1._And the Lord spake unto Moses. _Moses here treats of the accidents whereby pollution is contracted, although a man may be by nature pure and sound. If any labored under natural defects, Moses prohibited them from exercising the sacerdotal office; now, if any extrinsic pollution may have affected... [ Continue Reading ]
10_There shall no stranger. _It was also necessary to add this, that the majesty of sacred things might not be impaired; for if it had been promiscuously permitted to all to eat of the sacred bread and the other oblations, the people would have straightway inferred that they differed not from ordina... [ Continue Reading ]
14._And if a man eat of the holy thing unwittingly. _A question may here arise, why God would have satisfaction made to the priests, if any one should have eaten of the offerings; for they deserved punishment rather than reward, if they had suffered sacred things to be brought into contempt by their... [ Continue Reading ]
Leviticus 22:17._And the Lord spake. _He now more clearly teaches and more copiously inculcates what he has frequently adverted to heretofore, that it is sinful to offer to God a _maimed, _or _weak, _or otherwise _imperfect animal. _Now this external soundness admonished the ancient people that God... [ Continue Reading ]
19._“Unto your acceptance.” _(294) Some indeed translate this “at your own will,” but the context forbids it; for Moses sometimes uses the word רצה, _ratseh, _which means “accepted,” in the same sense, and sometimes רצון, _ratson, _which can only be referred to God’s favor, which is commonly called... [ Continue Reading ]
22._Either a bullock, or a lamb, that hath anything superfluous. _An exception is here stated as to free-will-offerings; for in them God does not refuse a diminutive animal, or one which has a member either contracted, or of excessive size. And doubtless a greater license ought to be given, when a p... [ Continue Reading ]
25._Neither from a stranger’s hand. _God here forbids that victims of this sort should be offered to Him, although they might be purchased from foreigners. The Hebrews, however, has invented a different meaning, viz., that not even from foreigners were such sacrifices to be received, as it was unlaw... [ Continue Reading ]
Leviticus 22:27._When a bullock or a sheep. _God forbids the young to be taken from the womb to the altar, not only because this bad example was likely to be transferred from the sacrifices to the ordinary food, but also because the offering would have been a fraudulent one. We have seen that the sa... [ Continue Reading ]
28._And whether it be a cow or ewe. _Though cruelty was indeed condemned in this precept, still I make no doubt but that Moses speaks primarily of the sacrifices. I confess the word שחט, _shachat, _which he uses, is a general one; but since throughout the chapter he is professedly treating of the sa... [ Continue Reading ]
32._Neither shall ye profane. _In forbidding the profanation of His name, He confirms in other words the foregoing sentiment; guarding by them His worship from all corruptions, that it may be maintained in purity and integrity. The same, too, is the object of the clause in apposition, which immediat... [ Continue Reading ]