1._And the Lord spake. _He partly here adverts to those precepts of which he had treated more distinctly and fully in Leviticus, and partly gathers into one place what he had before spoken of in various places and more obscurely. For as yet he had delivered no certain regulations as to the accessori... [ Continue Reading ]
14._And if a stranger sojourn with you. _He does not mean all strangers, but only those who, descending from heathen nations, had professedly turned to God, and thus had been received into the body of the Church; for the uncleanness of those who remained in uncircumcision excluded them from the lega... [ Continue Reading ]
20._Ye shall offer up a cake. _Here another kind of first-fruits is required, to offer up sacred cakes of the first of their dough. First-fruits were offered of their fruits and ears of corn; but the representation was more lively in the bread itself; and, consequently, God would have them present t... [ Continue Reading ]
22._And if ye have erred. _He teaches by what kind of sacrifice the sins of the whole people or of each individual are to be expiated, although he enumerates only two of the four classes which are mentioned in Leviticus; for a special atonement is there enjoined both on the priest and the ruler. But... [ Continue Reading ]
30._But the soul that doeth ought. _This verse is variously translated. For some read it thus (68) “The soul that doeth ought with a high hand, the same reproacheth the Lord, and, therefore, shall be cut off;” thus there would be two propositions. We have followed another opinion, reading it connect... [ Continue Reading ]
32._And while the children of Israel. _Since we know not in what year, or in what month this happened, it appeared that nothing would be better than to follow the context of Moses. This history shows that the Israelites were not always affected by the same degree of madness, so as to be rebellious a... [ Continue Reading ]
38_Speak unto the children of Israel. _A little farther on I will explain the object of this precept more fully: although it is plain from the next verse that God had no other object but to exercise the Jews in constant meditation upon the Law. For there was no religion contained in the fringes them... [ Continue Reading ]
41_I am the Lord your God. _Having at the end of the last verse commanded them to be holy unto their God, he now confirms this command by a reason, viz., that it was for this end that God redeemed them, that he might be their God, _i.e., _that He might be solemnly honored. He asserts God’s right, th... [ Continue Reading ]