3 And ye shall give her anto Eleazar the priest, that he may bring her forth without the camp, and one shall slay her before his face: 4 And Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle of her blood directly before the tabernacle of the congregation seven times: 5 And one shall burn the heifer in his sight: * her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall he burn: 6 And the priest shall take y cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer. 7 Then the priest shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp, and the priest shall be unclean until the even. 8 And he that burneth her shall wash his clothes in water, and bathe his flesh in water, and shall be unclean until the even. a 9 And a man that is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and lay them up without the camp in a clean place, and it shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel, for a water of separation: it is a purification for sin. b 10 And he that gathereth the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: and it shall be unto the children ▼ Lev. 4. 12, 21. & 16. 27. Hebr. 13. 11.-w Lev. 4. 6. & 16. 14, 19. Hebr. 9. 13. x Exod. 29. 14. Lev. 4. 11, 12-y Lev. 14. 4, 6, 49.-2 Lev. 11. 25. & 15. 5.-a Hebr. 9. 13-b Ver. 13. 20, 21. Ch. 31. 23-c Ver. 16. Lev. 21. 1. Ch. 5.2 & 9. 6, 10. & 31. 19. Lam. 4. 14. Hag. 2. 13. under this form; and this appears the more likely, because males in general were preferred for sacrifice; yet here the female is chosen. 2. It was to be a red heifer, because red bulls were sacrificed to appease the evil demon, Typhon, worshipped among the Egyptians.-See Spencer. 3. The heifer was to be without spot, having no mixture of any other colour. Plutarch remarks, De Iside, et de Osiride, that if there was a single hair in the animal, either white or black, it marred the sacrifice.-See Calmet, and see the note on chap. viii. 7. 4. Without blemish-Having no kind of imperfection in her body, the other, probably, applying to the hair or colour. 11 He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days. e 12 He shall purify himself with it on the third day, and on the seventh day he shall be clean: but if he purify not himself the third day, then the seventh day he shall not be clean. 13 Whosoever toucheth the dead body of any man that is dead, and purifieth not himself, defileth the tabernacle of the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel: because the water of separation was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean: his uncleanness is yet upon him. 14 This is the law, when a man dieth in a tent: all that come into the tent, and all that is in the tent, shall be unclean seven days. 15 And every i open vessel, which hath no covering bound upon it, is unclean. 16 And whosover toucheth one that is slain with a sword in the open fields, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days. 17 And for an unclean person they shall take of the lashes of the burnt heifer of purification for sin, and "running water shall be put thereto in a vessel: 18 And a clean person shall take hyssop, and d Heb. soul of man-e Ch. 31. 19.-f Lev. 15. 31.-g Ver. 9. Ch. 8. 7.- Lev 7. 20. & 22. 3.- Lev. 11 32. Ch. 31. 20.-k Ver. 1-1 Heb. dust-m Ver. S n Heb. living waters shall be given. Gen 25. 19.-0 Psa. 51. 7. Verse 11. He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days.] How low does this lay man! he who touched a dead beast was only unclean for one day, Lev. xi. 24, 27, 39. but he who touches a dead man, is unclean for seven days. This was certainly designed to mark the peculiar impurity of man, and to show his sinfulness-seven times worse than the vilest animal! O thou son of the morning, how art thou fallen! Verse 12. He shall purify himself with it] NOTI yithchata bo, literally, he shall sin himself with it. This Hebrew form of speech is common enough among us in other matters. Thus to fleece, and to skin, do not signify to add a fleece, or a skin, but to take one away. Therefore, to sin himself, in the Hebrew idiom, is not to add sin, but to take it away-to purify. The verb Non chate, and to make a sin-offering.-See the note on Gen. xiii. 13. THE Hebrews generally sacrificed males, no matter of what colour; but here a heifer, and a heifer of a red colour, is ordered. The reason of these circumstances is not very well known. 5. On which never came yoke-Because any animal which had been used for any common purpose, was deem-signifies to miss the mark—to sin,—to purify from sin— ed improper to be offered in sacrifice to God. The heathens, who appear to have borrowed much from the Hebrews, were very scrupulous in this particular. Neither the Greeks nor Romans, nor indeed the Egyptians, would offer an animal in sacrifice that had been employed for agricultural purposes. Of this we have the most positive evidences from Homer, Porphyry, Virgil, and Macrobius. Just such a sacrifice, as that prescribed here, does Diomede vow to offer to Pallas. Iliad x. v. 291. Ως νυν μοι εθέλουσα παρίστασο, και με φυλάσσε So now be present, O celestial maid; No still continue to the race thine aid; A yearling heifer falls beneath the stroke Untam'd, unconscious of the galling yoke. With ample forehead and with spreading horns, In the very same words Nestor, Odyss. iii. ver. 382, promises a similar sacrifice to Pallas. The Romans had the same religion with the Greeks, and consequently the same kind of sacrifices: so Virgil, Georg. iv. ver. 550. Quatuor ezimios praatanti corpore tauros, For slaughter, four the fairest of his bulls; All fair, and all unknowing of the yoke-Dryden. It is very likely that the Gentiles learnt their first sacrificial rites from the patriarchs: and on this account we need not wonder to find so many coincidences in the sacrificial system of the patriarchs and Jews, and all the neighbouring nations. Verse 9. For a water of separation] i. e. The ashes were to be kept in order to be mixed with water, ver. 17. and sprinkled on those who had contracted any legal de filement. "The rabbins, with all their boldness," says Calmet, "who stick at nothing when it is necessary to explain what they do not understand, declare, that the cause of this law is entirely unknown: and that Solomon, with all his wisdom, could not find it out." Several fathers, as well modern as ancient, profess to understand the whole clearly. "1. The red heifer, with them, signifies the flesh of our Lord, formed out of an earthly substance. 2. Being without spot, &c. the infinite holiness of Christ. 3. The sex of the animal, the infirmity of our flesh with which he clothed himself. 4. The red colour his passion. 5. Being unyoked-his being righteous in all his conduct; and never under the yoke of sin. 6. Eleazar, sacrificing the heifer instead of Aaron, ver. 3. signifies the change of the priesthood from the family of Aaron, in order that a new and more perfect priesthood might take place. 7. The red heifer being taken without the camp, ver. 3. to be slain, points out the crucifixion of our Lord without the city. 8. The complete consuming of the heifer by fire-the complete offering of the whole body and soul of Christ as a sacrifice to God for the sin of man; for as the heifer was without blemish, the whole might be offered to God; and as Christ was immaculate, his whole body and soul was made a sacrifice for sin. 9. As the fire of this sacrifice ascended up to God; so it points out the resurrection and ascension of our blessed Lord. 10. And as the ashes of this victim communicated a legal purity to those who were defiled; so true repentance, signified by those ashes, necessary for the expiation of the offences committed after baptism." A great part of this is true in itself-but how little evidence is there that all these things were intended in the ordinance of the red heifer?-See on chap. viii. 7. dip it in the water, and sprinkle it upon the tent, and upon all the vessels, and upon the persons that were there, and upon him that toucheth a bone, or one slain, or one dead, or a grave: 19 And the clean person shall sprinkle upon the unclean on the third day, and on the seventh day: Pand on the seventh day he shall purify himself and wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at even. 20 But the man that shall be unclean, and shall not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off from among the congregation, because he hath defiled the sanctuary of the LORD: the water of separation hath not been sprinkled upon him; he is unclean. 21 And it shall be a perpetual statute unto them, that he that sprinkleth the water of separation shall wash his clothes; and he that toucheth the water of separation shall be unclean until The Israelites come to Zin, and Miriam dies, 1. They murmur for want of water, 2-5 Moses and Aaron make supplication at the tabernacle, and the glory of the Lord appears, 6. He commands Moses to take his rod, gather the congregation together, and bring water out of the rock, 7, 8. Moses takes the rod, gathers the Israelites together, chides with them, and amites the rock twice, and the waters flow out plentennisly, 9, 11. The Lord is offended with Moses and Aaron because they did not sanctify him in the sight of the children of Israel, 12. The place is called Meribar, 13. Moses sends a friendly message to the king of Edom, begging liberty to pass through his territories, 11-17. The Elomites refuse, 18. The Israelites expos inlate, 19. The Edomites still refuse, and prepare to attack them, 20, 21. Imelites go to moant Hur, 22. Aaron is commanded to prepare for his death, 23, M. Aaron is stripped on mount Hor, and his vestments put on Eleazar his son-Aaron dies, 25-29. The people mourn for him thirty days, 29. 2 T And there was no water for the congregation: and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. 3 And the people chode with Moses, and spake, saying, Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the LORD! 20 4 And why have ye brought up the congre p Lev. 14. 9-q Ver. 13-r Hag. 2. 13.-- Lev. 15. 5.-t Ch. 33. 36-u Exod. 15. Ch. 25. 59-v Exod. 17. L-w Ch. 16. 19, 42-x Exod. 17. 2 Ch. 14. 2. 7 Ch. 11. 1,33 & 14. 37. & 16. 32, 35, 49- Exod. 17. 3-a Ch. 11 5 & 16. 4, 22, 45-b Ch. 14. 10 Exol 17. 5-d Neh. 9. 15. Paa. 78. 15, 16. & 105. 41. & 111. 8. Isai. 43. 20. & 48 21.- Ch. 17, 10--f Pea. 106. 33.-g Exod. 17. 6. Deut. 8. 15. 1 NOTES ON CHAPTER XX. Verse 1. Then came the children of Israel, &c.] This was the first month of the fortieth year after their departure from Egypt. See chap. xxxiii. 38. compared with ver. 28. of this chapter, and Deut. i. 3. The transactions of thirty-seven years Moses passes by, because he writes not as a historian, but as a legislator; and gives us particularly an account of the laws, ordinances, and other occurrences of the first and last years of their peregrinations. The year now spoken of was the last of their journeyings; for, from the going out of the spies, chap. xii. unto this time, was about thirty-eight years, Deut. i. 22, 23. ii. 14. Desert of Zin Calmet contends that this is not the same desert mentioned Exod. xvi. 1. where Israel had their eighth encampment. That in Exodus, being called in the original ro sin, this here ps tsin; but this is no positive proof, as letters of the same organ are frequently interchanged in all languages, and particularly in Hebrew. And Miriam died there] Miriam was certainly older than Moses. When he was an infant, exposed on the river Nile, she was entrusted by her parents to watch the conduct of Pharaoh's daughter, and to manage a most delicate business, that required much address and prudence. See Exod. ii. It is supposed, that she was at the time of her death one hundred and thirty years of age, having been at least ten years old at her brother's birth. The Catholic writers represent her as a type of the Virgin Mary, as having preserved a perpetual virginity, as being legislatrix over the Israelitish women, as Moses was over the men; and as having a large portion of the spirit of prophecy. Eusebius says that her tomb was to be seen at Kadesh, near the city of Petra, in his time. She appears to have died about four months before her brother Aaron, chap. xxxiii. 38. and eleven before her brother Moses; so that these three, the most eminent of human beings, died in the space of one year! gation of the LORD into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there? 5 And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place? it is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink. 6 And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they fell upon their faces: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto them. a 7 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 8 Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink. 9 And Moses took the rode from before the LORD, as he commanded him. 10 And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock? f 11 And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also. 15 P How our fathers went down into Egypt, and we have dwelt in Egypt a long time; and the Egyptians vexed us and our fathers: 16 And when we cried unto the LORD, he Cor. 10. 4-h Ch. 27. 14. Dent. 1. 37. & 3. 26. & 32. 51.-i Lev. 10. 3. Ezek. 20. 41, & 36. 23. & 38. 16. 1 Pet. 3. 15-k Deut. 33. 8. Psa, 95, 8 & 106, 32, &c. That is, strife. See Exod. 17. 7-m Judg. 11. 16, 17.--n Deut. 2 4, &c. & 23 7. Obad. 10, 12 o Heb. found us. Exod. 18. 8.--p Gen. 46. 6. Acta 7. 15.-q Exod. 12 40.-r Exod. 1. 11, &c. Dent. 26. 6. Acts 7. 19-8 Exod. 2 23. & 3. 7. Verse 2. And there was no water for the congregation] The same occurrence took place to the children of Israel at Kadesh, as did formerly to their fathers at Rhephidim, see Exod. xvii. 1. and as the fathers murmured, so also did the children! Verse 24. Because ye belicred me not] What was the offence for which Moses was excluded from the promised land? It appears to have consisted in some or all of the following particulars: 1. God had commanded him, ver. 8. to take the rod in his hand, and go and SPEAK TO THE ROCK, and it should give forth water. It seems Moses did not think speaking would be sufficient, therefore he smote the rock, without any command so to do. 2. He did this twice, which, certainly in this case, indicated a great perturbation of spirit, and want of attention to the presence of God. 3. He permitted his spirit to be carried away by a sense of the people's disobedience, and thus being provoked, he was led to speak unadvisedly with his lips, Psal. cvi. 33. Hear now, ye REBELS, ver. 10. 4. IIe did not acknowledge Gop in the miracle which was about to be wrought, but took the honour to himself and Aaron. Must we fetch you water out of this ROCK? Thus it plainly appears, that they did not properly believe in God, and did not honour him in the sight of the people; for in their presence, they seemed to express a doubt, whether the thing could be possibly done. As Aaron appears to have been consenting in the above particulars, therefore he is also excluded from the promised land. Verse 14. Sent messengers-to the king of Edom] Archbishop Ussher supposes that the king now reigning in Edom, was Hadar, mentioned Gen. xxxvi. 39. Thus saith thy brother Israel] The Edomites were the descendants of Edom or Esau, the brother of Jacob or Israel, from whom the Israelites were descended. Verse 17. We will go by the king's high way] This is the first time this phrase occurs; it appears to have been heard our voice, and sent an angel, and hath | brought us forth out of Egypt: and, behold, we are in Kadesh, a city in the uttermost of thy border: u 17 Let us pass, I pray thee, through thy country: we will not pass through the fields, or through the vineyards, neither will we drink of the water of the wells: we will go by the king's high way, we will not turn to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed thy borders. 18 And Edom said unto him, Thou shalt not pass by me, lest I come out against thee with the sword. 19 And the children of Israel said unto him, We will go by the high way: and if I and my cattle drink of thy water, then will I pay for it: I will only, without doing any thing else, go through on my feet. 20 And he said, Thou shalt not go through. And Edom came out against him with much people, and with a strong hand. 21 Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border: wherefore Israel turned away from him. 26 And strip Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son: and Aaron shall be gathered unto his people, and shall die there. 27 And Moses did as the LORD commanded: and they went up into mount Hor, in the sight of all the congregation. 28 And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son; and Aaron died there in the top of the mount: and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mount. 29 And when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, they mourned for Aaron thirty days, even all the house of Israel. CHAPTER XXI. Arad, a king of the Canaanites, attacks Israel, and makes some prisoners, 1. They devote him and his people to destruction, 2, which they afterward accomplish, 3 They journey from Hor, and are greatly discouraged, 4. They murnaur against God and Moses, and loathe the manna, 5. The Lord sends fiery serpents among them, 6. They repent, and beg Moses to intercede for them, 7. The Lord directs him to make a brazen serpent, and set it on a pole, that the people might look on it and be healed, 8. Moses does so, and the people who beheld the brazen serpent lived, 9. They journey to Oboth, Ije-abarim, Zared, and Arnon, 10-13. A quotation from the book of the wars of the Lord, 14, 15. From Arnon they come to Beer. 16. Their song of triumph, 17-20. Moses sends messengers to the Amorites for permission to pass through their land, 21, 22 Sihon their king refuses, attacks Israel, is defeated, and all his cities detroyed, 23-25. The poetic proverbs made on the occasion, 27-30. Israel possesses the land of the Amorites, 31, 32. They are attacked by Og, king of Bashan, 33. They defeat him, destroy his troops and family, and possess his land, 34, 35. 22 And the children of Israel, eren the whole AND when king Arad the Canaan- An. Fl. congregation, journeyed from Kadesh, a and came unto mount Hor. 23 And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in mount Hor, by the coast of the land of Edom, saying, b 24 Aaron shall be gathered unto his people: for he shall not enter into the land which I have given unto the children of Israel, because ye rebelled against my a word at the water of Meribah. e 25 Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up unto mount Hor: t Exod. 3. 2. & 14. 19. & 23. 20. & 33. 2-u See Ch. 21. 22. Deut. 2. 27. Deut. 2. 6, 28.-w Judg. 11. 17.-x See Deut. 2. 27, 29.--y Deut. 2. 4, 5, 8. Judg. 11. 18. z Ch. 33. 37.-a Ch. 21. 4.-b Gen. 25. 8. Ch. 27. 13. & 31. 2. Deut. 32. 50.- Ver. a public road made by the king's authority, at the expense of the state. Verse 21. Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border] Though every king has a right to refuse passage through his territories to any strangers; yet in a case like this, and in a time also, in which emigrations were frequent, and universally allowed, it was both cruelty and oppression in Edom to refuse a passage to a comparatively unarmed, and inoffensive multitude; who were all their own near kinsmen. It appears, how ever, that it was only the Edomites of Kadesh, that were thus unfriendly and cruel; for, from Deut. ii. 29. we learn, that the Edomites who dwelt in mount Seir, treated them in a hospitable manner. This cruelty in the Edomites of Kadesh is strongly reprehended, and threatened by the prophet Obadiah, ver. 10, &c. Verse 26. Strip Aaron of his garments] This was, in effect, depriving him of his office: and putting the clothes on his son Eleazar, implied a transfer of that office to him. A transfer of office, from this circumstance of putting the clothes of the late possessor on the person intended to succeed him, was called investing, or investment, (clothing ;) as removing a person from an office was termed divesting, or unclothing. Among the Catholics and in the Church of England, this same method is used in degrading ecclesiastics. Hence, such a degradation is termed by the common people, stripping a man of his gown. Verse 23. And Aaron died there] Hence, as Dr. Lightfoot has justly observed, we have an "indisputable proof that the earthly Canaan was not the utmost felicity at which God's promises to the Israelites aimed; since the best men among them were excluded from it." The remark of some of the Fathers here, is worthy of attention. "Neither Moses the representative of the Law, nor Miriam, the representative of the prophets, nor Aaron the representative of the priesthood and its sacrificial rites, could bring the Israelites into the possession of the promised land. This was reserved for Joshua, who was in name and conduct the lively type of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." He alone can bring those who believe in his name, into that rest which remains. for the people of God. THERE are some observations made by Dr. Lightfoot on this, and some of the preceding chapters, which should be more generally known. "The place where the people murmured upon the return of the spies was Kadesh-barnea, Numb. xiii. 26. xxxii. 8. k 40. ite, which dwelt in the south, heard tell that Israel came by the way of the spies; then he fought against Israel, and took some of them prisoners. 21 And Israel vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities. 3 And the LORD hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites: and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and he called the name of the place" Hormah. 12-d Heb. mouth.-e Ch. 33. 38. Deut. 32 50.-- Exol 29, 29, 30-g Ch. 33 35. Dent. 10, 6. & 32. 50-h So Deut. 34. 8.--i Ch. 33. 40. See Judg. 1. 16-k Ch. 13. 21.-1 Gen. 28. 20. Judg. 11. 30.-m Lev. 27. 25.-n That is, utter destruction. Deut. i. 19. This place was called Rithamah before; Numb. xxxiii. 18. compared with Numb. xii. 16. and xiii. 26. and was so called, probably from the juniper trees that grew there; but now named Kadesh, because the Lord was there sanctified upon the people, as chap. xx. 13. and Barnea or the wandering son, because here was the decree made of their long wandering in the wilderness. They continued a good space at Kadesh before they removed; for so said Moses, Ye abode in Kadesh many days; or as the Hebrew, According to the days that ye had made abode, namely, at Sinai, ver. 6. And so they spent one whole year there, for so they had done at Sinai. And whereas God commands them, at their murmuring, to turn back to the Red sea, Deut. i. 40. his meaning was, that at their next march, whensoever it was, they should not go forward unto Canaan, but back again toward the Red sea whence they came, (but see on Deut. i. 1.) And they did so, for they wandered by many stations and marches from Kadesh-barnea, till they came to Kadeshbarnea again, seven or eight and thirty years after they had first left it. These marches, mentioned in Numb. xxxiii. were these. From Kadesh, or Rithma, to Rimmon Parez, to Libnah, to Rissah, to Kelathah, to mount Shapher, to Haradah, to Makheloth, to Tahath, to Tarah, to Michah, to Hashmonah, to Maseroth, to Horhagidgad, to Jotbathah, to Ebronah, to Ezion-gaber, to Kadesh again in the fortieth year. And though it was only eleven days' journey from Horeb by the way of mount Seir, to Kadesh-barnea, Deut. i. 2. they made it above thrice eleven years' journey!" Had they trusted in God, and obeyed him, their enemies long ere this would have been discomfited, and themselves quietly established in possession of the promised inheritance. But they grieved the Spirit of God and did not believe his promise; and it would have been inconsistent with the whole economy of grace, to have introduced unbelievers into that rest which was a type of the kingdom of God. NOTES ON CHAPTER XXI. Verse 1. The way of the spics] D atharim. Some think that this signifies the way that the spies took, when they went to search the land. But this is impossible, as Dr. Kennicott justly remarks, because Israel had now marched from Meribah-Kadesh to mount Hor, beyond Ezion-geber; and were turning round Edom to the southeast; and therefore the word is to be understood here as the name of a place. Verse 3. The Lord hearkened to the voice of Israel] The whole of this verse appears to me to have been added after the days of Joshua. It is certain the Canaanites were not utterly destroyed at the time here spoken of, for this did not take place till after the death of Moses. If instead of utterly destroyed them, vaiyacharem, we translate they devoted them to utter destruction, it will make a good sense, and not repugnant to the Hebrew; though some think it more probable that the verse was added afterward by Joshua or Ezra, in testimony of the fulfilment of God's promise; for Arad, who is mentioned as being destroyed here, is mentioned among those destroyed by Joshua long after; see Josh. xii. 14.; but this is quite consistent with their being devoted to destruction, as this might be fulfilled any time after. See the note, Lev. xxvii. Verse 5. This light bread.] ppn ha-kalkal, a word of excessive scorn; as if they had said, This innutritive, unsubstantial, cheat-stomach stuff. the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. 8 And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it shall live. 9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived. 10 And the children of Israel set forward, and pitched in Oboth. с b d 11 And they journeyed from Oboth, and pitched at Ije-abarim, in the wilderness which is before Moab, toward the sunrising. w Deut. 8. 15.-x Pra. 78. 31.--y Ver. 5-2 Exod 8 8, 23. 1 Sam. 12. 19. 1 Kings 13. 6. Acts 8. 24. 2 Kings 18 4 John 3. 14, 15.-6 Ch. 33. 43. Ch. 33. 44. Or, heaps of Abarime Deut. 2. 13. Bochart supposes that the hydrus or chercydrus is meant: a serpent that lives in marshy places, the bite of which produces the most terrible inflammations, burning heat, fetid vomitings, and a putrid solution of the whole body. See his works, vol. iii. col. 421. It is more likely to have been a serpent of the præster or dipsas kind; as the wilderness through which the Israelites passed did neither afford rivers nor marshes, though Bochart endeavours to prove that there might have been marshes in that part; but his arguments have very little weight. Nor is there need of a water serpent as long as the præster and dipsas, which abound in the deserts of Lybia, might have abounded in the deserts of Arabia also. But very probably the serpents themselves were immediately sent by God, for the chastisement of this rebellious people. The cure was certainly preternatural; this no person doubts; and why might not the agent be so, that inflicted the disease? Verse 8. Make thee a fiery serpent] Literally make thee a seraph. And set it upon a pole] d: by âl nes, upon a standard or ensign. Verse 6. Fiery serpents] wa nm ha-nechashim ha-seraphim. I have observed before on Gen. iii. that it is difficult to assign a name to the creature termed in Hebrew nachash; it has different significations; but its meaning here, and in Gen. iii. is most difficult to be ascertained. Seraphim is one of the orders of angelic beings, Isa. vi. 2, 6. but as it comes from the root saraph, which signifies to burn, it has been translated fiery in the Verse 9. And Moses made a serpent of brass] n text. It is likely that St. Paul alludes to the Seraphim, na nechash nechoshet. Hence we find that the word brass Heb. i. 7. Who maketh his angels spirits; and his minis- or copper comes from the same root with nachash, which ters a FLAME of FIRE, The animals mentioned here by here signifies a serpent, probably on account of the colour, Moses, may have been called fiery, because of the heat, as most serpents, especially those of the bright spotted kind, violent inflammation, and thirst occasioned by their bite; and have a very glistering appearance, and those who have consequently, if serpents, they were of the præster or dip-brown or yellow spots, appear something like burnished sas species, whose bite, especially that of the former, occa- brass; but the true meaning of the root cannot be easily sioned a violent inflammation through the whole body, and a ascertained. fiery appearance of the countenance. The poet Lucan has well expressed this terrible effect of the bite of the præster, and also of the dipsas, in the ninth book of his Pharsalia, which, for the sake of those who may not have the work at hand, I shall here insert. Of the mortal effects of the bite of the dipsas in the deserts of Lybia, he gives the following description. Signiferum juvenem Tyrrheni sanguinis Aulum No kindly floods of moisture bathe his tongue, But cleaving to the parched roof it hung: No trickling drops distil, no dewy sweat, To ease his weary limbs, and cool the raging heat On the subject of the cure of the serpent-bitten Israelites, by looking at the brazen serpent, there is a good comment in the book of Wisdom, chap. xvi. ver. 4-12. in which are these remarkable words:-"They were admonished, having a sign of salvation (i. e. the brazen serpent) to put them in remembrance of the commandments of thy law. For he that turned himself towards it, was not saved by the THING that he saw, but by THEE, that art the Saviour of all," ver. 6, 7. To the circumstance of looking at the brazen serpent, in order to be healed, our Lord refers, John iii. 14, 15. As Moses lifted up the brazen serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. The brazen serpent was certainly no type of Jesus Christ-but from our Lord's words, we may learn, 1. That as the serpent was lifted up on the pole or ensign; so Jesus Christ was lifted up on the cross. 2. That as the Israelites were to look at the brazen serpent; so sinners must look to Christ for salvation. 3. That as God provided no other remedy than this looking, for the wounded Israelites, so he has provided no other way of salvation than faith in the blood of his Son. 4. That as he who looked at the brazen serpent was cured and did live; so he that believeth on the Lord Jesus Christ shall not perish, but have eternal life. 5. That as neither the serpent, nor looking at it, but the invisible power of God, healed the people; so neither the cross of Christ, nor his merely be The effects of the bite of the præster are not less terrible. ing crucified; but the pardon he has bought by his blood, communicated by the powerful energy of his Spirit, saves 12 From thence they removed, and pitched in the valley of Zared. 13 From thence they removed, and pitched on the other side of Arnon, which is in the wilderness that cometh out of the coasts of the Amorites: for Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites. 14 Wherefore it is said in the book of the wars of the LORD, What he did in the Red sea, and in the brooks of Arnon, 15 And at the stream of the brooks that goeth down to the dwelling of Ar, and i lieth upon the border of Moab. 16 And from thence they went to Beer: that is the well whereof the LORD spake unto Moses, Gather the people together, and I will give them water. 17 Then Israel sang this song, " Spring up, O well; "sing ye unto it. u 22 Let me pass through thy land: we will not turn into the fields, or into the vineyards;. we will not drink of the waters of the well: but we will go along by the king's high way, until we be past thy borders. V 23 And Sihon would not suffer Israel to pass through his border: but Sihon gathered all his people together, and went out against Israel into the wilderness: and he came to Jahaz, and fought against Israel. 24 And Israel smote him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land from Arnon unto Jabbok, even unto the children of Ammon: for the border of the children of Ammon was strong. 25 And Israel took all these cities: and Israel dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all the villages thereof. 26 For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against 18 The princes digged the well, the nobles of the former king of Moab, and taken all his land the people digged it by the direction of the law-out of his hand, even unto Arnon. giver, with their staves. And from the wilder ness they went to Mattanah: 19 And from Mattanah to Nahaliel: and from Nahaliel to Bamoth: Zared, as it is Deut. ii. 13, 14. This stream has its origin in the mountains eastward of Moab, and runs from east to west, and discharges itself into the Dead sea. Verse 13. Arnon] Another river which takes its rise in the mountains of Moab; and after having separated the ancient territories of the Moabites and Ammonites, it falls into the Dead sea, near the mouth of Jordan. Verse 14. The book of the wars of the Lord] There are endless conjectures about this book, both among ancients and moderns. Dr. Lightfoot's opinion is the most simple, and to me, bears the greatest appearance of being the true one. "This book seems to have been some book of remembrances and directions, written by Moses for Joshua's private instruction, for the management of the wars after him. See Exod. xvii. 14-16. It may be that this was the same book which is called the book of Jasher, i. e. the book of the upright, or a directory for Joshua from Moses, what to do, and what to expect in his wars: and in this book it seems as if Moses directed the setting up of archery, see 2 Sam. i. 18. and warrants Joshua to command the sun, and expect its obedience." Josh. xiii. 10. What he did in the Red sea, and in the brooks of Arnon] This clause is impenetrably obscure. All the versions, all the translators, and all the commentators, have been puzzled with it. Scarcely any two agree. The original is 2 x et vaheb besuphah, which our translators render, what he did in the Red sea, following here the Chaldee Targum; but not satisfied with this version, they have put the most difficult words in English letters, in the margin, vaheb in suphah. Calmet's conjecture here is ingenious, and is adopted by Houbigant: instead of am vaheb, he reads zared. Now a 1 zain, may be easily mistaken for a rau, and vice versa, and a hé for a resh, if the left limb happened to be a little obliterated, which frequently occurs not only in MSS. but in printed books: the beth also might be mistaken for adaleth if the ruled line, on which it stood, happened in that place to be a little thicker or blacker than usual. Thus then a vaheb, might be easily formed out of zared, mentioned ver. 12. the whole might then be read, They encamped at the brook Zared, and they came to Suphah, and thence to the brook Arnon. Take the passage as we may, it is evidently defective. As I judge the whole clause to have been a common proverb in those days, and Vaheb to be a proper name, I therefore propose the following translation, which I believe to be the best: From Vaheb unto Suph and unto the streams of Arnon. If we allow it to have been a proverbial expression, used to point out extensive distance, then it was similar to that well-known phrase, From Dan even unto Beersheba. Verse 17. Spring up, O well, &c.] This is one of the most ancient war-songs in the world-but is not easily understood, which is commonly the case with all very ancient 27 Wherefore they that speak in proverbs say, Come into Heshbon, let the city of Sihon be built and prepared: 28 For there is a fire gone out of Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon: it hath consumed a Ar of Moab, and the lords of the high places of Arnon. 29 Wo to thee, Moab! thou art undone, O people of Chemosh: he hath given his sons that t Dent. 22. 26, 27. Judg. 11. 19-u Ch 20. 17-y Deut 29. 7.- Deut. 2. 32 Judg. 11. 20.--x Deut. 2. 2. & 29. 7. Josh 12 1,2 & 21. 8. Neh. 9. 22. Ps. 135, 10, 11. & 136. 19. Amos 2. 9-y Heb. daughters. Jer. 45 45, 46.--a Deut. 2. 9, 15′′ Isai. 15. 1-b Judg. 11. 24. 1 Kings 11. 7,33 2 Kings 23, 13 Jer. 48. 7, 13. compositions, especially the poetic.-See the remarks Exod. xv. 1, &c. Verse 18. The princes digged the well-with their staves] This is not easily understood. Who can suppose that the princes dug this well with their stares? and is there any other idea conveyed by our translation? The word chapharu, which is translated they digged, should be rendered, they searched out, which is a frequent meaning of the root: and no be mishânotam, which we render, with their staves, should be translated, on their borders, or confines, from the root ¡y shaan, to lie along. With these corrections the whole song may be read thus: "Spring up, O well! Answer ye to it. i. e. Repeat the other part of the song. The well, the princes searched it out. This is the answer. The nobles of the people have diggeli, This was the chorus. By a decree, upon their own borders." This is the whole of the quotation from what is called the book of the wars of the Lord.-But see Dr. Kennicott's remarks at the end of the chapter. Verse 26. For Heshbon was the city of Sihon, &c.] It appears, therefore, that the territory now taken from Sihon by the Israelites, was taken from a former king of Moab; in commemoration of which an epicedion or warsong was made, several verses of which, in their ancient poetic form, are here quoted by Moses. Verse 27. They that speak in proverbs] Deon kameshelim, from Sun, mashal, to rule, to exercise authority; hence, a weighty proverbial saying, because admitted as an axiom, for the government of life. The meshelim of the ancient Asiatics were the same, in all probability, as the Poeta, among the Greeks and Latins; the f shaara, among the Arabs, who were esteemed as divine persons, and who had their name from shaara, he knew, understood, whose poems celebrated past transac tions, and especially those which concerned the military history of their nation. These poets were also termed we wok sahebi deewan, companions or lords of the council of state, because their weighty sayings and universal knowledge were held in the highest repute. Similar to these were the bards among the ancient Druids, and the Sennachics among the ancient Celtic inhabitants of these nations. The ode from the 27th to the 30th verse is composed of three parts. The first takes in verses 27 and 28. The second, verse 29. and the third, ver. 30. The first records, with bitter irony, the late insults of Sihon and his subjects over the conquered Moabites. The second expresses the compassion of the Israelites over the desolations of Moab, with a bitter sarcasm against their god Chemosh, who had abandoned his votaries in their distress, or was not able to rescue them out of the hands of their enemies. The third sets forth the revenge taken by Israel upon |