Editorial note: Source collation note — paragraph 2: “its running title is במדבר bemidbar, in the wilderness”; “it is frequently called וידבר vaidabber, and he spoke”. source PDF page 3: “its running title is במדבר in the wilderness”; “It is frequently called וידבר and he spoke”. Compared with CLA_NUM.PDF PDF p. 3. The source-font or layout comparison does not securely establish every letter, mark or local sequence in these passages. The flagged language readings or layout are retained; the original source pages should be consulted for these specific readings. Additional-source investigation: an automated comparison of surrounding English text located possible corresponding passages in OCR from separately digitized printed volumes. The linked scan pages are research locators; their images have not been collated for this note's flagged readings. OCR agreement does not verify Greek or Hebrew letters, diacritics, word order, or table layout. The flagged readings or layout remain uncertain. CLA_NUM.PDF, PDF page 3; Additional printed-scan page locator (OCR context only; flagged reading unverified).
PREFACE TO THE BOOK OF NUMBERS
THIS, which is the fourth book in order of the Pentateuch, has been called NUMBERS, from its containing an account of the numbering and marshalling the Israelites in their journey through the wilderness to the promised land. Its ENGLISH name is derived from the title it bears in the VULGATE Latin, Numeri, which is a literal translation of the Greek word Αριθμοι, its title in the SEPTUAGINT; and from both, our SAXON ancestors called it [Anglo-Saxon] numeration, “because in this the children of Israel were numbered,” [Anglo-Saxon]. This title, however, does not properly apply to more than the three first chapters, and the 26th. This book, like the preceding, takes its name among the HEBREWS from a distinguishing word in the commencement. It is frequently called וידבר VAIDABBER, and he spoke, from its initial word; but in most Hebrew Bibles its running title is במדבר BEMIDBAR, in the wilderness, which is the fifth word in the first verse.
The contents of the book of Numbers are briefly the following: On the first day of the first month of the second year after the departure from Egypt, the tabernacle being erected, and it and the priests consecrated, Moses is commanded to make a census or enumeration of the people, the Levites excepted, who were appointed to watch over, guard, pitch, and carry the tabernacle and its holy furniture; chap. 1.
To form the vast mass of the people into a regular camp, each tribe by itself under its own captain or chief, known by his proper standard, and occupying an assigned place in reference to the tabernacle; chap. 2. Moses is commanded to separate the Levites to the service of the tabernacle, whom God chooses to take, instead of the first-born of every family, which he claimed as his own. When these were selected in their families, &c., the sum amounted to 22,273; chap. 3.
All this tribe is appointed to serve the tabernacle in a variety of offices, each person from the age of thirty till fifty, after which he was excused from farther service; chap. 4.
When these points were settled, God commands them to purify the camp by the expulsion of every unclean person, and establishes the trial of the suspected adulteress by the waters of jealousy; chap. 5. He next institutes the laws relative to Nazarites; and lays down the form according to which the people shall be blessed; chap. 6. Then follows a particular account of the offerings made to the tabernacle by the princes, or chiefs of the twelve tribes, and the amount of those offerings; chap. 7.
When this work was finished, the Levites were consecrated to their respective services, and the duration of the service of each ascertained; chap. 8.
The passover is commanded to be kept, and the first one is celebrated in the wilderness on the 14th of the first month of the second year after their departure from Egypt; chap. 9.
Moses is commanded to make two silver trumpets; he is informed of their use, in what order the different tribes shall march, with the ceremonies at fixing and removing the tabernacle and the departure of the people from the wilderness of Sinai on the twentieth day of the second month of the second year of their exodus from Egypt; chap. 10.
The people murmuring, the fire of the Lord consumes many of them; it ceases on the intercession of Moses: they murmur again, quails are sent, and they are smitten with a great plague; chap. 11.
Miriam and her brother Aaron rise up seditiously against Moses, having conceived some dislike against his Cushite wife, and supposing that he assumed too great an authority over the people: at this sedition the Lord is displeased, and smites Miriam with the leprosy; chap. 12. Twelve spies are sent to examine the promised land; they pass through the whole, return at the end of forty days, and by bringing an evil report, dishearten the people; chap. 13.
In consequence of this the whole congregation meditate a return to Egypt: God is displeased, and pronounces that all of them, from twenty years old and upwards, shall die in the wilderness. They repent, attack the Amalekites contrary to the commandment of God, and are discomfited; chap. 14.
A number of ordinances and directions are given relative to the manner of conducting the worship of God in the promised land: different laws are repeated, and a Sabbath-breaker stoned to death; chap. 15. Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and their associates, form an insurrection against Moses: they are swallowed up by an earthquake: the congregation murmur, and 14,700 of them are cut off; chap. 16.
As a proof that God had called Aaron and his family to the priesthood, his rod, or staff, buds, and miraculously brings forth blossoms and fruit, and is commanded to be laid up before the testimony; chap. 17.
The charges of the priests and Levites, and the portions they were to have of the Lord’s offerings, for their support in the work; chap. 18. The ordinances of the red heifer; the water of purification, and its uses; chap. 19.
The death of Miriam; the waters of Meribah. The Lord tells Moses that because he did not sanctify him in the eyes of the congregation, he shall not bring the people into the promised land. The king of Edom refuses the Israelites a passage through his territories. Aaron is stripped of his sacerdotal vestments on Mount Hor, and they are put on Eleazar, his son, who is to be a high priest in his stead. Aaron dies, and the people mourn for him thirty days; chap. 20.
Arad, one of the Canaanitish kings, attacks Israel, and he and his people are utterly destroyed. The people murmur for lack of bread and water; fiery serpents are sent among them, they repent; are healed by looking at a brazen serpent. They journey and come to Beer, where they find water; Sihon, king of the Amorites, attacks them, and is defeated; so is likewise Og, king of Bashan, and the people possess the lands of both; chap. 21. Balak, king of Moab, sends for Balaam to curse Israel; he departs, is opposed by an angel, and reproved by his ass, whom God, for the purpose, miraculously endued with the gift of speech. He comes to Balak, king of Moab, and shows him that Jehovah had limited his power; chap. 22. Balak offers sacrifices, and Balaam, under the influence of God, prophesies good concerning Israel; chap. 23.
Continuing to foretell the prosperity of Israel, and the destruction of their enemies, the king of Moab dismisses Balaam in great wrath; chap. 24. The Israelites, seduced by the women of Moab and Midian, commit fornication and idolatry-the chiefs are hanged-bold act of Phinehas; chap. 25.
A second census or enumeration of the people takes place, and the amount is 601,730, among whom not one of those of the first census was now found except Joshua and Caleb; chap. 26.
From the case of the daughters of Zelophehad a law is made to enable daughters to inherit.
Moses ascends Mount Abarim, sees the promised land, and constitutes Joshua his successor; chap. 27.
A repetition of the laws relative to burnt-offerings, the Sabbath, the passover, first-fruits, &c.; chap. 28.
The three solemnities of the seventh month are commanded to be held on the first, tenth, and fourteenth days of the month; chap. 29. Several laws and ordinances concerning vows of different kinds, made by various persons; when they should be confirmed, and in what cases annulled; chap. 30.
Twelve thousand Israelites go against the people of Midian and slay them, their five kings, and Balaam their prophet; and the Israelites take immense booty in persons, cattle, gold, silver, and precious stones, of which they make a great offering to the Lord, because in this contest they lost not one man; chap. 31.
The children of Reuben and Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, request to receive for their inheritance the territories of Sihon and Og on the east side of Jordan; their desire is granted on the condition of their going over armed with their brethren, to assist them in conquering the land; chap. 32. A circumstantial account of the forty-two journeys of the Israelites from their departure from Rameses till their arrival at Jordan. They are commanded to expel all the ancient inhabitants; chap. 33. The borders of the land are described, and the persons appointed by God, who should assist Joshua in dividing the land among the nine tribes and half; chap. 34.
Forty-eight cities are to be assigned to the Levites, out of the twelve tribes, for their goods and for their cattle: and out of these they were to appoint six cities of refuge for the person who had unawares slain his neighbour; to one of which cities the manslayer was to escape, and tarry there till the death of the high priest; chap. 35.
A law established that the daughters to whom the paternal inheritance descends, shall not marry out of their own tribes, lest their inheritances should become alienated and lost by being blended with those of other tribes; chap. 36. See the case of Zelophehad’s daughters, chap. 37. In this book, which comprehends the history of between thirty-eight and thirty-nine years, we have in one word a distinct account of the several stages of the Israelites’ journey in the wilderness, the various occurrences on the way, their trials, rebellions, punishments, deliverances, conquests, &c., with several laws and ordinances not mentioned in the preceding books, together with a repetition and explanation of some others which had been previously delivered; the whole forming a most interesting history of the justice, mercy, and providence of God.
THE FOURTH BOOK OF MOSES CALLED NUMBERS
-Year before the common Year of Christ, 1490.
-Julian Period, 3224.
-Cycle of the Sun, 27.
-Dominical Letter, D.
-Cycle of the Moon, 9.
-Indiction, 6.
-Creation from Tisri or September, 2514.
Joseph Benson
Argument
BEN_VOL1.PDF, source PDF p. 564
Editorial note: Source collation note — paragraph 4: “being termed by them αριθμοι, arithmoi, numbers. there is”. source PDF page 564: “being termed by them αριθμοι arithmoi, There is,”. Compared with BEN_VOL1.PDF PDF p. 564. The source-font or layout comparison does not securely establish every letter, mark or local sequence in these passages. The flagged language readings or layout are retained; the original source pages should be consulted for these specific readings. Additional-source investigation: an automated comparison of surrounding English text located possible corresponding passages in OCR from separately digitized printed volumes. The linked scan pages are research locators; their images have not been collated for this note's flagged readings. OCR agreement does not verify Greek or Hebrew letters, diacritics, word order, or table layout. The flagged readings or layout remain uncertain. BEN_VOL1.PDF, PDF page 564; Additional printed-scan page locator (OCR context only; flagged reading unverified).
THE FOURTH BOOK OF MOSES, CALLED
NUMBERS.
ARGUMENT.
THIS book, like all the other books of Moses, takes its name from the Septuagint, or Greek interpreters, being termed by them αριθμοι, arithmoi, NUMBERS. There is, however, this difference: the names of the other four stand in our translation in the words of the original Greek, while this is rendered into English. The reason of the name is evident. The book begins with an account of the numbering or mustering of the people, which was done in the beginning of the second year after they came out of Egypt. It relates also another numbering of them above thirty-eight years after, when not three of the same persons were found alive that were in the former account, so awfully did God fulfil his threatening that, for their rebellion, their carcasses should fall in the wilderness, Numbers 14:29. Still, however, their numbers were so great that the book affords us abundant proof of the accomplishment of God’s promise to Abraham, Thy seed shall be as the stars of heaven for multitude. Here are also several additional laws, relating to matters both civil and religious. Indeed, the book is almost equally divided between histories and laws intermixed: and the historical part comprises the transactions of thirty-eight years, most of which, however, took place in the first and last of those years. An abstract of a great part of this book we have in a few words, Psalm 95:10: Forty years long was I grieved with this generation; and an application of it to ourselves, Hebrews 4:1: Let us fear, lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of us should come short of it.
Joseph Sutcliffe
The Fourth Book of Moses, Called Numbers.
SUT_VOL1.PDF, source PDF p. 364
THE FOURTH BOOK OF MOSES,
CALLED NUMBERS.
The ancient Hebrews entitled this Book, וידבר Va-jedabbar; that is, And he spake; and במדבר Bemidbar, that is, In the wilderness; the words with which the book itself commences. The Seventy call it the Book of Numbers, because the people were numbered in the plain before Sinai, and thirty eight years afterward in the plains of Moab near the Jordan. It comprises a period of about thirty nine years, and records so many facts concerning the conduct and calamities which befel the Israelites in the desert, that the magistrate, the minister, and the individual may here find much instruction for the regulation of his conduct, and a multitude of motives to zeal and constancy in religion. Concerning its authenticity, it is to us a sufficient confirmation to find it quoted or alluded to, not less than seventeen times in the New Testament.
Daniel Whedon
Introduction.
WHD_CO02.PDF, source PDF p. 273
NUMBERS
INTRODUCTION.
Name and Character.
1.) THE Hebrews were accustomed to name their books from the first word therein. Hence the fourth book of their Law was styled Vaye-dabber — “And he spake.” They found in the fifth word a far more expressive and poetic title, Bemidbar — “In the wilderness.” The Seventy Greek translators prefixed the title Απιθμοι, ‘Arithmoi. If our English translators had preserved the law of uniformity, they would have transferred this title, as they have taken from the Greek the names of the other four books of the Pentateuch. But they have chosen to borrow, with modifications, the name Numeri, found in the Vulgate version.
This book is of a mixed character. History is interlaced with statutes. This commingling of legislation and marches, rebellions and battles, is strikingly human and natural. Plato may write a perfect code of laws for an ideal Republic, and Sir Thomas More may invent a scheme of impracticable rules for the citizens of his Utopia; but the best legislation for people made of flesh and blood is suggested by their actual state and necessities. Hence the legislation of this book arises when a special want occurs, like the decisions of the Supreme Court when a case is brought before it. An illustration of this is seen in the case of the daughters of Zelophehad, (Numbers 27:7,) who having no brother to receive the inheritance of their deceased father requested to be acknowledged his legal heirs. Their petition gives rise to the enactment of an equitable law for such cases. But the bearings of this legislation on the stability of the lot of each tribe is not seen until some of the allotments have been made, when it is discovered that, in the practical application of this law, an heiress marrying out of her tribe may carry her portion away from her own to another tribe. Hence the supplementary law on the marriage of an heiress requiring her to marry a husband within the tribe of her father. Chap. 36. If the book were a fabrication, the writer would very naturally group all the laws together, and represent them all as delivered at Sinai, instead of cumbering the narrative with supplementary statutes, and furnishing ground for the imputation of after-thoughts to Jehovah.
Author.
(2.) This book is, in reality, the fourth chapter of a larger book styled by Christians the Pentateuch, from πεντε, five, and τευχος, a book — “The Fivefold Book.” The Jews have always regarded these books as one volume, to which they applied the name of The Torah — “The Law.” It would therefore be more philosophical to inquire into the authorship of the Torah as a whole, than to isolate a chapter and limit our investigations to it alone. But as the most appropriate place for such a discussion would be introductory to the Torah, we refer the reader to the dissertation preliminary to the Commentary on Genesis. Our researches into the authorship of Numbers will be in reply to the following questions, namely: —
1. Does this book contain any declaration of its authorship? We find in chap. 33 the most important historical document contained in this book — a list of the encampments from Rameses to the Jordan. This valuable catalogue — a chain linking Egypt and Canaan — is in Numbers 33:2 declared to have been written by Moses. But a large portion of this book is preceptory, containing statutes and ritual ordinances. Respecting these we find in the last verse of the book the statement that “these are the commandments and the judgments which the Lord commanded, by the hand of Moses, unto the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho.” This language must not be interpreted to signify that all the ceremonial and civil statutes in this book were given by Jehovah in the plains of Moab, for most of them were given in the Sinaitic Wilderness and Desert of Paran. What is more natural for us to understand was done by Moses in the plains of Moab, than the completion of his record, and its publication as the standard of appeal for the Hebrew nation in the future? This conclusion is fortified by the consideration that the minute legislation and valuable history comprised in this book would not, by a wise legislator, be intrusted to the uncertainties of oral tradition. But all doubt on this point is removed when we find in the hands of Joshua, only a few weeks afterward, a copy of the Torah, (Joshua 1:7, 8,) and are assured that it contains this book of Numbers, by the fact that it is his guide in the division of the Land of Canaan and the setting apart of Levitical cities. Compare Numbers 34:17; 35:2-15, with Joshua 13:14, 33; 14:3, 4; 18:7; 20:1-9; 21:1-42.
2. Could Moses have written this book? If it could be demonstrated that he lived before the invention of writing among the Egyptians it would be a strong, though not a conclusive, argument against the Mosaic authorship, for letters might have been invented by Moses for this very purpose. But at this point there is no ground for doubt. Papyri, or Egyptian parchments, bearing date centuries before Moses, have been recently translated through the persevering efforts of Egyptologists. See note on Exodus 5:6. That the Hebrews were acquainted with letters, we infer from the fact that the Phenicians, a Semitic race, had a literature while Greece was a country of semi-barbaric pirates preying upon the commerce of Tyre, long before Cadmus came to induct this rude people into the mysteries of the alphabet. (Ewald’s Hist. Israel, vol. i, p. 51.) There is, therefore, not the least anachronism in this claim of Moses to authorship. Writing is distinctly mentioned in Exodus 17:14 as an art in which he was well instructed.
3. Could not this book be the production of a later age? We reply, that it could not, because, 1.) It is quoted or alluded to by most of the inspired writers from Joshua to Christ as the work of Moses. We shall have space to cite only one reference to each writer. We have already adduced Joshua’s reference to Numbers. Judges 11:15-27 is an abbreviation of chaps. 20 and 21. The law of sacrifices as observed in 1 Samuel 2:13, is recorded in Numbers 18:8, 9, 25, 32. David, in Psalm 4:6, quotes a part of the priests’ blessing, Numbers 6:26. Solomon, in Proverbs 10:18, employs a peculiar Hebrew idiom found only in Numbers 13:32; 14:36, 37. In 1 Kings 22:17, chap. 27:16, 17 is quoted. Of the minor prophets, Amos in Amos 2:12, evidently refers to the law of the Nazarites, chap. 6:1-21; and Micah in chap. 6:4, 5, must have had the whole account of Balak and Balaam, chaps. 22-24, before him. During the captivity, and afterward, the prophets quote this book. Jeremiah, in Jeremiah 2:6, 7, quotes Numbers 14:7, 8 and 35:33, 34; while Ezekiel, in chap. 20, recapitulates all the events of the wilderness, showing an accurate knowledge of this book. Jesus Christ and St. Paul everywhere ascribe the Law to Moses. 2.) There was no man subsequent to Moses who combined that knowledge of the desert, and that intimate acquaintance with Egyptian customs which is evinced by Moses. 3.) The entire book points forward to the Land of Promise, and must have been written by one on the journey. Numbers 15:2, 18; 34:2; 35:2-34. Contrary to expectation, it took several centuries to expel the Canaanites. A forger in subsequent years would not have so written as to convey the impression that the foes were to be all immediately expelled. He would have shaped his story to suit the facts. Hence we conclude that as no man later than Moses could have been the author of this book, “which, as it bears traces on its brow of Egypt and the Desert, so also must have had its origin before the occupation of Canaan.” 4.) The application of Leslie’s short method with the deists would show the absolute impossibility for an impostor in the name of Moses to originate a book of laws lying as the basis of institutions already existing, and claiming to exist, by the authority of Moses, who existed in a former age.
4. How extensively has the Mosaic authorship been admitted? 1.) By the entire Hebrew nation during a period of more than thirty-three hundred years. 2.) By the universal Christian world down to the beginning of the eleventh century, when the first noteworthy dissent appeared. The only exception to this was the feeble scepticism of the Gnostics and some other sects, whose heresy had died with them. Their scepticism seems to have had a dogmatic rather than an historic and critical basis. (3.) By the whole Mohammedan world, embracing many erudite scholars. The authorship of no ancient book is so well attested, nor has any been so universally admitted.
5. The last question raised by modern criticism is this: Are there not in the book itself — in its style, in its peculiar phraseology, and in the knowledge of the land of Canaan evinced by the author — difficulties too great to be harmonized with the claim of Mosaic authorship? The answer to this question is: The style is too full of archaisms, of words obsolete in later Hebrew, to present any argument against its Mosaic authorship. Moses does display some knowledge of Canaan. The sources of this knowledge were: 1.) The traditions of the Hebrews. 2.) His Egyptian education must have included the geography of the known world, especially of Canaan, a country so near to Egypt. Recent researches in Egyptian history disclose the fact that Egypt had carried on wars in the country of “the Hittite,” and had made extensive conquests there. 3.) The forty years of pre-exodus life spent by Moses in the Sinaitic Desert afforded opportunities for obtaining a knowledge of that country, toward which the Spirit of the Lord was now directing his eye. He may have traversed its whole extent. 4.) While in the wilderness he probably sent spies more frequently than the record shows. From all these considerations our conclusion is, that there is not a word in this book which might not have been written by a writer in the age and circumstances of Moses. While it would not be in good taste for a modern writer to record his own meekness, as in Numbers 12:3, we must remember that other canons of taste prevailed in ancient Oriental nations. Moses just as readily exhibits his faults. Numbers 20:10-12. No forger in a later age would have dared to impute sin to the great and venerated lawgiver. The statements of critics, that there are traces of distinct documents by the pre-Elohist, Elohist, and Jehovist, even if admitted, do not disprove the Mosaic authorship of the book as a whole. But having patiently examined the “higher criticism” based on what is known as the “document” or “fragment” hypothesis, we find ourselves unable to concede even this. We find each succeeding critic destroying the theories of his predecessors, so that the “complement hypothesis” overturns the “fragment hypothesis,” which in turn is superseded by the “crystallization hypothesis.” So utterly discordant are these various theories, that their untenable, unscientific, and arbitrary assumptions are sufficiently refuted by printing them in parallel columns, so that their antagonisms may be seen at a glance. One is satisfied with two documents, another finds three. The microscope of a third critic finds evidence that the compiler dovetailed together extracts from seven, and a fourth critic declares that there must have been a dozen! Then the same writer modifies his theory in the successive editions of his book, till, at last, he abandons it altogether. The very extravagance of these theories, so flagrantly opposed to one another, so confidently propounded, and yet based on the most vague conjectures, have very naturally led to a reaction which may yet bring these critics back to the point whence they made their departure — Moses the sole author of the Torah, without modern interpolators or revisers. De Wette himself has changed his views with almost every successive edition of his Introduction, frankly saying, “I have often found myself constrained to alter my opinion.” “The grounds on which this distinction of documents rests are in every respect most unsatisfactory. The use of the divine names, which was the starting point in this criticism, ceases to be a criterion; and certain words and phrases, a particular manner or colouring, the narrative of miracles, are supposed to decide whether a passage belongs to the earlier or later documents.” — SMITH’S Dictionary of the Bible.
For the assistance of those who may desire to test the “higher criticism” for themselves, we quote from the same authority a summary of the conclusions which the most erudite German Hebraists have reached in their investigations. According to De Wette, the following portions are the work of the Elohist, the writer who uses the Divine Name Elohim: — Numbers 1:1-10:28; 13:2-16, (in its original, though not in its present form;) 15; 16:1-11, 16-23, 24 (?); 17; 19; 20:1-13, 22-29; 25-31, (except perhaps 26:8-11;) 32:5, 28-42, (verses 1-4 uncertain;) 33-36. The rest of the book is assigned to the later Editor, whom he styles the Jehovist, from his use of the Divine Name, Jehovah. Von Lengerke and Stahelin make a similar division, though they differ as to some verses, and even whole chapters. Vaihinger finds traces of three distinct documents, which he ascribes severally to the pre-Elohist, the Elohist, and the Jehovist. To the first he assigns Numbers 10:29-36; 11:1-12, 16, (in its original form;) 20:14-21; 21:1-9, 13-35; 32:33-42; 33:55, 56. To the Elohist chaps. 1-10:28; 11-12:16; 13-20, 13, 22-29; 21:10-12; 22:1; 25-31, 54; 32:1-32; 32-36:19. To the Jehovist chaps. 11-12, 16; 22:2-24:25; 31:8. The Bible shrinks from no criticism however thorough and scrutinizing. Orthodoxy is under special obligation to the rationalizing criticism, destructive of faith in its aim, but only confirmatory in its results, inasmuch as it has induced Christian scholars to dig down beneath the surface and lay open the immovable foundations of the Divine Word.
The hypothesis of Ewald, that the episode of Balaam (Numbers 20:2-24:25) is the product of a fifth and last editor of the Pentateuch, and that Balaam’s prophecies are vaticinia ex eventu, put into his mouth by a daring literary impostor of the time of Isaiah, we have unhesitatingly rejected. Nothing can be more improbable than that such a fabrication could by any means be interpolated into the Book of the Law, the sacred Torah, so highly venerated by the Hebrews that they would not insert a single word or letter even to correct an obvious error of the copyist, demonstrated to be such by the most careful examination of older copies. Topography and Route.
(3.) We have endeavoured to lay before our readers the latest researches in this interesting department. Although the residence of the Israelites in the wilderness was too brief to impress upon their national character those features which many centuries of association with the same natural scenery and climate may stamp upon a people, yet the Sinaitic Desert and the Wilderness of Paran, as seen to day, have all the interest to the historian and scholar that a battlefield has from its connexion with the battle, or the seat of war with the campaign. The great question which the commentator, in his topographical researches, must ever propose to himself is, whether the unchanging scenes of nature on which the sun rose this morning are fitted to be the theatre of the wonderful events located there by the sacred historian. Our interest in the locality increases in proportion as the events are dissevered from the perishable works of art, such as houses cities, and sepulchres, and are associated only with the everlasting hills, the eternal rocks, and the ever-flowing streams. Such is the interest attaching to that desert where Israel built no houses, but dwelt in tents. Another important point for the commentator to note is, the tinge which the natural scenery has given to the poetry, and the influence it has had upon the language and cultus, of the Hebrew nation; yet he should be on his guard lest he exaggerate the effects of physical causes, and adopt the fatalistic philosophy of such materialists as Buckle, who so far subordinate mind to matter as to evolve even the moral and religious character of a nation out of its soil and sky. It is remarkable that the Sinaitic Peninsula — the scene of the giving of the law, the corner-stone of the Hebrew commonwealth — did not attract more attention from that people. “After the Israelites left Mount Sinai,” says Dr. Robinson, “there is no account either in Scripture or elsewhere of its having been visited by any Jews, except by the prophet Elijah when he fled from the machinations of Jezebel. This is the more remarkable, as this region had been the seat of the revelation of the Law to which they clung so tenaciously, and because, from the splendour and terrors of the scene, the inspired Hebrew poets were wont to draw their sublimest images.” We have no very distinct notices of Sinai in early Christian literature, nor any very reliable researches until the days of Burckhardt, Ritter, and Dr. Robinson, who have been succeeded by Stanley, and a host of others of less celebrity.
One great difficulty with the desert topography arises from the fact that each traveller takes but one route, and is disposed to imagine that to be the very pathway of the Israelites, and to attach, in rectilinear succession, the list of encampments named in Numbers 33:16-36. No attempt shall be made to track their course in detail. The results of the recent explorations are thus stated by Dean Stanley: “With the departure from Sinai, or at least from Hazeroth, the geographical interest of the Israelite history almost ceases, till the arrival in the tablelands of Moab, and the first beginning of the Conquest. Not only is the general course of their march wrapped in obscurity, but, even if we knew it, the events are not generally of a kind which would require any special illustration from the scenes in which they occurred. It is possible that some future traveller may discover the stations recorded in the itinerary of the thirty-third chapter of the Book of Numbers. At present no station has been ascertained with any likelihood of truth, unless we except the doubtful identification of Hazeroth with Huderah. All that is clear is, that they marched northward from Mount Sinai, probably over the plateau Tih — which seems to be designated as ‘the Wilderness of Paran;’ then that they descended into the Arabah — designated, apparently, ‘the Wilderness of Zin;’ thence, on the refusal of the king of Edom to let them pass through his territory, they moved southward, encamped on the shores of the Gulf Akabah, at Ezion-geber, and then turned the corner of the Edomite mountains, at their southward extremity, and entered the table-lands of Moab at the torrent of the willows, ‘the Brook Zared,’ at the southern end of the Dead Sea.” It is the opinion of Palmer that “they took the route by Akabah, and did not enter the Tih by any of the passes in the southern edge of the plateau.” He is quite confident that a great portion of the encampments may yet be identified. The progress which has been made in sacred topography during the last forty years is very vividly seen when we contrast the meagre and conjectural maps accompanying the older commentaries with the topographical surveys and charts of Robinson, Ritter, Porter, Van de Velde, Kiepert, Henke, and the coloured lithographs of Stanley, equal to “a fifth Gospel — to seeing Palestine.” The need of a new exegesis of the Scriptures incorporating and popularizing these valuable contributions to sacred geography is deeply felt.
The Chronology and Divisions of the Book.
(4.) Although the notes of time are very scanty, yet we have sufficient to guide us in our division of the book into four parts. The events begin with the first day of the second month, the Hebrew Zif, the month of blossom and splendour, corresponding in those early times with our April. Twenty days elapsed before the preparations to march were all perfected, and “the cloud was taken off the tabernacle.” Numbers 10:11. This period constitutes the First Part of the book. The time occupied in marching to Kadesh we have been left to infer from the few notes of time which are given, together with the events which took place, which we do as follows: — 1.) They were three days in reaching their first regular camp. Numbers 10:33. At the next station, Kibroth-hattaavah, the people ate quails “even a whole month.” Numbers 11:20. At Hazeroth Miriam was judicially excluded from the camp seven days, and “the people journeyed not till Miriam was brought in.” Numbers 12:14. The spies were absent forty days. It is uncertain whether they were sent before the camp was pitched in Kadesh; but the account of their being sent follows their encampment in the Wilderness of Paran; so that the people were there at least forty days. 2.) There is an incidental hint of time in the report of the spies — “Now the time was the time of the first ripe grapes.” Numbers 13:20. According to Dr. Robinson the first grapes ripen as early as August, and sometimes even in July. Hence we infer that they were at least three months in reaching Kadesh — the period of our Second Part. We have fixed the end of the penal wanderings at the coming of the whole congregation into the Wilderness of Zin in the first month of the fortieth year of the Exodus. Numbers 20:1. We know that this is the fortieth year, because Aaron died soon after, on “the first day of the fifth month, in the fortieth year after the children of Israel came out of the land of Egypt.” Chap. 33:38. From Joshua 5:10, we learn that the passover was kept in the plains of Jericho at the usual time of the year, which makes exactly forty years from the Exodus. Subtract the last year, which was not penal, together with the seventeen or eighteen months spent in marching to Sinai and in sojourning there and in the journey to Kadesh, and we have about thirty-seven and a half years of penal wanderings — our Third Part. The last year, the year of victories, is our Fourth Part.
Arithmetical Difficulties.
(5.) The destructive criticism of modern rationalists has aimed its deadliest blows at the Pentateuch, especially at the numerical statements of the Book of Numbers. We have not ignored these attacks, but have written with Bishop Colenso’s “Pentateuch Critically Examined,” and his recent diatribes in review of the “Speaker’s Commentary” lying open before us. We do not profess to have solved every difficult problem. Something has still been left for faith. Our Lord Jesus Christ declared, on one occasion, that if men “hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead.” This language implies that there is in the writings of Moses, as there is assuredly in those of the Prophets, scope for faith. This could not be if every utterance of the Hebrew lawgiver were on a level with the human understanding. The pen of inspiration may have purposely left these very difficulties as tests of our
Outline of Contents.
WHD_CO02.PDF, source PDF p. 282
faith in the Divine veracity. Still, as the Creator, who has endowed us with the capacity to believe, has also endowed us with the power of reason, and bidden us use that faculty in scrutinizing the grounds of faith, we have endeavoured to set forth some considerations which may constitute a rational basis of faith. In so doing we have called to our aid the best apologists for the authenticity of the numerical statements of Moses, among both Jewish and Christian writers. The primal error of the Colenso school of critics seems to lie in the assumption that the Spirit of God “can never inspire the utterance of half truths, or truths imperfectly expressed, or truths needing the light of other truths to make them intelligible. In short, because God is perfect, every thing that comes from him must needs be perfect also. Though all nature is a riddle, and yet comes from God; though the human mind is a riddle, and yet reflects his image; though man, in his highest illumination, can see but darkly, as through a darkened glass; yet the Divine word — because it comes from God — must have no riddles in it, no seeming contradictions, no difficulties, no opaque spots, no paradoxes, nothing that ‘the unlearned and unstable can’ ‘wrest to their own destruction.’ The Scriptures lay claim to no such inspiration.”* [* “The Spiritual Point of View — An Answer to Bishop Colenso, by M. Mahan, D.D.”]
OUTLINE OF CONTENTS.
Part I. Events Introductory to Leaving Sinai, chapters 1-10:10.
1. The Census and the Levites.
Genealogical Enrolment and Muster of the Adult Males, Numbers 1:1-46. Levites Exempted from the Census and Assigned to the Tabernacle Service. Numbers 1:47-53. Order of Encampment, Numbers 2:1-34. The Sons of Aaron Consecrated, Numbers 3:1-4. The Levites Subordinated to Aaron, Numbers 3:5-9. The Levites Substituted for the Firstborn, Numbers 3:11-13. The Numbering of the Levites, Numbers 3:14-39. Census of the Firstborn Males of the Israelites, Numbers 3:40-43. The Supernumerary Firstborn Redeemed, Numbers 3:44-51. The Age-Limits to Levitical Service, Numbers 4:1-3. Service of the Sons of Kohath, Gershon, and Merari, Numbers 4:4-33. Census of Competent Levites, Numbers 4:34-49. Removal of the Unclean from the Camp, Numbers 5:1-4. Restitution for Trespass, Numbers 5:5-10. The Ordeal for a Suspected Wife, Numbers 5:11-31. Law of the Naz-arite, Numbers 6:1-22. Form of the Priestly Blessing, Numbers 6:22-27. The Dedicatory Gifts of the Princes, Numbers 7:1-88. Directions for Placing the Golden Lamps of the Tabernacle, Numbers 8:1-4. Consecration of the Levites, Numbers 8:5-22. The Second Passover, Numbers 9:1-5. The Supplemental Passover, Numbers 9:6-14. The Cloud and the Tabernacle, Numbers 9:15-23. The Silver Signal Trumpets, Numbers 10:1-10. Part II. The March, chapters 10:11-14.
Supplementary Altar Ritual, Numbers 15:1-29. Presumptuous Sin is Irremissible, Numbers 15:30-36. Mnemonic Fringes, Numbers 15:37-41. Rebellion and Destruction of Korah and his Company, Numbers 16:1-35. The Memorial Censers, Numbers 16:36-40. The Murmurers, the Plague, and the Atonement, Numbers 16:41-50. The Priesthood of Aaron Accredited, Numbers 17:1-13. The Priests and Levites: their Obligations and Rights, Numbers 18:1-32. The Preparation of the Water of Separation, Numbers 19:1-10. The Use of the Purifying Water, Numbers 19:11-22.
Part IV. From Kadesh to the Land of Moab, chapters 20-36. Arrival at Kadesh, Numbers 20:1. Clamour for Water — The Rock Smitten, Numbers 20:2-13. A Passage through Edom Requested and Refused, Numbers 20:14-21. Journey to Mount Hor — Death of Aaron, Numbers 20:22-29. Defeat of the Canaanite King of Arad, Numbers 21:1-3. Compassing Edom via Red Sea, Numbers 21:4, 5. Fiery Serpents and the Brazen Serpent, Numbers 21:6-9. Continued Itinerary of Israel, Numbers 21:10-20. Victor over Sihon and over Og, Numbers 21:21-35. The First Message to Balaam, Numbers 22:1-14. The Second Message to Balaam, Numbers 22:15-35. Balaam Received by Balak, Numbers 22:36-41. Balak’s Sacrifices and Balaam’s First Two Prophecies — Preparatory Sacrifices, Numbers 23:1-6. Balaam’s First Prophecy, Numbers 23:7-12. The Second Prophecy, Numbers 23:13-26. Israel’s Happiness, Numbers 24:1-4. The Third Prophecy, Numbers 24:5-14. The Fourth Prophecy, Numbers 24:15-24. Israel Seduced into Idolatry, Numbers 25:1-3. The Idolaters Punished, Numbers 25:4-9. Phinehas Rewarded with an Everlasting Priesthood, Numbers 25:10-13. War against Midian Commanded. Numbers 25:16-18. The Second Census, Numbers 26:1-51. General Directions for the Allotment of Canaan, Numbers 26:51-56. Census of the Levites, Numbers 26:57-62. The Execution of Israel’s Penal Exclusion from Canaan Noted, Numbers 26:64, 65. Zelophehad’s Daughters — Law of Inheritance, Numbers 27:1-11. Moses Forewarned of his Death, Numbers 27:12-14. Joshua Publicly Consecrated as the Successor of Moses, Numbers 27:15-23. The Laws of the Daily Worship and the Annual Feasts Restated and Codified — Sacrifices Required by Jehovah, Numbers 28:1, 2. The Daily Burnt Offerings, Numbers 28:3-8. The Sabbath Offering, Numbers 28:9,
10. Law of Offerings at the New Moon, Numbers 28:11-15. Law of Offerings at the Passover, Numbers 28:16-25. Offerings at the Feast of Firstfruits, Numbers 28:26-31. Restatement of the Feast Statutes — The Offerings at the Feast of Trumpets, Numbers 29:1-6. Offerings on the Day of Atonement, Numbers 29:7-11. The Feast of Tabernacles — Sacrifices, Numbers 29:12-40. The Sacredness of Vows, Numbers 30:1, 2. The Maid’s Vow, Numbers 30:3-5. The Betrothed Wife’s Vow, Numbers 30:6-8. Vow of the Widow and of the Divorced Wife, Numbers 30:9. Vow of the Wife, Numbers 30:10-16. Conquest of Eastern Palestine — Midian Conquered and Balaam Slain, Numbers 31:1-12. Treatment of the Prisoners, Numbers 31:13-18. The Soldiers, Prisoners, and Spoils Ceremonially Cleansed, Numbers 31:19-24. The Allotment of the Spoils, Numbers 31:25-47. The Freewill Thank Offering to Jehovah, Numbers 31:48-54. Allotment of Eastern Palestine — The Suit of Reuben and Gad for their Allotment, Numbers 32:1-5. The Remonstrance of Moses, Numbers 32:6-15. The Modified Petition of Reuben and Gad, Numbers 32:16-32. The Petition Granted, Numbers 32:33-42. The Itineracy of the Israelites, Numbers 33:1-49. Command to Exterminate the Canaanites and to Distribute their Land, Numbers 33:50-34:29. The Boundaries of the Promised Land, Numbers 34:1-15. The Commissioners for Distributing the Land, Numbers 34:16-29. The Levite Cities, Numbers 35:1-5. Cities of Refuge, Numbers 35:6-34. The Intentional Manslayer, Numbers 35:22-28. The Marriage of an Heiress, Numbers 36:1-13.
Adam Clarke
Preface to the Book of Numbers
CLA_NUM.PDF, source PDF p. 3
Editorial note: Source collation note — paragraph 2: “its running title is במדבר bemidbar, in the wilderness”; “it is frequently called וידבר vaidabber, and he spoke”. source PDF page 3: “its running title is במדבר in the wilderness”; “It is frequently called וידבר and he spoke”. Compared with CLA_NUM.PDF PDF p. 3. The source-font or layout comparison does not securely establish every letter, mark or local sequence in these passages. The flagged language readings or layout are retained; the original source pages should be consulted for these specific readings. Additional-source investigation: an automated comparison of surrounding English text located possible corresponding passages in OCR from separately digitized printed volumes. The linked scan pages are research locators; their images have not been collated for this note's flagged readings. OCR agreement does not verify Greek or Hebrew letters, diacritics, word order, or table layout. The flagged readings or layout remain uncertain. CLA_NUM.PDF, PDF page 3; Additional printed-scan page locator (OCR context only; flagged reading unverified).
PREFACE TO THE BOOK OF NUMBERS
THIS, which is the fourth book in order of the Pentateuch, has been called NUMBERS, from its containing an account of the numbering and marshalling the Israelites in their journey through the wilderness to the promised land. Its ENGLISH name is derived from the title it bears in the VULGATE Latin, Numeri, which is a literal translation of the Greek word Αριθμοι, its title in the SEPTUAGINT; and from both, our SAXON ancestors called it [Anglo-Saxon] numeration, “because in this the children of Israel were numbered,” [Anglo-Saxon]. This title, however, does not properly apply to more than the three first chapters, and the 26th. This book, like the preceding, takes its name among the HEBREWS from a distinguishing word in the commencement. It is frequently called וידבר VAIDABBER, and he spoke, from its initial word; but in most Hebrew Bibles its running title is במדבר BEMIDBAR, in the wilderness, which is the fifth word in the first verse.
The contents of the book of Numbers are briefly the following: On the first day of the first month of the second year after the departure from Egypt, the tabernacle being erected, and it and the priests consecrated, Moses is commanded to make a census or enumeration of the people, the Levites excepted, who were appointed to watch over, guard, pitch, and carry the tabernacle and its holy furniture; chap. 1.
To form the vast mass of the people into a regular camp, each tribe by itself under its own captain or chief, known by his proper standard, and occupying an assigned place in reference to the tabernacle; chap. 2. Moses is commanded to separate the Levites to the service of the tabernacle, whom God chooses to take, instead of the first-born of every family, which he claimed as his own. When these were selected in their families, &c., the sum amounted to 22,273; chap. 3.
All this tribe is appointed to serve the tabernacle in a variety of offices, each person from the age of thirty till fifty, after which he was excused from farther service; chap. 4.
When these points were settled, God commands them to purify the camp by the expulsion of every unclean person, and establishes the trial of the suspected adulteress by the waters of jealousy; chap. 5. He next institutes the laws relative to Nazarites; and lays down the form according to which the people shall be blessed; chap. 6. Then follows a particular account of the offerings made to the tabernacle by the princes, or chiefs of the twelve tribes, and the amount of those offerings; chap. 7.
When this work was finished, the Levites were consecrated to their respective services, and the duration of the service of each ascertained; chap. 8.
The passover is commanded to be kept, and the first one is celebrated in the wilderness on the 14th of the first month of the second year after their departure from Egypt; chap. 9.
Moses is commanded to make two silver trumpets; he is informed of their use, in what order the different tribes shall march, with the ceremonies at fixing and removing the tabernacle and the departure of the people from the wilderness of Sinai on the twentieth day of the second month of the second year of their exodus from Egypt; chap. 10.
The people murmuring, the fire of the Lord consumes many of them; it ceases on the intercession of Moses: they murmur again, quails are sent, and they are smitten with a great plague; chap. 11.
Miriam and her brother Aaron rise up seditiously against Moses, having conceived some dislike against his Cushite wife, and supposing that he assumed too great an authority over the people: at this sedition the Lord is displeased, and smites Miriam with the leprosy; chap. 12. Twelve spies are sent to examine the promised land; they pass through the whole, return at the end of forty days, and by bringing an evil report, dishearten the people; chap. 13.
In consequence of this the whole congregation meditate a return to Egypt: God is displeased, and pronounces that all of them, from twenty years old and upwards, shall die in the wilderness. They repent, attack the Amalekites contrary to the commandment of God, and are discomfited; chap. 14.
A number of ordinances and directions are given relative to the manner of conducting the worship of God in the promised land: different laws are repeated, and a Sabbath-breaker stoned to death; chap. 15. Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and their associates, form an insurrection against Moses: they are swallowed up by an earthquake: the congregation murmur, and 14,700 of them are cut off; chap. 16.
As a proof that God had called Aaron and his family to the priesthood, his rod, or staff, buds, and miraculously brings forth blossoms and fruit, and is commanded to be laid up before the testimony; chap. 17.
The charges of the priests and Levites, and the portions they were to have of the Lord’s offerings, for their support in the work; chap. 18. The ordinances of the red heifer; the water of purification, and its uses; chap. 19.
The death of Miriam; the waters of Meribah. The Lord tells Moses that because he did not sanctify him in the eyes of the congregation, he shall not bring the people into the promised land. The king of Edom refuses the Israelites a passage through his territories. Aaron is stripped of his sacerdotal vestments on Mount Hor, and they are put on Eleazar, his son, who is to be a high priest in his stead. Aaron dies, and the people mourn for him thirty days; chap. 20.
Arad, one of the Canaanitish kings, attacks Israel, and he and his people are utterly destroyed. The people murmur for lack of bread and water; fiery serpents are sent among them, they repent; are healed by looking at a brazen serpent. They journey and come to Beer, where they find water; Sihon, king of the Amorites, attacks them, and is defeated; so is likewise Og, king of Bashan, and the people possess the lands of both; chap. 21. Balak, king of Moab, sends for Balaam to curse Israel; he departs, is opposed by an angel, and reproved by his ass, whom God, for the purpose, miraculously endued with the gift of speech. He comes to Balak, king of Moab, and shows him that Jehovah had limited his power; chap. 22. Balak offers sacrifices, and Balaam, under the influence of God, prophesies good concerning Israel; chap. 23.
Continuing to foretell the prosperity of Israel, and the destruction of their enemies, the king of Moab dismisses Balaam in great wrath; chap. 24. The Israelites, seduced by the women of Moab and Midian, commit fornication and idolatry-the chiefs are hanged-bold act of Phinehas; chap. 25.
A second census or enumeration of the people takes place, and the amount is 601,730, among whom not one of those of the first census was now found except Joshua and Caleb; chap. 26.
From the case of the daughters of Zelophehad a law is made to enable daughters to inherit.
Moses ascends Mount Abarim, sees the promised land, and constitutes Joshua his successor; chap. 27.
A repetition of the laws relative to burnt-offerings, the Sabbath, the passover, first-fruits, &c.; chap. 28.
The three solemnities of the seventh month are commanded to be held on the first, tenth, and fourteenth days of the month; chap. 29. Several laws and ordinances concerning vows of different kinds, made by various persons; when they should be confirmed, and in what cases annulled; chap. 30.
Twelve thousand Israelites go against the people of Midian and slay them, their five kings, and Balaam their prophet; and the Israelites take immense booty in persons, cattle, gold, silver, and precious stones, of which they make a great offering to the Lord, because in this contest they lost not one man; chap. 31.
The children of Reuben and Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, request to receive for their inheritance the territories of Sihon and Og on the east side of Jordan; their desire is granted on the condition of their going over armed with their brethren, to assist them in conquering the land; chap. 32. A circumstantial account of the forty-two journeys of the Israelites from their departure from Rameses till their arrival at Jordan. They are commanded to expel all the ancient inhabitants; chap. 33. The borders of the land are described, and the persons appointed by God, who should assist Joshua in dividing the land among the nine tribes and half; chap. 34.
Forty-eight cities are to be assigned to the Levites, out of the twelve tribes, for their goods and for their cattle: and out of these they were to appoint six cities of refuge for the person who had unawares slain his neighbour; to one of which cities the manslayer was to escape, and tarry there till the death of the high priest; chap. 35.
A law established that the daughters to whom the paternal inheritance descends, shall not marry out of their own tribes, lest their inheritances should become alienated and lost by being blended with those of other tribes; chap. 36. See the case of Zelophehad’s daughters, chap. 37. In this book, which comprehends the history of between thirty-eight and thirty-nine years, we have in one word a distinct account of the several stages of the Israelites’ journey in the wilderness, the various occurrences on the way, their trials, rebellions, punishments, deliverances, conquests, &c., with several laws and ordinances not mentioned in the preceding books, together with a repetition and explanation of some others which had been previously delivered; the whole forming a most interesting history of the justice, mercy, and providence of God.
THE FOURTH BOOK OF MOSES CALLED NUMBERS
-Year before the common Year of Christ, 1490.
-Julian Period, 3224.
-Cycle of the Sun, 27.
-Dominical Letter, D.
-Cycle of the Moon, 9.
-Indiction, 6.
-Creation from Tisri or September, 2514.
Joseph Benson
Argument
BEN_VOL1.PDF, source PDF p. 564
Editorial note: Source collation note — paragraph 4: “being termed by them αριθμοι, arithmoi, numbers. there is”. source PDF page 564: “being termed by them αριθμοι arithmoi, There is,”. Compared with BEN_VOL1.PDF PDF p. 564. The source-font or layout comparison does not securely establish every letter, mark or local sequence in these passages. The flagged language readings or layout are retained; the original source pages should be consulted for these specific readings. Additional-source investigation: an automated comparison of surrounding English text located possible corresponding passages in OCR from separately digitized printed volumes. The linked scan pages are research locators; their images have not been collated for this note's flagged readings. OCR agreement does not verify Greek or Hebrew letters, diacritics, word order, or table layout. The flagged readings or layout remain uncertain. BEN_VOL1.PDF, PDF page 564; Additional printed-scan page locator (OCR context only; flagged reading unverified).
THE FOURTH BOOK OF MOSES, CALLED
NUMBERS.
ARGUMENT.
THIS book, like all the other books of Moses, takes its name from the Septuagint, or Greek interpreters, being termed by them αριθμοι, arithmoi, NUMBERS. There is, however, this difference: the names of the other four stand in our translation in the words of the original Greek, while this is rendered into English. The reason of the name is evident. The book begins with an account of the numbering or mustering of the people, which was done in the beginning of the second year after they came out of Egypt. It relates also another numbering of them above thirty-eight years after, when not three of the same persons were found alive that were in the former account, so awfully did God fulfil his threatening that, for their rebellion, their carcasses should fall in the wilderness, Numbers 14:29. Still, however, their numbers were so great that the book affords us abundant proof of the accomplishment of God’s promise to Abraham, Thy seed shall be as the stars of heaven for multitude. Here are also several additional laws, relating to matters both civil and religious. Indeed, the book is almost equally divided between histories and laws intermixed: and the historical part comprises the transactions of thirty-eight years, most of which, however, took place in the first and last of those years. An abstract of a great part of this book we have in a few words, Psalm 95:10: Forty years long was I grieved with this generation; and an application of it to ourselves, Hebrews 4:1: Let us fear, lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of us should come short of it.
Joseph Sutcliffe
The Fourth Book of Moses, Called Numbers.
SUT_VOL1.PDF, source PDF p. 364
THE FOURTH BOOK OF MOSES,
CALLED NUMBERS.
The ancient Hebrews entitled this Book, וידבר Va-jedabbar; that is, And he spake; and במדבר Bemidbar, that is, In the wilderness; the words with which the book itself commences. The Seventy call it the Book of Numbers, because the people were numbered in the plain before Sinai, and thirty eight years afterward in the plains of Moab near the Jordan. It comprises a period of about thirty nine years, and records so many facts concerning the conduct and calamities which befel the Israelites in the desert, that the magistrate, the minister, and the individual may here find much instruction for the regulation of his conduct, and a multitude of motives to zeal and constancy in religion. Concerning its authenticity, it is to us a sufficient confirmation to find it quoted or alluded to, not less than seventeen times in the New Testament.
Daniel Whedon
Introduction.
WHD_CO02.PDF, source PDF p. 273
NUMBERS
INTRODUCTION.
Name and Character.
1.) THE Hebrews were accustomed to name their books from the first word therein. Hence the fourth book of their Law was styled Vaye-dabber — “And he spake.” They found in the fifth word a far more expressive and poetic title, Bemidbar — “In the wilderness.” The Seventy Greek translators prefixed the title Απιθμοι, ‘Arithmoi. If our English translators had preserved the law of uniformity, they would have transferred this title, as they have taken from the Greek the names of the other four books of the Pentateuch. But they have chosen to borrow, with modifications, the name Numeri, found in the Vulgate version.
This book is of a mixed character. History is interlaced with statutes. This commingling of legislation and marches, rebellions and battles, is strikingly human and natural. Plato may write a perfect code of laws for an ideal Republic, and Sir Thomas More may invent a scheme of impracticable rules for the citizens of his Utopia; but the best legislation for people made of flesh and blood is suggested by their actual state and necessities. Hence the legislation of this book arises when a special want occurs, like the decisions of the Supreme Court when a case is brought before it. An illustration of this is seen in the case of the daughters of Zelophehad, (Numbers 27:7,) who having no brother to receive the inheritance of their deceased father requested to be acknowledged his legal heirs. Their petition gives rise to the enactment of an equitable law for such cases. But the bearings of this legislation on the stability of the lot of each tribe is not seen until some of the allotments have been made, when it is discovered that, in the practical application of this law, an heiress marrying out of her tribe may carry her portion away from her own to another tribe. Hence the supplementary law on the marriage of an heiress requiring her to marry a husband within the tribe of her father. Chap. 36. If the book were a fabrication, the writer would very naturally group all the laws together, and represent them all as delivered at Sinai, instead of cumbering the narrative with supplementary statutes, and furnishing ground for the imputation of after-thoughts to Jehovah.
Author.
(2.) This book is, in reality, the fourth chapter of a larger book styled by Christians the Pentateuch, from πεντε, five, and τευχος, a book — “The Fivefold Book.” The Jews have always regarded these books as one volume, to which they applied the name of The Torah — “The Law.” It would therefore be more philosophical to inquire into the authorship of the Torah as a whole, than to isolate a chapter and limit our investigations to it alone. But as the most appropriate place for such a discussion would be introductory to the Torah, we refer the reader to the dissertation preliminary to the Commentary on Genesis. Our researches into the authorship of Numbers will be in reply to the following questions, namely: —
1. Does this book contain any declaration of its authorship? We find in chap. 33 the most important historical document contained in this book — a list of the encampments from Rameses to the Jordan. This valuable catalogue — a chain linking Egypt and Canaan — is in Numbers 33:2 declared to have been written by Moses. But a large portion of this book is preceptory, containing statutes and ritual ordinances. Respecting these we find in the last verse of the book the statement that “these are the commandments and the judgments which the Lord commanded, by the hand of Moses, unto the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho.” This language must not be interpreted to signify that all the ceremonial and civil statutes in this book were given by Jehovah in the plains of Moab, for most of them were given in the Sinaitic Wilderness and Desert of Paran. What is more natural for us to understand was done by Moses in the plains of Moab, than the completion of his record, and its publication as the standard of appeal for the Hebrew nation in the future? This conclusion is fortified by the consideration that the minute legislation and valuable history comprised in this book would not, by a wise legislator, be intrusted to the uncertainties of oral tradition. But all doubt on this point is removed when we find in the hands of Joshua, only a few weeks afterward, a copy of the Torah, (Joshua 1:7, 8,) and are assured that it contains this book of Numbers, by the fact that it is his guide in the division of the Land of Canaan and the setting apart of Levitical cities. Compare Numbers 34:17; 35:2-15, with Joshua 13:14, 33; 14:3, 4; 18:7; 20:1-9; 21:1-42.
2. Could Moses have written this book? If it could be demonstrated that he lived before the invention of writing among the Egyptians it would be a strong, though not a conclusive, argument against the Mosaic authorship, for letters might have been invented by Moses for this very purpose. But at this point there is no ground for doubt. Papyri, or Egyptian parchments, bearing date centuries before Moses, have been recently translated through the persevering efforts of Egyptologists. See note on Exodus 5:6. That the Hebrews were acquainted with letters, we infer from the fact that the Phenicians, a Semitic race, had a literature while Greece was a country of semi-barbaric pirates preying upon the commerce of Tyre, long before Cadmus came to induct this rude people into the mysteries of the alphabet. (Ewald’s Hist. Israel, vol. i, p. 51.) There is, therefore, not the least anachronism in this claim of Moses to authorship. Writing is distinctly mentioned in Exodus 17:14 as an art in which he was well instructed.
3. Could not this book be the production of a later age? We reply, that it could not, because, 1.) It is quoted or alluded to by most of the inspired writers from Joshua to Christ as the work of Moses. We shall have space to cite only one reference to each writer. We have already adduced Joshua’s reference to Numbers. Judges 11:15-27 is an abbreviation of chaps. 20 and 21. The law of sacrifices as observed in 1 Samuel 2:13, is recorded in Numbers 18:8, 9, 25, 32. David, in Psalm 4:6, quotes a part of the priests’ blessing, Numbers 6:26. Solomon, in Proverbs 10:18, employs a peculiar Hebrew idiom found only in Numbers 13:32; 14:36, 37. In 1 Kings 22:17, chap. 27:16, 17 is quoted. Of the minor prophets, Amos in Amos 2:12, evidently refers to the law of the Nazarites, chap. 6:1-21; and Micah in chap. 6:4, 5, must have had the whole account of Balak and Balaam, chaps. 22-24, before him. During the captivity, and afterward, the prophets quote this book. Jeremiah, in Jeremiah 2:6, 7, quotes Numbers 14:7, 8 and 35:33, 34; while Ezekiel, in chap. 20, recapitulates all the events of the wilderness, showing an accurate knowledge of this book. Jesus Christ and St. Paul everywhere ascribe the Law to Moses. 2.) There was no man subsequent to Moses who combined that knowledge of the desert, and that intimate acquaintance with Egyptian customs which is evinced by Moses. 3.) The entire book points forward to the Land of Promise, and must have been written by one on the journey. Numbers 15:2, 18; 34:2; 35:2-34. Contrary to expectation, it took several centuries to expel the Canaanites. A forger in subsequent years would not have so written as to convey the impression that the foes were to be all immediately expelled. He would have shaped his story to suit the facts. Hence we conclude that as no man later than Moses could have been the author of this book, “which, as it bears traces on its brow of Egypt and the Desert, so also must have had its origin before the occupation of Canaan.” 4.) The application of Leslie’s short method with the deists would show the absolute impossibility for an impostor in the name of Moses to originate a book of laws lying as the basis of institutions already existing, and claiming to exist, by the authority of Moses, who existed in a former age.
4. How extensively has the Mosaic authorship been admitted? 1.) By the entire Hebrew nation during a period of more than thirty-three hundred years. 2.) By the universal Christian world down to the beginning of the eleventh century, when the first noteworthy dissent appeared. The only exception to this was the feeble scepticism of the Gnostics and some other sects, whose heresy had died with them. Their scepticism seems to have had a dogmatic rather than an historic and critical basis. (3.) By the whole Mohammedan world, embracing many erudite scholars. The authorship of no ancient book is so well attested, nor has any been so universally admitted.
5. The last question raised by modern criticism is this: Are there not in the book itself — in its style, in its peculiar phraseology, and in the knowledge of the land of Canaan evinced by the author — difficulties too great to be harmonized with the claim of Mosaic authorship? The answer to this question is: The style is too full of archaisms, of words obsolete in later Hebrew, to present any argument against its Mosaic authorship. Moses does display some knowledge of Canaan. The sources of this knowledge were: 1.) The traditions of the Hebrews. 2.) His Egyptian education must have included the geography of the known world, especially of Canaan, a country so near to Egypt. Recent researches in Egyptian history disclose the fact that Egypt had carried on wars in the country of “the Hittite,” and had made extensive conquests there. 3.) The forty years of pre-exodus life spent by Moses in the Sinaitic Desert afforded opportunities for obtaining a knowledge of that country, toward which the Spirit of the Lord was now directing his eye. He may have traversed its whole extent. 4.) While in the wilderness he probably sent spies more frequently than the record shows. From all these considerations our conclusion is, that there is not a word in this book which might not have been written by a writer in the age and circumstances of Moses. While it would not be in good taste for a modern writer to record his own meekness, as in Numbers 12:3, we must remember that other canons of taste prevailed in ancient Oriental nations. Moses just as readily exhibits his faults. Numbers 20:10-12. No forger in a later age would have dared to impute sin to the great and venerated lawgiver. The statements of critics, that there are traces of distinct documents by the pre-Elohist, Elohist, and Jehovist, even if admitted, do not disprove the Mosaic authorship of the book as a whole. But having patiently examined the “higher criticism” based on what is known as the “document” or “fragment” hypothesis, we find ourselves unable to concede even this. We find each succeeding critic destroying the theories of his predecessors, so that the “complement hypothesis” overturns the “fragment hypothesis,” which in turn is superseded by the “crystallization hypothesis.” So utterly discordant are these various theories, that their untenable, unscientific, and arbitrary assumptions are sufficiently refuted by printing them in parallel columns, so that their antagonisms may be seen at a glance. One is satisfied with two documents, another finds three. The microscope of a third critic finds evidence that the compiler dovetailed together extracts from seven, and a fourth critic declares that there must have been a dozen! Then the same writer modifies his theory in the successive editions of his book, till, at last, he abandons it altogether. The very extravagance of these theories, so flagrantly opposed to one another, so confidently propounded, and yet based on the most vague conjectures, have very naturally led to a reaction which may yet bring these critics back to the point whence they made their departure — Moses the sole author of the Torah, without modern interpolators or revisers. De Wette himself has changed his views with almost every successive edition of his Introduction, frankly saying, “I have often found myself constrained to alter my opinion.” “The grounds on which this distinction of documents rests are in every respect most unsatisfactory. The use of the divine names, which was the starting point in this criticism, ceases to be a criterion; and certain words and phrases, a particular manner or colouring, the narrative of miracles, are supposed to decide whether a passage belongs to the earlier or later documents.” — SMITH’S Dictionary of the Bible.
For the assistance of those who may desire to test the “higher criticism” for themselves, we quote from the same authority a summary of the conclusions which the most erudite German Hebraists have reached in their investigations. According to De Wette, the following portions are the work of the Elohist, the writer who uses the Divine Name Elohim: — Numbers 1:1-10:28; 13:2-16, (in its original, though not in its present form;) 15; 16:1-11, 16-23, 24 (?); 17; 19; 20:1-13, 22-29; 25-31, (except perhaps 26:8-11;) 32:5, 28-42, (verses 1-4 uncertain;) 33-36. The rest of the book is assigned to the later Editor, whom he styles the Jehovist, from his use of the Divine Name, Jehovah. Von Lengerke and Stahelin make a similar division, though they differ as to some verses, and even whole chapters. Vaihinger finds traces of three distinct documents, which he ascribes severally to the pre-Elohist, the Elohist, and the Jehovist. To the first he assigns Numbers 10:29-36; 11:1-12, 16, (in its original form;) 20:14-21; 21:1-9, 13-35; 32:33-42; 33:55, 56. To the Elohist chaps. 1-10:28; 11-12:16; 13-20, 13, 22-29; 21:10-12; 22:1; 25-31, 54; 32:1-32; 32-36:19. To the Jehovist chaps. 11-12, 16; 22:2-24:25; 31:8. The Bible shrinks from no criticism however thorough and scrutinizing. Orthodoxy is under special obligation to the rationalizing criticism, destructive of faith in its aim, but only confirmatory in its results, inasmuch as it has induced Christian scholars to dig down beneath the surface and lay open the immovable foundations of the Divine Word.
The hypothesis of Ewald, that the episode of Balaam (Numbers 20:2-24:25) is the product of a fifth and last editor of the Pentateuch, and that Balaam’s prophecies are vaticinia ex eventu, put into his mouth by a daring literary impostor of the time of Isaiah, we have unhesitatingly rejected. Nothing can be more improbable than that such a fabrication could by any means be interpolated into the Book of the Law, the sacred Torah, so highly venerated by the Hebrews that they would not insert a single word or letter even to correct an obvious error of the copyist, demonstrated to be such by the most careful examination of older copies. Topography and Route.
(3.) We have endeavoured to lay before our readers the latest researches in this interesting department. Although the residence of the Israelites in the wilderness was too brief to impress upon their national character those features which many centuries of association with the same natural scenery and climate may stamp upon a people, yet the Sinaitic Desert and the Wilderness of Paran, as seen to day, have all the interest to the historian and scholar that a battlefield has from its connexion with the battle, or the seat of war with the campaign. The great question which the commentator, in his topographical researches, must ever propose to himself is, whether the unchanging scenes of nature on which the sun rose this morning are fitted to be the theatre of the wonderful events located there by the sacred historian. Our interest in the locality increases in proportion as the events are dissevered from the perishable works of art, such as houses cities, and sepulchres, and are associated only with the everlasting hills, the eternal rocks, and the ever-flowing streams. Such is the interest attaching to that desert where Israel built no houses, but dwelt in tents. Another important point for the commentator to note is, the tinge which the natural scenery has given to the poetry, and the influence it has had upon the language and cultus, of the Hebrew nation; yet he should be on his guard lest he exaggerate the effects of physical causes, and adopt the fatalistic philosophy of such materialists as Buckle, who so far subordinate mind to matter as to evolve even the moral and religious character of a nation out of its soil and sky. It is remarkable that the Sinaitic Peninsula — the scene of the giving of the law, the corner-stone of the Hebrew commonwealth — did not attract more attention from that people. “After the Israelites left Mount Sinai,” says Dr. Robinson, “there is no account either in Scripture or elsewhere of its having been visited by any Jews, except by the prophet Elijah when he fled from the machinations of Jezebel. This is the more remarkable, as this region had been the seat of the revelation of the Law to which they clung so tenaciously, and because, from the splendour and terrors of the scene, the inspired Hebrew poets were wont to draw their sublimest images.” We have no very distinct notices of Sinai in early Christian literature, nor any very reliable researches until the days of Burckhardt, Ritter, and Dr. Robinson, who have been succeeded by Stanley, and a host of others of less celebrity.
One great difficulty with the desert topography arises from the fact that each traveller takes but one route, and is disposed to imagine that to be the very pathway of the Israelites, and to attach, in rectilinear succession, the list of encampments named in Numbers 33:16-36. No attempt shall be made to track their course in detail. The results of the recent explorations are thus stated by Dean Stanley: “With the departure from Sinai, or at least from Hazeroth, the geographical interest of the Israelite history almost ceases, till the arrival in the tablelands of Moab, and the first beginning of the Conquest. Not only is the general course of their march wrapped in obscurity, but, even if we knew it, the events are not generally of a kind which would require any special illustration from the scenes in which they occurred. It is possible that some future traveller may discover the stations recorded in the itinerary of the thirty-third chapter of the Book of Numbers. At present no station has been ascertained with any likelihood of truth, unless we except the doubtful identification of Hazeroth with Huderah. All that is clear is, that they marched northward from Mount Sinai, probably over the plateau Tih — which seems to be designated as ‘the Wilderness of Paran;’ then that they descended into the Arabah — designated, apparently, ‘the Wilderness of Zin;’ thence, on the refusal of the king of Edom to let them pass through his territory, they moved southward, encamped on the shores of the Gulf Akabah, at Ezion-geber, and then turned the corner of the Edomite mountains, at their southward extremity, and entered the table-lands of Moab at the torrent of the willows, ‘the Brook Zared,’ at the southern end of the Dead Sea.” It is the opinion of Palmer that “they took the route by Akabah, and did not enter the Tih by any of the passes in the southern edge of the plateau.” He is quite confident that a great portion of the encampments may yet be identified. The progress which has been made in sacred topography during the last forty years is very vividly seen when we contrast the meagre and conjectural maps accompanying the older commentaries with the topographical surveys and charts of Robinson, Ritter, Porter, Van de Velde, Kiepert, Henke, and the coloured lithographs of Stanley, equal to “a fifth Gospel — to seeing Palestine.” The need of a new exegesis of the Scriptures incorporating and popularizing these valuable contributions to sacred geography is deeply felt.
The Chronology and Divisions of the Book.
(4.) Although the notes of time are very scanty, yet we have sufficient to guide us in our division of the book into four parts. The events begin with the first day of the second month, the Hebrew Zif, the month of blossom and splendour, corresponding in those early times with our April. Twenty days elapsed before the preparations to march were all perfected, and “the cloud was taken off the tabernacle.” Numbers 10:11. This period constitutes the First Part of the book. The time occupied in marching to Kadesh we have been left to infer from the few notes of time which are given, together with the events which took place, which we do as follows: — 1.) They were three days in reaching their first regular camp. Numbers 10:33. At the next station, Kibroth-hattaavah, the people ate quails “even a whole month.” Numbers 11:20. At Hazeroth Miriam was judicially excluded from the camp seven days, and “the people journeyed not till Miriam was brought in.” Numbers 12:14. The spies were absent forty days. It is uncertain whether they were sent before the camp was pitched in Kadesh; but the account of their being sent follows their encampment in the Wilderness of Paran; so that the people were there at least forty days. 2.) There is an incidental hint of time in the report of the spies — “Now the time was the time of the first ripe grapes.” Numbers 13:20. According to Dr. Robinson the first grapes ripen as early as August, and sometimes even in July. Hence we infer that they were at least three months in reaching Kadesh — the period of our Second Part. We have fixed the end of the penal wanderings at the coming of the whole congregation into the Wilderness of Zin in the first month of the fortieth year of the Exodus. Numbers 20:1. We know that this is the fortieth year, because Aaron died soon after, on “the first day of the fifth month, in the fortieth year after the children of Israel came out of the land of Egypt.” Chap. 33:38. From Joshua 5:10, we learn that the passover was kept in the plains of Jericho at the usual time of the year, which makes exactly forty years from the Exodus. Subtract the last year, which was not penal, together with the seventeen or eighteen months spent in marching to Sinai and in sojourning there and in the journey to Kadesh, and we have about thirty-seven and a half years of penal wanderings — our Third Part. The last year, the year of victories, is our Fourth Part.
Arithmetical Difficulties.
(5.) The destructive criticism of modern rationalists has aimed its deadliest blows at the Pentateuch, especially at the numerical statements of the Book of Numbers. We have not ignored these attacks, but have written with Bishop Colenso’s “Pentateuch Critically Examined,” and his recent diatribes in review of the “Speaker’s Commentary” lying open before us. We do not profess to have solved every difficult problem. Something has still been left for faith. Our Lord Jesus Christ declared, on one occasion, that if men “hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead.” This language implies that there is in the writings of Moses, as there is assuredly in those of the Prophets, scope for faith. This could not be if every utterance of the Hebrew lawgiver were on a level with the human understanding. The pen of inspiration may have purposely left these very difficulties as tests of our
Outline of Contents.
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faith in the Divine veracity. Still, as the Creator, who has endowed us with the capacity to believe, has also endowed us with the power of reason, and bidden us use that faculty in scrutinizing the grounds of faith, we have endeavoured to set forth some considerations which may constitute a rational basis of faith. In so doing we have called to our aid the best apologists for the authenticity of the numerical statements of Moses, among both Jewish and Christian writers. The primal error of the Colenso school of critics seems to lie in the assumption that the Spirit of God “can never inspire the utterance of half truths, or truths imperfectly expressed, or truths needing the light of other truths to make them intelligible. In short, because God is perfect, every thing that comes from him must needs be perfect also. Though all nature is a riddle, and yet comes from God; though the human mind is a riddle, and yet reflects his image; though man, in his highest illumination, can see but darkly, as through a darkened glass; yet the Divine word — because it comes from God — must have no riddles in it, no seeming contradictions, no difficulties, no opaque spots, no paradoxes, nothing that ‘the unlearned and unstable can’ ‘wrest to their own destruction.’ The Scriptures lay claim to no such inspiration.”* [* “The Spiritual Point of View — An Answer to Bishop Colenso, by M. Mahan, D.D.”]
OUTLINE OF CONTENTS.
Part I. Events Introductory to Leaving Sinai, chapters 1-10:10.
1. The Census and the Levites.
Genealogical Enrolment and Muster of the Adult Males, Numbers 1:1-46. Levites Exempted from the Census and Assigned to the Tabernacle Service. Numbers 1:47-53. Order of Encampment, Numbers 2:1-34. The Sons of Aaron Consecrated, Numbers 3:1-4. The Levites Subordinated to Aaron, Numbers 3:5-9. The Levites Substituted for the Firstborn, Numbers 3:11-13. The Numbering of the Levites, Numbers 3:14-39. Census of the Firstborn Males of the Israelites, Numbers 3:40-43. The Supernumerary Firstborn Redeemed, Numbers 3:44-51. The Age-Limits to Levitical Service, Numbers 4:1-3. Service of the Sons of Kohath, Gershon, and Merari, Numbers 4:4-33. Census of Competent Levites, Numbers 4:34-49. Removal of the Unclean from the Camp, Numbers 5:1-4. Restitution for Trespass, Numbers 5:5-10. The Ordeal for a Suspected Wife, Numbers 5:11-31. Law of the Naz-arite, Numbers 6:1-22. Form of the Priestly Blessing, Numbers 6:22-27. The Dedicatory Gifts of the Princes, Numbers 7:1-88. Directions for Placing the Golden Lamps of the Tabernacle, Numbers 8:1-4. Consecration of the Levites, Numbers 8:5-22. The Second Passover, Numbers 9:1-5. The Supplemental Passover, Numbers 9:6-14. The Cloud and the Tabernacle, Numbers 9:15-23. The Silver Signal Trumpets, Numbers 10:1-10. Part II. The March, chapters 10:11-14.
The Beginning of the March from Sinai, Numbers 10:11-28. Hobab Invited by Moses, Numbers 10:29-32. The Three Days’ March, Numbers 10:33, 34. The Chant of Moses, Numbers 10:35, 36. Events at Kibroth-Hattaavah, Numbers 11:1-35. Sedition of Miriam, Numbers 12:1-8. Miriam Punished, Numbers 12:9-15. From Hazeroth to Kadesh, Numbers 12:16. The Twelve Spies, Numbers 13:1-33. Cowardice of the Israelites, Numbers 14:1-5. Minority Report of Caleb and Joshua, Numbers 14:6-10. The Excision of Israel Threatened and Averted, Numbers 14:11-25. The Formal Sentence of Exclusion, Numbers 14:26-35. The Fate of the Spies, Numbers 14:36-39. Presumption of the People Punished, Numbers 14:40-45. Part III. Penal Wanderings, chapters 15-19.
Supplementary Altar Ritual, Numbers 15:1-29. Presumptuous Sin is Irremissible, Numbers 15:30-36. Mnemonic Fringes, Numbers 15:37-41. Rebellion and Destruction of Korah and his Company, Numbers 16:1-35. The Memorial Censers, Numbers 16:36-40. The Murmurers, the Plague, and the Atonement, Numbers 16:41-50. The Priesthood of Aaron Accredited, Numbers 17:1-13. The Priests and Levites: their Obligations and Rights, Numbers 18:1-32. The Preparation of the Water of Separation, Numbers 19:1-10. The Use of the Purifying Water, Numbers 19:11-22.
Part IV. From Kadesh to the Land of Moab, chapters 20-36. Arrival at Kadesh, Numbers 20:1. Clamour for Water — The Rock Smitten, Numbers 20:2-13. A Passage through Edom Requested and Refused, Numbers 20:14-21. Journey to Mount Hor — Death of Aaron, Numbers 20:22-29. Defeat of the Canaanite King of Arad, Numbers 21:1-3. Compassing Edom via Red Sea, Numbers 21:4, 5. Fiery Serpents and the Brazen Serpent, Numbers 21:6-9. Continued Itinerary of Israel, Numbers 21:10-20. Victor over Sihon and over Og, Numbers 21:21-35. The First Message to Balaam, Numbers 22:1-14. The Second Message to Balaam, Numbers 22:15-35. Balaam Received by Balak, Numbers 22:36-41. Balak’s Sacrifices and Balaam’s First Two Prophecies — Preparatory Sacrifices, Numbers 23:1-6. Balaam’s First Prophecy, Numbers 23:7-12. The Second Prophecy, Numbers 23:13-26. Israel’s Happiness, Numbers 24:1-4. The Third Prophecy, Numbers 24:5-14. The Fourth Prophecy, Numbers 24:15-24. Israel Seduced into Idolatry, Numbers 25:1-3. The Idolaters Punished, Numbers 25:4-9. Phinehas Rewarded with an Everlasting Priesthood, Numbers 25:10-13. War against Midian Commanded. Numbers 25:16-18. The Second Census, Numbers 26:1-51. General Directions for the Allotment of Canaan, Numbers 26:51-56. Census of the Levites, Numbers 26:57-62. The Execution of Israel’s Penal Exclusion from Canaan Noted, Numbers 26:64, 65. Zelophehad’s Daughters — Law of Inheritance, Numbers 27:1-11. Moses Forewarned of his Death, Numbers 27:12-14. Joshua Publicly Consecrated as the Successor of Moses, Numbers 27:15-23. The Laws of the Daily Worship and the Annual Feasts Restated and Codified — Sacrifices Required by Jehovah, Numbers 28:1, 2. The Daily Burnt Offerings, Numbers 28:3-8. The Sabbath Offering, Numbers 28:9,
10. Law of Offerings at the New Moon, Numbers 28:11-15. Law of Offerings at the Passover, Numbers 28:16-25. Offerings at the Feast of Firstfruits, Numbers 28:26-31. Restatement of the Feast Statutes — The Offerings at the Feast of Trumpets, Numbers 29:1-6. Offerings on the Day of Atonement, Numbers 29:7-11. The Feast of Tabernacles — Sacrifices, Numbers 29:12-40. The Sacredness of Vows, Numbers 30:1, 2. The Maid’s Vow, Numbers 30:3-5. The Betrothed Wife’s Vow, Numbers 30:6-8. Vow of the Widow and of the Divorced Wife, Numbers 30:9. Vow of the Wife, Numbers 30:10-16. Conquest of Eastern Palestine — Midian Conquered and Balaam Slain, Numbers 31:1-12. Treatment of the Prisoners, Numbers 31:13-18. The Soldiers, Prisoners, and Spoils Ceremonially Cleansed, Numbers 31:19-24. The Allotment of the Spoils, Numbers 31:25-47. The Freewill Thank Offering to Jehovah, Numbers 31:48-54. Allotment of Eastern Palestine — The Suit of Reuben and Gad for their Allotment, Numbers 32:1-5. The Remonstrance of Moses, Numbers 32:6-15. The Modified Petition of Reuben and Gad, Numbers 32:16-32. The Petition Granted, Numbers 32:33-42. The Itineracy of the Israelites, Numbers 33:1-49. Command to Exterminate the Canaanites and to Distribute their Land, Numbers 33:50-34:29. The Boundaries of the Promised Land, Numbers 34:1-15. The Commissioners for Distributing the Land, Numbers 34:16-29. The Levite Cities, Numbers 35:1-5. Cities of Refuge, Numbers 35:6-34. The Intentional Manslayer, Numbers 35:22-28. The Marriage of an Heiress, Numbers 36:1-13.