israel from the Gentile world, had been ordained. At the opening of the present book the tabernacle has been standing one month. The purpose of the Sinaitic sojourn has now been accomplished, and the vast host must begin their eastward and northward march toward the Land of Promise. From childhood they had been taught to turn their eyes from the banks of the Nile towards the hills of Canaan, where Abraham, their national father, was buried. Thither had their ancestors borne, in princely procession, the embalmed body of the patriarch Jacob to find a resting place, and to that land of the covenant were the Hebrews now bearing the mortal part of Joseph, the benefactor of his father’s family. But mighty foes are intrenched in that land, and other strong enemies will stand in their path to bar their entrance. Even the desert swarms with foes. War is imminent. Bloody battle fields must be trodden before they can sit down in houses which they have not builded, and pluck the fruit of olive yards which they have not planted. Out of the crowd of fugitives hastening from the yoke of Egypt there must emerge a compact military organization; for though Jehovah, the God of battles, the Man of war, is leading them to victory, he purposes to employ human allies, and he wishes to put them into the condition of the highest efficiency. For the military organization a census must be taken. The census in this chapter is not an enumeration de novo, but rather a muster on the basis of numerical and genealogical data already in the possession of the tribes. This is shown by the accordance of the number who have paid the atonement money with the total number enrolled in this chapter as fighting men.

1. The Lord — JEHOVAH. The ineffable name was translated into the Greek by the Seventy by the word Kuriov, Lord. Our English translators unwisely followed the Septuagint, and adopted the appellative Lord for the significant, chosen, proper name Jehovah, the one eternal and immutable Being. We notify the reader that this is the ground of our preference of Jehovah to Lord throughout this Commentary. (See notes on Exodus 3. 14, and 6:2.) Spake — Either to the ear in audible words, as is strongly suggested in Exodus 33:11, and Numbers 12:8; or by the urim and thummim, as in Exodus 28:30; Numbers 27:21; or to the spiritual perception of Moses in such a manner as to give certainty to the communication. A consideration of the three places in which Jehovah spake to him and gave him audience inclines us to the theory of uttered words as the usual mode of communication. These three places were, 1.) The mercy-seat in the most holy place, the principal abode of the oracle. Numbers 7:89. We believe that it was from the mercy-seat between the cherubim that Moses was addressed in this chapter. 2.) At the door of the tabernacle, near the altar of burnt offering. Exodus 29:42. 3.) Out of the cloudy pillar. Exodus 33:9; Numbers 12:5, 6; Psalm 99:7. Moses — The reader of the three preceding books has already become too well acquainted with this great man to need an introduction. His character is above eulogy, his great deeds are too numerous for recital. He is the embodiment of the Old Testament as Jesus is of the New. “The law came by Moses, but grace and truth by Jesus Christ.” His agency in the religious instruction and spiritual elevation of mankind will have grateful mention in the anthems of the blood-washed throng in heaven, for they shall sing “the song of Moses and the Lamb.” See Exodus 2, Introductory, (3.) Wilderness of Sinai — A wild and mountainous region in Arabia Petraea, between the two branching gulfs of the Red Sea. It is a heap of lofty granite rocks, with steep gorges and deep valleys, abounding in water and luxuriant vegetation in the rainy season. These valleys are then beautiful. The Israelites sojourned in that part of the desert which lies north of Mount Sinai.

“Long as the Desert of Sinai has been known to Christian pilgrims, yet it may almost be said never to have been explored before the beginning of this century. We are still at the threshold of our knowledge concerning it. The older travellers never troubled themselves to compare the general features of the desert with the indications of the sacred narrative, and therefore they missed the cardinal points of dispute. We are still, therefore, in the condition of discoverers; and if we are thus compelled to abstain from positive conclusions, it is a suspense which we need not be afraid to avow, and which in this instance is the less inconvenient, because the very uniformity of nature by which it is occasioned, also enables us to form an image of the general scenes, even where the particular scene is unknown; and many will feel at a distance what many, I doubt not, have felt on the spot, that in speaking of such sacred events, uncertainty is the best safeguard for reverence, and suspense, as to the exact details of form and locality, is the most fitting approach for the consideration of the presence of Him who made darkness his secret place, his pavilion round about him, with dark water and thick ‘clouds to cover them.’” STANLEY’S Sinai and Palestine. Tabernacle of the congregation — Literally, the tent of appointment, or stated meeting, (with Jehovah.) The Septuagint calls it “the tent of witness,” and the Vulgate “the tent of the covenant.” The book of the Law, the witness of the covenant, was kept here. The tabernacle had been standing one month. Exodus 40:17. To distinguish it from the more temporary tent, the dwelling of Moses during the first year of the Exodus — the ante-Sinaitic tabernacle — this second structure is called the Sinaitic tabernacle. It was constructed by Bezaleel and Aholiab after the model shown to Moses on the mount. Exodus 26:30. It was a portable mansion-house and temple, the miniature of the great temple of Solomon. Its position was significant and commanding. On the east, between it and the camp under the lead of Judah, were the tents of the priests; southward, between it and the camp of Reuben, were the Kohathites placed; on the west, between it and the camp of Ephraim, the Gershonites had their abodes; and on the north, between it and the camp of Dan, was the station of the Merarites. In proportion to the wealth of the people, it was more costly and magnificent than the world-renowned edifice at Jerusalem. For a minute description see Exodus 36-38. Second month — This gives a clew to the period of time occupied by the events narrated in Leviticus, namely, one month, during the encampment at Mount Sinai.

GENEALOGICAL ENROLMENT AND MUSTER OF THE ADULT MALES, 1-46. At the close of the third book of Moses the temple in the wilderness — the tabernacle — had been erected, the law of sacrifices instituted, the Aaronic priesthood inducted into their sacred office, and rules for holiness of life, and for the isolation of Israel from the Gentile world, had been ordained. At the opening of the present book the tabernacle has been standing one month. The purpose of the Sinaitic sojourn has now been accomplished, and the vast host must begin their eastward and northward march toward the Land of Promise. From childhood they had been taught to turn their eyes from the banks of the Nile towards the hills of Canaan, where Abraham, their national father, was buried. Thither had their ancestors borne, in princely procession, the embalmed body of the patriarch Jacob to find a resting place, and to that land of the covenant were the Hebrews now bearing the mortal part of Joseph, the benefactor of his father’s family. But mighty foes are intrenched in that land, and other strong enemies will stand in their path to bar their entrance. Even the desert swarms with foes. War is imminent. Bloody battle fields must be trodden before they can sit down in houses which they have not builded, and pluck the fruit of olive yards which they have not planted. Out of the crowd of fugitives hastening from the yoke of Egypt there must emerge a compact military organization; for though Jehovah, the God of battles, the Man of war, is leading them to victory, he purposes to employ human allies, and he wishes to put them into the condition of the highest efficiency. For the military organization a census must be taken. The census in this chapter is not an enumeration de novo, but rather a muster on the basis of numerical and genealogical data already in the possession of the tribes. This is shown by the accordance of the number who have paid the atonement money with the total number enrolled in this chapter as fighting men.

1. The Lord — JEHOVAH. The ineffable name was translated into the Greek by the Seventy by the word Kuriov, Lord. Our English translators unwisely followed the Septuagint, and adopted the appellative Lord for the significant, chosen, proper name Jehovah, the one eternal and immutable Being. We notify the reader that this is the ground of our preference of Jehovah to Lord throughout this Commentary. (See notes on Exodus 3. 14, and 6:2.) Spake — Either to the ear in audible words, as is strongly suggested in Exodus 33:11, and Numbers 12:8; or by the urim and thummim, as in Exodus 28:30; Numbers 27:21; or to the spiritual perception of Moses in such a manner as to give certainty to the communication. A consideration of the three places in which Jehovah spake to him and gave him audience inclines us to the theory of uttered words as the usual mode of communication. These three places were, 1.) The mercy-seat in the most holy place, the principal abode of the oracle. Numbers 7:89. We believe that it was from the mercy-seat between the cherubim that Moses was addressed in this chapter. 2.) At the door of the tabernacle, near the altar of burnt offering. Exodus 29:42. 3.) Out of the cloudy pillar. Exodus 33:9; Numbers 12:5, 6; Psalm 99:7. Moses — The reader of the three preceding books has already become too well acquainted with this great man to need an introduction. His character is above eulogy, his great deeds are too numerous for recital. He is the embodiment of the Old Testament as Jesus is of the New. “The law came by Moses, but grace and truth by Jesus Christ.” His agency in the religious instruction and spiritual elevation of mankind will have grateful mention in the anthems of the blood-washed throng in heaven, for they shall sing “the song of Moses and the Lamb.” See Exodus 2, Introductory, (3.) Wilderness of Sinai — A wild and mountainous region in Arabia Petraea, between the two branching gulfs of the Red Sea. It is a heap of lofty granite rocks, with steep gorges and deep valleys, abounding in water and luxuriant vegetation in the rainy season. These valleys are then beautiful. The Israelites sojourned in that part of the desert which lies north of Mount Sinai.

“Long as the Desert of Sinai has been known to Christian pilgrims, yet it may almost be said never to have been explored before the beginning of this century. We are still at the threshold of our knowledge concerning it. The older travellers never troubled themselves to compare the general features of the desert with the indications of the sacred narrative, and therefore they missed the cardinal points of dispute. We are still, therefore, in the condition of discoverers; and if we are thus compelled to abstain from positive conclusions, it is a suspense which we need not be afraid to avow, and which in this instance is the less inconvenient, because the very uniformity of nature by which it is occasioned, also enables us to form an image of the general scenes, even where the particular scene is unknown; and many will feel at a distance what many, I doubt not, have felt on the spot, that in speaking of such sacred events, uncertainty is the best safeguard for reverence, and suspense, as to the exact details of form and locality, is the most fitting approach for the consideration of the presence of Him who made darkness his secret place, his pavilion round about him, with dark water and thick ‘clouds to cover them.’” STANLEY’S Sinai and Palestine. Tabernacle of the congregation — Literally, the tent of appointment, or stated meeting, (with Jehovah.) The Septuagint calls it “the tent of witness,” and the Vulgate “the tent of the covenant.” The book of the Law, the witness of the covenant, was kept here. The tabernacle had been standing one month. Exodus 40:17. To distinguish it from the more temporary tent, the dwelling of Moses during the first year of the Exodus — the ante-Sinaitic tabernacle — this second structure is called the Sinaitic tabernacle. It was constructed by Bezaleel and Aholiab after the model shown to Moses on the mount. Exodus 26:30. It was a portable mansion-house and temple, the miniature of the great temple of Solomon. Its position was significant and commanding. On the east, between it and the camp under the lead of Judah, were the tents of the priests; southward, between it and the camp of Reuben, were the Kohathites placed; on the west, between it and the camp of Ephraim, the Gershonites had their abodes; and on the north, between it and the camp of Dan, was the station of the Merarites. In proportion to the wealth of the people, it was more costly and magnificent than the world-renowned edifice at Jerusalem. For a minute description see Exodus 36-38. Second month — This gives a clew to the period of time occupied by the events narrated in Leviticus, namely, one month, during the encampment at Mount Sinai.

GENEALOGICAL ENROLMENT AND MUSTER OF THE ADULT MALES, 1-46. At the close of the third book of Moses the temple in the wilderness — the tabernacle — had been erected, the law of sacrifices instituted, the Aaronic priesthood inducted into their sacred office, and rules for holiness of life, and for the isolation of Israel from the Gentile world, had been ordained. At the opening of the present book the tabernacle has been standing one month. The purpose of the Sinaitic sojourn has now been accomplished, and the vast host must begin their eastward and northward march toward the Land of Promise. From childhood they had been taught to turn their eyes from the banks of the Nile towards the hills of Canaan, where Abraham, their national father, was buried. Thither had their ancestors borne, in princely procession, the embalmed body of the patriarch Jacob to find a resting place, and to that land of the covenant were the Hebrews now bearing the mortal part of Joseph, the benefactor of his father’s family. But mighty foes are intrenched in that land, and other strong enemies will stand in their path to bar their entrance. Even the desert swarms with foes. War is imminent. Bloody battle fields must be trodden before they can sit down in houses which they have not builded, and pluck the fruit of olive yards which they have not planted. Out of the crowd of fugitives hastening from the yoke of Egypt there must emerge a compact military organization; for though Jehovah, the God of battles, the Man of war, is leading them to victory, he purposes to employ human allies, and he wishes to put them into the condition of the highest efficiency. For the military organization a census must be taken. The census in this chapter is not an enumeration de novo, but rather a muster on the basis of numerical and genealogical data already in the possession of the tribes. This is shown by the accordance of the number who have paid the atonement money with the total number enrolled in this chapter as fighting men.

1. The Lord — JEHOVAH. The ineffable name was translated into the Greek by the Seventy by the word Kuriov, Lord. Our English translators unwisely followed the Septuagint, and adopted the appellative Lord for the significant, chosen, proper name Jehovah, the one eternal and immutable Being. We notify the reader that this is the ground of our preference of Jehovah to Lord throughout this Commentary. (See notes on Exodus 3. 14, and 6:2.) Spake — Either to the ear in audible words, as is strongly suggested in Exodus 33:11, and Numbers 12:8; or by the urim and thummim, as in Exodus 28:30; Numbers 27:21; or to the spiritual perception of Moses in such a manner as to give certainty to the communication. A consideration of the three places in which Jehovah spake to him and gave him audience inclines us to the theory of uttered words as the usual mode of communication. These three places were, 1.) The mercy-seat in the most holy place, the principal abode of the oracle. Numbers 7:89. We believe that it was from the mercy-seat between the cherubim that Moses was addressed in this chapter. 2.) At the door of the tabernacle, near the altar of burnt offering. Exodus 29:42. 3.) Out of the cloudy pillar. Exodus 33:9; Numbers 12:5, 6; Psalm 99:7. Moses — The reader of the three preceding books has already become too well acquainted with this great man to need an introduction. His character is above eulogy, his great deeds are too numerous for recital. He is the embodiment of the Old Testament as Jesus is of the New. “The law came by Moses, but grace and truth by Jesus Christ.” His agency in the religious instruction and spiritual elevation of mankind will have grateful mention in the anthems of the blood-washed throng in heaven, for they shall sing “the song of Moses and the Lamb.” See Exodus 2, Introductory, (3.) Wilderness of Sinai — A wild and mountainous region in Arabia Petraea, between the two branching gulfs of the Red Sea. It is a heap of lofty granite rocks, with steep gorges and deep valleys, abounding in water and luxuriant vegetation in the rainy season. These valleys are then beautiful. The Israelites sojourned in that part of the desert which lies north of Mount Sinai.

“Long as the Desert of Sinai has been known to Christian pilgrims, yet it may almost be said never to have been explored before the beginning of this century. We are still at the threshold of our knowledge concerning it. The older travellers never troubled themselves to compare the general features of the desert with the indications of the sacred narrative, and therefore they missed the cardinal points of dispute. We are still, therefore, in the condition of discoverers; and if we are thus compelled to abstain from positive conclusions, it is a suspense which we need not be afraid to avow, and which in this instance is the less inconvenient, because the very uniformity of nature by which it is occasioned, also enables us to form an image of the general scenes, even where the particular scene is unknown; and many will feel at a distance what many, I doubt not, have felt on the spot, that in speaking of such sacred events, uncertainty is the best safeguard for reverence, and suspense, as to the exact details of form and locality, is the most fitting approach for the consideration of the presence of Him who made darkness his secret place, his pavilion round about him, with dark water and thick ‘clouds to cover them.’” STANLEY’S Sinai and Palestine. Tabernacle of the congregation — Literally, the tent of appointment, or stated meeting, (with Jehovah.) The Septuagint calls it “the tent of witness,” and the Vulgate “the tent of the covenant.” The book of the Law, the witness of the covenant, was kept here. The tabernacle had been standing one month. Exodus 40:17. To distinguish it from the more temporary tent, the dwelling of Moses during the first year of the Exodus — the ante-Sinaitic tabernacle — this second structure is called the Sinaitic tabernacle. It was constructed by Bezaleel and Aholiab after the model shown to Moses on the mount. Exodus 26:30. It was a portable mansion-house and temple, the miniature of the great temple of Solomon. Its position was significant and commanding. On the east, between it and the camp under the lead of Judah, were the tents of the priests; southward, between it and the camp of Reuben, were the Kohathites placed; on the west, between it and the camp of Ephraim, the Gershonites had their abodes; and on the north, between it and the camp of Dan, was the station of the Merarites. In proportion to the wealth of the people, it was more costly and magnificent than the world-renowned edifice at Jerusalem. For a minute description see Exodus 36-38. Second month — This gives a clew to the period of time occupied by the events narrated in Leviticus, namely, one month, during the encampment at Mount Sinai.

GENEALOGICAL ENROLMENT AND MUSTER OF THE ADULT MALES, 1-46. At the close of the third book of Moses the temple in the wilderness — the tabernacle — had been erected, the law of sacrifices instituted, the Aaronic priesthood inducted into their sacred office, and rules for holiness of life, and for the isolation of Israel from the Gentile world, had been ordained. At the opening of the present book the tabernacle has been standing one month. The purpose of the Sinaitic sojourn has now been accomplished, and the vast host must begin their eastward and northward march toward the Land of Promise. From childhood they had been taught to turn their eyes from the banks of the Nile towards the hills of Canaan, where Abraham, their national father, was buried. Thither had their ancestors borne, in princely procession, the embalmed body of the patriarch Jacob to find a resting place, and to that land of the covenant were the Hebrews now bearing the mortal part of Joseph, the benefactor of his father’s family. But mighty foes are intrenched in that land, and other strong enemies will stand in their path to bar their entrance. Even the desert swarms with foes. War is imminent. Bloody battle fields must be trodden before they can sit down in houses which they have not builded, and pluck the fruit of olive yards which they have not planted. Out of the crowd of fugitives hastening from the yoke of Egypt there must emerge a compact military organization; for though Jehovah, the God of battles, the Man of war, is leading them to victory, he purposes to employ human allies, and he wishes to put them into the condition of the highest efficiency. For the military organization a census must be taken. The census in this chapter is not an enumeration de novo, but rather a muster on the basis of numerical and genealogical data already in the possession of the tribes. This is shown by the accordance of the number who have paid the atonement money with the total number enrolled in this chapter as fighting men.

1. The Lord — JEHOVAH. The ineffable name was translated into the Greek by the Seventy by the word Kuriov, Lord. Our English translators unwisely followed the Septuagint, and adopted the appellative Lord for the significant, chosen, proper name Jehovah, the one eternal and immutable Being. We notify the reader that this is the ground of our preference of Jehovah to Lord throughout this Commentary. (See notes on Exodus 3. 14, and 6:2.) Spake — Either to the ear in audible words, as is strongly suggested in Exodus 33:11, and Numbers 12:8; or by the urim and thummim, as in Exodus 28:30; Numbers 27:21; or to the spiritual perception of Moses in such a manner as to give certainty to the communication. A consideration of the three places in which Jehovah spake to him and gave him audience inclines us to the theory of uttered words as the usual mode of communication. These three places were, 1.) The mercy-seat in the most holy place, the principal abode of the oracle. Numbers 7:89. We believe that it was from the mercy-seat between the cherubim that Moses was addressed in this chapter. 2.) At the door of the tabernacle, near the altar of burnt offering. Exodus 29:42. 3.) Out of the cloudy pillar. Exodus 33:9; Numbers 12:5, 6; Psalm 99:7. Moses — The reader of the three preceding books has already become too well acquainted with this great man to need an introduction. His character is above eulogy, his great deeds are too numerous for recital. He is the embodiment of the Old Testament as Jesus is of the New. “The law came by Moses, but grace and truth by Jesus Christ.” His agency in the religious instruction and spiritual elevation of mankind will have grateful mention in the anthems of the blood-washed throng in heaven, for they shall sing “the song of Moses and the Lamb.” See Exodus 2, Introductory, (3.) Wilderness of Sinai — A wild and mountainous region in Arabia Petraea, between the two branching gulfs of the Red Sea. It is a heap of lofty granite rocks, with steep gorges and deep valleys, abounding in water and luxuriant vegetation in the rainy season. These valleys are then beautiful. The Israelites sojourned in that part of the desert which lies north of Mount Sinai.

“Long as the Desert of Sinai has been known to Christian pilgrims, yet it may almost be said never to have been explored before the beginning of this century. We are still at the threshold of our knowledge concerning it. The older travellers never troubled themselves to compare the general features of the desert with the indications of the sacred narrative, and therefore they missed the cardinal points of dispute. We are still, therefore, in the condition of discoverers; and if we are thus compelled to abstain from positive conclusions, it is a suspense which we need not be afraid to avow, and which in this instance is the less inconvenient, because the very uniformity of nature by which it is occasioned, also enables us to form an image of the general scenes, even where the particular scene is unknown; and many will feel at a distance what many, I doubt not, have felt on the spot, that in speaking of such sacred events, uncertainty is the best safeguard for reverence, and suspense, as to the exact details of form and locality, is the most fitting approach for the consideration of the presence of Him who made darkness his secret place, his pavilion round about him, with dark water and thick ‘clouds to cover them.’” STANLEY’S Sinai and Palestine. Tabernacle of the congregation — Literally, the tent of appointment, or stated meeting, (with Jehovah.) The Septuagint calls it “the tent of witness,” and the Vulgate “the tent of the covenant.” The book of the Law, the witness of the covenant, was kept here. The tabernacle had been standing one month. Exodus 40:17. To distinguish it from the more temporary tent, the dwelling of Moses during the first year of the Exodus — the ante-Sinaitic tabernacle — this second structure is called the Sinaitic tabernacle. It was constructed by Bezaleel and Aholiab after the model shown to Moses on the mount. Exodus 26:30. It was a portable mansion-house and temple, the miniature of the great temple of Solomon. Its position was significant and commanding. On the east, between it and the camp under the lead of Judah, were the tents of the priests; southward, between it and the camp of Reuben, were the Kohathites placed; on the west, between it and the camp of Ephraim, the Gershonites had their abodes; and on the north, between it and the camp of Dan, was the station of the Merarites. In proportion to the wealth of the people, it was more costly and magnificent than the world-renowned edifice at Jerusalem. For a minute description see Exodus 36-38. Second month — This gives a clew to the period of time occupied by the events narrated in Leviticus, namely, one month, during the encampment at Mount Sinai.

GENEALOGICAL ENROLMENT AND MUSTER OF THE ADULT MALES, 1-46. At the close of the third book of Moses the temple in the wilderness — the tabernacle — had been erected, the law of sacrifices instituted, the Aaronic priesthood inducted into their sacred office, and rules for holiness of life, and for the isolation of Israel from the Gentile world, had been ordained. At the opening of the present book the tabernacle has been standing one month. The purpose of the Sinaitic sojourn has now been accomplished, and the vast host must begin their eastward and northward march toward the Land of Promise. From childhood they had been taught to turn their eyes from the banks of the Nile towards the hills of Canaan, where Abraham, their national father, was buried. Thither had their ancestors borne, in princely procession, the embalmed body of the patriarch Jacob to find a resting place, and to that land of the covenant were the Hebrews now bearing the mortal part of Joseph, the benefactor of his father’s family. But mighty foes are intrenched in that land, and other strong enemies will stand in their path to bar their entrance. Even the desert swarms with foes. War is imminent. Bloody battle fields must be trodden before they can sit down in houses which they have not builded, and pluck the fruit of olive yards which they have not planted. Out of the crowd of fugitives hastening from the yoke of Egypt there must emerge a compact military organization; for though Jehovah, the God of battles, the Man of war, is leading them to victory, he purposes to employ human allies, and he wishes to put them into the condition of the highest efficiency. For the military organization a census must be taken. The census in this chapter is not an enumeration de novo, but rather a muster on the basis of numerical and genealogical data already in the possession of the tribes. This is shown by the accordance of the number who have paid the atonement money with the total number enrolled in this chapter as fighting men.

1. The Lord — JEHOVAH. The ineffable name was translated into the Greek by the Seventy by the word Kuriov, Lord. Our English translators unwisely followed the Septuagint, and adopted the appellative Lord for the significant, chosen, proper name Jehovah, the one eternal and immutable Being. We notify the reader that this is the ground of our preference of Jehovah to Lord throughout this Commentary. (See notes on Exodus 3. 14, and 6:2.) Spake — Either to the ear in audible words, as is strongly suggested in Exodus 33:11, and Numbers 12:8; or by the urim and thummim, as in Exodus 28:30; Numbers 27:21; or to the spiritual perception of Moses in such a manner as to give certainty to the communication. A consideration of the three places in which Jehovah spake to him and gave him audience inclines us to the theory of uttered words as the usual mode of communication. These three places were, 1.) The mercy-seat in the most holy place, the principal abode of the oracle. Numbers 7:89. We believe that it was from the mercy-seat between the cherubim that Moses was addressed in this chapter. 2.) At the door of the tabernacle, near the altar of burnt offering. Exodus 29:42. 3.) Out of the cloudy pillar. Exodus 33:9; Numbers 12:5, 6; Psalm 99:7. Moses — The reader of the three preceding books has already become too well acquainted with this great man to need an introduction. His character is above eulogy, his great deeds are too numerous for recital. He is the embodiment of the Old Testament as Jesus is of the New. “The law came by Moses, but grace and truth by Jesus Christ.” His agency in the religious instruction and spiritual elevation of mankind will have grateful mention in the anthems of the blood-washed throng in heaven, for they shall sing “the song of Moses and the Lamb.” See Exodus 2, Introductory, (3.) Wilderness of Sinai — A wild and mountainous region in Arabia Petraea, between the two branching gulfs of the Red Sea. It is a heap of lofty granite rocks, with steep gorges and deep valleys, abounding in water and luxuriant vegetation in the rainy season. These valleys are then beautiful. The Israelites sojourned in that part of the desert which lies north of Mount Sinai.

“Long as the Desert of Sinai has been known to Christian pilgrims, yet it may almost be said never to have been explored before the beginning of this century. We are still at the threshold of our knowledge concerning it. The older travellers never troubled themselves to compare the general features of the desert with the indications of the sacred narrative, and therefore they missed the cardinal points of dispute. We are still, therefore, in the condition of discoverers; and if we are thus compelled to abstain from positive conclusions, it is a suspense which we need not be afraid to avow, and which in this instance is the less inconvenient, because the very uniformity of nature by which it is occasioned, also enables us to form an image of the general scenes, even where the particular scene is unknown; and many will feel at a distance what many, I doubt not, have felt on the spot, that in speaking of such sacred events, uncertainty is the best safeguard for reverence, and suspense, as to the exact details of form and locality, is the most fitting approach for the consideration of the presence of Him who made darkness his secret place, his pavilion round about him, with dark water and thick ‘clouds to cover them.’” STANLEY’S Sinai and Palestine. Tabernacle of the congregation — Literally, the tent of appointment, or stated meeting, (with Jehovah.) The Septuagint calls it “the tent of witness,” and the Vulgate “the tent of the covenant.” The book of the Law, the witness of the covenant, was kept here. The tabernacle had been standing one month. Exodus 40:17. To distinguish it from the more temporary tent, the dwelling of Moses during the first year of the Exodus — the ante-Sinaitic tabernacle — this second structure is called the Sinaitic tabernacle. It was constructed by Bezaleel and Aholiab after the model shown to Moses on the mount. Exodus 26:30. It was a portable mansion-house and temple, the miniature of the great temple of Solomon. Its position was significant and commanding. On the east, between it and the camp under the lead of Judah, were the tents of the priests; southward, between it and the camp of Reuben, were the Kohathites placed; on the west, between it and the camp of Ephraim, the Gershonites had their abodes; and on the north, between it and the camp of Dan, was the station of the Merarites. In proportion to the wealth of the people, it was more costly and magnificent than the world-renowned edifice at Jerusalem. For a minute description see Exodus 36-38. Second month — This gives a clew to the period of time occupied by the events narrated in Leviticus, namely, one month, during the encampment at Mount Sinai.

GENEALOGICAL ENROLMENT AND MUSTER OF THE ADULT MALES, 1-46. At the close of the third book of Moses the temple in the wilderness — the tabernacle — had been erected, the law of sacrifices instituted, the Aaronic priesthood inducted into their sacred office, and rules for holiness of life, and for the isolation of Israel from the Gentile world, had been ordained. At the opening of the present book the tabernacle has been standing one month. The purpose of the Sinaitic sojourn has now been accomplished, and the vast host must begin their eastward and northward march toward the Land of Promise. From childhood they had been taught to turn their eyes from the banks of the Nile towards the hills of Canaan, where Abraham, their national father, was buried. Thither had their ancestors borne, in princely procession, the embalmed body of the patriarch Jacob to find a resting place, and to that land of the covenant were the Hebrews now bearing the mortal part of Joseph, the benefactor of his father’s family. But mighty foes are intrenched in that land, and other strong enemies will stand in their path to bar their entrance. Even the desert swarms with foes. War is imminent. Bloody battle fields must be trodden before they can sit down in houses which they have not builded, and pluck the fruit of olive yards which they have not planted. Out of the crowd of fugitives hastening from the yoke of Egypt there must emerge a compact military organization; for though Jehovah, the God of battles, the Man of war, is leading them to victory, he purposes to employ human allies, and he wishes to put them into the condition of the highest efficiency. For the military organization a census must be taken. The census in this chapter is not an enumeration de novo, but rather a muster on the basis of numerical and genealogical data already in the possession of the tribes. This is shown by the accordance of the number who have paid the atonement money with the total number enrolled in this chapter as fighting men.

1. The Lord — JEHOVAH. The ineffable name was translated into the Greek by the Seventy by the word Kuriov, Lord. Our English translators unwisely followed the Septuagint, and adopted the appellative Lord for the significant, chosen, proper name Jehovah, the one eternal and immutable Being. We notify the reader that this is the ground of our preference of Jehovah to Lord throughout this Commentary. (See notes on Exodus 3. 14, and 6:2.) Spake — Either to the ear in audible words, as is strongly suggested in Exodus 33:11, and Numbers 12:8; or by the urim and thummim, as in Exodus 28:30; Numbers 27:21; or to the spiritual perception of Moses in such a manner as to give certainty to the communication. A consideration of the three places in which Jehovah spake to him and gave him audience inclines us to the theory of uttered words as the usual mode of communication. These three places were, 1.) The mercy-seat in the most holy place, the principal abode of the oracle. Numbers 7:89. We believe that it was from the mercy-seat between the cherubim that Moses was addressed in this chapter. 2.) At the door of the tabernacle, near the altar of burnt offering. Exodus 29:42. 3.) Out of the cloudy pillar. Exodus 33:9; Numbers 12:5, 6; Psalm 99:7. Moses — The reader of the three preceding books has already become too well acquainted with this great man to need an introduction. His character is above eulogy, his great deeds are too numerous for recital. He is the embodiment of the Old Testament as Jesus is of the New. “The law came by Moses, but grace and truth by Jesus Christ.” His agency in the religious instruction and spiritual elevation of mankind will have grateful mention in the anthems of the blood-washed throng in heaven, for they shall sing “the song of Moses and the Lamb.” See Exodus 2, Introductory, (3.) Wilderness of Sinai — A wild and mountainous region in Arabia Petraea, between the two branching gulfs of the Red Sea. It is a heap of lofty granite rocks, with steep gorges and deep valleys, abounding in water and luxuriant vegetation in the rainy season. These valleys are then beautiful. The Israelites sojourned in that part of the desert which lies north of Mount Sinai.

“Long as the Desert of Sinai has been known to Christian pilgrims, yet it may almost be said never to have been explored before the beginning of this century. We are still at the threshold of our knowledge concerning it. The older travellers never troubled themselves to compare the general features of the desert with the indications of the sacred narrative, and therefore they missed the cardinal points of dispute. We are still, therefore, in the condition of discoverers; and if we are thus compelled to abstain from positive conclusions, it is a suspense which we need not be afraid to avow, and which in this instance is the less inconvenient, because the very uniformity of nature by which it is occasioned, also enables us to form an image of the general scenes, even where the particular scene is unknown; and many will feel at a distance what many, I doubt not, have felt on the spot, that in speaking of such sacred events, uncertainty is the best safeguard for reverence, and suspense, as to the exact details of form and locality, is the most fitting approach for the consideration of the presence of Him who made darkness his secret place, his pavilion round about him, with dark water and thick ‘clouds to cover them.’” STANLEY’S Sinai and Palestine. Tabernacle of the congregation — Literally, the tent of appointment, or stated meeting, (with Jehovah.) The Septuagint calls it “the tent of witness,” and the Vulgate “the tent of the covenant.” The book of the Law, the witness of the covenant, was kept here. The tabernacle had been standing one month. Exodus 40:17. To distinguish it from the more temporary tent, the dwelling of Moses during the first year of the Exodus — the ante-Sinaitic tabernacle — this second structure is called the Sinaitic tabernacle. It was constructed by Bezaleel and Aholiab after the model shown to Moses on the mount. Exodus 26:30. It was a portable mansion-house and temple, the miniature of the great temple of Solomon. Its position was significant and commanding. On the east, between it and the camp under the lead of Judah, were the tents of the priests; southward, between it and the camp of Reuben, were the Kohathites placed; on the west, between it and the camp of Ephraim, the Gershonites had their abodes; and on the north, between it and the camp of Dan, was the station of the Merarites. In proportion to the wealth of the people, it was more costly and magnificent than the world-renowned edifice at Jerusalem. For a minute description see Exodus 36-38. Second month — This gives a clew to the period of time occupied by the events narrated in Leviticus, namely, one month, during the encampment at Mount Sinai.

V. 33. Ephraim-Above 8000 more than Manasseh, towards the

accomplishment of that promise, Genesis 48:20, which the devil in vain attempted to defeat by stirring up the men of Gath against them, 1 Chronicles 7:21,22.

Verse 33. The tribe of Ephraim-forty thousand and five hundred.] Ephraim, as he was blessed beyond his eldest brother Manasseh, Genesis 48:20, so here he is increased by thousands more than Manasseh, and more than the whole tribe of Benjamin, and his blessing continued above his brother, Deuteronomy 33:17. And thus the prophecy, Genesis 48:19, was fulfilled: His younger brother (Ephraim) shall be greater than he, (Manasseh.) No word of God can possibly fall to the ground: he alone sees the end from the beginning; his infinite wisdom embraces all occurrences, and it is his province alone to determine what is right, and to predict what himself has purposed to accomplish.

Verse 33. Ephraim — Above eight thousand more than Manasseh, toward the accomplishment of that promise, (Genesis 48:20,) which Satan in vain attempted to defeat by stirring up the men of Gath against them, 1 Chronicles 7:21, 22.

GENEALOGICAL ENROLMENT AND MUSTER OF THE ADULT MALES, 1-46. At the close of the third book of Moses the temple in the wilderness — the tabernacle — had been erected, the law of sacrifices instituted, the Aaronic priesthood inducted into their sacred office, and rules for holiness of life, and for the isolation of Israel from the Gentile world, had been ordained. At the opening of the present book the tabernacle has been standing one month. The purpose of the Sinaitic sojourn has now been accomplished, and the vast host must begin their eastward and northward march toward the Land of Promise. From childhood they had been taught to turn their eyes from the banks of the Nile towards the hills of Canaan, where Abraham, their national father, was buried. Thither had their ancestors borne, in princely procession, the embalmed body of the patriarch Jacob to find a resting place, and to that land of the covenant were the Hebrews now bearing the mortal part of Joseph, the benefactor of his father’s family. But mighty foes are intrenched in that land, and other strong enemies will stand in their path to bar their entrance. Even the desert swarms with foes. War is imminent. Bloody battle fields must be trodden before they can sit down in houses which they have not builded, and pluck the fruit of olive yards which they have not planted. Out of the crowd of fugitives hastening from the yoke of Egypt there must emerge a compact military organization; for though Jehovah, the God of battles, the Man of war, is leading them to victory, he purposes to employ human allies, and he wishes to put them into the condition of the highest efficiency. For the military organization a census must be taken. The census in this chapter is not an enumeration de novo, but rather a muster on the basis of numerical and genealogical data already in the possession of the tribes. This is shown by the accordance of the number who have paid the atonement money with the total number enrolled in this chapter as fighting men.

1. The Lord — JEHOVAH. The ineffable name was translated into the Greek by the Seventy by the word Kuriov, Lord. Our English translators unwisely followed the Septuagint, and adopted the appellative Lord for the significant, chosen, proper name Jehovah, the one eternal and immutable Being. We notify the reader that this is the ground of our preference of Jehovah to Lord throughout this Commentary. (See notes on Exodus 3. 14, and 6:2.) Spake — Either to the ear in audible words, as is strongly suggested in Exodus 33:11, and Numbers 12:8; or by the urim and thummim, as in Exodus 28:30; Numbers 27:21; or to the spiritual perception of Moses in such a manner as to give certainty to the communication. A consideration of the three places in which Jehovah spake to him and gave him audience inclines us to the theory of uttered words as the usual mode of communication. These three places were, 1.) The mercy-seat in the most holy place, the principal abode of the oracle. Numbers 7:89. We believe that it was from the mercy-seat between the cherubim that Moses was addressed in this chapter. 2.) At the door of the tabernacle, near the altar of burnt offering. Exodus 29:42. 3.) Out of the cloudy pillar. Exodus 33:9; Numbers 12:5, 6; Psalm 99:7. Moses — The reader of the three preceding books has already become too well acquainted with this great man to need an introduction. His character is above eulogy, his great deeds are too numerous for recital. He is the embodiment of the Old Testament as Jesus is of the New. “The law came by Moses, but grace and truth by Jesus Christ.” His agency in the religious instruction and spiritual elevation of mankind will have grateful mention in the anthems of the blood-washed throng in heaven, for they shall sing “the song of Moses and the Lamb.” See Exodus 2, Introductory, (3.) Wilderness of Sinai — A wild and mountainous region in Arabia Petraea, between the two branching gulfs of the Red Sea. It is a heap of lofty granite rocks, with steep gorges and deep valleys, abounding in water and luxuriant vegetation in the rainy season. These valleys are then beautiful. The Israelites sojourned in that part of the desert which lies north of Mount Sinai.

“Long as the Desert of Sinai has been known to Christian pilgrims, yet it may almost be said never to have been explored before the beginning of this century. We are still at the threshold of our knowledge concerning it. The older travellers never troubled themselves to compare the general features of the desert with the indications of the sacred narrative, and therefore they missed the cardinal points of dispute. We are still, therefore, in the condition of discoverers; and if we are thus compelled to abstain from positive conclusions, it is a suspense which we need not be afraid to avow, and which in this instance is the less inconvenient, because the very uniformity of nature by which it is occasioned, also enables us to form an image of the general scenes, even where the particular scene is unknown; and many will feel at a distance what many, I doubt not, have felt on the spot, that in speaking of such sacred events, uncertainty is the best safeguard for reverence, and suspense, as to the exact details of form and locality, is the most fitting approach for the consideration of the presence of Him who made darkness his secret place, his pavilion round about him, with dark water and thick ‘clouds to cover them.’” STANLEY’S Sinai and Palestine. Tabernacle of the congregation — Literally, the tent of appointment, or stated meeting, (with Jehovah.) The Septuagint calls it “the tent of witness,” and the Vulgate “the tent of the covenant.” The book of the Law, the witness of the covenant, was kept here. The tabernacle had been standing one month. Exodus 40:17. To distinguish it from the more temporary tent, the dwelling of Moses during the first year of the Exodus — the ante-Sinaitic tabernacle — this second structure is called the Sinaitic tabernacle. It was constructed by Bezaleel and Aholiab after the model shown to Moses on the mount. Exodus 26:30. It was a portable mansion-house and temple, the miniature of the great temple of Solomon. Its position was significant and commanding. On the east, between it and the camp under the lead of Judah, were the tents of the priests; southward, between it and the camp of Reuben, were the Kohathites placed; on the west, between it and the camp of Ephraim, the Gershonites had their abodes; and on the north, between it and the camp of Dan, was the station of the Merarites. In proportion to the wealth of the people, it was more costly and magnificent than the world-renowned edifice at Jerusalem. For a minute description see Exodus 36-38. Second month — This gives a clew to the period of time occupied by the events narrated in Leviticus, namely, one month, during the encampment at Mount Sinai.

GENEALOGICAL ENROLMENT AND MUSTER OF THE ADULT MALES, 1-46. At the close of the third book of Moses the temple in the wilderness — the tabernacle — had been erected, the law of sacrifices instituted, the Aaronic priesthood inducted into their sacred office, and rules for holiness of life, and for the isolation of Israel from the Gentile world, had been ordained. At the opening of the present book the tabernacle has been standing one month. The purpose of the Sinaitic sojourn has now been accomplished, and the vast host must begin their eastward and northward march toward the Land of Promise. From childhood they had been taught to turn their eyes from the banks of the Nile towards the hills of Canaan, where Abraham, their national father, was buried. Thither had their ancestors borne, in princely procession, the embalmed body of the patriarch Jacob to find a resting place, and to that land of the covenant were the Hebrews now bearing the mortal part of Joseph, the benefactor of his father’s family. But mighty foes are intrenched in that land, and other strong enemies will stand in their path to bar their entrance. Even the desert swarms with foes. War is imminent. Bloody battle fields must be trodden before they can sit down in houses which they have not builded, and pluck the fruit of olive yards which they have not planted. Out of the crowd of fugitives hastening from the yoke of Egypt there must emerge a compact military organization; for though Jehovah, the God of battles, the Man of war, is leading them to victory, he purposes to employ human allies, and he wishes to put them into the condition of the highest efficiency. For the military organization a census must be taken. The census in this chapter is not an enumeration de novo, but rather a muster on the basis of numerical and genealogical data already in the possession of the tribes. This is shown by the accordance of the number who have paid the atonement money with the total number enrolled in this chapter as fighting men.

1. The Lord — JEHOVAH. The ineffable name was translated into the Greek by the Seventy by the word Kuriov, Lord. Our English translators unwisely followed the Septuagint, and adopted the appellative Lord for the significant, chosen, proper name Jehovah, the one eternal and immutable Being. We notify the reader that this is the ground of our preference of Jehovah to Lord throughout this Commentary. (See notes on Exodus 3. 14, and 6:2.) Spake — Either to the ear in audible words, as is strongly suggested in Exodus 33:11, and Numbers 12:8; or by the urim and thummim, as in Exodus 28:30; Numbers 27:21; or to the spiritual perception of Moses in such a manner as to give certainty to the communication. A consideration of the three places in which Jehovah spake to him and gave him audience inclines us to the theory of uttered words as the usual mode of communication. These three places were, 1.) The mercy-seat in the most holy place, the principal abode of the oracle. Numbers 7:89. We believe that it was from the mercy-seat between the cherubim that Moses was addressed in this chapter. 2.) At the door of the tabernacle, near the altar of burnt offering. Exodus 29:42. 3.) Out of the cloudy pillar. Exodus 33:9; Numbers 12:5, 6; Psalm 99:7. Moses — The reader of the three preceding books has already become too well acquainted with this great man to need an introduction. His character is above eulogy, his great deeds are too numerous for recital. He is the embodiment of the Old Testament as Jesus is of the New. “The law came by Moses, but grace and truth by Jesus Christ.” His agency in the religious instruction and spiritual elevation of mankind will have grateful mention in the anthems of the blood-washed throng in heaven, for they shall sing “the song of Moses and the Lamb.” See Exodus 2, Introductory, (3.) Wilderness of Sinai — A wild and mountainous region in Arabia Petraea, between the two branching gulfs of the Red Sea. It is a heap of lofty granite rocks, with steep gorges and deep valleys, abounding in water and luxuriant vegetation in the rainy season. These valleys are then beautiful. The Israelites sojourned in that part of the desert which lies north of Mount Sinai.

“Long as the Desert of Sinai has been known to Christian pilgrims, yet it may almost be said never to have been explored before the beginning of this century. We are still at the threshold of our knowledge concerning it. The older travellers never troubled themselves to compare the general features of the desert with the indications of the sacred narrative, and therefore they missed the cardinal points of dispute. We are still, therefore, in the condition of discoverers; and if we are thus compelled to abstain from positive conclusions, it is a suspense which we need not be afraid to avow, and which in this instance is the less inconvenient, because the very uniformity of nature by which it is occasioned, also enables us to form an image of the general scenes, even where the particular scene is unknown; and many will feel at a distance what many, I doubt not, have felt on the spot, that in speaking of such sacred events, uncertainty is the best safeguard for reverence, and suspense, as to the exact details of form and locality, is the most fitting approach for the consideration of the presence of Him who made darkness his secret place, his pavilion round about him, with dark water and thick ‘clouds to cover them.’” STANLEY’S Sinai and Palestine. Tabernacle of the congregation — Literally, the tent of appointment, or stated meeting, (with Jehovah.) The Septuagint calls it “the tent of witness,” and the Vulgate “the tent of the covenant.” The book of the Law, the witness of the covenant, was kept here. The tabernacle had been standing one month. Exodus 40:17. To distinguish it from the more temporary tent, the dwelling of Moses during the first year of the Exodus — the ante-Sinaitic tabernacle — this second structure is called the Sinaitic tabernacle. It was constructed by Bezaleel and Aholiab after the model shown to Moses on the mount. Exodus 26:30. It was a portable mansion-house and temple, the miniature of the great temple of Solomon. Its position was significant and commanding. On the east, between it and the camp under the lead of Judah, were the tents of the priests; southward, between it and the camp of Reuben, were the Kohathites placed; on the west, between it and the camp of Ephraim, the Gershonites had their abodes; and on the north, between it and the camp of Dan, was the station of the Merarites. In proportion to the wealth of the people, it was more costly and magnificent than the world-renowned edifice at Jerusalem. For a minute description see Exodus 36-38. Second month — This gives a clew to the period of time occupied by the events narrated in Leviticus, namely, one month, during the encampment at Mount Sinai.

GENEALOGICAL ENROLMENT AND MUSTER OF THE ADULT MALES, 1-46. At the close of the third book of Moses the temple in the wilderness — the tabernacle — had been erected, the law of sacrifices instituted, the Aaronic priesthood inducted into their sacred office, and rules for holiness of life, and for the isolation of Israel from the Gentile world, had been ordained. At the opening of the present book the tabernacle has been standing one month. The purpose of the Sinaitic sojourn has now been accomplished, and the vast host must begin their eastward and northward march toward the Land of Promise. From childhood they had been taught to turn their eyes from the banks of the Nile towards the hills of Canaan, where Abraham, their national father, was buried. Thither had their ancestors borne, in princely procession, the embalmed body of the patriarch Jacob to find a resting place, and to that land of the covenant were the Hebrews now bearing the mortal part of Joseph, the benefactor of his father’s family. But mighty foes are intrenched in that land, and other strong enemies will stand in their path to bar their entrance. Even the desert swarms with foes. War is imminent. Bloody battle fields must be trodden before they can sit down in houses which they have not builded, and pluck the fruit of olive yards which they have not planted. Out of the crowd of fugitives hastening from the yoke of Egypt there must emerge a compact military organization; for though Jehovah, the God of battles, the Man of war, is leading them to victory, he purposes to employ human allies, and he wishes to put them into the condition of the highest efficiency. For the military organization a census must be taken. The census in this chapter is not an enumeration de novo, but rather a muster on the basis of numerical and genealogical data already in the possession of the tribes. This is shown by the accordance of the number who have paid the atonement money with the total number enrolled in this chapter as fighting men.

1. The Lord — JEHOVAH. The ineffable name was translated into the Greek by the Seventy by the word Kuriov, Lord. Our English translators unwisely followed the Septuagint, and adopted the appellative Lord for the significant, chosen, proper name Jehovah, the one eternal and immutable Being. We notify the reader that this is the ground of our preference of Jehovah to Lord throughout this Commentary. (See notes on Exodus 3. 14, and 6:2.) Spake — Either to the ear in audible words, as is strongly suggested in Exodus 33:11, and Numbers 12:8; or by the urim and thummim, as in Exodus 28:30; Numbers 27:21; or to the spiritual perception of Moses in such a manner as to give certainty to the communication. A consideration of the three places in which Jehovah spake to him and gave him audience inclines us to the theory of uttered words as the usual mode of communication. These three places were, 1.) The mercy-seat in the most holy place, the principal abode of the oracle. Numbers 7:89. We believe that it was from the mercy-seat between the cherubim that Moses was addressed in this chapter. 2.) At the door of the tabernacle, near the altar of burnt offering. Exodus 29:42. 3.) Out of the cloudy pillar. Exodus 33:9; Numbers 12:5, 6; Psalm 99:7. Moses — The reader of the three preceding books has already become too well acquainted with this great man to need an introduction. His character is above eulogy, his great deeds are too numerous for recital. He is the embodiment of the Old Testament as Jesus is of the New. “The law came by Moses, but grace and truth by Jesus Christ.” His agency in the religious instruction and spiritual elevation of mankind will have grateful mention in the anthems of the blood-washed throng in heaven, for they shall sing “the song of Moses and the Lamb.” See Exodus 2, Introductory, (3.) Wilderness of Sinai — A wild and mountainous region in Arabia Petraea, between the two branching gulfs of the Red Sea. It is a heap of lofty granite rocks, with steep gorges and deep valleys, abounding in water and luxuriant vegetation in the rainy season. These valleys are then beautiful. The Israelites sojourned in that part of the desert which lies north of Mount Sinai.

“Long as the Desert of Sinai has been known to Christian pilgrims, yet it may almost be said never to have been explored before the beginning of this century. We are still at the threshold of our knowledge concerning it. The older travellers never troubled themselves to compare the general features of the desert with the indications of the sacred narrative, and therefore they missed the cardinal points of dispute. We are still, therefore, in the condition of discoverers; and if we are thus compelled to abstain from positive conclusions, it is a suspense which we need not be afraid to avow, and which in this instance is the less inconvenient, because the very uniformity of nature by which it is occasioned, also enables us to form an image of the general scenes, even where the particular scene is unknown; and many will feel at a distance what many, I doubt not, have felt on the spot, that in speaking of such sacred events, uncertainty is the best safeguard for reverence, and suspense, as to the exact details of form and locality, is the most fitting approach for the consideration of the presence of Him who made darkness his secret place, his pavilion round about him, with dark water and thick ‘clouds to cover them.’” STANLEY’S Sinai and Palestine. Tabernacle of the congregation — Literally, the tent of appointment, or stated meeting, (with Jehovah.) The Septuagint calls it “the tent of witness,” and the Vulgate “the tent of the covenant.” The book of the Law, the witness of the covenant, was kept here. The tabernacle had been standing one month. Exodus 40:17. To distinguish it from the more temporary tent, the dwelling of Moses during the first year of the Exodus — the ante-Sinaitic tabernacle — this second structure is called the Sinaitic tabernacle. It was constructed by Bezaleel and Aholiab after the model shown to Moses on the mount. Exodus 26:30. It was a portable mansion-house and temple, the miniature of the great temple of Solomon. Its position was significant and commanding. On the east, between it and the camp under the lead of Judah, were the tents of the priests; southward, between it and the camp of Reuben, were the Kohathites placed; on the west, between it and the camp of Ephraim, the Gershonites had their abodes; and on the north, between it and the camp of Dan, was the station of the Merarites. In proportion to the wealth of the people, it was more costly and magnificent than the world-renowned edifice at Jerusalem. For a minute description see Exodus 36-38. Second month — This gives a clew to the period of time occupied by the events narrated in Leviticus, namely, one month, during the encampment at Mount Sinai.

GENEALOGICAL ENROLMENT AND MUSTER OF THE ADULT MALES, 1-46. At the close of the third book of Moses the temple in the wilderness — the tabernacle — had been erected, the law of sacrifices instituted, the Aaronic priesthood inducted into their sacred office, and rules for holiness of life, and for the isolation of Israel from the Gentile world, had been ordained. At the opening of the present book the tabernacle has been standing one month. The purpose of the Sinaitic sojourn has now been accomplished, and the vast host must begin their eastward and northward march toward the Land of Promise. From childhood they had been taught to turn their eyes from the banks of the Nile towards the hills of Canaan, where Abraham, their national father, was buried. Thither had their ancestors borne, in princely procession, the embalmed body of the patriarch Jacob to find a resting place, and to that land of the covenant were the Hebrews now bearing the mortal part of Joseph, the benefactor of his father’s family. But mighty foes are intrenched in that land, and other strong enemies will stand in their path to bar their entrance. Even the desert swarms with foes. War is imminent. Bloody battle fields must be trodden before they can sit down in houses which they have not builded, and pluck the fruit of olive yards which they have not planted. Out of the crowd of fugitives hastening from the yoke of Egypt there must emerge a compact military organization; for though Jehovah, the God of battles, the Man of war, is leading them to victory, he purposes to employ human allies, and he wishes to put them into the condition of the highest efficiency. For the military organization a census must be taken. The census in this chapter is not an enumeration de novo, but rather a muster on the basis of numerical and genealogical data already in the possession of the tribes. This is shown by the accordance of the number who have paid the atonement money with the total number enrolled in this chapter as fighting men.

1. The Lord — JEHOVAH. The ineffable name was translated into the Greek by the Seventy by the word Kuriov, Lord. Our English translators unwisely followed the Septuagint, and adopted the appellative Lord for the significant, chosen, proper name Jehovah, the one eternal and immutable Being. We notify the reader that this is the ground of our preference of Jehovah to Lord throughout this Commentary. (See notes on Exodus 3. 14, and 6:2.) Spake — Either to the ear in audible words, as is strongly suggested in Exodus 33:11, and Numbers 12:8; or by the urim and thummim, as in Exodus 28:30; Numbers 27:21; or to the spiritual perception of Moses in such a manner as to give certainty to the communication. A consideration of the three places in which Jehovah spake to him and gave him audience inclines us to the theory of uttered words as the usual mode of communication. These three places were, 1.) The mercy-seat in the most holy place, the principal abode of the oracle. Numbers 7:89. We believe that it was from the mercy-seat between the cherubim that Moses was addressed in this chapter. 2.) At the door of the tabernacle, near the altar of burnt offering. Exodus 29:42. 3.) Out of the cloudy pillar. Exodus 33:9; Numbers 12:5, 6; Psalm 99:7. Moses — The reader of the three preceding books has already become too well acquainted with this great man to need an introduction. His character is above eulogy, his great deeds are too numerous for recital. He is the embodiment of the Old Testament as Jesus is of the New. “The law came by Moses, but grace and truth by Jesus Christ.” His agency in the religious instruction and spiritual elevation of mankind will have grateful mention in the anthems of the blood-washed throng in heaven, for they shall sing “the song of Moses and the Lamb.” See Exodus 2, Introductory, (3.) Wilderness of Sinai — A wild and mountainous region in Arabia Petraea, between the two branching gulfs of the Red Sea. It is a heap of lofty granite rocks, with steep gorges and deep valleys, abounding in water and luxuriant vegetation in the rainy season. These valleys are then beautiful. The Israelites sojourned in that part of the desert which lies north of Mount Sinai.

“Long as the Desert of Sinai has been known to Christian pilgrims, yet it may almost be said never to have been explored before the beginning of this century. We are still at the threshold of our knowledge concerning it. The older travellers never troubled themselves to compare the general features of the desert with the indications of the sacred narrative, and therefore they missed the cardinal points of dispute. We are still, therefore, in the condition of discoverers; and if we are thus compelled to abstain from positive conclusions, it is a suspense which we need not be afraid to avow, and which in this instance is the less inconvenient, because the very uniformity of nature by which it is occasioned, also enables us to form an image of the general scenes, even where the particular scene is unknown; and many will feel at a distance what many, I doubt not, have felt on the spot, that in speaking of such sacred events, uncertainty is the best safeguard for reverence, and suspense, as to the exact details of form and locality, is the most fitting approach for the consideration of the presence of Him who made darkness his secret place, his pavilion round about him, with dark water and thick ‘clouds to cover them.’” STANLEY’S Sinai and Palestine. Tabernacle of the congregation — Literally, the tent of appointment, or stated meeting, (with Jehovah.) The Septuagint calls it “the tent of witness,” and the Vulgate “the tent of the covenant.” The book of the Law, the witness of the covenant, was kept here. The tabernacle had been standing one month. Exodus 40:17. To distinguish it from the more temporary tent, the dwelling of Moses during the first year of the Exodus — the ante-Sinaitic tabernacle — this second structure is called the Sinaitic tabernacle. It was constructed by Bezaleel and Aholiab after the model shown to Moses on the mount. Exodus 26:30. It was a portable mansion-house and temple, the miniature of the great temple of Solomon. Its position was significant and commanding. On the east, between it and the camp under the lead of Judah, were the tents of the priests; southward, between it and the camp of Reuben, were the Kohathites placed; on the west, between it and the camp of Ephraim, the Gershonites had their abodes; and on the north, between it and the camp of Dan, was the station of the Merarites. In proportion to the wealth of the people, it was more costly and magnificent than the world-renowned edifice at Jerusalem. For a minute description see Exodus 36-38. Second month — This gives a clew to the period of time occupied by the events narrated in Leviticus, namely, one month, during the encampment at Mount Sinai.

V. 37. Thirty five thousand-The smallest number, except one, though Benjamin had more immediate children than any of his brethren, Genesis 46:21, whereas Dan had but one immediate son, Genesis 46:23, yet now his number is the biggest but one of all the tribes, and is almost double to that of Benjamin. Such great and strange changes God easily can, and frequently doth make in families, 1 Samuel 2:5. And therefore let none boast or please themselves too much in their numerous offspring.

Verse 37. Thirty-five thousand — The smallest number, except one, though Benjamin had more immediate children than any of his brethren, Genesis 46:21; whereas Dan had but one immediate son, (Genesis 46:23,) yet now his number is the largest but one of all the tribes, and is almost double to that of Benjamin. Such great and strange changes God easily can, and frequently doth make in families, 1 Samuel 2:5. And therefore let none boast or please themselves too much in their numerous offspring.

GENEALOGICAL ENROLMENT AND MUSTER OF THE ADULT MALES, 1-46. At the close of the third book of Moses the temple in the wilderness — the tabernacle — had been erected, the law of sacrifices instituted, the Aaronic priesthood inducted into their sacred office, and rules for holiness of life, and for the isolation of Israel from the Gentile world, had been ordained. At the opening of the present book the tabernacle has been standing one month. The purpose of the Sinaitic sojourn has now been accomplished, and the vast host must begin their eastward and northward march toward the Land of Promise. From childhood they had been taught to turn their eyes from the banks of the Nile towards the hills of Canaan, where Abraham, their national father, was buried. Thither had their ancestors borne, in princely procession, the embalmed body of the patriarch Jacob to find a resting place, and to that land of the covenant were the Hebrews now bearing the mortal part of Joseph, the benefactor of his father’s family. But mighty foes are intrenched in that land, and other strong enemies will stand in their path to bar their entrance. Even the desert swarms with foes. War is imminent. Bloody battle fields must be trodden before they can sit down in houses which they have not builded, and pluck the fruit of olive yards which they have not planted. Out of the crowd of fugitives hastening from the yoke of Egypt there must emerge a compact military organization; for though Jehovah, the God of battles, the Man of war, is leading them to victory, he purposes to employ human allies, and he wishes to put them into the condition of the highest efficiency. For the military organization a census must be taken. The census in this chapter is not an enumeration de novo, but rather a muster on the basis of numerical and genealogical data already in the possession of the tribes. This is shown by the accordance of the number who have paid the atonement money with the total number enrolled in this chapter as fighting men.

1. The Lord — JEHOVAH. The ineffable name was translated into the Greek by the Seventy by the word Kuriov, Lord. Our English translators unwisely followed the Septuagint, and adopted the appellative Lord for the significant, chosen, proper name Jehovah, the one eternal and immutable Being. We notify the reader that this is the ground of our preference of Jehovah to Lord throughout this Commentary. (See notes on Exodus 3. 14, and 6:2.) Spake — Either to the ear in audible words, as is strongly suggested in Exodus 33:11, and Numbers 12:8; or by the urim and thummim, as in Exodus 28:30; Numbers 27:21; or to the spiritual perception of Moses in such a manner as to give certainty to the communication. A consideration of the three places in which Jehovah spake to him and gave him audience inclines us to the theory of uttered words as the usual mode of communication. These three places were, 1.) The mercy-seat in the most holy place, the principal abode of the oracle. Numbers 7:89. We believe that it was from the mercy-seat between the cherubim that Moses was addressed in this chapter. 2.) At the door of the tabernacle, near the altar of burnt offering. Exodus 29:42. 3.) Out of the cloudy pillar. Exodus 33:9; Numbers 12:5, 6; Psalm 99:7. Moses — The reader of the three preceding books has already become too well acquainted with this great man to need an introduction. His character is above eulogy, his great deeds are too numerous for recital. He is the embodiment of the Old Testament as Jesus is of the New. “The law came by Moses, but grace and truth by Jesus Christ.” His agency in the religious instruction and spiritual elevation of mankind will have grateful mention in the anthems of the blood-washed throng in heaven, for they shall sing “the song of Moses and the Lamb.” See Exodus 2, Introductory, (3.) Wilderness of Sinai — A wild and mountainous region in Arabia Petraea, between the two branching gulfs of the Red Sea. It is a heap of lofty granite rocks, with steep gorges and deep valleys, abounding in water and luxuriant vegetation in the rainy season. These valleys are then beautiful. The Israelites sojourned in that part of the desert which lies north of Mount Sinai.

“Long as the Desert of Sinai has been known to Christian pilgrims, yet it may almost be said never to have been explored before the beginning of this century. We are still at the threshold of our knowledge concerning it. The older travellers never troubled themselves to compare the general features of the desert with the indications of the sacred narrative, and therefore they missed the cardinal points of dispute. We are still, therefore, in the condition of discoverers; and if we are thus compelled to abstain from positive conclusions, it is a suspense which we need not be afraid to avow, and which in this instance is the less inconvenient, because the very uniformity of nature by which it is occasioned, also enables us to form an image of the general scenes, even where the particular scene is unknown; and many will feel at a distance what many, I doubt not, have felt on the spot, that in speaking of such sacred events, uncertainty is the best safeguard for reverence, and suspense, as to the exact details of form and locality, is the most fitting approach for the consideration of the presence of Him who made darkness his secret place, his pavilion round about him, with dark water and thick ‘clouds to cover them.’” STANLEY’S Sinai and Palestine. Tabernacle of the congregation — Literally, the tent of appointment, or stated meeting, (with Jehovah.) The Septuagint calls it “the tent of witness,” and the Vulgate “the tent of the covenant.” The book of the Law, the witness of the covenant, was kept here. The tabernacle had been standing one month. Exodus 40:17. To distinguish it from the more temporary tent, the dwelling of Moses during the first year of the Exodus — the ante-Sinaitic tabernacle — this second structure is called the Sinaitic tabernacle. It was constructed by Bezaleel and Aholiab after the model shown to Moses on the mount. Exodus 26:30. It was a portable mansion-house and temple, the miniature of the great temple of Solomon. Its position was significant and commanding. On the east, between it and the camp under the lead of Judah, were the tents of the priests; southward, between it and the camp of Reuben, were the Kohathites placed; on the west, between it and the camp of Ephraim, the Gershonites had their abodes; and on the north, between it and the camp of Dan, was the station of the Merarites. In proportion to the wealth of the people, it was more costly and magnificent than the world-renowned edifice at Jerusalem. For a minute description see Exodus 36-38. Second month — This gives a clew to the period of time occupied by the events narrated in Leviticus, namely, one month, during the encampment at Mount Sinai.

GENEALOGICAL ENROLMENT AND MUSTER OF THE ADULT MALES, 1-46. At the close of the third book of Moses the temple in the wilderness — the tabernacle — had been erected, the law of sacrifices instituted, the Aaronic priesthood inducted into their sacred office, and rules for holiness of life, and for the isolation of Israel from the Gentile world, had been ordained. At the opening of the present book the tabernacle has been standing one month. The purpose of the Sinaitic sojourn has now been accomplished, and the vast host must begin their eastward and northward march toward the Land of Promise. From childhood they had been taught to turn their eyes from the banks of the Nile towards the hills of Canaan, where Abraham, their national father, was buried. Thither had their ancestors borne, in princely procession, the embalmed body of the patriarch Jacob to find a resting place, and to that land of the covenant were the Hebrews now bearing the mortal part of Joseph, the benefactor of his father’s family. But mighty foes are intrenched in that land, and other strong enemies will stand in their path to bar their entrance. Even the desert swarms with foes. War is imminent. Bloody battle fields must be trodden before they can sit down in houses which they have not builded, and pluck the fruit of olive yards which they have not planted. Out of the crowd of fugitives hastening from the yoke of Egypt there must emerge a compact military organization; for though Jehovah, the God of battles, the Man of war, is leading them to victory, he purposes to employ human allies, and he wishes to put them into the condition of the highest efficiency. For the military organization a census must be taken. The census in this chapter is not an enumeration de novo, but rather a muster on the basis of numerical and genealogical data already in the possession of the tribes. This is shown by the accordance of the number who have paid the atonement money with the total number enrolled in this chapter as fighting men.

1. The Lord — JEHOVAH. The ineffable name was translated into the Greek by the Seventy by the word Kuriov, Lord. Our English translators unwisely followed the Septuagint, and adopted the appellative Lord for the significant, chosen, proper name Jehovah, the one eternal and immutable Being. We notify the reader that this is the ground of our preference of Jehovah to Lord throughout this Commentary. (See notes on Exodus 3. 14, and 6:2.) Spake — Either to the ear in audible words, as is strongly suggested in Exodus 33:11, and Numbers 12:8; or by the urim and thummim, as in Exodus 28:30; Numbers 27:21; or to the spiritual perception of Moses in such a manner as to give certainty to the communication. A consideration of the three places in which Jehovah spake to him and gave him audience inclines us to the theory of uttered words as the usual mode of communication. These three places were, 1.) The mercy-seat in the most holy place, the principal abode of the oracle. Numbers 7:89. We believe that it was from the mercy-seat between the cherubim that Moses was addressed in this chapter. 2.) At the door of the tabernacle, near the altar of burnt offering. Exodus 29:42. 3.) Out of the cloudy pillar. Exodus 33:9; Numbers 12:5, 6; Psalm 99:7. Moses — The reader of the three preceding books has already become too well acquainted with this great man to need an introduction. His character is above eulogy, his great deeds are too numerous for recital. He is the embodiment of the Old Testament as Jesus is of the New. “The law came by Moses, but grace and truth by Jesus Christ.” His agency in the religious instruction and spiritual elevation of mankind will have grateful mention in the anthems of the blood-washed throng in heaven, for they shall sing “the song of Moses and the Lamb.” See Exodus 2, Introductory, (3.) Wilderness of Sinai — A wild and mountainous region in Arabia Petraea, between the two branching gulfs of the Red Sea. It is a heap of lofty granite rocks, with steep gorges and deep valleys, abounding in water and luxuriant vegetation in the rainy season. These valleys are then beautiful. The Israelites sojourned in that part of the desert which lies north of Mount Sinai.

“Long as the Desert of Sinai has been known to Christian pilgrims, yet it may almost be said never to have been explored before the beginning of this century. We are still at the threshold of our knowledge concerning it. The older travellers never troubled themselves to compare the general features of the desert with the indications of the sacred narrative, and therefore they missed the cardinal points of dispute. We are still, therefore, in the condition of discoverers; and if we are thus compelled to abstain from positive conclusions, it is a suspense which we need not be afraid to avow, and which in this instance is the less inconvenient, because the very uniformity of nature by which it is occasioned, also enables us to form an image of the general scenes, even where the particular scene is unknown; and many will feel at a distance what many, I doubt not, have felt on the spot, that in speaking of such sacred events, uncertainty is the best safeguard for reverence, and suspense, as to the exact details of form and locality, is the most fitting approach for the consideration of the presence of Him who made darkness his secret place, his pavilion round about him, with dark water and thick ‘clouds to cover them.’” STANLEY’S Sinai and Palestine. Tabernacle of the congregation — Literally, the tent of appointment, or stated meeting, (with Jehovah.) The Septuagint calls it “the tent of witness,” and the Vulgate “the tent of the covenant.” The book of the Law, the witness of the covenant, was kept here. The tabernacle had been standing one month. Exodus 40:17. To distinguish it from the more temporary tent, the dwelling of Moses during the first year of the Exodus — the ante-Sinaitic tabernacle — this second structure is called the Sinaitic tabernacle. It was constructed by Bezaleel and Aholiab after the model shown to Moses on the mount. Exodus 26:30. It was a portable mansion-house and temple, the miniature of the great temple of Solomon. Its position was significant and commanding. On the east, between it and the camp under the lead of Judah, were the tents of the priests; southward, between it and the camp of Reuben, were the Kohathites placed; on the west, between it and the camp of Ephraim, the Gershonites had their abodes; and on the north, between it and the camp of Dan, was the station of the Merarites. In proportion to the wealth of the people, it was more costly and magnificent than the world-renowned edifice at Jerusalem. For a minute description see Exodus 36-38. Second month — This gives a clew to the period of time occupied by the events narrated in Leviticus, namely, one month, during the encampment at Mount Sinai.

GENEALOGICAL ENROLMENT AND MUSTER OF THE ADULT MALES, 1-46. At the close of the third book of Moses the temple in the wilderness — the tabernacle — had been erected, the law of sacrifices instituted, the Aaronic priesthood inducted into their sacred office, and rules for holiness of life, and for the isolation of Israel from the Gentile world, had been ordained. At the opening of the present book the tabernacle has been standing one month. The purpose of the Sinaitic sojourn has now been accomplished, and the vast host must begin their eastward and northward march toward the Land of Promise. From childhood they had been taught to turn their eyes from the banks of the Nile towards the hills of Canaan, where Abraham, their national father, was buried. Thither had their ancestors borne, in princely procession, the embalmed body of the patriarch Jacob to find a resting place, and to that land of the covenant were the Hebrews now bearing the mortal part of Joseph, the benefactor of his father’s family. But mighty foes are intrenched in that land, and other strong enemies will stand in their path to bar their entrance. Even the desert swarms with foes. War is imminent. Bloody battle fields must be trodden before they can sit down in houses which they have not builded, and pluck the fruit of olive yards which they have not planted. Out of the crowd of fugitives hastening from the yoke of Egypt there must emerge a compact military organization; for though Jehovah, the God of battles, the Man of war, is leading them to victory, he purposes to employ human allies, and he wishes to put them into the condition of the highest efficiency. For the military organization a census must be taken. The census in this chapter is not an enumeration de novo, but rather a muster on the basis of numerical and genealogical data already in the possession of the tribes. This is shown by the accordance of the number who have paid the atonement money with the total number enrolled in this chapter as fighting men.

1. The Lord — JEHOVAH. The ineffable name was translated into the Greek by the Seventy by the word Kuriov, Lord. Our English translators unwisely followed the Septuagint, and adopted the appellative Lord for the significant, chosen, proper name Jehovah, the one eternal and immutable Being. We notify the reader that this is the ground of our preference of Jehovah to Lord throughout this Commentary. (See notes on Exodus 3. 14, and 6:2.) Spake — Either to the ear in audible words, as is strongly suggested in Exodus 33:11, and Numbers 12:8; or by the urim and thummim, as in Exodus 28:30; Numbers 27:21; or to the spiritual perception of Moses in such a manner as to give certainty to the communication. A consideration of the three places in which Jehovah spake to him and gave him audience inclines us to the theory of uttered words as the usual mode of communication. These three places were, 1.) The mercy-seat in the most holy place, the principal abode of the oracle. Numbers 7:89. We believe that it was from the mercy-seat between the cherubim that Moses was addressed in this chapter. 2.) At the door of the tabernacle, near the altar of burnt offering. Exodus 29:42. 3.) Out of the cloudy pillar. Exodus 33:9; Numbers 12:5, 6; Psalm 99:7. Moses — The reader of the three preceding books has already become too well acquainted with this great man to need an introduction. His character is above eulogy, his great deeds are too numerous for recital. He is the embodiment of the Old Testament as Jesus is of the New. “The law came by Moses, but grace and truth by Jesus Christ.” His agency in the religious instruction and spiritual elevation of mankind will have grateful mention in the anthems of the blood-washed throng in heaven, for they shall sing “the song of Moses and the Lamb.” See Exodus 2, Introductory, (3.) Wilderness of Sinai — A wild and mountainous region in Arabia Petraea, between the two branching gulfs of the Red Sea. It is a heap of lofty granite rocks, with steep gorges and deep valleys, abounding in water and luxuriant vegetation in the rainy season. These valleys are then beautiful. The Israelites sojourned in that part of the desert which lies north of Mount Sinai.

“Long as the Desert of Sinai has been known to Christian pilgrims, yet it may almost be said never to have been explored before the beginning of this century. We are still at the threshold of our knowledge concerning it. The older travellers never troubled themselves to compare the general features of the desert with the indications of the sacred narrative, and therefore they missed the cardinal points of dispute. We are still, therefore, in the condition of discoverers; and if we are thus compelled to abstain from positive conclusions, it is a suspense which we need not be afraid to avow, and which in this instance is the less inconvenient, because the very uniformity of nature by which it is occasioned, also enables us to form an image of the general scenes, even where the particular scene is unknown; and many will feel at a distance what many, I doubt not, have felt on the spot, that in speaking of such sacred events, uncertainty is the best safeguard for reverence, and suspense, as to the exact details of form and locality, is the most fitting approach for the consideration of the presence of Him who made darkness his secret place, his pavilion round about him, with dark water and thick ‘clouds to cover them.’” STANLEY’S Sinai and Palestine. Tabernacle of the congregation — Literally, the tent of appointment, or stated meeting, (with Jehovah.) The Septuagint calls it “the tent of witness,” and the Vulgate “the tent of the covenant.” The book of the Law, the witness of the covenant, was kept here. The tabernacle had been standing one month. Exodus 40:17. To distinguish it from the more temporary tent, the dwelling of Moses during the first year of the Exodus — the ante-Sinaitic tabernacle — this second structure is called the Sinaitic tabernacle. It was constructed by Bezaleel and Aholiab after the model shown to Moses on the mount. Exodus 26:30. It was a portable mansion-house and temple, the miniature of the great temple of Solomon. Its position was significant and commanding. On the east, between it and the camp under the lead of Judah, were the tents of the priests; southward, between it and the camp of Reuben, were the Kohathites placed; on the west, between it and the camp of Ephraim, the Gershonites had their abodes; and on the north, between it and the camp of Dan, was the station of the Merarites. In proportion to the wealth of the people, it was more costly and magnificent than the world-renowned edifice at Jerusalem. For a minute description see Exodus 36-38. Second month — This gives a clew to the period of time occupied by the events narrated in Leviticus, namely, one month, during the encampment at Mount Sinai.

GENEALOGICAL ENROLMENT AND MUSTER OF THE ADULT MALES, 1-46. At the close of the third book of Moses the temple in the wilderness — the tabernacle — had been erected, the law of sacrifices instituted, the Aaronic priesthood inducted into their sacred office, and rules for holiness of life, and for the isolation of Israel from the Gentile world, had been ordained. At the opening of the present book the tabernacle has been standing one month. The purpose of the Sinaitic sojourn has now been accomplished, and the vast host must begin their eastward and northward march toward the Land of Promise. From childhood they had been taught to turn their eyes from the banks of the Nile towards the hills of Canaan, where Abraham, their national father, was buried. Thither had their ancestors borne, in princely procession, the embalmed body of the patriarch Jacob to find a resting place, and to that land of the covenant were the Hebrews now bearing the mortal part of Joseph, the benefactor of his father’s family. But mighty foes are intrenched in that land, and other strong enemies will stand in their path to bar their entrance. Even the desert swarms with foes. War is imminent. Bloody battle fields must be trodden before they can sit down in houses which they have not builded, and pluck the fruit of olive yards which they have not planted. Out of the crowd of fugitives hastening from the yoke of Egypt there must emerge a compact military organization; for though Jehovah, the God of battles, the Man of war, is leading them to victory, he purposes to employ human allies, and he wishes to put them into the condition of the highest efficiency. For the military organization a census must be taken. The census in this chapter is not an enumeration de novo, but rather a muster on the basis of numerical and genealogical data already in the possession of the tribes. This is shown by the accordance of the number who have paid the atonement money with the total number enrolled in this chapter as fighting men.

1. The Lord — JEHOVAH. The ineffable name was translated into the Greek by the Seventy by the word Kuriov, Lord. Our English translators unwisely followed the Septuagint, and adopted the appellative Lord for the significant, chosen, proper name Jehovah, the one eternal and immutable Being. We notify the reader that this is the ground of our preference of Jehovah to Lord throughout this Commentary. (See notes on Exodus 3. 14, and 6:2.) Spake — Either to the ear in audible words, as is strongly suggested in Exodus 33:11, and Numbers 12:8; or by the urim and thummim, as in Exodus 28:30; Numbers 27:21; or to the spiritual perception of Moses in such a manner as to give certainty to the communication. A consideration of the three places in which Jehovah spake to him and gave him audience inclines us to the theory of uttered words as the usual mode of communication. These three places were, 1.) The mercy-seat in the most holy place, the principal abode of the oracle. Numbers 7:89. We believe that it was from the mercy-seat between the cherubim that Moses was addressed in this chapter. 2.) At the door of the tabernacle, near the altar of burnt offering. Exodus 29:42. 3.) Out of the cloudy pillar. Exodus 33:9; Numbers 12:5, 6; Psalm 99:7. Moses — The reader of the three preceding books has already become too well acquainted with this great man to need an introduction. His character is above eulogy, his great deeds are too numerous for recital. He is the embodiment of the Old Testament as Jesus is of the New. “The law came by Moses, but grace and truth by Jesus Christ.” His agency in the religious instruction and spiritual elevation of mankind will have grateful mention in the anthems of the blood-washed throng in heaven, for they shall sing “the song of Moses and the Lamb.” See Exodus 2, Introductory, (3.) Wilderness of Sinai — A wild and mountainous region in Arabia Petraea, between the two branching gulfs of the Red Sea. It is a heap of lofty granite rocks, with steep gorges and deep valleys, abounding in water and luxuriant vegetation in the rainy season. These valleys are then beautiful. The Israelites sojourned in that part of the desert which lies north of Mount Sinai.

“Long as the Desert of Sinai has been known to Christian pilgrims, yet it may almost be said never to have been explored before the beginning of this century. We are still at the threshold of our knowledge concerning it. The older travellers never troubled themselves to compare the general features of the desert with the indications of the sacred narrative, and therefore they missed the cardinal points of dispute. We are still, therefore, in the condition of discoverers; and if we are thus compelled to abstain from positive conclusions, it is a suspense which we need not be afraid to avow, and which in this instance is the less inconvenient, because the very uniformity of nature by which it is occasioned, also enables us to form an image of the general scenes, even where the particular scene is unknown; and many will feel at a distance what many, I doubt not, have felt on the spot, that in speaking of such sacred events, uncertainty is the best safeguard for reverence, and suspense, as to the exact details of form and locality, is the most fitting approach for the consideration of the presence of Him who made darkness his secret place, his pavilion round about him, with dark water and thick ‘clouds to cover them.’” STANLEY’S Sinai and Palestine. Tabernacle of the congregation — Literally, the tent of appointment, or stated meeting, (with Jehovah.) The Septuagint calls it “the tent of witness,” and the Vulgate “the tent of the covenant.” The book of the Law, the witness of the covenant, was kept here. The tabernacle had been standing one month. Exodus 40:17. To distinguish it from the more temporary tent, the dwelling of Moses during the first year of the Exodus — the ante-Sinaitic tabernacle — this second structure is called the Sinaitic tabernacle. It was constructed by Bezaleel and Aholiab after the model shown to Moses on the mount. Exodus 26:30. It was a portable mansion-house and temple, the miniature of the great temple of Solomon. Its position was significant and commanding. On the east, between it and the camp under the lead of Judah, were the tents of the priests; southward, between it and the camp of Reuben, were the Kohathites placed; on the west, between it and the camp of Ephraim, the Gershonites had their abodes; and on the north, between it and the camp of Dan, was the station of the Merarites. In proportion to the wealth of the people, it was more costly and magnificent than the world-renowned edifice at Jerusalem. For a minute description see Exodus 36-38. Second month — This gives a clew to the period of time occupied by the events narrated in Leviticus, namely, one month, during the encampment at Mount Sinai.

GENEALOGICAL ENROLMENT AND MUSTER OF THE ADULT MALES, 1-46. At the close of the third book of Moses the temple in the wilderness — the tabernacle — had been erected, the law of sacrifices instituted, the Aaronic priesthood inducted into their sacred office, and rules for holiness of life, and for the isolation of Israel from the Gentile world, had been ordained. At the opening of the present book the tabernacle has been standing one month. The purpose of the Sinaitic sojourn has now been accomplished, and the vast host must begin their eastward and northward march toward the Land of Promise. From childhood they had been taught to turn their eyes from the banks of the Nile towards the hills of Canaan, where Abraham, their national father, was buried. Thither had their ancestors borne, in princely procession, the embalmed body of the patriarch Jacob to find a resting place, and to that land of the covenant were the Hebrews now bearing the mortal part of Joseph, the benefactor of his father’s family. But mighty foes are intrenched in that land, and other strong enemies will stand in their path to bar their entrance. Even the desert swarms with foes. War is imminent. Bloody battle fields must be trodden before they can sit down in houses which they have not builded, and pluck the fruit of olive yards which they have not planted. Out of the crowd of fugitives hastening from the yoke of Egypt there must emerge a compact military organization; for though Jehovah, the God of battles, the Man of war, is leading them to victory, he purposes to employ human allies, and he wishes to put them into the condition of the highest efficiency. For the military organization a census must be taken. The census in this chapter is not an enumeration de novo, but rather a muster on the basis of numerical and genealogical data already in the possession of the tribes. This is shown by the accordance of the number who have paid the atonement money with the total number enrolled in this chapter as fighting men.

1. The Lord — JEHOVAH. The ineffable name was translated into the Greek by the Seventy by the word Kuriov, Lord. Our English translators unwisely followed the Septuagint, and adopted the appellative Lord for the significant, chosen, proper name Jehovah, the one eternal and immutable Being. We notify the reader that this is the ground of our preference of Jehovah to Lord throughout this Commentary. (See notes on Exodus 3. 14, and 6:2.) Spake — Either to the ear in audible words, as is strongly suggested in Exodus 33:11, and Numbers 12:8; or by the urim and thummim, as in Exodus 28:30; Numbers 27:21; or to the spiritual perception of Moses in such a manner as to give certainty to the communication. A consideration of the three places in which Jehovah spake to him and gave him audience inclines us to the theory of uttered words as the usual mode of communication. These three places were, 1.) The mercy-seat in the most holy place, the principal abode of the oracle. Numbers 7:89. We believe that it was from the mercy-seat between the cherubim that Moses was addressed in this chapter. 2.) At the door of the tabernacle, near the altar of burnt offering. Exodus 29:42. 3.) Out of the cloudy pillar. Exodus 33:9; Numbers 12:5, 6; Psalm 99:7. Moses — The reader of the three preceding books has already become too well acquainted with this great man to need an introduction. His character is above eulogy, his great deeds are too numerous for recital. He is the embodiment of the Old Testament as Jesus is of the New. “The law came by Moses, but grace and truth by Jesus Christ.” His agency in the religious instruction and spiritual elevation of mankind will have grateful mention in the anthems of the blood-washed throng in heaven, for they shall sing “the song of Moses and the Lamb.” See Exodus 2, Introductory, (3.) Wilderness of Sinai — A wild and mountainous region in Arabia Petraea, between the two branching gulfs of the Red Sea. It is a heap of lofty granite rocks, with steep gorges and deep valleys, abounding in water and luxuriant vegetation in the rainy season. These valleys are then beautiful. The Israelites sojourned in that part of the desert which lies north of Mount Sinai.

“Long as the Desert of Sinai has been known to Christian pilgrims, yet it may almost be said never to have been explored before the beginning of this century. We are still at the threshold of our knowledge concerning it. The older travellers never troubled themselves to compare the general features of the desert with the indications of the sacred narrative, and therefore they missed the cardinal points of dispute. We are still, therefore, in the condition of discoverers; and if we are thus compelled to abstain from positive conclusions, it is a suspense which we need not be afraid to avow, and which in this instance is the less inconvenient, because the very uniformity of nature by which it is occasioned, also enables us to form an image of the general scenes, even where the particular scene is unknown; and many will feel at a distance what many, I doubt not, have felt on the spot, that in speaking of such sacred events, uncertainty is the best safeguard for reverence, and suspense, as to the exact details of form and locality, is the most fitting approach for the consideration of the presence of Him who made darkness his secret place, his pavilion round about him, with dark water and thick ‘clouds to cover them.’” STANLEY’S Sinai and Palestine. Tabernacle of the congregation — Literally, the tent of appointment, or stated meeting, (with Jehovah.) The Septuagint calls it “the tent of witness,” and the Vulgate “the tent of the covenant.” The book of the Law, the witness of the covenant, was kept here. The tabernacle had been standing one month. Exodus 40:17. To distinguish it from the more temporary tent, the dwelling of Moses during the first year of the Exodus — the ante-Sinaitic tabernacle — this second structure is called the Sinaitic tabernacle. It was constructed by Bezaleel and Aholiab after the model shown to Moses on the mount. Exodus 26:30. It was a portable mansion-house and temple, the miniature of the great temple of Solomon. Its position was significant and commanding. On the east, between it and the camp under the lead of Judah, were the tents of the priests; southward, between it and the camp of Reuben, were the Kohathites placed; on the west, between it and the camp of Ephraim, the Gershonites had their abodes; and on the north, between it and the camp of Dan, was the station of the Merarites. In proportion to the wealth of the people, it was more costly and magnificent than the world-renowned edifice at Jerusalem. For a minute description see Exodus 36-38. Second month — This gives a clew to the period of time occupied by the events narrated in Leviticus, namely, one month, during the encampment at Mount Sinai.

GENEALOGICAL ENROLMENT AND MUSTER OF THE ADULT MALES, 1-46. At the close of the third book of Moses the temple in the wilderness — the tabernacle — had been erected, the law of sacrifices instituted, the Aaronic priesthood inducted into their sacred office, and rules for holiness of life, and for the isolation of Israel from the Gentile world, had been ordained. At the opening of the present book the tabernacle has been standing one month. The purpose of the Sinaitic sojourn has now been accomplished, and the vast host must begin their eastward and northward march toward the Land of Promise. From childhood they had been taught to turn their eyes from the banks of the Nile towards the hills of Canaan, where Abraham, their national father, was buried. Thither had their ancestors borne, in princely procession, the embalmed body of the patriarch Jacob to find a resting place, and to that land of the covenant were the Hebrews now bearing the mortal part of Joseph, the benefactor of his father’s family. But mighty foes are intrenched in that land, and other strong enemies will stand in their path to bar their entrance. Even the desert swarms with foes. War is imminent. Bloody battle fields must be trodden before they can sit down in houses which they have not builded, and pluck the fruit of olive yards which they have not planted. Out of the crowd of fugitives hastening from the yoke of Egypt there must emerge a compact military organization; for though Jehovah, the God of battles, the Man of war, is leading them to victory, he purposes to employ human allies, and he wishes to put them into the condition of the highest efficiency. For the military organization a census must be taken. The census in this chapter is not an enumeration de novo, but rather a muster on the basis of numerical and genealogical data already in the possession of the tribes. This is shown by the accordance of the number who have paid the atonement money with the total number enrolled in this chapter as fighting men.

1. The Lord — JEHOVAH. The ineffable name was translated into the Greek by the Seventy by the word Kuriov, Lord. Our English translators unwisely followed the Septuagint, and adopted the appellative Lord for the significant, chosen, proper name Jehovah, the one eternal and immutable Being. We notify the reader that this is the ground of our preference of Jehovah to Lord throughout this Commentary. (See notes on Exodus 3. 14, and 6:2.) Spake — Either to the ear in audible words, as is strongly suggested in Exodus 33:11, and Numbers 12:8; or by the urim and thummim, as in Exodus 28:30; Numbers 27:21; or to the spiritual perception of Moses in such a manner as to give certainty to the communication. A consideration of the three places in which Jehovah spake to him and gave him audience inclines us to the theory of uttered words as the usual mode of communication. These three places were, 1.) The mercy-seat in the most holy place, the principal abode of the oracle. Numbers 7:89. We believe that it was from the mercy-seat between the cherubim that Moses was addressed in this chapter. 2.) At the door of the tabernacle, near the altar of burnt offering. Exodus 29:42. 3.) Out of the cloudy pillar. Exodus 33:9; Numbers 12:5, 6; Psalm 99:7. Moses — The reader of the three preceding books has already become too well acquainted with this great man to need an introduction. His character is above eulogy, his great deeds are too numerous for recital. He is the embodiment of the Old Testament as Jesus is of the New. “The law came by Moses, but grace and truth by Jesus Christ.” His agency in the religious instruction and spiritual elevation of mankind will have grateful mention in the anthems of the blood-washed throng in heaven, for they shall sing “the song of Moses and the Lamb.” See Exodus 2, Introductory, (3.) Wilderness of Sinai — A wild and mountainous region in Arabia Petraea, between the two branching gulfs of the Red Sea. It is a heap of lofty granite rocks, with steep gorges and deep valleys, abounding in water and luxuriant vegetation in the rainy season. These valleys are then beautiful. The Israelites sojourned in that part of the desert which lies north of Mount Sinai.

“Long as the Desert of Sinai has been known to Christian pilgrims, yet it may almost be said never to have been explored before the beginning of this century. We are still at the threshold of our knowledge concerning it. The older travellers never troubled themselves to compare the general features of the desert with the indications of the sacred narrative, and therefore they missed the cardinal points of dispute. We are still, therefore, in the condition of discoverers; and if we are thus compelled to abstain from positive conclusions, it is a suspense which we need not be afraid to avow, and which in this instance is the less inconvenient, because the very uniformity of nature by which it is occasioned, also enables us to form an image of the general scenes, even where the particular scene is unknown; and many will feel at a distance what many, I doubt not, have felt on the spot, that in speaking of such sacred events, uncertainty is the best safeguard for reverence, and suspense, as to the exact details of form and locality, is the most fitting approach for the consideration of the presence of Him who made darkness his secret place, his pavilion round about him, with dark water and thick ‘clouds to cover them.’” STANLEY’S Sinai and Palestine. Tabernacle of the congregation — Literally, the tent of appointment, or stated meeting, (with Jehovah.) The Septuagint calls it “the tent of witness,” and the Vulgate “the tent of the covenant.” The book of the Law, the witness of the covenant, was kept here. The tabernacle had been standing one month. Exodus 40:17. To distinguish it from the more temporary tent, the dwelling of Moses during the first year of the Exodus — the ante-Sinaitic tabernacle — this second structure is called the Sinaitic tabernacle. It was constructed by Bezaleel and Aholiab after the model shown to Moses on the mount. Exodus 26:30. It was a portable mansion-house and temple, the miniature of the great temple of Solomon. Its position was significant and commanding. On the east, between it and the camp under the lead of Judah, were the tents of the priests; southward, between it and the camp of Reuben, were the Kohathites placed; on the west, between it and the camp of Ephraim, the Gershonites had their abodes; and on the north, between it and the camp of Dan, was the station of the Merarites. In proportion to the wealth of the people, it was more costly and magnificent than the world-renowned edifice at Jerusalem. For a minute description see Exodus 36-38. Second month — This gives a clew to the period of time occupied by the events narrated in Leviticus, namely, one month, during the encampment at Mount Sinai.

GENEALOGICAL ENROLMENT AND MUSTER OF THE ADULT MALES, 1-46. At the close of the third book of Moses the temple in the wilderness — the tabernacle — had been erected, the law of sacrifices instituted, the Aaronic priesthood inducted into their sacred office, and rules for holiness of life, and for the isolation of Israel from the Gentile world, had been ordained. At the opening of the present book the tabernacle has been standing one month. The purpose of the Sinaitic sojourn has now been accomplished, and the vast host must begin their eastward and northward march toward the Land of Promise. From childhood they had been taught to turn their eyes from the banks of the Nile towards the hills of Canaan, where Abraham, their national father, was buried. Thither had their ancestors borne, in princely procession, the embalmed body of the patriarch Jacob to find a resting place, and to that land of the covenant were the Hebrews now bearing the mortal part of Joseph, the benefactor of his father’s family. But mighty foes are intrenched in that land, and other strong enemies will stand in their path to bar their entrance. Even the desert swarms with foes. War is imminent. Bloody battle fields must be trodden before they can sit down in houses which they have not builded, and pluck the fruit of olive yards which they have not planted. Out of the crowd of fugitives hastening from the yoke of Egypt there must emerge a compact military organization; for though Jehovah, the God of battles, the Man of war, is leading them to victory, he purposes to employ human allies, and he wishes to put them into the condition of the highest efficiency. For the military organization a census must be taken. The census in this chapter is not an enumeration de novo, but rather a muster on the basis of numerical and genealogical data already in the possession of the tribes. This is shown by the accordance of the number who have paid the atonement money with the total number enrolled in this chapter as fighting men.

1. The Lord — JEHOVAH. The ineffable name was translated into the Greek by the Seventy by the word Kuriov, Lord. Our English translators unwisely followed the Septuagint, and adopted the appellative Lord for the significant, chosen, proper name Jehovah, the one eternal and immutable Being. We notify the reader that this is the ground of our preference of Jehovah to Lord throughout this Commentary. (See notes on Exodus 3. 14, and 6:2.) Spake — Either to the ear in audible words, as is strongly suggested in Exodus 33:11, and Numbers 12:8; or by the urim and thummim, as in Exodus 28:30; Numbers 27:21; or to the spiritual perception of Moses in such a manner as to give certainty to the communication. A consideration of the three places in which Jehovah spake to him and gave him audience inclines us to the theory of uttered words as the usual mode of communication. These three places were, 1.) The mercy-seat in the most holy place, the principal abode of the oracle. Numbers 7:89. We believe that it was from the mercy-seat between the cherubim that Moses was addressed in this chapter. 2.) At the door of the tabernacle, near the altar of burnt offering. Exodus 29:42. 3.) Out of the cloudy pillar. Exodus 33:9; Numbers 12:5, 6; Psalm 99:7. Moses — The reader of the three preceding books has already become too well acquainted with this great man to need an introduction. His character is above eulogy, his great deeds are too numerous for recital. He is the embodiment of the Old Testament as Jesus is of the New. “The law came by Moses, but grace and truth by Jesus Christ.” His agency in the religious instruction and spiritual elevation of mankind will have grateful mention in the anthems of the blood-washed throng in heaven, for they shall sing “the song of Moses and the Lamb.” See Exodus 2, Introductory, (3.) Wilderness of Sinai — A wild and mountainous region in Arabia Petraea, between the two branching gulfs of the Red Sea. It is a heap of lofty granite rocks, with steep gorges and deep valleys, abounding in water and luxuriant vegetation in the rainy season. These valleys are then beautiful. The Israelites sojourned in that part of the desert which lies north of Mount Sinai.

“Long as the Desert of Sinai has been known to Christian pilgrims, yet it may almost be said never to have been explored before the beginning of this century. We are still at the threshold of our knowledge concerning it. The older travellers never troubled themselves to compare the general features of the desert with the indications of the sacred narrative, and therefore they missed the cardinal points of dispute. We are still, therefore, in the condition of discoverers; and if we are thus compelled to abstain from positive conclusions, it is a suspense which we need not be afraid to avow, and which in this instance is the less inconvenient, because the very uniformity of nature by which it is occasioned, also enables us to form an image of the general scenes, even where the particular scene is unknown; and many will feel at a distance what many, I doubt not, have felt on the spot, that in speaking of such sacred events, uncertainty is the best safeguard for reverence, and suspense, as to the exact details of form and locality, is the most fitting approach for the consideration of the presence of Him who made darkness his secret place, his pavilion round about him, with dark water and thick ‘clouds to cover them.’” STANLEY’S Sinai and Palestine. Tabernacle of the congregation — Literally, the tent of appointment, or stated meeting, (with Jehovah.) The Septuagint calls it “the tent of witness,” and the Vulgate “the tent of the covenant.” The book of the Law, the witness of the covenant, was kept here. The tabernacle had been standing one month. Exodus 40:17. To distinguish it from the more temporary tent, the dwelling of Moses during the first year of the Exodus — the ante-Sinaitic tabernacle — this second structure is called the Sinaitic tabernacle. It was constructed by Bezaleel and Aholiab after the model shown to Moses on the mount. Exodus 26:30. It was a portable mansion-house and temple, the miniature of the great temple of Solomon. Its position was significant and commanding. On the east, between it and the camp under the lead of Judah, were the tents of the priests; southward, between it and the camp of Reuben, were the Kohathites placed; on the west, between it and the camp of Ephraim, the Gershonites had their abodes; and on the north, between it and the camp of Dan, was the station of the Merarites. In proportion to the wealth of the people, it was more costly and magnificent than the world-renowned edifice at Jerusalem. For a minute description see Exodus 36-38. Second month — This gives a clew to the period of time occupied by the events narrated in Leviticus, namely, one month, during the encampment at Mount Sinai.

GENEALOGICAL ENROLMENT AND MUSTER OF THE ADULT MALES, 1-46. At the close of the third book of Moses the temple in the wilderness — the tabernacle — had been erected, the law of sacrifices instituted, the Aaronic priesthood inducted into their sacred office, and rules for holiness of life, and for the isolation of Israel from the Gentile world, had been ordained. At the opening of the present book the tabernacle has been standing one month. The purpose of the Sinaitic sojourn has now been accomplished, and the vast host must begin their eastward and northward march toward the Land of Promise. From childhood they had been taught to turn their eyes from the banks of the Nile towards the hills of Canaan, where Abraham, their national father, was buried. Thither had their ancestors borne, in princely procession, the embalmed body of the patriarch Jacob to find a resting place, and to that land of the covenant were the Hebrews now bearing the mortal part of Joseph, the benefactor of his father’s family. But mighty foes are intrenched in that land, and other strong enemies will stand in their path to bar their entrance. Even the desert swarms with foes. War is imminent. Bloody battle fields must be trodden before they can sit down in houses which they have not builded, and pluck the fruit of olive yards which they have not planted. Out of the crowd of fugitives hastening from the yoke of Egypt there must emerge a compact military organization; for though Jehovah, the God of battles, the Man of war, is leading them to victory, he purposes to employ human allies, and he wishes to put them into the condition of the highest efficiency. For the military organization a census must be taken. The census in this chapter is not an enumeration de novo, but rather a muster on the basis of numerical and genealogical data already in the possession of the tribes. This is shown by the accordance of the number who have paid the atonement money with the total number enrolled in this chapter as fighting men.

1. The Lord — JEHOVAH. The ineffable name was translated into the Greek by the Seventy by the word Kuriov, Lord. Our English translators unwisely followed the Septuagint, and adopted the appellative Lord for the significant, chosen, proper name Jehovah, the one eternal and immutable Being. We notify the reader that this is the ground of our preference of Jehovah to Lord throughout this Commentary. (See notes on Exodus 3. 14, and 6:2.) Spake — Either to the ear in audible words, as is strongly suggested in Exodus 33:11, and Numbers 12:8; or by the urim and thummim, as in Exodus 28:30; Numbers 27:21; or to the spiritual perception of Moses in such a manner as to give certainty to the communication. A consideration of the three places in which Jehovah spake to him and gave him audience inclines us to the theory of uttered words as the usual mode of communication. These three places were, 1.) The mercy-seat in the most holy place, the principal abode of the oracle. Numbers 7:89. We believe that it was from the mercy-seat between the cherubim that Moses was addressed in this chapter. 2.) At the door of the tabernacle, near the altar of burnt offering. Exodus 29:42. 3.) Out of the cloudy pillar. Exodus 33:9; Numbers 12:5, 6; Psalm 99:7. Moses — The reader of the three preceding books has already become too well acquainted with this great man to need an introduction. His character is above eulogy, his great deeds are too numerous for recital. He is the embodiment of the Old Testament as Jesus is of the New. “The law came by Moses, but grace and truth by Jesus Christ.” His agency in the religious instruction and spiritual elevation of mankind will have grateful mention in the anthems of the blood-washed throng in heaven, for they shall sing “the song of Moses and the Lamb.” See Exodus 2, Introductory, (3.) Wilderness of Sinai — A wild and mountainous region in Arabia Petraea, between the two branching gulfs of the Red Sea. It is a heap of lofty granite rocks, with steep gorges and deep valleys, abounding in water and luxuriant vegetation in the rainy season. These valleys are then beautiful. The Israelites sojourned in that part of the desert which lies north of Mount Sinai.

“Long as the Desert of Sinai has been known to Christian pilgrims, yet it may almost be said never to have been explored before the beginning of this century. We are still at the threshold of our knowledge concerning it. The older travellers never troubled themselves to compare the general features of the desert with the indications of the sacred narrative, and therefore they missed the cardinal points of dispute. We are still, therefore, in the condition of discoverers; and if we are thus compelled to abstain from positive conclusions, it is a suspense which we need not be afraid to avow, and which in this instance is the less inconvenient, because the very uniformity of nature by which it is occasioned, also enables us to form an image of the general scenes, even where the particular scene is unknown; and many will feel at a distance what many, I doubt not, have felt on the spot, that in speaking of such sacred events, uncertainty is the best safeguard for reverence, and suspense, as to the exact details of form and locality, is the most fitting approach for the consideration of the presence of Him who made darkness his secret place, his pavilion round about him, with dark water and thick ‘clouds to cover them.’” STANLEY’S Sinai and Palestine. Tabernacle of the congregation — Literally, the tent of appointment, or stated meeting, (with Jehovah.) The Septuagint calls it “the tent of witness,” and the Vulgate “the tent of the covenant.” The book of the Law, the witness of the covenant, was kept here. The tabernacle had been standing one month. Exodus 40:17. To distinguish it from the more temporary tent, the dwelling of Moses during the first year of the Exodus — the ante-Sinaitic tabernacle — this second structure is called the Sinaitic tabernacle. It was constructed by Bezaleel and Aholiab after the model shown to Moses on the mount. Exodus 26:30. It was a portable mansion-house and temple, the miniature of the great temple of Solomon. Its position was significant and commanding. On the east, between it and the camp under the lead of Judah, were the tents of the priests; southward, between it and the camp of Reuben, were the Kohathites placed; on the west, between it and the camp of Ephraim, the Gershonites had their abodes; and on the north, between it and the camp of Dan, was the station of the Merarites. In proportion to the wealth of the people, it was more costly and magnificent than the world-renowned edifice at Jerusalem. For a minute description see Exodus 36-38. Second month — This gives a clew to the period of time occupied by the events narrated in Leviticus, namely, one month, during the encampment at Mount Sinai.

GENEALOGICAL ENROLMENT AND MUSTER OF THE ADULT MALES, 1-46. At the close of the third book of Moses the temple in the wilderness — the tabernacle — had been erected, the law of sacrifices instituted, the Aaronic priesthood inducted into their sacred office, and rules for holiness of life, and for the isolation of Israel from the Gentile world, had been ordained. At the opening of the present book the tabernacle has been standing one month. The purpose of the Sinaitic sojourn has now been accomplished, and the vast host must begin their eastward and northward march toward the Land of Promise. From childhood they had been taught to turn their eyes from the banks of the Nile towards the hills of Canaan, where Abraham, their national father, was buried. Thither had their ancestors borne, in princely procession, the embalmed body of the patriarch Jacob to find a resting place, and to that land of the covenant were the Hebrews now bearing the mortal part of Joseph, the benefactor of his father’s family. But mighty foes are intrenched in that land, and other strong enemies will stand in their path to bar their entrance. Even the desert swarms with foes. War is imminent. Bloody battle fields must be trodden before they can sit down in houses which they have not builded, and pluck the fruit of olive yards which they have not planted. Out of the crowd of fugitives hastening from the yoke of Egypt there must emerge a compact military organization; for though Jehovah, the God of battles, the Man of war, is leading them to victory, he purposes to employ human allies, and he wishes to put them into the condition of the highest efficiency. For the military organization a census must be taken. The census in this chapter is not an enumeration de novo, but rather a muster on the basis of numerical and genealogical data already in the possession of the tribes. This is shown by the accordance of the number who have paid the atonement money with the total number enrolled in this chapter as fighting men.

1. The Lord — JEHOVAH. The ineffable name was translated into the Greek by the Seventy by the word Kuriov, Lord. Our English translators unwisely followed the Septuagint, and adopted the appellative Lord for the significant, chosen, proper name Jehovah, the one eternal and immutable Being. We notify the reader that this is the ground of our preference of Jehovah to Lord throughout this Commentary. (See notes on Exodus 3. 14, and 6:2.) Spake — Either to the ear in audible words, as is strongly suggested in Exodus 33:11, and Numbers 12:8; or by the urim and thummim, as in Exodus 28:30; Numbers 27:21; or to the spiritual perception of Moses in such a manner as to give certainty to the communication. A consideration of the three places in which Jehovah spake to him and gave him audience inclines us to the theory of uttered words as the usual mode of communication. These three places were, 1.) The mercy-seat in the most holy place, the principal abode of the oracle. Numbers 7:89. We believe that it was from the mercy-seat between the cherubim that Moses was addressed in this chapter. 2.) At the door of the tabernacle, near the altar of burnt offering. Exodus 29:42. 3.) Out of the cloudy pillar. Exodus 33:9; Numbers 12:5, 6; Psalm 99:7. Moses — The reader of the three preceding books has already become too well acquainted with this great man to need an introduction. His character is above eulogy, his great deeds are too numerous for recital. He is the embodiment of the Old Testament as Jesus is of the New. “The law came by Moses, but grace and truth by Jesus Christ.” His agency in the religious instruction and spiritual elevation of mankind will have grateful mention in the anthems of the blood-washed throng in heaven, for they shall sing “the song of Moses and the Lamb.” See Exodus 2, Introductory, (3.) Wilderness of Sinai — A wild and mountainous region in Arabia Petraea, between the two branching gulfs of the Red Sea. It is a heap of lofty granite rocks, with steep gorges and deep valleys, abounding in water and luxuriant vegetation in the rainy season. These valleys are then beautiful. The Israelites sojourned in that part of the desert which lies north of Mount Sinai.

“Long as the Desert of Sinai has been known to Christian pilgrims, yet it may almost be said never to have been explored before the beginning of this century. We are still at the threshold of our knowledge concerning it. The older travellers never troubled themselves to compare the general features of the desert with the indications of the sacred narrative, and therefore they missed the cardinal points of dispute. We are still, therefore, in the condition of discoverers; and if we are thus compelled to abstain from positive conclusions, it is a suspense which we need not be afraid to avow, and which in this instance is the less inconvenient, because the very uniformity of nature by which it is occasioned, also enables us to form an image of the general scenes, even where the particular scene is unknown; and many will feel at a distance what many, I doubt not, have felt on the spot, that in speaking of such sacred events, uncertainty is the best safeguard for reverence, and suspense, as to the exact details of form and locality, is the most fitting approach for the consideration of the presence of Him who made darkness his secret place, his pavilion round about him, with dark water and thick ‘clouds to cover them.’” STANLEY’S Sinai and Palestine. Tabernacle of the congregation — Literally, the tent of appointment, or stated meeting, (with Jehovah.) The Septuagint calls it “the tent of witness,” and the Vulgate “the tent of the covenant.” The book of the Law, the witness of the covenant, was kept here. The tabernacle had been standing one month. Exodus 40:17. To distinguish it from the more temporary tent, the dwelling of Moses during the first year of the Exodus — the ante-Sinaitic tabernacle — this second structure is called the Sinaitic tabernacle. It was constructed by Bezaleel and Aholiab after the model shown to Moses on the mount. Exodus 26:30. It was a portable mansion-house and temple, the miniature of the great temple of Solomon. Its position was significant and commanding. On the east, between it and the camp under the lead of Judah, were the tents of the priests; southward, between it and the camp of Reuben, were the Kohathites placed; on the west, between it and the camp of Ephraim, the Gershonites had their abodes; and on the north, between it and the camp of Dan, was the station of the Merarites. In proportion to the wealth of the people, it was more costly and magnificent than the world-renowned edifice at Jerusalem. For a minute description see Exodus 36-38. Second month — This gives a clew to the period of time occupied by the events narrated in Leviticus, namely, one month, during the encampment at Mount Sinai.

Verse 46. All they that were numbered were six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty.] What an astonishing increase from seventy souls that went down into Egypt, Genesis 46:27, about 215 years before, where latterly they had endured the greatest hardships! But God’s promise cannot fail (Genesis 16:5;) and who can resist his will, and bring to naught his counsel? That a comparative view may be easily taken of the state of the tribes, I shall produce them here from the first census mentioned in the first chapter of this book, in their decreasing proportion, beginning with the greatest and proceeding to the least; and in the second census, mentioned Numbers 26:1-65, where the increase of some and the decrease of others may be seen in one point of view. It may be just remarked, that except in the case of Gad in this chapter, and Reuben in Numbers 26:7, all the numbers are what may be called whole or round numbers, beginning with thousands, and ending with hundreds, Gad and Reuben alone ending with tens; but the Scripture generally uses round numbers, units and fractions being almost constantly disregarded.

1st census, 2d census,

ch. 1. ch. 26.

1. Judah 74,600 76,500

2. Dan 62,700 64,400

3. Simeon 59,300 22,200

4. Zebulun 57,400 60,500

5. Issachar 54,400 64,300

6. Naphtali 53,400 45,400

7. Reuben 46,500 43,730

8. Gad 45,650 40,500

9. Asher 41,500 53,400

10. Ephraim 40,500 32,500

11. Benjamin 35,400 45,600

12. Manasseh 32,200 52,700

——— ———

Total 603,550 Total 601,730

Thus we find Judah, the most populous tribe, and Manasseh the least so; the difference between them being so great as 42,400, for which no very satisfactory reason can be assigned.

In the second census, mentioned Numbers 26:34, Judah still has the pre-eminency; and Simeon, the third in number before, is become the least. Now we see also that the little tribe of Manasseh occupies the seventh place for number. Seven of the tribes had an increase; five a decrease. Manasseh had an increase of 20,500; Judah, 1,900; Issachar, 9,900; Zebulun, 3,100; Benjamin, 10,200; Dan, 1,700; Asher, 11,900. On the contrary there was a decrease in Reuben of 2,770; in Simeon, 37,100; Gad, 5,150; Ephraim, 8,000; Naphtali, 8,000. Decrease in the whole, 61,020 effective men. See Clarke on “Numbers 26:51”; but balanced with the increase, the decrease was upon the whole 1,820. On the subject of these enumerations, and the manner in which this vast multitude sprang in about four generations from seventy-five persons, Scheuchzer has some valuable calculations, though liable to some objections, which I shall take the liberty to insert, as they tend to throw considerable light upon the subject.

“We find in the writings of Moses three enumerations of the Jewish people, that follow each other pretty closely:—

The first, which was made at their departure from Egypt, Exodus 12:37, amounted to — 600,000

One year after, to — 603,550

On entering the land of Canaan, to — 601,730

If we add to the number — 603,550

that of the Levites given us in Numbers 3:39, and which amounted to — 22,000

————

We shall have for the sum total 625,550

“We find the same number, on adding that of each tribe given us in detail, which is the best proof of the exactness of the calculation. “I think I shall afford the reader some degree of pleasure by presenting him, in this place, the number of each tribe separately, beginning at their earliest ancestors. We shall see, by this means, how faithfully God fulfilled the promise he had made to Abraham, as well as the great utility of the mathematics for the right understanding of the Holy Scriptures. I shall begin with a Genealogical Table of that family which God so wonderfully blessed; and to it I shall afterward add each separate tribe, following the calculation of Reyher, (Math. Mos., p. 222.) And we shall see that the fourth generation, taken with the third, produces the very number mentioned in the text.

REUBEN Hanoch

Phallu

Hezron

Carmi 46,500. Numbers 1:21.

SIMEON Jemuel

Jamin

Ohad

Jachin

Zohar

Shaul 59,300. Numbers 1:23.

LEVI Gershon Libni

Shemei 7,500. Numbers 3:22.

Kohath Amram

Izehar

Hebron

Uzziel 8,600. Numbers 3:26.

Merari Mahli

Mushi 6,200. Numbers 3:34.

JUDAH Shelah

Pharez Hezron

Zerah Hamul 74,600. Numbers 1:27.

ISSACHAR Tola

Phuvah

Job

Shimron 54,400. Numbers 1:29.

ZEBULUN Sered

Elon

Jahleel 57,400. Numbers 1:31.

DINAH

Children of JACOB by ZILPAH. Genesis 46:18.

GAD Zilphion

Haggai

Shuni

Ezbon

Eri

Arodi

Areil 45,650. Numbers 1:25.

ASHER Jimnah

Isuah

Isui

Beriah Heber

Malchiel 41,500. Numbers 1:41.

Children of JACOB by RACHEL. Genesis 46:22.

JOSEPH Manasseh 32,200

Ephraim 40,500

BENJAMIN Belah

Becher

Ashbel

Gerah

Naaman

Ehi

Rosh

Muppim

Huppim

Ard 35,400. Numbers 1:37.

Children of JACOB by BILHAH. Genesis 46:25.

DAN Hushim 62,700. Numbers 1:39.

NAPHTALI Jahzeel

Guni

Jezer

Shillem 53,400. Numbers 1:43.

I.-REUBEN 46,500

“Let us now descend to the particular enumeration of each tribe. REUBEN had four sons: now if we suppose that one of these four sons had seven, and that each of the other three had eight, we shall find the number 31 for the first Egyptian generation. If we afterward suppose that each of these 31 sons had five sons, the second generation will amount to 155, which, multiplied by 15, will produce 2,325 for the third generation; and these, multiplied by 19, will make 44,175 for the fourth; so that the third, together with the fourth, will make 46,500. We shall have the same product if the given sum, 46,500, be divided by the most probable number of children, for example, by the number 19; we shall then have 2,447 for the third generation; which sum being deducted from the sum total, there will remain 44,053 for the fourth generation, which is exactly the number that is produced in multiplying 2,440 of the third generation by 18, and the other 7 by 19. If we wish to make the same calculation with respect to the preceding generations, i.e., divide them by the most probable number of children, we shall have the following sums:—

Sons of Reuben............... 4

I. Generation 31

II. Ditto 215

III. Ditto 2,583

IV. Ditto 43,917

———

Amount of Generations of III and IV 46,500

II.-SIMEON 59,300

“SIMEON had six sons. Let us suppose that each of the three first had six children, and each of the three others seven, we shall have thirty-nine for the first generation. If we multiply 31 of this number by 9, and 8 by 10, we shall have for the second generation 359; of which number, if we multiply 355 by 11, and 4 by 12, the third generation will give us 3,953. Let us then multiply 3,948 of these by 14, and 5 of them by 15, and we shall have for the fourth 55,347. The third and fourth, added together, will make 59,300. III.-LEVI 22,300

“Gershon, Levi’s eldest son, had two children: let us give to one of these 16 children, and to the other 17, and we shall have 33 for the second generation; 28 of which, multiplied by 15, and 5 by 16, will produce 500 for the third. Multiply each by 14, and these will produce 7,000; and the third and fourth together, 7,500.

“Kohath, Levi’s second son, had four sons, which form the first line. Give to one of them 10 sons, and 11 to each of the other three, for the second generation there will be 43. Multiply them by 10, there will be 430 for the third; these, multiplied by 19 for the fourth, will produce the number of 8,170. The third and fourth added together make 8,600.

“Merari, the third son of Levi, had two sons. Give 10 children to each of them, there will then be 20 for the second generation. Now if we say that 10 of these 20 had each 15 sons, and each of the others 16, we shall have 310, which, multiplied by 19, will give us 5,890 for the fourth; and the two last together, 6,200. This may be seen by the following example:— Gershonites Kohathites Merarites

I. Generation 2 4 2

II. Ditto 33 43 20

III. Ditto 500 430 310

IV. Ditto 7,000 8,710 5,890

“Amount of generations III. and IV.: Gershonites, 7,500; Kohathites, 8,600; and Merarites, 6,200-total number of Levites, 22,300. IV.-JUDAH 74,600

“The sons of Judah were Shelah, Pharez, and Zerah. His grandsons by Pharez were Hezron and Hamul. Hezron had two sons. Suppose each of them had six children, which will make 12 for the first generation; to eight of whom allow eight children, and nine to each of the others, and there will be 100 for the second generation. To 92 of these then give 18 children, and 19 to the eight others; this will produce for the third generation 1,808. If we then suppose that 1,800 of these had each 18 children, and that each of the other eight had 19, the fourth generation will be 32,552, which, added to the product of the third, will make the descendants of Hezron amount to 34,360.

“Hamul had two sons, who, multiplied by 10, produce the number of 20 for the second generation: these, multiplied by 20, will make 400 for the third, and these again by 25 will produce 10,000 for the fourth. And thus the two last generations will amount together to the number of 10,400. “If we allow five sons to Shelah, and six to Zerah, we shall have 11 for the first generation. To three of whom allow 10 children and 11 to the other eight, this will give us 118 for the second. To 113 of these give 14, and 15 to the other five, and 1,657 will be produced for the third. Give 17 to 1,643, and 18 to the 14 remaining, and for the fourth there will be 28,183. The third and fourth added together will produce the number of 29,840. “According to this calculation, all these generations will amount to the following numbers:—

Hezronites 34,360

Hamulites 10,400

Shelanites and Zarhites 29,840

———

74,600

V.-ISSACHAR 54,400

“ISSACHAR had five sons. Suppose that three of them had each five children, and the other two, six, we shall have 27 for the first generation. If we then imagine that of these 19 had each nine sons, and each of the other eight 10, the second generation will be 251. Now 241 of these, multiplied by 12, will produce 2,892, and the 10 others, multiplied by 13, will make 130; consequently the third generation will amount to 3,022. If 3,018 of these had each 17 sons, and each of the other four had 18, the fourth generation will be 51,378; the third and fourth generations, then, will produce a number of 54,400.

VI.-ZEBULUN 57,400

“Zebulun had three sons. If we suppose that two of them had in all fourteen children, and the third, six, here will be 20 for the first generation. The second will produce 143, on multiplying 17 by 7, and 3 by 8. If we multiply 135 by 16, and 8 by 17, the third will amount to 2,296. By multiplying the third by 24, the fourth will give us 55,104. The two last will produce, together, 57,400.

VII.-GAD 45,650

I. Generation: multiply 3 by 9, and 4 by 10, there will be 67 II. Ditto multiply 61 by 7, and 6 by 8 475

III. Ditto multiply 471 by 8, and 4 by 9 3,804

IV. Ditto multiply 3,802 by 11, and 2 by 12 41,846

———

Amount of generations III and IV 45,650

VIII.-ASHER 41,500

“The sons of Asher, Jimnah, Ishua, and Isui, multiplied by 8, produce for the

I. Generation 24

II. Ditto multiply 24 by 8 192

III. Ditto multiply 182 by 11, and 10 by 12 2,122

IV. Ditto multiply 2,118 by 12, and 4 by 13 25,468

———

Amount of generations III and IV 27,590

“Heber and Malchiel were sons of Beriah. Now these two sons multiplied by 5, give us for

I. Generation 10

II. Ditto multiply 10 by 11. 110

III. Ditto multiply by 9 990

IV. Ditto multiply by 12 11,880

———

Amount of generations III and IV 12,870

“Another son of Beriah had in the

I. Generation 1

II. Ditto multiply by 8 8

III. Ditto multiply by 10 80

IV. Ditto multiply by 12 960

———

Amount of generations III and IV. 1,040

IX.-JOSEPH

MANASSEH 32,200

I. Generation 10

II. Ditto multiply 6 by 13, and 4 by 14 134

III. Ditto multiply 132 by 12, and 2 by 13 1,610

IV. Ditto multiply by 19 30,590

———

Amount of generations III and IV 32,200

EPHRAIM 40,500

I. I. Generation 16

II. Ditto multiply by 10 160

III. Ditto multiply 152 by 12, and 8 by 13 1,928

IV. Ditto multiply 1,916 by 20, and12 by 21 38,572

———

Amount of generations III and IV 40,500

X.-BENJAMIN 35,400

“He had 10 sons; two of whom, multiplied by 9, and the other 8 by 10, will give for the

I. Generation 98

II. Ditto multiply 95 by 9, and 3 by 10 885

III. Ditto multiply by 5 4,425

IV. Ditto multiply by 7 30,975

———

Amount of generations III and IV 35,400

XI.-DAN 62,700

I. Generation 11

II. Ditto multiply by 12 132

III. Ditto multiply by 19 2,508

IV. Ditto multiply by 24 60,192

———

Amount of generations III and IV 62,700

XII.-NAPHTALI 53,400

“He had 4 sons, the half of whom, multiplied by 7, and the other half by 6, give us for the

I. Generation 26

II. Ditto multiply 16 by 11, and 10 by 12 296

III. Ditto multiply 288 by 12, and 8 by 13 3,560

IV. Ditto multiply by 14 49,840

———

Amount of generations III and IV 53,400

Total number of all the tribes

I. Reuben 46,500

II. Simeon 59,300

III. Levi 22,300

IV. Judah 74,600

V. Issachar 54,400

VI. Zebulun 57,400

VII. Gad 45,650

VIII. Asher 41,500

IX. Manasseh 32,200

Ephraim 40,500

X. Benjamin 35,400

XI. Dan 62,700

XII. Naphtali 53,400

———

Total 625,850

"And indeed, without counting the Levites, the

number of the Israelites (Numbers 1:46)

amounts to

603,550

The Levites (Numbers 3:39) amount to 22,300

———

The whole number together, as above 625,850

In the above calculations, Scheuchzer and Reyher take for granted, 1. That from the going down to Egypt to the exodus there were four generations.

2. That the first two generations had died in Egypt. 3. That the promise of God in multiplying them as the stars of heaven, had taken place particularly in the two last generations. 4. That these two last generations alone form the aggregate sums given in the sacred text. 5. That their method of accounting for this aggregate through the four generations, is not only perfectly natural and mathematical, but strictly accordant with the promises made by God to them, as the sum of each tribe sufficiently proves. 6. That the whole account shows the truth of the Divine promise, the great accuracy of the Jewish lawgiver, and a proof of the inspiration of the sacred writings. But even to these calculations and deductions there may be objections, e. g. “Scheuchzer gives to 2,508 families of Dan, 24 male children, each above the age of 20: we may fairly allow an equal number of females, and add 5 more under 20, See the note at “Exodus 12:37”, and we have 53 children on the average through all the families of a tribe; whilst to 4,425 families of Benjamin are allotted 7 males aged 20, and adding 7 females at 5 children, we have 19 children in each family; a tolerable number; but apparently more reasonable than the other.”-ANON. NUMBERS

GENEALOGICAL ENROLMENT AND MUSTER OF THE ADULT MALES, 1-46. At the close of the third book of Moses the temple in the wilderness — the tabernacle — had been erected, the law of sacrifices instituted, the Aaronic priesthood inducted into their sacred office, and rules for holiness of life, and for the isolation of Israel from the Gentile world, had been ordained. At the opening of the present book the tabernacle has been standing one month. The purpose of the Sinaitic sojourn has now been accomplished, and the vast host must begin their eastward and northward march toward the Land of Promise. From childhood they had been taught to turn their eyes from the banks of the Nile towards the hills of Canaan, where Abraham, their national father, was buried. Thither had their ancestors borne, in princely procession, the embalmed body of the patriarch Jacob to find a resting place, and to that land of the covenant were the Hebrews now bearing the mortal part of Joseph, the benefactor of his father’s family. But mighty foes are intrenched in that land, and other strong enemies will stand in their path to bar their entrance. Even the desert swarms with foes. War is imminent. Bloody battle fields must be trodden before they can sit down in houses which they have not builded, and pluck the fruit of olive yards which they have not planted. Out of the crowd of fugitives hastening from the yoke of Egypt there must emerge a compact military organization; for though Jehovah, the God of battles, the Man of war, is leading them to victory, he purposes to employ human allies, and he wishes to put them into the condition of the highest efficiency. For the military organization a census must be taken. The census in this chapter is not an enumeration de novo, but rather a muster on the basis of numerical and genealogical data already in the possession of the tribes. This is shown by the accordance of the number who have paid the atonement money with the total number enrolled in this chapter as fighting men.

1. The Lord — JEHOVAH. The ineffable name was translated into the Greek by the Seventy by the word Kuriov, Lord. Our English translators unwisely followed the Septuagint, and adopted the appellative Lord for the significant, chosen, proper name Jehovah, the one eternal and immutable Being. We notify the reader that this is the ground of our preference of Jehovah to Lord throughout this Commentary. (See notes on Exodus 3. 14, and 6:2.) Spake — Either to the ear in audible words, as is strongly suggested in Exodus 33:11, and Numbers 12:8; or by the urim and thummim, as in Exodus 28:30; Numbers 27:21; or to the spiritual perception of Moses in such a manner as to give certainty to the communication. A consideration of the three places in which Jehovah spake to him and gave him audience inclines us to the theory of uttered words as the usual mode of communication. These three places were, 1.) The mercy-seat in the most holy place, the principal abode of the oracle. Numbers 7:89. We believe that it was from the mercy-seat between the cherubim that Moses was addressed in this chapter. 2.) At the door of the tabernacle, near the altar of burnt offering. Exodus 29:42. 3.) Out of the cloudy pillar. Exodus 33:9; Numbers 12:5, 6; Psalm 99:7. Moses — The reader of the three preceding books has already become too well acquainted with this great man to need an introduction. His character is above eulogy, his great deeds are too numerous for recital. He is the embodiment of the Old Testament as Jesus is of the New. “The law came by Moses, but grace and truth by Jesus Christ.” His agency in the religious instruction and spiritual elevation of mankind will have grateful mention in the anthems of the blood-washed throng in heaven, for they shall sing “the song of Moses and the Lamb.” See Exodus 2, Introductory, (3.) Wilderness of Sinai — A wild and mountainous region in Arabia Petraea, between the two branching gulfs of the Red Sea. It is a heap of lofty granite rocks, with steep gorges and deep valleys, abounding in water and luxuriant vegetation in the rainy season. These valleys are then beautiful. The Israelites sojourned in that part of the desert which lies north of Mount Sinai.

“Long as the Desert of Sinai has been known to Christian pilgrims, yet it may almost be said never to have been explored before the beginning of this century. We are still at the threshold of our knowledge concerning it. The older travellers never troubled themselves to compare the general features of the desert with the indications of the sacred narrative, and therefore they missed the cardinal points of dispute. We are still, therefore, in the condition of discoverers; and if we are thus compelled to abstain from positive conclusions, it is a suspense which we need not be afraid to avow, and which in this instance is the less inconvenient, because the very uniformity of nature by which it is occasioned, also enables us to form an image of the general scenes, even where the particular scene is unknown; and many will feel at a distance what many, I doubt not, have felt on the spot, that in speaking of such sacred events, uncertainty is the best safeguard for reverence, and suspense, as to the exact details of form and locality, is the most fitting approach for the consideration of the presence of Him who made darkness his secret place, his pavilion round about him, with dark water and thick ‘clouds to cover them.’” STANLEY’S Sinai and Palestine. Tabernacle of the congregation — Literally, the tent of appointment, or stated meeting, (with Jehovah.) The Septuagint calls it “the tent of witness,” and the Vulgate “the tent of the covenant.” The book of the Law, the witness of the covenant, was kept here. The tabernacle had been standing one month. Exodus 40:17. To distinguish it from the more temporary tent, the dwelling of Moses during the first year of the Exodus — the ante-Sinaitic tabernacle — this second structure is called the Sinaitic tabernacle. It was constructed by Bezaleel and Aholiab after the model shown to Moses on the mount. Exodus 26:30. It was a portable mansion-house and temple, the miniature of the great temple of Solomon. Its position was significant and commanding. On the east, between it and the camp under the lead of Judah, were the tents of the priests; southward, between it and the camp of Reuben, were the Kohathites placed; on the west, between it and the camp of Ephraim, the Gershonites had their abodes; and on the north, between it and the camp of Dan, was the station of the Merarites. In proportion to the wealth of the people, it was more costly and magnificent than the world-renowned edifice at Jerusalem. For a minute description see Exodus 36-38. Second month — This gives a clew to the period of time occupied by the events narrated in Leviticus, namely, one month, during the encampment at Mount Sinai.

Ver. 47. But the levites—were not numbered. As the number before the erection of the tabernacle, and the number now were exactly the same, it is evident that they now used the same rolls of genealogy, and that the levites were exempt from paying the half shekel on account of their services. But if not, the Israelites in less than a year must have increased twenty two thousand; besides replacing the three thousand slain in the revolt of idolatry, when they worshipped the calf.

SERVICE, 47-53.

47. Levites… not numbered — As the Levites were wholly devoted to sacred duties in the place of the firstborn, they were exempted from the payment of the half-shekel atonement poll-tax, as well as from military service. Hence they were not enumerated in either the former or the present census. A special census of Levites will be found in Numbers 3:15.

SERVICE, 47-53.

47. Levites… not numbered — As the Levites were wholly devoted to sacred duties in the place of the firstborn, they were exempted from the payment of the half-shekel atonement poll-tax, as well as from military service. Hence they were not enumerated in either the former or the present census. A special census of Levites will be found in Numbers 3:15.

V. 49. Levi-Because they were not generally to go out to war, which was the thing principally eyed in this muster, Numbers 1:3,20,45, but were to attend upon the service of the tabernacle. They that minister upon holy things, should not entangle themselves in secular affairs. The ministry itself is work enough for a whole man, and all little enough to be employed in it.

Verse 49. Levi — Because they were not generally to go out to war, which was the thing principally eyed in this muster, (verses 3, 20, 45,) but were to attend upon the service of the tabernacle. They that minister upon holy things, should not entangle themselves in secular affairs. The ministry itself is work enough for a whole man, and all little enough to be employed in it.

49. Tribe of Levi — This tribe, together with that of Simeon, because their founders had perpetrated the treacherous massacre of the Shechemites, (Genesis 34:25, 26,) were under the curse of Jacob: “I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel.” Genesis 49:7. Simeon was greatly reduced in number in the wilderness, and received a small portion in Canaan adjoining Judah, but was soon scattered in the cities of this stronger tribe. Levi was forbidden a portion of the Land of Promise except forty-eight cities in the other tribes, and was appointed to the charge of the tabernacle instead of the firstborn, who were sacred to Jehovah because they had been sanctified by the Lord, and spared when the destroyer slew the firstborn of the Egyptians. A branch of this family, the house of Aaron, became the priestly family, and the rest of the tribe, under the technical designation of Levites, were set apart to the menial services of the tabernacle, such as pitching, taking down, and transporting the sacred tent and its furniture. The curse of dispersion pronounced on Levi was thus converted into a blessing, 1,) because of the conspicuous faithfulness of Moses and Aaron, members of this tribe; and 2,) because of the commendable zeal for God of the whole tribe in the case of the golden calf. Exodus 32:16. Every ancestral curse may be mitigated or changed into a blessing by the obedience of posterity to the Divine law. “But where sin abounded grace did much more abound.” Romans 5:20.

V. 50. The tabernacle of testimony-So called here, and Exodus 38:21, because it was made chiefly for the sake of the ark of the testimony, which is often called the testimony.

Verses 50, 51. The tabernacle of testimony — So called here, and Exodus 38:21, because it was made chiefly for the sake of the ark of the testimony, which is often called the testimony. The stranger elsewhere is one of another nation, here one of another tribe. That cometh nigh — So as to do the offices mentioned verse 50.

Ver. 50. Appoint—levites over the tabernacle. For these services they were exempt from war, but were required to accompany the Ark, and bore it to the camp when Eli’s sons were slain. When the priests fought, it was of necessity, or of their own will. The Maccabees were illustrious, and were aided by other priests, as well as levites. Abiathar also was with David in all his exile.

50. Tabernacle of testimony — In the Hebrew these words are not the same as in the first verse. They should have been translated the dwelling, or abode of the Law. See the Hebrew of Exodus 38:21. The tables of the Law — the two tables of stone — were kept in the tabernacle. Exodus 31:18. They shall bear the tabernacle — In this service each of the three Levitical families had its separate department. The Gershonites carried the hangings and cords. They were allowed two wagons and four oxen to each. The Kohathites carried on their shoulders the ark, table of show-bread, candlestick, two altars, and hangings of the holy of holies. The Merarites transported the frameboards, pillars, bars, etc., with the aid of four wagons and eight oxen. And shall encamp round about the tabernacle — The Gershonites on the west, the Kohathites on the south, the Merarites on the north, and the priests on the east or front. See Numbers 3:23-38. They were allowed to take no part in the services of the altar. Numbers 18:2-7.

V. 51. That cometh nigh-The stranger elsewhere is one of another nation, here one of another tribe. So as to do the offices mentioned, Numbers 1:50.

Verses 50, 51. The tabernacle of testimony — So called here, and Exodus 38:21, because it was made chiefly for the sake of the ark of the testimony, which is often called the testimony. The stranger elsewhere is one of another nation, here one of another tribe. That cometh nigh — So as to do the offices mentioned verse 50.

51. The stranger that cometh nigh — Every non-Levite is prohibited from intrusion upon the sacred precincts. So, also, with respect to the priestly office, every Levite not an Aaronic priest is a stranger. The profaned censers used by Korah the Levite, and his host of princes, were made into plates for the covering of the altar, “to be a memorial (warning) unto the children of Israel, that no stranger, which is not of the seed of Aaron, come near to offer incense before the Lord.” Numbers 16:36-40. Shall be put to death — We find no directions to the Hebrew judiciary in such a case, and no instance of the infliction of the death penalty for this sacrilege by the human magistrate, but a record of the special interposition of Jehovah in the case of Nadab and Abihu, (Leviticus 10:1, 2,) supposed to have been drunk, because of the prohibition of wine immediately subjoined, (Leviticus 10:8-10,) and also of Uzzah, 1 Chronicles 13:10. Hence we infer that this crime was punished by the immediate stroke of the Divine hand only. To the objection that this punishment was too severe and too summary, we reply that it was designed to teach the holiness of God in an impressive manner. We know too little of the Divine government to criticise its acts.

52. By his own camp — The order of encamping will be explained in the next chapter. By his own standard — lgd, degel, as being conspicuous. Standards and ensigns were requisite for preserving the order of the march and of the camp. The degel of the text were probably the large banners which marked the four grand divisions of the camp.

They were, according to the Rabbies, wrought with embroidery, and that of Judah displayed a lion, (Genesis 49:9;) Reuben, a man; Ephraim, a bull, (Deuteronomy 33:17;) and Dan, the picture of the cherubim or flying eagle. The same symbols are found in Revelation 4:7. That standards with similar devices were in use before this date is proved by the battle pictures on ancient Egyptian monuments of standards of an umbrella or fan-like form, made of ostrich feathers or shawls. To this tradition of the Rabbies may be opposed the hostility of the Jews in subsequent ages to standards with images, such as the Roman eagles. They made this the ground of their suit to Vitellius, that he would not cross their territory, but march another way. Nevertheless to a nation of freedmen, many of whom could not read, a pictured standard might be as necessary as pictured signs, like the boar’s head in the streets of London three centuries ago. The Targumists say that the tribal standards were distinguished by the colours of the precious stones in the breastplate of the high priest, and that the four great banners of the four grand divisions of the camp were tri-colours, each combining the colours of the three tribes over which it floated.

V. 53. No wrath-From God, who is very tender of his worship, and will not suffer the profaners of it go unpunished! whose wrath is called simply wrath by way of eminency, as the most terrible kind of wrath.

Verse 53. No wrath — From God, who is very tender of his worship, and will not suffer the profaners of it to go unpunished! whose wrath is called simply wrath, by way of eminence, as the most terrible kind of wrath.

53. That there be no wrath — By the Levites encamped around the sacred tabernacle a strong guard was established for its protection, and a safeguard to keep the people from intrusion into the consecrated enclosure, and consequent destruction by the wrath of Jehovah. The spiritual lessons conveyed to us are, the great solemnity and self-examination with which we should approach the sacred mysteries of Christianity, the baptismal font and the holy eucharist, “lest we eat and drink damnation, not discerning the Lord’s body;” and also the carefulness and scrutiny of motives which should characterize every man who desires to enter the high vocation of the Christian ministry.

54. So did they — Up to this time unquestioning obedience characterized the nation. Well may the compassionate Jehovah say, “When Israel was a child, I loved him.” “I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.” Happy would Israel have been if such a record had continued! It is a principle of Divine government to bestow rewards only after proof of fidelity. The Hebrews will not be deprived of a period of trial in which to demonstrate their unshaken allegiance to the God who has led them out of the house of bondage.

CONCLUDING NOTES.

(1.) The accordance of the result of this census with that taken in Exodus 38:25, 26, is regarded by Colenso as a proof that the Pentateuch is “unhistorical.” But from the fact that the enumeration in this chapter was made on the same day that it was ordered, (verse 18,) we infer that a new census was not taken, but only a bringing together and tribal summation of the census already made only a few weeks before. Hence the second census was only a declaration of facts already ascertained. J.D. Michaelis argues that there was but one census, and that was taken at this time, and that “Moses did not hesitate, when recording the account of the tax, to insert what were afterwards found to be the actual numbers.” “We are shut up to this by the solemnity and formality with which the census in Numbers i was commanded, organized, and carried out.” The agreement is quite general among biblical scholars that there was but one census, some carrying its results forward to the muster, and others carrying them backward to the taxing.

(2.) Another proof that the Mosaic books are “unhistorical” is supposed to be found in the total of Israel shown by the census, which, on the ordinary principles of computation, must have been 2,400,000. But consider, first, That there is proof of a sojourn of 430 years in Egypt. See Exodus i, Concluding Notes. Secondly, It would seem very strange if Jacob, living in princely splendour like Abraham with his 318 servants, did not take a numerous retinue of dependents with him down into Egypt. These, by intermarriage and by concubinage and circumcision, may have been absorbed into Israel. Instead of 70 as the first multiplicand, there may have been a much larger number. Thirdly, Egypt was celebrated from antiquity for the fruitfulness of its inhabitants. Exodus 1:7, note. Fourthly, The Hebrews married young: Judah and Pharez at 18, and Beriah at 20. Benjamin at 32 had ten sons. Genesis 46:21. At 64, at the same rate of increase, he might have had 100 grandsons; at 96, 1,000 great grandsons; at 128, 10,000 great great grandsons. If he lived to be 160 his male descendants might have been 100,000, and at 192 they would have reached 1,000,000. Fifthly, Even in the shorter period of 215 years there is space for eight or nine generations. There is no need of limiting all of them to four. “Joseph saw Ephraim’s children of the third generation; the children also of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were brought up upon Joseph’s knees.” Genesis 50:23. Joseph was about 34 years old when his sons were born, (Genesis 41:46-50,) and he died at 110. Hence, in this instance, the fourth generation was born, and four generations were alive together only 75 years after the descent into Egypt. Sixthly, Not merely one generation went out at the Exode, but portions of four. Lastly, Extraordinary increase had been promised to Abraham (Genesis 15:5) in such terms as would lead us to expect a miraculous fecundity.