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THE CENTURY BIBLE

General Editor— Principal Walter F. Adeney, M.A., D.D.
OLD TESTAMENT
{GENESIS. Rev. Prof. W. H. Bennett, M.A., Litt.D., D.D., of New
' \ College and Hackney College, London.

( EXODUS. Rev. Prof. W. H. Bennett, M.A., LittD., D.D.
{ LEVITICUS and NUMBERS. Rev. Prof. A. R. S. Kennedy, MA.,
D.D., of the University of Edinburgh.
DEUTERONOMY and JOSHUA. Rev. Prof. H. Wheeler Robinson,
M.A., Rawdon College, late Senior Kennicott Scholar in the University
of Oxford.
JUDGES and RUTH. Rev. G. W. Thatcher, M.A., B.D., Tutor in

Mansfield College, Oxford.
. I & II SAMUEL. Rev. Prof. A. R. S. Kennedy, M.A., D.D.
I & II KINGS. Rev. Principal Skinner, M.A., D.D., of Westminster

College, Cambridge.
I & II CHRONICLES. Rev. W. HARVEY Jellie, M.A., B.D.. Litt.D.
/EZRA. NEHEMIAH. And ESTHER. Rev. Prof. T. Witton Davies,
v-l B. A., Ph.D., D.D., of the Baptist College, and the University College of

V \ North Wales, Bangor;

JOB. Rev. Prof. A. S. PEAKS, M.A., D.D., of the University of
\ Manchester.
PSALMS (Vol. I) I TO LII. Rev. Prof. W. T. Davison, M.A., D.D.,

of Handsworth College, Birmingham.
PSALMS (Vol. II) LIII TO END. Rev. Prof. T. Witton Davies, M.A.,
\ Ph.D.,D.D*

(PROVERBS, ECCLESIASTES, AND SONG OF SOLOMON. Rev.
Vol. J Prof. G. CURRIE MARTIN, M. A., B.D., of the United C ollege, Bradford.
VII. J ISAIAH (Chaps, i-xxxix). Rev. Principal O. C. Whitehouse, M.A.,

v D.D., of Cheshunt College, Cambridge.
Vol. f ISAIAH (Chaps, xl-lxiii). Rev. Principal O. C. WHITEHOUSE, M.A., D.D.
VIII. 1 JEREMIAH (Vol. I). Rev. Prof. Peake. M.A., D.D.

(JEREMIAH (Vol. II) AND LAMENTATIONS. Rev. Prof. Peake,
M.A..D.D.
EZEKIEL. Rev. Prof. W. F. LOFTHOUSE, M. A, of Handsworth College,

Birmingham.
MINOR PROPHETS : HOSEA, JOEL, AMOS, OBADIAH, JONAH, MlCAH.

Rev. R. F. HoRTON, M.A., D.D., London.
MINOR PROPHETS : Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Zbchariah,
MALACHI. Rev. Prof. S. R. Driver, D.D., LittD., of the University
of Oxford.

\ Vol. > DANIEL. Rev. Prof. R. H. Charles, D.D., of the University of
XI. I Dublin. N£W TESTAMENT

Vft] ( MATTHEW. Rev. Prof. Slater, M.A., of Didsbury College, Author
, \ of 'The Faith and Life of the Early Church.'

{ MARK. The late Rev. Principal Salmond, D.D., Aberdeen.

{LUKE. Rev. Principal W. F. Adeney, M.A., D.D., of Lancashire
Independent College, Author of ' How to Read the Bible.'
JOHN. Rev. J. A. McClymont, D.D., Author of ' The New Testament
and its Writers.'
(ACTS. Rev. Prof. J. Vernon Bartlett, M.A., D.D., of Mansfield
Vol. J College, Oxford, Author of 'The Apostolic Age.'
III. j ROMANS. Rev. Principal A. E. Garvie, M.A., D.D., of New College,
V and Hackney College, London.
I AND II CORINTHIANS. Prof. J. MASSIE, M.A, D.D, of Mansfield

College, Oxford.
PHILIPPIANS, EPHESIANS, COLOSSI ANS, PHILEMON. Rev.

Prof. G. Currie Martin, M.A., B.D.
I and II THESSALONIANS, GAL ATI ANS. Rev. Principal Adeney,

M.A, D.D.
THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. Rev. R. F. Horton, M.A., D.D.,

London.
HEBREWS. Rev. Prof. A. S. Peake, M.A., D.D.
THE GENERAL EPISTLES. Rev. Prof. W. H. Bennett, M.A., D.D.
REVELATION. Rev. Prof. C. Anderson Scott, M.A., B.D., of
Westminster College, Cambridge.

Vol.
IX.

Vol.
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Vol.
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Vol.
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THE CENTURY BIBLE

A MODERN COMMENTARY

EDITED BY

PRINCIPAL W. F. ADENEY, M.A., D.D.

LEVITICUS and NUMBERS

EDITED BY THE

REV. A. R. S. KENNEDY, M.A., D.D.

OXFORD : HORACE HART
PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY

BREAKING- THE TABLES OF THE LAW.

REMBRANDT

Z%t &tntut% (gtfle

A MODERN COMMENTARY

Betriftcu* atti> (UumBera

INTRODUCTION

REVISED VERSION WITH NOTES

ILLUSTRATIONS

EDITED BY

REV. A. R. S. KENNEDY, MM^ D.D.

PROFESSOR OF HEBREW AND sAfDtlC LANGUAGE^ JN THE

university oe Edinburgh

SBMITI

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The Revised Version is printed by permission of the
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-%V

CONTENTS

LEVITICUS AND NUMBERS

A. Introduction to Leviticus and Numbers :

I. The Titles of the Books ....
II. Arrangement and Contents of the Books .

III. The Modern View of the Pentateuch

IV. JE in the Book of Numbers

V. The History of Israel's Theocratic Institu

tions (P*)

VI. The Holiness Code (H or Ph) .
VII. Supplementary Codes (Pfc) and Later Add
tions (Ps)

List of the Literary Symbols and Abbreviations

B. Leviticus : Text of the Revised Version, with

Annotations

3
4

ia
16

28
33

C. Numbers : Text of the Revised Version, with

Annotations 183

Additional Notes :

A. The Day of Atonement 390

B. Bibliography 391

C. On the Map of the Sinai Peninsula . . . 392

INDEX .393

PLATES

Moses Breaking the Tables of the Law (Rembrandt)

Ph otogra vu re fro n tisptece

Approach to Sinai (coloured plate : from a drawing) 64

Arab Camp in Sinai (from a drawing) . . . 128

Ezion Geber (from a drawing) 240

Wilderness of Kadesh (from a drawing) . . . 288

Ain Feshkhah (from a drawing) 352

MAP

Sinai Peninsula and Canaan . . . at front

THE BOOKS OF

LEVITICUS AND NUMBERS

INTRODUCTION

THE BOOKS OF

LEVITICUS AND NUMBERS

INTRODUCTION

I. The Titles of the Books.

'The third Book of Moses, commonly (so R. V.) called
Leviticus, the fourth Book of Moses, commonly called
Numbers'— by these titles the reader is reminded that the
two books in question are not independent literary pro-
ductions, but the third and fourth sections of a larger
whole, variously named * the Torah ' (i. e. ' direction,'
1 instruction,' then * law '), ' the five Books of Moses,' and
1 the Pentateuch.' The last of these, the name now
generally adopted, is in origin a Greek term signifying
the ' five-volume ' book, and has reference to the separate
rolls on which the five sections of the Torah were in-
scribed. This application of the term Pentateuch goes
back to at least the second century of our era; the
corresponding Latin form, Pentateuchus (scil, liber), is
first found in the works of Irenaeus.

In our Hebrew Bibles the individual books of the Torah
bear titles consisting of one or more of the opening words
of each book. On the other hand the names by which
they have been known in the Christian Church from the
first are descriptive of the contents, in whole or in part,
of the several books. They belonged originally to the
Septuagint (LXX), the name given to the translation of the
Torah which was made for the use of the Greek-speaking
Jews of Alexandria about the middle of the third century
B.C. From the LXX they passed into the Vulgate, the
Latin Bible of the Western Church, from which they
passed in turn into our English Bibles (Genesis, Exodus,
B 2

4 LEVITICUS AND NUMBERS

&c). The titles of the two books commented on in the
following pages demand, however, a fuller explanation.

The title of Leueitikon, which 'the third Book of Moses'
bears in the Septuagint, appears in the Vulgate in its
Latin form Leviticus (scil. liber), both signifying ' the
Levitical book.' The Greek adjective is once used, and
in the same sense, in the New Testament by the author of
the Epistle to the Hebrews, who refers to the priesthood
of Aaron as ' the Levitical priesthood' (vii. 1 1). Leviticus,
therefore, is the section of the Torah which deals with the
priests and their duties, not, as one might hastily infer,
with the subordinate caste of the hierarchy to whom the
term Levites is confined in certain parts of the Pentateuch
(see p. 199 f. below). As a matter of fact there is but a
single mention of the ' Levites ' — and that from a late
source— in the whole of Leviticus (xxv. 32 ff.). Leviticus,
in short, is so named because it contains ' the law of the
priests,' the not inappropriate title which it bears in more
than one passage of the Mishna.

As regards the title of the Book of Numbers, it is inter-
esting to note that while the titles of the other four books
of the Pentateuch were taken over from the Septuagint
with only such changes as were necessary to give them
Latin terminations, the Greek title (Arithmoi) of this
book was translated, and became Numert in the Vulgate,
in English, Numbers. This is practically identical with
a title also found in the Mishna, 'the book of the
mustered ' or ' numbered,' both titles having reference to
the ' numbering ■ or census of the Hebrew tribes com-
manded and carried out in the opening chapters of the
book (see Num. i-iii and cf. xxvi, a second census).

II. Arrangement and Contents of the Books.

It will be convenient at this point to give a conspectus
of the Books of Leviticus and Numbers showing the main
divisions and subdivisions adopted in this volume before

INTRODUCTION 5

proceeding to examine in greater detail the nature and
history of their contents.

LEVITICUS.

Pirst Division. Chapters I— VII.

Laws relating to Sacrifice.

A. i — vi. 7. The ritual of the five principal offerings —
addressed to the community as a whole.

(a) i. The ritual of the burnt-offering.

(b) i'« „ „ meal-offering.
(0 i»- , , >, peace-offering.

{d) iv. 1— v. 13. The ritual of the sin-offering.
(*) v. 14— vi. 7. The law of the guilt-offering.

B. vi. 8 — vii. 38. Supplementary directions for the ritual
of sacrifice — addressed to the priests.

;With one exception [see p. 60] the sections follow
the same order as those of A.)

Second Division. Chapters VIII— X.

The Consecration and Installation of the
Aaronic Priesthood.
(a) viii. Consecration of Aaron and his sons.
(A) ix. Aaron and his sons enter upon their office.

tions for the priests.

Third Division. Chapters XI— XVI.

Laws relating to Uncleanness and Purification, including
the Special Rites of the Day of Atonement (XVI).

(a) xi. Laws relating chiefly to clean and unclean animals.

(b) xii. The law of the purification of women after child-birth

purifications.
\ji) xv. Laws concerning the uncleanness of issues.
(f) xvi. The Day of Atonement.

LEVITICUS AND NUMBERS

Fourth Division. Chapters XVII— XXVI.
The Holiness Code.
(a) xvii. Laws relating to sacrifice and kindred topics.
(6) xviii— xx. Laws relating chiefly to social morality,
(c) xxi, xxii. Laws relating to priesthood and sacrifice.
(cf)xxiii — xxv. The cycle of sacred seasons and other

matters.
(e) xxvi. The close of the Holiness Code in the form of a
hortatory address.

Appendix. Chapter XXVII.
On the Commutation of Votive Offerings and Tithes.

NUMBERS.

First Division. Chapters I — X. 10.

Laws and Regulations given at Sinai.

(a) i, ii. The first census and the disposition of the camp.
(A) iii, iv. The Levites and their duties.

of jealousy and the law of the Nazirite.

(d) vii. The offerings of the secular heads of the tribes.

(e) viii. The dedication of the Levites.

(/) ix. i — x. 10. A supplementary Passover law and other
matters.

Second Division. Chapters X. n — XX. 13.
Traditions of the Wilderness Period, with
accompanying Legislation.
(a)x. 11— xii. 16. From Sinai to Kadesh.

(b) xiii, xiv. The mission of the spies.

(d) xvi — xviii. The mutiny of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram,

and the prerogatives and dues of the priests and Levites.

(e) xix. The Red Heifer, or the ritual of purification from

uncleanness caused by contact with the dead.
(/) xx. 1-13. Death of Miriam at Kadesh. The 'waters
of strife,' and exclusion of Moses and Aaron from the
land of promise.

INTRODUCTION 7

Third Division. Chapters XX. 14— XXXVI. 13.
From Kadesh to the Plains of Moab.

(a) xx. 14 — xxi. 35. The Hebrews, refused a passage
through Edom, make a long detour and take possession
of the country east of the Jordan.

(b) xxii — xxiv. Balak and Balaam.

(d) xxviii, xxix. A table of the public offerings for the stated

festivals.

(e) xxx. The validity of women's vows.

(/) xxxi. A holy war against Midian, and legislation based

thereon.
(g) xxxii. The tribes of Reuben, Gad, and (part of) Ma-

nasseh are allotted territory east of the Jordan.
(h) xxxiii. 1-49. An annotated itinerary of the route from

Egypt to the Jordan.
(1) xxxiii. 50 — xxxvi. 13. A group of laws having reference

to the impending occupation of Canaan.

From the foregoing synopsis it will be seen that in the
Books of Leviticus and Numbers the historical element is
completely overshadowed by the legal, since the whole of
Leviticus and three-fourths, or more, of Numbers belong
to one or other of the collections of priestly laws and
precedents which it has become usual to group under the
comprehensive title of the Priests' Code (symbol P, see
below, pp. 20-31).

The Book of Exodus, it will be remembered, closes with
the erection of the Tabernacle— properly 'the Dwelling'
(of Yahweh)— and its consecration by the presence within
it and over it of the Divine Glory. At the beginning of
Leviticus, therefore, we should have expected to find an
account of the solemn inauguration of the Tabernacle
worship. But for this we have to wait till ch. ix, and in its
place we find a manual of sacrifice (i-vii) in which the
chief varieties of altar-offerings are enumerated, and the
ritual appropriate to each is prescribed. These chapters
of Leviticus must have had a history of their own before

8 LEVITICUS AND NUMBERS

being inserted in the place which they now occupy (see sect,
vii, and more fully in the introductory note, p. 37). Here,
however, let us note that while chapters i-v are said to
have been revealed to Moses ' out of the tent of meeting'
(i. 1), the remainder of the section is said to have been
received by the Hebrew lawgiver ' in Mount Sinai ' (see
note on vii. 37 f.).

The next section (viii-x) consists of three closely related
chapters, which record the consecration by Moses of
Aaron and his four sons as the priests of the wilderness
sanctuary, in accordance with the Divine instructions
already given in Exod. xxix. In Lev. x. 10 f. it is stated
that one of the most important, as it was undoubtedly
one of the oldest, duties of the priest is to 'put difference
between the holy and the common, and between the
unclean and the clean.' This reference to the priest as
the arbiter in cases of uncleanness explains the position
of Lev. xi-xv, a section of the greatest importance devoted
to laws and regulations relating to uncleanness in its
most varied forms (see the synopsis above), with the
requisite rites of purification. From these the great
expiation rite of the Day of Atonement, which occupies
ch. xvi, cannot be separated, since it represents the
culmination and crown of the purification-rites of the
old covenant.

The ten chapters, Lev. xvii-xxvi, have long been
recognized as possessing certain characteristics which
mark them off from the rest of the Pentateuch legislation,
and entitle them to be regarded as forming a separate
collection of laws, on which the name of the Holiness
Code (symbol H) is now universally bestowed. In chs.
xviii-xx of this Code we have the only examples of moral
precepts and social, as opposed to ceremonial, legislation
contained in the Book of Leviticus. The difficult problem
of the history and date of the Holiness Code falls to be
discussed at a later stage (see sect. vi). According to
the present colophon (xxvi, 46), ' the statutes and judge-

INTRODUCTION 9

ments and laws' of this section were given, like the
contents of vi. 8 — vii. 38, ' to the children of Israel in
Mount Sinai by the hand of Moses.'

According to the scheme of chronology adopted by the
compiler or compilers of the Pentateuch, the giving of
the laws now embodied in Leviticus must be assigned to the
first month of the second year, reckoning from the Exodus
(see Exod. xl. I, 17; Num. i. 1). The Israelites, however,
are not yet ready to leave the mount of lawgiving, for the
organization of the theocratic community and the arrange-
ments for the ordered worship of the Deity who has now
condescended to dwell among them are still incomplete.
Accordingly the first division of the Book of Numbers
opens with the 'numbering' of the twelve secular tribes,
and of the priestly tribe of Levi, as a preliminary to the
necessary organization. On this follows the elaborate
plan of the wilderness camp, a ' city of God f in the desert
of Sinai, which the author has made the vehicle for the
inculcation of spiritual truths regarding God's perfection
and man's sinfulness (see below, p. I94f.). The organiza-
tion of the sanctuary and its worship is also completed
by the setting apart of the tribe of Levi to an office,
intended to be one of great dignity and honour, although
concerned only with the menial duties of the Tabernacle
and its service.

With these topics, which occupy Num. i-iv and viii,
have been incorporated various laws and regulations ;
some of these, such as the ordeal of jealousy in ch. v and
the law of the Nazirite in ch. vi, are of special interest as
representing beliefs and practices of a remote antiquity,
which are here taken over and invested with a new signi-
ficance by the later exponents of Hebrew religion and law.

In the arrangement of the contents of Numbers given
above, and adopted in the body of the commentary, a new
division is held to begin at x. 11 with the signal to leave
Mount Sinai and to enter upon the second stage of the
journey of the Hebrew tribes to the land of Canaan. In

io LEVITICUS AND NUMBERS

this division we find almost all that the later historians
have seen fit to hand down — many would say all that the
popular tradition of their day had preserved — regarding
the long period of the desert wanderings. The surprising
meagreness of the details recorded must strike every
student of Numbers. Here also we meet for the first
time, since Exod. xxxiv, with extracts from the older Pen-
tateuch sources, J and E (see below, pp. 16 ff.). These ex-
tracts contain divergent traditions regarding the guidance
of the Hebrew tribes on their desert march to Kadesh,
followed by others which seem to duplicate the stories of
the manna and the quails already given in Exodus. Of
the incidents located at Kadesh by the early traditions the
most important, from the historian's point of view, is
the mission of the spies in chs. xiii, xiv. Here, it may be
confidently asserted, we have to do with a genuine his-
torical tradition, for all modern investigators are agreed
that Kadesh— the modern cAin Kadis (see note on Num.
xiii. 26) — played an important part, more important indeed
than the present fragmentary condition of the sources at
first sight suggests, in the history of the period with which
we are now dealing (see the notes in loc). From Kadesh
it was to be expected that an attempt would be made to
enter Canaan by one or other of the routes through the
Negeb or South-land to Hebron. Of the failure of one or
more of such attempts we have an echo in the traditions in
question. Kadesh is also the scene of an important in-
cident—whose precise nature it is now difficult to grasp (see
notes on Num.xx. 1-13) — by which Hebrew tradition sought
to explain the exclusion of Moses and Aaron from the land
of promise.

With these historical traditions is combined a consider-
able amount of matter drawn from priestly sources. Thus
the traditions relating to certain originally distinct mutinies
against the secular leadership of Moses and against the
privileged position of the tribe of Levi, now joined to
form one composite narrative (see pp. 278 ff.), afford an

INTRODUCTION n

opportunity for the definite regulation of the prerogatives
and dues of priests and Levites (Num. xvi-xviii). At this
point there has also been inserted a chapter (xix) con-
taining directions for the preparation of a special cathartic,
or medium of purification, from the ashes of a cow, the
so-called * red heifer,' and presenting several features of
interest to the student of the rites of purification.

Just as the second division of Numbers has been held
to begin with the departure of the Israelites from Sinai,
so the preparation for the departure from Kadesh (xx.
14 fT.) forms an appropriate opening for the third division
(xx. 14-xxxvi). Here again the legislative matter greatly
exceeds the historical. The latter, indeed, is almost en-
tirely confined to the first section (xx. 1 4-xxi. 35), which gives
asummary account of the longdetour necessary to* compass
the land of Edom,' followed by an equally brief account of
the conquest of the territory lying to the east of the Jordan.
On this follows the section containing the familiar episode
of Balaam (xxii-xxiv). Invirtueof itsliterary merits and the
mystery attaching to the personality and character of its
chief actor, and from the nature of its contents generally,
this section is probably regarded by most studentsof Scrip-
ture as the most interesting in the Book of Numbers.

The last twelve chapters, from xxv. 6 onwards, consist
of laws and precedents of the most varied character, but
all bearing the unmistakable stamp of the priestly school
of legislators. The greater part, as will be shown in a later
section, must be of a date subsequent to that of the main
body of the Priests1 Code. The most important section is
that dealing with the additional offerings prescribed for
the great festivals of the ecclesiastical year (xxviii, xxix).
Here the student will find valuable material for the
history of the development of the Temple ritual in the
post-exilic period.

12 LEVITICUS AND NUMBERS

III. The Modern View of the Pentateuch.

The two books whose contents have been summarized
in the preceding section form, as has been said, continuous
portions of the first of the three main divisions of the
Hebrew Scriptures, variously named the Torah, 'the Law '
(so repeatedly in the New Testament, Matt. xii. 5 ; Luke ii.
23 ; John i. 45, &c), the Pentateuch. As the two former
designations lead us to expect, the Pentateuch is found to
consist of four books or volumes mainly composed of law
— one, Leviticus, is entirely so composed — set in a frame-
work of history, with a fifth volume, the Book of Genesis,
prefixed as an historical introduction to the other four.
Now the legislation of the Pentateuch is consistently re-
presented as given for a special purpose ; its aim, stated in
general terms, is to raise up a holy people for Yahweh, the
covenant God of Israel, and to keep this people distinct
from the nations around them. The history, into which
the legislation is now fitted as a jewel in its setting, tells
of Yahweh's choice of Israel to be His own special and
1 peculiar ' people. Thus history and legislation are found
to blend into a harmonious whole, giving to the books of
the Pentateuch an unmistakable unity of thought and
purpose. Strictly speaking, one ought to include in this
unity the Book of Joshua, which is related to the preceding
books as fulfilment is related to promise. Hence has
grown up the modern practice of grouping together the
first six Books of the Old Testament under the title Hexa-
teuch (the \ six- volume ' book).

But unity after all is a relative term. A general unity
of plan and purpose may be, and often is, found in a work
made up of contributions by several authors agreeing in
their general attitude to the subject under discussion, while
differing from each other in their way of presenting it, and
in the emphasis which they lay on its different parts.
Such a worky according to the modern view, is the Penta-
teuch. The Christian Church, as every one knows, took

INTRODUCTION 13

over from the Jewish Church of the first century the
books of its sacred Canon, the only ' sacred writings '
(2 Tim. iii. 15 R.V.) known to the first generation of
Christians. Along with these Scriptures of the Old Tes-
tament came the then generally accepted beliefs regarding
their authorship and date. Of these none was more surely
believed than the already venerable tradition that the
five books of the Torah were from the pen of the Hebrew
lawgiver, Moses.

Equally familiar to every student of the Century Bible
is the fact that, as the result of two centuries of patient
research, this tradition of the Mosaic authorship is now
rejected by the vast majority of Old Testament scholars.
The Pentateuch, it is now maintained, is neither the work
of a single author, nor even the product of a single age,
but a compilation from a number of older and originally
independent works, separated from each other in date by
several centuries. It does not fall within the scope of this
Introduction, which is concerned mainly with the Books
of Leviticus and Numbers, to set forth in detail the grounds
on which the modern view of the origin and literary his-
tory of the Pentateuch is based *. It must suffice to say,
in the most general terms, that the Mosaic authorship of
the books of the Pentateuch can no longer be upheld in
the face of the evidence as to their origin and history

1 The literature of Pentateuch criticism is already enormous.
The average student will find all he needs in the standard
English work on the subject, The Hexateuch . . . arranged
in its constituent Documents . . . with Introduction, Notes, &c,
by J. Estlin Carpenter, M.A., and G. Harford-Battersby, M.A.,
in two vols., 1900 (frequently referred in the present volume as
* C-H. Hex.'). A full and impartial summary of the evidence
is also given in Driver's classical Introduction to the Literature
of the Old Testament, now in its eighth edition (1909). See
further the critical works of Wellhausen, Holzinger, Addis, and
others named below in the Bibliography (p. 391), the Introduc-
tions to the larger Commentaries there cited, and those to the
volumes on Genesis, Exodus, and Deuteronomy in the present

i4 LEVITICUS AND NUMBERS

furnished by the books themselves. No tradition, however
venerable, as to so complex a literary product as the Penta-
teuch on closer inspection has proved to be having pro-
ceeded from a single mind and a single pen, can be allowed
to outweigh the overwhelming evidence from every part of
the work that, notwithstanding its general unity of design,
there is in it a remarkable diversity both of literary style
and of religious development. Such diversity points,
beyond the possibility of doubt, to a variety of authors
belonging to widely separated epochs of Israel's political,
social, and religious history.

Still keeping to generalresults and avoiding all details —
as to which there still is, and from the nature of the case
always will be, much diversity of opinion— let us attempt
to set down as briefly as possible the several documents
which modern literary criticism claims to have discovered
in the Pentateuch ; this much at least is necessary for the
understanding of the results of the analysis indicated in
the present volume. The main documents are three in
number, although, as will appear in due course, two at
least of these are themselves composite.

(i) D. As a * document' apart stands the Book of
Deuteronomy (symbol D). The kernel of this book, to which
the symbol D strictly belongs, and as to the extent of which
there is some difference of opinion, is to be identified with
the book of the Law discovered in the Temple in the
eighteenth year of Josiah (622 B. c). It formed the basis
of the religious reform undertaken by the latter as re-
corded in 2 Kings xxii — xxiii.

(2) P. The rest of the Pentateuch is made up of two
distinct elements, which belong to two literary sources
differing very markedly from each other in vocabulary and
style. From the still wider divergence in their dominant
interests these sources have been named respectively the
Priestly and the Prophetic Document. The former, also
frequently styled the Priests' Code (symbol P), has proved
on closer examination to be anything but a homogeneous

INTRODUCTION 15

work. As will be shown more fully in subsequent sections
of this Introduction, P must have taken shape gradually,
like the Pentateuch itself, through the accretion round
a central nucleus of elements which, while united by a
community of interest and all emanating from priestly
circles, have each an individuality and history of their own.
Inasmuch as the nucleus referred to has been proved to be
the fundamental document— in German the Grundschrift
— or groundwork of the completed Pentateuch, it is fre-
quently denoted by the symbol P». Its date is probably
circa 500 B. c, in the early post-exilic period (see p. 24).

(3) JE. The other main source, as has been said, is
known as the Prophetic Document from the lofty ethical
and religious spirit pervading it, by which it is connected
with the teaching of the early prophets of Israel. It is
not, however, a homogeneous historical work from a single
pen but is composed of two separate strands, representing
two originally independent but kindred narratives. These
narratives have been so closely interwoven by their editor
or redactor (RJe), that the analysis is in many places difficult
and in some impossible (see the following section). The
conventional symbols for the separate documents, J and E,
are best understood as reflecting the origin of the former
in Judah, and of the latter in Ephraim or North Israel.
Of the two J is regarded by the majority of critics as the
older, as dating probably from the earlier half of the ninth
century (900-850 B. a), while E is usually assigned to the
eighth century {circa 800-750 b. a).

From the three main documents above enumerated, the
Pentateuch, according to the dominant hypothesis, was
compiled by three successive stages as follows : —

(1) The compilation of a graphic history of the Hebrew
origins to the conquest of Canaan from the older historical
narratives J and E, circa 650 B. C.

(2) The union of JE with the Deuteronomic law-book
(D), probably during the Babylonian exile, to form JED.

(3) The amalgamation of the last-named work with the

16 LEVITICUS AND NUMBERS

main body of the Priests' Code, not later than a. d. 400.
Apart from not inconsiderable additions by later priestly
hands (see below, sect, vii), the result is essentially our
Pentateuch,

This summary exposition of the modern view of the
Pentateuch may fitly close with a pregnant quotation from
the standard work to which the student has been already
referred. ■ On what grounds/ ask the learned authors of
the Oxford Hexateuch, ' does it [the modern view] rest ? '
The answer, they rightly say, is twofold. It rests ' (i) on
a comparison of the documents with each other, and (2) on
a comparison of the documents with history. The first
yields the order, JE, D, and P ; the second leads to the
negative result that D was unknown before the seventh
century, and P not in existence in its present form before
the exile ; while positively it connects D with a promul-
gation of sacred law under Josiah in 622, and P with
a similar promulgation by Ezra, the date commonly as-
signed being 444 B.C.' (C-H. Hex. i. 69).

IV. JE in the Book of Numbers.
According, therefore, to the modern dating of the literary
sources of the Pentateuch, the oldest portions are those
derived from the prophetic narrative JE. But no trace
of this source is found in Leviticus, and in Numbers the
material derived from it does not exceed one-fourth of the
whole. The purpose of the combined narrative, as of
its two constituent elements, is to set forth the history of
the origins of the Hebrew nation, and in connexion there-
with to recall the fundamental fact of the historical religion
of Israel, the solemn covenant between Yahweh and Israel
at Sinai, and to enforce the moral and religious obligations
incumbent on the people of God. Thus the lives of the
patriarchs and of Moses illustrate the lofty ideals of life
and conduct common to the two prophetic sources. In
these we have * prophecy teaching by example.' In con-
trast to P, whose interest is centred in Israel's religious

INTRODUCTION 17

institutions and ritual laws and precedents, the dominant
interest of JE is historical, although the legal element is
not entirely excluded (Exod. xx-xxiii, xxxiv). Beginning
with the creation of man (Gen. ii. 4b ff.), the prophetic
history probably closed with the conquest of the land of
promise and the subsequent death of Joshua, although
some recent authorities find its separate strands repre-
sented in the books of Judges, Samuel, and Kings.

The method adopted by the compiler, or compilers, of
the Pentateuch in fitting the material of JE into the his-
torical framework furnished by the Priests' Code is twofold.
In some parts passages from JE are placed alongside of
those from P. Thus in Gen. i-ii the creation-story of P
(i. 1— ii. 4a) is followed immediately by J's ; similarly in
Num. xx. 14-21 the earlier account of the march from
Kadesh (also from J) is followed by the later parallel
from P, xx. 22-29. *n other parts, where the prophetic
and priestly sources have a good deal in common, the
compiler's method is to interweave their data into a new
composite narrative. Of the latter method the classical
illustration is the present narrative of the Flood in Gen. vi-
viii (see Cent. Bible i?i loc). Another excellent illustration
is afforded by the story of the spies in Num. xiii-xiv (cf.
ch. xvi, where JE is interwoven with a double strand of P).

Owing to the close affinity in style and standpoint be-
tween the Judaean (J) and Ephraimite (E) sources, a
satisfactory analysis of the present narrative cannot in
many cases be carried through. In several of the JE
passages in Numbers, accordingly, no attempt has been
made in the present volume to indicate the separate strands.
This has been done only where there is practical unanimity
among critical scholars that certain well-marked charac-
teristics of the respective sources, J and E, are unmistak-
ably present. Thus, Num. x. 29-32, where JE reappears
for the first time since Exod. xxxiv, is unanimously assigned
to J on the ground that elsewhere in this source Moses*
father-in-law bears the name Hobab, while Jethro is

18 LEVITICUS AND NUMBERS

confined to E, to which accordingly the following verses,
x. 33-36, with their divergent representation of the ark as
guide, must be assigned.

A more important clue to extracts from the Ephraimite
source is its well-known representation of the tent of meet-
ing as situated ' without the camp, afar off from the camp '
(Exod. xxxiii.7; cf. the note on Num. xi. 16 f.). This serves
to secure xi. 1-3, 16 f., 24^30 for E. Again, dreams and
visions as media of divine revelation, and a marked empha-
sis on the prophetic element in Israel's history and on the
prophetic ideal of life, are acknowledged to be prominent
characteristics of E. To this source, accordingly, is unanim-
ously assigned the important twelfth chapter of Numbers
(see the introductory remarks thereto, p. 254 £)• In these
and other passages of the text where the analysis is indicated
the grounds will be found briefly stated in the notes.

The largest continuous extract from JE is that contain-
ing the familiar episode of Balak, king of Moab, and his
dealings with Balaam, the mysterious magician and seer
' from the mountains of the East ' (Num. xxii-xxiv).
These chapters are an excellent illustration of the skill
with which the editor of the prophetic history (RJe) has
succeeded in compiling from his sources a narrative of sur-
passing interest and of remarkable, though not complete,
homogeneity (see p. 316, where attention is called to the
need of discriminating between the data of the several
sources — for P is also represented— in any attempt to
sketch the character of this elusive personality, who
appears now as a wicked sorcerer, now as an inspired
prophet of the Most High). Only one passage of Numbers
is assigned to a later stratum of JE, viz. xiv. 11-24 (JES).

Peculiar interest attaches to the poetical pieces which
form a special feature of the JE, and more particularly of
the E, sections of Numbers. Of these three are found in
ch. xxi alone (see verses 14 f., 17 f. the 'Song of the Well,'
27-3o, — all probably from E). Four are oracular utter-
ances ascribed to Balaam (xxiii. 7-10, 18-24, from E ; xxi v.

INTRODUCTION 19

3-9, 15-19, from J), together with the three shorter oracles
of later date (xxiv. 20, 21 f., 23 f.). To these have to be
added the couple of early tristichs addressed to the ark
(x. 35 f. E), and the short poem on Moses' pre-eminence
as a prophet in xii. 6-8 (E).

In one respect the most suggestive of the poems in this
list is the tantalizing fragment cited in xxi. 14 f. Its
suggestiveness lies in the fact that the Ephraimite his-
torian extracted it from a national collection of songs
which bore the interesting title, the ' Book of Yahweh's
Battles ' (see the notes i?i loc). It is probably the same
historian who, in Josh. x. 12 f., quotes another snatch from
a similar collection known as the ' Book of Yashar,' from
which other important extracts are given in 2 Sam. i.
19-27, and in the Greek text of 1 Kings viii. 12 f.

The contents of the ancient fragment associated with
the ark (x. 35 f.) suggest that it too may have stood
originally in the ' Book of Yahweh's Battles,' as may also
have been the case with the ' Song of the Well' (xxi. 17 f.).
The ballad-singers, or wandering minstrels, are cited as
the repositories of a longer piece (xxi. 27-30) which
originally, in all probability, celebrated a victorious in-
vasion of Moab by the North Israelites under Omri (see
p. 313 f.). In the notes on the Balaam episode the view
is expressed that the poems are of early date (see pp. 316,
332), and not, as has recently been contended, documents
of post-exilic eschatology. The authors of the Judaean
and Ephraimite histories have fitted them with great
effect into their literary treatment of the popular traditions
respecting Balaam.

In JE are also found various narratives of the kind
familiar to modern historians as ' aetiological legends/
Thus several explicitly or implicitly explain the historical
origin of place-names ; but in many cases the name is
really older than the story, which took its rise in the
popular mind as an explanation of the name.

C 2

2o LEVITICUS AND NUMBERS

V. The History of Israel's Theocratic
Institutions (Ps).

With a few unimportant exceptions (see, for example,
Num. xxi. 33-35), what remains of the first four books of
the Pentateuch, when J E has been extracted, belongs to the
work known as the priestly writing, or more commonly
the Priests' Code (P). Taken as a whole, P is sharply
and clearly differentiated from all the other Pentateuch
sources, J, E, and D, by its vocabulary, its unique style,
and its special interests. Even so ardent a champion of
conservative views as Professor Orr admits that the P
sections are * characterized by a vocabulary and style of
their own, which enable them, on the whole, to be dis-
tinguished. This result also, whatever explanation may
be offered, has stood the test of time, and will not, we
believe, be overturned' {The Problem of the O.T., p. 197 ;
cf. the similar admissions, pp. 335 ff).

Notwithstanding the impression of unity which one
derives from this prevailing uniformity — from which, how-
ever, Lev. xvii ff. should strictly speaking be excepted (see
next section) — a closer study on comparative lines of the
several elements of the priestly legislation shows, in
Cornill's words, ' that the unity is one of spirit onlyt that
it is not a literary unit that lies before us ; in fact, the
history of the origin and formation of P is complicated to
a quite unusual degree' {Introduction to the Canonical
Books of the 0. T., p. 93). Into this complicated history
it is impossible to enter here in detail (see the footnote
on p. 13). But inasmuch as the whole of Leviticus and
much the larger part of Numbers have been derived from
one or other of the various strata of the priestly writings,
some attempt must be made to put the student in a posi-
tion to understand the repeated reference to such strata in
the notes *.

*It has not been thought necessary to introduce the symbols of
these strata of P (Pfcr, P!l, Pl, Ps; into the text, with the important

INTRODUCTION 21

Now the discovery of minor linguistic differences within
the priestly writings, and in particular the careful study of
the many duplicate laws which they contain, and the com-
parison of these laws with each other and with the history
of the rites and institutions concerned, have combined to
show that P is in truth a growth of several centuries. As
indicated in a previous section (p. 15) a central nucleus
has gathered round itself a great variety of elements, some
earlier, some probably contemporary, and some undoubtedly
later in date. This nucleus (Pe) l was a work consisting
partly of history and partly of law, composed circa 500 B.C.
(according to the now generally accepted view). The aim
which its author set before him was to give a history of
the religious rites and institutions of Israel. The ideal of
the Hebrew state, as conceived by this devout student of the
pastandeagerbuilderfor the future, is that of a people living
under the absolute sovereignty of God, and sanctified by
His immediate Presence in their midst ; in other words,
a theocracy. The theme, therefore, of this kernel, not of P
only but of the whole Pentateuch, may be said to be the
history of the establishment of the theocracy and of the
introduction of those laws, institutions, and rites by which
the divine sovereignty received visible expression.

From the very beginning of P& we see how the interest
of its priestly author centres in the religious institutions
which are represented as given by God to be the means of
raising up and maintaining a holy people in perpetual
covenant relationto their God, and of keeping them distinct
from the nations around them. Thus the story of creation
(Gen. i. 1— ii. 4a) culminates in the institution of the
Sabbath, the catastrophe of the deluge in the blood taboo

exception of the Holiness Code (H or Ph) in Lev. xvii-xxvi.
In one or two places, however, it is indispensable for the
understanding of the narrative to distinguish between earlier
and later elements of the story, as, for example, between Pe
and Ps in Num. xvi.

1 For the explanation of this symbol see above, p. 15.

22 LEVITICUS AND NUMBERS

(ib. ix. 4 ; cf. Lev. xvii. 10 ff.), the life of Abraham in the rite
of circumcision (Gen. xvii. 10-14). These, it may be re-
marked, are precisely the three ■ signs ' by which the house
of Israel through all the ages, down to our own day, have
been specially distinguished from their Gentile neigh-
bours.

In this connexion it is important to observe that the
institutions we have cited are all introduced in a definite
historical setting, for this is one of the most useful tests for
distinguishing theritual lawsof PS from those of other legis-
lative sections of the composite Priests' Code. Thus, to
continue our rapid survey of the contents of P8, in Exod. xii.
I-13, the Passover is instituted in immediate connexion
with the historical situation, and its celebration on the eve
of the great deliverance is to form the precedent and norm
for all future celebrations (cf. the notes below on Lev. ix.
p. 74, x. 12 fif. p. 79, xvi. 1, p. in, and elsewhere).

It is, however, in the crowning institution of the Taber-
nacle and its worship that the history of Israel's sacred
institutions reaches its climax. Our priestly author dwells
lovingly and expansively on all the details of the construc-
tion of 'the Dwelling* of Yahweh, and on its equipment, its
sacrifices, and its priesthood. Now, in order to grasp the
full significance and value of these cardinal sections of the
Pentateuch, it is essential to enter into the spirit and
intention of their author. For the religious leaders of the
Jewish community in the exile the supreme question was
this : How can the broken harmony between God and the
people of His covenant be restored P1 To Ezekiel, first of
all, came the Divine word of comfort : ' My dwelling shall
[again] be with them, and I will be their God, and they
shall be my people ' (Ezek. xxxvii. 27). To Ezekiel, then,
and to those likeminded with him, the restored relation
between Yahweh and Israel presented itself as an im-
mediate dwelling of Yahweh in the midst of a holy nation.

1 See more fully the introductory note on p. 35 f.

INTRODUCTION 23

For the continued maintenance of this renewed relation,
sacrifice, offered by a duly consecrated priesthood at the
one appointed sanctuary, was the means divinely ordained
(see p. 35). Only by this means could the restored com-
munity of Israel, no longer a nation but a church (the
1 church-nation '), realize its true ideal as the people
of God.

Now these two kindred spirits, Ezekiel and the author
of the history of Israel's theocratic institutions, sought
to impress this ideal upon their contemporaries by dia-
metrically opposite methods. Ezekiel projects his ideal
forward into the golden age of the future (see Ezek. xl-
xlviii) ; the author of PS throws his ideal backward into
the golden age of the past, the period of the Exodus and
the wilderness wanderings. Both sketches are none the
less ideals whose realization for the priest as well as for the
prophet was still in the future. Both had the worship of
the restored community in view.

In the Books of Leviticus and Numbers there is less
that can be confidently assigned to Ps than might at first
sight be expected. Thus no part of Exod. xxx— Lev. vii1
can be so assigned, for the original continuation of Exod.
xxv-xxix is now found in Lev. viii-x, which records the
carrying out of the instructions given in Exod. xxix for the
installation of Aaron and his sons as the priests of the
wilderness sanctuary, and for the sacrifices appointed for
the worship of the community (see pp. 69 ff.). Similarly
Lev. x is separated by chs. xi-xiv from its natural sequel
in ch. xvi. The latter chapter, again, is followed by the
separate code known as the Law of Holiness (xvii-xxvi),
and it is not until we reach Num. i-iv that we recognize
the main stream of PS, which here, however, has been
considerably swollen by tributary contributions from later
sources (see p. 135). Special attention may be called to

1 For Exod. xxx-xl, see Bennett's Exodus in Cent. Bible, and
for Lev. i— vii below, pp. 28 f. and 37 ff.

24 LEVITICUS AND NUMBERS

the arrangement of the camp in ch. ii. In this ideal City
of God in the wilderness of Sinai we have the complement
and crown of the religious symbolism embodied in the
earlier sketch of the Tabernacle and its Court (see below,
p. I94f.). The further instalments of P& cannot here
be followed in detail, but mention may be made of the
interesting contribution of this source to chs. xvi-xviii,
which affords another illustration of the way in which
a special piece of legislation is represented as arising
naturally out of a definite historical situation. It is doubt-
ful whether PS is represented in Numbers after ch. xxvii
(see the note on p. 347).

In the preceding exposition of the characteristics and
contents of PS the approximate date now generally adopted
by critical students, viz. circa 500 B.C., has been assumed
throughout. A date later than the fall of the Jewish monarchy
in 586 seems imperatively required by the position and
dignity assigned to the High Priest. The latter has taken
the place of the king as the civil and religious head of the
theocratic state. On entering upon his office he receives
' a kingly unction,' and is invested with the purple robe and
the ' holy crown ' or diadem, the two insignia of royalty
in the Persian period (see Lev. viii. 7-9 with the note
p. 70 f.). The argument for placing P8 after Ezekiel based
upon the fundamental distinction between priests and Le-
vites will be found in the notes on p. 200 of the Commentary.
Some scholars, finally, have detected a more precise indi-
cation of date in the express subordination of the secular
to the religious head of the community in Num. xxvii. 21.
When the original text of Zech. vi. 9-13 was written in
520 B.C., it was still believed that the two heads might
be equal in dignity. This equality, as the present text
shows, was soon found to be impracticable, and already,
by 500, it is believed, the spiritual head was assigned
his unique supremacy (Merx, Die Biicher Moses undjosua^
pp. 109, 155).

INTRODUCTION 25

VI. The Holiness Code (H or Ph).

This is the title now given to the section of the Pentateuch
consisting of Lev. xvii-xxvi, a section which is sharply
distinguished from the rest of the priestly legislation by the
marked individuality of its phraseology and style, and by
certain peculiar features in the formulation of its laws (note
also the special subscription at the close, xxvi. 46). The
name Holiness Code {Heiligkeitsgesetz) or Law of Holi-
ness, whence the symbol H, was first given to it by Kloster-
mann in 1877, and has been universally recognized as
a happy description of a code whose recurring signature
is holiness. More precisely, the holiness of Yahweh is
throughout represented as the motive for the attainment
of holiness, moral and ceremonial, on the part of His
people. The words 'ye shall be holy: for I Yahweh am
holy ' (xix. 2) may be fitly taken as the motto of the code
(cf. the fuller statement, xxii. 31-33).

In thus assigning a motive for the pursuit of his ideal
of life, the compiler of H resembles the authors of Deutero-
nomy for whom the compelling influence in man's life is
love, love to God 'who first loved us.' In contrast to
both stands the author of P#, with whom no such motive
for obedience is found. In P man must obey because God,
the All-sovereign, commands ; * the divine imperative is its
own all sufficient motive ' (Moore, EBi. iii. col. 2783). In
addition to this predominant motive of holiness we find —
also as in Deuteronomy — motives of humanity and charity
adduced, especially in relation to the poor.

The variety of subjects embraced in the legislation of H
is remarkable for so small a code. In its terse formulation,
in which it resembles the oldest of the Hebrew law-codes,
the book of the Covenant (Exod. xx. 22— xxiii. 33), is re-
flected the antiquity of its laws. In both codes these have
had their origin in the toroth (singular torah) or ' decisions'
of the priesthood in matters submitted for their judgement.
Like the Book of the Covenant, also, and like the Deutero-

26 LEVITICUS AND NUMBERS

nomic Code, H opens with a section devoted to sacrifice
(Lev. xvii) and closes with a hortatory address (xxvi) in
which obedience to the preceding laws is vigorously in-
culcated (see the reff. p. 1 19). In addition to laws relating
to the cultus and its personnel, the calendar of sacred fes-
tivals (xxiii) and the like, H embraces legislation dealing
with the foundation principles of social morality (xviii,
xx). In H, furthermore, is included 'perhaps the best
representation of the ethics of ancient Israel' (Lev. xix).
In this chapter we find among other jewels of price the
second of the two commandments on which ! the whole
law hangeth and the prophets' (Matt. xxii. 40, R.V.) :
'thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself (Lev. xix. 18).

Few points in the complicated problem of the Penta-
teuch are more interesting, and at the same time more
perplexing, than the history of H. Three conclusions, at
least, seem well established. (1) These ten chapters of
Leviticus are not a homogeneous corpus of laws, the
original product of a single mind. The duplication of
laws, with their inevitable discrepancies in detail, which is
so prominent a feature of the Pentateuch as a whole,
is equally prominent in its smaller constituent (see e. g.
the notes on chs. xviii and xx). In other words, H is
a composite code compiled from more than one earlier
collection of priestly toroth, and furnished by its compiler
(Rh) with the recurring call to holiness and with the closing
hortatory address. (2) 7/ is no longer extant in thefonn
in which it left its compiler's hands. When fitted by Ezra
or another into the larger complex of the Priests' Code,
which a comparison of Neh. x. 14 ff. with Lev. xxiii. 36
(P) and 39(H) shows to have taken place before 444 B.C.,
H must have undergone considerable revision (see the
notespassim). In the process some sections were dropped
to make room for corresponding sections of P8, especially
in the closing division of the code now represented by
chs. xxiii-xxv. Of the discarded sections, one is universally
recognized in the law of the tassels, Num. xv. 37-41. Lev.

INTRODUCTION 27

xi. 43-45 also bears the unmistakable signature of H, which
has led to the belief that a large part of this chapter
originally had a place in the Law of Holiness (for other sug-
gested fragments of H, see Driver, LOT6, pp. 59, 151, and
cf. the notes below on Num. xxxiii. 50-56, and xxxv. 32 ff.).
(3) The Holiness Code is older than the ground-work of
the Priests' Code (P&). The grounds on which this con-
clusion is based emerge from a comparison of the laws
common to both. The line of institutional development
is from H to P&, not vice versa. This is particularly
evident in the case of the great pilgrimage-festivals, as has
been carefully explained in the notes (pp. 149 ff.). In H,
again, the High Priest is still primus inter pares, and has
not yet acquired the commanding position and dignity
accorded to him by P (see the note on Lev. xxi. 10 ; also
those on xxi. 22, xxii. 3, on the absence from H of P's
distinction between J holy ' and f most holy ' things).

When we pass from these points of agreement to the
question of the more precise dateof the compilation of H,and
to the problem of the age of its component laws, we meet
witha sharp cleavage among our critical authorities. Both
problems may be said to hinge upon the interpretation of
a literary phenomenon which early attracted the attention
of critical students, the intimate relation between H and
Ezekiel. The details of this remarkable similarity of
thought and expression will be found set forth in C-H.
Hex. i. 147-5 1 (see also Driver, LO T6, pp. 146-8). What
is the explanation ? Was H compiled under the influence
of Ezekiel, or is the prophet saturated with the phraseo-
logy of H ? To the present writer the latter alternative
commends itself as the more probable on several grounds.
To adduce but one, based on the impression produced by
the study of the remarkable address in ch. xxvi, it seems
to us much more likely that a writer of such marked
individuality both of thought and expression as the author
of this chapter— for, be it noted, it contains not a few
striking and vigorous phrases to which there are no

28 LEVITICUS AND NUMBERS

parallels in Ezekiel— has influenced a prophet who, ' In
expression, is far from original' (Driver), than that the
reverse should be the case.

The view represented in the Commentary, accordingly,
is that the Holiness Code is a pre-exilic document, dating
probably from near the close of the monarchy. The laws
embodied in it, however, are believed to be, for the most
part, pre-Deuteronomic/<fo?///, representing, in the form in
which they lay before the compiler of H, the decisions of
the priesthoods of one or more of the famous sanctuaries
of the land. Thus, to take but a single illustration, the
perplexing phenomena of ch. xvii. $-7 are best explained
on the hypothesis that the original torah, now modified by
successive redactors, recognized the legitimacy of the local
sanctuaries (see pp. 120 ff.). By an editorial oversight,
indeed, a reference to these sanctuaries seems still pre-
served in xxi. 23 (see the notes there and on verse 12 of
this chapter, also on xxiii. 10 ff., &c, andespecially Moore's
article ' Leviticus,' EBi. iii. sects. 25-30).

VII. Supplementary Codes (P4) and Later
Additions (Ps).

When the contents of PS and H are subtracted from the
complex of the priestly legislation (P), much of the legis-
lative material, and part even of the narrative, of the
Pentateuch still remains unaccounted for. Apart from
numerous less extensive sections, three compact masses
of ritual, ceremonial, and other laws stand out conspicu-
ously. These are the manual of sacrifice in Lev. i-vii,
the body of regulations dealing with uncleanness and puri-
fication in Lev. xi-xv; and the miscellaneous chapters,
Num. xxviii-xxxvi.

Now with regard to the manual of sacrifice, first of all,
the traces are still visible of the alterations which were
found necessary to adapt it to the standpoint of P8 with
its Aaronic priesthood and wilderness background (see
the note on Lev. i. 5 and passim).

INTRODUCTION 29

chapters have a somewhat complicated history of their
own, the main points of which have been indicated on
p. 37 of the Commentary. There the reasons are given for
distinguishing the two parts of the manual as distinct in
origin, and for believing that in i. 1 — ii. 3 and iii. 1— 17, at
least, we have genuinely old sacrificial toroth — hence the
symbol ?*— embodying the ritual usage of the Temple be-
fore the fall of the southern kingdom. The same symbol
is adopted in the Oxford Hexateuch for the second group
of laws above referred to (see the ! conspectus of codes ! in
C-H. Hex, i. 261 ff., where inter alia the bulk of Num. v-
vi, and xix. 14-22 are included). These all lack, or lacked
originally, the historical setting which we found to be
characteristic of the legislation of Ps.

Returning to Lev. i-vii, we there meet for the first time
with ritual enactments which, while conceived entirely in
the spirit of the history of Israel's theocratic institutions
(Ps), cannot have had a place in that work, but must
belong to secondary strata of the Priests' Code (hence
the symbol Ps). It is important that the student should
know some of the grounds on which this symbol appears
so frequently in the notes. l In many cases this distinction
between P& and Ps is based upon the evidence of the
development of certain rites and institutions within the
Priests' Code. (1) Such evidence is found in the case of
the rite of the priestly unction. In certain passages
clearly belonging to Ps (Exod. xxix. 7, 29, &c), Aaron
alone receives * the consecration of the anointing oil of
his God' (Lev. viii. 12; cf. xxi. 10, 12) ; hence the expres-
sion * the anointed priest ' (iv. 3, 5, vi. 22) is sufficient to
distinguish the High Priest. In other passages the rank
and file of the priesthood are anointed (Exod. xxviii. 41,
xxx. 30 ; Lev. x. 7 ; Num. iii. 3, &c.) — an extension of the

1 It has only occasionally been thought necessary to introduce
P8 into the text of R.V. (see e. g. Num. xvi).

3o LEVITICUS AND NUMBERS

rite which suggests that the latter passages belong to a
later stratum, Ps.

(2) A similar advance is seen in the more intense appli-
cation of the blood of the sin-offering. In P« (Exod. xxix.
12) the blood of the High Priest's sin-offering is merely
smeared on the horns of the altar of burnt-offering ; in
Lev. iv. 6f. it is sprinkled within the sanctuary, 'before the
veil \ (see also the note on iv. 25). (3) The presence in
this chapter, and in other passages, of a special ' altar of
sweet incense,' which is unknown to PS in Exod. xxvii-
xxix, is also recognized as a mark of later date (see on
Lev* iv. 7). The right to refer the ritual of the sin-offering,
as now formulated in ch. iv, to P8 is confirmed by the
presence in Num. xv. 22-31 of an earlier and simpler form
of the ritual. Similarly we find extensions of earlier
requirements in Lev. xxv. 8-13 (the Jubilee), xxvii. 30-33
(the tithe of cattle), and elsewhere.

But there are many other clues no less convincing (see
C-H. Hex. i. 154 f.). Such are the 'incongruities of fact
and representation' within a narrative belonging as a
whole to P, of which an illustration will be found in
Num. xvi ; a fondness for the elaboration of details and
for unnecessary repetitions, of which Lev. vii is the clas-
sical example; laws at variance with some fundamental
principle of PS, such as are found in Num. xxxv (the
Levitical cities) ; and narratives which do not fit into the
plan of the ground-work of P, such as Num. xxviii-xxxvi
(see the note on p. 347), or which have the appearance of
having been specially composed to provide a required
precedent, as Num. xxxi. To these indications of P9
may be added *a number of peculiarities in phrase and
formula,' a list of which will be found in C-H. Hex.'i. 155.
As is there emphasized, however, \ the secondary elements
represented by Ps are so plainly diverse in age that their
addition to the great law-book may naturally be conceived
rather as a literary process than as a specific editorial
act.'

INTRODUCTION 31

Enough has now been said to give the student of
Leviticus and Numbers an idea of the exceedingly com-
plicated character of their literary history, as_ unravelled
by modern scholars, and of the wide diversity in origin
and age of the materials of which they are composed.
Both books— Leviticus in particular— lead us to the very
heart of the religion and sacrificial worship of the old
covenant. But in order to be rightly understood it is
essential that the worship, and the religion of which it is
the expression, should be studied, as has been attempted
in the following pages, in the light of their historical
development. ' For it is no slight matter that is herein
involved— nothing less than this : whether it is to be made
possible for us at all to understand the religious history of
Israel, whether God, who always and everywhere reveals
Himself and works in history, has also revealed Himself
and worked in the same way in history's greatest and
most significant phase, the history of Israel's religion'
(Cornill, Introduction to . , . the Old Testament, p, 115 f.).

32 LEVITICUS AND NUMBERS

Symbols of the Literary Sources inserted in the
Text and Abbreviations employed in the Notes.

J— the early Judean history of Israel's origins (see p. 15).

E — the Ephraimite or North Israelite history (p. 15).

JE — the historical work formed by the amalgamation of J

and E (pp. 15 ff.).
D — the Book of Deuteronomy, only Num. xxi. 33-35.

H — the Holiness Code (p. 25), compiled from earlier written
collections by a Redactor (R.h).

P — the comprehensive symbol for the mass of legislative and
historical material of various date which has emanated
from Priestly circles. For the various strata, Pg, Pl, P8,
see the preceding Introduction, pp. 14 f., 20-31.

B, — without further qualification, such as Rje, &c, generally
stands for the editor or redactor who united the main
body of P with JED (p. 15 f.).

DB. Hastings's Dictionary of the Bible. Five vols.

EBi. Cheyne and Black's Encyclopaedia Biblica. Four vols.

PRE3. Hauck's Realencyklopddie filr protestantische Theologie,
&c, 3rd edit.

C-H. Hex. Carpenter and Harford- Battersby, The Hexateuch
according to the Revised Version, &c.

LOT. S. R. Driver, Introduction to the Literature of the O. T.

OTJO. and Rel. Sent2. W. Robertson Smith's Old Test, in
the Jewish Church, and Religion of the Semites, 2nd eds.

SBOT. Paul Haupt's Sacred Books of the Old [and New] Tests.

J. Q. R. The Jewish Quarterly Review.

PEFSt. Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly Statement.

ZA TW. Zeitschriftfur d. alttestamentliche Wissenschaft.

KATZ. Schrader, Die Keilinschriften unci d. alte Testament,
3rd ed. by Winckler and Zimmern.

M. T. The Massoretic or received Hebrew text.

LXX. The Septuagint, i. e. the O. T. in Greek.

A. V.} R, V. The Authorised and Revised English Versions.

THE BOOK OF LEVITICUS

REVISED VERSION WITH ANNOTATIONS

THE BOOK OF LEVITICUS

Pirst Division. Chapters I — VII.
Laws Relating to Sacrifice.

The Book of Leviticus opens with a section of the priestly
legislation devoted to the important subject of sacrifice and
offering. The point of view from which to approach the study of
these chapters will best be reached by a brief survey of the spirit
and aim of the developed sacrificial system of the Priests' Code as
a whole. The period of the Babylonian exile marks an epoch in
the history of the religion of the Hebrews, and in particular in the
history of sacrifice. The extinction of the state and the destruction
of the temple had awakened a new feeling of national and
individual guilt. The discipline of the exile further developed
this conviction of the need of purification and propitiation. Along-
side of the deepening sense of sin went a heightened conception
of the Divine holiness, due in large measure to the teaching of
Ezekiel. The exiled priest-prophet and those like-minded, such
as the author of the Holiness Code, insisted that a holy God
required a holy people : ' Ye shall be holy : for I Yahweh your
God am holy ' (Lev. xix. a).

These words may be taken as the master-key to the whole
ceremonial legislation of the Pentateuch. God's all-devouring
holiness requires that His people shall keep themselves free not
only from moral transgressions — this is more frequently assumed
than explicitly stated— but also from every ceremonial defilement
that would interrupt the relations between them and their God.
To maintain these relations unimpaired, or if interrupted to restore
them, is, according to the teaching of the Priests' Code, the object
of sacrifice and offering. Sacrifice, in short, may be described as
the divinely appointed means for the preservation and restoration of
that holiness in virtue of which alone the theocratic community of
Israel can realize its true ideal as the people of a holy God.

The sacrificial system of the priestly writers is chiefly charac-
terized by the sombre earnestness which takes the place of the
joyousness of the pre-exilic worship. This is largely due to the
greater emphasis laid upon the sacrifices as piacula, as the means
of expiation and propitiation. Another characteristic feature is
the importance which is now attached to the technique of sacrifice.
As compared with the comparative freedom of earlier days every
detail of the ritual is now prescribed. To deviate therefrom is to
render the sacrifice invalid. The result is seen in the heightened
status of the priest. In the earlier period the head of the family

D 2

36 LEVITICUS 1—7.

or of the clan offered his sacrifice without the intervention of the
priest. Henceforth the layman's part in the rite was quite
subordinate (see below).

The most convenient classification of the Jewish sacrifices is that
suggested by Josephus, who divides them into two classes, those
'offered for private persons' and those offered > for the people in
general' (Antiquities, III. ix. 1), a classification corresponding to
the sacra privata and sacra publica of the Romans. The public
sacrifices were either stated or occasional, the former and more
important group comprising the daily burnt-offering, and the
additional sacrifices at the stated festivals, viz. sabbath, new moon,
the three great annual feasts, &c.

In the systematic manual of sacrifice which occupies the following
seven chapters, five distinct varieties of sacrifice are enumerated.
Of these three are attested from the earliest times, viz. : (i) the
burnt-offering1, (2) the meal-offering, and (3) the peace-offering ;
the other two, (4) the sin-offering and (5) the guilt-offering,
the special expiatory sacrifices, are first met with in Ezekiel (see
ch. iv), and were apparently unknown in the earlier period.
Apart from the cereal or meal-offering, which has now fallen to
a secondary place as for the most part an accompaniment of the
burnt-offering, and the minor drink-offering, the material of the
sacrifices consisted of ceremonially clean animals 'of the herd and
of the flock' (Lev. i. 2 and often), the latter term including both
sheep and goats. The victims, save in exceptional instances, were
yearling males without blemish. Non-domesticated animals, such
as the deer and the gazelle, although clean and therefore admissible
as ordinary food (Deut. xii. 22), were not admitted to the altar.
As wild creatures they were already the property of God, and
could not therefore be received as a gift from man (2 Sam. xxiv. 24).

The ritual of sacrifice, as has been said, is now minutely
regulated. Although certain of the details may be new, the ritual
as a whole undoubtedly represents the practice of the temple at
the close of the pre-exilic period. As will be more fully explained
in the sequel, the typical procedure comprised the following
actions : (i) the formal presentation of the victim to the officiating
priest ; (ii) the ' laying on of hands,' for which see on i. 4 below ;
(iii) the immolation of the victim on the north side of the altar
(see on i. n\ which in the case of private or family sacrifices was
done by the person presenting them ; (iv) the manipulation of
the blood by the priest — the central action of the rite — which
varied with the different sacrifices (see on i. 5, iv. 6, &c.) ; (v) the
skinning and dismemberment of the animal, including the removal
of the internal fat (see iii. 3 f.) ; (vi) the arrangement of all the
pieces upon the altar in the case of the burnt-offering or of the
specified portions of the ' inwards ' in the case of the other
sacrifices ; and finally (vii) the burning of these upon the 'altar of

LEVITICUS 1. i. P 37

[P] And the Lord called unto Moses, and spake 1

burnt-offering '. Of these seven actions, iv, vi, and vii, as requiring
a near approach to, and even contact with, the altar, represent
the priest's share, the others the layman's share in the rite of
sacrifice.

Arrangement and sources. The laws brought together in
chs. i — vii fall into two distinct groups : —

A. i. i — vi. 7, the ritual of the five principal kinds of offerings,
addressed to the community as a whole ('the children of Israel,'

1. 2%

B. vi. 8 — vii. 38, supplementary directions (ioroth) addressed to
the priests ('Aaron and his sons,' vi. 9).

That the final editor intended these seven chapters to form
a distinct section of the book is evident from the colophon, vii. 37,
38, which stands at the close. Originally, however, it belonged
to the second subdivision only, as is clear (1) from the repetition of
the formula 'this is the law of — see on vi. 8 ff. : — and (2N from
the discrepancy in the locus of the revelation : vii. 38 says Mount
Sinai, while i. 1 has 'the tent of meeting.' These facts are
sufficient to prove that chs. i— vii are not a homogeneous whole.

But even the first group of chapters, i— vi. 7 (in the Heb.
text i — v), cannot be so described. From numerous indications, to
some of which attention is called in the notes, it appears that the
oldest portions of the sacrificial legislation are those contained in
i. 1 — ii. 3, and iii. 1-17. These, there is every reason to believe,
are composed of genuinely old sacrificial toroth — hence the
symbol Pl — embodying the ritual usage of the temple before the
fall of the southern kingdom, and now adapted editorially to
the standpoint of the Priests' Code (see on i. 1, 5). The bulk of
chs. iv and v, dealing with the new piacular sacrifices, was
probably first elaborated at the close of the exile or later. In
their present form they are at least later than the groundwork
(Ps) of the Priests' Code, hence the symbol Ps, i.e. belonging to
the secondary strata of P (see on iv. 7, 25).

The special directions to the priests in chs. vi and vii presuppose
the laws of i— iii, to which they are supplementary and therefore
later. Interspersed with these are various novellae, expansions of
existing laws, such as ii. 4-16, some of which betray their separate
origin by a somewhat different theory of sacrifice from that found
in the main strata (e.g. v. 1-6).

It has not been considered necessary to register these various
strata of P in the text of R.V.

A. i. 1 — vi. 7. The Five Principal Offerings.

This subdivision of Leviticus has been described as a ( manual
for worshippers, revised and enlarged from various sources, and

38 LEVITICUS 1. 2-4. P

i unto him out of the tent of meeting, saying, Speak unto
the children of Israel, and say unto them, When any man
of you offereth an oblation unto the Lord, ye shall offer
your oblation of the cattle, even of the herd and of the
flock.

\ If his oblation be a burnt offering of the herd, he shall
offer it a male without blemish : he shall offer it at the
door of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted

. before the Lord. And he shall lay his hand upon the

in part re- written.' It comprises five sections, each dealing with
one of the five principal types of sacrifice and offering above
enumerated.

1. out of the tent of meeting- : A.V. inaccurately, 'the taber-
nacle of the congregation.' This verse has been prefixed by an
editor in order to connect the manual of sacrifice with the situation
described in Exod. xl. 34 ff. For the discrepancy thereby caused
with Lev. vii. 38, see above, and for the i tent of meeting' see
Bennett, Cent. Bible, on Exod. xxv ff.

2. an oblation: Heb. korbdn, a term peculiar to Ezekiel and P.
It means something 'brought near,' viz. to God at the sanctuary,
hence Mark vii. 11, l Corban, that is to say, Given to God.1 In P's
terminology it replaces the older term minhah, which is now con-
fined to the cereal oblation or ' meal-offering.' For these and
other sacrificial terms see the sections headed ' Terminology of
Sacrifice ' in the writer's article ' Sacrifice and Offering ' in
Hastings's Dictionary of the Bible (1909).

(a) i. 3—17. The ritual of the burnt-offering1. Cf. vi. 8-13,
Exod. xxix. 15-18, &c.

3. a burnt offering : Heb. 'olah, that which goes up (on the
altar), with reference to the distinguishing feature of this offering,
the burning of the whole victim upon the altar. It also bears the
more distinctive name kdlil, 'whole burnt offering' (Deut. xxxiii.
10, R.V.), or holocaust. The victims here prescribed are an ox,
a ram, or a he-goat (verses 10-13), each entire and without blemish
(cf. Lev. xxii. 196".), failing which a turtledove or a young pigeon

(H-17).

4. he shall lay his hand upon the head of the burnt oflfer-

1 Since the names of the sacrifices represent single words in the
original, the method of the American Revised Version, standard
edition, which employs the hyphen, is followed by preference in the
notes. Coverdale has 'burntoffcrynge,' ' meatofferynge/ &c, in one
word.

LEVITICUS 1. 5-9. P 39

head of the burnt offering ; and it shall be accepted for
him to make atonement for him. And he shall kill the 5
bullock before the Lord : and Aaron's sons, the priests,
shall present the blood, and sprinkle the blood round
about upon the altar that is at the door of the tent of
meeting. And he shall flay the burnt offering, and cut 6
it into its pieces. And the sons of Aaron the priest shall 7
put fire upon the altar, and lay wood in order upon the
fire : and Aaron's sons, the priests, shall lay the pieces, 8
the head, and the fat, in order upon the wood that is on
the fire which is upon the altar : but its inwards and its 9
legs shall he wash with water : and the priest shall burn

ing". The significance of this 'action ' of the ritual of sacrifice (for
other offerings see iii. 2, 8, 13, iv. 4) has been much discussed.
The act in all probability symbolizes the withdrawal of the animal
from the sphere of the ' common ' or profane, and its transference
to the sphere of ' holy ' things — so termed from their close relation
to the deity (see 1 Sam. xxi. 4) — as well as the offerer's personal
assignation of it to God. The traditional explanation, based on
the outwardly similar but essentially different rite in Lev. xvi. 21,
that by the ' laying on of hands ' the animal is made the substitute,
in a penal sense, of the offerer, is without foundation. For the
untenableness of this view, see art. * Sacrifice I &c, op. at., 817 f.

5. and Aaron's sons, the priests : almost certainly an edi-
torial substitution for f the priest ' of the original law, who still
appears in verses 9, 12, 13, &c. The change was made in order
to adapt this older iorah to the standpoint of Ps, in which the
priests are always termed the ' sons of Aaron.'

and sprinkle the blood : rather f dash ' or ' toss ' the blood,
so verse 11, iii. 2, 8, and oft. The blood was caught by the priest
in a large bason as it spurted from the severed arteries, and was
dashed against the sides of the altar. For sprinkling in the
proper sense see iv. 6.

*7. shall put fire upon the altar. This points to an earlier
stage of the ritual than that represented by vi. 13, according to
which the fire was ' kept burning upon the altar continually.'

9. the priest shall burn the whole. The word here rendered
'burn ' is a technical sacrificial term meaning to ' make to smoke,'
and is quite distinct from the ordinary word for burning, used in
iv. 12, 21, vii. 17, 19. Driver renders 'shall consume the whole
in sweet smoke.'

4o LEVITICUS 1. 10-15. P

the whole on the altar, for a burnt offering, an offering
made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord.

10 And if his oblation be of the flock, of the sheep, or of
the goats, for a burnt offering; he shall offer it a male

1 1 without blemish. And he shall kill it on the side of the
altar northward before the Lord : and Aaron's sons, the
priests, shall sprinkle its blood upon the altar round

12 about. And he shall cut it into its pieces, with its head
and its fat : and the priest shall lay them in order on the

1 3 wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar : but the
inwards and the legs shall he wash with water : and the
priest shall offer the whole, and burn it upon the altar :
it is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, of a sweet
savour unto the Lord.

14 And if his oblation to the Lord be a burnt offering of
fowls, then he shall offer his oblation of turtledoves, or

15 of young pigeons. And the priest shall bring it unto
the altar, and a wring off its head, and burn it on the

a Or, pinch

a sweet savour: literally an 'odour of soothing,' a favourite
expression in P. Like the term • food,' still applied to sacrifice
(iii. 11, xxi. 6), it is a survival of a more primitive conception of
sacrifice as affording physical pleasure to the deity. Cf. the early
passage, 1 Sam. xxvi. 19, 'let him accept (lit. 'smell') an offering.'
An interesting parallel occurs in the Babylonian epic of the flood :
' The gods smelt the savour, the gods smelt the goodly savour,
the gods gathered like flies over the sacrificer.'

11. on the side of the altar northward: i.e. in the court to
the north of the altar. The choice of the north side is supposed
to be connected with a Babylonian and North-Semitic myth of an
abode of the gods, a Babylonian Olympus, in the north (sec
Whitehouse. Cent. Bible, on Isaiah, xiv. 13).

12. with its head and its fat : this clause belongs to the next
sentence after the word ' order"*>vcf. verse 8, where 'with ' should
be read before ' the itf&d>--Fe<tfi^fat, see iii. 3 f.

14-17. The law ahsymakes prbvi^W1 for those too poor to pro-
vide one of the non$a/ victims, ox A Sftlep, or goat, as is expressly
stated in the case frthel IJ^ffiffn*,^ 7 ff.

LEVITICUS 1. 16— 2. 2. P 41

altar j and the blood thereof shall be drained out on the
side of the altar : and he shall take away its crop with 16
the a filth thereof, and cast it beside the altar on the east
part, in the place of the ashes : and he shall rend it by 17
the wings thereof, but shall not divide it asunder : and
the priest shall burn it upon the altar, upon the wood
that is upon the fire : it is a burnt offering, an offering
made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord.

And when any one offereth an oblation of a meal 2
offering unto the Lord, his oblation shall be of fine
flour; and he shall pour oil upon it, and put frankin-
cense thereon : and he shall bring it to Aaron's sons the 2
priests : and he shall take thereout his handful of the
fine flour thereof, and of the oil thereof, with all the
frankincense thereof; and the priest shall burn it as
the memorial thereof upon the altar, an offering made by
a Or, feathers

16. with the filth thereof: rather, with the Versions (VSS),
A. V. and R. V. marg., ' with the feathers thereof.1

(b) ii. 1-16. The ritual of the meal-offering. Cf. vi. 14-23,
Num. xv. 1-16.

The meal-offering — better, cereal offering (A.V. ' meat offering ')
— is here treated as an independent offering like the other four,
but in the actual usage of the post-exilic period it generally
appears as an accompaniment of the burnt-offering, as prescribed
in Num. xv, or of the peace-offering, as contemplated in Lev. vii.
11 ff. The original term is min/iah, which denotes a gift or
present made to secure the goodwill of a friend (Gen. xxxii. 13,
18) or of a sovereign (1 Sam. x. 27). In the older literature it is
used as a comprehensive term for all offerings to Yahweh,
whether animal or cereal (so Gen. iv. 3 ff and often). In P, how-
ever, minhah is restricted to the cereal offerings. The material
of the typical cereal oblation consisted of fine flour, cooked or un-
cooked, with the addition of olive oil, salt, and frankincense. The
bulk of the offering went to the priests.

2. the memorial thereof: Heb. yazkarah. a term peculiar to P,
here applied to the handful of paste (flour mixed with oil", with
the frankincense— a fragrant gum-resin exuding from trees of the

42 LEVITICUS 2. 3-8. P

3 fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord : and that which is
left of the meal offering shall be Aaron's and his sons' :
it is a thing most holy of the offerings of the Lord made
by fire.

4 And when thou offerest an oblation of a meal offering
baken in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine
flour mingled with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed

5 with oil. And if thy oblation be a meal offering of the
a baking pan, it shall be of fine flour unleavened, mingled

6 with oil. Thou shalt part it in pieces, and pour oil

7 thereon : it is a meal offering. And if thy oblation be
a meal offering of the frying pan, it shall be made of fine

8 flour with oil. And thou shalt bring the meal offering

a Or, flat plate

genus Boswellia— which the priest burned upon the altar. The
object of this ' memorial ' offering is supposed to have been to
bring the offerer to Yahweh's remembrance, but the etymology
and original significance of the term are obscure.

3. a thing" most holy, &c. : the remainder of the flour is a per-
quisite of the priests. The priestly legislation distinguishes
between such priests' dues as are ' holy ' merely, and such as are
1 most holy ' ; among the latter was included the flesh of the guilt-
offerings and of the second grade of sin-offerings (see below).
One practical result of this distinction was that ' the most holy
things' could be eaten only by the priests, and by them only within
the sanctuary precincts (vi. 16, 26), whereas the ' holy things '
might be consumed by the priests and their households, if cere-
monially clean, in any 'clean place,' i.e. in actual practice, in
Jerusalem (x. 14, xxii. 3, 10-16, &c). For the dangerous con-
tagion of holiness, see on vi. 18.

4-16. The detailed instructions of this section give the impres-
sion of being a later elaboration of the general law in verses 1-3,
a view confirmed by the use of the second person as compared
with the third person in chs. i. and iii. Verses 4-7 specify
certain varieties of the cooked meal-offering, according as the
material is cooked (1) in the baking-oven in the form of thick or
thin wafer-like cakes, or (2) upon a griddle as pastry, or (3) in a
cooking-pan as a pudding.

5. the toaking' pan : rather, with marg., the convex iron plate
or griddle, still in use among the Bedouin.

LEVITICUS 2. 9-15. P 43

that is made of these things unto the Lord : and it shall
be presented unto the priest, and he shall bring it unto
the altar. And the priest shall take up from the meal 9
offering the memorial thereof, and shall burn it upon the
altar : an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto
the Lord. And that which is left of the meal offering 10
shall be Aaron's and his sons' : it is a thing most holy of
the offerings of the Lord made by fire. No meal offering, 1 1
which ye shall offer unto the Lord, shall be made with
leaven : for ye shall burn no leaven, nor any honey, as
an offering made by fire unto the Lord. As an oblation 1 2
of firstfruits ye shall offer them unto the Lord : but they
shall not come up for a sweet savour on the altar. And 13
every oblation of thy meal offering shalt thou season with
salt ; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of
thy God to be lacking from thy meal offering : with all
thine oblations thou shalt offer salt.

And if thou offer a meal offering of firstfruits unto the 14
Lord, thou shalt offer for the meal offering of thy first-
fruits corn in the ear parched with fire, bruised corn of
the fresh ear. And thou shalt put oil upon it, and lay 15

11 f. The exclusion of leaven, i.e. of leavened flour or cakes,
from the altar is to be explained on the ground that fermentation,
to which honey was also liable, implied a process of corruption in
the dough. Though not admitted to the altar, leaven and honey
might be presented at the sanctuary and handed over to the priests,
as were the ordinary firstfruits (verse 12 ; see also xxiii. 17).

13. Here only is salt expressly prescribed, but from Ezek. xliii.
24 and later usage, reflected in Mark ix. 49 (A. V. and R. V. marg.),
it may be safely inferred that it was provided with every sacrifice.
The custom goes back to the antique conception of sacrifice, above
referred to, as a meal for the deity, for which the usual condiment
was indispensable. For the school of P, however, the salt of the
sacrifice has become a symbol of the irrevocable character of
Yahweh's covenant with Israel. For this view and for the salt
of the covenant of thy God, see on Num. xviii. 19.

14-16. In this cereal offering of firstfruits we have undoubtedly

44 LEVITICUS 2. 16— 3. 3. P

i frankincense thereon : it is a meal offering. And the
priest shall burn the memorial of it, part of the bruised
corn thereof, and part of the oil thereof, with all the
frankincense thereof: it is an offering made by fire unto
the Lord.

'< And if his oblation be a sacrifice of a peace offerings ;
if he offer of the herd, whether male or female, he shall
offer it without blemish before the Lord. And he shall
lay his hand upon the head of his oblation, and kill it at
the door of the tent of meeting : and Aaron's sons the
priests shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar round
about. And he shall offer of the sacrifice of peace
offerings an offering made by fire unto the Lord; the

a Or, thank offerings

one of the oldest varieties of the minhah (Gen. iv. 3 ; Exod. xxii.
29). The shewbread is another of great antiquity (Lev. xxiv. 5 ff.).

The third place in this manual of sacrifice is occupied by the
sacrifice which, in the earlier period at least, was the typical altar
offering, and accordingly is often designated ' sacrifice ' par
excellence. The full designation is that here given — ' a sacrifice of
peace offerings ' (marg. ' thank offerings '). The precise significa-
tion of the original {sheldmim) is uncertain. The current rendering
' peace offerings ' is based on the cognate noun signifying ' peace,'
and regards the sacrifice as the means of establishing harmonious
relations with the deity. It is probable, however, that in ancient
times the majority of the ordinary sacrifices were made in fulfil-
ment of a vow, or in gratitude for benefits received or expected,
so that sheldmim is rather to be connected with the cognate verb
meaning ' to recompense, repay,7 and specially ' to pay one's vows'
(see Prov. vii. 14"). On this view l recompense-offering ' or ' sacri-
fice of requital ' would be the best rendering, leaving ' thank offer-
ing' for the name of one of its varieties, mentioned with others
in Lev. vii. 12 f., 16, and as an independent sacrifice in xxii. 29.

The ritual agrees in the main with that of the burnt-offering;
only certain specified portions of the victim, however, were
burned, the bulk of the flesh going to provide the sacrificial meal
which was the distinguishing feature of the peace offering.

3. the fat that covereth the inwards: i.e. the entrails; see

LEVITICUS 3. 4-11. P 45

fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon
the inwards, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on 4
them, which is by the loins, and the caul upon the liver,
awith the kidneys, shall he take away. And Aaron's 5
sons shall burn it on the altar upon the burnt offering,
which is upon the wood that is on the fire : it is an
offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord.

And if his oblation for a sacrifice of peace offerings 6
unto the Lord be of the flock ; male or female, he shall
offer it without blemish. If he offer a lamb for his 7
oblation, then shall he offer it before the Lord : and he 8
shall lay his hand upon the head of his oblation, and kill
it before the tent of meeting : and Aaron's sons shall
sprinkle the blood thereof upon the altar round about.
And he shall offer of the sacrifice of peace offerings an 9
offering made by fire unto the Lord ; the fat thereof,
the fat tail entire, he shall take it away hard by the
backbone ; and the fat that covereth the inwards, and all
the fat that is upon the inwards, and the two kidneys, 10
and the fat that is upon them, which is by the loins, and
the caul upon the liver, D with the kidneys, shall he take
away. And the priest shall burn it upon the altar: it is 11
the c food of the offering made by fire unto the Lord.

a Or, which he shall take away by the kidneys. b See ver 4.

c Heb. bread.

the coloured diagrams in Driver and White, Leviticus, in Haupt's
Sacred Books of the O.T. (SBOT), opposite p. 4.

4. the caul upon the liver : according to G. F. Moore {Orient.
Studien Th. Noeldeke gewidmet (1906), 761 ff.), the part intended
is the caudate lobe (lobus caudatus) of the liver. This lobe played
a prominent part in the favourite mode of divination by the liver
(hepatoscopy) among the Babylonians and other ancient nations ;
for this reason probably it is here expressly claimed for the altar.
See Jastrow, Die Religion Babyloniens, 8cc, ii. 220, 231 f.

9. the fat tail entire: in former times this was freely admitted
to the table as a delicacy ; see Cent. Bible on 1 Sam. ix. 24.

11. the food of the offering1 made by fire: lit. 'food offered

46 LEVITICUS 3. 12— 4. 2. P

12 And if his oblation be a goat, then he shall offer it

13 before the Lord : and he shall lay his hand upon the
head of it, and kill it before the tent of meeting : and
the sons of Aaron shall sprinkle the blood thereof upon

14 the altar round about. And he shall offer thereof his
oblation, even an offering made by fire unto the Lord ;
the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is

15 upon the inwards, and the two kidneys, and the fat that
is upon them, which is by the loins, and the caul upon

16 the liver, awith the kidneys, shall he take away. And
the priest shall burn them upon the altar : it is the food
of the offering made by fire, for a sweet savour : all the

17 fat is the Lord's. It shall be a perpetual statute through-
out your generations in all your dwellings, that ye shall
eat neither fat nor blood.

4 2 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto
the children of Israel, saying, If any one shall sin bun-
a See ver. 4. b Or, through error

by fire/ see on i. 9 and xxi. 6. The introduction of fire to
etherealize the offerings, so to say, marks a more advanced stage
in the history of Semitic sacrifice than the primitive practice of
placing the offering upon a rock-altar, the earliest < table of the
Lord ' (Mai. i. 7, 12). See Kittel, Studien zur hebraischen Archao-
logie, 96-108.

17. ye shall eat neither fat nor blood : the former prohibition
is repeated at greater length in vii. 23 f. The blood taboo is
common to all the law-codes ; its raison d'etre in relation to
sacrifice is given in the important passage, xvii. 11, which see.

(d) iv. 1 — v. 13. The ritual of the sin-offering. Cf. vi. 24-30,
ix. 8ff., 15; Exod. xxix. 11-14; Num. xv. 22-29, &c«

While it is true that piacular efficacy was conceived as inherent
in all the varieties of sacrifice and offering, the later sacrificial
system developed two new varieties of offering as special expiatory
sacrifices, the sin-offering1 and the g-uilt-offering-. They probably
made their appearance in the dark days which preceded the fall
of the Jewish state, although Ezekiel is the first to differentiate
them by name from the older types of offering (xl. 39, xlii. 13).

LEVITICUS 4. 2. P 47

wittingly, in any of the things which the Lord hath
commanded not to be done, and shall do any one of

Of the two the sin-offering was much the more important. It
was the prescribed medium for the expiation of two main classes
of offences, viz. (i) sins committed in ignorance or by inadvertence
(see on verse 2), and (2) cases of ceremonial defilement or unclean-
ness, contracted in various ways and having no connexion with
sin as a breach of the moral law, such as the defilement of child-
birth and of leprosy, the uncleanness of the altar, and the like.
The special features in the ritual of the sin-offering by which it is
distinguished from the ritual of the older animal sacrifices are
these : (1) the victim varies according to the rank of the offender
in the theocratic community, and (2) the application of the blood,
as the medium of expiation, varies in intensity on the same
principle. The underlying idea of this graduated scale of atone-
ment is found in the characteristic priestly view of sin as unclean-
ness ; the < sins ' above enumerated, even the ' sin ' of a woman in
her discharge of the — to us holy — function of motherhood, were
viewed as not only defiling in themselves, but as sources of further
impurity and defilement for the whole community. The higher
the theocratic rank of the offender, the greater, according to the
antique and now resuscitated conception of the contagion both of
holiness and uncleanness, was his power of contamination (see
verse 3, 'bring guilt upon the people'), and the more potent
therefore the cathartic required for his purification.

2. If any one snail sin unwittingly : the original of the last
word is a technical term of P, and denotes sins committed in
ignorance or by inadvertence (cf. Num. xv. 24-29), as opposed to
sins committed 'with an high hand ' (ibid. 30 f.), that is, in wilful
defiance of the Divine law. For such sins no sacrifice could make
expiation (cf. note on xvi. 21). Moreover, in the sphere of morals
only unwitting sins are contemplated, for these are the only offences
of which the holy people of the priestly ideal would be guilty.

3-12. The High Pries? s sin-offering.

Four varieties of sin-offering are prescribed in iv. 3 ff, two of
which are sin-offerings of the first grade, and two of the second.
The former class includes the sacrifice for the High Priest (verses 3-
12), and that for the community as a whole, in which the rank
and file of the priesthood are included (verses 13-21) ; in the second
grade fall the sin-offerings for a secular chief (verses 22-26) and for
an ordinary layman (verses 27-35). The sin-offerings of the first
grade are distinguished from those of the second by the greater
intensity of the blood-ritual, as indicated above, and by the
sacrosanct character of the flesh of the victim, as will be more
fully explained in the notes.

48 LEVITICUS 4. 3-6. P

3 them : if the anointed priest shall sin so as to bring guilt
on the people ; then let him offer for his sin, which he
hath sinned, a young bullock without blemish unto the

4 Lord for a sin offering. And he shall bring the bullock
unto the door of the tent of meeting before the Lord ;
and he shall lay his hand upon the head of the bullock,

5 and kill the bullock before the Lord. And the anointed
priest shall take of the blood of the bullock, and bring it

6 to the tent of meeting : and the priest shall dip his finger

3. the anointed priest : so verses 5, 16 and vi. 22 to designate
the High Priest, the theocratic head of the post-exilic community.
In the earlier strata of the Priests' Code, the High Priest
alone receives : the consecration of the anointing oil of his God'
(viii. 12 ; cf. Exod. xxix. 7) ; in the latest strata the whole body
of the priesthood, ' the sons of Aaron,' receive this consecration
(Exod. xxviii. 41, xxx. 30, xl. 15). See note on viii. 30.

a sin offering- : Heb. hattdth. The word in the original is that
usually rendered ' sin.' The intensive stem of the root-verb,
however, is continually used in P in the privative sense of
cleansing from defilement, to purify, to S un-sin,' as in viii. 15 :
' Moses . . . purified (lit. un-sinned) the altar.' Cf. Ps. li. 7,
EVV 'purge' ; Ezek. xliii. 20, EVV 'cleanse.' As used to designate
this new species of sacrifice, therefore, hattdth seems primarily to
express its efficacy as a medium of purification or purgation,
a meaning which the word undoubtedly has in Num. viii. 7 and
xix. 9, 17 (see there). Sin, both moral and ceremonial — for, as
was shown above, the two spheres are confused by the priestly
writers — is conceived by the latter as belonging to the com-
prehensive category of uncleanness. It is a defilement affecting
not only the individual, but, by its contagious potency, the whole
community, and ipso facto interrupting the ideal relation of God to
His people.

This idea of sin as something that can be washed away like
a physical stain is really, like so much else in the priestly codes,
a survival of a primitive and widely spread conception common to
many religions (see Farnell, The Evolution of Religion, Lecture iii :
The Ritual of Purification and the Conception of Purit3').

In short, both etymology and comparative religion suggest that
the literal sense of hattdth is not sin-offering, but ' un-sin ' offering,
and its proper rendering therefore ' purification ' or ' purgation '
offering.

4. he shall lay his hand, &c. See on i. 4.

LEVITICUS 4. 7-10. P 49

in the blood, and sprinkle of the blood seven times before
the Lord, before the veil of the sanctuary. And the 7
priest shall put of the blood upon the horns of the altar
of sweet incense before the Lord, which is in the tent
of meeting; and all the blood of the bullock shall he
pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering, which
is at the door of the tent of meeting. And all the fat of 8
the bullock of the sin offering he shall take off from it ;
the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is
upon the inwards, and the two kidneys, and the fat that 9
is upon them, which is by the loins, and the caul upon
the liver, awith the kidneys, shall he take away, as it is 10
taken off from the ox of the sacrifice of peace offerings :
a See ch. iii. 4.

6. and sprinkle of the blood : a different term in the original
from that wrongly so rendered in i. 5, which see.

before the veil of the sanctuary. In the first grade of sin-
offerings the blood is brought into the Holy Place of the Tabernacle
(or Temple), which was divided by the veil (Exod. xxvi. 33) from
the Most Holy Place. The greater the defilement, the nearer the
cleansing blood was brought to the sacred presence of Yahweh.
In the rite of the Day of Atonement we have a still more potent
application of the blood (Lev. xvi. 14).

7. the altar of sweet incense: called in verse 18 'the altar
which is before Yahweh' — contrast xvi. 18, where the altar of
burnt-offering is so designated. The altar of incense, as it is more
usually termed, is found only in the later strata of P (P8) ; see
Bennett, Exodus, p. 235 f., and Hastings' DB, iv. 664. Even in
the directions for the Day of Atonement (xvi. 12) the ' sweet
incense ' is still offered in a censer.

the altar of burnt offering1: so in Ps (Exod. xxx. 28, &c),
to distinguish it from the altar of incense. In the older strata of
P it is designated simply ' the altar ' (Exod. xxvii. 1 ff. : Lev. ix.
7, 8, &c— all PS; i. 6 ff, ii. 2, iii. 2 ff., &c— all P*). The
references in this chapter to the two altars on the one hand, and
to the anointed priest on the other, bring home to one the fact that
the laws embodied in the completed priestly legislation, as it now
lies before us in the Pentateuch, represent a long course of
development. This chapter, for example, must be younger than
the groundwork of P (Ps), represented by chs. ix and x, still

5o LEVITICUS 4. 11-15. P

and the priest shall burn them upon the altar of burnt

1 1 offering. And the skin of the bullock, and all its flesh,
with its head, and with its legs, and its inwards, and its

1 2 dung, even the whole bullock shall he carry forth without
the camp unto a clean place, where the ashes are poured
out, and burn it on wood with fire : where the ashes are
poured out shall it he burnt.

13 And if the whole congregation of Israel shall err, and
the thing be hid from the eyes of the assembly, and they
have done any of the things which the Lord hath

14 commanded not to be done, and are guilty; when the
sin wherein they have sinned is known, then the assembly
shall offer a young bullock for a sin offering, and bring it

15 before the tent of meeting. And the elders of the
congregation shall lay their hands upon the head of the
bullock before the Lord : and the bullock shall be killed

younger therefore than the bulk of chs. i-iii, yet not so recent as
those parts which assume the anointing of the ordinary priests
(see on verses 3, 25),

11 f. Note the distinction as regards the disposal of the flesh
between the sin-offerings of the first grade, where it is burned
outside the camp, and those of the second grade, the flesh of
which falls to the priests to be eaten within the sacred precincts
(compare vi. 26, 29 with 30). This is explained by the fact that
in the former case the priests are excluded from partaking of the
flesh, both as sharing in some measure in the defilement of their
representative the High Priest, and as members of ' the congrega-
tion of Israel.' The disposal of the flesh was an essential part of
the rite, and until it was accomplished the priests were still in
their sin. In the case of the second-grade offerings the priests,
on the contrary, were in the normal condition of purity.

iv. 13-21. The sin-offering of the congregation.

13. congregation . . . assembly: the former is P's favourite
designation of the theocratic community of Israel as a whole, but
the latter is not unfrequently employed as here, verse 21 and Num.
xvi. 3, as a synonym. For the very significant history of the
corresponding Greek (LXX; terms, see art. ' Congregation ' in
Hastings's DB (1909).

;

LEVITICUS 4. 16-20. P 51

before the Lord. And the anointed priest shall bring 16
of the blood of the bullock to the tent of meeting : and 1 7
the priest shall dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle
it seven times before the Lord, before the veil. And he 18
shall put of the blood upon the horns of the altar which
is before the Lord, that is in the tent of meeting, and
all the blood shall he pour out at the base of the altar of
burnt offering, which is at the door of the tent of meeting.
And all the fat thereof shall he take off from it, and burn 1 9
it upon the altar. Thus shall he do with the bullock ; 20
as he did with the bullock of the sin offering, so shall he
do with this : and the priest shall make atonement for

20. the priest shall make atonement for them. To atone,
which now means to 'make amends,' originally meant to 'set at
one' (Acts vii. 26), to reconcile persons at variance. Atonement,
formerly 'at onement,' is in our English Bible accordingly a
synonym of reconciliation. These, however, are not the ideas
inherent in the Hebrew verb kipper, here and elsewhere rendered
' to make atonement.' The original meaning of the root is still
in dispute, but in the sacrificial terminology kipper has acquired
a very special signification, for which there is no single equivalent
in English. Even the construction of the verb is altered, for where-
as in the earlier extra-legal writers, when it is used in connexion
with sin, God is frequently the subject, in Ezekiel and P the
subject is almost invariably the priest, and the verb is used as
the summary expression for the performance by the priest of
certain rites1 by which sin, viewed as uncleanness or defilement
(see above on verse 3), is removed and the way opened for the
sinner1 s forgiveness. The medium by which this removal of sin —
'cancelling' would imply too ethical a conception of sin in this
connexion — is effected is sometimes said to be the sacrificial
victim, as in i. 4 ; but this it is only in virtue of its blood, which is
the real cathartic or expiatory medium, as expressly stated in the
cardinal passage xvii. 11.

How, then, may this special connotation of kipper in the
sacrificial terminology be adequately expressed in English ? In
the fairly numerous cases in which the rite is performed on behalf
of an inanimate object, where the sin or defilement is to our way
of thinking purely physical, as in viii. 15, xiv. 53, xvi. 16, the old

1 In Babylonian takpirtu, from the corresponding verb ; see Zim-
mern, Die Keilinschriften u. d. alte Test. 3rd ed. (KAT*), 601 f.

E 2

52 LEVITICUS 4. 21. P

21 them, and they shall be forgiven. And he shall carry
forth the bullock without the camp, and burn it as he

A. V. rendering ' purge ' seems fairly adequate (see, e.g., Ezek.
xliii. 20, where the command is given to ' unsin and purge ' {kipper}
the altar, and verse 26 where, in the reverse order, it is to be
purged and cleansed — R.V. here, as elsewhere, 'make atonement
for'). In the case of persons, also, when the rite is said to kipper
the sinner from his sin (iv. 26, v. 6, 10, &c), it is difficult not to
think that the idea of * purging from ' was clearly in the writer's
mind. On the other hand, this rendering fails to do justice to the
ethical moment in sin, even as defilement, viewed in its relation
to the divine holiness. The expression we seem to require is one
that is constantly associated by Greek and Roman writers with
rites of purgation or purification, namely expiare *, to expiate, make
expiation for.

The revisers have introduced ' to make expiation for ' as the
rendering of kipper in two passages, Num. xxxv. 33 and Deut. xxxii.
43— in both cases 'the land ' is the object — and elsewhere in their
margins. Strictly speaking, it is the blood of the sacrifice that
' makes expiation * ; the priest ' performs the rite of expiation on
behalf of the sinner; but the latter is too cumbrous, and the
shorter, though less accurate, expression may, in the writer's
opinion, be accepted as on the whole the most adequate rendering
of this much discussed term. ' To make propitiation for' is further
from the special significance of the word in P ; still further is
' to make atonement for ' in the sense of ' reconcile.' To ! make
expiation for* has the further advantage of being more applicable
than these alternatives to material objects, since a uniform render-
ing is after all desirable 2.

and they shall he forgiven : the performance of the rite of
expiation ensures the pardon of the sinner, but the sequence is
properly one of time, not of cause and effect ; for the real ground

1 See Wissowa, Religion der Romer,^2'], note 4, where the following
quotation is given from Servius, Aen. iii. 279 : lustramur, id est
purgamur, ut Iovi sacra faciamus ; ant certe 'lustramur IovV
id est expiamur.

2 Recent discussions of the meaning of kipper will be found in
Driver's article,'Propitiation'inHastings's£)JB,iv.i28-i32, and more
briefly in his Deuteronomy, 425 f. ; Joh. Hermann, Die Idee der
Suhne im alten Testament (1905) — a study of all the O.T. passages;
A. B. Davidson, Theology of the Old Test., 327 ff ., 348 ff .; H. P. Smith,
'The Old Testament Theory of Atonement' in the Amer. Journal
of Theology, July, 1906 (pp. 412-422).

LEVITICUS 4. 22-25. P 53

burned the first bullock : it is the sin offering for the
assembly.

When a ruler sinneth, and doeth unwittingly any one 22
of all the things which the Lord his God hath com-
manded not to be done, and is guilty ; if his sin, wherein 23
he hath sinned, be made known to him, he shall bring
for his oblation a goat, a male without blemish ; and he 24
shall lay his hand upon the head of the goat, and kill it
in the place where they kill the burnt offering before the
Lord : it is a sin offering. And the priest shall take of 25
the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put it
upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and the
blood thereof shall he pour out at the base of the altar

of the forgiveness is the free grace of God who revealed Himself
as ' a God full of compassion and gracious . . . and plenteous in
mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression ' (Exod. xxxiv. 6 ;
Num. xiv. 18). The sacrifice, in virtue of the cleansing and
'un-sinning' efficacy of the blood, in particular, merely removes
the barrier to the action of the divine grace. ' None of the
prophets, not even Ezekiel, refers to sacrifice as the means of
atonement for the sins of the people ; God forgives of His grace
and mercy alone' (Davidson, Theology of the O.T., 330). In the
Babylonian ritual, the verb corresponding to that here rendered
' forgiven ' is frequently found associated, as here, with kuppurn,
with the meaning • to sprinkle ' with the sacrificial blood (Zimmern,
op. cit., 602).

iv. 22-26. The sin-offering of the secular heads of the community.

This and the following (verses 27 ff.) form the sin-offerings of
the second or lower grade, distinguished from those of the first
grade by the following features : (1) the blood is not brought
within the sanctuary ; (2) the victim is of less value, a goat or
a lamb, and its flesh is eaten by the priests ; (3) the officiating
priest is one of the ordinary priesthood.

22. a ruler : one of the secular chiefs of the community. The
word is that rendered ' prince' in Num. ii, vii, and elsewhere.

25. The application of the blood in this instance is not by
sprinkling but by smearing with the finger. It is interesting to
note that in the groundwork of P (Pg) the inferior blood-rite here
prescribed is sufficient for the High Priest's sin-offering (Exod.
xxix. 12; Lev. viii. 15): another indication, when compared with

54 LEVITICUS 4. 26-3?,. P

26 of burnt offering. And all the fat thereof shall he burn
upon the altar, as the fat of the sacrifice of peace
offerings : and the priest shall make atonement for him
as concerning his sin, and he shall be forgiven.

27 And if any one of the a common people sin unwittingly,
in doing any of the things which the Lord hath com-

2S manded not to be done, and be guilty ; if his sin, which
he hath sinned, be made known to him, then he shall
bring for his oblation a goat, a female without blemish,

29 for his sin which he hath sinned. And he shall lay his
hand upon the head of the sin offering, and kill the sin

30 offering in the place of burnt offering. And the priest
shall take of the blood thereof with his finger, and put
it upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and all
the blood thereof shall he pour out at the base of the

31 altar. And all the fat thereof shall he take away, as the
fat is taken away from off the sacrifice of peace offerings ;
and the priest shall burn it upon the altar for a sweet
savour unto the Lord ; and the priest shall make atone-
ment for him, and he shall be forgiven.

32 And if he bring a lamb as his oblation for a sin
offering, he shall bring it a female without blemish.

33 And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the sin offer-
ing, and kill it for a sin offering in the place where they

a Heb. people of the land.

verses 6, 7 above, of the gradual development of the ritual, and
of the later date of this chapter, which belongs to Ps.

26. as concerning' his sin : lit. l from his sin,' a different
preposition from that rendered ' as touching ' in verse 35. The
meaning of the original may be thus expressed : 'the priest shall
perform the rites of expiation on his behalf, and he shall be
purged from his sin, and so made capable of receiving, as he shall
receive, the divine forgiveness.'

iv. 27-35. The ordinary layman's sin-offering.

The only difference from the foregoing sacrifice is in the inferior
sex of the victim and the alternative of a lamb.

LEVITICUS 4. 34—5. 2. P 55

kill the burnt offering. And the priest shall take of the 34
blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put it
upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and all the
blood thereof shall he pour out at the base of the altar :
and all the fat thereof shall he take away, as the fat of 35
the lamb is taken away from the sacrifice of peace offer-
ings ; and the priest shall burn them on the altar, a upon
the offerings of the Lord made by fire : and the priest
shall make atonement for him as touching his sin that
he hath sinned, and he shall be forgiven.

And if any one sin, in that he heareth the voice of ad- 5
juration, he being a witness, whether he hath seen or
known, if he do not utter iVjj then he shall bear his
iniquity : or if any one touch any unclean thing, whether 2
it be the carcase of an unclean beast, or the carcase of
unclean cattle, or the carcase of unclean creeping things,
and it be hidden from him, and he be unclean, then he
a Or, after the manner of

v. 1-6. Special cases in which a sin-offering is required.

The original continuation of ch. iv is found in v. 7. The inter-
vening verses are best taken as a later insertion giving a number
of illustrative cases where a sin-offering is required.

1. the voice of adjuration: lit. 'a curse.' The first of the
four cases here adduced is the sin of withholding evidence in
a court of law. As this can scarcely be described as a sin of
inadvertence (iv. 2), the author of this section evidently held
a different theory of the sin-offering from that underlying ch. iv.
The 'curse' is one pronounced upon a criminal and all concerned,
with a view to extracting confession and evidence (Judges xvii. 2 ;
Prov. xxix. 4).

if he do not utter it: compare the unwritten saying (agraphon)
of our Lord : ' I say unto you that every good word which men
shall not speak, they shall give an account thereof in the day
of judgement ' (Lewis and Gibson, Palestine Syriac Lectionary,
p. xxx).

2. creeping- thing's : rather, 'creatures that swarm'; i.e. are
found in large numbers, whether in the sea (xi. 10) or on the
land (xi. 29 f.). This and the following category (verse 3) are
more fully and somewhat differently dealt with in chs. xi-xv.

56 LEVITICUS 5. 3-9. P

3 shall be guilty : or if he touch the uncleanness of
man, whatsoever his uncleanness be wherewith he is
unclean, and it be hid from him; when he knoweth of it,

4 then he shall be guilty : or if any one swear rashly with
his lips to do evil, or to do good, whatsoever it be that a
man shall utter rashly with an oath, and it be hid from
him ; when he knoweth of it, then he shall be guilty in

5 one of these things : and it shall be, when he shall be
guilty in one of these things^ that he shall confess that

6 wherein he hath sinned : and he shall bring a his guilt offer-
ing unto the Lord for his sin which he hath sinned, a
female from the flock, a lamb or a goat, for a sin offering ;
and the priest shall make atonement for him as concern-

7 ing his sin. And if his means suffice not for a lamb,
then he shall bring a his guilt offering for that wherein he
hath sinned, two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, unto
the Lord j one for a sin offering, and the other for a

8 burnt offering. And he shall bring them unto the priest,
who shall offer that which is for the sin offering first, and
b wring off its head from its neck, but shall not divide it

9 asunder : and he shall sprinkle of the blood of the sin
offering upon the side of the altar ; and the rest of the

a Or, for his guilt Or, his trespass offering b Or, pinch

5. and it shall toe : insert, as in verses 3. 4, 'when he knoweth
of it, then,' &c.

lie shall confess: add, with LXX : 'his sin' wherein, &c.
Public confession is required only here and Num. v. 7. The case
of Lev. xvi. 21 is different.

6. his guilt offering": render 'as an amend (or penalty) for
his sin,' the word 'ashdm not having here the technical sense which
it has in verses 15 ff.

v. 7-13. The sin-offerings 0/ the poor (continuation of iv. 1-35).

7. a lamb : the original term includes both sheep and goats ;
see Exod. xii. 5.

his guilt offering: to be explained as in verse 6, or more pro-
bably as a copyist's slip for 'his oblation,' as iv. 23, 28. 32.

LEVITICUS 5. 10-13. P 57

blood shall be drained out at the base of the altar : it is
a sin offering. And he shall • offer the second for a burnt 10
offering, according to the ordinance : and the priest shall
make atonement for him as concerning his sin which he
hath sinned, and he shall be forgiven.

But if his means suffice not for two turtledoves, or two 1 r
young pigeons, then he shall bring his oblation for that
wherein he hath sinned, the tenth part of an ephah of
fine flour for a sin offering ; he shall put no oil upon it,
neither shall he put any frankincense thereon : for it is a
sin offering. And he shall bring it to the priest, and the 1 2
priest shall take his handful of it as the memorial thereof,
and burn it on the altar, *> upon the offerings of the Lord
made by fire : it is a sin offering. And the priest shall i?,
make atonement for him as touching his sin that he hath
sinned in any of these things, and he shall be forgiven :
and the remnant shall be the priest's, as the meal offering.
a Or, prepare b Ox* after the manner of

11-13 contain a special provision for the very poor of the
community. This admission of a bloodless cereal oblation as
a sin-offering is of importance as showing the untenableness of
the ' life for a life ' theory {poena vicaria) of sacrifice ; see on i. 4.

11. the tenth part of an ephah: lit. 'an Hssaron,'' the measure
elsewhere termed the omer (see Exod. xvi. 36), and equal to about
7 pints. The absence of oil and frankincense distinguishes this
offering from the ordinary meal-offering of ch. ii.

(e} v. 14 — vi. 7. The law of the guilt-offering. Cf. vii. 1-7, Num.
v. 5-8.
The second of the new piacular sacrifices is termed the 'dshdm,
the guilt- or trespass- (so A. V. and R. V. marg.) offering. In the
earlier literature Tishdm denotes a gift (1 Sam. vi. 3f.) or money
payment (2 Kings xii. 16 f.), by which, in addition to restitution,
it was sought to make amends for the wrong committed. There
is a lack of consistency in the attitude of the various priestly
legislators to this piaculum. The leper's guilt-offering (Lev. xiv.
12 ff.), for example, is indistinguishable from an ordinary sin-
offering. In the car.dinal passage now before us, however, the
guilt-offering is plainly prescribed for offences involving the mis-

58 LEVITICUS 5. 14-17. P

T4 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, If any one

15 commit a trespass, and sin unwittingly, in the holy things
of the Lord ; then he shall bring his guilt offering unto
the Lord, a ram without blemish out of the flock,
according to thy estimation in silver by shekels, after the

16 shekel of the sanctuary, for a guilt offering : and he
shall make restitution for that which he hath done amiss
in the holy thing, and shall add the fifth part thereto,
and give it unto the priest : and the priest shall make
atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering, and
he shall be forgiven.

17 And if any one sin, and do any of the things which
the Lord hath commanded not to be done; though he

appropriation of the property of another (vi. 2), especially of the
sacred dues, [ the holy things of the Lord ' (v. 15). Its charac-
teristic feature is the restitution of the property or due withheld,
together with a fine amounting to one-fifth of its value as com-
pensation for the loss sustained. The ritual of the sacrifice is
more fully given in vii. 1-7, where the points of divergence from
the ritual of the ordinary sin-offering will be noted.

15. If any one commit a trespass : rather ' a breach of faith,'
a technical expression in Ezekiel and P especially for breaking
faith with God ; in Num. v. 12, 27 it is used of a wife breaking
faith with her husband.

and sin unwittingly : see on iv. 2. The cases enumerated
in vi. 2f. hardly come under this category; the same difficulty
emerged in connexion with the sin-offering in verse 1.

in the holy thing's of the LORD : the reference is to the
withholding or incomplete rendering of the firstfruits and other
dues of the sanctuary, and to sacrilegious partaking of the flesh of
such sacrificial victims as were the perquisite of the priests (xxii.
14-16).

after the shekel of the sanctuary : the so-called Phoenician
silver shekel of 224 grains, value about 25. gd. The extant
Jewish shekels weigh a little less than this, circa 215-220 grains.
For this identification see the writer's art. f Money ' in Hastings's
DB, iii. 422.

17-19 are a later insertion, breaking the connexion between
v. 1 6 and vi. 1, and probably dating from a time when the dis-
tinction between the two expiatory sacrifices was becoming

LEVITICUS 5. 18—6. 4. P 59

knew it not, yet is he guilty, and shall bear his iniquity.
And he shall bring a ram without blemish out of the 18
flock, according to thy estimation, for a guilt offering,
unto the priest : and the priest shall make atonement for
him concerning the thing wherein he erred unwittingly
and knew it not, and he shall be forgiven. It is a guilt 19
offering : he is certainly guilty before the Lord.

nAnd the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, If any one sin, 6 a
and commit a trespass against the Lord, and deal falsely
with his neighbour in a matter of deposit, or of D bargain,
or of robbery, or have oppressed his neighbour ; or have 3
found that which was lost, and deal falsely therein, and
swear to a lie ; in any of all these that a man doeth, sin-
ning therein : then it shall be, if he hath sinned, and is 4
guilty, that he shall restore that which he took by robbery,

a [Ch. v. 20 in Heb.] b Or, pledge

confused or was not clearly understood. Although the sacrifice
here required is expressly termed a guilt-offering in verse 19,
and the victim is the usual ram, there is no mention of the charac-
teristic fine of one- fifth, and verse 17 is practically identical with
iv. 2 (sin-offering).

vi. 1-7. Guilt-offering for breach of trust towards members of the
community.

The cases of embezzlement, breach of trust, and misappropriation
of property here enumerated strike one, at first sight, as matter
for the criminal courts, as provided for by the early law-code,
Exod. xxii. 1-14. The point of view adopted by the author
appears to be that the guilty person makes voluntary confession
of his offence without the intervention of the law (see on verse 5).
It is important, however, to observe that mere restitution, even
when accompanied by a public confession, is not sufficient. The
majesty of the divine holiness must be vindicated by a guilt-
offering, for in wronging his neighbour the offender has also
broken faith with God, the supreme Guardian of morality.

2. with his neighbour : a fellow-member of the theocratic
community, a term almost confined to the Law of Holiness.

bargain: better, as marg., pledge; property left as security
for a loan or the like.

60 LEVITICUS 6. 5-9. P

or the thing which he hath gotten by oppression, or the
deposit which was committed to him, or the lost thing

5 which he found, or any thing about which he hath sworn
falsely ; he shall even restore it in full, and shall add the
fifth part more thereto : unto him to whom it apper-
tained shall he give it, in the day of his being found

6 guilty. And he shall bring his guilt offering unto the
Lord, a ram without blemish out of the flock, according
to thy estimation, for a guilt offering, unto the priest :

7 and the priest shall make atonement for him before the
Lord, and he shall be forgiven ; concerning whatsoever
he doeth so as to be guilty thereby.

a And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Command
Aaron and his sons, saying, This is the law of the burnt
offering : the burnt offering shall be b on the hearth upon

a [Ch. vi. i in Heb.J b Or, on its firewood

5. in the day of his being- found guilty : /*'/. ' in the day of
his guilt,' i.e. when he makes voluntary acknowledgement of his
guilt, or in the day when he offers his guilt-offering. The R. V.
rendering suggests unfairly the intervention of the authorities.
B. vi. 8— vii. 38. Supplementary Directions for the Ritual
of Sacrifice, addressed to the Priests.

The 'manual for worshippers' is followed by 'a manual for
priests, edited afresh with several additions,' but derived in the
main from the same circle of priestly toroth as chs. i-iii. The
order of treatment is the same as in the preceding chapters,
except that 'the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings' comes last
(vii. 11 ff.). The characteristic introductory formula — 'this is the
law (torali) of — and the special colophon at the close are indica-
tions that the original contents of this subdivision once formed an
independent manual (see p. 37).

(a) vi. 8-13, the law of the burnt-offering. This law has reference
only to the ritual of the public burnt-offering, which was offered
daily, morning and evening ; hence its later name, the Tamid, i.e.
the perpetual (offering). See Exod. xxix. 38-42; Num. xxviii. 3-8.

9. Aaron and his sons : the same editorial adaptation as in i. 5 ;
note especially the change of persons in verses 14 f. below.

LEVITICUS 6. 10-16 P 61

the altar all night unto the morning ; and the lire of the
altar shall be kept burning thereon. And the priest shall 10
put on his linen garment, and his linen breeches shall
he put upon his flesh \ and he shall take up the ashes
whereto the fire hath consumed the burnt offering on the
altar, and he shall put them beside the altar. And he 1 1
shall put off his garments, and put on other garments,
and carry forth the ashes without the camp unto a clean
place. And the fire upon the altar shall be kept burning 12
thereon, it shall not go out ; and the priest shall burn
wood on it every morning : and he shall lay the burnt
offering in order upon it, and shall burn thereon the fat of
the peace offerings. Fire shall be kept burning upon the 13
altar continually ; it shall not go out.

And this is the law of the meal offering : the sons of 14
Aaron shall offer it before the Lord, before the altar.
And he shall take up therefrom his handful, of the fine 15
flour of the meal offering, and of the oil thereof, and all
the frankincense which is upon the meal offering, and
shall burn it upon the altar for a sweet savour, as the
memorial thereof, unto the Lord. And that which is 16
left thereof shall Aaron and his sons eat : it shall be eaten
without leaven in a holy place j in the court of the tent

11. he shall put off his garments : cf. Ezek. xliv. 19, where
the reason is given : ' that (the priests) sanctify not the people
with their garments.' The garments worn by the officiating
priests in the sanctuary were charged with a contagious ' holiness,'
and so became ? a conducting vehicle of a spiritual electricity,'
dangerous to all unconsecrated persons. For this characteristic
feature of primitive religious thought see Robertson Smith,
Religion of the Semites, 2nd ed. (Rel. Sent.2), 446 ff.

(b) 14-18, the law of the meal offering, supplementing the regu-
lations for the private offerings in ch. ii, and having specially in
view the daily meal-offering which accompanied the Tamid (Exod.
xxix. 41 f.).

62 LEVITICUS 6. 17-26. P

1 7 of meeting they shall eat it. It shall not be baken with
leaven. I have given it as their portion of my offerings
made by fire ; it is most holy, as the sin offering, and as

18 the guilt offering. Every male among the children of
Aaron shall eat of it, as a due for ever throughout your
generations, from the offerings of the Lord made by fire :
whosoever toucheth them shall be holy.

'9 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, This is the

20 oblation of Aaron and of his sons, which they shall offer
unto the Lord in the day when he is anointed 3 the tenth
part of an ephah of fine flour for a meal offering perpetually,
half of it in the morning, and half thereof in the evening.

2 1 On a ■ baking pan it shall be made with oil ; when it is
soaked, thou shalt bring it in : in b baken pieces shalt
thou offer the meal offering for a sweet savour unto the

22 Lord. And the anointed priest that shall be in his
stead from among his sons shall offer it : by a statute for

23 ever it shall be wholly burnt unto the Lord. And every
meal offering of the priest shall be wholly burnt : it shall
not be eaten.

2 4 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto

35 Aaron and to his sons, saying, This is the law of the sin

offering : in the place where the burnt offering is killed

shall the sin offering be killed before the Lord : it is

26 most holy. The priest that offereth it for sin shall eat

a See ch. ii. 5. b The meaning of the Hebrew word

is uncertain.

18. whosoever toucheth them shall be lxoly: in modern phrase,
' shall be taboo,' and his life forfeited, though doubtless a ransom
was provided. The underlying idea is the same as in verse 11.

19-23 deal with the special meal-offering which was presented
every morning and evening bj' the High Priest, or at least at his
expense (Josephus, Atltiq. III. x. 7). In verse 20 the words 'in
the day when he is anointed ' are a gloss due to a confusion of this
meal-offering with that prescribed in viii. 26, ix. 4.

LEVITICUS 6.27—7. i.i IF 63

it : in a holy place shall it be eaten, in the court of the
tent of meeting. a Whatsoever shall touch the flesh 2 7
thereof shall be holy : and when there is sprinkled of
the blood thereof upon any garment, thou shalt wash
that whereon it was sprinkled in a holy place. But the 28
earthen vessel wherein it is sodden shall be broken : and
if it be sodden in a brasen vessel, it shall be scoured,
and rinsed in water. Every male among the priests shall 29
eat thereof: it is most holy. And no sin offering, 30
whereof any of the blood is brought into the tent of
meeting to make atonement in the holy place, shall be
eaten : it shall be burnt with fire.

And this is the law of the guilt offering : it is most 7
a Or, Whosoever

(c) 24-30, the law of the sin-offering, with special reference,
however, to sin-offerings of the second grade, the flesh of which
might be eaten by the priests (see above, p. 50).

27. We should render probably, with LXX and R.V. margin :
< Whosoever shall touch,' &c, as in verse 18. Verses 27, 28 afford
an illustration of the fundamental unity of the ideas underlying
the antique conceptions of • holiness ' and ' uncleanness.' The
blood of the sin-offering, the most potent medium of expiation, is
sacrosanct in the highest degree, yet its holiness is here and else-
where treated as a stain that requires to be, and is capable of
being, washed off. In the case of a porous earthen vessel, the
infection was so great that it had to be destroyed. The Jews in
our Lord's day even spoke of the holy scriptures as ' defiling the
hands,' which had therefore to be washed after contact with a roll
of the Law or other canonical book. Hag. ii. 12 f. shows that
the contagion of uncleanness was regarded as more powerful than
the contagion of holiness. For the whole subject, see Robertson
Smith, op. cit., and Lagrange, Etudes sur les Religions Semitiques,
ch. iv : Saintete et Impurete.

(d) vii. 1-10, the laiv of the guilt-offering, containing the ritual
instructions omitted from v. 14 ff. The ritual of the guilt-offering
differs from that of the allied sin-offering chiefly in two respects.
(1) The victim does not vary with the rank of the offender but is
uniformly a ram (v. 15, vi. 6), the ' expiation ram ' of Num. v. 8 ;
(a) similarly the manipulation of the blood agrees with that

64 LEVITICUS 7. 2-10. P

2 holy. In the place where they kill the burnt offering
shall they kill the guilt offering : and the blood thereoi

3 shall he sprinkle upon the altar round about. And he
shall offer of it all the fat thereof ; the fat tail, and the

4 fat that covereth the inwards, and the two kidneys, and
the fat that is on them, which is by the loins, and the
caul upon the liver, awith the kidneys, shall he take

5 away : and the priest shall burn them upon the altar for
an offering made by fire unto the Lord: it is a guilt

6 offering. Every male among the priests shall eat thereof:

7 it shall be eaten in a holy place : it is most holy. As is
the sin offering, so is the guilt offering : there is one law
for them : the priest that maketh atonement therewith,

8 he shall have it. And the priest that offereth any man's
burnt offering, even the priest shall have to himself the

9 skin of the burnt offering which he hath offered. And
every meal offering that is baken in the oven, and all
that is dressed in the frying pan, and on the b baking

10 pan, shall be the priest's that offereth it. And every
meal offering, mingled with oil, or dry shall all the sons
of Aaron have, one as well as another.
a See ch. iii. 4.

prescribed for the older sacrifices — ' sprinkle upon ' in vii. 2
should be 'dash against' (see on i. 5)— as compared with the
more intense and complicated blood-rite of the sin-offering. As
regards the disposal of the flesh, the guilt-offering agrees with the
sin-offerings of the second grade. In both cases it is < most holy.'
For verses 3 f. see the notes on iii. 9 f.

7-10. An appendix regulating the priest's share in the several
offerings (cf. verses 31-34).

(e) 11-21, 28-36. The laivofthe peace-offerwg, or sacrifice of re-
quital (see p. 44). Its contents are now split into two sections
by the intrusion of verses 22-27. Important is the information
here given as to the various kinds of recompense offerings, viz. the
thank-offering properly so called, the votive offering, and the free-
will offering.

LEVITICUS 7. n-r6. P 65

And this is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings, r 1
which one shall offer unto the Lord. If he offer it for 12
a thanksgiving, then he shall offer with the sacrifice of
thanksgiving unleavened cakes mingled with oil, and
unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and cakes mingled
with oil, of fine flour soaked. With cakes of leavened 13
bread he shall offer his oblation with the sacrifice of his
peace offerings for thanksgiving. And of it he shall offer 14
one out of each oblation for an heave offering unto the
Lord ; it shall be the priest's that sprinkleth the blood
of the peace offerings. And the flesh of the sacrifice of 15
his peace offerings for thanksgiving shall be eaten on the
day of his oblation ; he shall not leave any of it until
the morning. But if the sacrifice of his oblation be a 16

12. for a thanksgiving : lit. 'for a thank-offering' ; it is the
' sacrifice of thanksgiving ' of xxii. 29 and Amos iv. 5 (cf. Ps. lvi. 12,
R. V.). The regulations deal first with the accompanying cereal
oblation, and then with the disposal of the flesh.

14. for an heave offering: an unfortunate rendering, sug-
gestive of heaving or throwing, whereas the original, terumah,
denotes something ' lifted off' from a large whole, and dedicated
either to God directly, or to His representatives the priests.
Here it is applied to the priest's share of the cereal offering
which accompanied the thank-offering; in verse 32, to ' the right
thigh ' of the sacrificial victim which likewise fell to the priest.
Accordingly, ' as an oblation to the Lord,' 'as a selected portion,'
' as a contribution,' have all been recently suggested as renderings
here (cf. verse 34).

15. The position of the thank-offering proper at the head of the
several varieties of recompense offerings is shown by the special
precaution taken to guard against the flesh becoming putrid. It
had to be eaten on the day on which it was offered; compare the
early law, Exod. xxiii. 18, and contrast the laxer provisions in the
verses here following. See also on xix. 5 ff, xxii. 17 ff., 29 f.

16. if the sacrifice ... he avow : rather, ' be a votive offering ',
i. e. a sacrifice in fulfilment of a vow. For this sacrifice in early
times, see Judges xi. 30, 34 ff. (Jephthah), and 2 Sam. xv. 7, 12
(Absalom). Special legislation on the important subject of vows
is found in xxvii. 1-13 below, and Num. xxx. 1-16. The freewill
offering, named along with 'vows' also Lev. xxii. 18 ff, Deut.

66 LEVITICUS 7. 17-21. P

vow, or a freewill offering, it shall be eaten on the day
that he offereth his sacrifice : and on the morrow that

17 which remaineth of it shall be eaten: but that which
remaineth of the flesh of the sacrifice on the third day

1 8 shall be burnt with fire. And if any of the flesh of the
sacrifice of his peace offerings be eaten on the third day,
it shall not be accepted, neither shall it be imputed unto
him that offereth it : it shall be an abomination, and the

19 soul that eateth of it shall bear his iniquity. And the
flesh that toucheth any unclean thing shall not be eaten ;
it shall be burnt with fire. And as for the flesh, every

20 one that is clean shall eat thereof : but the soul that
eateth of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace offerings, that
pertain unto the Lord, having his uncleanness upon

21 him, that soul shall be cut off from his people. And
when any one shall touch any unclean thing, the unclean-
ness of man, or an unclean beast, or any unclean abomi-
nation, and eat of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace
offerings, which pertain unto the Lord, that soul shall
be cut off from his people.

xii. 6, was a spontaneous expression of the worshipper's gratitude
to the Giver of all. For it alone were blemished victims accepted
(Lev. xxii. 23).

18. an abomination: the original (piggul) is a technical term
for putrid sacrificial flesh. 'Abomination,' as applied to unclean
creatures in verse 21, xi. 11 ff. and elsewhere, represents an
entirely different word in the original.

19 f. The sacrificial meal was so essential a part of the rite of
sacrifice that only those ceremonially clean could be allowed to
share in it. The penalty for a breach of this fundamental principle
of worship, which is common to all early religions, is expressed by
the words

20. that soul shall be cut off from his people : more precisely,
i from his kinsfolk.' It has been much discussed whether death
or excommunication is the penalty intended by this characteristic
expression of P v'see the ingenious presentation of the case by
Gunkel, quoted by G. B. Gray, Commentary on Num. ix. 13).

LEVITICUS 7. 22-29. P 67

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto 05
the children of Israel, saying, Ye shall eat no fat, of ox,
or sheep, or goat. And the fat of that which dieth of 24
itself, and the fat of that which is torn of beasts, may be
used for any other service : but ye shall in no wise eat
of it. For whosoever eateth the fat of the beast, of 25
which men offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord,
even the soul that eateth it shall be cut off from his
people. And ye shall eat no manner of blood, whether 26
it be of fowl or of beast, in any of your dwellings.
Whosoever it be that eateth any blood, that soul shall be 27
cut off from his people.

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto 2
the children of Israel, saying, He that offereth the
sacrifice of his peace offerings unto the Lord shall
bring his oblation unto the Lord out of the sacrifice

The milder penalty is the more probable, for the use of the term
' from his kinsfolk ' suggests that the phrase is a survival cf tribal
jurisprudence, according to which, as among the Bedouin Arabs
of the present day1, a sentence of outlawry was the penalty for
certain heinous offences (cf. the case of Cain, Gen. iv. 14, and the
Code of Hammurabi, sects. 154, 158). The authors of the Priests'
Code doubtless regarded the offender as handed over to 'the
judgement of God.'

22-2*7, an intrusive and later section expanding the general
prohibition of fat and blood given in iii. 17. The fat 'of the
omentum and the organs that lie in and near it,' which 'accord-
ing to Semitic ideas were a not less important seat of life ' than
the blood itself (see W. R. Smith, Rel. Sem. 2, 379 f.), is
here associated with the blood as a food taboo. As distinguished
from blood, however, which was universally interdicted, the fat
taboo was restricted to animals actually offered in sacrifice. It
does not apply, besides, to the muscular fat of any class of clean
animal. For the highly technical distinction in verse 24 see on
xvii. 15.

28-36. The ritual of the peace-offering is here resumed in con-

1 Jaussen, Coutumes des Arabes (1908), 226 ff.; Musil, Arabia
Petrcea \\ 908), iii. Go, 335.

F 2

68 LEVITICUS 7. 30-34, *

30 of his peace offerings : his own hands shall bring the
offerings of the Lord made by fire; the fat with the
breast shall he bring, that the breast may be waved for

31 a wave offering before the Lord. And the priest shall
burn the fat upon the altar : but the breast shall be

32 Aaron's and his sons'. And the right a thigh shall ye
give unto the priest for an heave offering out of the

33 sacrifices of your peace offerings. He among the sons
of Aaron, that offereth the blood of the peace offerings,
and the fat, shall have the right a thigh for a portion.

34 For the wave breast and the heave a thigh have I taken
of the children of Israel out of the sacrifices of their
peace offerings, and have given them unto Aaron the
priest and unto his sons as a due for ever from the
children of Israel.

tinuation of verse 21. The section deals with the portions of the
sacrificial victim falling to the officiating priest. The important
and intricate subject of the priests' dues from this source is dealt
with in several parts of the Pentateuchal legislation. A study of
these reveals a gradual increase in the amount of the priestly per-
quisites. In the early period represented by 1 Sam. ii. 13-16,
' what was due to the priest from the people ' was apparently left
to the worshipper's discretion (see Cent. Bible in he). Deut. xviii. 3
assigns to the priest ' the shoulder, and the two cheeks, and the
maw.' In this section the priests' dues are stated to be the more
valuable breast and right thigh or hind quarter (so x. 14 f., Exod.
xxix. 27 f.). On this discrepancy see the discussion by Driver,
Deuteronomy, p. 215 f. The corresponding dues exacted by the
Babylonian priesthood are discussed by Haupt in the Journ. of
Bib. Literature, xix. 59 f., 75. See further on Num. xviii. 8 ff.

30. waved for a wave offering : the original term {tenuphah)
denotes a movement to and fro, the priest taking up the breast and
' waving ' it to and fro in the direction of the altar, thus symbolizing
its presentation to God and His return of it to His representative.

34. wave breast . . . heave thigh : ' the breast that is waved
and the thigh that is set apart* (Addis). For the latter see
verse 14.

LEVITICUS 7. 35_8. 2. P 69

This is the a anointing-portion of Aaron, and the 35
anointing-portion of his sons, out of the offerings of
the Lord made by fire, in the day when he presented
them to minister unto the Lord in the priest's office ;
which the Lord commanded to be given them of the 36
children of Israel, in the day that he anointed them.
It is a due for ever throughout their generations. This 37
is the law of the burnt offering, of the meal offering,
and of the sin offering, and of the guilt offering, and of
the consecration, and of the sacrifice of peace offerings j
which the Lord commanded Moses in mount Sinai, in 38
the day that he commanded the children of Israel to
offer their oblations unto the Lord, in the wilderness
of Sinai.

b And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Take 8 2

a Or, portion b See Ex. xxix.

35. the anointing-portion (cf. A. V.) : on etymological grounds
the rendering of the margin is alone admissible. Moreover,
neither Aaron nor his sons have yet been anointed, a fact which
compels us to regard the last clause of verse 36 as a later gloss
(cf. vi. 20).

37 f., originally the colophon of the present subdivision (vi. 8 —
vii. 36), not of chaps, i-vii as a whole. This is evident from the
words I in mount Sinai ' as compared with ' the tent of meeting '
in i. 1. Note also the similarity of the introductory formulae,
verse 37 and vi. 8, 14, &c, above referred to, and the identity of the
order of the several entries, with the exception of the intrusive
entry ' and of the consecration ' which does not belong here.

Second Division. Chapters VIII-X.

The Consecration and Installation of the Aaronic
Priesthood.

In these chapters we are brought back to the main stream of the
priestly History of Israel's Religious Institutions (Ps). They
record the carrying out of the divine instructions, given in Exod.
xxix, regarding the installation of Aaron and his sons as the only
legitimate priests of the wilderness sanctuary. This restriction of

7o LEVITICUS 8. 3-7. P

Aaron and his sons with him, and the garments, and
the anointing oil, and the bullock of the sin offering,
and the two rams, and the basket of unleavened bread ;

3 and assemble thou all the congregation at the door

4 of the tent of meeting. And Moses did as the Lord
commanded him j and the congregation was assembled

5 at the door of the tent of meeting. And Moses said
unto the congregation, This is the thing which the Lord

6 hath commanded to be done. And Moses brought

7 Aaron and his sons, and washed them with water. And
he put upon him the coat, and girded him with the
girdle, and clothed him with the robe, and put the ephod
upon him, and he girded him with the cunningly woven
band of the ephod, and bound it unto him therewith.

the priestly office to an exclusive hereditary caste represents the
final stage in the history of priesthood in Israel.

Chs. viii-x seem, on the whole, as has been said, to have formed
part of the groundwork of the Priests' Code (Pg). In several
passages, however, where the ritual is more elaborate, the work
of later hands may be detected (see the notes below). The
sections correspond to the several chapters.

(a) viii. Consecration of Aaron and his sons.

The consecration of the future High Priest — the most prominent
element in the narrative — was accomplished in three stages :
(1) the washing; (a) the vesting; (3) the special consecration
rite, consisting of the following f actions ' : the anointing or
'sacring' of the High Priest, the consecration of his person by
a peculiar blood-rite, and finally (in the present text) the sprinkling
of himself and his garments with, probably, a mixture of oil and
blood— all accompanied by the offering of prescribed sacrifices,
a sin offering, a burnt-offering, and a special consecration offering.

2. See Exod. xxix, the notes on which in Bennett, Cent. Bible,
should be consulted throughout.

7-9. The vesting of Aaron with the robes of his office. For the
several items, see op. cit. on Exod. xxviii. The presence should
be noted of two of the insignia of kingship in antiquity, the purple
robe (me'il), for which a new identification will be found in the
writer's art. 'Dress' in Hastings's DB., 1909), and the 'holy crown'
or diadem. The High Priest combines in his person the civil as

LEVITICUS 8. 8-16. P 71

And he placed the breastplate upon him : and in the s
breastplate he put athe Urim and the Thummim. And 9
he set the b mitre upon his head ; and upon the b mitre,
in front, did he set the golden plate, the holy crown ; as
the Lord commanded Moses. And Moses took the 10
anointing oil, and anointed the tabernacle and all that
was therein, and sanctified them. And he sprinkled "
thereof upon the altar seven times, and anointed the
altar and ail its vessels, and the laver and its base, to
sanctify them. And he poured of the anointing oil u
upon Aaron's head, and anointed him, to sanctify him.
And Moses brought Aaron's sons, and clothed them 13
with coats, and girded them with girdles, and bound
headtires upon them ; as the Lord commanded Moses.
And he brought the bullock of the sin offering: and 14
Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head of
the bullock of the sin offering. And he slew it ; and 1 5
Moses took the blood, and put it upon the horns of the
altar round about with his finger, and purified the altar,
and poured out the blood at the base of the altar, and
sanctified it, to make atonement for it. And he took all 16
a That is, the Lights and the Perfections. b Or, turban

well as the religious headship of the theocratic community. The
anointing, a rite in the earlier literature associated only with
kings, is to be viewed in the same light.

8 f. See the corresponding arts, in Hastings's DB.

10. The first clause of this verse was originally part of verse 12,
the intervening words being an insertion which interrupts the
ceremony and is without warrant in Exod. xxix.

13. Neither here nor in Exod. xxix is there any mention of the
anointing of Aaron's sons, the ordinary priests. See on iv. 3.

15. Comparison with Exod. xxix. 12 shows that the latter half
of this verse has received considerable and inappropriate additions.
Note that the blood of the High Priest's sin-offering is applied as
prescribed by Exod., loc. tit., as compared with the more intense
application required by iv. 6 ; cf. note on iv. 25.

72 LEVITICUS 8. 17-24. P

the fat that was upon the inwards, and the caul of the
liver, and the two kidneys, and their fat, and Moses

17 burned it upon the altar. But the bullock, and its skin,
and its flesh, and its dung, he burnt with fire without

18 the camp ; as the Lord commanded Moses. And he
presented the ram of the burnt offering : and Aaron and
his sons laid their hands upon the head of the ram.

1 9 And he killed it : and Moses sprinkled the blood upon

20 the altar round about. And he cut the ram into its
pieces ; and Moses burnt the head, and the pieces, and

21 the fat. And he washed the inwards and the legs with
water ; and Moses burnt the whole ram upon the altar :
it was a burnt offering for a sweet savour : it was an
offering made by fire unto the Lord ; as the Lord

22 commanded Moses. And he presented the other ram,
the ram of consecration : and Aaron and his sons laid

23 their hands upon the head of the ram. And he slew it j
and Moses took of the blood thereof, and put it upon
the tip of Aaron's right ear, and upon the thumb of his
right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot.

24 And he brought Aaron's sons, and Moses put of the
blood upon the tip of their right ear, and upon the
thumb of their right hand, and upon the great toe of
their right foot : and Moses sprinkled the blood upon

22. the ram of consecration: rather, 'of installation' ; see
note on verse 33.

23 f. Further consecration of Aaron and his sons by a graphic
symbolic action, the anointing of the extremities with the sacrificial
blood to represent the consecration of the whole body. This
explanation suits the only other instance of this blood-rite, xiv.
14, 25, and is to be preferred to that which lays stress on the
parts anointed, ear, hand, foot. Thus Dillman says : ' the priest
must have consecrated ears to hear always God's holy voice, con-
secrated hands at all times to do holy works, and consecrated feet
to walk evermore in holy ways.'

LEVITICUS 8. 25-31. P 73

the altar round about. And he took the fat, and the 25
fat tail, and all the fat that was upon the inwards, and
the caul of the liver, and the two kidneys, and their fat,
and the right a thigh : and out of the basket of unleavened 26
bread, that was before the Lord, he took one unleavened
cake, and one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer, and
placed them on the fat, and upon the right thigh : and 2 7
he put the whole upon the hands of Aaron, and upon
the hands of his sons, and waved them for a wave
offering before the Lord. And Moses took them from 28
off their hands, and burnt them on the altar upon the
burnt offering : they were a consecration for a sweet
savour : it was an offering made by fire unto the Lord.
And Moses took the breast, and waved it for a wave 29
offering before the Lord : it was Moses' portion of the
ram of consecration j as the Lord commanded Moses.
And Moses took of the anointing oil, and of the blood 30
which was upon the altar, and sprinkled it upon Aaron,
upon his garments, and upon his sons, and upon his
sons' garments with him ; and sanctified Aaron, his
garments, and his sons, and his sons' garments with him.
And Moses said unto Aaron and to his sons, Boil the 31
flesh at the door of the tent of meeting : and there eat
it and the bread that is in the basket of consecration,
h as I commanded, saying, Aaron and his sons shall eat

a Or, shoulder b The Sept., Onkelos and Syr. read, as

I am commanded. See ver. 35, ch. x. 13.

25 f. See on iii. 3 f. and ii. 4 ff. respectively.

29. it was Moses' portion: in virtue of his being, on this
occasion, the officiating priest.

30. Most recent critics regard this third 'action' as a later
addition.

31. Read as in the margin, and as in verse 35.

74 LEVITICUS 8. 32—9. 4. P

3a it. And that which remaineth of the flesh and of the

33 bread shall ye burn with fire. And ye shall not go out
from the door of the tent of meeting seven days, until
the days of your consecration be fulfilled : for he shall

34 a consecrate you seven days. As hath been done this
day, so the Lord hath commanded to do, to make

35 atonement for you. And at the door of the tent of
meeting shall ye abide day and night seven days, and
keep the charge of the Lord, that ye die not : for so

36 I am commanded. And Aaron and his sons did all the
things which the Lord commanded by the hand of
Moses.

9 And it came to pass on the eighth day, that Moses

a called Aaron and his sons, and the elders of Israel j and

he said unto Aaron, Take thee a bull calf for a sin

offering, and a ram for a burnt offering, without blemish,

3 and offer them before the Lord. And unto the children
of Israel thou shalt speak, saying, Take ye a he-goat for
a sin offering ; and a calf and a lamb, both of the first

4 year, without blemish, for a burnt offering ; and an ox

a Heb. fill your hand.

33. he shall consecrate you seven days : lit. ' your hand shall
be filled for seven days ' ; i.e. the installation ceremony is to extend
over this period, the sacrifices being probably repeated each day.
The origin of the expression ' to fill the hand,' used here and
elsewhere for ! to instal one in an office,' is uncertain. It may
have been borrowed from the similar Babylonian phrase.

(6) ix. Aaron and his sons enter upon their office.

On the expiry of the period above referred to, Aaron and his
sons enter solemnly upon their office as priests of Yahweh.
Assisted by his sons, the new High Priest first offers the sacrifices
prescribed for himself and his house, and thereafter those for the
whole congregation. It is characteristic of the author of Ps to
embody his legislation in concrete examples as historical pre-
cedents for the future. In this chapter, accordingly, we have
a condensed ritual of sacrifice -all the principal varieties except
the gu'lt-offering being represented.

LEVITICUS 9. 5-14. P 75

and a ram for peace offerings, to sacrifice before the
Lord ; and a meal offering mingled with oil : for to-day
the Lord appeareth unto you. And they brought that 5
which Moses commanded before the tent of meeting :
and all the congregation drew near and stood before the
Lord. And Moses said, This is the thing which the &
Lord commanded that ye should do : and the glory of
the Lord shall appear unto you. And Moses said unto 7
Aaron, Draw near unto the altar, and offer thy sin offer-
ing, and thy burnt offering, and make atonement for
thyself, and for the people : and offer the oblation of the
people, and make atonement for them ; as the Lord
commanded. So Aaron drew near unto the altar, and 8
slew the calf of the sin offering, which was for himself.
And the sons of Aaron presented the blood unto him : 9
and he dipped his finger in the blood, and put it upon
the horns of the altar, and poured out the blood at the
base of the altar: but the fat, and the kidneys, and the 10
caul from the liver of the sin offering, he burnt upon the
altar j as the Lord commanded Moses. And the flesh 1 1
and the skin he burnt with fire without the camp. And I3
he slew the burnt offering ; and Aaron's sons delivered
unto him the blood, and he sprinkled it upon the altar
round about. And they delivered the burnt offering 13
unto him, piece by piece, and the head : and he burnt
them upon the altar. And he washed the inwards and *4

6. the glory of the LORD : a manifestation of the Deity
likened in Exod. xxiv. 17 to the appearance of a 'devouring fire.'
See the art. 'Glory,' by G. B. Gray, in Hastings's DB., ii ; cf.
Kautzsch, ibid., v. 639 f.

7-14. The sacrifices, a sin offering and a burnt-offering, for the
priesthood. For 'and for the people' read with LXX, 'and for
thy house,' as the context requires.

9. the altar : here, as always in the oldest stratum of P, the
altar of burnt-ofiering.

76 LEVITICUS 9. 15-23. P

the legs, and burnt them upon the burnt offering on the

15 altar. And he presented the people's oblation, and took
the goat of the sin offering which was for the people,

16 and slew it, and offered it for sin, as the first. And he
presented the burnt offering, and offered it according

17 to the ordinance. And he presented the meal offering,
and filled his hand therefrom, and burnt it upon the

18 altar, besides the burnt offering of the morning. He
slew also the ox and the ram, the sacrifice of peace
offerings, which was for the people : and Aaron's sons
delivered unto him the blood, and he sprinkled it upon

1 9 the altar round about, and the fat of the ox; and of the
ram, the fat tail, and that which covereth the inwards^

20 and the kidneys, and the caul of the liver : and they put
the fat upon the breasts, and he burnt the fat upon the

2 1 altar : and the breasts and the right thigh Aaron waved
for a wave offering before the Lord ; as Moses com-

22 manded. And Aaron lifted up his hands toward the
people, and blessed them ; and he came down from
offering the sin offering, and the burnt offering, and the

23 peace offerings. And Moses and Aaron went into the
tent of meeting, and came out, and blessed the people :

15-21. The priests, having offered sacrifices of expiation and
worship on their own behalf, now proceed to offer on behalf of the
people the sacrifice for the removal of the barrier which their sins
have raised between them and a holy God, and thereafter those by
which their covenant relation to Him is renewed.

15. as the first : i. e. in the same manner as his (Aaron's) own
sin-offering. The last clause of verse 17 is regarded by Kautzsch
as ' an unintelligible gloss.'

21. and the right thigh: this was a 'heave,' not a 'wave,'
offering; see vii. 32. The words have been inserted under the
influence of vii. 34 ; so also in x. 14 f.

22 f. The people twice receive the priestly benediction (Num. vi.
24-26), first from Aaron alone at the close of the sacrificial service,
and again from Moses and Aaron jointly.

LEVITICUS 9. 24-IO.

/ /

and the glory of the Lord appeared unto all the people.
And there came forth fire from before the Lord, and 24
consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat :
and when all the people saw it, they shouted, and fell on
their faces.

And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took each 10
of them his censer, and put fire therein, and laid incense
thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which
he had not commanded them. And there came forth 2
fire from before the Lord, and devoured them, and they
died before the Lord. Then Moses said unto Aaron, 3
This is it that the Lord spake, saying, I will be sanctified

24. In view of the sacrifices already offered, the text can
scarcely mean that the altar fire was first kindled by fire issuing
from the Tabernacle, as in the cases recorded in Judges vi. 21,
1 Kings xviii. 38, but rather that the portions of sacrificial flesh
still upon the altar -hearth were suddenly consumed by the divine
fire. The people ' shouted' for joy, seeing in this incident a sure
sign of Yahweh's acceptance of their offerings.

For a breach of the sacrificial ritual the two elder sons of Aaron
(Exod. vi. 23) are punished by death (1-5). P here incorporates
a tradition current in priestly circles, which emphasizes a principle
common to all ancient rituals, viz. the need for the most rigid
observance of the prescribed rules ; it further explains the absence
from the legitimate priesthood of descendants of the elder branches
of the Aaronic family (cf. Num. iii. 4). The original continuation
of verses 1-5 is found in 12-15. To these sections others of
various content and date have been added by later hands. Ch. xvi,
in its original form, must once have followed closely on this
chapter.

1. As in xvi. 12 f., the incense is offered in a censer, a large
metal spoon holding live charcoal on which the incense was
burned. The special altar of incense appears only in the secondary
strata of P, as Exod. xxx ; cf. notes on xvi. 18, Num. iv. 11.

strange fire : the charcoal, it may be conjectured, had not
been taken, as prescribed, from the hearth of the consecrated
altar of burnt-offering (xvi. 13) ; cf. 'strange incense' (Exod. xxx.
9), and ' strange worship,' the late Heb. equivalent of ' idolatry.'

78 LEVITICUS 10. 4-10. P

in them that a come nigh me, and before all the people

4 I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace. And
Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel
the uncle of Aaron, and said unto them, Draw near,
carry your brethren from before the sanctuary out of the

5 camp. So they drew near, and carried them in their

6 coats out of the camp ; as Moses had said. And Moses
said unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar,
his sons, b Let not the hair of your heads go loose, neither
rend your clothes ; that ye die not, and that he be not
wroth with all the congregation : but let your brethren,
the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning which the

7 Lord hath kindled. And ye shall not go out from the
door of the tent of meeting, lest ye die : for the anointing
oil of the Lord is upon you. And they did according
to the word of Moses.

8 And the Lord spake unto Aaron, saying, Drink no

9 wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee,
when ye go into the tent of meeting, that ye die not :
it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations :

10 and c that ye may put difference between the holy and

tt Or, are nigh b Some ancient versions

render. Uncover not your heads. ° Or. ye shall

6 f . A later hand— note the assumption that the ordinary priests
were also anointed — has here extended to the rank and file of
the priesthood the prohibition of certain mourning rites, which in
xxi. 10 ff. are prescribed only for the High Priest.

8 f. Reinforcement of Ezekiel's demand for abstinence, xliv. 21 ;
the prohibition applies only to the period when the priests are
on duty.

10 f. The function of the Hebrew priest as the instructor
(giver of torah, ' direction ') of the people on points of ceremonial
observance is older historically than his exclusive right to serve
at the altar. The twofold dichotomy here referred to (cf. Ezek.
xxii. 26, xliv. 23s) is of the first importance for the understanding
of almost all primitive religions, and not least of the ceremonial

LEVITICUS 10. u-15.. P 79

the common, and between the unclean and the clean ;
and athat ye may teach the children of Israel all the ii
statutes which the Lord hath spoken unto them by the
hand of Moses.

And Moses spake unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar and 12
unto Ithamar, his sons that were left, Take the meal
offering that remaineth of the offerings of the Lord
made by fire, and eat it without leaven beside the altar :
for it is most holy : and ye shall eat it in a holy place, 1 3
because it is thy due, and thy sons' due, of the offerings
of the Lord made by fire : for so I am commanded.
And the wave breast and the heave thigh shall ye eat in r4
a clean place; thou, and thy sons, and thy daughters
with thee : for they are given as thy due, and thy sons'
due, out of the sacrifices of the peace offerings of the
children of Israel. The heave thigh and the wave breast 15
shall they bring with the offerings made by fire of the

a Or, ye shall

institutions of the Hebrews. Of the first pair of mutually exclusive
spheres ' the common ' comprises all such things as men may
freely use without fear of supernatural penalties ; ' the holy '
comprises things of which, in virtue of their connexion with a
supernatural power or influence, the use is restricted, or altogether
forbidden, to men ; in other words, things which are temporarily
or permanently ' taboo.' Holiness, in short, in its primitive sense
is non-moral, being ' essentially a restriction on the licence of man
in the use of natural things . . . enforced by dread of supernatural
penalties' (Rel. Sem.2, 152 ff., and Additional Note, 446 ff.,
j Holiness, Uncleanness, and Taboo '). For the kindred dichotomy,
'the clean' and 'the unclean,' or 'the pure' and 'the impure,'
see the introductory remarks to the following chapter.

12-15. Directions based, according to P's manner, on a con-
crete instance as a precedent, regarding the consumption of the
priest's share in the meal- and peace-offerings. We have already
met with the later and more detailed instructions in vi. 1 6, vii. 3 1 ff.
For the distinction between 'holy' and 'most holy' in this
connexion, see on ii. 3.

15. The first three words are to be deleted ; note the singular
pronoun, ' to wave it,' with reference to the wave breast only.

80 LEVITICUS 10. 16-20. P

fat, to wave it for a wave offering before the Lord : and
it shall be thine, and thy sons' with thee, as a due for
ever ; as the Lord hath commanded.

16 And Moses diligently sought the goat of the sin
offering, and, behold, it was burnt : and he was angry
with Eleazar and with Ithamar, the sons of Aaron that

17 were left, saying, Wherefore have ye not eaten the sin
offering in the place of the sanctuary, seeing it is most
holy, and he hath given it you a to bear the iniquity of
the congregation, to make atonement for them before

18 the Lord? Behold, the blood of it was not brought
into the sanctuary within : ye should certainly have eaten

19 it in the sanctuary, as I commanded. And Aaron spake
unto Moses, Behold, this day have they offered their sin
offering and their burnt offering before the Lord ; and
there have befallen me such things as these : and if
I had eaten the sin offering to-day, would it have been

20 well-pleasing in the sight of the Lord ? And when
Moses heard that, it was well-pleasing in his sight.

"Or, to take away

16-20. A late and perplexing section, the most probable
explanation of which is to be sought in the gradual development
of the ritual of the sin-offering. According to the later formulation
of the rite, only when the blood had been 'brought into the tent
of meeting' was the flesh of the sin-offering to be burnt (vi. 30 ;
cf, iv. 16 f.). In the case before us, based on the earlier practice,
this had not been done ; the flesh, therefore, should have been
eaten by the priests, as Moses expected (verses 17 f.). Aaron
excuses himself — and Moses is represented as accepting the
excuse as valid — on the ground of the calamity that had just before
overtaken his house in the death of his sons. In reality, we have
here an interesting proof that the discrepancies in the ritual of
sacrifice were recognized by the post-exilic priesthood, and that
attempts, not without their parallels even at the present day, were
made to explain them away.

LEVITICUS 11-16 81

Third Division — Chapters XI-XVI.

Laws relating to Uncleanness and Purification, including
the special rltes of the day of atonement.

One of the oldest and most important functions of the Hebrew
priesthood was, as we have seen, to ' put difference between the
holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean '
(x. 10 f, where see note). This ' difference ' is the main subject
of the following chapters, in which ' the subject of sacrifice, with
which the priesthood is first concerned (chs. i-x), now makes
way for the treatment of uncleanness and purification under four
heads : animals, xi ; childbirth, xii ; leprosy, xiii-xiv ; issues, xv '
(C. — H. Hex. ii. 153). As has been already indicated, ch. xvi
in its original form is the natural continuation of ch. x, so that
chs. xi-xv are now regarded as forming, like chs. i-vii, a separate
collection of toroth, originally independent of the historical
groundwork Pe.

As regards the subject-matter of this division of Leviticus, it has
been truly said that 'among the varied religious acts of man
there is probably none that has been so widely prevalent through-
out the different races of mankind as the ritual of purification,
nor does any idea seem to have possessed so strong a legislative
power in the various departments of our life as the concept of
purity ' (L. R. Farnell, 27?*? Evolution of Religion, p. 88) %

The chapters we are about to study represent a relatively late
formulation — the final development is found in the Mishna,
especially in the treatises comprised in its sixth and last division —
of practices which in essentials are as old as the Hebrew race
itself. The underlying conceptions, indeed, as the results of
comparative anthropology and comparative religion have abun-
dantly proved, go back to the very beginnings of religious
development. All over the world it has been found that to
primitive thought certain objects and certain conditions and
functions of the body are regarded as mysterious, 'uncanny,'
and 'not to be lightly handled or approached.' Under a deve-
loped animism the uncanniness and danger of these objects and
states, such as blood, sexual intercourse, childbirth, a corpse, &c,

1 There could be no better introduction to the study of the follow-
ing chapters from the point of view of the evolution of religious
thought and practice than the suggestive essay of which the above is
the opening sentence. Its full title runs : ' The Ritual of Purification
and the Conception of Purity : their Influence on Religion, Morality,
and Social Custom.' A shorter study will be found in the excellent
article 'Clean und Unclean,' by A. W. F. Blunt, in Hastings's DB.
Pr'909).

S2 LEVITICUS 11. i. P

11 And the Lord spake unto Moses and to Aaron,

are explained as due to the presence of malignant spirits which
have to be removed by rites of purgation and purification. Water
and fire are everywhere regarded as the two most powerful
cathartic media. A third stage is reached when these primitive
conceptions of taboo are adjusted to the teachings of the higher
religions. Uncleanness is now viewed primarily as a state or
condition ivhich excludes from the worship of the deity. From being
a quality scarcely distinguishable from holiness, uncleanness
becomes a summary description of everything that is opposed
thereto ; in Hebrew thought it is, before all, the condition which
offends and injures the holiness of Yahweh. Hence the charac-
teristic motive for the observance of the Levitical legislation on
the subject : a holy God can only be worshipped by a holy
people ; only a holy people can live in harmonious relations with
a holy God (xi. 44, and often in xvii-xxvi).

On the whole subject see the epoch-making exposition by
Robertson Smith, Rel. Sem? (cf. note on x. 10), also Lagrange
as cited on vi. 27 f. An exhaustive bibliography is given in
Harper, The Priestly Element in the O. T., pp. 126-8, 284.

(a) xi. Laws relating chiefly to clean and unclean animals.

Two distinct topics are treated in this chapter: (1) the distinction
between clean and unclean as it affects food, and (2) the unclean-
ness produced by contact with what is itself unclean. Since the
colophon in verses 46, 47 refers only to the first of these topics,
it seems clear that verses 24-40, which deal with the second,
must have been added by a later hand (for further details of the
literary analysis, see C. — H. Hex. ii. in loc.). Verses 43-45 so
unmistakably contain the characteristic teaching of the Law of
Holiness (H), chs. xvii-xxvi, that it is not improbable that the
bulk of this chapter originally formed part of H, and may have
come ultimately from the same early source as its striking parallel
in Deut. xiv (see Driver, Dcut. 157 ff, where the texts are given in
parallel columns and the differences noted). The systematic
grouping of both passages, however, is now regarded as a
generalization from pre-existing practice. No agreement has yet
been reached as to the original motive or motives which led to these
restrictions. One thing at least is clear. All attempts to reduce
the various taboos, whether among the Hebrews or elsewhere, to
a single principle, be it primitive totemism or what not, are
doomed to failure. It is almost certain that more than one
principle has been at work. One of the best established of these
is the principle that every animal that played a part in the cults
of the heathen nations around, or to which popular superstition
attributed demonic powers, was branded as unclean for the

LEVITICUS 11. 2-6. P 83

saying unto them, Speak unto the children of Israel, a
saying, These are the living things which ye shall eat
among all the beasts that are on the earth. Whatsoever 3
parteth the hoof, and is clovenfooted, and a cheweth the
cud; among the beasts, that shall ye eat. Nevertheless 4
these shall ye not eat of them that chew the cud, or of
them that part the hoof : the camel, because he a cheweth
the cud but parteth not the hoof, he is unclean unto you.
And the b coney, because he a cheweth the cud but 5
parteth not the hoof, he is unclean unto you. And the 6
hare, because she a cheweth the cud but parteth not the

a Heb. bringeth up.

b Heb. shaphan, the Hyrax Syriacus or rockbadger.

Hebrews (see the instances collected by Bertholet, Leviticus,
33 ff.). In the case of flesh-eating animals and birds of prey,
whose food contained blood, the motive is equally obvious.
Analogy or fancied resemblance doubtless played a considerable
part ; this would account for the taboo of eels and scaleless fishes
which resemble the universally abhorred serpent, the demonic
creature par excellence. Probably the earliest attempt to find and
expound moral and religious motives in these food taboos is that
by the Alexandrian apologist known as the Pseudo-Aristeas in
the second century b. c. (see Thackeray's translation, J.Q.R., xv,
Jo^? §§ 143-66). As in the case of sacrifice, the O. T. writers
themselves nowhere offer a rationale of the several prohibitions.
For them it is sufficient that Yahweh has so willed. The motive
of this, as of all the laws relating to uncleanness, is the preservation
of the ideal holiness of the people of Yahweh. The time had not
yet come when Jews and Gentiles were to learn that ' not that
which entereth into the mouth defileth the man ' (Matt. xv. n ;
cf. Mark vii. 15 ff., Acts x. 12-15).

2-8. In the case of quadrupeds the clean group is distinguished
by the presence in the same animal of two criteria, a completely
cleft hoof and chewing the cud. If only one of these is present,
as in the camel or the pig, the animal is unclean. Deut. xiv. 4 f.
goes beyond the general definition here given, and names ten
species of clean quadrupeds.

5. the coney : see margin. Neither the rock-badger nor the
hare, however, is a true ruminant ; the popular notion that they
chewed the cud was based on the characteristic movements of the
upper lip.

G 2

84 LEVITICUS 11. 7-19. P

7 hoof, she is unclean unto you. And the swine, because
he parteth the hoof, and is clovenfooted, but acheweth

8 not the cud, he is unclean unto you. Of their flesh ye
shall not eat, and their carcases ye shall not touch ; they
are unclean unto you.

9 These shall ye eat of all that are in the waters : what-
soever hath fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and

10 in. the rivers, them shall ye eat. And all that have not
fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers, of all that
move in the waters, and of all the living creatures that

1 1 are in the waters, they are an abomination unto you, and
they shall be an abomination unto you j ye shall not eat
of their flesh, and their carcases ye shall have in abomi-

1 2 nation. Whatsoever hath no fins nor scales in the waters,
that is an abomination unto you.

13 And these ye shall have in abomination among the
fowls ; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination :

14 the b eagle, and the gier eagle, and the ospray; and the

15 kite, and the falcon after its kind ; every raven after its
1 r) kind ; and the ostrich, and the c night hawk, and the

1 7 seamew, and the hawk after its kind 5 and the little owl,

1 8 and the cormorant, and the great owl ; and the d horned

19 owl, and the pelican, and the vulture ; and the stork, the
e heron after its kind, and the hoopoe, and the bat.

a Heb. bringeih up. l) Or, great vulture c Heb. iahmas, of
uncertain meaning. d Or, swan e Or, ibis

*2. swine : the typical case of a taboo having its origin in the
veneration in which an animal was held in forbidden cults (Isa.
lxv. 4, lxvi. 3, 17 ; cf. Rel. Sent?, index).

9-12. The criterion of cleanness in fishes is the possession of
both fins and scales. No single fish is mentioned by name in O.T.

13-19. A list of unclean birds. Instead of general criteria, as
in the two preceding groups, the various forbidden species arc
named individually. The identification of several of these is un-
certain. More precise information must be sought in the larger
Bible Dictionaries. Cf. margin throughout,

LEVITICUS 11. 20-27. P 85

All winged creeping things that go upon all four are 20
an abomination unto you. Yet these may ye eat of all 21
winged creeping things that go upon all four, which have
legs above their feet, to leap withal upon the earth; even 22
these of them ye may eat ; the a locust after its kind,
and the ■ bald locust after its kind, and the a cricket
after its kind, and the a grasshopper after its kind. But 23
all winged creeping things, which have four feet, are an
abomination unto you.

And by these ye shall become unclean : whosoever 24
toucheth the carcase of them shall be unclean until the
even: and whosoever beareth might of the carcase of 25
them shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the
even. Every beast which parteth the hoof, and is not 26
clovenfooted, nor cheweth the cud, is unclean unto you :
every one that toucheth them shall be unclean. And 27

tt Four kinds of locusts or grasshoppers, which are not certainly
known.

20-23. 'All winged creeping things,' really winged insects,
are to be an ' abomination,' i. e. taboo, with the exception of four
named, but not certainly identified, species of the locust family.
Locusts formed part of the food of John the Baptist, and are still
eaten by the Arabs : the head, legs, and wings are removed and
the body fried in sanm or clarified butter.

24-40. An intrusive section (see above), dealing with the un-
cleanncss produced, not by eating, but by contact with the car-
cases of certain animals. It falls into three parts : (1) 24-28, the
uncleanness caused by unclean quadrupeds ; (2) 29-38, by \ creeping
things'; (3) 39 f., a special case of uncleanness arising from clean
beasts.

24. shall be unclean until the even : that is, he shall be
incapable of taking part in the cultus, or of mixing with his
fellows, until the close of the day on which he contracted the
uncleanness.

25. In the case of one carrying the carcase of an unclean beast,
the infection is more intense, and must be removed by washing
the clothes. The same procedure was required for removing the
contagion of holiness (see vi. 27 and note).

86 LEVITICUS 11. 28-33. P

whatsoever goeth upon its paws, among all beasts that
go on all four, they are unclean unto you : whoso
toucheth their carcase shall be unclean until the even.

28 And he that beareth the carcase of them shall wash his
clothes, and be unclean until the even : they are unclean
unto you.

29 And these are they which are unclean unto you among
the creeping things that creep upon the earth ; the weasel,

30 and the mouse, and the great lizard after its kind, and
the a gecko, and the a land-crocodile, and the a lizard,

31 and the a sand-lizard, and the chameleon. These are
they which are unclean to you among all that creep :
whosoever doth touch them, when they are dead, shall

32 be unclean until the even. And upon whatsoever any
of them, when they are dead, doth fall, it shall be
unclean ; whether it be any vessel of wood, or raiment,
or skin, or sack, whatsoever vessel it be, wherewith any
work is done, it must be put into water, and it shall be

33 unclean until the even ; then shall it be clean. And
every earthen vessel, whereinto any of them falleth, what-
soever is in it shall be unclean, and it ye shall break.

a Words of uncertain meaning, but probably denoting four kinds
of lizards.

27. whatsoever goeth upon its paws: 'as dogs, cats, bears'
(Dillmann). Of these the cat was an object of special veneration
in Egypt.

29. the mouse appears in the forbidden cult described by
Isa. lxvi. 17. For the others see the Bible Dictionaries.

32-38. In these verses one may note the beginnings of the
extreme scrupulosity, not always devoid of casuistry, with
which in later times every possible case was noted to which
a general Pentateuchal law might apply.

33. We have already seen, in vi. 28, that porous earthen vessels
were more susceptible to infection than vessels of metal, wood,
or leather. The same distinction is found in the purification rites
of the Vendidad.

LEVITICUS 11. 34-4°- P 87

All food thereifi which may be eaten, that on which 34
water cometh, shall be unclean : and all drink that may
be drunk in every such vessel shall be unclean. And 35
every thing whereupon any part of their carcase falleth
shall be unclean ; whether oven, or a range for pots, it
shall be broken in pieces : they are unclean, and shall
be unclean unto you. Nevertheless a fountain or a b pit 36
wherein is a gathering of water shall be clean : but c that
which toucheth their carcase shall be unclean. And if 37
aught of their carcase fall upon any sowing seed which is
to be sown, it is clean. But if water be put upon the 38
seed, and aught of their carcase fall thereon, it is unclean
unto you.

And if any beast, of which ye may eat, die ; he that 39
toucheth the carcase thereof shall be unclean until the
even. And he that eateth of the carcase of it shall wash 40
his clothes, and be unclean until the even : he also that
beareth the carcase of it shall wash his clothes, and be
unclean until the even.

a Or, stewpan b Or, cistern c Or, he who

34. The same absorbent property which made water a cathartic
for uncleanness made it also a medium for the spread of infection ;
hence the phrase, 'that on which water cometh.' Cf. the dis-
tinction between dry and wet seed in verse 37 f.

35. oven, or range for pots : the former was the large earthen
jar on the inner sides of which, after heating, the flat cakes were
baked ; the latter, according to the Talmud, was a portable
cooking-stove capable of holding two pots (the original is in the
dual number).

3S. The point here is that the water in a spring-fed well is
being constantly renewed ; in a large cistern (so read with margin)
the infection was perhaps regarded as so diluted as to be in-
nocuous.

39 f. Up to this point only the dead bodies of creatures in them-
selves unclean have been considered. Here the principle is
extended to the carcases of such clean beasts as had not been

88 LEVITICUS 11. 41-47. P

4 1 And every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth

42 is an abomination ; it shall not be eaten. Whatsoever
goeth upon the belly, and whatsoever goeth upon all
four, or whatsoever hath many feet, even all creeping
things that creep upon the earth, them ye shall not eat ;

43 for they are an abomination. Ye shall not make your-
selves abominable with any creeping thing that creepeth,
neither shall ye make yourselves unclean with them,

44 that ye should be defiled thereby. For I am the Lord
your God : sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy ;
for I am holy : neither shall ye defile yourselves with
any manner of creeping thing that moveth upon the earth.

45 For I am the Lord that brought you up out of the land
of Egypt, to be your God : ye shall therefore be holy,
for I am holy.

46 This is the law of the beast, and of the fowl, and of
every living creature that moveth in the waters, and of

47 every creature that creepeth upon the earth : to make
a difference between the unclean and the clean, and
between the living thing that may be eaten and the
living thing that may not be eaten.

ritually slaughtered ; cf. xvii. 15, where the further purification of
a bath is prescribed for ' every soul that eateth that which dieth
of itself.'

41-45. Here the treatment of uncleanness from eating tabooed
flesh is continued from verse 23. To the preceding classes of
mammals, fishes, birds, and insects, is added a fourth class com-
prising reptiles. Members of this section of the animal world have
always been held in peculiar awe by the Semites on account of
their supposed connexion with demonic spirits. That this belief
was current in certain circles even among the Hebrews is shown
by the description of the secret cult in Ezek. viii. 10 t.

44 f. For the significance of the motive here alleged, see above,
p. 82.

LEVITICUS 12. i-;. P 89

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto 12 2
the children of Israel, saying, If a woman conceive seed,
and bear a man child, then she shall be unclean seven
days; as in the days of the a impurity of her sickness
shall she be unclean. And in the eighth day the flesh 3
of his foreskin shall be circumcised. And she shall con- 4
tinue in the blood of her purifying three and thirty days ;
she shall touch no hallowed thing, nor come into the
sanctuary, until the days of her purifying be fulfilled.
But if she bear a maid child, then she shall be unclean 5
two weeks, as in her a impurity : and she shall continue
in the blood of her purifying threescore and six days.
a Or, separation

(6) xii. The law of the purification of women after child-birth.

In this chapter we are still on ground that, in Emerson's phrase,
is ' washed by antediluvian spray.' Among all primitive peoples
a woman in child-birth is regarded as 'a nidus of impurity,' a
source of mysterious dangers to all about her. Even among the
higher races, Greeks and Romans as well as Hebrews, similar
views prevailed. In the island of Delos, for example, no woman
was allowed to be confined lest its sacred soil should be polluted.
In the passage before us all such animistic conceptions are left
far behind, but the impurity of child-birth is shown by the
exclusion of the mother from the cultus, and from social inter-
course for a period which varied according to the sex of the child
(see below). The reason for the separation of this chapter from
chap, xv, to which it naturally belongs, is not apparent.

2. The latter half of the verse has reference to xv. 19 ff.

4. The period of impurity extends in the case of a male child
to forty days in all, divided into two stages of decreasing stringency
of seven and thirty-three days respectively. Parallels to this period
of forty days are found among many races, ancient and modern.

5. In the case of a female child, each of these stages is twice
as long, making eighty days in all. This difference also has its
analogies elsewhere. It was a popular belief that a confinement
in this case was attended by greater risks than in the other, which
originally meant that more powerful demonic influences were at
work causing a longer period of impurity. The practice was re-
tained long after this belief was outgrown.

9o LEVITICUS 12. 6—13. i. P

6 And when the days of her purifying are fulfilled, for
a son, or for a daughter, she shall bring a lamb of the
first year for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon, or
a turtledove, for a sin offering, unto the door of the tent

7 of meeting, unto the priest : and he shall offer it before
the Lord, and make atonement for her ; and she shall
be cleansed from the fountain of her blood. This is the
law for her that beareth, whether a male or a female.

8 And if her means suffice not for a lamb, then she shall
take two turtledoves, or two young pigeons j the one for
a burnt offering, and the other for a sin offering : and
the priest shall make atonement for her, and she shall be
clean.

13 And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron,

6 f. for a sin offering- . . . and make atonement for her. To

interpret these terms in what may be called the traditional dogmatic
sense would compel us to believe that the Hebrews regarded the
exercise of the sacred function of motherhood as a ' sin,' for which
i atonement ' was required as a preliminary to the divine forgive-
ness. The true explanation will be found in the notes on iv. 3
and 20. Both expressions, it is contended, belonged originally to
the terminology of the ritual of purification, and this passage
helps to show that ' sin J was thought of as something physical
and non-moral before it acquired a purely ethical content.

8. Cf. the similar concession, v. 7, and the N. T. instance,
Luke ii. 24. Although the burnt-offering is mentioned in these
verses before the sin-offering, the latter for obvious reasons was
always the first to be offered (v. 8; cf. viii. 14, 18).

In this section various skin diseases, to which the generic term
zaraat)iy 'leprosy,' is applied, are treated as a third special source
of ceremonial impurity (xiii. 1-46), and the necessary rites of
purification prescribed (xiv. 1-32). The same term is also applied
by analogy to two cases of ' leprosy ' in garments (xiii. 47-59) and
houses (xiv. 33-53}. A comprehensive colophon closes the section
(54-57)- The discrepant details of the purgation rites show that
these chapters reflect the ideas and embody the practices of different

LEVITICUS 13. 2. P 91

saying, When a man shall have in the skin of his flesh a
rising, or a scab, or a bright spot, and it become in the
skin of his flesh the plague of leprosy, then he shall be
brought unto Aaron the priest, or unto one of his sons

epochs, some of them bearing marks of extreme antiquit}' (see
below).

Apart from its application to houses and wearing apparel, it is
evident that the ; leprosy ' of this section included more than
one specific disease, but the existing uncertainty as to the
precise meaning of several of the diagnostic terms makes it im-
possible to reach more than a probable identification. This at
least may be said : if true leprosy {elephantiasis Graecorum) is here
included, the reference must be to its earliest stages; even so, one
would expect to find somewhere in these chapters a reference to
its characteristic symptoms at a later stage. As a recent authority
has said, 'it may be doubted if any one would ever -have dis-
covered true leprosy in these chapters but for the translation of
zaraath [by lepra], in LXX and Vulgate' (Creighton, art. 'Leprosy
in E.Bi. vol. iii).

The standpoint from which leprosy1 is treated in the priestly
legislation is the religious and ceremonial. Its various forms
exclude the patient from the cultus, and from the sacred community
of Israel (xiii. 45 f.). It is the priest accordingly, as the represen-
tative of Yahweh, whose holiness is injured, that decides as to the
nature of the disease, and on its disappearance pronounces the
patient ' clean.' Sanitary considerations do not appear, for
\ leprosy ' was not considered contagious in the modern sense —
its contagion was of the more primitive and dangerous sort
explained above (p. 81 f.) — as we see from the statement in the
Mishna that the provisions here laid down did not extend to
foreigners and sojourners {Negaim, i. e. Leprosy, iii. 1 ; this
treatise, translated in Barclay, The Talmud, 2676°., gives the later
legislation on the subject, with interesting details of the modus
operandi of inspection, quarantine, &c).

1-8. The first of seven suspected cases described.

2. and it become . . . the plague of leprosy: i.e. either of
which is likely to develop into a leprous patch ; ' plague ' has here
its original sense of • stroke ' (plaga, cf. a { stroke ' of paralysis),
which is the literal rendering of the original. Driver throughout
adopts ' mark,' as left by a stroke, as a better modern rendering.

1 The received rendering of zaraath is here retained in the generic
sense of the original ; ' leper ' is used in the same comprehensive sense.

92 LEVITICUS 13. frp P

3 the priests : and the priest shall look on the plague in
the skin of the flesh : and if the hair in the plague be
turned white, and the appearance of the plague be
deeper than the skin of his flesh, it is the plague of
leprosy : and the priest shall look on him, and pro-

4 nounce him unclean. And if the bright spot be white
in the skin of his flesh, and the appearance thereof be
not deeper than the skin, and the hair thereof be not
turned white, then the priest shall shut up him that hath

5 the plague seven days : and the priest shall look on him
the seventh day : and, behold, if in his eyes the plague
be at a stay, and the plague be not spread in the skin,

6 then the priest shall shut him up seven days more : and
the priest" shall look on him again the seventh day : and,
behold, if the plague be dim, and the plague be not
spread in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him
clean : it is a scab : and he shall wash his clothes, and

7 be clean. But if the scab spread abroad in the skin,
after that he hath shewn himself to the priest for his

3 ff. In his diagnosis of the disease the priest is to begin by
applying a double test : (i) has the body-hair on the affected
patch turned white ? (2) does the pathological condition extend
beneath the cuticle? (For this interpretation of 3b, see Munch,
Die Zaraath [Lepra) der hebr. Bibel, pp. 110-114 ; cf. Macalister,
DB. iii. 96a). If both these marks are present it is a case of
' leprosy.' If they are not decisively present, the suspect is put in
quarantine for seven days, after which the priest shall apply
a third test — has the affected area spread ?

5. if in his eyes, &c. : read, by omitting a letter, as in verse 55,
'if in its appearance (R.V. colour) the patch is unchanged'
(so in verse 37).

6. it is a scab : rather ' an eruption ' of a harmless nature, and
the suspect, after a minor purification, is ceremonially clean.

7 f. If after a week the patch under observation appears to
have spread, and this is confirmed after a second week's quaran-
tine, the suspect is unclean ; ' it is leprosy.' The symptoms here
described have been identified by Munch, op. cit.> as those of vitiligo
(cf. E.Bi. iii. col. 2765).

LEVITICUS 13. 8-i*. P 93

cleansing, he shall shew himself to the priest again : and 8
the priest shall look, and, behold, if the scab be spread
in the skin, then the priest shall pi onounce him unclean :
it is leprosy.

When the plague of leprosy is in a man, then he shall 9
be brought unto the priest; and the priest shall look, 10
and, behold, if there be a white rising in the skin, and it
have turned the hair white, and there be quick raw flesh
in the rising, it is an old leprosy in the skin of his flesh, 11
and the priest shall pronounce him unclean : he shall not
shut him up; for he is unclean. And if the leprosy 12
break out abroad in the skin, and the leprosy cover all
the skin of him that hath the plague from his head even
to his feet, as far as appeareth to the priest; then the 13
priest shall look: and, behold, if the leprosy have
covered all his flesh, he shall pronounce him clean that
hath the plague : it is all turned white : he is clean. But 14
whensoever raw flesh appeareth in him, he shall be un-
clean. And the priest shall look on the raw flesh, and 15
pronounce him unclean : the raw flesh is unclean : it is
leprosy. Or if the raw flesh turn again, and be changed 16
unto white, then he shall come unto the priest, and the 17
priest shall look on him : and, behold, if the plague be
turned into white, then the priest shall pronounce him
clean that hath the plague : he is clean.

9-17 give the diagnostics of a second (or second and third)
case, the identification of which is more difficult owing chiefly to
the uncertainty attaching to a new mark, here rendered ' quick
raw flesh ' (verse 10), and described by Macalister as f red granu-
lation tissue ' (DB. iii. 96 a). The most remarkable feature in the
ceremonial treatment of this form of \ leprosy ' is that the patient
ceased to be unclean, although still probably reckoned as a leper
(cf. Naaman's case, 2 Kings v. 1 ff), when Ins skin had ' all turned
white . . . from his head even to his feet.' Here at least there
can be no question of tubercular elephantiasis, but rather of

94 LEVITICUS 13. i84a£ P

18 And when the flesh hath in the skin thereof a boil,

19 and it is healed, and in the place of the boil there is
a white rising, or a bright spot, reddish-white, then it

20 shall be shewed to the priest j and the priest shall look,
and, behold, if the appearance thereof be lower than the
skin, and the hair thereof be turned white, then the
priest shall pronounce him unclean : it is the plague of

21 leprosy, it hath broken out in the boil. But if the priest
look on it, and, behold, there be no white hairs therein,
and it be not lower than the skin, but be dim, then the

22 priest shall shut him up seven days: and if it spread
abroad in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him

23 unclean : it is a plague. But if the bright spot stay in
its place, and be not spread, it is the scar of the boil ;
and the priest shall pronounce him clean.

24 Or when the flesh hath in the skin thereof a burning
by fire, and the quick flesh of the burning become

25 a bright spot, reddish-white, or white ; then the priest
shall look upon it : and, behold, if the hair in the bright
spot be turned white, and the appearance thereof be
deeper than the skin ; it is leprosy, it hath broken out in
the burning : and the priest shall pronounce him un-

26 clean : it is the plague of leprosy. But if the priest look
on it, and, behold, there be no white hair in the bright
spot, and it be no lower than the skin, but be dim j then

37 the priest shall shut him up seven days : and the priest
shall look upon him the seventh day : if it spread abroad

psoriasis or English leprosy. It has been suggested that a com-
plication of this disease with eczema would explain the reference
to the 'raw flesh' which was reckoned 'unclean : it is leprosy'
(verse 15).

18-23, 24-28. Two other cases in which the nidus of the
suspected disease is the scar left by a boil or a burn respectively.
The procedure follows closely that prescribed for the first case.

LEVITICUS 13. 28-36. P 95

in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean :
it is the plague of leprosy. And if the bright spot stay 28
in its place, and be not spread in the skin, but be dim ;
it is the rising of the burning, and the priest shall pro-
nounce him clean : for it is the scar of the burning.

And when a man or woman hath a plague upon the 29
head or upon the beard, then the priest shall look on 30
the plague : and, behold, if the appearance thereof be
deeper than the skin, and there be in it yellow thin hair,
then the priest shall pronounce him unclean : it is a
scall, it is leprosy of the head or of the beard. And if 31
the priest look on the plague of the scall, and, behold,
the appearance thereof be not deeper than the skin, and
there be no black hair in it, then the priest shall shut up
him that hath the plague of the scall seven days : and in 32
the seventh day the priest shall look on the plague : and,
behold, if the scall be not spread, and there be in it no
yellow hair, and the appearance of the scall be not
deeper than the skin, then he shall be shaven, but the 33
scall shall he not shave; and the priest shall shut up
him that hath the scall seven days more : and in the 34
seventh day the priest shall look on the scall : and,
behold, if the scall be not spread in the skin, and the
appearance thereof be not deeper than the skin ; then
the priest shall pronounce him clean : and he shall wash
his clothes, and be clean. But if the scall spread abroad 35
in the skin after his cleansing ; then the priest shall look 36
on him : and, behold, if the scall be spread in the skin,

29-37. A disease of the head-hair and beard, the nethek or scall
(verse 30). Its special diagnostic is the presence of thin yellow
hairs on the affected parts. It is generally agreed that the * scall'
of this section is a species of ringworm, f which is a very contagious
disease, due to the presence of a fungus.'

96 LEVITICUS 13.37-45- P

the priest shall not seek for the yellow hair ; he is un-

37 clean. But if in his eyes the scall be at a stay, and
black hair be grown up therein ; the scall is healed, he is
clean : and the priest shall pronounce him clean.

38 And when a man or a woman hath in the skin of their

39 flesh bright spots, even white bright spots ; then the
priest shall look : and, behold, if the bright spots in the
skin of their flesh be of a dull white ; it is a tetter, it
hath broken out in the skin ; he is clean.

40 And if a man's hair be fallen off his head, he is bald ;

4 1 yet is he clean. And if his hair be fallen off from the
front part of his head, he is forehead bald; yet is he

42 clean. But if there be in the bald head, or the bald
forehead, a reddish-white plague ; it is leprosy breaking

43 out in his bald head, or his bald forehead. Then the
priest shall look upon him : and, behold, if the rising of
the plague be reddish-white in his bald head, or in his
bald forehead, as the appearance of leprosy in the skin

44 of the flesh ; he is a leprous man, he is unclean : the
priest shall surely pronounce him unclean ; his plague is
in his head.

45 And the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall
be rent, and a the hair of his head shall go loose, and he
shall cover his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean, unclean.

a See ch. x. 6.

38 f. A less serious and 'clean' skin affection termed bohak,
EV 'tetter', which, like scall, denotes an eruption of the skin. In
parts of Arabia and Syria 'a common eczematous skin disease* is
still known as bahak.

40-44. The last of the skin diseases here included under leprosy.
No penalty, it is comforting to know, attached to natural baldness,
but when attacked on scalp or forehead by ringworm or scald-
head, the patient was treated as a leper.

45 f. All persons pronounced by a priest to be suffering from any
of the above diseases are to be removed outside their town or vil-

LEVITICUS 13. 46-51 P 97

All the days wherein the plague is in him he shall be un- 46
clean ; he is unclean : he shall dwell alone : without the
camp shall his dwelling be.

The garment also that the plague of leprosy is in, 47
whether it be a woollen garment, or a linen garment ;
whether it be in a warp, or woof; of linen, or of woollen ; 48
whether in a skin, or in any thing made of skin ; if the 49
plague be greenish or reddish in the garment, or in the
skin, or in the warp, or in the woof, or in any thing of
skin; it is the plague of leprosy, and shall be shewed
unto the priest : and the priest shall look upon the 5°
plague, and shut up that which hath the plague seven
days : and he shall look on the plague on the seventh 51
day : if the plague be spread in the garment, either in

ft Or, woven or knitted stuff (and in vv. 49, &c.)

lage, not, as we have seen, on account of the contagious nature of
the disease, but as a consequence of the antique conception of the
contagion of uncleanness. Their condition is to be made known
to all by the prescriptions in the text, which are those elsewhere
applied to mourners for the dead. The covering of the upper lip
is doubtless to be explained by some primitive idea or practice, as
yet obscure. Bertholet remarks here on the incapacity of ' the
antique religion to afford comfort and effective help to the sick ;
this power is first found in Christianity' (Kurser Hand- comment ar
in he.).

47-59. This section, dealing with 'leprosy' in garments, has
now little more than an antiquarian interest. Not only are
woollen and linen garments affected but 'anything made of skin.'
t There are various moulds and mildews, as well as deposits of the
eggs of moths, which would produce the appearances and effects,
and would call for the remedial measures of the text' (Creighton,
E. Bi. hi., col. 2764). As the section interrupts the natural con-
nexion between the preceding verses and chap, xiv, and has its
own colophon (verse 59), it is probably an independent torah,
inserted here by a later hand. Its later elaboration will be found
in the treatise Negaim, chap. xi.

48. whether it be in warp, or woof: for the accuracy of this
rendering as compared with the margin, with its curious anachron-
ism re knitting, see the writer's art. ' Weaving,' E. Bi. iv., col. 5282.

98 LEVITICUS 13. 52-59. P

the warp, or in the woof, or in the skin, whatever service
skin is used for ; the plague is a fretting leprosy j it is

52 unclean. And he shall burn the garment, whether the
warp or the woof, in woollen or in linen, or any thing of
skin, wherein the plague is : for it is a fretting leprosy ;

53 it shall be burnt in the fire. And if the priest shall look,
and, behold, the plague be not spread in the garment,
either in the warp, or in the woof, or in any thing of

54 skin ; then the priest shall command that they wash the
thing wherein the plague is, and he shall shut it up

55 seven days more : and the priest shall look, after that
the plague is washed : and, behold, if the plague have
not changed its colour, and the plague be not spread, it
is unclean ; thou shalt burn it in the fire : it is a fret,

56 a whether the bareness be within or without. And if the
priest look, and, behold, the plague be dim after the
washing thereof, then he shall rend it out of the garment,
or out of the skin, or out of the warp, or out of the woof :

57 and if it appear still in the garment, either in the warp,
or in the woof, or in any thing of skin, it is breaking out
thou shalt burn that wherein the plague is with fire.

58 And the garment, either the warp, or the woof, or what-
soever thing of skin it be, which thou shalt wash, if the
plague be departed from them, then it shall be washed

59 the second time, and shall be clean. This is the law of
the plague of leprosy in a garment of woollen or linen,

a Heb. whether it be bald in the head thereof, or in the forehead
thereof

51. a fretting- leprosy: 'fret' here, as in verse 55, means I
'to eat into' ; cf. P.B. Version of Ps. xxxix. 12, 'like as it were a ]
moth fretting a garment.' A more modern equivalent is 'malig-
nant'. I

55. it in a fret: ' it has eaten into the cloth.'

LEVITICUS 14. 1-5. P 99

either in the warp, or the woof, or any thing of skin, to
pronounce it clean, or to pronounce it unclean.

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, This shall 14 2
be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing : he
shall be brought unto the priest : and the priest shall go 3
forth out of the camp ; and the priest shall look, and,
behold, if the plague of leprosy be healed in the leper ;
then shall the priest command to take for him that is to 4
be cleansed two living clean birds, and cedar wood, and
scarlet, and hyssop : and the priest shall command to 5

Chap. xiv. The serious view taken by the later priestly legis-
lators of the danger to the theocratic community arising from the
various forms of uncleanness dealt with in xiii. 1-46, is evidenced
by the unique series of purgation rites which follow in xiv. 1-32.
As these are now arranged, the purification of the leper is carried
through in two stages, the first consisting of the antique rite
described in verses 3-8% a purgation rite in the fullest sense ; the
second embracing the elaborate consecration rites detailed in
verses 9-20, and again in verses 21-32.

It needs no great penetration to see that we have here two
originally independent ceremonies of purification, dating from
very different epochs. The two are now artificially united by
the editorial clause forming the latter half of verse 8, in which the
terms ' camp ' and 'tent' are introduced, as is done elsewhere, to
adapt the whole to the situation in the wilderness. By this
means the older rite is reduced to a mere partial purification, pre-
liminary to the final and more elaborate ceremony that follows.
In support of this, the modern critical view, the student is asked
to note (1) that the older rite is complete in itself, at the end the
leper is clean (verse 8a) ; (2) that the section 14-20 betrays its
later origin by the more distinctly religious motives apparent
throughout, by the application to laymen of a peculiar rite origin-
ally confined to the priesthood (see on verses 14 ff.), and by the
abundance of detail generally.

i-8a. The older rite of purification, combining the two uni-
versal cathartic media, blood and ' living ' water.

4. cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop : these were also
employed in another purgation ritual retaining several primitive
features, Num. xix. 6 (which see). Cedar, here probably a
species of juniper, cypress, and tamarisk, in virtue of their

H 2

ioo LEVITICUS 14. 6-8 P

kill one of the birds in an earthen vessel over a running

6 water : as for the living bird, he shall take it, and the
cedar wood, and the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall
dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird

7 that was killed over the a running water : and he shall
sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy
seven times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall

8 let go the living bird into the open field. And he that
is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, and shave off
all his hair, and bathe himself in water, and he shall be

a Heb. living.

aromatic properties, were added by the Babylonians to water
used for purposes of purification (Jastrow, Die Religion Baby-
loniens, ii. 202). Red frequently figures in lustration ceremonies
(see notes on Num., I.e.). Htyssop was probably a species of
marjoram, the whole intended to provide a sprinkler for the
application of the blood. As the procedure is described in the
Mishna {Negaim xiv), the cedar rod, a cubit long, the hyssop and
one end of the 'tongue' or strip of scarlet cloth were laid
together, then bound round by the latter, with which * the tips of
the wings and the end of the tail ' of the living bird were also
bound.

5. over the running" water : lit. as margin, ' living ' water from
a spring or running stream, not from a cistern or pool. Accord-
ing to Negaim, one quarter log— about a quarter of a pint— of
water was put into the vessel.

7. and shall let g*o the living1 bird into the open field: cf.
verse 53. The nearest O.T. analogy is the scapegoat, or goat
'for Azazel,' in the ritual of the Day of Atonement (xvi. 10, 21 f.).
In both cases we have interesting examples of the retention in the
priestly ritual of the primitive ceremony known as sin-transference
and found all over the world in ancient and modern times, as
students of modern works like Frazer's Golden Bough are aware.
The idea underlying it is that ' the sin can be extracted as if it
were a substance from the person of the sinner, and transferred
into another man or animal, or even an inanimate object ' (Farnell,
Evolution 0/ Religion, 116). An exact parallel to the case before
us is supplied by the ' Arabian custom, when a widow before re-
marriage makes a bird fly away with the uncleanness of her
widowhood ' (Rel. Sent?, 422).

8a. It is a widespread belief among primitive races that the hair
specially harbours impurity, and its removal in similar cases is

LEVITICUS 14. 9-12. P 101

clean : and after that he shall come into the camp, but
shall dwell outside his tent seven days. And it shall be 9
on the seventh day, that he shall shave all his hair off
his head and his beard and his eyebrows, even all his
hair he shall shave off: and he shall wash his clothes,
and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and he shall be
clean. And on the eighth day he shall take two he- 10
lambs without blemish, and one ewe-lamb of the first
year without blemish, and three tenth parts of an ephah
of fine flour for a meal offering, mingled with oil, and one
log of oil. And the priest that cleanseth him shall set 1 1
the man that is to be cleansed, and those things, before
the Lord, at the door of the tent of meeting : and the 12
priest shall take one of the he-lambs, and offer him for
a guilt offering, and the log of oil, and wave them for

a world-wide practice. The origin and purpose of 8b has been
already explained.

9-20. The older rite, originally complete in itself — note especi-
ally the last words of 8a, ' and he shall be clean ' — has now
become a mere preliminary to a much more elaborate and solemn
ceremony, inspired with the theocratic conceptions of the priestly
legislators, by which the leper is reconsecrated a member of the
theocratic community^ All the chief varieties of offerings, with
the exception of the peace-offering, are prescribed : viz. one he-
lamb for a guilt-offering, another for a burnt-offering, and a year-
ling ewe-lamb for a sin-offering (iv. 32), with a quantity of fine
flour as a meal-offering to accompany the burnt-offering.

9. The absence here of any reference to the identical ceremony
in 8a shows the independent origin of this section.

10. three tenth parts of an ephah: in all about 1} pecks (see
on v. 11). The log- was a liquid measure, containing about a pint
(DB., iv.gr if.).

12. Two points in the ritual here prescribed are noteworthy:
(1) the occurrence of a guilt-offering when there is no question of
misappropriation of property (see on v. 14 ff.), suggesting a similar
confusion to that found in v. 17 ff. — here only is the victim of a
guilt-offering other than a ram ; (2) the introduction of the rite of
waving (cf. verses 21, 24) in an entirely different sense from vii. 30
(see note there). The oil at least did not fall to the priest.

102 LEVITICUS 14. 13-20. P

13 a wave offering before the Lord : and he shall kill the
he-lamb in the place where they kill the sin offering and
the burnt offering, in the place of the sanctuary : for as
the sin offering is the priest's, so is the guilt offering : it

14 is most holy : and the priest shall take of the blood
of the guilt offering, and the priest shall put it upon the
tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and
upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great

15 toe of his right foot : and the priest shall take of the log
of oil, and pour it into the palm of his own left hand :

16 and the priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is
in his left hand, and shall sprinkle of the oil with his

17 finger seven times before the Lord : and of the rest of
the oil that is in his hand shall the priest put upon the
tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and
upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great
toe of his right foot, upon the blood of the guilt offering :

18 and the rest of the oil that is in the priest's hand he f<
shall put upon the head of him that is to be cleansed :
and the priest shall make atonement for him before the

19 Lord. And the priest shall offer the sin offering, and
make atonement for him that is to be cleansed because
of his uncleanness ; and afterward he shall kill the burnt

20 offering : and the priest shall offer the burnt offering and

14. See on viii. 23 f. This imitation of the consecration rite of
the priesthood is perhaps intended to emphasize the fact that the
chosen people were called to be * a kingdom of priests and an holy
nation' (Exod. xix. 6).

15-17. If the blood-rite effects the leper's reconsecration, the
more complex procedure with the oil, recalling as it does the
ancient covenant rite at Sinai (Exod. xxiv. 6-8), is intended to
restore him to his covenant relation with God. The intimate
association, here and in the following verses, of 'atonement'
with cleansing is further evidence that the idea of purification
from sin, in the antique sense of uncleanness, lies at the basis of
the O.T. doctrine of atonement 'see above, p 51).

LEVITICUS 14. 21-29. * 103

the meal offering upon the altar : and the priest shall
make atonement for him, and he shall be clean.

And if he be poor, and cannot get so much, then he 21
shall take one he-lamb for a guilt offering to be waved,
to make atonement for him, and one tenth part of an
ephah of fine flour mingled with oil for a meal offering,
and a log of oil; and two turtledoves, or two young 22
pigeons, such as he is able to get ; and the one shall be
a sin offering, and the other a burnt offering. And on 33
the eighth day he shall bring them for his cleansing
unto the priest, unto the door of the tent of meeting,
before the Lord. And the priest shall take the lamb 24
of the guilt offering, and the log of oil, and the priest
shall wave them for a wave offering before the Lord :
and he shall kill the lamb of the guilt offering, and the 25
priest shall take of the blood of the guilt offering, and
put it upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be
cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and
upon the great toe of his right foot : and the priest shall 26
pour of the oil into the palm of his own left hand : and 27
the priest shall sprinkle with his right finger some of the
oil that is in his left hand seven times before the Lord :
and the priest shall put of the oil that is in his hand 28
upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed,
and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the
great toe of his right foot, upon the place of the blood of
the guilt offering : and the rest of the oil that is in the 29
priest's hand he shall put upon the head of him that is
to be cleansed, to make atonement for him before the

21-32. Provision for less costly offerings in the case of the
poor, similar to the provisions of v. 7 ff. and xii. 8. The demand
for a he-lamb as a guilt- offering remains, but the other two animal
sacrifices are reduced, as in the passages cited, to f two turtle-
doves or two young pigeons,' while the amount of the meal-offering

io4 LEVITICUS 14. 30-37. P

30 Lord. And he shall offer one of the turtledoves, or of

31 the young pigeons, sueh as he is able to get ; even such
as he is able to get, the one for a sin offering, and the
other for a burnt offering, with the meal offering : and
the priest shall make atonement for him that is to be

32 cleansed before the Lord. This is the law of him in
whom is the plague of leprosy, who is not able to get
that which fiertaineth to his cleansing.

33 And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron,

34 saying, When ye be come into the land of Canaan, which
I give to you for a possession, and I put the plague
of leprosy in a house of the land of your possession;

35 then he that owneth the house shall come and tell the
priest, saying, There seemeth to me to be as it were

36 a plague in the house : and the priest shall command
that they empty the house, before the priest go in to see
the plague, that all that is in the house be not made
unclean : and afterward the priest shall go in to see the

37 house : and he shall look on the plague, and, behold, if
the plague be in the walls of the house with hollow
strakes, greenish or reddish, and the appearance thereof

is reduced to one-tenth of an ephah, say half a peck. Otherwise
the procedure is the same. The section has its own colophon
(verse 32), and its separate history. The first clause of verse 31
is a repetition, due to the slip of a copyist, of the last clause of
verse 30.

33-35. Leprosy in houses, a section with a similar history to
that dealing with the leprosy of garments. The disease, if it may
be so called, was evidently caused by some parasitic fungus akin
to that which causes our dry rot. The relative chapters, xii, xiii,
of Negaim should be consulted.

36. toe not made unclean : as a result of the contagion of
ceremonial uncleanness, as in verses 46 f. There is no thought
of the leprosy ' infecting,' in the modern sense, the occupants of
the house.

37. This difficult verse may be freely rendered thus: 'if the
suspected patches on the walls of the house show greenish or

LEVITICUS 14. 38-49. P 105

be lower than the wall ; then the priest shall go out of 38
the house to the door of the house, and shut up the
house seven days : and the priest shall come again the 39
seventh day, and shall look : and, behold, if the plague
be spread in the walls of the house ; then the priest 4°
shall command that they take out the stones in which
the plague is, and cast them into an unclean place with-
out the city : and he shall cause the house to be scraped 41
within round about, and they shall pour out the mortar
that they scrape off without the city into an unclean
place : and they shall take other stones, and put them in 42
the place of those stones ; and he shall take other mortar,
and shall plaister the house. And if the plague come 43
again, and break out in the house, after that he hath
taken out the stones, and after he hath scraped the house,
and after it is plaistered ; then the priest shall come in 44
and look, and, behold, if the plague be spread in the
house, it is a fretting leprosy in the house : it is unclean.
And he shall break down the house, the stones of it, and 45
the timber thereof, and all the mortar of the house ; and
he shall carry them forth out of the city into an unclean
place. Moreover he that goeth into the house all the 46
while that it is shut up shall be unclean until the even.
And he that lieth in the house shall wash his clothes ; 47
and he that eateth in the house shall wash his clothes.
And if the priest shall come in, and look, and, behold, 48
the plague hath not spread in the house, after the house
was plaistered ; then the priest shall pronounce the house
clean, because the plague is healed. And he shall take 49

reddish depressions,' — cf. the description of the mould in xiii.
49, — ' and if the discoloration is found to have penetrated beneath
the surface of the plaster (cf. xiii. 3N, then the priest/ &c.
44. For ' fretting,' or malignant, leprosy, see on xiii. 51.

io6 LEVITICUS 14. 50— 15. 2. P

to cleanse the house two birds, and cedar wood, and

50 scarlet, and hyssop : and he shall kill one of the birds in

51 an earthen vessel over a running water : and he shall take
the cedar wood, and the hyssop, and the scarlet, and the
living bird, and dip them in the blood of the slain bird,
and in the a running water, and sprinkle the house seven

52 times : and he shall cleanse the house with the blood of
the bird, and with the a running water, and with the living
bird, and with the cedar wood, and with the hyssop, and

53 with the scarlet : but he shall let go the living bird out
of the city into the open field : so shall he make atone-
ment for the house : and it shall be clean.

54 This is the law for all manner of plague of leprosy,

55 and for a scall ; and for the leprosy of a garment, and

56 for a house ; and for a rising, and for a scab, and for

57 a bright spot : to teach when it is unclean, and when it is
clean : this is the law of leprosy.

15 And the Lord spake unto Moses and to Aaron, saying,
a Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them,
a Heb. living.

49-53. A ceremony of purification similar to that with which
the chapter opened.

54-57. A comprehensive colophon giving a summary of the
contents of chaps, xiii — xiv in their present form.

(d) xv. Laws concerning the uncleanness of issues.

The last of the sources of ceremonial impurity embraced in this
manual of purification (xi— xv) deals with secretions and dis-
charges, both normal and diseased, from the sexual organs of
man (verses 1-18) and woman (19-30), with a summary con-
clusion (31-33). The remarks prefixed to the notes on chaps, xi
and xii apply equally to the contents of this chapter. Modern
anthropological research has shown that we have here to do with
an attitude towards the sexual functions that is world-wide.

1-15. Uncleanness caused by discharges from the urethra of
males; 'his flesh' is a well-understood euphemism (cf. vi. 3).

LEVITICUS 15. 3-13. P 107

When any man hath an issue out of his flesh, because of
his issue he is unclean. And this shall be his unclean- 3
ness in his issue : whether his flesh run with his issue,
or his flesh be stopped from his issue, it is his unclean-
ness. Every bed whereon he that hath the issue lieth 4
shall be unclean : and every thing whereon he sitteth
shall be unclean. And whosoever toucheth his bed 5
shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and
be unclean until the even. And he that sitteth on any 6
thing whereon he that hath the issue sat shall wash his
clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until
the even. And he that toucheth the flesh of him that 7
hath the issue shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself
in water, and be unclean until the even. And if he that 8
hath the issue spit upon him that is clean ; then he shall
wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be
unclean until the even. And what a saddle soever he 9
that hath the issue rideth upon shall be unclean. And 10
whosoever toucheth any thing that was under him shall
be unclean until the even : and he that beareth those
things shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water,
and be unclean until the even. And whomsoever he n
that hath the issue toucheth, without having rinsed his
hands in water, he shall wash his clothes, and bathe
himself in water, and be unclean until the even. And 12
the earthen vessel, which he that hath the issue toucheth,
shall be broken : and every vessel of wood shall be
rinsed in water. And when he that hath an issue is 13
a Or, carriage

The contagion of such uncleanness — so also that of verses 25-30 —
occupies a position as to intensity midway between minor states
of impurity which were removed by bathing and the culminating
impurity of 'leprosy' (see verses 14 f. compared with xiv. 10 ff.).

108 LEVITICUS 15. 14-22. P

cleansed of his issue, then he shall number to himself
seven days for his cleansing, and wash his clothes ; and
he shall bathe his flesh in a running water, and shall be

14 clean. And on the eighth day he shall take to him two
turtledoves, or two young pigeons, and come before the
Lord unto the door of the tent of meeting, and give

15 them unto the priest : and the priest shall offer them,
the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offer-
ing ; and the priest shall make atonement for him before
the Lord for his issue.

16 And if any man's seed of copulation go out from him,
then he shall bathe all his flesh in water, and be unclean

17 until the even. And every garment, and every skin,
whereon is the seed of copulation, shall be washed with

18 water, and be unclean until the even. The woman also
with whom a man shall lie with seed of copulation, they
shall both bathe themselves in water, and be unclean
until the even.

19 And if a woman have an issue, and her issue in her
flesh be blood, she shall be in her \ impurity seven days :
and whosoever toucheth her shall be unclean until the

20 even. And every thing that she lieth upon in her
b impurity shall be unclean : every thing also that she

21 sitteth upon shall be unclean. And whosoever toucheth
her bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in

22 water, and be unclean until the even. And whosoever

* Heb. living. b Or, separation

16-18. Not only does an involuntary emissio seminis pollute
(cf. Deut. xxiii. 10}, but also the exercise of conjugal rights (for
the latter see Rel. Sem.2, 158, 454 ff.). Verse 18 should run : ' if
a man lie with a woman,' &c.

19-24. Uncleanness caused by the menstrual discharge. In
this condition, as in childbirth, women were, and among primitive
races still are, regarded as 'charged with a mysterious baneful

LEVITICUS 15. 23-30. P 109

toucheth any thing that she sitteth upon shall wash his
clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until
the even. And if it be on the bed, or on any thing 23
whereon she sitteth, when he toucheth it, he shall be
unclean until the even. And if any man lie with her, 24
and her impurity be upon him, he shall be unclean
seven days; and every bed whereon he lieth shall be
unclean.

And if a woman have an issue of her blood many days 25
not in the time of her impurity, or if she have an issue
beyond the time of her impurity; all the days of the
issue of her uncleanness she shall be as in the days of
her impurity : she is unclean. Every bed whereon she 26
lieth all the days of her issue shall be unto her as the
bed of her impurity : and every thing whereon she
sitteth shall be unclean, as the uncleanness of her
impurity. And whosoever toucheth those things shall 27
be unclean, and shall wash his clothes, and bathe him-
self in water, and be unclean until the even. But if she 28
be cleansed of her issue, then she shall number to her-
self seven days, and after that she shall be clean. And 29
on the eighth day she shall take unto her two turtledoves,
or two young pigeons, and bring them unto the priest, to
the door of the tent of meeting. And the priest shall 30
offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt

energy' and the centre of 'the action of superhuman agencies of
a dangerous kind' (see Rel. Sent.2, 447 ff. ; Frazer, Golden Bough,
i. 325 ff., iii. 222 ff.). Proof of the early existence in South Arabia
of the almost universal taboo specified in verse 24 (cf. xviii. 19,
xx. 18, both H) has recently been found in the shape of tablets
set up in sanctuaries recording confessions of its breach ; they are
quoted m extenso by Nielsen, Altarab. Mondreligion, 206 f.

25-30. Uncleanness caused by an abnormal 'issue of blood'
(cf. Matt. ix. 20, Luke viii. 43). The purification required is of
the same degree as for the major impurity of males.

no LEVITICUS 15. 31— 16. 1 P

offering; and the priest shall make atonement for her
before the Lord for the issue of her uncleanness.

31 Thus shall ye separate the children of Israel from
their uncleanness ; that they die not in their unclean-
ness, when they defile my tabernacle that is in the
midst of them.

32 This is the law of him that hath an issue, and of him
whose seed of copulation goeth from him, so that he

33 is unclean thereby ; and of her that is sick with her
impurity, and of him that hath an issue, of the man, and
of the woman, and of him that lieth with her that is
unclean.

16 And the Lord spake unto Moses, after the death of

31. Thus shall ye separate: read with the Versions, ' thus
shall ye warn ... as regards their uncleanness.'

when they defile my tabernacle : lit. ' my dwelling,' cf. Num.
xix. 13, 20. The uncleanness of the people injures the holiness of
Yahweh, who dwells among them (Exod. xxv. 8), and the conse-
quence of His injured holiness is death. This idea of the infection
of the sanctuary is prominent in the following chapter, and is
characteristic both of the Law of Holiness and of Ezekiel.

(e) xvi. The Day of Atonement.

To the preceding laws of uncleanness and purification there has
appropriately been appended the ritual of the most solemn and
most intense of all the purification ceremonies of the Jewish law.
The day on which it fell, the tenth of the seventh month vTishri),
received the name of ' the day of (purification and) expiation '
(xxiii. 27 f., xxv. 9 — for this rendering, see note on iv. 20),
shortened in later times to Yoma, 'the day' par excellence. The
unique and impressive ritual of the day of atonement, to retain
the current designation, is the culmination and crown of the
sacrificial worship of the Old Testament.

The problems which this chapter presents to the modern
student are both literary and historical. The importance of the
chapter from both these points of view demands a fuller treatment
than can be given here, and accordingly a note has been appended
at the end of the volume in which the literary analysis and the
history and significance of the rite are more adequately discussed

LEVITICUS 16. 2. P in

the two sons of Aaron, when they drew near before the
Lord, and died ; and the Lord said unto Moses, Speak 2
unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times
into the holy place within the veil, before the mercy-seat
which is upon the ark ; that he die not : for I will appear

in the light of recent investigation. (See Additional Note A.,
The Day of Atonement?) With regard to the former, the literary
history of the chapter, it must suffice here to note the four distinct
elements of which it is now composed: (1) the original kernel,
which probably stood in Pg immediately after x. 1-5, 12-15, Zxv'
ing special directions as to the occasions on which, with due
precautions, Aaron is to be permitted to enter the most holy place
(see on verse 2 below) ; (2) this kernel is now reduced to verses
1-3*, and perhaps 4, I2f. 34b, the greater part having been sup-
pressed by a later hand to make way for an ancient purgation rite,
which, it may be conjectured, formerly obtained at the local
sanctuaries (3b, 5-10) ; (3) this rite was expanded by still another
hand into the form now given in verses 11-28, the earlier form
being retained as a summary introduction (cf. the analogous pro-
cedure in chap, xiv) ; (4) verses 29-34, a section independent of
all the foregoing (see below). Further regulations for the observ-
ance of * the day ' are found in xxiii. 26-32, xxv. 9, Exod. xxx. 10,
and Num. xxix. 7-1 1.

1 f. The death of Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu, in the cir-
cumstances narrated in x. if., gives occasion for instructions as
to the times at which, and the manner in which, the High Priest
is to enter the immediate presence of Yahweh, represented by the
mystic 'cloud upon the mercy seat' (cf. Exod. xxv. 22, xl. 34).

that he come not at all times : i .e. not at any and every time,
as may seem good to him. The majesty and almost unapproach-
able holiness of Yahweh require that even His earthly represen-
tative shall approach His presence only at such times and with
such precautions as the divine Sovereign shall appoint (Exod.
xxxiii/20). The similarity of the precautions to those adopted
for the annual expiation ceremony in the sequel has led to the
fusion of the two originally independent rituals, while the necessary
specification of the proper time or times has been dropped as incon-
sistent with the single entry of the later rite (verse 34).

into the holy place within the veil: the inner sanctuary of the
Tent of Meeting, see Exod. xxvi. 33, where, however, it is termed
'the most holy place,' the outer sanctuary being ' the holy place.'
This chapter is unique in applying the latter term to the inner
shrine (verses 3, 16, 20), and in using the inexact term 'tent of
meeting' for the outer (16, 20, and 33, where see note).

ii2 LEVITICUS 16. 3-7. P

3 in the cloud upon the mercy-seat. Herewith shall Aaron
come into the holy place : with a young bullock for a sin

4 offering, and a ram for a burnt offering. He shall put
on the holy linen coat, and he shall have the linen
breeches upon his flesh, and shall be girded with the
linen girdle, and with the linen a mitre shall he be
attired : they are the holy garments ; and he shall bathe

5 his flesh in water, and put them on. And he shall take
of the congregation of the children of Israel two he-goats

6 for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering. And
Aaron shall present the bullock of the sin offering, which
is for himself, and make atonement for himself, and for

7 his house. And he shall take the two goats, and set

a Or, turban

3-28. The ritual of the annual ceremon}' of purification and
expiation. These verses, as has been briefly indicated, include
two parallel and independent descriptions of this ceremony, each
originally complete in itself, and now corresponding in the main
to verses 3b, 5-10, and verses 11-28 respectively.

4. This verse breaks the connexion between 3b and 56°., and
may have belonged originally to Pg's directions as to the High
Priest's entry (cf. 12 f.). The latter is to lay aside on this occasion
his ornate and semi-regal vestments (viii. 7 ff.), and to put on 'the
holy garments' of white linen, the symbol of purity. He is to
enter the presence of the Deity as a humble suppliant.

5-10. Read by itself, without regard to the rest of the chapter,
this section will be found to give a complete, if summary, descrip-
tion of a simple and antique purgation ceremony. The latter
consists of three parts: (1) the sacrifice of a bullock as'a sin-
offering for the priesthood — how could Aaron be said * to make
atonement for himself and for his house' without slaying and
offering the victim ? — (2) the sacrifice of a goat, determined by lot,
as a sin-offering for the people (note the explicit words of 9") ;
(3) the sending away, after certain rites had been performed over
him, of a second, live, goat to 'Azazel, into the wilderness.' As
has been already pointed out, the verses have been retained by 1
the final editor as giving a summary of the more detailed ritual of
verses 11-28, a purpose clearly foreign to the intention of their
author.

LEVITICUS 16. 8-11. P 113

them before the Lord at the door of the tent of meet-
ing. And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats ; s
one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for aAzazel.
And Aaron shall present the goat upon which the lot 9
fell for the Lord, and offer him for a sin offering. But 10
the goat, on which the lot fell for Azazel, shall be set
alive before the Lord, to make atonement b for him, to
send him away for Azazel into the wilderness. And 11
Aaron shall present the bullock of the sin offering, which
is for himself, and shall make atonement for himself,
and for his house, and shall kill the bullock of the sin
a Or, dismissal b Or, over

8. the other lot for Azazel : a mysterious demon or spirit of
the desert (cf. xvii. 7), of which the name, origin, and significance
are alike matters of conjecture. In later Jewish literature (Bcok
of Enoch) Azazel appears as the prince of the fallen angels, the
offspring of the unions described in Gen. vi. 1 ff. The familiar
rendering ' scapegoat,' i. e. the goat which is allowed to escape,
goes back to the caper emissarius of the Vulgate, and is based on
an untenable etymology. The same applies to the marginal
rendering ' dismissal.'

10. to make atonement for him: render, 'to perform over
him (so margin) the expiatory rites ' ; these were probably similar
to those described in verse 21, but here they are assumed to be
known by tradition to the officiating priest. This fact, together
with the presence of the antique rite of sin-transference (see on
xiv. 7\ suggests that we have to do here not with a late post-exilic
innovation, as is the current critical view, but with the reintroduc-
tion of an early purification rite, in use in former days at the local
sanctuaries, to which, as it happens, no reference has been pre-
served in the pre-exilic literature. Have we here, then, a fresh
illustration of the paradox that there are no inventions in ritual,
only survivals ? See the more detailed treatment of the origin and
history of the rite in Note A.

11-28. With verse 11 we enter the full stream of the later and
more developed ritual of the Day of Atonement. That we have
here a parallel to the older rite above described is seen from the
verbatim repetition of verse 6. By the addition of the words l he
shall kill,' &c, in ub and 15*, the previous instructions of verse 6
and the still more explicit command of 9b are made to appear as

H4 LEVITICUS 16. 12-15. *

13 offering which is for himself: and he shall take a censer
full of coals of fire from off the altar before the Lord,
and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and

13 bring it within the veil : and he shall put the incense
upon the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the
incense may cover the mercy-seat that is upon the testi-

14 mony, that he die not : and he shall take of the blood
of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the
mercy-seat on the east : and before the mercy-seat shall
he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times.

15 Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for
the people, and bring his blood within the veil, and do

merely pointing forward to the section we have now reached.
Here, too, the expiatory rites, in the strict sense, are accomplished
by three stages, detailed in verses 11-14, 15-19, 20-22 respectively,
which are followed by certain concluding ceremonies (23-28).
The first stage embraces three separate 'actions,' the slaughter of
the priests' sin-offering, the incensing of the inner sanctuary, and
the manipulation of the blood, likewise 'within the veil.'

12 f. The High Priest's first entry into the inner sanctuary.
The mercy-seat, or propitiatory (see Bennett, Cent. Bible, Exod. xxv.
17 ff.), as the earthly throne of the divine King (Exod. xxv. 22),
whom to see is death (ib., xxxiii. 20), must be veiled with a cloud
of incense before the blood is brought in. ' The testimony ' is
here, as Num. xvii. 4, the ' ark of the testimony,' so called because
it contained 'the tables of the testimony,' as the decalogue is
termed by P.

14. The High Priest's second entry with the blood of his sin-
offering. The unique character of the Day of Atonement is
nowhere more significantly expressed than by the provision, con-
fined to its solemn ritual, that the blood of the sin-offerings (see
verse 15) is to be brought into the immediate presence of God,
and sprinkled upon His throne. Even in the case of the higher
grade of the ordinary sin-offering, the blood is brought no farther
than the outer sanctuary ' before the veil ' (iv. 6, 17) ; on the great
day of national expiation alone is it brought 'within the veil.'

15-19. The second stage of the ceremony, in which by means
of the blood of the people's sin-offering, the goat on which the
'lot for Yahweh' had fallen, the inner sanctuary — here termed
'the holy place,' — the outer sanctuary — here termed 'the tent of

LEVITICUS 16. 1 6- 1 8. P 115

with his blood as he did with the blood of the bullock,
and sprinkle it upon the mercy-seat, and before the
mercy-seat : and he shall make atonement for the holy 16
place, because of the uncleannesses of the children of
Israel, and because of their transgressions, even all their
sins : and so shall he do for the tent of meeting, that
dwelleth with them in the midst of their uncleannesses.
And there shall be no man in the tent of meeting when 1 7
he goeth in to make atonement in the holy place, until
he come out, and have made atonement for himself, and
for his household, and for all the assembly of Israel.
And he shall go out unto the altar that is before the 18
Lord, and make atonement for it; and shall take of
the blood of the bullock, and of the blood of the goat,
and put it upon the horns of the altar round about.

meeting' (see above), — and the altar of burnt-offering are in suc-
cession cleansed and hallowed ' from the uncleannesses of the
children of Israel ' (verse 19). Underlying this stage of the ritual
we have the now familiar conception of the physical contagion of
sin and uncleanness. The infection has passed to the sanctuary
from the people among whom it dwelt (verse 16), and the resulting
defilement has to be annually removed by the application of the
most potent cathartic of the Jewish ritual, the blood of the special
sin-offering. The lustration ceremonies of the Greek and Roman
religions offer many parallels. For the idea of cleansing and
purification — the expiatio of the Vulgate— here conveyed by the
verb {kipper) rendered ' make atonement for,' see the note on iv. 20
(note esp. Ezek. xliii. 20, 26, A.V., there cited). Ezekiel has two
days of i atonement,' that is, two purification ceremonies, for his
temple, one in the first and the other in the seventh month (xlv.
18 ff.).

IB. The High Priest's third entry ' within the veil.'
18. He shall go out unto the altar that is before the LORD :
this can be no other than the altar of burnt-offering, as in verse 12 ;
its purification carried with it that of the court of the Tabernacle in
which it stood. For harmonistic reasons this verse has been
wrongly supposed to refer to the similar rite which Exod. xxx. 10
prescribes for the altar of incense ; this altar, however, is mentioned
only in the latest strata of P (see art. * Tabernacle ' in DB., iv.664b,
and note that in verse 12 a censer is still used).

I 2

n6 LEVITICUS 16. 19-22. P

19 And he shall sprinkle of the blood upon it with his
finger seven times, and cleanse it, and hallow it from

20 the uncleannesses of the children of Israel. And when
he hath made an end of atoning for the holy place, and
the tent of meeting, and the altar, he shall present the

21 live goat: and Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the
head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniqui-
ties of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions,
even all their sins ; and he shall put them upon the head
of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a

22 man a that is in readiness into the wilderness : and the
goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a
solitary land : and he shall let go the goat in the wilder-

a Or, appointed

20-32. The third stage of the ritual of expiation, the confession
by the High Priest of the people's sins and their solemn trans-
ference to the head of a living goat — that on which the 'lot for
Azazel ' had fallen — by which they are carried away • unto a solitary
land.'

21. and confess over him all the iniquities, &c. : opinion is
divided as to the interpretation of these words, some taking them
in their literal sense and maintaining that ' the sacrifices of this day
made atonement for all sins of every kind, whether done involun-
tarily or deliberately f ; others with more reason hold that the
words must be interpreted in the light of ' the general theory of
the priestly legislation,' according to which the sin-offering made
expiation only for sins committed ' unwittingly,' not for those com-
mitted ' with a high hand ' (for this distinction see note on iv. 2,
and more fully Driver's art. ' Atonement, Day of,' in DB., i. 201 f.).
The words of the High Priest's confession at a later date are given
in the Mishna treatise Yomd, vi. 2 (quoted by Driver, op. cit.).

he shall put them upon the head of the goat: for this
widely spread conception of sin-transference, see the authorities
cited in the note on xiv. 7, where we find the closest analogy to
the rite of the ' scapegoat.'

22. the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities into
a solitary land : in later times the goat was led to a lofty precipice
in the wilderness about 12 miles east of Jerusalem, over which it
was thrown backwards, to be dashed in pieces on the rocks below
{Yotftd, vi. 6 ff.). The idea here is that the uncleanness caused by

LEVITICUS 16. 23-29. P iff

ness. And Aaron shall come into the tent of meeting, 23
and shall put off the linen garments, which he put on
when he went into the holy place, and shall leave them
there : and he shall bathe his flesh in water in a holy 94
place, and put on his garments, and come forth, and
offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the
people, and make atonement for himself and for the
people. And the fat of the sin offering shall he burn 25
upon the altar. And he that letteth go the goat for 26
Azazel shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in
water, and afterward he shall come into the camp. And 2 7
the bullock of the sin offering, and the goat of the sin
offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement
in the holy place, shall be carried forth without the
camp; and they shall burn in the fire their skins, and
their flesh, and their dung. And he that burneth them 28
shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and
afterward he shall come into the camp.

And it shall be a statute for ever unto you : in the 29
seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall

the sins of the year was not merely symbolically but physically
conveyed from the holy land of Yahweh into a land unclean and
the habitation of the spirits of uncleanness.

23-25. That the essential expiatory rites have now been
accomplished — verse 25 and the last clause of verse 24 are later
glosses — is seen in the removal by the High Priest of 'the holy
garments,* which remained permanently in the tent of meeting.
The motive for this procedure is that given by Ezek. xliv. 19 : it is
a precaution against the dangerous contagion of holiness (for
Arabian parallels, see Rel. Sent*, 451 f.), which also explains the
ritual of the bath prescribed in verses 4 and 24 ; cf. also 28.

26. On precisely the same line of primitive thought identical
precautions are prescribed against the contagion of uncleanness.

29-34. An entirely independent law, addressed to the people,
fixing the date and containing other important provisions for the
observance of the Day of Atonement (cf. xxiii. 26-32).

29. in the seventh month : reckoning from Nisan (Exod. xii. 2)

n8 LEVITICUS 16. 30-34. P

afflict your souls, and shall do no manner of work,
the homeborn, or the stranger that sojourneth among

30 you : for on this day shall atonement be made for you,
to cleanse you: from all your sins shall ye be clean

31 before the Lord. It is a sabbath of solemn rest unto
you, and ye shall afflict your souls; it is a statute for

32 ever. And the priest, who shall be anointed and who
shall be consecrated to be priest in his father's stead,
shall make the atonement, and shall put on the linen

33 garments, even the holy garments : and he shall make
atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make
atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar:
and he shall make atonement for the priests and for

34 all the people of the assembly. And this shall be an
everlasting statute unto you, to make atonement for the
children of Israel because of all their sins once in the
year. And he did as the Lord commanded Moses.

the seventh month is Tishri, corresponding approximately to
October, according to the phases of the moon.

ye shall afflict your souls: 'the phrase denotes the self-
denial and abstention accompanying a fast' (Driver). This is the
only fast commanded in the Pentateuch, hence in N.T. times the
Day of Atonement was also termed ' the Fast ' (Acts xxvii. 9).

30. A striking confirmation of the view advocated in this com-
mentary that the idea of purification from sin, conceived as unclean-
ness, gives the key to the priestly theory of 'atonement.'

31. a sabbath of solemn rest: Heb shabbath shabbdthon,
la sabbath of sabbatical observance/ an expression peculiar to the
priestly writings, and applied originally to the weekly Sabbath
(Exod. xxxi. 15 ; Lev. xxiii. 3, &c). Cf. xxiii. 32, as here of 'the
Day,' also xxv. 4, of the sabbatical year.

33. the holy sanctuary: a unique designation of the most holy
place of the Tabernacle (see on verse 2), explained by the difference
of source.

34. The closing sentence has no relevance here. It maj? have
been the close of the original kernel from Pg.

For the importance of the Day of Atonement for the religious
life of Judaism, see the additional Note A at the end of the
volume.

LEVITICUS 17—26 irg

Fourth Division. Chapters XVII— XXVI.
The Holtxess Code.

It has long been recognized that the contents of these ten
chapters are distinguished from the main body of P by peculiari-
ties of expression, by differences in the formulation of the laws,
and by certain characteristic ideas, which together give this section
an individuality of its own, and mark it out as an independent
law-code. From the stress laid en the holiness of Yahweh as the
motive for the attainment of holiness, moral and ceremonial, on
the part of His people, the appropriate name of the Holiness
Code, or Law of Holiness, is now given to this division of
Leviticus.

The leading features of the Holiness Code (symbol H), and the
problems which it presents to the student of the Pentateuch, have
been discussed in some detail in the Introduction. The con-
clusions there adopted may be thus summarized : (i) the author
of H was a priest living probably in the closing decades of the
monarchy, at a time when the reform movement inaugurated by
the publication of D had spent its force ; (2) the code was com-
piled largely from pre-existing literary material derived from
more than one source, as is shown by the duplication of several
enactments (cf. especially chaps xviii and xx) ; (3) H was
incorporated, with modifications and additions, into the main body
of the priestly legislation (P?) by a redactor (Rp) working from
the standpoint of the latter. While the three stages thus indi-
cated afford the most probable solution of the literary problems
presented by chapters xvii— xxvi, it is no longer possible, in every
case, to distinguish with certainty the several strata.

A logical subdivision of the contents of these chapters is im-
practicable, owing to the great variety of topics dealt with and
the lack of systematic arrangement. In the notes the following
sections — the contents of which are summarized below— have
been adopted for convenience : (a) xvii, (b) xviii— xx, (c) xxi—
xxii, (d) xxiii— xxv, {e) xxvi.

(a) xvii. Laws relating to sacrifice and kindred topics.

Like the earier legislative codes, the Book of the Covenant and
D, the Holiness Code opens with a section devoted to sacrifice,
and closes with an address (chap, xxvi) urging obedience to the
preceding laws (cf. Exod. xx. 24-26. and xxiii. 20-33; I^eut. xii
and xxviii). This opening section of H now contains five dis-
tinct enactments, of which four are introduced by the formula,
'whatsoever man there be of the house (children) of Israel that . . .'
(verses 3, 8, 10, 13). The fifth has an entirely different formula-
tion, and on other grounds as well must have had a different origin.
Of the preceding four, the first enactment (3-7), as will presently

120 LEVITICUS 17. 1-3. H

172 [H] And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak

unto Aaron, and unto his sons, and unto all the children of

Israel, and say unto them j This is the thing which the

3 Lord hath commanded, saying, What man soever there

be of the house of Israel, that killeth an ox, or lamb, or

appear, has been considerably expanded from the form in which
it was originally formulated.

1 f. An introduction partly at least, if not wholly, from the
hand of the editor who incorporated H with P*; note P's charac-
teristic phrase 'Aaron and his sons' — in H the rank and file of
the priesthood are the * brethren1 of the High Priest (xxi. 10)—
and the unusual ' association of priesthood and laity in legislative
address' (cf. xxii. 18).

3-7. The first of the five enactments above referred to, in
which it is laid down (1) that every act of slaughtering a domestic
animal for food is a sacrificial act ; (2) that sacrifice must be
offered to Yahweh alone ; and (3) that only at the one central
sanctuary can such sacrifice be legitimately offered. The last two
requirements, it will be observed, are the special subject of the
second enactment in verses 8 and 9. This fact, together with the
presumption that the latter verses in their concise formulation
approach more nearly to the original form of the laws of this
section, suggests that the preceding verses have undergone con-
siderable editorial expansion. Originally, in all probability, the
law merely embodied in juristic form the antique Semitic concep-
tion that all slaughter was sacrifice, and may have run as follows :
'Whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel that killeth (for
food) an ox or a lamb or a goat, and hath not brought it before
Yahweh, blood shall be imputed to that man ... his people.' The
observance of such a law, the existence of which as a part of the
customary law of the Hebrews is vouched for by the early narra-
tive i Sam. xiv. 32-35, was only possible under the monarchy
so long as the village sanctuaries or 'high places' were recognized
as legitimate places of sacrificial worship (cf. the early law of
Exod. xx. 24).

For the compiler of H, however, these latter were illegitimate
(see xxvi. 30), and he seems to have given the law a new applica-
tion by taking the verb < to kill ' in the sense of sacrificial slaughter,
by limiting the place of worship to the temple through the in-
sertion of ' the dwelling of before Yahweh in verse 4, and by
adding the new motive in verses 5 and 7 (for which see notes
below). The result, as has been said, has been to anticipate the
provisions of the second enactment 'verses 8f.\ It must be added

LEVITICUS 17. 4-7. H 121

goat, in the camp, or that killeth it without the camp, and 4
hath not brought it unto the door of the tent of meeting,
to offer it as an oblation unto the Lord before the taber-
nacle of the Lord: blood shall be imputed unto that
man ; he hath shed blood ; and that man shall be cut off
from among his people : to the end that the children of 5
Israel may bring their sacrifices, which they sacrifice in
the open field, even that they may bring them unto the
Lord, unto the door of the tent of meeting, unto the
priest, and sacrifice them for sacrifices of peace offerings
unto the Lord. And the priest shall sprinkle the blood 6
upon the altar of the Lord at the door of the tent of
meeting, and burn the fat for a sweet savour unto the
Lord. And they shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices 7
unto the a he-goats, after whom they go a whoring. This
a Or, satyrs

that other explanations have been given of the history and meaning
of these difficult verses.

All critical scholars, however, recognize that the law as formu-
lated in H received considerable additions from the priestly editor
(Rp) with a view to accommodate the law more completely to the
presuppositions of P's legislation. Such are the references to
the wilderness camp (verse 3), 'the door of the tent of meeting'
(4 ff., cf. 9), and the everlasting statute of 7b — all well-known
characteristics of P. The ritual directions of verse 6 are also
more in the style of P than of H.

4. Wood shall be imputed : ' blood ' is here used in the sense
of 'the guilt of blood,' as in Deut. xxi. 8, 'and the blood shall be
forgiven them,' and Psalm li. 14, 'deliver us from blood-guiltiness'
(literally ' from blood ').

cut off from among- his people : see note on vii. 20.

5. The result of editorial expansion is very evident in the
awkward construction of this verse— 'that the children of Israel
may bring . . . even that they may bring . . . tent of meeting';
the latter clause from Rp (see above).

*7. the he-goats: margin 'satyrs,' as in the text of Isa. xiii. 21,
xxxiv. 14, goat-shaped demons of the desert, the Hebrew counter-
parts of the Arabian Jinn, and of the satyrs and fauns of classical
mythology. According to the original text of 2 Kings xxiii. 8
(see Skinner, Cent. Bible in loc.), these satyrs were publicly

122 LEVITICUS 17. 8-12. H

shall be a statute for ever unto them throughout their
generations.

8 And thou shalt say unto them, Whatsoever man there
be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn
among them, that offereth a burnt offering or sacrifice,

9 and bringeth it not unto the door of the tent of meeting,
to sacrifice it unto the Lord; even that man shall be
cut off from his people.

*o And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel,
or of the strangers that sojourn among them, that eateth
any manner of blood; I will set my face against that
soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among

ii his people. For the a life of the flesh is in the blood:
and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atone-
ment for your souls : for it is the blood that maketh

12 atonement by reason of the a life. Therefore I said unto
the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood,

a Heb. soul.

worshipped in Jerusalem in the days of Josiah. From the refer-
ences in Jeremiah and Ezekiel — see especially the classical passage
Ezek. viii — it is evident that there was a vigorous recrudescence
of forbidden cults in the closing years of the Jewish monarchy
cf. on xx. 2 below), the period to which the compilation of
the Holiness Code probably belongs.

after whom they go a whoring": this strong expression is
frequently employed by Hebrew writers, from Exod. xxxiv. 15 f.
onwards, in the sense of religious infidelity, the worship of other
deities than Yahweh.

8 f. Yahweh is the sole object of worship both for the native
Israelite and for 'the strangers (lit. 'sojourners') that sojourn
among them.' The get' or sojourner was a non-Israelite admitted
to a modified civil and religious status, with corresponding rights
and duties. In the original torah verse 9 probably ran : ' and
bringeth it not to sacrifice it unto Yahweh,' &c.

10-12. The third enactment reinforces the universal prohibition
of the eating of blood (iii. 17, vii. 26 f.), so frequently emphasized
by the Hebrew legislators, see Gen. ix. 4 (P) ; Deut. xii. 16.
23-25, xv. 23 (D) ; Lev. xix. 26 (also H). Down to the present
day this prohibition has been scrupulously observed by the Jews.

LEVITICUS 17. 13-15. H 123

neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you
eat blood.

And whatsoever man there be of the children of Israel, 13
or of the strangers that sojourn among them, which
taketh in hunting any beast or fowl that may be eaten ;
he shall pour out the blood thereof, and cover it with
dust. For as to the life of all flesh, the blood thereof is 14
all one with the life thereof: therefore I said unto the
children of Israel, Ye shall eat the blood of no manner
of flesh : for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof :
whosoever eateth it shall be cut off. And every soul 15
that eateth a that which dieth of itself, or that which is
a Heb. a carcase.

who take elaborate precautions to secure that all flesh intended
for human food shall be thoroughly drained of its blood.

The interest of this passage, however, centres in the explana-
tion of the universal blood taboo given in verse 11. The blood
which contains 'the life,' literally 'the soul' or principle of life
(cf. Gen. ix. 4 ; Deut. xii. 23, and verse 14 of this chapter), is
withdrawn from ordinary use as an article of food, because it has
been reserved by God for a special and sacred purpose. By
divine appointment blood is the medium for the expiation of the sins
of men. It 'makes atonement.' however, not qua blood, but ' \>y
reason of the life,' i. e. in virtue of the life that is in it (contrast the
false rendering of A.V. here). The Hebrew lawgiver does not
take the final step and explain how the life that is in the blood
makes expiation; in other words the so-called substitutionary theory
of the atonement, the principle of a life for a life, is not explicitly
taught in this passage, although the thought lies near (see further
the discussion on pp. 51-53 above, and the writer's art. ' Sacri-
fice ' in Hastings's DB. (1909), 816-818.

13 f. The fourth enactment is merely a special application of
the preceding to the case of clean beasts and birds caught in
hunting, but inadmissible as sacrificial victims (see p. 36). The
blood in this case is to be allowed to flow away freely, and then
to be covered with earth, the latter an additional prescription to
the parallel command in Deut. xii. 16, 24.

14. The text of the first clause is improved by omitting a
single word with LXX and Vulg. and reading : ' for the life of all
flesh is the blood thereof; cf. verse it.

15 f. The closing enactment, probably from Rp— note the dif-

124 LEVITICUS 17. 16—I8. 2. H

torn of beasts, whether he be homeborn or a stranger, he
shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and
16 be unclean until the even : then shall he be clean. But
if he wash them not, nor bathe his flesh, then he shall
bear his iniquity.
18 2 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto

ferent introduction, ' every soul that . . .' — deals with two varieties
of forbidden flesh, for which the technical terms are nibhilah and
tirephah. The former corresponds to the Scots • braxy,' applied
to sheep, and denotes the flesh of an animal that has succumbed
to organic disease and died a natural death. The latter is ' torn
flesh,' as explained in the text. Both categories are here tabooed,
clearly on the ground that in neither case was the flesh properly
drained of its blood. The legislator, however, seems not to intend
an absolute prohibition, provided the eater timeously removes the
uncleanness he has contracted. In any case, the law as here
formulated is more stringent than in Deut. xiv. 21, which limits
the prohibition of ' braxy ' to the native Israelite. See Driver's
Deuteronomy 1646*., where the mutual relation of the various
laws on this subject is discussed, and cf. xi. 39 f. above.

(b) xviii — xx. Laws relating chiefly to social morality.

In this section of the Holiness Code the legislator passes from
the laws of the cultus to the foundation principles of social
morality. The first place among these is given to the institution
of marriage, and the degrees within which it is to be permitted.
Chastity and other religious and moral duties are enforced, the
latter particularly in chap. xix. The method adopted by the
author of the code (Rh) is best seen in chaps, xviii and xx. In
these, two originally independent but parallel series of torot/i,
whose comparative antiquity is reflected in their terse formulation
and in the use of the second person singular, have been taken up
by Rh and fitted each with an introductory exhortation and a con-
cluding admonition (see below), distinguished from the earlier
laws by the plural form of address. In these parenetic passages
the ideas and expressions which give so distinctive a character to
the Holiness Code are specially prominent. The hand of Rp is
much less in evidence in chaps, xviii-xx than in chap, xvii ; the
opening verses of each chapter are in whole or in part from his
pen (note especially ' the congregation of the children of Israel '
in xix. 2, a characteristic of P).

xviii. 1-5. An exhortation introductory to the main body of the
laws (6-23). As framed by Rh it began and ended with the

LEVITICUS 1 8. 3-6. H 125

the children of Israel, and say unto them, I am the Lord
your God. After the doings of the land of Egypt, 3
wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do : and after the doings
of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not
do: neither shall ye walk in their statutes. My judge- 4
ments shall ye do, and my statutes shall ye keep, to walk
therein : I am the Lord your God. Ye shall therefore 5
keep my statutes, and my judgements : which if a man
do, he shall live a in them : I am the Lord.

None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin 6

* Or, by

solemn reminder, ' I (am) Yahweh.' This expression is found
about fifty times in all in the Holiness Code, sometimes alone, as
in verses 5, 21 of this chapter, and eight times in chap, xix ; more
frequently with a qualifying addition, such as ' I (am) Yahweh,
your (their) God ' (xviii. a, 4, 30, and elsewhere) ; or ; I (am)
Yahweh who sanctifieth you ' (xx. 8, and xxi. 8, &c.) ; or again in
the form ' I, Yahweh (your God), am holy' (xix. a, xx. 26). This
continually recurring emphasis of the name and attributes of
Israel's covenant God gives a peculiar solemnity to the demands
of the Holiness Code. These may be ' summarily comprehended '
in the words of xix. a : ' Ye shall be holy : for I Yahweh your
God am holy.' The converse of this demand is the summons to
abjure the abominations of the heathen neighbours of Israel, and
in particular those of the former inhabitants of Canaan, whom
Yahweh had ' cast out from before ' His people (xviii. 3, 34 ff.,
XX. 23 f.).

5. lie shall live in them: rather, as margin, 'by them'; cf.
Ezek. xx. 11, 13, 21.

6-23. The main body of ancient laws {torotk) adopted by Rh.
f he greater number have their parallels in xx. io-ai, where specific
penalties are attached. (For the mutual relation of the two series
see the introductory note to chap, xx.) The simplest division is
into two groups, viz. : (1) verses 6-18, the so-called 'forbidden
degrees,' or the relationships within which marriage is condemned ;
and (2) verses 19-23, other breaches of sexual morality. A more
elaborate arrangement in two decalogues has been proposed
(L. B. Paton, 'The original form of Leviticus xvii-xix, in Jour,
of Bib. Lit, xvi. [1897], PP' 45*53), each decalogue consisting of
two pentades, thus :

i26 LEVITICUS 18. 7-9. H

to him, to uncover their nakedness : I am the Lord.

7 The nakedness of thy father, even the nakedness of thy
mother, shalt thou not uncover : she is thy mother ; thou

8 shalt not uncover her nakedness. The nakedness of thy
father's wife shalt thou not uncover : it is thy father's

9 nakedness. The nakedness of thy sister, the daughter

First decalogue : Partly in those related through parents and children.
First pentade : Kinship of the first degree, xviii. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.
Second pentade: Kinship of the second degree, xviii. 11, 12,

13, H, 15-

Second decalogue : Purity in remoter relationship.

First pentade: Relationship through marriage, xviii. 16, 17%

i7b, 18, 19.
Second pentade : Outside the family, xviii. 20, 21, 22, 23a, 23b.

This arrangement, however, breaks up the homogeneous group
with identical formulation, comprised in verses 6-18, and is open
to other objections.

6. to uncover their nakedness : a common euphemism for
sexual intercourse, both licit and illicit. Here the marriage
relation is in view, and the following laws are directed against
incestuous marriages. In modern English the verse may be
paraphrased thus : ' No Hebrew shall contract a marriage with
a woman who is a blood relation ' (literally, ' flesh of his flesh').

7-18. The female relatives with whom a man may not contract
a lawful marriage are now enumerated one by one. They are his
mother (verse 7), step-mother (8), full sister and half-sister (9,
11), granddaughter (10), aunt on the father's side (12), aunt on
the mother's side (13), aunt by marriage on the father's side (14),
daughter in-law (15), sister-in-law (16), step-daughter and step-
granddaughter (17), and finally two sisters at the same time (18).
The most striking omission is that of a man's own daughter, but
this is almost certainly due to a slip of a copyist in verse 10, where
we should read : ' The nakedness of thy daughter and of thy
son's daughter,' &c.

It is important to note that male Israelites are addressed through-
out, and that accordingly the ' nakedness ' of the text is primarily
that of the opposite sex. But inasmuch as by marriage husband
and wife become ' one flesh' (Gen. ii. 24), the nakedness of the
latter is identified with that of the former. This is seen especially
in the formulation of verse 7, where the context supports the
rendering ' even ' of R. V. as against the * or ' of A. V.

9. There is good evidence that this verse should run : f The
nakedness of thy sister, the daughter of thy mother, . . . even her

LEVITICUS 18. ic-17. H 127

of thy father, or the daughter of thy mother, whether
born at home, or born abroad, even their nakedness
thou shalt not uncover. The nakedness of thy son's 10
daughter, or of thy daughter's daughter, even their naked-
ness thou shalt not uncover : for theirs is thine own
nakedness. The nakedness of thy father's wife's daughter, 1 r
begotten of thy father, she is thy sister, thou shalt not
uncover her nakedness. Thou shalt not uncover the 12
nakedness of thy father's sister : she is thy father's near
kinswoman. Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness 13
of thy mother's sister : for she is thy mother's near
kinswoman. Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of 14
thy father's brother, thou shalt not approach to his wife :
she is thine aunt. Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness 15
of thy daughter in law : she is thy son's wife ; thou shalt
not uncover her nakedness. Thou shalt not uncover 16
the nakedness of thy brother's wife : it is thy brother's
nakedness. Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of 17
a woman and her daughter; thou shalt not take her
son's daughter, or her daughter's daughter, to uncover

nakedness,' &c. The reference is thus to uterine sisters only ;
the half-sister by a different mother is the subject of verse 11.

whether horn at home, or horn abroad : the former phrase
indicates a full sister, the latter a half-sister by the same mother
but a different father.

14. The corresponding case of the aunt by marriage on the
mother's side is passed over, probably by inadvertence. On the
other hand, from the legislator's silence as to uncle and niece, it is
to be inferred that such marriages were permitted. The parents
of Moses, according to Num. xxvi. 59, were related as nephew
and aunt.

16. Here the prohibition of marriage with a deceased brother's
wife is absolute. The law of Deut. xxv. 5-10, on the contrary,
sanctions the old Hebrew custom (see Gen. xxxviii), which
required the brother of a man who had died without issue to
marry his widow, the so-called ' levirate ' marriage (from Lat.
levir, a husband's brother). See Ruth i. 11 ff, Matt. xxii. 23 ff.

128 LEVITICUS 18. 18-26. H

her nakedness ; they are near kinswomen : it is a wicked-

18 ness. And thou shalt not take a woman to her sister, to
be a rival to her, to uncover her nakedness, beside the

19 other in her life time. And thou shalt not approach
unto a woman to uncover her nakedness, as long as she

20 is b impure by her uncleanness. And thou shalt not lie
carnally with thy neighbour's wife, to defile thyself with

31 her. And thou shalt not give any of thy seed cto make
them pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou

22 profane the name of thy God : I am the Lord. Thou
shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind : it is

33 abomination. And thou shalt not lie with any beast to
defile thyself therewith : neither shall any woman stand
before a beast, to lie down thereto : it is confusion.

24 Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things : for in
all these the nations are defiled which I cast out from

25 before you : and the land is defiled : therefore I do visit
the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land vomiteth out

26 her inhabitants. Ye therefore shall keep my statutes

a Or, enormity b Or, separated for

c Or, to set them apart to Molech

13i to be a rival to her : rather, ' as a fellow-wife.' It is now
illegitimate for a man to have two sisters in marriage at the same
time, as in the familiar case of the patriarch Jacob from an earlier
age. This verse, accordingly, has no bearing on the deceased
wife's sister controversy.

21. On this prohibition of Molech worship see on xx. 2 f.

22 f. The penalty for the unnatural crimes of sodomy (Gen.
xix. 5 ; Rom. i. 27) and bestiality was death to all concerned
(Lev. xx. 13, 15 f. ; cf. Exod. xxii. 19).

23. it is confusion : ' a violation of nature or of the divine
order' (Dillrnann), an unnatural crime; only here and xx. 12.

24-30. The compiler's parenetic conclusion to the preceding
laws, in the form of an exhortation to lay to heart the fate of the
former inhabitants of Canaan, whose ' abominable customs ' (verse
30) brought about their utter annihilation.

25. the land vomiteth out her inhabitant*: this figurative
use of the verb is peculiar to H (cf. xx. 22). The verbs of this

LEVITICUS 18. 27—19. j. H 129

and my judgements, and shall not do any of these
abominations; neither the homeborn, nor the stranger
that sojourneth among you : (for all these abominations 27
have the men of the land done, which were before you,
and the land is denied ;) that the land vomit not you out 28
also, when ye defile it, as it vomited out the nation that
was before you. For whosoever shall do any of these 29
abominations, even the souls that do them shall be cut
off from among their people. Therefore shall ye keep 30
my charge, that ye do not any of these abominable
customs, which were done before you, and that ye defile
not yourselves therein : I am the Lord your God.

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto 10 2
all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say
unto them, Ye shall be holy : for I the Lord your God
am holy. Ye shall fear every man his mother, and his %
father, and ye shall keep my sabbaths : I am the Lord

verse are really in the past tense : ' therefore I visited . . . and the
land vomited out,' &c, an interesting 'anachronism of the com-
piler' (Driver).

4 Chap, xix contains a brief manual of moral instruction, perhaps
the best representation of the ethics of ancient Israel' (Moore).
Parallels to most of its contents are found elsewhere in the
Pentateuch, as in the Decalogue, Exod. xx, Deut. v (verses 3 f.
recall the precepts of piety of the first table, 11- 18 the precepts
of probity of the second table), in the Book of the Covenant (cf.
Exod. xxii. 18 ff., xxiii. 1-19), and in Deut. xxii-xxv. Verse 2,
prefixed by Rh, gives the underlying motive of the whole (see
above, p. 119). The holiness of God's people is to be manifested
both positively and negatively ; positively by a wholesome fear
of Yahweh (verses 14, 32) and by humane treatment, culminating
in whole-hearted love, of the fellow-members of the theocratic
community (9 ff. and esp. 17 f.) ; negatively by the abhorrence of
idols and idol-worship ^4), and of all other heathen practices
(esp. 26-29).

3 f . a condensed reproduction of the first, second, fourth, and
fifth commands of the Decalogue in inverted order. An ingenious

130 LEVITICUS 19. 4-11. H

4 your God. Turn ye not unto a idols, nor make to your-

5 selves molten gods : I am the Lord your God. And
when ye offer a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the

6" Lord, ye shall offer it that ye may be accepted. It shall
be eaten the same day ye offer it, and on the morrow :
and if aught remain until the third day, it shall be burnt

1 with fire. And if it be eaten at all on the third day, it is

8 an abomination ; it shall not be accepted : but every one
that eateth it shall bear his iniquity, because he hath
profaned the holy thing of the Lord : and that soul shall
be cut off from his people.

9 And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt
not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou

io gather the gleaning of thy harvest. And thou shalt not
glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather the fallen
fruit of thy vineyard ; thou shalt leave them for the poor

ii and for the stranger: I am the Lord your God. Ye
a Heb. things of nought See Jer. xiv. 14.

attempt has been made by Paton (Journ. of Bibl. Lit. xvi. [1897],
5a ff.) to supplement these verses from xxvi. 1 f.; which he regards
1 as exhibiting the original form of the opening of this set of laws,'
and to bring the whole into greater conformity, both in order and
subject-matter, with the first table of the Decalogue.

6-8. A ritual section, which can scarcely have had a place
originally in this summary of Israel's religious and moral duties.
A more appropriate place would have been in connexion with
xxii. 29 f., the two sections being complementary. It is worthy
of note that in H the thank-offering, or £ sacrifice of thanksgiving '
(see on vii. 12), is regarded as of co-ordinate rank with the peace-
offering or sacrifice of requital, while in the passage cited
(from P) it is reckoned as one of the three varieties of the latter.

9 f. The share of the poor and the landless in the corn and
grape harvests, an extension of xxiii. 22, cf. Deut. xxiv. 19 ff. In
all these { a humanitarian motive has replaced a primitive super-
stition,' found all the world over and not yet extinct (see P.
Sebillot, Le Paganisme contemporain, 243% which regarded a part
of the produce as due to the genii loci. Cf. S A. Cook, The Laws
0/ Moses and the Code of Hammurabi, 196 f.

LEVITICUS 19. 12-17. H 131

shall not steal ; neither shall ye deal falsely, nor lie one
to another. And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, 12
so that thou profane the name of thy God : I am the
Lord. Thou shalt not oppress thy neighbour, nor rob 13
him : the wages of a hired servant shall not abide with
thee all night until the morning. Thou shalt not curse 14
the deaf, nor put a stumblingblock before the blind, but
thou shalt fear thy God : I am the Lord. Ye shall do 15
no unrighteousness in judgement : thou shalt not respect
the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the
mighty : but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neigh-
bour. Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer r6
among thy people : neither shalt thou stand against the
blood of thy neighbour: I am the Lord. Thou shalt 17
not hate thy brother in thine heart : thou shalt surely
rebuke thy neighbour, and not bear sin because of him.

11-18. Miscellaneous moral precepts allied to those contained
in the second table of the Decalogue. The counterpart of the
seventh commandment, here lacking, has been given in a greatly
expanded form in chap, xviii ; by nothing, according to Budde
{Geschichte der althebr. Litteratur, 190), is the intimate connexion
of the two chapters ! so clearly demonstrated.'

14. thou shalt fear thy God, who is the avenger of the help-
less ; the deaf man cannot protect himself from the curse which
he has not heard, nor can the blind man avoid the stumblingblock
which he does not see.

16. as a talebearer: or 'with slanders,' as the original is
rendered in Jer. vi. 28. ' Of no sin and wickedness are there
so many complaints in the Old Testament as of slander and
false accusation — whereof the Psalms are witness ' (Cornill,
Jeremia, 89). Cf. Psalm ci. 5 and Cook op. cit. 102, 107 f.

neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neigh-
bour: i.e. thou shalt not bring a capital charge against him,
especially, so the context implies, by means of a false and
slanderous accusation.

17. and not bear sin because of him: thou shalt not incur
guilt on his account, either, as the preceding clauses show, by
cherishing hatred against him, or by omitting to point out his
faults.

K 2

132 LEVITICUS 19. 18-21. H

18 Thou shalt not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge
against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love

19 thy neighbour as thyself: I am the Lord. Ye shall
keep my statutes. Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender
with a diverse kind : thou shalt not sow thy field with
two kinds of seed : neither shall there come upon thee

20 a garment of two kinds of stuff mingled together. And
whosoever lieth carnally with a woman, that is a bond-
maid, betrothed to an husband, and not at all redeemed,
nor freedom given her; athey shall be punished; they
shall not be put to death, because she was not free.

2 1 And he shall bring his guilt offering unto the Lord, unto

a Heb. there shall be inquisition.

18. thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: throughout
this section the terms ' brother/ ' people ' (lit. ' kinsfolk '), * the
children of thy people,' ( neighbour' are used synonymously ; it is
thus the love of a fellow-Hebrew that is here enjoined. Even the
extension of the precept in verse 34 to include the ger scarcely
alters its limitation, for the ^rwas a fellow-worshipper of Israel's
God. It was Jesus who first gave the command a universal
application (Luke x. 29 ff.). Nevertheless it is universally ad-
mitted that in Lev. xix. 17, 18 we have reached the high- water
mark of Old Testament ethics.

19. The ideas underlying the threefold prohibition of this verse
are obscure (see Driver, Intern. Crit. Cumm., and Robinson, Cent.
Bible, on the parallel passage, Deut. xxii. 9-1 1). The use of mules
for riding (2 Sam. xiii. 29, xviii. 9 ; 1 Kings i. 33, &c.) shows that
the first of the prohibitions was disregarded in early times. The
word rendered 'mingled together1 is found only here and in
Deut. xxii. 11, where it is defined as 'wool and linen together,'
probably a warp of flax with a weft of wool. This combination,
according to Goldziher, was used by the Arabs for magical purposes.
A similar usage probably accounts for its prohibition here. See
further Cook, op. cit., 195 f.

20. The contents and different formulation of this law suggest
that it belongs properly to chap, xx, from which it was perhaps
inadvertently omitted by a copyist, who placed it in the margin
between the columns of his MS., whence it was wrongly transferred
to its present position.

21 f. are regarded by most commentators on internal grounds
as a later addition in the spirit of Rp,

LEVITICUS 19. 22-26. H 133

the door of the tent of meeting, even a ram for a guilt
offering. And the priest shall make atonement for him 22
with the ram of the guilt offering before the Lord for his
sin which he hath sinned : and he shall be forgiven for
his sin which he hath sinned. And when ye shall come 2.->
into the land, and shall have planted all manner of trees
for food, then ye shall count the fruit thereof as their
uncircumcision : three years shall they be as uncircum-
cised unto you ; it shall not be eaten. But in the fourth 24
year all the fruit thereof shall be holy, for giving praise
unto the Lord. And in the fifth year shall ye eat of 25
the fruit thereof, that it may yield unto you the increase
thereof: I am the Lord your God. Ye shall not eat 26
any thing with the blood : neither shall ye use enchant-

23-25. The produce of a fruit-tree is taboo for the first three
years ; the produce of the fourth year is to be dedicated to
Yahweh ; from the fifth year onwards the fruit is available for
food (cf. Hammurabi, § 60). Here we have another of the
numerous cases where an ancient custom is given a religious
motive, and thereby brought into harmony with the higher re-
ligious thought of the time, as was the case, for example, with
the antique practice of attaching tassels to the four corners of the
upper garment (see note on Num. xv. 37-41, originally in H).

23. shall they be as uncircumcised unto you: i.e. unclean,
and therefore taboo. The analogy of similar practices elsewhere
suggests that originally the fruit was taboo out of regard for the
tutelary genius of the field (cf. on verses 9 f.). It is worth noting
that the metaphorical use of ' uncircumcised ' here and elsewhere
shows the untenableness of the view that the practice of circum-
cision was of comparatively late introduction among the Hebrews
(cf. 'the uncircumcised heart' of xxvi. 4O.

24. for giving- praise : rather ' for a praise-offering ' to Yahweh
(Driver).

26-31. A series of prohibitions directed mainly against the
adoption of Canaanite practices.

26. For the first half of this verse see the notes on xvii. 10 ft".
The second half should rather be rendered : ' ye shall not observe
omens nor practice divination.' Augury, in the strict sense of
taking omens from the flight of birds, docs not seem to have been

i34 LEVITICUS 19. 27-30. H

27 merits, nor practise augury. Ye shall not round the
corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners

28 of thy beard. Ye shall not make any cuttings in your
flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you : I am

29 the Lord. Profane not thy daughter, to make her
a harlot; lest the land fall to whoredom, and the land

30 become full of a wickedness. Ye shall keep my sab-
baths, and reverence my sanctuary ; I am the Lord.

a Or, enormity

practised in Palestine. The attitude of the orthodox Jews to this
mode of divination, which played so important a part in the life
of the Greeks and Romans, is well illustrated by the story of the
Jewish archer, Meshullam, recorded by Josephus on the authority
of Hecataeus {Contra Apionem, i. 22 [§§ 201 ff.]). For the various
forms of divination and sorcery mentioned in the O. T. see the
classical study of the subject by W. R. Smith in the Cambridge
Journal of Philology, xiii. 273 ff., xiv. 113 ff., Driver's Deuteronomy.
pp. 223-226, and the relevant articles in the recent Bible
Dictionaries.

27 f. Prohibition of certain mourning customs, adopted by the
Hebrews from the Canaanites. In their origin associated with
the worship of the dead, these rites were incompatible with
loyalty to Yahweh and his worship. The hair is not to be shaved
from the temples (see Jer. ix. 26, R.V.) nor the beard to be clipped
at the corners. For the widespread custom of hair-offerings sec
W. R. Smith, Rel. Semr, 325 IT. The hair, from its constant
growth, was regarded as the seat of life.

In Jer. xvi. 6, xlviii. 37, as here, the custom of cutting or
gashing the body and hands to the effusion of blood is associated
as a mourning rite with shaving the head and clipping the beard.
For the underlying motive of the former custom and the reasons
for its prohibition see ' Cuttings in the Flesh ' in Hastings's DB.
1909), 172.

28. nor print any marks upon you : a prohibition of the custom
of tattooing some part of the body with a mark to denote the deity
whose worship the bearer specially affected. Cf. S. Paul's
figurative use of the term, Gal. vi. 17, R. V.

29. to make her a harlot : better ' a votary,' with allusion
to the shocking custom of dedicating a daughter as a temple
prostitute. For the O. T. references to these votaries, male and
female, of the Canaanite nature-religion, see Driver's notes on
DeiU. xxiii. 17 f., in Intern. Crit. Comm.

LEVITICUS 19. 31-36. H 135

Turn ye not unto them that have familiar spirits, nor 31
unto the wizards; seek them not out, to be defiled by
them : I am the Lord your God. Thou shalt rise up 32
before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old
man, and thou shalt fear thy God : I am the Lord.
And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall 33
not do him wrong. The stranger that sojourneth with 34
you shall be unto you as the homeborn among you, and
thou shalt love him as thyself ; for ye were strangers in
the land of Egypt : I am the Lord your God. Ye shall 35
do no unrighteousness in judgement, in meteyard, in
weight, or in measure. Just balances, just weights, a just 36
ephah, and a just hin, shall ye have : I am the Lord
your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt.

31. them that have familiar spirits : a single word in the
original, the precise meaning of which is uncertain ; the same
remark applies to the word rendered 'wizard/ which is always
associated with the former. ' Familiar ' in this connexion denotes
'attendant' (from Latin famulus), the necromancer— for such is
the most probable modern equivalent, cf. 1 Sam. xxviii. 7, ' a woman
that is a necromancer' — being supposed to have a daimon or
spirit in attendance upon him or even residing within him (cf. xx.
27 below). See further the references in the note on verse 26,
to which add Hoonacker's study of the terms employed in this
verse in the Expository Times, ix. 157 ff.

34. Extension of the command of i8b to the gey (see above).
The ground for this humane treatment of the alien settler is as old
as the Book of the Covenant (Exod. xxii. ax, xxiii. 9).

35 f. demand honesty in commercial transactions (cf. Deut. xxv.
13-16). A ' meteyard • is a measuring rod, the modern foot-rule,
but the original scarcely admits of this concrete rendering ; f nor
in regard to measures of length, weight, or capacity ' is the sense
intended.

36. a just ephah, and a just hin : the former, rather larger than
our bushel, was the standard for dry measures, and had the same
cubic content as the ' bath * for liquids. The ' hin ' was a sixth of
the 'bath,' equal therefore to ij-i| gallons (see the writer's
'Weights and Measures' in Hastings's DB. iv. 910-913). The
'hin' is mentioned almost exclusively in connexion with the
offerings of oil and wine (see Num. xxviii).

136 LEVITICUS 19. 37~20. 5. H

37 And ye shall observe all my statutes, and all my judge-
ments, and do them : I am the Lord.
20 2 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Moreover,
thou shalt say to the children of Israel, Whosoever he be
of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn
in Israel, that giveth of his seed unto Molech ; he shall
surely be put to death : the people of the land shall stone

3 him with stones. I also will set my face against that
man, and will cut him off from among his people ; be-
cause he hath given of his seed unto Molech, to defile

4 my sanctuary, and to profane my holy name. And if the
people of the land do any ways hide their eyes from that
man, when he giveth of his seed unto Molech, and put

5 him not to death : then I will set my face against that

Chap, xx deals in the main with the penalties attaching to the
offences against sexual morality enumerated in chap, xviii. The
mutual relation of these two chapters has been the subject of
much discussion. The older view that ch. xx was originally
composed for the express purpose of enacting penalties for the
offences of ch. xviii is untenable. For (r) if xx be from the same
hand or hands as xviii, no valid reason can be adduced for
separating the crimes from their punishments in this way ; (2) the
contents of xx do not completely correspond to those of xviii — at
least four offences mentioned in the latter chapter, viz. xviii. 7, 10,
17'°, 18, are not dealt with in xx ; (3) the order of the topics differs
considerably in the two chapters ; and (4) the various offences are
frequently expressed in different phraseology. The evidence for
these statements must be sought in the larger commentaries. In
short, the compiler of the Holiness Code (Rh) must have had access
to a collection of ancient toroth, closely allied to, but independent
of, those forming the basis of chs. xviii-xix. This collection he
has taken up and fitted, as his manner is, with a short introduc-
tion (xx. 7 f.) and a longer hortatory conclusion (22-26), prefacing
the whole by a special section on Molech worship (2-5).

1-5. The penalties of Molech worship. The section is not
homogeneous. The original law prescribes death by stoning
vverse a) ; an alternative punishment b}' divine judgement has been
introduced later (3), which has led to the harmonizing addition
now contained in verses 4. 5. The name Molech is a purely

LEVITICUS 20. 6-10. H 137

man, and against his family, and will cut him off, and all
that go a whoring after him, to commit whoredom with
Molech, from among their people. And the soul that 6
turneth unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto
the wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set
my face against that soul, and will cut him off from
among his people. Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be 7
ye holy : for I am the Lord your God. And ye shall 8
keep my statutes, and do them 1 I am the Lord which
sanctify you. For every one that curseth his father or 9
his mother shall surely be put to death : he hath cursed
his father or his mother ; his blood shall be upon him.
And the man that committeth adultery with another w
man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his
neighbour's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall

artificial combination of the consonants of the Hebrew word for
king (Melek) with the vowels of the word for shame (bosheth ;
cf. Ish-baal and Ish-bosheth, with note on the latter, in Cent. Bible,
2 Sam. ii. 8). Indeed, the name is not a proper name at all, but
an appellative, with the article, meaning 'the King.' What deity
was denoted by this title is still uncertain ; El-Kronos-Saturn of
the Phoenicians, the Babylonian Nergal, and others have been
suggested. The principal seat of his worship was the Valley of
Hinnom, where children, especially firstborn males, were burned
in his honour. From Jer. vii. 31 and Micah vi. 7 it would appear
that in popular imagination this King-deity was identified with
Yahweh, to whom parents sacrificed 'the fruit of their 'body'
with the horrid rites of ' Molech.1 See Moore's article ' Molech '
in EBi.t and the exhaustive study by Baudissin in Hauck's Protest.
Real-Encyclopadied, vol. xiii., art. Moloch.

a whoring . . . whoredom: see on xvii. 7.
6 is generally regarded as a substitution for the original law
now appended in verse 27. Note the same divergence as to the
punishment as in verses 2 f. See further the note on xix. 31.
*7 f. contain the unmistakeable signature of Rh.

9. his blood shall be upon him: i.e. on the criminal alone ;
the law of blood-revenge shall not be operative against those who
have put him to death. The expression is confined to this chapU r
(cf. 11-13, 16, 27) and to Ezek. xviii. 13 ; contrast Num. xxxv. 27.

10. A copyist has inadvertently repeated a few words in this

138 LEVITICUS 20. 11-18. H

1 1 surely be put to death. And the man that lieth with his
father's wife hath uncovered his father's nakedness : both
of them shall surely be put to death ; their blood shall

12 be upon them. And if a man lie with his daughter in
law, both of them shall surely be put to death : they
have wrought confusion ; their blood shall be upon them.

1 3 And if a man lie with mankind, as with womankind, both
of them have committed abomination : they shall surely

*4 be put to death; their blood shall be upon them. And
if a man take a wife and her mother, it is a wickedness :
they shall be burnt with fire, both he and they j that

15 there be no wickedness among you. And if a man lie
with a beast, he shall surely be put to death : and ye

16 shall slay the beast. And if a woman approach unto
any beast, and lie down thereto, thou shalt kill the
woman, and the beast : they shall surely be put to death ;

17 their blood shall be upon them. And if a man shall
take his sister, his father's daughter, or his mother's
daughter, and see her nakedness, and she see his naked-
ness ; it is a shameful thing ; and they shall be cut off in
the sight of the children of their people : he hath un-
covered his sister's nakedness ; he shall bear his iniquity.

18 And if a man shall lie with a woman having her sickness,

:' Or, enormity

verse, which should run thus : { and the man that committeth
adultery with his neighbour's wife,' &c.

14. The usual mode of executing the death penalty among the
Hebrews was by stoning ; for the aggravated case of incest here
dealt with and for the case mentioned in xxi. 9, and for these
alone, is death by burning prescribed. It is uncertain, however,
whether the offender was burned alive, as seems to be contem-
plated in the case of Tamar (Gen. xxxviii. 24), or was first done to
death by stoning and then burned, as in Joshua vii. 15, 25.

18. With the death penalty here prescribed compare the mild
treatment of the offence in xv. 24.

LEVITICUS 20. 19-26. H 139

and shall uncover her nakedness ; he hath made naked
her fountain, and she hath uncovered the fountain of her
blood : and both of them shall be cut off from among
their people. And thou shalt not uncover the nakedness 19
of thy mother's sister, nor of thy father's sister : for he
hath made naked his near kin : they shall bear their
iniquity. And if a man shall lie with his uncle's wife, he 20
hath uncovered his uncle's nakedness : they shall bear
their sin ; they shall die childless. And if a man shall 21
take his brother's wife, it is impurity : he hath uncovered
his brother's nakedness ; they shall be childless.

Ye shall therefore keep all my statutes, and all my 22
judgements, and do them : that the land, whither I bring
you to dwell therein, vomit you not out. And ye shall 33
not walk in the customs of the nation, which I cast out
before you : for they did all these things, and therefore
I abhorred them. But I have said unto you, Ye shall 24
inherit their land, and I will give it unto you to possess
it, a land flowing with milk and honey : I am the Lord
your God, which have separated you from the peoples.
Ye shall therefore separate between the clean beast and 25
the unclean, and between the unclean fowl and the
clean : and ye shall not make your souls abominable
by beast, or by fowl, or by any thing wherewith the
ground a teemeth, which I have separated from you as
unclean. And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the 26
a Heb. creepeth.

22-26. A concluding exhortation to the observance of the divine
'statutes and judgements ' from the hand of the compiler (cf. the
similar exhortation, xviii. 24 ff.). The closing words of verse 25
show that in 24b-26 we have the original conclusion of a legislative
section dealing with clean and unclean beasts and birds similar to
chap. xi. Many scholars, indeed, hold that the latter chapter
originally formed part of the Holiness Code.

26. Sums up the whole end and aim of the priestly legislation.

i4o LEVITICUS 20. 27-21. 1. H

Lord am holy, and have separated you from the peoples,
that ye should be mine.
27 A man also or a woman that hath a familiar spirit,
or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death : they
shall stone them with stones : their blood shall be upon
them.

21 And the Lord said unto Moses, Speak unto the

The people whom a holy God has chosen for His own must, like
Him, be holy. The priestly conception of holiness differs from
the prophetic in the emphasis which it lays on ceremonial purity,
not in opposition, but in addition, to moral purity.
2*7, See on verse 6 and on xix. 31.

These two chapters together constitute a distinct section of the
Holiness Code. Five sub sections are easily distinguished, the
contents of which maybe thus summarized: (1) the priests, and
especially the High Priest, must avoid ceremonial defilement
(xxi. 1-15) ; (2) specification of bodily defects that disqualify for
the office of priest (16-24; ; (3) restrictions with regard to partici-
pation in 'the holy things ' (xxii. 1-16) ; (4) the sacrificial victims
must be free from physical blemish (17-25) ; (5) three supple-
mentary sacrificial toroth (26-30), with a concluding exhortation

(3I-33N

From the critical point of view this section has had a similar
history to those we have already studied. 'Old toroth con-
cerning the priesthood have been glossed, revised, and supple-
mented by successive editors. Some of the glosses were probably
made upon the toroth themselves before they were incorporated
in H ; many additions were made by Rh, or by later editors in
imitation of him ; others, finally, by Rh and scribes of that school '
(Moore, EBi. iii. col. 2785, where an attempt is made to dis-
tinguish the earlier from the later elements). The hand of the
editor (Rp) who incorporated H with the main body of the priestly
legislation is seen more particularly in the superscriptions of the
two chapters (e.g. 'the sons of Aaron,' xxi. 1; cf. 24, xxii. 2, 18).
Note also the discrepancy which has resulted in ch. xxi, in the
superscription to which the priests are addressed, while in the
body of the laws they are referred to in the third person, the laws
being addressed to the people (see verse 8).

1-9. Precautions against ceremonial defilement to be observed
by the rank and file of the priesthood, particularly in connexion

LEVITICUS 21. 2-7. H 141

priests the sons of Aaron, and say unto them, There
shall none defile himself for the dead among his people ;
except for his kin, that is near unto him, for his mother, 2
and for his father, and for his son, and for his daughter,
and for his brother ; and for his sister a virgin, that is 3
near unto him, which hath had no husband, for her may
he defile himself. He shall not defile himself, a being 4
a chief man among his people, to profane himself. They s
shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall
they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any
cuttings in their flesh. They shall be holy unto their 6
God, and not profane the name of their God : for the
offerings of the Lord made by fire, the bread of their
God, they do offer : therefore they shall be holy. They 7
shall not take a woman that is a harlot, or b profane ;
a Or, as a husband The Sept. has, on a sudden. b Or, polluted

with mourning ceremonies for the dead. • For the defilement
caused by contact with a dead body, see esp. Num. xix. The
laws relating to this form of uncleanness applied a fortiori to the
priesthood, engaged in the holy ministry of the altar of Yahweh.

3. for his sister a virgin : the point here is that a woman
after marriage was no longer a member of her father's family, but
belonged to that of her husband. A priest, therefore, might not
'defile himself for a married sister. With the contents of 2 f.
compare Ezek. xliv. 25-27, where, as here, no mention is made of
a priest's wife ; the exceptions include only those allied to him by
blood. See further Cook, Moses and Hammurabi, 94 f.

4. a chief man among his people : the original is here corrupt,
and no satisfactory emendation has yet been proposed.

5. See on xix. 27 f.

6. the bread of their God: better, 'the food of their God.'
The description of the sacrifices as the food of Yahweh, which is
characteristic of this section (xxi. 8, 17, 21, xxii. 25), is a survival
' in the ancient technical language of the priestly ritual ' of the
primitive conception that the deity worshipped actually partook of
the sacrificial flesh and blood. Cf. Judges ix. 13 and the similar
antique conception in Lev. i. 9 (p. 40). The Babylonians also
spoke of sacrifice as the food of their gods (KAT,Z 594 f.).

7. or profane : i. e. dishonoured isDriver) ; in other words

i42 LEVITICUS 21. 8-12. H

neither shall they take a woman put away from her hus-

8 band : for he is holy unto his God. Thou shalt sanctify
him therefore : for he offereth the bread of thy God : he
shall be holy unto thee : for I the Lord, which sanctify

9 you, am holy. And the daughter of any priest, if she
profane herself by playing the harlot, she profaneth her
father : she shall be burnt with fire.

to And he that is the high priest among his brethren,
upon whose head the anointing oil is poured, and athat
is consecrated to put on the garments, shall not let the

n hair of his head go loose, nor rend his clothes; neither
shall he go in to any dead body, nor defile himself for

1 2 his father, or for his mother ; neither shall he go out of
the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God ;

a Heb. whose hand is filled.

a priest must marry a virgo intacta, cf. verse 14, 'a virgin of his
own people.'

0. For the punishment here prescribed, see on xx. 14.

10-15. Increased restrictions in the case of the High Priest.

10. he that is the high priest among1 his brethren : the ex-
pression is unique in the original, which is more literally rendered
'the priest that is chief among his brethren.' The High Priest
in this early tordh is still primus inter pares. In P, it is scarcelj*
necessary to add, his position has advanced to that of a father
among his sons. The reference to the anointing oil and the
sacred garments is probably an addition to the original tordh.
based on the contents of ch. viii. With the tokens of mourning,
forbidden at the close of this verse, cf. x. 6, where the prohibitions
apply to the whole priesthood.

12. The High Priest is forbidden to leave the sanctuary or
sacred enclosure (temenos) on any pretext, lest he might un-
wittingly contract defilement and on his return defile the sanc-
tuary through the contagion of his uncleanness. This tordh
clearly implies that the High Priest lived within the sacred
precincts, as did Eli at the sanctuary of Shiloh (1 Sam. iii. 2 ff.).
It may therefore be assigned to the period before the Deutero-
nomic reform, when each of the more important sanctuaries had
its body of priests under a single head, as we know was the case
at Nob (r Sam. xxii. n-18), and at Beth-el (Amos vii. 10 ff.).

LEVITICUS 21. i.w9. H 143

for the a crown of the anointing oil of his God is upon
him : I am the Lord. And he shall take a wife in her 13
virginity. A widow, or one divorced, or a *> profane 14
woman, an harlot, these shall he not take : but a virgin
of his own people shall he take to wife. And he shall 15
not profane his seed among his people : for I am the
Lord which sanctify him.

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto 1
Aaron, saying, Whosoever he be of thy seed throughout
their generations that hath a blemish, let him not approach
to offer the bread of his God. For whatsoever man he 18
be that hath a blemish, he shall not approach : a blind
man, or a lame, or he that hath a c flat nose, or any thing
superfluous, or a man that is brokenfooted, or broken- 19

ft Or, consecration b Or, polluted c Or, slit

the crown : render, with margin, i the consecration ' (see
viii. 12).

14. a virgfin of his own people: lit. 'of his kinsfolk.' It is
uncertain whether the legislator intends to limit the choice to
members of the priestly families (so LXX and Philo), or merely
to virgins of pure Hebrew blood.

16-24. Enumeration of the various bodily defects that disqualify
members of the priestly caste for the priestly office. A close
parallel to this section of H is found in a Babylonian tablet of an
early king of Sippar. There it is laid down, with reference to the
section of the priesthood that occupied themselves with divination,
that ' the son of a diviner who is not of pure descent, or is not
perfect in stature and in the members of his body, who has
cataract in the eyes, broken teeth, or a mutilated finger, who
suffers from disease of the stones or of the skin,' is not permitted
to exercise the office of a soothsayer (see KAT.* 534 ; Zimmern,
Beitrdge sur Kenntniss d. Babylon. Religion, 116 ff.) ; Haupt,
Journ. of Bib. Lit. xix. 57, 64 f.).

18. or he that hath a flat nose, or any thing superfluous :
a better rendering is: 'or that is mutilated (in the face), or is
too long in a limb.' The word rendered 'mutilated' seems to
denote disfigurement of the face by the common oriental practice
of slitting the ears, nose, or lips (cf. R.V. margin).

r44 LEVITICUS 21. 20— 22. t. H

20 handed, or crookbackt, or a dwarf, or that hath a blemish
in his eye, or is scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his stones

21 broken; no man of the seed of Aaron the priest, that
hath a blemish, shall come nigh to offer the offerings of
the Lord made by fire : he hath a blemish ; he shall not

22 come nigh to offer the bread of his God. He shall eat
the bread of his God, both of the most holy, and of the

23 holy. Only he shall not go in unto the veil, nor come
nigh unto the altar, because he hath a blemish ; that he
profane not my sanctuaries : for I am the Lord which

24 sanctify them. So Moses spake unto Aaron, and to his
sons, and unto all the children of Israel.

22 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto

20. or a dwarf: a doubtful rendering ; the word means, * thin,
shrunken,' and is used to describe the * leanfleshed ' kine of
Gen. xli. 3 f. Hence Kautzsch renders ' (abnormally) emaciated,'
Baentsch ' consumptive.' Note the correspondence of the defects
that follow with those specified in the Babylonian list above
quoied.

22. He shall eat the bread of his God: although debarred by
his physical defect from officiating at the altar, he is still a priest
by birth, and as such is entitled to his share of the sacrificial flesh
and other priestly dues.

tooth of the most holy, and of the holy: for this distinction
see the note on ii. 3. As it is elsewhere unknown in H (see e.g.
xxii. 3 f.), we have here probably the hand of Rp, who has also
added the reference to the veil in the following verse.

23. my sanctuaries : the plural is usually explained as in-
cluding the temple and the altar, but it seems better to take the
word in its natural sense as denoting the local sanctuaries of
Yahweh, which may be assumed to have been still in use when
this torah was framed (cf. note on verse 12). It will then have
been inadvertently left uncorrected when the torah was taken
over by the compiler of H, who certainly in this section and
elsewhere admits the legitimacy of but one sanctuary, the
temple.

xxii. 1-16 deal with the restrictions imposed upon the priests
in their enjoyment of their share of the offerings. Only priests
and the members of their family are to partake of ' the holy
things,' and then only when in a condition of ceremonial purity.

LEVITICUS 22. 3-6. H 145

Aaron and to his sons, that they separate themselves
from the holy things of the children of Israel, which they
hallow unto me, and that they profane not my holy
name : I am the Lord. Say unto them, Whosoever he 3
be of all your seed throughout your generations, that
approacheth unto the holy things, which the children of
Israel hallow unto the Lord, having his uncleanness upon
him, that soul shall be cut off from before me : I am the
Lord. What man soever of the seed of Aaron is a leper, 4
or hath an issue ; he shall not eat of the holy things, until
he be clean. And whoso toucheth aany thing that is
unclean by the dead, or a man whose seed goeth from
him j or whosoever toucheth any creeping thing, whereby 5
he may be made unclean, or a man of whom he may take
uncleanness, whatsoever uncleanness he hath \ the soul 6
which toucheth any such shall be unclean until the even,
and shall not eat of the holy things, unless he bathe his
a Or, any one

2. that they separate themselves from. The root idea of the
original is abstinence from something, as in Zech. vii. 3, where
'separating myself means 'abstaining from food,' 'fasting;'
in the present context the thought of the writer may, in our
idiom, be expressed by the converse : ' that they partake reve-
rently and with self-restraint of the holy things.'

the holy thing's of the children of Israel : a comprehensive
expression for offerings of all sorts presented at the altar ; in
addition to the priest's share of the cereal offerings and of the
flesh of the peace-offerings which the legislator may have here
chiefly in view — H is silent as to sin- and guilt-offerings — the
term ' holy things ' includes the offerings of the firstlings of cattle,
the firstfruits of field and vineyard, the various tithes, &c.
P's distinction between ' holy ' and ' most holy ' things, for which
see the note on ii. 3 (cf. on xxi. 22), is unknown to H.

3. that approacheth unto, &c. The context shows that these
words refer to partaking of the sacred dues, not to offering at
the altar.

4-7. See chs. xi-xv for the various forms of ceremonial
uncleanness here specified, and the means prescribed for the
removal of the same.

146 LEVITICUS 22. 7-13. H

7 flesh in water. And when the sun is down, he shall be
clean ; and afterward he shall eat of the holy things,

8 because it is his bread. That which dieth of itself, or is
torn of beasts, he shall not eat to defile himself there-
on with : I am the Lord. They shall therefore keep my

charge, lest they bear sin for it, and die therein, if they

10 profane it : I am the Lord which sanctify them. There
shall no stranger eat of the holy thing : a sojourner of
the priest's, or an hired servant, shall not eat of the holy

1 1 thing. But if a priest buy any soul, the purchase of his
money, he shall eat of it j and such as are born in his

12 house, they shall eat of his bread. And if a priest's
daughter be married unto a stranger, she shall not eat of

13 the heave offering of the holy things. But if a priest's
daughter be a widow, or divorced, and have no child, and
is returned unto her father's house, as in her youth, she
shall eat of her father's bread : but there shall no stranger

8. See note on xvii. 15.

10. no stranger. Here and in verses 12 f. 'stranger' (*ir)}
denotes one who is not a member of a priestly family, in other
words a layman (cf. Deut. xxv. 5, where Stranger' is a man
outside the family of the deceased husband). The zar must be
carefully distinguished both from the 'stranger' of verse 18, who is
the ger, or resident alien with certain civil and religious rights
(see on xvii. 8), and from a sojourner of the priest's (Heb.
toshdbh), apparently an alien only temporarily settled in a Hebrew
family, and in a position of greater dependence on his patron than
the ger.

11. A Hebrew slave, on the contrary, whether purchased or
born in his house (cf. Gen. xiv. 14, xv. 3), was regarded as a
member of the priest's family, sharing in its worship and therefore
allowed, like the other members of the family, to partake of the
holy things.

12 f. A daughter of a priest, married into a layman's family,
belongs to the latter, and is excluded from sharing in the priest's
dues (cf. the similar case, xxi. 3); if she becomes a widow with
children, she and they still belong to the husband's and father's
kin, but if she is childless, she may resume her position in her
father's family with its privileges.

LEVITICUS 22. 14-21. H 147

eat thereof. And if a man eat of the holy thing un- 14
wittingly, then he shall put the fifth part thereof unto it,
and shall give unto the priest the holy thing. And they 15
shall not profane the holy things of the children of Israel,
which they offer unto the Lord; and so cause them to 16
bear the iniquity that bringeth guilt, when they eat their
holy things : for I am the Lord which sanctify them.

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto jg
Aaron, and to his sons, and unto all the children of
Israel, and say unto them, Whosoever he be of the house
of Israel, or of the strangers in Israel, that offereth his
oblation, whether it be any of their vows, or any of their
freewill offerings, which they offer unto the Lord for a
burnt offering; that ye may be accepted, _)'£ shall offer 19
a male without blemish, of the beeves, of the sheep, or
of the goats. But whatsoever hath a blemish, that shall 20
ye not offer : for it shall not be acceptable for you. And 2I
whosoever offereth a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the

14. The penalty here prescribed, restoration of the ' holy thing '
with a fine equal to one-fifth of its value, is so far identical with
that of the later law, v. 14-16 (which see) ; here, however, no
mention is made of an accompanying guilt-offering. As compared
with P, more especially in its later strata, H represents an earlier
stage in the history of sacrifice.

15. The subject is the priests; the profanation is caused by the
admission of unqualified persons to partake of the sacred dues.

17-25. Animals destined for the altar must, as a rule, be free
from physical blemish (for the single exception see below). The
chief points of interest are : (1) only two classes of animal sacri-
fices are contemplated, the burnt- or whole-offering, and the
peace-offering or sacrifice of requital (or recompense). As has
been already pointed out, H is silent as to the sin- and guilt-
offerings. (2) Both the former classes comprise two varieties,
the votive-offering (E.V. ' vow') and the freewill-offering, for which
see note on vii. 16. This is the only passage where burnt-
offerings are so distinguished, although Ezekiel (xlvi. 12) speaks
of a freewill burnt-offering — the votive and freewill-offerings
belonging more naturally to the category of the recompense-

L 2

148 LEVITICUS 22. 22-27. H

Lord to a accomplish a vow, or for a freewill offering, of
the herd or of the flock, it shall be perfect to be accepted ;

22 there shall be no blemish therein. Blind, or broken, or
maimed, or having ba wen, or scurvy, or scabbed, ye
shall not offer these unto the Lord, nor make an offering

23 by fire of them upon the altar unto the Lord. Either
a bullock or a lamb that hath any thing superfluous or
lacking in his parts, that mayest thou offer for a freewill

14 offering j but for a vow it shall not be accepted. That
which hath its stones bruised, or crushed, or broken, or
cut, ye shall not offer unto the Lord j neither shall ye

25 0 do thus in your land. Neither from the hand of a
foreigner shall ye offer the bread of your God of any of
these ; because their corruption is in them, there is a
blemish in them : they shall not be accepted for you.

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, When a
bullock, or a sheep, or a goat, is brought forth, then it
shall be seven days under the dam ; and from the eighth
a Or, make a special vow b Or, sores ° Or, sacrifice them

offering. (3) The thank-offering proper does not appear here
as a third variety of the latter, as it does in vii. 11 f. (P), but
appears later (verses 29 f.) as an independent sacrifice (cf. note
on xix. 5-8). (4) The admission of imperfect victims in the case of
the freewill-offering (verse 23).

22. having1 a wen : render as margin. ' having (running)
sores.'

23. that hath any thing" superfluous or lacking, &c. : rather
' that hath any of its members too long or too short,' cf. xxi. 18.

24. Only entire males are admissible. The last clause of the
verse has been interpreted either as a general prohibition of
castration by any of the four methods specified (so text of R. V.),
or as a special prohibition against offering castrated animals in
sacrifice (so R.V. margin and text of A.V.). The tenor of the
section as a whole favours the latter interpretation.

24. Such blemished victims are inadmissible even when pur-
chased from a non-Israelite.

26-31. Three supplementary laws relating to sacrifice and
offering.

LEVITICUS 22. 2S— 23. 2. H P t49

day and thenceforth it shall be accepted for the oblation
of an offering made by fire unto the Lord. And whether 28
it be cow or ewe, ye shall not kill it and her young both
in one day. And when ye sacrifice a sacrifice of thanks- 29
giving unto the Lord, ye shall sacrifice it that ye may be
accepted. On the same day it shall be eaten j ye shall 30
leave none of it until the morning : I am the Lord.
Therefore shall ye keep my commandments, and do ?,i
them : I am the Lord. And ye shall not profane my 32
holy name ; but I will be hallowed among the children
of Israel : I am the Lord which hallow you, that brought 33
you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God : I am the
Lord.

[P] And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak 23

27 repeats the older torah, Exod. xxii. 30 ; the latter, however,
in its present context has a special reference to the sacrifice of the
firstlings of the flock and of the herd.

29 f. deal with the 'sacrifice of thanksgiving' as an independent
offering ; see notes on vii. 15 and xix. 5-8.

31-33. The concluding exhortation, addressed to the people,
from the compiler of H ; cf. the similar passages xviii. 26-30, xix.
37, xx. 20-26, from the same hand.

(d) xxiii-xxv. The cycle of sacred seasons and other matters.

The most characteristic part of the Holiness Code is now at an
end, apart from the concluding exhortation in ch. xxvi. In the
three chapters here taken, for convenience of treatment, as forming
a separate section, H has been combined with legislative material
from P, and glossed by later priestly hands to an extent greatly
bej'ond anything in the preceding chapters.

xxiii. A calendar of the festivals of the ecclesiastical year.
These comprise the Sabbath (verses 1-3), the feast of Passover
(4 f.), the feast of Unleavened Cakes (niassoth), including the
ceremony of the wave-sheaf 6-14), the feast of Weeks (15-22),
New Year's Day (23-25), the Day of Atonement (26-32), the feast
of Booths (33-36, 39-43), with an original colophon now divided
into two parts (37 f., 44). Cf. throughout Num. xxviii f.

The calendar in its present form has been compiled from H and
P with editorial additions by Rp, the editor who combined H with

150 LEVITICUS 23. ?l. P

unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, The a set

feasts of the Lord, which ye shall proclaim to be holy

3 convocations, even these are my set feasts. Six days

shall work be done : but on the seventh day is a sabbath

a Or, appointed seasons

the main body of P, and by other hands (Ps) in the spirit of P.
The standpoint and phraseology of the latter are easily detected
in verses 1-8, 23-38, while the characteristics of H are not less
evident in verses 9-22, 39-43. Closer inspection, however,
shows that these groups are not entirely homogeneous. Thus
the phrase ' beside the sabbaths of Yahweh ' in the colophon of P
(verse 38), shows that the law on the observance of the sabbath
was not originally contained in the compiler's extract from this
source, a conclusion confirmed by the fresh heading in verse 4.
The legislation of H has also been expanded by priestly additions.
The literary analysis may be represented as follows :

H iob-i2 14* 15-17 18-20 (in part) 22 39-43.

P 4-8 2I 23-38 44.

Rp and Ps 1-3 9-10* 13 i4b 18-19 (parts) 39 (part).

There is a significant difference in the attitude of H and P
respectively to the three great pilgrimage feasts of Unleavened
Cakes, Weeks, and Booths. In the former source these still retain
their original intimate connexion with agriculture, more precisely
with the grain and fruit harvests, whereas in P they are entirely
divorced therefrom and have become fixed ecclesiastical festivals.
Very full lists of recent studies of the Hebrew feasts are given by
W. R. Harper, The Priestly Element in the O. T., 1905, pp. 104-6,
283 f., and a convenient classification of the data of the Hexateuch
in C-H. i. 243-7.

1-3. The first place in the calendar, as now arranged, is occu-
pied by the Sabbath. The secondary character of the section has
been already explained.

2. set feasts: the marginal rendering, 'appointed (i.e. fixed)
seasons,' is preferable ; cf. the non-technical use of the word at
the close of verse 4.

holy convocations: meetings 'convoked' or summoned for
public worship at the sanctuary; 'holy religious meetings' is
Driver's rendering. That the whole community should be ex-
pected to assemble at the Temple every Sabbath is, as Kautzsch
remarks, 'exceedingly strange.' The explanation may be that
the late editor, to whom we owe this section, had the post-exilic
institution of the synagogue in view.

3. a sabbath of solemn rest: for this emphatic expression see
on xvi. 31. In H the observation of the Sabbath is enjoined in

LEVITICUS 23.4-6. P ijf

of solemn rest, an holy convocation ; ye shall do no
manner of work : it is a sabbath unto the Lord in all
your dwellings.

These are the set feasts of the Lord, even holy con- 4
vocations, which ye shall proclaim in their appointed
season. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the 5
month a at even, is the Lord's passover. And on the 6

a Heb. between the tzvo evenings.

xix. 2, 30, xxvi. 2. No agreement has yet been reached by
scholars as regards either the etymological significance of the
word shabbdth, or the origin and early history of the institution.
To the copious literature on the Sabbath in Harper, op. cit. 114-7,
284 — from which Driver's article in Hastings's DB. iv. may be
singled out — there fall to be added the more recent German mono-
graphs by Meinhold and Hehn, Benzinger's Heb. Archciologie2
[1908], 389 f., and McNeile, The Book of Exodus, 121 ff.

4 f. The Passover feast from P, who has already dealt with it
in detail, Exod. xii. 1-13, 43-50; see Bennett, Cent. Bible, in he,
also Robinson on Deut. xvi. 1-7 in the same series. This feast
was regarded by Hebrew writers as deriving its name (pesah), as
does its English equivalent, from the circumstance that Yahweh
' passed over,' in the sense of 'spared' (jxlscih), the Hebrews on
the night of its institution (see Exod. xii. 27), but this etymology
is doubtful in the extreme. Unfortunately the remark made above
regarding the name and the institution of the Sabbath applies
equally to Passover. It is generally agreed, however, that the
Passover is the descendant of a very ancient spring festival
observed by the nomadic ancestors of the Hebrews, and standing
in some connexion with the protection of their tents and flock3.
This at least is certain, that Passover was originally entirely dis-
tinct from the feast of Unleavened Cakes with which it afterwards
became joined. Of the more recent discussions may be men-
tioned Benzinger's article, 'Passover and Unleavened Bread,' in
EBi. (cf. this scholar's later views in his Heb. Archdohgie1 [1908]
392 ff.), and the excursus in McNeile's Exodus, 62-68).

5. the first month : of the ecclesiastical year, as in P through-
out (see Exod. xii. 2), the old name of which was Abib (Deut.
xvi. 1), corresponding roughly to April. The Hebrew year
originally began for all purposes in autumn with P's seventh
month (see on verses 23 ff.), and the Jewish civil year still con-
tinues to be so reckoned. In the post-exilic period the Babylonian
names for the months were adopted, and Abib became Nisan
( Neh. ii. 1).

152 LEVITICUS 23. 7-11. PH

fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of un-
leavened bread unto the Lord : seven days ye shall eat

7 unleavened bread. In the first day ye shall have an holy

8 convocation : ye shall do no a servile work. But ye shall
offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord seven days :
in the seventh day is an holy convocation ; ye shall do
no servile work.

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto
the children of Israel, and say unto them, [H] When ye
be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall
reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring the sheaf
11 of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest : and he
shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted for
a Heb. work of labour.

6-8. The feast of Unleavened Cakes— such is the more exact
rendering of the Heb. mazzoth — lasting seven days, the first and
last of which were days of 'holy convocation.' Mazzoth is also
dealt with in later strata of P, viz., Exod. xii. 14-20 and Num.
xxviii. 17-25, where the special daily sacrifices are prescribed (cf.
verse 13 below).

*I. ye shall do no servile work : lit. l work of tillage,' work in
the fields.

9-14. The parallel ordinance from H now considerably expanded
(see the analysis above). Here the distinguishing feature of the
festival is an interesting ceremony, which shows that Mazzoth,
like its complement, the feast of Weeks, was a harvest festival.
At the beginning of the barley harvest — barley ripens two or three
weeks before the wheat — the husbandman presented to God's
representative at the local sanctuary (see the next note) the first
sheaf in token of his dependence upon, and gratitude to, the Lord
of the harvest. In early times the date of the festival, which we
have seen to have had originally no connexion with the Passover,
will have varied with the date of the ripening of the crops in the
different districts of Palestine.

10. unto the priest: in the old torah, taken up by H, the
reference was doubtless to the priest of the local sanctuary, as
elsewhere in H (xvii. 5, xx. 10, &c).

11. he shall wave the sheaf. For the nature of the action here
prescribed, see note on vii. 30, and cf. verses 17, 20 of this
chapter.

LEVITICUS 23. 12-14. H 153

you : on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall
wave it. And in the day when ye wave the sheaf, ye 12
shall offer a he-lamb without blemish of the first year for
a burnt offering unto the Lord. And the meal offering 1?,
thereof shall be two tenth parts of an ephah of fine flour
mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the Lord
for a sweet savour : and the drink offering thereof shall
be of wine, the fourth part of an hin. And ye shall eat 14
neither bread, nor parched corn, nor fresh ears, until
this selfsame day, until ye have brought the oblation of
your God : it is a statute for ever throughout your
generations in all your dwellings.

on the morrow after the sabbath. The best authorities,
Jewish and Christian alike, differ widely in their understanding
of this expression (see the various sets of opinions in Dillmann,
Exodus and Leviticuss, 641 ff.) There seems to be two clues to
the probable interpretation : (1) the nature of the case requires
that the ceremony of the wave-sheaf, by which the harvest was
consecrated to man's use, should take place on the first day of the
harvest; (2) the mention of 'the seventh sabbath' in verse 16
shows that the 'sabbath ' of verses 11 and 15 must also be under-
stood in its ordinary signification of the weekly day of rest, the
seventh of the week. This being so, we must assume that at the
time when this torah was first written down, it was customary to
begin harvest operations on the first day of the week, a practice
which has its analogies elsewhere, as Bertholet shows in his
commentary. By this interpretation, furthermore, the date from
which the count is made for fixing Pentecost in verses 15 f. agrees
with that given in Deut. xvi. 9 : ' from the time thou beginnest to
put the sickle to the standing corn, shalt thou begin to number
seven weeks.'

12-14. Of these verses only 12 and 14* (to ' fresh ears ') belong
to the original legislation of H j the rest is a later addition in the
spirit and phraseology of P (Rp). H requires (i) that the pre-
sentation of the wave-sheaf shall be accompanied by the sacrifice
of a yearling he-lamb, and (2) that the new harvest shall not be
partaken of in any form until ' the sheaf of the firstfruits ' has been
presented at the altar.

two tenth parts of an ephah : lit. 'two 'issarons of fine flour,'
see note on v. II, also on xix. 36 for the ephah and the hin. Cf.
the more elaborate prescriptions in Num. xxviii. 19 ff. (P").

i54 LEVITICUS 23. 15-20. H

15 And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after
the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of
the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall there be com-

16 plete : even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath
shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new

17 meal offering unto the Lord. Ye shall bring out of your
habitations two wave loaves of two tenth parts of an
ephah : they shall be of fine flour, they shall be baken

18 with leaven, for firstfruits unto the Lord. And ye shall
present with the bread seven lambs without blemish of
the first year, and one young bullock, and two rams :
they shall be a burnt offering unto the Lord, with their
meal offering, and their drink offerings, even an offering

19 made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord. And
ye shall offer one he-goat for a sin offering, and two he-
lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace offerings.

20 And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the

15-21. The feast of Weeks (Exod. xxxiv. 22), also termed ' the
feast of harvest' (xxiii. 16). It was also originally a harvest
festival to celebrate the close of the wheat harvest, and fell on the
fiftieth day after the beginning of the feast of Mazzoth, hence the
later name Pentecost, the Greek word for fiftieth.

15. seven sabbaths shall there be complete : here and xxv. 8
shabbdth seems to signify ' week ; ' render ' seven full weeks shall
there be.' For the starting-point of the count see note on verse n.

16. anew meal offering : a cereal-offering of the produce of the
new wheat harvest, cf. Exod. xxxiv. 22 where the feast is described
as the feast ' of the firstfruits of wheat harvest.'

17. they shall be baken with leaven. This is not inconsistent
with the prohibition of ii. n, since the wave-loaves were not con-
sumed upon the altar but became the perquisite of the priest
(verse 20).

18-20. The original provisions of H have again been greatly,
and not quite correctly, expanded on the basis of Num. xxviii. 26 IT.
The former probably contained only the following (cf. verse 12) :
' And ye shall present with the bread two he-lambs of the first year
for a sacrifice of requital !XE.V. peace-offeringsy for God's good
gift of the harvest. Its commencement had been hallowed by a
burnt-oft>ring of a single lamb (verse 12).

LEVITICUS 23. 21-27. HPHP 155

firstfruits for a wave offering before the Lord, with the
two lambs : they shall be holy to the Lord for the priest.
[P] And ye shall make proclamation on the selfsame day ; 2 1
there shall be an holy convocation unto you : ye shall do
no servile work : it is a statute for ever in all your dwell-
ings throughout your generations.

[H] And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou 22
shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither
shalt thou gather the gleaning of thy harvest : thou shalt
leave them for the poor, and for the stranger : I am the
Lord your God.

[P] And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak 2^
unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month,
in the first day of the month, shall be a solemn rest unto
you, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convo-
cation. Ye shall do no servile work : and ye shall offer 25
an offering made by fire unto the Lord.

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Howbeit on 2^
the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atone-
meat : it shall be an holy convocation unto you, and ye
shall afflict your souls j and ye shall offer an offering

22. e xix. 9 f . slightly modified (H).

23-25. The first day of the seventh month (Tishri), counting
from Nisan, is to be observed as a day of sabbatical rest (see note
on xvi. 31) and public worship. It is to be ushered in, like the
year of Jubilee (xxv. 9), with a blast of trumpets; hence the day
is termed 'the day of the trumpet-blast' (Num. xxix. 1), and is
sometimes described as the feast of Trumpets. In reality — though
this is not stated here— the day in question is the New Year's Day
of the civil year (see above on verse 5). From Ezek. xl. 1 it
would appear that at one time New Year's Day fell on the tenth
of Tishri, but was afterwards moved to the first of that month (cf.
note on xxv. 9).

26-32. A supplementary ordinance on the Day of Atonement
''cf. esp. xvi. 29-31, 34) emphasizing in particular (1) the sus-
pension of all manner of work, as on the weekly Sabbath sverse 3).

156 LEVITICUS 23. 28-7,4. P

28 made by fire unto the Lord. And ye shall do no
manner of work in that same day : for it is a day of
atonement, to make atonement for you before the Lord

29 your God. For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be
afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from his

30 people. And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any
manner of work in that same day, that soul will I destroy

31 from among his people. Ye shall do no manner of
work : it is a statute for ever throughout your generations

32 in all your dwellings. It shall be unto you a sabbath of
solemn rest, and ye shall afflict your souls : in the ninth
day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye
keep your sabbath.

^ And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto
the children of Israel, saying, On the fifteenth day of

not merely of all ' servile work ' as on the other festival-days
(7, 21, 35), and (2) the observance of a twenty-four hours' fast.
For this meaning of ' afflicting ' the soul, see note on xvi. 29.

32. from even unto even : the usual mode of reckoning in the
O. T. The fast began, as it still does, with the sunset which
closed the ninth of Tishri, and ended at sunset on the following
day.

33-36. The date and duration of the feast of Booths (from P).
This, the third and last, and apparently the most popular, of the
agricultural festivals, is named in the oldest legislation ' the feast
of ingathering ' {^asiph l, Exod. xxiii. 16. xxxiv. 22). It marked the
close of the labours of the year in field, vineyard and oliveyard
(see the passages just cited, and cf. Deut. xvi. 13, 'after that thou
hast gathered in from thy threshing-floor and from thy wine-
press '). In D and H (verses 40 ff. below) the duration of the
festival is given as seven days, and so here originally (verse 34).
The addition of an eighth day looks like the work of a later hand.

1 This word, which in O. T. occurs only in the two passages cited,
has been found on a limestone tablet recently (1908) unearthed at
Gezer, which is evidently a sort of farmer's calendar. For the
contents of this interesting document and its illustrative value for
the O. T. student, see PEFSt. 1909, and Marti in ZATW. xxix
(1909), 222 ff.

LEVITICUS 23. 35-39. PH 157

this seventh month is the feast of a tabernacles for seven
days unto the Lord. On the first day shall be an holy 35
convocation : ye shall do no servile work. Seven days 36
ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord :
on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you ;
and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the
Lord : it is a b solemn assembly ; ye shall do no servile
work.

These are the set feasts of the Lord, which ye shall 37
proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering
made by fire unto the Lord, a burnt offering, and a
meal offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, each on its
own day : beside the sabbaths of the Lord, and beside 38
your gifts, and beside all your vows, and beside all your
freewill offerings, which ye give unto the Lord.

Howbeit on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, 39
[H] when ye have gathered in the fruits of the land, ye
shall keep the feast of the Lord seven days : on the first

a Heb. booths. b Or, closing festival

On this point a comparison of 1 Kings viii. 66 with 2 Chron. vii. 9 f.
is instructive. The eighth day became ultimately • the great day
of the feast' (John vii. 37). In the O. T. also, the feast of Booths
is frequently referred to as ' the feast ' par excellence (cf. * the feast
of Yahweh,' verse 39), and is probably to be identified with the
festive gatherings recorded in such passages as Judges xxi. 21 ff.,
1 Sam. i. 3 ff., 21, &c. See further Num. xxix. 12-38.

34. the feast of tabernacles. The marginal rendering 'booths'
is to be preferred throughout, see on verses 40-42 below.

36. it is a solemn assembly : a technical term of the cultus
applied also in Deut. xvi. 8 to the seventh day of Mazzoth (see
Driver, Commentary, in loc). The alternative rendering in the
margin is based on a mistaken etymology.

37 f. Part of the colophon or subscription to P's festal calendar,
now separated from its proper close, verse 44, by the insertion of

39-43, the celebration of the feast of Booths from the calendar
uf H. H has here, as in the previous extract, been supplemented
with a view to secure greater harmony with P. This explains the

158 LEVITICUS 23.40-43. H

day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be

40 a solemn rest. And ye shall take you on the first day
the fruit of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and
boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook ; and ye
shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days.

41 And ye shall keep it a feast unto the Lord seven days
in the year : it is a statute for ever in your generations :

42 ye shall keep it in the seventh month. Ye shall dwell
in booths seven days ; all that are homeborn in Israel

43 shall dwell in booths : that your generations may know
that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths,
when I brought them out of the land of Egypt : I am

precise dating at the beginning ot verse 39, which now precedes
the more general terms of H ; ' when ye have gathered in the
fruits,' &c. (cf. D's similar phraseology in Deut. xvi. 13 given
above, and verse 10 of this chapter). Since the feast lasts only
seven days according to H (40 ff.)— so also in D — the < eighth day '
of 39 is also editorial and harmonistic ; cf. Num. xxix. 35 ff.

40. boughs of thick trees : probably rather ' of leafy trees,'
trees with thick, intertwining foliage, and so giving protection
against the sun's heat. The purpose in view is the construction
of booths in which the worshippers lived during the feast, as is
evident from the narrative of Neh. viii. 15 ff. This custom doubt-
less had its origin in the habit of living during the vintage season
in extemporized erections such as are here contemplated. In the
Greek period it became the custom for the male worshippers at
this feast to carry in one hand a ' bouquet ' 1 Heb. luldb) composed
of a palm leaf with twigs of myrtle and willow, and in the other
a citron (cf. the description of the ceremony in 2 Mace. x. 7).

The liilab and citron were adopted as a type on coins of the
second revolt (see plate of illustrations to the writer's article
'Money' in Hastings's DB. iii. No. 20).

42. The feast of Booths, which, like the other two harvest
festivals, was presumably adopted from the Canaanites after the
conquest, here receives a new significance as a festival com-
memorating Israel's sojourn in the wilderness. The feast of
Mazzoth had already been associated with the Exodus (Exod.
xiii. 3, Deut. xvi. 3) ; it only remained for the Jews in the post-
biblical period to associate the feast of Weeks with the giving of
the law on Sinai.

LEVITICUS 23. 44 -24. 5. HP 159

the Lord your God. [P] And Moses declared unto 44
the children of Israel the set feasts of the Lord.

[P] a And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Com- 242
mand the children of Israel, that they bring unto thee pure
olive oil beaten for the light, bto cause a lamp to burn
continually. Without the veil of the testimony, in the 3
tent of meeting, shall Aaron order it from evening to
morning before the Lord continually : it shall be a
statute for ever throughout your generations. He shall 4
order the lamps upon the pure candlestick before the
Lord continually.

And thou shalt take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes 5
a See Ex. xxvii. 20, 21. b Or, to set up a lamp continually

xxiv. consists of two distinct parts. In the first part we have
regulations regarding the lamps of the tabernacle (verses 1-4),
and the shewbread (5-9) ; in the second part laws directed against
the crimes of blasphemy and assault (10-23}. The reasons which
led to the insertion of these laws and regulations at this point can
only be conjectured. The bulk of the chapter shows the closest
affinity to P ; but in verses 15-22 we have, in the main, an extract
with the distinctive phraseology of H.

1-4. The seven lamps of the tabernacle lampstand are to be fed
with the finest olive oil and attended to by the High Priest in
person — an almost exact parallel to Exod. xxvii. 20, 21.

4. the pure candlestick: properly ' lampstand,' as minutely
described in Exod. xxv. 31-40 (see the illustration prepared for the
writer's art. 'Tabernacle' in Hastings's DB., iv. 663). It is here
and elsewhere termed ' pure,' because made of pure gold, cf. ' the
pure table ' of shewbread, verse 6 below.

5-9. Directions for the preparation of the shewbread, literally
the presence-bread, as Exod. xxv. 30,-R.V. margin, of which verse
this section is the supplement. For the history and significance
of this interesting part of the Hebrew ritual see the art. ' Shew-
bread,' op. at. iv. 495 ff. The number of cakes, which has its exact
counterpart in the presence-bread (akdl pditu) of the Babylonian
temple ritual ( KAT \ 600 had no doubt a reference to the twelve

i6o LEVITICUS 24. 6-n. P

thereof : two tenth parts of an ephah shall be in one cake.

6 And thou shalt set them in a two rows, six on a row,

7 upon the pure table before the Lord. And thou shalt
put pure frankincense upon each h row, that it may be to
the bread for a memorial, even an offering made by fire

8 unto the Lord. Every sabbath day he shall set it in
order before the Lord continually ; it is c on the behalf

9 of the children of Israel, an everlasting covenant. And
it shall be for Aaron and his sons ; and they shall eat it
in a holy place : for it is most holy unto him of the
offerings of the Lord made by fire by a perpetual
statute.

jo And the son of an Israelitish woman, whose father was
an Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel : and
the son of the Israelitish woman and a man of Israel

i 1 strove together in the camp ; and the son of the Israelitish

a Or, two piles, six in a pile b Or. pile c Or, from

tribes of Israel, on behalf of whom (verse 8) the shewbread was
presented, from Sabbath to Sabbath, as a symbolical expression of
the nation's gratitude to God as the continual source of every
material blessing.

5. two tenth parts of an ephah: 'two 'issarons,' for which
see on v. n.

6. in two rows : the margin, * in two piles,' is probably to be
preferred.

*I. pure frankincense . . . memorial. See note on ii. 2.
9. in a holy place . . . most holy. See note on ii. 3.

10-23. The kernel of this section is contained in verses 15-22,
an extract from the Holiness Code — note the signature of H at
the end of 22 — dealing with the crime of blasphemy and with the
penalties to be inflicted on those causing injury to man or beast.
This extract has been fitted by a late priestly redactor into
a framework intended to illustrate by a concrete case the punish-
ment to be meted out to the blasphemer. The narrative of the
sabbath-breaker in Num. xv. 32 ff. is an exact parallel.

LEVITICUS 24. ii-2.. PH 161

woman blasphemed the Name, and cursed : and they
brought him unto Moses. And his mother's name was
Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.
And they put him in ward, that it might be declared 12
unto them at the mouth of the Lord.

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Bring forth 13
him that hath cursed without the camp ; and let all that I4
heard him lay their hands upon his head, and let all the
congregation stone him. [H] And thou shalt speak unto 15
the children of Israel, saying, Whosoever curseth his God
shall bear his sin. And he that blasphemeth the name 16
of the Lord, he shall surely be put to death ; all the
congregation shall certainly stone him : as well the
stranger, as the homeborn, when he blasphemeth the
name of the LORD, shall be put to death. And he that 1 7
smiteth any man mortally shall surely be put to death ;
and he that smiteth a beast mortally shall make it good : 18
life for life. And if a man cause a blemish in his 19
neighbour ; as he hath done, so shall it be done to him ;
breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth : as he 2°
hath caused a blemish in a man, so shall it be rendered
unto him. And he that killeth a beast shall make it 21
good : and he that killeth a man shall be put to death.

11. blasphemed the Name. This substitute for the Divine
proper name, although continually used in later Jewish writings,
can scarcely be original here ; read either f Yahweh ' alone, or as
in i6a 'the name of Yahweh,' which the LXX also reads in i6b
(note the italics of R. V.).

15. Whosoever . . . shall hear his sin. Both the formulation
and the phraseology have numerous parallels in the preceding
sections of H.

17-21. A series of illustrations of the ancient/ws talionis, or law
of retaliation, 'life for life,' 'eye for eye,' &c. ; see the earlier
toroth of the Book of the Covenant, Exod. xxi. 23-25 ; and cf.
Deut. xix. 21 ; Matt. v. 38. The jus talionis plays a large part in
the criminal code of Hammurabi (Cook, op. cit., 249 f.).

i62 LEVITICUS 24. 22— 25. 1. HPH

22 Ye shall have one manner of law, as well for the stranger,
as for the home born : for I am the Lord your God.

23 [P] And Moses spake to the children of Israel, and they
brought forth him that had cursed out of the camp, and
stoned him with stones. And the children of Israel did
as the Lord commanded Moses.

25 [H] And the Lord spake unto Moses in mount Sinai,

22. Cf. Exod. xii. 49 ; Num. ix. 14, xv. 15, 29.

23. The original close of P's narrative in verses 10-14.

Chapter xxv is the natural continuation of xxiii. The cycle of
sacred seasons is here completed by the addition of the seventh
year, usually termed the sabbatical year, and of the fiftieth or year
of Jubilee. With the latter is connected a series of provisions
dealing with the land and with slaves.

The chapter, as it now stands, presents numerous difficulties,
literary and historical, which cannot be kept apart, and of which
only a probable solution can at best be offered. As regards the
literary problems, all critics are agreed in recognizing the legisla-
tion of H in verses 2b~7 (note the introductory phrase characteristic
of H : 'when ye come into the land,' &c. ; cf. xix. 23, xxiii. 10).
These verses find their natural continuation in 17-22. The
humanitarian spirit of the Holiness Code may also be recognized
in 35-40 and in other isolated verses. There is likewise unanimity
in the allocation of verses 26-34 and of 48-52, at least, to
a secondary stratum of the priestly legislation (P9). The chief
difficulty is met with in verses 8-13, and here the literary criteria
are not, in the present writer's opinion, decisive. All turns on
the crucial question, did the year of Jubilee have a place in the
Holiness Code ? The balance of probability seems to be in favour
of the negative view. The subject is too large and complicated
for adequate discussion here.1 There is much force, however, in
the argument advanced by Paton {Journ. 0/ Bib. Lit. xviii. 46) that

1 For further information on the literary and historical problems
raised by this chapter, the student is referred to the larger commentaries
of Dillmann-Ryssel, Bertholet, and Baentsch ; Driver and White's
Leviticus (translation and notes), in loc, C-H. i. 54 f., ii. 177 f. ;
Wellhausen, Composition d. ffexat.3 164 ff. ; Harford-Battersby's
art. ' Sabbatical Year (including Jubile Year and land laws),' in
Hastings's DB. iv.; Nowack's //?&. Archaologie, ii. 165 ff. ; Paton, in
Journ. of Bib. Lit. xviii. 43 ff.; Fenton, Early Hebrew Life, 66-74.

LEVITICUS 25. 2-7. H 163

saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto 2
them, When ye come into the land which I give you,
then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the Lord. Six 3
years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt
prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruits thereof; but 4
in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for
the land, a sabbath unto the Lord : thou shalt neither
sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard. That which 5
groweth of itself of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, and
the grapes of thy undressed vine thou shalt not gather :
it shall be a year of solemn rest for the land. And the 6
sabbath of the land shall be for food for you ; for thee,
and for thy servant and for thy maid, and for thy hired
servant and for thy stranger that sojourn with thee ; and 7

if the author of H had given the Jubilee a place in his code, he
would surely have referred to it in verses 18-22 of this chapter
(see notes on these and on verses 11 f.). In the analysis of the
text, accordingly, verses 8-13 are assigned wholly to P (Ps).

1-7. The law of the sabbatical year (H). In the Book of the
Covenant we have the beginnings of the Hebrew poor law in the
provision that a field must lie fallow every seventh year, 'that
the poor of thy people may eat' (Exod. xxiii. 11). It is not
required that all the fields on a holding, still less that all the fields
on all the holdings in Palestine, shall lie fallow simultaneously.
This, however, is what the law of this section requires. The
motive, also, is entirely different from that underlying the older
custom of the seventh year fallow. Religion here takes the place
of humane consideration for the poor. The land must be afforded
an opportunity of keeping God's holy sabbath; 'the land shall
keep a sabbath unto Yahweh.' From xxvi. 34 f. it is evident that
no such sabbath was observed under the monarchy. In the post-
exilic literature it is first mentioned in connexion with Ezra's
reform (Neh. x. 31). From the time of the Maccabees, however,
the sabbatical year was a recognized institution of Judaism.

4. a sabbath, of solemn rest. See on xvi. 31.

6. the sabbath of the land : an unique expression denoting
the natural produce of the land in the 'sabbath' year. Of this
the farmer, with his household and cattle, is to be allowed full
use ; no mention is made of the rights of the poor. For the
'stranger' (toshabh) of this verse, see on xxii. 10.

M 2

164 LEVITICUS 25. 8-u. HP

for thy cattle, and for the beasts that are in thy land,
shall all the increase thereof be for food.

8 [p] And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years
unto thee, seven times seven years ; and there shall be
unto thee the days of seven sabbaths of years, even forty

9 and nine years. Then shalt thou send abroad the loud
trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month ; in the
day of atonement shall ye send abroad the trumpet

io throughout all your land. And ye shall hallow the
fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land
unto all the inhabitants thereof : it shall be a jubile unto
you ; and ye shall return every man unto his possession,

i r and ye shall return every man unto his family. A jubile

8-13. The main law of the year of Jubilee (Ps). The probability
is, as has been explained above, that we have here the ideal of
a later legislator, in which the sabbath principle is carried to its
extreme limit. Even Jewish tradition admits that the provisions
of this and allied sections were never carried out as here detailed.

8. thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years : render
'seven weeks of years' (cf. the sense of 'sabbath' in xxiii. 15).
As Pentecost fell upon the day after a week of weeks — hence its
name ' the feast of Weeks' — so the Jubilee year was the (fiftieth)
year following seven weeks of years.

9. The Jubilee is to be ushered in by a blast on a ram's horn,
the 'trumpet' of the text, on the old New Year's Day, the tenth
of Tishri (see for this the note on xxiii. 23 ff.). Afterwards, when
the year began on the first of Tishri, the tenth was appropriated
for the new festival of the Day of Atonement (xvi. 29, xxiii. 27).
This explains the mistaken gloss in the second part of the verse.
The joy of Jubilee is altogether incompatible with the austerity
of the 'great fast.'

10. it shall be a jubile unto you: more explicitly 'a year of
jubile,' as in verses 13, 28, &c. The English word is derived
ultimately from the Hebrew original, yobel, a ram's horn (see
Josh. vi. 4 and R. V. marg.). The year was so named from the
blast by which it was announced.

ye shall return . . . family : here we have the two out-
standing features of the Jubilee — the restoration of land that has
been alienated, and the restitution of liberty to those in servitude
(see further verses 13, 28, 40 fF.).

11 f. The prohibitions of H's sabbatical year (4 f. above) are

LEVITICUS 25. 12-19. FHPH 165

shall that fiftieth year be unto you : ye shall not sow,
neither reap that which groweth of itself in it, nor gather
the grapes in it of the undressed vines. For it is a jubile ; 12
it shall be holy unto you : ye shall eat the increase
thereof out of the field. In this year of jubile ye shall 1 3
return every man unto his possession. [H] And if thou 14
sell aught unto thy neighbour, or buy of thy neighbour's
hand, ye shall not wrong one another: [P] according 15
to the number of years after the jubile thou shalt buy of
thy neighbour, and according unto the number of years
of the crops he shall sell unto thee. According to the 16
multitude of the years thou shalt increase the price
thereof, and according to the fewness of the years thou
shalt diminish the price of it ; for the number of the
crops doth he sell unto thee. [H] And ye shall not wrong 1 7
one another ; but thou shalt fear thy God : for I am the
Lord your God. Wherefore ye shall do my statutes, 18
and keep my judgements and do them; and ye shall
dwell in the land in safety. And the land shall yield 19

transferred by Ps to his year of jubilee. Since every forty-ninth
year was a sabbatical year, this means that the whole land was to
lie fallow for hvo consecutive years. Was this ever practicable ?
See the objection which the author of H anticipates in verse 20 to
the universal fallow of every seventh year alone. What appears
to be the legitimate inference from his silence as to the very much
greater inconvenience of two fallow years in succession has been
already stated.

15 f. In the buying and selling of land it is laid down that
what is really conveyed to the purchaser is not the land, but the
crops it will produce between the date of the transaction and the
next Jubilee when the land reverts to the seller.

17, repeating the moral precept of verse 14, bears at its close
the signature of H.

18-22. The continuation of the law of the sabbatical year (ab-7),
intended to meet the natural objection to the new demand for
a simultaneous fallow of the whole agricultural land.

166 LEVITICUS 25. 20-25. HPH

her fruit, and ye shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in

20 safety. And if ye shall say, What shall we eat the
seventh year? behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in

21 our increase: then I will command my blessing upon
you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for

22 the three years. And ye shall sow the eighth year, and
eat of the fruits, the old store ; until the ninth year, until

23 her fruits come in, ye shall eat the old store. [P] And
the land shall not be sold in perpetuity ; for the land is
mine : for ye are strangers and sojourners with me.

24 [H] And in all the land of your possession ye shall
grant a redemption for the land.

25 If thy brother be waxen poor, and sell some of his
possession, then shall his kinsman that is next unto him

21 f. By the Divine blessing upon it, the land, in the sixth year,
will produce sufficient for the needs of ' the three years.' Which
three ? The experience of the present day in Syria shows that,
after lying fallow for a year, a field requires several ploughings
before it can be sown. The consequence is that sowing cannot
be begun till the following spring— the eighth year of verse 22 —
and the crop is not available till late autumn, when ' the ninth
year' has begun.

23. the land is mine : a characteristic thought of the Priests'
Code. Palestine is Yahweh's land ; His people hold their lands
in fee from Him. 'The idea that the Israelites are Jehovah's
clients, sojourning in a land where they have no rights of their
own, but are absolutely dependent on His bounty, is one of the
most characteristic notes of the new and more timid type of piety
that distinguishes post-exilic Judaism from the religion of old
Israel' (W. R. Smith, Rel. Sent.2 78).

24-25. Provision for the redemption of land, a fragment of H's
land laws, entirely independent of the institution of the Jubilee.

25. his kinsman . . . shall redeem, &c. : *. kinsman ' renders the
Heb. goel (lit. l one who vindicates a claim '), an important term
of Hebrew jurisprudence. Of the duty here incumbent on the
goel, or next of kin, the classical illustrations in O.T. are found in
Jeremiah xxxii. 8-12, and Ruth iv. 1 ff. For a similar duty see
below, verses 48 f., and for others the arts. ' Goel ' in DB. and
EBu

LEVITICUS 25. 26-32. HP 167

come, and shall redeem that which his brother hath sold.
[P] And if a man have no one to redeem it, and he be *6
waxen rich and find sufficient to redeem it; then let 27
him count the years of the sale thereof, and restore the
overplus unto the man to whom he sold it ; and he shall
return unto his possession. But if he be not able to get 28
it back for himself, then that which he hath sold shall
remain in the hand of him that hath bought it until the
year of jubile : and in the jubile it shall go out, and he
shall return unto his possession.

And if a man sell a dwelling house in a walled city, 29
then he may redeem it within a whole year after it is
sold ; for a full year shall he have the right of redemp-
tion. And if it be not redeemed within the space of 30
a full year, then the house that is in the walled city
shall be made sure in perpetuity to him that bought it,
throughout his generations : it shall not go out in the
jubile. But the houses of the villages which have no 31
wall round about them shall be reckoned with the fields
of the country : they may be redeemed, and they shall
go out in the jubile. Nevertheless the cities of the 33
Levites, the houses of the cities of their possession, may

26-28. With the preceding extract from H, the editor has
combined another from P. In modern phrase, the original vendor
buys back his property by refunding to the purchaser the pro-
portion of the price corresponding to the years that had still to
run of the jubilee period (cf. verses 15, 50 ff.).

29-34. The law requiring the universal restitution of alienated
property in the fiftieth year is not to apply to houses in walled
cities. In these, however, the vendor retains the right of redemp-
tion for a whole year after the sale. In the case of the Levitical
cities (for these see Num. xxxv) again, the vendor has a perpetual
right of redemption, but if this right is not exercised, his property
returns to him at the jubilee. Levitical property, even in a city,
is as inalienable as real estate in the country.

168 LEVITICUS 25. 33-40. PH

33 the Levites redeem at any time. And if p one of the
Levites h redeem, then the house that was sold, and the
city of his possession, shall go out in the jubile : for the
houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession

34 among the children of Israel. But the field of the
c suburbs of their cities may not be sold : for it is their
perpetual possession.

35 [H] And if thy brother be waxen poor, and his hand
fail with thee ; then thou shalt d uphold him: as a stranger

36 and a sojourner shall he live with thee. Take thou no
usury of him or increase ; but fear thy God : that thy

37 brother may live with thee. Thou shalt not give him
thy money upon usury, nor give him thy victuals for

38 increase. I am the Lord your God, which brought you
forth out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land
of Canaan, to be your God.

39 And if thy brother be waxen poor with thee, and sell
himself unto thee ; thou shalt not make him to serve as

40 a bondservant : as an hired servant, and as a sojourner,

a Or, a man redeem from the Levites b Or, after the Vulgate,

redeem not c Or, pasture lands d Or, relieve

33. Read as in the margin : ' if one of the Levites do not re-
deem it' ; the negative has fallen out.

34. the field of the suburbs: render, 'but fields in the pasture
lands,' as R. V. margin. For these ' suburbs ' or pasture lands see
on Num. xxv. 2 ff.

35-38. The practical love of one's ' neighbour ' in the sense of
xix. 18 (which see), also from H.

36. Take thou no usury of him or increase : the terms of the
original both denote interest, the former interest on loans of
money, the latter interest on other advances such as food-stuffs
(see verse 37), seed corn and the like, which was paid in kind.
This species of loan played a large part in the economics of
Babylonia (see Johns, Bab. and Assyr. Laws, ch. xxiii). Parallels
from earlier codes in Exod. xxii. 25 ; Deut. xxiii. 19 f.

39-46. Differential treatment of slaves of Hebrew and non-
Hebrew nationality, based on the dignity of even the poorest

rife

f tbe

LEVITICUS 25. 4i-4y. HPHPHP 169

he shall be with thee ; [P] he shall serve with thee unto
the year of jubile : then shall he go out from thee, he 41
and his children with him, and shall return unto his
own family, and unto the possession of his fathers shall
he return. For they are my servants, which I brought 42
forth out of the land of Egypt : they shall not be sold as
bondmen. [H] Thou shalt not rule over him with rigour ; 43
but shalt fear thy God. [P] And as for thy bondmen, 44
and thy bondmaids, which thou shalt have ; of the
nations that are round about you, of them shall ye buy
bondmen and bondmaids. Moreover of the children of 45
the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them shall
ye buy, and of their families that are with you, which
they have begotten in your land : and they shall be your
possession. And ye shall make them an inheritance for 46
your children after you, to hold for a possession; of
them shall ye take your bondmen for ever : but over
your brethren the children of Israel ye shall not rule,
one over another, with rigour.

[H] And if a stranger or sojourner with thee be waxen 47
rich, and thy brother be waxen poor beside him, and sell
himself unto the stranger or sojourner with thee, or to
the stock of the stranger's family : [P] after that he 48
is sold he may be redeemed ; one of his brethren may
redeem him : or his uncle, or his uncle's son, may redeem 49
him, or any that is nigh of kin unto him of his family may
redeem him ; or if he be waxen rich, he may redeem

Hebrew as a member of Yahvveh's ' peculiar people ' (cf. also
verse 55). Kindness based on religion, the fear of God (verse
43), is the keynote of this section of the law. The terms with
which the extract from P opens in verse 40 silently abrogate the
more humane provisions of the earlier codes, by which a slave
went free after six full years' servitude (Exod. xxi. a; Deut. xv. 12).
47-55. Provision for the redemption of a Hebrew compelled

170 LEVITICUS 25. 50—26. 1. PHPH

50 himself. And he shall reckon with him that bought
him from the year that he sold himself to him unto the
year of jubile : and the price of his sale shall be accord-
ing unto the number of years ; according to the time of

51 an hired servant shall he be with him. If there be yet
many years, according unto them he shall give back the
price of his redemption out of the money that he was

52 bought for. And if there remain but few years unto the
year of jubile, then he shall reckon with him ; according
unto his years shall he give back the price of his re-

53 demption. [H] As a servant hired year by year shall he
be with him : he shall not rule with rigour over him in

54 thy sight. [P] And if he be not redeemed a by these
means, then he shall go out in the year of jubile, he, and

55 his children with him. [H] For unto me the children of
Israel are servants ; they are my servants whom I brought
forth out of the land of Egypt : I am the Lord your God.

26 f H] Ye shall make you no b idols, neither shall ye rear

a Or. in these years b See ch. xix. 4.

to sell himself as a slave to a neighbouring alien. As in the
similar situation in 25-28, the duty of redeeming him falls upon
his next of kin in succession, as in the case of Ruth (in. 12 f.,
iv. 4). The redemption price is to be calculated on the same
principle as before. This section also is pervaded by the thought
that a Hebrew can never be more than nominally a slave to any
human master, since God has chosen him for His servant.

(e) xxvi. The close of the Holiness Code in the form of a hortatory
address.

1 On the inculcation of two fundamental commands of the
theocracy, the avoidance of image -worship (cf. xix. 4), and the
observance of the Sabbaths with reverence for the sanctuary
(xix. 30), follows a recital of the material and spiritual blessings
which will be Israel's portion in case of obedience (verses 3-13),
then five severe threatenings for the case of disobedience (14-19).
Only the penitent confession of their sins and the expiation of
their guilt in the land of their enemies will induce Yahweh to

LEVITICUS 26. 2-4. H 171

you up a graven image, or aa pillar, neither shall ye place
any figured stone in your land, to bow down ft unto it :
for I am the Lord your God. Ye shall keep my sab- 2
baths, and reverence my sanctuary : I am the Lord.

If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my command- 3
ments, and do them ; then I will give your rains in their 4

ft Or, an obelisk . b Or, thereon

remember His covenant with them and to restore them once more
to His favour' (Kautzsch).

The Holiness Code closes with an impressive address in which
the Divine Lawgiver with promise and threat exhorts His
covenant people to observe its requirements. In the same
manner the earlier Book of the Covenant and the Deuteronomic
Code had been brought to a close (see Exod. xxiii. 20-33 '■> Dent,
xxviii. 1-68). On the latter passage, more particularly, the com-
piler of H has modelled his address. The most remarkable
literary feature of this chapter, however, is the extraordinary
number of expressions which it has in common with the book of
Ezekiel. Lists of these parallels are given by Driver, LOT.6
147 f., by the editors of the Oxford Hexateuch (C-H. i. 150 f.),
and in all the larger commentaries (the chapter should be studied
with the help of a good reference Bible). The main point at
issue is the question as to which of the two, Ezekiel or H, is
dependent on the other, as on the answer depends the date of the
compilation of the Holiness Code. This subject has been dis-
cussed in its place in the Introduction, and the conclusion come
to that the dependence is on the part of Ezekiel. on the ground
mainly that there are expressions in Lev. xxvi, not found in
Ezekiel, that show we have here to do with an author of marked
originality both in thought and expression.

1 f. The discourse opens with a brief summary of the funda-
mental principles of the Hebrew religion, containing ' the
quintessence of the foregoing legislation ' (Baentsch). Cf. note
on xix. 3 f.

or a pillar : the mazzebah, or standing stone, so frequently
mentioned in the O. T. among the appurtenances of the ' high
places.'

any figured stone : also Num. xxxiii. 52, a stone with some
idolatrous image or symbol carved upon it.

3-13. Promise of blessings, material and spiritual, in case of
obedience. The parallel promises of Deut. xxviii. 1-14 should
be compared.

172 LEVITICUS 26. 5-14. H

season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the

5 trees of the field shall yield their fruit. And your thresh-
ing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall
reach unto the sowing time : and ye shall eat your bread

6 to the full, and dwell in your land safely. And I will
give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none
shall make you afraid: and I will cause evil beasts to
cease out of the land, neither shall the sword go through

7 your land. And ye shall chase your enemies, and they

8 shall fall before you by the sword. And five of you
shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall
chase ten thousand : and your enemies shall fall before

9 you by the sword. And I will have respect unto you,
and make you fruitful, and multiply you ; and will estab-

10 lish my covenant with you. And ye shall eat old store
long kept, and ye shall bring forth the old a because of

" the new. And I will set my tabernacle among you : and

12 my soul shall not abhor you. And I will walk among
you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people.

'3 I am the Lord your God, which brought you forth out
of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bond-
men ; and I have broken the bars of your yoke, and
made you go upright.

*4 But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all

* Or, from before

5. With the promise of the first half of the verse, cf. Amos ix. 13.

7 f. Cf. Joshua xxiii. 10, f for Yahweh your God, he it is that
fighteth for you.'

10. because of the new: i.e. to make room for the new
{ Driver, Kautzsch). This verse interrupts the recital of the
religious blessings in 9b, 11 f., and has perhaps become displaced
from its original position after 5.

14-39. The punishments that will follow disobedience. These
are arranged in five groups of increasing severity, viz. : (1) sick-

LEVITICUS 26. i5-22. H 173

these commandments; and if ye shall reject my statutes, 15
and if your soul abhor my judgements, so that ye will
not do all my commandments, but break my covenant ;
I also will do this unto you ; I will appoint terror over 1 6
you, even consumption and fever, that shall consume the
eyes, and make the soul to pine away : and ye shall sow
your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. And I 1 7
will set my face against you, and ye shall be smitten
before your enemies : they that hate you shall rule over
you ; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you. And if 1 8
ye will not yet for these things hearken unto me, then I
will chastise you seven times more for your sins. And 19
I will break the pride of your power ; and I will make
your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass : and your 20
strength shall be spent in vain : for your land shall not
yield her increase, neither shall the trees of the land
yield their fruit. And if ye walk contrary unto me, and 2 1
will not hearken unto me ; I will bring seven times more
plagues upon you according to your sins. And I will 22
send the beast of the field among you, which shall rob
you of your children, and destroy your cattle, and make
you few in number ; and your ways shall become

ness and defeat (verses 16 {.), (2) famine (19 f.;, (3) wild beasts
(21 f.), (4) a siege with its accompanying privations and disease
(23-26), and finally (5) the crowning disaster of national destruction
and exile (27-39). In the literary treatment of these topics there
are numerous reminiscences of Deut. xxviii. 15 ff. ; cf. also Ezek.
v. 11-17.

19. the pride of your power : the power or strength of which
ye are proud, a favourite expression of Ezekiel (xxiv. 21, xxx. 6,
18, xxxiii. 28).

21. if ye walk contrary tinto me : in defiant opposition to the
Divine will, a strong expression peculiar to this chapter, cf. verses
23, 27, 40, and in the converse sense of Yahweh, 24, 28, 41.
4 Plague ' in this verse is to be understood in its etymological sense
of ' stroke ' (see on xiii. 2), ' I will further smite you sevenfold.'

174 LEVITICUS 26. 2 3-30. H

23 desolate. And if by these things ye will not be reformed

24 a unto me, but will walk contrary unto me ; then will
I also walk contrary unto you; and I will smite you,

25 even I, seven times for your sins. And I will bring
a sword upon you, that shall execute the vengeance of
the covenant ; and ye shall be gathered together within
your cities : and I will send the pestilence among you ;
and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.

26 When I break your staff of bread, ten women shall
bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver
your bread again by weight : and ye shall eat, and not
be satisfied.

27 And if ye will not for all this hearken unto me, but

28 walk contrary unto me; then I will walk contrary unto
you in fury ; and I also will chastise you seven times for

29 your sins. And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and

30 the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat. And I will
destroy your high places, and cut down your sun-images,

■ Or. bv

23. if . . . ye will not be reformed unto me : more literally, 'if
ye will not let yourselves be disciplined by me ' (cf. margin) ; the
original is the reflexive of the verb rendered ' chastise ' in verses
18, 28. The purpose of God's chastisements is the moral dis-
cipline of His people.

25. the vengeance of the covenant* the punishment for the
broken covenant.

26. An illustration of the privations of a state of siege. Instead
of each housewife firing the family bread in her own oven, a single
oven suffices for the meagre siege allowance of ten families, and
that doled out by weight.

27-39. The culmination of the Divine threatenings ; Yahweh's
forbearance is now at an end, He will chastise His unfaithful
people 'in fury.'

30. I will destroy your high places (bdmoth) : only here
and Num. xxxiii. 52 in the Pentateuch is reference made by name
to the local sanctuaries so frequently mentioned in the historical
books. Taken over by the Hebrews from the Canaanites, they

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LEVITICUS 26. 31-37. H 175

and cast your carcases upon the carcases of your idols ;
and my soul shall abhor you. And I will make your 31
cities a waste, and will bring your sanctuaries unto desola-
tion, and I will not smell the savour of your sweet
odours. And I will bring the land into desolation : and 32
your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at
it. And you will I scatter among the nations, and I will 33
draw out the sword after you : and your land shall be
a desolation, and your cities shall be a waste. Then 34
shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth
desolate, and ye be in your enemies' land ; even then
shall the land rest, and enjoy her sabbaths. As long as 35
it lieth desolate it shall have rest ; even the rest which
it had not in your sabbaths, when ye dwelt upon it.
And as for them that are left of you, I will send a faint- 36
ness into their heart in the lands of their enemies : and
the sound of a driven leaf shall chase them ; and they
shall flee, as one fleeth from the sword ; and they shall
fall when none pursueth. And they shall stumble one 37
upon another, as it were before the sword, when none

became sources of contamination for the purer worship of Yahweh.
See the writer's art. 'High Place' in Hastings's DB. (1909).

your sun-images (/lammanim) : rather ' sun-pillars ' asso-
ciated, as inscriptions show, with the worship of Baal-hamman,
the Syrian sun-god. Cf. 2 Chron. xxxiv. 4 ; Ezek. vi. 4 ff.

34 f. For the thought see xxv. 2. This passage shows that
the law of the sabbatical year was unknown, or at least that it
was not observed in the writer's day.

shall the land enjoy her sabbaths : the verb here, and in
verse 43, rendered ' enjoy ' seems to have been ' used technically
in connexion with the settlement of an account ' (Driver) ; the
idea is that in the exile the land, here personified (cf. xxv. 2), will
receive payment of an overdue account in the long sabbath-rest
which it will then enjoy, but which had been withheld from it
hitherto.

36 f. show that the author possessed the imagination of a poet
as well as the eloquence of an orator.

176 LEVITICUS 26. 38-45. H

pursueth : and ye shall have no power to stand before 1

38 your enemies. And ye shall perish among the nations, j

39 and the land of your enemies shall eat you up. And f
they that are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity
in your enemies' lands ; and also in the iniquities of their

40 fathers shall they pine away with them. And they shall
confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers,
in their trespass which they trespassed against me, and
also that because they have walked contrary unto me,

41 I also walked contrary unto them, and brought them
into the land of their enemies : if then their uncircum-
cised heart be humbled, and they then accept of the

42 punishment of their iniquity ; then will I remember my
covenant with Jacob 5 and also my covenant with Isaac,
and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember ;

43 and I will remember the land. The land also shall be
left of them, and shall enjoy her sabbaths, while she lieth |
desolate without them ; and they shall accept of the j
punishment of their iniquity : because, even because they
rejected my judgements, and their soul abhorred my I

44 statutes. And yet for all that, when they be in the land
of their enemies, I will not reject them, neither will
I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my

45 covenant with them : for I am the Lord their God : but
I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their
ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of |

40-45. A good commentary on Psalm ciii. 8 f. But penitence
and confession must precede forgiveness (cf. 1 John i. 9) and
restoration. The thought that the Divine discipline is for moral i
ends is again prominent, and in truth the exile proved to be |
Israel's greatest school of discipline. Note also the prominence
given to the covenant relation between God and Israel through
the patriarchs (verse 42), the heroes of the Exodus (45).

41. their unoircumcised heart: cf. Jer. iv. 4 ; Deut. x. 16.

I 1

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LEVITICUS 26. 46— 27. 2. HP 177

Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their
God : I am the Lord.

These are the statutes and judgements and laws, 46
which the Lord made between him and the children
of Israel in mount Sinai by the hand of Moses.

[P] And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak 27 3

unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When

a man shall n accomplish a vow, b the persons shall be

a Or. make a special vow b Or, according to thy estimation

of persons unto the Lord, then thy estimation &c.

46. The colophon or subscription to the Holiness Code. The
latter is Mosaic in so far as it is the reformulation and expansion
of the legislative principles first laid down by Moses.

Appendix. — Chapter XXVII.

On the Commutation of Votive Offerings and Tithes.

As is suggested by its colophon (verse 34) modelled on xxvi. 46,
the last chapter of Leviticus is of the nature of an appendix
to H rather than to the whole preceding legislation. The
contents belong to a late stratum of the priestly legislation, since
acquaintance with the institution of the Jubilee is assumed. This
association with the latter and with the rights of redemption
both in ch. xxv) may explain the present position of the
chapter.

1-8 deal with the procedure to be followed when the object
vowed is a person. The case of Jephthah's daughter (Judges xi.
30 ff.) shows that in early times a human being might actually be
sacrificed in fulfilment of a vow, while the story of Samuel
illustrates another form of dedication, viz. lifelong service at a
sanctuary of Yahweh. When this chapter was written human
sacrifice had long been disavowed, and laymen were no longer
permitted to minister at the altar. If, therefore, a Hebrew vowed
a member of his family to the deity, he must afterwards commute
his offering for a sum of money according to the scale here
provided. The valuation was apparently made on the basis of
what may be called the market value of the individual's labour.
The money was, of course, paid to the priests.
• 2f. Render: 'When a man makes to Yahweh a special vow

'cf. margin^ involving persons according to thy valuation, then

thy valuation shall be for a male,' See.

178 LEVITICUS 27. 3-10. V

3 for the Lord by thy estimation. And thy estimation
shall be of the male from twenty years old even unto
sixty years old, even thy estimation shall be fifty shekels

4 of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary. And if it be
a female, then thy estimation shall be thirty shekels.

5 And if it be from five years old even unto twenty years
old, then thy estimation shall be of the male twenty

6 shekels, and for the female ten shekels. And if it be
from a month old even unto five years old, then thy
estimation shall be of the male five shekels of silver, and
for the female thy estimation shall be three shekels of

n silver. And if it be from sixty years old and upward ;
if it be a male, then thy estimation shall be fifteen

8 shekels, and for the female ten shekels. But if he be
poorer than thy estimation, then he shall be set before
the priest, and the priest shall value him ; according to
the ability of him that vowed shall the priest value him.

9 And if it be a beast, whereof men offer an oblation
unto the Lord, all that any man giveth of such unto the

o Lord shall be holy. He shall not alter it, nor change it,
a good for a bad, or a bad for a good : and if he shall at
all change beast for beast, then both it and that for which

3. after the shekel of the sanctuary. See the note on v. 15.
Fifty silver shekels would represent a little under £7 of our
money, but their true value in purchasing power would probably
be nearer £20.

8. Render : l But if he (the person making the vow) be too poor
to pay thy valuation, then he shall set him (the person vowed)
before the priest,' &c.

9-13. Votive offerings of animals. Here the law distinguishes
between * clean ' animals, admissible for a sacrifice, and unclean.
Only in the case of the latter is commutation permitted. ' Holy '
at the end of verse 9 is exactly expressed by the modern term
* taboo ' ; the animal has become the property of the deity, and
accordingly all profane use of it is interdicted (cf. the same
expression in vi. 18 with note).

LEVITICUS 27. u-17. P 179

it is changed shall be holy. And if it be any unclean 1 1
beast, of which they do not offer an oblation unto the
Lord, then he shall set the beast before the priest: and 12
the priest shall value it, whether it be good or bad : as
thou the priest valuest it, so shall it be. But if he will 13
indeed redeem it, then he shall add the fifth part thereof
unto thy estimation.

And when a man shall sanctify his house to be holy 14
unto the Lord, then the priest shall estimate it, whether
it be good or bad : as the priest shall estimate it, so shall
it stand. And if he that sanctified it will redeem his 15
house, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of
thy estimation unto it, and it shall be his.

And if a man shall sanctify unto the Lord part of the 16
field of his possession, then thy estimation shall be accord-
ing to the sowing thereof : the sowing of a homer of
barley shall be valued at fifty shekels of silver. If he 17
sanctify ^his field from the year of jubile, according to thy

13. From verse 27 we learn that two alternatives were open to
him who vowed an unclean animal ; either he might sell it and
hand over the proceeds to the temple treasury — we are dealing
here with post-exilic legislation — or he might redeem it by paying
the priest's valuation with a fifth part additional (cf. xxii. 14).

14 f. A house which had been vowed might be redeemed in
the same way for a sum exceeding its valuation by 20 per cent.

16-25. The commutation and redemption of land. Here, again,
the law distinguishes between a field which a man has inherited
(16-21), and one which he has himself bought (22-25).

tke sowing- of a homer of barley: i.e. the amount of land
which could be sown with a homer of barley-seed. The homer
contained 10 ephahs or 30 seahs, roughly 11 bushels. In the
Mishna ' the house of two seahs,' as it is termed, is a field equal
in area to the court of the Tabernacle, viz. 100 cubits by 50, circa
1,195 square yards. A homer field, on this reckoning, would
contain about 3I acres (for these estimates see < Weights and
Measures ' (Kennedy) in Hastings's DB. iv. 910 ff.). The valua-
tion, it will be noted, is at the rate of one shekel for each year of
the Jubilee period.

N 2

180 LEVITICUS 27. 18-2:. P

18 estimation it shall stand. But if he sanctify his field
after the jubile, then the priest shall reckon unto him
the money according to the years that remain unto the
year of jubile, and an abatement shall be made from thy

19 estimation. And if he that sanctified the field will in-
deed redeem it, then he shall add the fifth part of the
money of thy estimation unto it, and it shall be assured

20 to him. And if he will not redeem the field, or if he
have sold the field to another man, it shall not be re-

2 1 deemed any more : but the field, when it goeth out in
the jubile, shall be holy unto the Lord, as a field
devoted ; the possession thereof shall be the priest's.

22 And if he sanctify unto the Lord a field which he hath

23 bought, which is not of the field of his possession; then
the priest shall reckon unto him the worth of thy estima-
tion unto the year of jubile : and he shall give thine
estimation in that day, as a holy thing unto the Lord.

24 In the year of jubile the field shall return unto him of
whom it was bought, even to him to whom the posses-

25 sion of the land belongeth. And all thy estimations
shall be according to the shekel of the sanctuary • twenty
gerahs shall be the shekel.

18. The principle of abatement is that already met with in
xxv. 50 ff.

19 f. So far the author of the vow has only commuted it. The
temple authorities, apparently, are still de jure the owners of the
field, and if the former wishes to regain the rights of ownership
he must redeem his field on the same terms as in the previous
cases of redemption. If he fails to redeem, or has meanwhile
sold it, the right of redemption lapses, and the field, at the next
Jubilee, does not revert to him but becomes t devoted ! to, i. e. the
inalienable property of, Yahweh (see on verse 28).

21-24. In the case of a field which a man has bought, the pre-
ceding considerations do not apply, for the author of the vow has
only the usufruct of the field till the next Jubilee, when it reverts
to its original owner.

LEVITICUS 27. :6-;,i. P 181

Only the firstling among beasts, which is made a first- 26
ling to the Lord, no man shall sanctify it ; whether it be
ox or sheep, it is the Lord's. And if it be of an unclean 27
beast, then he shall ransom it according to thine estima-
tion, and shall add unto it the fifth part thereof : or if it
be not redeemed, then it shall be sold according to thy
estimation.

Notwithstanding, no devoted thing, that a man shall 28
devote unto the Lord of all that he hath, whether of man
or beast, or of the field of his possession, shall be sold or
redeemed : every devoted thing is most holy unto the
Lord. None devoted, which shall be devoted of men, 29
shall be ransomed ; he shall surely be put to death.

And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of 3°
the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord's : it is
holy unto the Lord. And if a man will redeem aught 31

26 f. The firstlings of the herd and of the flock cannot be the
object of a vow, for they already belong to Yahweh, see Exod. xiii.
2, 12, xxxiv. 19. But the firstlings of unclean animals have to be
redeemed, as required by the older legislation (Exod. xiii. 13,
xxxiv. 20), or sold and the price handed to the priests, an
alternative not contemplated in the passages cited.

28 f. The law of the ban (Heb. heron, R.V. devoted thing).
In his article ' Ban ' in Hastings's DB. (1909), the present writer
has traced the history of this antique institution, of which he
distinguishes three varieties in the O.T., the war ban of three
degrees of stringency, the justice ban, and the private ban. In
verse 28 the legislator deals with objects of the private ban which
are declared to be irredeemable (cf. the practice of 'Corban' in
N. T. times, Mark vii. n). In verse 29, on the other hand, the
reference must be to the justice ban, in other words, to the judicial
sentence by the proper authorities on such malefactors as the
idolater (see Exod. xxii. 20, where note R.V. margin) and the
blasphemer.

30-33. The law of tithe, with which compare the legislation of
D (Deut. xiv. 22-29, xxvi. 12 15), and elsewhere in P (Num. xviii.
21-32). The chief point of interest here is the demand for the
tithe of cattle, of which there is no mention elsewhere in the O.T.

182

LEVITICUS 27. 32-34.

of his tithe, he shall add unto it the fifth part thereof.

32 And all the tithe of the herd or the flock, whatsoever
passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the

33 Lord. He shall not search whether it be good or bad,
neither shall he change it : and if he change it at all,
then both it and that for which it is changed shall be
holy; it shall not be redeemed.

34 These are the commandments, which the Lord com-
manded Moses for the children of Israel in mount Sinai.

On this and other grounds most critics are inclined to regard
verses 32 f. as a later addition to the original law of the vegetable
tithe (for the tithes of the O.T. see, besides the articles in the
recent Dictionaries of the Bible, Driver's Deuteronomy (Intern.
Crit. Series), pp. 166-73).

32. whatsoever passeth under the rod. As they pass under
the rod ' of him that telleth them ' (Jer. xxxiii. 13), every tenth
animal—it and no other (verse 33) — is to be the Lord's. By
a people in whose philosophy of life mere chance had no place,
and for whom the lot was the recognized means of the Divine
arbitrament, to do otherwise would have been regarded as an
infringement of Yahweh's freedom of choice.

THE BOOK OF NUMBERS

REVISED VERSION WITH ANNOTATIONS

THE BOOK OF NUMBERS

First Division. Chapters I— X. 10.
Laws and Regulations given at Sinai.

The first of the three divisions of the Book of Numbers (for
:hese see sect, ii of the Introduction) brings to a provisional close
the mass of priestly legislation, from different sources and of
varying age, which was introduced in Exod. xix and continued
throughout the whole of Leviticus. Since the erection of the
Tabernacle, or rather of the ' Dwelling,' in which, as the name
denotes, God has condescended to take up His earthly abode as

sanctifying Presence in the midst of His chosen people, a com-
plete month has elapsed (Num. i. I compared with Exod. xl. i, 17%
To this period we must assign, according to P's chronology, the
consecration and installation of Aaron and his sons as the priests
of the wilderness sanctuary (Lev. viii-x). But the ideal organiza-
tion of the sanctuary is not yet complete. To aid them in the
subordinate duties of their office, the priests are to have attached
to them (xviii. 2) their kinsmen of the tribe of Levi, forming
a religious caste of lower theocratic rank than themselves, but
distinct from the main body of the laity.

Further, the whole 'congregation,' priests, Levites, and secular
tribes, have still to receive their places in the camp. The scheme
of allocation, as will be more fully shown in due course (p. 194 f.\
affords a striking illustration of the religious idealism of the author
of the history of Israel's sacred institutions (P&), for whom the
Hebrew camp is a veritable city of God in the wilderness
of Sinai.

The arrangement of the camp and the installation of the Levites,
then, are the main themes of the first division of this book. To
these a good deal of legislative material has been added. The
present arrangement of the whole is, to the western mind at least,
confused and illogical. This lack of orderly arrangement is no
doubt due in part to various amplifications which the original
account (Pg) has received at the hands of later priestly writers
(P9). The more important of such later passages will be pointed
out in the notes, but quite apart from the impossibility of dis-
tinguishing with certainty in all cases what is from P* and what
from later hands, it has not been thought advisable to occupy the
limited space with details of the critical analysis. Accordingly the
whole of this division has been entered as simply the product of
the priestly school of legislators, i. e. as P without further qualifica-
tion. The contents ma\T be conveniently arranged in six sections.

1 86 NUMBERS !. i. P

1 [P] And the Lord spake unto Moses in the wilderness

for which see the Introduction, section ii, 'Arrangement and
Contents.'

(a) i-ii. The first census and the disposition of the camp.

Moses is commanded to number all the males of the twelve
secular tribes above twenty years of age, and to assign to each
tribe its position in the camp relative to the sanctuary in the
centre, as also its place in the line of march. The results of
a similar census taken thirty-eight years later are given in ch. xxvi.
In this connexion one recalls the very different attitude to census-
taking reflected in the early narrative of David's census in
2 Sam. xxiv (see Cent. Bible, in loc).

1. in the wilderness of Sinai. It is labour lost to attempt to
identify with any approach to precision the location of the Hebrew
camp to be described in the sequel. It is extremely improbable
that the author of P8, born and brought up in Babylonia, had an
accurate knowledge of the geography of the wide tract of country
extending from the Negeb (or South-land) of Judah to the
extremity of the Sinaitic peninsula, and from the Egyptian
frontier and the Gulf of Suez on the west to the Gulf of Akaba
and the Arabah on the east. By 500 B.C. it may be assumed that
the mount of the lawgiving, to which P gives the traditional name
Sinai — in this following J in contrast to E and D who emplo}' the
alternative Horeb— was identified with one or other of the moun-
tains of the peninsula which now bears its name. Of the rival
peaks Jebel Serbal has the advantage not onty of the evidence of
the older monkish settlements, but of the neighbourhood of the
only place where even a small community could have spent
almost a whole year, the famous oasis in the Wady Feiran. Of
the plain of er-Raha, beside Jebel Musa and the peak of Ras
Safsafeh, which has so many advocates of repute, the latest
investigator emphatically asserts from personal experience that it
is impossible for even a few hundred people to remain through
a winter ' in so barren and cold a place ' (C. T. Curelly, in Flinders
Petrie's Researches in Sinai, pp. 247 ff.). The most that can be
said, therefore, is that the late Jewish tradition, if based on know-
ledge of the local conditions, may have intended the Wady Feiran
by ' the wilderness of Sinai,1 although it still remains a probable
inference that for P it was merely the name, without precise
geographical location, of the district in the peninsula in which
the mount of legislation was situated.

It should be added here that there is a growing inclination on
the part of many recent scholars, based on the references in such
early poems as the \ Song of Deborah ■ (see Judges v. 4 f.), and the
'Blessing of Moses' (Deut. xxxiii. 2), to locate the Sinai of the

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of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on the first day of the
second month, in the second year after they were come out
of the land of Egypt, saying, Take ye the sum of all the con- 2
gregation of the children of Israel, by their families, by
their fathers' houses, according to the number of the names,
every male, by their polls ; from twenty years old and 3
upward, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel,
thou and Aaron shall number them by their hosts. And 4
with you there shall be a man of every tribe \ every one
head of his fathers' house. And these are the names of 5
the men that shall stand with you : of Reuben j Elizur
the son of Shedeur. Of Simeon ; Shelumiel the son of 6
Zurishaddai. Of Judah; Nahshon the son of Amminadab. 7
Of Issachar ; Nethanel the son of Zuar. Of Zebulun 5 8, 9
Eliab the son of Helon. Of the children of Joseph : of to
Ephraim ; Elishama the son of Ammihud : of Manasseh :

oldest Hebrew tradition on the western border of Edom, in
the neighbourhood of Kadesh. To the present writer this seems
a more probable site than one on the east of the Gulf Akaba, as has
also been suggested. For recent literature see the introductory
remarks to ch. xxxiii.

2. The association of Aaron with Moses implied in the words
1 Take ye,' and expressed in the following verse * thou and Aaron,'
is seen from a comparison with verses ia and 19 to be due to
a later hand. This desire to enhance the importance of Aaron is
seen even more clearly in ix. 6h, the glossator having inadvertently
left the original preposition • him,' i. e. Moses, standing in verse 7.
toy their families, toy their fathers' houses : more precisely,
'by their clans (and) by their septs,' the usual subdivisions of the
larger unit, the tribe (Joshua vii. 16-18 ; 1 Sam. x. 19-21). Each
tribe consisted of a number of clans, each clan of a number of septs.
toy their polls: lit. • skulls.' The word poll 'survives in
/o//-tax or head money, and the poll at elections, in which voters
are counted by their polls or heads' (Wright. The Bible
Word-book^.

5-16. The names of twelve assessors, one from each tribe, who
are to assist Moses in the work of enumeration. With regard to
the order in which the tribes are here named, those whose

188 NUMBERS I. ti-iS. P

ii Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur. Of Benjamin; Abidan
i a the son of Gideoni. Of Dan ; Ahiezer the son of
13 Ammishaddai. Of Asher ; Pagiel the son of Ochran.
J4 Of Gad ; Eliasaph the son of a Deuel. Of Naphtali ;
15 Ahira the son of Enan. These are they that were called
of the congregation, the princes of the tribes of their
fathers ; they were the heads of the b thousands of Israel.

17 And Moses and Aaron took these men which are

18 expressed by name : and they assembled all the con-

a In ch. ii. 14, Rend. b Or, families

eponymous ancestors were reckoned as sons of Jacob's legitimate
wives take precedence of the reputed descendants of their hand-
maids. For some reason, however, the sons of Rachel's maid
Bilhah are separated by the insertion of Zilpah's sons, in the
order Asher, Gad, between Dan and Naphtali. The chief feature
in the order of the census lists, both in i. 24 ff. and in xxvi. 5 ff.,
is the elevation of Gad to a position between Simeon and Judah
(see below) . For the special features of the camp order see the
introductory note to ch. ii.

For the sake of those interested in the study of Hebrew proper
names as a likely source from which light may be thrown on the
history of the religion of the Hebrews, it may be pointed out that
of the twenty-four names of the assessors and their fathers, nine
contain the Divine name El ( = God), three the name Shaddai (see
Exod. vi. 3), and the same number the old Divine title Zur (- rock),
while six contain as their first element one or other of the Divine
relationships, Abi-, the (divine) father, Ahi-, the (divine) brother,
and Ammi-, the (divine) kinsman. For the wide range of problems
which these names suggest see Buchanan Gray's standard work,
Studies in Hebrew Pwper Names, and the art. * Names ' in EBi.
As regards the twenty-four names before us, none of which, with
two exceptions (Ruth iv. 20), is found outside Numbers, Gray con-
cludes that l several of the names are unquestionably ancient, but
the list is certainly unhistorical ' (Commentary on Numbers, p. 6^

14. Deuel : a copyist's slip for Reuel, as it is in ii. 14.

18. the thousands of Israel. Parallel to the division of the '
tribes into clans and septs we find a military organization into
thousands, hundreds, and fifties (1 Sam. viii. 12, x. 19, &c). In
the passage last cited, 'thousands' is used as a s3Tnonym of j
'clans' ; here it appears to be synonymous with the smaller unit,
the sept (cf. verse 4),

NUMBERS 1. 19-25. P 189

gregation together on the first day of the second month,
and they declared their pedigrees after their families, by
their fathers' houses, according to the number of the
names, from twenty years old and upward, by their polls.
As the Lord commanded Moses, so he numbered them 19
in the wilderness of Sinai.

And the children of Reuben, Israel's firstborn, their 20
generations, by their families, by their fathers' houses,
according to the number of the names, by their polls,
every male from twenty years old and upward, all that
were able to go forth to war ; those that were numbered 2 1
of them, of the tribe of Reuben, were forty and six
thousand and five hundred.

Of the children of Simeon, their generations, by their 22
families, by their fathers' houses, those that were num-
bered thereof, according to the number of the names, by
their polls, every male from twenty years old and upward,
all that were able to go forth to war; those that were 23
numbered of them, of the tribe of Simeon, were fifty and
nine thousand and three hundred.

Of the children of Gad, their generations, by their 24
families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number
of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that
were able to go forth to war ; those that were numbered 25
of them, of the tribe of Gad, were forty and five thousand
six hundred and fifty.

20-46. Details of the census, the same formula being repeated
for each tribe. The peculiar position of Gad in the list is due to
the association of this tribe with Reuben and Simeon to form the
second or southern division in the location of the tribes around
the sanctuary (see ch. ii). Of the totals of the several tribes none
goes lower than the hundreds except in the case of Gad (verse 25),
and even there the number stops at the tens (45,650). It has
often been noted, also, that just six of the tribes exceed the
average of 50.000, while the other six fall below that figure,

1 9o NUMBERS 1. 26-33. P

26 Of the children of Judah, their generations, by their
families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number
of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that

27 were able to go forth to war; those that were numbered
of them, of the tribe of Judah, were threescore and
fourteen thousand and six hundred.

28 Of the children of Issachar, their generations, by their
families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number
of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that

29 were able to go forth to war ; those that were numbered
of them, of the tribe of Issachar, were fifty and four
thousand and four hundred.

30 Of the children of Zebulun, their generations, by their
families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number
of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that

31 were able to go forth to war ; those that were numbered
of them, of the tribe of Zebulun, were fifty and seven
thousand and four hundred.

3* Of the children of Joseph, namely \ of the children of
Ephraim, their generations, by their families, by their
fathers' houses, according to the number of the names,
from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to

33 go forth to war ; those that were numbered of them,
of the tribe of Ephraim, were forty thousand and five
hundred.

Further, the tribe of Dan, although consisting of only a single
clan, reaches the high total of 62,700. The gross total of the
twelve tribes is 603,350 (verse 46, ii. 32 ; cf. the corresponding
total of the second census, 601,730, xxvi. 51). The round number
of 600,000, now found in two J passages (xi. 21 ; Exod. xii. 37), is
admitted to be a later insertion based on P's totals. According to
modern statistics of vitality, 600,000 males above twenty years of
age represent a total population of at least two million souls.

The question must now be faced : Are these figures reliable ?
Did the Hebrews at their exodus from Egypt really number any-

NUMBERS 1. 34-41. P 191

Of the children of Manasseh, their generations, by 34
their families, by their fathers' houses, according to the
number of the names, from twenty years old and upward,
all that were able to go forth to war; those that were 35
numbered of them, of the tribe of Manasseh, were thirty
and two thousand and two hundred.

Of the children of Benjamin, their generations, by 36
their families, by their fathers' houses, according to the
number of the names, from twenty years old and upward,
all that were able to go forth to war; those that were 11
numbered of them, of the tribe of Benjamin, were thirty
and five thousand and four hundred.

Of the children of Dan, their generations, by their 38
families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number
of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that
were able to go forth to war ; those that were numbered 39
of them, of the tribe of Dan, were threescore and two
thousand and seven hundred.

Of the children of Asher, their generations, by their 40
families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number
of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that
were able to go forth to war; those that were numbered 41
of them, of the tribe of Asher, were forty and one
thousand and five hundred.

thing approaching to 2,000,000? The answer must be in the
negative, for the utter impossibility of such a total can be proved
by various considerations, as Bishop Colenso showed long ago in
his famous work The Pentateuch and the Book of Joshua critically
examined (cf. Gray, Numbers, 11 ff.). Some of these are the
following: (1) The size of the land of Goshen is now known
approximately, ' about 60 or 80 square miles,' according to
Flinders Petrie, who holds that • not more than about 5,000 people
could be taken out of Goshen or into Sinai ' {Researches in Sinai
(1906), p. 208). (2) The conditions of life in the Sinaitic peninsula
have not varied greatly within historic times, and it is extremely
doubtful if the district between the gulfs of Suez and Akaba was

i92 NUMBERS 1. 42-45. P

42 Of the children of Naphtali, their generations, by their
families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number
of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that

43 were able to go forth to war ; those that were numbered
of them, of the tribe of Naphtali, were fifty and three
thousand and four hundred.

44 These are they that were numbered, which Moses and
Aaron numbered, and the princes of Israel, being twelve

45 men : they were each one for his fathers' house. So all
they that were numbered of the children of Israel by

ever capable of supporting more than its present estimated popu-
lation of some 6,000, and certainly not more than a fraction of this
number if encamped for even a few days at any one spot. (3) The
high totals of this chapter are inconsistent with the statements of
other Pentateuch passages which represent the Hebrew immi-
grants as too few in number to occupy effectively the tiny land
of Canaan ; see, for example, Exod. xxiii. 29 f. ; Deut. vii. 7, 22
(cf. Exod. i. 15 — only two midwives). And, as a matter of history,
only parts here and there were so occupied in the first stages
of the conquest (see Judges i).1

An elaborate but futile attempt has recently been made by the
scholar named above (Petrie, op. cit. 209 ff.) to reduce P's numbers
to more reasonable dimensions by taking the Hebrew word for
"thousand' in the sense of i families' or tents, the hundreds alone
representing ' the total inhabitants of these tents.' The result is
a total of 598 tents and 5,550 people. But the high figures of
this chapter do not stand alone in O. T. literature, and Petrie him-
self has to have recourse to a different theory in order to explain
the numbers of the Levites.

How P obtained the amazing totals of this chapter it is im-
possible to say. It may be conjectured that they are an adaptation
and expansion of some genuine census lists of the period of the

In fairness to the author of this chapter, too much should not be
made of the startling results obtained by a comparison of the number
of the firstborn males in iii. 43, for the passage iii. 40-43 is from
a different hand (see below). Thus, according to the statistics of
vitality in modern nations, 22,273 firstborn males in a male popu-
lation of say 1,1 10,000 (of whom 600,000 were over 20 years of age'
mean an average of 50 sons to a family; or, if taken in another
way, they mean that only 1 in 16 women of marriageable age were
mothers.

NUMBERS 1. 46-51. P 193

their fathers' houses, from twenty years old and upward,
all that were able to go forth to war in Israel ; even all 46
they that were numbered were six hundred thousand and
three thousand and five hundred and fifty.

But the Levites after the tribe of their fathers were not 47
numbered among them. For the Lord spake unto Moses, 48
saying, Only the tribe of Levi thou shalt not number, 49
neither shalt thou take the sum of them among the
children of Israel : but appoint thou the Levites over the 50
tabernacle of the testimony, and over all the furniture
thereof, and over all that belongeth to it : they shall bear
the tabernacle, and all the furniture thereof; and they
shall minister unto it, and shall encamp round about the
tabernacle. And when the tabernacle setteth forward, 51
the Levites shall take it down : and when the tabernacle

monarchy, for it is scarcely credible that he had not some data
from which to work. But even as reflecting this later period,
the numbers could only be accepted for the larger tribes, such as
Judah and Ephraim. Mention may be made of Holzinger's
ingenious discovery that the numerical value of the Hebrew
letters in Bene Yisrael (children of Israel) is precisely 603, which
he believes to be the origin of the same number of thousands in
the gross total of the census (cf. Bennett's note on Gen. xiv. 14
in Cent. Bible — Abraham's trained men number 318, the numerical
value of the letters of Eliezer).

47-54 contain a belated instruction to exclude the Levites
from the census, which is already un fait accompli, with a sum-
mary of their duties and their place in the camp, which, on the
other hand, anticipates chs. iii-iv. Verse 47 is the natural close
of the preceding narrative ; what follows is from a later hand
(Ps) in explanation thereof. Our translators seek to remove the
difficulty by rendering, in defiance of Hebrew syntax : lfor the
Lord spake' or 'had spoken' (A.V.), in place of ' and Yahweh
spake.'

50. the tabernacle of the testimony: lit. 'the dwelling' of
the testimony (also verse 53, x. 11, Exod. xxxviii. 21), the latter
a name, peculiar to P, for trie ark (e. g. xvii. 4, 10), as explained
in the note on Lev. xvi. 12 f. The duties of the Levites are more
fully given in chs. iii and iv.

i94 NUMBERS 1. 52— 2. 1. P

is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up : and the

52 stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death. And
the children of Israel shall pitch their tents, every man
by his own camp, and every man by his own standard,

53 according to their hosts. But the Levites shall pitch
round about the tabernacle of the testimony, that there
be no wrath upon the congregation of the children of
Israel : and the Levites shall keep the charge of the

54 tabernacle of the testimony. Thus did the children of
Israel ; according to all that the Lord commanded
Moses, so did they.

2 And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron,

51. the stranger: here practically 'the layman' as opposed
to both priests and Levites, see on Lev. xxii. 10.

53. the Levites — the priests are here overlooked, see iii. 38 —
are to form a protecting cordon round the sanctuary, lest any
of the unsanctified laity might incautiously approach the holy
place, and fall a victim to the death-dealing * wrath ' of a holy God
(see xvi. 46). Just as the sanctuary was 'taboo' for the layman
without due preparation (Exod. xix. 10, 14 f.), so its sacred vessels
and altars were ' taboo ' for the Levites (iv. 15, 20, xviii. 3).

shall keep the charge of the tabernacle : originally a
military term for keeping guard (2 Kings xi. 5 f.), ' to keep the
charge ' has become in P a comprehensive technical term for per-
forming the multifarious services connected with the sanctuary
(so often in Numbers, iii. 7, 28, 32, 38, xviii. 3-5, &c).

Ch. ii is entirely occupied with the Divine instructions to
Moses (for " Aaron ' of verse 1 see on i. 2 and cf. ii. 34) regarding
the arrangement of the camp. As we study it, let us forget the
unreality of the numbers and the impossibility of finding, among
the wadies of Sinai, the square miles of level ground required for
the tents of two or three millions of human beings with • the flocks
and the herds l ' (xi. 22). This done, let us try to grasp the
religious ideas which filled the mind of the priestly writer as he
sketched the plan for his city of God in the wilderness.

Underlying all is the central fact of God's presence in the midst
of His people. Inseparable from this is the idea of worship, for

1 Herds of large cattle are, and were, an impossibility in the
peninsula.

NUMBERS 2. 2, 3. P 195

saying, The children of Israel shall pitch every man by 2
his own standard, with the ensigns of their fathers' houses :
over against the tent of meeting shall they pitch round
about. And those that pitch on the east side toward the 3
sunrising shall be they of the standard of the camp of
Judah, according to their hosts : and the prince of the
children of Judah shall be Nahshon the son of Ammin-

the author finds the highest expression of life in the exercise of
public worship, by which the theocratic community maintains
unbroken its relation to God. But Yahweh is a God of ineffable
and almost unapproachable holiness, a truth which needs to be
impressed even upon the people of the covenant. This is done by
arranging that the tents of the secular tribes shall not be pitched
in the immediate proximity of the Divine Dwelling — here P is
following in the footsteps of Ezekiel — but shall be separated from
it by a safety zone occupied by the tents of the consecrated priests
and Levites.

Finally, in the balance and symmetry which pervades the
arrangement of the camp, we may detect, as in the parallel case
of the Tabernacle, an attempt to symbolize the perfection and
harmony of the Divine character. Thus the chapter before us,
valueless to us as an historical record, has a value of its own as
an exposition of spiritual truths of the first importance.

2. A summary command, of which the rest of the chapter gives
the more precise details. It has hitherto been usual to distinguish
between the standards and the ensigns by taking the former as
the military standards of the larger units, the clans and tribes,
and the latter as the standards of the septs or 'fathers' houses.'
In the ancient versions, however, the word rendered standard
(degel) is understood of a military ' company ' (so Gray, Numbers).
This meaning is confirmed by the recently discovered Jewish
papyri of Elephantine, in which degel repeatedly occurs in the
sense of a division, cadre, or the like. Here, therefore, render
'by his own division,' the whole army of 600,000 being divided
into four divisions or army corps, each with its own \ camp.'

3-9. The place of honour, on the east of the Tabernacle, is
occupied by the ! camp of Judah,' comprising the tribe of Judah
flanked by the tribes of Issachar and Zebulun. The whole
encampment is to be pictured as forming a quadrilateral lying
' foursquare ' like Ezekiel's court (Ezek. xl. 47), and the city of God
of a later vision (Rev. xxi. 16) , The centre, as we have seen, is
occupied by the Tabernacle and its court. Nearest to the sanctuary,

O 2

196 NUMBERS 2. 4-n. P

4 adab. And his host, and those that were numbered of
them, were threescore and fourteen thousand and six

5 hundred. And those that pitch next unto him shall be
the tribe of Issachar : and the prince of the children of

6 Issachar shall be Nethanel the son of Zuar : and his host,
and those that were numbered thereof, were fifty and

7 four thousand and four hundred : and the tribe of Zebu-
lun : and the prince of the children of Zebulun shall be

8 Eliab the son of Helon : and his host, and those that
were numbered thereof, were fifty and seven thousand

9 and four hundred. All that were numbered of the camp
of Judah were an hundred thousand and fourscore thou-
sand and six thousand and four hundred, according to
their hosts. They shall set forth first.

I0 On the south side shall be the standard of the camp of
Reuben according to their hosts : and the prince of the
children of Reuben shall be Elizur the son of Shedeur.

ii And his host, and those that were numbered thereof,

and surrounding it on all four sides as a protecting cordon, are the
tents of the priests and Levites, those of the former on the
eastern side, opposite the entrance to the Tabernacle (iii. 38),
those of the Kohathites, Gershonites, and Merarites on the south,
west, and north of the Tabernacle respectively (iii. 23, 29, 35).
Beyond these, and enclosing them, stretch the tents of the
twelve secular tribes arranged in the four * divisions ' above
mentioned. Each division bears the name of its leading tribe.
Judah, Reuben, Ephraim, Dan, proceeding from east to north as
above. In this order, also, the divisions are to take their places
in the line of march (verses 9, 16, 24, 31).
4. This verse and the fifteen verses corresponding (6, 8, 9a,
n, 13, 15, &c), giving the census results of ch. i, must be later
insertions, as one can scarcely believe that the author of Pg 'has
really forgotten that he is professedly reporting a Divine in-
struction to Moses.'

10-16. The next most honourable position, on the south of the
Tabernacle, is assigned to the division of fthe camp of Reuben.'
With Reuben are associated Simeon and, in place of Levi, Gad,
the eldest son of Leah's handmaid.

NUMBERS 2. 12-23. P 197

were forty and six thousand and five hundred. And 12
those that pitch next unto him shall be the tribe of
Simeon : and the prince of the children of Simeon shall
be Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai : and his host, and 13
those that were numbered of them, were fifty and nine
thousand and three hundred : and the tribe of Gad : and 14
the prince of the children of Gad shall be Eliasaph the
son of aReuel : and his host, and those that were num- 15
bered of them, were forty and five thousand and six
hundred and fifty. All that were numbered of the camp 16
of Reuben were an hundred thousand and fifty and one
thousand and four hundred and fifty, according to their
hosts. And they shall set forth second.

Then the tent of meeting shall set forward, with the 17
camp of the Levites in the midst of the camps : as they
encamp, so shall they set forward, every man in his place,
by their standards.

On the west side shall be the standard of the camp of 18
Ephraim according to their hosts : and the prince of the
children of Ephraim shall be Elishama the son of
Ammihud. And his host, and those that were num- 19
bered of them, were forty thousand and five hundred.
And next unto him shall be the tribe of Manasseh : and 20
the prince of the children of Manasseh shall be Gamaliel
the son of Pedahzur : and his host, and those that were 2 1
numbered of them, were thirty and two thousand and
two hundred : and the tribe of Benjamin : and the prince 22
of the children of Benjamin shall be Abidan the son of

a In ch. i. 14, Deuel.

17. An irrelevant and inaccurate gloss (see x. 17-21).

18-24. The west side is occupied by 'the camp of Ephraim,'
who here, as elsewhere, takes precedence of his elder brother
Manasseh (Gen. xlviii. 13 fT.) With these is naturally associated
the tribe of Benjamin, thus completing the descendants of Rachel.

i98 NUMBERS 2. 23-34- P

23 Gideoni : and his host, and those that were numbered
of them, were thirty and five thousand and four hundred.

24 All that were numbered of the camp of Ephraim were an
hundred thousand and eight thousand and an hundred,
according to their hosts. And they shall set forth third.

25 On the north side shall be the standard of the camp
of Dan according to their hosts : and the prince of the
children of Dan shall be Ahiezer the son of Ammishad-

26 dai. And his host, and those that were numbered cf
them, were threescore and two thousand and seven

27 hundred. And those that pitch next unto him shall be
the tribe of Asher : and the prince of the children of

28 Asher shall be Pagiel the son of Ochran : and his host,
and those that were numbered of them, were forty and

29 one thousand and five hundred : and the tribe of Naph-
tali : and the prince of the children of Naphtali shall be

30 Ahira the son of Enan : and his host, and those that
were numbered of them, were fifty and three thousand

31 and four hundred. All that were numbered of the camp
of Dan were an hundred thousand and fifty and seven
thousand and six hundred. They shall set forth hind-
most by their standards.

32 These are they that were numbered of the children of
Israel by their fathers' houses : all that were numbered
of the camps according to their hosts were six hundred
thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty.

33 But the Levites were not numbered among the children

34 of Israel ; as the Lord commanded Moses. Thus did
the children of Israel; according to ail that the Lord
commanded Moses, so they pitched by their standards,

25-31. The 'camp of Dan' on the north of the Tabernacle
comprises the tribes descended from Jacob's concubines, with the
exception of Gad already allocated.

NUMBERS 3. i. P 199

and so they set forward, every one by their families,
according to their fathers' houses.

Now these are the generations of Aaron and Moses in 3

(6) iii-iv. The Levites and their duties.

This important subject is also dealt with in viii. 5-26 and
xviii. 1-7. The literary relation of the three sections is difficult
to determine. On the one hand, xviii. 1-7 is unquestionably the
natural sequel to the story of Korah's rebellion as told by Ps
(see the introductory note to ch. xvi), and reads as if the appoint-
ment of ' the tribe of Levi ' (xviii. 2) for the service of the
sanctuary was being mentioned for the first time. In this case
iii. 5-10 would have to be regarded as an anticipation of xviii. 1 fF.
by a later hand (so Baentsch, Moore, &c). On the whole, how-
ever, it is more probable on various grounds that Pg introduced
the appointment of the Levites in close connexion with the
nomination (Exod. xxix) and consecration (Lev. viii-x) * of Aaron
and his sons to the priesthood. If this be so, the rebellion of
Korah has been made the occasion of reinforcing the Divine choice
of Levi, and of defining anew the relation between the two orders
of the hierarchy (xviii. 4 ff.).

In any case it is only in parts of ch. iii that Pg is represented.
Ch. iv is regarded by most critics as secondary (Ps) on the
ground of certain peculiarities of phraseology (see C-H., Hex.,
vol. ii, in he), and as being little more than a diffuse expansion
of parts of ch. iii. For the different point of view in iii 5-10
compared with 11-13, pointing to a difference of source, see the
notes below.

The existence of the two orders, priests and Levites, from the
very foundation of the theocracy is one of the fundamental
assumptions of the priestly school of Jewish historians. Modern
historical criticism, however, has shown conclusively that there
is no certain trace of such a dualism in the history of Israel until
the post-exilic period. Originally the offering of sacrifice, the
chief of the later priestly prerogatives, was not confined to any
caste, although even as early as the days of the Judges, the
members of the old secular tribe of Levi (see Gen. xlix. 7) were
believed to be specially qualified for the priestly office, in virtue
probably of their kinship with Moses (Judges xvii. 7-13, xviii. 30,
R.V.). Eventually, however, the members of the various priest-
hoods became a sacred caste, claiming descent from Levi. Hence
in Deuteronomy, * the priests, the Levites,' is the standing designa-

1 It will be remembered that there is almost nothing of P6 in the rest
of Leviticus.

200 NUMBERS 3. 2-7. P

the day that the Lord spake with Moses in mount Sinai.

2 And these are the names of the sons of Aaron ; Nadab

3 the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. These
are the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests which
were anointed, whom he consecrated to minister in the

4 priest's office. And Nadab and Abihu died before the
Lord, when they offered strange fire before the Lord,
in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children :
and Eleazar and Ithamar ministered in the priest's office
in the presence of Aaron their father

J And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Bring the

tribe of Levi near, and set them before Aaron the priest,

7 that they may minister unto him. And they shall keep

tion of those who were priests by office and Levites by reputed
descent.

According to the modern view, the first to make a cleavage
within the ranks of the Levitical priests was Ezekiel, who declared
that the priests of the local sanctuaries had forfeited their right to
be regarded as legitimate priests of Yahweh. As a punishment
for their unfaithfulness they were henceforth to be excluded from
the altar, and to be degraded to the position of servants of the
Zadokite priesthood at Jerusalem (Ezek. xliv. 10-16, see Cent.
Bible, in loc). The distinction thus created between priests and
' Levites ' who are not priests is carried back by P to the days of
Moses, with this all-important difference, however, that the idea
of degradation has entirely disappeared. On the contrary, the
appointment of the Levites is represented by the priestly writers
as a gracious act on the part of Yahweh, and their position as one
of privilege and honour, inferior only to that of the priests (see
further the arts. 'Levi' in the Bible Diets., and especially
Wellhausen's Prolegomena, ch. iv, and Baudissin's art. ' Priests
and Levites ' in Hastings's DB. iv, also the full bibliography in
W. R. Harper, The Priestly Element in the O.T., pp. 70 f., 282 f.).

1-4. The 'generations,' i.e. the descendants, of Aaron, cf.
Exod. vi. 2, also Lev. x. 1, with note. Delete \ and Moses ' in
verse 1 — a slip of a copyist accustomed to the association of
the two brothers. The verses are editorial (R).

5-8. Bring* the tribe of Levi near, &c. The tribe of Levi,
necessarily as represented by the heads of the subdivisions, is to
be formally presented 'unto Aaron and to his sons' as a gift on

NUMBERS 3. 8-13. P 201

his charge, and the charge of the whole congregation
before the tent of meeting, to do the service of the
tabernacle. And they shall keep all the furniture of the 8
tent of meeting, and the charge of the children of Israel,
to do the service of the tabernacle. And thou shalt 9
give the Levites unto Aaron and to his sons : they are
f wholly given unto him bon the behalf of the children
of Israel. And thou shalt c appoint Aaron and his sons, 10
and they shall keep their priesthood : and the stranger
that cometh nigh shall be put to death.

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, And I, IX
behold, I have taken the Levites from among the chil-
dren of Israel instead of all the firstborn that openeth
the womb among the children of Israel ; and the Levites
shall be mine : for all the firstborn are mine ; on the 13
day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I
hallowed unto me all the firstborn in Israel, both man
and beast : mine they shall be ; I am the Lord.

a Heb. given, given. b Or, from c Or, number

the part of (cf. verse 9, marg.; the whole community for the
subordinate duties of the sanctuary, ' the service of the tabernacle '
(verse 7). The source may be assumed to be Pg (see above), since
the same point of view — the Levites as a gift — is found in xviii. 1-7,
where, however, the idea is more prominent that the gift is made
to Yahweh, by whom it is handed over to the priests (xviii. 6).

10. the stranger here is every one, including the Levites,
who is not a priest ; contrast i. 51.

11-13. Here a different point of view reveals itself. The
Levites are represented as the substitutes of the firstborn males
(see verse 43) of the other tribes, whom Yahweh claims as his
own (Exod. xxii. 29, on which see Bennett's note in Cent. Bible).
The original continuation is found in verses 40-51, all probably
P8. This explanation of the origin of the Levitical caste seems
the product of later reflection, and, as Baentsch points out
(Handkommeutar, in he.), is scarcely consistent with the repeated
demand of P that the firstborn must be redeemed, ' for if Yahweh
takes to Himself the Levites as substitutes for the firstborn, the
latter ought by rights to go free.'

202 NUMBERS 3. 14-25. P

14 And the Lord spake unto Moses in the wilderness

15 of Sinai, saying, Number the children of Levi by their
fathers' houses, by their families : every male from a

16 month old and upward shalt thou number them. And
Moses numbered them according to the word of the

*7 Lord, as he was commanded. And these were the
sons of Levi by their names; Gershon, and Kohath,

18 and Merari. And these are the names of the sons of

19 Gershon by their families ; Libni and Shimei. And the
sons of Kohath by their families ; Amram, and Izhar,

20 Hebron, and Uzziel. And the sons of Merari by their
families; Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of
the Levites according to their fathers' houses.

21 Of Gershon was the family of the Libnites, and the
family of the Shimeites : these are the families of the

22 Gershonites. Those that were numbered of them,
according to the number of all the males, from a month
old and upward, even those that were numbered of

23 them were seven thousand and five hundred. The
families of the Gershonites shall pitch behind the taber-

24 nacle westward. And the prince of the fathers' house
of the Gershonites shall be Eliasaph the son of Lael.

35 And the charge of the sons of Gershon in the tent of

14-39. Moses is commanded to take a census of the male
members of the tribe of Levi from a month old and upwards.
This is done in the order of the three divisions of the tribe, the
Gershonites, Kohathites, and Merarites, so named from their
x'espective progenitors, the sons of Levi. Into the census scheme
is now worked a summary statement of the duties of each division
in respect of the Tabernacle and its equipment, together with an
indication of the place which each division is to occupy in the
camp, for which see the introductory note to ch. ii.

21-26. The census of the Gershonites, 7,500, their location on
the west of the Tabernacle, and specification of their ' charge in
the tent of meeting.'

25 f. Their ' charge' consisted of the curtains and coverings of

NUMBERS 3. 26-29. p 2°3

meeting shall be the tabernacle, and the Tent, the
covering thereof, and the screen for the door of the
tent of meeting, and the hangings of the court, and 26
the screen for the door of the court, which is by the
tabernacle, and by the altar round about, and the cords
of it for all the service thereof.

And of Kohath was the family of the Amramites, 27
and the family of the Izharites, and the family of the
Hebronites, and the family of the Uzzielites : these are
the families of the Kohathites. According to the 28
number of all the males, from a month old and upward,
there were eight thousand and six hundred, keeping the
charge of the sanctuary. The families of the sons of 29
Kohath shall pitch on the side of the tabernacle south-

the Tabernacle and the screen or portiere forming the door
thereof, together with the hangings enclosing the court and the
portiere at the entrance of the latter, as more fully detailed in
iv. 24 if.

the tabernacle, and the Tent, the covering thereof : render,
with the versions : ' the Dwelling, and the Tent, and the covering
thereof.' The first here denotes the two sets of rich tapestry curtains
which formed 'the Dwelling' of Yahweh in the strict sense; the
Tent is two sets of goats'-hair curtains which were spread over
those of the Dwelling ; the covering- comprises the two sets of
outer coverings, the one of rams' skins, the other made from the
skins of, probably, the dugong (see on iv. 6). For the Tabernacle
and its furniture see, besides the commentaries on Exodus xxvff.,
the present writer's art. in Hastings's DB. iv. (more briefly in the
same editor's one-volume dictionary), and McNeile, The Book of
Exodus, pp. lxxiii-xcii.

27-32. The census of the Kohathites, 8,600 (really 8,300), their
location on the south of the Tabernacle, and their charge. Although
second in order according to the birth of their eponym ancestor,
the ' sons of Kohath ' occupy the place of highest honour (cf. to.
4 ff.) in the camp after the priests (see verse 38), in virtue of the
more honourable charge confided to them.

28. six hundred: for 'six' (&*>£») read 'three' (b6k>» °f
which the middle letter has been inadvertently dropped), see on
verse 39. The word rendered ' those that were numbered of
them ' has also fallen out at the head of this verse (cf. 22, 34).

204 NUMBERS 3. 30-36. P

30 ward. And the prince of the fathers? house of the
families of the Kohathites shall be Elizaphan the son of

31 Uzziel. And their charge shall be the ark, and the table,
and the candlestick, and the altars, and the vessels of the
sanctuary wherewith they minister, and the screen, and

32 all the service thereof. And Eleazar the son of Aaron
the priest shall be prince of the princes of the Levites,
and have the oversight of them that keep the charge of
the sanctuary.

33 Of Merari was the family of the Mahlites, and the
family of the Mushites : these are the families of Merari.

34 And those that were numbered of them, according to
the number of all the males, from a month old and

35 upward, were six thousand and two hundred. And the
prince of the fathers' house of the families of Merari
was Zuriel the son of Abihail : they shall pitch on the

36 side of the tabernacle northward. And a the appointed
charge of the sons of Merari shall be the boards of the
tabernacle, and the bars thereof, and the pillars thereof,

a Heb. the office of the charge.

31. The Kohathites had charge of the whole contents of the
Dwelling and of the altar of burnt-offering. The brazen laver
(Exod. xxx. 18, xxxv. 16) has been overlooked both here and in
ch. iv. For the vessels of the sanctuary see iv. 7, 9, 14.

and the screen. Read, as in iv. 5, ' the veil of the screen,
the artistic hanging separating l the holy of holies ' from ' the holy
place ' (Exod. xxvi. 31-33).

33~37- The census of the Merarites, 6.200, their location on the
north of the Tabernacle, and their charge.

36. the boards of the tabernacle : the Hebrew word of which
'boards' is the traditional rendering occurs only once outside the
Tabernacle passages, viz. Ezek. xxvii. 6, where it seems to signify
'panels' (of ivory inlaid in box- wood). In the article cited above
(DB. iv. 659 f.) it is shown that in the construction of the
Tabernacle it probably denotes a light wooden frame, the whole
forming an open framework over which the curtains were
suspended "for illustration see ibid. 660, also Bennett's Exodus,

NUMBERS 3. 37-43. P 205

and the sockets thereof, and all the instruments thereof,
and all the service thereof; and the pillars of the court 37
round about, and their sockets, and their pins, and their
cords. And those that pitch before the tabernacle east- 38
ward, before the tent of meeting toward the sunrising,
shall be Moses, and Aaron and his sons, keeping the
charge of the sanctuary a for the charge of the children
of Israel; and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be
put to death. All that were numbered of the Levites, 39
which Moses and Aaron numbered at the command-
ment of the Lord, by their families, all the males from
a month old and upward, were twenty and two thousand.

And the Lord said unto Moses, Number all the first- 40
born males of the children of Israel from a month old
and upward, and take the number of their names. And 41
thou shalt take the Levites for me (I am the Lord)
instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel ;
and the cattle of the Levites instead of all the firstlings
among the cattle of the children of Israel. And Moses 4a
numbered, as the Lord commanded him, all the first-
born among the children of Israel. And all the firstborn 43
males according to the number of names, from a month
old and upward, of those that were numbered of them,

a Or, even

p. 211, and McNeile, op. cit lxxiv). For the instruments see
on iv. 32.

39. The grand total as here given is 22,000, while the sum of
the separate totals of the divisions will be found to be 22,300.
The simplest explanation of the discrepanc3', and that usually
accepted, is to assume that, by a clerical error, the total of the
Kohathites has now been increased by 300 (see on verse 28).
The numbers in this chapter are open to the same criticism as
those of the chapters preceding (pp. 190 ff.).

40-51. The rest of this chapter is closely connected with verses
n-13 (Ps)> ar,d contains directions for the working out of the

2o6 NUMBERS 3. 44-47. P

were twenty and two thousand two hundred and three-
score and thirteen.
44 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Take the
Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children
of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their
cattle : and the Levites shall be mine ; I am the Lord.

46 And for a the redemption of the two hundred and three-
score and thirteen of the firstborn of the children of
Israel, which are over and above the number of the

47 Levites, thou shalt take five shekels apiece by the poll ;
after the shekel of the sanctuary shalt thou take them

a Or, those that are to be redeemed, the &c.

principle of substitution there laid down. The first step is
a census of the firstborn males of the secular tribes of a month
old and upwards, giving a total of 22,273. Since the Levites
numbered only 22,000, no substitutes were available for the
remaining 273. These accordingly had to be * redeemed ' by
a payment of 'five shekels apiece' (verse 47); the whole sum
thus realized was paid over by Moses to the priests. How the
number 22,273 was reached, only about 1 in 50 of the male popu-
lation (!), must remain the secret of the writer. The meaning of
his curious extension of the substitutionary principle to the cattle
(verses 41, 45) is equally obscure. In short, we have here as
elsewhere (see, for example, ch. xxxv) a specimen of legal
theorizing based on older legislative material ; in this case the
basis is supplied by xviii. 15 ff. (Pg).

46. for the redemption : better, ' as regards the redemption-
price,' or ' ransom,' as in the fuller expression of verses 49, 51.
The marginal alternative is less probable.

47. after the shekel of the sanctuary : see note on Lev. v. 15.

The only substantial addition to the foregoing supplied by the
long and late ch. iv is the result of a fourth census, which is
taken for the purpose of ascertaining the number of Levites
qualified for service. It is remarkable that the O. T. contains no
fewer than three different statements of the age at which the
Levites entered upon their duties, and still more remarkable that
two of these should appear almost side by side in the same book
with no attempt at an explanation. In this chapter the age is 30,
in viii. 23-26 it is 25, and in Chronicles it is 20 (1 Chr. xxiii. 24,
27, &c). 'The simplest way of accounting for the differences
would be to assume that they correspond to actual differences in

NUMBERS 3. 48—4. 5. P 207

(the shekel is twenty gerahs) : and thou shalt give the 48
money wherewith the odd number of them is redeemed
unto Aaron and to his sons. And Moses took the 49
redemption-money from them that were over and above
them that were redeemed by the Levites : from the first- 50
born of the children of Israel took he the money; a
thousand three hundred and threescore and five shekels^
after the shekel of the sanctuary : and Moses gave a the 51
redemption-money unto Aaron and to his sons, according
to the word of the Lord, as the Lord commanded
Moses.

And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, 4
saying, Take the sum of the sons of Kohath from among 2
the sons of Levi, by their families, by their fathers' houses,
from thirty years old and upward even until fifty years 3
old, all that enter upon the b service, to do the work
in the tent of meeting. This is the c service of the sons 4
of Kohath in the tent of meeting, about the most holy
things : when the camp setteth forward, Aaron shall go 5
in, and his sons, and they shall take down the veil of the

a Or, the money of them that were redeemed * Heb. warfare,

or, host (and so in vv. 35, 39, 43). c Or, work

the age of service at the different periods to which the several
references belong ' (Gray, Numbers, p. 32, where the problem is
more fully discussed). The duties of the Levites here specified
have reference, as in ch. iii, only to the transport of the
Tabernacle on the march, not to their regular service at the
sanctuary.

1-16. The transport duties of the Kohathites (cf. iii. 31 f.).

3. all that enter upon the service : note the margin here, and
see Gray's note on the word for ' service ' (sa&a'), op. cit., in he. ;
cf. verse 23 and margins in both cases.

5 ff. The Levites are forbidden, on pain of death (verse 15, cf.
2 Sam. vi. 6f.), to touch, or even (verse 20) to look upon, any of
the sacred objects within the Tabernacle. These must be handled
and packed entirely by the priests, beginning with the most
sacrosanct object of all, the sacred ark.

208 NUMBERS 4. 6-u. P

6" screen, and cover the ark of the testimony with it : and
shall put thereon a covering of sealskin, and shall spread
over it a cloth all of blue, and shall put in the staves

7 thereof. And upon the table of shewbread they shall
spread a cloth of blue, and put thereon the dishes, and
the spoons, and the bowls, and the cups to pour out

8 withal : and the continual bread shall be thereon : and
they shall spread upon them a cloth of scarlet, and cover
the same with a covering of sealskin, and shall put in the

9 staves thereof. And they shall take a cloth of blue, and
cover the candlestick of the light, and its lamps, and its
tongs, and its snuffdishes, and all the oil vessels thereof,

io wherewith they minister unto it : and they shall put it

and all the vessels thereof within a covering of sealskin,

1 1 and shall put it upon a the frame. And upon the golden

a Or. a bar

0. a covering of sealskin : Hebr. ta/jash-skin, probably the
skin of the dugong or sea-cow, of which the Bedouin of Sinai
make sandals at the present day (cf. Ezek. xvi. io, shoes of
tahash-skm). It has also been suggested that tahash is a loan-
word from Egyptian, meaning a special kind of leather.

and shall put in the staves thereof. This seems to imply
that the staves had previously been removed, a breach of the
express command of Pg in Exod. xxvi. 15. It is difficult, more-
over, to see how the staves— or rather, as the weight demands,
the ' poles' — could be placed in the rings after the ark had been
packed in three coverings. Or does the writer forget the existence
of the rings, and think of the poles as passed under the cords with
which the packages were tied up ? Cf. note on verse 10.

1. the table of shewbread : render literally, ' the table of the
Presence,' i. e. of Yahweh. The continual bread is the shew-
bread, or rather ' the Presence-bread ' (Exod. xxv. 30, R.V.
marg.), and is so named, but here only, with reference to the
commands of Exod., he. at., and Lev. xxiv. 8 (see notes, p. 159 £)•

10. the frame: margin 'a bar' (so A.V. text), the usual
meaning of the word {mot). If the articles enumerated are to
be thought of as carried loose, a 'frame ' or platform is indispen-
sable for their transport. But one receives the impression, as
already suggested, that the author intends the sacred vessels to
be not only wrapped but roped in their coverings for greater

NUMBERS 4. 12-18. P 209

altar they shall spread a cloth of blue, and cover it with
a covering of sealskin, and shall put in the staves thereof:
and they shall take all the vessels of ministry, wherewith 12
they minister in the sanctuary, and put them in a cloth
of blue, and cover them with a covering of sealskin, and
shall put them on the frame. And they shall take away 13
the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth
thereon : and they shall put upon it all the vessels 14
thereof, wherewith they minister about it, the firepans,
the fleshhooks, and the shovels, and the basons, all the
vessels of the altar; and they shall spread upon it a
covering of sealskin, and put in the staves thereof. And 15
when Aaron and his sons have made an end of covering
the sanctuary, and all the furniture of the sanctuary, as
the camp is to set forward ; after that, the sons of Kohath
shall come to bear it : but they shall not touch the
a sanctuary, lest they die. These things are the burden
of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting. And the 16
charge of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be the
oil for the light, and the sweet incense, and the continual
meal offering, and the anointing oil, the charge of all the
tabernacle, and of all that therein is, the sanctuary, and
the furniture thereof.

And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, 17
saying, Cut ye not off the tribe of the families of the 18

a Or, holy things

security, in which case the mot will be the pole from which the
package is to be suspended ; cf. xiii. 23, 'by means of a pole
(R.V. upon a staff, mot) between two.'

11. the golden altar: in Lev. iv. 7 termed ' the altar of sweet
incense ' (see note there \ to be distinguished from ' the altar '
par excellence of verse 13, which is the altar of burnt-offering.

17-20. An amplification by a later hand of the command of i5b,
emphasizing the fact that the contents of the Tabernacle can be

fandled, or even seen, only by the priests. The penalty for the
reach of this taboo is death.

210 NUMBERS 4. 19-28. P

19 Kohathites from among the Levites : but thus do unto
them, that they may live, and not die, when they
approach unto the most holy things : Aaron and his
sons shall go in, and appoint them every one to his

20 service and to his burden : but they shall not go in to
see the a sanctuary even for a moment, lest they die.

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Take the
sum of the sons of Gershon also, by their fathers' houses,

23 by their families; from thirty years old and upward until
fifty years old shalt thou number them ; all that enter in
to b wait upon the service, to do the work in the tent of

24 meeting. This is the service of the families of the

25 Gershonites, in serving and in bearing burdens : they
shall bear the curtains of the tabernacle, and the tent
of meeting, its covering, and the covering of sealskin
that is above upon it, and the screen for the door of the

26 tent of meeting ; and the hangings of the court, and
the screen for the door of the gate of the court, which is
by the tabernacle and by the altar round about, and their
cords, and all the instruments of their service, and what-
soever shall be done with them, therein shall they serve.

2 7 At the commandment of Aaron and his sons shall be all
the service of the sons of the Gershonites, in all their
burden, and in all their service : and ye shall appoint

28 unto them in charge all their burden. This is the service
of the families of the sons of the Gershonites in the tent
of meeting : and their charge shall be under the hand of
Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

a Or, holy things h Heb. war the ivarfare.

21-28. The transport duties of the Gershonites (cf. iii. 25 f.j.

2?. The last clause should be read as in verse 32 (so LXX; :
1 and ye shall appoint unto them by name all that is committed
to them to carry.'

NUMBERS 4. 29-37. P 211

As for the sons of Merari, thou shalt number them by 29
their families, by their fathers' houses ; from thirty years 30
old and upward even unto fifty years old shalt thou
number them, every one that entereth upon the service,
to do the work of the tent of meeting. And this is the 31
charge of their burden, according to all their service in
the tent of meeting; the boards of the tabernacle, and
the bars thereof, and the pillars thereof, and the sockets
thereof; and the pillars of the court round about, and 3-2
their sockets, and their pins, and their cords, with all
their instruments, and writh all their service: and by
name ye shall a appoint the instruments of the charge of
their burden. This is the service of the families of the 33
sons of Merar-i, according to all their service, in the tent
of meeting, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron
the priest.

And Moses and Aaron and the princes of the congre- 34
gation numbered the sons of the Kohathites by their
families, and by their fathers' houses, from thirty years 35
old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that
entered upon the service, for work in the tent of meeting :
and those that were numbered of them by their families 36
were two thousand seven hundred and fifty. These are 37
they that were numbered of the families of the Kohath-
ites, all that did serve in the tent of meeting, whom
a Or, number

29~33« The transport duties of the Merarites (cf. iii. 36 f.).

31. For the boards, rather 'the frames,' see note on iii. 36.

32. with all their instruments : better ' all their accessories '
(GrayN, including not only the hooks (Exod. xxvi. 32, xxvii. 10,
17) and rings for the hangings, but also the mallets, &c, required
for the erection of the sanctuary.

34-49. The totals of the census, first of the divisions separately
— Kohathites 2,750, Gershonites 2,630, Merarites 3,200— and then

P 2

2i2 NUMBERS 4. 38-48. P

Moses and Aaron numbered according to the command-
ment of the Lord by the hand of Moses.

38 And those that were numbered of the sons of Gershon,

39 by their families, and by their fathers' houses, from thirty
years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one
that entered upon the service, for work in the tent of

40 meeting, even those that were numbered of them, by
their families, by their fathers' houses, were two thousand

41 and six hundred and thirty. These are they that were
numbered of the families of the sons of Gershon, all that
did serve in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron
numbered according to the commandment of the Lord.

42 And those that were numbered of the families of the
sons of Merari, by their families, by their fathers' houses,

43 from thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years
old, every one that entered upon the service, for work in

44 the tent of meeting, even those that were numbered of
them by their families, were three thousand and two

45 hundred. These are they that were numbered of the
families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron
numbered according to the commandment of the Lord
by the hand of Moses.

46 All those that were numbered of the Levites, whom
Moses and Aaron and the princes of Israel numbered,

47 by their families, and by their fathers' houses, from thirty
years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one
that entered in to do the work of service, and the work of

48 bearing burdens in the tent of meeting, even those that
were numbered of them, were eight thousand and five

of the whole tribe 8,580. all entered with the repetition and
diffuseness characteristic of the later priestly writers (cf. ch. vii).
For the corrupt text of the last verse, see Gray, in loc. R.V.,
although 'not a translation' (Gray), gives a sufficient approxi-
mation.

NUMBERS 4.49—5. 7. P 213

hundred and fourscore. According to the commandment 49
of the Lord they were numbered by the hand of Moses,
every one according to his service, and a according to his
burden : thus were they numbered of him, as the Lord
commanded Moses.

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Command 5 a
the children of Israel, that they put out of the camp
every leper, and every one that hath an issue, and whoso-
ever is unclean by the dead : both male and female shall 3
ye put out, without the camp shall ye put them ; that
they defile not their camp, in the midst whereof I dwell.
And the children of Israel did so, and put them out 4
without the camp : as the Lord spake unto Moses, so
did the children of Israel.

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto 5> 6
the children of Israel, When a man or woman shall
commit any sin that men commit, to do a trespass
against the Lord, and that soul be guilty ; then they 7

* Or, according to his burden and his duty, as &c.

(c) v-vi. Various Laws and Regulations, including the ordeal of
jealousy (v. n-31) and the law of the Nazirite (vi. 1-2 1).

v. 1-4. Regulations for safeguarding the ceremonial purity of
the wilderness camp, which was hallowed by the presence of
Yahweh (verse 3, ' in the midst whereof I dwell,' for which see
the introductory remarks to ch. ii). Exclusion from the camp,
which the earlier law, Lev. xiii-xiv, prescribed only for the leper,
is here extended to other forms of uncleanness. For uncleanness
from ' issues ' or discharges, see Lev. xv, and for that caused by
proximity to or contact with a corpse see especially Num. xix.

5-10. A supplement to Lev. vi. 1-7, the law dealing with breach
of trust. The special feature of the supplement is the provision
for the case of the person wronged having died without leaving
any ' next of kin ' to whom restitution might be made (verse 8).
In such a case the amount due is paid to the priest as the repre-
sentative of Yahweh, with whom the offender had broken faith
(see introductory note to Lev. vi. 1 ff.).

6. to do a trespass against the LORD : lit. ' in breaking faith

214 NUMBERS 5. 8--12. P

shall confess their sin which they have done : and he
shall make restitution for his guilt in full, and add unto
it the fifth part thereof, and give it unto him in respect

8 of whom he hath been guilty. But if the man have no
kinsman to whom restitution may be made for the guilt,
the restitution for guilt which is made unto the Lord
shall be the priest's ; besides the ram of the atonement,

9 whereby atonement shall be made for him. And every
heave offering of all the holy things of the children of
Israel, which they present unto the priest, shall be his.

10 And every man's hallowed things shall be his : what-
soever any man giveth the priest, it shall be his.
I2 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto

with Yahweh,' the Author of the moral law and the Guardian of
morality (see note on Lev. v. 15).

8. the ram of the atonement: the 'expiation ram' prescribed
in Lev. vi. 6, ' by means of which he (i. e. the priest) shall perform
the rite of expiation on his behalf ; for this rendering see above,
P-52.

9 f. A general statement of the priest's dues, based on the pre-
ceding special case.

every heave offering, &c. : here in the comprehensive sense
of f contribution,' • oblation,' see note on Lev. vii. 14.

11-31. The ordeal of jealousy. If a husband suspects that his
wife has been unfaithful to him, he may bring her ' before
Yahweh ' — in post-exilic practice, to the Temple — when the priest
shall submit her to a double test, an oath of purgation and a
peculiar water ordeal, minutety described in the text. If she is
innocent, no injurious effects ensue ; if, on the contrary, she is
guilty, the combined curse and the water of the ordeal produce
certain physical effects which proclaim her guilt to all the world.
It is probable that, in its present form, this section combines two
originally distinct but closely allied forms of procedure (note, for
example, the double nomenclature of the offering prescribed in
verse 15, the repetition of the setting of the woman before
Yahweh in verses 16 and 18, and especially the curious fact that
now the priest is represented as making the woman drink the
water twice— see the tabular statement in C-H., Hex. ii. 192, and
cf. Stade, ZATW. xv [1895] 166-178). Common to both, how-
ever, is the implication that there were no witnesses of the

NUMBERS 5. 13. P 215

the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man's
wife go aside, and commit a trespass against him, and 13

woman's sin, assuming her to have been guilty, and accordingly
that the ordinary judicial procedure was inapplicable.

The passage is noteworthy as being the only explicit illustration
in the O. T. of the world-wide institution of the ordeal (see the
literature cited by Gray, Numbers, p. 44 f., also the note below on
xx. 13, the name Meribah). Among the Semitic peoples, as else-
where, the favourite ordeals were those of fire and water (Re/.
Sem,2 I79ff., S. A. Cook, The Laws of Moses and the Code of
Hammurabi, 64 f.). The latter Code supplies instructive parallels
to both the oath and the ordeal in circumstances similar to those
of the Hebrew law. Thus section 131 runs : ' If the wife of
a man is accused by her husband, although she has not been
caught ... (in the act), she shall swear by a god) thereafter
(i.e. having attested her innocence upon oath) she shall return to
her house.' And section 132 : ' If the wife of a man has had the
finger pointed at her on account of another man, although she
has not been caught . . . (in the act), she shall plunge into the
sacred river for her husband.' This water ordeal is more fully
described in sect. 2 of the Code, from which it is seen that ' if the
sacred river (or rather ' the river-god ') overcomes ' the person
plunging or plunged into it, it is a sign that he (or she) is guilty,
whereas if the person escapes ' the river-god makes that man
innocent and has saved him.' Ordeal by fire and water still sur-
vives, as part of the recognized judicial procedure, among the
Bedouin of the Sinai peninsula, as may be seen from the interesting
account given by Lord Cromer in his Report on Egypt and the
Sudan in 1905 (Government Blue-book), pp. 136**., 'The Sinai
Peninsula.'

From another point of view this section has a special interest
for the O. T. student, inasmuch as it belongs to a group of laws
having their origin in beliefs and practices of remote antiquity,
which were taken over and invested with a new significance by
the later exponents of the religion of Yahweh. To this group
belong also the antique ceremony for the purification of the leper
(Lev. xiv. 4ff.), the kindred rite of 'the goat for Azazel'
(xvi. 8, 21 f.), and the 'red heifer' of Num. xix. For the com-
piler of this chapter -whether we label it Ps, P*, or Px — the oath
and the ordeal are the divinely appointed means by which God,
by whom our secret sins are made manifest (Ps. xc. 8, 1 Cor.
xiv. 25), clears the innocent and punishes the guilty. For the
later development of the law see the Mishna treatise Sotah (the
adulteress).

12. and commit a trespass against him : better, 'and break

216 NUMBERS 5. 14-17. P

a man lie with her carnally, and it be hid from the eyes
of her husband, and be kept close, and she be denied,
and there be no witness against her, neither she be

14 taken in the act; and the spirit of jealousy come upon
him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be defiled :
or if the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be

15 jealous of his wife, and she be not defiled : then shall
the man bring his wife unto the priest, and shall bring
her oblation for her, the tenth part of an ephah of barley
meal ; he shall pour no oil upon it, nor put frankincense
thereon ; for it is a meal offering of jealousy, a meal
offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to remembrance.

16 And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before

17 the Lord : and the priest shall take holy water in an
earthen vessel ; and of the dust that is on the floor of the
tabernacle the priest shall take, and put it into the water :

faith with him,' the same expression as in verse 5, which perhaps
accounts for this section being placed here.

13. and be kept close, and she be defiled: the subject of both
verbs is the woman ; render : ' and she be undetected, although
she has (in fact) defiled herself.' Verse i4a contemplates a case
of guilt, as here, while i4b provides for the case of unjustified
suspicion.

15. and shall bring1 her oblation for her : the offering is
really the husband's, render therefore : l the oblation required in
her case.' For the quantity see on Lev. v. 11, and for the usual
oil and frankincense, here absent (cf. he. cit.), see Lev. ii. 1 ff.

a meal offering* of memorial : better, ' of remembrance,' as
explained by the words following, f When Yahweh forgets,
guilt goes unpunished ; when He remembers, He visits the sinner'
(Gra}'-, in loc, with reff.). For a suggested explanation of the
double nomenclature see p. 214, but it may be that the 'remem-
brance-offering' is the genus of which the ' jealousy- offering' is
a species.

17. holy water: an expression found only here in O.T\ The
Mishna explains it doubtfully as water from the brazen laver
(Sofah, ii. 2). W. R. Smith regarded it as 'an isolated survival,'
denoting ' water from a holy spring' (Rel. Sem? 181). It is more
probable, however, that we should read with the LXX ' living

NUMBERS 5. 18-20. P 217

and the priest shall set the woman before the Lord, and 18

let the hair of the woman's head go loose, and put the

meal offering of memorial in her hands, which is the

meal offering of jealousy : and the priest shall have in

his hand the water of bitterness that causeth the curse :

and the priest shall cause her to swear, and shall say 19

unto the woman, If no man have lien with thee, and

if thou hast not gone aside to uncleanness, a being under

thy husband, be thou free from this water of bitterness

that causeth the curse: but if thou hast gone aside, 20

a Or, with another instead of thy husband See Ezek. xxiii. 5,
Rom. vii. 2.

water ' (see note on Lev. xiv. 5), or that the epithet ' holy ' is here
given by anticipation to water which only became so after it had
been mixed with the sacred dust from the floor of the Tabernacle.

18. and let the hair of the woman's head go loose: probably
that she might appear as a mourner, cf. Lev. x. 6, xxi. 10.

the water of bitterness : so called not because it contained
bitter ingredients, but as causing ' bitterness ' in the sense of
physical pain and injury. The peculiar combination of epithets —
'the pain-dealing, curse-bringing water' — may be due to the
presumed duplicate sources (so C-H., Hex. ii. 192), or it may be
that for ' water of bitterness ' we ought to read by a slight change,
as in some of the Versions, ' the water that brings (the guilt) to
light.' In this case the second epithet may be a gloss (cf. Kittel,
Biblia Hebraica, in he.)

19-22. The priest administers the oath of purgation. The
nearest O. T. parallel is found in the early law-code, Exod. xxii.
10 ff. (cf. 1 Kings viii. 31 f.), where the plaintiff and the accused
both appear 'before God,' and 'the oath of Yahweh shall be
between them both.' A closer parallel has been already cited
from the Code of Hammurabi. The oath as a means of detecting
guilt is still held in the greatest respect by certain of the Arab
tribes (see Jaussen, Couiumes des Arabes (1908), pp. 188 ff,
where some curious details are given as to the tenor of the oath
and the mode of administering it ; cf. PEFSt. 1897, p. 131, an
account of a man accused of adultery who attests his innocence by
an oath in the Church of the Nativity at Bethlehem).

19. being- under thy husband : and therefore bound to keep
faith with him ; the alternative rendering of the margin is less
probable.

2iS NUMBERS 5. 21-24. F

P being under thy husband, and if thou be defiled, and
some man have lien with thee besides thine husband :

21 then the priest shall cause the woman to swear with the
oath of ^cursing, and the priest shall say unto the woman,
The Lord make thee a h curse and an oath among thy
people, when the Lord doth make thy thigh to fall away,

22 and thy belly to swell; and this water that causeth the
curse shall go into thy bowels, and make thy belly to
swell, and thy thigh to fall away : and the woman shall

23 say, Amen, Amen. And the priest shall write these
curses in a book, and he shall blot them out into the

24 water of bitterness : and he shall make the woman drink
the water of bitterness that causeth the curse : and the

a Or, with another instead of thy husband See Ezek. xxiii. 5,
Rom. vii, 2. b Or, adjuration

21 comes in awkwardly between verse 20 and its logical
sequence in verse 22 (< but if . . , and if . . . then this water,' &c).
Its presence may be due either to the imperfect assimilation of the
sources, or to the desire of a later editor to emphasize the fact
that it is Yahweh Himself who is the Author of the physical
penalties ensuing. In the antique formula itself (verse 22) these
are ascribed to the efficacy of the water of the ordeal. For the
euphemisms of the text see Gray, Numbers, pp. 48, 53 f.

The LORD make thee a curse . . . among* thy people : so
that a Jew wishing to curse a woman shall say, ' Yahweh make

thee like ' (naming the guilty party), as in the case given in

Jer. xxix. 22. Illustrations of the opposite are found in the
blessings recorded in Gen. xlviii. 20; Ruth iv. 11.

23. The priest now writes out the words of the curse ' in a book.'
i.e. on a piece of parchment (Sotah, ii. 4), and washes off the
ink into 'the water of bitterness.' This part of the procedure is
frankly magical in its origin, and has its analogies among many
peoples, ancient and modern. The woman, it must be under-
stood, drinks the curse with its magical potency in the case of
guilt.

24 ff. The potion was, of course, administered only once, and
that not at this stage of the ordeal (verse 24) but, as stated in 261',
after the meal-offering, which the woman had held till now in
her hand, had been presented at the altar and its ' memorial '
burned (see on Lev. ii. 2— the term in the original is not that of

NUMBERS 6. 25—6. 2. F 219

water that causeth the curse shall enter into her and
become bitter. And the priest shall take the meal offering 25
of jealousy out of the woman's hand, and shall wave the
meal offering before the Lord, and bring it unto the
altar : and the priest shall take an handful of the meal 26
offering, as the memorial thereof, and burn it upon the
altar, and afterward shall make the woman drink the
water. And when he hath made her drink the water, 27
then it shall come to pass, if she be defiled, and have
committed a trespass against her husband, that the water
that causeth the curse shall enter into her and become
bitter, and her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall fall
away : and the woman shall be a curse among her people.
And if the woman be not defiled, but be clean ; then she 28
shall be free, and shall conceive seed. This is the law of 29
jealousy, when a wife, a being under her husband, goeth
aside, and is defiled ; or when the spirit of jealousy 30
cometh upon a man, and he be jealous over his wife ;
then shall he set the woman before the Lord, and the
priest shall execute upon her all this law. And the man 31
shall be free from iniquity, and that woman shall bear
her iniquity.

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto 6 2

* Or, goeth aside with another instead of her husband

verse 15 above). For a probable explanation of the discrepancy
see the introductory note.

24, 2*7. the curse shall enter . . . and become hitter : a
better sense would certainly be obtained if we could read : 'shall
enter ... to bring (the guilt) to light,' see note on verse 19.

29-31. A concluding summary, repeating the purpose of 'the
law of jealousy.'

Chapter vi is occupied almost entirely with the law of the
Nazirite, viz. (1) 1-8, the general contents of the Nazirite vow,
probably the kernel from which the rest of this torah has been
developed; (2) 9-12, the interruption of the vow caused by

22o NUMBERS 6. 3. P

the children of Israel, and say unto them, When either
man or woman shall make a special vow, the vow of
3 a a Nazirite, to b separate himself unto the Lord : he
shall separate himself from wine and strong drink ; he
shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink,
neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat fresh
a That is, one separated or consecrated. b Or, consecrate

accidental defilement by a dead body ; and (3) 13-21, the pro-
cedure to be followed on the expiration of the period of the vow.
The points of contact which the law shows with P*, such as the
reference to 'the door of the tent of meeting,' are probably
editorial, its real affinity being rather with the older toroth under-
lying the Holiness Code (Lev. xvii-xxvi).

The Hebrew word ndzir denotes one ' consecrated ' or S devoted '
to Yahweh ; hence ' devotee ' is the nearest English equivalent.
The Nazirite vow was of two kinds, lifelong and temporary. The
only certain example of the lifelong devotee in the O.T. is
Samson (Judges xiii. 5, 7, 14, xvi. 17), although Samuel is
usually reckoned as such. The fact that Amos (ii. 11) mentions
the Nazirites in parallelism with prophets suggests that in his
day 'young men' took the vow for life. It is probable, however,
that from the first the vow was in most cases taken for a short
period only (for modern analogies see Rel.Sem.2 332 f.), and it is
for this class of Nazirite alone that the present chapter legislates.
Here the obligations imposed by the vow are three in number :

(1) the hair must remain unshorn during the validity of the vow;

(2) total abstinence from all intoxicating liquors and even from
grapes, 'fresh' or 'dried' ; (3) rigid avoidance of defilement through
contact with a corpse. Of these the first is probably the oldest,
as it was the most characteristic, element in the Nazirite vow, as
appears from the figurative use of the term naetr to denote the
undressed vine (Lev. xxv. 5, 11 ; cf. the remark on a similar
metaphor in xix. 23, p. 133). Since the third of the obligations
above noted represents a taboo which is shared only with the
High Priest (Lev. xxi. n), Kautzsch concludes that the Priests'
Code intends to represent the Nazirites as forming 'a lay priest-
hood . . . allied to the actual priesthood as a condition of high
consecration to God ' (Hastings's DB. v. 658).

2. shall make a special vow, &c. : rather, 'would take upon
him or her the vow of a Nazirite.'

3 f. The second of the three special taboos noted above. ' Strong
drink ' (shekar) is here a comprehensive term for all sorts of
intoxicating liquors, date-wine, pomegranate-wine (Cant. viii. 2,

NUMBERS 6.4-9, P 221

grapes or dried. All the days of his a separation shall 4
he eat nothing that is made of the grape-vine, from the
kernels even to the husk. All the days of his vow of 5
separation there shall no razor come upon his head:
until the days be fulfilled, in the which he separateth
himself unto the Lord, he shall be holy, he shall let the
locks of the hair of his head grow long. All the days 6
that he separateth himself unto the Lord he shall not
come near to a dead body. He shall not make himself 7
unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother,
or for his sister, when they die : because his separation
unto God is upon his head. All the days of his separa- 8
tion he is holy unto the Lord. And if any man die 9
a Or, consecration Or, Naziriteship

R.V.) &c, except ordinary grape-wine. Originally shikar prob-
ably meant wine prepared from fermented date-juice. (For the
history of the word see the writer's art, 'Wine and Strong
Drink,' in EB. iv. col. 5309 f.) Abstinence from wine was one
of the features of the Nazirite vow in the days of Amos (ii. 11).
Wine and strong drink were also forbidden to the priests when
on duty (Lev. x. 9), as they are forbidden by the Koran to all
true Muslims. Abstinence from intoxicants was also one of the
distinguishing marks of the sect of the Rechabites (Jer. xxxv. 2-8).

4. from the kernels even to the husk. The real meaning
of the words so rendered is unknown ; most recent scholars
favour l unripe grapes ' and ' tendrils,' the points of the latter
being prized as food by the modern fellahin.

5. For the sacredness of the hair of the head, by many
primitive peoples regarded as the seat of the soul, and the
religious practices, such as hair-offerings and the like, arising
therefrom, see Rel. Sem.2, 324 ff. Here, however, the unshorn hair
is regarded merely as an outward sign that its owner is under this
vow of consecration.

6 f. The only parallel to this third taboo, as has been pointed
out, is found in Lev. xxi. 11 f., where the High Priest, like the
Nazirite, is interdicted from approaching the dead body of even
his nearest relative. The interdict is less stringent in the case
of the ordinary priest (ibid. 1 ff.).

9-12. Regulations for the case of accidental breach of the last

222 NUMBERS 6. 10-13. P

very suddenly beside him, and he defile the head of his
separation ; then he shall shave his head in the day of

10 his cleansing, on the seventh day shall he shave it. And
on the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves, or two
young pigeons, to the priest, to the door of the tent of

11 meeting : and the priest shall offer one for a sin offering,
and the other for a burnt offering, and make atonement
for him, for that he sinned by reason of the dead, and

12 shall hallow his head that same day. And he shall
separate unto the Lord the days of his separation, and
shall bring a he-lamb of the first year for a guilt offering :
but the former days shall be void, because his separation
was defiled.

13 And this is the law of the Nazirite, when the days

taboo, by which a seven days' defilement is incurred. On the
seventh day the devotee must shave his head, and on the eighth
offer a sin-offering and a burnt-offering ; thereafter he must begin
anew his period of separation.

9. the head of Ms separation : in our idiom, ' his consecrated
head' (see note on Lev. xiv. 8). The defilement, even though
accidental, is laid to the charge of the Nazirite, ' but unintentional
sin plays a large part in the priestly law, as indeed elsewhere '
(Gray). According to the Mishna the shorn hair in this case was
not burned (cf. verse 18) but buried, a practice familiar to anthro-
pologists.

in the day of his cleansing : this suggests the rites of the
eighth day ; render, ' in the day when he becomes clean,' his
uncleanness having passed away by the close of the seventh day.

10. The modest offerings here required are those prescribed for
similar forms of uncleanness, Lev. xii. 8, xiv. 22, xv. 14.

12. The first and last clauses of this verse go together, and
mean that the Nazirite shall renew his vow for the same period
as before, the portion of that period already passed having been
cancelled by the defilement. The intervening clause requiring
a guilt-offering comes too late, and is an inappropriate gloss. The
closing words should be read with LXX : ' because he defiled his
consecrated head ' (cf. verse 9).

13-20. The rites to be performed at the expiration of the vow.
These include the offering of all the main types of sacrifice with

NUxMBERS 6. 14-18. P 223

of his separation are fulfilled : he shall be brought unto
the door of the tent of meeting : and he shall offer his 14
oblation unto the Lord, one he-lainb of the first year
without blemish for a burnt offering, and one ewe-lamb
of the first year without blemish for a sin offering, and
one ram without blemish for peace offerings, and a basket 1 5
of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mingled with oil,
and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and their meal
offering, and their drink offerings. And the priest shall 16
present them before the Lord, and shall offer his sin
offering, and his burnt offering : and he shall offer the 17
ram for a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the Lord, with
the basket of unleavened bread : the priest shall offer also
the meal offering thereof, and the drink offering thereof.
And the Nazirite shall shave the head of his separation at 18
the door of the tent of meeting, and shall take the hair
of the head of his separation, and put it on the fire which

the exception of the guilt-offering, and the shaving off and burning
of the devotee's hair.

13 f. It is difficult to see why the Nazirite should be 'brought'
by others ; read either, ! he shall come ' (the change required is
very slights, or 'he shall bring his oblation unto . . . meeting, and
he shall offer it/ &c. (Kittel).

15. and their meal offering", &c. : 'their' refers back to the
burnt- and peace-offerings of the previous verse, which receive
an accompanying meal-offering and a libation of wine, as pre-
scribed in xv. 2ff. The cereal gifts of the first half of the verse
are parts of an independent meal-offering, for which see Lev. ii.
1 ff. and notes.

18. The shorn hair is burnt with the fat of the peace-offering
upon the altar of burnt-offering ; contrast the procedure indicated
in the note on verse 9. Although this part of the ritual may
have had its roots in the primitive and wide-spread rite of the
hair-offering (see Rel. Sem.2, at. supra), no such offering is con-
templated by the Hebrew legislator. The burning of the hair
' is rather the simplest way of disposing of that which was con-
secrated to Yahweh and was therefore holy, and so had to be pro-
tected from all risk of profanation ; Kautzsch,.

224 NUMBERS 6. 19-23. P

19 is under the sacrifice of peace offerings. And the priest
shall take the sodden shoulder of the ram, and one
unleavened cake out of the basket, and one unleavened
wafer, and shall put them upon the hands of the Nazirite,

20 after he hath shaven the head ^/"his separation : and the
priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the
Lord ; this is holy for the priest, together with the wave
breast and heave a thigh : and after that the Nazirite may

21 drink wine. This is the law of the Nazirite who voweth,
and of his oblation unto the Lord for his separation,
beside that which he is able to get : according to his vow
which he voweth, so he must do after the law of his
separation.

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto

a Or, shoulder

19 f. In the case of the Nazirite's offerings, the officiating
priest receives in addition to the statutory 'wave breast and
heave thigh,' i. e. the breast that has been waved and the thigh
that has been set apart (for these see notes on Lev. vii. 14, 30, 34),
the contents of an extra wave-offering as described in the text.
When the full ceremony has been completed, the interdict on
wine is removed.

21. "beside that which he is able to get : render ' apart from
whatever else he may be able to afford,' over and above the statu-
tory offerings.

22-27. The priestly blessing. Its position here instead of
Lev. ix. 23 is another, and not the least striking, illustration of the
lack of systematic arrangement which characterizes the legislative
portions of the Pentateuch. The Hebrew text is artistically
arranged in three short verses (24-26) of three, five, and seven
words respectively, each verse divided into two parts, giving
a climactic arrangement of 2 + 1, 3 + 2, and 4 + 3 words. The
contents of the priestly blessing have been thus happily and
tersely summarized by Kautzsch (Die heilige Schrift des Alien
Testaments, 3rd ed., p. 194) : ' In beautiful climax it leads in three
members from the petition for material blessing and protection to
that for the favour of Yahweh as spiritual blessing, and finally
to the petition for the bestowal of the shdlom, the peace or wel-
fare in which all material and spiritual well-being is comprehended.'

NUMBERS 6. 24— 7. 1. P 225

Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall
bless the children of Israel ; ye shall say unto them,

The Lord bless thee, and keep thee : "24

The Lord make his face to shine upon thee, and be 25
gracious unto thee :

The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give 26
thee peace.

So shall they put my name upon the children of Israel; 27
and I will bless them.

And it came to pass on the day that Moses had made 7
an end of setting up the tabernacle, and had anointed it
and sanctified it, and all the furniture thereof, and the
altar and all the vessels thereof, and had anointed them

Verse 27 shows that the blessing, although couched in the form
of a prayer, is to be understood as a real Divine benediction.
There are no decisive criteria for determining the age of the
blessing, but it may safely be assumed that it was already in use
in the Temple before the exile. For details as to its use in the
later Temple and in the Synagogues, see Schurer's History of the
Jewish People, div. II, vol. ii. 82 f.

27. For the significance attaching to the l name ' of Yahweh
in this connexion, see Kautzsch in Hastings's DB. v. 640 f. with
reference to Giesebrecht's monograph on this subject.

(d) vii. The offerings of the secular heads of the tribes.

This chapter, said to be the longest in the Bible, is to be classed
among the latest elements in the Pentateuch. Its author, in
Kuenen's words, ' wishes to introduce the heads of the tribes . . .
as models of liberality towards the sanctuary which his own con-
temporaries would do well to copy.' The offerings are of two
kinds : (1) a gift of six wagons and twelve oxen for the transport
of the Tabernacle (contrast ch. iv, where everything is to be
carried by the Levites) ; (2) identical gifts from each of the twelve
princes, but offered on twelve successive days, consisting of gold
and silver vessels for the service of the sanctuary, with sacrificial
animals and other material for the dedication ceremony.

1. The day here specified was the first anniversary of the
exodus (see Exod. xl. 17), an exact month, therefore, before
he date assigned to the legislation of Num. i-iv, the data of which
ire nevertheless assumed throughout this chapter, a clear proof of
the late origin of the latter.

226 NUMBERS 7. 2-10. P

2 and sanctified them ; that the princes of Israel, the heads
of their fathers' houses, offered; these were the princes
of the tribes, these are they that were over them that

3 were numbered : and they brought their oblation before
the Lord, six covered wagons, and twelve oxen j a wagon
for every two of the princes, and for each one an ox : and

4 they presented them before the tabernacle. And the

5 Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Take it of them, that
they may be to do the service of the tent of meeting ;
and thou shalt give them unto the Levites, to every man

6 according to his service. And Moses took the wagons

7 and the oxen, and gave them unto the Levites. Two
wagons and four oxen he gave unto the sons of Gershon,

8 according to their service : and four wagons and eight
oxen he gave unto the sons of Merari, according unto
their service, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron

9 the priest. But unto the sons of Kohath he gave none :
because the service of the sanctuary belonged unto them ;

10 they bare it upon their shoulders. And the princes
offered a for the dedication of the altar in the day that it
was anointed, even the princes offered their oblation

a Or, the dedication -gift

7 ff. To the Gershonites, whose ' charge ' consisted chiefly of
the. curtains and hangings of the Dwelling and the court (iii. 25 f.,
iv. 24 ff.), only two wagons are assigned, while the Merarites,
who were responsible for the transport of the wooden framework
of the Dwelling, the heavy silver bases, pillars, &c. (iii. 36 f.,
iv. 31 f.) receive four. The Kohathites, on the other hand, have
still to bear the ark and the other 'most holy things' on their
shoulders, as in iii. 31 f., iv. 4-15. David, however, did not
scruple to place the ark on a cart (2 Sam. vi. 3, cf. 1 Sam. vi.
8. 11— but see also 2 Sam. xv. 24-27 for the ark carried by th(
priests).

10. for the dedication of the altar: rather, as margin, 'for
the dedication-gift of the altar' (so probably verse 11, anc
certainly verses 84, 88), referring back to the gift of the wagons
and oxen. The paragraph should end here.

NUMBERS 7. n-18. P 227

before the altar. And the Lord said unto Moses, They u
shall offer their oblation, each prince on his day, for the
dedication of the altar.

And he that offered his oblation the first day was 12
Nahshon the son of Amminadab, of the tribe of Judah :
and his oblation was one silver charger, the weight thereof 13
was an hundred and thirty shekels^ one silver bowl of
seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary ; both
of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meal
offering; one golden spoon of ten shekels , full of incense ; 14
one young bullock, one ram, one he-lamb of the first 15
year, for a burnt offering ; one male of the goats for a 16
sin offering ; and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two 1 7
oxen, five rams, five he-goats, five he-lambs of the first
year: this was the oblation of Nahshon the son of
Amminadab.

On the second day Nethanel the son of Zuar, prince 18

11-83. The other gifts of the 'princes' are to be offered each
on twelve successive days, beginning with the secular head of the
tribe of Judah. The names are those already introduced in chs. i
and ii. In the twelve sections into which verses 12-83 are
divided, 'the circumlocution is carried to the utmost possible
extent. Apart from one or two additional variations in the first
two sections, the same formula, consisting of 118 English words,
is repeated for each of the twelve tribes, with the alteration of
only six words for the number of the day and the name and tribe
of the prince' (C-H. Hex. ii. 194 f.).

13. one silver charger . . . one silver bowl: the former —
elsewhere rendered ' dish ' — was a large, round dish resembling
the catinum of the Romans ; the latter, as the etymology shows,
was used by the priests to catch the blood of the sacrificial victims,
and is frequently rendered ' bason.' Taking ' the shekel of the
sanctuary' at 224 grains (see on Lev. v. 15), since 10 Phoenician
shekels weighed exactly 4§ Troy ounces, the weights of the
'chargers' and the 'bowls' are respectively circa 60 and 33 oz.
Troy.

14. one golden spoon: rather, as LXX, 'one golden cup';
such incense-cups were formerly visible in the representation of
the table of shew-bread on the Arch of Titus.

Q 2

228 NUMBERS 7. i9-35. P

19 of Issachar, did offer : he offered for his oblation one
silver charger, the weight thereof was an hundred and
thirty shekels ; one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after
the shekel of the sanctuary ; both of them full of fine

20 flour mingled with oil for a meal offering ; one golden

21 spoon of ten shekels, full of incense ; one young bullock,
one ram, one he-lamb of the first year, for a burnt offer-
ing ; one male of the goats for a sin offering; and for
the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five
he-goats, five he-lambs of the first year: this was the
oblation of Nethanel the son of Zuar.

24 On the third day Eliab the son of Helon, prince of the

25 children of Zebulun : his oblation was one silver charger,
the weight thereof was an hundred and thirty shekels, one
silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the
sanctuary ; both of them full of fine flour mingled with

26 oil for a meal offering ; one golden spoon of ten shekels,

27 full of incense; one young bullock, one ram, one he-lamb

28 of the first year, for a burnt offering ; one male of the

29 goats for a sin offering ; and for the sacrifice of peace
offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, five he-lambs
of the first year ; this was the oblation of Eliab the son
of Helon.

30 On the fourth day Elizur the son of Shedeur, prince

31 of the children of Reuben : his oblation was one silver
charger, the weight thereof was an hundred and thirty
shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the
shekel of the sanctuary ; both of them full of fine flour

32 mingled with oil for a meal offering ; one golden spoon

33 of ten shekels, full of incense ; one young bullock, one
ram, one he-lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering ;

34 one male of the goats for a sin offering; and for the
sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he-

NUMBERS 7. 36-50. P 229

goats, five he-lambs of the first year : this was the obla-
tion of Elizur the son of Shedeur.

On the fifth day Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai, 36
prince of the children of Simeon : his oblation was one 37
silver charger, the weight thereof was an hundred and
thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after
the shekel of the sanctuary ; both of them full of fine
flour mingled with oil for a meal offering ; one golden 38
spoon of ten shekels, full of incense ; one young bullock, 39
one ram, one he-lamb of the first year, for a burnt
offering ; one male of the goats for a sin offering ; 40
and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five 4l
rams, five he-goats, five he-lambs of the first year :
this was the oblation of Shelumiel the son of Zuri-
shaddai.

On the sixth day Eliasaph the son of Deuel, prince of 4-
the children of Gad : his oblation was one silver charger, 43
the weight thereof was an hundred and thirty shekels, one
silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the
sanctuary ; both of them full of fine flour mingled with
oil for a meal offering ; one golden spoon of ten shekels, 44
full of incense ; one young bullock, one ram, one he- 45
lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering ; one male of 4^
the goats for a sin offering ; and for the sacrifice of peace 47
offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, five he-lambs
of the first year : this was the oblation of Eliasaph the
son of Deuel.

On the seventh day Elishama the son of Ammihud, 48
prince of the children of Ephraim : his oblation was one 49
silver charger, the weight thereof was an hundred and
thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the
shekel of the sanctuary ; both of them full of fine flour
mingled with oil for a meal offering ; one gulden spoon 50

23o NUMBERS 7. 51-67. P

5 1 of ten shekels, full of incense ; one young bullock, one
ram, one he-lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering ;

*2 one male of the goats for a sin offering; and for the
sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he-
goats, five he-lambs of the first year : this was the obla-
tion of Elishama the son of Ammihud.

54 On the eighth day Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur,

55 prince of the children of Manasseh : his oblation was
one silver charger, the weight thereof was an hundred
and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels,
after the shekel of the sanctuary ; both of them full of

56 fine flour mingled with oil for a meal offering j one

57 golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense ; one young
bullock, one ram, one he-lamb of the first year, for a

58 burnt offering ; one male of the goats for a sin offering ;

59 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five
rams, five he-goats, five he -lambs of the first year : this
was the oblation of Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur.

60 On the ninth day Abidan the son of Gideoni, prince

61 of the children of Benjamin : his oblation was one silver
charger, the weight thereof was an hundred and thirty
shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel
of the sanctuary j both of them full of fine flour mingled

62 with oil for a meal offering j one golden spoon of ten

63 shekels, full of incense j one young bullock, one ram, one

64 he-lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering \ one male of

65 the goats for a sin offering ; and for the sacrifice of peace
offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, five he-lambs
of the first year : this was the oblation of Abidan the son
of Gideoni.

66 On the tenth day Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai,

67 prince of the children of Dan : his oblation was one
silver charger, the weight thereof was an hundred and

NUMBERS 7. 68-83. P 231

thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the
shekel of the sanctuary ; both of them full of fine flour
mingled with oil for a meal offering ; one golden spoon 68
of ten shekels, full of incense ; one young bullock, one 69
ram; one he-lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering ;
one male of the goats for a sin offering ; and for the ?J
sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five
he-goats, five he-lambs of the first year: this was the
oblation of Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.

On the eleventh day Pagiel the son of Ochran, prince 72
of the children of Asher : his oblation was one silver 73
charger, the weight thereof was an hundred and thirty
shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the
shekel of the sanctuary ; both of them full of fine flour
mingled with oil for a meal offering ; one golden spoon 74
of ten shekels, full of incense; one young bullock, one ^
ram, one he-lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering ;
one male of the goats for a sin offering ; and for the '
sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he-
goats, five he-lambs of the first year : this was the oblation
of Pagiel the son of Ochran.

On the twelfth day Ahira the son of Enan, prince of 78
the children of Naphtali : his oblation was one silver 79
charger, the weight thereof was an hundred and thirty
shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the
shekel of the sanctuary j both of them full of fine flour
mingled with oil for a meal offering ) one golden spoon 80
of ten shekels, full of incense; one young bullock, one 81
ram, one he-lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering ;
one male of the goats for a sin offering ; and for the g
sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he-
goats, five he-lambs of the first year : this was the oblation
of Ahira the son of Enan.

232 NUMBERS 7. 84—8. 2. P

84 This was the a dedication of the altar, in the day when
it was anointed, b by the princes of Israel : twelve silver

85 chargers, twelve silver bowls, twelve golden spoons : each
silver charger weighing an hundred and thirty shekels,
and each bowl seventy : all the silver of the vessels two
thousand and four hundred shekels, after the shekel of

86 the sanctuary j the twelve golden spoons, full of incense,
weighing ten shekels apiece, after the shekel of the
sanctuary: all the gold of the spoons an hundred and

8 7 twenty shekels : all the oxen for the burnt offering twelve
bullocks, the rams twelve, the he-lambs of the first year
twelve, and their meal offering : and the males of the

88 goats for a sin offering twelve : and all the oxen for the
sacrifice of peace offerings twenty and four bullocks,
the rams sixty, the he-goats sixty, the he-lambs of the
first year sixty. This was the a dedication of the altar,

89 after that it was anointed. And when Moses went into
the tent of meeting to speak with him, then he heard
the Voice speaking unto him from above the mercy-seat
that was upon the ark of the testimony, from between the
two cherubim : and he spake unto him.

8 2 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto

a Or, dedication-gift b Or, at the hands of

84-88. Concluding summary of the whole contents of 'the
dedication-gift.'

89. A curious fragment having no connexion with what now
precedes or follows. The words ' with him ' presuppose a refer-
ence to Yahweh immediately before, which is now missing.
Note also the abrupt ending of the verse, where one expects
'saying . . .' to follow. The representation of 'the Voice'
accords with Exod. xxv. 22 (P8), and it has been conjectured that
the sequel contained the command to set forward from Sinai
referred to in x. 13 below (also P*).

(e) viii. The dedication of the Lcvites (cf. iii. 5-13).
This, the main subject of the chapter, is prefaced by a brief
instruction to Aaron with regard to the lamps of the golden

NUMBERS 8. 3, 4- P 233

Aaron, and say unto him, When thou a lightest the lamps,
the seven lamps shall give light in front of the candle-
stick. And Aaron did so j he b lighted the lamps thereof 3
so as to give light in front of the candlestick, as the Lord
commanded Moses. And this was the work of the 4
candlestick, c beaten work of gold ; unto the base there-
of, and unto the flowers thereof, it was beaten work :
according unto the pattern which the Lord had shewed
Moses, so he made the candlestick.

a Or, settest up b Or, set up ° Or, turned

Candlestick' (1-4), and followed by a new regulation of the age-
limit of active service for the Levites (23-26) . The rest of the
chapter (5-22) deals with the purification of the Levites and with
their presentation 'for a wave offering unto Yahweh,' as a solemn
dedication of their order for the service of the Tabernacle. This
section is not homogeneous for, to mention but one of several
features, the command to ' wave ' the Levites is first given to
Aaron (verse 11) but thereafter twice to Moses (verses 13, 15).
The generally accepted view is that the first draft of the section
is from the hand of one who wished to provide the Levites with
a consecration ceremony analogous to that recorded in Lev. viii
for the priests. In it Moses took the leading part. A later
student of the law expanded this account mainly by giving greater
prominence to Aaron throughout. Even the first draft may be
later than P*.

1-4. The gist of this torah is contained in verse 2b, a mere
variation of Exod. xxv. 37. As there is no record of compliance
with this earlier command in Exod. xxxvii. 17-24, the verses
before us may have been inserted here by some one who desired
to make good the omission. The oil for the lamps is also the
subject of a special torah (Lev. xxiv. 1-4).

2. When thou lightest the lamps: the margin 'when thou
settest up the lamps ' is decidedly to be preferred.

in front of the candlestick : the lampstand was placed on
the south side of the Holy Place, opposite the table of shewbread
on the north side ; Aaron is to place the lamps with their spouts
pointing northwards, the position in which naturally their illumi-
nating capacity would be greatest.

4. On the contents of this verse see Hastings's DB. iv. 663 f.
with illustration (Kennedy). An attempt has been made by the
same writer to trace the evolution of the lamp in Palestine in the
art. ' Lamp1 in Hastings's DB. (1909).

234 NUMBERS 8. 5-10. P

5, 6 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Take the
Levites from among the children of Israel, and cleanse
1 them. And thus shalt thou do unto them, to cleanse
them : sprinkle the water of expiation upon them, and
let them cause a razor to pass over all their flesh, and
let them wash their clothes, and cleanse themselves.

8 Then let them take a young bullock, and its meal offer-
ing, fine flour mingled with oil, and another young

9 bullock shalt thou take for a sin offering. And thou
shalt present the Levites before the tent of meeting : and
thou shalt assemble the whole congregation of the chil-

10 dren of Israel : and thou shalt present the Levites before

5-22. Directions for the purification and dedication of the
Levites and the carrying out of the same. The essential part of
the section is contained in verses 6-13; 'the rest consists of
variants on parts of these verses, ' a resetting of iii. 5-13, and
stereotyped formulae ' (Gray).

6. and cleanse them : Heb. taker, denoting ' the negative
process ' of purification from ceremonial uncleanness. The priests,
on the other hand, underwent also 'the positive process of
receiving the qualities of holiness ' (see Exod. xxix. 1, Lev. viii. 12,
'to sanctify them '). The Levites, in short, were dedicated, the
priests consecrated for their respective offices.

*T. the water of expiation : A.V. 'water of purifying,' literally,
if one may coin an English term on the model of at-one-ment,
' water of un-sin-ment,' for the removal of sin conceived in the
antique manner as a physical stain that can be washed away (see
the notes on the original term hattdth, p. 48, and cf. verse 21
below). The water of ' un-sin-ment ' or purification was most
probably pure water (contrast Lev. xiv. 4 ff.) as in the case of the
priests (ibid. viii. 6). The latter, however, were not merely
sprinkled therewith but thoroughly washed, a detail which also
points to the higher consecration of the priests. This gradation,
further, underlies the direction that the Levites are to wash their
ordinary clothes (cf. Exod. xix. 10, 14), while the priests at their
consecration were clothed with the new priestly garments
(Lev. viii. 13).

10. How the author of this verse thought the laying on of
hands on the part of half a million people was accomplished it is
impossible to say. To suppose that he means only the tribal
heads or other representatives is a mere makeshift. It is of

NUMBERS 8. 11-15. P 235

the Lord : and the children of Israel shall lay their
hands upon the Levites : and Aaron shall "offer then
Levites before the Lord for a wave offering, bon the
behalf of the children of Israel, that they may be to do
the service of the Lord. And the Levites shall lay their 1 2
hands upon the heads of the bullocks : and offer thou
the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offer-
ing, unto the Lord, to make atonement for the Levites.
And thou shalt set the Levites before Aaron, and before 13
his sons, and offer them for a wave offering unto the
Lord. Thus shalt thou separate the Levites from among 14
the children of Israel : and the Levites shall be mine.
And after that shall the Levites go in to do the service 15
a Heb. zvave, and in vv. 13, 15, 21. b Or, from

more importance to note that the idea of substitution is not
embodied in the rite, otherwise the firstborn only would have
laid their hands upon the Levites. As in the similar case of the
animal sacrifices (verse 12), the action is to be understood as
expressing the withdrawal of the Levites from the ranks of
' common ' men, and their transference to the ranks of those who
are henceforth ' holy ' in virtue of their intimate relations with
Yahweh (see the note on Lev. i. 4).

11. and Aaron shall offer the Levites : there is no reason
for departing from the usual meaning of the verb, viz. to ' wave,'
as noted in the margin. But how was the 'waving' of 20,000
men to be done? Even so conservative a scholar as Baudissin
admits that the ceremony 'cannot be thought of as literally per-
formed, but simply gives expression to a theory' (art. 'Priests
and Levites/ DB. iv. 85b). Just as the 'wave breast' of the
sacrifice was presented to Yahweh at the altar, and returned by
Him to His representatives the priests (see on Lev. vii. 30), so
the Levites, the gift of the theocratic community to Yahweh
(verse 16), are handed over by Him to the priests 'to do the
service of the children of Israel in the tent of meeting' (verse 19).
Note that in verses 13, 15, it is Moses who is to 'wave' the Levites
(see introductory note above).

15. The earlier directions, apart from the intrusive verse 11,
closed appropriately with the words of i5a. The greater part, if
not the whole, of i5b-22 seems due to the later writer who drew
his inspiration from iii. 5-13, and has combined the two divergent
theories of (he Levitical order see above, p. 201).

236 NUMBERS 8. 16-21. P

of the tent of meeting : and thou shalt cleanse them, and

16 offer them for a wave offering. For they are a wholly
given unto me from among the children of Israel; in-
stead of all that openeth the womb, even the firstborn of
all the children of Israel, have I taken them unto me.

17 For all the firstborn among the children of Israel are
mine, both man and beast : on the day that I smote all
the firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them for

18 myself. And I have taken the Levites instead of all

19 the firstborn among the children of Israel. And I have
given the Levites as ba gift to Aaron and to his sons from
among the children of Israel, to do the service of the
children of Israel in the tent of meeting, and to make
atonement for the children of Israel : that there be no
plague among the children of Israel, c when the children

20 of Israel come nigh unto the sanctuary. Thus did
Moses, and Aaron, and all the congregation of the chil-
dren of Israel, unto the Levites : according unto all that
the Lord commanded Moses touching the Levites, so

2 1 did the children of Israel unto them. And the Levites
purified themselves from sin, and they washed their

* See ch. iii. 9. b Heb. Nethunim, given. c Or, through
the children of Israel coming nigh

19. to make atonement, &c. The Hebrew verb {kipper) cannot
here have the sense which it usually bears in the priestly writings
(see pp. 51 f.) ; the context requires 'to provide a protection,' or
'to act as a covering (or screen) for the children of Israel,' — an
idea which many scholars believe to be inherent in the root. The
last clause should preferably be rendered as in the margin ; the
Levites are to form a protecting cordon or screen for the sanctuary,
lest any person without due ceremonial preparation should approach
the holy place, and so incur the wrath and judgement of God
(see i. 53).

21. purified themselves from sin : the single word of the
original means ' unsinned themselves,' or Miad themselves un-
sinned," in the sense explained in the note on verse 7.

NUMBERS 8. 22— 9. r. P 237

clothes ; and Aaron offered them for a wave offering
before the Lord ; and Aaron made atonement for them
to cleanse them. And after that went the Levites in to 22
do their service in the tent of meeting before Aaron, and
before his sons : as the Lord had commanded Moses
concerning the Levites, so did they unto them.

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, This is that
which belongeth unto the Levites : from twenty and five
years old and upward they shall go in a to wait upon the
service in the work of the tent of meeting : and from the *5
age of fifty years they shall h cease waiting upon the
work, and shall serve no more; but shall minister with 26
their brethren in the tent of meeting, to keep the charge,
and shall do no service. Thus shalt thou do unto the
Levites touching their charges.

And the Lord spake unto Moses in the wilderness of 9
Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they

a Heb. to war the warfare in the zvork. b Heb. return

from the zvarfare of the zvork.

23-26. By this tdrah the age of the Levite's entry upon service
is reduced from thirty (iv. 3) to twenty-five years. The upward
limit of active service remains unchanged, but Levites above
fifty years of age are here allowed to give voluntary assistance
to their younger and more responsible brethren.

24. to wait upon the service : cf. marg. and note on iv. 3.

(/) ix. r — x. 10. A supplementary Passover law and other
matters.

ix. 1-14. To persons prevented by ceremonial uncleanness, or
by absence from their homes, from taking part in the ordinary
Passover service on the fourteenth of the first month (Nisan), per-
mission is here given to hold a supplementary service on the same
day of the second month. The section is by most critics ' regarded
as in one piece Ps, showing acquaintance with the usage of both
PhandPs' (C-H. Hex.ix. 199).

1. The date, like that of ch. vii, is earlier than the date assigned
to chs. i-iv (see i. 1). The day of the month is not specified,
but it must have been before the tenth (Exod. xii. 3).

238 NUMBERS 9. a-s. P

2 were come out of the land of Egypt, saying, Moreover
let the children of Israel keep the passover in its ap-

3 pointed season. In the fourteenth day of this month,
aat even, ye shall keep it in its appointed season: accord-
ing to all the statutes of it, and according to all the

4 ordinances thereof, shall ye keep it. And Moses spake
unto the children of Israel, that they should keep the

5 passover. And they kept the passover in the first month,
on the fourteenth day of the month, aat even, in the
wilderness of Sinai : according to all that the Lord com-

6 manded Moses, so did the children of Israel. And there
were certain men, who were unclean by the dead body
of a man, so that they could not keep the passover on
that day : and they came before Moses and before Aaron

7 on that day : and those men said unto him, We are un-
clean by the dead body of a man : wherefore are we kept
back, that we may not offer the oblation of the Lord in

8 its appointed season among the children of Israel ? And
Moses said unto them, Stay ye ; that I may hear what
the Lord will command concerning you.

a Heb. between the tzvo evenings.

3. at even: lit., as margin, 'between the two evenings.' The
precise time intended is not clear, see Bennett {Cent. Bible) and
McNeile, The Book of Exodus, on Exod. xii. 6.

according to all the statutes . . and . . ordinances thereof.
Here we seem to have an indication of the late date of the section,
the author having in mind the numerous references to the Pass-
over in the Pentateuchal law-codes, e.g. Exod. xii. 21-27, xxxiv.
25 (J); Deut. xvi. 1-7 (D) ; Exod. xii. 1-13, 43-50 (Pg), &c.

6. before Moses and before Aaron: the latter is here an
intruder, as the singular pronoun ('unto him') of the next clause
clearly shows (cf. note on i. 2). For the uncleanness here
specified see especially ch. xix.

8. Cf. the analogous cases, xv. 34 f., Lev. xxiv. 12 f., the
assumption being that Moses would repair to the ' tent of meeting'
to receive the Divine instructions (Exod. xxv. 22, cf. vii. 89
above).

NUMBERS 9. 9-15. P 239

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto ~
the children of Israel, saying, If any man of you or of
your generations shall be unclean by reason of a dead
body, or be in a journey afar off, yet he shall keep the
passover unto the Lord : in the second month on the 1 1
fourteenth day a at even they shall keep it ; they shall
eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs : they shall 12
leave none of it unto the morning, nor break a bone
thereof: according to all the statute of the passover
they shall keep it. But the man that is clean, and is not 13
in a journey, and forbeareth to keep the passover, that
soul shall be cut off from his people : because he offered
not the oblation of the Lord in its appointed season,
that man shall bear his sin. And if a stranger shall 14
sojourn among you, and will keep the passover unto the
Lord ; according to the statute of the passover, and
according to the ordinance thereof, so shall he do : ye
shall have one statute, both for the stranger, and for him
that is born in the land.

And on the day that the tabernacle was reared up the 15

a Heb. between the two evenings.

11 f. A summary of the chief provisions of the earlier Passover
laws, cf. Exod. xii. 8, 10, 46.

13. For this penalty for non-observance of the Passover ordin-
ance see note on Lev. vii. 20.

14. A summary of Exod. xii. 48 f.

15-23. The fiery cloud which rested upor the Tabernacle from
the day on which it was set up (so Ps, Exod. xl. 34 ff.), regulates
the movements of the children of Israel in the march from Sinai
and throughout the later wilderness wanderings. The cloud is
common to the traditions of all the Pentateuch sources, but these
var}' considerably in their conceptions of it as an indication of the
Divine presence (see Gray's art. ' Pillar of Cloud and Fire,' EBi.
Hi. col. 3775 ff. ; McNeile, The Book 0/ Exodus, p. 81 f.). The
latter writes, ' It is not impossible that the traditions of a guiding
cloud may have had a natural basis. The custom is frequently

240 NUMBERS 9. 16-21. P

cloud covered the tabernacle, even the tent of the testi-
mony : and at even it was upon the tabernacle as it were

16 the appearance of fire, until morning. So it was alway :
the cloud covered it, and the appearance of fire by night.

17 And whenever the cloud was taken up from over the
Tent, then after that the children of Israel journeyed :
and in the place where the cloud abode, there the chil-

18 dren of Israel encamped. At the commandment of the
Lord the children of Israel journeyed, and at the com-
mandment of the Lord they encamped : as long as
the cloud abode upon the tabernacle they remained

19 encamped. And when the cloud tarried upon the taber-
nacle many days, then the children of Israel kept the

20 charge of the Lord, and journeyed not. And sometimes
the cloud was a few days upon the tabernacle; then
according to the commandment of the Lord they re-
mained encamped, and according to the commandment

21 of the Lord they journeyed. And sometimes the cloud
was from evening until morning ; and when the cloud
was taken up in the morning, they journeyed : or if it
continued by day and by night, when the cloud was taken

noted in early times of carrying braziers containing burning wood
at the head of an army or caravan, and the fire indicated, by night,
the line of march [references follow] . . . But, as so often, a
natural custom or phenomenon rises, in the Hebrew traditions,
to a beautiful and spiritual conception, of which all thought of the
origin is lost \ (ibid. p. 82).

15. even the tent of the testimony : only here and xvii. 7 f.,
xviii. 2 ; cf. 'the tabernacle (lit. 'dwelling') of the testimony,' i. 50,
53, x. n, and see the note on Lev. xvi. 12 f.

16. the cloud covered it: add, with the Versions, 'by day.'
19. It may be uncertain whether the preceding verses should

be ascribed to P* or to a later hand, but from this point onwards
it is agreed that we have a secondary expansion of verse 18.
The author clearly wishes to impress upon his contemporaries
with what scrupulous care their ' pious fathers followed the
directions of Yahweh ' (Baentsch).

3£**.

NUMBERS 9. 21— 10. 4. P 241

up, they journeyed. Whether it were two days, or a 22
month, or a year, that the cloud tarried upon the taber-
nacle, abiding thereon, the children of Israel remained
encamped, and journeyed not : but when it was taken
up, they journeyed. At the commandment of the Lord 23
they encamped, and at the commandment of the Lord
they journeyed : they kept the charge of the Lord, at
the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses.

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Make thee 10 2
two trumpets of silver ; of a beaten work shait thou make
them : and thou shalt use them for the calling of the
congregation, and for the journeying of the camps. And 3
when they shall blow with them, all the congregation
shall gather themselves unto thee at the door of the tent
of meeting. And if they blow but with one, then the 4

a Or, turned

22. or a year: render, 'or for a longer period.'

x, 1-10. A command to Moses to make two silver trumpets, with
specification of the uses to which they are to be put. These are
three in number : (1) to summon the whole congregation to the
sanctuary, or the princes only if one trumpet is sounded alone ;
(2) to give the signal for the march ; and (3) to remind Yahweh of
the need of His help in battle and of His presence at certain
religious festivals. The first two apply only to the period of the
sojourn in the wilderness, the last to the subsequent occupation
of the holy land. This divergence, and the fact that verse 8b is
the standing formula in P for the close of a separate torah, have
suggested that verses 9 and 10 are derived from a separate source
(H. according to C-H. Hex. ii. 200 and others).

These trumpets or clarions are known to have been 'long,
straight, slender metal tubes, with flaring ends ' from their re-
presentation on Jewish coins (see no. 18 of the plate accompanying
the art. ' Money,' in DB. vol. iii\ and especially on the Arch of
Titus. To judge from the relative proportions of the trumpets
and the table of shewbread against which they lean, the former
must have been from three to four feet long (illustration in Driver,
Joel and Amos, p. 145, where see for the distinction between
the metal trumpet and the shophdr. or ram's horn, also rendered
' trumpet ' in our versions, e. g. Lev. xxv. 9).

242 NUMBERS 10. 5-10. P

princes, the heads of the thousands of Israel, shall gather

5 themselves unto thee. And when ye blow an alarm, the
camps that lie on the east side shall take their journey.

6 And when ye blow an alarm the second time, the camps
that lie on the south side shall take their journey : they

7 shall blow an alarm for their journeys. But when the
assembly is to be gathered together, ye shall blow, but

8 ye shall not sound an alarm. And the sons of Aaron,
the priests, shall blow with the trumpets ; and they shall
be to you for a statute for ever throughout your genera-

9 tions. And when ye go to war in your land against the
adversary that oppresseth you, then ye shall sound an
alarm with the trumpets ; and ye shall be remembered
before the Lord your God, and ye shall be saved from

10 your enemies. Also in the day of your gladness, and in
your set feasts, and in the beginnings of your months, ye
shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings,
and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings ; and they
shall be to you for a memorial before your God : I am
the Lord your God.

5. when ye "blow an alarm. Here, and more explicitly in
verse 7, a distinction, no longer clear to us, is made between
simple blowing and blowing or sounding an alarm. It is usually
supposed that the former denotes a succession of single notes, the
latter a continuous blast. ' Alarm ' is the Italian call, all' arme,
' to arms ! '

9f. Here an entirely new idea is introduced; after the con-
quest of Canaan the trumpets are to serve as ' the Lord's remem-
brancers ' (Isa. lxii. 6, R.V.) in the day of battle and on the
occasion of the high festivals of His worship. Their use in war
is attested by 2 Chron. xiii. 12-16 and especially by 1 Mace. iv. 40,
v. 33, and in various religious services frequently by the Chronicler
and other late writers, e. g. Ps. xcviii. 6 ; Ecclus. 1. 16.

10. for a memorial before your God: rather 'for a remem-
brance' or 'a reminder ;' a similar 'reminder before the Lord'
was the .High Priest's breastplate, the jewels of which are termed
'stones of remembrance' (Exod. xxviii. 12, 29).

NUMBERS 10. ii. P 243

[P] And it came to pass in the second year, in the u

Second Division. Chapters X. 11 — XX. 13.

Traditions of the Wilderness Period, with accompanying
Legislation.

In this division of Numbers is contained all that the compilers
of the Pentateuch have seen fit to preserve of the early Hebrew
traditions regarding the period which elapsed from the departure
of the Israelites from Sinai until they were ready to undertake the
invasion of the country east of the Jordan, a period roundly given
as forty years. The origin and value of these traditions have been
discussed in the Introduction. It is remarkable that they should
be so few in number, and that these few should deal almost exclu-
sively with defections and murmurings either of the whole ' con-
gregation,' or of some of its members. Here, for the first time
since Exod. xxxiv, we meet with the two oldest Pentateuch
sources (J and E) in addition to P, to whose scheme of chronology
the final narrative is in the main adjusted.

While the characteristic vocabulary, style, and dominant interests
of the priestly writers render it comparatively easy to distinguish
the contributions of this school, those of the so-called ' prophetic '
history (JE) cannot always be so satisfactorily analysed. In the
notation of the sources inserted in the text, accordingly, the usual
composite symbol (JE) will be employed where the details of the
literary analysis are, in the writer's opinion, uncertain. Reference
will be made from time to time in the notes to the more probable
indications of the separate sources, but fuller guidance (see
Bennett's remarks on the l stubborn problem ' of the analysis of
JE in Exodus, Cent. Bible, p. 28) must be sought in such standard
works as B. W. Bacon's Triple Tradition of the Exodus, Carpenter
and Harford's Hexateuch, the English translation of Kuenen's
Hexateuch, and the larger commentaries. The contents of x. 11-
xx. 13 may be conveniently arranged in six sections, as given in
sect, ii of the Introduction, ' Arrangement and Contents.'

(a) x. 11-xii. 16. From Sinai to Kadesh-Barnea,
As now arranged, the incidents recorded in this section are all
episodes of the march from ' the mount of Yahweh ' (x. 33) to
the oasis of Kadesh, which in the oldest sources is the scene of
the sending out of the spies, the subject of the next section (xiii-
xiv). The marks of P are found only in x. n-28, the rest is
from JE.

x. 11-28. The departure from Sinai according to P, after a stay
of rather less than twelve months (Exod. xix. 1 ; Num. i. r, x. 11).
The signal for the march is given by the lifting of the fiery cloud
(cf. ix. 17).

R 2

244 NUMBERS 10. ia-iS. P

second month, on the twentieth day of the month, that
the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle of the

12 testimony. And the children of Israel set forward ac-
cording to their journeys out of the wilderness of Sinai ;

1 3 and the cloud abode in the wilderness of Paran. And
they first took their journey according to the command-

14 ment of the Lord by the hand of Moses. And in the
first place the standard of the camp of the children of
Judah set forward according to their hosts : and over his

15 host was Nahshon the son of Amminadab. And over
the host of the tribe of the children of Issachar was

16 Nethanel the son of Zuar. And over the host of the
tribe of the children of Zebulun was Eliab the son of

17 Helon. And the tabernacle was taken down; and the
sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari, who bare the

18 tabernacle, set forward. And the standard of the camp
of Reuben set forward according to their hosts : and

12. the wilderness of Paran : its boundaries cannot be pre-
cisely determined ; it certainly lay to the west of the Arabah, i. e.
the continuation of the Jordan valley between the Dead Sea and
the gulf of Akabah, and to the south of 'the Negeb ' of Judah (see
on xiii. 17), and may be regarded as corresponding roughly to the
eastern part of the desert plateau now known as et-Tih.

13-28. A later expansion (P5) of the two preceding verses,
merely repeating ' the imperatives ' of ii. 3ff. 'in the past indica-
tive' (Bacon). The verbs are properly to be rendered as fre-
quentatives, since they are intended to describe the practice of
the tribes throughout the period of the wanderings.

14. the standard of the camp, &c. : rather ' the division ' of
the tribes grouped under the leadership of Judah ; see on ii. sff.

17 ft. The two groups of the Levites named from Gershon and
Merari here march together between the first and second divisions
of the secular tribes, the third group, the Kohathites, taking their
place between the second and third divisions. The idea seems
to be that the Tabernacle should be set up before the arrival of the
sons of Kohath with its sacred furniture. In ii. 17, on the other
hand, it is implied that the Levites marched in a body in the place
here assigned to the Kohathites.

NUMBERS 10. 19-29. P 245

over his host was Elizur the son of Shedeur. And over 19
the host of the tribe of the children of Simeon was
Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai. And over the host 20
of the tribe of the children of Gad was Eliasaph the son
of Deuel. And the Kohathites set forward, bearing the 21
sanctuary: and the other did set up the tabernacle against
they came. And the standard of the camp of the chil- 22
dren of Ephraim set forward according to their hosts :
and over his host was Elishama the son of Ammihud.
And over the host of the tribe of the children of Manasseh 23
was Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur. And over the host 24
of the tribe of the children of Benjamin was Abidan the
son of Gideoni. And the standard of the camp of the 25
children of Dan, which was the rearward of all the camps,
set forward according to their hosts : and over his host
was Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai. And over the 26
host of the tribe of the children of Asher was Pagiel
the son of Ochran. And over the host of the tribe of 27
the children of Naphtali was Ahira the son of Enan.
Thus were the journey ings of the children of Israel 28
according to their hosts; and they set forward.

[J] And Moses said unto Hobab, the son of Reuel 29

21. bearing1 the sanctuary: consistency requires that we
should read either 'bearing the furniture of the sanctuary,' or, by
dropping a letter, ' bearing the holy things,' as in iv. 15, margin.

29-32 (J). Moses requests his father-in-law, Hobab, to act as
guide to the camping-places in the wilderness. The verses are
a fragment from J, opening abruptly and closing without giving
Hobab's final reply to Moses' appeal. From Judges i. 16 (note
R.V. margin) and other indications, it is more than probable that
J represented Hobab as consenting. This was doubtless sup-
pressed by the editor of the ' prophetic ' history (Rje) in favour of
the tradition given in E (verse 33^. The fragment is secured for
J by the fact, that in E, who gives Jethro as the name of Moses'
father-in-law, the latter has already returned home (Exod. xviii. 27").
His designation here as 'the Midianite' is also probabiy editorial

246 NUMBERS 10. 30-33. JE

the Midianite, Moses' father in law, We are journeying
unto the place of which the Lord said, I will give it you :

30 come thou with us, and we will do thee good : for the
Lord hath spoken good concerning Israel. And he

31 said unto him, I will not go; but I will depart to mine
own land, and to my kindred. And he said, Leave us
not, I pray thee ; forasmuch as thou knowest how we are

32 to encamp in the wilderness, and thou shalt be to us
instead of eyes. And it shall be, if thou go with us, yea,
it shall be, that what good soever the Lord shall do
unto us, the same will we do unto thee.

33 [E] And they set forward from the mount of the
Lord three days' journey ; and the ark of the covenant
of the Lord went before them three days' journey, to

(following E ), for there are good grounds for believing that in J
Hobab was a Kenite (Judges i. 16, iv. 11 ; see note on Exod. ii. 18).

33-36 (E). The march begun under the supernatural guidance of
the ark.

33. the mount of the LORD: the expression 'mount of
Yahweh ' is not found elsewhere, and has here probably dis-
placed E's usual designation, ' the mount of God (Elohim).'

the ark of the covenant of the LORD : since this is the title
of the ark characteristic of the Deuteronomic historians (see
Samuel, Cent. Bible, p. 321 f.), we may assume that the older title
' the ark of Elohim ' originally stood here.

went before them three days' journey: the last three words
must have slipped in from the preceding clause, for it is impossi-
ble to conceive how an object three days' march away could have
served as a guide to each day's camping-ground. It is not easy,
however, to say how E pictured the situation. He can scarce^,
as Baentsch and Gray suppose, have thought of the ark as moving
of its own accord ! It is more probable, as was first suggested by
Klostermann, that the ark was placed on a cart (see on vii. 7ff.),
the oxen of which were believed to move forward and to come to
a halt in obedience to a Divine impulse, as in the parallel case
recorded in 1 Sam. vi. 7-14 (so Holzinger and Kautzsch). In any
case the picture of the march presented by E is very different
from that of P, as sketched above in verses 13-28. Verse 34 is an
editorial insertion for the purpose of bringing the march more into
harmony with P's representation.

NUMBERS 10. 34—H. K E 247

seek out a resting place for them. And the cloud of 34
the Lord was over them by day, when they set forward
from the camp.

And it came to pass, when the ark set forward, that 35
Moses said, Rise up, O Lord, and let thine enemies be
scattered ; and let them that hate thee flee before thee.
And when it rested, he said, Return, O Lord, unto the 36
ten thousands of the thousands of Israel.

And the people were as murmurers, a speaki?ig evil in 11
the ears of the Lord : and when the Lord heard it, his

Or, which was evil

35 f. have preserved two small but precious poetical fragments,
which were evidently addressed in earl}' times to the ark as the
embodiment of ' the Presence of Yahweh * (for this conception
see Samuel in this series, p. 324 f.) — the one when it headed the
march as the Hebrew ' host ' fared forth to fight ' the battles of
Yahweh' (1 Sam. iv. 3ff. ; 2 Sam. xi. 11 : cf. Num. xiv. 42, 44;
Joshua vi. 6ff.), the other when it returned, say to Shiloh or to
Jerusalem, at the close of the campaign. The verses may have
been taken by E from ' the book of the Wars of Yahweh ' cited
below, xxi. 14.

Rise up, O LORD : ' Yahweh tl arose" when He gave His peo-
ple victory ' (Gray) ; cf. Pss. lxviii. 1, cxxxii. 8, the latter with an
interesting variation to escape the identification of the ark with
Yahweh.

36. Budde's emendation of this verse is now generally accepted
(Actes du dixieme Congr. Orient., 1894, iii. 18-21 \ He proposes a
slight alteration of the opening word — shebah (lit. 'sit down') for
shubah — and the addition of a middle clause to make this verse
metrically uniform with the preceding : 'Alight, O Yahweh— and
do thou bless— the myriad clans (see on i. 16) of Israel.'

xi. 1-3 (E). The first of several incidents, of which the place-
name is in all probability older than the tradition which explains
it (see the Introduction for a statement of the modern attitude to
these ' aetiological ' legends). Here the place called Taberah or
Burning (site unknown and named again only Deut. ix. 22) is
said to have received its name from a portion of the people having
been burned by • the fire of Yahweh ' as a punishment for their
murmuring.

1. were as murmurers . . . LORD : more idiomatically, 'began
to complain loudly to Yahweh of their hard fate.'

248 NUMBERS 1 1 . 2-4. E JE

anger was kindled; and the fire of the Lord burnt
among them, and devoured in the uttermost part of the

2 camp. And the people cried unto Moses ; and Moses

3 prayed unto the Lord, and the fire abated. And the
name of that place was called a Taberah : because the
fire of the Lord burnt among them.

4 [JE] And the mixed multitude that was among them

a That is, Burning.

in the uttermost part of the camp : since the ' tent of meet-
ing:,' according to E, was pitched outside the camp (Exod. xxxiii.
7ff.), this phrase suggests that the 'fire of Yahweh ' was con-
ceived as issuing from the sacred tent.

2. and Moses prayed : cf. xxi. 7, also E, who loves to repre-
sent his heroes as men of prayer (Gen. xx. 7, 17).

The remainder of this chapter (4-35) now consists of a com-
bination of two loosely connected traditions : (1) the provision of
quails in response to another ' murmuring,' and (2) the appoint-
ment and equipment of seventy elders to share with Moses ' the
burden of the people.' Of these narratives it is agreed that the
first stood originally in J, the second in E. The further literary
history of this chapter, however, is by no means clear, but there
is much to be said in favour of the acute suggestion of B. W. Bacon
that verses io° ('and Moses was displeased'), nf., and 14 f.
originally stood in Exod. xxxiii between 1-3 and 12 ff. (all J),
and that the appointment of the elders originally followed verses
7-1 1 (E) of the same chapter (Bacon, The Triple Tradition, &c,
pp. 108, 141 f., 168 ; cf. the reconstructed sources, pp. 299, 336 f.).
The result is to provide 'a perfectly uniform, consistent, and
characteristic narrative' of the quails (J) in verses 4-6 (for 7-9 see
notes), 10, 13, i8-24a, 31-35; leaving 16 f., 247>-3o (E) for the
appointment of the seventy elders. See further the note on
verse 10.

4. the mixed multitude: the rabble; cf. Exod. xii. 38 (J),
where, however, a different word is used. The question with
which the verse ends should remind the student of Israel's early
history that there were various cycles of traditions regarding this
period in the wilderness, and that the compilers and successive
editors of these traditions either did not attempt to remove their
divergent elements, or did not succeed in doing so. Thus, apart
from the abundant supply of sacrificial animals required by the
assumptions underlying the Priests' Code, we find repeated refer-
ences in J to the Hebrews' 'flocks and herds ' (Exod. xii. 38,
xvii. 3, xxxiv. 3 ; cf. Num. xiv. 33 R.V. margin, xxxii. 1 [P]).

NUMBERS 11. 5-1 o. JEKJ 249

fell a lusting : and the children of Israel also wept again,
and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat ? We remember 5
the fish, which we did eat in Egypt for nought; the
cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the
onions, and the garlick : but now our soul is dried away ; <5
there is nothing at all : we have nought save this manna
to look to. [K] And the manna was like coriander seed, 7
and the a appearance thereof as the appearance of
bdellium. The people went about, and gathered it, and 8
ground it in mills, or beat it in mortars, and seethed it
in pots, and made cakes of it : and the taste of it was as
the taste of b fresh oil. And when the dew fell upon the 9
camp in the night, the manna fell c upon it. [J] And 10
Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families,

a Heb. eye. b Or, cakes baked with oil c Or, with

6. we have nought save this manna. J's narrative of the
giving of the manna has been suppressed in favour of P's, Exod.
xvi. iff., for the relation of which to the present narrative see
Bennett's Exodus, in loc.

7-9 (R) are best taken as an editorial parenthesis.

7. like coriander seed. In the parallel description, Exod.
xvi. 31, the point of likeness is said to be the white colour of the
manna.

as the appearance of bdellium : this rendering is preferable
to ' the colour ' of A.V. (cf. margin and note on Lev. xiii. 5).
Bdellium is the Latin name, from the Greek, of a fragrant gum,
a special quality of which came from Arabia, and is most prob-
ably an accurate rendering of the rare word in the original (only
here and Gen. ii. 12). This favours the identification of the
biblical manna with the sweet juice which exudes from a species
of tamarisk, still found in the peninsula. The Arabs term this
gum * the manna of heaven.' See the art. ' Manna ' in the Bible
Dictionaries.

8. as the taste of fresh oil : rather ' of a dainty prepared
with oil,' cf. margin and Exod. xvi. 31, ' and the taste of it was
like wafers made with honey.' With verse 9 cf. ibid, verse 13 f.

10 continues verse 6, and was probably continued in J's narra-
tive by verse 13, which Bacon proposes to insert after the word
• tent ' with the words { and Moses cried unto Yahweh ' as a

250 NUMBERS 11. 11-16. JE

every man at the door of his tent : and the anger of the
Lord was kindled greatly; and Moses was displeased,
r i And Moses said unto the Lord, Wherefore hast thou
evil entreated thy servant? and wherefore have I not
found favour in thy sight, that thou layest the burden of

12 all this people upon me? Have I conceived all this
people ? have I brought them forth, that thou shouldest
say unto me, Carry them in thy bosom, as a nursing-
father carrieth the sucking child, unto the land which

13 thou swarest unto their fathers ? Whence should I have
flesh to give unto all this people? for they weep unto

14 me, saying, Give us flesh, that we may eat. I am not
able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy

15 for me. And if thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray
thee, out of hand, if I have found favour in thy sight ;
and let me not see my wretchedness.

16 [e] And the Lord said unto Moses, Gather unto me
seventv men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest

restored connecting clause (see the references given above). In
any case the last two clauses of this verse cannot have stood
originally in their present juxtaposition, and Bacon's proposal to
take the last clause with verses nf. and 14 f. as the sequel of
Exod. xxxiii. 1-3 provides a suitable remedy.

12. as a nursing-father : the addition of a single letter gives
the more appropriate 'nursing' or 'foster mother.'

14. The apparent similarity of the words in which Moses here
voices his complaint with those of Yahweh in verse 17 has been
the fons et origo of the editorial confusion of the two independent
incidents of this chapter. The resemblance, however, is super-
ficial ; for while, in the latter verse, Yahweh is about to provide
Moses with human aid in his heavy task, in the context in which
verse 14 originally stood Moses complains of the want of Divine
help.

16 f. At this point the narrative of the appointment oP seventy
men of the elders of Israel ' to share with Moses the ' burden ' of
administration begins and is continued in verses 24b~3o. The
whole, in all probability, originally stood in E in close connexion
with E's account of the Tent of Meeting in Exod. xxxiii. 7-1 1.

NUMBERS 11. 17-23. EJ 251

to be the elders of the people, and officers over them ;
and bring them unto the tent of meeting, that they may
stand there with thee. And I will come down and talk 17
with thee there : and I will take of the spirit which is
upon thee, and will put it upon them ; and they shall
bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear
it not thyself alone. [J] And say thou unto the people, 18
Sanctify yourselves against to-morrow, and ye shall eat
flesh : for ye have wept in the ears of the Lord, saying,
Who shall give us flesh to eat ? for it was well with us in
Egypt : therefore the Lord will give you flesh, and ye
shall eat. Ye shall not eat one day, nor two days, nor 19
five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days ; but a whole 20
month, until it come out at your nostrils, and it be loath-
some unto you : because that ye have rejected the Lord
which is among you, and have wept before him, saying,
Why came we forth out of Egypt ? And Moses said, The 2 1
people, among whom I am, are six hundred thousand
footmen ; and thou hast said, I will give them flesh, that
they may eat a whole month. Shall flocks and herds be 22
slain for them, to suffice them? or shall all the fish of
the sea be gathered together for them, to suffice them ?
And the Lord said unto Moses, Is the Lord's hand 23

There the sacred tent is expressly said to have been pitched
' without the camp, afar off from the camp ' (ibid. 7), which
accords with its situation in the present narrative. In the
priestly strata of the Pentateuch, as is well known, the Tent of
Meeting occupies the centre of the camp (see above, pp. 194 ff.).

18-24% continuation of J's narrative of the people's request for
flesh- food from iob, 'and the anger of Yahweh was kindled
greatly, and [he said unto Moses], Say thou,' &c. (Bacon).

18. Sanctify yourselves against to-morrow : to fit them-
selves to receive the promised gift of God, the people are to make
themselves ceremonially ' clean ' by washing their bodies and
their garments, and by sexual continence, as more fully laid down
in Exod. xix. rof., 14 f. ; cf. Gen. xxxv. 2.

252 NUMBERS 11. 24-27. JB

waxed short ? now shalt thou see whether my word shall

24 come to pass unto thee or not. And Moses went out,
and told the people the words of the Lord : [E] and he
gathered seventy men of the elders of the people, and set

25 them round about the Tent. And the Lord came down
in the cloud, and spake unto him, and took of the spirit
that was upon him, and put it upon the seventy elders :
and it came to pass, that, when the spirit rested upon

36 them, they prophesied, but they did so no more. But
there remained two men in the camp, the name of the
one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad : and
the spirit rested upon them j and they were of them that
were written, but had not gone out unto the Tent : and

27 they prophesied in the camp. And there ran a young

24. The first half of this verse must be read in connexion with
verses 31 ff. The intervening section, 24b-30, is the continuation
of E's narrative of the seventy elders.

25. And the LORD came down in the cloud : i. e. to the
Tent of Meeting. ' In E the appearance of this theophanic cloud
is intermittent [cf. xii. 5] ; in P continuous after the completion
of the Tabernacle. In both E and P, as distinguished from J, it
is regularly associated with the Tabernacle ; see Pillar of Cloud
in EBi? (Gray, Numbers, in loc).

and took of the spirit, &c. (cf. verse 17). That the 'pro-
phetic' historian was careful to reproduce faithfully the earl>
traditions as he received them is well seen from the present
narrative. Here the spirit of prophecy is represented as some-
thing almost material, the effect of which is to throw the recipient
into a condition of ' holy frenzy.' The same picture of prophetic
ecstasy is found in the early narratives of 1 Sam. x. 10-13,
xix. 20-24. By the eighth century this conception had given
place to a much loftier idea of Divine inspiration, which is found
elsewhere in E (e. g. ch. xii), as we should expect in a writer who
was probably a contemporary of Amos and Hosea.

they prophesied, &c. In view of the modern connotation of
the word 'prophesy' it would be better to render, 'they became
ecstatic,' as explained in the preceding note (cf. the note on
1 Sam. x. 5 in Cent. Bible). The following words, if the text is
right, signify that the prophetic frenzy seized them on this occasion

NUMBERS 11. 28-31. EJ 253

man, and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad do
prophesy in the camp. And Joshua the son of Nun, 28
the minister of Moses, a one of his chosen men, answered
and said, My lord Moses, forbid them. And Moses 29
said unto him, Art thou jealous for my sake? would
God that all the Lord's people were prophets, that the
Lord would put his spirit upon them ! And Moses gat 30
him into the camp, he and the elders of Israel. [J] And 31
there went forth a wind from the Lord, and brought
quails from the sea, and let them fall bby the camp,
a Or, from his youth b Or, over

only ; the Targums and the Vulgate, however, read : ' and they
ceased not.'

26 ft*. Two of the seventy elders selected for administrative
duty — such is the most probable view of the text— had apparently
declined the honour and remained in the camp, but are neverthe-
less seized with the same frenzy as the others. Joshua's zeal for
his master's honour gives occasion for a noble and great-hearted
utterance on the part of Moses.

28. Joshua . . . one of his chosen men : this rendering seems
intended to convey the impression that Joshua was one of the
1 seventy.' But the marginal rendering ' from his youth ' is pre-
ferable, though not free from difficulty, and is quite intelligible
when the narrative is read in its original setting (see Exod.
xxxiii. 11, which also accounts for Joshua's presence on this
occasion).

29 reveals a fine trait in the character of Moses. Not to him-
self alone, nor to a limited circle, would this large-hearted man
and greatest of the prophets confine the best gift of God.

31-34 continue the narrative of the quails (J).

31: a wind . . . brought quails from the sea. The 'sea' in
question is probably the modern gulf of Akabah, the north-eastern
horn of the Red Sea. The wind has already appeared in J's
story of the Exodus as the instrument of the Divine purpose,
Exod. x. 13, 19, xiv. 21. Apart from some elements of exaggera-
tion from which popular tradition is rarely free (cf. next note), the
description of the text is in complete accord with the phenomena
attending the annual migrations of the quails in the peninsula at
the present day. The quail, a member of the partridge family,
winters in Africa, and in spring crosses to Palestine ' by myriads.'
Making long flights and ? always flying with the wind/ the birds

254 NUMBERS 11. 32— 12. i. JE

about a day's journey on this side, and a day's journey
on the other side, round about the camp, and about two

32 cubits above the face of the earth. And the people rose
up all that day, and all the night, and all the next day,
and gathered the quails : he that gathered least gathered
ten homers : and they spread them all abroad for them-

33 selves round about the camp. While the flesh was yet
between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the anger of the
Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord

34 smote the people with a very great plague. And the
name of that place was called a Kibroth-hattaavah : be-

35 cause there they buried the people that lusted. P'rom
Kibroth-hattaavah the people journeyed unto Hazeroth ;
and they abode at Hazeroth.

12 [E] And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses

a That is, The graves of lust.

often alight in an exhausted condition, when they are caught in
great numbers.

a day's journey : a popular measure of distance, with the
same indefiniteness as our ' bow-shot ' or ' stone's throw ' ;
unfortunately we have no clue to the mileage of i a day's journey '
in the popular speech. In any case we have here an excusable
exaggeration. Two cubits may be taken as approximately three
feet.

32. ten homers : over ioo imperial bushels (see on Lev.
xxviii. 16). The following clause informs us that the birds were
cured by being dried in the sun.

34. Kibroth-hattaavah: i.e., as margin, 'the graves of lust.'
The locality is unknown.

35. Hazeroth: lit. 'enclosures,' ' settlements ' ; the identifica-
tion with the modern 'Ain el-Hadra, between Jebel Musa and
Akabah, is very precarious.

Ch. xii. Miriam and Aaron give expression to their jealousy
of Moses, and to their claim to equality with him. Yahweh ap-
pears in the cloud to vindicate Moses' unique position and privi-
lege as His prophet. Miriam is punished by being smitten with
leprosy which, however, is ultimately removed at Moses' request.
While a complete solution of the literary and historical problems
presented by this chapter is no longer possible, it is agreed that its

NUMBERS 12. 2-4. E 255

because of the Cushite woman whom he had married :
for he had married a Cushite woman. And they said, 2
Hath the Lord indeed spoken only a with Moses ? hath
he not spoken also « with us ? And the Lord heard it.
Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men 3
which were upon the face of the earth. And the Lord 4

tt Or, by

immediate source is the Ephraimite document (E). This con-
clusion is based on various points of contact with the E sections of
the preceding chapter. Such are the position of the Tent of
Meeting outside the camp (verse 4), the nature of the theophany
(cf. xi. 25 with note); and the emphasis on the prophetic aspect
of Moses' activity.

It is almost certain, however, that we have once more a case of
the fusion of two originally distinct traditions, for it is difficult to
see what jealousy of Moses as a prophet has to do with the ques-
tion of his marriage. In the original version it is probable that, in
one of the incidents at least, Miriam was the only offender — note
her leading position in verse 1, ' Miriam and Aaron,' and the fact
that she alone is punished with leprosy. It is still more difficult
to detect the historical background of the main tradition embodied
in E's narrative. Have we here a distant echo of forgotten con-
troversies as to rights of precedence within the ranks of the priest-
hood (so E. Meyer, Die Israeliten u. ihre Nachbarstdmme, p. 94) ?
Or should we recognize in the poetical fragment, verses 6-8, the
nucleus round which has gathered this tradition of the vindica -
tion of Moses' uniqueness as a prophet over against those even of
his own family (cf. Exod. xv. 20, ' Miriam, the prophetess, the
sister of Aaron ') ?

The chief interest of the section for the Old Testament student
lies in the lofty conception which it presents to us of the nature
of the Divine inspiration of the prophet.

1. the Cushite woman. Of the many suggested explanations,
the identification with Zipporah, the daughter of the priest of
Midian, is still the best (cf. Exod. ii. 21, iii. 1). In this case it is
usual to adduce the association of ' Cushan ' with ' Midian ' in the
parallelism of Hab. iii. 7. The author of the gloss at the end of
verse 1, evidently taking * Cushite ' in its usual sense of ' Ethiopian,'
found a reference to an unrecorded marriage of Moses, a view
altogether less probable than that adopted above.

3. Whether this verse be regarded as original in E, or, as some
think, a later addition, its presence was early seized upon as an
indication of the non-Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch.

256 NUMBERS 12. 5-8. E

spake suddenly unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and unto
Miriam, Come out ye three unto the tent of meeting.

5 And they three came out. And the Lord came down
in a pillar of cloud, and stood at the door of the Tent,
and called Aaron and Miriam : and they both came forth.

6 And he said, Hear now my words : if there be a prophet
among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto

7 him in a vision, I will speak with him in a dream. My
servant Moses is not so ; he is faithful in all mine house :

8 with him will I speak mouth to mouth, even manifestly,

5. With the nature of this theophany compare the similar
description in xi. 25 with Gray's remarks quoted in the note there.
they both came forth : i. e. came forward to the door of the
Tent ; the action is distinct from that similarly expressed in
verse 4, which refers to the ' coming out ' of the persons con-
cerned from the camp to the sacred Tent pitched outside the
latter.

6-8. Yah weh's words to Aaron and Miriam are cast in poetic
form.

In communicating His will to other prophets, Yahweh does so
through the medium of visions and dreams (cf. Joel ii. 28), but to
Moses He speaks directly ' mouth to mouth.' The prominence
of dreams as a medium of Divine revelation is a characteristic
feature of E's narrative (Gen. xx. 3, 6, xxviii. 12, xxxi. ir, 24
and often).

*7. My servant Moses: a title of honour also bestowed on
Abraham (Gen. xxvi. 24) and Caleb (Num. xiv. 24). In later
writings the prophets are frequently termed the ' servants ' of
God (see A. B. Davidson's art. ' Prophecy and Prophets ' in
Hastings's DB. iv. 113 — the best introduction to the study of the
whole subject of O. T. prophecy).

faithful in all mine house : Moses' work as the leader of
Yahweh's people is compared to that of a great man's major domo,
such as Eliezer in the household of Abraham (Gen. xxiv. 2).

8. mouth to mouth : an expression found only here, but in-
dicating even more emphatically than the parallel * face to face*
(Exod. xxxiii. 11, Deut. xxxiv. 10) the immediateness of Moses'
inspiration. There is probably no more adequate definition of
a prophet in the O.T. sense than the mouthpiece, or spokesman,
of the Deity. Note the prominence given to the consecration of
the mouth and the lips in the narratives of the call of Moses

NUMBERS 12.9-14. E 257

and not in dark speeches; and the form of the Lord
shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to
speak against my servant, against Moses ? And the 9
anger of the Lord was kindled against them ; and he
departed. And the cloud removed from over the Tent ; 10
and, behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow ;
and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and, behold, she was
leprous. And Aaron said unto Moses, Oh my lord, lay n
not, I pray thee, sin upon us, for that we have done
foolishly, and for that we have sinned. Let her not, 12
I pray, be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half con-
sumed when he cometh out of his mother's womb. And 13
Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, Heal her, O God,
I beseech thee. And the Lord said unto Moses, If her 14
father had but spit in her face, should she not be

(Exod. iv. 12, 15 f. : cf. vii. 1 f.), Isaiah (Isa. vi. 7), and Jeremiah
(Jer. i. 9). In this lofty conception of the nature of prophetic
inspiration as ' a communion of spirit with spirit ' (A. B. Davidson),
E has left far behind the older mechanical view to which attention
was called in the notes on the preceding chapter.

10. It is impossible to explain why Aaron should have been
excluded from the punishment which overtook Miriam, except on
the hypothesis that in the earlier form of the tradition the latter
figured alone, most probably with reference to Moses' marriage
to a Midianite (see on verse 1), which she may have regarded as
derogatory to the family dignity.

11 ff. In these verses the superior dignity of Moses is further
indirectly emphasized. He alone is recognized as qualified to
intercede with Yahweh for the removal of his sister's leprosy
(see the note on xi. 2, and cf. xiv. 13 ff., xxi. 7 for Moses' activity
as intercessor) l.

14. If her father had but spit in her face : an action recog-
nized by Hebrew legislation (see Deut. xxv. 9) as inflicting the

1 The unique character of Moses' inspiration, and his superiority
in this respect to all other prophets, which is the main theme of this
chapter, are worked out in detail by Maimonides in his famous work
'The Strong Hand', see H. H. Bernard, The Main Principles of
the Creed and Ethics of the Jews . . .from the Yad Hachazakah
of Maimonides , pp. 1 16 ff .

258 NUMBERS 12. 15— 13. 2. EJP

ashamed seven days? let her be shut up without the
camp seven days, and after that she shall be brought

15 in again. And Miriam was shut up without the camp
seven days : and the people journeyed not till Miriam

16 was brought in again. [J] And afterward the people
journeyed from Hazeroth, [P] and pitched in the wilder-
ness of Paran.

13 2 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Send thou
men, that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I
give unto the children of Israel : of every tribe of their

loss of personal honour. The form of the original text suggests
that the narrative has been shortened here. It has been con-
jectured that the narrative proceeded ' if she had spoken against
her father and mother ; and her father had spit in her face,' &c.
We must suppose that Miriam's leprosy was immediately removed,
but a seven days' exclusion from the camp ordered to mark the
Divine disapproval.

16. is composite ; i6a continues xi. 35 (J) ; i6b, introducing 'the
wilderness of Paran,' is from P (see x. 12).

(6) xiii-xiv. The mission of the spies.

Twelve men of rank, one from each tribe, are sent to explore
the land of Canaan with a view to ascertain the nature of the
country, and especially to report upon the character and con-
ditions of its inhabitants. After an absence of forty days, in
which they penetrate to the extreme north of Palestine, the spies
return to Kadesh. The ' majority report ' is unfavourable as
regards the land and entirely against the possibility of conquest.
The minority, composed of Joshua and Caleb, report favourably
of the land and advise an immediate advance in reliance upon
Divine assistance. The people side with the majority, once more
rebelling against their leaders and threatening the life of the two
faithful spies. At this point Yahweh intervenes to upbraid the
people for their lack of faith, and to announce that, as a punish-
ment, they shall wander for forty years, and ultimately perish, in
the wilderness ; no one over twenty years of age, save Joshua and
Caleb only, is to be permitted to enter the land of promise. The
ten faint-hearted spies are immediately punished with death.

It has long been recognized that the story above summarized
has been formed by the interweaving of two (ultimately three)
independent records of this critical episode in the history of Israel
in the wilderness, representing the prophetic (JE) and priestly

NUMBERS 13. 2. P 259

fathers shall ye send a man, every one a prince among

(P) sources respectively. The following shows the main results

of the literary analysis l :

JE xiii. i7b-20 22-24 26b (from i to Kadesh ')~3i 32b, 33.

P xiii. 1-17* 21 25-26a (to <■ Paran ') 32*

JExiv. ib, 3, 48-9 (11-24, see notes) 25 31* 32 39-45-

P xiv. ia, 2 5-7 10 26-30 33-38

If the passages indicated are read consecutively, it will be found
that, apart from differences in phraseology and style which are
more apparent in the original, the two main narratives differ in
their representation in several important particulars : (a) The
place from which the spies are sent out is in P the wilderness of
Paran (xiii. 3), in JE, the beginning of whose narrative has not
been preserved, it was evidently Kadesh (see xiii. 26, xxxii. 8,
and cf. Deut. i. 19, based on JE) ; (b) The limit of their exploration
in JE is Hebron or its neighbourhood (xiii. 22 ff.), in P the spies
traverse the whole of Canaan from south to north (see on xiii. 21
below); (c) in JE the report concerning the land is that it is ex-
tremely productive but impossible to subdue (verses 27 f.), in P
that it is barren and unfruitful (verse 32, see note below) ; (d) The
most striking divergence, however, one which of itself is sufficient
to prove a difference of source, relates to the position of Joshua
in the two narratives. In P he appears along with Caleb as one
of the twelve spies (xiii. 8, xiv. 6), and with Caleb is exempted
from the sentence of punishment pronounced in xiv. 30, 38 ; in
JE, on the contrary, Caleb alone is represented as faithful to his
trust (xiii. 30), and as receiving his reward (xiv. 24, where see
the note).

As regards the historical interpretation of the section in its
present form, it is probable that to later generations the long
delay in entering Canaan appeared inexplicable save on the
assumption that the generation which had experienced the
wonders of Divine providence in the exodus from Egypt had in-
curred the displeasure of Yahweh and forfeited the privilege of
entering the promised land. To give effect to this conviction the
older and doubtless historical traditions of the sending of spies
and of an unsuccessful attempt to enter Canaan from the south
were expanded in the various forms in which they are now pre-
served in these chapters (the parallel narrative in Deut. i, which
agrees in the main with JE, should be compared throughout).

1 The further analysis of JE into its component parts is less certain
and is not attempted here. For this, and for details of the analysis
as a whole, see the standard works of Carpenter and Harford, Bacon,
Kent (The Beginnings of Hebrew History , 215 ff.), and the larger
Commentaries.

S 2

260 NUMBERS 13. 3-17. P

3 them. And Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran
according to the commandment of the Lord : all of them

4 men who were heads of the children of Israel. And
these were their names : of the tribe of Reuben, Sham-

5 mua the son of Zaccur. Of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat

6 the son of Hori. Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son

7 of Jephunneh. Of the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of

8 Joseph. Of the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Nun.
£ Of the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu. Of

11 the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi. Of the
tribe of Joseph, namely, of the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi

12 the son of Susi. Of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son

13 of Gemalli. Of the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of

14 Michael. Of the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of

15 Vophsi. Of the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi.

16 These are the names of the men which Moses sent to
spy out the land. And Moses called Hoshea the son of

17 Nun Joshua. And Moses sent them to spy out the land

3. the wilderness of Paran : see on x. 12. That the spies are
not being sent from Kadesh, as in J E (see on verse 26), is evident
from the fact that in P's geography Kadesh was situated in the
wilderness of Zin, which lay immediately to the north of that of
Paran and was not reached in P's itinerary till a later date (xx. 1).

4-16. The names of the spies, each of the twelve tribes sending
as its representative a ' prince ' (verse 3) or head of one of its
subdivisions. The ' princes ? or heads of the tribes themselves
have been named more than once (i. 5 ff. and ii, vii, passim).

8. Hoshea the son of Nun : changed by Moses to Y£h6shu'a.
i.e. Joshua (verse 16), by prefixing a significant part of the Divine-
name Yahweh. The necessity for this change is perhaps due to
P's view that the name Yahweh was first revealed (see Exod. vi.2 f.)
at a time which was too late for it to have formed part of Joshua's
original name. Joshua has already appeared in more than one
capacity in the prophetic narrative (Exod. xvii. 9, 13 f., xxiv. 13.
xxxii. 17, xxxiii. 11, and Num. xi. 28\

17-24. The journey of the spies, from JE with the exception

NUMBERS 13. 18-21. PJBP 261

of Canaan, [JE] and said unto them, Get you up this
way aby the South, and go up into the mountains: and 18
see the land, what it is; and the people that dvvelleth
therein, whether they be strong or weak, whether they be
few or many; and what the land is that they dwell in, 19
whether it be good or bad ; and what cities they be that
they dwell in, whether in camps, or in strong holds ; and 20
what the land is, whether it be fat or lean, whether there
be wood therein, or not. And be ye of good courage,
and bring of the fruit of the land. Now the time was
the time of the firstripe grapes. [P] So they went up, 21
and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin unto

a Or, into

of verse 21 (P). The beginning of JE's narrative has been
suppressed by the compiler in favour of the fuller account in P.

17. Get you Tip this way by the South: rather, 'Get you
up now into the Negeb.' 'The Negeb,' probably the 'dry' or
'parched (land),' was the standing designation of the southern-
most division of Palestine, the steppe region extending from the
hill-country of Judah about Hebron to the Azazimeh mountains
to the south of Kadesh (see Cheyne's art. ' Negeb ' in EBi. with
map). The constant use of this term for 'South' in the geogra-
phical terminology of the Hexateuch (even in the orientation of
the Tabernacle at Sinai, where the South was really on the
opposite side from the Negeb !) is one of the most convincing
proofs of the post- Mosaic date of the Hexateuch narratives. This
use of Negeb for 'South,' as of 'the (Mediterranean) Sea' for
- West ' could only have originated in Palestine itself.

20. the time of the firstripe grapes : the end of July or
beginning of August.

21 from P, continuing verse 17*, and continued in 25, 26*.
the wilderness of Zin. Since Kadesh was within its borders
(see on verse 3 above), the district from which, according to JE,
the spies set out is here represented as part of the country to be
explored.

unto Behoh : also named Beth-rehob (cf. 2 Sam. x. 6 with 8),
in the far north at the base of Mount Hermon and close to the
later city of Dan Judges xviii. 28 f.). It is here further described
as lying at

262 NUMBERS 13. 22, 23. PJE

22 Rehob, to the entering in of Hamath. [JE] And they
went up a by the South, and came unto Hebron ; and
Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of Anak,
were there. (Now Hebron was built seven years before

23 Zoan in Egypt.) And they came unto the valley of
Eshcol, and cut down from thence a branch with one
cluster of grapes, and they bare it upon a staff between
two ; they brought also of the pomegranates, and of the

a Or, into

the entering- in of Hamath: i.e. at the entrance to (the
city of) Hamath. Although Hamath was situated on the Orontes,
about 150 miles due north of Rehob, it seems to have given its
name to the narrow pass between Hermon and the Lebanon,
described by Robinson as 'a lofty mountain cleft, eight or nine
miles wide.' The ' entrance to Hamath ' is often mentioned in
the O.T. as the extreme northern boundary of Israelite territory.

22. In JE, on the contrary, the spies did not penetrate beyond
the neighbourhood of Hebron. This verse is usually assigned to
J, leaving its duplicate in the two following verses to E.

unto Hetoron : later the chief city of Judah and the first
royal residence of David, about twenty miles south of Jerusalem.
According to Joshua xiv. 15, 'the name of Hebron [meaning
probably I confederation '] aforetime was Kiriath-arba,' i. e. ' the
city of the four (confederates?).' The interesting chronological
note at the end of this verse, according to which Hebron was
founded ' seven years before Zoan in Egypt,' that is, Tanis in the
eastern Delta, is regarded by Ed. Meyer as a 'fragment of
a genuine historical tradition, unique in the O.T.' {Die Israeliten,
&c., p. 447). This scholar takes the note as referring to the
Hyksos era, which he dates from the founding of the temple of
Seth in Tanis, circa 1670 b. c. (see also Meyer, Gesch. des Altertums,
2nd ed. [1907], vol. i, pp. 293 ff.). This gives 1677 B.C. as the
probable date indicated by this note.

the children of Anak : also verse 28, elsewhere described
as 'the sons of Anak' (literally 'the Anak'), verse 33, or simply
' the Anakim ' (Deut. ii. 10 f.), a race of unknown origin occupying
the country about Hebron from which they were dislodged by
Caleb (Joshua xiv. 12 ff.), or, according to another tradition, by
Joshua (xi. 21 f.). The O.T. writers consistently represent the
Anakim as men of abnormal stature.

23. the valley of Eshcol: this name, which means 'a cluster
(of grapes),' may perhaps be recognized in the modern Beit
Ishkdhil, about four miles north-west of Hebron.

NUMBERS 13. 24-28. JE P JE 263

figs. That place was called the valley of » Eshcol, be- 24
cause of the cluster which the children of Israel cut down
from thence. [P] And they returned from spying out 25
the land at the end of forty days. And they went and 26
came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation
of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran,
[JE] to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them,
and unto all the congregation, and shewed them the fruit
of the land. And they told him, and said, We came unto 27
the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth
with milk and honey ; and this is the fruit of it. How- 28
beit the people that dwell in the land are strong, and the

24. One of many examples of what may be termed the folk-lore
of Canaanite place-names. As a rule it is the name which gives
rise to the story, not, as here suggested, the story to the name.

25-33. The report of the spies, mainly from JE, but beginning
with the notice of their return from P (25-26* to ! Paran ').

26. to Kadesh : also named Kadesh-barnea (xxxii. 8, xxxiv. 4,
&c), Meribath-Kadesh (R.V. Meribah of Kadesh, xxvii. 14 ; Deut.
xxxii. 51, see further the note on xx. 13 below), and once En-
mishpat or Fountain of Judgement (Gen. xiv. 7). Kadesh is
now usually identified with cAin Kadis, — Musil (see below) writes
'Ain Kdeis,— a place with a series of springs and pools on
the southern boundary of the Negeb, about fifty miles south of
Beer-sheba. Recent descriptions of the place are given by Clay
Trumbull, who rediscovered the site, in his Kadesh-Barnea (1884),
Robinson in the Biblical World, xvii. (1901), 327 ff., with plan and
photographs, and Alois Musil, Arabia Petraea, ii (1907), part 1,
176 ff., also illustrated.1 Kadesh was the rallying-point of the
Hebrew tribes and the centre of Moses' activity as teacher and
lawgiver in the period that elapsed between the exodus and the
conquest of Eastern Palestine. Many recent scholars, indeed,
maintain that the ' mount of God ' of the oldest traditions is to be
sought in the neighbourhood of Kadesh (see above, p. 186 f.).

1 Musil, however, questions the now current identification, writing
on p. 236 : ' I cannot conceal from myself that now, on the occasion
of my third visit to the place, it seems still less adapted for identifica-
tion with the biblical Kadesh-Barnea.'

264 NUMBERS 13. 29-32. JEP

cities are fenced, and very great : and moreover we saw

29 the children of Anak there. Amalek dwelleth in the
land of the South : and the Hittite, and the Jebusite,
and the Amorite, dwell in the mountains : and the
Canaanite dwelleth by the sea, and along by the side

30 of Jordan. And Caleb stilled the people before Moses,
and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it ; for we

31 are well able to overcome it. But the men that went up
with him said, We be not able to go up against the people;

32 for they are stronger than we. [P] And they brought up
an evil report of the land which they had spied out unto
the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which
we have gone to spy it out, is a land that eateth up the

29. Of the peoples here mentioned the Amalekites were a
nomad tribe with the raiding instincts of the modern Bedouin,
and were still in the neighbourhood of the Negeb (R.V. * the
South') in David's time (1 Sam. xxx. 1, 14). The Hittites, the
Kheta of the Egyptian, and the Khatti of the Assyrian inscrip-
tions, were a powerful non-Semitic, and probably non-Aryan,
people who make their appearance about the beginning of the
second millenium b. c. in Asia Minor. There they founded an
extensive empire with its capital, as Winckler's excavations in
1906-7 have shown, on the site of Boghaz-keui in the district
known later as Cappadocia. By 1500 B.C. they had advanced
southwards into Northern Syria, where Carchemish on the
Euphrates and the above-mentioned Hamath on the Orontes were
Hittite centres at the date of the exodus. The Jefcusites occupied
the territory round Jerusalem which was taken from them by
David (2 Sam. v. 6 ff.). Of the two remaining races here named,
'Amorite' is the general name for the pre-Israelite population of
Palestine in the Pentateuch sources E and D, while J prefers the
term ' Canaanite.' The Tel el-Amarna letters, however, show
conclusively that the two peoples were quite distinct, for the
'land of A-mur-ru' is there restricted to the parts of Syria
* north of Beyrout and the region of the Lebanon and Anti-
lebanon,' while Ki-na-ah-ni or Canaan stands for the country
south of the Lebanons, ' that is, for Palestine properly so called '
(for a complete presentation of the data see Dhorme, ' Les pays
bibliques au temps d'el-Amarna,' in the Revue Biblique, 1908,
pp. 501 ff.).

32. a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof: a

NUMBERS I3.33—I4.5. PJEPJEPJEP 265

inhabitants thereof; [JE] and all the people that we saw
in it are men of great stature. And there we saw the 33
■ Nephilim, the sons of Anak, which come of the Nephi-
lim : and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and
so we were in their sight.

[P] And all the congregation lifted up their voice, 14
[JE] and cried ; and the people wept that night. [P]
And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses 2
and against Aaron : and the whole congregation said
unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of
Egypt ! or would God we had died in this wilderness !
[JE] And wherefore doth the Lord bring us unto this 3
land, to fall by the sword ? Our wives and our little ones
shall be a prey : were it not better for us to return into
Egypt ? And they said one to another, Let us make 4
a captain, and let us return into Egypt. [P] Then 5
Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the
assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel.

a Or, giants

barren and inhospitable land, utterly unable to support its in-
habitants ; contrast the i exceeding good land ' of xiv. 7 (also P).
33. the Nephilim : a word of uncertain meaning, probably as
margin, 'the giants'; it occurs only here and Gen. vi. 4. The
rest of the clause, identifying them with f the children of Anak » of
verse 22, is absent from LXX, and is usually regarded as a gloss.

xiv. 1-10 describe the effect of the spies' report upon the people ;
the repetitions of verse 1 are due to the presence of the various
sources.

2 if. Cf. Exod. xiv. 11 f., xvi. 3, and Num. xx. 4 for complaints
similarly expressed. Here, however, the further step is taken of
suggesting the appointment of another leader to take the people
back to Egypt. The action of Caleb in ' stilling ' the people, which
comes in prematurely in xiii. 30, may have stood here in the
original source (J), in which case verses 8 f. will have formed
the conclusion of Caleb's speech. These verses give vigorous
expression to the speaker's faith in the Divine purpose and
power. With Yahvveh on their side, the Hebrews could not fail
of success.

266 NUMBERS 14. 6-i2. PJEPJE

6 And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of
Jephunneh, which were of them that spied out the land,

7 rent their clothes : and they spake unto all the congrega-
tion of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which
we passed through to spy it out, is an exceeding good

8 land. [JE] If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring
us into this land, and give it unto us; a land which

9 floweth with milk and honey. Only rebel not against
the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land; for
they are bread for us : their a defence is removed from
over them, and the Lord is with us : fear them not.

io [p] But all the congregation bade stone them with
stones. And the glory of the Lord appeared in the
tent of meeting unto all the children of Israel.

ii [JE] And the Lord said unto Moses, How long will
this people despise me? and how long will they not
believe in me, for all the signs which I have wrought

12 among them? I will smite them with the pestilence, and

a Heb. shadow.

9. they are bread for us. I The people of the land ' are given
us to * eat up,' a not infrequent metaphor for ! consume, destroy '
(xxiv. 8 ; Deut. vii. 16 ; Jer. x. 25, &c).

their defence is removed from over them : lit. ' their
shadow' ; 'shadow,' or rather 'shade,' is a common O. T. figure
for 'protection.' So Hammurabi styles himself 'the shade' (sillu)
of his land. Here the defence or protection of the Canaanites is
most probably the native deities whose power was at an end now
that this earlier 'fullness of the time' had come ; cf. Gen. xv. 16.

1 1-24. Yahweh in anger announces to Moses His intention to
destroy His faithless people and to make of Moses a new and
mightier nation. Moses once more assumes the role of intercessor
with success ; the people are to be spared, but as a merited
punishment they are doomed never to see the land of promise.
From this judgement Caleb alone is exempted.

Critical opinion is unanimous in ascribing verses 11-24, on
various grounds, to a later stratum of the prophetic narrative
(JES, see Gray in he). A shorter statement must have stood
originally in JE, of which verse 25b is the continuation.

NUMBERS 14. 13-20. JE 267

disinherit them, and will make of thee a nation greater
and mightier than they. And Moses said unto the Lord, 13
Then the Egyptians shall hear it; for thou broughtest
up this people in thy might from among them ; and 14
they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land : they have
heard that thou Lord art in the midst of this people j
for thou Lord art seen aface to face, and thy cloud
standeth over them, and thou goest before them, in
a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night.
Now if thou shalt kill this people as one man, then the 15
nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak,
saying, Because the Lord was not able to bring this 16
people into the land which he sware unto them, there-
fore he hath slain them in the wilderness. And now, 17
I pray thee, let the power of the Lord be great, accord-
ing as thou hast spoken, saying, The Lord is slow to 18
anger, and plenteous in mercy, forgiving iniquity and
transgression, and that will by no means clear the guilty ;
visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children,
upon the third and upon the fourth generation. Pardon, 19
I pray thee, the iniquity of this people according unto
the greatness of thy mercy, and according as thou hast
forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now. And 20
the Lord said, I have pardoned according to thy word :
a Heb. eye io eye.

13 ff. The original is here in some confusion, but the general
sense is clear. Moses appeals to God to spare His people out of
regard (1) to His character and reputation as All-powerful (13-16),
and (2) to His self-revelation as All-merciful (17-19). With
Moses' argument here and the offer made to him in verse 12
cf. Exod. xxxii. 9-14, and with the special allegation of verse 16
cf. its use in an earlier connexion, Deut. ix. 28.

18. Expressly stated to be a quotation, viz. from Exod. xxxiv.
6f. (J), which we may therefore assume to have been before the
author of this later passage in written form.

268 NUMBERS 14. 21-27. JEP

21 but in very deed, as I live, and as all the earth shall be

2 2 filled with the glory of the Lord ; because all those men

which have seen my glory, and my signs, which I wrought

in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have tempted me

these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice;

23 surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto
their fathers, neither shall any of them that despised me

24 see it : but my servant Caleb, because he had another
spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will
I bring into the land whereinto he went ; and his seed

25 shall possess it. Now the Amalekite and the Canaanite
dwell in the valley : to-morrow turn ye, and get you into
the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.

26 [P] And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron,

27 saying, How long shall I bear with this evil congregation,

24. Caleb receives the reward of his faith and fidelity, another
Abdiel, ' faithful found among the faithless, faithful only he.' With
Moses (xii. 7) he shares the honourable title of Yahweh's l servant.'
For the fulfilment of the promise here made to Caleb see Joshua
xiv. 6-15.

The absence of Joshua here has been already characterized as
the most striking divergence between the two main sources, and
as convincing evidence against the homogeneity of chs. xiii, xiv.
'Had the whole narrative been by a single writer, who thought
of Joshua as acting in concert with Caleb, it is difficult not to
think that Joshua would have been mentioned beside Caleb —
not, possibly, in xiii. 30, but — in xiv. 24, when the exemption from
the sentence of exclusion from Palestine is first promised ' (Driver,
LOT.6 p. 63).

25. The first half of the verse is to be regarded as a gloss, lor it
' is inconsistent with xiii. 29 as well as with xiv. 43, 45.' In any
case it is impossible to say what is meant by ' the valley.'

by the way to the Red Sea: Heb. yam suph, the 'sea of
reeds'; here the name is applied, as in xxi. 4 and Deut. i. 40,
taken from this passage, to the Gulf of Akabah, not as in Exod.
x. 19, Num. xxxiii. 10 f., and elsewhere, to the Gulf of Suez.

26-38. mainly from P in continuation of verse 10, and giving
the parallel account of the punishment of the people with the
additional announcement that the period of the wanderings is to

NUMBERS 14. 28-34. PJEP 269

which murmur against me ? I have heard the murmurings
of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me.
Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord, surely as ye 28
have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you : your 29
carcases shall fall in this wilderness j and all that were
numbered of you, according to your whole number, from
twenty years old and upward, which have murmured
against me, surely ye shall not come into the land, con- 3°
cerning which I lifted up my hand that I would make
you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and
Joshua the son of Nun. [JE] But your little ones, 31
which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in,
and they shall know the land which ye have rejected.
But as for you, your carcases shall fall in this wilderness. 32
[P] And your children shall be a wanderers in the wilder- 33
ness forty years, and shall bear your whoredoms, until
your carcases be consumed in the wilderness. After ?4
the number of the days in which ye spied out the land,
even forty days, for every day a year, shall ye bear your

a Heb. shepherds.

extend to forty years, to correspond to the forty days of the spies'
absence (verse 24), and that Joshua as well as Caleb is to be
exempted from the general exclusion from Canaan of all over
twenty years of age.

30. I lifted up my hand that, &c. : Concerning which I sware
that,' &c, so rendered Exod. vi. 8. The promise referred to is,
in P, first found in Gen. xvii. 8, and is repeated by him at least
three times in Genesis and again in Exodus he. cit. In J the
corresponding passages begin with Gen. xii. 7.

31. and they shall know the land : read, with LXX, ' and
they shall inherit,' &c.

33. your children shall "be wanderers : render, as margin,
' shepherds,' or ' shall feed their flocks ' ; see note on xi. 4.

34. forty days . . . forty years. The writer, of course, intends
the correspondence to be exact, in this reflecting the popular
tradition and belief. But it should be remembered that the O.T.
writers continually use • forty ■ for a fairly large but indefinite

270 NUMBERS 14. 35-42. P JE

iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know * my

35 alienation. I the Lord have spoken, surely this will
I do unto all this evil congregation, that are gathered
together against me : in this wilderness they shall be

36 consumed, and 'there they shall die. And the men,
which Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned,
and made all the congregation to murmur against him,

37 by bringing up an evil report against the land, even those
men that did bring up an evil report of the land, died by

38 the plague before the Lord. But Joshua the son of
Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, remained alive

39 of those men that went to spy out the land. [JE] And
Moses told these words unto all the children of Israel :

40 and the people mourned greatly. And they rose up
early in the morning, and gat them up to the top of the
mountain, saying, Lo, we be here, and will go up unto
the place which the Lord hath promised : for we have

41 sinned. And Moses said, Wherefore now do ye trans-
gress the commandment of the Lord, seeing it shall not

42 prosper ? Go not up, for the Lord is not among you ;

a Or, the revoking of my promise

number ; as applied to the spies it means no more than that they
were absent ' a few weeks,' and to the period of the wanderings,
that ' a generation ' elapsed between the exodus and the conquest
of Canaan.

ye shall know my alienation : the effect of my displeasure,
or of the withdrawal of my favour and protection.

39-45. Instead of obeying the Divine injunction to turn south-
wards towards the gulf of Akabah (see on verse 25), the people, in
self-willed defiance of Yahweh and in spite of Moses' remon-
strance, attempt to enter Canaan from the south, are defeated by
the Amalekites and Canaanites and driven back to Hormah. Note
that Deut. i. 40 ff. combines verse 25 of this chapter with 40 ff. as
in the critical analysis here adopted.

40. the top of the mountain: evidently the high ground over-
looking Kadesh on the north.

42. the LORD is not among' yon: neither in person, since

NUMBERS 14. 43—15. 2. JEP 271

that ye be not smitten down before your enemies. For 43
there the Amalekite and the Canaanite are before you,
and ye shall fall by the sword : because ye are turned
back from following the Lord, therefore the Lord will
not be with you. But they presumed to go up to the 44
top of the mountain : nevertheless the ark of the covenant
of the Lord, and Moses, departed not out of the camp.
Then the Amalekite came down, and the Canaanite 45
which dwelt in that mountain, and smote them and beat
them down, even unto Hormah.

[P] And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak 15 2
unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye
be come into the land of your habitations, which I give

they were acting contrary to His express command, nor as repre-
sented by the ark (verse 44 ; see note on x. 35 f.).

45. even unto Hormah : in Deut. loc. cit. ' from Seir (LXX)
even unto Hormah.' The site of the latter is uncertain. For a
tradition as to the origin of the name Hormah, see xxi. 3 below,
and cf. Judges i. 17.

Into this section the compiler has gathered a group of five
unconnected laws, the majority of which supplement the ritual
ordinances of Leviticus, and must have stood originally in the
Priests' Code. The last of the series (verses 37-41), however,
shows unmistakable affinity with the Holiness Code, so that the
whole were probably 'connected and incorporated by the same
editor who worked H into P' (Gray).

(1) 1-16. The first of the five laws prescribes the quantities of
flour and oil for the cereal-offering, and of wine for the drink-
offering, which accompanied the more important animal sacrifices.
This supplementary minhah is to be distinguished from the inde-
pendent minhah, or cereal- offering, which forms the subject of
Lev. ii. The quantities here prescribed increase with the size
of the sacrificial victim. For a tabulated comparison of these
with Ezekiel's prescriptions (Ezek. xlvi. 5-7, 11, 14) see Gray,
in loc. The present law has a close parallel in those of ch. xxviii
below.

272 NUMBERS 15. 3-9. P

3 unto you, and will make an offering by fire unto the
Lord, a burnt offering, or a sacrifice, ato accomplish
a vow, or as a freewill offering, or in your set feasts, to
make a sweet savour unto the Lord, of the herd, or of

4 the flock : then shall he that offereth his oblation offer
unto the Lord a meal offering of a tenth part of an ephah
of fine flour mingled with the fourth part of an hin of oil :

5 and wine for the drink offering, the fourth part of an hin,
shalt thou prepare with the burnt offering or for the

6 sacrifice, for each lamb. Or for a ram, thou shalt prepare
for a meal offering two tenth parts of an ephah of fine

7 flour mingled with the third part of an hin of oil : and for
the drinkaoffering thou shalt offer the third part of an hin

8 of wine, of a sweet savour unto the Lord. And when
thou preparest a bullock for a burnt offering, or for
a sacrifice, a to accomplish a vow, or for peace offerings

9 unto the Lord : then shall he offer with the bullock

a Or. in making a special vow

3. or a sacrifice: more precisely 'a sacrifice of requital' or
peace-offering (see Lev. iii) ; the burnt-offering and the peace-
offering were, in the earlier period at least, the two prevailing
types of animal sacrifice.

a sweet savour unto tlie LORD. See note on Lev. i. 9, p. 40.

4 f. When the victim is a lamb or a kid (verse n), the accom-
panying cereal-offering is to consist of TV ephah (about 7 pints)
of fine flour mixed with \ hin (rather less than 3 pints) of olive
oil. This is also the quantity of wine prescribed for the accom-
panying drink-offering. It is remarkable that the Pentateuch
legislation contains no reference to the details of the ritual of the
drink-offering. According to Ben Sira, circa 180 B.C., the wine
was poured out at the base of the altar of burnt-offering
(Ecclus. 1. 15).

6-10. When the victim is a ram the quantities are to be
increased to ■£$ ephah (about 14 pints) of flour and £ hin (under
4 pints) of oil and wine ; with a bullock they are further increased
to fa ephah (circa i£ pecks) and £ hin (say 3 quarts) respectively.
For these equations with our measures see the writer's art.
' Weights and Measures' in Hastings's DB., iv. 910-3.

NUMBERS 15. 10-19. P 373

a meal offering of three tenth parts of an ephah of fine
flour mingled with half an hin of oil. And thou shalt 10
oifer for the drink offering half an hin of wine, for an
offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord.
Thus shall it be done for each bullock, or for each ram, 1 t
or for each of the he-lambs, or of the kids. According 12
to the number that ye shall prepare, so shall ye do to
every one according to their number. All that are home- 13
born shall do these things after this manner, in offering
an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the
Lord. And if a stranger rsojourn with you, or whoso- 14
ever be among you throughout your generations, and
will offer an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto
the Lord ; as ye do, so he shall do. For the assembly, 15
there shall be one statute for you, and for the stranger
that sojourneth with you, a statute for ever throughout
your generations : as ye are, so shall the stranger be
before the Lord. One law and one ordinance shall be 16
for you, and for the stranger that sojourneth with you.

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto XJ
the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come
into the land whither I bring you, then it shall be, that, 19
when ye eat of the bread of the land, ye shall offer up an

15 f. ' One of the many passages in the later laws that assert
the identity in respect of civil, moral, and religious rights and
duties of the Jews and of the girim ' (Gray). In the pre-exilic
period the ger or sojourner (R.V. stranger) was admitted only to
a restricted civil and religious status, but in P the term has almost,
if not altogether, become equivalent to ' proselyte.'

(2) 17-21. The contribution of the hallah or prime-cake, as it
may be called. When settled in Canaan the Hebrews are enjoined
to present to Yahweh a cake prepared from the first meal of the
year ; such at least seems to be intended by this not very
explicit law.

19. an heave offering" : Heb. ieruntah, i a contribution,'
'oblation,' or the like (see note on Lev. vii. 14).

2 74 NUMBERS 15. 20-24. *

20 heave offering unto the Lord. Of the first of your
a dough ye shall offer up a cake for an heave offering :
as ye do the heave offering of the threshing-floor, so shall

21 ye heave it. Of the first of your dough ye shall give unto
the Lord an heave offering throughout your generations.

22 And when ye shall err, and not observe all these com-
mandments, which the Lord hath spoken unto Moses,

23 even all that the Lord hath commanded you by the
hand of Moses, from the day that the Lord gave com-
mandment, and onward throughout your generations ;

24 then it shall be, if it be done h unwittingly, without the

a Or, coarse meal b Or, in error

20. of your dough : margin ' coarse meal,' others ' kneading
trough.' In any case, since barley ripened before wheat (Ruth i.
22, ii. 23), the cake would be of barley meal.

(3) 22-31. A law of the sin-offering parallel to and independent
of Lev. iv. i-v. 13. The differences between the two laws are
sufficiently striking. Here only two cases are distinguished, the
sin-offering of the congregation and that of an individual ; in
Lev. iv f. we have four carefully graded classes of offenders (see
pp. 47 ff.). In the latter section the victims are likewise graded
according to the theocratic rank of the offerer ; here a yearling
she-goat is the victim for all individual offenders, while no pro-
vision is made for the case of the very poor, as is done in Lev. v.
7-13. Other differences will be pointed out in the notes.

As regards the relation between the two laws, the harmonistic
view that Lev. iv f. deals with sins of commission, while this
section refers only to sins of omission, must be set aside as incon-
sistent with the plain prima facie reading of verses 24 and 29. It
is greatly more probable that we have here a law of the sin-
offering older and less fully developed than the law of Lev. iv.
*-35i v« l-1^ and due to a different circle of priestly legislators.
(For a specific indication of the comparatively late date of Lev. iv
see the note on the two altars, pp. 49 f. above).

22-26. The sin-offering for unintentional sin on the part of the
congregation as a whole.

24. if it "be done unwittingly : as opposed to sins committed
'with an high hand' (verse 30), i.e. in conscious and wilful
defiance of the will of God (see on Lev. iv. 2). Here sins of
commission are as clearly contemplated as in the parallel passage
just cited.

NUMBERS 15. 25-30. P 275

knowledge of the congregation, that all the congregation
shall offer one young bullock for a burnt offering, for
a sweet savour unto the Lord, with the meal offering
thereof, and the drink offering thereof, according to the
ordinance, and one he-goat for a sin offering. And the 25
priest shall make atonement for all the congregation of
the children of Israel, and they shall be forgiven ; for it
was an error, and they have brought their oblation, an
offering made by fire unto the Lord, and their sin
offering before the Lord, for their error : and all the 26
congregation of the children of Israel shall be forgiven,
and the stranger that sojourneth among them ; for in
respect of all the people it was done unwittingly. And if 2 7
one person sin unwittingly, then he shall offer a she-goat
of the first year for a sin offering. And the priest shall
make atonement for the soul that erreth, when he sinneth
unwittingly, before the Lord, to make atonement for
him ; and he shall be forgiven. Ye shall have one law 29
for him that doeth aught unwittingly, for him that is
homeborn among the children of Israel, and for the
stranger that sojourneth among them. But the soul that 30
doeth aught with an high hand, whether he be homeborn
or a stranger, the same blasphemeth the Lord ; and that

one young1 bullock for a burnt offering*. In Lev. iv. 14 no
burnt-offering is required, and the sin-offering consists of a bullock
instead of, as here, a he-goat.

according to the ordinance : a reference to verses 8 f. of
this chapter.

25. the priest shall make atonement . . . and they shall be
forgiven. See the discussion of atonement and forgiveness in
P on pp. 51-3 of this commentary.

27-28. The sin-offering for unintentional sin on the part of an
individual. The victim is uniformly ' a she-goat of the first year '
as compared with the gradation of the victims in the parallel law.
For verse 29 see note on 15 f. of this chapter.

T 2

276 NUMBERS 15. 31-38. PH

31 soul shall be cut off from among his people. Because he
hath despised the word of the Lord, and hath broken
his commandment ; that soul shall utterly be cut off, his
iniquity shall be upon him.

3-3 And while the children of Israel were in the wilder-
ness, they found a man gathering sticks upon the sabbath

33 day. And they that found him gathering sticks brought
him unto Moses and Aaron, and unto all the congre-

34 gation. And they put him in ward, because it had not

35 been declared what should be done to him. And the
Lord said unto Moses, The man shall surely be put to
death : all the congregation shall stone him with stones

36 without the camp. And all the congregation brought
him without the camp, and stoned him with stones, and
he died ; as the Lord commanded Moses.

3o LH] And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto
1 the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them

30. that soul shall be cut off, &c. See on Lev. vii. 20. For
the striking fact that, according to the priestly theory of sacrifice,
no expiation could be made for wilful or intentional offences, see
the remark on Lev. iv. 2. Cf. Davidson, The Theology of the 0. 7".,
pp. 316 ff. : ' The Old Testament sacrificial system was a system
of atonement only for the so-called sins of inadvertency.'

(4) 32-36. The fate of the sabbath-breaker. A late ' midrash '
(note the terms of the introductory clause) to illustrate verses 30 f.,
the sin of the 'high hand.' The laws relative to the keeping of
the Sabbath (Exod. xx. 8 ff., &c.) and the penalty of death attached
to the breach thereof (ibid., xxxi. 14 f., xxxv. 2) are assumed to be
known. There is therefore no question of ignorance or inadver-
tence. The incident recorded in Lev. xxiv. 10-23 1S closely
parallel both in character and treatment.

34 f. Cf. Lev. xxiv. 12 ff. ; the uncertainty was probably in
regard to the mode of executing the death penalty. With verse 36
cf. ibid. 23.

(5) 37-41' The law of the tassels, originally in the Holiness
Code, as is generally maintained on the ground of the presence in
it of undoubted characteristics of H (see especially verse 41). To
each of the four corners of their outer garment — the plaid-shaped

NUMBERS 15. r.9-4'. H 277

ft fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their
generations, and that they put upon the fringe of each 39
border a cord of blue : and it shall be unto you for a
fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the
commandments of the Lord, and do them ; and that ye
b go not about after your own heart and your own eyes, 40
after which ye use to go a whoring : that ye may re-
member and do all my commandments, and be holy 4 "
unto your God. I am the Lord your God, which
brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God :
I am the Lord your God.

a Or, tasscts in the corners b Heb. spy not out.

1 cloke ' of Matt. v. 40 — the Hebrews are enjoined to attach
a tassel, presumably of white wool, by a blue thread as a reminder
of their obligation to obedience and holiness unto their God (cf. the
same law more briefly expressed in Deut. xxii. 12). The tassels
were still worn, as here prescribed, in N.T. times (Matt. ix. 20,
xiv. 36, «&c. ; A.V. hem, R.V. border). For the curiously minute
regulations of later Judaism and the mystical meanings assigned
to the threads and knots, and for the practice of modern Jews,
see the writer's art. 'Fringes' in Hastings's DB., ii. 68 ff.

As to the historical origin of this 'sign,' it is now generally
agreed that a primitive practice *, which regarded the tassels as
amulets, has been taken over by the Hebrew legislators and filled
with a beautiful religious significance. The motive here assigned
for the tassels ' is rather a religious afterthought, an attempt to
make a deeply-rooted custom serve a fitting religious purpose '
(Gray). There is good reason for believing that the phylacteries
have a similar history.

38. fringes in the borders, &c. : render as in the margin,
'tassels in the corners'; cf. Deut. xxii. 12, R.V. marg., 'thou
shalt make thee twisted threads upon the four borders [corners]
of thy vesture.'

39. it shall toe i . , for a fringe: read, as Exod. xiii. 9, 16,
'for a sign.'

1 In plate iib of Wilkinson's Ancient Egyptians, vol. i, may be
seen a representation of Asiatics from an Egyptian tomb wearing
garments having blue tassels attached.

278 NUMBERS 16, i. P^ps

16 [Ps] Now Korah, [Pfl] the son of Izhar, the son of Ko-

(d) xvi-xviii. The mutiny of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, and
the prerogatives and dues of Priests and Levites.

The second of these topics (ch. xviii) is intimately connected
with, and indeed arises immediately out of, the first (note xvii. 12 f.),
or rather out of that portion of the narrative of chs. xvi-xvii,
which tells of the fatal attempt of a certain Korah and others to
dispute the priestly prerogative of the tribe of Levi (from Pg).
With this are now combined an earlier and a later story, the
former telling of the revolt of Dathan and Abiram against the
secular leadership of Moses (JE), the latter representing Korah
and a band of Levites as reclaiming against the exclusive priest-
hood of Aaron (Ps). The analysis of ch. xvi (xvii-xviii belong
entirely to Pg) may be represented thus (for verse 32*' see notes) :
JE verses ib 2a 12-15 25> 2° 27b-32a 33-34

Pg u ia(pt.)sb-7 18-24 27* 35 41-50

P3 ,, ia 8-n 16, 17 36-4o

The verses assigned to JE, read consecutively, give an almost
complete account of a revolt against the authority of Moses, as the
leader of the Hebrew tribes, headed by Dathan and Abiram of
the tribe of Reuben. In combining this narrative with the mutiny
of Korah, the compiler has omitted the grounds on which the
former revolt was based. These, however, may be gathered from
the words of the ringleaders in verses 12-14, and Moses' protest in
15 (see below). After treating Moses' message with contempt,
Dathan and Abiram, with their families and followers, are punished
by the earth miraculously (verse 30) opening and swallowing them
alive. Deut. xi. 6, it should be noted, makes reference only to
this strand of the present composite narrative.

Pg, on the other hand, save for editorial additions (see on verse 24),
is silent as to Dathan and Abiram, but tells the story of an entirely
distinct mutiny with other leaders, a different motive and a
different punishment. Here the ringleader is a certain Korah
who, at the head of two hundred and fifty leading laymen, calls
in question the priestly prerogatives of the tribe of Levi, as repre-
sented by Moses and Aaron, on the ground that every member of
the theocratic community is 'holy,' and therefore equally entitled
with the favoured tribe to ' come near unto Yahweh ' in the ritual
of the sanctuary.

After Korah and his fellow mutineers have been consumed by
fire, issuing from the Tent of Meeting (xvi. 35), the general body
of the people murmur at their hard fate and are smitten with
plague. The latter is stayed by the intervention of Aaron, acting
under Moses' direction (xvi. 41 ff.), and the unique position of the
tribe of Levi is thereafter made clear to all by a Divine ordeal

NUMBERS 16. 2, 3. P« JE Ps 279

hath, the son of Levi, with [JE] Dathan and Abiram, the
sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben,
took men : and they rose up before Moses, [P&] with 2
certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty
princes of the congregation, called to the assembly, men
of renown : and they assembled themselves together 3
against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them,
a Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation

a Heb. It is enough for you.

(xvii. 1-9). The priestly prerogatives of Levi are further confirmed,
and regulations given on the subject of the sacred dues to be set
apart for the maintenance of both priests and Levites (ch. xviii).

Into this narrative of Pg a later priestly writer has inserted a
series of additions, the result of which is to alter entirely its
character and motive. From being a protest on the part of
a section of the laity against the privileged position of the tribe
of Levi as a whole, Korah's rebellion is now represented as a pro-
test against the exclusive priesthood of Aaron on the part of the
remanent members of his own tribe. In this later form of the
narrative most recent critics find an echo of the disputes, which
may be assumed to have arisen in the early post-exilic community,
between the Zadokite priesthood at Jerusalem and the descendants
of the Levitical priests of the provincial sanctuaries over the
exclusion of the latter from the higher functions of the priesthood
(see Ezek. xliv. o,ff. and the remarks above, p. 200).

xvi. 1-35. The composite narrative of the rebellion of Korah,
Dathan, and Abiram. A fourth leader, • On, the son of Peleth,' is
named in the opening verse, but not elsewhere in the sequel
(cf. Deut. xi. 6). Read ' Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab,
the son of Pallu, the son of Reuben,' as generally adopted on the
basis of xxvi. 8 f.

1. Now Korah . . . took men. Here too the text is corrupt;
read probably, * Now there rose up Korah,' &c. Korah's descent
from Levi is most probably due to Ps. From the tenor of the
narrative of Ps, as summarized above, it is more probable that
Korah was there represented as a layman, than that a Levite
should be found reclaiming against the privileges of his own tribe.
Some would connect the Korah of Pg with the descendant of Caleb
mentioned in i Chron. ii. 43, and see in the similarity of the two
names the explanation of the fusion of the two divergent priestly
traditions.

3. Ye take too much upon you : rather, < We have had enough

280 NUMBERS 16. 4-11. P? P«

are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among
them : wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the

4 assembly of the Lord ? And when Moses heard it, he

5 fell upon his face : and he spake unto Korah and unto
all his company, saying, In the morning the Lord will
shew who are his, and who is holy, and a will cause him
to come near unto him : even him whom he shall choose

6 will he cause to come near unto him. This do ; take

7 you censers, Korah, and all his company ; and put fire
therein, and put incense upon them before the Lord
to-morrow : and it shall be that the man whom the Lord
doth choose, he shall be holy : ye take too much upon

8 y°uj ye sons of Levi. [P9] And Moses said unto Korah,

9 Hear now, ye sons of Levi : seemeth it but a small thing
unto you, that the God of Israel hath separated you
from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to
himself; to do the service of the tabernacle of the Lord,
and to stand before the congregation to minister unto

io them ; and that he hath brought thee near, and all thy
brethren the sons of Levi with thee? and seek ye the

1 1 priesthood also ? Therefore thou and all thy company
are gathered together against the Lord : and Aaron,

a Or. wham he ivill cause to come near

of you (cf. Deut. i. 6, ii. 3), ye sons of Levi,' as now found at the
end of verse 7, where the words are out of place. Korah and his
followers claim equal privileges with the tribe of Levi, on the
ground that every member of the theocratic community is holy in
virtue of the sanctifying presence of Yahweh in their midst.

8-11 (P8). Here the mutineers are addressed as exclusively
'sons of Levi,' and as actually in possession of the privileges
which Korah and his company are represented as demanding in
verses 3-5 (P*). What is here demanded is the higher prerogative
of the priesthood (verse 10), which the malcontents assert has been
wrongfully usurped by Aaron (verse ii); It is against the latter
alone, not against Moses (as JE), nor against Moses and Aaron
(as Ps), that the rebellion of Ps is directed.

NUMBERS 16. 12-19. paJEP*Ps 281

what is he that ye murmur against him? [JE] And 12
Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of
Eliab : and they said, We will not come up: is it a 13
small thing that thou hast brought us up out of a land
flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness,
but thou must needs make thyself also a prince over us ?
Moreover thou hast not brought us into a land flowing 14
with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields
and vineyards : wilt thou a put out the eyes of these
men? we will not come up. And Moses was very wroth, 15
and said unto the Lord, Respect not thou their offering :
I have not taken one ass from them, neither have I hurt
one of them. [Ps] And Moses said unto Korah, Be 16
thou and all thy congregation before the Lord, thou,
and they, and Aaron, to-morrow : and take ye every 17
man his censer, and put incense upon them, and bring
ye before the Lord every man his censer, two hundred
and fifty censers ; thou also, and Aaron, each his censer,
[ps] And they took every man his censer, and put fire 18
in them, and laid incense thereon, and stood at the door
of the tent of meeting writh Moses and Aaron. And 19
Korah assembled all the congregation against them unto

a Heb. bore out.

12-15 (JE). Dathan and Abiram send a contemptuous reply to
Moses' summons, accusing him of misleading the people, of self-
assumed leadership, and, as may be inferred from verse i5b, of
using his position for his personal profit.

14. wilt thou put out the eyes, &c. : so literally, but the words
are here used metaphorically, ' wilt thou throw dust in the eyes
of these men ? '

18-24, the continuation of P*'s narrative in verses 3-7. Note
that the scene of the ordeal is at the entrance to the Tent of
Meeting (contrast verse 27b, JE).

282 NUMBERS 16. 20-27. PSRJEPg

the door of the tent of meeting : and the glory of the
Lord appeared unto all the congregation.

20 And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron,

21 saying, Separate yourselves from among this congrega-

22 tion, that I may consume them in a moment. And they
fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the
spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be

23 wroth with all the congregation? And the Lord spake

24 unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the congregation, saying,
Get you up from about the tabernacle of [R] Korah,

25 Dathan, and Abiram. [JE] And Moses rose up and
went unto Dathan and Abiram ; and the elders of Israel

26 followed him. And he spake unto the congregation,
saying, Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked
men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest ye be consumed

27 in all their sins. [Ps] So they gat them up from the

19. tlie glory of the LORD appeared. Compare the similar
theophany as a prelude to judgement in xiv. 10, also below,
verse 42.

22. the God of the spirits of all flesh. This phrase, only here
and xxvii. 16, * betrays the advanced theological standpoint of P.
Yahweh is to him far more than the God of Israel ; He is the one
and only Author of all human life, and, as its Author, capable of
destroying it ' (Gray). A similar advance is reflected in the plea
that follows, in which ' the early doctrine of solidarity ' is out-
grown, a position • most easily explained if referred to a period
influenced by Ezekiel's strong individualism (see, e.g., Ezek. xviii,
xxxiii).'

24. the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Here
and in verse 27 we may detect the hand of the compiler, for (1)
the congregation is not assembled at the tents of the ringleaders
but at the Tent of Meeting (verse 19), and (2) the word rendered
'.tabernacle' (lit. 'the dwelling') always in P denotes 'the
Dwelling ' of Yahweh, in other words, the Tabernacle. Here,
therefore, the original reading of Pewas undoubtedly, 'get you up
from about the Dwelling of Yahweh,' and similarly in 27% the con-
tinuation of this verse.

25-34. The original continuation of 12-15 (JE), with the ex-
ception just noted.

NUMBERS 16. 28-34- P^RJERJE 283

tabernacle of [R] Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, on every
side : [JE] and Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood
at the door of their tents, and their wives, and their sons,
and their little ones. And Moses said, Hereby ye shall 28
know that the Lord hath sent me to do all these works ;
for I have not done them of mine own mind. If these men 29
die the common death of all men, or if they be visited
after the visitation of all men ; then the Lord hath not
sent me. But if the Lord a make a new thing, and the 30
ground open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all
that appertain unto them, and they go down alive into
b the pit ; then ye shall understand that these men have
despised the Lord.' And it came to pass, as he made 3r
an end of speaking all these words, that the ground
clave asunder that was under them : and the earth 32
opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their
households, [R] and all the men that appertained unto
Korah, and all their goods. [JE] So they, and all that 33
appertained to them, went down alive into b the pit :
and the earth closed upon them, and they perished from
among the assembly. And all Israel that were round 34
about them fled at the cry of them : for they said, Lest
a Heb. create a creation. b Heb. ShcoL

27. and stood at the door of their tents : the scene accordingly
of the impending judgement upon Dathan and Abiram and their
families (cf. above).

28 ff. Moses announces a test by which it shall be decided
whether or not his leadership is self-assumed. If the ringleaders
of the mutiny die a natural death, the answer will be in the
affirmative, and Moses will be proved an impostor ; if, on the
contrary, Yahweh intervenes with a miracle (lit. ' creates a
creation/ verse 30 margin), and destroys the rebels out of hand,
Moses' leadership will be proved to be by Divine appointment,
and his opponents guilty of wilful contempt of Yahweh.

32. and all the men, &c. This clause anticipates the proper
fate of Korah and his band in verse 35, and is due to the com-
piler's desire to harmonize the divergent narratives.

284 NUMBERS 16. 35-40. JEP^'P*

35 the earth swallow us up. [P*] And fire came forth from
the Lord, and devoured the two hundred and fifty men
that offered the incense.

*' ft [P*] And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak
unto Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he take up
the censers out of the burning, and scatter thou the fire

;s8 yonder ; for they are holy ; even the censers of b these
sinners against their own 0 lives, and let them be made
beaten plates for a covering of the altar : for they offered
them before the Lord, therefore they are holy : and they

39 shall be a sign unto the children of Israel. And Eleazar
the priest took the brasen censers, which they that were
burnt had offered ; and they beat them out for a covering

40 of the altar : to be a memorial unto the children of

a [Ch. xvii. 1 in Heb.] b Or, these men who have sinned at

the cost of their lives c Or, souls

35. The continuation of 18-24, 27a (P8)« *n tne original Korah
will have shared the fate of his 250 associates. How the compiler
conceived the situation it is impossible to say, for he has already
represented ' all the men that appertained unto Korah ' as having
been swallowed up alive '$&). As Kent remarks, 'the close
amalgamation of two so fundamentally distinct traditions is almost
without parallel in the O.T.' {Beginnings of Heb, History, p. 222).

36-40 (P3). Eleazar is commanded to collect the 250 brazen
censers — rather firepans of bronze — to hammer them into plates,
and to cover therewith the wooden framework of the altar of
burnt-oflfering. That the section belongs to P3 and not to Pg is
shown (1) by the connexion of verse 40 with verses 9 f., and (2"
by the fact that according to P* the altar was overlaid with bronze
when first constructed (Exod. xxvii. 2). The selection of Eleazar
for this task, as for a similar task in ch. xix, is to be explained by
the rigid taboo imposed on Aaron as high priest in the matter of
contact with the dead (see Lev. xvii. 10 f.).

37 f. for they are holy ; even the censers, &c. : render, with
a slight textual alteration : • for the censers of these men who
have sinned at the cost of their own lives (so Amer. R.V. marg.)
are holy,' i. e. taboo, forfeited to the sanctuary (cf. note on
Lev. vi. 18).

40. The standpoint and motive of the secondary additions are
here expressly stated ; the legitimate priesthood is declared to be

NUMBERS 16. 41-46. P*P* 285

Israel, to the end that no stranger, which is not of the
seed of Aaron, come near to burn incense before the
Lord ; that he be not as Korah, and as his company :
as the Lord spake unto him by the hand of Moses.

[pg] But on the morrow all the congregation of the 41
children of Israel murmured against Moses and against
Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the Lord.
And it came to pass, when the congregation was as- 42
sembled against Moses and against Aaron, that they
looked toward the tent of meeting: and, behold, the
cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared.
And Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent 43
of meeting. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 44
Get you up from among this congregation, that I may 45
consume them in a moment. And they fell upon their
faces. And Moses said unto Aaron, Take thy censer, 46
and put fire therein from off the altar, and lay incense
thereon, and carry it quickly unto the congregation, and

the exclusive prerogative of Aaron and his 'seed.' With the
signification of ' stranger' as here defined, cf. iii. 10 and note.

41-50 (P=). The people bring a false accusation against Moses
and Aaron, and are punished by an outbreak of plague, which is
stayed by the intervention of Aaron. From this point to the end
of ch. xviii we have a continuous extract from Pg.

44. spake unto Moses : add with LXX, i and Aaron ' ; cf. the
plural address, l Get you up,' &c.

46 ff. Three points are noteworthy in these verses : (1) the
use of incense as the medium of expiation or i atonement '; probably
a contrast is intended to the unauthorized use of incense in the
preceding narrative of Pg ; (2) the mediatorial activity of Aaron,
by which his priestly prerogative, previously questioned, is success-
fully vindicated ; and (3) the conception of the ' wrath of Yahweh '
as an independent agent (46 end), whose power to harm is de-
feated by the sacred fire 'from off the altar' in the hand of the

icrosanct person of the priest. ' The passage is important for the
understanding of the kappara [expiation, atonement, see above,
pp. 51 f.] : the latter is an act of the cultus, by which something

286 NUMBERS 16. 47— 17. 2. PS

make atonement for them : for there is wrath gone out

47 from the Lord ; the plague is begun. And Aaron took
as Moses spake, and ran into the midst of the assembly ;
and, behold, the plague was begun among the people :
and he put on the incense, and made atonement for the

48 people. And he stood between the dead and the living ;

49 and the plague was stayed. Now they that died by the
plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, be-

50 sides them that died about the matter of Korah. And
Aaron returned unto Moses unto the door of the tent of
meeting : and the plague was stayed.

17 2 aAnd the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto

the children of Israel, and take of them rods, one for

each fathers' house, of all their princes according to their

a [Ch. xvii. 16 in Hcb.]

of the holiness attaching to the sanctuary is set free and transferred
to the person for whose benefit the act is performed.' (Holzinger,
Kurzer Handkommentar, in he.)

xvii. i-ii. The privileged position of Levi among the Hebrew
tribes is further publicly attested by a unique form of ordeal. By
Divine instruction Moses deposits in the Tent of Meeting twelve
rods or wands representing the twelve secular tribes, with an
additional rod inscribed with the name of Aaron as head of the
tribe of Levi. The tribe of Yahweh's choice — for the purpose of
the choice, see xvi. 5 — is to be signalized by the miraculous
budding of its representative's rod. Next morning it is found
that Aaron's rod alone has budded and brought forth fruit, thus
confirming the Divine choice of the tribe of Levi for the ministry
of the wilderness sanctuary. The rod is henceforth to be pre-
served ( for a token ' in the Tent of Meeting. For references to
similar legends of the sprouting of dead wood see Gray's and
Dillmann's Commentaries.

2. take of them rods: probably the staves or wands ordinarily
carried by the princes as the symbol of then* rank, cf. xxi. 18,
Gen. xlix. 10.

one for eaoh fathers' house : * fathers' house ' or sept here
exceptionally for 'tribe,' see on i. 2. For the names of the
heads of the secular tribes see chs. i-ii and elsewhere.

NUMBERS 17. 3-10. ps 287

fathers' houses, twelve rods : write thou every man's name
upon his rod. And thou shalt write Aaron's name upon 3
the rod of Levi : for there shall be one rod for each head
of their fathers' houses. And thou shalt lay them up in 4
the tent of meeting before the testimony, where I meet
with you. And it shall come to pass, that the man whom 5
I shall choose, his rod shall bud : and I will make to
cease from me the murmurings of the children of Israel,
which they murmur against you. And Moses spake unto 6
the children of Israel, and all their princes gave him rods,
for each prince one, according to their fathers' houses,
even twelve rods : and the rod of Aaron was among their
rods. And Moses laid up the rods before the Lord in 7
the tent of the testimony. And it came to pass on the 8
morrow, that Moses went into the tent of the testimony ;
and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was
budded, and put forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and
bare ripe almonds. And Moses brought out all the rods 9
from before the Lord unto all the children of Israel :
and they looked, and took every man his rod. And the 10
Lord said unto Moses, Put back the rod of Aaron before
the testimony, to be kept for a token against the children
of rebellion ; that thou mayest make an end of their

3. What is the total number of the rods, twelve or thirteen ?
The text has been understood both ways, but P's division of
the 'congregation' into twelve secular tribes requires that Levi
should be reckoned as a thirteenth tribe, and Aaron's wand,
consequently, as a thirteenth 'rod.'

4. in the tent of meeting- before the testimony : i. e. before
the ark, as explained in the note on Lev. xvi. 13 ; cf. ' before
Yah well,' verse 7.

9. The rods are publicly exhibited for the purpose expressed in
verse 5b.

10. Aaron's rod is to be preserved, like the pot of manna
(Exod. xvi. 33 f.), ' before,' but not within, the ark, as in the later
Rabbinic tradition reproduced in Heb. ix. 4.

288 NUMBERS 17. n— 18. 2. P§

11 murmurings against me, that they die not. Thus did
Moses : as the Lord commanded him, so did he.

1 2 And the children of Israel spake unto Moses, saying,
Behold, we perish, we are undone, we are all undone.

x3 Every one that cometh near, that cometh near unto the

tabernacle of the Lord, a dieth : shall we perish all

of us?

18 And the Lord said unto Aaron, Thou and thy sons

and thy fathers' house with thee shall bear the iniquity of

the sanctuary : and thou and thy sons with thee shall

a bear the iniquity of your priesthood. And thy brethren

a Or, shall die

12 f. These verses belong rather to the following chapter,
since they contain the people's confession that unrestricted access
to 'the Dwelling of Yahweh' is fatal, which leads to a renewed
appointment of the tribe of Levi as the guardians and ministers
of the sanctuary.

xviii. 1-7. In the introductory note to ch. iii (p. 199), it was
pointed out that although some scholars adopt what is, it must be
confessed, the prima facie view of this section, that the author of
the history of Israel's theocratic institutions is here for the first
time introducing the Levites as a second order in the hierarchy,
it is on the whole more probable that he embraces the opportunity
afforded by the mutiny of Korah to reinforce the Divine choice of
Levi recorded in ch. iii. 5-13, and to introduce the delimitation of
the respective duties of priests and Levites.

1. thy fathers' house : here the whole 'tribe of Levi' (cf. verse
a), exclusive of the priests (•' thou and thy sons ').

shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary . . . the iniquity
of your priesthood. In these expressions to 'bear the iniquity,'
or rather 'the guilt,' has a technical sense peculiar to P. It
means to bear the consequences of ritual error in all that concerns
the approach to God in the sanctuary. Everything pertaining to
the Deity— His Dwelling, His altar, His l holy things'— is charged
with a dangerous 'spiritual electricity,' and the priests and
Levites are, to continue the metaphor, to act as conductors of
Yahweh's death-dealing holiness. In other words, the risks and
dangers which the unconsecrated laity necessarily incur, in their
approach to Yahweh in worship are, so to say, drawn off by the
consecrated ministers of the sanctuary (cf. verse 5b). By this
means the fate contemplated in xvii. 13 is averted.

NUMBERS 18. 3-7. P* 289

also, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy father, bring thou
near with thee, that they may be R joined unto thee, and
minister unto thee : but thou and thy sons with thee
shall be before the tent of the testimony. And they 3
shall keep thy charge, and the charge of all the Tent :
only they shall not come nigh unto the vessels of the
sanctuary and unto the altar, that they die not, neither
they, nor ye. And they shall be joined unto thee, and 4
keep the charge of the tent of meeting, for all the service
of the Tent : and a stranger shall not come nigh unto
you. And ye shall keep the charge of the sanctuary, 5
and the charge of the altar : that there be wrath no more
upon the children of Israel. And I, behold, I have 6
taken your brethren the Levites from among the children
of Israel : to you they are a gift, given unto the Lord,
to do the service of the tent of meeting. And thou and 7
thy sons with thee shall keep your priesthood for every
thing of the altar, and for that within the veil ; and ye
a See Gen. xxix. 34.

2. that they may be joined unto thee. The verb is better
taken as reflexive, ' that they may join themselves unto thee.'
As in Gen. xxix. 34, there is a play upon the verb (Idvdh), here
rendered 'join,' from which the name Levi is supposed to be
derived. For other and more probable, but still uncertain,
etymologies see the art. ' Levi ' in the Bible Dictionaries.

and minister unto thee: hut thou, &c. The two clauses
must be read together : ' unto thee, whilst thou and thy sons are
before the tent/ &c. The Levites are to assist the priests when
the latter are engaged in the duties of the sanctuary. With the
following injunctions cf. those of iii. 6-8, iv. 15, 17 ff.

6. to you they are a gift, given unto the LORD. For this idea
of the Levites as a gift of the people to Yahweh, and as a gift by
Him in turn to the priests, see iii. 9, viii. 16, 19. P consistently
represents even the inferior position of the Levites, as compared
with the priests, as one of great privilege and honour.

7. and for that within the veil. Elsewhere in P this expression
denotes the most holy place or inner sanctuary of the Dwelling,
as opposed to the outer sanctuary or holy place ' without the veil '

29o NUMBERS 18. 8. P»

shall serve : I give you the priesthood as a service of
gift : and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to
death.

8 And the Lord spake unto Aaron, And I5 behold,

(see Exod. xxvi. 31-35). Unless, therefore, we have a copyist's
slip for ' within the screen ' (see ibid., verse 36 f.), P here contem-
plates the entrance of the ordinary priests into the most holy
place. Contrast Lev. xvi. which limits the right of entry into the
latter to the high priest.

the stranger is here any one, even a Levite, who is not
a priest, while in verse 4 it designates any layman, or non-Levite ;
cf. further the note on Lev. xxii. 10.

8-32. Having defined anew the relative duties of the two
orders of the hierarchy, the legislator proceeds to deal with the
provision to be made for their support, viz. (1) the priests' dues,
verses 8-20 ; (2) the general tithe for the Levites, 21-24, and
(3) a special tithe to be paid by the latter to the priests, 25-32.
The subject of the priestly revenues (cf. p. 68 above) is one of
great importance for the history of the priesthood. Beginning
with such early notices as Judges xvii. 10; 1 Sam. ii. 12-17, we
may trace the gradual formulation and increasing amount of 'what
was due to the priest from the people ' (see Cent. Bible, Samuel,
p. 45 f.), through the Deuteronomic and Priestly Codes to the
relative treatises of the Mishnah. Convenient summaries of the
data of the Pentateuch Codes will be found in C-H. Hex. i. 240 ff.,
252 f., under the rubrics S sacred dues,7 and l the revenues of the
clergy,' and in Kent, Israel's Laws and Legal Precedents, pp. 198 ff.
Professor Buchanan Gray has given special attention to the sub-
ject in his Commentary on Numbers, pp. 221-41. For an authori-
tative study of the revenues of the Jewish hierarchy in N.T. times,
finally, see Schurer's Geschichte d./ud. Volkes, third edition, ii. 243 ff.
(Eng. trans, of earlier edition, The Jewish People, &c, Div. II.
i. 230 ff.).

The position of Num. xviii. 8 ff. in the historical development
may be given in Buchanan Gray's words {Numbers, p. 236) : ' the
dues here assigned to the tribe of Levi are immensely more
valuable than those which are assigned, by direct statement or
implication, to the Levites in Deuteronomy or any pre-exilic liter-
ature ; and considerably more valuable than those required, for the
priests, by Ezekiel. They are less valuable than those required in
the Mishnah, and in one respect, than those required in Lev. xxvii.
30-33 (P8).'

NUMBERS 18. 9-ir. Ps 291

I have given thee the charge of mine heave offerings,
even all the hallowed things of the children of Israel,
unto thee have I given them a by reason of the anointing,
and to thy sons, as a due for ever. This shall be thine 9
of the most holy things, reserved from the fire : every
oblation of theirs, even every meal offering of theirs,
and every sin offering of theirs, and every guilt offering
of theirs, which they shall render unto me, shall be most
holy for thee and for thy sons. As the most holy things 10
shalt thou eat thereof: every male shall eat thereof; it
shall be holy unto thee. And this is thine; the heave **
offering of their gift, even all the wave offerings of the
children of Israel : I have given them unto thee, and to

a Or, for a portion

8-20. The priests' dues (cf. Deut. xviii. 1-8 ; Ezek. xliv. 28 ff. ;
Lev. vi. 16-18, vii. 6-9, 31-33, &c). After a general character-
ization of the nature of the dues in verse 8, the author proceeds
to specify them in detail.

8. I have given thee the charge, &c. The whole verse
requires re-translation thus : ' I have given thee that which is
reserved (from the altar) of the contributions made to me, even
all the sacred gifts (lit. 'holy things') of the children of Israel,
to thee have I given them for a portion (so margin), and to thy
sons, as a perpetual due.' For the rendering ' contributions ' see
on Lev. vii. 14, and for the marginal ' portion ' see on Lev. vii. 35.

9. the most holy things : for the distinction between ' holy '
and ' most holy' things, see the note on Lev. ii. 3. For the offer-
ings here specified, and the share of each assigned to the priest,
see Lev. ii-v. The peace-offering is dealt with in verse 11 ; no
reference is made to the burnt-offering or holocaust, since no part
of it was ' reserved from the fire.'

10. As the most holy things: an evident mistranslation,
comparing a thing with itself; render, 'In a most holy place,' i. e.
as indicated in Lev. vi. 16, 26, 'in the court of the tent of meeting'
— in actual practice, in the priests' chambers of the temple (so
Ezek. xlii. 13).

11. the heave offering (' contribution,' as above) of their gift,
even all the wave offerings : the former is the general category,
the latter a special form of 'contribution,' for which see Lev.
vii. 30.

U 2

292 NUMBERS 18. 12-15. P*

thy sons and to thy daughters with thee, as a due for
ever : every one that is clean in thy house shall eat there-

12 of. All the abest of the oil, and all the Rbest of the
vintage, and of the corn, the firstfruits of them which
they give unto the Lord, to thee have I given them.

1 3 The firstripe fruits of all that is in their land, which they
bring unto the Lord, shall be thine ; every one that is

14 clean in thy house shall eat thereof. Every thing de-

15 voted in Israel shall be thine. Everything that openeth
the womb, of all flesh which they offer unto the Lord,

* Heb./rt/.

12. the firstfruits of them: the original term {rPshith) must
here denote the first in quality; render, 'the choicest of them,'
cf. Exod. xxiii. 19, • the choicest of the firstfruits.' The oldest
extant Phoenician inscription is found on a bowl which claims to
be 'of the first quality (rfshith) of bronze.'

13. The firstripe fruits: Heb. bikkurim, usually rendered
'firstfruits.' This form of sacred due has a place in all the codes,
see Exod. xxxiv. 26 (J), xxiii. 19 (EY; Deut. xviii. 4, and especially
xxvi. 1-11. For the widespread religious custom of dedicating to
the deity a portion of the new produce of the year as at once
a thankoffering for, and a dedication of, the whole, and for
a discussion of the terms rfshith and bikkurim, both rendered
firstfruits in our EVV, see Gray's excursus, Numbers, pp. 225-9.

14. Every thing1 devoted: see note on Lev. xxvii. 28.

15-18. The law regarding the disposal of firstborn (male)
children and the firstlings of domestic animals. Put briefly, the
law requires that the firstborn of men, and of animals not received
as sacrificial victims, shall be redeemed, the redemption price
falling to the priests, while those of the sacrificial animals (see p.
36) are to be sacrificed, the priests receiving the flesh. For
a more detailed comparison than is possible here of P's prescrip-
tions with those of the older legislation, e. g. Exod. xiii. 11-16,
xxxiv. 19 f. (both J), xxii. 29 f. (E), and especially with Deut. xv.
19-23, the larger commentaries must be consulted. For the
whole subject see W. R. Smith, Rel. Sem?, Additional Note E,
pp. 458-65.

IB. The general terms employed here seem at first sight to
include both male and female firstborn, but the words are probably
to be read in the light of the express limitation to males found in

NUMBERS 18. 16-iy. P« 293

both of man and beast, shall be thine : nevertheless the
firstborn of man shalt thou surely redeem, and the first-
ling of unclean beasts shalt thou redeem. a And those 16
that are to be redeemed of them from a month old shalt
thou redeem, according to thine estimation, for the money
of five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary (the same
is twenty gerahs). But the firstling of an ox, or the first- 1 7
ling of a sheep, or the firstling of a goat, thou shalt not
redeem j they are holy : thou shalt sprinkle their blood
upon the altar, and shalt burn their fat for an offering
made by fire, for a sweet savour unto the Lord. And 18
the flesh of them shall be thine, as the wave breast and
as the right thigh, it shall be thine. All the heave offer- 19
ings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer
unto the Lord, have I given thee, and thy sons and thy
daughters with thee, as a due for ever : it is a covenant
of salt for ever before the Lord unto thee and to thy seed

* Or, And as to their redemption money, from a month old
shalt thou redeem them

the older codes (see references in preceding note, and cf. the limita-
tion in iii. 40-51 (Ps), above).

16. interrupts the connexion between 15 and 17, and appears
to be a gloss based on iii. 43, 47, where see notes, and referring
only to 'the firstborn of man.' Render: ;And as regards his
redemption-price,' &c. For the shekel of the sanctuary see on
Lev. v. 15.

17 f. The firstlings of sacrificial animals are to be treated so
far as peace-offerings, see Lev. vii. 28-34, but the flesh, instead of
furnishing the usual sacrificial meal for the offerer and his family,
becomes the perquisite of the priests.

19. it is a covenant of salt for ever: i.e. a covenant that is
irrevocable and valid in perpetuity (cf. 2 Chron. xiii. 5). From the
use of salt as a preservative against decay, it was natural that
it should become a symbol of permanence and even of life as
opposed to decay and death, as it has become 'in the world's
symbolism.' For another, and more usual, derivation of the
metaphor of the text, see Gray in he. or the writer's art. 'Salt'
in Hastings's DB. 1909). Cf. note on Lev. ii. 13.

294 NUMBERS 18. 20-23. PS

20 with thee. And the Lord said unto Aaron, Thou shalt
have no inheritance in their land, neither shalt thou have
any portion among them : I am thy portion and thine
inheritance among the children of Israel.

21 And unto the children of Levi, behold, I have given
all the tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for
their service which they serve, even the service of the

22 tent of meeting. And henceforth the children of Israel
shall not come nigh the tent of meeting, lest they bear

23 sin, and die. But the Levites shall do the service of the
tent of meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity : it
shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations,

20. The priests, as represented by Aaron, are to have no
landed possessions in Canaan, for Yahweh Himself is their portion
and inheritance, an idea frequently expressed in Deut. (e.g. x. 9,
xii. 12, xviii. 2, &c). The same applies to the subordinate
Levites, verses 23 f. below. In Deut. , however, the terms priests
and Levites are coextensive, as explained on p. 199 f. Both
Deut. and Pg are here in conflict with Num. xxxv. 1-8 (Ps), for
which see the introductory note there.

21-24. The Levites are to receive 'all the tithe in Israel' for
their support in return for their service at the sanctuary. The
tithe, or tenth part, 'as a rate of taxation, secular or religious'
with special reference to agricultural produce, was familiar to
many peoples of antiquity, Egyptians, Greeks, &c. (see Moore's
art. 'Tithes' in EBL iv.). Both in its sacred and its secular form
the tithe finds early attestation in the O.T. apart from the law-
codes, e.g. Amos iv. 4; Gen. xxviii. 22 (E), and 1 Sam. viii. 15, 17,
the royal tithe. The complicated history of the nature and
destination of the religious tithes — in later times it was usual to
distinguish a first, second, and third tithe — has been carefully
investigated by Driver in his Comm. on Deuteronomy, pp. 166-73,
which see also for a discussion of the relation of P's legislation on
the application of the tithe to that of Deuteronomy (xiv. 22-29,
xxvi. 12-15). In Lev. xxviii. 30-33, a later priestly writer adds
the tithe of cattle to the cereal tithe of Pg.

22. lest they bear sin, and die: i.e. lest they incur the
fatal consequences of unguarded approach to the sanctuary, as
explained in the notes on verse 1 ; the expression is used in ix. 13
with reference to a sin of omission.

NUMBERS 18. 24-32* Ps 295

and among the children of Israel they shall have no
inheritance. For the tithe of the children of Israel, 24
which they offer as an heave offering unto the Lord,
I have given to the Levites for an inheritance : therefore
I have said unto them, Among the children of Israel
they shall have no inheritance.

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Moreover 2j*
thou shalt speak unto the Levites, and say unto them,
When ye take of the children of Israel the tithe which
I have given you from them for your inheritance, then ye
shall offer up an heave offering of it for the Lord, a tithe
of the tithe. And your heave offering shall be reckoned 2 7
unto you, as though it were the corn of the threshing-
floor, and as the fulness of the winepress. Thus ye also 28
shall offer an heave offering unto the Lord of all your
tithes, which ye receive of the children of Israel ; and
thereof ye shall give the Lord's heave offering to Aaron
the priest. Out of all your gifts ye shall offer every heave *9
offering of the Lord, of all the a best thereof, even the
hallowed part thereof out of it. Therefore thou shalt 30
say unto them, When ye heave the a best thereof from
it, then it shall be counted unto the Levites as the in-
crease of the threshing-floor, and as the increase of the
winepress. And ye shall eat it in every place, ye and 31
your households : for it is your reward in return for your
service in the tent of meeting. And ye shall bear no sin 32
a Heb. fat.

25-32- Of the tithe paid by the people to the Levites the latter
in their turn are to pay over the tenth part—' a tithe of the tithe'
(verse 26) — to the priests.

30. unto the Levites: read with Vulgate, 'unto you' and
render : * it (the remainder of the general tithe) shall be counted
unto you as the (tithed) increase of the threshing-floor,' &c. is
counted to the lay Israelites, i. e. it will now be available for the
maintenance of the Levites and their families.

296 NUMBERS 19. i. P« P

by reason of it, when ye have heaved from it the a best
thereof: and ye shall not profane the holy things of the
children of Israel, ll that ye die not.

19 [P] And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron,

a Heb. fat. b Or, neither shall ye die

(e) xix. The Red Heifer, or the ritual of purification from unclean-
ness caused by contact with the dead.

This chapter, which has no connexion with those that precede
and follow it, consists of two distinct sections : (i) verses 1-13,
containing directions for the preparation of a special cathartic in
the shape of the ashes of a red cow (1-10), and for its use in cases
of ceremonial defilement through contact with a dead body (12-13) !
(a) verses 14-22, more detailed instructions for its use in a variety
of similar cases due to the defiling power of the dead. While
there can be no question that both sections belong to the priestly
legislation, it is evident, on several grounds, that they are the
product of different hands, and that neither had a place in the
groundwork of the Priests' Code (*P6).

The primitive conceptions underlying the rite of purification,
here described, have been briefly set forth in the introduction to
the section of Leviticus devoted to the laws of uncleanness and
purification, where this chapter might have been expected to find
a place (see above, pp. 81 ff.). Among the Hebrews, as among
other peoples of the ancient and modern world, it is found that
* a chief centre or " nidus" of impurity is childbirth ; but still more
dangerously impure is its counterpart, death and all the phenomena
of death' (Farnell). So powerful, indeed, was the uncleanness
produced by contact with, and even by proximity to, a dead body
that, according to this chapter at least, the ordinary medium of
purification, water, was insufficient and had to be strengthened by
the addition, along with other ingredients, of the ashes of a sacro-
sanct animal. Most of the questions, historical and exegetical,
raised by this chapter have been touched upon by the present
writer in his art. 'Red Heifer' in Hastings's DB., iv. 207 ff. To
the literature there given should now be added Buchanan Gray's
Commentary (valuable for the parallels from other religions) ;
Bewer, Journ. of Bib. Lit. xxiv. (1905) 41 ff. (the rite was
originally a sacrifice to the spirits of the dead) ; H. P. Smith,
ibid, xxvii. (1908) 153 ff., and Amer. Journ. of Theol. xiii. (1909
207-28 (a history of the extraordinarily varied interpretations
of this chapter'; Lods, La Croyance de la Vie Future, i. 175 ff.,
' L'impurete des morts.'

NUMBERS 19. 2-6. P 297

saying, This is the statute of the law which the Lord 2
hath commanded, saying, Speak unto the children of
Israel, that they bring thee a red heifer a without spot,
wherein is no blemish, and upon which never came yoke :
and ye shall give her unto Eleazar the priest, and he 3
shall bring her forth without the camp, and one shall
slay her before his face : and Eleazar the priest shall 4
take of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle of her
blood toward the front of the tent of meeting seven
times : and one shall burn the heifer in his sight ; her 5
skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall
he burn : and the priest shall take cedar wood, and 6
hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the midst of the

a Or, perfect

2. a red heifer: more precisely 'a red (i.e. reddish brown),
cow.' The red colour is usually explained as suggesting blood,
the seat of life, but is more probably due to association with fire
as a powerful purifying agent (cf. xxxi. 23), just as at the festival
of the Robigalia the Romans sacrificed red whelps as ' a symbol
of the scorching heat of the sun which destroyed the crops'
Wissowa). Those who find in the rite of the red cow a survival
of an ancient sacrifice for the dead point to the red victims
sacrificed by the Greeks to their underground deities. The
nearest analogies to the sex of the red cow is the ewe-lamb
of Lev. xiv. 10, which, however, was a true sacrifice, and the
heifer — not, as here, a cow — of the purgation rite, Deut. xxi. 1-9.
Both heifer and cow had to be ' virgin ' animals, in the sense that
they had not been used by man for secular purposes (cf. the same
condition in 1 Sam. vi. 7).

4. toward the front of the tent of meeting'. The cow is to be
slain — but not by the priest — to the east of the camp. According
to the Mishnah (Pa rah [the Cow], iii. 6, Eng. trans, in Barclay, The
Talmud, p. 304), the place in later times was the Mount of Olives.
The rite described in this and the following verses has, besides
its quasi-sacrificial character, several unique features, such as the
subordinate part played by the priest, the sprinkling of the blood
from a distance, and especially the burning of the blood.

6. cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet. For these see the
note on Lev. xiv. 4. in another specimen of primitive ritual.
Here, as there, the first two ingredients were added in virtue

298 NUMBERS 19. 7-10. P

7 burning of the heifer. Then the priest shall wash his
clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and after-
ward he shall come into the camp, and the priest shall be

8 unclean until the even. And he that burneth her shall
wash his clothes in water, and bathe his flesh in water,

9 and shall be unclean until the even. 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

to a water of a separation : it is a sin offering. 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 of Israel, and unto the stranger that sojourneth

a Or, impurity

of their aromatic properties, in this case to increase the efficacy of
the ashes as a cathartic. The ' holy water \ of the Babylonians,
prepared by the addition of cedar, cypress, tamarisk, and other
fragrant woods, offers an analogy.

7 f. These verses supply an illuminating illustration of the
primitive conception of the quasi-physical nature of holiness and
of its close connexion with uncleanness. The priest and the man
that slew and burned the cow have become ceremonially unclean
through contact with a thing most holy or ' taboo.' To prevent
the spread of the fatal contagion of holiness to others, they must
wash both their persons and their garments. See the notes on
Lev. vi. 11, 27, and on the still closer parallels, Lev. xvi. 23 ff.

9. for a water of separation : render with margin, ' a water
of impurity,' or better, with Amer. R.V., <a water for impurity,'
i.e. a water for the removal of ceremonial uncleanness, an
expression peculiar to this chapter and xxxi. 23.

it is a sin offering1 (cf. verse 17). This rendering is impos-
sible for the simple reason that the red cow was not a sin-offering
or indeed a sacrifice of any kind ; for P there is only one legitimate
place of sacrifice, the altar in the court of the tabernacle, and the
cow was slaughtered and burnt elsewhere (verse 3). Render
' it is a medium of purification,' or • un-sin-ment,' as advocated on
p. 48; cf. the note on Num. viii. 7, where the original (hattath)
is rendered ' expiation ' by the Revisers, and the use of the
cognate verb in verses 12 f., 19 f. below.

NUMBERS 19. 11-16. P 299

among them, for a statute for ever. He that toucheth n
the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days |
the same shall purify himself therewith on the third day, 12
a and on the seventh day he shall be clean : but if he
purify not himself the third day, b then the seventh day
he shall not be clean. Whosoever toucheth the dead 13
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. This is the law when 14
a man dieth in a tent : every one that cometh into the
tent, and every one that is in the tent, shall be unclean
seven days. And every open vessel, which hath no 15
covering bound upon it, is unclean. And whosoever 16
a Or, and on the seventh day, so shall he be clean b Or, and

11-13. The specific purpose for which this unique l medium of
purification ' is to be used, the removal of uncleanness caused by
touching a dead body. A parallel to this use of ashes is provided
by the Roman custom, at the festival of the Fordicidia, of purifying
the men and animals on the farm with the ashes of calves taken
from pregnant cows (Bailey, The Religion of Ancient Rome, p. 62).

12. the same shall purify himself: lit. ' shall un-sin himself,'
see above, also the note on Lev. iv. 3. The punctuation and
renderings of the margin are to be preferred to those of the text.

13. defileth the tabernacle of the LORD : see on Lev. xv. 31 ;
cf. verse 20 below.

14-22. A section from another hand, as shown by certain
variations in the phraseology, giving a more detailed application
of the general principles laid down in verses n-13, and more
precise instructions for the mode of purification.

15. Every open vessel and its contents are unclean because the
latter are exposed to the miasma of impurity. This idea lies at
the basis of the widespread custom of pouring out the contents of
vessels containing water and milk immediately a death occurs in
a house (see Bender, Jewish Quart. Rev. vii. 106 ff., and Sebillot,
Le Paganisme contemporain, p. 173 f, both of whom refer to the
Jewish belief that this is done to the water because the angel
of death has washed therewith the blood from his sword).

300 NUMBERS 19. 17-22. P

in the open field toucheth one that is slain with a sword,
or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be

17 unclean seven days. And for the unclean they shall
take of the ashes of the burning of the sin offering, and

1 8 «- running water shall be put thereto in a vessel : and
a clean person shall take hyssop, and 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 touched the bone, or the slain, or the dead, or the

19 grave: and the clean person shall sprinkle upon the un-
clean on the third day, and on the seventh day : and on
the seventh day he shall purify him ; and he shall wash
his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and shall be

20 clean at even. But the man that shall be unclean, and
shall not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off from
the midst of the assembly, because he hath defiled the
sanctuary of the Lord : the water of separation hath not

2 1 been sprinkled upon him ; he is unclean. And it shall
be a perpetual statute unto them : and he that sprinkleth
the water of separation shall wash his clothes ; and he
that toucheth the water of separation shall be unclean

22 until even. And whatsoever the unclean person toucheth

a Heb. living.

M7-19, instructions for the preparation of the 'water for
impurity ' and the mode of its application. Some of the ashes of
the red cow are to be added to ' living' water (see on Lev. xiv. 5) ;
a clean person then takes a bunch of hyssop or marjoram, and
sprinkles with the mixture the persons and things defiled.

21. The 'water for impurity' is a means of restoring the
unclean to ceremonial holiness because it is itself holy (taboo) ;
therefore the clean person who handles it becomes, as in the
cases mentioned above (verses 7 ff.), likewise taboo, that is
infected by the contagion of holiness, and consequently unclean.
Similarly, in later times, whoever handled a roll of the sacred
Scriptures became unclean because these i defiled the hands ' by
their holiness.

22, on the other hand, illustrates the contagion of uncleanness,

NUMBERS 20. i. P JEP 301

shall be unclean ; and the soul that toucheth it shall be
unclean until even.

[JEP] And the children of Israel, even the whole 20

which, according to Hag. ii. ia f., was regarded as even more
powerful than the contagion of holiness.

In the rite of ' the red heifer' we have one of the most striking
examples of the survival within the higher religion of Israel of
a practice which there is every reason to believe antedates that
religion itself. Like the goat to Azazel (Lev. xvi. 8 ff.), the tassels
on the mantle (Num. xv. 37 ff.), and similar survivals, the rite has
been adopted by the priestly legislators, but reinterpreted in the
spirit of a later age. As it now appears, it reinforces by its
striking symbolism the eternal truth that purity and holiness are
the essential characteristics of the people of God.

(/) xx. 1-13. Death of Miriam at Kadesh. The 'waters1 of
strife and the exclusion of Moses and Aaron from the land of
promise.

Why were Moses and Aaron denied the privilege of entering
the promised land ? What had they done to forfeit this privilege ?
These questions supplied the principal motif for the traditions
(from JE and P) now blended and revised by the compiler in this
section (the detailed analysis is uncertain, and has not been
attempted in the text above). Other motifs may be recognized
in the explanation of the place-names Meribah and Kadesh in
verse 13 (see notes).

It is remarkable, however, that no very convincing reason is
given in the text as it now stands for the exclusion of Moses, still
less for the exclusion of Aaron, from the land of Canaan. The
compiler, to all appearance, wishes to represent Moses as guilty
of a momentary lack of faith in the Divine power to draw the
water from the rock by a word, and both Moses and Aaron as
guilty of claiming for themselves the power which belonged to
God alone (see esp. verse 10). But a closer examination of the
composite narrative, and of the allusions elsewhere to the conduct
of the two leaders on this occasion as an act of rebellion against
Yahweh (see e. g. verse 24 of this chapter and xxvii. 14) has
suggested the belief that the compiler has considerably modified
and toned down the representation of his sources. These allu-
sions, it must be admitted, give colour to the suggestion, approved
by several scholars of repute, that the words ' Hear now, ye
rebels' of verse 10 were, in the original tradition, addressed by
Yahweh Himself to Moses and Aaron (see Cornill's suggested

302 NUMBERS 20. 2-8. JEP

congregation, came into the wilderness of Zin in the first
month : and the people abode in Kadesh ; and Miriam

2 died there, and was buried there. And there was no
water for the congregation : and they assembled them-

3 selves together against Moses and against Aaron. And
the people strove with Moses, and spake, saying, Would
God that we had died when our brethren died before the

4 Lord ! And why have ye brought the assembly of the
Lord into this wilderness, that we should die there, we

5 and our cattle ? 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 pome-

6 granates ; neither is there any water to drink. And
Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the
assembly unto the door of the tent of meeting, and
fell upon their faces : and the glory of the Lord appeared

7 unto them. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

8 Take the rod, and assemble the congregation, thou, and

reconstruction in Gray's Commentary, p. 162). The problem is
confessedly one of considerable difficulty, and must be studied in
the standard critical and exegetical works.

1. the wilderness of Zin. See on xiii. 3, 21.
in the first month: the number of the year has either
dropped out accidentally, or more probably has been omitted by the
compiler for harmonistic reasons. In P the year was doubtless
the fortieth from the exodus, but in JE the Hebrews arrived at
Kadesh soon after leaving Sinai-Horeb (see p. 259). According
to the earlier tradition Kadesh was the centre and rallying-point
of the tribes during the whole period of the wanderings. For its
probable site and identification with the modern 'Ain Kadis see
on xiii. 26.

and Miriam died there : probably from E ; hence the date
of Miriam's death must not be placed, without further evidence, in
the fortieth year, which is P's probable 'date for the following
incident. The latter would be more natural at the beginning than at
the close of the stay at Kadesh.

3. died before the LORD : in the mutiny of Korah and the
subsequent plague (xvi. 35, 49, xvii. 12 f.).

8. Take the rod: described in verse 9 as 'before Yahweh'

NUMBERS 20. 9-13, JEP 303

Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before
their eyes, that it give forth its water ; and thou shalt
bring forth to them water out of the rock : so thou shalt
give the congregation and their cattle drink. And Moses 9
took the rod from before the Lord, as he commanded
him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly 10
together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear
now, ye rebels ; shall we bring you forth water out of
this rock ? And Moses lifted up his hand, and smote 11
the rock with his rod twice : and water came forth abun-
dantly, and the congregation drank, and their cattle.
And the Lord said unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye 12
believed not in me, to sanctify me in the eyes of the
children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this
assembly into the land which I have given them. These 13
are the waters of a Meribah ; because the children of
a That is, Strife.

with reference to xvii. 10. The present form of the narrative
leaves the purpose of the rod unexplained (contrast the parallel
narrative, Exod. xvii. 5 f.).

10. According to a probable reconstruction of the original
tradition (see reference above), Moses and Aaron were bidden by
Yahweh to speak to the rock ; they refused, sceptically asking
Yahweh, ' Can we bring them forth water out of this rock ? ', to
which Yahweh replied, ' Hear now, ye rebels,' bidding them at the
same time strike the rock, and afterwards pronouncing upon them
the doom of exclusion as in verse 12.

12. to sanctify me (cf. xxvii. 14) : by their disobedience and
lack of faith, the two leaders had robbed Yahweh of the honour
due to Him as * the holy one of Israel,' and so done injury to His
essential attribute of holiness. The reflexive form of the verb, at
the close of verse 13, may accordingly be rendered : ' and he
vindicated his holiness among them.' The selection of this verb
(kadesh) is probably intended, by a play upon the word, to suggest
the origin of Kadesh as a place-name. This motif is certain in
the words

13. These are the waters of Meribah: i.e. 'the waters of
strife ' or ' contention.' That Meribah is another name for Kadesh
with reference to its sacred spring is seen from the frequent

304 NUMBERS 20. r4. JBPJH

Israel strove with the Lord, and he a was sanctified in
them.
14 [JE] And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh unto

a Or, shelved himself holy

occurrence of the double name ' Meribath-Kadesh ' (see reff.
p. 263). In reality, however, Kadesh was from the earliest times
one of those 'well sanctuaries,' hallowed by the presence of
a sacred spring, and the seat of an oracle, as attested by the
undoubtedly ancient name En-mishpat or Fountain of Judgement
(Gen. xiv. 7). The name Meribah is now generally explained on
these lines as ' the place of contention ' at law, the ancient
sanctuaries being the seats of the earliest courts of justice (for
this, and for the relation of the present section to Exod. xvii. 1-7,
where Meribah is identified with Massah and both with Rephidim,
see Meyer, Die Israelilen, pp. 54 ff. ; cf. Bennett, Cent. Bible, in he).

Tnird Division. Chapters XX. 14— XXXVI. 13.
From Kadesh to the Plains of Moab.

The third division of the Book of Numbers relates the
experiences of the Hebrew tribes from their departure from
Kadesh-Barnea to their encampment in ' the plains of Moab at
(i. e. over against) Jericho. ' A summary of the contents with the
relative subdivisions will be found in sect, ii of the Introduction.
The most important of the historical episodes is that of Balaam,
who was called to curse but was compelled to bless the tribes of
Israel (chs. xxii-xxiv, from the prophetic source, JE). A large
amount of legislative matter belonging to various strata of the
priestly writings has also found a place in this division.

According to the compiler's scheme of chronology the events
recorded in this part of Numbers, including the conquest and
occupation of the whole of the country east of the Jordan, fall
within the latter half of the fortieth year from the departure of the
Hebrews from Egypt. Unfortunately, in the present fragmentary
condition of the original sources, it is no longer possible to trace
with certainty the route taken by the tribes on their march from
Kadesh to the Jordan. As will appear in the sequel, E is the
most explicit, representing the Israelites as compelled by the
hostility of Edom to adopt the circuitous route by the way of
the Gulf of Akabah to ' compass ' the whole land of Edom (cf.
Judges xi. 18). P. on the other hand, and also J probably, adopt
the direct route from Kadesh by the southern end of the Dead
Sea, crossing the northern part of Edom (see notes on xx. 22 f.,
xxi. to ff.). D, finally, brings the Israelites along the western

NUMBERS 20. 15-17. JB 305

the king of Edom, Thus saith thy brother Israel, Thou
knowest all the travail that hath befallen us : how our 15
fathers went down into Egypt, and we dwelt in Egypt a
long time ; and the Egyptians evil entreated us, and our
fathers : and when we cried unto the Lord, he heard 16
our voice, and sent an angel, and brought us forth out of
Egypt : and, behold, we are in Kadesh, a city in the
uttermost of thy border : let us pass, I pray thee, through 1 7
thy land : we will not pass through field or through vine-
yard, neither will we drink of the water of the wells : we

frontier of Edom to the head of the Gulf of Akabah, as does E, but
differs from the latter in taking them thereafter due north along
the depression of the Arabah towards the Dead Sea and the
territory of Moab (Deut. ii. 1-13, 28 f.). But little assistance in
the solution of this problem of the actual route of the Hebrews is
to be obtained from the late and artificial itinerary given in
ch. xxxiii below.

(a) xx. 14 — xxi. 35. The Hebrews, refused a passage through
Edom, make a long detour and take possession 0/ the country east of
the Jordan.

14-21. Edom refuses the request of his ' brother Israel' to be
allowed to pass peaceably through his territory. The source is
JE, but mainly E (see on verse 16).

14. the king of Edom. That there were kings ' in the land of
Edom, before there reigned any king over Israel,' is expressly
stated in Gen. xxxvi. 31 ; cf. 1 Sam. viii. 5.

thy brother Israel : see esp. Gen. xxv. 23-26 for this rela-
tionship of Esau-Edom to Jacob-Israel; cf. Amos i. 11; Obad.io, 12.
For the characteristic O.T. ' personification of a whole class or
people so that it is spoken of, or represented as speaking, in the
singular,' see Gray in loc.

16. and sent an angel: this thought of an angel as Yahweh's
representative in the work of the great deliverance is characteristic
of E's account of the exodus, see Exod. xiv. 19, xxiii. 20.

Kadesh, a city in the uttermost of thy border : a statement
of the first importance for fixing the site of Kadesh (see note on
xiii. 26), as lying on the extreme western frontier of Edom. It
also proves conclusively that the territory at this time occupied by
the Edomites extended to both sides of the Arabah.

1*7. Compare the identical proposal xxi. 21 f. ; from Deut. ii. 29
it may be inferred that similar overtures were made to the
Moabitcs, the record of which has not been preserved.

306 NUMBERS 20. 18-23. JEP

will go along the king's high way, we will not turn aside
to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed

18 thy border. And Edom said unto him, Thou shalt not
pass through me, lest I come out with the sword against

19 thee. And the children of Israel said unto him, We will
go up by the high way : and if we drink of thy water,
I and my cattle, then will I give the price thereof: let
me only, without doing any thing else, pass through on my

20 feet. And he said, Thou shalt not pass through. And
Edom came out against him with much people, and with

2i a strong hand. Thus Edom refused to give Israel pass-
age through his border: wherefore Israel turned away
from him.

22 [P] And they journeyed from Kadesh : and the chil-
dren of Israel, even the whole congregation, came unto

23 mount Hor. And the Lord spake unto Moses and
Aaron in mount Hor, by the border of the land of Edom,

the king-'s high way. For the ancient trade-routes through
Edom, see EBi. iv. col. 5162 f., and Hastings's DB., v. 370.

19. The Israelites make a second attempt to conciliate Edom ;
verses 19 f., however, may represent the parallel account of J.

21. Israel turned away from him: ' l^ the way to the Red
Sea, to compass the land of Edom,' so runs the continuation of
JE's narrative in xxi. 4b. which see.

22-29 (from Pg). The death of Aaron on Mount Hor and
installation of Eleazar as High Priest in his stead ; cf. xxxiii. 37-39,
where Aaron's age is given as 'an hundred and twenty and three
3'ears.' A variant tradition as to the place of Aaron's death is
found in Deut. x. 6 f., a fragment of an itinerary, probably from E
(see Cent. Bible, in foe.). Neither the Moserah of the latter
passage nor the Mount Hor of P has been identified with
certainty ; both probably lay in the neighbourhood of the Jebel
Madera (-Moserah?) of Musil's map, to the north-east of 'Ain
Kadis and east of the Wady Fikreh. Cf. on xxxiii. 30 ff.

22 f. mount Hor ... by the border of the land of Edom (cf.
xxxiii. 37). If the identification of Mt. Hor with Jebel Madera
be accepted, P will have represented the Israelites as taking the
direct route by the southern end of the Dead Sea.

NUMBERS 20. 24— 21. 3. PJE 307

saying, Aaron shall be gathered unto his people : for he 24
shall not enter into the land which I have given unto the
children of Israel, because ye rebelled against my word
at the waters of Meribah. 'lake Aaron and Eleazar his 25
son, and bring them up unto mount Hor : and strip 26
Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his
son : and Aaron shall be gathered unto his people^ and
shall die there. And Moses did as the Lord commanded : 2 7
and they went up into mount Hor in the sight of all the
congregation. And Moses stripped Aaron of his gar- 28
ments, and put them upon Eleazar his son j and Aaron
died there in the top of the mount : and Moses and
Eleazar came down from the mount. And when all the 29
congregation saw that Aaron was dead, they wept for
Aaron thirty days, even all the house of Israel.

[JE] And the Canaanite, the king of Arad, which 21
dwelt in the South, heard tell that Israel came by the
way aof Atharim : and he fought against Israel, and
took some of them captive. And Israel vowed a vow 2
unto the Lord, and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver this
people into my hand, then 1 will b utterly destroy their
cities. And the Lord hearkened to the voice of Israel, 3

a Or, of the spies h Heb. devote.

24. because ye rebelled, &c. : see above, verses 1-13.

26. strip Aaron of his garments : i. e. of his robes of office,
described Lev. viii. 7 ff., with which Eleazar is vested as his
successor in the office of High Priest.

xxi. 1-3. A misplaced and perplexing section from JE. which
may originally have stood in closer connexion with xiv. 39-45.

1. We should probably read : 'And the Canaanite which dwelt
in the Negeb' (cf. xiv. 25, 45 }, omitting <the king of Arad' as
a gloss. ^

by the way of Atharim : the meaning of Atharim is un-
known ; the text is doubtless corrupt.

3. Comparison with Judges i. 17 has suggested that this con-
quest of Hormah — here, however, represented as a district com-

X 2

308 NUMBERS 21. 4-7. JE P E

and delivered up the Canaanites ; and they a utterly
destroyed them and their cities : and the name of the
place was called t>Hormah.

4 [P] And they journeyed from mount Hor [E] by the
way to the Red Sea, to compass the land of Edom : and
the soul of the people c was much discouraged d because

5 of the way. And the people spake against God, and
against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of
Egypt to die in the wilderness ? for there is no bread, and
there is no water; and our soul loatheth this e light

6 bread. And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the
people, and they bit the people ; and much people of

7 Israel died. And the people came to Moses, and said,
We have sinned, because we have spoken against the
Lord, and against thee : pray unto the Lord, that he

a Heb. devoted. b From the same root as herem, a devoted

thing. e Or, was impatient Heb. zvas shortened. d Or, in

e Or, vile

prising several cities of the Canaanites— may have been told here
by anticipation.

4-9. The episode of the ' brazen ; (copper) serpent. A final
murmuring on the part of the Hebrews is punished by a plague of
* fiery' serpents. After 'much people' had died of their bites,
Moses, in answer to prayer, is instructed to set up on a pole
a bronze model of a serpent on which the sufferers may look and
be healed. The episode is generally assigned to E.

4. The first six words are Ps continuation of xx. 29, and are
continued in verse 10 below ; for the rest of 4a see on xx. 21. The
route lay in a south-easterly direction along the western frontier
of Edom until it reached the Red Sea at the northern end of the
Gulf of Akabah in the neighbourhood of Elath and Ezion-geber (cf.
Deut. ii. 8).

5. this light bread : rather as margin ' this vile bread.'

6. fiery serpents : the meaning of the word rendered ' fiery '
is still matter of conjecture. It is usually derived from the verb
saraph, 'to burn' ('burning serpents'), and supposed to refer to
the burning sensation caused by the poison from their fangs. The
connexion of the term, if any, with the seraphim of Isa. vi. 2, 6 is
equally uncertain.

NUMBERS 21. 8-ii. EP 30c,

take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for
the people. And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee 8
a fiery serpent, and set it upon a standard : and it shall
come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he
seeth it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, 9
and set it upon the standard : and it came to pass, that
if a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked unto
the serpent of brass, he lived. [P] And the children of 10
Israel journeyed, and pitched in Oboth. And they n

8 f. Numerous analogies to the procedure here enjoined have
been collected by Frazer in his Golden Bough 2, ii. 426 f. The
closest O.T. parallel is furnished by the golden images of the
boils and mice in 1 Sam. vi. 4 f. (see Cent. Bible, in loc). The small
bronze serpents found at Gezer (PEFSt. 1903, p. 222, fig. 13)
and in Arabia (Nielsen, Altarab. Mondreligion, p. 190, figs. 38, 39^
were probably of the nature of amulets or charms.

9. a serpent of brass: rather 'of copper,' which the original
signifies in Deut. viii. 9, or, as elsewhere, 'of bronze.'

The interpretation of this episode must start from the historical
notice of the destruction by Hezekiah of the ' brazen ' serpent
which had become an object of idolatrous worship in the temple
at Jerusalem, and is expressly identified with the serpent made
by Moses on this occasion (see 2 Kings xviii. 4). The view now
generally advocated, even by so conservative a scholar as Bau-
dissin (see below), is that the worship in question was part of a
foreign cult, borrowed probably from the Canaanites, in which
the serpent symbolized a chthonic deity possessed of special
healing powers. An effort, it is suggested, was made to regularize
this cult by associating its object with the founder of Israel's
religion ; the story of Numbers, which is thus reduced to an
aetiological legend, is the result (see further Gray, Numbers,
pp. 274 ff., and esp. the elaborate art. ? Schlange, eherne,' by
Baudissin, PRE.3 vol. xvii. 580-6, with full bibliography).

Whatever may be the origin of the story, it embodies the
belief that Yahweh alone is the true Healer (Exod. xv. 26 ;
Hos. vi. 1), and illustrates the efficacy of faith in the means
appointed by Him (cf. the interpretation in Wisd. xvi. 6 f.). For
the Christian reader the 'brazen' serpent has become the immortal
type of the crucified Saviour (John iii. 14).

10 f. a fragment of P's itinerary. If Mt. Hor = Jebel Madera,
arid Oboth ^'Ain el-Weybeh (see on xxxiii. 43) — both doubt-
ful equations — the Hebrews are now marching across the

3to NUMBERS 21. 12-14. PE

journeyed from Oboth, and pitched at Iye-abarim, in

the wilderness which is before Moab, toward the sun-

i2 rising. [E] From thence they journeyed, and pitched in

13 the valley of Zered. From thence they journeyed, and
pitched on the other side of Arnon, which is in the
wilderness, that cometh out of the border of the Amorites :
for Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the

14 Amorites. Wherefore it is said in the book of the Wars
of the Lord,

Arabah depression in the direction of Moab. The next stage is
almost certainly in Moab or at least on the borders of it, for Iye-
abarim is probably the modern Khirbet *Ai (Lagrange, Rev.
Biblique, ix. (1900), pp. 287, 443^, to the south of Kerak, near
Ketherabba of Bartholomew's map, Kufrabba of Musil's.

12-20. An extract from E's itinerary, according to which, as
was shown above, the Hebrews, after leaving the Gulf of Akabah,
struck north-east and then north to continue their 'compass 'of the
land of Edom. The compiler has omitted this part of the route,
in order, probably, to minimize the discrepancy with P's more
direct route.

12. in the valley of Zered : or ' in the Wady Zered ' (cf. Deut.
ii. 13). If Khirbet 'Ai is lye, the Zered must be the Wady Kerak.
rather than the Wady el-Ahsa or el-Hesi further to the south.

13. on the other side of Arnon. The Arnon is the Wad}'
Mojib, but the preceding words may denote a point either to the
north or to the south of the river according to the standpoint of
the writer. At this time the territory occupied by the Moabites
was confined to the region south of the Arnon, that to the north
of the river having been forcibly occupied by a race of Amorite
invaders (xxi. 26) from the northern land of Amurru (see on
xiii. 29).

14. As proof that the Arnon, at the date of the Hebrew in-
vasion, formed the dividing line between Moabites and Amorites,
the writer quotes a fragment of an ancient poem which he found
in ' The Book of the Wars ' or Battles ' of Yahweh.' This book, of
which there is no further mention in the O.T., was probably a
collection of popular songs in which the victories of the Hebrews
over the Canaanites and others were celebrated. It derived its
name from the fact that the battles of His people were Yahweh's
battles (see 1 Sam. xviii. 17, xxv. 28). 'The snatch itself is an
obscure fragment beginning in the middle of one sentence and
breaking oft' in the middle of the next ' (Gray).

NUMBERS 21. 15-19. E 311

Vaheb a in Suphah,
And the valleys of Anion,

And the slope of the valleys 15

That inclineth toward the dwelling of Ar,
And leaneth upon the border of Moab.
And from thence they journeyed to b Beer : that is the 16
well whereof the Lord said unto Moses, Gather the people
together, and I will give them water.

Then sang Israel this song : 1 7

Spring up, O well ; sing ye unto it :
The well, which the princes digged, 18

Which the nobles of the people delved,
c With the sceptre, and with their staves.
And from the wilderness they journeyed to Mattanah :
and from Mattanah to Nahaliel : and from Nahaliei to 19
a Or, in storm b That is, A well. ° Or, By order of the lawgiver

Vaheb in, Suphah: a verb, such as 'we captured,' must
have preceded 'Vaheb'; both localities are unknown.

15. the dwelling- of Ar: doubtless the city named 'Ar of Moab '
in verse 28 (cf. note on xxii.36), which lay on the Moabite frontier
'Deut. ii. 18). The site has not been identified.

19, This holds good also of Beer, i. e. Well-town, the mention
of which gives occasion for the citation of another short poem
celebrating the opening of the well from which the place derived
its name.

18. With the sceptre : rather ' with the wand,' denoting the
commander's rod of office, cf. Gen. xlix. 10, R.V., 'the ruler's
staff.' It has been suggested that the reference is to a custom
according to which, after a well had been discovered, it was
temporarily covered over, and afterwards formally opened by the
authorities with some such symbolic action as is described in the
text (Budde\

And from the wilderness : the LXX has the easier reading
' And from Beer.'

19 f. The itinerary is continued northwards through several
unidentified localities to ' the valley that is in the field (or country)
of Moab,' probably the Wady'Ayun Musa (Moses' springs) which
runs into the north-east corner of the Dead Sea. Pis gall (xxiii.
14 ; Deut. iii. 27, xxxiv. 1) appears to be a general name for a series

312 NUMBERS 21. 20-24. EJE

20 Bamoth : and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the
field of Moab, to the top of Pisgah, which looketh down
upon a the desert.

a 1 [JE] And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of

22 the Amorites, saying, Let me pass through thy land :
we will not turn aside into field, or into vineyard ; we
will not drink of the water of the wells : we will go by
the king's high way, until we have passed thy border.

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 came to

24 Jahaz : and he fought against Israel. And Israel smote
him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land
from Arnon unto Jabbok, even unto the children of

a Or, Jeshimon

of projections of the high plateau of Moab, one of which bore the
special name of Mount Nebo (Deut. xxxiv. 1) on which Moses
died. The latter is the modern Jebel Neba, on a line with the
north end of the Dead Sea.

21-32. The conquest of the Amorite kingdom lying between
the Arnon and the Jabbok (cf. the parallel accounts, Deut. ii. 24-
37 ; Judges xi. 19-22).

The source is still the composite work JE, in the main E. With
the original prose narrative there has now been incorporated,
either by E or by a later hand, an early poem supposed to cele-
brate the conquest of northern Moab by the invading Amorites
(but see below). The compiler of the Pentateuch, however, has
preferred to complete the above itinerary to inserting this section
in its proper place, for here the Hebrews have not yet entered
the Amorite territory, being still at the point reached in verse 13,
as is evident from verse 23.

21 ff. Overtures for a peaceable passage made to the Amorite
king are treated precisely as in the earlier case of the Edomites
(xx. 14 ff.).

23. and came to Jahaz. From the inscription of Mesha,
king of Moab {circa 860 B.C.), it may be inferred that Jahaz lay
near to Dibon, and therefore not far from the Arnon (cf. verse 13).

24. from Arnon unto Jabbok, &c. This shows that Sihonrs
kingdom embraced the country lying between the Wady Mojib on

NUMBERS 21. 25, 26. JE 313

Amnion : for the border of the children of Amnion was
strong. And Israel took all these cities : and Israel 25
dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and
in all the atowns thereof. For Heshbon was the city of 26
Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against
the former king of Moab, and taken all his land out of

11 Heb. daughters.

the south and the Wady Zerka (Jabbok) on the north, and between
the Jordan on the west and the Ammonite territory about the
head waters of the Jabbok on the east.

was strong : read with LXX • was Jazer ' (verse 32) ; this
note is apparently editorial.

25. took all these cities : evidently those of the region
specified in the preceding verse ; the notice is probably from a
different source (J), hence the awkwardness of a reference to cities
not previously specified.

in Heshbon, and in all the towns thereof: in Heshbon,
the capital of the Amorite kingdom, and its dependent villages (cf.
R.V. marg.). Heshbon, the modern Hesban, lay almost exactly
midway between the Arnon and the Jabbok.

26. all his land out of his hand : we should probably read,
' all his land from Jabbok even unto Arnon ' (cf. verse 24).

As evidence of this Amorite conquest of northern Moab, E, or
another, cites an older poem which in his day was sung by them.
that speak in proverbs : i. e. by the ballad-singers or wander-
ing minstrels. For the meaning of the original imoshelxm) see
Gray, Numbers, in loc. with Addenda, p. xiii f. With regard to
the poem itself, * the one thing that is clear is that it celebrates
a victory over Moab. Everything else is more or less uncertain.'
On various grounds, wThich cannot be set forth here in detail, it
is not improbable that there has been a mistake in the application
of this poem, and that it is really a triumphal song composed by
a Hebrew — this must be admitted in any case — to celebrate a con-
quest of Moab by the Hebrews themselves. In this case one naturally
thinks of one of the campaigns of Omri, the father of Ahab {area
887-876 B.C.), who, as is recorded by Mesha, 'oppressed Moab
many days.' The tide of battle, as pictured by the poet, rolls
southward from the ruined capital, which still bore the title of
' the City of Sihon,' to the banks of the Arnon. The opening
distich would be better rendered, in accordance with its metrical
form, thus :

Come ye to Heshbon ! Let it be rebuilt !

Let the citv of Sihon be re-established !

3T4 NUMBERS 21. 27-30. JE

27 his hand, even unto Arnon. Wherefore they that speak
in proverbs say,

Come ye to Heshbon,

Let the city of Sihon be built and established :
a8 For a fire is gone out of Heshbon,

A flame from the city of Sihon :

It hath devoured Ar of Moab,

The lords of a the high places of Arnon.

29 Woe to thee, Moab !

Thou art undone, O people of Chemosh :
He hath given his sons as fugitives,
And his daughters into captivity,
Unto Sihon king of the Amorites.

30 We have shot at them ; Heshbon is perished even

unto Dibon,
And we have laid waste even unto Nophah,
b Which reacheth unto Medeba.

a Or, Bamoth b Some ancient authorities have, Fire reached unto,

28. The havoc of war is compared to the devastation wrought
by fire. For ' Ar of Moab ' see on verse 15. For the sake of a
better parallelism, however, it has been proposed to read : i It
hath devoured the "cities" of Moab, And " consumed " the
heights of Arnon ' (cf. LXX).

29. O people of Chemosh : the national deity of the Moabites
(Judges xi. 24), as Yahweh of the Hebrews. Cf. Mesha's In-
scription, line 5, ' Chemosh was angry with his land/ and allowed
Omri to oppress it. So here Chemosh is represented as giving
up the Moabites, his 'sons ' and ' daughters,' to captivity.

Unto Sihon kinff of the Amorites: the laws of both
grammar and metre are violated by this reading ; read, ' And his
daughters as captives to the king' (for this and other textual
emendations see the critical notes in Kittel's Biblia Hebraica).
On the view of the poem adopted above, 'the king' is, of course,
the Hebrew king, probably Omri.

30. The text of this verse is hopelessly corrupt. The first
distich has been restored, with the help of the Versions, to read :
i Their offspring is perished From Heshbon unto Dibon,' but only
the last words of the second, ' unto Medeba,' are recognizable.

NUMBERS 21. 3i—22. 1. JE D P 315

Thus Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorites. And *)'
Moses sent to spy out Jazer, and they took the towns '
thereof, and drove out the Amorites that were there.
[D] And they turned and went up by the way of Bashan : 33
and Og the king of Bashan went out against them, he
and all his people, to battle at Edrei. And the Lord M
said unto Moses, Fear him not : for I have delivered him
into thy hand, and all his people, and his land; and
thou shalt do to him as thou didst unto Sihon king of
the Amorites, which dwelt at Heshbon. So they smote 35
him, and his sons, and all his people, until there was
none left him remaining : and they possessed his
land. [P] And the children of Israel journeyed, and 22

31. appears to be the conclusion of E's narrative, referring
back to 24*. The following verse is an editorial addition from
another source, probably J. Jazer has not been satisfactorily
identified.

33-35. This summary account of the defeat of Og, king of
Bashan, and of the occupation of his country is now recognized
as a later insertion, taken over with the necessary change from the
first person to the third, from Deut. iii. 1-3 (see Robinson's notes
in Cent. Bible, in loc).

(b) xxii-xxiv. Balak and Balaam.

Alarmed by the defeat of the Amorites and the occupation of
their territory by the invading tribes, Balak, king of Moab, sends
for Balaam, a foreign magician and seer of great repute, in order
that he may lay the Hebrews under a powerful curse, and by so
doing deliver them into the hand of Moab. But instead of cursing,
Balaam is compelled by an irresistible Divine impulse to bless
Israel, and finally to announce the future subjection to his enemy
of Balak's country and people. This introduction of a heathen,
or at least of a non-Hebrew, seer as an inspired prophet ot
Yahweh, the literary skill with which the whole episode is
treated, and the religious fervour and wide outlook of the poems,
together with the unique incident of the speaking ass, and the
character-study presented by Balaam himself, have combined to
invest this section of the Book of Numbers with an unusual
interest.

Looking at this episode as a whole, the purpose of its compiler
may be said to be twofold ; to show the futility of all attempts on

316 NUMBERS 22. r. P

pitched in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan at
Jericho.

the part of man to foil the purpose of God, and to give expression,
at the moment when they were about to enter the land of promise,
to the glorious future which God had in store for the people ot
His choice.

There is no reason to doubt the historicity of the main incident,
which is entirely in accord with early ideas regarding the efficacy
of a spell wrought by a powerful magician. In these chapters,
therefore, we may recognize the later literary treatment of a
genuine popular tradition. It is evident, however, that they do
not form a homogeneous literary unit. The poems, though
younger than the popular tradition, are undoubtedly older than
the narrative in which they are now imbedded, for they seem to
breathe the spirit of the golden age of the Hebrew monarchy, the
age of David and Solomon (see below, p. 331 f.). But even the nar-
rative is not homogeneous. Apart from the presence of doublets
(cf. xxii. 2a and 4b, 3a and 3b, the l. elders ' of 7 with the ' princes '
of 8, 15, 21) and the divergent representations as to the home
of Balaam (see on xxii. 5), it has long been recognized that xxii.
22-35 cannot have come from the hand that wrote verse 20 and
its context. The section as it stands may be supposed to have
received substantially its present form from the editor who com-
bined J and E (Rje). The majority of recent critics favour the
attribution of xxii. 22-34 (35) with such of the preceding verses
as show some affinity therewith, and the bulk of ch. xxiv to J,
the rest of xxii and the whole of xxiii to E.

Only xxii. 1 can be assigned to P, for the references to Balaam
in the priestly writings, including the manner of his death
(xxxi. 8), reflect a wholly different view of his character. There
he appears as a Midianite sorcerer (Joshua xiii. 22), who suggested
a peculiarly abhorrent means for bringing about the ruin of the
Israelites (Num. xxxi. 16). This separation of the sources has
greatly simplified the problem of the character of Balaam. In E
in particular he is represented in an entirely favourable light, as
one resolved to know and to obey the will of Yahweh, and as the
recipient of a genuine Divine revelation, which he delivers with-
out the least regard to his personal interests.

1. The continuation of P's itinerary from xxi. 11, suitably
placed here as locating the Hebrews during the episode which
follows.

beyond the Jordan at Jericho : this rendering suggests that
Jericho lay on the east of the Jordan ; our idiom requires 'opposite
Jericho,' which is what is meant by 'on the other side of the
Jordan of Jericho ' of the Hebrew text.

NUMBERS 22. 2-5. JE 317

[JE] And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel 2
had done to the Amorites. And Moab was sore afraid 3
of the people, because they were many : and Moab awas
distressed because of the children of Israel. And Moab 4
said unto the elders of Midian, Now shall bthis multitude
lick up all that is round about us, as the ox licketh up
the grass of the field. And Balak the son of Zippor was
king of Moab at that time. And he sent messengers 5
unto Balaam the son of Beor, to Pethor, which is by the
River, to the land of the children of his people, to call
him, saying, Behold, there is a people come out from
Egypt : behold, they cover the c face of the earth, and
a Or, abhorred b Heb. the assembly. c Heb. eye.

4. unto the elders of Midian : here and in verse 7 an editorial
gloss with reference to xxv. 6 ff., xxxi. 8, 16 (Ps).

5-14. Balak's first deputation to Balaam.

5. Balaam the son of Beor : the name is almost identical in
the original with that of Bela, the son of Beor, an early king of
Edom(Gen.xxxvi. 32), a resemblance which is 'scarcely accidental ■
(see following note).

to Pethor, which is "by the River, to the land of the
children of his people. The latter expression is peculiar, and
it is generally agreed that the Samaritan Pentateuch has preserved
the true text : 'the land of the children of Ammon ' (reading ptt"
for ray). The change will have been made in order to remove
the discrepancy of the two statements which probably come from
the different sources. For 'the River' is the Euphrates, and
Pethor may be the Pitru of the Assyrian annals. But a still older
tradition is to be found in the poem xxiii. 7, where for ' Aram ' we
must read, as so often in O.T., ' Edom,' since 'the mountains of
the East' in the parallel line have been shown by Ed. Meyer
{Die Ismeliten, pp. 244, 378) to be the mountains of Edom, east of
the Arabah (cf. Gen. xxv. 6, and for Edom's reputation for wisdom
see Jer. xlix. 7; Obad. 8). The misreading of Aram for Edom
(0"W for din) was probably earlier than E, whose mention of
Pethor will then represent a later stage of the tradition (cf. Deut.
xxiii. 4). From the subsequent narrative one receives the im-
pression that Balaam's home was much nearer Moab than the
distant Euphrates, but whether it lay in Edom, as is most probable,
or among ' the children of Ammon ' (so presumably J), or among
the Midianites (P, see above), must be left an open question.

318 NUMBERS 22. 6-n. JE

6 they abide over against me : come now therefore, 1 pray
thee, curse me this people j for they are too mighty for
me : peradventure I shall prevail, that we may smite
them, and that I may drive them out of the land : for 1
know that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he

7 whom thou cursest is cursed. And the elders of Moab
and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of
divination in their hand; and they came unto Balaam,

8 and spake unto him the words of Balak. And he said
unto them, Lodge here this night, and I will bring you
word again, as the Lord shall speak unto me : and the

9 princes of Moab abode with Balaam. And God came
unto Balaam, and said, What men are these with thee?

10 And Balaam said unto God, Balak the son of Zippor,

11 king of Moab, hath sent unto me, saying, Behold, the
people that is come out of Egypt, it covereth the face of

6. curse me this people. Balak wishes to have the Hebrews
laid under a powerful spell, in the hope of thus being able the
more effectively to crush the dreaded invaders. For the efficacy
attributed by the Hebrews, as by other races, ancient and modern,
to the curse or spell, see Gray's illustrations, Numbers, in loc, and
— especially for the widespread use of the curse in war — Schwally,
Semitische Kriegsaltertiivner, p. 26 f.

*2. the elders of Moab: apparently J's equivalent of 'the
princes ' of E's embassy (verses 8, 13 ff.). The mention of
' the rewards of divination ' must not be entered in the account
against Balaam, in view of 1 Sam. ix. 7 f.

8. I.odg-e here this night: dreams and visions of the night
are media of Divine revelation characteristic of E (see on xii. 6 ft").
as the LORD shall speak unto me. For the perplexing
interchange of the Divine names in this section, see the data in
Gray, op. at. 310 f. In the present literary form of this episode.
Balaam is represented as a worshipper of Israel's God, Yahweh,
note esp. verse 18, l Yahweh, my God;' but it would be rash
to infer from this that he was so represented in the earlier oral
traditions, still less is there ground for the contention that Balaam
was in reality a Yahweh-worshipper ; cf. a similar use of the Divine-
name ascribed to Rahab, the Canaanito. in Joshua ii. 9-1 I, and see
Marti, Stud. 11, K> "

NUMBERS 22. 12-21. JE 319

the earth : now, come curse me them ; peradventure I
shall be able to fight against them, and shall drive them
out. And God said unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go 12
with them ; thou shalt not curse the people : for they are
blessed. And Balaam rose up in the morning, and said i?>
unto the princes of Balak, Get you into your land : for
the Lord refuseth to give me leave to go with you.
And the princes of Moab rose up, and they went unto 14
Balak, and said, Balaam refuseth to come with us. And 15
Balak sent yet again princes, more, and more honourable
than they. And they came to Balaam, and said to him, 16
Thus saith Balak the son of Zippor, Let nothing, I pray
thee, hinder thee from coming unto me: for I will1*
promote thee unto very great honour, and whatsoever
thou sayest unto me I will do : come therefore, I pray
thee, curse me this people. And Balaam answered and l8
said unto the servants of Balak, If Balak would give me
his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the
word of the Lord my God, to do less or more. Now 10
therefore, I pray you, tarry ye also here this night, that
I may know what the Lord will speak unto me more.
And God came unto Balaam at night, and said unto him, 20
If the men be come to call thee, rise up, go with them ;
but only the word which I speak unto thee, that shalt
thou do. And Balaam rose up in the morning, and 2I
saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab.

15-21. A second and 'more honourable ' deputation to Balaam
is more successful than the first. The seer is permitted to go to
Balak under strict conditions as to what he shall say.

18. to do less or more: lit. 'to do (anything) small or great,'
i.e. 'to do anything at all'; for the idiom cf. 1 Sam. xx. a, xxii. 15.
Balaam confesses himself a submissive instrument in the hand of
Yah weh his God,

320 NUMBERS 22. 22-27. JE

22 And God's anger was kindled because he went : and the
angel of the Lord placed himself in the way for an
adversary against him. Now he was riding upon his ass,

23 and his two servants were with him. And the ass saw
the angel of the Lord standing in the way, with his
sword drawn in his hand : and the ass turned aside out
of the way, and went into the field : and Balaam smote

24 the ass, to turn her into the way. Then the angel of the
Lord stood in a hollow way between the vineyards, a

25 fence being on this side, and a fence on that side. And
the ass saw the angel of the Lord, and she thrust herself
unto the wall, and crushed Balaam's foot against the wall :

26 and he smote her again. And the angel of the Lord
went further, and stood in a narrow place, where was no

27 way to turn either to the right hand or to the left. And
the ass saw the angel of the Lord, and she lay down

22-34. A striking episode from a variant tradition (J), which
seems to have presented Balaam in a less favourable light than
the tradition followed by E. As the seer is here accompanied
only by his two servants (see on verse 35}, J may have repre-
sented him as having at first refused to accompany the deputation,
which had already returned to Balak ; later he may have decided
to go in spite of his better self, tempted by the offered rewards,
but if this was J's representation, the passage containing it has
been omitted. The endowment of Balaam's she -ass with
abnormal powers of vision and even with the power of speech is
the outstanding feature of this early Hebrew folk-tale, and has its
analogies in the popular tales of almost every country, of the East
as of the West l. The Hebrew tale, however, is designed to show
how Yahweh may make use of one of the meanest of His creatures
to rebuke the obstinacy and pride of man. The sympathy which
the tale betrays with the sufferings of the lower animals should also
be noted (cf. Jonah iv. 11).

24. in a hollow way, &c. : a narrow path is meant between
the enclosing walls of two adjacent vine3'ards.

1 A full and original study of the whole Balaam episode from this
standpoint has recently appeared from the pen of Gressmann in Die
Schriften d. alt. Test. [1909] i. 57-70.

NUMBERS 22. 28-35. J^ 321

under Balaam : and Balaam's anger was kindled, and he
smote the ass with his staff. And the Lord opened the 28
mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have
I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three
times? And Balaam said unto the ass, Because thou 29
hast mocked me : I would there were a sword in mine
hand, for now I had killed thee. And the ass said unto 30
Balaam, Am not I thine ass, upon which thou hast ridden
all thy life long unto this day ? was I ever wont to do so
unto thee? And he said, Nay. Then the Lord opened 31
the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord
standing in the way, with his sword drawn in his hand :
and he bowed his head, and fell on his face. And the 32
angel of the Lord said unto him, Wherefore hast thou
smitten thine ass these three times ? behold, I am come
forth for an adversary, because thy way is a perverse
before me : and the ass saw me, and turned aside before 33
me these three times : unless she had turned aside from
me, surely now I had even slain thee, and saved her
alive. And Balaam said unto the angel of the Lord, 34
I have sinned ; for I knew not that thou stoodest in the
way against me : now therefore, if it displease thee, I will
get me back again. And the angel of the Lord said 35
unto Balaam, Go with the men : but only the word that
I shall speak unto thee, that thou shalt speak. So Balaam
a Heb. headlong.

32. The text of the last clause of this verse is corrupt, and the
rendering uncertain. It is clear, however, that the angel, as
Yahweh's representative, expresses the Divine disapproval of
Balaam's journey, as indeed is shown by the answer of the latter
(verse 34).

35 is explained by most critics as in the main from the hand of
Rje, linking the extract from J to the main thread of E's narrative —
note the sudden reappearance of * the princes of Balak.'

322 NUMBERS 22. 36-41. JE

36 went with the princes of Balak. And when Balak heard
that Balaam was come, he went out to meet him unto
the City of Moab, which is on the border of Arnon,

37 which is in the utmost part of the border. And Balak
said unto Balaam, Did I not earnestly send unto thee to
call thee? wherefore earnest thou not unto me? am I

38 not able indeed to promote thee to honour? And
Balaam said unto Balak, Lo, I am come unto thee :
have I now any power at all to speak any thing? the
word that God putteth in my mouth, that shall I speak.

39 And Balaam went with Balak, and they came unto

40 Kiriath-huzoth. And Balak sacrificed oxen and sheep,
and sent to Balaam, and to the princes that were with

41 him. And it came to pass in the morning, that Balak
took Balaam, and brought him up into a the high places

a Or, Bamoth-baal

36. unto the City of Moab : read ' unto Ar of Moab ' {jar for
'ir), the city mentioned in xxi. 15, and in both passages described
as lying on Moab's (northern) frontier formed by the Arnon ;
here it is also said to lie at the (eastern) extremity of this frontier,
which suits the location of Balaam's home in the ' mountains of
the East,' as explained above.

38. Balaam once more confesses himself a passive instrument
in God's hand, able and willing only to speak the words which
God may put into his mouth (cf. xxiii. 5, 12, 16, and the parallel
case of Micaiah, 1 Kings xxii. I4\ Balaam is here represented
as a true prophet of the Most High.

39. The site of Kiriath-huzoth (' city of streets ') is unknown.

40. and sent to Balaam : portions of the sacrificial flesh as
a special mark of honour, cf. 1 Sam. ix. 23^

xxii. 41— xxiii. 6 relate the preparations for the great incantation.
It was essential for the working of the spell that the magician
should see the proposed victim thereof; accordingly Balaam is
conducted to three different places in succession, from which an
ever closer view is obtained of the camp of Israel. The first
scene is laid at

41. the high places of Baal: the local sanctuary of Baal ;
these bamoth or • high places ' (xxxiii. 52) were usually situated
on hill-tops (cf. xxiii. 9 and 1 Sam. ix. 14, 19).

NUMBERS 23. 1-8. JE 323

of Baal, and he saw from thence the utmost part of the
people. And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here 23
seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and
seven rams. And Balak did as Balaam had spoken ; 2
and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bullock
and a ram. And Balaam said unto Balak, Stand by thy 3
burnt offering, and I will go ; peradventure the Lord
will come to meet me : and whatsoever he sheweth me
I will tell thee. And he went to a bare height. And 4
God met Balaam : and he said unto him, I have pre-
pared the seven altars, and I have offered up a bullock
and a ram on every altar. And the Lord put a word in 5
Balaam's mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus
thou shalt speak. And he returned unto him, and, lo, 6
he stood by his burnt offering, he, and all the princes of
Moab. And he took up his parable, and said, 7

From Aram hath Balak brought me,

The king of Moab from the mountains of the East :

Come, curse me Jacob,

And come, adefy Israel.

How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed ? 8

a Heb. be wroth against.

the utmost part of the people : here the edge of the Hebrew
encampment nearest to the seer's view-point.

xxiii. 1. The number seven plays a large part also in the ritual
and incantation literature of Babylonia (cf. Joshua vi. 4).

3. he went to a hare height : such is the meaning of the
received text, which, however, is almost certainly corrupt.

7-10. Balaam's first oracular utterance — 'parable' is an inade-
quate rendering — a poem of seven distichs, each clearly showing
the synonymous parallelism of its two members, which is one of
the distinctive marks of Hebrew poetry.

7. From Aram (dtmd) : read f from Edom ' (diko) ; for
this reading, and for ' the mountains of the East,' see note on
xxii. 5.

y 2

324 NUMBERS 23. 9-13. JE

And how shall I defy, whom the Lord hath not
defied ?
9 For from the top of the rocks I see him

And from the hills I behold him :
Lo, it is a people that dwell alone,
And shall not be reckoned among the nations.

10 Who can count the dust of Jacob,

a Or number the fourth part of Israel ?
Let b me die the death of the righteous,
And let my last end be like his !

11 And Balak said unto Balaam, What hast thou done
unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and,

12 behold, thou hast blessed them altogether. And he
answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that

1 3 which the Lord putteth in my mouth ? And Balak said
unto him, Come, I pray thee, with me unto another
place, from whence thou mayest see them; thou shalt

a Heb. Or, by number, the &c. b Heb. my soul.

9. a people that dwell alone, &c. This distich is usually
understood as referring less to the geographical isolation, or the
national aloofness of the Hebrews, than to their position of special
privilege as the 'peculiar' people of Yahweh (Exod. xix. 5;
Amos iii. 2, and often) ; by this they were distinguished from the
heathen ' nations ' around them. The word for ■ nations • is that
so frequently rendered ' Gentiles.'

10. The sixth distich expresses amazement at the vast numbers
of the Hebrew people, metaphorically described as ' the dust of
Jacob' (Gen. xiii. 16, xxviii. 14). The second line must be read :
' or who hath reckoned up the myriads of Israel ? ' Cf. LXX text
and x. 36 above. The closing distich strikes a personal note, and
is regarded by many as an addition to the original poem.

let my last end be like bis : read probably ' like theirs ' ;
the poet wishes that his life's end may be full of peace, doubtless
also that he may come to his ' grave in a full age, like as a shock
of corn cometh in in its season ' (Job v. 26).

11-17. Keenly disappointed with the issue of the first seance,
Balak arranges for a second from a more favourable situation.
13. thou shalt see . . . see them all. If these clauses were

NUMBERS 23. i4-r9. JE 325

see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them
all : and curse me them from thence. And he took him u
into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built
seven altars, and offered up a bullock and a ram on every
altar. And he said unto Balak, Stand here by thy burnt 15
offering, while I meet the Lord yonder. And the Lord 16
met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said,
Return unto Balak, and thus shalt thou speak. And he ll
came to him, and, lo, he stood by his burnt offering, and
the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said unto
him, What hath the Lord spoken ? And he took up his 18
parable, and said,

Rise up, Balak, and hear ;

Hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor :

God is not a man, that he should lie ; 19

Neither the son of man, that he should repent :

Hath he said, and shall he not do it ?

original, Balaam would have been in no better position for cursing
Israel than before (seexxii. 41); they are probably a later attempt
to differentiate between the situation in this verse and that of
xxiv. 2. In reality, although Balaam here sees the whole of the
Hebrew camp, in xxiv. 2 he has been brought so much nearer
to the latter, that the location of the separate tribes can, for the
first time, be clearly distinguished.

14. into the field of Zophim: lit. 'of watchers,' the 'out-
look' ground (site unknown), a name suggestive of a wide view
as the context requires. For Pisgah as a range of mountains in
Moab, see on xxi. 20. The following tnise en scene is the same as
on the first occasion.

18-24. Balaam's second utterance, a poem of eleven— originally
perhaps ten — distichs. After emphasizing the unchangeableness
of the Divine purpose to bless Israel, the poet breaks forth into a
eulogy of Jacob-Israel's happy lot which springs from the presence
in their midst of Yahweh their King.

18. Rise up, Balak : not to be understood literally, but in the
sense of 'Attend, O Balak.'

19. A classical expression of the belief in the immutability of
the Divine character, repeated in part in 1 Sam. xv. 29. The

326 NUMBERS 23. 20-23. JE

Or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good 2

20 Behold, I have received commandment to bless :
And he hath blessed, and I cannot reverse it.

21 He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob,
Neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel :
The Lord his God is with him,

And the shout of a king is among them.

22 God bringeth them forth out of Egypt ;

He hath as it were the a strength of the b wild-ox.

23 Surely there is no enchantment cwith Jacob,

a Or, horns b Or, ox-antelope Heb. reem. c Or, against

second distich has been admirably summarized by the author
of the Epistle to the Hebrews in the words, ' He is faithful that
promised' (x. 23).

20. And lie hath blessed: read, with Sam. and LXX: \ therefore
will I bless and will not recall it (the blessing).'

21. The subject in the first distich is impersonal, 'one hath
not,' &c. In our idiom this construction is often best reproduced
by the passive : * No misfortune is to be discovered in Jacob, nor
is any trouble to be seen in Israel.' This suits the context better
than the moral reference which underlies the rendering of R. V.

the shout of a king- is among* them : a difficult line, fre-
quently interpreted in the light of xxiv. 7, and of 1 Sam. x. 24,
2 Sam. xvi. 16, as an echo of the national pride in the then
recently instituted monarchy ; but the parallelism demands that
the 'king' referred to should be Yahweh, Israel's Divine King
(1 Sam. viii. 7, xii. 13). Cheyne would read ' And the glory of
the King is among them,' understanding by this ' the visible
presence of Yahweh, symbolized and represented by the ark '
(Exp. Times, x. 401).

22. Another difficult distich, which recurs in xxiv. 8. The
form and meaning of the word paraphrased as 'strength' (R.V.
marg. ' horns ') are uncertain, as is also the syntactical relation of
the two parts of the distich to each other. Gray renders : ' God
who brought him forth out of Egypt Is for him [Israel] like the
glory of a wild ox ; ' but the latest interpreter finds no difficulty
in so early a poem in the — at best only probable — rendering of the
text as it stands : ' God . . . has horns like those of a wild ox,'
recalling the horns in the sculptured representations of Babylonian
deities, attached to their turbans as ' a standing attribute of divinity '
(Gressmann, op. cit., pp. 56, 66).

23. Text and margin above represent two opposite views of the

NUMBERS 23. 24-28. JE 327

Neither is there any divination a with Israel :

b Now shall it be c said of Jacob and of Israel,

What hath God wrought !

Behold, the people riseth up as a lioness, 24

And as a lion doth he lift himself up :

He shall not lie down until he eat of the prey,

And drink the blood of the slain.
And Balak said unto Balaam, Neither curse them at all, 25
nor bless them at all. But Balaam answered and said 26
unto Balak, Told not I thee, saying, All that the Lord
speaketh, that I must do ? And Balak said unto Balaam, 27
Come now, I will take thee unto another place ; per-
adventure it will please God that thou mayest curse me
them from thence. And Balak took Balaam unto the 28

a Or, against b Or, At the due season

c Or, told to . . . what God hath wrought

meaning of the first distich. The interpretation implied in the
rendering of the text is that the presence of Yahweh in Israel
renders recourse to enchantment and divination unnecessary.
The marginal rendering < against/ on the other hand, implies that
the arts of the magician are powerless against Israel. On the
whole the former view is the more probable. Alternative render-
ings are also given of the second half of this verse ; owing to the
lack of evident connexion with its context, this distich is regarded
by many as a later addition. Others would extend the intrusion
to the whole verse. Certainly a better connexion is thus secured
between verses 22 and

24 in which Israel is compared to a lion about to spring upon
his prey, a figure which reappears slightly altered in xxiv. 9, and
in two other early poems, Gen. xlix. 9 ; Deut. xxxiii. 20.

25 f. Balak's words to Balaam may be thus paraphrased : ' If
thou canst not in any wise curse the Hebrews, thou shalt at least
have no further opportunity of blessing them.' After his reply in
verse 26, Balaam was probably represented in E as at once return-
ing home ; indeed, xxiv. 25, which now forms the close of the
combined narrative, may once have stood here. In order, how-
ever, to introduce J's version of Balaam's blessing, verses 27 ff.,
it is suggested, were composed on the model of xxiii. 1 ff., 14 ff.
(E). The scene of Balaam's third utterance is the unidentified
Mt! Peor (cf. xxv. 3).

328 NUMBERS 23. 29— 24. 4. JE

29 top of Peor, that looketh down upon a the desert. And
Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and

30 prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams. And
Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered up a bullock

24 and a ram on every altar. And when Balaam saw that
it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he went not, as at the
other times, to meet with enchantments, but he set his

2 face toward the wilderness. And Balaam lifted up his
eyes, and he saw Israel dwelling according to their tribes ;

3 and the spirit of God came upon him. And he took up
his parable, and said,

Balaam the son of Beor saith,

And the man whose eye b was closed saith :

4 He saith, which heareth the words of God,
Which seeth the vision of the Almighty,

n Or, Jeshimon b Or, is opened

xxiv. a. he saw Israel dwelling- according* to their tribes. As
the narrative is now arranged, these words of J are meant to be
understood in the sense suggested in the note on xxiii. 13.

3-9. Balaam's third utterance, a poem arranged in four strophes
(3b, 4 ; 5, 6 ; 7, 8ab ; 8ce 9) of three distichs each. The poet, who
is also a fervid patriot, after, in the first strophe, introducing
the seer in a state of trance as the mouthpiece of God, describes
in glowing terms the beauty and charm of Israel's home, the terror
he inspires in his enemies, the glory of the monarchy, and finally
Israel's might in war and his majesty in peace.

3. Balaam . . . saith : rather, ' The oracle of Balaam,' &c,
and so in verse 15. Both J's oracles begin with an identical
description of the ecstatic condition of the seer (cf. note on xi. 25).

the man whose eye was closed : margin, ' (whose eye) is
opened ' — a veritable crux interpretum. The alternatives of R.V.
are obtained according as the Hebrew is read sethiim or shethum.
The LXX has ' the man who seeth truly,' the Vulgate ' the man
whose eyes are stopped.' The traditional view, still held e. g.
by Gressmann, is that of R.V. text— the poet describes Balaam as
lying in a trance with the eye of flesh closed, but with the inward
eye open to • the vision of the Almighty ' (verse 4).

4. The second line of the first distich is to be restored from
verse 16 : ■ And knoweth the knowledge of the Most High.'

NUMBERS 24. 5-8. JE 329

Falling down, and having his eyes open :

How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob,

Thy tabernacles, O Israel !

As valleys are they spread forth,

As gardens by the river side,

As lign-aloes which the Lord hath planted,

As cedar trees beside the waters.

Water shall flow from his buckets,

And his seed shall be in many waters,

And his king shall be higher than Agag,

And his kingdom shall be exalted.

God bringeth him forth out of Egypt ;

He hath as it were the a strength of the a wild-ox :

He shall eat up the nations his adversaries,

And shall break their bones in pieces,

And smite them through with his arrows.

" See ch. xxiii. 22.

6. Render: 'as valleys that stretch afar.' For ' lign-aloes,'
an exotic tree not likely to be familiar to the Hebrew poet, read,
with a slight change, ' oaks.' With a poet's license, Israel's
heritage in Canaan is compared to a paradise planted with royal
trees and watered by flowing streams.

7 seems to open with a distich in praise of the abundance of
water, more particularly as required for the irrigation of the crops.
If so, the reference is strangely expressed, which has led to the
adoption by Gray and others of Cheyne's emendation : ' Peoples
shall tremble at his might, And his arm [reading zcro'6 for zar'o,
both = W"ii in Hebrew] shall be on many nations' {Exp. Times,
x. 401 ; cf. Kittel, Bib. Hebraica, in he).

And his king* . , . Agag : the Amalekite king captured by
Saul and slain by Samuel (1 Sam. xv. 8 f., 32 f.). If the reading
can be trusted — the oldest Versions read otherwise— this reference
provides a terminus a quo for the date of the poem.

8. For the first distich, closing the third strophe, see on xxiii.
aa. This is followed in the present text by a tristich against the
analogy of all the poems, which are arranged in distichs. Omit the
second line of the three, and, by the addition of a single letter
(vsVn for vsm), read the third thus: 'And shall smite down
his oppressors,' which gives an excellent parallelism.

330 NUMBERS 24. 9-15. JE

9 He couched, he lay down as a lion,

And as a lioness ; who shall rouse him up ?
Blessed be every one that blesseth thee,
And cursed be every one that curseth thee.

10 And Balak's anger was kindled against Balaam, and he
smote his hands together : and Balak said unto Balaam,
I called thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou

11 hast altogether blessed them these three times. There-
fore now flee thou to thy place : I thought to promote
thee unto great honour ; but, lo, the Lord hath kept

12 thee back from honour. And Balaam said unto Balak,
Spake I not also to thy messengers which thou sentest

13 unto me, saying, If Balak would give me his house full
of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the
Lord, to do either good or bad of mine own mind ;

14 what the Lord speaketh, that will I speak ? And now,
behold, I go unto my people : come, and I will advertise
thee what this people shall do to thy people in the latter

15 days. And he took up his parable, and said,

9. The metaphor of the first distich pourtrays the majesty of
Israel in time of peace, as the parallel in xxiii. 24 described his
irresistible power in war. The poem closes with the thought
that such is the solidarity of Yahweh and Israel that he that
blesses Israel is blessed, and he that curses him is cursed, of
Israel's God ; cf. Gen. xxvii. 29.

10-14. Balaam is dismissed by Balak with anger and contempt,
but before parting finally from the Moabite king he announces his
intention of revealing to the latter what the future holds in store
for Moab at the hand of Israel.

14. I will advertise thee : an obsolete use of ' advertise ' in
the sense of 'inform,' 'instruct.'

in the latter days : lit. \ in the end of the days,' a frequent
phrase in the prophetic literature for ' the final period of the future
so far as it falls within the range of the speaker's perspective'
(Driver).

15-17. Balaam's fourth utterance, consisting of two strophes, each
of three distichs as before. The first strophe is identical with the

NUMBERS 24. 16, 17. JE 331

Balaam the son of Beor saith,
And the man whose eye ° was closed saith :
He saith, which heareth the words of God, 16

And knoweth the knowledge of the Most High,
Which seeth the vision of the Almighty,
Falling down, and having his eyes open :
I see him, but not now : 17

I behold him, but not nigh :
There shall come forth a star out of Jacob,
And a sceptre shall rise out of Israel,
And shall smite through the corners of Moab,
And break down all the sons b of tumult.
a Or, is opened b Or, ofSheth

corresponding lines of the third oracle (verses 3 f.) ; in the second,
the seer has a vision of Israel's future, and sees the rise of an
illustrious king who is destined to put an end to the independence
of Moab.

16. And knoweth the knowledge: to whom is revealed the
secret (Amos iii. 7) of the Most High. The presence in this
strophe of the three early names of the Deity, El (God), Elyon
(Most High), and Shaddai (Almighty), is noteworthy.

17. The second strophe : the vision of the future king — David.
a star out of Jacob. In Eastern imagery a star has always

been a favourite figure for a king (cf. in O.T. Isa. xiv. 12). It is
difficult to believe that the author of these lines had in view any
other than King David, who first reduced Moab to subjection
(2 Sam. viii. 2). The later Jews, and after them the exegesis of
the Church (cf. Rev. xxii. 16), gave the lines a Messianic interpre-
tation, a view shared by some recent scholars who regard the
Balaam poems, in their present form at least, as comparatively
late productions.

the corners : viz. of the head, the temples, as Lev. xix. 27.

And break down: read, as in Jer. xlviii. 45, an echo of this
passage, 'And the crown of the head' (npip for ^pnp).

all the sons of tumult : a doubtful rendering based on the
different text of Jer. loc. cit. The parallelism is decisive for the
marginal rendering, Sheth being probably the name of one of
the leading tribes of Moab. Render: 'And shall shatter the
temples of Moab (poetically regarded as an individual, see on
xx. 14), And the crown of all the sons cf Sheth,'

332 NUMBERS 24. 18-20. JE

18 And Edom shall be a possession,

Seir also shall be a possession, whichwere his enemies ;

While Israel doeth valiantly.
x9 And out of Jacob shall one have dominion,

And shall destroy the remnant from the city.
20 And he looked on Amalek, and took up his parable,
and said,

Amalek was the first of the nations v,

But his latter end shall come to destruction.

Looking back on the preceding oracles, apart from their present
setting, we are justified in regarding them as a series of poems in
which expression is given to the quickened consciousness of
nationality which sprang up among the Hebrews after the estab-
lishment of the monarchy, and especially after the brilliant con-
quests of David. They likewise voice their authors' conviction of
the future destiny of Israel as the people of Yahweh's choice, in
which respect they may be compared with Vergil's eulogy of the
imperial destiny of Rome in the sixth book of the Aeneid. As
has recently been said, ' Israel's history as a whole is a sublime
illustration of the truth that to believe is to achieve, even though
the ultimate realization may be very different from the original
hope' (Kent, Heroes and Crises of Early Hebr. Hist., p. 224).

18-24. To the foregoing poem, which alone suits the situation as
explained in verse 14, there has been added, probably at different
times, a series of four short oracles dealing with other nations,
neighbours of the Hebrews. The received text is again exceedingly
corrupt, and the interpretation in consequence beset with insuper-
able difficulties.

18 f. An oracle concerning Edom, the text of which is in great
disorder. Although it now consists of five lines, it was originally
a quatrain like the third and fourth oracles of the series. The
following is a rendering of what seems the most successful attempt
at restoration (Von Gall, Zusammensetzung . . . d. Bileam-Perikope,
38 f. ; cf. Gray, Numbers, p. 373, and Kittel, BibL Hebraica, in loc.) :
'And Edom shall become a possession, And the survivor shall
perish from Seir : But Israel doeth valiantly, And Jacob shall
tread down his foes.' The reference is probably to David's con-
quest of Edom (2 Sam. viii. 13 f.).

20. A cryptic oracle announcing the destruction of Amalek,
with a play upon the words ' first' and * last.'

NUMBERS 24. 21-24. JB 333

And he looked on the Kenite, and took up his parable, 21
and said,

Strong is thy dwelling place,

And thy nest is set in the rock.

Nevertheless a Kain shall be wasted, 22

b Until Asshur shall carry thee away captive.
And he took up his parable, and said, 23

Alas, who shall live when God c doeth this ?

But ships shall come from the coast of Kittim, 24

And they shall afflict Asshur, and shall afflict Eber,

And he also shall come to destruction.

a Or, the Kenites b Or, How long ? Asshur &c.

c Or, establisheth hint

21 f. A quatrain devoted to the Kenites, who claimed to be
descended from an eponymous ancestor, named Kain, and who
are elsewhere, as here, associated with the Amalekites (1 Sam.
xv. 6 ; Judges i. 16— reading ! with Amalek ' for ' with his
people').

thy nest is set in the rock. The word for ' nest ' (jttfe) con-
tains a play on the ancestral name {Kain), while the reference is
to the almost inaccessible rock-dwellings of the tribe (cf. Obad.
3 f.), perhaps in the neighbourhood of Arad in the Negeb (Judges,
he. cit.) as suggested by Ed. Meyer, Die Israeliten, p. 393 f.

22. Until Asshur, &c. : rather, 'how long? Asshur shall,'
&c. Asshur is not here Assyria, any more than in Gen. xxv. 18
(R.V.), but another tribe of the Negeb, the Asshurim of Gen. xxv. 3
(see Meyer, op. cit., p. 320).

23 f. The most enigmatic of all the oracles. The text seems
beyond the reach of successful emendation (see Gray for various
recent attempts). The latest is that of Gressmann {op. cit.. p. 57^ ,
which runs thus : 'Alas, who shall live before Ishmael, And save
himself alive from their hand : They oppress Asshur and oppress
Eber, But they also shall come to destruction.'

24. from the coast of Kittim : render, ' from the direction of
Cyprus'; Kittim is the Greek Kition. In Dan. xi. 30 this line is
applied to the galleys of Rome.

Asshur . . . Eber. Here Asshur has been variously inter-
preted as referring to the Asshurites of verse 22, to Assyria, and
to the later Seleucid empire of Syria. Eber, the eponymous
ancestor of the ' Ebrews ' (Gen. x. 11, xi. 14), is a complete enigma
in this connexion.

334 NUMBERS 24. 25— 25. 3. JE

25 And Balaam rose up, and went and returned to his
place : and Balak also went his way.

25 And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to

2 commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab : for they
called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods ; and

3 the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods. And
Israel a joined himself unto bBaal-peor: and the anger

fl Or, yoked b Or, the Baal of Peor See ch. xxiii. 28.

25. The final parting of king and seer ; see the note on
xxiii. 25 f.

(c) xxv. 1— xxvii. 23. A miscellaneous section containing the
narrative of certain lapses of the Hebrews into immorality and idolatry
(xxv), the taking of a second census (xxvi), the incident of the
daughters of Zelophehad (xxvii. i-ii), and the appointment of
Joshua to succeed Moses (12-23).

Ch. xxv is made up of a short extract (verses 1-5) from JE,
and a larger extract from P. The former is itself composite ; in
one source (J) the Hebrews, after having entered into immoral
relations with the women of Moab, join them in the worship of
Chemosh ; in the other (E), the local Baal of Mt. Peor is the object
of their idolatrous worship (note also the divergent punishments
in verses 4 and 5). In the extract from P (verses 6 ff.), on the
other hand, a plague is raging in the Hebrew camp, and in the
original narrative, the beginning of which has been omitted, the
scene was probably laid in Midian. The elders of Midian, acting
on the advice of Balaam (xxxi. 16), had apparently endeavoured
to ruin Israel by immoral means (verse 18). The compiler has
joined the two extracts on the ground that the sin was in either
case connected with foreign women.

1. And Israel abode in Shittim: more precisely 'in Abel-
shittim,' i.e. 'the meadow of the acacia trees,' the last halting-
place of the Hebrews (xxxiii. 49) before they crossed the Jordan
(Joshua ii. 1, iii. 1).

2. for they called: rather, 'and they invited,' &c. ; 'partici-
pation in the sacrificial feasts is the sequel to the intimacy with
the women, not the cause of it' (Gray). For 'their gods' we
should render ' their god,' that is, Chemosh, the national deity of
the Moabites (xxi. 29).

3. joined himself unto Baal-peor : from the parallel source.
The worship was that of the local Baal of Mt. Peor (xxiii. 28) ;
the apostasy in this case is not associated with sexual immorality.

NUMBERS 25. 4-8. JE P 335

of the Lord was kindled against Israel. And the Lord 4
said unto Moses, Take all the chiefs of the people, and
hang them up unto the Lord before the sun, that the
fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.
And Moses said unto the judges of Israel, Slay ye every 5
one his men that have joined themselves unto Baal-peor.
( P] And, behold, one of the children of Israel came and 6
brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman in the
sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation
of the children of Israel, while they were weeping at the
door of the tent of meeting. And when Phinehas, the 7
son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he
rose up from the midst of the congregation, and took
a spear in his hand ; and he went after the man of Israel 8

4. hang1 them up unto the LORD before the sun. The nature
of the punishment to be meted out to the worshippers of Chemosh
(the connexion is with verse 2) is uncertain ; some form of violent
death, by impalement or otherwise, is clearly intended; cf. Cent.
Bible on 2 Sam. xxi. 6, 9, where the verb is again used.

5. The continuation of verse 3 ; the reference to the judges
(Exod. xviii. 12 ff., E) suggests the source E ; the penalty in any
case is different from that of verse 4.

6-15. P tells how the zeal of Phinehas, the son of the High
Priest, in connexion with a flagrant case of immorality, was
rewarded by the Divine promise that the priesthood should
remain for ever in his family. The introduction, as has been
already said, has been omitted by the compiler, and the story
now opens while Moses and the congregation are engaged in
humiliation and prayer before God on account of a plague that has
been sent as punishment for a widespread immoral association
with the women of Midian.

6. one of the children of Israel: Zimri, a 'prince' of one of
the Simeonite clans (verse 14).

7. Phinehas, the son of Eleazar. Phinehas (Heb. Pinhas) is
probably the Egyptian pe-nhes, 'the dark-skinned' (EBi. sub
voce), and therefore one of the few Hebrew names that suggest an
early connexion with Egypt. The name is found later in the
family of Eli, the chief priest of Shiloh (1 Sam. iv. 4, 11).

336 NUMBERS 25. 9-15. P

into the a pavilion, and thrust both of them through, the
man of Israel, and the woman through her belly. So

9 the plague was stayed from the children of Israel. And
those that died by the plague were twenty and four
thousand.

10 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Phinehas,
the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath
turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, in
that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so
that I consumed not the children of Israel in my

12 jealousy. Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him my

13 covenant of peace : and it shall be unto him, and to his
seed after him, the covenant of an everlasting priest-
hood ; because he was jealous for his God, and made

14 atonement for the children of Israel. Now the name of
the man of Israel that was slain, who was slain with the
Midianitish woman, was Zimri, the son of Salu, a prince

15 of a fathers' house among the Simeonites. And the
name of the Midianitish woman that was slain was
Cozbi, the daughter of Zur ; he was head of the people
of a fathers' house in Midian.

a Or, alcove

11. he was jealous with my jealousy. Yahweh's ■ jealousy'
is His righteous anger and resentment when the worship which i-
due to Him alone is offered to false gods, or when His holiness is
injured, as here, by the defiant conduct of Zimri within the sacred
precincts of the camp. Phinehas, as it were, anticipated the
Divine resentment at such dishonour by his zeal for Yahweh.
Cf. Jehu's words : l Come with me, and see my zeal [or jealousy]
for Yahweh ' (2 Kings x. 16).

13. the covenant of an everlasting- priesthood. The dignity
of the priesthood is to continue for ever in the family of Phinehas.
Certainly the Zadokite priesthood of a later day traced their
descent from Aaron through Eleazar and Phinehas (1 Chron. vi.
3-14, 50-53; cf. Ezra vii. r-6).

NUMBERS 25. 16— 26. 4. P 337

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Vex the
Midianites, and smite them : for they vex you with their *|
wiles, wherewith they have beguiled you in the matter of
Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of the
prince of Midian, their sister, which was slain on the day
of the plague in the matter of Peor.

And it came to pass after the plague, that the Lord 26
spake unto Moses and unto Eleazar the son of Aaron
the priest, saying, Take the sum of all the congregation 2
of the children of Israel, from twenty years old and
upward, by their fathers' houses, all that are able to go
forth to war in Israel. And Moses and Eleazar the 3
priest spake with them in the plains of Moab by the
Jordan at Jericho, saying, Take the su?n of the people^ 4

16-18. This command to take vengeance on the Midianites for
their attempt to lure the Hebrews to their ruin through the women
(see above) is meant to prepare the way for ch. xxxi (Ps), and
may have stood there originally.

1*7. Vex the Midianites: rather 'make war upon,' a strong
term. The bulk of verse 18 is editorial, connecting the foregoing
incident and plague of P with 'the matter of Peor,' i.e. the
illicit worship of Baal-peor recorded by E inverse 3).

Ch. xxvi is almost entirely occupied with details of a second
census, both of the secular tribes and of the tribe of Levi, taken at
the end of the period of the wanderings. The order of the former
is here the same as in ch. i, except that the two tribes of Ephraim
and Manasseh have changed places. Here, too, more details are
given as to the subdivisions of the several tribes, with the excep-
tion of Dan which, strangely enough, consists of but one large
clan. Comparison with the numbers of ch. i shows that while
the total of the secular tribes has slightly decreased, 601,730 com-
pared with 603,550, seven of them show a larger or smaller
increase. The changes are greatest in the case of Simeon, which
has decreased by 62-5 per cent., and of Manasseh, which has
increased by nearly 62 per cent. As regards the historicity of the
numbers here given, the modern critical attitude is the same as
was briefly set forth when dealing with the former census (see
above, pp. 190 ff.). The scene of the census is laid in 'the plains
of Moab,' opposite Jericho (verse 3, for which see on xxii. 1).

3 f. The text is here in some disorder (note the italics supplied
in verse 4). The words rendered ' spake with them/ it has been

338 NUMBERS 26. 5-12. P

from twenty years old and upward ; as the Lord com-
manded Moses and the children of Israel, which came
forth out of the land of Egypt.

5 Reuben, the firstborn of Israel : the sons of Reuben j
of Hanoch, the family of the Hanochites : of Pallu, the

6 family of the Palluites : of Hezron, the family of the

7 Hezronites : of Carmi, the family of the Carmites. These
are the families of the Reubenites : and they that were
numbered of them were forty and three thousand and

8 seven hundred and thirty. And the sons of Pallu ;

9 Eliab. And the sons of Eliab ; Nernuel, and Dathan,
and Abiram. These are that Dathan and Abiram, which
were called of the congregation, who strove against
Moses and against Aaron in the company of Korah,

10 when they strove against the Lord : and the earth
opened her mouth, and swallowed them up together
with Korah, when that company died ; what time the
fire devoured two hundred and fifty men, and they

11 became a sign. Notwithstanding the sons of Korah
died not.

1 2 The sons of Simeon after their families : of a Nemuel,

a In Gen. xlvi. 10, Ex. vi. 15, Jemuel.

suggested, should be read 'numbered them,' omitting the irrele-
vant 'saying' which follows. Again, 'the children of Israel' is
not the object of the verb ' commanded ' but the subject of a new
sentence : ' Now the children of Israel, which . . . Egypt, were as
follows : Reuben,' &c.

8-10. If the main body of the chapter is from the pen of Pg,
these verses will be a later addition, since they presuppose the
narrative of ch. xvi in its present composite form. Some critics,
however, regard the present chapter as wholly Ps.

11 has all the appearance of a gloss inserted by a reader as
a reminder that all Korah's family cannot have perished since
a certain temple guild of Levites— the 'sons of Korah' of
Psalms xlii-xlix and others —still bore his name (2 Chron.xx. 19}.

NUMBERS 26. 13-25. P 339

the family of the Nemuelites : of Jamin, the family of
the Jaminites : of aJachin, the family of the Jachinites :
of bZerah, the family of the Zerahites : of Shaul, the 13
family of the Shaulites. These are the families of the 14
Simeonites, twenty and two thousand and two hundred.

The sons of Gad after their families : of c Zephon, the 1 5
family of the Zephonites : of Haggi, the family of the
Haggites : of Shuni, the family of the Shunites : of 16
d Ozni, the family of the Oznites : of Eri, the family
of the Erites: of eArod, the family of the Arodites: of 17
Areli, the family of the Arelites. These are the families 18
of the sons of Gad according to those that were num-
bered of them, forty thousand and five hundred.

The sons of Judah, Er and Onan : and Er and Onan 19
died in the land of Canaan. And the sons of Judah 20
after their families were ; of Shelah, the family of the
Shelanites : of Perez, the family of the Perezites : of
Zerah, the family of the Zerahites. And the sons of 21
Perez were ; of Hezron, the family of the Hezronites :
of Hamul, the family of the Hamulites. These are the 22
families of Judah according to those that were numbered
of them, threescore and sixteen thousand and five
hundred.

The sons of Issachar after their families : of Tola, 23
the family of the Tolaites : of Puvah, the family of the
Punites : of *Jashub, the family of the Jashubites : of 24
Shimron, the family of the Shimronites. These are the 25
families of Issachar according to those that were num-

' In 1 Chr. iv. 24, Jarib. b In Gen. xlvi. 10, Zohar. c In
Gen. xlvi. 16, Ziphion. d In Gen. xlvi. 16, Ezbon. e In Gen.
xlvi. 16, Arodi. f In Gen. xlvi. 13, lob.

19. died in the land of Canaan : as related in Gen. xxxviii. 3 ff.
Z 2

34o NUMBERS 20. 26-56. P

bered of them, threescore and four thousand and three
hundred.

26 The sons of Zebulun after their families : of Sered, the
family of the Seredites : of Elon, the family of the Elon-

27 ites : of Jahleel, the family of the Jahleelites. These are
the families of the Zebulunites according to those that
were numbered of them, threescore thousand and five
hundred.

28 The sons of Joseph after their families : Manasseh and

29 Ephraim. The sons of Manasseh : of Machir, the family
of the Machirites : and Machir begat Gilead : of Gilead,

30 the family of the Gileadites. These are the sons of
Gilead : of9- Iezer, the family of the Iezerites : of Helek,

31 the family of the Helekites : and of Asriel, the family
of the Asrielites : and of Shechem, the family of the

32 Shechemites : and t/Shemida, the family of the Shemida-

33 ites : and of Hepher, the family of the Hepherites. And
Zelophehad the son of Hepher had no sons, but
daughters : and the names of the daughters of Zelophehad
were Mahlah, and Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.

34 These are the families of Manasseh : and they that were
numbered of them were fifty and two thousand and seven
hundred.

35 These are the sons of Ephraim after their families : of
Shuthelah, the family of the Shuthelahites : of b Becher,
the family of the Becherites : of Tahan, the family of the

36 Tahanites. And these are the sons of Shuthelah : of

* In Josh. xvii. 2, Abiezev. See Judg. vi. u, 24, 34.
b In 1 Chr. vii. 20, Bered.

33. See chs. xxvii and xxxvi.

35. Becher and his descendants are here reckoned as Ephraim-
ites ; elsewhere (Gen. xlvi. 2152 Sam. xx. 1) they are represented
as belonging to Benjamin.

NUMBERS 26. 37-47. P 341

Eran, the family of the Eranites. These are the families 37
of the sons of Ephraim according to those that were
numbered of them, thirty and two thousand and five
hundred. These are the sons of Joseph after their
families.

The sons of Benjamin after their families : of Bela, 38
the family of the Belaites : of Ashbel, the family of the
Ashbelites : of a Ahiram, the family of the Ahiramites :
of b Shephupham, the family of the Shuphamites : of 39
Hupham, the family of the Huphamites. And the sons 4°
of Bela were c Ard and Naaman : of Ard, the family of
the Ardites : of Naaman, the family of the Naamites.
These are the sons of Benjamin after their families : and 41
they that were numbered of them were forty and five
thousand and six hundred.

These are the sons of Dan after their families : of 42
d Shuham, the family of the Shuhamites. These are the
families of Dan after their families. All the families of 43
the Shuhamites, according to those that were numbered
of them, were threescore and four thousand and four
hundred.

The sons of Asher after their families : of Imnah, the 44
family of the Imnites : of Ishvi, the family of the Ishvites :
of Beriah, the family of the Beriites. Of the sons of 45
Beriah : of Heber, the family of the Heberites : of Mal-
chiel, the family of the Malchielites. And the name of 4°"
the daughter of Asher was Serah. These are the families 47
of the sons of Asher according to those that were

a In Gen. xlvi. 21, Ehi in 1 Chr. viii. 1, Aharah. b In Gen.
xlvi. ai, Muppim, and Huppim c In t Chr. viii. 3, Addar.

d In Gen. xlvi. 23, Hushinu

42 f. The single clan of Dan, Shuham, appears in Gen. xlvi. 23
as Hushim, as noted in the margin.

342 NUMBERS 26. 48-56. P

numbered of them, fifty and three thousand and four
hundred.
•18 The sons of Naphtali after their families : of Jahzeel,
the family of the Jahzeelites : of Guni, the family of the

49 Gunites : of Jezer, the family of the Jezerites : of Shillem,

50 the family of the Shillemites. These are the families of
Naphtali according to their families : and they that were
numbered of them were forty and five thousand and four
hundred.

fti These are they that were numbered of the children of

Israel, six hundred thousand and a thousand seven

hundred and thirty.

l And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Unto these

the land shall be divided for an inheritance according to

54 the number of names. To the more thou shalt give the
more inheritance, and to the fewer thou shalt give the
less inheritance: to every one according to those that
were numbered of him shall his inheritance be given.

55 Notwithstanding the land shall be divided by lot :
according to the names of the tribes of their fathers they

56 shall inherit. According to the lot shall their inheritance
be divided between the more and the fewer.

52-56. General directions regarding the division of the pro-
mised land, here, somewhat unexpectedly, addressed to Moses.
How the writer intended the two theoretically irreconcilable prin-
ciples of the text to be applied, it is impossible to say. He is
usually taken to mean that the geographical position of the several
tribes is to be determined by lot, but that the size of the whole
area of each tribe, and of the districts or portions thereof to be
assigned to its component clans, is to be determined according to
the census returns ; hence the position of these verses in the
present context.

54. Render : ' For the (tribe or clan that is) large, thou shalt
make its inheritance large, and for that which is small thou shalt
make its inheritance small ; according to its census return shall its
inheritance be given to each (tribe or clan).'

NUMBERS 26. 57-64. P 343

And these are they that were numbered of the Levites 57
after their families : of Gershon, the family of the Ger-
shonites : of Kohath, the family of the Kohathites : of
Merari, the family of the Merarites. These are the 58
families of Levi : the family of the Libnites, the family
of the Hebronites, the family of the Mahlites, the family
of the Mushites, the family of the Korahites. And
Kohath begat Amram. And the name of Amram's wife 59
was Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, who was born to
Levi in Egypt: and she bare unto Amram Aaron and
Moses, and Miriam their sister. And unto Aaron were 60
born Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. And 61
Nadab and Abihu died, when they offered strange fire
before the Lord. And they that were numbered of 6a
them were twenty and three thousand, every male from
a month old and upward : for they were not numbered
among the children of Israel, because there was no
inheritance given them among the children of Israel.

These are they that were numbered by Moses and 63
Eleazar the priest; who numbered the children of Israel
in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. But 64
among these there was not a man of them that were

57-62. The second numbering of the Levites, showing them to
have increased from 22,000 to 23,000 (cf. iii. 14-39).

58 represents a variant tradition— whether older or younger
than the usual tradition of three divisions is a disputed point —
according to which the priestly tribe of Levi consisted of five
divisions. All the names are met with in other lists, but either
as the grandsons or great-grandsons of Levi. Mushi, for example
— a variant form of the name Mosheh (Moses)— appears in the
genealog}^ of Exod. vi. 19 along with Mahli as the son of Merari
and grandson of Levi (see further Gray, in he.').

61. See Lev. x. if.; Num. iii. 4.

63-65. A concluding paragraph, which, in view of verse 64,
can scarcely have come from the same hand that wrote verse 4.

344 NUMBERS 26. 65— 27. 3. P

numbered by Moses and Aaron the priest ; who num-
bered the children of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai.

65 For the Lord had said of them, They shall surely die in
the wilderness. And there was not left a man of them,
save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son
of Nun.

27 Then drew near the daughters of Zelophehad, the son
of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son
of Manasseh, of the families of Manasseh the son of
Joseph : and these are the names of his daughters ;
Mahlah, Noah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Tirzah.

2 And they stood before Moses, and before Eleazar the
priest, and before the princes and all the congregation,

3 at the door of the tent of meeting, saying, Our father

65. See xiv. 29 f, 38 (P).

xxvii. i-ii. Promulgation of a new law of inheritance, by
which, in the event of a man dying without male issue, his
daughters shall inherit. The section clearly belongs to the
Priests' Code, but whether to P=r or to a later stratum (Ps) must
be left an open question. For an interesting supplement to this
law, see xxxvi. i ff.

1. the daughters of Zelophehad. The new legislation is repre-
sented as having arisen out of a special claim by the daughters of
a certain Zelophehad (xxvi. 33\ of the tribe of Manasseh, to be
allowed to inherit their deceased father's property. Before the
exile, the Hebrew customary law of inheritance, in accord with
primitive Semitic law in general (S. A. Cook, The Laws of Moses
and the Code of Hammurabi, p. T45 f.), recognized only male
heirs. In reality, however, the names of Zelophehad's daughters
here given are either names of Hebrew clans or place-names (see
Gray in he. and on xxvi. 33. and cf. Josh. xvii. 3-6 which records
the carrying out of this law), and the present section illustrates
the ' familiar fact that in the early law of all nations necessary
modifications on old law are habitually carried out by means of
what lawyers call legal fictions'' (W. Robertson Smith, OTJC1,
p. 384 ; cf. Maine, Ancient Law, ed. Pollock, p. 30 ff.). A still
more evident illustration will meet us in xxxi. 27 ff.

NUMBERS 27. 4-11. P 345

died in the wilderness, and he was not among the com-
pany of them that gathered themselves together against
the Lord in the company of Korah : but he died in his
own sin ; and he had no sons. Why should the name 4
of our father be taken away from among his family,
because he had no son? Give unto us a possession
among the brethren of our father. And Moses brought 5
their cause before the Lord. And the Lord spake unto 6
Moses, saying, The daughters of Zelophehad speak 7
right : thou shalt surely give them a possession of an
inheritance among their father's brethren ; and thou
shalt cause the inheritance of their father to pass unto
them. And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, 8
saying, If a man die, and have no son, then ye shall
cause his inheritance to pass unto his daughter. And if 9
he have no daughter, then ye shall give his inheritance
unto his brethren. And if he have no brethren, then ye 10
shall give his inheritance unto his father's brethren. And ir
if his father have no brethren, then ye shall give his
inheritance unto his kinsman that is next to him of his
family, and he shall possess it : and it shall be unto the
children of Israel a statute of judgement, as the Lord
commanded Moses.

3. died in the wilderness ... in his own sin. Zelophehad
merely shared in the general sentence of death pronounced in xiv.
29 f. ; he had taken no part in the special revolt of a body of lay-
men under Korah's leadership (see above, pp. 278 ff).

5-11. Moses lays the case before God (cf. ix. 8, xv. 34) and is
authorized to grant the crave of the petitioners (see Joshua xvii. 3 f.
for the result). At the same time he is commanded to promulgate
a new law of inheritance of still wider scope, covering not only
the case of the man who leaves only female issue, but that of
a man dying without issue of either sex. In the latter case the
property goes to his brothers, whom failing, to his uncles on the
father's side, whom failing, to the next of kin (see further the notes
on xxxvi. 1 flf.)f

346 NUMBERS 27. 12-18. P

T2 And the Lord said unto Moses, Get thee up into this
mountain of Abarim, and behold the land which I have

13 given unto the children of Israel. And when thou hast
seen it, thou also shalt be gathered unto thy people, as

14 Aaron thy brother was gathered : because ye rebelled
against my word in the wilderness of Zin, in the strife of
the congregation, ato sanctify me at the waters before
their eyes. (These are the waters of Meribah of Kadesh

J5 in the wilderness of Zin.) And Moses spake unto the

16 Lord, saying, Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of

17 all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation, which
may go out before them, and which may come in before
them, and which may lead them out, and which may
bring them in j that the congregation of the Lord be

18 not as sheep which have no shepherd. And the Lord
said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua the son of Nun,

a See ch. xx. 12, 13,

12-14. Preparatory to his death, Moses is commanded to view
the land of promise, which he may not enter. In their present
context these verses are probably from the pen of the compiler ;
P's own statement will then be found in the parallel passage,
Deut. xxxii. 48-52.

12. this mountain of Abarim: the mountain-range in the
north-west of Moab overlooking the north end of the Dead Sea.
The particular summit of this range is given in Deut. xxxii. 49 as
' mount Nebo . . . which is over against Jericho,' the modern
Neba (cf. note on Deut. xxxiv. 1 in Cent. Bible).

14. in the strife (Hcb.meribath) of the congregation : a play
upon the name Meribath- Kadesh. For this name and for the
exclusion of Moses and Aaron from Canaan, see the notes
on xx. 1-13.

15-23. At Moses" earnest request, his successor is nominated in
the person of Joshua, who is subsequently set apart in the pre-
sence of the High Priest and the whole congregation.

17. The expressions here used are a comprehensive indication
of the duties of the secular head of the community, with special
reference to the task of military leadership (1 Sam. xviii. 13. 16,
xxix. 6\

NUMBERS 27. 19— 28. 2. P 347

a man in whom is the spirit, and lay thine hand upon
him ; and set him before Eleazar the priest, and before 19
all the congregation ; and give him a charge in their
sight. And thou shalt put of thine honour upon him, 20
that all the congregation of the children of Israel may
obey. And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who 21
shall inquire for him by the judgement of the Urim
before the Lord : at his word shall they go out, and at
his word they shall come in, both he, and all the children
of Israel with him, even all the congregation. And 22
Moses did as the Lord commanded him : and he took
Joshua, and set him before Eleazar the priest, and before
all the congregation : and he laid his hands upon him, 23
and gave him a charge, as the Lord spake by the hand
of Moses.

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Command 28

21. With the passing of Moses the real head of the theocratic
community, according to the theory of the priestly writer, is
henceforth to be the High Priest. God will no longer com-
municate with the secular leader directly, as hitherto with Moses,
but indirectly through the medium of the sacred lot as manipulated
by the High Priest. The explicit subordination of the secular to
the religious head of the community, enjoined in the latter half
of this verse, has been thought to furnish a clue to the date of the
main body of P, i.e. Pg (see the Introduction to this commentary).
"by the judgement of the Urim : Urim alone here and
1 Sam. xxviii. 6; elsewhere 'the Urim and the Thummim,' the
mysterious apparatus for manipulating the sacred lot (Exod.
xxviii. 30; Lev. viii. 5). See the writers art. in Hastings's DB.
iv. 838 flf.

Judging from the analogy of xx. 23-29, we may safely infer
that Pg, at this point, recorded the death of Moses, now trans-
ferred to the closing chapter of Deuteronomy. The remainder
of the Book of Numbers contains almost exclusively material from
the secondary strata of the priestly legislation (Ps).

(d) xxviii-xxix. A table of the public offerings for the stated
festivals. The calendar of sacred seasons, compiled from H and
Pg, which now forms Lev. xxiii, is here supplemented by an
elaborate table of the various offerings to be presented on behalf

348 NUMBERS 28. 2. P

the children of Israel, and say unto them, My oblation,

my afood for my offerings made by fire, of a sweet

a Heb. bread.

of the community at the several stated festivals throughout the
year. Beginning (xxviii. 1-8) with the statutory daily offerings,
the writer proceeds to the additional offerings for the sabbath
(gf.), for the festivals of the New Moon (11-15), of Unleavened
Cakes (16-35), an<^ °f Weeks or Firstfruits (26-31), for the first
day of the civil year (xxix. 1-6), for the Day of Atonement (7-11),
and finally for the great autumn festival of Booths (12-38).

These two chapters, it need hardly be said, contain material of
the greatest value for the history of the ritual of sacrifice among
the Hebrews, and may be regarded as a reflection of the actual
ritual of the second temple at the time when they were composed.
That they are later than the main body of P is now generally
admitted ; on the other hand, the provisions they contain for the
daily offerings were in force before the time of the Chronicler
(circa 300 B.C.), so that the date of the present section may with
great probability be set down as falling within the century be-
tween 400-300 b. c. (see the notes on xxviii. 3 ff.). In no other
part of the Pentateuch legislation is the gulf more apparent that
separates the formulated precision and sombre earnestness of the
later post-exilic worship from the spontaneity and joyousness of
the worship of the period before the exile (cf. the remarks on
p. 35 f. and Gray, Numbers, p. 407). The nearest parallel to
this section is supplied by the ritual ordinances of Ezek. xlv. 18-
xlvi. 15, although similar prescriptions for the offerings of private
individuals are found in the manual of sacrifice of Lev. i-vii, in
Num. xv, and elsewhere.

The table on the opposite page shows the number and species
of the sacrificial victims prescribed for the various public sacri-
fices (cf. the conspectus in C-H. Hex. i. 265).

The most striking feature of the table is the prominence of the
sacred number seven, alike in the numbers of the victims, in-
cluding the seventy bullocks of the original feast of Booths (see
on xxix. 12 ff.), and in the duration of the feasts Nos. 4 and 8.
The pre-eminence of the feast of Booths is apparent from the large
total of 199 victims, including those of the supernumerary eighth
day, but excluding those of the daily sacrifice and of the sabbath
which fell within the octave. For the offerings here prescribed
are cumulative; e.g. Nos. 2 to 8 are all in addition to No. 1,
while No. 6 is additional to Nos. r and 3.

xxviii. 1 f. Introduction to this section. For the term oblation
korbdn), see on Lev. i. 2; my food, &c, on Lev. xxi. 6, iii. ti ;
of a sweet savour, on Lev. i. 9.

NUMBERS 28. 3, 4- P

349

savour unto me, shall ye observe to offer unto me in
their due season. a And thou shalt say unto them, This is 3
the offering made by fire which ye shall offer unto the
Lord ; he-lambs of the first year without blemish, two
day by day, for a continual burnt offering. The one 4

a See Ex. xxix. 38-42.

r. Daily (Morning and Even-
ing) Sacrifice

Bullocks.

Rams.

Lambs.

Goats.

2. Additional for Sabbaths ...

...

3. New Moons

4. Feast of Unleavened Cakes,
each day

Total for seven days . .

5. Feast of Weeks (Firstfruits;

6. First day of 7th month
(Tishri)

7. Day of Atonement (10th of
Tishri)

1
13

1
2

7
14

8. Feast of Booths, 1st day...

„ „ 2nd ,,

» » 3rd }}

}> » 4th ,,

» » 5th „

„ „ 6th „

,j „ 7th ,,

n >> 8th ,,

j Total (15th to 22nd Tishri)

105

(1) 3-8. The daily or perpetual (Heb. tdmid, R.V. continual)
offering, in later times termed 'the Tamid.' The Tamid, offered
daily throughout the year, was the centre and core of the public
worship of Judaism. As here prescribed (cf. Exod. xxix. 38-42;
Lev. vi. 8-13}, it consisted of the sacrifice of a yearling male lamb

35o NUMBERS 28. 5-8. P

lamb shalt thou offer in the morning, and the other lamb

5 shalt thou offer a at even j and the tenth part of an ephah
of fine flour for a meal offering, mingled with the fourth

6 part of an hin of beaten oil. It is a continual burnt
offering, which was ordained in mount Sinai for a sweet

7 savour, an offering made by fire unto the Lord. And
the drink offering thereof shall be the fourth part of an
hin for the one lamb : in the holy place shalt thou pour

8 out a drink offering of strong drink unto the Lord. And

a Heb. between the two evenings.

with an accompanying cereal offering (minhd) of fine flour mixed
with oil and a drink-offering of wine, offered in the early morning
and repeated in the late afternoon (for details see the Mishna
treatise Tamid, translated in Barclay, The Talmud, pp. 242 ff.).
The present law was certainly authoritative in the time of the
Chronicler (circa 300 b. a), as is evident from 1 Chron. xvi. 40 ;
2 Chron. xiii. n, xxxi. 3. But under the monarchy the daily
offering consisted of a burnt-offering in the morning and a cereal
offering in the evening (2 Kings xvi. 15). Ezekiel also prescribes
a burnt-offering and a cereal offering, but both are to be presented
together in the morning (Ezek. xlvi. 13-15). In the light of the
foregoing it is probable that Nehemiah (x. 33) also knew of but
one offering of each kind. From these data it has been generally
concluded that the present law which requires a combined burnt
and cereal offering, both morning and evening, originated in the
period between Nehemiah and the Chronicler; this likewise pro-
vides an approximate date for the whole section (see above).

5. As regards the quantities, here and in the sequel, the ephah,
the standard dry measure, which was of the same content as the
' bath ' (6 hins) for liquids, contained originally about 65 pints,
increased later to 71* pints. Therefore ^, T\, and TV of an ephah
may be roughly computed at 7, 14, and 21 pints respectively, and
the hin at nearly 12 pints (see art. ' Weights and Measures ' in
Hastings's DB. iv. 910-3).

6. which was ordained in mount Sinai: a reference to
Exod. xxix. 38 ff., but, as breaking the connexion between 5 and
7, the verse is probably editorial.

*?. in the holy place: here exceptionally the t holy place'
must denote '(within) the sacred court,' where stood the altar of
burnt-offering at the base of which the wine was poured as a
libation (see Ecclus. 1. 15).

a drink offering of strong drink. Since the drink-offering

NUMBERS 28. 9-14. ? 35 1

the other lamb shalt thou offer at even : as the meal
offering of the morning, and as the drink offering thereof,
thou shalt offer it, an offering made by fire, of a sweet
savour unto the Lord.

And on the sabbath day two he-lambs of the first year 9
without blemish, and two tenth parts of an ephah of fine
flour for a meal offering, mingled with oil, and the drink
offering thereof: this is the burnt offering of every sab- 10
bath, beside the continual burnt offering, and the drink
offering thereof.

And in the beginnings of your months ye shall offer a 1 1
burnt offering unto the Lord ; two young bullocks, and
one ram, seven he-lambs of the first year without blemish ;
and three tenth parts of an ephah of fine flour for a meal 1 2
offering, mingled with oil, for each bullock ; and two
tenth parts of fine flour for a meal offering, mingled with
oil, for the one ram; and a several tenth part of fine 13
flour mingled with oil for a meal offering unto every
lamb ; for a burnt offering of a sweet savour, an offering
made by fire unto the Lord. And their drink offerings 14
shall be half an hin of wine for a bullock, and the third
part of an hin for the ram, and the fourth part of an hin

always consisted of grape-wine, the Hebrew word shekar, which
elsewhere denotes all other sorts of alcoholic liquors (see on vi. 3),
must here, by exception, signify 'wine.' As so used here, the
word maybe a Babylonism (the shikaru of the Babylonian ritual).
Have we here a hint of the Babylonian origin of this section ?

(2) 9 f. Additional offerings for the sabbath. It is not clear
from verse 10 whether these are intended to be presented along
with the ordinary morning and evening offerings, or, as verse 23
suggests, as additions to the morning Tamid only.

(3) 11-15. The offerings for the festival of the New Moon on
the first day of each month. The antiquity and wide prevalence
of this festival are attested by the references to it in the older
literature (Amos viii. 5; Hos. ii. 13; Isa. i. 13; 1 Sam. xx. 5 ff.—
here as a family or clan festival^. Nevertheless it is ignored by

352 NUMBERS 28. 15-25. P

for a lamb : this is the burnt offering of every month
*5 throughout the months of the year. And one he-goat
for a sin offering unto the Lord; it shall be offered
beside the continual burnt offering, and the drink
offering thereof.

16 And in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the

17 month, is the Lord's passover. And on the fifteenth
day of this month shall be a feast : seven days shall

18 unleavened bread be eaten. In the first day shall be an

19 holy convocation ; ye shall do no servile work : but ye
shall offer an offering made by fire, a burnt offering unto
the Lord ; two young bullocks, and one ram, and seven
he-lambs of the first year : they shall be unto you with-

20 out blemish : and their meal offering, fine flour mingled
with oil ; three tenth parts shall ye offer for a bullock,

2 1 and two tenth parts for the ram j a several tenth part

22 shalt thou offer for every lamb of the seven lambs; and
one he-goat for a sin offering, to make atonement for

2 3 you. Ye shall offer these beside the burnt offering of
the morning, which is for a continual burnt offering.

24 After this manner ye shall offer daily, for seven days, the
afood of the offering made by fire, of a sweet savour
unto the Lord : it shall be offered beside the continual

2 5 burnt offering, and the drink offering thereof. And on

a Heb. bread.

the earlier legislators, doubtless on account of its association with
the widespread worship of the moon among the Semites. Ezekiel
is the first to give it a place in the recognized calendar of sacred
festivals (xlvi. 3, 6 f., cf. the incidental mention, Num. x. 10).

(4) 16-25. The special offerings for the seven days of the festival
of Unleavened Cakes (Mazaoth). Several of the verses are taken
Irom Lev. xxiii. 5-8.

18. an holy convocation ... no servile work. See notes on
Lev. xxiii. 2, 7. Contrast the command of xxix. 7 below.

NUMBERS 28. 26— 29. 3. P 353

the seventh day ye shall have an holy convocation ; ye
shall do no servile work.

Also in the day of the firstfruits, when ye offer a new 26
meal offering unto the Lord in y -our feast of weeks, ye
shall have an holy convocation ; ye shall do no servile
work : but ye shall offer a burnt offering for a sweet 27
savour unto the Lord ; two young bullocks, one ram,
seven he-lambs of the first year ; and their meal offering, 28
fine flour mingled with oil, three tenth parts for each
bullock, two tenth parts for the one ram, a several tenth 29
part for every lamb of the seven lambs ; one he-goat, to 30
make atonement for you. Beside the continual burnt 31
offering, and the meal offering thereof, ye shall offer
them (they shall be unto you without blemish), and their
drink offerings.

And in the seventh month, on the first day of the 29
month, ye shall have an holy convocation j ye shall do
no servile work : it is a day of blowing of trumpets unto
you. And ye shall offer a burnt offering for a sweet 2
savour unto the Lord ; one young bullock, one ram,
seven he-lambs of the first year without blemish : and 3
their meal offering, fine flour mingled with oil, three

(5) 26-31. The special offerings for 'the day of Firstfruits,'
a name not found again for the festival which originally marked
the close of the grain harvests (barley and wheat), and is else-
where termed 'the feast of harvest' (Exod. xxiii. 16), and 'the
feast of weeks ' (ib. xxxiv. 22 ; cf. verse 26 here ' in your [feast
of] weeks '). Cf. throughout Lev. xxiii. 15 ff, and see the note on
verses 18-20 there.

27. At the close of this verse insert the words within parentheses
in verse 31, which have accidentally dropped out of their proper
place (cf. close of verse 19).

(6) xxix. 1-6. The additional offerings for the first day of the
seventh month (Tishri), here termed 'the day of the trumpet-
blast ' (cf. Lev. xxiii. 24, and note p. 155), the New Year's Day of

a a

354 NUMBERS 29. 4-12. P

tenth parts for the bullock, two tenth parts for the ram,

4 and one tenth part for every lamb of the seven lambs ;

5 and one he-goat for a sin offering, to make atonement for

6 you : beside the burnt offering of the new moon, and the
meal offering thereof, and the continual burnt offering
and the meal offering thereof, and their drink offerings,
according unto their ordinance, for a sweet savour, an
offering made by fire unto the Lord.

7 And on the tenth day of this seventh month ye shall
have an holy convocation ; and ye shall afflict your souls ;

8 ye shall do no manner of work : but ye shall offer a burnt
offering unto the Lord for a sweet savour; one young
bullock, one ram, seven he-lambs of the first year ; they

9 shall be unto you without blemish : and their meal offer-
ing, fine flour mingled with oil, three tenth parts for the

10 bullock, two tenth parts for the one ram, a several tenth
part for every lamb of the seven lambs : one he-goat for

11 a sin offering; beside the sin offering of atonement, and
the continual burnt offering, and the meal offering there-
of, and their drink offerings.

12 And on the fifteenth day of the seventh month ye
shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile
work, and ye shall keep a feast unto the Lord seven

the civil year. The seventh month of the ecclesiastical year, the
first of the civil year, was the festival month par excellence.

(7) 7-1 1. The Day of Atonement and its special offerings apart
from those prescribed for the Tamid, and for the special ceremony
from which this day, the tenth of Tishri, derived its name (Lev.
xvi, xxiii. 26-32).

7. ye shall do no manner of work. The abstention from work
is to be absolute as on the sabbath, not partial as in xxviii. 18, and
verses 12, 35 below; cf. Lev. xxiii. 28.

(8) 12-38. The offerings for the original feast of Booths
(Tabernacles), which lasted seven days from the 15th to the
2 1 st of Tishri inclusive, followed (35-38) by those for the super-

NUMBERS 29. 13-25. P 355

days : and ye shall offer a burnt offering, an offering 13
made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord ; thirteen
young bullocks, two rams, fourteen he-lambs of the first
year ; they shall be without blemish : and their meal 14
offering, fine flour mingled with oil, three tenth parts for
every bullock of the thirteen bullocks, two tenth parts
for each ram of the two rams, and a several tenth part 15
for every lamb of the fourteen lambs : and one he-goat 16
for a sin offering ; beside the continual burnt offering, the
meal offering thereof, and the drink offering thereof.

And on the second day ye shall offer twelve young 17
bullocks, two rams, fourteen he-lambs of the first year
without blemish : and their meal offering and their drink 18
offerings for the bullocks, for the rams, and for the lambs,
according to their number, after the ordinance : and one 19
he-goat for a sin offering ; beside the continual burnt
offering, and the meal offering thereof, and their drink
offerings.

And on the third day eleven bullocks, two rams, four- 20
teen he-lambs of the first year without blemish ; and their 21
meal offering and their drink offerings for the bullocks,
for the rams, and for the lambs, according to their num-
ber, after the ordinance : and one he-goat for a sin 22
offering; beside the continual burnt offering, and the
meal offering thereof, and the drink offering thereof.

And on the fourth day ten bullocks, two rams, fourteen 23
he-lambs of the first year without blemish : their meal 24
offering and their drink offerings for the bullocks, for the
rams, and for the lambs, according to their number, after
the ordinance : and one he-goat for a sin offering ; beside 25

numerary eighth day, for which see above, p. 156 f. The table
given above shows the massing of sacrificial victims which marked
this festival. It will be noted that while the other victims re-

A a 2

356 NUMBERS 29. 26-37. P

the continual burnt offering, the meal offering thereof,
and the drink offering thereof.

26 And on the fifth day nine bullocks, two rams, fourteen

27 he-lambs of the first year without blemish : and their
meal offering and their drink offerings for the bullocks,
for the rams, and for the lambs, according to their num-

28 ber, after the ordinance : and one he-goat for a sin
offering ; beside the continual burnt offering, and the
meal offering thereof, and the drink offering thereof.

29 And on the sixth day eight bullocks, two rams, four-

30 teen he-lambs of the first year without blemish : and their
meal offering and their drink offerings for the bullocks,
for the rams, and for the lambs, according to their

31 number, after the ordinance : and one he-goat for a sin
offering ; beside the continual burnt offering, the meal
offering thereof, and the drink offerings thereof.

32 And on the seventh day seven bullocks, two rams,

33 fourteen he-lambs of the first year without blemish : and
their meal offering and their drink offerings for the bul-
locks, for the rams, and for the lambs, according to their

34 number, after the ordinance : and one he-goat for a sin
offering ; beside the continual burnt offering, the meal
offering thereof, and the drink offering thereof.

35 On the eighth day ye shall have a a solemn assembly :

36 ye shall do no servile work : but ye shall offer a burnt
offering, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto
the Lord : one bullock, one ram, seven he-lambs of the

37 first year without blemish : their meal offering and their
drink offerings for the bullock, for the ram, and for the

a See Lev. xxiii. 36.

mained the same through the first seven days, the number of
bullocks diminished throughout by one, making a total of 70 in all.

NUMBERS 29. 38— 30. 2. P 357

lambs, shall be according to their number, after the
ordinance : and one he-goat for a sin offering j beside 38
the continual burnt offering, and the meal offering
thereof, and the drink offering thereof.

These ye shall offer unto the Lord in your set feasts, 39
beside your vows, and your freewill offerings, for your
burnt offerings, and for your meal offerings, and for your
drink offerings, and for your peace offerings. a And Moses 40
told the children of Israel according to all that the Lord
commanded Moses.

And Moses spake unto the heads of the tribes of the 30
children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which the
Lord hath commanded. When a man voweth a vow 2
unto the Lord, or sweareth an oath to bind his soul
with a bond, he shall not b break his word ; he shall do
a [Ch. xxx. 1 in Heb.] b Heb. profane.

39 f. The subscription or colophon of the section emphasizing
the fact that all the preceding offerings are public sacrifices on
behalf of the community, and take no account of the large variety
of private offerings, which may be presented by individuals or
families.

(e) xxx. The validity of women's vows.

This chapter, which forms an independent section of the later
legislation, is supplementary both to the general law of Lev. xxvii,
and to the more special law of the Nazirite vow, Num. vf. 13 ff.
The introductory formula (see below), peculiarities of phraseology
and the general style compel the attribution to Ps rather than
to Pg. The persons whose vows are here dealt with are of two
classes: (a) persons sui iuris, viz. men, understood to be of age
(verse 2), and widows and divorced wives (9) ; and (b) persons
not sui iuris but under the tutelage of fathers or husbands, viz.
young unmarried women (3-5), women married while under
a vow (6-8) and married women generally (10-15).

1. Note the absence of the familiar formula of P8 : ' And Yahweh
spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel ' ;
also the expression, 'the heads of the tribes,' &c, found only
here in the Pentateuch.

2. to bind his soul with a bond: rather • to bind himself

358 NUMBERS 30. 3-8. P

3 according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth. Also
when a woman voweth a vow unto the Lord, and bindeth
herself by a bond, being in her father's house, in her

4 youth ; and her father heareth her vow, and her bond
wherewith she hath bound her soul, and her father
holdeth his peace at her : then all her vows shall stand,
and every bond wherewith she hath bound her soul shall

5 stand. But if her father disallow her in the day that he
heareth ; none of her vows, or of her bonds wherewith
she hath bound her soul, shall stand : and the Lord

6 shall forgive her, because her father disallowed her. And
if she be married to a husband, while her vows are upon
her, or the rash utterance of her lips, wherewith she hath

7 bound her soul ; and her husband hear it, and hold his
peace at her in the day that he heareth it : then her vows
shall stand, and her bonds wherewith she hath bound

8 her soul shall stand. But if her husband disallow her in

by a pledge of abstinence.' The terminology of this chapter
is singular in distinguishing between a positive and a negative
vow. By the former, a person binds himself to do or give some-
thing, by the latter to abstain from doing or enjoying something.
In the earlier terminology both are included under the general
term 'vow ' (iiecier), which is applied both to the vow of a Jephthah
or a Hannah, and to the vow of the Nazirite which was purely
a vow of abstinence. Here, however, the term 'vow' is confined
to the former species of pledge, while the pledge of abstinence
is denoted by the unique term 'issdr, rendered ' bond.' A man
sui iuris is bound under all circumstances to perform his vow and
to keep his pledge of abstinence.

3-5. The vows and pledges of a young unmarried woman still
under her father's guardianship.

4. and her father heareth her vow : a misleading rendering ;
the context requires : * and her father comes to hear of her vow \
(cf. verse 8). When this happens, it may be some time after the
vow has been formally uttered, the father — in other cases, the
husband — must then and there interpose with his veto, if he dis-
approves of the vow, or ' for ever hold his peace.'

6-8. The case of a young woman who takes a vow or pledge

NUMBERS 30. 9-15. P 359

the day that he heareth it ; then he shall make void her
vow which is upon her, and the rash utterance of her
lips, wherewith she hath bound her soul : and the Lord
shall forgive her. But the vow of a widow, or of her 9
that is divorced, even every thing wherewith she hath
bound her soul, shall stand against her. And if she *o
vowed in her husband's house, or bound her soul by
a bond with an oath, and her husband heard it, and held 1 1
his peace at her, and disallowed her not; then all her
vows shall stand, and every bond wherewith she bound
her soul shall stand. But if her husband made them 12
null and void in the day that he heard them ; then
whatsoever proceeded out of her lips concerning her
vows, or concerning the bond of her soul, shall not
stand : her husband hath made them void ; and the
Lord shall forgive her. Every vow, and every binding 13
oath to afflict the soul, her husband may establish it, or
her husband may make it void. But if her husband r4
altogether hold his peace at her from day to day ; then
he establisheth all her vows, or all her bonds, which are
upon her : he hath established them, because he held
his peace at her in the day that he heard them. But if 15
he shall make them null and void after that he hath

while under her father's tutelage without the latter intervening ;
when she passes at marriage under her husband's guardianship,
the latter has the right of veto under the same limitation as before.
9. This verse, in which widows and divorced wives are uncon-
ditionally bound, as being sui hiris, comes in awkwardby at this
point, and may have got displaced from a position after verse 15,
or it may be a later addition to the original law.

10-15. The case of married women generally, the natural con-
tinuation of 6-8.

13. every binding oath to afflict the soul: the latter ex-
pression elsewhere denotes 'to fast* (see on Lev. xvi. 29) ; here
it denotes any and every form of abstinence.

360 NUMBERS 30. 16— 31. 2. P

16 heard them ; then he shall bear her iniquity. These are
the statutes, which the Lord commanded Moses, between
a man and his wife, between a father and his daughter,
being in her youth, in her father's house.
31 2 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Avenge the
children of Israel of the Midianites : afterward shalt thou

15. he shall bear her iniquity. When the husband interposes
with his veto at the proper time no guilt is incurred by either
party ; but if, at a later time, he illegally vetoes his wife's vow,
the guilt incurred falls not upon her but upon her husband.

(/) xxxi. A holy war against Midian, and legislation based
thereon.

Moses is commanded to organize an expedition for the pur-
pose of executing 'the Lord's vengeance on Midian.' For this
jihad, or holy war, an army of 12,000 men is sent out under the
leadership of Phinehas, the priest — Joshua is nowhere mentioned
— with the extraordinary result that the whole adult male popu-
lation of Midian is exterminated and their homes burnt without
the loss of a single man of the Hebrew army ! (1-12, 49). On the
return of the latter with their spoil of persons and property,
Moses commands the immediate execution of all the male children
and of all the Midianite women with the exception of those still
virgin (13-18). On this follows a couple of legal enactments, the
first of which prescribes the ceremonial purifications necessary
after a campaign (19-24), while the second lays down the prin-
ciples which are henceforth to regulate the division of the spoils
of war (25-54).

In this chapter we have one of the latest additions to the com-
plex priestly legislation of the Pentateuch. The story of this
wonderful crusade is not history — nor was it seriously intended
to be taken for history, which from the apologetic standpoint
is a distinct gain— but an illustration of the method by which
the later Jewish authorities sought to invest certain laws with
a more authoritative sanction by providing them with a Mosaic
precedent. Thus there is unimpeachable authority for believing
that the law of the equal division of the booty taken in war was
first introduced by David (1 Sam. xxx. 24 f.) : here, by a recog-
nized ' legal fiction ' (see reference to OTJC2 above, p. 344), it is
attributed to Moses (see further op. cit. 386 f. ; cf. Gray, Numbers,
pp. 418 flf., who thinks that 'though as a whole unhistorical, the
narrative may and doubtless does contain some traditional ele-
ments, such as the names of the five kings').

NUMBERS 31. 3-12. P 361

be gathered unto thy people. And Moses spake unto 3
the people, saying, Arm ye men from among you for the
war, that they may go against Midian, to execute the
Lord's vengeance on Midian. Of every tribe a thou- 4
sand, throughout all the tribes of Israel, shall ye send to
the war. So there were delivered, out of the thousands 5
of Israel, a thousand of every tribe, twelve thousand
armed for war. And Moses sent them, a thousand of 6
every tribe, to the war, them and Phinehas the son
of Eleazar the priest, to the war, with the vessels of the
sanctuary and the trumpets for the alarm in his hand.
And they warred against Midian, as the Lord com- 7
manded Moses ; and they slew every male. And they 8
slew the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain;
Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, the five
kings of Midian : Balaam also the son of Beor they slew
with the sword. And the children of Israel took captive 9
the women of Midian and their little ones ; and all their
cattle, and all their flocks, and all their goods, they took
for a prey. And all their cities in the places wherein 10
they dwelt, and all their encampments, they burnt with
fire. And they took all the spoil, and all the prey, both "
of man and of beast. And they brought the captives, 12
and the prey, and the spoil, unto Moses, and unto
Eleazar the priest, and unto the congregation of the
children of Israel, unto the camp at the plains of Moab,
which are by the Jordan at Jericho.

3. the LORD'S vengeance on Midian: see xxv. 16-18, and
the notes on verses 3-1 1 of that chapter.

6. with the vessels of the sanctuary: also rendered, 'the furni-
ture of the sanctuary ' (iv. 15). Can the author of this Midrash have
intended the ark to take the field in this holy war (see on x. 35 f.) ?
The words, however, may also be rendered ' with the holy (i. e.
priestly) garments.' For the trumpets see x. 9 above.

362 NUMBERS 31. 13-19. W

13 And Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the princes
of the congregation, went forth to meet them without

14 the camp. And Moses was wroth with the officers of
the host, the captains of thousands and the captains of
hundreds, which came from the service of the war.

15 And Moses said unto them, Have ye saved all the

16 women alive? Behold, these caused the children of
Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass
against the Lord in the matter of Peor, and so the

1 7 plague was among the congregation of the Lord. Now
therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill
every woman that hath known man by lying with him.

18 But all the women children, that have not known man

19 by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves. And
encamp ye without the camp seven days: whosoever

13-18. Moses is indignant that the women in particular were
spared, since these were the cause of Israel's fall with its fatal
results (xxv. 8 f.), and commands all the survivors, male and
female, with the exception of the female children and the virgines
intactae, to be slain forthwith.

16. in the matter of Peor : perhaps editorial, both here and
in xxv. 18, since there was no historical connexion between the
apostasy to the Moabite Baal and the sin of the Midianite women
(see on p. 334).

1*7. That this total extirpation of the Midianites belongs to the
realm of pious imagination rather than of sober history is shown
by the narrative of Judges vi-viii.

19-24. Regulations for the purification of the warriors, their
garments, and all their impedimenta. This custom of the purifi-
cation of warriors after battle has many and widespread analogies
among primitive peoples (see Frazer, Golden Bough, i. 331-9;
Gray, op. cit, p. 243 f. ; Farnell, The Evolution of Religion, p. 94 x).

19 f. The provisions of this enactment resemble those of xix.

1 Dr. Farnell cites the case of a North American tribe of Indians
which ' was extirpated because it needed a month to wipe off the
stain of a single conflict, while their enemies needed [as here] only a
week for that purpose, and therefore had the advantage of three
weeks' start in preparing for the next attack ! '

NUMBERS 31. 20-26. P 363

hath killed any person, and whosoever hath touched any
slain, purify yourselves on the third day and on the
seventh day, ye and your captives. And as to every 20
garment, and all that is made of skin, and all work of
goats' hair, and all things made of wood, ye shall purify
yourselves. And Eleazar the priest said unto the men 21
of war which went to the battle, This is the statute of
the law which the Lord hath commanded Moses : how- 22
beit the gold, and the silver, the brass, the iron, the tin,
and the lead, every thing that may abide the fire, ye 23
shall make to go through the fire, and it shall be clean ;
nevertheless it shall be purified with the water of ° separa-
tion : and all that abideth not the fire ye shall make to
go through the water. And ye shall wash your clothes 24
on the seventh day, and ye shall be clean, and afterward
ye shall come into the camp.

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Take the 25
sum of the prey that was taken, both of man and of 2

a Or, impurity

12-22, also belonging to late strata of P. To 'purify ' is here, as
there, literally to 'un-sin,' for which see on Lev. iv. 3.

21-24. Additional, and probably later, instructions on the same
subject given by Eleazar. The most striking feature of these
additional regulations is that after 'everything that may abide
the fire' has been purified by this medium, it must be further
1 un-sinned ' by means of the 5 water for impurity ' (see on xix. 9) —
a seemingly unnecessary procedure which has led many to regard
the introduction of the latter cathartic as a later gloss (cf. follow-
ing note).

23. ye shall make to go through the water : rather 'through
water,' no doubt ' living ' or running water (Lev. xiv. 5), but not
the special 'water of separation.' Probably only the two ordinary
media of lustration, fire and water, were mentioned in the original
law. For the universal use of these media see Tylor, Primitive
Culture, 3rd ed., pp. 429 ff.

25-31. A precedent is set up to determine the principle on
which the spoils of war, so far as female captives and cattle are

364 NUMBERS 31. 27-32. P

beast, thou, and Eleazar the priest, and the heads of the

27 fathers' houses of the congregation : and divide the prey
into two parts; between the men skilled in war, that

28 went out to battle, and all the congregation : and levy
a tribute unto the Lord of the men of war that went out
to battle : one soul of five hundred, both of the persons,
and of the beeves, and of the asses, and of the flocks :

29 take it of their half, and give it unto Eleazar the priest,

30 for the Lord's heave offering. And of the children of
Israel's half, thou shalt take one drawn out of every fifty,
of the persons, of the beeves, of the asses, and of the
flocks, even of all the cattle, and give them unto the
Levites, which keep the charge of the tabernacle of the

31 Lord. And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the

32 Lord commanded Moses. Now the prey, over and
above the booty which the men of war took, was six
hundred thousand and seventy thousand and five thou-

concerned, are henceforth to be divided. These are first of all
divided numerically into two halves, one to go to the actual com-
batants, the other to the rest of the ' congregation ' who have
remained in the camp (cf. 1 Sam. xxx. 24 f. ; also Joshua xxii.
8 end). From each of these moieties a tax is to be levied for the
maintenance of the clergy; -5^-g-th, or £th per cent., of the soldiers'
share is to be a contribution to Yahweh for the support of the
priests; while ^th, or 2 per cent., of the congregation's share is
appointed for the support of the more numerous body of Levites.

29. for the LORD'S heave offering- : rather, \ as a (special)
contribution to Yahweh' (see on Lev. vii. 14). In verses 28 and
41 it is called a * tribute,' or rather a ' tax.'

30. which keep the charge, &c. See on i. 53.

32-47. The carrying out of the preceding regulations.

32. over and above the booty: render: ' which remained of
the booty,' after the massacre ordered in verse 17, and after de-
ducting the animals that had died or been killed for food on the
way. The enormous and indeed impossible totals may be here
set down, viz. small cattle, including goats as well as the ' sheep '
of the text, 675,000; neat cattle or 'beeves,' 72,000; asses,
61,000; and virgins, 32,000.

NUMBERS 31. 33-49. p 3^5

sand sheep, and threescore and twelve thousand beeves, 33
and threescore and one thousand asses, and thirty and 34
two thousand persons in all, of the women that had not
known man by lying with him. And the half, which was 36
the portion of them that went out to war, was in number
three hundred thousand and thirty thousand and seven
thousand and five hundred sheep : and the Lord's 37
tribute of the sheep was six hundred and threescore and
fifteen. And the beeves were thirty and six thousand ; 38
of which the Lord's tribute was threescore and twelve.
And the asses were thirty thousand and five hundred ; of 39
which the Lord's tribute was threescore and one. And 4°
the persons were sixteen thousand; of whom the Lord's
tribute was thirty and two persons. And Moses gave 4T
the tribute, which was the Lord's heave offering, unto
Eleazar the priest, as the Lord commanded Moses.
And of the children of Israel's half, which Moses divided 42
off from the men that warred, (now the congregation's 43
half was three hundred thousand and thirty thousand,
seven thousand and five hundred sheep, and thirty and 44
six thousand beeves, and thirty thousand and five hundred 45
asses, and sixteen thousand persons ;) even of the children *6
of Israel's half, Moses took one drawn out of every fifty, /
both of man and of beast, and gave them unto the Levites,
which kept the charge of the tabernacle of the Lord ; as
the Lord commanded Moses. And the officers which 48
were over the thousands of the host, the captains of thou-
sands, and the captains of hundreds, came near unto
Moses : and they said unto Moses, Thy servants have 49
taken the sum of the men of war which are under our

48-54. . As a ransom for their lives the officers present an offer-
ing to Yahweh, consisting of the various gold ornaments that
formed their share of the general loot.

366 NUMBERS 31. 50-54. P

50 charge, and there lacketh not one man of us. And we
have brought the Lord's oblation, what every man hath
gotten, of jewels of gold, ankle chains, and bracelets,
signet-rings, earrings, and "armlets, to make atonement

5 1 for our souls before the Lord. And Moses and Eleazar
the priest took the gold of them, even all wrought jewels.

53 And all the gold of the heave offering that they offered
up to the Lord, of the captains of thousands, and of the
captains of hundreds, was sixteen thousand seven hundred

53 and fifty shekels. (^For the men of war had taken booty,

54 every man for himself.) And Moses and Eleazar the
priest took the gold of the captains of thousands and of
hundreds, and brought it into the tent of meeting, for
a memorial for the children of Israel before the Lord.

a Or, necklaces b See ver. 32.

50. of jewels of gold : rather f of gold ornaments/ a compre-
hensive expression of which the particulars follow, corresponding
to the ' wrought jewels,' rather 'ornaments' or ' objects of art,'
of the following verse.

ankle chains: really 'armlets,' or arm-bands, an ornament
worn on the upper part of the arm, see on 2 Sam. i. 10 {Cent.
Bible). The meaning of the word rendered * armlets ' (marg. neck-
laces) in the text is unknown. See further the writer's art.
' Ornaments' in Hastings's DB. (1909).

to make atonement (kapper) for our souls : render ' to be
a ransom for our lives ' ; the idea is the same as in Exod. xxx. 12,
where the corresponding substantive {kdpher) is used (see
Bennett, Cent. Bible, in he). The officers had risked the Divine
displeasure in taking a census of their men !

52. The value in sterling money of 16,750 gold shekels, at the
rate of 41 shillings to the shekel (see Hastings's DB. iii. 419 f.),
is approximately ^34, 340. *

53. is probably a marginal gloss referring to the share of the
common soldiers in the loot (Judges viii. 24 ff.), and not, as the
margin suggests, to the spoil of verse 32.

54. for a memorial, &c. : rather ' for a remembrance,' that

1 In Kautzsch, Die Heilige Schrift d.A.T. (1908), in loc, the
value is wrongly given as 'over 43,500 marks' = £2,175, the value of
the corresponding number of silver shekels.

NUMBERS 32. i, 2. P 367

Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad 32
had a very great multitude of cattle : and when they saw
the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, that, behold,
the place was a place for cattle; the children of Gad and 2
the children of Reuben came and spake unto Moses, and
to Eleazar the priest, and unto the princes of the con-

Yahweh may be reminded of His people, see on x. 10 (cf. note
on v. 15).

(g) xxxii. The tribes of Reuben and Gad {and part of Manasseh)
are allotted territory east of the Jordan (cf. Deut. iii. 12 ff.).

The pastoral tribes of Gad and Reuben approach Moses with
the request to be allowed to settle in the newly-conquered terri-
tory east of the Jordan. Moses, at first indignant at their apparent
selfishness, afterwards grants their request on their undertaking
to assist the remaining tribes in their conquest of the country
west of the Jordan. The association of ' the half tribe of
Manasseh ' (verse 33) with the two tribes above named is due to
an editor, who wished to add a separate extract telling in reality
of the independent conquests of the three Manassite clans of
Machir, Jair, and Nobah (39-42). The main body of the chapter
(1-32, 34-38) is best regarded as a free composition from the pen
of a late priestly writer, working from older materials in JE and
P. See C-H. Hex. ii. 239 for a summary of the ' many conflict-
ing phenomena,' which are doubtless due to the fact that the
original sources reflected the geographical position of the tribes
named at different epochs of their history. The arts. ' Gad,'
' Manasseh,' ' Reuben,' in the standard dictionaries should also be
consulted.

1. Reuben . . . Gad: the normal order according to the
genealogical tradition, but elsewhere in this chapter the order is
Gad, Reuben. The latter tribe lost its pre-eminence at an early
period, and ultimately its individuality.

the land of Jazer. See on xxi. 24 ; cf. verses 3, 35 below.
the land of Gilead. Probably no O.T. geographical term is
so elastic as Gilead (see Gray, in loc, and the dictionaries). Some-
times it is used of the whole of the country between the Arnon
and the Yarmuk, which is divided into two halves by the Jabbok
(Wady Zerka) ; at other times it is applied to either of these
halves. Thus, in verse 29 below, ' the land of Gilead ' denotes
the country south of the Jabbok, in which were situated all the
places named in verses 3, 34-37. This is its most frequent appli-
cation, but in verse 39 (a different source) it must denote the
country north of the Jabbok.

368 NUMBERS 32. 3-9. *

3 gregation, saying, Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and
a Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and b Sebam, and

4 Nebo, and c Beon, the land which the Lord smote before
the congregation of Israel, is a land for cattle, and thy

5 servants have cattle. And they said, If we have found
grace in thy sight, let this land be given unto thy servants

6 for a possession ; bring us not over Jordan. And Moses
said unto the children of Gad and to the children of
Reuben, Shall your brethren go to the war, and shall ye

7 sit here ? And wherefore discourage ye the heart of the
children of Israel from going over into the land which

8 the Lord hath given them ? Thus did your fathers, when

9 I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land. For

when they went up unto the valley of Eshcol, and saw

the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of

a In ver. 36, Beth-nimrah. b In ver. 38, Sibmah.

c In ver. 38, Baal-meon.

3. Of the nine towns here named, the first four, according to
verses 34-38, fell to Gad, the remaining five to Reuben. They
all lay, as has been said, between the Arnon and the Jabbok. Of
the former Moabite cities here named, several are mentioned in
the inscription of King Mesha {circa 860 b. c).

Ataroth, the modern 'Attarus, in a line with the mouth of
the Wady Zerka Ma'in, of which Mesha records : ' the men of Gad
occupied the land of Ataroth from of old,' &c. (line 10).

Dibon, the modern Dhiban, four miles north of the Arnon,
the Dibon-Gad of xxxiii. 45 f., and the capital of Mesha who
styles himself 'the Dibonite' (1. 1 f.). Of the others the best
known is Heshbon, to-day Hesban, the former capital of Sihon
according to xxi. 25 ff., Deut. i. 4, &c. Nimrah, or Beth-Nimrah
(36), is the modern Nimrin, on the edge of the Jordan valley.
Beon, if not a copyist's slip for Meon, may be an intentional dis-
figurement of Baal-meon (see on verse 38 ; cf. Peor and Baal-
peor), also named Beth-meon fjer. xlviii. 23) and even Beth-baal-
meon (Joshua xiii. 17 and Mesha, 1. 30). The form Meon survives
in the modern Ma'in south-west of Medeba, which gives its name
to the Wady Zerka Ma'in above mentioned.

8-13 contain a summary of chs. xiii-xiv in their present com-
posite form, which shows the late origin of this chapter.

NUMBERS 32. 10-19. P 369

Israel, that they should not go into the land which the
Lord had given them. And the Lord's anger was 10
kindled in that day, and he sware, saying, Surely none of 1 1
the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years
old and upward, shall see the land which I sware unto
Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob; because they
have not wholly followed me: save Caleb the son of 12
Jephunneh the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun :
because they have wholly followed the Lord. And the 13
Lord's anger was kindled against Israel, and he made
them wander to and fro in the wilderness forty years,
until all the generation, that had done evil in the sight
of the Lord, was consumed. And, behold, ye are risen 14
up in your fathers' stead, an increase of sinful men, to
augment yet the fierce anger of the Lord toward Israel.
For if ye turn away from after him, he will yet again leave 15
them in the wilderness ; and ye shall destroy all this
people. And they came near unto him, and said, We 16
will build sheepfolds here for our cattle, and cities for
our little ones : but we ourselves will be ready armed to 1 7
go before the children of Israel, until we have brought
them unto their place : and our little ones shall dwell in
the fenced cities because of the inhabitants of the land.
We will not return unto our houses, until the children of 18
Israel have inherited every man his inheritance. For we 19
will not inherit with them on the other side Jordan, and

14. an increase : rather, i a brood ' of sinful men.

17. we ourselves will be ready armed, &c. : lit. 'we will
arm ourselves (and march) fully equipped at the head of the
children of Israel ' ; < ready' of A.V. and R.V. represents a common
military technical term (Exod. xiii. 18 ; Joshua i. 14, iv. 12. &c.)
—a letter of which has been dropped in the Hebrew text here —
meaning originally 'in companies of fifty,' then ' fully equipped'
for a campaign (Meyer, Die Israeliten, p. 501).

lib

37o NUMBERS 32. 20-31. P

forward ; because our inheritance is fallen to us on this
20 side Jordan eastward. And Moses said unto them, If ye

will do this thing ; if ye will arm yourselves to go before
31 the Lord to the war, and every armed man of you will

pass over Jordan before the Lord, until he hath driven

22 out his enemies from before him, and the land be subdued
before the Lord : then afterward ye shall return, and be
guiltless towards the Lord, and towards Israel j and this
land shall be unto you for a possession before the Lord.

23 But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against

24 the Lord: and be sure your sin will find you out. Build
you cities for your little ones, and folds for your sheep ;
and do that which hath proceeded out of your mouth.

25 And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben
spake unto Moses, saying, Thy servants will do as my

26 lord commandeth. Our little ones, our wives, our flocks,
and all our cattle, shall be there in the cities of Gilead :

27 but thy servants will pass over, every man that is armed
for war, before the Lord to battle, as my lord saith.

28 So Moses gave charge concerning them to Eleazar the
priest, and to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the heads
of the fathers' houses of the tribes of the children of

ao Israel. And Moses said unto them, If the children
of Gad and the children of Reuben will pass with you
over Jordan, every man that is armed to battle, before
the Lord, and the land shall be subdued before you ;
then ye shall give them the land of Gilead for a posses-

30 sion : but if they will not pass over with you armed, they
shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan.

31 And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben

28 ff. Moses charges Eleazar, Joshua, the future commander-
in-chief, and the heads of the various septs (see on i. 2), to see to
it that Gad and Reuben fulfil the conditions agreed to.

NUMBERS 32. 3»-39- p 37 1

answered, saying, As the Lord hath said unto thy
servants, so will we do. We will pass over armed before 32
the Lord into the land of Canaan, and the possession of
our inheritance shall remain with us beyond Jordan.
And Moses gave unto them, even to the children of 33
Gad, and to the children of Reuben, and unto the half
tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of
Sihon king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og
king of Bashan, the land, according to the cities thereof
with their borders, even the cities of the land round
about. And the children of Gad built Dibon, and 34
Ataroth, and Aroer; and Atroth-shophan, and Jazer, 35
and Jogbehah ; and Beth-nimrah, and Beth-haran : fenced 36
cities, and folds for sheep. And the children of Reuben 37
built Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Kiriathaim ; and Nebo, 38
and Baal-meon, (their names being changed,) and Sib-
mah : and gave other names unto the cities which they
builded. And the children of Machir the son of Manas- 39

33. An editorial addition, introducing without explanation the
' half tribe of Manasseh,' evidently with a view to the addition of
verses 39-42 to the lists of the Gadite and Reubenite cities in
34-38.

34-36. A list of eight cities rebuilt (^so render for { built ' of the
text), or restored after the war of conquest, by the tribe of Gad.
Of the four not mentioned in verse 3, the best known is Aroer,
probably the modern 'Ara'ir, on the north bank of the Anion,
almost due south of Dibon.

37 f. A similar list of cities rebuilt or restored by the Reuben-
ites. Elealeh is El 'Al, two miles north of Heshbon ; Kiriathaim
is mentioned by Mesha (1. 10) between Baal-meon and Ataroth.
For Nebo (Mesha, 1. 14) see on xxvii. 12.

38. their names being changed: probably a marginal note
by a reader suggesting that the two preceding place-names should
not be pronounced as written, in order to avoid naming the two
heathen deities, the Babylonian Nebo and Baal (cf. the alteration
of the names Meri-baal and Ish-baal into Mephibosheth and
Ish-bosheth, for which see Cent, Bible on 2 Sam. ii. 8, iv. 4).

39-42. An independent fragment from a history of the wars of

B b 2

372 NUMBERS 32. 4o— 33. i. P

seh went to Gilead; and took it, and dispossessed the

40 Amorites which were therein. And Moses gave Gilead
unto Machir the son of Manasseh ; and he dwelt therein.

41 And Jair the son of Manasseh went and took the towns

42 thereof, and called them a Havvoth-jair. And Nobah
went and took Kenath, and the h villages thereof, and
called it Nobah, after his own name.

33 These are the c journeys of the children of Israel,

& That is, The towns of Jair. b Heb. daughters.

f Or, stages

the conquest (with the exception of the editorial verse 40), akin
to Judges i. It tells of the successful raid of three Manassite
clans on the portion of Gilead lying north of the Jabbok. The
clans were no doubt previously settled in Western Palestine (for
the probable actual histor}' of these clans see Ed. Meyer, Die
Israeliten, &c, 516 ff. ; cf. Driver's art. 'Manasseh' in Hastings's
DB.).

41. the towns thereof . . . Havvoth-jair: lit. ' the tent-villages
thereof, and called them Jair's tent-villages' (cf. the editorial
insertion based on this passage in Deut. iii. 12). But in Judges x.
3 ff., these ' villages ' are said to have been founded at a later period
by Jair the Gileadite, one of the 'Minor Judges.'

(h) xxxiii. 1-49. An annotated itinerary of the route from Egypt
to the Jordan.

This elaborate study of the route of the Hebrews from the land
of Goshen to the valley of the Jordan contains material drawn
from all the existing sources of the Pentateuch. It may, there-
fore, well be 'the work of a learned Jew of Jerusalem about the
end of the fifth century b. c.' (Guthe). Forty-two stations are
named, including Rameses, the starting-point, a number probably
not accidental (cf. Matt. i. 17). Of these no fewer than twenty-
two are not named elsewhere in the Pentateuch, while places
mentioned elsewhere, such as Massah, Meribah, Taberah, and
those named in Num. xxi. 12-20, are passed over. Of the former
class some may have been preserved in traditions, oral or written,
which are now lost to us ; others may be names of caravan-stations
of the writer's own day. In any case the exceedingly complicated
problem of the route of the Hebrews, including as its central crux
the site of the mountain of legislation, is not greatly helped to
a solution by this late attempt to reconcile the variant traditions

NUMBERS 33. 2-7. P 373

ft when they went forth out of the land of Egypt by their
hosts under the hand of Moses and Aaron. And Moses a
wrote their goings out according to their journeys by the
commandment of the Lord : and these are their jour-
neys according to their goings out. And they journeyed 3
from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of
the first month ; on the morrow after the passover the
children of Israel went out with an high hand in the
sight of all the Egyptians, while the Egyptians were 4
burying all their firstborn, which the Lord had smitten
among them : upon their gods also the Lord executed
judgements. And the children of Israel journeyed from 5
Rameses, and pitched in Succoth. And they journeyed 6
from Succoth, and pitched in Etham, which is in the ,
edge of the wilderness. And they journeyed from Etham, 7
a Or, Ay which

of the older sources. For the more or less plausible identifications
that have been suggested for the places enumerated in this chapter
— of which not more than ten or twelve can be identified with
certainty— the student must consult the larger commentaries and
the dictionaries, also the following recent studies of the route as
a whole : Guthe, art. 'Wttstenwanderungen,' in Hauck's PRE3,
vol. xxi (1908); Lagrange, Rev. Biblique, ix (1900), several
articles ; Bonhoff, Theol. Stud. u. Krit. lxxx (1907), pp. 159-217 ;
Weill, Rev. des Etudes Juives, lvii (1909% several articles now
published in book form: Le sJjour des Israelites, &c. See also
Musil's map of Arabia Petraea and his three vols, with this title.

1. These are the journeys: better as margin ' the stages . . .
by which.'

2. The latter half of this verse, 'and these are their journeys
(stagesY &cv is probably the original continuation of verse 1 ; the
first half, in this case, is the addition of an editor who regarded the
whole Pentateuch, and therefore this chapter, as Mosaic.

3. from Barneses : Exod. xii. 37. Flinders Petrie (Hyksos
and Israelite Cities) claims to have discovered the site at Tell er-
Retabeh, about twenty miles west of Ismailiyeh.

5. Succoth, the first stage, Egyptian Thuku ; for this and
succeeding stages see the Commentaries on Exodus bv Bennett
[Cent. Bible) and A..H. McNeile.

374 NUMBERS 33. 8-16. P

and turned back unto Pi-hahiroth, which is before

8 Baal-zephon : and they pitched before Migdol. And
they journeyed from before Hahiroth, and passed through
the midst of the sea into the wilderness : and they went
three days' journey in the wilderness of Etham, and

9 pitched in Marah. And they journeyed from Marah,
and came unto Elim : and in Elim were twelve springs
of water, and threescore and ten palm trees ; and they

10 pitched there. And they journeyed from Elim, and

11 pitched by the Red Sea. And they journeyed from the

12 Red Sea, and pitched in the wilderness of Sin. And
they journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, and pitched

13 in Dophkah. And they journeyed from Dophkah, and

14 pitched in Alush. And they journeyed from Alush, and
pitched in Rephidim, where was no water for the people

15 to drink. And they journeyed from Rephidim, and

16 pitched in the wilderness of Sinai. And they journeyed

8. from before Hahiroth : read, with the Versions, ' from Pi-
hahiroth.'

10 f. This encampment by the Gulf of Suez— for this and not the
Gulf of Akaba (see on xiv. 25) is clearly intended — is not men-
tioned in Exod. xvi. 1 (P), where the wilderness of Sin follows
immediately upon Elim. It is perfectly clear, therefore, that in
the opinion of the author of this chapter, and probably of his con-
temporaries, Sinai-Horeb was to be found neither in Midian, east
of Akaba, nor in the neighbourhood of Kadesh, but somewhere in
the peninsula of Sinai. It by no means follows that either Sinai
or Horeb — if the two must be distinguished — was so situated
according to the earliest traditions (see above, p. 186 f.).

12 f. Dophkah and Alush are not mentioned elsewhere. There
is no agreement as to their position.

14. Rephidim. See Exod. xvii. i, xix. 2 (P), where it is
located as here, but the identification of it with Massah, and still
more with Meribah, in Exod. xvii. 7 (JE), suggests that the older
tradition placed Rephidim at Kadesh (see on xx. 13 above \ This
is one of the arguments for locating the mount of lawgiving in the
same neighbourhood, or at least for holding that the Hebrews
marched first in a north-easterly, not a south-easterly direction.

NUMBERS 33. 17-32. P 375

from the wilderness of Sinai, and pitched in Kibroth-
hattaavah. And they journeyed from Kibroth-hattaavah, *7
and pitched in Hazeroth. And they journeyed from 18
Hazeroth, and pitched in Rithmah. And they journeyed 19
from Rithmah, and pitched in Rimmon-perez. And they 2°
journeyed from Rimmon-perez, and pitched in Libnah.
And they journeyed from Libnah, and pitched in Rissah. 21
And they journeyed from Rissah, and pitched in Kehe- 22
lathah. And they journeyed from Kehelathah, and 23
pitched in mount Shepher. And they journeyed from 24
mount Shepher, and pitched in Haradah. And they 25
journeyed from Haradah, and pitched in Makheloth.
And they journeyed from Makheloth, and pitched in 26
Tahath. And they journeyed from Tahath, and pitched 27
in Terah. And they journeyed from Terah, and pitched 28
in Mithkah. And they journeyed from Mithkah, and 29
pitched in Hashmonah. And they journeyed from 30
Hashmonah, and pitched in Moseroth. And they jour- 31
neyed from Moseroth, and pitched in Bene-jaakan. And 32

16 f. Kibroth-hattaavah . . . Hazeroth. See above, xi. 34 f.
According to P (xii. 16), from Hazeroth the Israelites ' pitched
in the wilderness of Paran,' which is not mentioned in this
itinerary. It is probable, however, that the twelve stations of
verses 18-29, otherwise unknown, were caravan stations in the
plateau of et-Tih (see on x. 12).

30-34. The four stations from Moseroth to Jotbathah are to be
identified with those of Deut. x. 6 f., a fragment from an itinerary
of E (cf. xxi. 12 ff. above). Now since Aaron is said to have died
at Moserah in Deut. x. 6, while in Num. xx. 22-29 (P) an^ in
verse 38 below he dies on Mt. Hor, the next station from Kadesb,
Ewald suggested that part of this itinerary (36b~4ia) had been
accidentally removed from its original position after Hashmonah
in 30*. This brings the wilderness of Zin, and with it Kadesh,
into a more natural position, and makes Moseroth the next station
to Mt. Hor (see on xx. 22 f.). Read in this order : 29, 30% 36b-
410, 30b~36a, 4ih-49. The difficulties, however, are not entirely
removed (for a more radical suggestion see Bonhoff. he. c//.\

376 NUMBERS 33. 33-44. P

they journeyed from Bene-jaakan, and pitched in Hor-

33 haggidgad. And they journeyed from Hor-haggidgad,

34 and pitched in Jotbathah. And they journeyed from

35 Jotbathah, and pitched in Abronah. And they journeyed

36 from Abronah, and pitched in Ezion-geber. And they
journeyed from Ezion-geber, and pitched in the vvilder-

37 ness of Zin (the same is Kadesh). And they journeyed
from Kadesh, and pitched in mount Hor, in the edge of

38 the land of Edom. And Aaron the priest went up into
mount Hor at the commandment of the Lord, and died
there, in the fortieth year after the children of Israel
were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fifth month,

39 on the first day of the month. And Aaron was an hun-
dred and twenty and three years old when he died in

4° mount Hor. And the Canaanite, the king of Arad,

which dwelt in the South in the land of Canaan, heard of

41 the coming of the children of Israel. And they journeyed

43 from mount Hor, and pitched in Zalmonah. And they

43 journeyed from Zalmonah, and pitched in Punon. And

44 they journeyed from Punon, and pitched in Oboth. And

35. Ezion-geber : then, and for long afterwards, a port at the
head of the gulf of Akaba (1 Kings ix. 26) near to Elath (Deut. ii.
8). For this part of the route see on xiv. 25, xxi. 4, 12 ff. If
Ewald's suggestion is accepted, the next station of the itinerary is
Zalmonah (4ib), and the difficulty of the leap from Ezion-geber to
Kadesh is removed.

36 f. the wilderness of Zin . . . Kadesh . . . mount Hor. See
notes on xiii. 3, 21, 26, xx. 22 f. Our author here follows Pwith
regard to Aaron's death, adding the date and his age.

40. Slightly altered from xx. 1 (JE).

42. We are now in the depression of the Arabah, which runs
up from Akaba to the Dead Sea, for Pnnon rs almost certainly the
modern Khirbet Fenan, on the eastern side of the Arabah, in
lat. 300 36', as proposed by Lagrange {Rev. Biblique. ix. 284 ff.
(with sketch), and described by Musil, Arabia Petraea, II. i. 293 ff.
(with plan and many views). On the opposite side of the Arabah
was situated

43. Oboth, if this is to be identified with 'Ain el-Weybeh

NUMBERS 33.45-50. P 377

they journeyed from Oboth, and pitched in Iye-abarim,
in the border of Moab. And they journeyed from Iyim, 45
and pitched in Dibon-gad. And they journeyed from 46
Dibon-gad, and pitched in Almon-diblathaim. And they 47
journeyed from Almon-diblathaim, and pitched in the
mountains of Abarim, before Nebo. And they jour- 48
neyed from the mountains of Abarim, and pitched in
the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. And they 49
pitched by Jordan, from Beth-jeshimoth even unto Abel-
shittim in the plains of Moab.

And the Lord spake unto Moses in the plains of Moab 50

described by Musil, op. cit.} II. ii. 202 ff., as the junction of the
caravan routes from Petra and Akaba to Gaza. According to the
itinerary it ought to be further north than Punon, and on the east
of the Arabah, cf. xxi. 10 ff.

44 if. With Iye-abarim or Iyim (Khirbet 'Ai, see on xxi. 11)
and Dibon-gad (xxxii. 3), we are within the territory of Moab.
Almon-diblathaim may be the Beth-diblathaim of Mesha's
stone (1. 30), and Jer. xlviii. 22. The mountains of Abarim
are the range of which Mt. Nebo was a prominent peak (cf.
xxvii. 12). Beth-jeshimoth and Abel-shittim (cf. xxv. 1) have
been identified with Suweme and Kefren, opposite Jericho, in
the Jordan valley (see Bartholomew's map).

(i) xxxiii. 50-xxxvi. 13. A group of laws having reference to the
impending occupation of Canaan.

The closing section of the Book of Numbers is made up of
several unrelated legislative enactments ; all, however, have as
their common motif the necessity for making provision for the
approaching occupation of the promised land. In their present
form these chapters are best ranked with the other secondary
strata of the priestly legislation (Ps), although in some cases a
considerably older nucleus (H or Pe, see below) may confident!}'
be detected.

xxxiii. 50-56. An order to expel the inhabitants of Canaan, to
destroy their idols and demolish their sanctuaries. Peculiarities
of style and phraseology suggest that at least the nucleus (51-53)
may have stood originally in H (the Law of Holiness, see
pp. 119 ff. above).

60. For 'by the Jordan of Jericho' of the original, see on
xxii. 1,

373 NUMBERS 33. 51— 34. 2. P

51 by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, Speak unto the children
of Israel, and say unto them, When ye pass over Jordan

5 2 into the land of Canaan, then ye shall drive out all the
inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all
their figured stones, and destroy all their molten images,

53 and demolish all their high places : and ye shall take
possession of the land, and dwell therein : for unto you

H have I given the land to possess it. And ye shall inherit
the land by lot according to your families ; to the more
ye shall give the more inheritance, and to the fewer thou
shalt give the less inheritance : wheresoever the lot
falleth to any man, that shall be his ; according to the

55 tribes of your fathers shall ye inherit. But if ye will not
drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you ;
then shall those which ye let remain of them be as pricks
in your eyes, and as thorns in your sides, and they shall

56 vex you in the land wherein ye dwell. And it shall
come to pass, that as I thought to do unto them, so will
I do unto you.

34 a And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Command

52. Similar injunctions are found in JE (Exod. xxiii. 24, 31 ff.,
xxxiv. 11-16) and D (Deut. vii. 1-6, xii. 2 f.), but not in P*.

all their figured stones : only here and Lev. xxvi. 1 (H),
which see ; see also ibid, verse 30 for the hig-h places.

54. Apparently introduced from xxvi. 54 (which see for im-
proved rendering) to prepare the way for ch. xxxiv.

Ch. xxxiv consists of two parts : (1) the ideal boundaries
of the land of promise, west of the Jordan (1-15% and (2) the
names of ten i princes ' of the tribes, appointed to assist Eleazar
and Joshua in the allotment of the land (16-20^. With regard to
the first topic, the identification of the various frontiers is full of
difficulties, more particularly on the north and north-east. A
considerable ideal element enters into the description, as in the
parallel case of Ezek. xlvii. 13-20. 'Here, as in other things,
what Ezekiel embodies in his description of the ideal future, P
embodies in his account of the idealized past' (Gray, Numbers,
p, 453, which see for the geographical and other detailsX

NUMBERS 34. 3-7. P 379

the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come
into the land of Canaan, (this is the land that shall fall
unto you for an inheritance, even the land of Canaan
according to the borders thereof,) then your south 3
quarter shall be from the wilderness of Zin along by the
side of Edom, and your south border shall be from the
end of the Salt Sea eastward : and your border shall turn 4
about southward of the ascent of Akrabbim, and pass
along to Zin : and the goings out thereof shall be south-
ward of Kadesh-barnea ; and it shall go forth to Hazar-
addar, and pass along to Azmon : and the border shall 5
turn about from Azmon unto the brook of Egypt, and
the goings out thereof shall be at the sea. And for the 6
western border, ye shall have the great sea aand the
border thereof-, this shall be your west border. And this 7

* Or, for a border

3-5. The southern boundary of the promised land, which was
also that of the tribe of Judah Joshua xv. 1-4), is to run from the
southern end of the Dead Sea, 'the Salt Sea on the east,' along
the western frontier of Edom till it reaches a point south of Kadesh-
barnea ('Ain Kadis, see p. 263), thence north-westwards to the
Mediterranean along the lower course of the Wady el-'Arish.

3. your south quarter : rather ' your south side ' (as often m
Ezek. xli-xlviii), ' your southern boundary line.1

4. the ascent of Akrabbim: lit. 'of scorpions,' one of the
passes— the Nakb es-Safa according to Buhl {Geogr. d. alten
Paldstina, p. 66) — running down to the Wady el-Fikreh.

5. unto the brook of Egypt : the Wady el-'Arish (see the
maps), which the boundary-line touches at the unidentified Azmon.

6. the great sea : more frequently, as xiii. 29, simply ' the sea,'
i.e. the Mediterranean.

7-9. The number of unidentified places here named (cf. Ezek.
xlvii. 15-17) renders it impossible to define with certainty the
line of the northern frontier, as intended by the writer (see
Gray, in loc). It is probable, however, that a line drawn from
the mouth of the Nahr el-Kasimiyeh, six miles north of Tyre, to
the southern base of Mount Hermon Buhl, op.cit., p. 66 f.), may
be taken as approximately correct.

380 NUMBERS 34. 8-15. P

shall be your north border : from the great sea ye shall
S mark out for you mount Hor : from mount Hor ye

shall mark out unto the entering in of Hamath ; and the
9 goings out of the border shall be at Zedad : and the

border shall go forth to Ziphron, and the goings out

thereof shall be at Hazar-enan: this shall be your north

10 border. And ye shall mark out your east border from

11 Hazar-enan to Shepham: and the border shall go down
from Shepham to Riblah, on the east side of Ain ; and
the border shall go down, and shall reach unto the aside

12 of the sea of Chinnereth eastward : and the border shall
go down to Jordan, and the goings out thereof shall be
at the Salt Sea : this shall be your land according to the

13 borders thereof round about. And Moses commanded
the children of Israel, saying, This is the land which ye
shall inherit by lot, which the Lord hath commanded to

14 give unto the nine tribes, and to the half tribe : for the
tribe of the children of Reuben according to their fathers'
houses, and the tribe of the children of Gad according
to their fathers' houses, have received, and the half tribe

15 of Manasseh have received, their inheritance : the two
tribes and the half tribe have received their inheritance
beyond the Jordan at Jericho eastward, toward the
sunrising.

a Heb. shoulder.

7. ye shall mark out for you mount Hor. The text is here
obscure, but we should probably render : ' from the great sea ye
shall draw your boundary-line to mount Hor ; from mount Hor. . .
to the entrance to Hamath ' (for which see on xiii. 2i\

10-12. The northern boundary ends at, and the eastern starts
from, Hazar-enan, probably near or at Banias, one of the sources
of the Jordan at the base of Mt. Hermon ; the line then runs
southwards till it strikes the mountains — the ' shoulder ' of verse r 1
margin (see Joshua xv. 8, Tof.v — on the east of the sea of Chin-
nereth pronounce Kinnercth). i.e. the Lake of Galileo. Chin-

NUMBERS 34. 16 — 35. i. P 381

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, These are 16
the names of the men which shall divide the land unto 17
you for inheritance : Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the
son of Nun. And ye shall take one prince of every 18
tribe, to divide the land for inheritance. And these are 19
the names of the men : of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the
son of Jephunneh. And of the tribe of the children of 20
Simeon, Shemuel the son of Ammihud. Of the tribe 2r
of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon. And of the 22
tribe of the children of Dan a prince, Bukki the son of
Jogli. Of the children of Joseph : of the tribe of the 23
children of Manasseh a prince, Hanniel the son of
Ephod : and of the tribe of the children of Ephraim 24
a prince, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan. And of the tribe 25
of the children of Zebulun a prince, Elizaphan the son
of Parnach. And of the tribe of the children of Issachar 26
a prince, Paltiel the son of Azzan. And of the tribe 27
of the children of Asher a prince, Ahihud the son of
Shelomi. And of the tribe of the children of Naphtali 28
a prince, Pedahel the son of Ammihud. These are they 29
whom the Lord commanded to divide the inheritance
unto the children of Israel in the land of Canaan.

And the Lord spake unto Moses in the plains of Moab 35

nerethwas a town on the shores of the lake (Deut. iii. 17 ; Joshua
xix- 35)« The Jordan and the Dead Sea (verse 12) complete the
eastern boundary of Western Palestine, the home of the nine
and a half tribes here contemplated.

16-29. Moses is given the names of the ten princes who are
to assist Eleazar and Joshua in the future allotment of Western
Palestine to the nine and a half tribes— Reuben, Gad, and one
half of Manasseh having been already provided for. The order in
which the tribes are here named is not genealogical (p. 187 f.)
but geographical, from south to north, according, roughly speaking,
to their subsequent positions.

Ch. xxxv is occupied with two distinct ordinances : (1) 3-8,
the provision of forty- eight cities, with a portion of land attached

382 NUMBERS 35. 2-4. P

2 by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, Command the children
of Israel, that they give unto the Levites of the inherit-
ance of their possession cities to dwell in; and a suburbs
for the cities round about them shall ye give unto the

3 Levites. And the cities shall they have to dwell in ; and
their suburbs shall be for their cattle, and for their sub-

4 stance, and for all their beasts. And the suburbs of the
cities, which ye shall give unto the Levites, shall be from

a Or, pasture lands

to each, for the support of the Levites ; and (a) 9-34, the pro-
vision of six 'cities of refuge,' with the promulgation of the law
of homicide in connexion therewith. The position of these regu-
lations in the midst of the later legislation of Ps, and the im-
possibility of assigning the first of the above ordinances to Ps
(see below), suggest that in its present form the chapter is also
the production of a later hand. The main portion (9-29, note
the concluding formula"1, however, appears to have been based
upon, if it be not an extract from, Ps. The concluding section
(30-34), on the other hand, has decided affinity with H. Moore,
indeed, is of opinion that the whole of 9-34 ' is founded upon a law
of homicide and asylum derived from H, or one of the collections
which served as the sources of H' (art. 'Numbers,' EBi. iii.
col. 3,444).

1-8. The Levitical cities. This law is in direct conflict with
one of the fundamental principles of the author of the history
of Israel's theocratic institutions (Pg), according to which the
Levites are for ever debarred from acquiring landed property (see
xviii. 21-24, esP- 23bj an(l cf- 3UCVL 62b). But it is unnecessary
to labour the point that we have here a purely theoretical pro-
gramme, of whose provisions Jewish history, after as well as
before the exile, knows nothing, Joshua xxi (P8) notwithstanding.
Cf. the note on p. 164 on the similar ' programme ' of the year
of Jubilee.

2. and suburbs: render with margin, * pasture lands';
'suburbs' comes from the Vulgate ' et suburbana earum,' a late
Latin word for the fields and gardens close to a city.

4f. The dimensions of the pasture ground are clearly stated
in verse 5 to be those of a square of which each side is 2,000
cubits, say 1,000 yards, which means an area of over 200 acres,
the centre of which is occupied by the city. These data can be
reconciled with the provisions of verse 4 only by reducing the
city and its wall to a single point !

NUMBERS 35. 5-12. P 383

the wall of the city and outward a thousand cubits round
about. And ye shall measure without the city for the 5
east side two thousand cubits, and for the south side two
thousand cubits, and for the west side two thousand
cubits, and for the north side two thousand cubits, the
city being in the midst. This shall be to them the
suburbs of the cities. And the cities which ye shall give 6
unto the Levites, they shall be the six cities of refuge,
which ye shall give for the manslayer to flee thither : and
beside them ye shall give forty and two cities. All the 1
cities which ye shall give to the Levites shall be forty
and eight cities: them shall ye give with their suburbs.
And concerning the cities which ye shall give of the 8
possession of the children of Israel, from the many ye
shall take many ; and from the few ye shall take few :
every one according to his inheritance which he inheriteth
shall give of his cities unto the Levites.

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto 9
the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye pass
over Jordan into the land of Canaan, then ye shall appoint 11
you cities to be cities of refuge for you ; that the man
slayer which killeth any person a unwittingly may flee
thither. And the cities shall be unto you for refuge from 12

a Or, through error

6. The acquaintance with the provisions of 9 ff. here displayed
is probably an indication of the later origin of verses 2-8.
8. With this principle of distribution cf. xxvi. 54, xxxiii. 54.

9-15. Six cities of refuge, three on either side of the Jordan,
are to be provided as places of permanent asylum for those who
have accidentally committed homicide.

11. ye shall appoint you, &c. : rather 'ye shall select for
yourselves suitable cities.' For unwittingly see on xv. 24 and
Lev. iv. 2.

12. for refuge (ntikldt) from the avenger (gd'cl) : add, with
LXX, 'of blood.' The term miklat must correspond very nearly

384 NUMBERS 35. 1

the avenger ; that the manslayer die not, until he stand

13 before the congregation for judgement. And the cities
which ye shall give shall be for you six cities of refuge.

14 Ye shall give three cities beyond Jordan, and three cities
shall ye give in the land of Canaan ; they shall be cities

15 of refuge. For the children of Israel, and for the stranger
and for the sojourner among them, shall these six cities
be for refuge: that every one that killeth any person

16 a unwittingly may flee thither. But if he smote him with
an instrument of iron, so that he died, he is a manslayer :

1 7 the manslayer shall surely be put to death. And if he
smote him with a stone in the hand, whereby a man may
die, and he died, he is a manslayer : the manslayer shall

a Or, through error

to our ' sanctuary ; ' the six cities are to be sanctuaries, places
of asylum. For the duties of the goel, or next of kin, in this
connexion, see the writer's arts. ' Goel ' in Hastings's DB. ii, and
more briefly ' Kin (Next of) ' in the same editor's DB. (1909),
p. 515. In the days before the reformation of Josiah (621 B.C.),
every local sanctuary of any note was doubtless a recognized
asylum (cf. 1 Kings i. 50, ii. 28), and in the earliest law-code
it is implied that the manslayer may remain there in security
until his case is investigated (Exod. xxi. 13 f.). With the de-
struction of the local sanctuaries, it became necessary to provide
other places of asylum, as is done by Deut. xix. 1-13, on which
the present law is based.

14. The cities are specified in Joshua xx. 1-9 (P8), which records
the carrying out of this ordinance ; cf. Deut. iv. 41-43. "While
the sites of the three on the east of the Jordan are uncertain, those
on the west are all well-known historical sanctuaries, viz. Hebron,
Shechem, and Kedesh (the ' holy ' city) of Galilee.

15. for the stranger (ger) and for the sojourner (Joshab) :
see on Lev. xxii. 10.

16-28. These verses are devoted to an exposition of the law
of homicide, showing how it is to be distinguished from murder
(16-23), and laying down the procedure to be followed in the
case of homicide by misadventure (24-29). ' The fundamental
distinction is one of intention. Evidence of intention is to be
sought in (a) the character of the instrument, 16-18 ; (b) the
previous feelings, or the feelings at the time of the homicide,
whether friendly or the reverse, 20-23' (Gray).

NUMBERS 35. 18-25. P 3^5

surely be put to death. Or if he smote him with a weapon 18
of wood in the hand, whereby a man may die, and he
died, he is a manslayer : the manslayer shall surely be
put to death. The avenger of blood shall himself put 19
the manslayer to death: when he meeteth him, he shall
put him to death. And if he thrust him of hatred, or 20
hurled at him, lying in wait, so that he died; or in enmity 21
smote him with his hand, that he died : he that smote
him shall surely be put to death ; he is a manslayer : the
avenger of blood shall put the manslayer to death, when
he meeteth him. But if he thrust him suddenly without 22
enmity, or hurled upon him any thing without lying in
wait, or with any stone, whereby a man may die, seeing 23
him not, and cast it upon him, so that he died, and he
was not his enemy, neither sought his harm : then the 24
congregation shall judge between the smiter and the
avenger of blood according to these judgements : and the 25
congregation shall deliver the manslayer out of the hand
of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore
him to his city of refuge, whither he was fled : and he

19 anticipates the judicial investigation enjoined in 24 ff. ;
similarly in 2ib. The manslayer dies by the hand of the goel
or next of kin. This is the only survival of the primitive
Semitic custom of the blood-feud recognized by the developed
legislation.

20. if he thrust him: rather, * if he push him'; cf. Ezek.
xxxiv. 21.

22 f. A definition of homicide by misadventure (per infor-
tunium) ; cf. Deut. xix. 4 f.

24. The congregation is always in P the theocratic com-
munity, and we should have expected a more precise statement
as to how they are to perform the judicial functions here assigned
to them We have here, probably, an unconscious betrayal
of the conditions of the writer's own time, when the post-exilic
community was confined to Jerusalem and its neighbourhood, and
a council of elders, the gerousia of the Greek period, managed
its affairs scf. G. A. Smith, Jerusalem, ii. 382 ff., 393 f.).

C C

386 NUMBERS 35. 26-32. P

shall dwell therein until the death of the high priest,

26 which was anointed with the holy oil. But if the man-
slayer shall at any time go beyond the border of his city

27 of refuge, whither he fleeth ; and the avenger of blood
find him without the border of his city of refuge, and the
avenger of blood slay the manslayer ; a he shall not be

28 guilty of blood : because he should have remained in his
city of refuge until the death of the high priest : but after
the death of the high priest the manslayer shall return

29 into the land of his possession. And these things shall
be for a statute of judgement unto you throughout your

30 generations in all your dwellings. Whoso killeth any
person, the manslayer shall be slain at the mouth of
witnesses : but one witness shall not testify against any

31 person that he die. Moreover ye shall take no ransom
for the life of a manslayer, which is guilty of death : but

32 he shall surely be put to death. And ye shall take no
ransom for him that is fled to his city of refuge, that he

a Or, there shall be no bloodguiltiness for him

25. until the death of the high priest: who has now taken
the place of the pre-exilic king as ' Yahweh's anointed.' If the
adjective is not a gloss (cf. verse 32, ' the priest'), we have also
an indication of a hand other and later than Pg, who never em-
ploys the now familiar title, 'high' priest (for Lev. xxi. 10 see
note there).

30-34. The preceding laws, closed by their own subscription
in verse 29, are supplemented by others, apparently from, or
based upon, another source (see introductory note, p. 382), enacting
(1) that no one accused of murder shall be condemned on the
evidence of a single witness (cf. Deut. xvii. 6, xix. 15), and (2) that
no one guilty of wilful murder shall be allowed to commute his
death sentence for a money payment, nor shall the unintentional
homicide be allowed by this means to commute his sentence
of detention in the city of refuge (for this 'ransom' or wergild
see Driver, Deuteronomy, p. 234).

32 ff. The idea of the land being polluted by the sins of its
inhabitants is a characteristic thought of H (Lev. xviii. 25). If

NUMBERS 35. 33~ 36. 3. P 3^7

should come again to dwell in the land, until the death
of the priest. So ye shall not pollute the land wherein 33
ye are : for blood, it polluteth the land : and no expiation
can be made for the land for the blood that is shed
therein, but by the blood of him that shed it. And thou 34
shalt not defile the land which ye inhabit, in the midst of
which I dwell : for I the Lord dwell in the midst of the
children of Israel.

And the heads of the fathers5 houses of the family 36
of the children of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son
of Manasseh, of the families of the sons of Joseph,
came near, and spake before Moses, and before the
princes, the heads of the fathers' houses of the children
of Israel : and they said, The Lord commanded my 2
lord to give the land for inheritance by lot to the children
of Israel : and my lord was commanded by the Lord to
give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother unto his
daughters. And if they be married to any of the sons of 3
the other tribes of the children of Israel, then shall their

these verses once formed part of H or of its sources (see Moore
above), ' the priest \ of verse 32 may be taken in the same sense
as in Lev. xxi. 10-12 (see notes on p. 142).

xxxvi. 1-12. A law requiring heiresses to marry within their
own tribe, a supplement to xxvii. 1-11. The law there allows
the daughters of a deceased landowner to inherit his property in
the absence of male issue, a principle which \ exposed the tribe
to the danger that marriage might convey the heiress' property
to another tribe. The law in xxxvi provides against this con-
tingency ' (C-H. Hex. ii. 245).

1. The question is raised in the interests of the clan by the
chiefs of the septs of the clan of Machir, the latter, according to
xxxii. 33^ having been allotted territory by Moses in northern
Gilead. This, of course, is merely the usual quasi-historical
setting with which the traditions of Hebrew jurisprudence re-
quired that any amendment of an earlier law should be provided
(see above, pp. 344, 360).

C C 2

388 NUMBERS 36. 4-10. P

inheritance be taken away from the inheritance of our
fathers, and shall be added to the inheritance of the
tribe whereunto they shall belong : so shall it be taken

4 away from the lot of our inheritance. And when the
jubile of the children of Israel shall be, then shall their
inheritance be added unto the inheritance of the tribe
whereunto they shall belong : so shall their inheritance
be taken away from the inheritance of the tribe of our

5 fathers. And Moses commanded the children of Israel
according to the word of the Lord, saying, The tribe of

6 the sons of Joseph speaketh right. This is the thing
which the Lord doth command concerning the daughters
of Zelophehad, saying, Let them marry to whom they
think best ; only to the family of the tribe of their father

7 shall they marry. So shall no inheritance of the children
of Israel remove from tribe to tribe : for the children of
Israel shall cleave every one to the inheritance of the

8 tribe of his fathers. And every daughter, that possesseth
an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Israel, shall
be wife unto one of the family of the tribe of her father,
that the children of Israel may possess every man the

9 inheritance of his fathers. So shall no inheritance remove
from one tribe to another tribe ; for the tribes of the
children of Israel shall cleave every one to his own

10 inheritance. Even as the Lord commanded Moses,

4. A mistaken addition of a glossator, who failed to observe
that the provisions of the law of Jubilee (Lev. xxv. 13 ff.) apply
only to land sold, not inherited. Moreover this verse does not
contemplate the restoration of the land to the tribe of Manasseh
i or Machir), but its more permanent conveyance to the tribe into
which its owners have married.

5 ff. Moses admits that ' the sons of Joseph ' (xxvi. 28-33) nave
a grievance, and enacts that henceforth an heiress, inheriting her
father's property, shall marry within her father's tribe.

NUMBERS 36. 11-13. P 389

so did the daughters of Zelophehad : for Mahlah, Tir- ir
zah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Noah, the daughters
of Zelophehad, were married unto their father's brothers'
sons. They were married into the families of the sons 12
of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance
remained in the tribe of the family of their father.

These are the commandments and the judgements, 13
which the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses unto
the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan
at Jericho.

llf. The daughters of Zelophehad— for the names see on
xxvii. 1 — accordingly marry their cousins on their father's side,
with the result that their ' inheritance ' remained within the tribe
of Manasseh.

13. The subscription to the body of laws comprised in chs.
xxii-xxxvi (see xxii. 1), or more precisely to the legislation
of chs. xxvii -xxxvi. Cf. the similar colophon, Lev. xxvii. 34.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

A. The Day of Atonement

The limits assigned to the volumes of this series have been
considerably, but unavoidabl3T, exceeded by the notes in the pre-
ceding pages. The writer accordingly finds himself compelled to
forgo his intention of devoting a special note to a fuller discussion
of the origin of the expiatory rites associated with the Day of
Atonement. A brief indication of the line which such a discussion
should take is all that the exigencies of space will permit.

No hypothesis as to the origin of the rites in question can be
regarded as adequate which does not start from a satisfactor}'
analysis of the present composite text of Lev. xvi. Of recent
attempts in this direction mention may be made of the analysis
proposed by Benzinger in Stade's ZATW. ix (1889), pp. 65-88,
a summary of which will be found in his article on the ' Daj' of
Atonement ' in EBi. i. col. 384. Benzinger's results were accepted
in the main by almost all subsequent critical writers and com-
mentators. In 1907, however, Messel, a young Norwegian scholar,
published in the same Zeitschrift (xxvii. 1-15) an article in which
the weak points of his predecessor's results were convincingly
shown, and a fresh analysis proposed on the lines of an earlier
suggestion by Stade. That this later attempt to account for the
peculiar features of Lev. xvi is in all respects satisfactory we
cannot admit, but there can be little doubt that Messel is right in
his contention that the original nucleus of the fully developed ritual
is to be found in verses 5-10. This result we were prepared to
accept, all the more readily that we had reached a similar con-
clusion by an entirely different path.

Coming to Lev. xvi from a study of ch. xiv, in which, as shown
in the notes, pp. 99 ff., an admittedly antique rite of purification,
originally complete in itself, has now become a mere preliminary
to a more elaborate ceremony infused with the theocratic spirit
of the developed priestly legislation, we were struck by the similar
phenomenon presented by the present form of the ritual of the
Day of Atonement. The close resemblance — a point on which
all are agreed — between the most striking elements in the two
rites, the transference of uncleanness to a living bird in the one
case and to a living goat in the other, is further proof that the
two rituals must have a similar history.

In the Commentaiy the suggestion is thrown out that the nucleus
of the later rite goes back to an antique ceremony of purgation
which may have been carried out annually or periodically at the
local sanctuaries under the monarchy. It is true that no trace of
such a ceremony is to be found in our extant literature. But this

ADDITIONAL NOTES 391

does not appear to be an insuperable objection. Do we not owe
our knowledge of the antiquity of the institution of the shew-
bread, for example, to a single incidental reference in the books
of Samuel (1 Sam. xxi. 4 ff.) ? Are we not warranted, moreover,
in supposing that Ezekiel had some precedent for demanding two
such purgation ceremonies in the year (Ezek. xlv. 18-20)? And
when we look beyond the Hebrews to their Semitic kinsfolk,
and still further to the nations of classical antiquity, we find ample
evidence of periodical and solemn lustration of their sacred places.
In an annual lustration ceremony, of unknown antiquity, there-
fore, in which the uncleanness contracted by the altar and other
appurtenances of the local sanctuary (cf. Lev. xvi. 18 f., 33) was
transferred to a live goat and sent to the mysterious demon-spirit
Azazel, we are inclined to discover the origin of the rites of the
Day of Atonement.

In the earh/ period in which it may be supposed that this
ceremony of purgation took its rise, the conception of uncleanness
was still almost purety physical (see W. R. Smith, Rel. Sent.2,
408 f.). By the time of the exile, however, the higher ethical
element had been superadded. Hence, when the older rite-
discarded, there is little doubt, b}' the author of Ps — was re-
introduced by the religious authorities, its essential provisions
were extended from the uncleanness contracted by the sanctuarj'
through the 'transgressions' of the children of Israel (Lev. xvi. 16;
cf. note on xv. 31), to these transgressions themselves, 'even all
their sins' (xvi. 21). 'Atonement/ in short, was no longer made
exclusively 'for the holy sanctuary and for the altar,' but also 'for
the priests and tor all the people of the assembly ' (verse 33).

B. Bibliography

The following is a selection from the more important recent
books bearing on the study of Leviticus and Numbers, apart from
Kittel's indispensable Biblia Helvetica, Dictionary articles, and the
standard works on the history and the religion of the Hebrews.
(a) Introduction.
J. E. Carpenter and G. Harford -Battersby. The Hexa-
teuch according to the Revised Version, 2 vols. 1900. Vol. i
reissued 1902 as The Composition of the Hexateuch.
S. R. Driver. An Introduction to the Literature of the Old

Testament, 8th ed. 1909.
C. Cornill. Introduction to the Canonical Books of the Old

Testament, 1907.
Abr. Kuenen. The Hexateuch, etc.. 1886.
H. Holzinger. Einleitung in d. Hexateuch. 1893.

392 LEVITICUS AND NUMBERS

W. E. Addis. The Documents of the Hexateuch, 2 vols.
1892-8.

B. W. Bacon. The Triple Tradition of the Exodus, 1894.

C. F. Kent. Israel 's Laws and Legal Precedents, 1907.

(b) Commentaries.

Bruno Baentsch. Leviticus (1900) and Numeri (1903) in
Nowack's Handkommentar sum Alien Testament.

Aug. Dillmann. Die Biicher Exodus und Leviticus, 1897 ; Die
Biicher Numeri, etc., 1886.

H. L. Strack. Genesis-Numeri in his Kurzgef. Kommcntar.

A. Bertholet. Leviticus, 190 1, in Marti's Kurzer Hand-
kommentar.

H. Holzinger. Numeri, 1903, in the same series.

G. Buchanan Gray. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary
on Numbers, 1903, in Clark?s Intern. Critical Series.
See also the translation and notes in Die Heilige Schrift
des Alten Testaments, ed. E. Kautzsch, 3rd ed. 1908-10.

Jul. Wellhausen. Prolegomena sur Geschichtc Israels,
6th ed. 1905. Eng. Transl. by J. S. Black, 1885.

W. R. Smith. Lectures on the Religion of the Semites, new ed.
1907.

M. J. Lagrange. Etudes sur les Religions Stmitiques.

W. R. Harper. The Priestly Element in the Old Testament
(with exhaustive bibliographical lists).

Ed. Meyer. Die Israeliten und ihre Nachbarslamme, 1906.

S. A. Cook. The Laivs of Moses and the Code of Ham-
murabi, 1903.

C. The Map of the Sinai Peninsula

The map which accompanies this volume, indicating the
'probable (?) route of the children of Israel/ is that prepared for
another volume of this series. It errs in confining the land of
Edom to the east of the Arabah (see note on Num. xx. 16), and in
placing Mount Hor there. Of the alternative sites proposed for
Kadesh, that untouched by the red line (= 'Ain Kadis, p. 263) is
much the more probable. But in fact there are not sufficient data
for determining the exact route of the Hebrews from Egypt to
Canaan.

INDEX

Aaron, death of, 306, 375; ex-
clusion from Canaan, 301-3.

Abstinence from wine, 78, 221.

Adaptations in the ritual, 100,
113, 215, 277, 301.

Afflict the soul, 118, 359.

Altar of burnt-offering, 49, 75,
115; of incense, 30, 49, 77, 209.

Amalekites, 264, 329, 332 f.

Amorites, 264, 312 ff.

Anak, Anakim, 262.

Anointing of priests, 29, 48.

Aram ( = Edom), 323.

Ark as guide, 246.

Atone, atonement, 5 1 f. , 90, 113,
115, 236, 275, 285, 366.

Atonement, Day of, 110-8, 155.

354, 39o f.
Avenger of blood, 383-6.
Azazel, 100, 113, 116.

Balaam and Balak, 18, 315-34.
Ballad-singers, 313.
Ban, 181, 292 ; see Curse.
Blessing, priestly, 76, 224 f.
Blood, as medium of atonement,

123 ; how applied, 53 (see

Sprinkle); forbidden as food,

46, 67, 122 f.
Booths (Tabernacles), Feast of,

156, 348 f., 354.
Boundaries of promised land,

378-80.
Brazen serpent, 308.
Bread of God, 141.
Burnt-offering, 38, 60, 147, 275 ;

ritual, 38-41, 60 f. ; see Altar.

Caleb, 258 ff.

Calendar of feaiits, 14.9-58,
347-57-

Camp, arrangement, 194-8, its

significance, 194 f.
Canaanites, 264.
Caul (upon the liver), 45.
Census, first, 186 ff.; second,

337 ff.
Chemosh, 314.

Childbirth, uncleanness of, 89 f.
Clean, cleanness, 81-110, 251 ;

clean arnd unclean animals,

82-8.
Cloud (theophanic), 239, 252,

256.
Confession of sin, 56, 116, 176.
Contagion of holiness and un-
cleanness, 61, 63, 85, 1 15, 288,

302.
Convocation, a holy, 150, 354.
Covenant of salt, 293.
Curse, 55, 218, 318; see Ban.

D,Deuteronomic Code,Deutero-
nomy, 14.

Death penalty, 138.

Devoted, see Ban.

Divination and sorcery, for-
bidden, 133 f.

Dress, prohibition as to, 132 ;
see Priests.

Drink-offering, 223, 271-3, 350-
6.

Dues, sacred, 58, 64, 68, 290-
5 ; see Priests' Tithe.

E. Ephraimite Document, 15 ff.
Edom, 305, 317, 332.
Elders appointed, 250.
Eleazar, 284, 307, 347, 363, 370,

378, 381.
Ephah (a measure), 57, 101,

J35, 272, 350.

394

LEVITICUS AND NUMBERS

Familiar spirit, 135.
Fat, forbidden as food, 46, 67.
Fathers' house, 187, 286.
Feasts, calendar of, 149-58,

347-57-
Firstborn, firstlings, 149, 181,

201, 292 f.
Firstfruits, 43 f., 292 ; Feast of,

353-
Forbidden degrees, 124-9, x36-9-
Forgiveness, 52 f.
Freewill offering, 65, 147.
Fringes, 276 f.

Gad, cities of, 368, 371.

gey, see Stranger.

Gilead, 367.

Goel, next of kin, 166 ; see

Avenger.
Guilt-offering, 56 f., 63, 101.

H, Holiness Code, or Law of
Holiness, explained, 25, 119.

Hair, customs relating to, 220,
223.

Hamath, entering in of, 262.

Heave-offering, 65, 214, 273,
291, 364.

Hebron, founding of, 262.

Heshbon, 313-5, 368.

High places, 174, 322.

Hin (a measure), 135, 272, 350.

Hittites, 264.

Hobab, 245.

Holiness, holy, 62 f., 79, and
passim; 'holy' and 'most
holy ' things, 42, 58, 145, 291 ;
see Contagion.

Holiness Code, 25-8, 119-77.

Holy water, 216.

Homer (a measure), 179, 254.

Hor, mount, 306, 375, 380.

Incense, ste Altar.
Inheritance, laws of, see Zelo-
phehad.

Itinerary of Hebrews, 372-7 ;
cf. 304 f.

J, Judaean Document, 15 ff.
Jealousy (of Yahweh), 336 ; —

ordeal of, 214-9.
Joshua, 253, 258-70, 370, 378,

381 ; name changed, 260 ;

successor of Moses, 346.
Jubilee, year of, 162-70.
Jus talionis, 161.

Kadesh, 258 ff., 301-6 and
passim ; — ' Ain Kadis, 263.

Kenites, 246, 333.

kipper, meaning of, 51 f. ; see
Atone.

Kittim, 333.

Korah (Dathan and Abiram),
278-86, 338, 345.

Laying on of hands, 39.

Legal fictions, 344, 360.

Leper, leprosy, 90-106, 257 ;
of garments, 97 f. ; of house,
104 f.

Levi, choice of, 286-9.

Levirate marriage, 127.

Levites, origin of, 199-201 ;
age, 206, 237 ; dedication,
a32-7 5 duties, 194, 199-212,
289 ; number of, 202-5, 211 f.,
343 ; their support, 290-5.

Levitical cities, 381-3.

Leviticus, title explained, 4.

Log (a measure), 101.

Manasseh, clans and cities of,

367, 371 f.
Manna, 249.
Marriage, bars to, 124-9, r36~9 '>

levirate, 127.
Meal-offering, 38, 61, 154 ; ritual

of, 41-44, 61 f., 271-3.
Memorial (sacrificial term), 41,

160, 216 ; = reminder, 242,

366.

INDEX

395

Mercy-seat, 114.

Meribah — Kadesh, 263, 303 f.,

307, 346.
Midian, 245, 317, 334 f., 337,

360-6,
Miriam, a leper, 257 f. ; death,

302.
Moab, 310 ff., 318, &c.
Molech, 136 f.

Morrow after the Sabbath, 153.
Moses, as intercessor, 248 ; as

prophet, 256 ; exclusion from

Canaan, 301-3.
Mourning customs, 134, 141.

Nazirite, 219-24.

Negeb (south-land), 261, 307.

New Moon, 351.

New Year, 151, 155, 164, 353.

Numbers, title explained, 4; —
(of the Hebrews), unhistori-
cal, 189 ff.; see Census.

Oath of purgation, 217.
Oblation (korbdn), 38.
Oboth, 309, 376.
Offerings, table of public, 347-
57, esp. 349 ; see Sacrifices.

Og, 315.

P, Priests' Code, 14, 20-31.

Pg, groundwork of P and of the
Pentateuch, 20 ff. ; charac-
teristics of, 21-4, 49 f., 74 f.,
79, 120 f., 166.

Ph-H, 25.

P', secondary elements in P,
marks of, 29 f., and passim.

Pfc, independent collections of
toroth, 29.

Paran, wilderness of, 244, 260.

Passover, 151, 237.

Peace-offering, 44, 64, 67 f.,
272 ; ritual of, 44-6, 64-6.

Phinehas, 335, 360 ; priesthood
of, 336.

I Piacular sacrifices, 46 ff., 57 ff,
&c.

Priests, distinguished from Lc-
vites, X99f. ; their consecra-
tion, 70, 74, 307, see also
Anointing; dress, 70, 112,
117 ; revenues, 68, 290, also
Dues, Tithes; disqualification
for priesthood, 143 f. ; claims
to priesthood, 279-86.

Prophecy, conception of, 252,
255 ff.

Punon, 376.

Purification, laws of, 81-110;
see also Clean, Unclean, Red
Heifer.

Quails, 253.

R, Redactor, or Compiler of the
Pentateuch; RJ°, Rh, Rp,
denote the redactors of the
several sources.

Red Heifer, 296-301.

Red Sea, 268, 374.

Redemption of property, 166 f. ;
see Slaves.

Refuge, cities of, 383.

Reuben, cities of, 368, 371.

Sabbath, 118, 150 f, 163, 276,

35*-

Sabbatical Year, 162-6.

Sacrifice, manual of, 37-69, cf.
140 ff.; material of, 36, 147 ;
purpose, 35 ff, 51 ff; types
of, 36 ; ritual of, 36 ; see under
the separate offerings, Burnt-
offering, &c.

Salt, 43 ; see Covenant.

Shekel (gold), 366 ; of the sanc-
tuary, 58, 178, 293.

Shcvvbread, 159, 208.

Sihon, 312-5.

Sin, see Atonement, Forgive-
ness, kipper, Sacrifice, Sin-

396

LEVITICUS AND NUMBERS

offering, Uncleanness, Un-
witting.

Sin-offering, 47, 48, 63, 71, 80,
274, 293, 298, and often ;
ritual of, 46-59, 274 f. ; grades
of, 47 ff.

Sinai, 186 f., 243, 374.

Slaves, redemption of, 168.

Spies, sent from Kadesh, 258-
64.

Sprinkle, different meanings of,

39, 49-

Standard — (military) division,

195, 244.
Strange (fire), 77 ; stranger =

layman, 146, 194.
Stranger (ger), 122, 135, 273.
Suburbs, 382.
Sun-images, 175.
Survivals in ritual, 100, 113,

2i5> 277, 301-
Sweet savour, 40, 272.

Tabernacle, charge and trans-
port of, 203-11; position in
camp, 194 ff., 251 ; see Tent of
Meeting.

Taboos, 62, 67, 79, 82, 84 f., 123,
133, 220, 284.

TamJd, explained, 60 f., 348-51.

Tent of Meeting, 38, ill, 203,
281 f., 297.

Testimony ( = Decalogue, then
Ark), 114, 193, 240, 287.

Thank-offering, 65, 130, 149:
see Peace-offering.

Tithes, 181, 294 f.
Trespass, 58 ; see Guilt-offering.
Trumpets (silver), 241 ; — Feast
of"> r55> 353 ; see New Year.

Uncleanness, laws of, 81-110;

from the dead, 87, 141, 284,

296-301, 362 f. ; see Clean.
Unleavened Cakes, Feast of,

151, 352.
Un-sin, un-sin-ment, 48, 51,

234, 298.
Urim, 347.
Usury, 168.

Veil (of Tabernacle), 49, 111,

204, 289.
Votive offering, Vow, 65, 147,

177-81, 357-60 ; see Nazirite.

Wars of the Lord, Book of, 19,
310.

Water of bitterness, 217; of ex-
piation, 234 ; of separation ( *■
for impurity), 298, 363.

Wave, explained, 68; wave
breast, 68; wave offering, 68,
101, 291, 235 f. ; wave sheaf,
151.

Weeks, Feast of, 154, 353.

Zelophehad's daughters, 344,

387-9-
Zin, wilderness of, 261, 302,

375.

m i

[JX V 3 K VlHl\3 J, I a 3L KJ ft

:: -

3ra'-!ti

€U Ctntmz (gt'Bfe

A MODERN COMMENTARY

INTRODUCTION

REVISED VERSION WITH NOTES

ILLUSTRATIONS

EDITED BY

H. WHEELER ROBINSON, M.A., B.D.

TUTOR IN RAWDON COLLEGE

LATE SENIOR KENNICOTT SCHOLAR IN THE

UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD

LONDON

THE CAXTON PUBLISHING COMPANY, Ltd.

CLUN HOUSE, SURREY STREET. W.C.

The Revtsrd Version is printed by permission of the
Universities of Oxford and Cambridge

CONTENTS

DEUTERONOMY
Introduction : —

I. Character, Structure, and Date
II. The Deuteronomic Legislation

III. The Deuteronomic Religion

IV. Canonical Place and Influence
Notes on Literature .
Symbols and Abbreviations
The Legislative Codes of the O. T.
Revised Version with Notes

page

33
43
52
53
54
57

JOSHUA

Introduction : —

I. Contents ....
II. Sources and Composition .

III. The History of the Conquest

IV. Religious Ideas .
Notes on Literature .
Revised Version with Notes
Index ....

252

255
259
265
268
271
387

PLATES

Jericho (coloured plate : Photochr. Co.) . ... 64

Mount Nebo . 128

Vale of Achor 240

or Makkedah ...... 288

Tibneh : Tomb of Joshua ...... 352

Map. Palestine : showing Seats of the Twelve Tribes

in the eleventh century b, c Front.

THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY

INTRODUCTION

THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY

INTRODUCTION

I. Character, Structure, and Date.

The Book of Deuteronomy can claim a unique place
in the literature of the Old Testament, both on intrinsic
and extrinsic grounds. Intrinsically, it is distinct from
the narrative and historical, the legislative and ritual,
the prophetic and devotional writings. Apart from the
closing chapters, which are clearly of the nature of an
appendix, the elements of direct narration are so slight
as to be negligible ; the review of history which the book
contains is subordinated to a practical purpose. Though
many laws are here recorded, they are for the most part
so selected and presented as to be illustrations of a
principle rather than elements in a code ; whilst com-
parison with Leviticus will quickly convince the reader
that the interest is moral rather than ritual. Affinity
with certain of the prophets is unmistakable, nor is the
tone of the book without many parallels in the devotional
warmth of the Psalter ; yet the unity of Deuteronomy is
the product of principles rather than of personalities,
principles emerging in a national, not merely an indivi-
dual, experience. In short, we may most aptly compare
the sustained and illustrated exhortation of this book
with a sermon, if only the parallel convey no prejudice
of dullness. It is a sermon so reported as to preserve
the spiritual warmth of a Bernard preaching the Crusade,
the flaming zeal of a Savonarola kindling the Florentine
fire of vanities ; whilst with this more passionate feeling

B 2

4 THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY

against idolatry there is a noble hnmanitarianism, a con-
sideration for the stranger and the helpless, an appeal
to deep human sympathies, not unworthy of a Francis of
Assisi. These intrinsic qualities of the book are well
matched by the comparative clearness of the light focussed
on its first emergence into history. For once, at least, we
are privileged to stand, if not by the very cradle of a
Scriptural book, yet amid the circumstances of its pre-
sentation at court. We know quite clearly the date at
which it has first to be reckoned with as a power in the
history and religion of Israel. As a historical monument,
it constitutes a welcome landmark amongst the obscurer
paths of O.T. criticism.

The Book of Deuteronomy, as it now lies before us,
consists of several addresses, professedly delivered by
Moses to the Israelites in the land of Moab on the eve
of their entrance into Palestine (i. 1-5, iv. 44-49, ix. 1,
xxxi. I f.). To these are added four chapters (xxxi-xxxiv)
narrating the appointment of Joshua in place of Moses
(xxxi. 3 f., 14 f.), the writing down by Moses of the law just
given (verses 9 f., 24 f.), and the ascent by Moses, at the com-
mand of God, of Mount Nebo (Pisgah), where he dies
(xxxii. 48 f., xxxiv). In this narrative are incorporated
two poems, the 'Song' (chap, xxxii) and the f Blessing'
(chap, xxxiii) ascribed to Moses and to this particular
occasion. The following is a brief outline of the argu-
ment of the book itself, as distinct from its appendix.

Moses recalls the command to leave Horeb and the arrange-
ments made for tribal government (i. 6-18). He describes the
events which followed arrival at Kadesh-Barnea — the fear of
the people to attack the Amorites, God's anger and sentence,
the subsequent attempt of the people and their defeat (i. 19-46).
The desert wanderings were resumed, until, after forty years,
Divine permission being given, Israel returned and passed
peacefully through the territory of Edom (ii. 1-8). Neither
Moab (ii. 9-15) nor Ammon (ii. 16-25) was attacked, but
Sihon of Heshbon was utterly defeated, and the Amorite

INTRODUCTION 5

territory taken (ii. 26-37). A similar fate awaited Og of
Bashan (iii. 1-11). The Israelites receiving the captured
territory (iii. 12-17) were required to continue to fight on
behalf of their brethren (iii. 18-22). Moses says that his
own desire to enter Palestine has been refused through
Divine displeasure (iii. 23-29). At this point, the present
position of affairs having been reached, the review closes, and
there follows an appeal for obedience to the Divine command-
ments (iv. 1-40). This is urged especially on the ground of
their impressive deliverance at Horeb, when God's voice
was heard, but His form was not seen — a fact meant to teach
how unwarrantable it is to use images in the worship of God
(iv. 1-25). If this lesson be not learnt, Israel will be scattered
among the nations; yet, even there, penitence will secure return,
for God has dealt in such particularity with Israel because He
loves His chosen people (iv. 25-40). The first address of Moses
ends at this point. There follows a brief note on the selection
of three cities of refuge beyond Jordan (iv. 41-43), and an
introduction to the second address of such a kind as to imply
that no other has preceded it, the place and date being stated
afresh. Moses begins by reference to the covenant of God
with Israel in Horeb, and cites the Ten Commandments, in
a somewhat varied form, as its basis (v. 1-21). The people
then shrank from hearing the voice of God, and Moses was
made the intermediary of further revelation (v. 22-33). He
sums this up by declaring the God of Israel to be Yahweh
alone, who is to be loved by His people ; they are not to wor-
ship the gods of surrounding peoples, when they have taken
possession of the plenty of Palestine, but to teach their children
that all good, since the deliverance from Egypt, comes from
Yahweh (vi. 1-25). The nations of Palestine, and the accom-
paniments of their heathen worship, are to be utterly destroyed ;
Israel is a peculiar people, claimed for Himself by the loving
purpose of Yahweh (vii. 1-11). Obedience will ensure the
Divine blessing : there is no need to fear these nations, for
Yahweh, who worked for Israel in Egypt, will gradually dis-
possess them (vii. 12-26). Let Israel think of the discipline
of the wilderness, lest Yahweh be forgotten in the prosperity
of the good land He has given, for disobedience will mean
destruction (chap. viir. It is not because of Israel's righteous-

6 THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY

ness, but because of the wickedness of these nations, that
Yahweh is dispossessing them (ix. 1-7). At this point the
argument is broken by a detailed description of the disobedience
of Israel at Horeb, and the circumstances of the giving of the
law (ix. 8 — x. 5, 10, 11). A detached note is added, in regard
to Israel's journeying and the separation of Levi (x. 6-9). The
argument of the address is resumed by an earnest appeal for
response to the requirements of Yahweh (x. 12-22). The
hearers of Moses have themselves seen the work of Yahweh in
the fate of Pharaoh, Dathan, and Abiram ; let them, therefore,
obey Him amid the prosperity of Palestine (xi. 1-12). That
prosperity depends on the rain Yahweh gives from heaven,
which He will withhold from those who worship other gods ;
but Israel's territory shall be won and held on the condition of
loyalty to Him (xi. 13-25). So are a blessing and a curse set
before Israel for choice, as shall be proclaimed on Gerizim
and Ebal (xi. 26-32). With the twelfth chapter, the speaker
passes to the direct enunciation of the statutes and judgements
to be observed in Palestine, and to the primary requirement
that there shall be one, and only one, sanctuary in the place
which Yahweh shall choose, where all sacrifice shall be offered ;
when flesh is eaten elsewhere, the feast shall be non-sacrificial
in character, the local sanctuaries and their accompaniments
being destroyed (chap. xii). The sternest measures are to be
taken against every incitement to the worship of other gods,
whether from prophet (xiii. 1-5), relative (xiii. 6-1 1), or city
(xiii. 12-18). The holiness of Israel is to be maintained by
abstinence from cuttings for the dead (xiv. 1, 2) and from
'unclean' foods (xiv. 3-21). The tithe of the produce of
field and herd is to be eaten at the one sanctuary ; if the
distance is too great, it may be sold locally, and the money
used for purchases at the sanctuary ; but the tithe of the third
year is to be reserved for the Levite and the poor (xiv. 22-29).
Every seventh year is to be marked, in regard to Hebrews,
by the remission of debt (xv. 1-11), or of bondage, unless there
is willingness to continue service (xv. 12-18). The firstborn
of herd and flock, if perfect, is to be eaten at the sanctuary
(xv. 19-23). The Israelite shall bring his offerings to the
sanctuary three times in every year— viz. at the feasts of
Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles (xvi. 1-17). No post

INTRODUCTION 7

or pillar like those of the heathen cults shall stand by the altar
of Yahweh (xvi. 21, 22), and the sentence on the idolater shall
be death (xvii. 2-7). At this point, anticipated by a short
section on the appointment of judges, which seems misplaced
(xvi. 18-20), we pass from the ' statutes ' or religious, to the
'judgements' or moral ordinances. Difficult cases are to be
referred to the priests of the sanctuary (xvii. 8-13). The
future king shall himself be an Israelite, and he is warned
against the accumulation of horses, wives, or wealth ; let
him study this law and obey it faithfully (xvii. 14-20). The
dues of the priests are named (xviii. 1-5), and also the right of
country Levites to minister on equal terms in the sanctuary
(xviii. 6-8). Resort may not be had to magic and divination ;
for special guidance the people shall depend on the line of
prophets whom Yahweh will raise up in succession to Moses
(xviii. 9-22). Cities of refuge, with right of sanctuary for
unintentional manslaughter, will afford the protection hitherto
given by local altars (xix. 1-13). Removal of a landmark and
false witness are forbidden, the latter under severe penalty
(xix. 14-21). Various provisions are made for the conduct
of warfare (chap, xx), for the cleansing of a district from the
stain of bloodshed (xxi. 1-9), for the treatment of women
captives (xxi. 10-14), and for domestic problems (xxi. 15-21).
There follow a number of detailed ordinances, dealing with
such matters as lost property, sexual relations, admittance of
non-Israelites into the community, loans, divorce, regard for
the poor, Levirate marriage, and justice in trade (chaps, xxii-
xxv). A ritual of thanksgiving to accompany the presenta-
tion of a basket of first-fruits at the sanctuary (xxvi. i-n), and
a form of declaration that the provisions of the third year of
tithe have been observed (xxvi. 12-15), lead to a final exhorta-
tion to maintain the relations now established between Yahweh
and His people (xxvi. 16-19). The address of Moses is broken
at this point by a chapter (xxvii) which narrates the command
to set up inscribed stones in Palestine, and to carry out a ritual
of blessings and cursing on Gerizim and Ebal. The address of
Moses continues, without introduction, in the following chapter,
which develops the blessings of obedience, and the curses of
disobedience, the latter at much greater length. The two
remaining chapters form a third and distinct address of

8 THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY

Moses, which briefly refers to Egypt, the wilderness, and the
victories won, and enforces the importance of the covenant
now made between Yahweh and His people ; it will hold for
the future, however men may think to neglect it with impunity.
Other nations shall see, in the desolation of the land, the curse
written in this book (chap. xxix). Yet, when blessing and
curse have found their fulfilment, and Israel is scattered among
the nations, penitent return to obedience shall secure the
restoration of Yahweh's favour, and He will gather the outcasts
from the uttermost parts (xxx. i-io). A practical and certain
issue is thus set before Israel, the issue between life and death,
good and evil (xxx. 15-20).

Even so rapid a review as this of the salient points of
the book will suggest that it can hardly have issued, in
its present form, from the flowing pen of a single writer.
To say nothing of the appendix, as a collection of various
materials relating to the last days of Moses, the addresses do
not afford any natural explanation of their threefold form.
The statements introducing them seem to imply inde-
pendence of origin ; the inter-relation of the subject-matter,
as seen in obvious repetitions, and in less obvious differ-
ences of standpoint, confirms this impression. But since
we are fortunate enough to be able to approach the book
from the vantage-ground of external history, these points
are best deferred till we have glanced at the narrative of
the discovery of the Book of the Law in the Temple
(cf. 2 Kings xxii).

In the year 621 b. c, being the eighteenth year of the reign
of Josiah, who was then twenty-six years of age, Shaphan,
the king's scribe or chancellor, had occasion to visit the
Temple, in order to be present at the transfer of money,
collected for repairs, to the overseers of the work. During
this visit of Shaphan, HLkiah the chief-priest said to him,
'I have found the Book of the Law in the house of Yahweh.'
He gave it to Shaphan, who read it, apparently on the spot.
On Shaphan's return to the king to hand in his official report,
he said, after the business was done, ' Hilkiah the priest hath
delivered me a book.' Shaphan read this to the king, who,

INTRODUCTION 9

having heard ' the words of the Book of the Law,' rent his
clothes. The king thereupon appointed what we should call
a Royal Commission of five members to inquire of Yahweh,
not concerning the authenticity of the book, which Josiah
shows no sign of doubting, but as to what must be done in
view of previous neglect of its commands. The commission
consults Huldah the prophetess, whose ' Thus saith Yahweh,'
in its present form, confirms the threats of the book, but promises
Josiah that he shall himself be spared the sight of their fulfil-
ment. It is probable, however, that the original prophecy of
Huldah has been revised in the light of the Exile and its
attendant calamities, and the original answer may have bidden
Josiah proceed to carry out the requirements of the book with-
out delay. This he does by gathering priests, prophets, and
people in a great assembly, to which is read ' the Book of the
Covenant which was found in the house of Yahweh.' King
and people bind themselves to obey Yahweh and ; to establish
the words of this covenant written in this book.'

The reformation of religion under Josiah is based ex-
plicitly on the discovered book, and we may infer the
character of the book from the details of the reformation
(2 Kings xxiii. 1-24). The result of this inference, as
will be seen from the parallels to be cited, is to show
that the fundamental document of the reformation of 621
B. C. is embedded in our present Book of Deuteronomy.

The reformation naturally begins with the centre of
Israel's religious life, the Temple at Jerusalem. Methods
of worshipping Yahweh borrowed from foreign cults are
ended by the destruction of their means or accompani-
ments. This applies in particular to the Asherim or wooden
posts by the altar (verse 6 : cf. Deut. vii. 5, xii. 3, xvi. 21),
and the cells of the sacred prostitutes (verse 7 : cf. Deut.
xxiii. 17). But not only foreign methods of worshipping
Yahweh, but foreign objects of worship, have invaded the
Temple and its precincts. The roof-altars of Ahaz, used in
connexion with star-worship (Jer. xix. 13), and the altars of
Manasseh for all the host of heaven (2 Kings xxi. 5),

io THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY

together with the horses and chariots of sun-worship set
up at the entrance to the Temple, have also to be
destroyed (verses II, 12: cf. Deut. xii. 1-4 and iv. 19).
Defilement awaits the sanctuaries of rival deities which
have hitherto existed in the neighbourhood of the Temple:
such are the place of human sacrifice by fire to Molech
in the Valley of Hinnom (verse 10 : cf. Deut. xii. 31), and
the high places erected by Solomon on the south-east of
the city to the Sidonian Ashtoreth, the Moabite Kemosh,
and the Ammonite Milcom (verse 13 : cf. (1 Kings xi. 7,
8) Deut. vi. 14). The Mazzeboth or stone pillars, and the
Asherim or wooden posts, which stood on these high
places, were of course destroyed (verse 14 : cf. Deut. vii. 5,
xii. 3). The high places throughout all Judah, including
all local cults, whether in the name of Yahweh or of other
gods (verses 5,8: cf. Deut. xii. 1-28), were similarly treated,
and the reformation seems to have extended beyond the
limits of Josiah's kingdom to Bethel, if not, as a later writer
claims, to Samaria (verses 15 and 16-20). By this drastic
procedure, one sanctuary alone remained, the Temple at
Jerusalem. Here the reformation was consummated by
the celebration of the Feast of Passover, according to the
new requirement of the Law-book, not, as hitherto, as a
feast locally celebrated throughout the country (verses 21-
23 : cf. Deut. xvi. 1-8, especially verse 5). Finally, various
methods of magic and divination are suppressed (verse 24 :
cf. Deut. xviii. 9-14). Any one who will take the trouble to
consult the parallel passages will probably be convinced that
he has still before him, within the limits of Deuteronomy, the
written document that prompted the reformation of Josiah.
This is especially clear in the fact that the principle of
one central sanctuary, which stood out in our outline of
the book, is fundamental in the actual reformation,
though it reverses the practice of earlier Hebrew religion,
which permitted many altars throughout the land (Exod.
xx. 24). In one point only is there want of obvious agree-
ment between the precepts of our book and the practice

INTRODUCTION n

of the reformation, viz. in the fact that whilst Deuteronomy
gives the country Levites the right to sacrifice at Jeru-
salem (xviii. 7) this is withheld from them according to
the narrative of 2 Kings (xxiii. 9). But the reformers are
simply exceeding Deuteronomy in the rigorous applica-
tion of its polemic against the high places l.

Granting, then, the identity of some part of our present
Book of Deuteronomy with the Book of the Law found in
the Temple, the further question is naturally suggested,
which part ? Some data towards the answer are given us
by the comparison already made, which shows that the
Deuteronomic parallels to the narrative are practically all
drawn from that central portion of Deuteronomy which
constitutes the second address of Moses (chaps, v-xxvi),
and more especially from its distinctly legislative portion
(chaps, xii-xxvi). Further indications as to the extent of the
Book of the Law are as follows. (1) It was so brief
that Shaphan was able to read it through for himself,
apparently before leaving the Temple, and then to read
it again to the king on his return. (2) Its authenticity
was accepted by Josiah without any question ; the book
must therefore have contained clear information as to its
authoritative origin, and cannot have been a bare collec-
tion of anonymous laws. If, for brevity's sake, we might
prefer to take the legislative portion of the second address
of Moses (chaps, xii-xxvi) as the Book of the Law, yet we
require some such introduction as the earlier portion of that
address (chaps, v-xi) supplies, in order to explain the un-
hesitating acceptance of it by Josiah. (3) The impression
made on him was so strong that he rent his clothes ; we
therefore seem to require some pointed conclusion to the
Book of the Law, emphasizing the consequences of
neglecting it. Such a conclusion would actually be
supplied by the blessings and curses of chap, xxviii,
which there is no reason to separate from the rest of the

Stadc, Geschiclite dis Volkcs Israel, i. 656.

i2 THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY '

second address. The conclusion, therefore, which we
provisionally reach is that the second address of Moses
(chaps, v-xxvi, xxviii) contains the original Book of the
Law, the only valid objection being that it seems too long;
but its present length is probably due to subsequent
amplification. Earlier criticism (e.g. that of Wellhausen,
Die Composition des He.vateuchs,^. 191) regarded the legis-
lative portion of the address as original, its introductory
chapters of exhortation being added subsequent to the
reformation ; but, to say nothing of the necessity for some
introduction to the original book (mentioned above), there
does not seem any adequate ground, either in language or
subject-matter, for drawing this line of division (for the
linguistic proof, cf. Driver, Deuteronomy, pp. Ixvi, lxxviiif.).
More recent criticism has attempted the separation of
different strata running through the whole address ;
Steuernagel, for example, has made use of the considerable
variation in the use of singular and plural suffixes, and of
obvious displacements and doublets, to effect such an
analysis (D enter onomium mid Josua, pp. ii, iii). It can
hardly be said that any such analysis has found general
acceptance, and discussion of the details lies outside
the scope of our present survey ; but certain sections,
notably the long digression concerning Horeb (ix. 8 — x.
11) and the Levitical section relating to clean and
unclean animals (xiv. 3-20), are probably later additions.
These elements, together with the remaining non-
legislative chapters of our Deuteronomy, are due to
successive editions of the original work1. That there
have been such is clearly shown by the parallel and
independent superscriptions to the first and second ad-
dresses (i. 1-5 ; iv. 44-49), and this indication is confirmed

1 ' Apart from the elements of the present Deuteronomy, be-
longing to JE, P, and the connected redaction, the book, as it lies
before us, is a precipitate of the spiritual movements called into
being by the Law-book and the Reformation of Josiah. It arose
through the efforts to make Josiah's book adequate for all require-
ments.' ;Stade, Bib. Theologic des Alien Testaments, p. 264.)

INTRODUCTION 13

by the independence of the addresses themselves. It is
possible that the Horeb digression, already referred to
(ix. 8f.), belongs to the historical review of the first three
chapters, which it may have preceded. These chapters
depend largely on the JE narrative ; they are assigned to
the interval between the Deuteronomic reform and the
Exile, say about 600 B. c, by the two most recent com-
mentators (Steuernagel and Bertholet). Against the
supposition that they are by the author of the second
address, 'the diversity of historical representation is
decisive' (Moore, EB. 1087; he instances the different
relations represented as existing with the Moabites
(cf. ii. 29 and xxiii. 4), and the fact that the first address
supposes the men of the desert to have all perished save
two (i. 35, ii. 14 f.), whilst the second bases its appeal on
their continuance — 'Your eyes have seen all the great
work of Yahweh which He did' (xi. 7 : cf. v. 2) ). A portion
of this first address (iv. 1 -40) is not, however, historical
review, but exhortation, and part of it, at least, seems to
presuppose the Exile (v. 25-31 : cf. Moore, /. c.) as does
the third address (xxix, xxx). The last four chapters of
Deuteronomy, forming the Appendix on the closing events
of the life of Moses, whilst incorporating some of the
oldest elements in the book (e. g. the t Blessing,' xxxiii),
were probably added last of all. We may, therefore,
roughly distinguish four stages in the composition of our
present Deuteronomy, viz : —

(1) The Book of the Law (v—ix. 7; x. 12 f.— xi, xii-xxvi,

xxviii) before 621 B.C. (D.)

(2) Historical Introduction (i-iii ; ix. 8— x. 11), c.

600 B.C. (D2.)

(3) Exilic Introduction and Conclusion (iv. 1-40.

xxixf.) (D3.)

(4) Appendix and Redactional additions and altera-

tions1. R(J,E, P).

1 The above symbols, so far as they relate to the various

i4 THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY

Of greater importance than the precise dating of these
later additions is the question of the period at which the
original Book of the Law was written. We have seen
ample reason for holding that the second address of Moses
was substantially in existence in 621 B. c. ; we have now
to ask whether its composition is to be assigned to an
earlier period, and if so, within what limits. It is to be
noticed, in the first place, that the address, whilst written
throughout on the assumption that Moses is the speaker,
is definitely ascribed to Moses as writer also in the nar-
rative conclusion to the book (xxxi. 9f., 24 f.). It is not
possible here to repeat the well-known arguments for the
rejection of this tradition, which are stated at length in
Driver's Deuteronotny (pp. xxxiv-xliv) l. The most con-
vincing proof that the book belongs to an age much later
than the Mosaic lies in the cumulative force of the
reconstruction of the history of Israel's religion, afforded
by many independent data. Marti, in his recent useful out-
line of the results attained {Die Religion des Alien Testa-
ments unter den Religionen des vordej-en Orients, 1906;
Eng. Trans, by Bienemann, 1907), divides the religious
development into four periods : — (1) The Nomadic period,
prior to settlement in Palestine, whose characteristic is the
belief in demons and spirits, found amongst ancient and
modern Semites in this stage of culture, and surviving
amongst the Hebrews to a much later age. (2) The
Agricultural period, following the settlement in Palestine
of a group of people united by the worship of Yahweh, who
had delivered their central stock from the slavery of Egypt.

strata of Deuteronomic writers (D, D2, D3), are self-explanatory.
The symbols R, J, E, and P are those used throughout the
Pentateuch, and in Joshua, and are explained on p. 53, and in
The Century Bible, Genesis, p. 52. Further details of analysis are
indicated in the notes, and by these letters attached to the text.
1 They are not weakened in any material point by the
criticisms of G. Robinson in The Expositor (vols, viii and ix,
1898, 1899: 'The Genesis of Deuteronomy') or of Orr in
The Problem of the Old Testament (1905).

INTRODUCTION 15

Yahweh becomes the god of the land whose local deities
He has dispossessed, though His worship borrows many
elements, particularly in regard to sacrifice, from the
religion of Palestine. But He is distinct from these gods
by His growing relation with the social and moral life of
His people. (3) This relation is developed in the next
period by the prophets, particularly those of the eighth
century before Christ, who develop the principle of a
practical monotheism, and emphasize the moral require-
ments of Yahweh as against the sacrificial. The indi-
vidualism of Jeremiah and the universalism of Deutero-
Isaiah are consequences of this fundamental emphasis on
the ethical nature of God and man. (4) Finally, we have
the religion of the Law, whose characteristic is dependence
on a written revelation of the Divine requirements. If
such an outline of the history of religion in Israel be
accepted — and it is hardly too much to say that all we
know of Semitic religion in general and Hebrew in
particular supports its general truth— then there can be
little doubt as to what limits we should draw for the date
of composition of the central part of Deuteronomy. Its
fundamental theological doctrine, rightly enshrined by
Judaism in its daily ritual, is the ' Hear, O Israel :
Yahweh is our God, Yahweh alone ' * ; its fundamental
religious precept is stated in the continuing words, ' and
thou shalt love Yahweh thy God with all thine heart, and
with all thy soul, and with all thy might ' (vi. 4, 5). Its
further insistence on a single sanctuary is a logical deduc-
tion from the practical monotheism for an age not yet able
to separate the visible from the invisible. The single God,
the single love for Him, and the single sanctuary for His
worship can be explained only as ideas produced by the
moving events and personalities of the eighth century. We

1 See note on vi. 4 for the justification of this rendering, and
for the sense in which it proclaims monotheism in practice, by
its emphasis on the unique relation of Yahweh and Israel.

1 6 THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY

shall have reason to see that Deuteronomy stands as the
incorporation of the teaching of the great prophets, and
as the transition to the later religion of the written law.
The dominant precept of its legislation, that of the central
sanctuary, finds part of its explanation also in the deliver-
ance of Jerusalem and its sanctuary from Sennacherib in
701, whilst more ancient sanctuaries were defiled by the
invader (Moore, /. c. 1084). Hezekiah himself (720-693) is
said to have conducted a reformation on lines similar to that
of Josiah (2 Kings xviii. 4, 22), but his work was undone
by his son Manasseh (692-639 ; xxi. 3 f.). Within the
seventh century, therefore, i. e. either in the long reign
of Manasseh or in the earlier part of that of Josiah (637-
608), the central part of our Deuteronomy must have been
written. The later date is perhaps more probable.
Against either date it has been frequently urged that the
seventh-century writer who composed the address he has
ascribed to Moses could not well be ' inspired ' if his
method was intended to deceive. But can he be accused
of such an intention ? We have not only to remember the
well-known freedom by which ancient writers place their
own interpretation of the events of a period in the mouth
of the actors in them1 — a freedom perfectly legitimate
before the emergence of the finer historical sense of our
own days— but also the fact that this writer is under the
influence of those great prophets who did not hesitate to
speak in the name of Yahweh. If a man may claim to
speak in the spirit of God, when conscience sends him
forward like Amos, or deep personal sorrow purges his
vision like Hosea's, or faith lifts his eyes above armies
like Isaiah's, why may he not speak with equal sincerity in
the spirit of some great fellow man whose mantle of
prophecy is his inheritance2? The naive ascription of
authorship, honest then, would be dishonest now ; but,

1 Cf. the speeches of Thucydides, and the dialogues of Plato.

2 For the psychological possibility of this, see a Kings ii. 9.

INTRODUCTION 17

given the ancient standpoint y all that can be demanded of the
author is that he should, if writing in the name of Moses,
speak as Moses would have spoken were he still alive1.
Indeed, we may go further and say that this is the only
way to interpret the great men of the past truthfully ; and
when Israel ceased to do this, she exchanged her prophetic
inspiration for the religion of the scribe. Truth, as Mazzini
finely puts it, lies at the intersection of tradition and con-
science. The conscience of a seventh- century writer inter-
secting the tradition of a great law-giver has given us the
Book of the Law found in the Temple. The writer has lent
his own experience to Moses, so that he, being dead, yet
speaketh. He has ascribed lo him a foresight of many
centuries, just as Jewish exegesis does in its comments on
the Pisgah vision. Rashi tells us that when Moses looked
out over the Promised Land he saw, not only its several
parts, but the enacted history of each. The whole
panorama of Israel's moving history till the last day was
unrolled before his undimmed eye. In the same spirit,
and with use of the same dramatic occasion, the writer of
the address has made Moses legislate for a distant
century, so fulfilling the words of the book itself — ' Yahweh
thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst
of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me ; unto him ye shall
hearken' (xviii. 15). To that prophetic message Josiah
did hearken, rending his raiment, whilst to the contem-
porary message of Jeremiah his son Jehoiakim refused to
hearken, rending not his raiment but the prophet's roll
(Jer. xxxvi. 23). There is no more reason to doubt the
sincerity of the Deuteronomist than of Jeremiah. Each
was convinced of the genuineness of his message, whether
spoken as coming direct from God or mediated through a
historic tradition.

1 For confirmation of this in (later) Jewish theories of reve-
lation, see Taylor's Sayings of the Jewish Fathers, Excursus I.

1 8 THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY

II. The Deuteronomic Legislation.

Maine, in his classical work on ' Ancient Law,' with
his eye turned to the Indo-European family of nations,
names three stages of development prior to the emergence
of a written code. The earliest is that of 'separate,
isolated judgements,' spoken by a king or judge, and
assumed to be the result of direct inspiration. A second
stage is reached when the awards in a succession of
similar cases become ' the germ or rudiment of a custom '
(p. 5). The third stage is reached when the king's
power passes to an aristocracy who claim ' to monopolize
the knowledge of the laws, to have the exclusive posses-
sion of the principles by which quarrels are decided'
(p. 12). Such an aristocracy may be religious in the East,
civil or political in the West ; but in any case, the tradition
of Customary Law is in their keeping. Finally, we reach
the stage in which, through the invention of writing,
f Inscribed tablets were seen to be a better depository of
law, and a better security for its accurate preservation,
than the memory of a number of persons however
strengthened by habitual exercise ' (p. 15). Maine gene-
ralized without reference to the development of Semitic law,
but in this field also his analysis holds good. Behind such
a written code as that of Deuteronomy we see a religious
oligarchy, the priests of Israel, on whom has devolved
the tradition of customary law. Behind that oligarchy,
again, we catch a glimpse of Moses, as an individual law-
giver, sitting to judge the people who throng him from
morn till even : ' The people come unto me to inquire of
God : when they have a matter, they come unto me ; and
I judge between a man and his neighbour, and I make
them know the statutes of God, and His laws' (Exod.
xviii. 15, 16). We may fill up this outline with Doughty's
details of justice in the desert, as it is administered among
the Bedouins to-day. The tribesmen gather in the morn-

INTRODUCTION 19

ing at the tent of their sheikh, where common affairs are
discussed, such as movements of enemies, and facilities
of pasture and water.

This is the council of the elders and the public tribunal :
hither the tribesmen bring their causes at all times, and it is
pleaded by the maintainers of both sides with busy clamour ;
and everyone may say his word that will. The sheykh mean-
while takes counsel with the sheukh, elder men and more con-
siderable persons ; and judgement is given commonly without
partiality, and always without bribes. This sentence is final.
The loser is mulcted in heads of small cattle or camels, which
he must pay anon, or go into exile, before the great sheykh
send executors to distrain any beasts of his, to the estimation
of the debt. The poor Beduins are very unwilling payers, and
often think themselves unable at present : thus, in every tribe,
some households may be seen of other tribes' exiles. . . . Seldom
the judge and elders err, in these small societies of kindred,
where the life of every tribesman lies open from his infancy,
and his state is to all men well known. Even their suits are
expedite, as all the other works of the Arabs. Seldom is a
matter not heard and resolved in one sitting. Where the
accusation is grave, and some are found absent that should
be witnesses, their cause is held over to another hearing. ... In
the desert there is no human forfeit, there is nothing even in
homicide, if the next to the blood withhold not their assent,
which may not be composed, the guilty paying the amends
(rated in heads of cattle). (Arabia Deserta, i. 249.)

Such is the picture of primitive Semitic legislation
preserved by the changeless desert ; and it is doubtless
substantially as true of the Israelites of the time of
Moses as of the Bedouins of to-day. We need to keep
it constantly before us in the study of Hebrew law,
because the origin explains many things in the result.
The earlier laws, at least, spring from the life of the
people, and bear the evident impress of Hebrew psycho-
logy and primitive culture. Peculiarities in their pre-
sentation may seem inexplicable to us, till we remember

C 2

2o THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY

that they may be adjudications on actual cases, preserved
as types and precedents.

We are, fortunately, able to study the results of a long
development of Semitic legislation in the Code of Laws
promulgated by the Babylonian king Hammurabi \ This
king, who reigned in the twenty-third century before
Christ, appears in the Bible under the name Amraphel
(Gen. xiv. 9). The large block of stone on which his laws
are inscribed was carried from Sippara in Babylonia to
Susa in Elam, where it was discovered in 1902. On one
side of it is a picture of Hammurabi receiving his laws
from the seated sun-god Shamash. There are forty-four
columns legible, and five which have been erased, and the
laws number 282. The practical object of the publication
is declared in the epilogue to be that * the oppressed,
who has a controversy, shall stand before my image as
king of righteousness, read the inscription, perceive the
precious words : the inscription shall show him his
business, he shall find his right ' (Winckler's trans., p. 39).
This epilogue contains an invocation of blessing on
the obedient, and a number of curses on the disobedient ; in
this greater amplitude of malediction resembling that of the
Deuteronomic Law-book (xxviii). In the prologue Ham-
murabi dwells on his Divine appointment ; but the body of
laws itself is a code pure and simple, without any of that
admixture of appeal and warning which characterizes the
Book of Deuteronomy and gives it its moral and religious
value. The laws of Hammurabi confirm Maine's dictum
that ' the more archaic the code, the fuller and the minuter
is its penal legislation ' {pp. tit., p. 36%). They are of the
greatest importance for the interpretation of Hebrew law,
with which they are closely related, if not as direct
source, yet certainly as developed from a common origin
and amongst a related people. Their principal topics are

1 For fuller information, see the article in Hastings's Diction-
ary of the Bible, vol. v, by Johns, whose translation is here
followed.

INTRODUCTION 21

the rights and duties of kings' servants, the cultivation of
land, the transactions of commerce, family relationships,
inheritance and adoption, the control of slaves, the hiring
of servants, and a long list of penalties in regard to con-
duct towards parents, personal injuries, surgical and
veterinary blundering, the branding of slaves, imper-
fectly-constructed houses and boats. Amongst these
penalties we find mutilations of the tongue, eye, ear,
breasts, limbs, and teeth. (In Deuteronomy, apart from
the jus talionis or law of like for like, there is only one
case (xxv. 12) in which mutilation, that of the hand, is

::. commanded.) It must not be thought that these are
merely arbitrary cruelties ; they rest on a different

1 psychology from ours, one which regards the different
members of the body as possessing a quasi-consciousness,
and as subject to ethical judgement * ; so that, as far as
possible, it is the guilty member that is made to suffer.
For example, ' If the doctor has treated a gentleman for
a severe wound with a lancet of bronze, and has caused
the gentleman to die, or has removed a cataract of the
eye for a gentleman with the bronze lancet and has
caused the loss of the gentleman's eye, one shall cut off
his hands' (§ 218). Or again, 'If a son of a palace
warder, or of a vowed woman, to the father that brought
him up, and the mother that brought him up, has said,
" Thou art not my father, thou art not my mother," one
shall cut out his tongue' (§ 192). Another principle that
sharply divides primitive thought from our own is that of
corporate responsibility, the principle that regards the
family, not the individual, as the legislative unit. Two
striking examples of this are found in the Code of
Hammurabi. If a man has caused a woman's death in
a certain way, his own daughter is killed (§ 210). If

1 This principle, differently applied, explains the piercing
of the slave's ear (Deut. xv. 17), the ear being the organ of
obedience.

22 THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY

a builder has built a house so badly that it falls and
causes the death of the owner's son, the builder's son is to
be killed (§ 230). The principle is familiar to us from its
recognition in Israel, as in the destruction of the family of
Achan (Joshua vii. 24, 25), and it underlies the Second
Commandment, which represents God as visiting the sins
of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth
generation (Deut. v. 9 ; Exod. xx. 5). But the Deutero-
nomic Code expressly lifts its voice against this principle :
1 The fathers shall not be put to death for the children,
neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers :
every man shall be put to death for his own sin' (xxiv.
16). Jeremiah, the contemporary of the Deuteronomic
reformers, and perhaps one of them, echoes the same
protest, when he says : f In those days they shall say no
more, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the
children's teeth are set on edge. But every one shall die
for his own iniquity : every man that eateth the sour
grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge ' (Jer. xxxi. 29, 30).
Another of many interesting parallels between the two
codes is in regard to the provision known as the 'Year of
Release.' Deuteronomy provides that ' If thy brother,
an Hebrew man, or an Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee,
and serve thee six years ; then in the seventh year thou
shalt let him go free from thee' (xv. 12). The limit for
such practical slavery for debt is more closely drawn by
Hammurabi : ' If a debt has seized a man, and he has
given his wife, his son, or his daughter for the money,
or has handed them over to work off the debt, for three years
they shall work in the house of their buyer or exploiter,
in the fourth year he shall set them at liberty' (§ 117).
But, in general, the Deuteronomic law expresses that
amelioration of treatment and condition which we should
expect from its much later date than the Laws of
Hammurabi. This is also true of the relation of the
Deuteronomic laws to the earlier Hebrew legislation,
contained in the Book of the Covenant (Exod. xx. 22 -

INTRODUCTION 23

xxiii. 19), the Decalogue (Exod. xx. I- 1 7), and what is
known as the earlier Decalogue (viz. the laws contained in
Exod. xxxiv. 10-26). For a tabulated comparison of the
Deuteronomic Code with the earlier, and the later legis-
lation, reference may be made to Driver's Deuteronomy
(Introd., pp. iii-xiv) ; his conclusions are : — ' The different
relation in which Deuteronomy thus stands to the three
codes of JE, H, and P may be described generally as
follows : it is an expansio?i of the laws in JE (Exod. xx.
22 — xxiii. 33, xxxiv. 10-26, xiii. 3-16) ; it is, in several
features, parallel to the Law of Holiness ; it contains
allusions to laws— not indeed always the same as, but-
similar to the ceremonial institutions and observances
codified in the rest of P ' {op. n't., p. xiv). It will be seen
that this conclusion, based solely on internal evidence,
confirms the conclusion as to the date of the Deuteronomic
Code already reached on other grounds. The only point
in which it is perhaps open to criticism is the description
of Deut. xii-xxvi as an enlarged edition of the Book of
the Covenant, which must at least be taken in a broad
sense (cf. Moore, E.B., c. 1083: 'the evidence of
literary dependence is much less abundant and convincing
than it must be if Deuteronomy were merely a revised
and enlarged Book of the Covenant ').

The Deuteronomic Code, containing upwards of eighty
laws, falls into three principal sections: — (1) The central
sanctuary, with its related ordinances (xii. 1— xvi. 17,
with xvi. 21— xvii. 7) ; (2) Authorities— viz. Judges, King,
Priests, Prophets (xvii. 8— xviii. 22, with xvi. 18-20) ;
(3) Miscellaneous Laws, many of which, however, might
be entitled Laws of Humanity (Steuernagel. op. at., p. 74)
(chaps, xix-xxv). But it will be most convenient to
group the contents of the code, for the purpose of more
closely examining its contents, under five heads :— viz.
(1) Primitive Culture and Anthropology ; (2) The Law of
Persons; (3) The Law of Property; (4) Justice and
Humanity; (5) The Law of Worship ; of which the last

24 THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY

has been described in the previous section (The Reforma-
tion of Josiah).

I. P?'imitive Culture and Anthropology, There are
four groups of ideas which receive illustration in Deutero-
nomy, of which we may first take those which attach to —

I. Blood. Scarcely any subject is more fruitful in its
revelation of primitive habits of thought than this. A red
river of blood runs through the whole landscape of early
thought and custom. The blood is the life — to us, physio-
logically, its vehicle, to the primitive man, psychically,
either its vehicle or the life itself. We no longer think of
blood when it is shed as life ; but the key to primitive
thought about blood is the fact that the life, with all its
perils and powers, is still in that red pool which has gushed
from the dying man, or spurted from the neck of the slain
animal. It is for this reason that blood is tabooed, on the one
hand, as a source of peril, or used in magic, on the other,
as a means of power. This attitude explains many of the
customs and ideas attaching to covenants, sacrifice, and
the primitive justice of blood-revenge. Three of these
customs are found in Deuteronomy. One is the well-
known blood taboo, forbidding blood to be eaten with
meat of slain animals : ' Ye shall not eat the blood ; thou
shalt pour it out upon the earth as water ' (xii. 1 6 : cf. xv.
23) ; ' The blood is the life ; and thou shalt not eat the
life with the flesh ' (xii. 23). Probably, also, the law for-
bidding any animal dying of itself to be eaten rests partly
on the idea that the coagulated blood cannot be drained
from its veins (xiv. 21). Further, we have in this book
examples of the psychical stain of blood, the idea that
where blood has fallen a certain peril attaches. A battle-
ment is to be made round the roof of the Israelite house
\ that thou bring not blood upon thine house, if any man
fall from thence '■ (xxii. 8). There is also a striking ritual
in the case of the finding of a murdered body, the
murderer being unknown. The responsibility rests on
the nearest community, whose elders must purge away the

INTRODUCTION 25

stain of blood by breaking the neck of an unused heifer
in a valley with running water, and by washing their
hands over it, with the confession of innocence (xxi.
1-9). As a third example of the significance of blood,
there is the practice of blood-revenge mentioned in
connexion with the cities of refuge (xix. 1-13).

2. The mystery of life and death, underlying blood,
receives illustration in other ways also. Birth is a mys-
tery, and the first-born of man or animal is regarded in a
peculiar light. In Deuteronomy this finds evidence in
regard to animals only: 'All the firstling males that are
born of thy herd and of thy flock thou shalt sanctify unto
Yahweh thy God' (xv. 19). Perhaps, also, the mystery of
generation may underlie the severity of the obscure law
relating to an assault by a woman (xxv. 11, 12 : cf. Cook,
The Laws of Moses a?id the Code of Hammurabi ', p. 251).
Death, like birth, is a mystery, and the presence of death
is always a peril. Hence, the body of a malefactor who
has been hanged is not to remain all night unburied :
'that thou defile not thy land which Yahweh thy God
giveth thee for an inheritance ' (xxi. 22, 23). The pro-
hibition of mutilations in connexion with death opens up
the large subject of mourning customs : ' Ye are the
children of Yahweh your God ; ye shall not cut your-
selves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the
dead' (xiv. 1). Deuteronomy here opposes offerings of
blood and hair at the grave, of universal prevalence ; in
some way they are thought to bind the living to the dead,
and to secure the friendship of ghosts.

3. One of the principal differences between primitive
and modern psychology lies in the belief that external
influences enter into the life through channels other
than those of the senses. We think of Man-soul as a
fortified city, with certain definite gates ; the primitive
man conceived himself as an unwalled settlement, open
to invasion on every hand. This is the psychological
atmosphere which explains magic at the bottom of the

26 THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY

scale and prophetic inspiration at the top. One of the
aims of the Deuteronomic reform is to lift men's thought
from the lowest to the highest of these levels, within the
same atmosphere. Consequently, a number of magical or
unspiritual methods are condemned (xviii. 10, 1 1). Israel's
future communion with the spiritual world is to be through
a spiritual channel— that of the prophet. The practices
condemned or modified in the interests of the religion
of Yahweh illustrate the conditions of thought from which
has arisen the higher and purer belief. Thus, it is forbidden
to seethe a kid in its mother's milk (xiv. 21), probably with
reference to the preparation of certain charms, which seem
to have been used in the fertilization of land ; milk has
a mystery akin to that of blood (Robertson Smith, Rel.
Sem., p. 221 n.). The law which is sometimes called
euphemistically 'cleanliness in the camp' is really a
development of the belief that everything connected
with the human body is a peril to it, if falling into the
hands of ill-disposed persons (xxiii. 9-14). The plague
of leprosy — always a mysterious disease to the Israelite-
is explained and treated by what we should call psychical
rather than physiological methods (xxiv. 8, 9). The com-
mand to wear tassels of twisted cords on the corners of
the garment (xxii. 12), like that to wear frontlets — the later
phylacteries — (vi. 8, xi. 18), is to be connected with the
widespread use of amulets amongst ancient and modern
peoples. The exhortation to keep a vow once made (xxiii.
21-3) is explicable enough to us on purely moral grounds,
but the origin of the regard for vows lies in the ancient
regard for the spoken word, as something charged with
powers of its own of curse or blessing.

4. A fourth group, consisting of references to fetishistic
and totemistic beliefs, remains to be noticed. The principle
of fetishism is that which regards the material object as the
temporary or permanent dwelling-place of a hidden and
mysterious power ; this underlies the use of the wooden
post or Asherah, and the stone pillar or Mazzebah, against

INTRODUCTION 27

which Deuteronomy wages relentless warfare (xii. 3, xvi.
21, 22). One of the most significant features of the
Deuteronomic reform lies in this protest against customs
hitherto natural to Israel with its neighbours ; the later
force and attraction of Israel's faith for the nations lay
in this very rejection of material emblems as inade-
quate for a spiritual God. The principle of totemism,
brought out in recent researches into the ways of Austra-
lian aborigines, is that of the group relationship of men to
animals or plants. This may be a development from the
plain fact of human dependence on these for food ; it
comes to mean that a definite human group is connected
with a definite family of plants or animals, which it mul-
tiplies by its rites, and on whose well-being its own depends.
Possibly we should connect the list of clean and unclean
animals in Deuteronomy (xiv. 3-20) chiefly with such
early totemistic beliefs, whether flourishing among the
surrounding people, or among the Israelites themselves ;
Israel is to be saved from unspiritual cults by avoidance
of the animals with which they are bound up. Perhaps
a similar range of belief will best explain the difficult laws
against sowing the vineyard with two kinds of seeds,
ploughing with an ox and an ass, or wearing mingled
stuff (xxii. 9-1 1) ; or these may spring from ideas as to
the mystery of sex.

II. From these interesting indications of the survival
of earlier beliefs, we may pass to the direct legislation of
Deuteronomy in regard to persons. As already indicated
in the account of the Code of Hammurabi, the Book of
Deuteronomy occupies a transitional place between the
earlier corporate responsibility and the later individualism,
to which it has largely contributed. The injustice of
treating the whole family as the criminal unit is fully
recognized (xxiv. 16). What Maine sums up as the pro-
gress from Status to Contract {op. at., p. 170) — i.e. from
life as determined by position in a family to life as con-
ditioned by personal agreement — is here visible in many

28 THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY

ways. We have a number of laws relating to marriage
and sexual relations, designed not only to promote moral-
ity, but (to do what is the same thing under another name)
to give woman her natural rights and protection. This is
shown in a most impressive, because quite indirect, way
in the form which the Tenth Commandment assumes in
its quotation in Deuteronomy. The wife appears in the
Exodus version (xx. 17) as one of the chattels of the
house, and is named after the house, together with the
slaves, the oxen, and the asses. But in the Deuteronomic
version the wife is named before the house, and is placed
in a separate sentence, a different verb, with a higher
shade of meaning, being used (Deut. v. 21). The same
principle operates in regard to the rights even of women
taken captive in war. Before one of these can become
the wife of her captor, she is to be allowed the full
interval for mourning her dead, her head being shaved
and her nails pared, probably in accordance with mourning
customs ; nor can she be subsequently sold for money, or
dealt with as a mere slave (xxi. 10-14). Baseless scandal
against a newly-married woman is severely punished
(xxii. 13-21), and a rough principle of discrimination is
introduced in alleged cases of sexual immorality (xxii.
22-7) ; a girl who has been wronged is to be married,
and the heir to an estate does not inherit his father's wives
(xxii. 30), as by the older custom (2 Sam. xvi. 22). Divorce
is regulated (xxiv. 1-4), and immorality under the cloak of
religion is rebuked (xxiii. 17, 18 : cf. xxii. 5 ?). Levirate
marriage (xxv. 5-10) secures succession for the childless ;
he who renounces his duty in this respect has to submit
to a humiliating symbolical ceremony, in which his sandal
is loosed, in the presence of the elders, by the woman
he will not marry (xxv. 9). As the rights of women are
protected, so are those of children. An interesting law
deals with the right of primogeniture, which is made
inalienable. According to Hebrew law, the first-born
would receive twice the portion of the others—which

INTRODUCTION 29

explains Elisha's prayer for a double portion of the spirit
of Elijah ; if, now, a man's eldest son is born of a wife he
dislikes, he may not set this child aside for the sake of
one born of his favourite (xxi. 15-17). On the other
hand, the rights of the parents in regard to their sons are
safeguarded, and a persistently disobedient son can be
brought to the elders of the city, and is even liable to
death by stoning (xxi. 18-21). It is eminently character-
istic of Deuteronomy that it should lay stress on the
religious training of children : ' These words which I
command thee this day shall be upon thine heart ; and
thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and
shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and
when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down,
and when thou risest up ' (vi. 6, 7 : cf. verse 20 f.). The
circle of rights and duties extends beyond the family to
its slaves, and to those without, even to aliens dwelling in
the midst of Israel. A law which throws considerable
light on the influences making ancient domestic slavery
so very different a thing from modern commercial slavery
not only deals with the emancipation of the slave in the
seventh year of service, but contemplates the possibility
of his preferring to remain for ever in the family of his
master ; and if he prefers to go he is not to be sent empty
away (xv. 12-18). On the other hand, he who robs a
brother Israelite of his freedom, and sells him into slavery,
is liable to a capital sentence (xxi v. 7 : cf. Cook, op. cit.,
p. 241). The duty which an Israelite owes to the stranger
who dwells in his community is constantly emphasized,
but as a principle of morality rather than as matter of
explicit enactments (vide infra: Justice and Humanity).
III. From the Law of Persons we pass to the Law of
Property, though we must not forget Maine's reminder
' that the separation of the Law of Persons from that of
Things has no meaning in the infancy of the law, that
the rules belonging to the two departments are inextricably
mingled together' (op. cit., p. 259). Thus, one of the

3o THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY

marriage laws already noticed deals with the daughter
as the father's property, estimated at the value of fifty
shekels of silver (xxii. 29) ; whilst the person of a debtor
is liable for his debt (xv. 12). The laws of property are
usually as significant of social conditions as the laws of
persons are of moral principles ; but the two realms are
closely intermingled, and it is chiefly for the convenience
of our own habits of thought that we are entitled to
make the distinction between persons and property.
The social conditions implied in the Deuteronomic
Code are those of an agricultural people, as con-
trasted with the more commercial character of many
of the laws of the Babylonian ; but, as Cook says {pp. cit.,
p. 272), ? That laws relating to trade and commerce should
fail to find a place in the Hebrew legislation is not
surprising when it is considered how widely conditions
jn Israel differed from those in Babylonia.' We find
the regulations we should naturally expect amongst an
agricultural people against the removal of a neighbour's
landmark, 'which they of old time have set' (xix. 14) ;
the stone or other mark of the boundary was probably
once consecrated to a deity, under whose protection it
stood. A neighbour's vineyards and cornfields may
satisfy one's personal and present hunger, but clear limits
are indicated as to what may be taken (xxiii. 24, 25).
Strayed oxen or sheep are to be restored, or kept against
restoration, and this applies to all lost property ; whilst
a man is to be helped with his fallen ox or ass (xxii. 1-4).
A somewhat curious law declares that eggs or young birds
found in a nest by accident may be taken, but not the
mother bird ; it has been suggested that this rests on the
idea of the mother bird as common and public property,
which may not be appropriated (xxii. 6, 7). The wages of
the labourer must not be detained, but paid daily, whether
he be Hebrew or foreign, for the alien has his rights
(xxiv. 14, 15). In regard to borrowing and lending, the
chief thing that strikes us about the laws is their imprac-

INTRODUCTION 31

ticability ; indeed, we find Jeremiah complaining (xxxiv.
8 f.) that; as a matter of fact, they are not observed. Limits
are placed on the articles that may be pawned, necessities
like the millstone being excluded (xxiv. 6 : cf. 10-13) ; no
interest for the loan is to be taken from a Hebrew, though
it may be taken from a foreigner (xxiii. 19, 20) ; the
curious provision of the year of release, already noticed
in another connexion, would secure the remission of the
debt in the seventh year, though some have held that
what is meant is the temporary suspension of the right to
repayment (xv. 1-11 ; Cook, op. cit., p. 233 n.). We
have to remember in all this that the code ' contemplates
only those cases in which indebtedness of one Israelite
to another is the result of individual poverty ; it knows
nothing of any kind of credit system such as necessarily
springs up with the development of commerce ' (Benzinger,
Law and Justice. E.B., c. 2727).

IV. It will naturally be asked what provision is made
for the carrying out of these laws, and for the effective
promotion of such legislative reforms. The answer is
twofold : the organization of justice is to be made more
efficient through enlargement of the jurisdiction of the
priests at the expense of the elders ; and the revival of
religion is to supply the motive for the higher moral
standards. In regard to the first of these points (cf.
Benzinger, op. cit., c. 27 17-2719), the judicial system
behind the earlier Book of the Covenant is constituted by
the elders of the locality, themselves the heads of families,
who have, if the phrase may be allowed, 'pooled' their
patriarchal power. These elders still appear in the Book
of Deuteronomy. But, as Benzinger points out {op. cit.,
c. 2719), 'The elders retain within their competency only
a limited class of offences,' more especially in regard to
the family, the original sphere of their jurisdiction (xxi.
18 f., xxii. 13 f., xxv. 7 f., xix. 1 1 f., xxi. 1 f.). The appoint-
ment of judges is regarded as the work of Moses (i. 9-18) ;
each locality is to have its professional staff (xvi. 1 8). The

32 THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY

higher court is now the priestly college at Jerusalem (xvii.
8-13). Here the priests examine into the case, and show
the sentence of judgement. The jurisdiction of the king
appears to be limited to the enforcement of this priestly
jurisdiction (xvii. 18-20). In regard to the details of the
new administration, we notice not only exhortations to fair
dealing (xxv. 13-16), and just judgement, and to the refusal
of bribes (xvi. 19), but. what was probably more effective,
two or three witnesses are required (xvii. 6, xix. 15),
and a severe sentence is prescribed against perjury,
the only case where the old Jus talionis is applied (xix.
15-21). We notice also two important steps forward, or
rather the recognition of two principles which make for
progress in justice. One is the recognition of motive as
a determining factor in manslaughter (xix. 4) ; the other
is the precaution against excess in the punishment, which
is to be administered, in the case of the bastinado, in the
presence of the judge (xxv. 1-3 : ' Forty stripes he may
give him, he shall not exceed '). But the greatest progress
is in the attempt to lift conduct from the letter of justice to
the spirit of mercy, and to present the ideal of humanity
towards all sorts and conditions of men. The attempt to
secure humanity in warfare (chap, xx) was probably as im-
practicable as are present attempts at securing interna-
tional arbitration. But one cannot miss the higher spirit
that animates the appeals to kindness and humanity in
the personal relationships of life (xxiv. 17, 18, 19-22:
cf. x. 19, ' Love ye therefore the stranger, for ye were
strangers in the land of Egypt'). This spirit is incul-
cated, not only towards dependents and strangers, but even
towards animals (' Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he
treadeth out the corn,' xxv. 4) \ Its presence may seem
incongruous in a law code, whilst we consider only the
limits of practical enforcement ; but it may remind us that

1 Cf. the philanthropic reason assigned for the keeping of
the Sabbath (v. 14 : contrast Exod. xx. 11).

INTRODUCTION 33

the code of law of any community always lags behind the
highest moral ideals, and depends on them both for its
continual improvement and for the very life-breath of its
efficiency. For mercy is not only above the sceptred sway
of the throned monarch ; from the heart where it is en-
throned it sends forth the pulsing life, without which the
sceptre will drop from the nerveless grasp, and the most
elaborate code of laws be as dead as that of Hammurabi.

III. The Deuteronomic Religion.

The Book of Deuteronomy is described by Dillmann
(p. 602) and by Driver (p. xxvi) as 'a. prophetical law
book,' by Bertholet (p. xiii) as a ' crystallization of pro-
phetical thoughts,' by Steuernagel (p. xx) as the tangible
and practicable expression of more than a century's
efforts after reform. The book itself bears explicit
testimony to its reverence for the prophet's mission;
Moses is represented as promising a succession of
prophets like himself to be the authoritative channels of
the Divine revelation (xviii. 15 f.). But a more impres-
sive memorial of the reverence in which the great
prophets of the eighth century were held by the reforming
party consists in the fact that Deuteronomy would be
inconceivable without them, and that almost every page
of its appeals bears the impress of the teaching of Amos,
Hosea, Isaiah, Micah.

The principles inculcated by these prophets, which
are expressed and practically applied in the Book of
Deuteronomy, are as follows : —

I. Yahweh alone is to be worshipped (vi. 4, 13, 14), not
simply because His revealed character deserves the abso-
lute devotion He claims from the Israelite, but because
no other god can challenge the supreme and universal
rule of Yahweh, the ' God of gods' (x. 17) ; indeed, there
is no god beside Him (iv. 35, 39). Cf. Amos, i-ii, ix. 2, 4, 7 ;
Hos. v. 14, viii. 14, xi, 11, xii. 9, xiii. 4, xiv. 3; Isaiah
i. 24, ii. 10 f., x. 5 f., &c. ; Micah i. 3f., iv. 6 f., 12, v. 15.

34 THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY

II. No image or material representation of Him maybe
used in His worship (vii. 25, xii. 2-5, xvi. 21, 22: cf. iv.
12-19, v. 8). Cf. Hos. iv. 17, viii. 4, x. 5, xiii. 2 ; Isaiah ii.
20, xxx. 22, xxxi. 7 ; Micah i. 7, v. 13, 14 ; (?) Amos viii. 14.

III. His character is wholly moral (vii. 9, 10; x. 17,
iS). Cf. Amos v. 14, 15, 24; Hos. ii. 19, 20, iv. if., v.
4 ; Isaiah i. 4, 15 f., v. 7, &c. ; Micah ii. 7, &c.

IV. Past history and present Providence reveal that the
principles of Divine government are moral (v. 33, vi. 3, vii.
12 f., xi. 13-17, 26-8, xxvi. 5 f., xxviii, xxx). Cf. Amos i, ii,
iii. 1, 2, iv. 6-1 1, vii-ix ; Hos. ii. 5 f., iv. 9, vi. 5, &c. ;
Isaiah i. 5, xxviii. 23-9, &c. ; Micah iii. 12.

V. The relation of Israel to Yahweh has in it a moral
demand, to be fulfilled through whole-hearted love for
Him (vi. 5, vii. 6-8, viii. 5, xiv. 2, xxx. n— 14). Cf. Amos
iii. 1, 2; Hos. ii. 19, iv. if., xi. 1-3; Isaiah i. 21, &c. ;
Micah vi. 8.

VI. His great requirement is that man should render
to man what is right (v. 14, x. 19, xii. 19, xiv. 29, xv. 7,
15, xvi. 19, xxii. 1-4, xxiv. 14, 15, 17-22, xxv. 13-16).
Sacrifice and the ritual of religion occupy a place in the
worship of Yahweh subordinate to this chief requirement
of social righteousness. Cf. Amos iii. 10, iv. 1, 4, v.
10, 21 f., viii. 4-6 ; Hos. vi. 6, viii. 13, ix. 4, x. 12 ; Isaiah
i, &c, Micah ii. 1, iii, vi. 10.

1. We begin with what is undoubtedly the central
doctrine of Deuteronomy, the unique claims of Yahweh.
It is important to understand clearly what we mean by
speaking of Hebrew Monotheism. In the Decalogue we
read, ' Thou shall have none other gods beside me' (v. 7).
This command does not deny the existence of other
gods ; it simply declares that Israel has nothing to do
with them. An early Hebrew song calls the Moabites
' the people of Kemosh,' who ' hath given his sons as
fugitives, and his daughters into captivity' (Num. xxi.
29). Similarly, the Moabites would call Israel the people
of Yahweh. On the well-known Moabite Stone we find

INTRODUCTION 35

an excellent illustration of the relation of a Semitic people
to its deity. King Mesha of Moab ascribes the victories
of Omri of Israel over Moab to the anger of Kemosh with
his land. At last Kemosh saw fit to restore the lost
territory, and to direct a successful campaign against
Israel, part of the spoil being the vessels of the defeated
Yahweh of Israel. For ancient thought, the drums and
tramplings of peoples mark the strife of rival deities, each
powerful in his own domain, and only occasionally beyond
it. It is from such a conception of Yahweh that Hebrew
Monotheism and Christian Theism have developed, not
by any abstract denial of the existence of extra-territorial
deities, but by putting more and more meaning into the
character of Yahweh and His relation to His people until
there was no room left for other gods, and they faded
away into mere spectres and shades. This is parti-
cularly the work of the four prophets of the eighth century
(see the references above). They can be called practical
monotheists, not because they deny that other gods exist,
but because they so exalt Yahweh that He becomes the
only spiritual power of whom account need be taken.
Deuteronomy follows them in the utterance of its doctrinal
principle : ' Hear, O Israel : Yahweh our God is one
Yahweh ' ; or, as seems a preferable translation : ' Yahweh
is our God, Yahweh alone ' (vi. 4). This sentence does
not assert that there is no other god ; indeed, within the
same chapter, there is a nominal recognition of the exist-
ence of other gods : ' Ye shall not go after other gods, of
the gods of the peoples which are round about you '
(vi. 14). But it presents Yahweh as the one and only one
object of Israel's love and worship, one in the sense that
the horizon of Israelite religion includes no other, which
is practical if not philosophical monotheism. Indeed, a
century after, we find the monotheistic inference drawn
in similar terms : ' And Yahweh shall become king over
all the earth ; in that day shall Yahweh be one, and His
name one ' (Zech. xiv. 9). Within the later strata of the

D 2

36 THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY

Book of Deuteronomy itself we pass from implicit to ex-
plicit monotheism, as the product of quasi-philosophical
reflection. In the fourth chapter (exilic) we find the gods
are regarded as mere idols, , the work of men's hands,
wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor
smell ' (verse 28) ; ' Yahweh, He is God ; there is none else
beside him' (verse 35) ; ' Yahweh, He is God in heaven
above and upon the earth beneath : there is none else '
(verse 39). Nothing more explicit than this statement
can be wanted, and it is reached by the double process of
degrading other deities into lifeless idols, and of exalting
Yahweh from one tribal deity among many to the One
and only God, by virtue of His attributes and power.

2. The practical deduction from this prophetic principle,
which gives a special character to the legislation of
Deuteronomy, is the law of the central sanctuary. We
must not regard it as a merely theoretical inference, that
because there is only one God there must be only one
sanctuary. More probably, this application is due to the
practical necessities of reform. The prophets had attacked
the worship associated with the various high places
scattered through the country in no measured terms, either
because they offered a delusive substitute for the practice
of morality (Amos iv. 4) or because of the immoral prac-
tices connected with their cults (Hosea, supra) ; they had
denounced idolatry, because of its inadequacy to represent
deity (Isa. ii. 8, 20) or because of its practical associa-
tions (Micah i. 7). But the long reign of Manasseh,
during which so much heathen and idolatrous worship
had prevailed, showed that the truth was not yet able to
hold its own against the vested interests, the old-
established prejudices, the ignorance and want of intelli-
gence, of those connected with the local cults. Something
definite must be done to bring home the prophetic ideals
to the hearts of the people. The insistence of Isaiah on
the inviolability of Jerusalem (xxxvii. 35, xxviii. 16), and
the confirmation of this doctrine by the deliverance from

INTRODUCTION 37

Sennacherib (Isa. xxxvii. 22, 33), must have largely helped
to establish the prestige of the temple in the capital. If
the worship of the land were centralized here, a high and
worthy type might be maintained, whilst all other lower
forms might be declared illegitimate. Nor was this ideal
so impracticable as it might at first sight seem to us. f The
whole land of Israel is small : Jerusalem is distant from
the sea only thirty-three miles, from Jordan about
eighteen, from Hebron nineteen, and from Samaria thirty-
four or thirty-five' (G. A. Smith, E.B., c. 2417). When
we remember the small extent of this territory, which we
so easily forget in view of the magnitude of the spiritual
interests of Israel, much becomes explicable in the ideals
of the reformers, and the sweeping character of the
reformation. It was no Utopian dream to conceive a
land, so small, trained to worship Yahweh at its capital
city in an imageless and moral worship. The rejected
elements of the local cults of Yahweh (to say nothing of
the worship of rival deities) are the image or material
representation of Yahweh, which is unworthy of His
nature (iv. 12-19), and immoral elements such as sacred
prostitution, or the sacrifice of children, which are directly
opposed to His requirements (xxiii. 17, 18; xii. 31, xviii.
10). The stone pillar and the wooden post were also
condemned (xvi. 21, 22) because both could detract from
the spirituality of God and engender superstition, whilst
the latter seems to have been connected specially with
immorality. These were, wholly or chiefly, elements
absorbed into Hebrew religion from the cults of Canaan ;
so that the reformation was a genuine return to the strong
simplicity of the earlier worship of Yahweh with, of
course, the added ideas drawn from centuries of history,
and continued progress in moral and social development l.
The chief element retained from the high places destroyed

1 Bertholet, op. at., xxvii, emphasizes the loss to the people
in the secularization of their life. No doubt the immediate loss
was real enough, but it was the price of progress.

38 THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY

was that of sacrifice, to which the prophets, as a whole,
were by no means kindly disposed; but the attitude of
the Book of Deuteronomy to sacrifice, and the place given
to it in the prescribed worship, are very different from that
of the later Levitical system \

The practical character and aim of the Deuteronomic
centralization of worship are further seen in the related laws
meant to meet the difficulties occasioned by the change.
Provision is made for the dispossessed priests of the local
sanctuaries (xviii. 6-8) ; the protection of the fugitive
from the avenger of blood, once provided at the local
shrines, is now to be found at the cities of refuge instituted
for the purpose (xix. 2f.). The annual festivals and
pilgrimages, the expression of the agricultural life of
Canaan, are now to be celebrated at the one sanctuary
(xvi. 16). The produce of the tithe, which may be too
bulky to carry to Jerusalem, it is permitted to change
into money to be expended there (xiv. 22-7). The slaughter
of animals for food loses its ancient sacrificial character
on ordinary occasions, the only requirement being that
the blood is to be poured out on the ground (xii. 16, 24).

3. But the law of the central sanctuary, with its various
safeguards, would have had little significance in the
history of religion if it had not been the expression of
a conception of God capable of unlimited growth and
application. We have seen that the positive impulse to
monotheism was an exalted conception of the character
of Israel's God ; it is this we have now to notice more
closely. Two passages, in particular, illustrate this con-
ception : ' The faithful God, which keepeth covenant and
mercy with them that love Him and keep His command-
ments to a thousand generations ; and repayeth them that

1 Prior to D, the burnt-offering and the peace-offering are
found (Exod. xx. 24, cf. xxiv. 5). D adds the heave-offering
(Deut. xii. 6, 17). P adds not only the oblation or meal-offering
(Lev. ii. 1 f.), but the sin-offering (v. 1-6), central in the Day
of Atonement (Lev. xvi. 3), and the guilt-offering (Lev. v. 14-16;.

INTRODUCTION 39

hate Him to their face, to destroy them: He will not be
slack to him that hateth Him, He will repay him to his
face' (vii. 9, 10); 'Yahweh your God, He is God of gods
and Lord of lords, the great God, the mighty, and the
terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward.
He doth execute the judgement of the fatherless and
widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and
raiment. ... He is thy praise, and He is thy God, that
hath done for thee these great and terrible things, which
thine eyes have seen' (x. 17-21).

The conception of God involved in such descriptions is
moral in the fullest sense of the word, moral as including
both justice and mercy ; and this conception underlies
the whole statement of the requirements of Yahweh,
and the interpretation of His dealings with men. The
sources of this conception lie open to us in the per-
sonalities and dominant conceptions of the prophets ; it
is one of the fascinating rewards of Old Testament study
that we see the idea of God emerging in its different
elements, feature by feature, as the various elements of
a portrait emerge on the developing plate in the photo-
grapher's dark room. Only as we study each contribution
in its natural historic light do we grasp the meaning of
the great word that ' God, having of old time spoken unto
the fathers in the prophets by divers portions and in
divers manners, hath at the end of these days spoken
unto us in his Son ' (Heb. i. I, 2). The ethical monotheism
of the eighth-century prophets, which supplies the passion
and power of Deuteronomy, may be analysed into four
more or less closely related elements, contributed by the
four prophets already named. Amos presents Yahweh to us
as a moral ruler, requiring moral obedience (chaps, i, ii ;
vii-ix) ; Hosea as a loving husband, in spite of Israel's
infidelity (chaps, i-iii) ; Isaiah as the Holy One of Israel
(v. 16, 24; vi. 3), the establisher of Zion (xxxvii. 35;
xxviii. 16) ; Micah as the judge of social injustice
(ii. 1, 2; iii. 10-12). The fact that we have gained,

40 THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY

through Christ, a still higher conception of His character,
must not blind us to the importance of the contribution
made by these prophetic pioneers, in their interpretation
of His ways from the standpoint of idealized human
morality. They were anthropomorphic thinkers, as all
men who dare to think God must be; but, in such
ventures of faith, everything depends on the quality of the
anthropomorphism. Elijah, in his denunciation of the
wrong done to Naboth, as well as in his protest against the
worship of Baal, is prophetic of his successors ; but they
are able to rise above the cruder conceptions of Elijah
into a more purely moral and spiritual sphere. It is
this going forth of man to meet God, this stepping off the
edge of the world into the darkness of the unknown,
that forms the human side of revelation. Like Moses in
the ancient tradition, these men climbed the mount of
God, and brought back His word. It was fitting that
prophecy, a Canaanite phenomenon in its lower forms,
should be able in its higher, when permeated by the moral
convictions of man, to dispossess the gods of Canaan.

Of these four prophets, it is from Hosea, the richest in
his conception of Yahweh, that Deuteronomy derives its
highest ideas. ' In a special degree the author of
Deuteronomy is the spiritual heir of Hosea' (Driver,
Deut. p. xxvii). But we may notice first that general
conception of the Moral Government of the world which
is common to all the prophets, and is specially emphasized
in Amos.

4. The Book of Deuteronomy lays uncompromising
stress on the retributive righteousness of God ; for it, the
past reveals the intervention of Yahweh in the affairs of
His people, His control of events in accordance with their
obedience to Him (cf. the retrospect of the first three
chapters). The broad basis of appeal to Israel is that of the
close of the original introduction to the code : ' Behold, I set
before you this day a blessing and a curse ; the blessing,
if ye shall hearken .... and the curse, if ye shall not

INTRODUCTION 41

hearken ' (xi. 26-8) ; or of that fine passage in the (later)
conclusion : ' This commandment which I command thee
this day, it is not too hard for thee, neither is it far
off . . . the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth and
in thy heart, that thou mayest do it. See, I have set
before thee this day life and good, and death and evil . . .
life and death, the blessing and the curse' (xxx. 11-19).
It was not until a later date, as in the Book of Job, that this
naive view of history, as consisting of direct reward and
punishment, ceased to be adequate ; and the inadequacy
was pressed home to the heart of the individual when
the old national unity ceased to occupy the foreground of
religion. The Book of Deuteronomy shows no sense of
difficulty in maintaining present directness of retribution
and the entire adjustment of prosperity to righteousness ;
accordingly it has no message concerning the doctrine of
a future life, by which that difficulty is partially met for
Christian thought.

5. But it would not be just to the book to present the
promise of reward and the threat of punishment as its only
motive to obedience. Yahweh is to be loved in Himself
for what He is ; the relation in which He stands to Israel
is not simply that of a judge or ruler, but of a friend and
a father. This is the chief ground for holding that
Deuteronomy is specially influenced by the teaching of
Hosea : ' Thou shalt love Yahweh thy God with all thine
heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might'
(vi. 5). We can see here the influence of the betrothal
conception of Hosea, resulting in a new inwardness of
motive. The relation between Yahweh and His people is
lifted to a level of thought which may be called evangelical.
Isaiah's conception of a holy people (vi. 5 : cf. iv. 3, &c.)
is given a noble extension when this holiness is made
the response to the revealed character of Yahweh (Deut.
vii. 6-8 ; xiv. 2, 21 ; xxvi. 19, xxviii. 9); and this extension
comes through the combination of Hosea and Isaiah.
Even when Hosea changes his figure for what is still

42 THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY

more suggestive of the true relation between God and
man, that of father and son, he is followed by Deuteronomy.
Hosea, in one of the tenderest passages in his book,
writes : ' When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and
called my son out of Egypt ... I taught Ephraim to
go; I took them on my arms' — as a father takes the
tired child whom he has been teaching to take its early
steps (xi. 1-3). The same figure, applied somewhat
differently, meets us in Deuteronomy : * And thou shalt
consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his
son, so Yahweh thy God chasteneth thee' (viii. 5) ; it is
followed exactly in i. 31.

6. The humanity of this relation between Yahweh and
His people is reflected in the relation between man and
man, presented as ideal. The humanitarianism of Deutero-
nomy is very marked, as we have already seen. It has
well been said that ' Nowhere else in the O. T. do we
breathe such an atmosphere of generous devotion to God,
and of large-hearted benevolence towards man ; nowhere
else are duties and motives set forth with greater depth
and tenderness of feeling, or with more winning and per-
suasive eloquence ; and nowhere else is it shown with the
same fullness of detail how high and noble principles
may be applied so as to elevate and refine the entire life
of the community ' (Driver, Deut., p. xxv). If the object
of Deuteronomy is 'to transform the Judah of King
Josiah's day into a peculiar people, holy and just, loving
God and following God's law' (Montefiore, Hibbert
Lectures, p. 183), we must recognize the primary place
in this conception of holiness which is taken by the
simple laws of morality and fair dealing and sympathy
with the needs and difficulties of others. We have al-
ready noticed such of these laws as could be tabulated
in a code ; it only remains to indicate here the stress
laid on such conduct towards others as the truest service
to Yahweh. Deuteronomy does not go to the length of
some of the prophets in denouncing the formalities of

INTRODUCTION 43

ritual, yet we cannot but feel that the worship of Yahweh
finds, for the writers, its aptest and highest expression in
obedience to Yahweh' s laws, amongst which those of
justice and mercy to all men are not counted the least by
a just and merciful God.

IV. The Canonical Place and Influence gf
Deuteronomy.

The Book of Deuteronomy is not only part of the
canon of Scripture, it has been the nucleus in the for-
mation of that canon. On many other books of the
Bible the literary characteristics and the theological
attitude of Deuteronomy have been strongly impressed ;
whilst it has been said with truth that ' Its influence on
the domestic and personal religion of Israel in all ages
has never been exceeded by that of any other book in the
canon ' (G. A. Smith, Modem Criticism and the Preaching
of the Old Testament, p. 163).

I. Deuteronomy was the first book to be accepted by
I srael as authoritative Scripture. N othing of the literature
of Israel was regarded as an authoritative standard of
life and faith prior to the publication of Deuteronomy.
The nearest approach to an earlier canon is found in
the earlier collections of laws, such as the Book of the
Covenant (Exod. xx. 22— xxiii. 19) ; but, probably, such
collections were drawn up within the priestly circle to be
private manuals, not public Bibles. As a law of God,
a sentence was binding ; so far there would be nothing
new in the emergence of the Deuteronomic Code as com-
pared with the oral law. But now, for the first time, the
law is made accessible to the nation, after public accept-
ance, and the foundations of a book-religion are laid. By
the time of the Maccabees (1 Mace. i. 56, 57) devotion to
a written revelation has become the distinctive mark of
Judaism, and we understand the force of the later Arabic
phrase, applied to both Jews and Christians, 'the people

44 THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY

of the book.' This development is the direct outcome of
the acceptance of Deuteronomy, and continues still further :
'The movement begun by Deuteronomy does not close
within the period of the O. T.— its goal is the Talmud ;
its course covers more than a thousand years. Deutero-
nomy does much to crystallize principles into rules, and
thereby partly strangles the free prophetic life, to which it
so largely owed its existence' (E.B., 2744: cf. Driver,
pp. lxiv, lxv; Marti, op. cit., p. 65). Yet a written
revelation, with all its perils, was required to meet the
practical needs of religion. Because of it, Israel's exile
could not destroy her faith ; it could only deepen her
reverence and love for the existent literature, and for the
oral traditions yet to be expanded and written, which were
the distilled life of her past. Through all the vicissitudes
of her subsequent history, those sacred books, of which
Deuteronomy is the foundation, become the tower of her
strength, the centre of her hopes. The historic truth of
many centuries is behind that Talmudic parable which
tells of the Jewish maiden parted from her lover, yet keep-
ing troth with him through his long delay, because able to
go into her chamber and read and reread his letters.
Israel, wrote the Rabbis, is that maiden, entering her
synagogues to study the writings of God. Nor is the
faith of Israel alone bound in a debt of gratitude to the
book-religion of Deuteronomy. The faith of the early
Christian Church, from its lowliest adherent to its great
apostle, was nourished on the principles preserved through
a book-religion ; and we may forgive some of the fossiliz-
ing influences of Jewish legalism because it has kept in its
bed of limestone the very forms of ancient faith for our
present study and edification. So long as the ideal of
Jeremiah awaits fulfilment, and the law of God remains
unwritten on the heart, some external authority in religion,
Bible or Church, will be necessary to correct the vagaries
of the individual, and to develop the possibilities of the
immature. Deuteronomy, at the head of the triple canon

INTRODUCTION 45

of the O. T., may be said to contain in itself ' the law,
the prophets, and the writings.' Itself a law-book pri-
marily, it is the outcome of prophetic teaching ; whilst
the two poems of its appendix link it with the chief repre-
sentative of the third canon, i. e. the Psalter.

II. In regard to the literary and theological influence
of Deuteronomy, the first point to notice is the relation
of the book to the contemporary prophet Jeremiah.
The fact that a close relation exists is unmistakable.
A selection from the many parallels between the two
books is given by Driver, p. xciii ; he remarks : ' remini-
scences from Deuteronomy, consisting often of whole
clauses, are interwoven with phrases peculiar to Jeremiah
himself; and even where the words are not actually the
same, the thought, and the oratorical form— the copious
diction, and sustained periods— are frequently similar'
(p. xcii : cf. Deut. iv. 29, and Jer. xxix. 13 ; iv. 34 and xxxii.
21 ; v. 33 and vii. 23 ; xviii. 20 and xxix. 23; xxviii. 52
and v. 17, out of a very large number of cases). Two
explanations have been given of this closeness of relation.
The older one is that Jeremiah himself was interested in
the Deuteronomic reform, and wrote largely under its
influence (e. g. Montefiore, op. cit., p. 194). One passage
in particular expressly supports this view (Jer. xi. 1-14) in
which the prophet is sent to speak to the men of Judah
and Jerusalem ' the words of this covenant,' which, in view
of the terms used, can be no other than the Deuteronomic.
But even those who have taken this view have been
compelled to admit that Jeremiah was disappointed with
the course of the Deuteronomic reform (e. g. Cheyne,
Jeremiah, p. 107). No other explanation could well be
given of the famous passage which speaks of the need for
a new covenant, more spiritually received : \ I will put my
law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write
it . . . and they shall teach no more every man his
neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know
Yahweh: for they shall all know me' (Jer. xxxi. 33, 34).

46 THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY

' Clearly, then/ wrote Cheyne in 1888, ' Jeremiah must
before this have begun to be disappointed with Deutero-
nomy. He may have read it privately — this perhaps we
may argue from his continued allusions to it ; but in public
he confined himself to reproducing its more spiritual,
more prophetic portions' (op. tit., p. 107). It is to be
noted that Jeremiah directly opposes the doctrine of the
inviolable sanctity of Jerusalem and its temple (chap,
xxvi), and is distinctly recognized in this as a successor
to Micah (verse 18), whilst his protest at the gate of
Yahweh's house is worthy of the eighth-century prophets :
t Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of Yahweh,
the temple of Yahweh, the temple of Yahweh, are these '
(vii. 4). There is, indeed, one passage in which Jeremiah
seems to be attacking the abuses to which a written
revelation would lend itself, if he is not criticizing
Deuteronomy itself: * How do ye say, We are wise, and
the law of Yahweh is with us ? But, behold, the false pen
of the scribes hath wrought falsely ' (viii. 8). The newer
criticism of the Book of Jeremiah, of which Duhm's
commentary may be taken as representative, regards the
Deuteronomic parallels as later additions, when the lyri-
cal poems of Jeremiah were worked up into a continuous
prophecy. (This would include even the passage in the
eleventh chapter to which reference has been made ; the
writer of it argued that since Jeremiah was a contemporary
of the Deuteronomic reform, he must, as a prophet of
Yahweh, have been concerned in it— which is the way in
which much history has been written, even to our own
day.) But, even if this extreme view in regard to
Jeremiah be ultimately adopted, the strong influence of
Deuteronomy is the more clearly indicated, in that it
prevailed against the principles of Jeremiah ; whilst the
practical failure of the Deuteronomic reform to which
the Book of Jeremiah witnesses (vi. 16-21; xxxiv. 8f.)
only throws into contrast the literary dominance of
Deuteronomy over the subsequent history and literature

INTRODUCTION 47

of Israel, of which the present Book of Jeremiah would
itself be an example.

A further example of that dominance is supplied by the
Book of Kings in its present form : ■ Henceforward
history becomes an exponent of legal theory' (Gray,
E.B.j c. 2735); 'there seems, indeed, to have quickly
formed itself a regular school of writers upon the Deutero-
nomic pattern, who looked at history and religion from
the Deuteronomic point of view' (Montefiore, op. cit.,
p. 193). Reference should be made to the Century
Bible edition of Kings (Skinner) for the copious evidence
that the compiler worked from the standpoint of Deutero-
nomy (see, especially, the Introduction, pp. 14-18). He
selects his material from a religious standpoint ; he traces
the prosperity or adversity of the nation to its obedi-
ence or disobedience to Deuteronomic law ; he judges
the character of the line of kings by their loyalty or
disloyalty to the Yahweh of Deuteronomy. Hezekiah,
for example, because of his earlier reform on Deuterono-
mic lines, receives the commendation : * He trusted in
Yahweh, the God of Israel ; so that after him was none
like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among them
that were before him ' (2 Kings xviii. 5). Manasseh,
who built again the high places which his father had
destroyed (2 Kings xxi. 3 f.), though he escapes without
personal disaster, has stored up retributive adversity for
his people : ' I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a
dish, wiping it and turning it upside down' (verse 13), is
Yahweh's word over Manasseh's reign. We have become
so accustomed to these verdicts on the monarchs of
Israel, that it is difficult to pass behind them. Yet these
kings are praised or pilloried by an unhistoric method ;
they stand or fall by their compliance with or rejection of
a book they never saw. For the Law-book which is
mentioned in Kings is, throughout, Deuteronomy (cf.
Driver, xci. n.) : the manner of reference shows this, for
example, in David's charge to Solomon (1 Kings ii. 3),

48 THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY

' Keep the charge of Yahweh thy God, to walk in His
ways, to keep His statutes, and His commandments, and
His judgements and His testimonies, according to that
which is written in the Law of Moses, that thou mayest
prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou
turnest thyself ; the reference is doubtless to the special
paragraph in Deuteronomy urging the study of the book
on the monarchs of Israel.

This Deuteronomic redaction extends, though in a less
marked degree in the case of Samuel, over the whole of
the ' Former Prophets,' as they are called— viz. Joshua,
Judges, Samuel, and Kings (Budde, E.B., 660), and the
influence of Deuteronomic phraseology may be traced in
certain books of the third canon — viz. Nehemiah, Daniel,
and Chronicles (Driver, p. xcii).

In all this influence it is the doctrine of Yahweh's
retributive righteousness which is central, and the Book
of Job shows us how absolutely and completely this had
become the orthodox tenet of Israel. In the Book of
Deuteronomy that doctrine was applied to the nation as
a whole ; individuals were involved in the fate of the
nation, as in the destruction of a whole city contami-
nated by alien worship (Deut. xiii. 12-16). But though,
as we have seen, the rights of the individual in criminal
law are recognized, the individual aspects of the law
of retribution are not yet fully realized. The powerful
protest of Job was necessary against the belief that
suffering and innocence were incompatible ; it is not
that disobedience is not punished, but that the suffering
which is punishment in one case may be discipline in
another, or more particularly, may be neither of these,
but man's opportunity to witness to his disinterested
principles, and to his loyal obedience to God. The
powerful assertion of this in Job testifies indirectly to
the power of the Book of Deuteronomy, whose doctrine
eventually made the protest necessary.

III. An adequate description of the influence of

INTRODUCTION 49

Deuteronomy on the personal religion of Israel would
become a history of the people under this special aspect.
But some points in particular may be noted in which the
influence of the book, alone, or in conjunction with the
Torah, has been noteworthy. The briefest reference must
be made to the Torah school and the Torah instruction of
the synagogue, and to the zeal for the perfect fulfilment of
the Torah which finds its expression in Pharisaism. More
significant for our present purpose is that recognition of
family life, and insistence on religious instruction within
the family, which Deuteronomy displays, and to which
Israel as a whole has so loyally responded (vi. 7, cf. 20).
The reception of proselytes was a feature of the greatest
importance in the centuries about the Christian era ; how
large a part these proselytes played in the extension of
Christianity every reader of the Acts of the Apostles
knows. Yet this welcoming spirit towards those without
springs largely from the attitude towards strangers so
strongly urged in the Book of Deuteronomy ; and the
monotheism and imageless worship of the Jews, which
centre in that book, constituted the chief attraction for
many of the proselytes to Judaism.

In characteristic details of Jewish religion the influ-
ence of Deuteronomy is very clearly shown. The pious
Jew of Christ's day showed his piety visibly in three
ways — by the Zizith, the tassels of blue or white wool
worn on the four corners of the upper garment ; by
the Mezuza, the little box fixed to the right doorpost of
houses or rooms, which contained a small roll inscribed
with certain portions of Scripture ; by the Tephillin or
Phylacteries worn by the male Israelite on arm or head at
morning prayer1. Each of these observances rests on a
Deuteronomic command (xxii. 12; vi. 9, and xi. 20; vi.
8, and xi. 18). A marked feature of Jewish piety, as every

1 Schurer, Geschichte des Judischen Volkes im Zeitalter Jesu
Christi, vol. ii. § 28. iv. (Eng. Trans., div. ii. vol. ii. p. in f.)

5o THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY

one will have noticed who has watched a pious Jew at
meal-time, is the elaborate thanksgiving ; this is based
upon the command, 'And thou shalt eat and be full, and
thou shalt bless Yahweh thy God for the good land
which He hath given thee ' (viii. 10). The daily prayer of
Judaism, its confession of faith, to be recited morning and
evening by every adult male Israelite, is made up of the
two cardinal passages taken from Deuteronomy (vi. 4-9
and xi. 13-21), with the addition of a third from Numbers
(xv. 37-41) (Schiirer, vol. ii. § 27 ; Taylor, op. tit., Exc. iv).
It was this prayer that Rabbi 'Aquiba was reciting when the
executioners were combing his flesh with combs of iron :
' All my days I have been troubled about this verse, Thou
shalt love the Lord . . . with all thy soul, even if He
should take away thy spirit. When, said I, will it be in my
power to fulfil this ? Now that I have the opportunity,
shall I not fulfil it ? ' So he dwelt on the word one (God)
till he expired (Taylor, op. at., p. 54). There is the Jewish
religion at its highest and its lowest ; its literalism and
triviality on the one hand, its splendid passion of self-
devotion on the other. In the Book of Deuteronomy
both are represented.

The influence of Deuteronomy on the New Testament,
so far as it admits of being traced, is as great as we might
have expected. There are about thirty quotations, made
from some nineteen passages, but the less direct references
are at least eighty (Swete, Introduction to the Old
Testament in Greek, p. 383 ; Westcott and Hort, New
Testament, App.). Characteristic use of Deuteronomy is
made by that Hebrew of the Hebrews, Paul ; he cites,
for example, the command not to muzzle the ox when
treading out the corn, as proof that Christian ministers
may be paid for their work (1 Cor. ix. 9 : cf. Deut. xxv.
4) ; he extends a warning about Yahweh's employment
of other nations to the admission of the Gentiles into the
kingdom (Rom. x. 19 : cf. Deut. xxxii. 21); he does not
hesitate to apply the eloquent passage about the nearness

INTRODUCTION 51

of the Deuteronomic commands to practical life to the
equal practicability of the new word of the Gospel : ' The
word is nigh thee, in thy mouth and in thy heart : that is,
the word of faith which we preach ' (Rom. x. 6-8 : cf.
Deut. xxx. 12-14). But much more striking and interest-
ing is the use of Deuteronomy made by Jesus. As He
drew the idea of His ministry from the passage He read
in the synagogue at Nazareth (Isa. lxi : cf. Luke iv. 16 f.),
and afterwards used in His reply to John's inquiry
(Matt. xi. 4f.) ; as He based His disregard of social con-
ventions in mixing with publicans on that prophetic word,
1 1 will have mercy, and not sacrifice ' (Matt. ix. 13 : cf.
Hos. vi. 6) ; and as He uttered both the depths and the
heights of His experience on the Cross in two words
taken from the Psalter (' My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me ? ' ' Father, into thy hands I commend my
spirit' : Matt, xxvii. 46 : cf. Ps. xxii. 1 ; Luke xxiii. 46 :
cf. Ps. xxxi. 5); so we find Him drawing spiritual nourish-
ment on two important occasions from the Book of
Deuteronomy. The first is His temptation in the desert;
we cannot but be impressed by the fact that His assertion
of a higher principle than self-satisfaction, His rebuke of
the folly that would presume on the Divine patience, His
refusal to serve God and mammon, are all expressed in
Deuteronomic words (Matt. iv. 3 f.; Luke iv. 3 f. : cf. Deut.
viii. 3, vi. 16, and vi. 13). How much He must have
loved this book, when His spiritual struggle finds this
natural expression in its language ! And not less signifi-
cant a testimony to the influence of Deuteronomy is
supplied by the fact that He summarizes the whole of the
law and the prophets in a verse taken from Deuteronomy,
and in another from the less likely book of Leviticus
(Matt. xxii. 37 ; Mark xii. 29 f. ; Luke x. 27 : cp. Deut.
vi. 5). We must add to these two primary references
those others in which He bases the relations of members
of the new community on Deuteronomic principles of
justice (' that at the mouth of two witnesses or three every
E 2

52 THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY

word may be established' — Matt, xviii. 16: cf. Deut.
xix. 15), and that He extends a Deuteronomic ideal (xviii.
13) from the narrower realm of the avoidance of supersti-
tion till it covers the whole horizon of social morality
(' Ye therefore shall be perfect, as your Heavenly Father
is perfect ' : Matt. v. 48).

NOTES ON LITERATURE

The commentaries used in the preparation of the notes to
this edition are those by —

Dillmann (Numeri, Deuteronomium, und Josua 2, Kurz. Exeg.
Handb,, 1886).

Driver (Deuteronomy, International Critical Comm., 1895).

Steuernagel (Deuteronomium, Hand-Komm.z. A. T, 1898).

Bertholet (Deuteronomium, Kurz. Hand-Comm., 1899).

The English reader who desires fuller notes than the neces-
sarily bare and dogmatic statements here made should consult
Driver ; as an introduction to the book, and to some of its
principal topics, A. Harper's 'The Book of Deuteronomy' in
The Expositor's Bible may be mentioned. The article on
* Deuteronomy,' by Ryle, in Hastings's Dictionary of the Bible
(cited as D. B.) (i. pp. 596-603), is largely based on Driver ;
that by Moore, in the Encyclopaedia Biblica (cited as E.B.)
(i. c. 1079-94), is an admirable and terse statement of the
contents and problems of the book, and with its critical
analysis the present writer is in general agreement. The
subject-matter of Deuteronomy is, of course, discussed in all
histories of Israel or introductions to the O. T. ; amongst
these may be named in particular Stade's Geschichte des Volkes
Israel2,!, pp. 641-71 (1889); Wellhausen's Israelitische und
Jiidische Geschichte3, 1897 ; Smend'sAlttestamentliche Religions-
geschichte2, 1899; Stade's Biblische Theologie des Alten Testa-
ments (pp. 260-9), I905- The critical problems in connexion
with the original contents of the Reformation Law-book are
difficult and complicated, and are still under vigorous dis-
cussion. Amongst recent literature on this subject may be
named : —

NOTES ON LITERATURE 53

Cullen, The Book of the Covenant in Moab, 1903 Reviewed
by the writer in The Critical Review, 1904 ; regards Deut. v-xi
as the discovered book, to which the laws were added later,
since ' a new law-code is usually not the instrument, but the
outcome of a successful revolution ').

Fries, Die Gesetzesschrift des Konigs Josia. 1903 (the Law-book
of Josiah seen in Exod. xxxiv. ir-26, not in Deuteronomy).

Botticher, Das Verhdltnis des Deuteronomiums zu 2 Kon. xxii,
xxiii, und eur Prophetie Jeremia, 1906. (Accepts chaps, xii-
xxvi, xxviii as the Josianic Law-book, and gives a useful survey
of the present state of Deuteronomic criticism.)

Klostermann, Der Pentateuch, 1907 {Das deuteronomische
Gesetzbuch, pp. 154-428).

SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS

J. The narrative by (Judaean V) writers from b.c. 850,
using the name Yahweh (Jehovah, R. V., Lord).

E. The narrative by Ephraimite writers from b. c. 750,
using the name Elohim (God).

JE. The • prophetic ' narrative of the Hexateuch, resulting
from the combination of J and E.

P. The • priestly ' narrative and legislation (exilic and post-
exilic).

D. The original Book of Deuteronomy, discovered in b. c.
621.

D2. Pre-exilic additions to D.

Ds. Exilic additions to D-

R. Additions by various redactors ; sometimes further classi-
fied by a raised letter, e. g. RD, the Deuteronomic
redactor. In Deut. xxxii, xxxiii, R ? denotes the use
of earlier (unknown) sources by the redactor.

Cook. S. A. Cook, The Laws of Moses and the Code of
Hammurabi.

D.B. Hastings's Dictionary of the Bible.

E.B. Encyclopaedia Biblica.

G.V.I. Stade, Geschichte des Vol kes Israel.

H. G.H.L. G. A. Smith, Historical Geography of the Holy Land.

54 THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY

L.O.T. Driver, Introduction to the Literature of the Old
Testament.

O.T.J.C. W. Robertson Smith, The Old Testament in the
Jewish Church2.

Oxf. Hex. The Hexateuch, edited by J. Estlin Carpenter and
G. Harford-Battersby.

Rel. Sem. W. Robertson Smith, The Religion of the Semites.

S.B.O.T. The Sacred Books of the Old Testament: Leviticus
(S. R. Driver and H. A. White) ; Joshua (W. H. Bennett).

Z.A.T.JV. Zeitschrift fur die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft.

(Where Bertholet, Dillmann, Driver, and Steuernagel are
cited without further specification, the reference is to their
commentaries on Deuteronomy named above.)

THE LEGISLATIVE CODES OF THE O. T.

The laws of the O. T. fall into four distinct codes, differing
in character and date, though now editorially combined with-
out regard to their origin.

i. The earliest of these, found in connexion with the pro-
phetic narratives of the Hexateuch (JE), is known as the Book
of the Covenant (Exod. xx. 3 — xxiii. 19), with which is to be
grouped the Decalogue (Exod. xx. 2-17) and the earlier
Decalogue underlying Exod. xxxiv. 10-26. This code is prior
to the eighth century B.C., and reflects a simple society, with
agriculture as its chief interest.

ii. For the Deuteronomic Code of the seventh century b. c.
see above, pp. 23 f.

iii. A special code of exilic origin, closely related to Ezekiel,
and found in Lev. xvii-xxvi, is known as the Law of Holiness (H).

iv. The Priestly Code (P), post-exilic, and promulgated in
444 b. c. (Neh. viii-x), runs through the Pentateuch, especially
Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers, and is concerned almost
entirely with the regulation of worship.

An example of the differences and development in these
codes will be found on p. 38 (footnote on < Sacrifices ').

THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY

REVISED VERSION WITH ANNOTATIONS

THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY

[D2] These be the words which Moses spake unto all 1

Israel beyond Jordan in the wilderness, in the a Arabah

over against b Suph, between Paran, and Tophel, and

Laban, and Hazeroth, and Di-zahab. It is eleven days' 2

journey from Horeb by the way of mount Seir unto

Kadesh-barnea. [P] And it came to pass in the fortieth 3

year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month,

that Moses spake unto the children of Israel, according

unto all that the Lord had given him in commandment

unto them ; [D2] after he had smitten Sihon the king of 4

the Amorites, which dwelt in Heshbon, and Og the king

of Bashan, which dwelt in Ashtaroth, at Edrei : beyond 5

a That is, the deep valley running North and South of the Dead Sea.
b Some ancient versions have, the Red Sea.

i. 1-5. Introductory Note, Geographical and Chronological, to the
First Address of Moses. 'AH Israel,' in the characteristic phrase
of Deuteronomy, is supposed to be gathered i beyond Jordan '
(i. e. east of it, from the standpoint of a writer of West Palestine),
in the place to which previous adventures have brought the nation
(cf. Num. xxxiii. 49, xxxvi. 13). The apparent definition of this
place, however, in the first verse, is obscure and uncertain. The
names given are unidentified for this locality, whilst Suph, Paran,
and Hazeroth have already occurred in the account of the wander-
ings of Israel. Probably, therefore, the second half of this verse,
with verse 2, is the misplaced fragment of a list of desert halting-
places.

2. Horeb (D, E) = Sinai (J, P) ; different names for the same
mountain.

the way of mount Seir, i. e. of the Edomite district, east of
the Arabah. The phrase thus designates the most eastern of the
three main roads between Sinai and the south of Palestine.

Kadesh-barnea = 'Ain-Kadls, fifty miles south of Beersheba.

3. The chronological note (characteristic of P) links the book
with the scheme of the previous narrative of the Pentateuch.
It is continued in xxxii. 48.

4. Sihon, &c. : see Num. xxi. 21 — xxii. 1 ; also notes on ii. 26 f.

58 DEUTERONOMY 1. 6-8. D2

Jordan, in the land of Moab, began Moses to declare

6 this law, saying, The Lord our God spake unto us in
Horeb, saying, Ye have dwelt long enough in this

7 mountain : turn you, and take your journey, and go to
the hill country of the Amorites, and unto all the places
nigh thereunto, in the Arabah, in the hill country, and in
the lowland, and in the South, and by the sea shore, the
land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great

8 river, the river Euphrates. Behold, I have set the land
before you : go in and possess the land which the Lord

5. "began ... to declare: rather, 'undertook to expound'
this Deuteronomic law which follows (after lengthy introductions).
The word for 'law ' properly means 'direction' or ' instruction,'
which more general sense may be intended here.

i. 6 — iv. 40. The First Address of Moses. It consists of a histo-
rical review of Israel's adventures since leaving Sinai (i. 6 — iii. 29)
and a hortatory peroration (iv. 1-40), part, or all, of which appears
to be a later addition. The statements made are based, some-
times even verbally, on JE in Exodus and Numbers.

i. 6-18. Yahweh's command to journej'- from Horeb to the
Promised Land (verses 6-8). Moses, feeling his responsibility,
asked for assistance in the government of the people, to which
they agreed (verses 9-14). Leading men were accordingly
appointed, and charged by Moses to observe strict impartiality in
judgement (verses 15-18).

6. See Exod. xxxiii. 1.

7. In this description of the Promised Land, the hill-country
of the Amorites appears to describe Palestine generally by its
principal topographical feature, the Central Range (cf. verses 20
and 44); the Arahah (verse 1, R. V. marg.) here refers to its
northern part, now El-Ghor, the Jordan Valley to the Dead Sea ;
the hill country is the special term for the mountains of Judah
and Ephraim ; the lowland (Shephelah), the lower hills and
moorland lying between the Central Range and the Maritime
Plain ; the South (Negeb) is the dry district south of the moun-
tains of Judah ; the sea shore, or plain along the coast of the
Mediterranean, is further defined by the land of the Canaanites,
i. e. Phoenicia, cf. Josh. xiii. 4 ; the Lebanon stands broadly for
the northern territory, whilst the Euphrates is given as the
(ideal) limit of a territory much larger than Israel ever occupied
(cf. xi. 24).

DEUTERONOMY 1. 9-16. D2 59

sware unto your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to
Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them. And 9
I spake unto you at that time, saying, I am not able
to bear you myself alone : the Lord your God hath 10
multiplied you, and, behold, ye are this day as the stars
of heaven for multitude. The Lord, the God of your n
fathers, make you a thousand times so many more as ye
are, and bless you, as he hath promised you ! How can 12
I myself alone bear your cumbrance, and your burden,
and your strife ? Take you wise men, and understanding, 13
and known, according to your tribes, and I will make
them heads over you. And ye answered me, and said, 14
The thing which thou hast spoken is good for us to do.
So I took the heads of your tribes, wise men, and known, 15
and made them heads over you, captains of thousands,
and captains of hundreds, and captains of fifties, and
captains of tens, and officers, according to your tribes.
And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the 16
causes between your brethren, and judge righteously
between a man and his brother, and the stranger that is

8. For the promise to Abraham, cf. Gen. xii. 7, xxii. 16, &c.
(for the comparison of his seed to the stars in number (verse to), Gen.
xv. 5, xxii. 17); Isaac, Gen. xxvi. 3 ; Jacob, Gen. xxviii. 13.

9. I spake unto you at that time : according to Exod. xviii. 18,
the suggestion was due to Jethro ; according, also, to the present
place of that narrative, the incident occurred before the visit to
Horeb.

15. Exod. xviii. 13 f. (cf. Num. xi. 16 f.). The modern parallel
is the moral authority of the Bedouin sheikh, which rests ultimately
on the pressure of the family on its members. The higher Kadi
will correspond to Moses here. 'This judicial activity of the
heads of tribes and clans we must, of course, regard, not as an in-
novation, but as an ancient usage ' (E.B. 2718 : ' Law and Justice ').

16. the stranger that is with him : Heb. ' his ger/ the
settled foreigner, here given equal rights with the native Israelite
(x. 19, xiv. 21, xxiv. 17, xxvii. 19). 'The care taken by Israelite
law to protect strangers finds no parallel in Babylonia' (S. A. Cook,
The Laws of Moses, p. 276).

60 DEUTERONOMY 1. 17-22. D2

17 with him. Ye shall not respect persons in judgement;
ye shall hear the small and the great alike : ye shall not be
afraid of the face of man j for the judgement is God's :
and the cause that is too hard for you ye shall bring

18 unto me, and I will hear it. And I commanded you at
that time all the things which ye should do.

19 And we journeyed from Horeb, and went through all
that great and terrible wilderness which ye saw, by the
way to the hill country of the Amorites, as the Lord our
God commanded us ; and we came to Kadesh-barnea.

20 And I said unto you, Ye are come unto the hill country
of the Amorites, which the Lord our God giveth unto

21 us. Behold, the Lord thy God hath set the land before
thee : go up, take possession, as the Lord, the God of
thy fathers, hath spoken unto thee ; fear not, neither be

22 dismayed. And ye came near unto me every one of
you, and said, Let us send men before us, that they may

1*?. the judgement is God's : primarily by the sacred oracle or
lot (note on Joshua vii. 14); secondarily, as interpreted by suitable
men speaking in His name.

i. 19-46. Israel, arriving at Kadesh-barnea, was bidden to enter
the land from the south (verses 19-21). The report of the spies,
sent at the desire of the people (verses 22-5), discouraged them
(verses 26-8), notwithstanding the exhortation of Moses (verses
29-31). Their cowardice angered Yahweh, who decreed that
Caleb and Joshua, and the children only of the present generation
should eventually enter (verses 32-40). The people, however,
persisted in making the attempt, in spite of the Divine warning
(verses 41-3 \ with the result that they were defeated by the
Amorites (verses 44-6).

19. that great and terrible wilderness: (viii. 15) the barren
limestone plateau (Et-Tih : see the geological maps in E.B.,
1208-9) between the peninsula of Sinai-Horeb and the south of
Palestine. From its most southern projection into the peninsula
to Beersheba the distance is 170 miles ; to Kadesh-barnea (cf.
verse 2) somewhat less.

22. According to Num. xiii. 1 f. (P), these spies are sent at the
command of Yahweh.

DEUTERONOMY 1. 23-28. D2 61

search the land for us, and bring us word again of the
way by which we must go up, and the cities unto which
we shall come. And the thing pleased me well : and 23
I took twelve men of you, one man for every tribe : and 24
they turned and went up into the mountain, and came
unto the valley of Eshcol, and spied it out. And they 25
took of the fruit of the land in their hands, and brought
it down unto us, and brought us word again, and said,
It is a good land which the Lord our God giveth unto
us. Yet ye would not go up, but rebelled against the 26
commandment of the Lord your God : and ye murmured 27
in your tents, and said, Because the Lord hated us, he
hath brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to
deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy
us. Whither are we going up ? our brethren have made 28
our heart to melt, saying, The people is greater and

24. the valley of Eshcol : an explorer's name (' grape-cluster ')
assigned for the occasion (Num. xiii. 23, 24) ; not otherwise known
or identified, but in the neighbourhood of Hebron (Num. xiii. 22).
The grape, in particular, deserves to be called the fruit of the
land (verse 25) ; the vine becomes almost the national emblem of
Israel (1 Kings iv. 25, &c. ; Isa. v. 2 ; Jer. ii. 21 ; Ezek. xv j Matt,
xxi. 33 f. ; John xv. 1).

25. Cf. Num. xiii. 23, where the spies bring back grapes,
pomegranates, and figs.

27. in your tents, as being unwilling to unite for common
action. For the true meaning of the phrase 'To your tents,
O Israel ! ' see note on Joshua xxii. 4.

28. our heart to melt. What is to us a figure was to the
primitive Hebrew the literal description of a fact, perhaps suggested
by the coagulation of blood in and about the heart of a slain animal.
Though the circulation of the blood was, of course, unknown, the
quickened heart-beat of fear might be connected with the 'melting '
of the central blood-organ. The phrase occurs in xx. 8 ; Joshua
ii. ir, v. 1, vii. 5, xiv. 8 ; Ezek. xxi. 7 ; Nah. ii. 10 ; Isa. xiii. 7,
xix. 1. In Ps. xxii. 14, the heart is compared to wax, melting
(and running down) amongst the viscera. Elsewhere it is said
to become soft (Job xxiii. 16. &c).

62 DEUTERONOMY 1. 29-37. D2

taller than we ; the cities are great and fenced up to
heaven ; and moreover we have seen the sons of the

29 Anakim there. Then I said unto you, Dread not, neither

30 be afraid of them. The Lord your God who goeth before
you, he shall fight for you, according to all that he did

31 for you in Egypt before your eyes ; and in the wilderness,
where thou hast seen how that the Lord thy God bare
thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye

32 went, until ye came unto this place. Yet ain this thing

33 ye did not believe the Lord your God, who went before
you in the way, to seek you out a place to pitch your
tents in, in fire by night, to shew you by what way ye

34 should go, and in the cloud by day. And the Lord
heard the voice of your words, and was wroth, and sware,

35 saying, Surely there shall not one of these men of this
evil generation see the good land, which I sware to give

36 unto your fathers, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, he
shall see it ; and to him will I give the land that he hath
trodden upon, and to his children : because he hath

37 wholly followed the Lord. Also the Lord was angry
with me for your sakes, saying, Thou also shalt not go in

a Or, for all this thing

Anakim : perhaps ' the (long-)necked people,' or giants ;
Num. xiii. 22, 28, 33 ; Deut. ii. 10, n, 21, ix. 2 ; Joshua xi. 21, 22,
xiv. 12, 15, xv. 13, 14, xxi. 11 ; Judges i. 20. This race, of
colossal stature to Hebrew eyes, was specially connected with
Hebron and its vicinity.

31. bare thee : for similar expressions of the warm and helpful
attachment of Yahweh to His people, cf. xxxii. n ; Exod. xix. 4 ;
esp. Hos. xi. 3 ; Isa. xlvi. 3.

32. 'Yet notwithstanding this word (of mine) ye were not
trusting Yahweh your God.'

33. See Exod. xiii. 21.

36. Caleb: Num. xiv. 24 (JE) ; xiv. 30 (P ; with Joshua).
The ' land ' meant is that of Hebron and its district (cf. Joshua
xiv. 12-14).

37. angry with me: the present composite narrative in Num.

DEUTERONOMY 1. 38-42. D2 63

thither: Joshua the son of Nun, which standeth before 38
thee, he shall go in thither : encourage thou him ; for he
shall cause Israel to inherit it. Moreover your little 39
ones, which ye said should be a prey, and your children,
which this day have no knowledge of good or evil, they
shall go in thither, and unto them will I give it, and they
shall possess it. But as for you, turn you, and take your 4°
journey into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.
Then ye answered and said unto me, We have sinned 4 1
against the Lord, we will go up and fight, according to
all that the Lord our God commanded us. And ye
girded on every man his weapons of war, and awere
forward to go up into the mountain. And the Lord 42
said unto me, Say unto them, Go not up, neither fight j
for I am not among you ; lest ye be smitten before your

a Or, deemed it a light thing

xx. 1-13 leaves us ' without any clear idea of the character of the
sin,' though it appears to be ' an act of open rebellion, rather than
of simple unbelief (Gray, Numbers, pp. 258, 262). Moreover,
the event is there (cf. Deut. xxxii. 51) assigned to the closing
period of Israel's wanderings. Here, as in iii. 26, iv. 21, the
reason given for Yahweh's anger with Moses is quite different
from that of P ; the anger is on account of the disobedience of the
people ('for your sakes'). The event is thus assigned to the
opening period of Israel's wanderings. The two forms of the
tradition refer to the same spot, but at an interval of thirty-seven
years.

38. Joshua : see on verse 36 and Josh. i. 1.

which standeth before thee : i. e. as an attendant or
'minister' (1 Kings x. 8).

39. a prey: Num. xiv. 3, 31. The guilty generation must give
place to the innocent, hence the conventional ' forty ' years of
wandering (cf. ii. 14).

40. Red Sea : Heb. Yam Suph (sea of reeds ?), here denoting
the Gulf of 'Akabah (Num. xiv. 25 : cf. i Kings ix. 26).

41. The emphasis of the Hebrew is apt to be lost by the
English reader. The second 'we' is emphatic ; we, not our
children, will enter.

were forward ; R. V. marg. preferable.

64 DEUTERONOMY 1. 43— 2. 3. D*

43 enemies. So I spake unto you, and ye hearkened not ;
but ye rebelled against the commandment of the Lord,
and were presumptuous, and went up into the mountain.

44 And the Amorites, which dwelt in that mountain, came
out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and beat

45 you down in Seir, even unto Hormah. And ye returned
and wept before the Lord; but the Lord hearkened

46 not to your voice, nor gave ear unto you. So ye abode
in Kadesh many days, according unto the days that ye
abode there.

2 Then we turned, and took our journey into the

wilderness by the way to the Red Sea, as the Lord

spake unto me : and we compassed mount Seir many

2, 3 days. And the Lord spake unto me, saying, Ye have

compassed this mountain long enough : turn you north-

44. Num. xiv. 45. For the figure of the bees (number and
ferocity) see Ps. cxviii. 12 ; Isa. vii. 18 ; perhaps the obscure
reference to the hornets in vii. 20 springs from a misunderstood
figure of the same kind.

in Seir, even, unto Hormah : more probably, with the ancient
versions, l from Seir.' In Judges i. 17, Hormah Q the banned ' city)
is identified with Zephath, and Es-Sabaita, twenty-five miles
north-east of Kadesh-barnea, has been suggested as the site.

45. Tears follow foolhardiness, as foolhardiness does timidity ;
the psychology of Israel, as Bertholet remarks, is that of a child.

46. many days (the following words express idiomatically an in-
definite period ; cf. xxix. 16 ; 2 Kings viii. 1 ; Zech. x. 8, and
the similar Arabic idiom). Cf. ii. 1, of which verse the ' many
days ' are subsequently defined (verse 14) as thirty-eight years ;
here they cannot mean more than a few months. See on ii. 14.

ii. i-8a. Israel, leaving Kadesh-barnea, wandered for many
years in the south of Palestine. Finally, Yahweh bade them turn
northward again and pass peaceably by Edom, which they
accordingly did.

1. we compassed mount Seir: i.e. Edom (i. 2) : cf. Num.
xxi. 4. In their aimless wanderings on the borders of Edom
almost thirty-eight years are supposed to be spent (verses 7
and 14).

3. northward: 'The Israelites must be imagined by this time

DEUTERONOMY 2. 4-8. D2 65

ward. And command thou the people, saying, Ye are 4
to pass through the border of your brethren the children
of Esau, which dwell in Seir ; and they shall be afraid of
you : take ye good heed unto yourselves therefore :
contend not with them ; for I will not give you of their 5
land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread
on : because I have given mount Seir unto Esau for
a possession. Ye shall purchase food of them for money, 6
that ye may eat ; and ye shall also buy water of them for
money, that ye may drink. For the Lord thy God hath 7
blessed thee in all the work of thy hand : he hath known
thy walking through this great wilderness : these forty
years the Lord thy God hath been with thee ; thou hast
lacked nothing. So we passed by from our brethren the 8
children of Esau, which dwell in Seir, from the way of
the Arabah from Elath and from Ezion-geber.

to have made their way along the south-west and south border of
Edom, as far as the south-east end of the 'Arabah, so that a turn
northwards would at once lead them along the east border of
Edom in the direction of Moab' (Driver, p. 34).

4. your brethren : as in the traditional story of the relationship
of Jacob to Esau, ' the father of the Edomites ' (Gen. xxxvi. 43).
Israel appears to have been later in settlement than its Edomite
kin (cf. verse 12, and Gray, op. at., p. 268). Friendly relations with
Edom are enjoined in xxiii. 7, but were broken after the destruction
of Jerusalem in 586.

pass through : i. e. some part of Edom's eastern territory ;
the narrative is thus formally distinct from that of Num. xx. 14-21,
where, at an earlier point of time, permission to pass through
Edom from Kadesh, on the west, is refused.

6. buy water : a valuable possession in such districts : see note
on Josh. xv. 19.

*t gives the reason for Israel's proud independence of Edom.

8. passed by from : we should probably read (cf. LXX)
* passed through ' (cf. verse 29) ; the present text may be due to
the influence of Num. xx. 21 (Bertholet). Otherwise we must
explain as 'from the neighbourhood of,' which the Hebrew allows,
the way of the Arabah, &c. Ezion-geber must have been near
to Elath, the modern 'Akabah, at the north end of the gulf of

66 DEUTERONOMY 2. 9-11. D2

And we turned and passed by the way of the wilder-

9 ness of Moab. And the Lord said unto me, Vex not

Moab, neither contend with them in battle : for I will

not give thee of his land for a possession ; because I

have given Ar unto the children of Lot for a possession.

io (The Emim dwelt therein aforetime, a people great, and

1 1 many, and tall, as the Anakim : these also are accounted

a Rephaim, as the Anakim ; but the Moabites call them

a See Gen. xiv. 5.

that name. From here Israel passes N.NE. towards Moab, leaving
the road through the 'Arabah on their left.

ii. 8b-i5. Israel was forbidden to attack Moab (verses 8b, 9). An
archaeological note on the ancient inhabitants (verses 10-12).
Reason for the length of Israel's wanderings (verses 13-15).

8b. the wilderness of Moab: the uncultivated pasture-land
east of the territory of Moab, the latter being at its full extent a
district about sixty miles long by thirty broad, east of the Dead
Sea, whose length is about fifty miles.

9. Vex not : rather, ' do not treat as a foe ' ; so verse 19.

Ar (cf. verse 18), named in two fragments of ancient poetry
(Num. xxi. 15, 28), is the same place as f the City of Moab '
(Num. xxii. 36), at the east end of one of the Arnon valleys, but
the exact site of this capital of Moab is unknown.

the children of Lot: (Ps. lxxxiii. 8) as is stated of the
Moabites in Gen. xix. 37. The relationship with Israel, though
less direct than in the case of Edom (verse 4), is sufficient to
prevent attack.

10. The three verses (10-ia) bracketed by R.V. are clearly an
editorial note in regard to the earlier inhabitants of the territories
of Moab (verses 10, n) and Esau (verse 12). The conception of
aborigines as giants is familiar to anthropology (cf. Tylor, Primi-
tive Culture, i. 387).

Emim : Gen. xiv. 5, where they are defeated by Chedorla-
omer at Kiriathaim, north of the Arnon. The name = \ terrors.'
They are compared with the more familiar Anakim (i. 28), and,
like them, are included in the general class known as

11. Rephaim: these are frequently named (e. g. Joshua xii. 4,
xiii. 12, xvii. 15), Og of Bashan being their last survivor (iii. 11).
Etymology most naturally, perhaps, connects them with * shades '
or ghosts ; Stade, who takes this view (G.V.I., i. 420) refers to
Tylor, ii. 114, in support of it : f In Madagascar, the worship of the
spirits of the dead is remarkably associated with the Vazimbas,
the aborigines of the island.'

DEUTERONOMY 2. 12-19. D2 67

Emim. The Horites also dwelt in Seir aforetime, but 12
the children of Esau succeeded them ; and they destroyed
them from before them, and dwelt in their stead; as
Israel did unto the land of his possession, which the
Lord gave unto them.) Now rise up, and get you over 13
the brook Zered. And we went over the brook Zered.
And the days in which we came from Kadesh-barnea, 14
until we were come over the brook Zered, were thirty
and eight years ; until all the generation of the men
of war were consumed from the midst of the camp,
as the Lord sware unto them. Moreover the hand of lr)
the Lord was against them, to destroy them from the
midst of the camp, until they were consumed.

So it came to pass, when all the men of war were 16
consumed and dead from among the people, that the 17
Lord spake unto me, saying, Thou art this day to pass 18
over Ar, the border of Moab : and when thou comest 19
nigh over against the children of Ammon, vex them not,
nor contend with them : for I will not give thee of the
land of the children of Ammon for a possession : because

12. Horites: supposed to mean 'cave-dwellers,' for whom
Edom makes abundant provision : cf. Gen. xiv. 6, xxxvi. 20 f.

as Israel did, in what, to the annotator, was the dim past, but
in the address of Moses is still future.

13. the brook Zered : probably the Wady Kerak, running
into the north bay of the Dead Sea formed by the peninsula
El Lissan.

14. The tradition expressed in this verse is to be distinguished
from that of the earlier narratives. ' According to JE the thirty-
eight years in the wilderness were spent at Kadesh ; according to
Deuteronomy, they were spent away from Kadesh (ii. 14), in
wandering about Edom ' (ii. 1) (Driver, p. 33).

ii. 16-25. Ammon not to be attacked (verses 16-19). An
archaeological note on the ancient inhabitants (verses 20-3).
Israel is to attack and dispossess the Amorites (verses 24, 25).

19. Ammon, also descended from Lot (Gen. xix. 38) : cf.

F 2

68 DEUTERONOMY 2. 20-25. D2

I have given it unto the children of Lot for a possession.

20 (That also is accounted a land of Rephaim : Rephaim
dwelt therein aforetime; but the Ammonites call them

21 Zamzummim ; a people great, and many, and tall, as the
Anakim ; but the Lord destroyed them before them ;

22 and they succeeded them, and dwelt in their stead: as
he did for the children of Esau, which dwell in Seir,
when he destroyed the Horites from before them; and
they succeeded them, and dwelt in their stead even unto

23 this day: and the Avvim which dwelt in villages as far
as Gaza, the Caphtorim, which came forth out of
Caphtor, destroyed them, and dwelt in their stead.)

24 Rise ye up, take your journey, and pass over the valley
of Arnon : behold, I have given into thine hand Sihon
the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land : begin to

25 possess it, and contend with him in battle. This day
will I begin to put the dread of thee and the fear of thee
upon the peoples that are under the whole heaven, who
shall hear the report of thee, and shall tremble, and be
in anguish because of thee.

Judges xi. 13, 22. The true territory of Ammon lay in the district
drained by the upper Jabbok, with Rabbath Ammon as its centre
(cf. verse 37 ; Num. xxi. 24, with Gray's note).

20. Zamzummim: perhaps the same as the Zuzim of Gen.
xiv. 5 ; the name ('whisperers,' Schwally, W. R. Smith) appears
to be connected with the same class of ideas as that noticed under
Rephaim (verse 11).

23. Avvim : Joshua xiii. 3, where they are named with the
Philistines. Here it is said that the Philistines (who came from
Caphtor, Amos ix. 7, probably Crete) dispossessed the original
inhabitants called Avvim ; a parallel to the previous cases of dis-
possession.

24. the valley of Arnon : running from west to east through
the centre of the original territory of Moab. The Moabites had,
however, been driven south of the Arnon by Sihon (Num. xxi.
26). Consequently, by crossing this Wady, Israel passed into
Amorite territory, and was no longer hindered from attack by the
ties of blood existent in the case of Edom, Moab, and Ammon.

DEUTERONOMY 2. 26-33. D2 69

And I sent messengers out of the wilderness of 26
Kedemoth unto Sihon king of Heshbon with words of
peace, saying, Let me pass through thy land : I will go 27
a along by the high way, I will neither turn unto the right
hand nor to the left. Thou shalt sell me food for money, 28
that I may eat ; and give me water for money, that I
may drink : only let me pass through on my feet ; as the 29
children of Esau which dwell in Seir, and the Moabites
which dwell in Ar, did unto me ; until I shall pass over
Jordan into the land which the Lord our God giveth us.
But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by 30
him : for the Lord thy God hardened his spirit, and
made his heart b obstinate, that he might deliver him into
thy hand, as at this day. And the Lord said unto me, 31
Behold, I have begun to deliver up Sihon and his land
before thee : begin to possess, that thou mayest inherit
his land. Then Sihon came out against us, he and all 32
his people, unto battle at Jahaz. And the Lord our 33

a Heb. by the way, by the way. b Heb. strong.

ii. 26-37. Israel sought to pass through Amorite territory, but
was refused by Sihon (verses 26-31% who was., however, defeated
and his land completely occupied (verses 32-37). Cf. Num.
xxi. 21 f.

26. Kedemoth in the subsequent territory of Reuben (Joshua
xiii. 18), but site unknown.

Heshbon, sixteen miles east of the Dead Sea mouth of the
Jordan.

29. Esau: cf. verse 8; Moabites: see on xxiii. 4.

30. spirit (ruach), originally of (abnormal) energy and faculty
imparted from without; subsequently of (normal) psychical activity,
especially on its higher and more intellectual side.

heart : not only the physiological but also the psychical cen-
tre, to which all activities of thought and feeling can be ascribed.

as at this day (i. e. has taken place).
32. Jahaz : one of the cities afterwards taken by Mesha from
Israel, and in the neighbourhood of Dibon (Moabite Stone,
11. 19-21). The site is unknown, but it must have been in the
south-east corner of Sihon's territory ^cf. H.G.H.L. 559).

70 DEUTERONOMY 2. 34~3. 2. b2

God delivered him up before us; and we smote him,

34 and his a sons, and all his people. And we took all his
cities at that time, and b utterly destroyed every cinhabited
city, with the women and the little ones; we left none

35 remaining : only the cattle we took for a prey unto
ourselves, with the spoil of the cities which we had

36 taken. From Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley
of Anion, and from the city that is in the valley, even
unto Gilead, there was not a city too high for us : the

37 Lord our God delivered up all before us : only to the
land of the children of Ammon thou earnest not near ;
all the side of the river Jabbok, and the cities of the hill
country, and wheresoever the Lord our God forbad us.

3 Then we turned, and went up the way to Bashan :
and Og the king of Bashan came out against us, he and

2 all his people, unto battle at Edrei. And the Lord said
unto me, Fear him not : for I have delivered him, and
all his people, and his land, into thy hand; and thou

a Or, son b Heb. devoted. c Heb. city of men.

34. utterly destroyed : see note on xx. 17, and read I devoted '
in every case.

36. Aroer : one mile north of the Arnon ; the unnamed city
(Joshua xiii. 9, 16) may be Ar, mentioned in ii. 9 ; Gilead may
here include the half of it south of the Jabbok, or refer to the
northern half ; in any case, Sihon's north boundary is the Jabbok
itself (Num. xxi. 24 ; Joshua xii. 2).

37. See on verse 19.

iii. 1-7. Og of Bashan defeated, and his territory taken.

1-3. Cf. Num. xxi. 33-5, an insertion from the present passage.

1. Bashan: the wide district in the north-east, with the Yarmuk,
Edrei, and Salecah (verse 10) marking its south boundary, and
having the mountains of Hauran and Hermon on its east and
north, and Geshur and Ma'acah (Joshua xii. 5, xiii. 11) (now
the Jaulan) on its west. The name (with the Hebrew article)
probably denotes the ' fertile' region.

at (Hebrew 'to') Edrei (i. 4) on the south boundary, and
a principal city (verse 10) ; about thirty-three miles east of the
south end of the Sea of Galilee.

DEUTERONOMY 3. 3-". & 7*

shalt do unto him as thou didst unto Sihon king of the
Amorites, which dwelt at Heshbon. So the Lord our 3
God delivered into our hand Og also, the king of Bashan,
and all his people : and we smote him until none was
left to him remaining. And we took all his cities at that 4
time ; there was not a city which we took not from them ;
threescore cities, all the region of Argob, the kingdom of
Og in Bashan. All these were cities fenced with high 5
walls, gates, and bars ; beside the a unwalled towns a great
many. And we utterly destroyed them, as we did unto 6
Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying every inhabited
city, with the women and the little ones. But all the 7
cattle, and the spoil of the cities, we took for a prey
unto ourselves. And we took the land at that time out 8
of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites that were
beyond Jordan, from the valley of Arnon unto mount
Hermon ; (which Hermon the Sidonians call Sirion, and 9
the Amorites call it Senir ;) all the cities of the b plain, 10
and all Gilead, and all Bashan, unto Salecah and Edrei,
cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. (For only Og »
king of Bashan remained of the remnant of the Rephaim ;
a Or, country towns b Or, table land

4. Argob, a section of Bashan, not now known (see verse 14) :
H.G.H.L. 551.

iii. 8-17. The territory acquired east of Jordan was now al-
lotted to Reuben, Gad, and half-Manasseh. Archaeological notes
(verses 9, n).

9. A later note giving two synonyms of Hermon. Sirion (Ps.xxix.
6), Senir (Ezek. xxvii. 5 ; Song of Sol. iv. 8 ; 1 Chron. v. 23), and
Sion (iv. 48) may originally be names of different parts of Hermon.

10. the plain : the table-land (R. V. marg.) north of the Arnon
(cf. iv. 43 ; Joshua xiii. 9) ; Gilead here covers the territory south
and north t)f the Jabbok (see note on Joshua xxii. 9) ; Bashan
(defined by two cities on its south border) completes the survey
of territory east of the Jordan.

Salecah (Salchad), thirteen miles east of Bosrah, south of
the Jebel Hauran.

72 DEUTERONOMY 3. 12-14. D2 R

behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron ; is it not
in Rabbah of the children of Amnion ? nine cubits was
the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it,

12 after the cubit of a man.) And this land we took in
possession at that time : from Aroer, which is by the
valley of Arnon, and half the hill country of Gilead,, and
the cities thereof, gave I unto the Retibenites and to the

1 3 Gadites : and the rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, the
kingdom of Og, gave I unto the half tribe of Manasseh ;
a all the region of Argob, b even all Bashan. (The same

14 is called the land of Rephaim. [R] Jair the son of
Manasseh took all the region of Argob, unto the border
of the Geshurites and the Maacathites ; and called them,
even Bashan, c after his own name, Havvoth-jair, unto

a Or, all the region of Argob. {All that Bashan is called, tfc.
h Or, with ° See Num. xxxii. 41.

11. a bedstead of iron : a sarcophagus of black basalt (of which
large numbers are found in this district) is probably meant. The
cubit of a man, or ordinary cubit (a phrase like Isaiah's ' pen of a
man,' viii. 1), was probably one or other of the Egyptian cubits of
20-67 and i7«72 inches ; so that the supposed tomb of Og in Rabbath-
Ammon (see on ii. 19) would be from thirteen to fifteen feet long,
and from six to seven feet broad. For the Rephaim, see on ii. 11.

12. The country between the Arnon and the Jabbok was divided
between Reuben and Gad, the half-tribe of Manasseh receiving
the country north of the Jabbok (verse 13). Read with R.V. marg.,
at end of verse 13.

14. An insertion based on Num. xxxii. 41 : cf. 1 Kings iv. 13.
Here, however, these ' tent- villages ' of Jair are wrongly placed
in Bashan, as in the dependent passage, Joshua xiii. 30 ; the
order of the Hebrew shows ' even Bashan ' to be interpolated in
the statement from Num. xxxii. 41. Cf. H.G.H.L. 551.

Jair : 1 Chron. ii. 22, where twenty-three cities are assigned
to him in Gilead. Another tradition places him in the age of the
Judges (Judges x. 4), with thirty cities.

the Geshurites and the Maacathites : Geshur, east of the
Sea of Galilee, and Ma'acah, east of Lake Huleh ; both in the
Jaulan district, and still independent in David's time (2 Sam. iii.
3, *• 6).

DEUTERONOMY 3. 15-21. R D2 73

this day.) And I gave Gilead unto Machir. And unto 15,
the Reubenites and unto the Gadites I gave from Gilead
even unto the valley of Arnon, the middle of the valley,
aand the border thereof \ even unto the river Jabbok,
which is the border of the children of Amnion ; the 1 7
Arabah also, and Jordan and the border thereof from
Chinnereth even unto the sea of the Arabah, the Salt
Sea, under the b slopes of Pisgah eastward.

[D2] And I commanded you at that time, saying, The 18
Lord your God hath given you this land to possess it :
ye shall pass over armed before your brethren the
children of Israel, all the men of valour. But your 19
wives, and your little ones, and your cattle, (I know that
ye have much cattle,) shall abide in your cities which I
have given you ; until the Lord give rest unto your 20
brethren, as unto you, and they also possess the land
which the Lord your God giveth them beyond Jordan :
then shall ye return every man unto his possession,
which I have given you. And I commanded Joshua 21
at that time, saying, Thine eyes have seen all that the
Lord your God hath done unto these two kings : so

a Or, for a border b Or, springs

15-17. A doublet to verses 12, 13, taken from Num. xxxii. 40,
Joshua xii. 2, 3.

16. and the border: read with R.V. marg. (so verse 17).

17. Chinnereth : see on Joshua xi. 2 : the slopes of Pisgah,
or ' cliffs ' (see on Joshua x. 40) : cf. iii. 27, xxxiv. 1.

iii. 18-22. Moses had pledged the warriors of the settled tribes
to aid in the conquest of the territory west of Jordan (verses 18-20),
and bidden Joshua take courage for the future from what he had
seen (verses 21, 22).

18. I commanded you: Num. xxxii. 28 f.

19. much cattle : (Num. xxxii. 1) 'Asa matter of fact, the
pre-eminently pastoral (cf. Judges v. 16, 17s1) character of the
tribes which remained east of Jordan must have been the result
and not the cause of their settlement in this district' (Gray,
Numbers, p. 427), which is proverbial for its pasture.

74 DEUTERONOMY 3. 22-29 D2

shall the Lord do unto all the kingdoms whither thou
2 2 goest over. Ye shall not fear them : for the Lord your
God, he it is that fighteth for you.
23, 24 And I besought the Lord at that time, saying, O Lord
God, thou hast begun to shew thy servant thy greatness,
and thy strong hand : for what god is there in heaven or
in earth, that can do according to thy works, and

25 according to thy mighty acts ? Let me go over, I pray
thee, and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, that

26 goodly mountain, and Lebanon. But the Lord was
wroth with me for your sakes, and hearkened not unto
me : and the Lord said unto me, Let it suffice thee ;

27 speak no more unto me of this matter. Get thee up
into the top of Pisgah, and lift up thine eyes westward,
and northward, and southward, and eastward, and behold
with thine eyes : for thou shalt not go over this Jordan.

28 But charge Joshua, and encourage him, and strengthen
him : for he shall go over before this people, and he
shall cause them to inherit the land which thou shalt see.

29 So we abode in the valley over against Beth-peor.

iii. 23-29. The prayer of Moses to be allowed to cross the
Jordan (verses 23-5) is refused by Yahweh (verse 26), and he
is bidden, instead, to look over the land from Pisgah (verse 27),
and to commit the future to Joshua (verse 28). Close of review
(verse 29).

24. what gfod is there : Exod. xv. 1 1 (see on vi. 4). Let Yahweh
finish what he has begun (Phil. i. 6).

25. that goodly mountain : the hill-country west of Jordan.

26. was wroth (see on i. 37): a strong word = ' overflowed
with rage.'

27. See on xxxiv. 1.

28. charge : ' command ' him (to do what you may not). The
double ' he ' is emphatic.

29. the valley over against Beth-peor — where speaker and
hearers are supposed to be standing. The word for 'valley' de-
notes a glen or ' ravine,' one of those in the mountains of Abarim.
Beth-peor (iv. 46, xxxiv. 6 ; Joshua xiii. 20) is unknown ; a
mountain Peor is named, Num. xxiii. 28 : cf. Baal-Peor in iv. 3.

DEUTERONOMY 4. i. D3 75

[D:<] And now, O Israel, hearken unto the statutes 4
and unto the judgements, which I teach you, for to do
them ; that ye may live, and go in and possess the land

iv. 1-40. Hortatory Conclusion to the First Address. Exhortation
to strict obedience as the condition of prosperity (verses 1-4).
The Divine commands, if obeyed, will place Israel in a unique and
enviable position (verses 5-8). Let what has been seen be remem-
bered and taught, viz. the marvellous events at Horeb, when the
invisible God was heard, and the terms of His covenant revealed
(verses 9-14). The invisibility of Yahweh at Horeb ought to
warn against all idolatry (verses 15-18) and star-worship (verse
19). Yahweh claims Israel for Himself (verse 20). He was
angry with Moses on account of Israel ; let Israel beware lest,
through idolatry, His jealous wrath be incurred (verses 21-4).

Idolatry will be followed by exile, with its attendant evils
(verses 25-8). Yet, in exile, to seek Yahweh earnestly will be
to find Him ; and he will remember His covenant in compassion
(verses 29-31).

The uniqueness of the events at Horeb and of the deliverance
from Egypt (verses 32-6). From such events let Israel know
the uniqueness of Yahweh Himself (37-9). Obedience to Him
will bring prosperity (verse 40).

The interpretation of chap, iv is, for the most part, sufficiently clear,
but its critical analysis offers difficult problems, and there is much
difference of opinion amongst scholars in regard to them. The
fact that exhortation should follow a historical review is natural
enough : but it may fairly be asked whether the former does not
end abruptly (iii. 29) without adequate transition to the exhortation
of iv. 1 f. Further, if chaps, i-iii and iv. 1-40 originally formed a
unity, we should expect the peroration to make some use of the
facts already reviewed ; yet, whilst chaps, i-iii deal with in-
cidents subsequent to Horeb, iv. 9-24 and 32-40 are dominated
by the thought of Horeb itself and its significance, practically no
use being made of what has preceded. In regard to Horeb, a
marked difference of statement emerges. In iv. 10 f., 32-5, em-
phasis is laid on the fact that those now addressed actually saw
with their own eyes the wonders of the Divine revelation ; in
l- 35> 39f-> cf. ii. 14, 15, that generation is represented as passing
away before the entrance into the Promised Land. One section
of this chapter (verses 25-31) appears to presuppose the experiences
of exile. In view of these, and other considerations, it seems
probable that the greater part, if not the whole of this chapter, is
an exilic expansion of Deuteronomic truths.

1. statutes and . . . judgements : as often in this book : so far
as any distinction of terms is to be emphasized in such a standing

76 DEUTERONOMY 4. 2-9. D3

which the Lord, the God of your fathers, giveth you.

2 Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you,
neither shall ye diminish from it, that ye may keep the
commandments of the Lord your God which I command

3 you. Your eyes have seen what the Lord did because
of Baal-peor : for all the men that followed Baal-peor,
the Lord thy God hath destroyed them from the midst

4 of thee. But ye that did cleave unto the Lord your

5 God are alive every one of you this day. Behold, I have
taught you statutes and judgements, even as the Lord
my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the

6 midst of the land whither ye go in to possess it. Keep
therefore and do them ; for this is your wisdom and your
understanding in the sight of the peoples, which shall
hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is

1 a wise and understanding people. For what great nation
is there, that hath a a god so nigh unto them, as the Lord

8 our God is whensoever we call upon him ? And what
great nation is there, that hath statutes and judgements
so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this

9 day ? Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul
diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes

a Or, God

phrase, the 'statute' is an 'engraved' decree, whilst the 'judge-
ment ' is the decision of a judge on some actual case, regarded as
a precedent.

2. C{. Rev. xxii. 18, 19. Bertholet points out that the idea of
a canon of scripture is already given in these words. Hammurabi
concludes his code with an elaborate curse on the man who alters
his sentences (see Introd., p. 20).

3. because of Baal-peor : more probably, in the place called
after the god, i Baal of Peor,' lord of the district Peor (see on iii.
29). Cf. Num. xxv. 1-5 ; Hos. ix. 10.

7. a god: or' gods.' For the attitude to other gods, cf. iii. 24.
Israel's religion is unique by its ready access to Yahweh (verse 7),
and by its ethical character (verse 8).

DEUTERONOMY 4. 10-14. D3 77

saw, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of
thy life ; but make them known unto thy children
and thy children's children ; the day that thou stoodest 10
before the Lord thy God in Horeb, when the Lord said
unto me, Assemble me the people, and I will make them
hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the
days that they live upon the earth, and that they may
teach their children. And ye came near and stood n
under the mountain ; and the mountain burned with fire
unto the heart of heaven, with darkness, cloud, and thick
darkness. And the Lord spake unto you out of the 12
midst of the fire : ye heard the voice of words, but ye
saw no form; onlyjye heard a voice. And he declared 13
unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to per-
form, even the ten a commandments ; and he wrote them
upon two tables of stone. And the Lord commanded 14

a Heb. words.

9. heart : see on ii. 30 ; here the seat of memory. Soul is
simply a stronger synonym for * self with no psychological
reference : so in verse 15 R. V. (yourselves\ Note the emphasis,
prominent in Deuteronomy, on the duty of the religious teaching
of children. They belong to the unity of the nation (' thou, thy ').

10. Horeb : Exod. xix, esp. verse 9 f.

11. Exod. xix. 17 f.

12. An argument against idolatry, on the ground that He who
was heard at Horeb was not seen.

13. covenant : (cf. Josh. xxiv. 25) properly an agreement of
any kind, like that between Abraham and Abimelech (Gen. xxi. 32)
or between Syria and Israel (1 Kings xx. 34). The agreement
between David and Jonathan, first apparently of ' brotherhood '
(1 Sam. xviii. 3), and then that David should be the future king,
and Jonathan the chief minister (xxiii. 17, 18), was made 'before
Yahweh ' (xxiii. 18: cf. xx. 8), i.e. under the solemn sanctions of
religion. The idea of an agreement between man and man was
extended to that of one between man and God in the covenant of
Sinai (Exod. xix. 5) confirmed by the slaughter of victims
(Exod. xxiv. 8: cf. Gen. xv. 9f.). This idea is prominent in
Deuteronomy and dependent writers. The terms of the agree-
ment made at Sinai (Exod. xxiv. 7, 8, xxxiv. 10, 27), as binding on
Israel, are stated in the ten commandments, or 'words,' so that

78 DEUTERONOMY 4. 15-19. DJ

me at that time to teach you statutes and judgements,
that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to

15 possess it. Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves ;
for ye saw no manner of form on the day that the Lord
spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire :

16 lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image
in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,

17 the likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness

18 of any winged fowl that flieth in the heaven, the likeness
of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of

19 any fish that is in the water under the earth : and lest
thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest
the sun and the moon and the stars, even all the host of
heaven, thou be drawn away and worship them, and serve
them, which the Lord thy God hath divided unto all the

the Decalogue itself can be called ' the covenant ' of Yahweh. Cf.
Driver, pp. 67, 68, on whose very full note the above is based.

16. corrupt yourselves : rather f do corruptly ' (verse 25 : cf.
Isa. i. 4 R. V., 'deal corruptly').

graven image : (Exod. xx. 4 ; Deut. v. 8) properly a figure
cut or hewn out of wood (Isa. xl. 20) or stone (Isa. xxi. 9) ; but
the name {pe'sel) is extended to images in general when of cast
metal (Isa. xl. 19). Figure = image or statue.

17. Cf. Ezek. viii. 10. • All the great deities of the northern
Semites had their sacred animals, and were themselves worshipped
in animal form, or in association with animal symbols, down to a
late date ' (Rel. Sent. 288). The explanation of such phenomena
seems to lie in totemism, especially in the idea of kinship between
animals and men, and of communion with the god through the
sacred animal.

18. under the earth : see the diagram of the early Semitic
conception of the universe in the Century Bible, f Genesis,' p. 66.
The water is that of ' the great deep ' (Gen. vii. 11), the supposed
source of springs and rivers (cf. Ezek. xxxi. 4).

19. drawn away: xxx. 17 ; for the idea cf. Job xxxi. 26.

the host of heaven : xvii. 3 ; 2 Kings xvii. 16 : doubtless
with special reference to the star-worship of Assyria and Baby-
lonia.

hath divided: (see xxix. 26 R. V. marg.) for worship.

DEUTERONOMY 4. 20-26. D3 79

peoples under the whole heaven. But the Lord hath 20
taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace,
out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as
at this day. Furthermore the Lord was angry with me 2 1
for your sakes, and sware that I should not go over
Jordan, and that I should not go in unto that good land,
which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance :
but I must die in this land, I must not go over Jordan : 22
but ye shall go over, and possess that good land. Take 23
heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the
Lord your God, which he made with you, and make you
a graven image in the form of any thing which the Lord
thy God hath forbidden thee. For the Lord thy God is 24
a devouring fire, a jealous God.

When thou shalt beget children, and children's chil- 25
dren, and ye shall have been long in the land, and shall
corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image in the form
of any thing, and shall do that which is evil in the sight
of the Lord thy God, to provoke him to anger : I call 26
heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye
shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye

20. you : emphatic in the Hebrew.

iron furnace : i. e. one whose fire is fierce enough to melt
iron ; so, of Egypt also, Jer. xi. 4 ; 1 Kings viii. 51 : cf. Isa.
xlviii. 10.

a people of inheritance : i. e. for Yahweh Himself : cf. vii. 6,
ix. 29, xiv. 2, xxvi. 18.

21. angry with me : i. 37, iii. 26, though ' sware ' introduces a
new feature.

24. a devouring fire (ix. 3) ; a jealous God (v. 9, vi. 15) ;
i. e. terrible in His wrath, exclusive in His claims.

25. have been long : Hebrew ' have fallen asleep,' i. e. become
lethargic. Omit the words to anger. Corrupt yourselves should
be 'do corruptly.'

26. heaven and earth: as abiding and outlasting the changes
of human life (xxx. 19, xxxi. 28, xxxii. 1 : see note on Josh. xxiv.
27, the stone of witness).

8o DEUTERONOMY 4. 27-34. D8

go over Jordan to possess it ; ye shall not prolong your

27 days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed. And the
Lord shall scatter you among the peoples, and ye shall be
left few in number among the nations, whither the Lord

28 shall lead you away. And there ye shall serve gods, the
work of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither see,

29 nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. But if from thence ye
shall seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou
search after him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.

30 When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are
come upon thee, ain the latter days thou shalt return to the

31 Lord thy God, and hearken unto his voice : for the Lord
thy God is a merciful God ; he will not fail thee, neither
destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which

32 he sware unto them. For ask now of the days that are
past, which were before thee, since the day that God
created man upon the earth, and from the one end of
heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any
such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like

33 it ? Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking
out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and

34 live ? Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation

a Or, if in the latter days thou return

28. Cf. Jer. xvi. 13. To leave one's own land is to leave the
god linked to its fortunes (1 Sam. xxvi. 19 ; 2 Kings xvii. 25), and
the idea lingers when practical monotheism has been reached
(verses 35, 39), and the idol has become the butt of Hebrew
sarcasm, as in exilic prophecy (Isa. xliv. 12 f.).

29 f. The passage presupposes the condition of the exiles, to
whose spiritual need the writer would minister.

30. in the latter days: Hebrew 'in the end of the days/
i. e. the climax or goal of some particular period, often with a
Messianic reference (Hos. iii. 5 ; Isa. ii. 2 = Mic. iv. r).

31. merciful: rather 'compassionate'; the conception stands
in contrast to verse 24.

fail : rather * let fall > (Joshua i. 5).
33. God, or 'a god ' (so verse 34).

DEUTERONOMY 4. 35-4°- D3 81

from the midst of another nation, by a temptations, by signs,
and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and
by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to
all that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before
your eyes ? Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest 35
know that the Lord he is God ; there is none else beside
him. Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that 36
he might instruct thee : and upon earth he made thee to
see his great fire • and thou heardest his words out of the
midst of the fire. And because he loved thy fathers, 37
therefore he chose their seed after them, and brought thee
out with his presence, with his great power, out of Egypt ;
to drive out nations from before thee greater and mightier 38
than thou, to bring thee in, to give thee their land for an
inheritance, as at this day. Know therefore this day, and 39
lay it to thine heart, that the Lord he is God in heaven
above and upon the earth beneath : there is none else.
And thou shalt keep his statutes, and his commandments, 40
which I command thee this day, that it may go well
with thee, and with thy children after thee, and that thou
mayest prolong thy days upon the land, which the Lord
thy God giveth thee, for ever.

a Or, trials Or, evidences

34. temptations : R.V. marg. ? trials' is to be read, viz. those
of Pharaoh, by the plagues of Egypt, to which the < signs ' and
i wonders ' also refer.

35. there is none else beside him : cf. verse 39. The explicit
monotheism implies a later standpoint than that of chaps, v f.
See on vi. 4.

36. Exod. xix. 16, 18 : instruct is not an adequate rendering.
The Hebrew word ' denotes, not the instruction of the intellect,
but the discipline or education of the moral character ' (Driver).

37. with his presence (Exod. xxxiii. 14 : cf. Isa. Ixiii. 9)—
i. e. personally : cf. 2 Sam. xvii. 11 (R. V. marg.). For l. therefore
he ' read ' and,' closely connecting verses 37 and 38 with verse
39 (know, therefore, &c). .

loved: characteristic of Deuteronomy (vii. 8, 13, x. i5,xxiii. 5).
G

82 DEUTERONOMY 4. 41-45- P D RD

41 [P] Then Moses separated three cities beyond Jordan

42 toward the sunrising; that the manslayer might flee thither,
which slayeth his neighbour unawares, and hated him not
in time past ; and that fleeing unto one of these cities he

43 might live : name/y, Bezer in the wilderness, in the a plain
country, for the Reuben ites ; and Ramoth in Gilead, for
the Gadites ; and Golan in Bashan, for the Manassites.

44 [D] And this is the law which Moses set before the

45 children of Israel : [RD] these are the testimonies, and
the statutes, and the judgements, which Moses spake

a Or, table land

iv. 41-43. Moses Assigns Three Cities of Refuge East of Jordan.
This note is without any relation to what precedes or follows,
and was probably inserted here for want of a more convenient
place. In xix. 1 f. we read the commandment to appoint cities of
refuge west of Jordan, but there is no reference to any previous
appointment, nor, indeed, (to the east district at all (unless the
additional three of verse 8 f. be so understood). According to
Num. xxxv. 14 (P), three cities of refuge are to be assigned east,
and three west of Jordan. The present passage is most simply
understood as the statement that Moses fulfilled on the east of
Jordan the command there given to him, and is therefore added
by a writer acquainted with P. The question is, however, com-
plicated by the mention of these eastern cities in Joshua xx. 8 (P),
where they are assigned by Joshua, as if the present section were
non-existent. Moreover, verse 42 is obviously drawn from xix.
3-5, so that the late writer who made this insertion was familiar
both with D and P.

43. Bezer (rebuilt by Mesha, Moabite .Stone, 1. 27) : perhaps
Kusr el-Besheir, two miles south-west of Dibon.

Ramoth in Gilead: (1 Kings xxii. 3, &c.) site disputed, but
probably in the north ' near the Yarmuk, for it was on debatable
ground between Aram and Israel' (H.G.H.L., 587).

Golan, also unknown, whose name has descended in that of
the district Gaulanitis, east of the Sea of Galilee.

iv. 44-49. Title and short Introduction to the Denteronomic Code.
This section forms a parallel to, not a continuation of, i-iv. 40,
which it ignores. It is possible that with verse 44 we begin the
original Deuteronomy. But this title has been expanded (a) by
the addition of the title in verse 45, (b) by a series of details as to
time and place, summarized from chaps, i-iii.

DEUTERONOMY 4. 46— 5. 3. RDD 83

unto the children of Israel, when they came forth out of
Egypt ; beyond Jordan, in the valley over against Beth- 46
peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who
dwelt at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel
smote, when they came forth out of Egypt : and they took 47
his land in possession, and the land of Og king of Bashan,
the two kings of the Amorites, which were beyond Jordan
toward the sunrising ; from Aroer, which is on the edge 48
of the valley of Arnon, even unto mount Sion (the same
is Hermon), and all the Arabah beyond Jordan eastward, 49
even unto the sea of the Arabah, under the a slopes of
Pisgah.

[D] And Moses called unto all Israel, and said unto 5
them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the judgements
which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn
them, and observe to do them. The Lord our God 2
made a covenant with us in Horeb. The Lord made 3
not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us,
a Or, springs

46 f. Cf. iii. 29, i. 4, ii. 32 f., iii. 8, ii. 36, iii. 9, 17. 'Sion,'
as a name for Hermon, is the only new element.

v-xxvi. The original ' Book of the Law ' is thought, almost
universally, to be contained within the limits of chaps, v-xxvi, xxviii
(see Introd., § 1) ; but no single theory, from among the many that
have been formed as to the precise elements, has secured general
acceptance. Our present Book of Deuteronomy represents chaps,
v-xxvi as the continuous (second) address of Moses to Israel.

v. 1-21. Moses begins his delivery of the Deuteronomic law by
reference to the covenant made in Horeb, at which his hearers
were present (verses 1-3). He then acted as mediator between
Yahweh and Israel (verses 4-5) for the delivery of the ' Ten
Commandments ' (verses 6-21).

2. Hore"b : see on i. 2, and note relation to iv. 1-40 (above,
p. 75) ; covenant, iv. 13 note.

3. All the hearers were present at Horeb ; this representation
agrees with that of the (dependent) section iv. 1-40 (cf. verses 10,

G 2

84 DEUTERONOMY 5. 4-7. D

4 who are all of us here alive this day. The Lord spake
with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of

5 the fire, (I stood between the Lord and you at that time, to
shew you the word of the Lord : for ye were afraid be-
cause of the fire, and went not up into the mount ;) saying,

6 a I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of
the land of Egypt, out of the house of b bondage.

7 Thou shalt have none other gods c before me.

a See Ex. xx. 2. b Heb. bondmen. c Or, beside me.

32-5), but directly contradicts that of the (independent ?) section
i-iii: cf. i. 35,39 f.,ii. 14, 15.

4. face to face seems to exclude the mediation of Moses,
asserted by verse 5 (added from Exod. xix. 20, xx. 19?).

6f. The Decalogue, to whose earlier and more familiar form
R. V. marg. refers. Still earlier than Exod. xx. 2-17 (E) is the
very different table of ' the ten words ' (the Hebrew name for the
Decalogue) apparently embedded in Exod. xxxiv. 10-26 (J);
Wellhausen's reconstruction is quoted by Driver, L.O.T. p. 37.
We are here concerned only with the characteristics of D's form
of the Decalogue in contrast with that in E. These are— (a) more
definite or emphatic statement ; (b) recognition of the higher status
of the wife ; (c) substitution of a philanthropic motive for keeping
the Sabbath. A good summary of the teaching of the Decalogue
will be found in Paterson's article in D.B. (i. 582). There has been
much difference of opinion as to its age and authorship, and some
scholars still maintain a Mosaic original, whilst admitting addition
of later laws (e.g. ii and iv,) or amplification of the original
words. Its almost exclusive concern with morality, however
(contrast the ritual ' ten words ' of Exod. xxxiv. 10-26), seems to
connect it with the prophetic teaching of the eighth century
(cf. Addis, E.B. 1050), of which it may be regarded as a compen-
dium. In the arrangement of the Ten Commandments familiar to
English readers, they fall into two sets of five, beginning at
verse 7, the first set dealing with the spiritual worship of Yahweh
and with respect for parents, the second with the prohibition
of immoral acts towards men. In the Jewish division, how-
ever, verse 6 is taken as the first word, and verses 7, 8 are
taken together as the second (see E.B. 1050 ; Taylor, Sayings of
the Jewish Fathers, p. 120).

1. before me : probably ' in addition to me ' (cf. R. V. marg.) ;
the phrase leaves open the question as to the real existence of
other gods ; but see on vi. 4.

DEUTERONOMY 5. 8-15. D 85

Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, the 8
likeness of any form that is in heaven above, or that is in
the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth :
thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve 9
them : for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting
the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon
the third and upon the fourth generation of them that
hate me ; and shewing mercy unto a thousands, of them 10
that love me and keep my commandments.

Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God h in n
vain : for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh
his name in vain.

Observe the sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord 12
thy God commanded thee. Six days shalt thou labour, 13
and do all thy work : but the seventh day is a sabbath 14
unto the Lord thy God : in it thou shalt not do any work,
thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant,
nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any
of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates ;
that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well
as thou. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a 15
a See Ex. xx. 6. b Or, for vanity ox falsehood

8. a graven image : E continues ' or any form ' for D's ' even
any form,' as do the versions here. In Exod. xxxiv. 17 it is the
'molten god,' a special and more artificial product, that is forbidden.

10. R. V. marg. suggests by reference the marginal alternative
' a thousand generations,' which is preferable (cf. vii. 9).

11. in vain: put for misuse in the widest sense, including
false swearing or purposes of superstition (magical rites and
incantations).

12. Observe: more direct than E's 'remember.' D adds
' as Yahweh thy God commanded thee.'

14. D adds 'thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of ; also the last
clause ' that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well
as thou,' with which is connected the striking difference in the
next verse.

15. and thou shalt remember, &c. This is the most impor-

86 DEUTERONOMY 5. 16-21. D

servant in the land of Egypt, and the Lord thy God
brought thee out thence by a mighty hand and by a
stretched out arm : therefore the Lord thy God
commanded thee to keep the sabbath day.

16 Honour thy father and thy mother, as the Lord thy
God commanded thee : that thy days may be long, and
that it may go well with thee, upon the land which the
Lord thy God giveth thee.

17 Thou shalt do no murder.

18 Neither shalt thou commit adultery.

19 Neither shalt thou steal.

20 Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy
neighbour.

2 1 a Neither shalt thou covet thy neighbour's wife ; neither
shalt thou desire thy neighbour's house, his field, or his
manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or
any thing that is thy neighbour's.

a [Ver. 18 in Heb.]

tant difference between D and E. For the remote and wholly
theoretical reason of E, claiming the day as Yahweh's, D substitutes
characteristically the humanitarian motive (cf. xv. 13 f., xvi. 11,
xxiv. 14 f.) of giving needed rest to dependents. This is rein-
forced by appeal to the memory of Israel's own needs in Egypt
(cf. xv. 15, xvi. 12, xxiv. 18, 22).

16. D adds * as Yahweh thy God commanded thee,' also ' and
that it may go well with thee,' the latter being characteristic of this
book's doctrine of providence (v. 29, vi. 18, xii. 25, 28, xxii. 7).
Cf. Eph. vi. 2, 3.

17. In the Hebrew papyrus found at Fayum and now at Cam-
bridge, the prohibition of adultery precedes that of murder (text in
Z.A.T.IV., 1903, p. 348).

20. false witness : D has a different word for ' false ' ( - vain,
verse n).

21. D adds 'his field,' and recognizes the higher status of the
wife by placing her first instead of second (after ' house '), and by
using a distinct verb (covet . . . desire ; with more physical sug-
gestion ?) in regard to the other possessions. Augustine, followed
by Roman Catholics and Lutherans, carries this distinction further
by making two commandments of verse 21. (He combines i and ii.)

DEUTERONOMY 5. 22-28. D 87

These words the Lord spake unto all your assembly 22
in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud,
and of the thick darkness, with a great voice : and he
added no more. And he wrote them upon two tables of
stone, and gave them unto me. And it came to pass, 23
when ye heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness,
while the mountain did burn with fire, that ye came near
unto me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your
elders ; and ye said, Behold, the Lord our God hath 24
shewed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard
his voice out of the midst of the fire : we have seen this
day that God doth speak with man, and he liveth. Now 25
therefore why should we die? for this great fire will
consume us : if we hear the voice of the Lord our God
any more, then we shall die. For who is there of all 26
flesh, that hath heard the voice of the living God
speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and
lived? Go thou near, and hear all that the Lord our 27
God shall say : and speak thou unto us all that the Lord
our God shall speak unto thee ; and we will hear it, and
do it. And the Lord heard the voice of your words, 28
when ye spake unto me ; and the Lord said unto me, I
have heard the voice of the words of this people, which
they have spoken unto thee : they have well said all that

Steuernagel compares xxi. 10 f., xxii. 13 f., xxiv. if., as similar
attempts of Deuteronomy to raise the position of women.

v. 22-33. Moses recalls the manner in which the Decalogue
was delivered (verse 22), and the request of the people that they
might no more hear the voice of Yahweh, but might receive His
messages through Moses (verses 23-7). This request was ap-
proved by Yahweh, who appointed Moses as mediator (verses
28-31). Let Israel, therefore, obey and prosper (verses 32, 33).

22. A parallel narrative is given in ix. 9-1 1 : cf. Exod. xxxi. 18.

27. thou: emphatic in the Hebrew, in both places.

28. For the request, see Exod. xx. 19 ; its approval by Yahweh
is not otherwise recorded.

88 DEUTERONOMY 5. 29—6. 3. D

29 they have spoken. a Oh that there were such an heart in
them, that they would fear me, and keep all my com-
mandments always,, that it might be well with them, and

30 with their children for ever ! Go say to them, Return ye

31 to your tents. But as for thee, stand thou here by me,
and I will speak unto thee all the commandment, and
the statutes, and the judgements, which thou shalt teach
them, that they may do them in the land which I give

32 them to possess it. Ye shall observe to do therefore as the
Lord your God hath commanded you : ye shall not turn

33 aside to the right hand or to the left. Ye shall walk in all the
way which the Lord your God hath commanded you, that
ye may live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye
may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess.

6 Now this is the commandment, the statutes, and the
judgements, which the Lord your God commanded to
teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye

2 go over to possess it : that thou mightest fear the Lord thy
God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which
I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, all
the days of thy life ; and that thy days may be prolonged.

3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it ; that it

a Or, Oh that they had such an heart as this alway, to fear me,
and keep all my commandments, ihat, &c.

29. R. V. marg. preferable. The steady purpose of the heart
is contrasted with transient fear, prompting the ready pledge to
obey.

30. For the formula of dismissal, cf. note on Joshua xxii. 4.

31. all the commandment : (xi. 22, xix. 9) including the
Deuteronomic Code as a whole.

vi. 1-3. Exhortation to obey the law now to be communicated,
since obedience will bring prosperity.

1 connects directly with v. 31.

2. fear : in this context, practically ' reverence,' and not to be
contrasted with the ' love ' of verse 5, with which it is in harmony,

DEUTERONOMY 6. 4. D 89

may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily,

as the Lord, the God of thy fathers, hath promised

unto thee, in a land flowing with milk and honey.

Hear, O Israel : athe Lord our God is one Lord : and 4>

n Or, the Lord our God, the Lord is one Or, the Lord is our
God, the Lord is one Or, the Lord is our God, the Lord alone

3. in a land : The ' in ' is supplied by R. V. to the incomplete
Hebrew. Read with LXX, 'to give to thee a land.'

milk and honey : as often in JE (Exod. iii. 8, &c). They
are enumerated amongst the products of the land in xxxii. 13, 14,
and their selection, in this standing phrase, is frequently explained
from the tastes of Bedouins. Greek parallels, however, perhaps
suggest a reference to the cult of Dionysus, as though Canaan
were said to produce 'food for the gods' {Z.A.T.W., 1902, p. 321 f.).
vi. 4-9. Yahweh has the sole claim to Israel's love and
memory. This paragraph, with which is joined xi. 13-21 and
Num. xv. 37-41, forms the famous Jewish 'Shema'' appointed
for recitation by every Jew morning and evening (Taylor, Sayings
of the Jewish Fathers, p. n6f. ; Schiirer, op. cit., vol. ii, § 27,
Appendix), whose name is taken from the first Hebrew word (Eng.
' hear '). The whole decalogue is held to be latent in the Shema'
(Taylor, /. c, who quotes the proof texts) ; Christ Himself declared
the opening words of the Shema' to be the first commandment,
comprehensive of all duty towards God (Mark xii. 29 ; Matt. xxii.
37 : cf. Luke x. 27, 28).

4. the LORD our God is one LORD : the Hebrew words are,
1 Yahweh our God Yahweh one,' and their exact translation and
interpretation is much disputed, as the three marginal variations
of the R. V. suggest. The rendering of the R.V. text, though that
of Dillmann (p. 269) and Driver (p. 89) is open to the serious criti-
cism that Yahweh is a proper name, and can hardly admit of the
epithet ' one ' before it, since there is no other god bearing this
name (cf. Taylor, op. cit., p. 116). The first margin is questioned
on the ground that i Yahweh our God is one ' would have been
the more natural way of expressing this, without resumption of
the subject by the second Yahweh. The second margin is said to
be ' less forcible rhetorically ' (Driver) than the text. The third
margin, the rendering of Ibn Ezra, is followed by the two most
recent commentators, Steuernagel and Bertholet, and is most in
harmony with the context, since verse 5 claims the whole-hearted
love of Israel for Yahweh (alone), and nothing suggests a contrast
with the local Baals, who are not ' one ' but many. The objection
to this view is that we might have expected another Hebrew
word (lebaddo : cf. 2 Kings xix. 15 ; Ps. lxxxvi. 10), to express

9o DEUTERONOMY 6. 6-8. D

thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart,

6 and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these
words, which I command thee this day, shall be upon

7 thine heart : and thou shalt teach them diligently unto
thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in
thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when

8 thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou
shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they

< alone ' : but the present word (ehad) is found in this sense in
i Chron. xxix. i, where it is rendered 'alone' by R. V. 'The
sentence makes no statement concerning the existence or non-
existence of other gods, but simply emphasizes the fact that there
is only one God for Israel, and that Israel must honour no other
god beside Him ' (Steuernagel, p. 25). If we call this mono-
theism, the term must be interpreted historically, not philosophi-
cally. The existence of other gods is, at least nominally, re-
cognized in verse 14 ; the Hebrew was content here to assert the
exclusive claim and the incomparable and unique right of Yahweh
to his devotion. A more explicit statement of monotheism is
found in the (later) passage iv. 35, 39 (' there is none else) :
cf. xxxii. 39.

5. ' The love of God .... is set forth in Deuteronomy with
peculiar emphasis as the fundamental motive of human action '
(Driver, p. 91). Both thought and feeling, the whole personality,
owe allegiance to Yahweh ; there must be no compromise with
other cults.

6. these words: i.e. verse 4 f . as the epitome of the teaching
of the book.

upon thine heart : the psychical centre of memory and of
love : cf. Jer. xxxi. 33 ; for a parallel to the whole passage, see
xi. 18-21. These words are to become a theme of living interest,
at home and abroad, at the beginning and end of the day (verse 7).

7. teach . . . diligently : or ' impress,' a strong word, here only.

8. This verse became the scriptural basis for the f phylacteries '
of the N.T. (tephilliri). It is matter of dispute whether the
original meaning of the words is literal or figurative. In
Exod. xiii. 16 the same words are clearly applied figuratively,
which is some reason for taking them figuratively here (as do
Steuernagel and Bertholet). On the other hand, the next verse
seems intended literally, in view of the fact that this book else-
where (xxvii. 3, 8) commands the law to be written actually on
stones (Dillmann). The literal view (Dillmann, Driver) seems
here more probable ; its best explanation is that of Benzinger

DEUTERONOMY 6. 9-12. D 91

shall be for frontlets between thine eyes. And thou 9
shalt write them upon the door posts of thy house, and
upon thy gates.

And it shall be, when the Lord thy God shall bring 10
thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to
Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee; great
and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not, and houses 1 1
full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and cisterns
hewn out, which thou hewedst not, vineyards and olive
trees, which thou plantedst not, and thou shalt eat and be
full ; then beware lest thou forget the Lord, which 12
brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the

(E.B. 1566, ' Frontlets '), viz. that in this way the amulets worn
by Israelites from ancient times were consecrated to the use of
Yahweh. The actual usage of Judaism cannot, however, be
traced back earlier than the first century b. c. The tephillin are
leather pouches fixed to a band, and containing slips of parch-
ment on which the Shema' and Exod. xiii. 1-10, 11-16, are
written. One is worn on the left arm turned towards the heart,
the other between the eyebrows, at morning and evening prayer
(Benzinger, /. c).

9. The custom finds parallels from ancient and modern Egypt,
and from other countries (examples in Trumbull, The Threshold
Covenant, p. 68 f.% The mezuza (originally 'doorpost') is the
small metal case, containing its inscribed parchment, similar to
that of the tephillin, fixed to the right-hand doorpost of Jewish
houses, and touched at entrance and exit. So used, it tends to
become an amulet for warding off evil from the house ; not, as
the present passage intends, a stimulus to constant memory of
Yahweh. The Babylonians, in the same way, appear to have
hung up tablets, with reference to the plague-god, when a plague
broke out (Jastrow, Babylonian-Assyrian Religion, p. 269 n.).

vi. 10-15. The peril of the Promised Land will be that of for-
getting Yahweh's deeds and worshipping the gods of the country ;
thus will Yahweh be angered.

11. cisterns : not wells, but reservoirs for the storage of
water ; separately named because an important feature of the
Eastern house during the dry season. Mesha (Moabite Stone, 1. 24)
writes, ' There was no cistern in the midst of the city . . . and I
said to all the people, " Make you every man a cistern in his own
house." '

92 DEUTERONOMY 6. 13-20. D

13 house of bondage. Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God ;
and him shalt thou serve, and shalt swear by his name.

14 Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the

1 5 peoples which are round about you ; for the Lord thy
God in the midst of thee is a jealous God ; lest the anger
of the Lord thy God be kindled against thee, and he
destroy thee from off the face of the earth.

16 Ye shall not tempt the Lord your God, as ye tempted

17 him in Massah. Ye shall diligently keep the command-
ments of the Lord your God, and his testimonies, and

18 his statutes, which he hath commanded thee. And thou
shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of the
Lord : that it may be well with thee, and that thou
mayest go in and possess the good land which the Lord

19 sware unto thy fathers, to thrust out all thine enemies
from before thee, as the Lord hath spoken.

20 When thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying,

12. the house of bondage: see note on Joshua xxiv. 17 :
cf. verse 21.

13. swear by his name : i. e. no other deity but Yahweh is to
be recognized in the invocations of oaths (cf. Ps. lxiii. n). The
solemn appeal confined to the one true God is not a contradiction
of, but a step towards, the more ethical and spiritual conception
which substitutes a ' Yea ' and a ' Nay ' for all oaths (Matt. v.

34-7)-

14. see on verse 4 (end).

15. a jealous God: cf. iv. 24. The context suggests how
crudely this anthropomorphism is to be interpreted. The ' other
gods ' are primarily the local Baals of Canaan, in the writer's view.

vi. 16-19. Yahweh's presence not to be put to trial, but His
law obeyed, that Israel may dwell prosperously in Canaan.

16. tempt: rather 'test' or 'prove': cf. Exod. xvii. 7.
'Massah' is connected with the Hebrew word translated 'test'
(nissah) : cf. ix. 22.

vi. 20-25. The law of Yahweh is to be justified to future
generations by the story of His deliverance of Israel from Eg}rpt ;
the Law, like the deliverance, is a manifestation of Divine grace.

DEUTERONOMY 6. 21— 7. 1. D 93

What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the
judgements, which the Lord our God hath commanded
you? then thou shalt say unto thy son, We were 21
Pharaoh's bondmen in Egypt ; and the Lord brought
us out of Egypt with a mighty hand: and the Lord 22
shewed signs and wonders, great and sore, upon Egypt,
upon Pharaoh, and upon all his house, before our eyes :
and he brought us out from thence, that he might bring 23
us in, to give us the land which he sware unto our fathers.
And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to 24
fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that he
might preserve us alive, as at this day. And it shall be 25
righteousness unto us, if we observe to do all this com-
mandment before the Lord our God, as he hath com-
manded us.

When the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land 7
whither thou goest to possess it, and shall * cast out many
nations before thee, the Hittite, and the Girgashite, and
a Heb. pluck off.

20. Cf. Exod. xiii. 14, where a similar explanation of the separa-
tion of the firstborn is asked and given.

23. us (first) : emphatic in the Hebrew, in contrast with Egypt
and Pharaoh.

24. for our good always : the point of the answer ; the
revelation of the law makes possible that obedience to Yahweh's
will which is our (sufficient) ' righteousness,' and keeps us within
the sphere of His continuing purpose to save.

vii. i-ii. Victorious Israel is to exterminate the conquered
peoples of Canaan, to make no public or private alliances with any
of them, and to destroy the material accompaniments of their
religion, lest it become a snare (verses 1-5). Israel belongs to
Yahweh, solely through the initiative of His love ; because of this,
and of His fidelity to past promises, has Yahweh delivered Israel
from Egypt (verses 6-8). Let Israel obey a God who so fully
repays both love and hate towards Himself (verses 9-1 1).

1. This list of nations, frequently repeated in whole or part,
gives no precise geographical information ; it is * designed for the
purpose of presenting an impressive picture of the number and

94 DEUTERONOMY 7. 2-5. D

the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Perizzite, and
the Hivite, and the Jebusite, seven nations greater and

2 mightier than thou ; and when the Lord thy God shall
deliver them up before thee, and thou shalt smite them ;
then thou shalt a utterly destroy them ; thou shalt make
no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them :

3 neither shalt thou make marriages with them ; thy
daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his

4 daughter shalt thou take unto thy son. For he will turn
away thy son from following me, that they may serve
other gods : so will the anger of the Lord be kindled

5 against you, and he will destroy thee quickly. But thus
shall ye deal with them ; ye shall break down their altars,
and dash in pieces their b pillars, and hew down their

a Heb. devote. b Or, obelisks

variety of the nations dispossessed by the Israelites ' (Driver, p. 97).
The Amorites and the Canaanites are the two of most importance,
1 each sufficiently numerous and prominent to supply a designation
of the entire country ; the former, it may perhaps be inferred,
resident chiefly in the high central ground of Palestine, the latter
chiefly in the lower districts on the west and east ' {op. cit., p. 12).
For the Hittites, see on Joshua i. 4. The other names are of
more local significance : the Hivites are connected with Gibeon
(Joshua ix. 7, xi. 19), and with Shechem (Gen. xxxiv. 2) ; the
Jebusites with Jerusalem (Joshua xviii. 28) ; the Perizzites with
the Rephaim (Joshua xvii. 15) and the Canaanite (Gen. xiii. 7) ;
the OHrgashites are of unknown locality.

2. utterly destroy: see note on xx. 17 for the herem or
ban. A covenant with the natives of Canaan is forbidden in JE,
Exod. xxiii. 32, xxxiv. 12 : see on iv. 13.

3. Cf. Joshua xxiii. 12 for the peril of the marriage alliance with
non-Israelites. The policy of Ezra (Ezra ix and x), at a critical
time, shows how real this peril was (cf. Neh. xiii. 23 f.). 'The
permanence of Judaism depended on the religious separateness of
the Jews ' (Ryle, Cam. Bible, ' Ezra,' p. 143).

4. me : i. e. Yahweh, though Moses is the nominal speaker ;
so elsewhere (xi. 14, &c).

5. As in Exod. xxxiv. 13: see on xvi. 21, 22, and cf. xii. 3.
The graven images (see on iv. 16) are here of wood, since they
can be burnt.

DEUTERONOMY 7. 6-u. D 95

a Asherim, and burn their graven images with fire. For 6
thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God : the
Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people
unto himself, b above all peoples that are upon the face of
the earth. The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor 7
choose you, because ye were more in number than any
people ij for ye were the fewest of all peoples : but because 8
the Lord loveth you, and because he would keep the
oath which he sware unto your fathers, hath the Lord
brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you
out of the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh
king of Egypt. Know therefore that the Lord thy God, 9
he is God ; the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and
mercy with them that love him and keep his command-
ments to a thousand generations; and repayeth them 10
that hate him to their face, to destroy them : he will not
be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to
his face. Thou shalt therefore keep the commandment, 1 1
a See Ex. xxxiv. 13. b Or, out of

6. See Exod. xix. 5-6, from which this verse is derived. Israel
is here called holy, not from any moral quality, but as separated,
and appropriated to Yahweh, who has chosen this nation as His
peculiar people, xiv. 2 (Heb. 'a people of possession') — i.e.
His personal and private property. Cf. iv. 20 ('a people of
inheritance'). R. V. marg. 'out of is preferable (cf. R.V. text
of Exod. xix. 5).

8. redeemed: or ' ransomed.' The term may be used literally
of the payment of an actual ransom (Exod. xiii. 13), or figuratively
of the result, without regard to the means, as here : cf. Hos. xiii.
14. Cf. iv. 20, where the act of deliverance is connected with the
choice of Israel, and Hos. xi. 1.

9. he is God, &c. : Heb. < He is the (true) God (iv. 35), the
faithful God, keeping the covenant and the loving-kindness.'
Cf. v. 9, 10.

10. to their face, i. e. personally : contrast v. 9, where ' the
ancestor with four generations forms a solidarity ' (Cook, Laws,
p. 261).

will not be slack : Heb. [ will not delay ' (the requital).

96 DEUTERONOMY 7. 12-18. D

and the statutes, and the judgements, which I command
thee this day, to do them.

12 And it shall come to pass, because ye hearken to these
judgements, and keep, and do them, that the Lord thy
God shall keep with thee the covenant and the mercy

1 3 which he sware unto thy fathers : and he will love thee,
and bless thee, and multiply thee : he will also bless the
fruit of thy body and the fruit of thy ground, thy corn
and thy wine and thine oil, the increase of thy kine and
the young of thy flock, in the land which he sware unto

14 thy fathers to give thee. Thou shalt be blessed above
all peoples : there shall not be male or female barren

15 among you; or among your cattle. And the Lord will
take away from thee all sickness ; and he will put none
of the evil diseases of Egypt, which thou knowest, upon
thee, but will lay them upon all them that hate thee.

16 And thou shalt consume all the peoples which the Lord
thy God shall deliver unto thee ; thine eye shall not pity
them : neither shalt thou serve their gods ; for that will

1 j be a snare unto thee. If thou shalt say in thine heart,
These nations are more than I ; how can I dispossess

18 them ? thou shalt not be afraid of them : thou shalt well
remember what the Lord thy God did unto Pharaoh,

viii. 12-26. The blessings of the obedient will prove Yahweh's
fidelity to the covenant (verses 12-16). Let not Israel fear the
nations of Canaan, for Yahweh will give victory as in Egypt
(verses 17-24). To Him must their graven images be ' devoted'
(verses 25, 26).

12 f. The thought of verse 9 is emphasized and illustrated.

13. The produce of Canaan is Yahweh's gift (not that of the
local Baals) : cf. xi. 14.

14. Cf. Exod. xxiii. 26 f., with which this whole passage is
connected.

15. the evil diseases of "Egypt (xxviii. 60; cf. Exod. xv. 26) :
which include elephantiasis, dysentery, and ophthalmia.

16. a snare unto thee : cf. verse 25 ; Exod. xxiii. 33, xxxiv. 12.

DEUTERONOMY 7. ic-25. D 97

and unto all Egypt; the great a temptations which thine 19
eyes saw, and the signs, and the wonders, and the mighty
hand, and the stretched out arm, whereby the Lord thy
God brought thee out : so shall the Lord thy God do
unto all the peoples of whom thou art afraid. Moreover 20
the Lord thy God will send the hornet among them,
until they that are left, and b hide themselves, perish from
before thee. Thou shalt not be affrighted at them 3 for 2 1
the Lord thy God is in the midst of thee, a great God
and a terrible. And the Lord thy God will cast out 22
those nations before thee by little and little : thou
mayest not consume them c at once, lest the beasts of the
field increase upon thee. But the Lord thy God shall 2;,
deliver them up before thee, and shall discomfit them
with a great discomfiture, until they be destroyed. And 24
he shall deliver their kings into thine hand, and thou
shalt make their name to perish from under heaven :
there shall no man be able to stand before thee, until
thou have destroyed them. The graven images of their 25
gods shall ye burn with fire : thou shalt not covet the
silver or the gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee,
lest thou be snared therein : for it is an abomination to

a Or, trials See ch. iv. 34, and xxix. 3.

" Or, hide themselves from thee, perish c Or, quickly

19. temptations: see on iv. 34.

20. the hornet: Exod. xxiii. 28; Joshua xxiv. 12. Actual
hornets searching out hidden survivors are apparently meant, as
is understood in Wisdom xii. 8 f. Commentators refer to the four
known species of hornets in Palestine, and the possibly fatal
character of an attack ; but the reference is obscure. See on i. 44.

22. See Exod. xxiii. 29, where the same reason is given.

24. their king's: Joshua xii. 24.

25. graven images (iv. 16) : here they are made of wood,
overlaid with precious metals, the latter alone, when stripped off,
forming a possible object of desire.

an abomination (of Yahweh) : a phrase characteristic of
this book (xii. 31, xvii. r, &c).

98 DEUTERONOMY 7. 26— B. g D

26 the Lord thy God : and thou shalt not bring an abomina-
tion into thine house, and become a devoted thing like
unto it : thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt
utterly abhor it ; for it is a devoted thing.

8 All the commandment which I command thee this day
shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply,
and go in and possess the. land which the Lord sware

2 unto your fathers. And thou shalt remember all the way
which the Lord thy God hath led thee these forty years
in the wilderness, that he might humble thee, to prove
thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou

3 wouldest keep his commandments, or no. And he
humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee
with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy
fathers know ; that he might make thee know that man
doth not live by bread only, but by every thing that
proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.

26. The whole story of Achan (Joshua vii) is the best com-
mentary on this verse ; a devoted thing: herein (on xx. 17).

viii. 1-20. The discipline of the desert wanderings was meant
to teach Israel dependence on Yahweh (verses 1-5). Amid the
plenty of Palestine (verses 6-10) let not Him be forgotten on
whom Israel then depended so absolutely (verses n-17). The
plenty is from Yahweh ; if He be forgotten the nation will perish
(verses 18-20).

2. Amos ii. 10.

to prove thee : cf. vi. 16, where the same word is translated
'tempt' by R. V. (cf. 2 Chron. xxxii. 31). The words are co-
ordinate with ' to humble thee ' ; i. e. the humiliation taught
dependence (verse 3), the proof of hardship tested character
(verse 2b).

3. manna : Exod. xvi. 13 f. ; supplied to Israel, according to P,
from the second month of the first year (Exod. xvi. 1) until
Gilgal was reached (Joshua v. 12). It is usually identified with
the exudations of tamarisk twigs, when punctured by an insect.
Others think of a species of stone lichen, which can he eaten
(E.B. 2929).

thing- that proceedeth out of (one word in Heb. m* utter-

DEUTERONOMY 8. 4-0. D 99

Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy 4
foot swell, these forty years. And thou shalt consider in 5
thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the
Lord thy God chasteneth thee. And thou shalt keep 6
the commandments of the Lord thy God, to walk in his
ways, and to fear him. For the Lord thy God bringeth 7
thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of
fountains and depths, springing forth in valleys and hills ;
a land of wheat and barley, and vines and fig trees and 8
pomegranates ; a land of oil olives and honey ; a land 9
wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou
shalt not lack any thing in it ; a land whose stones are

ance') ; not here in the spiritualized sense of Matt. iv. 4, where
the antithesis is between material food and spiritual support, but
in the sense of that which is created by the special command of
God: i. e. the antithesis is that between food supplied naturally
and supernaturally. Hence the emphasis on the unknown nature
of this manna.

4. Cf. xxix. 5 ; not in the earlier narratives, which are here
amplified by the writer. The Jewish commentator Rashi points
out that the clothes must have grown with the children who wore
them, < like the shell of a snail ' (ed. Berliner, p. 316).

5. chasteneth : or ' disciplines ' (see on iv. 36) ; as in the
humbling experiences of the desert. The O. T. doctrine of the
Divine Fatherhood is well brought out by Montefiore, Hibbert
LecturesVlIl. (' God and Israel.') The God of, Judaism is ' no hard
and merciless taskmaster, but a loving and compassionate Father.. . ;
the double limitation must not be forgotten. God's pitying Father-
hood extends only to those " who fear Him." Outside that barrier
are the heathen nations and the wicked within Israel ' (p. 463).

6. The verse, resuming verse 1, is transitional, emphasizing the
lesson of the desert (verses 1-5), and warning against the peril
of Canaan (verse 7 f.).

"7. 'An attractive and faithful description of the Palestinian
landscape ' (Driver). The depths are those of the subterranean
waters (iv. 18) which feed the fountains.

8. Cf. Num. xiii. 23 ; Joel i. 12; Hag. ii. 19, &c. The cultivated
oil olive is distinguished from the (wild) olive, giving little oil.

9. whose stones are iron : probably the black basalt (iii. 11) is
meant, which consists of one-fifth part of iron, and is still called
iron stone by the Arabs.

H 2

ioo DEUTERONOMY 8. ro-18. D

io iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass. And
thou shalt eat and be full, and thou shalt bless the Loud
thy God for the good land which he hath given thee.

ii Beware lest thou forget the Lord thy God, in not
keeping his commandments, and his judgements, and his

1 7 statutes, which I command thee this day : lest when thou
hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and

1 3 dwelt therein ; and when thy herds and thy flocks
multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all

14 that thou hast is multiplied ; then thine heart be lifted
up, and thou forget the Lord thy God, which brought
thee forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of

15 bondage; who led thee through the great and terrible
wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents and scorpions, and
thirsty ground where was no water; who brought thee

t 6 forth water out of the rock of flint ; who fed thee in the
wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not ;
that he might humble thee, and that he might prove

1 7 thee, to do thee good at thy latter end : and thou say in
thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath

18 gotten me this wealth. But thou shalt remember the
Lord thy God, for it is he that giveth thee power to get
wealth ; that he may establish his covenant which he

brass : i. e. copper, which was formerly obtained from
Lebanon and Edom. For a vivid description of ancient mining
operations, see Job xxviii. i-ii.

15. fiery serpents: Num. xxi. 6 : cf. Isa. xxx. 6. There are
various kinds of serpents in the districts traversed by Israel ;
these are perhaps designated i fiery ' or ' burning ' because of the
inflammation of their bite (cf. Gray, Numbers, p. 277). The
reference to scorpions is added by D ; they are common in
the same districts, and the Pass of Akrabbim (Joshua xv. 3)
receives its name from them.

water out of the rock of flint : Exod. xvii. 6.
1*7. in thine heart : Bertholet well compares Luke xii. 19 (' I
will say to my soul'). Deuteronomy insists on the inwardness of
religious issues (vi. 5).

DEUTERONOMY 8. i9--9. 4. D 101

sware unto thy fathers, as at this day. And it shall be, 19
if thou shalt forget the Lord thy God, and walk after
other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify
against you this day that ye shall surely perish. As the 20
nations which the Lord maketh to perish before you, so
shall ye perish ; because ye would not hearken unto the
voice of the Lord your God.

Hear, O Israel : thou art to pass over Jordan this day, 9
to go in to possess nations greater and mightier than
thyself, cities great and fenced up to heaven, a people 2
great and tall, the sons of the Anakim, whom thou
knowest, and of whom thou hast heard say, Who can
stand before the sons of Anak ? Know therefore this day, 3
that the Lord thy God is he which goeth over before
thee as a devouring fire ; he shall destroy them, and he
shall bring them down before thee : so shalt thou drive
them out, and make them to perish quickly, as the Lord
hath spoken unto thee. Speak not thou in thine heart, 4
after that the Lord thy God hath thrust them out from
before thee, saying, For my righteousness the Lord hath
brought me in to possess this land : whereas for the wicked-
ness of these nations the Lord doth drive them out from

19. other gods: i.e. the local Baals of the nations of Canaan
(verse 20).

ix. 1-7. The victory over mightier nations will be due to Yahwdi
(verses 1-3). Let not Israel claim it as the reward of righteous-
ness, since it is due, on the one hand, to the wickedness of those
dispossessed, on the other, to Yahweh's fidelity to ancient promises,
(verses 4, 5\ Israel has been disobedient from Egypt to the present
place (verses 6, 7).

1, 2. Cf. i. 28, where see note on Anakim.

thou : emphatic in the Hebrew in both cases. The know-
ledge came from the report of the spies (Num. xiii. 28).

3. he: emphatic in each instance; the victory is Yahweh's, not
Israel's.

hath spoken : in Exod. xxiii. 27, 31.

io2 DEUTERONOMY 9. 5-8. D D2

5 before thee, Not for thy righteousness, or for the
uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go in to possess
their land : but for the wickedness of these nations the
Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee,
and that he may establish the word which the Lord
sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to

6 Jacob. Know therefore, that the Lord thy God giveth
thee not this good land to possess it for thy righteous-

7 ness ; for thou art a stiffnecked people. Remember,
forget thou not, how thou provokedst the Lord thy God
to wrath in the wilderness : from the day that thou
wentest forth out of the land of Egypt, until ye came
unto this place, ye have been rebellious against the

8 Lord. [D2] Also in Horeb ye provoked the Lord to

6. a stiffnecked people : Heb. ' a people hard of neck ' ;
Exod. xxxii. 9, xxxiii. 3, 5, xxxiv. 9. 'The figure underlying
the expression is of course the unyielding neck of an obstinate,
intractable animal (cf. Isa. xlviii. 4 ' and a sinew of iron is thy
neck ') ' (Driver).

ix. 8— x. 11. Israel's disobedience illustrated from the events at
Horeb (verse 8). Moses received the tables of stone after being forty
days on Horeb (verses 9-1 1 ). Yahweh, made angry by the molten
calf , declared to Moses his intention to destroy Israel (verses 12-14).
Moses, confronted on his descent with Israel's sin, broke the tables
of stone (verses 15-17) and made intercession through forty days
for Israel and Aaron (verses i8-2o\ The calf he destroyed
(verse 21). After reference to similar disobedience at other
places, especially Kadesh-barnea (verses 22-4), Moses resumes
the story of his intercession at Horeb, and recalls his prayer,
urging Yahweh to remember the tie between Israel and Himself
verses 25-9). In reply, Yahweh recalled him to the mount,
and gave him another copy of the Decalogue, which he placed,
on his return, in the ark he had made ; x. 1-5). His stay on the
mount the second time was as long as the first (verse 10), and
Yahweh renewed his promise to Israel (verse 11).

This narrative is obviously interrupted by x. 6f., which gives
part of an itinerary of Israel, and possibly also by x. 8, 9, a note on
the separation of the Levites. To a less marked degree, it is
interrupted by ix. 22-4, and shows other signs of confusion (e. g.

DEUTERONOMY 9. 9-12 D3 103

wrath, and the Lord was angry with you to have
destroyed you. When I was gone up into the mount to 9
receive the tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant
which the Lord made with you, then I abode in the
mount forty days and forty nights ; I did neither eat
bread nor drink water. And the Lord delivered unto 10
me the two tables of stone written with the finger of God }
and on them was written according to all the words,
which the Lord spake with you in the mount out of the
midst of the fire in the day of the assembly. And it n
came to pass at the end of forty days and forty nights,
that the Lord gave me the two tables of stone, even the
tables of the covenant. And the Lord said unto me, 12
Arise, get thee down quickly from hence ; for thy people
which thou hast brought forth out of Egypt have corrupted
themselves ; they are quickly turned aside out of the way

verses 11 and 13). Even apart from such indications of a want of
unity, it is difficult to conceive that the original writer of the
Introduction to the Deuteronomic Code would have dealt here
with a single illustration at such disproportionate length. The
narrative of Horeb appears to be more closely related to the
historical review (chaps, i-iii) than to any other part of Deutero-
nomy, and, like it, is based on JE (see the table in Driver, p. 11 a).
There are also linguistic points of contact. It is significant that
that review is without reference to the events of Horeb. This
has led to the not improbable conjecture that ix. 9 f. originally
stood before i. 6 as part of the historical introduction (D2), which
would then begin, like the hortatory introduction (v f.), with the
delivery of the Ten Commandments.

8. Summary of the whole narrative, linking it to verse 7 : cf.
Exod. xxiv. 12 f., xxxi. 18 f., xxxiv, on which this narrative is
based, to a large extent verbally.

9. Exod. xxiv. 18, xxxiv. 28 (the latter referring, however, to
a subsequent occasion).

10. Exod. xxxi. 18 : cf. Deut. v. 4.

11. A doublet to verse ioa, according to which the tables of
stone have already been given.

12. Exod. xxxii. 7 : have corrupted themselves, rather ' have
done corruptly.'

io4 DEUTERONOMY 9. 13-20. D2

which I commanded them ; they have made them a

13 molten image. Furthermore the Lord spake unto me,
saying, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiff-

14 necked people : let me alone, that I may destroy them,
and blot out their name from under heaven : and I will
make of thee a nation mightier and greater than they.

15 So I turned and came down from the mount, and the
mount burned with fire : and the two tables of the

16 covenant were in my two hands. And I looked, and,
behold, ye had sinned against the Lord your God ; ye
had made you a molten calf : ye had turned aside quickly
out of the way which the Lord had commanded you.

1 7 And I took hold of the two tables, and cast them out of

18 my two hands, and brake them before your eyes. And
I fell down before the Lord, as at the first, forty days
and forty nights $ I did neither eat bread nor drink
water ; because of all your sin which ye sinned, in doing
that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke

19 him to anger. For I was afraid of the anger and hot
displeasure, wherewith the Lord was wroth against you
to destroy you. But the Lord hearkened unto me that

20 time also. And the Lord was very angry with Aaron to

13. Exod. xxxii. 9. Furthermore is supplied by R.V. ; Heb.
'and.'

14 f. Exod. xxxii. 10, 15, 19 are largely reproduced.

18. as at the first : i. e. the intercession lasted for the same
time as the sojourn on the mount, ix. 9, and is identical with that
of x. 10. According to Exod. xxxii. 30 f., Moses returned on the
morrow after his discovery of the sin to make intercession ; ac-
cording to Exod. xxxiv. 9, he again made intercession, within the
second period of forty days spent on the mount (xxxiv. 28). The
latter may be in view here ; but it ought to follow, not precede
verse 21.

to provoke him to anger : delete i to anger, ' as in iv. 25.

19. that time also : what other occasion is meant is not clear ;
possibly the present narrative has been condensed, and originally
contained a reference to the earlier intercession of Exod. xxxii. 31.

DEUTERONOMY 9. 21-27. Da 105

have destroyed him : and I prayed for Aaron also the
same time. And I took your sin, the ealf which ye had 21
made, and burnt it with fire, and stamped it, grinding it
very small, until it was as fine as dust : and I cast the
dust thereof into the brook that descended out of the
mount. And at Taberah, and at Massah, and at Kibroth- 22
hattaavah, ye provoked the Lord to wrath. And when 23
the Lord sent you from Kadesh-barnea, saying, Go up
and possess the land which I have given you ; then ye
rebelled against the commandment of the Lord your
God, and ye believed him not, nor hearkened to his
voice. Ye have been rebellious against the Lord from 24
the day that I knew you. So I fell down before the 25
Lord the forty days and forty nights that I fell down ;
because the Lord had said he would destroy you. And 26
I prayed unto the Lord, and said, O Lord God, destroy
not thy people and thine inheritance, which thou hast
redeemed through thy greatness, which thou hast brought
forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand. Remember thy 27
servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob ; look not unto the
stubbornness of this people, nor to their wickedness, nor

20. The prayer for Aaron is not mentioned in Exodus.

21. Exod. xxxii. 20; your sin: for this concrete usage, cf.
Amos viii. 14, Mic. i. 5.

as fine as dust: rather 'crushed fine to dust,' which was
scattered in the Wady ; according to Exodus, that the Israelites
might drink of it.

22. 23. Four other examples of Israel's disobedience are cited ;
Taberah (Num. xi. 1-3), Massah (Exod. xvii. 2-7), Kibroth-
hattaavah (Num. xi. 4 34), and Kadesh-barnea (i. 19 f.).

25 resumes the account of the intercession of verse 18, and
replies to Yahweh's words in verse 14 (' destroy them '). It
bhould be noted that whilst this is the second intercession (Exod.
xxxiv. 9), according to the present narrative, its contents arc
largely those of the first (Exod. xxxii. 11-13).

28. Cf. Exod. xxxii. 12 ; Num. xiv. 16, both of which have
contributed to this verse.

106 DEUTERONOMY 9. 28— 10. 7. D2 E

28 to their sin : lest the land whence thou broughtest us
out say, Because the Lord was not able to bring them
into the land which he promised unto them, and because
he hated them, he hath brought them out to slay them in

29 the wilderness. Yet they are thy people and thine
inheritance, which thou broughtest out by thy great
power and by thy stretched out arm.

10 At that time the Lord said unto me, Hew thee two
tables of stone like unto the first, and come up unto me

2 into the mount, and make thee an ark of wood. And I
will write on the tables the words that were on the first
tables which thou brakest, and thou shalt put them in

3 the ark. So I made an ark of acacia wood, and hewed
two tables of stone like unto the first, and went up into

4 the mount, having the two tables in mine hand. And he
wrote on the tables, according to the first wrriting, the ten
a commandments, which the Lord spake unto you in the
mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the

5 assembly : and the Lord gave them unto me. And I
turned and came down from the mount, and put the
tables in the ark which I had made ; and there they be,

6 as the Lord commanded me. [E] (And the children of
Israel journeyed from l) Beeroth Bene-jaakan to Moserah :
there Aaron died, and there he was buried ; and Eleazar
his son ministered in the priest's office in his stead.

7 From thence they journeyed unto Gudgodah ; and from

a Heb. words.

b Or, the wells of the children of Jaakan

x. 1-3. These verses are condensed from Exod. xxxiv. 1, 2, 4,
and expanded by the references to the ark, not there named.
According to Exod. xxxvii. 1 f. (xxv. 10 f.) this ark was made by
Bezalel, after, not before, the reception of the second tables P).
The inconsistency may go back to some narrative of JE, not
now extant.

8, 7. These verses are clearly an interruption to the Horeb

DEUTERONOMY 10. S-io. E RD D2 107

Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a land of brooks of water. [RD] 8
At that time the Lord separated the tribe of Levi, to
bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before
the Lord to minister unto him, and to bless in his name,
unto this day. Wherefore Levi hath no portion nor 9
inheritance with his brethren ; the Lord is his inheritance,
according as the Lord thy God spake unto him.) [D2]
And I stayed in the mount, as at the first time, forty days to

narrative. They are connected with Num. xxxiii. 31-3 (P),
where the four names of this itinerary fragment occur, with
some variation, and in a different order. They cannot be derived
from that passage, not only because of the differences, but
especially because they place the death of Aaron at a point and
place different from those of P (Num. xx. 22 f., on Mount Horeb).
They are usually regarded as a fragment of E's itinerary (cf.,
e. g.. Num. xxi. 12-15), both from their form and from the interest
in Eleazar (Joshua xxiv. 33, E). The places named are unknown.
'The passage is important, as showing that in the tradition of JE,
not less than in P, Aaron was the founder of a hereditary priest-
hood ' (Driver, p. 121).

8, 9. The consecration of Levi to priestly duties, with priests'
dues. It is included in the brackets of the R. V. as a continuation
of the interruption made by verses 6, 7. It seems, however, to be
an independent note connected with the mention of the ark in
verse 5.

8. At that time : either of the stay at Horeb (verse 5) or at
Jotbathah (verse 7), according to the view taken of the connexion.

the tribe of Levi : to whom are here given the three priestly
duties— (a) to bear the ark, in Num. iv. 1 f. (P) the duty of Levites
Kohathites) in the narrower sense, as distinct from the priests,
but in Deuteronomic writers the duty of the Levitical priests
(Deut. xxxi. 9; Joshua viii. 33 : cf. Joshua iii. 3, vi. 6, 12) ; (b) to
minister to Yahweh (in offering sacrifice), a duty reserved by P
for the Aaronic) priests alone as distinct from the Levites (Num.
iii. 10) ; (c) to bless in His name, according to P (Num. vi. 23) the
privilege of (Aaronic) priests only. See on xviii. 1.

9. Yahweh is his inheritance : i. e. Levi is supported from the
sacred offerings to Yahweh, xviii. 1, 2.

10. 11. These verses resume and conclude the Horeb narrative,
though their present place can hardly be original.

I stayed : the Heb. would allow the translation ' 1 had
stayed,' which is required if we relate the verse toix. 18, 19. The

io8 DEUTERONOMY 10. n-i<> D D

and forty nights : and the Lord hearkened unto me that

1 1 time also ; the Lord would not destroy thee. And the
Lord said unto me, Arise, take thy journey before the
people ; and they shall go in and possess the land, which
I swrare unto their fathers to give unto them.

12 [D] And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God
require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in
all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy

13 God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, to keep the
commandments of the Lord, and his statutes, which

14 I command thee this day for thy good ? Behold, unto the
Lord thy God belongeth the heaven, and the heaven of

15 heavens, the earth, with all that therein is. Only the
Lord had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he
chose their seed after them, even you a above all peoples,

16 as at this day. Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your

17 heart, and be no more stiffnecked. For the Lord your
God, he is God of gods, and Lord of lords, the great
God, the mighty, and the terrible, which regardeth not

18 persons, nor taketh reward. He doth execute the
judgement of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the

19 stranger, in giving him food and raiment. Love ye

a Or, out of

intercession to which Yahweh hearkened will then be that of ix.
25-9, whose success is now explicitly stated.

x. ia-22. Exhortation to respond to the great God who has
done such great things for Israel.

12. require: ' What is Yahweh thy God asking from thee?'
Cf. Mic. vi. 8, which this verse recalls.

16. Circumcise : xxx. 6 ; Jer. iv. 4 ; the figure is also used of
the ear (Jer. vi. 10) and of the lips (Exod. vi. 12) ; it is hardly drawn
from the physical operation (the unreceptive heart being ' closed
in,' Driver), but denotes a spiritual and true membership of Israel
in contrast with one based on the outward sign.

17. reward: ? a bribe.'

18. 19. Three classes liable to oppression arc put under His

DEUTERONOMY 10. 20— 11. 4. D 109

therefore the stranger : for ye were strangers in the land
of Egypt. Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God ; him shalt 20
thou serve ] and to him shalt thou cleave, and by his
name shalt thou swear. He is thy praise, and he is thy 21
God, that hath done for thee these great and terrible
things, which thine eyes have seen. Thy fathers went 22
down into Egypt with threescore and ten persons ; and
now the Lord thy God hath made thee as the stars of
heaven for multitude.

Therefore thou shalt love the Lord thy God, and keep 11
his charge, and his statutes, and his judgements, and his
commandments, alway. And know ye this day : for I speak 2
not with your children which have not known, and which
have not seen the a chastisement of the Lord your God,
his greatness, his mighty hand, and his stretched out
arm, and his signs, and his works, which he did in the 3
midst of Egypt unto Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and unto
all his land ; and what he did unto the army of Egypt, 4
unto their horses, and to their chariots ; how he made the

a Or, instruction

protection ; Israel's duty to the stranger is enforced like the duty
to servants (v. 15), by an appeal to experience.

the stranger : see on i. 16 ; for the motive, cf. Exod. xxii.
2r, xxiii. 9.

21. thy praise: (Jer. xvii. 14' i. e. to be praised by thee for
His deeds.

for thee : Heb. • with thee ' ; with reference to Egypt (xi. 3).

22. Gen. xlvi. 27 ; Exod. i. 5 ; Deut. i. 10 ; a special instance
of the Divine providence.

xi. 1-9. Let the personal experience of Yahweh's great deeds
prompt Israel to obedience.

2. I speak: necessarily supplied by R.V., because the Hebrew
has no verb to govern the long sentence following (verses 2-6).

chastisement : ' discipline ' comes nearer the meaning of the
Heb. word than either R.V. or R. V. marg. (iv. 36, viii. 5). Cf.
the similar, though less detailed, review in iv. 34 f. (vi. 22, vii.
18). The generation addressed is that which was delivered
from Egypt.

no DEUTERONOMY 11. 5-n. D

water of the Red Sea to overflow them as they pursued
after you, and how the Lord hath destroyed them

5 unto this day ; and what he did unto you in the wilderness,

6 until ye came unto this place ; and what he did unto
Dathan and Atiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of
Reuben ; how the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed
them up, and their households, and their tents, and
every living thing that followed them, in the midst of all

7 Israel : but your eyes have seen all the great work of the

8 Lord which he did. Therefore shall ye keep all the
commandment which I command thee this day, that ye
may be strong, and go in and possess the land, whither

9 ye go over to possess it ; and that ye may prolong your
days upon the land, which the Lord sware unto your
fathers to give unto them and to their seed, a land flowing

io with milk and honey. For the land, whither thou goest
in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence
ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst

i t it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs : but the land, whither

5. See Num. xvi. The omission of Korah is due to the fact
that the writer is using JE, which did not mention him. The
(later) account of P, which does, has been interwoven with JE
to form the narrative of Num. xvi.

xi. 10-17. Canaan contrasted with Egypt to show its greater
dependence on Yahweh for fertility. (The paragraph division of
R. V. between verses 12 and 13 obscures the sense.)

10. not as the land of Egypt : viz. in respect of irrigation,
owing to the broken surface of the country (verse 11), which does
not favour artificial irrigation on a large scale.

wateredst it with thy foot : i. e. possibly with a wheel
worked by the foot. The present water-wheels of Egypt are
turned usually by an ox. W. Max Miiller points out, however
(E.B., ? Egypt,' 1226 n.1), that the use of the water-wheel cannot
be proved for ancient Egypt ; ' most probably i( watering with the
foot " means carrying water.'

as a garden of herbs : (1 Kings xxi. 2) i. e. a small plot of
ground for which artificial irrigation could be employed in Palestine.

DEUTERONOMY 11. 12-17. D W

ye go over to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and
drinketh water of the rain of heaven : a land which the 1 2
Lord thy God a careth for ; the eyes of the Lord thy God
are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even
unto the end of the year.

And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently 13
unto my commandments which I command you this
day, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with
all your heart and with all your soul, that I will give the 14
rain of your land in its season, the former rain and the
latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy
wine, and thine oil. And I will give grass in thy fields for 15
thy cattle, and thou shalt eat and be full. Take heed to 16
yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and ye turn aside,
and serve other gods, and worship them ; and the anger 1 7
of the Lord be kindled against you, and he shut up the
a Heb. seeketh after.

11. drinketh water of the rain of heaven: i. e. is dependent
on the rains of verse 14 for its moisture, in contrast with Egypt,
where rain is infrequent and agriculture depends on the inundation
of the Nile, and on connected systems of irrigation. The superiority
of Canaan, as well as its greater dependence on Yahweh, is
naturally implied.

12. careth for. 'The climate of Egypt is not one which of
itself suggests a personal Providence, but the climate of Palestine
does so ' (H.G.H.L., p. 74). The present passage is a suggestive
example of the way in which ' second causes' can tyrannize over
human imagination. The water of the Nile is a natural gift ; the
rain of Palestine a supernatural.

14. the rain of your land : i. e. not irregular showers, but the
rainy period of the winter, begun by the heavy rainfall of October
(the ' former rain '), which prepares for the agricultural year, and
closed by that of March and April (the ' latter rain '), before the
summer drought begins. This division of seasons is \ the ruling
feature of the climate of Syria' (H.G.H.L., p. 63 f.), and on its
regular occurrence depend the fertility and prosperity of the land
(verse 17).

1*7. The picture is not overdrawn. 'The early rains or the
latter rains fail, drought comes occasionally for two years in

ii2 DEUTERONOMY 11. 18-24. -D

heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not
her fruit ; and ye perish quickly from off the good land

18 which the Lord giveth you. Therefore shall ye lay up
these my words in your heart and in your soul ; and ye
shall bind them for a sign upon your hand, and they shall

19 be for frontlets between your eyes. And ye shall teach
them your children, talking of them, when thou sittest
in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and

20 when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou
shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and

2 1 upon thy gates : that your days may be multiplied, and
the days of your children, upon the land which the Lord
sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of the

22 heavens above the earth. For if ye shall diligently keep
all this commandment which I command you, to do it ;
to love the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, and

23 to cleave unto him ; then will the Lord drive out all
these nations from before you, and ye shall possess nations

24 greater and mightier than yourselves. Every place where-
on the sole of your foot shall tread shall be yours : from
the wilderness, and Lebanon, from the river, the river
Euphrates, even unto the ■ hinder sea shall be your border.

a That is, western.

succession, and that means famine and pestilence \ {op. cit., p. 73).
For a fine description of cause and effect in agricultural prosperity,
see Hosea ii. 21, aa.

xi. 18-35. The words of Yahweh, cherished, taught, and
obeyed, will bring victorious possession of the Promised Land.

18-20. See on vi. 6-9, from which these verses are repeated
with very slight change.

21. as the days of the heavens above the earth: i. e. so long
as the (visible) universe endures : cf. the appeal to its permanence
in iv. 26.

24. Cf. Joshua i. 3. The wilderness meant is that south of
Palestine, answering here, as a boundary, to Lebanon in the north,
whilst Israel's ideal territory is to extend from the Euphrates in
the east to the Mediterranean in the west.

DEUTERONOMY 11. 25-30. D RD 113

There shall no man be able to stand before you : the 25
Lord your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread
of you upon all the land that ye shall tread upon, as he
hath spoken unto you.

Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a 26
curse ; the blessing, if ye shall hearken unto the com- 27
mandments of the Lord your God, which I command
you this day : and the curse, if ye shall not hearken unto 28
the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn
aside out of the way which I command you this day, to
go after other gods, which ye have not known.

[RD] And it shall come to pass, when the Lord thy 29
God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to
possess it, that thou shalt set the blessing upon mount
Gerizim, and the curse upon mount Ebal. Are they not 3<>
beyond Jordan, behind the way of the going down of the

25. as lie hath spoken : Exod. xxiii. 27.

xi. 26-32. The alternatives of obedience and disobedience are
those of a blessing and a curse (verses 26-8). These shall be
solemnly recognized at the centre of Israel's future land (verses
29-32). (The blessing and the curse are expanded in chap, xxviii.)

28. which ye have not known : the Baals of Canaan have no
share in the intimate relation hitherto existing between Yahweh
and Israel.

29. set the blessing- upon : give it ceremonial sanction there,
as is described in xxvii. 11 f., with which passage verses 29, 30 are
to be connected whence assigned to RD).

Gerizim . . . Ebal : probably chosen because the ancient
sanctuary of Shechem (Joshua xxiv. 32) lay in the valley between
them. The simplest explanation of the assignment of the blessing
and curse respectively is that Ebal lay to the north, i. e. en the
Hebrew ' left,' and Gerizim to the south, the Hebrew ' right.'
That the latter was, as amongst other peoples, regarded as aus-
picious, in contrast with the ill-omened left, is shown by the
Hebrew name ' Benjamin,' or 'son of the right hand' (Gen. xxxv.
18, R. V. marg.).

30. the way of the going- down of the sun : i. e. the chief

H4 DEUTERONOMY 11. 31— 12. 1. RD D

sun, in the land of the Canaanites which dwell in the
Arabah, over against Gilgal, beside the a oaks of Moreh ?

31 [D] For ye are to pass over Jordan to go in to possess
the land which the Lord your God giveth you, and ye

32 shall possess it, and dwell therein. And ye shall observe
to do all the statutes and the judgements which I set
before you this day.

12 These are the statutes and the judgements, which ye
shall observe to do in the land which the Lord, the
God of thy fathers, hath given thee to possess it, all the
a Or, terebinths

western road, running from south to north, and passing east of
Shechem, which is therefore ' behind ' it (cf. verse 24).

which dwell in the Arabah : the reference is obscure, since
the 'Arabah (i. 1, R. V. marg.) is remote from Shechem.

over against Gilgal: hardly the Gilgal near Jericho;
possibly the ' circle ' (of stones) in connexion with Shechem.

the oaks of Moreh: or 'the terebinth (sing, in LXX of the
teacher ? (giver of oracles) (see Joshua xxiv. 26 for the sacred
stone and sacred tree at Shechem).

xii-xxv. At this point we pass to the Code of Laws, which falls
into three main sections :
I. The Law of the Central Sanctuary, with its related ordinances,
xii. 1 — xvi. 17 (with xvi. 21 — xvii. 7).
II. Laws relating to persons in authority (judges, king, priests,

prophets), xvii. 8— xviii. 22 (with xvi. 18-20).
III. Miscellaneous Laws, xix-xxv (not admitting, in their present
order, of further classification1).

xii. 1-28. The Fundamental Law of the Single Sanctuary. For
the central place and primary importance of this section, see
Introd. p. 10 (The Reformation of Josiah), p. 36 f.

Title (verse 1). Destruction of the Canaanite places of worship
(verses 2, 3). Yahweh is to be worshipped at one place only
(verses 4-7). The present individual liberty is to be abandoned
(verses 8-10) that all offerings in Canaan may be made at the one
place (verses 11, 12). Repetition, in varied form, of the law of
a single sanctuary (verses 13, 14). Animals for food may be

1 Driver (p. 135) takes xix and xxi. 1-9 to form a section,
'Criminal Law.'

DEUTERONOMY 12. ?,%. D 115

days that ye live upon the earth. Ye shall surely destroy 2
all the places*,, wherein the nations which ye shall possess
served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon
the hills, and under every green tree : and ye shall 3
break down their altars, and dash in pieces their a pillars,
and burn their Asherim with fire ; and ye shall hew
a Or, obelisks

killed and their flesh eaten anywhere, though not the blood
(verses 15, 16). But the substance of tithe, vow, or offering is lo
be eaten at the one place only (verses 17-19). Repetition, in
a varied form, of the permission to kill for food locally, though
the blood must be poured away (verses 20 -5) ; whilst all sacred
rites must be performed at the one central sanctuary verses
26-8).

There can be little doubt that this section contains more than
one version of the same law.

2. all the places: i. e. the sacred places, or sanctuaries, like
' the place of Shechem ' (Gen. xii. 6) or of Bethel ^xiii. 3), called
' the place of the altar ' (verse 4) or the • place ' where Abraham
proposed to sacrifice Isaac (xxii. 3). The corresponding Arabic
word for ; place ' is used similarly of a sanctuary. The much more
usual word employed to designate these local sanctuaries is that
rendered ' high place' (bdmdh), such sanctuaries being originally
upon the high mountains and upon the hills. For the relation
of such a high place to a particular town or district, see, e.g.,
i Sam. ix. 10-25.

served their gods : most of these local sanctuaries were
those of the Canaanites, adopted by Israel after the conquest of
Canaan. How far Israel actually worshipped the local Baals at
these sanctuaries is uncertain ; what is clear is that the worship
of Yahweh was practised at them down to the time of the
Deuteronomic Reformation, and after its initial failure (Exod. xx.
24-6, < in every place ? ; 1 Kings xix. 10, ; thine altars ' ; Amos
and Hosea, passim, where it is the contamination of the worship
of Yahweh by (surviving) Canaanite associations that is attacked,
not the localization of the worship away from the Temple).

under every green tree : or i spreading ' tree ; for the
sacred trees often growing at these 'places,' see Joshua xxiv. 26 ;
1 Sam. xxii. 6; Hos. iv. 13, &c.

3. pillars (mazzeboth) : the artificial sacred stones. See on
xvi. 22.

Asherim. : the wooden posts, representing the sacred tree.
See on xvi. 21.

I 2

n6 DEUTERONOMY 12. 4-6. D

down the graven images of their gods ; and ye shall

4 destroy their name out of that place. Ye shall not do

5 so unto the Lord your God. But unto the place which
the Lord your God shall choose out of all your tribes to
put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye

6 seek, and thither thou shalt come : and thither ye shall
bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your
tithes, and the heave offering of your hand, and your
vows, and your freewill offerings, and the firstlings of

These, with the altar (see on verse 2), and in some cases the idol
(Hos. viii. 6), the usual accompaniments of the ' high place,' are to
be so completely destroyed that the very memory (' their name ')
of the local Baals is to cease (contrast verse 5, ' his name ').
Bertholet illustrates by the later Jewish modification of proper
names containing the element ' Baal ' ; e. g. Ish-baal became Ish-
bosheth.

5. the place which Yahweh your G-od shall choose: i.e.
Jerusalem, as often in this book (cf. 1 Kings viii. 44, 48, by
a Deuteronomic writer). The earliest mention of Jerusalem is in
the Tell el-Amarna Tablets, c. 1400 B.C., where it appears as the
fortified capital of a small district. After the Israelite invasion it
remained for a long time in the hands of the Canaanites, till
captured by David (2 Sam. v. 6, 7). He brought up the ark of
Yahweh to a tent, and on the threshing-floor of Araunah the
Jebusite, which he bought (2 Sam. xxiv. 18 f.), Solomon's Temple
was built. There is no evidence of the existence there of an
earlier sanctuary.

6. burnt offering's : viz. as systematized in Lev. i, those of
cattle, sheep and goats, birds, whose blood was dashed or drained
out against the side of the altar, whilst the whole of the flesh
was burnt upon it. Cf. Exod. x. 25, &c.

sacrifices : specially of the thank- or peace-offering (Exod. xx.
24), as the most frequent form of sacrifice. The flesh of cattle,
sheep, or goats was eaten by the worshippers at a sacrificial meal
of communion with the deity—except the fat offered on the altar
and the priest's portion.

tithes : see on xiv. 22.

heave offering of your hand : personal contributions ; not
something elevated in presentation, but 'lifted off' a larger quantity,
like first-fruits and other voluntary offerings.

vows . . . freewill offerings : belonging to special occasions.

firstlings : cf. xv. 19-22.

DEUTERONOMY 12. 7-i2. D 117

your herd and of your flock : and there ye shall eat 7
before the Lord your God, and ye shall rejoice in all
that ye put your hand unto, ye and your households,
wherein the Lord thy God hath blessed thee. Ye shall 8
not do after all the things that v/e do here this day,
every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes : for ye 9
are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance,
which the Lord thy God giveth thee. But when ye go to
over Jordan, and dwell in the land which the Lord your
God causeth you to inherit, and he giveth you rest from
all your enemies round about, so that ye dwell in safety ;
then it shall come to pass that the place which the Lord it
your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there,
thither shall ye bring all that I command you; your
burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the
heave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows
which ye vow unto the Lord ; and ye shall rejoice before 12
the Lord your God, ye, and your sons, and your
daughters, and your menservants, and your maidservants,
and the Levite that is within your gates, forasmuch as he

7. The sacrificial meal (verse 6, ' sacrifices ') of the family
group : cf. verse 18, xiv. 23, xv. 20. For the important place of
this act of communion in Semitic religion, see especially /?<?/. Sem.,
Lect. vii. The emphasis of Deuteronomy on joy in worship
agrees with the omission of any reference above to the sin-offering
or guilt-offering of Lev. iv and v (Introd., p. 38 note).

8, Cf. Amos v. 25. It need hardly be pointed out that the
writer knows nothing of the elaborate wilderness-ritual of P.

10. rest from all your enemies : not gained, as a matter of
history, till the age of David and Solomon, which may be in view
here (2 Sam. vii. 1 ; 1 Kings viii. 56).

11. The verse implies that the law of the single sanctuary was
not meant to come into operation till the time was ripe for build-
ing the Temple (cf. 1 Kings iii. 2).

your choice vows : i. e. choice substance offered to fulfil
a vow.

12. the Levite (cf. x. 9) ; i. e. the original priest of the local

iiT. DEUTERONOMY 12. 13-17. D

13 hath no portion nor inheritance with you. Take heed
to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every

14 place that thou seest : but in the place which the Lord
shall choose in one of thy tribes, there thou shalt offer thy
burnt offerings, and there thou shalt do all that I command

15 thee. Notwithstanding thou mayest kill and eat flesh
within all thy gates, after all the desire of thy soul,
according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which he
hath given thee : the unclean and the clean may eat

16 thereof, as of the gazelle, and as of the hart. Only ye
shall not eat the blood ; thou shalt pour it out upon the

17 earth as water. Thou mayest not eat within thy gates

sanctuary, now deprived of his livelihood (xviii. 6-8), and fre-
quently commended in this book to the care of Israel (verse 18,
xiv. 27, 29, xvi. 11, 14, xxvi. 11).

within your gates : i. e. throughout your cities (a character-
istic phrase of Deuteronomy).

15. thou maysst kill: the Hebrew verb means either to
sacrifice or to kill, the fact being that all slaughter of domestic
animals was originally sacrificial, their flesh being eaten on com-
paratively rare occasions at a sacrificial meal (see on verse 6N.
This sacrificial act could be performed at a sanctuary only so long
as one was close at hand ; the centralization of all sacrificial acts
at Jerusalem involved the recognition of slaughter for food as
non sacrificial (cf Rel. Sem., p. 238). A fuller explanation is
given by verse 20 f.

aftar all the desire of thy soul : the soul (nephesli), originally
the breath, as the principle of life, tends to be specialized in later
Hebrew psychology as the principle of emotion and sensation,
especially hunger (as here). The higher cognitive and conative
elements of conscious life were ascribed to the heart.

the unclean and the clean : i. e. in a ceremonial sense
(1 Sam. xx. 26), since the act was no longer to be regarded as
sacrificial, but such flesh was to be treated like game (as of the
gazelle, and as of the hart : cf. xiv. 5), i. e. under a non-sacrificial
classification.

16. blood: see Introd., p. 24 ; the blood of the slain animal is
still regarded as too m3'sterious and ; sacred ' to be consumed ;
hence, for want of an altar at which to dispose of it with safet}*,
it is poured on the ground (cf. Rel. Sem., p. 234 f.).

1?. The permission for the local consumption of flesh does not

DEUTERONOMY 12. 18-23. D 119

the tithe of thy corn, or of thy wine, or of thine oil, or
the firstlings of thy herd or of thy flock, nor any of thy
vows which thou vowest, nor thy freewill offerings, nor
the heave offering of thine hand : but thou shalt eat 18
them before the Lord thy God in the place which the
Lord thy God shall choose, thou, and thy son, and thy
daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and
the Levite that is within thy gates : and thou shalt rejoice
before the Lord thy God in all that thou puttest thine
hand unto. Take heed to thyself that thou forsake not 19
the Levite as long as thou livest upon thy land.

When the Lord thy God shall enlarge thy border, as 20
he hath promised thee, and thou shalt say, I will eat
flesh, because thy soul desireth to eat flesh ; thou mayest
eat flesh, after all the desire of thy soul. If the place 21
which the Lord thy God shall choose to put his name
there be too far from thee, then thou shalt kill of thy
herd and of thy flock, which the Lord hath given thee,
as I have commanded thee, and thou shalt eat within thy
gates, after all the desire of thy soul. Even as the 22
gazelle and as the hart is eaten, so thou shalt eat thereof:
the unclean and the clean shall eat thereof alike. Only 23
be sure that thou eat not the blood : for the blood is the

apply to tithes (xiv. 22 f.), firstlings (xv. 19 f.), or other sacred
offerings.

20. enlarge thy border : cf. xix. 8 ; with reference to the
acquisition, not of Canaan (verse 1), but of the ideal territory of
i. 7, xi. 24 (Dillmann). For the actual extent of the Josianic
kingdom, see Introd., p. 37.

I will eat flesh : implying that this is no everyday occurrence
(see on verse 15). Cf. Doughty, Arabia Deserta, i. p. 452.

23. sure : Heb. ' strong ' ; reference to 1 Sam. xiv. 32 will
show how hunger might overcome a primitive superstition ; but
the use of blood in magical rites may also be in view.

the blood is the life : cf. Gen. ix. 4 ; Lev. xvii. 11, 14. See
Introd., p. 24.

i2o DEUTERONOMY 12. 24-30. D

life; and thou shalt not eat the life with the flesh.

24 Thou shalt not eat it ; thou shalt pour it out upon the

25 earth as water. Thou shalt not eat it \ that it may go
well with thee, and with thy children after thee, when
thou shalt do that which is right in the eyes of the Lord.

26 Only thy holy things which thou hast, and thy vows,
thou shalt take, and go unto the place which the Lord

27 shall choose : and thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings,
the flesh and the blood, upon the altar of the Lord thy
God : and the blood of thy sacrifices shall be poured out
upon the altar of the Lord thy God, and thou shalt eat

28 the flesh. Observe and hear all these words which I
command thee, that it may go well with thee, and with
thy children after thee for ever, when thou doest that
which is good and right in the eyes of the Lord thy God.

29 When the Lord thy God shall cut off the nations
from before thee, whither thou goest in to possess them,
and thou possessest them, and dwellest in their land ;

30 take heed to thyself that thou be not ensnared a to follow

* Heb. after them.

27. See on verse 6.

xii. 29 — xiii. 18. Laws against Solicitation to the Cults of Canaan.
General warning against the assimilation of the worship of Yahweh
to that of the gods of Canaan (verses 29 31). If a prophet urges
the claims of these gods, his teaching is to be rejected, though it
is substantiated by foretold signs ; and the man himself is to be
put to death (xii. 32 — xiii. 5). Even a relative or friend, secretly
soliciting to their worship, is to be denounced and stoned to death
(verses 6-1 1). The city that listens to such solicitations shall be
devoted to Yahweh, its inhabitants being slaughtered, and its spoil
burnt without exception (verses 12-18).

30. ensnared : partly, no doubt, by the ancient belief that the
god of a district must be worshipped there, and in the local manner
(1 Sam xxvi. 1952 Kings xvii. 25-8); partly, also, by the fascination
exercised over men in all ages by novel means of contact with the
supernatural world.

DEUTERONOMY 12. 31 — 13. 3. D 121

them, after that they be destroyed from before thee ;
and that thou inquire not after their gods, saying, How
do these nations serve their gods ? * even so will I do
likewise. Thou shalt not do so unto the Lord thy 31
God : for every abomination to the Lord, which he
hateth, have they done unto their gods ; for even their
sons and their daughters do they burn in the fire to
their gods.

b What thing soever I command you, that shall ye 32
observe to do : thou Shalt not add thereto, nor diminish
from it.

If there arise in the midst of thee a prophet, or a 13
dreamer of dreams, and he give thee a sign or a wonder,
and the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he 2
spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which
thou hast not known, and let us serve them ; thou shalt 3
not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or unto that
dreamer of dreams : for the Lord your God proveth you,

a Or, that I also may do likewise b [Ch. xiii. 1 in Heb.]

Religious reformers have always recognized the perils of
syncretism of the forms of worship ; by the transference or
acceptance of an alien form the alien idea finds easy entrance.

31. abomination: cf. vii. 25; practically a technical term for
acts of idolatry, though also used in the ethical sphere (xxv. 16 ;
Lev. xviii. 22).

burn in the fire (2 Kings xvi. 3, xvii. 31, &c.) : see note on
xviii. 10 for this form of child-sacrifice.

32. This verse (cf. R. V. marg.) relates to the three following
cases (chap, xiii) of solicitation to heathen worship.

xiii. Is a dreamer of dreams. The prophet is conceived as
receiving his message by vision or dream (Num. xii. 6). In
Jer. xxiii. 28, however, the prophecy nourished on dreams is
distinguished from the ethical and spiritual message of Jeremiah
himself.

a sign or a wonder : such as Isaiah offers Ahaz (Isa. vii. 11)
to substantiate his message.

3. proveth you (viii. 2, 16), &c. : * is putting you to the test to

T22 DEUTERONOMY IS. 4-«- D

to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all

4 your heart and with all your soul. Ye shall walk after
the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his com-
mandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him,

5 and cleave unto him. And that prophet, or that dreamer
of dream:,;, shall be put to death; because he hath
spoken a. rebellion against the Lord your God, which
brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed
thee out of the house of bondage, to draw thee aside out
of the way which the Lord thy God commanded thee to
walk in. So shalt thou put away the evil from the midst
of thee.

6 If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or
thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend,
which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying,

a Heb. turning aside.

know whether you do (emph.) love ' (Driver) ; i. e. whether your
relationship to Yahweh is of such a character that it can defy even
1 supernatural ' evidence against His revealed will. The passage
is important for the biblical doctrine of miracle (cf. Mozley.
Lectures on the O. T., p. 33) ; with it should be compared Paul's
warning to the Galatians not to receive another gospel though an
angel preached it (Gal. i. 8) ; and, on the other hand, Christ's
refusal to give external signs of His truth (Mark viii. 11 f.), which
He based primarily on moral experience (John vii. 17) and
practical discernment (Matt. xvi. 3).

5. put away : consume or exterminate (as by burning) ; the
phrase ' consume the evil from the midst ' is characteristic of
Deuteronomy, in which it occurs seven times, all except once of
the death sentence.

6 f. The second example of solicitation, which is of a private
character ('secretly,' verse 6; 'conceal,' verse 8). Even the
closest personal ties must not protect the would-be idolater from
unsparing denunciation and death (cf. xxxiii. o,\

the son of thy mother (Ps. 1. 20) : not, of course, a superfluous

addition to ' brother' in the household of several wives (xxi. 15).

thy friend, which is as thine own soul : the same phrase

occurs in one of the two classical examples of O. T. friendship

DEUTERONOMY 13. 7-12. D 123

Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not
known, thou, nor thy fathers ; of the gods of the peoples 7
which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off
from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the
other end of Uie earth ; thou shalt not consent unto him, 8
nor hearken unto him ; neither shall thine eye pity him,
neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him :
but thou shalt surely kill him ; thine hand shall be 9
first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards
the hand of all the people. And thou shalt stone him 10
with stones, that he die ; because he hath sought to
draw thee away from the Lord thy God, which brought
thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of
bondage. And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall n
do no more any such wickedness as this is in the midst
of thee.

If thou shalt hear tell v concerning one of thy cities, 12
which the Lord thy God giveth thee to dwell there,
a Or. in

fi Sam. xviii. iN ; whilst, in the other, it is the worshipper of
Yahweh who wins over the worshipper of Kemosh (Ruth i. 16).
*?. far off: the Assyrians (2 Kings xvi. 10, xxi. 3b, • the host
of heaven ' : cf. Deut. iv. 19) are probably meant ; for religious
influences nearer at hand, see 1 Kings xi. 5, 7.

9. thine hand shall he first (xvii. 7) : i.e. in the public in-
fliction of the death penalty of verse 10. The convicting witness
must bear the initial responsibility of the act, cost him what sorrow
it may.

10. Stoning was the only recognized form of capital punishment
in Hebrew law (Benzinger, in E.B. 2722). Its adoption may be
due partly in order to avoid literal blood-shedding (to any marked
degree), and partly to keep down the dead man's spirit by the
pile of stones cast on his body.

12 f. The third case of solicitation supposes it to have been
successful, so that a city is tainted with heathen-worship.

hear tell concerning: read as in R. V. marg. ; the words
■ in one of thy cities,' &c, are placed before 'saying' for greater
emphasis, though actually part of what is said.

i24 DEUTERONOMY 13. 13-18. D

13 saying, Certain a base fellows are gone out from the midst
of thee, and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city,
saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not

14 known; then shalt thou inquire, and ma>e search, and
ask diligently 5 and, behold, if it be truth, and the thing
certain, that such abomination is wrought in the midst

15 of thee; thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that
city with the edge of the sword, b destroying it utterly,
and all that is therein and the cattle thereof, with the

16 edge of the sword. And thou shalt gather all the spoil
of it into the midst of the street thereof, and shalt burn
with fire the city, and all the spoil thereof c every whit,
unto the Lord thy God : and it shall be an d heap for

17 ever; it shall not be built again. And there shall cleave
nought of the devoted thing to thine hand : that the
Lord may turn from the fierceness of his anger, and shew
thee mercy, and have compassion upon thee, and

18 multiply thee, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers ; when
thou shalt hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God,
to keep all his commandments which I command thee

a Heb. sons of worth lessness. b Heb. devoting it.

c Or, as a whole burnt offering rt Or, mound Heb. teh

13. base fellows: the Hebrew word for ' worthlessness '
(R. V. marg.) is 'belial,' which in 2 Cor. vi. 15 has developed into
a proper name for the devil. These men have gone out from
the midst of Israel, i. e. are themselves Israelites.

16. spoil: included in the herein, which is of the severest
type, like that on Jericho (Joshua vi. 24). See on xx. 17.

street: 'broad place,' like our 'market-place' or 'village-
green.'

every whit. The Hebrew word, kalil, means ' entire ' or
' whole,' and is also used specially of a ' holocaust ' or sacrifice
consumed wholly upon the altar (xxxiii. 10) ; here in the latter
sense (R. V. marg.).

an heap for ever: like Ai (Joshua viii. 28) or Rabbah (Jer.
xlix. 2).

DEUTERONOMY 14. i, i. D 125

this day, to do that which is right in the eyes of the
Lord thy God.

Ye are the children of the Lord your God : ye shall 14
not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your
eyes for the dead. For thou art an holy people unto 2
the Lord thy God, and the Lord hath chosen thee to
be a peculiar people unto himself, a above all peoples that
are upon the face of the earth.

a Or, out of

xiv. 1-21. The holiness of Israel is to be maintained by ab-
stention from cuttings for the dead (verses t, 2), from eating the
flesh of certain animals (verses 3-8), fishes (verses 9, 10), and
birds (verses 11-20), and from other practices (verse 21) un-
worthy of the people of Yahweh.

The central part of this section (verses 4-20) stands in close
relation to Lev. xi. 2-23, with which it agrees verbally to a large
extent. The general character of the list disconnects it from D
and relates it to P, and this is confirmed by the phrase ' after its
kind,' which is characteristic of P. It is disputed, however,
whether Deuteronomy here depends on Leviticus, or vice versa.

1. cut yourselves: cf. Lev. xix. 28 (xxi. 5, of the priests).
It is clear from Jer. xvi. 6 (cf. xli. 5, xlvii. 5) that mourners cut
themselves for the dead as part of the ordinary funeral ceremonies
of the time, so that the present law, even if belonging to the
original Law-book, was not observed. Such mutilations occur
amongst many primitive peoples (examples in Rel.Sem., p. 322 f.\
and their object appears to be to maintain blood-communion, or
a blood-covenant, with the dead. Similar cuttings were made by
the heathen priests opposed by Elijah (1 Kings xviii. 28), to
establish the blood-bond with their deity.

make any baldness between your eyes : the hair-offering at
the grave is another widespread custom, with similar intent ; the
hair, like the blood, is a special seat of vitality. The custom is
frequently mentioned in the O. T. as a natural feature of mourning
(Amos viii. 10; Isa. xv. 2, xxii. 12; Mic. i. 16; Jer. xvi. 6;
Ezek. vii. 18), the shaved patch ' between the eyes ' (i. e. on the
forehead) corresponding to the mourner's hatband in this country ;
whilst the cuttings on the hands (Jer. xlviii.37) were doubtless as
conventional a sign of mourning as black gloves. The former
practice is forbidden to the priests in Lev. xxi. 5 ; other develop-
ments of the hair-offering are illustrated by the Nazirite's vow
(Num. vi. 18), and the vow of Paul (Acts xviii. 18), and the priestly

126 DEUTERONOMY 14. s~8. DP?

4 Thou shalt not eat any abominable thing. [P ?] These
are the beasts which ye shall eat : the ox, the sheep, and

5 the goat, the hart, and the gazelle, and the roebuck, and
the wild goat, and the pygarg, and the antelope, and the

6 chamois. And every beast that parteth the hoof, and
hath the hoof cloven in two, and acheweth the cud,

7 among the beasts, that ye shall eat. Nevertheless these
ye shall not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them
that have the hoof cloven : the camel, and the hare, and
the h coney, because they chew the cud but part not the

8 hoof, they are unclean unto you : and the swine, because
he parteth the hoof but cheweth not the cud, he is un-

b See Lev. xi. 5.

tonsure of ancient and modern times. Similar practices among
the early Arabs are described by Wellhausen {Reste, p. 181 \

3. abominable thing": the same word as in vii. 25 (; abomina-
tion'). 'No single principle, embracing satisfactorily all the
cases, seems yet to have been found ; and not improbably more
principles than one co-operated' (Driver, p. 164). Probably certain
animals had come to be preserved as a religious duty (totemism\
or were connected with heathen rites < Ezek. viii. 10) ; others
may have been considered as repulsive in themselves.

4f. The translation of the more unfamiliar names is often
uncertain, and usually follows the suggestions of the ancient
versions. The list of ten clean beasts is not given in Lev. xi. 2 f.

5- pygfarfif: i- e. ' white-rump,' the name of a species of
antelope, mentioned by Herodotus (iv. 192) as found in Libya.

chamois : the word (occurring here only) probably denotes
some kind of mountain sheep, rather than the chamois, which
belongs to Central Europe.

6 f. Two characteristics of the ' clean ' class are noted — (a) the
division of the hoof, (b) the bringing up the cud ; one only of
these may belong to animals in the unclean class (verses 7, 8), viz.
(J>) to the camel, hare, rock-badger (R. V. marg.), and (k) to the
swine. Coney is the Old-English word for 'rabbit' (cf. Ps. civ.
18 ; Prov. xxx. 26). ' Neither the rock-rabbit nor the hare really
chews the cud, but the movements which they often make with
their mouths give them the appearance of ruminating ' (S.B.O. T.,
Lev., p. 74).

DEUTERONOMY 14. 9-17. P? 127

clean unto you : of their flesh ye shall not eat, and their
carcases ye shall not touch.

These ye shall eat of all that are in the waters : what- 9
soever hath fins and scales shall ye eat : and whatsoever 10
hath not fins and scales ye shall not eat; it is unclean
unto you.

Of all clean birds ye may eat. But these are they of 11, 12
which ye shall not eat : the a eagle, and the gier eagle, and
the ospray ; and the glede, and the falcon, and the kite 1 3
after its kind ; and every raven after its kind; and the 14, 15
ostrich, and the night hawk, and the seamew, and the
hawk after its kind ; the little owl, and the great owl, 16
and the horned owl ; and the pelican, and the vulture, 17

a See Lev. xi. 13, &c.

9, 10. This general classification of fishes is stated at greater
length in Lev. xi. 9-12.

12. eagle: R. V. marg. suggests 'great vulture.' There are
four species of vultures and eight of eagles in Palestine. The
Arabic equivalent of the Hebrew word here (nesher) covers all
these generically, but the biblical usage of the word (Mic. i. 16,
'enlarge thy baldness as the nesher') shows that the griffon or
great vulture is meant, which is without feathers on the head and
neck (see Post in D.B. s. v. \ Eagle ').

gier eagle : the bearded vulture, largest of all.
ospray : the short-toed eagle : ' It is the most abundant of the
eagle tribe in Palestine ' (Post, /. c).

13. the glede, and the falcon, and the kite : read \ the kite
and the falcon,' and omit 'glede,' which is simply a guess at
a word which does not elsewhere occur, and is almost certainly
due to a scribal error (cf. Lev. xi. 14, supported here by the
ancient versions). i Glede ' is itself an old name for the kite,
retained from A. V.

after its kind (P) : i. e. as a generic name, including various
species.

16. horned owl: others, after LXX, as ' waterhen.' Reasons
for rejection of the A. V. 'swan' are given by Post {D.B. s. v.
'Swan').

17. vulture: • carrion-vulture,' known as ' Pharaoh's hen.'

128 DEUTERONOMY 14. 18-21. P?D

18 and the cormorant j and the stork, and the heron after its

19 kind, and the hoopoe, and the bat. And all winged
creeping things are unclean unto you : they shall not be

20 eaten. Of all clean fowls ye may eat.

2 r [D] Ye shall not eat of any thing that dieth of itself :
thou mayest give it unto the stranger that is within thy
gates, that he may eat it ; or thou mayest sell it unto a
foreigner : for thou art an holy people unto the Lord
thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in its mother's
milk.

cormorant : some kind of plunging bird is meant ; the
cormorant is an expert diver, and ! is common along the coast,
coming up the Kishon and visiting the Sea of Galilee. It is like-
wise abundant along the Jordan' (D.B. s. v.).

18. heron : a conjecture, on the ground that the heron belongs
to the same group as the stork.

19. creeping: 'swarming'; winged swarming things are
insects that fly.

20. fowls : the Hebrew word is wider than the English, and
denotes winged creatures in general. Some kinds of locusts are
here included : cf. Lev. xi. 21, 22.

21. thing- that dieth of itself : one word in Hebrew, rendered
' carcase ' in verse 8 ; the ground of objection to it is that the blood
has not been drained out, as the context of Lev. xvii. 15 implies.
The verse suggests to the English reader a cynical disregard for
the health of the ' stranger ' ; but this does not belong to the
Hebrew law, which merely points out that the ' stranger ' is free
from the ceremonial obligations of the Israelite, without reference
to the selfish disposal of diseased meat.

stranger : see on i. 16. The gey is here distinguished from the
nokhri (xv. 3), or i foreigner,' who is not a settled resident like the
ge'r, bute. g. a foreign trader. The verse should be compared with
Exod. xxii. 31 (JE), where it is said that flesh torn of beasts is to be
given to the dogs ; and Lev. xvii. 15, where both kinds of flesh are
forbidden to both Israelites and settled ' strangers ' (cf. Exod. xii.
49, P), the latter class being practically ' proselytes.'

seethe (boil). The same law is found in Exod. xxiii. 19,
xxxiv. 26 ; in both cases it is named in connexion with the
offering of the firstfruits, which suggests a reference to some
harvest rite (note verse 22 f.). Robertson Smith, who states that
' flesh seethed in milk is still a common Arabian dish,' thinks

DEUTERONOMY 14, 22-24. D 129

Thou shalt surely tithe all the increase of thy seed, 22
that which cometh forth of the field year by year. And 23
thou shalt eat before the Lord thy God, in the place
which he shall choose to cause his name to dwell there,
the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and
the firstlings of thy herd and of thy flock 5 that thou
mayest learn to fear the Lord thy God always. And if 24
the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to
carry it, because the place is too far from thee, which the
Lord thy God shall choose to set his name there, when

that milk is here (as elsewhere) regarded as equivalent to blood
{Rel. Sent., p. 221 n.). Here some heathen rite for promoting
fertility of the field by the breach of a primitive taboo seems to be
meant.

xiv. 22-29. The Law of Tithes. The tithe of all the produce of
the ground, together with the firstlings, is to be eaten at the central
sanctuary (verses 22-3). Its value may be realized in money and
expended there according to choice, if the distance is too great for
the transference of the tithe in kind (verses 24-6). The Levite
is not to be forgotten in this family feast (verse 27). Every third
year's tithe, however, is to be devoted to dependent classes of the
particular district (verses 28, 29).

22. tithe. The payment of a tenth was frequent amongst many
peoples (references in Moore's art. 'Tithes,' E.B., for Greeks,
Romans, Carthaginians, Egyptians, Syrians, Sabaeans, Lydians,
Babylonians, and Chinese \ The tithe was devoted by the early
Hebrews to secular, i.e. royal ( 1 Sam. viii. 15, 17 : cf. Amos vii. i)or
religious (Amos iv. 4 : cf. Gen. xxviii. 22) purposes. The earliest
Semitic sacred tithe of which we know, that of the Carthaginians
sent to Tyre, was both political and religious (Rel. Sem., p. 246).
The priest would naturally receive something from all tithe offered
at a temple to the deity; he would share, e. g., in the family feast
prescribed by the present law. This is, however, to be clearly
distinguished from the later law of Num. xviii. 21 (P), which
claimed the whole tithe for the Levites. For a full discussion of
their relation, see Driver, pp. 168 73. Cattle are not tithed by
this law (contrast Lev. xxvii. 32).

23. See on xii. 5, 7 ; consumption is now transferred from the
local (Amos iv. 4) to the central sanctuary.

firstling's : included here incidentally ; for the law relating
to them, see xv. 19-23.

130 DEUTERONOMY 14. 25— 15. 1. D

25 the Lord thy God shall bless thee : then shalt thou turn
it into money, and bind up the money in thine hand,
and shalt go unto the place which the Lord thy God

26 shall choose : and thou shalt bestow the money for what-
soever thy soul desireth, for oxen, or for sheep, or for
wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul
asketh of thee : and thou shalt eat there before the
Lord thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou and thine

27 household : and the Levite that is within thy gates, thou
shalt not forsake him ; for he hath no portion nor inherit-
ance with thee.

28 At the end of every three years thou shalt bring forth
all the tithe of thine increase in the same year, and shalt

29 lay it up within thy gates : and the Levite, because he
hath no portion nor inheritance with thee, and the
stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which are
within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be
satisfied; that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all
the work of thine hand which thou doest.

15 At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a

25. turn it into money : a concession necessitated by the new
law of the one sanctuary.

bind up the money : i. e. in a purse : cf. Gen. xlii. 35
(' bundle,' the Heb. word for purse, being related to the verb
< bind ').

28. At the end of every three years : i. e. the tithe of the
third year is devoted wholly to charity (cf. xxvi. 12).

bringf forth . . . lay up : i. e. this tithe is collected from indi-
vidual Israelites and deposited in a common store for its specific
use — the sustenance of the more or less dependent classes named
here, and often elsewhere in this book (xvi. 11, 14, xxiv. 17, 19-21,
xxvi. 12, 13).

xv. 1-18. The Year of Release. Every seventh year shall be
'a release to Yahweh ' ; the creditor shall let drop his claim to
what has been lent to a fellow Israelite (verses 1-3). If Israel is
obedient, this law will not be required, for Israel will lend, not

DEUTERONOMY 15. 2. D 131

release. And this is the manner of the release : every 2
creditor shall release that which he hath lent unto his
neighbour j he shall not exact it of his neighbour and
his brother ; because the Lord's release hath been pro-
borrow (verses 4-6). Further, the Israelite is not to let the
thought of this year's proximity hinder him from helping his needy
brother (verses 7-1 1).

Slavery, in the case of an Israelite, is to be limited by the same
term ; in the seventh year the Hebrew slave is to be set free
with liberal provision for his needs (verses 12-15). If> however,
he choose to remain, his ear shall be pierced as a sign of the
permanent bond now constituted (verses 16-18).

Cf. the law of Exod. xxiii. 10, n (JE), according to which land
is to lie fallow in the seventh year (the spontaneous produce of
that year to be for the poor), and the similar law of Lev. xxv.
1-7 (H), known as that of ' the Sabbatical year.' The suspension
of agriculture in the seventh year, it has been thought, would make
necessary, in many cases, some such provision as this for the
suspension of debt-claims in that year. (The former law appears
to be one form of a widespread resumption of the rights of the
community in land). It is possible, however, that this law is
intended to take the place of that in Exod. xxiii. 10, 11, rather
than to supplement it.

1. At the end of every seven years: i. e. in the seventh
year as rounding off this period. This will be seen from Jer.
xxxiv. 14, where ' at the end of seven years ' clearly implies that
six years only have elapsed.

a release : lit. ' a letting drop,' as is seen from the use of
the corresponding verb in 2 Kings ix. 33 (death of Jezebel ;
R. V. ' throw her down ') and, figuratively, as here, in Exod. xxiii.
11 (R. V. marg.).

2. the LORD'S release : c a release (in honour) of Yahweh ' :
cf. Lev. xxv. 4, ' in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of complete
rest for the land, a sabbath to Yahweh.' The fact that this is
proclaimed shows that it is intended to be celebrated throughout
the land at one and the same time. It is, however, very difficult
to decide what is released or 'let drop.' Is it the debt itself,
which is then wholly cancelled by this year of release ? Or is it
simply a temporary release from the obligation to repay during
the seventh year? The most recent commentators are divided on
this point. Dillmann, followed with considerable hesitation by
Driver, takes the latter view, on the ground that the former would
be impracticable and that the law connects with Exod. xxiii. 10,
11, where it is the use of the land for the seventh year that is

K 2

132 DEUTERONOMY 15. gLfc D

3 claimed. Of a foreigner thou mayest exact it : but
whatsoever of thine is with thy brother thine hand

4 shall a release. Howbeit there shall be no poor with thee ;
(for the Lord will surely bless thee in the land which
the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to

5 possess it ;) if only thou diligently hearken unto the voice
of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all this command-

6 ment which I command thee this day. For the Lord
thy God will bless thee, as he promised thee : and thou
shalt lend unto many nations, but thou shalt not
borrow; and thou shalt rule over many nations, but
they shall not rule over thee.

7 If there be with thee a poor man, one of thy brethren,
within any of thy gates in thy land which the Lord thy
God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor

8 shut thine hand from thy poor brother : but thou shalt
surely open thine hand unto him, and shalt surely lend

a Or, release : save when there &c.

suspended. Steuernagel and Bertholet hold the former view, on
the ground that the law plainly relates to charitable loans, not
business investments, and that the requirement that the loan
should become a gift in such a case is not so unnatural as it might
seem. This view seems more probable ; its utter impracticability
for business relations was easily evaded by the later Jews through
a legal fiction.

3. a foreigner : i. e. the nokhrt, not the settled ger (see on xiv.
21), who stands in much closer relation to Israel.

4. R. V. marg. says that the law of release is not operative
when there is no poverty. R. V. text states categorically that
there shall be no poverty, before introducing the limitation of
verse 5. The latter is more natural, though as an expression of
an ideal it is literally inconsistent with verse 11, the statement
of actual conditions.

with thee : \ in thee ' ; i. e. in thy midst.
*7 f. The new paragraph deals with the practical difficulty at
once raised by the law — that a loan on the eve of the year of
release is tantamount to a gift.

DEUTERONOMY 15. 9-12. D 133

him sufficient for his need in that which he wanteth.
Beware that there be not a base thought in thine heart, 9
saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand ;
and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou
give him nought ; and he cry unto the Lord against thee,
and it be sin unto thee. Thou shalt surely give him, 10
and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest
unto him : because that for this thing the Lord thy
God shall bless thee in all thy work, and in all that thou
puttest thine hand unto. For the poor shall never cease 1 1
out of the land : therefore I command thee, saying, Thou
shalt surely open thine hand unto thy brother, to thy
needy, and to thy poor, in thy land.

If thy brother, an Hebrew man, or an Hebrew woman, 1 2

9. thine eye be evil : xxviii. 54, 56. The evil eye is primarily
the envious or grudging eye (Matt. xx. 15). Primitive thought
credits the peripheral organs with actual psychical and ethical
qualities, though our knowledge of the nervous system leads us to
interpret such expressions as figurative.

cry unto Yahweh : Exod. xxii. 23 ; the spoken word has
a power of its own.

sin unto thee : (xxiv. 15) Heb. \ in thee ' ; so R.V. in xxiii. 22.

It is difficult to conceive that the strong language of this verse
can relate simply to a question of deferred payment ; indeed
Benzinger goes so far as to say that verse 9 ' makes it impossible
to interpret the law as meaning merely that repayment of the debt
is postponed for a year' {E.B. 2727). Cf. 'givest' in verse 10.

12 f. For the parallel law in JE, see Exod. xxi. 2-6 ; Lev. xxv.
39-46 (H and Pj gives a later law, according to which the
Israelite is not to be a slave at all, but a hired servant, and
released in the year of Jubile. Foreigners only are to be slaves
for life.

On Semitic slavery in general, see S. A. Cook, The Laws of
Moses, chap. vii. For the parallel law in the Code of Hammurabi,
see Introd., p. 22. That the present law was by no means uniformly
observed is shown by Jer. xxxiv. 8 f.

an Hebrew woman : explicitly excluded from the sphere of
this law by Exod. xxi. 7 ; the older law allowed even the wife of
the slave to go out with him only if she entered servitude with
him, as his wife already. Deuteronomy, in placing the Hebrewess

i34 DEUTERONOMY 15. 13-18. D

be sold unto thee, and serve thee six years ; then in the
seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee.
1 3 And when thou lettest him go free from thee, thou shalt
H not let him go empty : thou shalt furnish him liberally
out of thy flock, and out of thy threshing-floor, and out of
thy winepress : as the Lord thy God hath blessed thee

1 5 thou shalt give unto him. And thou shalt remember
that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the
Lord thy God redeemed thee : therefore I command

16 thee this thing to-day. And it shall be, if he say unto
thee, I will not go out from thee ; because he loveth thee

17 and thine house, because he is well with thee ; then thou
shalt take an awl, and thrust it through his ear unto the
door, and he shall be thy a servant for ever. And also

18 unto thy b maidservant thou shalt do likewise. It shall
not seem hard unto thee, when thou lettest him go free

a Or, bondman b Or, bondwoman

on an equality of rights with the Hebrew, is consistent with its
recognition of" the improved status of woman in v. 21 (see note).
Cf. verse i7b.

and serve : rather, * he shall serve.'

14. furnish him liberally : Heb. • make a rich necklace for
him ' ; the same verb in Ps. lxxiii. 6.

1*7. thrust it through his ear: for primitive thought such
a ceremony is more than symbolical. The ear is the organ of
obedience, and as such possesses psychical and ethical qualities.
In the Code of Hammurabi (Law 282) the slave who refuses to
obey his master has his ear cut off. The ear seems to have been
a favourite place for branding slaves (Cook, The Laws of Moses,
p. 159). Some of the ear-boring rites of primitive peoples are
probably an acknowledgement of the worshippers' service to the
deity, to whom they stand as slaves.

unto the door of his master's house, on whose threshold
a blood-bond is thus made (Clay Trumbull, The Threshold Covenant,
p. 210). In Exod. xxi. 6, however, this is preceded by the bringing
of the slave to the sanctuary (' unto God'), whereas the present
law makes the rite simply a domestic one.

DEUTERONOMY 15. 19-21. D 135

from thee ; for to the double of the hire of an hireling
hath he served thee six years : and the Lord thy God
shall bless thee in all that thou doest.

All the firstling males that are born of thy herd and of 19
thy flock thou shalt sanctify unto the Lord thy God ]:
thou shalt do no work with the firstling of thine ox, nor
shear the firstling of thy flock. Thou shalt eat it before 20
the Lord thy God year by year in the place which the
Lord shall choose, thou and thy household. And if it 21
have any blemish, as if it be lame or blind, any ill
blemish whatsoever, thou shalt not sacrifice it unto the

18. to the double of the hire of an hireling- : a day-labourer
would have cost twice as much. For a modern parallel to the
practice here enjoined, see Doughty, Arabia Deserta, i. 554 (cited
by Cook, op. cit., p. 167) : — 'The condition of a slave is always
tolerable and is often happy in Arabia ... It is not many years,
" if their house-lord fears Ullah " before he will give them their
liberty ; and then he sends them not away empty.'

xv. 19-23. The Law of Firstlings. The firstborn males of oxen
and sheep are to be eaten yearly at the one sanctuary, in a family
feast (verses 19-20). If, however, any one of these be not perfect,
it is to be eaten at home as ordinary food (verses 21-23).

Parallel laws are found in JE (Exod. xiii. 11-16, xxii. 29, 30,
xxxiv. 19-20), and in P (Num. xviii. 15-18). The chief differences
(which exemplify the practical interests of Deuteronomy) are
that the earlier law (Exod. xxii. 30) orders the offering of the
firstborn on the eighth day after birth, which the law of the central
sanctuary makes impracticable, and that the later law (Num. xviii.
18) gives the whole of the flesh as a priests1 due, instead of direct-
ing its consumption at a family feast.

19. firstling* males : these were originally placed under the
taboo which belongs to all that is connected with birth and its
mysteries (Introd., p. 25). If a firstling ass was not redeemed by
its owner, its neck was to be broken (Exod. xxxiv. 20 : cf. Rel.
Sent., p. 463). The maintenance of this taboo is still seen here,
in the exclusion of the firstling from ordinary work or use.

20. year toy year : i. e. at such a yearly festival as the passover
(chap, xvi), a custom which would explain the present place of
this law.

21. tolemish: cf. xvii. 1.

136 DEUTERONOMY 15. 22— 16. 1. D

22 Lord thy God. Thou shalt eat it within thy gates :
the unclean and the clean shall eat it alike, as the

23 gazelle, and as the hart. Only thou shalt not eat the
blood thereof; thou shalt pour it out upon the ground
as water.

16 Observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover

22. the unclean and the clean : see on xii. 15 ; it is to be
treated as ordinary food, the taboo being in this case disregarded.

xvi. 1- 1 7. The Three Annual Festivals: — (a) Passover (and
Unleavened Bread) (verses 1-8) ; (b) Weeks ( = Pentecost)
(verses 9-12) ; (c) Tabernacles (verses 13-15). Summary (verses
16, 17).

Parallel laws are found in JE (Exod. xxiii. 14-17, xxxiv. 18,
22-4, xii. 21-7, xiii. 3-10), and in HP (Lev. xxiii) and P (Num.
xxviii and xxix).

In the summary of these festivals (verse 16) they are called the
feast of Mazzoth (unleavened bread), the feast of weeks, and the
feast of booths. The second and third of these are plainly
agricultural ; the first also is of the same character, since (a) it
is connected with the time of putting the sickle to the standing
corn (verse 9) ; (6) produce is offered at it as at the other feasts
(verse 17), especially ' the sheaf of the firstfruits ' (Lev. xxiii. 10) ;
(c) the name suggests bread made in haste (Gen. xviii. 6, xix. 3,
Exod. xii. 34) from the newly-reaped barley (cf. Joshua v. 11).
But agricultural feasts, such as these, can have had no place in the
nomadic life of Israel. They must belong to the time subsequent
to its settlement in Canaan, and were most probably derived from
the Canaanites themselves, amongst whom the vintage festival, at
any rate, was celebrated (Judges ix. 27, xxi. 19 f.). The first of
these festivals is hereconnected with sacrifices of another kind (verse
2), and with another name, the Passover (verse 1 f.). This con-
nexion appears to have existed from an earlier time (Exod. xxxiv.
25, xii. 21 f.), the characteristic features of the Passover rites
being (a) the sacrifice of the firstlings of cattle and the redemption
of the firstborn of man (Exod. xxxiv. 19 ; note verse 18 for
connexion with Mazzoth) ; (6) the sprinkling of the posts of the
door with blood (Exod. xii. 22) ; (c) the evening celebration
(verses 4-7 : cf. Exod. xii. 22). Of these, (a) will connect with
the law of firstlings (xv. 19 f.) ; (b) is some form of 'threshold
covenant,' in which the blood wards off peril, as from pestilence
(see on vi. 9) ; and (c) suggests that the festival is related to the
phases of the moon. Scholars differ in opinion as to which of
these gives the central meaning of the Passover ; W. R. Smith,

DEUTERONOMY 16. 2, 3. D 137

unto the Lord thy God : for in the month of Abib the
Lord thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night.
And thou shalt sacrifice the passover unto the Lord thy 2
God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which the
Lord shall choose to cause his name to dwell there.
Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it ; seven days 3
shalt thou eat unleavened bread therewith, even the

for example, emphasizes (a): 'In the Passover we find the
sacrifice of firstlings assuming the form of an annual feast, in the
spring season ' (Rel. Sent., p. 465) ; Benzinger emphasizes (b)
(E.B. 3595) ; and others have emphasized the relation of spring
festivals to the calendar. (For the importance of the moon in
regard to Semitic agriculture, see Jastrow, Babylonian-Assyrian
Religion, p. 461.) The 'Passover' may well have been Israel's
own contribution to the combined festival of Passover — Mazzoth ;
in its original form it may have been connected with the
Exodus, according to the tradition of Exod. v. 1, xii. 31, &c.
At any rate, each of the three festivals subsequently gained
a historical meaning ; the first is here made a memorial of the
Exodus (verses 1, 3, 6, as perhaps already in Exod. xii. 27, JE) ;
the Feast of Booths commemorated the desert wanderings (Lev.
xxiii. 43, H) ; whilst, outside the limits of the O. T., the Feast of
Weeks was connected with the delivery of the law at Sinai {E.B.
3651). The characteristics of Deuteronomy, in dealing with these
festivals, are — (a) their centralization at Jerusalem, with its conse-
quences, (b) emphasis on their historical character in general (see
on Deut. xxvi. 5 f.).

1. Abib. The word relates to fresh ears of barley in Exod. ix.
31 (' in the ear ') ; hence it is used of the period of the year in
which these are formed (i. e. our April), the first month of the
priestly year, whose post-exilic name was Nisan.

the passover : Heb. pesah, whose meaning is usually ex-
plained from Exod. xii. 13. Others connect with a similar word
meaning to leap, or limp (1 Kings xviii. 26), and explain it as
meaning a ritual dance ; others, again (Zimmern, Die Keilinschriften
und das Alte Testament* , p. 610 note3), connect with the Assyrian
pasdhu (be appeased) as a rite of expiation.

2. of the flock and the herd : i. e. either a sheep or an ox, the
range of choice for the Passover sacrifice being wider than in
the later law of P (Exod. xii. 3-6), by which the sacrifice must be
a lamb or kid.

3. unleavened bread : (for the relation of Mazzoth to the

138 DEUTERONOMY 16. 4-8. D

bread of affliction ; for thou earnest forth out of the
land of Egypt in haste : that thou mayest remember the
day when thou earnest forth out of the land of Egypt all

4 the days of thy life. And there shall be no leaven seen
with thee in all thy borders seven days ; neither shall
any of the flesh, which thou sacrificest the first day at even,

5 remain all night until the morning. Thou mayest not
sacrifice the passover within any of thy gates, which the

6 Lord thy God giveth thee : but at the place which the
Lord thy God shall choose to cause his name to dwell
in, there thou shalt sacrifice the passover at even, at the
going down of the sun, at the season that thou earnest

7 forth out of Egypt. And thou shalt a roast and eat it in
the place which the Lord thy God shall choose : and
thou shalt turn in the morning, and go unto thy tents.

8 Six days thou shalt eat unleavened bread : and on the
seventh day shall be b a solemn assembly to the Lord thy
God ; thou shalt do no work therein.

a Or, seethe b See Lev. xxiii. 36.

Passover, see above) ; here called the bread of affliction on
the ground of Exod. xii. 34, 39, and a frequent form of food
prepared in haste or ' trepidation ' (Driver) (see above, and
cf. 1 Sam. xxviii. 24).

4. The two prohibitions of this verse are connected by Robertson
Smith {Rel. Sent., p. 221 note) with one another and with the idea
' that the efficacy of the sacrifice lay in the living flesh and blood of
the victim. Everything of the nature of putrefaction was therefore
to be avoided.'

6. season : rendered ' set time ' in Exod. ix. 5 ; the time of
day is meant (Exod. xii. 29 f.).

*7. roast. The normal meaning of the Heb. word is l boil '
(R. V. marg. seethe), as rendered in xiv. 21, and as it should be
rendered here. The later law of P (Exod. xii. 9) forbids the
flesh of the passover sacrifice to be boiled.

unto thy tents : i. e. home, where the following Mazzoth
festival is to be kept. For the phrase, see on Joshua xxii. 4.

8. a solemn assembly : R. V. marg. offers the alternative

DEUTERONOMY 16. 9-12. D 139

Seven weeks shalt thou number unto thee : from the 9
time thou beginnest to put the sickle to the standing
corn shalt thou begin to number seven weeks. And 10
thou shalt keep the feast of weeks unto the Lord thy
God a with a tribute of a freewill offering of thine hand,
which thou shalt give, according as the Lord thy God
blesseth thee : and thou shalt rejoice before the Lord i i
thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy
manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is
within thy gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless,
and the widow, that are in the midst of thee, in the
place which the Lord thy God shall choose to cause his
name to dwell there. And thou shalt remember that 12
thou wast a bondman in Egypt : and thou shalt observe
and do these statutes.

a Or, after the measure ofthe&c.

' closing festival,' this seventh sabbatical day being the close of
the whole week ; but the word is used in a general sense also
(Jer. ix. 2). Read simply 'an assembly.'

9. The < feast of weeks ' (verses 10, 16 ; Exod. xxxiv. 22) is so
called because it marks the completion of the seven weeks of corn
harvest ; its better-known name, Pentecost, meaning ' the fiftieth '
(day), was used by Hellenistic Jews (cf. Lev. xxiii. 16). It is
called 'the feast of harvest' in Exod. xxiii. 16, and 'the day of
firstfruits ' in Num. xxviii. 26 (here, however, no mention is
made of the firstfruits).

sickle : for the only other reaping instrument named in the
O. T., see Jer. 1. 16; Joel iii. 13 (a different word). Both sickle
flints, to make a cutting edge, and iron sickles have been found at
Tell el Hesi (E.B. 81).

10. feast: Heb. hag, the same word as the Arabic ftaj, the
well-known annual pilgrimage to Mecca. Driver prefers to render
by ' pilgrimage ' ; in any case, this element in the meaning of the
word must not be overlooked. Possibly 'pilgrim-feast' may be
used with advantage.

with a tribute : read with R. V. marg. ; the Hebrew word
probably means l sufficiency,' and the meaning is ' the full amount
that thou canst afford.'

11. See on xii. 5, 7, 12.

140 DEUTERONOMY 16. 13-18. D

13 Thou shalt keep the feast of a tabernacles seven days,
after that thou hast gathered in from thy threshing-

14 floor and from thy winepress : and thou shalt rejoice in
thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy
manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite, and
the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are

15 within thy gates. Seven days shalt thou keep a feast
unto the Lord thy God in the place which the Lord
shall choose : because the Lord thy God shall bless thee
in all thine increase, and in all the work of thine hands,

16 and thou shalt be altogether joyful. Three times in a
year shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy God
in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of
unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the
feast of tabernacles : and they shall not appear before

17 the Lord empty : every man b shall give as he is able,
according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which he
hath given thee.

18 Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy

a Heb. booths. b Heb. according to the gift of his hand.

13. The feast of booths (R. V. marg.) is called in Exod. xxiii.
16, xxxiv. 22 (JE) the feast of ingathering ; and, as the chief of
the three, is also called simply ' the feast ' (x Kings viii. 2, 65, &o).
The custom of living in ' booths ' at the vintage season has been
enshrined in the law of Lev. xxiii. 40-3. The feast is the
autumn thanksgiving for the produce of the year, which the
vintage completes (September).

15. Cf. Lev. xxiii. 39; this feast, only, retains the worshippers
more than a day at Jerusalem.

16 f. The concluding summary is parallel with Exod. xxiii. 17.

appear before : the original punctuation of the Hebrew verb

here as elsewhere (xxxi. 11, &c), perhaps expressed 'see the

face of (cf. 2 Sam. iii. 13, &c), the phrase used of obtaining

audience of a king or ruler.

xvi. 18 — xviii. 22 (except xvi. 21 — xvii. 7) : Judges, King, Priests,
Prophets. The appointment of local judges whose judicial acts

DEUTERONOMY 10. i9, 20. D 141

gates, which the Lord thy God giveth thee, according to
thy tribes : and they shall judge the people with righteous
judgement. Thou shalt not wrest judgement ; thou 19
shalt not respect persons : neither shalt thou take a
gift ; for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and
pervert the a words of the righteous. bThat which is 2°
altogether just shalt thou follow, that thou mayest live,
a Or, cause h Heb. Justice, justice.

shall be impartial (xvi. 18-20). Reference of difficult cases to a
court of appeal at Jerusalem, whose decisions shall be final, con-
tempt of court being punishable with death (xvii. 8-13).

The future king of Israel shall be Yahweh's choice and an
Israelite (xvii. 14, 15). He shall not multiply horses, wives, or
wealth (verses 16, 17). A royal copy of this law shall be made,
which he shall study and obey, that he may be saved from pride
and disobedience, and may prolong his reign and that of his
dynasty (verses 18-20). The Levitical priests, having no other
inheritance, shall be supported from the offerings made to Yahweh
and from dues paid by the people (xviii. 1-5). Local Levites who
come up to Jerusalem shall there have equal rights of ministry
and support with their brethren (verses 6-8).

The magic and divination of Canaan shall not be practised by
Israel (verses 9-14). Instead, there shall be a succession of
prophets to take the place of Moses, authoritatively commissioned
by Yahweh, the test of the true prophet being the conformity of
his message to actual events (verses 15-22).

xvi. 18 f. Judges.

18. Judges and officers : the appointment of these local (in
all thy gates) judges and their assistants was rendered neces-
sary by the destruction of the local sanctuaries, whose priests had
given judgements in the name of Yahweh (Exod. xxi. 6, xxii. 8 ;
1 Sam. ii. 25 ; Isa. xxviii. 7). Josephus makes the appointment
to be of seven judges for each city, each with two Levites to assist
him {Antiq. iv. 8. 14)— a description probably drawn from the
customs of his own day. For examples of the powers of these
judges, cf. xix. 17, xxi. 2, xxv. 2. The relation of these judges to
the ' elders ' (see on xix. 11) is not clear.

19. Cf. the Code of Hammurabi, § 5, for the severe sentence on
the judge who revokes his own properly declared verdict (pre-
sumably on corrupt grounds). Attempted bribery is there punished
by the penalty from which escape is sought, § 4.

words : so the Hebrew, but in sense of R. V. marg.

142 DEUTERONOMY 16. 21— 17. 1. D

and inherit the land which the Lord thy God giveth
thee.

21 Thou shalt not plant thee an Asherah of any kind of
tree beside the altar of the Lord thy God, which thou

22 shalt make thee. Neither shalt thou set thee up a
a pillar ; which the Lord thy God hateth.

17 Thou shalt not sacrifice unto the Lord thy God an

ox, or a sheep, wherein is a blemish, or any evilfavoured-

ness : for that is an abomination unto the Lord thy

God.

a Or, obelisk

xvi. 21 — xvii. 7. Laws against Idolatrous or Improper Worship.
No Asherah and no Mazzebah shall be erected by Yahweh's altar
(xvi. 21, 22) ; no blemished animal shall be sacrificed to Him
(xvii. 1) ; the Israelite convicted through two witnesses of wor-
shipping other gods shall be stoned to death (xvii. 2-7).

This short section is clearly out of place, since it breaks the
connexion between xvi. 20 and xvii. 8. Its most natural place
would be between chaps, xii and xiii.

21. Asherah : (vii. 5, xii. 3) this transliteration of the Hebrew
word is not to be regarded as the name of a person (the existence
of any goddess of this name is uncertain) nor confused with
Ashtoreth, the Phoenician goddess. It was a wooden post
(Judges vi. 26), which stood by Canaanite altars (Judges vi. 25 :
cf. Exod. xxxiv. 13), and by the altars of Yahweh, prior to the
Deuteronomic reform (2 Kings xiii. 6, xxiii. 6, 15). The most
natural explanation regards it as a development from tree-worship
(cf. Rel. Sem., p. 188 ; and for a popular account of tree-worship,
Philpot, The Sacred Tree).

22. pillar, or, 'Mazzebah/ is the upright stone, frequently
named with the Asherah as standing by the altar or high place
(vii. 5, xii. 3). There were sacred stones at Shechem (Joshua
xxiv. 26), Bethel (Gen. xxviii. 18 f.), Gilgal (Joshua iv. 20) ; cf.
Hosea iii. 4 (Rel. Sent., 203). For the place of the sacred stone
in Semitic religion, see Moore's art. ' Massebah ' in E.B. ; it
appears to have been ' the rude precursor of the temple and the
altar as well as of the idol ' {E.B. 2982). An illustration of a
Phoenician Mazzebah will be found in D.B. s. v. ' Pillar.'

xvii. 1. blemish: xv. 21 ; Lev. xxii. 17-25 (H) : cf. Lev. i. 3 (P),
&c. The abomination (vii. 25) of such an offering is em-
phasized in Mai. i. 8.

DEUTERONOMY 17. 2-8. D 143

If there be found in the midst of thee, within any of 2
thy gates which the Lord thy God giveth thee, man or
woman, that doeth that which is evil in the sight of the
Lord thy God, in transgressing his covenant, and hath 3
gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, or
the sun, or the moon, or any of the host of heaven,
which I have not commanded ; and it be told thee, and 4
thou hast heard of it, then shalt thou inquire diligently,
and, behold, if it be true, and the thing certain, that such
abomination is wrought in Israel ; then shalt thou bring 5
forth that man or that woman, which have done this evil
thing, unto thy gates, even the man or the woman ; and
thou shalt stone them with stones, that they die. At 6
the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he
that is to die be put to death j at the mouth of one
witness he shall not be put to death. The hand of the 7
witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death,
and afterward the hand of all the people. So thou shalt
put away the evil from the midst of thee.

If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgement, S
between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and

2f. Cf. Exod. xxii. 20 (JE) and Deut. xiii, which deals with
seduction to this idolatry.

covenant: cf. Joshua vii. n, 15, &c: see on iv. 13. Here
the term is equivalent to ' ordinance ' or ' injunction.'

3. See on iv. 19.

4. Cf. xiii. 14.

5. The idolater is to be stoned to death without the gate (cf.
Num. xv. 36). Stephen died under this law (Acts vii. 57 f.).

6. A special application of the general provision of xix. 15 : cf.
Num. xxxv. 30.

*T. See on xiii. 9 ; and note that in both cases the death penalty
is carried out by the entire community (cf. E.B. 2718).

8f. The subject of xvi. 18-20 is continued ; difficult cases shall
be referred from the local courts to Jerusalem.

between blood and blood: i.e. whether the act of killing
has been intentional or accidental (Exod. xxi. 12-14). Similar

i44 DEUTERONOMY 17. 9-12. D

between stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy
within thy gates : then shalt thou arise, and get thee up
unto the place which the Lord thy God shall choose ;

9 and thou shalt come unto the priests the Levites, and
unto the judge that shall be in those days : and thou
shalt inquire ; and they shall shew thee the sentence of

10 judgement : and thou shalt do according to the tenor of
the sentence, which they shall shew thee from that place
which the Lord shall choose j and thou shalt observe to

1 r do according to all that they shall teach thee : according
to the tenor of the law which they shall teach thee, and
according to the judgement which they shall tell thee,
thou shalt do : thou shalt not turn aside from the

12 sentence which they shall shew thee, to the right
hand, nor to the left. And the man that doeth pre-
sumptuously, in not hearkening unto the priest that

difficulties might arise in regard to the plea (a general word), in-
cluding, if not designating, disputes about property (e.g. Exod. xxii.
if.) and in regard to the stroke, which refers to personal injuries
(such as those of Exod. xxi. 18 f.).

within thy gates : i. e. locally (xii. 12), hardly with refer-
ence to the ' gate ' as the place of judgement.

9. the priests the Levites : see on xviii. r.
the judge : possibly the king is meant, as in Amos ii. 3 ;

Micah v. 1. That the king was supreme judge in Israel is clear
from 2 Sam. viii. 15, xiv. 4 f., xv. 2, 1 Kings vii. 7, &c. A supreme
court is said to have been instituted by Jehoshaphat, according
to 2 Chron. xix. 8, of spiritual and lay judges, with the chief
priest as president in sacred, and a representative of the king in
secular cases.

thou shalt inquire : read with LXX ' they shall inquire '
(cf. xix. 18), i.e. the judges who will 'declare' (R.V. shew)
the sentence.

10. tenor : Hebrew ' mouth ' : cf. xix. 15, xxi. 5 (' word '). The
idiom 'according to the mouth of ' here expresses 'exactly,' or
'literally.'

teach : ' direct/ the verb corresponding to the noun ' torah f
(verse n), ' direction,' and so ' law.'

12. The relation of the 'priest' and the 'judge' is not clear,

DEUTERONOMY 17. 13-16. D 145

standeth to minister there before the Lord thy God, or
unto the judge, even that man shall die : and thou shalt
put away the evil from Israel. And all the people shall 13
hear, and fear, and do no more presumptuously.

When thou art come unto the land which the Lord 14
thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell
therein j and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as
all the nations that are round about me ; thou shalt in 15
any wise set him king over thee, whom the Lord thy
God shall choose : one from among thy brethren shalt
thou set king over thee : thou mayest not put a foreigner
over thee, which is not thy brother. Only he shall not 16
multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return
to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses :
forasmuch as the Lord hath said unto you, Ye shall

unless we suppose that a division of jurisdiction is implied (see on
verse 9). For put away, see on xiii. 5. The decision is that of
Yahweh ; hence the severe penalty for contempt of court.

xvii. 14-20. The future king.

14. I will set a king over me : cf. 1 Sam. viii. 5, which
belongs to the later of the two narratives of the institution of the
kingship, representing Samuel as hostile to such institution.
Deuteronomy shares something of this hostility, drawn from the
actual experience of the monarchy (verse 16), and expressed in
previous prophetic teaching (e. g. Hos. viii. 4).

15. The king must be Yahweh's choice (1 Sam. x. 24 ; 2 Sam.
vi. 21), and a native Israelite.

16. 17. The prohibition of multiplied horses, wives, and wealth
is clearly aimed at such conduct as Solomon's (1 Kings x. 14 — xi.
8), and implies the memory of his reign.

horses : i. e. for war. The Hebrew suspicion of foreign
methods of fighting is reflected in Joshua xi. 9, where the captured
horses are houghed. Cf. Hos. xiv. 3; Isa. ii. 7 ; Micah v. 10.

to return to Egypt : hardly of an Israelite slave-trade
(Steuernagel), but of the general relations of commerce, as in
1 Kings x. 28. Egypt was famous for its horses.

hath, said : cf. xxviii. 68 ; the source of this quotation is not
included in the extant O. T. documents; but cf. Exod. xiii. 17,
xiv. 13.

146 DEUTERONOMY 17. 17 — 18. 1. D

17 henceforth return no more that way. Neither shall he
multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away :
neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.

18 And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his
kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a
book, out of that which is before the priests the Levites :

19 and it shall be with him, and he shall read therein
all the days of his life : that he may learn to fear the
Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law and these

20 statutes, to do them : that his heart be not lifted up above
his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the command-
ment, to the right hand, or to the left : to the end that
he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his
children, in the midst of Israel.

18 The priests the Levites, * even all the tribe of Levi,
shall have no portion nor inheritance with Israel : they
a Or, and

17. that his heart turn not away : as did Solomon's (1 Kings
xi. 4 f.), through the foreign religion of the women of his harem.
silver and gold : as a source of pride (verse 20 : cf. Isa. xxxix).

18 f. The king is to write out for himself the Deuteronomic
law from the sanctuary edition (xxxi. 9, 26), and rule by its precepts.
a copy of this law: Hebrew, 'a repetition of this law,'
wrongly understood by the LXX (so in Joshua viii. 32) as meaning
' this repetition of the law,' whence is derived the name of the
book ' Deuteronomy,' the ' second law.'

xviii. 1-8. The Priests', {a) support (verses 1-5), (b) equality
(verses 6-8).

1. The priests the Levites : i. e., as the verse explicitly states
(' all the tribe of Levi '), every Levite is a potential or actual priest.
(There is no ground for R. V. marg.). The later law of P con-
fined the priesthood to ' Aaron's sons, the priests ' (Lev. i. 5, &c.) :
see on x. 8.

no portion nor inheritance with Israel. The early history
of the tribe of Levi is obscurely reflected in Gen. xxxiv. 25, 30,
xlix. 5f., where it appears as a secular tribe ; in Deut. xxxiii. 8 -11
it appears as a priestly community. We have no clear evidence as
to the transition ; but the passages cited from Genesis imply the
disappearance of Levi and Simeon as distinct tribes. The most

DEUTERONOMY 18. 2-6. D 147

shall eat the offerings of the Lord made by fire, and his
inheritance. And they shall have no inheritance among 2
their brethren j the Lord is their inheritance, as he hath
spoken unto them. And this shall be the priests' due 3
from the people, from them that offer a sacrifice, whether
it be ox or sheep, that they shall give unto the priest the
shoulder, and the two cheeks, and the maw. The 4
firstfruits of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and
the first of the fleece of thy sheep, shalt thou give him.
For the Lord thy God hath chosen him out of all thy 5
tribes, to stand to minister in the name of the Lord, him
and his sons for ever.

And if a Levite come from any of thy gates out of all 6

probable explanation of the priestly character, subsequently as-
signed to Levi, is that the descendants of the Levite Moses
became a nucleus for priests in general, of whatever tribal origin,
who replaced the old scattered or exterminated secular tribe.
(For fuller details, see D. B. s. v. ' Levi.')

the offering's of Yahweli made by fire : i Sam. ii. 28 ; Josh,
xiii. 14 (interpolated) and often in P ; * it is thus used of the
burnt-offering (Lev. i. 9), the meal-offering (Lev. ii. 3), the thank-
offering (Lev. iii. 3), the guilt-offering (Lev. vii. 5), in all of which
specified parts were the perquisite of the priests (Lev. ii. 3, vii.
6-10; Num. xviii. gf.).' (Driver.)

his inheritance : i. e. such other dues as are named in verse 4.
Cf. verse 2, ' Yahweh (therefore the offerings made to Him) is
their inheritance.'

3. The dues from the fire-offerings (of D) are stated ; contrast
those of Lev. vii. 34 ; Num. xviii. 18, where the breast and thigh
are assigned (P). For the priest's share in earlier times see
1 Sam. ii. 13-16 : cf. Judges xvii. 10.

4. Cf. Num. xviii. 12. For the earlier offering Of firstfruits,
see Exod. xxiii. 19, xxxiv. 26 (JE) : see on xxvi. 2 f., and cf.
Rel. Sem., p. 241.

xviii. 6-8. The (dispossessed) country priests (Levites) shall be at
liberty to come to Jerusalem and receive an equal place in ministry
and support with the priests already there. Contrast 2 Kings
xxiii. 9 (Introd., p. 11),

sojonrneth : his occupation being gone, he can no longer be re-
garded as a settled resident. Deuteronomy knows of no Levitical
cities.

L 2

i48 DEUTERONOMY 18. 7-10. D

Israel, where he sojourneth, and come with all the desire of
his soul unto the place which the Lord shall choose ;

7 then he shall minister in the name of the Lord his God,
as all his brethren the Levites do, which stand there

8 before the Lord. They shall have like portions to eat,
beside that which cometh of the sale of his patrimony.

9 When thou art come into the land which the Lord
thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the

1 o abominations of those nations. There shall not be found
with thee any one that maketh his son or his daughter to
pass through the fire, one that useth divination, one that

6. and come : ' he shall come ' is preferable, with ' and ' for
' then ' in verse 7.
8. beside that which cometh of the sale of his patrimony :

* besides his sellings according to the fathers,' i. e. the sale either of
his local possessions (R. V.) or of private dues on leaving for Jeru-
salem. So Driver, who adds — ' Either explanation is questionable :
all that can be said is that the words describe some private
source of income possessed by the Levite, distinct from what he
receives as a priest officiating at the central sanctuary.'

xviii. 9-22. Prophets : the contrast of prophecy with (heathen)
magic and divination.

10. pass through the fire : cf. xii. 31 ; the reference is to the
rites of Molech- worship (Lev. xviii. 21, xx. 2-5), frequently con-
demned by the prophets (Jer. vii.31) : cf. 2 Kings xvi. 3, xvii. 17,
xxi. 6, xxiii. 10, for its prevalence amongst Israelites. Victims
were actually killed, according to these and other passages, though
little is known of the details of the ceremony. We may explain
the words as referring to some fire-ordeal, supposed to elicit a
divine response (so Driver, p. 222).

The following list of eight varieties of the magician or diviner
forms a locus classicus for the study of the subject. The terms
(fully discussed in Driver's Commentary) are : — (1) One that
useth divination: as by the headless arrows (Ezek. xxi. 21)
used in drawing lots at a sanctuary by the Arabs; this is the
most general term. (2) one that practiseth augrury : a sooth-
sayer, the Hebrew term (Judges ix. 37, cf. R. V. marg.) perhaps
denoting one who muttered his incantations. (3) an enchanter :
or observer of omens (Gen. xliv. 5 ; Num. xxiv. 1). (4) a sorcerer :
using material means in his magic (Micah v. 12 : cf. Exod. xxii.

DEUTERONOMY 18. n-17. D 149

practiseth augury, or an enchanter, or a sorcerer, or an
charmer, or a consulter with a familiar spirit, or a wizard,
or a necromancer. For whosoever doeth these things is 12
an abomination unto the Lord : and because of
these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them
out from before thee. Thou shalt be perfect with the 13
Lord thy God. For these nations, which thou shalt 14
possess, hearken unto them that practise augury, and
unto diviners : but as for thee, the Lord thy God hath
not suffered thee so to do. The Lord thy God will raise 15
up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy
brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;
according to all that thou desiredst of the Lord thy 16
God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let
me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God,
neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die
not. And the Lord said unto me, They have well said *1

18). (5) a charmer : as of serpents (Ps. lviii. 5), the term perhaps
expressing one who composes a spell. (6) and (7) A consulter
with a familiar spirit, or a wizard : rather. ' with a ghost or
familiar spirit' (Lev. xx. 27), the former exemplified by the 'witch
of Endor' (1 Sam. xxviii. 7), the latter perhaps by Acts xvi. 16.
(8) a necromancer, or inquirer of the dead : cf. Isa. viii. 19.
Thus (1), (a), (3) relate to divination, (4), (5) to magic, (6), (7), (8)
to mediumistic spiritualism.

A somewhat similar list of names can be collected from Baby-
lonian literature (Jastrow, Bab.- Assyrian Religion, p. 657). The
first two laws of the Code of Hammurabi are concerned with the
weaver of spells.

14 f. The contrast of Israel's means of knowing hidden and
future things is now enforced.

15. a prophet: i.e. a succession of prophets, as the whole
passage implies, who will continue to take the spiritual place of
Moses (like unto me). The Messianic application of this promise
to Christ (Acts iii. 22, vii. 37) is foreign to Deuteronomy.

from the midst of thee, of thy brethren : Israelites, not
foreign magicians.

16, 17. See v, 27, 28,

150 DEUTERONOMY 18. 18— 19. i. D

1 8 that which they have spoken. I will raise them up a
prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee ;
and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall

19 speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it
shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto
my words which he shall speak in my name, I will

20 require it of him. But the prophet, which shall speak a
word presumptuously in my name, which I have not
commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the

21 name of other gods, that same prophet shall die. And
if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word

22 which the Lord hath not spoken? When a prophet
speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow
not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord
hath not spoken : the prophet hath spoken it presump-
tuously, thou shalt not be afraid of him.

19 When the Lord thy God shall cut off the nations,

18. What was said (v. 31) of Moses is here (verses 18-20)
generalized and applied to the line of future prophets. The
prophet, like the apostle (2 Cor. v. 20), is essentially the am-
bassador of God.

19. I will require: the 'I' is emphatic in the Hebrew.
Yahweh vindicates the prophet's word.

20. presumptuously: in xvii. 12 of sins of omission, as here
of commission. Cf. Jer. vi. 13, 14, &c.

22. The test of the prophet of Yahweh is the observed truth of
his predictions. If he is supported by events, he is supported by
Yahweh ; otherwise he need not be dreaded. This test is explicitly
rejected for the prophets of other gods (xiii. 1-5) ; nor is the higher
Hebrew prophec}' nearly so much predictive as interpretative.

xix-xxv. The remainder of the Code of Laws admits of no
natural division on the basis of its present order. The laws are
of a miscellaneous character, and many of them might be grouped,
by rearrangement, under the four heads of (a) criminal law, (b)
warfare, (c) family and marriage relationships, (d) equity in
general. Unlike the two previous sections (xii — xvii. 7, xvii. 8 —
xviii. 22), most of these laws have no evident relation to the Deu-
teronomic principle of a single sanctuary, and it is among them
chiefly that we may expect the process of expansion of the

DEUTERONOMY 19. 2, 3. D 151

whose land the Lord thy God giveth thee, and thou
succeedest them, and dwellest in their cities, and in their
houses ; thou shalt separate three cities for thee in the 2
midst of thy land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee
to possess it. Thou shalt prepare thee the way, and 3
divide the borders of thy land, which the Lord thy God
causeth thee to inherit, into three parts, that every

original 'Book of the Law' to have operated, as by the incorpora-
tion of groups of laws. This expectation is confirmed by such
phenomena as the occurrence of parallel laws (xx. 7 and xxiv.
5), the separation of laws relating to the same subject (xxiv. 6
and xxiv. 10-13), and the recurrence of topics already dealt
with (xvi. 19 and xxiv. 17), as well as by the strong probability
that Josiah's Law-book was considerably shorter even than chaps,
xii-xxvi, xxviii (see Introd., p. n).

xix. 1-13. The Cities of Refuge. Three cities shall be set apart
in the future territory, to give sanctuary to the manslayer (verses
1-3). They are to be for him only who has killed another
without intent, and is exposed to blood-revenge (verses 4-7). If
the territory be increased, three more cities may be set apart
(verses 8-10). He who has killed another intentionally shall be
given over to the avenger of blood (verses 11-13).

For the earlier provision of sanctuary (at the altar) see Exod.
xxi. 12-14 (cf- l Kings i. 50, ii. 28), where the manslayer by
intent is similarly excluded. The destruction of local sanctuaries
contemplated by Deuteronomy made some other provision neces-
sary, since the continued sanctuary of the altar at Jerusalem
would not be easily accessible to all. For the parallel provision
of P, see Num. xxxv. 9-34, the chief differences there being that
the man-slayer is tried before the '*. congregation ' (the post-exilic
religious community), and that he may return home free from
peril at the death of the high-priest. The actual appointment of
these cities is narrated in Joshua xx (P) : cf. also Deut. iv. 41-3,
and see on verse 9 below.

1. succeedest: ' shalt dispossess ' (same word as 'possess' in
verse 2).

3. prepare thee the way: usually explained of keeping the
road in order ; but, as Steuernagel points out, this would help
the pursuer as much as the pursued. LXX translates ' explore
the way,' and as the Hebrew verb can mean ' pay attention to '
(Judges xii. 6, R. V. J frame '), we ma}' suppose ' way ' refers to the
distance to be travelled, which, in each case, is not to be too great,
borders: 'territory.'

152 DEUTERONOMY 19. 4-9. D

4 manslayer may flee thither. And this is the case of
the manslayer, which shall flee thither and live : whoso
killeth his neighbour unawares, and hated him not in

5 time past ; as when a man goeth into the forest with his
neighbour to hew wood, and his hand fetcheth a stroke
with the axe to cut down the tree, and the ahead
slippeth from b the helve, and lighteth upon his neighbour,
that he die ; he shall flee unto one of these cities and

6 live : lest the avenger of blood pursue the manslayer,
while his heart is hot, and overtake him, because the
way is long, and smite him mortally ; whereas he was
not worthy of death, inasmuch as he hated him not in

7 time past. Wherefore I command thee, saying, Thou

8 shalt separate three cities for thee. And if the Lord thy
God enlarge thy border, as he hath sworn unto thy
fathers, and give thee all the land which he promised to

9 give unto thy fathers ; if thou shalt keep all this
commandment to do it, which I command thee this
day, to love the Lord thy God, and to walk ever in his
ways ; then shalt thou add three cities more for thee,

a Heb. iron. b Or, the tree

manslayer : ' killer,' a quite general term. The 'wild justice '
of blood-revenge draws no such distinction of motive as is here
(verse ^f.) stated. It is to be noticed that Hammurabi (§§ 206.
227) allows the plea of inadvertence in criminal cases.

5. the helve : R. V. marg., the tree ; the ambiguity lies in the
Hebrew word for tree, which means ' wood ' also.

6. the avenger of blood: (2 Sam. xiv. 11) i.e. the nearest
kinsman of the dead man, whose duty to avenge is not removed
by this law, but only restrained by principles of equity. See
Introd., p. 24.

the way is long : i. e. to the altar-sanctuary at Jerusalem,
if these cities be not also provided (verse 7).

8. enlarge thy border : xii. 20 (note).

9. three cities more : according to iv. 41-3, three cities of
refuge east of Jordan have already been appointed by Moses.
This verse seems most naturally to refer to three sanctuary-cities

DEUTERONOMY 19. 10-14. D 153

beside these three : that a innocent blood be not shed in 10
the midst of thy land, which the Lord thy God giveth
thee for an inheritance, and so blood be upon thee.
But if any man hate his neighbour, and lie in wait for 1 1
him, and rise up against him, and smite him mortally
that he die ; and he flee into one of these cities : then the 12
elders of his city shall send and fetch him thence, and
deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that
he may die. Thine eye shall not pity him, but thou 13
shalt put away bthe innocent blood from Israel, that
it may go well with thee.

Thou shalt not remove thy neighbour's landmark, 14
a Or, the blood of an innocent man b Or, the blood of the innocent

(known as existent to the writer) east of Jordan ; but the problem
of the literary relation of Num. xxxv. 14 ; Deut. iv. 41-3, xix.
8 f. and Joshua xx is a complicated one. Cf. Oxf Hex., II. p. 352.

10. innocent blood: which would cry (Gen. iv. 10) for
vengeance in its turn, and be * upon ' (2 Sam. xvi. 8) the land
and the people. The primitive mind attributes a quasi-automatic
power to blood that has been ' poured out.' Innocent blood (xxi.
8, xxvii. 25) is ' put away ' only by the death of its shedder
(verse 13). See Introd., p. 24.

llf. A necessary safeguard is provided against the abuse of
the above right of sanctuary. The decision as to its legitimacy
rests with the elders of the city (xxi. 2-4, 6, 19, xxii. 15-18, xxv.
7-9 : cf. note on xvi. 18), to which the killer belonged, who would
have to decide on the forthcoming evidence as to motive (accord-
ing to Joshua xx. 4, the elders of the city of refuge had to decide
on the man's original admission). The execution of the death
sentence still remains with the kinsman of the slain — the only
case in which the death-penalty is not executed by the community
(E.B. 2718).

xix. 14. Landmarks not to be j'emoved.

remove : Hebrew 'set back' (xxvii. 17; Prov. xxii. 28, xxiii.
10; Job xxiv. 2; Hos. v. 10). Many nations have put their
private boundary marks under religious sanctions. For the Roman
god Terminus, see Merivale, Romans under the Empire, iv. p. 77.
Bab3'lonian private boundary-stones bear dedications to gods
(Cook, Laivs of Moses, p. 183) : on the sacred character of such
stones, see Clay Trumbull, The Threshold Covenant, p. 166 f.

154 DEUTERONOMY 19. 15-20. D

which they of old time have set, in thine inheritance
which thou shalt inherit, in the land that the Lord thy
God giveth thee to possess it.

15 One witness shall not rise up against a man for any
iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth : at the
mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses,

16 shall a matter be established. If an unrighteous witness
rise up against any man to testify against him of a wrong

17 doing ; then both the men, between whom the controversy
is, shall stand before the Lord, before the priests and the

18 judges which shall be in those days ; and the judges shall
make diligent inquisition : and, behold, if the witness be
a false witness, and hath testified falsely against his

19 brother ; then shall ye do unto him, as he had thought
to do unto his brother : so shalt thou put away the evil

20 from the midst of thee. And those which remain shall
hear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any

ft Or, rebellion See ch. xiii. 5.

(

Hosea is the only previous writer to refer to their removal. ' The
numerous references to the offence in the later writings stand out
in striking contrast to the silence of the Book of the Covenant'
(Cook, op. cit., p. 195).

landmark: 'boundary,' perhaps a line of stones.

xix. 15-21. Law of Witness. At least two witnesses shall b

required for conviction (verse 15). False witness shall

punished by rigorous infliction on the perjurer of the penalt

he sought to bring on another (verses 16-21).

15. Cf. xvii. 6 ; Num. xxxv. 30 (both with special reference t
a death-penalty).

16. an unrighteous witness : Heb. ' a witness of violence
(Exod. xxiii. 1).

17. The case is referred to the court at Jerusalem (xvii. 9)
1 before Yahweh ' (cf. xii. 7) implies.

19. as he had thought: rather 'purposed.' Somewha
similar laws are found in the Code of Hammurabi : § 4. ' If ai
witness to corn or money he has lied, he shall himself bear the
sentence of that case ' (cf. § 3).

DEUTERONOMY 19. 21— 20. 2. D 155

such evil in the midst of thee. And thine eye shall not 2 1
pity ; life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth,
hand for hand, foot for foot.

When thou goest forth to battle against thine enemies, 20
and seest horses, and chariots, and a people more than
thou, thou shalt not be afraid of them : for the Lord thy
God is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of
Egypt. And it shall be, when ye draw nigh unto the battle, 2
that the priest shall approach and speak unto the people,

21. The ins talionis is quoted as the principle of the treatment of
the false witness. Cf. Exod. xxi. 24 (JE) ; Lev. xxiv. 18, 20 (H).
For its thorough-going application in the Code of Hammurabi, see
Cook (op. at., p. 249).

xx. 1-20. Laws of Warfare. Since Yahweh is with Israel there
shall be no fear in facing a more numerous foe (verse 1). Before
a battle, the priest shall exhort Israel to this effect (verses 2-4),
and the officers shall proclaim that whoever has built a house,
planted a vineyard, or betrothed a wife, without opportunity for
their enjoyment, shall return home (verses 5-7) ; also, that those
who are afraid shall return (verse 8). Leaders shall then be
appointed (verse 9).

The city to be attacked shall be allowed, if it surrenders at the
outset, to become subject to Israel (verses 10, 11) ; otherwise its
males shall be killed and all else be Israel's spoil (verses 12-15).
This does not apply to the Canaanite cities, whose inhabitants and
contents must be ' devoted ' to Yahweh (verses 16-18).

In besieging a city, its fruit-trees shall not be destroyed (verses
19, 20).

The original place of this chapter may have been after xxi. 9,
as it interrupts the subject of chap, xix, and xxi. 1-9, and its own
subject is continued in xxi. 10. No parallels to these laws are
found in the other O. T. codes ; their aim (characteristic of Deutero-
nomy) is to introduce certain principles of humanity into warfare.
(The student should note Schwally's monograph on the subject of
this chapter, Semittsche Kriegsaltertumer, I).

1. horses and chariots: always a source of alarm to Israel
(Joshua xvii. 16 ; Judges i. 19).

2. the priest : his presence being explained by the ancient
conception of warfare as a sacred act and the camp as a sacred
place (xxiii. 9f.). 'The camp, the cradle of the nation, was also
the oldest sanctuary. There was Israel and there was Yahweh '
(Wellhausen, Israel, nnd Jud. Geschichte, p. 26). See on verse 17,

156 DEUTERONOMY 20. 3-7. D

3 and shall say unto them, Hear, O Israel, ye draw nigh
this day unto battle against your enemies : let not your
heart faint ; fear not, nor tremble, neither be ye affrighted

4 at them ; for the Lord your God is he that goeth with
you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.

5 And the officers shall speak unto the people, saying,
What man is there that hath built a new house, and hath
not dedicated it ? let him go and return to his house, lest

6 he die in the battle, and another man dedicate it. And
what man is there that hath planted a vineyard, and
hath not aused the fruit thereof? let him go and return
unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man

j use the fruit thereof. And what man is there that hath
betrothed a wife, and hath not taken her ? let him go and

a See ch. xxviii. 30, and Lev. xix. 23-25.

xxiii. gf., and note the presence of the ark (1 Sam. iv. 3f., xiv.
18 ; 2 Sam. xi. 11) on the battlefield.

4. Bertholet well points out that in the faith of these vers
King Josiah marched against Pharaoh-necoh at Megiddo (2 Kings
xxiii. 29).

5. the officers: i. 15, cf. xvi. 18; here possibly those subor-
dinates who kept the lists of warriors.

dedicated it : the spirits of the soil are still propitiated by
a blood-offering on the occasion of a new building (Doughty
Arabia Deserta, i. p. 136 ; Rel. Sent., p. 133 f. : and for Syria, Curtiss
Primitive Semitic Religion, p. 225). On the ground of such custom
amongst many peoples, Schwally {pp. cit., p. 91 f.) explains this law
as an exclusion from the (sacred) army of those who are likely to
' die in the battle - because of neglected rites and unappeasec
demons. He cites an interesting parallel from the Iliad '(II. 698 f.)
Protesilaus, having left his home half- finished, is slain by a Trojan
as he leaps ashore from the ship.

6. used the fruit thereof: Heb. 'make profane' by common
use that which was previously sacred. According to Lev. xix
23-5, new fruit-trees must be left for three years (to the spirits
of the soil ?), given to Yahweh in the fourth, and actually eate
by the owner in the fifth year only. For a warrior to forsake or Jvj
interrupt the ceremonies of propitiation in connexion with the j
vineyard is to imperil his life (Schwally, op.cit., p. 89).

7. betrothed : Heb. ' paid the bride-price for ' (2 Sam. iii. 14),

DEUTERONOMY 20. 8-14. D 157

return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and
another man take her. And the officers shall speak 8
further unto the people, and they shall say, What man is
there that is fearful and fainthearted? let him go and
return unto his house, lest his brethren's heart melt as his
heart. And it shall be, when the officers have made an 9
end of speaking unto the people, that they shall appoint
captains of hosts at the head of the people.

When thou drawest nigh unto a city to fight against it, 10
then proclaim peace unto it. And it shall be, if it make 1 1
thee answer of peace, and open unto thee, then it shall
be, that all the people that is found therein shall become
a tributary unto thee, and shall serve thee. And if it will 12
make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee,
then thou shalt besiege it : and when the Lord thy God 13
delivereth it into thine hand, thou shalt smite every male
thereof with the edge of the sword : but the women, and 14
the little ones, and the cattle, and all that is in the city,
even all the spoil thereof shalt thou take for a prey unto
thyself; and thou shalt eat the spoil of thine enemies,
*■ Or, subject to taskwork

The most natural explanation of this law is that it seeks to ensure
posterity before the perils of battle. According to xxiv. 5 the
newly-married warrior is released from service for a year.

8. fearful : cf. Judges vii. 3. Schwally (op. cit., p. 97) refers to
the physical tests of courage applied amongst some primitive
peoples, failure to meet which will exclude from war.

9. captains of hosts: the leaders of divisions can only be
appointed when the army is purged of the unfit ; i they ' will
refer not to the (subordinate) officers, but is used loosely of
those to whom this appointment belonged. Driver compares
1 Mace. iii. 55, 56.

11. tributary : Hebrew as in R. V. marg. : see note on Joshua
xvi. 10.

13 f. The herein or ban (verse 17) to be applied to cities outside
Canaan in a partial form (males only) ; but in its severest form to
the Canaanite cities (verse 17).

158 DEUTERONOMY 20. 15-17. D

15 which the Lord thy God hath given thee. Thus shalt
thou do unto all the cities which are very far off from

16 thee, which are not of the cities of these nations. But of
the cities of these peoples, which the Lord thy God
giveth thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive

17 nothing that breatheth : but thou shalt a utterly destroy
them 5 the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, and

a Heb. devote.

16. nothing that breatheth : cf. Joshua xi. 14, where the phrase
refers to human beings as contrasted with animals, as is its usual
meaning (though \ breath ' may be used of animals, as well as
man, Gen. vii. 22).

17. utterly destroy : (vii. 2) ' ban ' or • devote,' i. e. put under
the herem. The same word, with the same meaning, occurs in
the inscription of Mesha (Moabite Stone), where Mesha says that,
having captured Nebo from Israel, he slew the whole of its 7,000
inhabitants and dragged the vessels of Yahweh before his god
Kemosh, because he had ' devoted ' it to Ashtar-Kemosh (lines
16, 17). The root meaning of herem, variously applied in th<
different Semitic languages, denotes that which is inviolable or
sacred, e.g. to the deity (xiii. 17, R. V. marg. ; see previous
verse for the herein). The herem is, however, neither a sacrifice
nor a present to the deity in the ordinary sense, but a taboo, the
primitive method of alienating anything from ordinary use. Th
act of destruction naturally ensures the complete observance of
the taboo. The motive that might lead to it in the special case of
the herem taboo is illustrated by Num. xxi. 2, where the herem
is a bargain made to obtain the help of Yahweh. Examples of
the herem will be found in 1 Sam. xv. 3 (Amalek to be slain, \ both
man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and
ass') and Joshua vi. 17 f. (Jericho; where men and things are [;ti
' devoted,' apart from the exceptions there noted, verses 24, 25,- 1 , '^
whilst the theft and punishment of Achan, chap, vii, vividlyl j ^
illustrate the nature of the herem), and the idea doubtless 1 1 Wo
underlies other passages where the actual term does not occur! 1 1U(
(1 Sam. xxii. 11 f. ; 2 Kings xv. 16; 2 Chron. xxv. 12 f.). The '
Israelite idolater is to be 'devoted' (Exod. xxii. 20), as well as
the idolater of Canaan. The Deuteronomic references (e. g. verse ; tri
18) give the herem a utilitarian interpretation ; it will save Israel reP
from the perils of a heathen environment. Parallels amongst other , \
peoples to the general conception, with fuller information, will be an
found in Schwally's discussion (op. cit., pp. 29-44), or the article and
< Ban ' in E.B. ■. .:» oft

DEUTERONOMY 20. 18— 21. 1. D 159

the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite ; as the Lord
thy God hath commanded thee : that they teach you not to 18
do after all their abominations, which they have done unto
their gods; so should ye sin against the Lord your God.

When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making 19
war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees
thereof by wielding an axe against them ; for thou mayest
eat of them, and thou shalt not cut them down ; for is
the tree of the field man, that it should be besieged of
thee ? Only the trees which thou knowest that they be 20
not trees for meat, thou shalt destroy and cut them down
and thou shalt build bulwarks against the city that
maketh war with thee, until it fall.

If one be found slain in the land which the Lord thy 21

the Hittite, &c. : see on vii. 1, where the Girgashite is added
to complete the full list of seven.

commanded th.ee : vii. 2 ; Exod. xxiii. 31-33.

19. For the destruction of trees, as one of the operations of
warfare, see 2 Kings iii. 19, 25. Mohammed, for example, brought
pressure to bear on the Banu Madir by the destruction of their
(special) date-trees. The Kur'an (LIX) is made to justify this
breach of Kur'anic law (cf. Margoliouth, Mohammed, p. 317).
Tiglath-Pileser III exults in the same act (E.B., 4512). For
private property in trees, see the Code of Hammurabi, § 59.

is the tree of the field man? a slight change in the Hebrew
pointing gives this sense, which is that of the versions. The
reason for the prohibition is Deuteronomic ; but more primitive
ideas of the spirits dwelling in trees (Rel. Sem., p. 133) first
secured the preservation of their abodes. The date-tree was
worshipped by the tribe Khozaa (Burckhardt, Arabia, i. p. 299 ;
quoted by Lubbock, Origin 0/ Civilization, p. 305).

20. trees for meat : i. e. fruit-trees (Heb., trees of food).
build bulwarks : or siege-works, of the wood of the other

trees cut down : cf. Jer. vi. 6. Assyrian siege-operations are
represented pictorially in E.B. s. v. ' Siege.'

xxi. 1-9. Expiation of murder by some person unknown. If
a murdered man be found, the murderer being unknown, the
authorities of the nearest city shall be responsible for the removal
of the peril of shed blood (verses 1, 2). This removal they shall

160 DEUTERONOMY 21. 2-4. D

God giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it be

2 not known who hath smitten him : then thy elders and
thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure unto

3 the cities which are round about him that is slain : and it
shall be, that the city which is nearest unto the slain
man, even the elders of that city shall take an heifer of
the herd, which hath not been wrought with, and which

4 hath not drawn in the yoke j and the elders of that city
shall bring down the heifer unto a valley with running
water, which is neither plowed nor sown, and shall break

effect, under the eyes of the priests, by breaking a heifer's neck]
and making a representative declaration of innocence ^verses 3-9). !
There is no parallel to this law in the other O. T. codes, but
its two underlying ideas, the peril of shed blood Tntrod., p. 24^1 and
corporate responsibility, find abundant illustration elsewhere. The
latter is also illustrated in the Code of Hammurabi (§§ 23, 24).]
For the present responsibility of Arab sheikhs for their tribesmen,
see Doughty, Arabia Deserta i, p. 176 ; according to the ancient
Arab law, the people of a place in which a slain man was fount
had to swear that they were not the murderers (W. R. Smith,
Kinship, p. 263^. The last-named writer thinks ^MS. note
quoted by Driver) that the aim of the present law was to preclude
blood-feud ; we may also think, as the above parallels suggest, of
the preservation of order in a district. But in any case, there is
the underlying idea of shed blood as itself a peril.

1. in the field : i. e. the open country, awaj' from inhabited spot

2. thy elders: cf. xix. 11 f.) ; the sheikhb are the natural loca
authorities, to whom the judges xvi. 18) are added. The
arrival of the priests in verse 5 after the ceremony is begun is
peculiar, and the reference to them suggests its own addition bj
a writer who regarded the act as sacrificial and therefore requiring
their presence so Bertholet and Steuernagel\

3. an heifer of the herd : which, as the sequel shows, is
take the place of the unknown murderer, and therefore must nc
have been profaned by common use vcf. xv. 19).

drawn in the yoke : the same restriction in the case of the
red heifer (Num. xix. 2^ also for ceremonial use.

4. a valley with running water: Heb. 'a perennial wady.'
i. e. one that has water through the dry season. The wady, like
the heifer, must be one not profaned by common use ; it has
alread}' a quasi-sacred character as an ever-flowing stream, whose
waters will carry away the heifer's blood ; as the wady Kishon was

DEUTERONOMY 21. 5-9. D 161

the heifer's neck there in the valley : and the priests 5
the sons of Levi shall come near ; for them the Lord
thy God hath chosen to minister unto him, and to bless
in the name of the Lord ; and according to their word
shall every controversy and every stroke be : and all the 6
elders of that city, who are nearest unto the slain man,
shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was
broken in the valley : and they shall answer and say, Our 7
hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes
seen it. Forgive, O Lord, thy people Israel, whom thou 8
hast redeemed, and suffer not innocent blood to ?-e??iain
in the midst of thy people Israel. And the blood shall
be forgiven them. So shalt thou put away the innocent 9

perhaps chosen s Wellhausen, op. cit., p. 89, note 2, cited by
Bertholet) to be the place of slaughter of the prophets of Baal
r Kings xviii. 4o\ There may also be some connexion with the
idea that a corpse defiles water. Thus when a corpse had been
carried across the stream at Nebk, the inhabitants found it necessary
to cut the throats of a number of sheep over the stream, so that
their blood might run into the water, and the disastrous floods of
the river-spirit be checked Xurtiss, op. cit.. p. 200 . The broken
neck of the heifer may have been supposed originally to operate
on the unknown murderer bj- symbolic magic.

5. the priests : see on verse 2 ; and for the appended reasons
of their appearance, cf. x. 8, xviii. 5 ; xvii. 3 f.

6. wash their hands : as did Pilate (Matt, xxvii. 24 : cf. Pss.
::xvi. 6. lxxiii. 13% such acts being for ancient thought more than
what wre mean by symbolic ; they actually did something to make
innocent the person performing them.

8. Forgive : xxxii. 43 (R. V. ' make expiation '). The root
meaning of the Hebrew word kapper) is 'cover' : cf. Gen. xxxii.
20, ' I will appease him with the present) ' ; Heb. c I will cover
his face \ so that he may not see the wrong previously done to
him. In later usage it is used either of the priest Lev. iv. 20,
' make atonement '), or of God. who ' covers,' or regards as covered,
the wrongdoer (as here) or the wrong (Jer. xviii. 23. 'forgive not
their iniquity').

redeemed : by the deliverance from Egypt (vii. 8 .

9. thou: emphatic in the Hebrew, as defining Israel's dut}' in
contrast with the previous appeal to Yahweh.

put away : ; exterminate ' as in xix. 13 ; note throughout the

162 DEUTERONOMY 21. 10-13. D

blood from the midst of thee, when thou shalt do that
which is right in the eyes of the Lord.

10 When thou goest forth to battle against thine enemies,
and the Lord thy God delivereth them into thine hands,

11 and thou earnest them away captive, and seest among the
captives a beautiful woman, and thou hast a desire unto

12 her, and wouldest take her to thee to wife ; then thou
shalt bring her home to thine house ; and she shall shave

13 her head, and pare her nails ; and she shall put the
raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in
thine house, and bewail her father and her mother a full
month : and after that thou shalt go in unto her, and be

idea of the shed blood as forming a physical-psychical peril ;
no idea of moral guilt is involved.

xxi. 10-14. Marriage with women captured in war. A female
captive must not be made a concubine till the expiration of a
month (verses 10-13). She must not subsequently be sold as
a slave (verse 14).

10. For the phrases, cf. xx. 1, 13 ; the paragraph belongs to
the rules of warfare.

12. shave her head and pare her nails : the hair and the nails,
from their rapid growth, were regarded by primitive peoples as
special seats of vitality. They are cut off here because the defilement
either of death or of the woman's heathen environment is supposed
to cling to them in particular (Rel. Sent., p. 333 note 5) ; or viewed
as part of the mourning customs (Bertholet) in connexion with
the kinsmen of the woman, who are assumed to have been slain.
For the cutting of the hair in such cases see xiv. 1 j for this, and
the paring of the nails, see Frazer, The Golden Bough, i. 388 ;
for the removal of the clothes, Nassau, Fetichism in West Africa,
p. 222. For parallel customs in Arabian mourning, see Rcl. Sent.,
p. 428 ; Kinship, p. 178. The Arabian customs (for a widow) seem
to point specially to the impurity of previous cohabitation (cf.
Wellhausen, Reste*, p. 171).

13. the raiment of her captivity : i. e. the clothes worn when
she was taken captive.

a full month : xxxiv. 8 ; Num. xx. 29. Deuteronomy here
emphasizes the full dischargeof funeral obligations. For Mohammed
'captivity ipso facto dissolved marriage; and the captive wife

DEUTERONOMY 21. 14-17. D 163

her husband, and she shall be thy wife. And it shall be, 14
if thou have no delight in her. then thou shalt let her go
whither she will; but thou shalt not sell her at all for
money, thou shalt not deal with her a as a slave, because
thou hast humbled her.

If a man have two wives, the one beloved, and the 15
other hated, and they have borne him children, both
the beloved and the hated ; and if the firstborn son be
hers that was hated ; then it shall be, in the day that he 16
causeth his sons to inherit that which he hath, that he
may not make the son of the beloved the firstborn
b before the son of the hated, which is the firstborn : but 1 7

a Or, as a chattel b Or, during the life time of

might at once become the concubine of the conqueror ' (Margoliouth,
Mohammed, p. 461).

14. whither she will: Heb. 'according to her soul,' i.e. in
freedom as opposed to slavery : cf. Exod. xxi. 8.

deal with her as a slave : i deal tyrannically with her ; '
the same word as in xxiv. 7.

xxi. 15-21. The rights and duties of sons. The double portion
of the firstborn son is inalienable, though his mother be not the
father's favourite wife (verses 15-17). A persistently disobedient
son shall be brought by his parents before the elders and stoned
to death (verses 18-21).

15. two wives: e. g. Leah and Rachel (Gen. xxix. 30), Hannah
and Peninnah (1 Sam. i. 6), both cases illustrating the difficulties
connected with the polygamy practised in Israel ; the Semitic
languages, indeed, have a word in common for the rival wife.
The Code of Hammurabi (§§ 144-8) appears to allow a second wife
(or concubine) only when the first wife is childless, or has been
seized with sickness.

16. in the day, &c. : i. e. when he announces (cf. Gen. xxiv.
36) the division of his property to be made at his death ; there
were no written wills amongst the Hebrews prior to the Greek
and Roman period (Nowack, Archdologie, § 64).

before : Heb. • upon the face of ; in Gen. xi. 28, Num. iii.
4, as in R. V. marg., but R. V. text is here preferable, in sense of
' in preference to ' (v. 7 ; Exod. xx. 3).

M 2

164 DEUTERONOMY 21. 18-21. D

he shall acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the hated,
by giving him a double portion of all that he hath : for
he is the beginning of his strength ; the right of the first-
born is his.

18 If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which

will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his

mother, and though they chasten him, will not hearken

g unto them : then shall his father and his mother lay hold

on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and

30 unto the gate of his place ; and they shall say unto the
elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious,
he will not obey our voice ; he is a riotous liver, and a

21 drunkard. And all the men of his city shall stone him
with stones, that he die : so shalt thou put away the evil
from the midst of thee ; and all Israel shall hear, and
fear.

1*J. a double portion: i.e. as the Hebrew 'a share of two,'
twice as much as any of the other sons : cf. 2 Kings ii. 9 ; Zech.
xiii. 8 (the same Heb. phrase).

the right of the firstborn: for the early history of primo-
geniture, see Maine's Ancient Law, chap, vii : it is not recognized
in the Code of Hammurabi, which supposes an equal division to
take place, apart from special gifts or allowances (§§ 165, 166).

18 f. Through the action of the community the family jurisdiction
is maintained (cf. Gen. xxxviii. 24 : E.B. 2717) ; laws in Exod. xxi.
15, 17 (Lev. xx. 9) assign death to the son who strikes or curses
his parents : cf. v. 16, xxvii. 16. The Code of Hammurabi enacts
that ' if a man has struck his father, one shall cut off his hands '

(§ 195).

19. unto the grate: xxii. 15, xxv. 7 ; Ruth iv. 1 f. ; on Syrian
gateways, as courts of justice, &c, see D.B. ii. pp. 1 10-13;
Thomson, The Land and the Book, p. 27.

20. a riotous liver: or 'glutton ' ; Heb. one who makes light
of, squanders, used especially of glutton}' (Prov. xxiii. 21).

21. Cf. xiii. 10, xvii. 5, xxii. 24. The original absolute power
of parents over children (Exod. xxi. 7; Gen. xxxi. 14 f.) is here
shown in process of limitation ; the community control, while the)'
enforce, the authority of the parents.

DEUTERONOMY 21. 22—22. 3. D 165

And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, 22
and he be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree ;
his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but 23
thou shalt surely bury him the same day; for he that
is hanged is a accursed of God ; that thou defile not thy
land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an in-
heritance.

Thou shalt not see thy brother's ox or his sheep go 22
astray, and hide thyself from them : thou shalt surely
bring them again unto thy brother. And if thy brother 2
be not nigh unto thee, or if thou know him not, then thou
shalt bring it home to thine house, and it shall be with
thee until thy brother seek after it, and thou shalt restore
it to him again. And so shalt thou do with his ass ; and 3
so shalt thou do with his garment ; and so shalt thou do

a Heb. the curse of God.

xxi. 22, 23. The suspended body to be buried the same day.

2>2>. he be put to death : i. e. by some method other than by
hanging ; the latter was applied to the body already dead (Joshua
viii. 29, x. 26 ; i Sam. xxxi. 10 ; 2 Sam. iv. 12).

23. accursed of God: (Gal. iii. 13) probably, as Dillmann
suggests, because those whose bodies were so treated were
- devoted,' or were criminals of the darkest type ; we must connect
with this the primitive conception of the peril to the community of
a corpse thus publicly exposed (' that thou defile not thy land').

xxii. 1-12. Various Laws : regard for neighbours (verses 1-4) ;
distinction of sex (verse 5) ; mother-bird to be spared (verses
6, 7); battlements (verses 8, 9); mixtures (verses 10, 11);
tassels (verse 12).

1 f. See Exod. xxiii. 4, 5, where also, in briefer form, it is
commanded that the strayed ox or ass be restored and the fallen
beast of burden lifted. There, however, these belong to ■ thine
enemy' ; 'brother' is a wider term, though it makes the law less
emphatic. Verses 2, 3 (except the reference to ass) are here
added to the earlier form of the law.

hide thyself: Isa. Iviii. 7 ; Ps. Iv. 1 : cf. Isa. liii. 3 (a different
word). Cf. Luke x. 31, 32.

3. According to Lev. vi. 1-7, failure to restore a lost article is

166 DEUTERONOMY 22. 4-7. D

with every lost thing of thy brother's, which he hath lost,
and thou hast found : thou mayest not hide thyself.

4 Thou shalt not see thy brother's ass or his ox fallen
down by the way, and hide thyself from them : thou shalt
surely help him to lift them up again.

5 A woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a
man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment : for
whosoever doeth these things is an abomination unto the
Lord thy God.

6 If a bird's nest chance to be before thee in the way, in
any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs, and
the dam sitting upon the young, or upon the eggs, thou

7 shalt not take the dam with the young : thou shalt in any
wise let the dam go, but the young thou mayest take unto
thyself; that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest
prolong thy days.

treated as theft and punished with a fine of one-fifth the value.
In the Code of Hammurabi, identification by witnesses is required
in the case of a lost (stolen) article found in another's hands
(§§ 9-13)-

xxii. 5. Sexual Morality. The sexes must not interchange attire.
This law refers to practices, like those in connexion with the wor-
ship of Cybele or Aphrodite, in which men acted as women and
women as men : see Robertson Smith, O.T.J. C2, p. 365.

abomination : vii. 25 : cf. xviii. 12 for a similar religious
application of this term.

xxii. 6, 7. Birds' Nests. The mother-bird is not to be taken
with her eggs or young from a nest found by chance. The law may
here illustrate the ' kindness to animals ' of Deuteronomy (as in
xxv. 4 and xxii. 1-4), but probably goes back to some earlier con-
ception such as the ' right of user ' suggested by Fenton (quoted
by Driver) ; the bird is common property, its produce alone
belongs to the person finding it.

that it may be well with thee, &c. : cf. v. 16 ; the same
promise is attached to sparing the mother-bird as to honouring
parents.

DEUTERONOMY 22. 8-10. D 167

When thou buildest a new house, then thou shalt make 8
a battlement for thy roof, that thou bring not blood upon
thine house, if any man fall from thence. Thou shalt not 9
sow thy vineyard with two kinds of seed : lest the a whole
fruit be b forfeited, the seed which thou hast sown, and
the increase of the vineyard.

Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together. 10
a Heb. fulness. b Heb. consecrated.

xxii. 8. Parapets to House-roofs. The nearest parallel is that of
Exod. xxi. 33, 34, which makes a man who has left a pit uncovered
responsible for the loss of an ox or ass falling into it. A group of
laws in the Code of Hammurabi affirming the responsibility of
builders for accidents comes nearer to the present injunction
(§§ 229-33).

a battlement for thy roof: see on Joshua ii. 6.
blood upon thine house: cf. xix. 10, xxi. 8. Primitive
thought extends the idea of ' guilt ' not only to animals (Exod.
xxi. 28 f.), but also to inanimate objects (Frazer, The Golden Bough,
ii. p. 294).

xxii. 9-1 1. Mixtures {of seed, ploughing animals, and stuff) for-
bidden. For the first and last see Lev. xix. 19 ; the second and
the reason for the first are here only. The origin of these laws
is obscure : see Introd., p. 27.

9. vineyard: Lev. xix. 19, ' field,' an extension of the present law.
Vines are planted far enough apart for the plough to pass between

D.B. iv. 868), so that there would be room for the sowing of a
different crop.

two kinds of seed : ' the modern Palestinian custom which
compels a man to sow on his strips of land the same seed as the
rest, in order that all may harvest at the same time, suggests an
explanation ' (Cook, The Laws of Moses, p. 195). This utilitarian
explanation, however, belongs to a later age ; some practice in
connexion with heathen cults is more likely to be involved ; e. g.
the symbolical representation of the union of deities (Steuernagel).

be .forfeited : R. V. marg. \ consecrated,' i. e. to the sanctuary
(Joshua vi. 19). The man will lose both his grapes and his other
crop as a penalty for his irreligious act.

10. Cf. Lev. xix. 19, \ Thou shalt not make thy cattle breed in
two kinds,' which may state more directly the general purpose of
the present law. ' Mules, however, were used in David's time
and later (2 Sam. xviii. 9; 1 Kings i. 33, xviii. 5)' (S.B.O.T.,
Lev., p. 89). An ox and an ass yoked together may still be found
in Palestine.

168 DEUTERONOMY 22. 11-15. D

1 1 Thou shalt not wear a mingled stuff, wool and linen
together.

12 Thou shalt make thee a fringes upon the four borders
of thy vesture, wherewith thou coverest thyself.

13 If any man take a wife, and go in unto her, and hate

14 her, and lay shameful things to her charge, and bring up
an evil name upon her, and say, I took this woman, and
when I came nigh to her, I found not in her the tokens

15 of virginity ; then shall the father of the damsel, and her

a Or, twisted threads

11. Nothing is known of the practice aimed at, though the
context (verses 5, 13 f.) suggests some sexual reference; perhaps
the union of male and female deities was tacitly recognized by
this (Egyptian ?) cloth.

xxii. 12. Memorial tassels to be worn. Cf. Num. xv. 37-41, where
the reason for wearing these is given (cf. vi. 8, xi. 18).

fringes: (R. V. marg. to be read) 'twisted cords7 called
1 Zizith * or tassels in Num. xv. 38 (D. B. i. p. 627). Introd., p. 49.

vesture : the outer garment made of a square piece of cloth,
used also to sleep in (Exod. xxii. 26).

xxii. 13-30. Sexual Relations. If a man questions the previous
virginity of his newly married wife, her parents shall bring the
circumstantial proof to the elders, and the man shall be fined and
lose the right of divorce. If the proof is not forthcoming, the
woman shall be stoned to death (verses 13-21). Adultery shall
be punished by the death of both persons (verse 22). The same
penalty applies in the case of the seduction of a betrothed woman,
taking place in the city ; in the country, the woman shall be
presumed innocent, and the man only shall die (verses 23-7).
In the case of an unbetrothed woman, the man seducing her shall
marry her without right of divorce, paying the bride-pricj to her
father (verses 28, 29). An inheriting son shall not marry his
father's wife (verse 30).

14. the tokens of virginity: see the (Latin) Appendix of
Trumbull's The Threshold Covenant, pp. 243-52. Parallels
amongst other peoples are cited by Westermarck, The History of
Human Marriage, pp. 123. 124. Physiologically, the evidence is
by no means conclusive ; it is still, however, regarded as essential
in Egypt and Palestine, as elsewhere also.

DEUTERONOMY 22. 16-22. D 169

mother, take and bring forth the tokens of the damsel's
virginity unto the elders of the city in the gate : and the 16
damsel's father shall say unto the elders, I gave my
daughter unto this man to wife, and he hateth her; and, 17
lo; he hath laid shameful things to her charge, saying, I
found not in thy daughter the tokens of virginity ; and
yet these are the tokens of my daughter's virginity. And
they shall spread the garment before the elders of the
city. And the elders of that city shall take the man and 18
chastise him ; and they shall amerce him in an hundred 19
shekels of silver, and give them unto the father of the
damsel, because he hath brought up an evil name upon
a virgin of Israel : and she shall be his wife ; he may not
put her away all his days. But if this thing be true, that 20
the tokens of virginity were not found in the damsel : then 2 1
they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father's
house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones
that she die : because she hath wrought folly in Israel, to
play the harlot in her father's house : so shalt thou put
away the evil from the midst of thee.

If a man be found lying with a woman married to an 2 2

17. the garment : i.e. camisia sponsae sanguine inquinata,
quae ut testimonium virginitatis custodiri consuevit.

18. chastise him: probably corporal punishment is intended
(cf. xxv. 3), as is understood by Josephus, Antiq. iv. 8. 23.

19. amerce: i.e. 'fine,' the fine being twice that for the
seduction of a virgin (verse 29), and paid to the father as defamed
by the false report. Its nominal (100 silver shekels at 25. gd.)
equivalent is a little less than £14.

20. If the physical evidence be not forthcoming, the charge is
regarded as proved, and the woman accordingly punished.

21. The place of the punishment is that of the sin ; the father,
moreover, was responsible for his daughter.

stone her : see on xiii. 10, and cf. xxi. 21.
folly in Israel: rather 'senselessness' : cf. Joshua vii. 15
Achan > ; usually, as here, of acts of immorality (Gen. xxxiv. 7).

22. For other laws relating to adultery, see v. 18 t Lev. xviii.

170 DEUTERONOMY 22. 23-27. D

husband, then they shall both of them die, the man that
lay with the woman, and the woman : so shalt thou put
away the evil from Israel.

23 If there be a damsel that is a virgin betrothed unto an
husband, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her j

24 then ye shall bring them both out unto the gate of that
city, and ye shall stone them with stones that they die ;
the damsel, because she cried not, being in the city ; and
the man, because he hath humbled his neighbour's wife :
so thou shalt put away the evil from the midst of thee.

25 But if the man find the damsel that is betrothed in the
field, and the man force her, and lie with her ; then the

26 man only that lay with her shall die : but unto the damsel
thou shalt do nothing; there is in the damsel no sin
worthy of death : for as when a man riseth against his

2 7 neighbour, and slayeth him, even so is this matter : for

20, xx. 10. The punishment was assumed to be that of verse 24,
i. e. death by stoning (Ezek. xvi. 40 ; John viii. 5). The parallel
law in the Code of Hammurabi reads, ' If the wife of a man has
been caught in lying with another male, one shall bind them and
throw them into the waters. If the owner of the wife would save
his wife, or the king would save his servant (he may) ' (§ 129).

xxii. 23 f. The parallel law in the Code of Hammurabi is, * If a
man has forced the wife of a man who has not known the male, and
is dwelling in the house of her father, and has lain in her bosom,
and one has caught him, that man shall be killed, the woman
herself shall go free ' (§ 130).

23. betrothed : see on xx. 7 ; the bride-price having been
paid, she is the property of her husband, and the case becomes
one of adultery (cf. 'his neighbour's wife ').

in the city : where, presumably, the woman might have been
rescued had she appealed for help (' because she cried not ').

25. in the field: here the woman's innocence is presumed, for
the reason given in verse 27.

force her : rather, ' take hold of her ' (2 Sam. xiii. 11).

26. as when a man riseth : i. e. the sudden attack in each case
found a defenceless victim.

DEUTERONOMY 22. 28— 23. 1. D 171

he found her in the field ; the betrothed damsel cried,
and there was none to save her.

If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, which is not 28
betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they
be found ; then the man that lay with her shall give unto 29
the damsel's father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be
his wife, because he hath humbled her ; he may not put
her away all his days.

a A man shall not take his father's wife, and shall not 30
uncover his father's skirt.

He that is wounded in the stones, or hath his privy 23
member cut off, shall not enter into the assembly of the
Lord.

* [Ch. xxiii. 1 in Heb.]

28, 29. The case of the unbetrothed woman is on a different
footing ; no marital rights are involved (cf. Exod. xxii. 16, 17).
Consequently, the man pays the bride-price (see on verse 19) as
in an ordinary marriage, his penalty being the loss of the right of
divorce. The price of a slave was thirty shekels (Exod. xxi. 32).

30. Cf. Lev. xviii. 8, xx. n ; a similar prohibition of marriage
with a step-mother occurs in the Kur'an (iv. 26), aimed at the
inheritance of women in the same way as other property
(Robertson Smith, Kinship, p. 86).

his father's skirt : xxvii. 20 : cf. Ezek. xvi. 8 ; Ruth iii. 9.
A probable parallel to this law (Cook, op. cit., p. 101) occurs in the
Code of Hammurabi, § 158 : * If a man, after his father, has been
caught in the bosom of his head wife who has borne children,
that man shall be cut off from his father's house.' The present
law is the first instance of legislation as to forbidden degrees
(cf. Lev. xviii and xx).

xxiii. 1-8. Classes excluded from the assembly of Yahweh :
eunuchs, bastards, Ammonites and Moabites, but not the third
generation of an Edomite or Egyptian.

1. The verse refers to two methods of making eunuchs (crushed
testicles, abscission of penis). Such mutilations were practised in
certain forms of Syrian worship ; the prohibition is probably, like
that in xiv. 1, directed against association with heathenism.

the assembly of Yahweh : Israel as a religious community

Mic. ii. 5). The conception is developed by priestly writers,

though in P * congregation ■ ('cdah, Exod. xii. 3, &c.) replaces

172 DEUTERONOMY 23. 2-7. D

2 A bastard shall not enter into the assembly of the
Lord ; even to the tenth generation shall none of his
enter into the assembly of the Lord.

3 An Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter into the
assembly of the Lord ; even to the tenth generation shall
none belonging to them enter into the assembly of the

4 Lord for ever : because they met you not with bread
and with water in the way, when ye came forth out of
Egypt 5 and because they hired against thee Balaam the
son of Beor from Pethor of a Mesopotamia, to curse thee.

5 Nevertheless the Lord thy God would not hearken unto
Balaam j but the Lord thy God turned the curse into a
blessing unto thee, because the Lord thy God loved thee.

6 Thou shalt not seek their peace nor their prosperity all
thy days for ever.

7 Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite; for he is thy

a Heb. Aram-naharaim.

' assembly ' (kd/ml). A place in this community is extended evei
to the eunuch in Isa. lvi. 4 f.

2. a "bastard: possibly 'child of incest' (cf. xxii. 30), unclear
by origin.

to the tenth generation : i. e. never (verse 3 end).

3. Ammonite, Moabite: excluded by the previous verse,
according to Gen. xix. 30 f.

4f. Their exclusion is grounded on history, possibly by a later
addition.

they met you not, &c. : contrast ii. 29, where the Moabites
are said to have sold food and water to Israel.

they hired against thee, &c. (Heb. <he' = king of Moab)
this relates to the Moabites only, Num. xxii. 5.

5. turned the curse into a blessing*: Num. xxiii. n, 2«
xxiv. 10.

6. A characteristic limitation of Deuteronomic humanitarianism.
For the expressions see Jer. xxix. 7 ; Ezra ix. 12. This paragraph
is quoted and acted upon in Neh. xiii. 1-3. It reflects the historical
hostility betweep the two peoples and Israel (e. g, Amos i. 13 ;
Zcph. ii. 8 ; Isa. xvi. 6).

7. an Edomite : ' thy brother,' as descended from Esau : ci".
ii. 4-8.

DEUTERONOMY 23. 8-13. D 173

brother : thou shaft not abhor an Egyptian ; because
thou wast a stranger in his land. The children of the 8
third generation that are born unto them shall enter into
the assembly of the Lord.

. When thou goest forth in camp against thine enemies, 9
then thou shalt keep thee from every evil thing. If there 1 0
be among you any man, that is not clean by reason of
that which chanceth him by night, then shall he go abroad
out of the camp, he shall not come within the camp : but \ 1
it shall be, when evening cometh on, he shall bathe
himself in water : and when the sun is down, he shall
come within the camp. Thou shalt have a place also 12
without the camp, whither thou shalt go forth abroad :
and thou shalt have a a paddle among thy weapons ; and 13

a Or, shovel

an Egyptian : the motive for friendliness towards him is
elsewhere (v. 15, xv. 15, xvi. 12, xxiv. 18, 22) used to arouse
sympathy with the slave and dependant.

8. The verse refers to the descendants of those Edomites or
Egyptians who have settled in Palestine and affiliated themselves
to Israel.

xxiii. 9-14. The holiness of the camp [nocturnal pollutions,
excrement). This law belongs to the rules of warfare in chap, xx
and xxi. 10-14. A wider statement of that which defiles the camp
is given by P (Num. v. 1-4). A military expedition is sacred to
the war-god, on whose presence it depends for success (see on
xx. 2).

10. See Lev. xv. 16 ; all that relates to sexual life is a peril,
and the taboo it imposes is rigorously respected by primitive
peoples. For the sexual taboo in general during war, see 1 Sam.
xxi. 4-6 ; 2 Sam. xi. n. Schwally (op. ctt, p. 60 f.) gives some of the
parallels from other peoples : cf. also Frazer, The Golden Bough,
i. 327 f. and the note, p. 328. See on xx. 5 f.

11. when evening cometh on: and a new day begins (at
sunset) in which the polluted man may, after ablution, return to
the camp.

13. a paddle : or ' digging stick ' ; the word occurs elsewhere
as 'peg' (tent-peg, Judges v. 26) or 'loom-stick' (Judges xvi. 14).

i74 DEUTERONOMY 23. 14-17. D

it shall be, when thou sittest down abroad, thou shalt dig
therewith, and shalt turn back and cover that which

14 cometh from thee : for the Lord thy God walketh in the
midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thine
enemies before thee ; therefore shall thy camp be holy :
that he see no a unclean thing in thee, and turn away
from thee.

15 Thou shalt not deliver unto his master a servant which

16 is escaped from his master unto thee : he shall dwell with
thee, in the midst of thee, in the place which he shall
choose within one of thy gates, where it liketh him best :
thou shalt not oppress him.

17 There shall be no b harlot of the daughters of Israel,

a Heb. nakedness of any thing.

b Heb. kedeshah. See Gen. xxxviii. 21.

The excrement is not covered for any sanitary reason or motive
of propriet3'' ; for primitive peoples it is a means by which magic
can be worked, and therefore to be prevented from falling into an
enemy's hands. For this peril, and that of demonic influence at
the time of excretion, see Schwally (op. cit., p. 67).

14. The original grounds of the custom are replaced by one
more suitable to a worshipper of Yahweh ; Yahweh Himself (cf.
Gen. iii. 8) is in the camp (xx. 1), which must be kept 'holy.'

xxiii. 15, 16. Asylum in Israel for escaped slaves. This stands
in marked contrast with the severe enactments of the Code of
Hammurabi concerning runaway slaves (§§ 15-20), from Babylo-
nian territory; the law of Deuteronomy apparently relates to
foreign slaves only.

16. within one of thy gates : i. e. a city of Israel, implying
that he is a foreign slave. Contrast the extradition rights allowed
by Gath, 1 Kings ii. 39, 40.

thou shalt not oppress him: so, of the ger or protected
stranger (Exod. xxii. 21), whose presence in Israel would some-
times be explainable in this way (escape from slavery).

xxiii. 17, 18. Religious prostitution forbidden. For a classical
example of the custom referred to see Herodotus I. 199 (at the
temple of Aphrodite among the Babylonians). Cf. 1 Kings xiv.
24 and R. V. marg.

17. harlot . . . Sodomite : the Hebrew is simply a ' sacred !

DEUTERONOMY 23. 18-20. D 175

neither shall there be a a sodomite of the sons of Israel.
Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore, or the wages of 18
a dog, into the house of the Lord thy God for any vow :
for even both these are an abomination unto the Lord
thy God.

Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother ; usury 19
of money, usury of victuals, usury of any thing that is
lent upon usury : unto a foreigner thou mayest lend upon 20
usury; but unto thy brother thou shalt not lend upon
usury : that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all that
thou puttest thine hand unto, in the land whither thou
goest in to possess it

a Heb. kadesh.

person (male and female), with reference to immorality practised
in the service of a deity.

18. dog: the term used in a Cyprian inscription (temple of
Ashtoreth) apparently to denote male prostitutes of the above
class (cf. Rev. xxii. 15). Cf. Rel. Sew., p. 292.

for any vow : i. e. fulfilling a pledge given to the deity. In
the narrative of Herodotus, the silver coin earned is ' sacred ' to
Aphrodite, the woman ' having acquitted herself of her duty to the
goddess.'

abomination : vii. 25, xii. 31, &c. The reference is probably
to the earnings, to say nothing of the earners.

xxiii. 19, 20. Interest on loans allowed from foreigners only.
Parallels in Exod. xxii. 25 (JE), Lev. xxv. 36, 37 (H) : cf. Ps.
xv. 5.

19. lend upon usury: Heb. 'exact interest,' moderate or
excessive. The English ' usury ' is misleading to the modern
reader, who forgets that this term originally meant, and means
here, simply ' interest.'

20. The Bedouins of to-day take no interest on loans (Doughty,
Arabia Deserta, i. 318 ; cited by Cook, Laws of Moses, p. 233).
This is in accordance with those simpler conditions of life in
which the loan is meant to relieve poverty, &c, not to be a
business investment ; for the more complex social conditions of
Babylonia, with its development of trade and commerce, see the
Code of Hammurabi, §§ 49, 50. 100, according to which interest
is ordinarily given. In a year of disaster, however, the interest on
a debt is cancelled (§ 48).

176 DEUTERONOMY 23. 2. — 24. 1.

2 1 When thou shalt vow a vow unto the Lord thy God,
thou shalt not be slack to pay it : for the Lord thy God
will surely require it of thee ; and it would be sin in thee.

22 But if thou shalt forbear to vow, it shall be no sin in thee.

23 That which is gone out of thy lips thou shalt observe and
do; according as thou hast vowed unto the Lord thy
God, a freewill offering, which thou hast promised with
thy mouth.

24 When thou comest into thy neighbour's vineyard, then
thou mayest eat grapes thy fill at thine own pleasure;
but thou shalt not put any in thy vessel.

25 When thou comest into thy neighbour's standing corn,
then thou mayest pluck the ears with thine hand ; but
thou shalt not move a sickle unto thy neighbour's
standing corn.

24 When a man taketh a wife, and marrieth her, then it

xxiii. 21-3. Vows. The subject is developed by P in Num. xxx
(jcf. verse 2) and in later Jewish casuistry. Well-known vows of
the O. T. are those of Jacob (Gen. xxviii. 20), Jephthah (Judges
xi. 30), Hannah (i Sam. i. n).

21. not be slack: ' delay not ' : cf. Eccles. v. 4, 5.

23. a freewill offering : ' freely ' (as in Hos. xiv. 4). These
vows are to be paid at Jerusalem (xii. 6, &c).

xxiii. 24, 25. Hunger, not greed, may be satisfied in a neigh-
bour's vineyard or cornfield.

24. vessel : the bag or wallet of the traveller (Gen. xliii. 11 ;
1 Sam. ix. 7) or shepherd (1 Sam. xvii. 40).

25. Cf. Matt. xii. 1 f. ; Mark ii. 23 f. ; Luke vi. 1 f.

xxiv. 1-4. Divorce. A divorced woman, whose second husband
has also divorced her, oris dead, may not be remarried to the first.

This, and the other references to divorce (xxii. 19, 29 ; Lev.
xxi. 7, 14, xxii. 13 ; Num. xxx. g), in Hebrew law, take the
custom for granted, and do not directly establish it, but deal
with its relation to various contingencies. The laws of divorce in
the Code of Hammurabi (§§ 137-43) are chiefly concerned with its
financial aspect, and guard the woman's right to the return of her
dowry or other compensation, when she has not been to blame.
In the O. T. no right of divorce is supposed to belong to the

DEUTERONOMY 24. 2-5. D 177

shall be, if she find no favour in his eyes, because he
hath found some unseemly thing in her, that he shall
write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand,
and send her out of his house. And when she is 2
departed out of his house, she may go and be another
man's wife. And if the latter husband hate her, and 3
write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand,
and send her out of his house ; or if the latter husband
die, which took her to be his wife ; her former husband, 4
which sent her away, may not take her again to be his
wife, after that she is defiled; for that is abomination
before the Lord : and thou shalt not cause the land to
sin, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an
inheritance.

When a man taketh a new wife, he shall not go out in 5

woman. Divorces were evidently very frequent in Babylonia
and Israel (Mai. ii. 13-16). For a review of Semitic marriage-
law, see Cook, The Laws of Moses, chaps, iv, v ; cf. 2 Sam. iii.
14 f. ; Hos. ii, &c.

1. The apodosis is verse 4 (then her former husband, &c), the
previous three verses are governed by ' if ' or ' when,' and should
be so translated (read ' and it shall be ' (verse 1), ... ' and she may
go ' (verse 2), with necessary re-punctuation).

some unseemly thing : Hebrew as in xxiii. 14 (R.V. marg.) ;
interpreted by the school of Shammai of unchastity, and by the
school of Hillel of any ground of dislike. ' It is most natural to
understand it of immodest or indecent behaviour' (Driver, p. 271).
Cf. Matt. v. 3r, 32, xix. 7 ; Mark x. 4.

a bill of divorcement (' a writing of separation ') : Isa. 1. 1 ;
Jer. iii. 8 (the latter expressly referring to this law). The divorce
is formally and unmistakably made. Compare the Code of Ham-
murabi (§ 141) ; the divorce is not valid without the legal form.
Here three formalities are required — (a) the deed, (b) its service,
(c) dismissal of wife.

4. defiled : i. e. through cohabitation with another man (cf.
Matt. v. 32), which, in the light of a remarriage, might be regarded
as adultery (Lev. xviii. 20 ; Num. v. 13, 14, 20).

cause the land to sin : i. e. by a ' defilement ' which exposes
land and people to the wrath of Yahweh (Isa. xxiv. 5), and makes
it an < abomination ' (vii. 25, Sec.) to Him.

178 DEUTERONOMY 24. 6-8. D

the host, neither shall he be charged with any business :
he shall be free at home one year, and shall cheer his

6 wife which he hath taken. No man shall take the mill
or the upper millstone to pledge : for he taketh a marts
life to pledge.

^ If a man be found stealing any of his brethren of the
children of Israel, and he deal with him a as a slave, or
sell him j then that thief shall die : so shalt thou put
away the evil from the midst of thee.

8 Take heed in the plague of leprosy, that thou observe
diligently, and do according to all that the priests the
Levites shall teach you : as I commanded them, so ye

5. Exemption from military or other duties for one year after
marriage (cf. xx. 7}.

cheer : Heb. ' make to rejoice,' but we should perhaps read
with Vulgate (repointing the Hebrew), ' rejoice intake pleasure)
with' (so Bertholet). As stated by Deuteronomy, the law is
humanitarian ; but it may rest on older ideas connected with the
period of gestation (Schwally, op. cit., 79 f.).

6. The mill not to be taken as deposit for a loan (cf. verses 10-
13, 17 b). since it is essential to the life of its owner.

mill: consisting of two circular stones, the upper being
rotated by hand upon the lower, to grind the corn for each day's
needs — to take away the upper stone was to deprive the house of
the use of the mill itself, and therefore of its daily supply of
bread (Exod. xi. 5 ; Isa. xlvii. 2 ; Jer. xxv. 10 ; Matt. xxiv. 41 ;
Rev. xviii. 22). See on verse 10 f. for pledge.

7. Man-stealing : repeated from Exod. xxi. 16, except that the
law is here confined to Israelite victims of tyrannical dealing (on
xxi. 14). Cf. the Code of Hammurabi (§ 14), ' If a man has stolen
the son of a freeman, he shall be put to death.'

xxiv. 8, 9. The Levitical laws in regard to leprosy are to be
rigorously followed. These laws are given in Lev. xiii. 14 f., but
their substance may well be pre-Deuteronomic.

8. the plague of leprosy : the \ stroke ' of this unclean disease
(on which see D.B.y iii. 95 f.) was regarded as a divine judgement
(2 Kings v. 27, xv. 5) of a specially severe character, because the
visible personality seemed partially destroyed (Num. xii. 12 : cf.
Job ii. 5). Hence, doubtless, its special treatment.

as X commanded them : i. e. Yahweh, like ' me ' in vii. 4.

DEUTERONOMY 24. 9-i5. D 179

shall observe to do. Remember what the Lord thy God 9
did unto Miriam, by the way as ye came forth out of
Egypt.

When thou dost lend thy neighbour any manner of 10
loan, thou shalt not go into his house to fetch his pledge.
Thou shalt stand without, and the man to whom thou "
dost lend shall bring forth the pledge without unto thee.
And if he be a poor man, thou shalt not sleep with his 1 2
pledge : thou shalt surely restore to him the pledge when 13
the sun goeth down, that he may sleep in his garment,
and bless thee : and it shall be righteousness unto thee
before the Lord thy God.

Thou shalt not oppress an hired servant that is poor 14
and needy, whether he be of thy brethren, or of thy
strangers that are in thy land within thy gates : in his day 15

9. Miriam : smitten with leprosy for contempt of Moses (Num.
xii. 10), and kept without the camp, at Yahweh's bidding, for
seven days.

xxiv. 10-13. Selection and Retention of Pledges for Loans. The
article deposited with a creditor as security for his loan is to be
selected by the borrower ; and if it be essential to his life, it shall
be speedily returned.

10. Interest, not a pledge, was forbidden in xxiii. 19, 20.

12. The rule becomes practically equivalent to that of verse 6 ;
the essentials of life must not be withheld from those needing
them. Similarly of the ox in the Code of Hammurabi (§ 241 : cf.
Job xxiv. 3).

13. Exod. xxii. 26, 27 (JE). The garment {simian) is ' the
largest and heaviest article of Oriental dress, being the dress of
travel, of the shepherd, worn for protection against cold and rain,
and used as a covering during sleep\D.B., i. 625, where illustrations
are given). For the pledging of clothes, cf. Amos ii. 8 ; Prov. xx.
16 ; Job xxii. 6).

xxiv. 14, 15. Treatment of Hired Servants : they are not to be
wronged by the retention of their wages (Lev. xix. 13).

15. in his day: i.e. the day of labour (Job xiv. 6), through
which are earned the wages, e. g. the ? penny ' of Matt. xx. 2 f.
The Code of Hammurabi gives a scale of wages per day for
different grades of labour (§§ 273, 274).

N 2

i8o DEUTERONOMY 24, 16-19. D

thou shall give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down
upon it ; for he is poor, and setteth his heart upon it :
lest he cry against thee unto the Lord, and it be sin
unto thee.

16 The fathers shall not be put to death for the children,
neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers :
every man shall be put to death for his own sin.

17 Thou shalt not wrest the judgement of the stranger,
nor of the fatherless ; nor take the widow's raiment to

18 pledge : but thou shalt remember that thou wast a
bondman in Egypt, and the Lord thy God redeemed
thee thence : therefore I command thee to do this thing.

19 When thou reapest thine harvest in thy field, and hast
forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch
it : it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for

lest lie cry, &c. : contrast verse 13, and cf. xv. 9.

xxiv. 16. Individual Responsibility. A fundamental characteristic
of ancient ideas of personality is the absence of legal individuality ;
ancient thought and law make the family the unit (Joshua vii. 24 ;
2 Kings ix. 26) rather than the individual. For the social solidarity
of the family, see v. 9 (cf. Jer. xxxi. 29 ; Ezek. xviii. 2) ; here
blood-revenge is specially in view (cf. 2 Kings xiv. 6). The
principle of individuality is emphasized by Ezekiel (chap, xviii):
its full recognition falls largely within the sphere of Christian
influences.

xxiv. 17, 18. Stranger, Orphan, and Widow. These three
dependent classes are grouped together, as in Exod. xxii. 21, 22
and elsewhere ; care for them is characteristic of this book.

17. wrest the judgement : cf. x. 18 and xvi. 19 ; Exod. xxiii. 6.
the widow's raiment : cf. verses 12, 13. The widow's claims

are legally recognized in various law« of the Code of Hammurabi
(§§ 171, 172, 177) ; it is there also enacted that 'The buyer that
has bought a utensil of a widow's sons shall lose his money and
shall return the property to its owners.'

18. Cf. xv. 15.

xxiv. 19-22. Gleanings to be left for the needy, in field, olive-
garden, and vineyard.

19. See Lev. xix. 9, xxiii. 22 (H) ; and for the general practice
as to gleaners' privileges, Ruth ii. It is a widespread custom to

DEUTERONOMY 24. 20— 25. 3. D 181

the widow : that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all
the work of thine hands.

When thou beatest thine olive tree, thou shalt not go 20
over the boughs again : it shall be for the stranger, for
the fatherless, and for the widow. When thou gatherest 21
the grapes of thy vineyard, thou shalt not glean it after
thee : it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and
for the widow. And thou shalt remember that thou wast 22
a bondman in the land of Egypt : therefore I command
thee to do this thing.

If there be a controversy between men, and they come 25
unto judgement, and the judges judge them ; then they
shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked;
and it shall be, if the wicked man be worthy to be 2
beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down, and
to be beaten before his face, according to his wickedness,
by number. Forty stripes he may give him, he shall 3

treat the last sheaf of corn in a special way, on the ground that it
contains the corn-spirit (Frazer, The Golden Bough, ii. p. 171 f.) ;
the last sheaf may have been left originally for strangers (ib. 232f.)
as a convenient method of disposing of its perilous contents.
Here, however, a humanitarian motive has replaced a primitive
superstition.

20. beatest : olives were and are beaten down from the trees
in order to gather them (Isa. xvii. 6, xxiv. 13).

21. See Lev. xix. 10.

xxv. 1-3. Corporal punishment to be moderate (cf. Exod. xxi.
20, of slaves only).

1. The apodosis probably begins with ' the judge shall cause
him to lie down ' ; read therefore ' and they shall justify ' (pro-
nounce innocent), . . . ' then it shall be ' (verse 2).

2. to lie down: probably for the bastinado (cf. Rob. Smith,
O.T.J. C.'1, p. 368). Note here the three precautions against
excessive flogging ; (a) before his face : i. e. in the presence of
the judge himself ; (b) by number ; (c) maximum of forty stripes,
the exact number being proportionate, i. e. according- to hit;
wickedness.

3. forty stripes : in later practice this became ' forty stripes

1 82 DEUTERONOMY 25. 4-6. D

not exceed : lest, if he should exceed, and beat him
above these with many stripes, then thy brother should
seem vile unto thee.

4 Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out
the corn.

5 If brethren dwell together, and one of them die, and
have no son, the wife of the dead shall not marry with-
out unto a stranger : her husband's brother shall go in
unto her, and take her to him to wife, and perform the

6 duty of an husband's brother unto her. And it shall be,

save one ' (2 Cor. xi. 24), lest the legal number should be ex-
ceeded by a miscount. The Code of Hammurabi (§ 202) imposes
< sixty strokes of a cow-hide whip.'

should seem vile: Hebrew 'should be dishonoured.'
unto thee : Heb. l before thine eyes,' i. e. openly.

xxv. 4. The ox to be unmuzzled in threshing (a misplaced law).
In spite of 1 Cor. ix. 9, 10 (cf. 1 Tim. v. 18), the meaning is
literal ; God does ' take care for oxen ' (cf. xxii. 6, 7). The custom
still continues.

xxv. 5-10. Levimte Marriage. The widow of a childless
brother is to be married by the survivor, to raise an heir to his
name (verses 5, 6). Failure to perform this duty after public
challenge shall be punished with public dishonour (verses 7-10).
This custom (the English name of which comes from the Latin,
1 levir,' husband's brother) occurs in various forms among many
peoples (references in Westermarck, Human Marriage, p. 510,
note). It existed in Israel prior to this law ; see the narrative of
J in Gen. xxxviii. The parallel in Ruth iv. 1 f. is that of a quasi-
Levirate marriage, neither Boaz nor Ruth coming under the
exact application of this law, but the aim and legal procedure
being similar. The law probably modifies an earlier and wider
custom of the inheritance of a dead brother's wife, by the
provisions (a) that the brothers in question are those having
a common establishment, (b) that the second marriage is to take
place only when there was no son born of the first, (c) that the
firstborn of the marriage shall take the name and place of the
dead brother.

5. husband's brother : a technical term (yabdm : cf. ' levir,'
above) from which the verb ' perform the duty of a husband's
brother' (one word in Heb.) is derived.

6. For the Israelite, as for other ancient peoples, the survival of the

DEUTERONOMY 25. 7-11. D 183

that the firstborn which she beareth shall succeed in the
name of his brother which is dead, that his name be not
blotted out of Israel. And if the man like not to take 7
his brother's wife, then his brother's wife shall go up to
the gate unto the elders, and say, My husband's
brother refuseth to raise up unto his brother a name in
Israel, he will not perform the duty of an husband's
brother unto me. Then the elders of his city shall call 8
him, and speak unto him : and if he stand, and say,
I like not to take her ; then shall his brother's wife 9
come unto him in the presence of the elders, and loose
his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face ; and she
shall answer and say, So shall it be done unto the man
that doth not build up his brother's house. And his 10
name shall be called in Israel, The house of him that
hath his shoe loosed.

When men strive together one with another, and the 1 1

' name ' is of supreme importance, and its blotting out the greatest
of calamities (ix. 14 : cf. verse 19, ' remembrance \)

*7. to the gate unto the elders: xxi. 19, xxii. 15. Such a
marriage, as a duty, is to be enforced by public opinion, though
not by any legal penalty. Cf. Ruth iv. 1-12.

9. loose his shoe : Ruth iv. 7, where the removal of the
sandal is explained as a symbolic representation of transfer
'cession of right). The dishonour lies not in the act itself, but
the circumstances of its performance by the woman. Driver
refers to Rob. Smith. Kinship, p. 269. 'A Bedouin form of
divorce is "she was my slipper, and I have cast her off." '

spit in his face : Num. xii. 14 ; Job xxx. 10 ; Isa. 1. 6.
build up: Ruth iv. 11 ; Gen. xvi. 2, xxx. 3 (R. V. marg.).

10. The dishonour shall attach to his family, who shall be
known as 'the house of bare-foot.1

xxv. 11. A typical case of feminine immodesty. So, at least,
we must interpret the law as here reproduced ; but the severity
of the punishment suggests that the woman's act was originally
regarded as a breach of the taboo which everywhere attaches to
the mystery of generation. The Code of Hammurabi (§§ 202-5)
deals with ' striking the strength ? of a man (so Johns), where the

i84 DEUTERONOMY 25. 12-17. D

wife of the one draweth near for to deliver her husband
out of the hand of him that smiteth him, and putteth

1 2 forth her hand, and taketh him by the secrets : then
thou shalt cut off her hand, thine eye shall have no
pity.

13 Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, a great

14 and a small. Thou shalt not have in thine house

15 divers measures, a great and a small. A perfect and
just weight shalt thou have ; a perfect and just measure
shalt thou have : that thy days may be long upon the

16 land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. For all that
do such things, even all that do unrighteously, are an
abomination unto the Lord thy God.

1 7 Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way as

genitalia might be meant ; e. g. ' If a gentleman's servant has struck
the strength of a free-man, one shall cut off his ear.' But, in his
later translation {D.B., v. 606) Johns renders 'strength' as ' cheek.'

strive together : wrestle or struggle (Exod. xxi. 22).

cut off her hand: as the member contaminated by the breach
of taboo, or as inherently evil. No other mutilation as penalty is
ordered in the law of Israel, apart from the ius talionis of xix. 21
(Dilimann) ; both go back to primitive ideas and practices.

xxv. 13-16. Fair dealings {weights and measures). Cf. Lev. xix.
35* 36 (H) ; Ezek. xlv. 10 f.

13. divers weights: Heb. 'a stone and a stone^ the larger to
weigh purchases, the smaller, sales. Cf. Amos viii. 5 ; Micah vi.
11 'with wicked balances and with a bag of deceitful weights'
(contrast Prov. xvi. 11). Most of the ancient weights still existing
are of stone (E.B. 5299) : cf. 2 Sam. xiv. 26 where ' weight '
renders Heb. 'stone.'

14. divers measures: Heb. 'an ephah and an ephah,' the
ephah being approximately a bushel ; these larger measures are
naturally kept in the ' house ' as contrasted with the ' bag ' of
weights carried about.

15. perfect iu the physical sense of 'whole,' i. e. 'full weight.'

16. Cf. xviii. 12, xxii. 5.

unrighteously : Heb. ' unrighteousness ' (Lev. xix. 15, 35).
xxv. 17-19. Hostility to the Amalckites enjoined.

17. Amalek was encountered by Israel at Rephidim, near Sinai
(Exod. xvii. 8-16), and was regarded with a peculiar bitterness then

DEUTERONOMY 25. 18— 26. 2. D 185

ye came forth out of Egypt; how he met thee by the 18
way, and smote the hindmost of thee, all that were feeble
behind thee, when thou wast faint and weary ; and he
feared not God. Therefore it shall be, when the Lord 19
thy God hath given thee rest from all thine enemies
round about, in the land which the Lord thy God
giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it, that thou
shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under
heaven ; thou shalt not forget.

And it shall be, when thou art come in unto the land 26
which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance,
and possessest it, and dwellest therein ; that thou shalt 2
take of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which thou

and thenceforward (1 Sam. xiv. 48, xv. 2, 3, xxvii. 8, xxx. if.;
2 Sam. viii. ia), till the disappearance of this people from history.
19. rest : see on xii. 10.
blot out, &c. : based on Exod. xvii. 14.

xxvi. i-ii. Liturgy for {annual) presentation of first-fruits;
acknowledgement of the Divine Providence. Every year the
Israelite shall offer a basketful of first-fruits at the altar in
Jerusalem, and acknowledge that Yahweh has kept His promise
1 verses 1-4). In prescribed words he shall recall the history of
his people from the time of Jacob to the settlement in Canaan,
and shall confess that Yahweh is the giver of the first-fruits pre-
sented (verses 5-ioa). The basket shall be deposited at the altar,
and there shall be a family feast (verses iob-n).

This liturgy stands suitably at the end of the legal code (chaps,
xii-xxv), and, with that which follows, relating to the tithes
^verses 12-15), illustrates the spirituality of the ritual ceremonies
of Israel's religion (see on verse 5). That the ceremony is to be
annually performed appears from its general character ; it relates
to all the first-fruits, i. e. those of each successive year. The
occasion is not stated, but must be one of the three feasts of
xvi. 16, perhaps the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost).

1. As xvii. 14.

2. the first of all the fruit : the first-fruits have been mentioned
already in xviii. 4 as the due of the priests, and may be included in
the heave-offering of xii. 6, n, \% Here, apparently, of a re-
presentative part.

186 DEUTERONOMY 26. 3-5. D

shalt bring in from thy land that the Lord thy God
giveth thee ; and thou shalt put it in a basket, and shalt
go unto the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to

3 cause his name to dwell there. And thou shalt come
unto the priest that shall be in those days, and say unto
him, I profess this day unto the Lord thy God, that I
am come unto the land which the Lord sware unto our

4 fathers for to give us. And the priest shall take the
basket out of thine hand, and set it down before the

5 altar of the Lord thy God. And thou shalt answer and
say before the Lord thy God, A a Syrian b ready to perish
was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and
sojourned there, few in number ; and he became there a

a Heb. Aramean. b Or, wandering Or, lost

bring" in : i.e. from the field or garden to the barn (2 Sam.
ix. 10 ; Hag. i. 6, ' ye have sown much and bring in little ').

a basket: cf. xxviii. 5, 17, where it is a typical and familiar
article, mentioned along with the kneading-trough.

the place, &c. : see on xii. 5.

3. that shall be in those days: (xvii. 9, xix. 17), i.e. of the
year in question (the chief of the priests being meant).

profess : ' declare,' i. e. that Yahweh's oath to the fathers
(see on i. 8) has been faithfully kept.

4. 'The basket-bearing priest is a conspicuous figure in the
Assyrian sculptures' (D.B., i. 256a).

5. A Syrian ready to perish : the reference is to Jacob 'the
Aramaean,' whose mother, Rebecca, was from Aram-Naharaim
(Gen. xxiv. 10), and whose ancestral kindred (xxiv. 4) were of
the same country. He himself 'fled into the country of Aram'
(Hos. xii. 12), served Laban, and married his daughters there
(Gen. xxix-xxxi). The marginal alternatives to ' ready to perish '
are due to the fact that the Hebrew word for ' perish ' is applied
to animals 'straying' or 'lost' (1 Sam. ix. 3, 20; Jer. 1. 6).
The emphasis on Jacob is intended to bring out the lowly origin
of Israel. Thanksgiving for present prosperity is made intelligent
and vivid by the contrast with past adversity.

he went down into Egypt : Gen. xlvi. 1 f. : the number of
•lie family group migrating to Egypt being seventy (Gen. xlvi. 26,
27 : cf. Gen. xxxiv. 30).

DEUTERONOMY 26. 6-i?>. D 187

nation, great, mighty, and populous : and the Egyptians 6
evil entreated us, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard
bondage : and we cried unto the Lord, the God of our 7
fathers, and the Lord heard our voice, and saw our
affliction, and our toil, and our oppression : and the 8
Lord brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand,
and with an outstretched arm, and with great terrible-
ness, and with signs, and with wonders : and he hath 9
brought us into this place, and hath given us this land,
a land flowing with milk and honey. And now, behold, 1 o
I have brought the first of the fruit of the ground, which
thou, O Lord, hast given me. And thou shalt set it
down before the Lord thy God, and worship before the
Lord thy God : and thou shalt rejoice in all the good ri
which the Lord thy God hath given unto thee, and unto
thine house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that
is in the midst of thee.

When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithe 12
of thine increase in the third year, which is the year of
tithing, then thou shalt give it unto the Levite, to the
stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, that they
may eat within thy gates, and be filled ; and thou shalt say 1 3

great, mighty, and populous : Exod. i. 9.
6-8. Exod. i. 12, 14, ii. 23, iii. 7, 9; Num. xx. 15, 16; Deut.
iv. 34.

9. flowing with milk and honey : see on vi. 3.

10. hast given me : by the series of events recapitulated,
leading up to the possession of Canaan ; these fruits, and the
opportunity to enjoy them, come alike from Yahweh, not from the
Baalim of Canaan.

11. Cf. xii. 1, 12. 18, xvi. 11, 14.

xxvi. 12-15. Triennial Declaration of Tithe and Prayer for
Prosperity.

12. in the third year: the tithe of this year being exception-
ally devoted to the relief of the poor and dependent (xiv. b8)4

188 DEUTERONOMY 26. 14-17. D

before the Lord thy God, I have put away the hallowed
things out of mine house, and also have given them unto
the Levite, and unto the stranger, to the fatherless, and
to the widow, according to all thy commandment which
thou hast commanded me : I have not transgressed any
of thy commandments, neither have I forgotten them :

14 I have not eaten thereof in my mourning, neither have I
put away thereof, being unclean, nor given thereof for
the dead : I have hearkened to the voice of the Lord
my God, I have done according to all that thou hast

x5 commanded me. Look down from thy holy habitation,
from heaven, and bless thy people Israel, and the ground
which thou hast given us, as thou swarest unto our
fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.

16 This day the Lord thy God commandeth thee to do
these statutes and judgements : thou shalt therefore keep
and do them with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.

17 Thou hast avouched the Lord this day to be thy God,

13. before Yahweh thy God: probably not at home (Gen.
xxvii. 7), but at one of the feasts at Jerusalem, more especially the
Feast of Tabernacles, which completed the agricultural 3'ear.

the hallowed things : i. e. the tithe, as < holy ' to Yahweh ;
the same word (' put away') is used of its removal as in xiii. 5,
xvii. 7, 12, xix. 13, 19, xxi. 21, xxii. 21-4, xxiv. 7 ; the tithe is
under a taboo.

14. Three sources of pollution are disclaimed— (a) consumption
of tithe by a mourner, ceremonially unclean by his association
with death (Hos. ix. 4) ; (7>) separation of tithe by one ' unclean '
(cf. Lev. xxii. if.); (c) devotion of tithe to (or for) the dead. The
last probably refers to the well-known custom, amongst many
peoples, of offering food, &c, at a grave for the consumption of
the departed spirit.

xxvi. 16-19. Conclusion to Code. Let Israel obey these com-
mands, for to-day Israel has accepted Yahweh as God, and Yahweh
has accepted Israel as His unique people. (The conclusion of a
covenant is presupposed.)

17, 18. avouched: //'/. 'caused to say,' i.e. to acknowledge,
which may be the better rendering here. '

DEUTERONOMY 26. 18— 27. 2. D RD 189

and that thou shouldest walk in his ways, and keep his
statutes, and his commandments, and his judgements,
and hearken unto his voice : and the Lord hath 18
avouched thee this day to be a peculiar people unto him-
self, as he hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest
keep all his commandments; and to make thee high above 19
all nations which he hath made, a in praise, and in name,
and in honour ; and that thou mayest be an holy people
unto the Lord thy God, as he hath spoken.

[RD] And Moses and the elders of Israel commanded 27
the people, saying, Keep all the commandment which I
command you this day. And it shall be on the day 2
when ye shall pass over Jordan unto the land which the
Lord thy God giveth thee, that thou shalt set thee up

a Or, for a praise, and for a name, and for an honour

19. Read with R. V. marg. ; Israel is to be all this for Yahweh,
a l holy ' people, as being separate from all others, a < peculiar
people ' (vii. 6).

xxvii. Command to erect stones, inscribed with the law, on
Mount Ebal ; also to build an altar there (verses 1-8). Appeal
for obedience (verses 9, 10). The tribes, in two divisions, shall
stand on Gerizim and Ebal for the blessing and the curse
respectively (verses 11- 13). A series of twelve curses to be
pronounced by the Levites.

This chapter is generally admitted to belong to the secondary
elements of the book, as appears from — (a) its lack of literary
unity, (6) the interruption in the address of Moses, continued
without apparent break or explanation in chap, xxviii. The em-
phasis on the place of the Levites and the character of the curses
suggest a late addition, though the curses themselves may be an
old liturgical office, used on solemn occasions (Driver, p. 300).
The points of contact are with the Book of the Covenant and with
the Law of Holiness, rather than with Deuteronomy.

1. and the elders : here only associated with Moses in giving
commandment.

3. plaister : the stones were whitewashed to afford a writing
surface, as was the customary Egyptian practice.

i9o DEUTERONOMY 27. 3-7. RD JE RD

3 great stones, and plaister them with plaister : and thou
shalt write upon them all the words of this law, when
thou art passed over ; that thou mayest go in unto the
land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, a land flowing
with milk and honey, as the Lord, the God of thy

4 fathers, hath promised thee. And it shall be when ye
are passed over Jordan, that ye shall set up these stones,
which I command you this day, in mount Ebal, and thou

5 shalt plaister them with plaister. [JE] And there shalt
thou build an altar unto the Lord thy God, an altar of

6 stones : thou shalt lift up no iron tool upon them. Thou
shalt build the altar of the Lord thy God of a unhewn
stones : and thou shalt offer burnt offerings thereon unto

7 the Lord thy God : and thou shalt sacrifice peace
offerings, [RD] and shalt eat there ; and thou shalt rejoice

a Heb. whole.

3. The best example of the inscription of laws (by engraving)
on stone is afforded by the parallel Code of Hammurabi, dis-
covered in 1902 on a block of black diorite, about eight feet high
(see Introd., p. 20). In this way laws were ' published ' in ancient
times, and made accessible to all, as is expressly stated on the
above stone.

all the words of this law : how much of Deuteronomy
v-xxvi is included it is, of course, impossible to say. Of the
Code of Hammurabi 3,614 lines are extant.

4. mount Ebal: xi. 29. The Pentateuch of the Samaritans
reads \ Gerizim,' an alteration in favour of their sacred mountain.

5. Cf. Exod. xx. 25 ; the prohibition of worked stone springs
from the belief that the stone in its natural state is more sacred
than a stone artificially hewn (verse 6), and from the conservatism
of religion which opposes any innovation on primitive simplicity.
The earliest altar was a stone like that taken by Jacob at Bethel
(Gen. xxviii. 18).

6. burnt offering's : see on xii. 6 ; these religious ceremonies
ratify the covenant between Yahweh and Israel.

7. peace offerings : Exod. xx. 24 ; called in xii. 6, and else-
where in Deuteronomy, ' sacrifices.'

shalt eat there, &c. : cf. xii. 7, 12 ; the sacrificial meal is
part of the ceremony of the ' peace-offering.'

DEUTERONOMY 27. 8-13. RD D RD 191

before the Lord thy God. And thou shalt write upon 8
the stones all the words of this law very plainly.

[D] And Moses and the priests the Levites spake unto all 9
Israel, saying, Keep silence, and hearken, O Israel;
this day thou art become the people of the Lord thy
God. Thou shalt therefore obey the voice of the Lord ic
thy God, and do his commandments and his statutes,
which I command thee this day.

[RD] And Moses charged the people the same day, 11
saying, These shall stand upon mount Gerizim to bless u
the people, when ye are passed over Jordan ; Simeon,
and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Joseph, and
Benjamin : and these shall stand upon mount Ebal for 13

8. the stones : distinct from those of the altar. This command,
and the record of its fulfilment in Joshua viii. 30, 31, imply the
existence of such an altar and stones at the time of the writers.

9, 10. These verses should be compared with xxvi. 16-19,
whose thought they continue, and to whose phraseology they
are closely related. Israel must obey the voice of Yahweh (xxvi.
17) and do His commands (xxvi. 17), because this day (xxvi. 16,
17, 18) Israel has accepted the position of Yahweh's people
vxxvi. 18). On the other hand, their thought is continued in
xxviii. 1, 2. Dillmann suggests that the priests the Levites
is a later addition in view of verses 1 1-26.

11-13. In xi. 29 the alternative blessing or curse of obedience
or disobedience to the law is emphasized by reference to a future
ceremony in Canaan which shall bring both home to the Israelite
and confirm them for the new country. Here the ceremony is
partially described ; its actual accomplishment is narrated in
Joshua viii. 30-5.

12. These shall stand : the tribes are divided, for the cursing
and the blessing (north and south) geographically, according to
Steuernagel ; the eastern, Reuben and Gad, and the northern
Asher, Zebulon, Dan, Naphtali, are opposed to the western and
southern tribes, Simeon, Judah, Joseph, Benjamin, Issachar, with
Levi. This explanation, however, does not suit the position of
Issachar, and most (e. g. Dillmann, Driver, Bertholet) explain the
division by the birth through concubines of Dan, Naphtali, Gad,
and Asher vGen. xxz.. i-i^;, Reuben's forfeiture of birthright (Gen.

icj2 DEUTERONOMY 27. 14-20. RD ?

the curse ; Reuben, Gad, and Asher, and Zebulun, Dan,

14 and Naphtali. [?] And the Levites shall answer, and
say unto all the men of Israel with a loud voice,

15 Cursed be the man that maketh a graven or molten
image, an abomination unto the Lord, the work of the
hands of the craftsman, and setteth it up in secret.
And all the people shall answer and say, Amen.

16 Cursed be he that setteth light by his father or his mother.
And all the people shall say, Amen.

17 Cursed be he that removeth his neighbour's landmark.
And all the people shall say, Amen.

18 Cursed be he that maketh the blind to wander out of
the way. And all the people shall say, Amen.

19 Cursed be he that wresteth the judgement of the
stranger, fatherless, and widow. And all the people
shall say, Amen.

20 Cursed be he that lieth with his father's wife ; because

xxxv. 22, xlix. 4), and Zebulon's place as the youngest son of
Leah (Gen. xxx. 20), which account for these tribes being appointed
to curse.

14 f. The number of the curses is doubtless suggested by
that of the twelve tribes. They relate to — (1) imageless religion,
(2) dishonour of parents, (3) removal of landmark, (4) want of
humanity to blind, (5) injustice to the helpless, (6-9) incest and
immorality, (10) murder, (11) bribery, (12) general disobedience
to the law.

the Levites : not, as in verse 12, the members of a secular
tribe, but in the official sense of x. 8 (clergy as opposed to laity).

15. Cursed : see on Joshua vi. 26.

a graven or molten image : iv. 16, ix. 12 ; Exod. xx. j
(Deut. v. 8) ; Lev. xix. 4, xxvi. 1.

Amen : (Neh. viii. 6) f verily ' ; may be used at the beginning
of a sentence, with reference to previous words (1 Kings i. 36) ;
alone (as here, with the implied sentence ' let this curse be ') ; or
at the end of something said, as in the Lord's Prayer (E.B., 136, 137;.

16. v. 16 ( = Exod. xx. 12) ; Exod. xxi. 17 ; Lev. xx. 9.
setteth light toy: * dishonoured,' opposed to the 'honour*

of the fifth commandment.

17 (xix. 14). 18 (Lev, xix. 14). 19 (xxiv. 17 ; Exod. xxii.

DEUTERONOMY 27. 21— 28. 1. ? D 193

he hath uncovered his father's skirt. And all the people
shall say, Amen.

Cursed be he that lieth with any manner of beast. 2 1
And all the people shall say, Amen.

Cursed be he that lieth with his sister, the daughter of 22
his father, or the daughter of his mother. And all the
people shall say, Amen.

Cursed be he that lieth with his mother in law. And 23
all the people shall say, Amen.

Cursed be he that smiteth his neighbour in secret. 24
And all the people shall say, Amen.

Cursed be he that taketh reward to slay an innocent 25
person. And all the people shall say, Amen.

Cursed be he that confirmeth not the words of this 26
law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen.

[D] And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken 28

21 f. ; Lev. xix. 33 f.). 20 (xxii. 30; Lev. xviii. 8, xx. 11). 21
(Exod. xxii. 19 ; Lev. xviii. 23, xx. 15). 22 (Lev. xviii. 9, xx.
17 ; contrast Gen. xx. 12, 2 Sam. xiii.12, 13). 23 (Lev. xviii. 17,
xx. 14). 24 (v. 20= Exod. xx. 16, Deut. xix. 11; Exod. xxi. 12;
Lev. xxiv. 17). 25 (xvi. 19 ; Exod. xxiii. 8 ; both in more general
sense).

26. Cf. 2 Kings xxiii. 3, 24, where Josiah ' confirms ' {lit. \ makes
to stand') the Deuteronomic law.

The above ' curses ' may be the codification of early decisions
given at the sanctuary of Shechem— each a primitive Torah — as we
may infer from the names given to the sacred trees there, f the
oak of the teacher' (Moreh, Gen. xii. 6), or 'of the augurs'
(Judges ix. 37, R.V. marg.). Meyer- Luther {Die Israelite*!,
p. 552), in pointing this out, suggest that such early legislation at
Shechem accounts for the insertion of Deut. xii-xxvi between
the two parts of the Shechem narrative (Deut. xi. 26-30,
xxvii. 1-26).

xxviii. Conclusion. A detailed declaration of the blessings of
prosperity, which shall be conditional on obedience to the law
now given (verses 1-14). A parallel declaration of the curses of
adversity, which shall punish disobedience (verses 15-25, 38-46).
Further description of the terrors of this divine punishment

i94 DEUTERONOMY 28. 2-4. D

diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to
observe to do all his commandments which I command
thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on

2 high above all the nations of the earth : and all these
blessings shall come upon thee, and overtake thee, if
thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God.

3 Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou

4 be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body,

(verses 26-37). Invasion by a fierce enemy ; the horrors of
a protracted siege (verses 47-57). Disobedient Israel plagued
and scattered in exile ; life a burden ; return to the slavery of
Egypt (verses 58-68).

This chapter of solemn and forceful warning seems to belong,
at least in part, to the original law-book of Josiah. The evidence
for this is (a) the impression made on him by the book when first
read (2 Kings xxii. n, 13) which requires such severe warnings
as these ; (&) the parallel conclusions to the ' Book of the
Covenant' (Exod. xxiii. 20-33) and to the Law of Holiness (Lev.
xxvi) ; (c) the natural continuation in xxviii. 1 of the thought and
language of xxvii. 10 (xxvi. 19). But it is difficult to maintain
the unity of chap, xxviii. The curses are so very disproportionate
in length to the blessings that they seem to have been considerably
expanded. A natural conclusion is reached at verse 46 ; the first
of the two following sections (verses 47-57) implies experience of
the exile and the siege of Jerusalem, the second (verses 58 68)
also implies the exile and the (previous) existence of the Deuter-
onomic law in writing. Within the earlier half of the chapter, also,
there seems to be later addition, and Bertholet is probably right
in regarding verses 26-37 in this light. The nucleus of the
chapter, forming the original conclusion to the Deuteronomic Code,
will then be verses 1-25% 38-46, a parallel and symmetrical list
of blessings and curses.

1. The connexion of thought, through xxvii. 9-10, with xxvi.
16-19 is to be noted. The infrequent word rendered ' on high '
{'elyon) occurs also in xxvi. 19, and nowhere else in the prose of
Deuteronomy (once only in the poetry, xxxii. 8).

2. overtake : the blessings and curses (verse i5Ni are personified,
the same word being used here as of the avenger of blood (xix. 6).

xxviii. 3-6. Six formal blessings cover life in town and country,
offspring (or produce), the supply of food, the beginning and the
end of each undertaking.

4. Cf. vii. 13 ; the blessing of fertility in every form of life.

DEUTERONOMY 28. 5-1 1. D 195

and the fruit of thy ground^ and the fruit of thy cattle,
the increase of thy kine, and the young of thy flock.
Blessed shall be thy basket and thy kneading-trough. 5
Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed 6
shalt thou be when thou goest out. The Lord shall 7
cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be
smitten before thee : they shall come out against thee one
way, and shall flee before thee seven ways. The Lord 8
shall command the blessing upon thee in thy barns, and
in all that thou puttest thine hand unto; and he shall
bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth
thee. The Lord shall establish thee for an holy people 9
unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee ; if thou shalt
keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, and walk
in his ways. And all the peoples of the earth shall see that 10
thou art called by the name of the Lord ; and they
shall be afraid of thee. And the Lord shall make thee 11

5. basket : see xxvi. 2, here representative of plentiful stores,
kneading-trough : Exod. viii. 3, xii. 34 ; essential to the

preparation of the daily bread, like the mill of xxiv. 6 ; here
representative of plentiful meals.

6. comest in . . . goest out : Ps. cxxi. 8 ; a standing phrase,
used by Moses (xxxi. 2), Caleb (Joshua xiv. 11), Solomon (1 Kings
iii. 7), to cover the activities of ordinary life.

7. cause: Heb. 'give' (as smitten ones) V their concentrated
attack shall be followed by the pursuit of them as scattered
fugitives.

8. shall command : Heb. ' command ' (Jussive, as is the verb
in verses 21, 36).

upon thee: Heb. ' with thee ' (see on verse 2).

9. an holy people : vii. 6, xiv. 2, xxvi. 19. The primarily non-
ethical meaning of the term is apparent ; ' an holy people ' is one
separated to Yahweh, apart from actual character in the first
instance ; when Israel obeys, Yahweh will confirm His choice of
this people as His special property (cf. Exod. xix. 5, 6).

10. thou art called toy the name of Yahweh : rather, ' the
name of Yahweh is called over thee ' (as owner, cf. 2 Sam. xii.
28, R. V. marg.), Jer. xiv. 9, &c.

O 2

196 DEUTERONOMY 28. iilig. D

plenteous for good, in the fruit of thy body, and in the
fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the
land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers to give thee.

12 The Lord shall open unto thee his good a treasure the
heaven to give the rain of thy land in its season, and to
bless all the work of thine hand : and thou shalt lend

*3 unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow. And
the Lord shall make thee the head, and not the tail ; and
thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath ;
if thou shalt hearken unto the commandments of the
Lord thy God, which I command thee this day, to

14 observe and to do them ; and shalt not turn aside from
any of the words which I command you this day,
to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to
serve them.

15 But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken
unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all
his commandments and his statutes which I command
thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon

16 thee, and overtake thee. Cursed shalt thou be in the

17 city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field. Cursed shall

18 be thy basket and thy kneadingtrough. Cursed shall be
the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, the

rcj increase of thy kine, and the young of thy flock. Cursed
shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt

a Or, treasury

12. treasure : R. V. marg. gives the better rendering, the
reference being to the store of water above the firmament (Gen.
i. 7, vii. 11 : cf. Deut. xi. it, 17). From this 'treasury' (Job
xxxviii. 22) comes the nation's (agricultural) wealth and its financial
independence.

13. Cf. Isa. ix. 14, xix. 15.

15-19. These curses take the same verbal form as the blessings
(verses 1-6), except that verses ib and 2h are not represented
and verse 17 precedes verse 18.

DEUTERONOMY 28. 20-25. D 197

thou be when thou goest out. The Lord shall send 20
upon thee cursing, discomfiture, and rebuke, in all that
thou puttest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be
destroyed, and until thou perish quickly 5 because of the
evil of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me.
The Lord shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, 21
until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither
thou goest in to possess it. The Lord shall smite thee 22
with consumption, and with fever, and with inflammation,
and with fiery heat, and with athe sword, and with
blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee
until thou perish. And thy heaven that is over thy 23
head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee
shall be iron. The Lord shall make the rain of thy 24
land powder and dust : from heaven shall it come down
upon thee, until thou be destroyed. The Lord shall 25
cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies : thou
shalt go out one way against them, and shalt flee seven

a Or, according to some ancient versions, drought

20 f. The exact parallelism with the blessings is here abandoned,
but there is a general similarity as far as verse 25 a, resumed in
verses 38-46.

21. pestilence : a general term for * plague,' as is indicated by
its use in the frequent Jeremianic phrase, ' I will consume them
by the sword and by the famine and by the pestilence' (xiv. 12, &c).

22. Seven plagues shall pursue Israel, like the sevenfold
enemy of verse 25 (cf. verse 2) — the first four being assailants of
men, the last three of crops.

the sword : read, with R. V. marg., « drought,' which requires
no change in the Hebrew consonants.

23. Cf. Lev. xxvi. 19 ; the drought described is the opposite of
what is promised in verse 12 ; the hardened earth yields no fruit,
since the closed heaven gives no rain.

24. The well-known sirocco in which 'The air becomes
loaded with fine dust, which it whirls in rainless clouds hither
and thither' Thomson, The Land and the Book, pp. 295, 536).

25. seven ways : see on verse 7, here reversed.

198 DEUTERONOMY 28. 26-30. D D3

ways before them : [D3] and thou shalt be a tossed to

26 and fro among all the kingdoms of the earth. And thy
carcase shall be meat unto all fowls of the air, and unto
the beasts of the earth, and there shall be none to fray

27 them away. The Lord shall smite thee with the boil of
Egypt, and with the b emerods, and with the scurvy, and

28 with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed. The
Lokd shall smite thee with madness, and with blindness,

29 and with astonishment of heart : and thou shalt grope at
noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou
shalt not prosper in thy ways : and thou shalt be only
oppressed and spoiled alway, and there shall be none

3° to save thee. Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another

man shall lie with her : thou shalt build an house, and

thou shalt not dwell therein : thou shalt plant a vine-

a Or, a terror unto b Or, tumours Or, plague boils

— — ' ~

tossed to and fro: Heb. 'a trembling,' i.e. an object of
terror (R. V. marg.).

The second half of the verse appears to be a reproduction of
a Jeremianic refrain (Jer. xv. 4, xxiv. 9, xxix. 18, xxxiv. 17),
whilst verse 26 repeats Jer. vii. 33. The subsequent verses
(to 37) are most naturally understood as written after the actual
experiences of the captivity and exile.

26. Dishonour to the corpse meant far more to the ancient
world than to the modern ; it involved the fortunes of the person-
ality in the dim realm beyond.

fray : i. e. ' frighten.'

27. the boil of Egypt (Exod. ix. 9, &c.) : some form of skin
disease, possibly elephantiasis. Skin diseases, such as those named
in this verse, were and are common in Syria and Egypt (vii. 15).

emerods: i.e. haemorrhoids (piles), a possible meaning
suggested by the usage of the Arabic cognate.

28. Cf. Zech. xii. 4 for these three expressions of mental
disorder and dismay.

29. grope : Hebrew, more vividly, [ be groping ' : cf. Isa. Hx.
10 ; Job v. 14.

prosper in: ' make prosperous,' as in Joshua i. 8.
xxviii. 30-34. The Calamities of Foreign Invasion : cf. verse 29
1 oppressed and spoiled ' (robbed).

DEUTERONOMY 28. 31-39- D:i D 199

yard, and shalt not a use the fruit thereof. Thine ox 31
shall be slain before thine eyes, and thou shalt not eat
thereof: thine ass shall be violently taken away from
before thy face, and shall not be restored to thee : thy
sheep shall be given unto thine enemies, and thou shalt
have none to save thee. Thy sons and thy daughters 32
shall be given unto another people, and thine eyes shall
look, and fail with longing for them all the day :
and there shall be nought in the power of thine hand.
The fruit of thy ground, and all thy labours, shall a 33
nation which thou knowest not eat up ; and thou shalt
be only oppressed and crushed alway : so that thou shalt 34
be mad for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.
The Lord shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, 35
with a sore boil, whereof thou canst not be healed, from
the sole of thy foot unto the crown of thy head. The 36
Lord shall bring thee, and thy king which thou shalt set
over thee, unto a nation which thou hast not known, thou
nor thy fathers ; and there shalt thou serve other gods,
wood and stone. And thou shalt become an astonishment, 37
a proverb, and a byword, among all the peoples whither
the Lord shall lead thee away. [D] Thou shalt carry 38
much seed out into the field, and shalt gather little in ;
for the locust shall consume it. Thou shalt plant vine- 39
a See ch. xx. 6, and Lev. xix. 23-25.

30. Cf. xx. 5-7 ; Amos v. 11 ; Mic. vi. 15 ; Zeph. i. 13.

35. Practically a repetition of verse 27, here an interruption.

36. thy king" (xvii. 14) ; after a reign of three months, Jehoiachin
was, in 597 B.C., carried captive to Babylon, with 10,000 others,
by Nebuchadrezzar (2 Kings xxiv. 8f.).

other gods: cf. iv. 28 (note).
38 f. The general parallelism with the blessings of the original
nucleus of the chapter seems here to be resumed (cf. verses 8.
11 f.). Note that the curse rests on corn, wine, and oil (vii. 13) —
the chief products of the soil.

200 DEUTERONOMY 28. 40-47. DD3DD8

yards and dress them, but thou shalt neither drink of the

wine, nor gather the grapes ; for the worm shall eat them.

4° Thou shalt have olive trees throughout all thy borders,

but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil ; for thine

41 olive shall cast its fruit. [D3] Thou shalt beget sons and
daughters, but they shall not be thine ; for they shall go

42 into captivity. [D] All thy trees and the fruit of thy

43 ground shall the locust possess. The stranger that is in
the midst of thee shall mount up above thee higher and

44 higher ; and thou shalt come down lower and lower. He
shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him : he

45 shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail. And all these
curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and
overtake thee, till thou be destroyed ; because thou
hearkenedst not unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to
keep his commandments and his statutes which he

46 commanded thee : and they shall be upon thee for a sign

47 and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever : [D:i] because

41. A doublet to verse 32, here interrupting the description of
agricultural adversity.

42. the locust: 'probably the creaker, from the stridulous
sound produced by many of the Orthoptera, especially the males,
by rubbing the upper part of the leg against the wing' (Driver,
'Excursus on Locusts' in 'Joel and Amos,' Cam. Bible, p. 86).
Eight other names for ' locust ' occur in the O. T.

43. 44. Cf. verses 12 b, 13% with which a contrast is obviously
intended.

The stranger : the ger (i. 16), so frequently named in this
book as dependent on Israel's consideration ; he will profit (e. g.
through commerce) by the barrenness of the soil in which he has
no possession.

45, 46. Formal conclusion to the (original) curses, resuming
verse 15.

for a sign and for a wonder : i. e. recognized as the divinely
foretold penalties for disobedience.

47 f. This exilic section, pointing the moral of the actual mis-
fortunes of Israel, describes (*) the rapacity of the invader (verses

DEUTERONOMY 28. 48-52. D3 201

thou servedst not the Lord thy God with joyfulness, and
with gladness of heart, by reason of the abundance of all
things : therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which 48
the Lord shall send against thee, in hunger, and in
thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things : and
he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have
destroyed thee. The Lord shall bring a nation against 49
thee from far, from the end of the earth, as the eagle
flieth ; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand ;
a nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the 5°
person of the old, nor shew favour to the young : and he
shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy ground, 51
until thou be destroyed : which also shall not leave thee
corn, wine, or oil, the increase of thy kine, or the young of
thy flock, until he have caused thee to perish. And he 52
shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced
walls come down, wherein thou trustedst, throughout all
thy land : and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates
throughout all thy land, which the Lord thy God hath

49-51) ; (6) the horrors of the subsequent sieges (especially of
Jerusalem) (verses 52-57).

47. Cf. vi. 10 f., viii. 11 f. for the moral perils of prosperity,
with joyfulness : characteristic of Deuteronomy (xii. 7, 12,

18) and of the pre-exilic religion of Israel, as opposed to the later
development in the pious of the sense of sin, and of anxious and
punctilious obedience.

48. a yoke of iron : Jer. xxviii. 14 (note the acted parable of
the prophet, verse 10, perhaps responsible for the present use of
the figure).

49. from far, &c. : Isa. v. 26 (Assyrians).

as the eagle flieth : or, ' as the vulture (xiv. 12) swoopeth ' :
Hos. viii. 1 (Assyrians) ; Jer. xlviii. 40, xlix. 22 (Chaldeans).

thou shalt not understand: Isa. xxviii. n, xxxiii. 19
(Assyrians) ; Jer. v. 15 (Chaldeans).

50. The Chaldeans are described as stern in appearance,
pitiless in action (cf. Jer. v. 15 f.).

52. The sieges of the cities (' in all thy gates ') throughout the
land are described.

202 DEUTERONOMY 28. 53-57. D3

53 given thee. And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own
body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters which
the Lord thy God hath given thee ; in the siege and in
the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall straiten thee.

54 The man that is tender among you, and very delicate, his
eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife
of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children

55 which he hath remaining : so that he will not give to any
of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat,
because he hath nothing left him ; in the siege and in
the straitness, wherewith thine enemy shall straiten thee

56 in all thy gates. The tender and delicate woman among
you, which would not adventure to set the sole of her
foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness,
her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom,

57 and toward her son, and toward her daughter ; and
toward her a young one that cometh out from between
her feet, and toward her children which she shall bear ;
for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly : in
the siege and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemy

a Or, after-birth

53 f. (Lev. xxvi. 29. Hunger will brutalize men and lead to
inhuman conduct, so terrible will be its force. For these results
of famine, cf. 2 Kings vi. 28 f. (siege of Samaria) ; Lam. iv. 10
(siege of Jerusalem). With the whole verse cf. Jer. xix. 9,
a related passage, and note the recurrence of the refrain here, in
verses 55 and 57.

54. tender . . . delicate : Isa. xlvii. 1 (in a different application) ;
the overthrow of the habit which is second nature, as well as of
the claims of nature itself.

his eye shall toe evil : see on xv. 9 ; he will grudge to give
even of this unnatural food to those dearest to him ; in verse 57
used of the grudging look fixed on the meal itself.

56. would not adventure: 'had not tried1 to walk, but was
hitherto accustomed to the luxury of litter or carriage only vcf.
the similar picture of degradation in Isa. xlvii. 1 f.).

57. R. V. marg. to be read.

DEUTERONOMY 28. 58-64. D3 203

shall straiten thee in thy gates. If thou wilt not 58
observe to do all the words of this law that are written in
this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful
name, the lord thy god j then the Lord will make thy 59
plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, even
great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore sick-
nesses, and of long continuance. And he will bring upon 60
thee again all the diseases of Egypt, which thou wast
afraid of; and they shall cleave unto thee. Also every 61
sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the
book of this law, them will the Lord bring upon thee,
until thou be destroyed. And ye shall be left few in 62
number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for
multitude ; because thou didst not hearken unto the voice
of the Lord thy God. And it shall come to pass, that 63
as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good, and to
multiply you ; so the Lord will rejoice over you to cause
you to perish, and to destroy you ; and ye shall be
plucked from off the land whither thou goest in to
possess it. And the Lord shall scatter thee among all 64
peoples, from the one end of the earth even unto the

xxviii. 58-68. A further warning against disobedience to the
written law, independent of what has preceded, but also pre-
supposing experience of the Exile Averse 63 f.).

58. the words of this law that are written in this hook:
cf. xvii. 18. According to the Book of Deuteronomy itself, the
law was not yet written down (see xxxi. 9) ; the expression
suggests some familiarity with a code already written (cf.
verse 61).

name: Mic. vi. 9 ; Isa. lix. 19; Mai. iv. 2 ; Ps. lxi. 5 ; Lev.
xxiv. 11 ; a late usage, as is pointed out by Bertholet.

60. Cf. vii. 15.

62. Cf. iv. 27, xxvi. 5 ; i. 10.

63. The joy of Yahweh in the destruction of Israel Is an
unusual trait ; contrast Hos. xi. 8f. and the whole conception of
that prophet.

2o4 DEUTERONOMY 28. 65— 29. if. D3 RD

other end of the earth; and there thou shalt serve
other gods, which thou hast not known, thou nor thy

65 fathers, even wood and stone. And among these nations
shalt thou find no ease, and there shall be no rest for the
sole of thy foot : but the Lord shall give thee there a
trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and pining of soul :

66 and thy life shall hang in doubt before thee • and thou \ i
shalt fear night and day, and shalt have none assurance of ; 1

67 thy life : in the morning thou shalt say, Would God it I
were even ! and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were j
morning ! for the fear of thine heart which thou shalt fear, ! "
and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see. | (

68 And the Lord shall bring thee into Egypt againwithjE
ships, by the way whereof I said unto thee, Thou shalt j j
see it no more again : and there ye shall sell yourselves j <
unto your enemies for bondmen and for bondwomen, and ! '
no man shall buy you. ]

29 rRDl a These are the words of the covenant which the (

a [Ch. xxviii. 69 in Heb.l

64. other gods : verse 36, iv. 28 (note).

xxviii. 65-67. A description of Israel's life in exile : without
a home, full of vain regret : compassed with troubles the
anticipation of which makes life itself burdensome.

66. The cause of these anxieties ; life hangs by a thread, as
did that of Damocles (cf. Job xxiv. 22, R. V. marg.).

B*7. Israel's life is as wearisome as that of Job (vii. 4).

68. Israel will be brought in slave-ships to Egypt, in spite of
Yahweh's former resolve (xvii. i6b) ; yet, even as slaves, men will
not have them.

sell yourselves: i. e. liberty is sacrificed to maintain life.

xxix. 1. This verse is rather k a formal subscription, marking the
end of the book ' in its original form (Moore, E.B., 1088 ; Driver,
Kuenen, and others), than the superscription to chap, xxix
Dillmann, Steuernagel, Bertholet, Oxf. Hex., and others').

xxix- xxx. Exilic Exhortations : fidelity to the covenant in Moab.
Moses briefly reviews the journey of Israel from Egypt to Moab,

: 3

: :

DEUTERONOMY 29. 2-4. RD D° 205

Lord commanded Moses to make with the children of
Israel in the land of Moab, beside the covenant which he
made with them in Horeb.

[D3] 1 And Moses called unto all Israel, and said unto 2
them, Ye have seen all that the Lord did before your
eyes in the land of Egypt unto Pharaoh, and unto all his
servants, and unto all his land ; the great b temptations 3
which thine eyes saw, the signs, and those great wonders :
but the Lord hath not given you an heart to know, and 4
a [Ch. xxix. 1 in Heb.] b See ch. iv. 34.

as an illustration of the gracious help of Yahweh, which He now
covenants to continue (xxix. 2-9). Israel now stands in the
presence of Yahweh to enter into this covenant, promised in the
past, enduring to all future time (verses 10-15). Let none turn
from Yahweh thinking to escape the curse of disobedience ; the
wrath of Yahweh shall be manifest to all in Israel's exile (verses
16-29). Yet, even then, return from disobedience will bring
return from exile, and the restoration of prosperity (xxx. 1-10).
Let Israel note the simplicity and practicability of the Divine
commandment (verses 11-14), and the issues of prosperity or
adversity absolutely dependent on obedience or disobedience to it
(verses 15-20).

These two chapters in their present position form a third
address of Moses, separated from the second (central) address by
the subscription of xxix. 1 and the new beginning made in verse 2.
Even formally, therefore, they are supplementary to the Deutero-
nomic Law, nor can any sufficient reason be given why they
should not have been included in the second address, had they
belonged to the original book. The positive evidence of the
contents of the chapters assigns them to the period of exile ; thus
xxix. 22 f. dwells on the spectacle of a punishment conceived to
have taken place, and xxx. 1-10 even discusses the hope of
return from exile, a topic which would be psychologically as
improbable here as in Isa. xl. f., before the shadow of exile fell
on Israel. The two chapters belong to the same class of literature
as iv. 1-40 (D3), viz. exilic exhortations on the basis of the written
and published law-book.

2. Cf. v. 1 for the method of introducing the address.

Ye : emphatic in the Hebrew fcf. xi. 2-7) ; for the point of
this emphasis, see introduction to chap. iv.

3. temptations : ' trials ' or provings (note on iv. g$).

4. Now, only, is the full meaning of Israel's history clear

2o6 DEUTERONOMY 29. 5-11. D3

5 eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day. And I have
led you forty years in the wilderness : your clothes are
not waxen old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxen old

6 upon thy foot. Ye have not eaten bread, neither have
ye drunk wine or strong drink : that ye might know that

7 I am the Lord your God. And when ye came unto this
place, Sihon the king of Heshbon, and Og the king ot
Bashan, came out against us unto battle, and we smote

8 them : and we took their land, and gave it for an inherit-
ance unto the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to the

9 half tribe of the Manassites. Keep therefore the words
of this covenant, and do them, that ye may a prosper in
all that ye do.

ro Ye stand this day all of you before the Lord your
God ; your heads, your tribes, your elders, and your

ii officers, even all the men of Israel, your little ones, your
wives, and thy stranger that is in the midst of thy camps,

a Or, deal ivisely

through Yahweh's revelation of His purpose and gift of the faculty
to understand it.

5. Cf. viii. 2 ; Amos ii. io : the ' I ' refers to Yahweh (verse 6) ;
with the second half of the verse, cf. viii. 4.

6. The lesson of dependence on Yahweh, already enforced
in viii. 3.

7. Cf. ii. 32 f., iii. 1 f., 12 f.

9. Let Israel, therefore, obey Him on whom success depends in
the future, as it has in the past.

prosper : R. V. marg. is preferable (prosperity being the
result of the wise dealing).

10. tribes : we expect a parallel to ' heads ' and f elders/ such
as 'judges,' which is found in similar enumeration (Joshua viii. 33,
xxiii. 2, xxiv. 1) and should probably be read for < tribes ! here
(cf. LXX ; the similarity of the two Hebrew words makes their
interchange easy).

11. thy stranger : the enumeration of those who are to become
bound by the covenant is meant to include all without excep-
tion, even non-Israelite settlers (here, practically, proselytes) and

DEUTERONOMY 29. tt*i£ D3 207

from the hewer of thy wood unto the drawer of thy
water : that thou shouldest enter into the covenant of the 1 2
Lord thy God, and into his oath, which the Lord thy
God maketh with thee this day : that he may establish 13
thee this day unto himself for a people, and that he may
be unto thee a God, as he spake unto thee, and as he
sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to
Jacob. Neither with you only do I make this covenant 14
and this oath ; but with him that standeth here with us 15
this day before the Lord our God, and also with him
that is not here with us this day : (for ye know how we 16
dwelt in the land of Egypt ; and how we came through
the midst of the nations through which ye passed; and 17
ye have seen their abominations, and their idols, wood

temple-servants (wood -gatherers and water-drawers \ Both these
classes, as here regarded, belong to a later period of the social life
of Israel than that professedly dealt with in this address ; for the
former, cf. i. 16, v. 14, &c. ; for the latter, Joshua ix. 21-7.

13. As in xxvi. 17, 18. For the promise to Israel, see Exod.
xix. 5 ; the covenant with the fathers is named only by P (Gen.
xvii. 7, with Abraham) ; but compare the promises cited in note
on i. 8.

14, 15. Israel, present and future, is conceived as a unity;
note the solidarity of the race for ancient thought, a conception
remote from our more developed ideas of individuality.

16, 1*7. The connexion with what preceeds and follows is not
clear ; hence the brackets of R. V., making the verses a parenthesis.
But (a) the present Israel is addressed as distinguished from the
future Israel (ye is emphatic in the Heb.) ; (b) reference is made
to Israel's actual experience of idolatry in Egypt and elsewhere ;
!c) the aim of the appeal is to secure present fidelity (verse 18).
Israel's past contact with idolatry is not to seduce to a breach of
the present covenant. The reference to the future is not resumed
till verse 22 ('the generation to come').

16. came . . . passed: the same word in the Hebrew, the
construction being like that of i. 46.

17. abominations: 'detestable things,' not the same word as
that translated 'abomination' elsewhere in this book ; frequent^
of idols in Jeremiah (iv. 1) and Ezekiel (v. 11).

idols : another contemptuous term is used, frequent in Ezekiel

208 DEUTERONOMY 29. 18-20. D3

and stone, silver and gold, which were among them :)

18 lest there should be among you man, or woman, or
family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from
the Lord our God, to go to serve the gods of those
nations ; lest there should be among you a root that

19 beareth a gall and wormwood ; and it come to pass, when
he heareth the words of this b curse, that he bless himself
in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in
the stubbornness of mine heart, c to destroy the moist with

20 the dry : the Lord will not pardon him, but then the
anger of the Lord and his jealousy shall smoke against
that man, and all the curse that is written in this book
shall lie upon him, and the Lord shall blot out his name

■ Heb. rosh, a poisonous herb. b Or, oath and so vv. 20, 21.

c Or, to add drunkenness to thirst

(vi. 4 ; Lev. xxvi. 30), which appears to describe them as (inanimate)
' cylinders.'

among" them: 'with them/ i.e. belonging to them; here,
perhaps, a further touch of contempt.

18. It is simplest to begin a new sentence with this verse,
supplying 'Beware' as is done by R. V. in Isa. xxxvi. 18 ; Job
xxxii. 13 (so Driver).

a root that heareth gfall and wormwood : i. e. poison and
bitterness (xxxii. 32 ; Amos vi. 12 ; Hos. x. 4, &c.) in the con-
sequences of idolatry.

19. curse: 'oath' as R. V. marg., i.e. the binding pledge
given by Yahweh (verse 12) which may lead the individual to
think he may act with impunity.

to destroy the moist with the dry : ' to carry away watered
with dry ' (herbage, as by the wind), i. e. all without distinction,
a proverbial expression (cf. xxxii. 36) used here to express the
destruction of the whole community through the infidelity of in-
dividual members. The result of the idolater's self-congratulation
is here stated as his purpose.

20. will not pardon : ' will not consent to pardon ' (stronger
than R. V.).

shall smoke: Ps. Ixxiv. 1, lxxx. 4 (R. V. marg.) : cf. Deut.
xxxii. 22 ; Ps. xviii. 8 ; Isa. Ixv. 5.

lie upon him : as a wild beast crouching (Gen. xlix. 9) ; so
of sin, Gen. iv. 7.

DEUTERONOMY 29. 21-27. 81 209

from under heaven. And the Lord shall separate him 21
unto evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all
the curses of the covenant that is written in this book of
the law. And the generation to come, your children that 22
shall rise up after you, and the foreigner that shall come
from a far land, shall say, when they see the plagues of
that land, and the sicknesses wherewith the Lord hath
made it sick ; and that the whole land thereof is brim- 23
stone, and salt, and a burning, that it is not sown, nor
beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow
of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which
the Lord overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath : even 24
all the nations shall say, Wherefore hath the Lord done
thus unto this land ? what meaneth the heat of this great
anger? Then men shall say, Because they forsook the 25
covenant of the Lord, the God of their fathers, which he
made with them when he brought them forth out of the
land of Egypt ; and went and served other gods, and 26
worshipped them, gods whom they knew not, and whom
he had not a given unto them : therefore the anger of the 27
■ Heb. divided.

22 f. The effect of idolatry on the future of the nation, as dis-
played both to Israelites and non-Israelites. (The exiles traced
their calamities to the sins of the fathers : cf. Ezek. xviii. 2 ; Isa.
xl. 2).

23. The land itself shares in the fortunes of the people ; con-
trast Ezek. xlvii. 7 f., where the stream from the sanctuary fertilizes
the desert and sweetens the Dead Sea. Here the natural character
of the Dead Sea district is extended in thought to the whole land,
and regarded as its ' sickness.'

like the overthrow, &c. : cf. Gen. xix. 24 f., and for the
vicinity of Admah and Zeboiim, Gen. xiv. 2 (cf. Hos. xi. 8).

24 f. Probably dependent on Jer. xxii. 8 f. ; as is verse 28 on
Jer. xxi. 5, xxiv. 6, xxxii. 37.

29. The hidden future is Yahweh's, the known past, with its
lesson of obedience to the law. is ours. Revelation is here re-
garded as historical rather than canonical.

2io DEUTERONOMY 2<J. 28— 30. 5. D*

Lord was kindled against this land, to bring upon it all

28 the curse that is written in this book : and the Lord
rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and
in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as

29 at this day. The secret things belong unto the Lord
our God : but the things that are revealed belong unto
us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the
words of this law.

30 And it shall come to pass, when all these things are
come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have
set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among
all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath driven

2 thee, and shalt return unto the Lord thy God, and shalt
obey his voice according to all that I command thee this
day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with

3 all thy soul ; that then the Lord thy God will a turn thy
captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will
return and gather thee from all the peoples, whither the

4 Lord thy God hath scattered thee. If any of thine out-
casts be in the uttermost parts of heaven, from thence
will the Lord thy God gather thee, and from thence will

5 he fetch thee : and the Lord thy God will bring thee into
the land which thy fathers possessed^ and thou shalt

a Or, return to

xxx. 1 -10. This section gives a fuller statement of iv. 29-31 ; if
Yahweh is sought by exiled Israel, He will be found.

1. the 'blessing' and the curse: i. e. those of chap, xxviii : df.
xi. 26.

3. turn thy captivity: ' change thy fortunes,' verb and noun
being cognate in the Hebrew {lit. 'turn a turning'); Job xlii. 10
shows that the older rendering is unsuitable, though it is retained
even there by R. V. The phrase occurs frequently (Amos ix. 14 ;
Jer. xxix. 14, &c).

4. Nehemiah's prayer (Neh. i. 9) makes this passage its ground
of appeal.

DEUTERONOMY 30. 6-n. D3 211

possess it ; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee
above thy fathers. And the Lord thy God will circum- 6
cise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the
Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul,
that thou mayest live. And the Lord thy God will put 7
all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them that
hate thee, which persecuted thee. And thou shalt return s
and obey the voice of the Lord, and do all his command-
ments which I command thee this day. And the Lord 9
thy God will make thee plenteous in all the work of
thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of
thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, for good : for
the Lord will again rejoice over thee for good, as he
rejoiced over thy fathers : if thou shalt obey the voice of 10
the Lord thy God, to keep his commandments and his
statutes which are written in this book of the law; if thou
turn unto the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and
with all thy soul.

For this commandment which I command thee this 11

6. circumcise thine heart : x. 16 (note). One lesson of the
Exile was the need of divine help for the fulfilment of obedience :
cf. Ezekiel's promises of supernatural aid, not only to restore the
nation to existence (xxxvii. 1 f.) but to enable it to fulfil its spiritual
ideal (xi. 19, xxxvi. 26 f .) ; note also the conception of the new
covenant in Jer. xxxi. 31 f.

that thou mayest live : ' for thy life's sake ' (different in
form from the phrase in verse 19), to be interpreted of the full
prosperity of verse 9 f.

V. all these curses : xxix. 19 f. (cf. xxviii. 15 f. where a different
word is used).

8. thou : emphatic in the Hebrew.

xxx. 11-14. These verses can hardly be connected with those
of the previous section, since they refer to present issues, not the
future possibility of return after penitence. With verses 1 5-20
they form a fitting conclusion to the exhortations of this book.

11. this commandment (xi. 22,xix. 9) : the principle of devotion
to Yahweh which underlies and is expressed in the Deutero-
iiomic law.

P 2

212 DEUTERONOMY 30. 12-18. D3

12 day, it is not too j* hard for thee, neither is it far off. It
is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say. Who shall go
up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, and make us to

1 3 hear it, that we may do it ? Neither is it beyond the sea,
that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us,
and bring it unto us, and make us to hear it, that we may

14 do it ? But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth,
and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.

15 See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and

1 6 death and evil ; in that I command thee this day to love
the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his
commandments and his statutes and his judgements, that
thou mayest live and multiply, and that the Lord thy
God may bless thee in the land whither thou goest in to

17 possess it. But if thine heart turn away, and thou wilt
not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other

18 gods, and serve them; I denounce unto you this day,
that ye shall surely perish ; ye shall not prolong your
days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to

a Or, wonderful

hard : i. e. to understand (xvii. 8 ; Gen. xviii. 14 ; Jer. xxxii.

17, 27

far off: and so lying outside the sphere of ordinary lite, in
heaven or beyond the sea (verses 12, 13).

14. It can enter into ordinary thought (vi. 6, xi. 18) and con-
versation (vi. 7, xi. 19).

xxx. 15-20. The final issues of prosperity and adversity
\a practical application of chap, xxviii).

15. Cf. Jer. xxi. 8, where, as here, the issues are not primarily
spiritual but literal life or death, as the * good ' and i evil ' denote
simply prosperity and adversity.

16. Most commentators supply a clause from the LXX at the
beginning of this verse, which the Hebrew requires, viz. (If thou
shalt hearken to the commandment of Yahweh thy God) which
I command &c. . . . then thou shalt live and multiply, and Yahweh
thy God shall bless thee.

18. denounce: * declare' (xxvi. 3, R. V. 'profess').

DEUTERONOMY 30. 19 — 31. 2. D3 D2 213

go in to possess it. I call heaven and earth to witness 19
against you this day, that I have set before thee life and
death, the blessing and the curse : therefore choose life,
that thou may est live, thou and thy seed : to love the 20
Lord thy God, to obey his voice, and to cleave unto
him : for a he is thy life, and the length of thy days : that
thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord sware
unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to
give them.

[D2] And Moses went and spake these words unto all 31
Israel. And he said unto them, I am an hundred and 2
twenty years old this day; I can no more go out and
come in : and the Lord hath said unto me, Thou shalt
a Or, that

19. As iv. 26 (note).

20. he is thy life : not, of course, in the mystical sense of
Col. iii. 3, Gal. ii. 20, but because Yahweh gives long life to the
obedient.

xxxi-xxxiv. In the present form of the Book of Deuteronomy
these chapters constitute an appendix, narrating events connected
with the close of the life of Moses, and incorporating two poems
ascribed to him. Literary analysis, however, shows that they
belong in part to the principal documents of the Hexateuch
(J, E, P), and continue its narrative from the earlier books to the
Book of Joshua.

xxxi. 1-8. Moses announces to Israel the approaching close of
his leadership, and speaks of a successful future under Joshua.
He urges Joshua to have courage and to trust in Yahweh. For the
connexion of this paragraph with chaps, i-iii, cf. i. 37 f., iii. 21 f.,
28, as well as the phraseology in general.

1. went and spake these words: by Hebrew usage this will
refer to something spoken to Moses that has preceded ; the
present passage was probably the conclusion of chap, iii, not of
chaps, xxix, xxx (so Dillmann and Driver). Others prefer to read
with LXX 'finished speaking' (Bertholet and Steuernagel).

2. Cf. xxxiv. 7 (P), where the vigour of Moses is represented
as still unfailing ; for go out and come in, see on xxviii. 6.

Yahweh hath said : as in iii. 27, which confirms the view of
the connexion stated above.

2i4 DEUTERONOMY 31. 3-9. D2 D

?, not go over this Jordan. The Lord thy God, he will
go over before thee ; he will destroy these nations from
before thee, and thou shalt possess them : and Joshua, he
shall go over before thee, as the Lord hath spoken.

4 And the Lord shall do unto them as he did to Sihon
and to Og, the kings of the Amorites, and unto their

5 land ; whom he destroyed. And the Lord shall deliver
them up before you, and ye shall do unto them according
unto all the commandment which I have commanded

6 you. Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be
affrighted at them : for the Lord thy God, he it is that
doth go with thee ; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

7 And Moses called unto Joshua, and said unto him in the
sight of all Israel, Be strong and of a good courage : for
thou shalt go with this people into the land which the
Lord hath sworn unto their fathers to give them ; and

8 thou shalt cause them to inherit it. And the Lord, he
it is that doth go before thee ; he will be with thee, he
will not fail thee, neither forsake thee : fear not, neither
be dismayed.

9 [D] And Moses wrote this law, and delivered it unto

3. Joshua, &c. : as in iii. 28.

4. to Sihon and to Og : ii. 32 f., iii. 1 f.

5. the commandment : viz. that of vii. 1 f.

6. fail thee: Heb. ' let thee fall' as in iy. 31 : so in verse 8.
*7. Be strong" and of a good courage : cf. iii. 28, from which

the verbs are repeated.

go with : probably we should read ' bring ' as in verse 23
(so Sam., Pesh., Vulg.).

cause them to inherit it : as in iii. 28.

xxxi. 9-13. The law, written and delivered by Moses to the
priests and elders, is to be read to all Israel once every seven
years.

This paragraph finds its most natural explanation as belonging
to the original Deuteronomy, for whose regular promulgation it
provides.

DEUTERONOMY 31. 10-14. D JE 215

the priests the sons of Levi, which bare the ark of the
covenant of the Lord, and unto all the elders of Israel.
And Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of 10
every seven years, in the set time of the year of release, in
the feast of tabernacles, when all Israel is come to appear n
before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall
choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their
hearing. Assemble the people, the men and the women 12
and the little ones, and thy stranger that is within thy
gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and
fear the Lord your God, and observe to do all the words
of this law; and that their children, which have not 13
known, may hear, and learn to fear the Lord your God,
as long as ye live in the land whither ye go over Jordan
to possess it.

[ JE] And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, thy days 14

9. priests . . . elders : the representatives of sacred and secular
authority (xviii. 1, i. 15).

10. the year of release : xv. 1.

the feast of tabernacles : xvi. 13-15.

11. to appear before : see on xvi. 16.

12. Cf. xxix. 11 ; and note in verse 13 the characteristic
emphasis on the religious education of children (iv. 9, vi. 7, 20-5,
xi. 19, xxxii. 46). According to the later Jewish usage, a selection
only of passages from Deuteronomy was read.

xxxi. 14, 15, 23 (ascribed to JE on linguistic grounds) narrate
that, at Yahweh's bidding, Moses and Joshua appear before Him
for the transference of leadership. Yahweh bids Joshua be brave,
and promises His help. For P's account of the appointment of
Joshua, see Num. xxvii. 22-3.

xxxi. 16-22 represent Yahweh as foretelling to Moses the
course of events after his death. Israel will break the covenant
with Yahweh (verse 16), so arousing His anger, and bringing
trouble on the nation (verses 17, 18). When the prosperity that
has beguiled has given place to the adversity that will punish
(verses 20, 21), 'this song' will state Yahweh's claims (verses
19, 2ia). Moses accordingly writes down and teaches the song to
Israel as bidden (verse 22).

216 DEUTERONOMY 31. 15-1?. JE R?

approach that thou must die : call Joshua, and present
yourselves in the tent of meeting, that I may give him a
charge. And Moses and Joshua went, and presented

15 themselves in the tent of meeting. And the Lord
appeared in the Tent in a pillar of cloud : and the pillar

16 of cloud stood a over the door of the Tent. [R ?] And
the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with
thy fathers ; and this people will rise up, and go a
whoring after the strange gods of the land, whither they
go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break

17 my covenant which I have made with them. Then my
anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I
will forsake them, and I will hide my face from
them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and
troubles shall come upon them ; so that they will say in
that day, Are not these evils come upon us because

18 our God is not among us? And I will surely hide my
face in that day for all the evil which they shall

a Or, by

14. the tent of meeting- : i. e. where Yahweh meets with
Moses (Exod. xxix. 42, P : cf. Exod. xxxiii. 7, E).

give him a charge : Heb. f command him ' iii. 28).

15. in a pillar of cloud : Num. xii. 5 ; Exod. xxxiii. 9 (both
JE). For continuation, see verse 23.

16. sleep with thy fathers : cf. Gen. xlvii. 30, where both the
usage and the origin (family-grave) of the phrase are illustrated.

go a whoring : Exod. xxxiv. 16 ; Ezek. vi. 9, &c. ; the
original force of the phrase was probably literal, not figurative, in
view of the frequency of prostitution in the service of heathen
deities (see on xxiii. 17, 18).

to be among them : Heb. 'in its midst ' (i. e. the ' strange
gods t are in the midst of the people, Joshua xxiv. 23) ; the
awkwardness of the sentence, it has been conjectured, is due to
the interpolated ' of the land whither they go.'

17. our God is not among us: Heb. 'my God is not in my
midst' : contrast Isa. xii. 6; Zeph. iii. 17. Israel's problems of
providence were concerned not with the existence, but with the
activity of God.

DEUTERONOMY 31. 19-24. R? JE D* 217

have wrought, in that they are turned unto other gods.
Now therefore write ye this song for you, and teach thou 19
it the children of Israel : put it in their mouths, that this
song may be a witness for me against the children of
Israel. For when I shall have brought them into the 20
land which I sware unto their fathers, flowing with milk
and honey ; and they shall have eaten and filled them-
selves, and waxen fat ; then will they turn unto other
gods, and serve them, and despise me, and break my
covenant. And it shall come to pass, when many evils 21
and troubles are come upon them, that this song shall
testify before them as a witness 5 for it shall not be
forgotten out of the mouths of their seed : for I know
their imagination which they go about, even now, before
I have brought them into the land which I sware. So 22
Moses wrote this song the same day, and taught it the
children of Israel. [JE] And he gave Joshua the son of 23
Nun a charge, and said, Be strong and of a good courage :
for thou shalt bring the children of Israel into the land
which I sware unto them : and I will be with thee.

[D"] And it came to pass, when Moses had made an 24
end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they

19. write ye : viz. Moses and Joshua (xxxii. 44).

21. go about: Heb. ' make' ; already the germs of apostasy
are visible to Yahweh. Add { to their (its) fathers ' to ' sware '
(with Sam., LXX).

23. This continues verse 15 ; its subject will then be, not
Moses, but Yahweh.

xxxi. 24-9. Moses hands the written law to the Levites, whom
he commands to place it by the ark (verses 24-6). He addresses
Israel, and warns against apostasy and its punishment (verses 27-9).

xxxi. 24-6 form a doublet to verses 9 f. The connexion with
verses 27-9 and of this with what follows is obscure. Moses,
who is addressing the Levites in verse 26, seems to pass without
explanation to address Israel.

218 DEUTERONOMY 31. 25—32 i. D3 R?

25 were finished, that Moses commanded the Levites, which

26 bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying, Take
this book of the law, and put it by the side of the ark of
the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there

27 for a witness against thee. For I know thy rebellion, and
thy stiff neck : behold, while I am yet alive with you this
day, ye have been rebellious against the Lord ; and how

28 much more after my death ? Assemble unto me all the
elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak
these words in their ears, and call heaven and earth to

29 witness against them. For I know that after my death
ye will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the
way which I have commanded you ; and evil will befall
you in the latter days j because ye will do that which is
evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger
through the work of your hands.

30 [R,?] And Moses spake in the ears of all the assembly
of Israel the words of this song, until they were finished.

32 Give ear, ye heavens, and I will speak ;

And let the earth hear the words of my mouth :

25. the Levites : cf. x. 8, and verse 9.

27. ' I ' in the Hebrew is emphatic.

28. these words : in the present context, the reference must
be to the Song. Bertholet and Steuernagel, following Staerk,
think that ' the law ' has displaced ' the song ' in this section.

call heaven and earth to witness : cf. xxx. 19, which would
be the invocation in question if (as Dillmann and others have
thought) chaps, xxix, xxx formed the address to which this is
the preface ; see also iv. 26 (note).

29. corrupt yourselves : Heb. ' do corruptly/ cf. iv. 25.

in the latter days : Heb. ' in the end of the days ' (iv. 30
note).

to anger : omit.

xxxi. 30. Introductory note in continuation of verses 16-22, by
the redactor who incorporated the song in the narrative.

the assembly of Israel : (v. 22 ; Joshua viii. 35) which has
been gathered for the purpose (xxxi. 28).

DEUTERONOMY 32. i. R? 219

xxxii. 1-43. The Song of Moses. The ascription of this poem
to Moses depends solely on the redactor (xxxi. 19, 22, 30, xxxii. 44)
who incorporated it in the text, and is without any internal
support from the poem itself. On the contrary, the reference in
verses 7 f. to the Exodus and Settlement as events of a long
remote past proves, what the religious outlook and literal
form of the poem confirm, that it belongs to an age much later
than the Mosaic. There has naturally been much difference of
opinion as to the precise period of its composition, because it
does not contain any very definite historical references. But
the general situation presupposed is clear ; Israel has suffered
great disasters (verses 22-5), and defeat in battle (verse 30), and
is at the mercy of its enemy (verse 36) ; its one hope is represented
as the speedy intervention of Yahweh to save it from the l no-
people' (verse 21), into whose hand Yahweh has seen fit to
deliver it. Who are the ' no-people '? Some, e.g. Dillmann (p. 393)
have answered, ' The Syrians,' and assigned the poem to the time
of Elijah and Elisha, when Israel was crushed by Benhadad and
Hazael (1 Kings xx. 1 f., xxii. 34 f. ; 2 Kings v. 2, vi. 8, 24 f., ix.
14 f., x. 32 f., xiii. 7), i. e. to the ninth century b. c. Others, e. g.
Ewald, have identified the ' no-people ' with the Assyrians, and
have placed the poem in the eighth century, shortly before the
fall of Samaria (722 b. c.). There remains the relation of Israel
to the Chaldeans as a possible background to the poem. Kuenen
{Hex. §§ 13 n. 30) argues for a Judaean contemporary of Jeremiah
as its author, and places the Song about 630 b. c. or a generation
later. He relies on such parallels as Jer. v. 15, 16, vi. 22, 23 ;
Hab. i. 6 f., to prove that the ' no-people ' are the Chaldeans.
Driver, in accepting this view, emphasizes the agreement in
thought and attitude with the prophets of the Chaldean age,
Jeremiah, Ezekiel (Jer. ii. 4-28 ; Ezek. xvi, xx). Steuernagel,
whilst admitting (p. 114) that the lack of specific reference to the
Exile, and the numerous points of contact with Jeremiah are in
favour of a date shortly before the Exile, decides for the latter part
of the Exile itself because of the expectation of a speedy over-
throw of the (Chaldean) power, and the agreement with Ezekiel
and Isaiah xl f. With this agree Bertholet (p. 95), Moore (E.B.,
1089), and the Oxford Hexateuch (i. 162). It seems probable that
the last-named view is correct, especially in the light of the agree-
ment of the general outlook of the poem with Isa. xl. f., the great
prophecy of the exile.

The subject of the poem is the vindication of the ways of
Yahweh as revealed in the history of Israel (verse 4), and the
criticism of Israel itself as a senseless and ungrateful people
(verses 5, 6) ; Yahweh's faithfulness and Israel's unfaithfulness
are the factors of the problem of Israel's present adversity, to
which the writer seeks to bring the prophetic comfort of reviving

220 DEUTERONOMY 32. 2. R?

2 My doctrine shall drop as the rain,

My speech shall distil as the dew ;

hope (verses 1-3) in Yahweh's approaching intervention. The
poet reviews the ancient story of Israel's adoption by Yahweh in
the desert, and of His fatherly care for the infant nation, until He
brought it into the prosperous land of Canaan to be His own
people (verses 7-14). But Israel's consequent prosperit}' issued
in the abandonment of the worship of Yahweh for other religions,
with no deep root in Israel's past history (verses 15-18). It was
this ingratitude that caused Yahweh to turn from Israel and to
deliver them to a 'no-people' (verses 19-21); and the poet
recounts the plagues of hunger, pestilence, wild beasts, and war,
in which Yahweh's vexation finds expression (verses 22-5).
Indeed, it is but the thought of the enemy's self-congratulation
that restrains Him from the annihilation of Israel (verses 26, 27).
The poet dwells on the stupidity of Israelites who cannot interpret
disaster as the result of Yahweh's withdrawal, not of His defeat
(verses 28-30). The heathen gods are impotent before Yahweh ;
the heathen foe corrupt (verses 31-3). For them also pun-
ishment in the near future is being prepared (verses 34, 35).
The utter helplessness of Israel in their hands hastens the inter-
vention of Yahweh (verse 36). How helpless are the heathen
gods against Him ! (verses 37-9). He has sworn to take a bloody
vengeance on His foes (verses 40-2). Let other nations, then,
greet with ringing cries the recovered fortunes of Israel (verse 43).
\The poem consequently falls into four principal parts, viz. (a) the
I subject stated (verses 1-6), (6) the providence of Yahweh re-
viewed (verses 7-14), (c) the ingratitude and punishment of Israel
(verses 15-27), (d) the declaration of Yahweh's purpose to inter-
vene and save (verses 28-43).

xxxii. 1-3. Introduction : solemn appeal to the universe for
attention, in view of the greatness of Yahweh to be proclaimed.

1. ye heavens . . . the earth: not, as in xxxi. 28, an appeal to
witnesses, but a poet-prophet's expression of the importance of
his subject (Isa. i. 2).

2. doctrine : i. e. " teaching ' ; the Hebrew word is character-
istic of the Wisdom-literature, to which this didactic poem is
related. The truths learnt by the poet shall refresh the hearts
of Israelites, as the rain and dew falling on thirsty herbage (Isa.
lv. 10 f. ; Ps. lxxii. 6) ; the poem is, therefore, to be not of
warning (as interpreted by the redactor, xxxi. 16 f.), but chiefly
of comfort, and to awaken the new life of hope and trust. The
verbs are best rendered as expressing a wish : ' Let my teaching
drop, let my speech distil.'

DEUTERONOMY 32. 3-6. R? 221

As the small rain upon the tender grass,

And as the showers upon the herb :

For I will proclaim the name of the Lord : 3

Ascribe ye greatness unto our God.

The Rock, his work is perfect ; 4

For all his ways are judgement :

A God of faithfulness and without iniquity,

Just and right is he.

They have a dealt corruptly with him, they are not 5

his children, b it is their blemish ;

They are a perverse and crooked generation.

Do ye thus requite the Lord, 6

O foolish people and unwise ?

Is not he thy father that hath c bought thee ?

He hath made thee, and established thee.

* Or, corrupted themselves, they &c. b Or, but a blot upon them

c Or, possessed Or, gotten

3. the name : i. e. the character of Yahweh is to be traced in
His dealings with Israel and so vindicated ; let Israel respond
with an acknowledgement of His greatness (Ps. xxix. 1 f.).

xxxii. 4-6. The poet's central thought: the contrast between
Yahweh's righteous fidelity and Israel's senseless infidelity.

4. The Bock: (verses 15, i8; 30, 31, 37), as in the Psalms
xviii. 2, &c.) and elsewhere, a name of Yahweh which empha-
sizes His sure and unchanging support, as the foundation of
Israel's life.

5. Israel, not Yahweh, has been faithless. The Hebrew is
' He has done corruptly to him, not his sons, their blemish,'
which is evidently in disorder, nor do the versions enable us to
restore the original text.

6. * Is it with Yahweh ye so deal ? ' children (verse 5) with
a father?

bought thee: rather (cf. R. V. marg. (2) 'gotten '), 'begotten'
Gen. iv. 1, R. V. marg.), in continuance of the figure of father-
hood, with reference to the Divine acts which have called Israel
into being f cf. R. V. marg. of Gen. xiv. 22 ; Ps. cxxxix. 13 ; Prov.
viii. 22) ; He (emphatic) hath made thee, though thy senseless
ignorance has lost sight of this fundamental relationship.

222 DEUTERONOMY 32. 7-10. R?

j Remember the days of old,

Consider the years of many generations :

Ask thy father, and he will shew thee j

Thine elders, and they will tell thee.
1 When the Most High gave to the nations their

inheritance,

When he separated the children of men,

He set the bounds of the peoples

According to the number of the children of Israel.
1 For the Lord's portion is his people ;

Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.

He found him in a desert land,

And in the waste howling wilderness ;

He compassed him about, he cared for him,

xxxii. 7-14. The story of Israel's birth, and of Yahweh's paternal
care and provision for His child.

*J. of many generations : Heb. of ' generation and generation,'
implying that the early history of Israel, the Exodus and entrance
into Canaan, lie in the long remote past, for the writer of the
poem. The verse is, of course, conclusive against Mosaic author-
ship.

8, 9. The fathers and elders, as depositaries of ancient tradition,
reply that Yahweh left a sufficient territory for ' the sons of Israel,'
amongst the nations to whom He divided the earth. This must
be the meaning of the Hebrew text ; but the last clause of verse
8 reads in LXX, 'angels of God' for 'sons of Israel,' i.e. its
Hebrew original read 'sons of God' (as in Gen. vi. 2, 4 ; Job i.
6, ii. 1, xxxviii. 7). This preferable reading implies that other
nations were committed to the care of guardian-angels (Dan. x.
13, 20 f., xii. 1), whilst Yahweh Himself superintends the destinies
of Israel ; cf. Ecclus. xvii. 17. In verse 9 read with LXX, 'But'
((£, ' And ') instead of ' For.'

10. He found him: cf. Hos. ix. 10; Ezek. xvi. 5f. (the con-
text of the latter passage working out in detail the figure of the
abandoned infant, adopted by Yahweh). For the poet's purpose
Israel's history begins in the desert, so that a more effective
contrast may be gained with the settled home of Canaan.

the waste howling- wilderness : a desolate land where wild
beasts howl.

the apple of his eye ; Heb. I the little man of his eye,* i. e.

DEUTERONOMY 32. u-13. R? 223

He kept him as the apple of his eye :

As an eagle that stirreth up her nest,

That fluttereth over her young,

a He spread abroad his wings, he took them,

He bare them on his pinions :

The Lord alone did lead him,

And there was no strange god with him.

He made him ride on the high places of the earth,

And he did eat the increase of the field :

And he made him to suck honey out of the rock,

And oil out of the flinty rock ;

• Or, Spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on
her pinions

the pupil, from its reflection of the observer (cf. Ps. xvii. 8 ; Prov.
vii. 2). Primitive thought frequently connects it with the soul,
discerning ' a sign of bewitchment or approaching death in the
disappearance of the image, pupil, or baby, from the dim eyeballs
of the sick man' (Tylor, Primitive Culture, i. 431). Here, then,
the meaning will be ' as his very life.'

11. Yahweh, in His care for Israel, is compared with the eagle
(properly, ' vulture,' as in xiv. 12), impelling its young to fly,
whilst saving them from peril. For the figure, cf. Exod. xix. 4
(< how I bare you on eagles1 wings') ; for the thought, Hos. xi. 1,
3, where Yahweh is represented as teaching the little child to
walk, and carrying him, when weary, on His arms.

12. no strange god with him: no ' foreign god' helped Yah-
weh in His fatherly task (Hos. xiii. 4, R. V. marg., Isa. xliii. 12) ;
why then, it is implied, should 'foreign gods ' share in Israel's
regard ?

xxxii. 13, 14. The Settlement in Canaan.

ride on the high places: as promised in Isa. lviii. 14.
The figure is that of the victorious warrior, advancing resistlessly
(xxxiii. 29 ; Hab. iii. 19 ; Ps. xviii. 33), and is elsewhere applied
to Yahweh Himself (Amos iv. 13 ; Mic. i. 3), who makes His
child sharer in His victory.

he did eat the increase (fruits) : read, with the versions,
• He made him eat,' which suits the parallelism better.

The honey is that of the wild bees in the clefts of the rocks
(Ps. lxxxi. 16) ; the oil, that of the olive-tree, growing in rocky
soil (Job xxix. 6). Even the least likely parts of the land yield
their gracious tribute to Yahweh's favourites,

224 DEUTERONOMY 32. 14-16. R?

14 Butter of kine, and milk of sheep,
With fat of lambs,

And rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats,

With the fat of kidneys of wheat ;

And of the blood of the grape thou drankest wine.

15 But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked :

Thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art

become sleek :
Then he forsook God which made him,
And lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.

16 They moved him to jealousy with strange gods,
With abominations provoked they him to anger.

14. butter : ' curd ' or curdled milk, now, as then, a common
Oriental dish. Cf. Doughty, Arabia Deseria, i. 41.

And rams : join with previous line, as in LXX ; the two
lines will then read :

With fat of lambs and rams,
Cattle of Bashan and goats.

the fat of kidneys is the choicest fat (Lev. iii. 4 ; Isa. xxxiv.
6) ; the phrase is here applied figuratively to wheat, and means
simply * the choicest wheat' (Ps. lxxxi. 16, cxlvii. 14).

the blood of the grape (Gen. xlix. 11), which Israel drinks
as (fermenting) wine.

xxxii. 15-18. The father forgotten by the well-cared-for child,
spoilt by prosperity.

15. Jeshurun: (xxxiii. 5, 26 ; Isa. xliv. 2), the 'upright' one,
a title of Israel (cf. 'the book of Jashar,' R.V. marg. to Joshua
x. 13), which here becomes purposely ironical.

thou art become sleek : probably i thou wast sated,' or
gorged with food. In this verse and in verse 18, the verbs relate
to the past, not to the present. The child, it seems to be implied,
has become an over-fed animal, kicking against the pricks of the
goad (cf. 1 Sam. ii. 29) ; brutish sensuality appeared instead of the
man's grateful obedience.

lightly esteemed : Hebrew ' treated as a fool ' : cf.
Micah vii. 6 (R.V. 'dishonoureth').

16. strange (gods) : (Jer. ii. 25, iii. 13), the abomination*,
Isa. xliv. 19, with which they vexed Yahweh (omit 'to anger,'
here and in verse 21, which the Hebrew does not express) : cf.
Ps. lxxviii. 58.

DEUTERONOMY 32. 17-2 r. R? 225

They sacrificed unto demons, which were no God, 17

To gods whom they knew not,

To new gods that came up of late,

Whom your fathers dreaded not.

Of the Rock that a begat thee thou art unmindful, 18

And hast forgotten God that gave thee birth.

And the Lord saw it, and abhorred them, 19

Because of the provocation of his sons and his

daughters.
And he said, I will hide my face from them, 20

I will see what their end shall be :
For they are a very froward generation,
Children in whom is no faith.
They have moved me to jealousy with that which is 21

not God ;

a Or, bare

17. demons (Ps. cvi. 37) : the Hebrew word (Shedint) is
borrowed from the Assyrian sedu, denoting a protective demon
(subordinate deity), represented by thebull-colossus at the entrances
of temples (Die Keilinschriften und das A.T.,A p. 455). Their
divinity is denied by the term 'no-god' ; whilst Israel's 'new gods'
in general are said to be without the link of past history that binds
Israel to Yahweh (Isa. lxiii. 16).

dreaded not : ' were not acquainted with ' (from an Arabic
cognate).

18. Yahweh is here represented as both father and mother to
Israel (' begat' of the father; ' gave thee birth,' i.e. travailed with
thee, of the mother).

xxxii. 19-27. The effect of this conduct on Yahweh: He declares
the merited punishment.

19. abhorred (them): Hebrew 'contemned' or 'spurned' ;
cf. Jer. xiv. 21.

provocation : the vexation inflicted on Himself by Israel.

20. Yahweh will stand aloof (xxxi. 17, 18), withdrawing the
help that has made Israel prosperous.

a very froward generation : i. e. from-ward ; Hebrew ' a
generation of perversions.'
faith : ' faithfulness.'

21. Notice the parallelism; 'they' and 'I 'are emphatically

226 DEUTERONOMY 32. 1***41 R?

They have provoked me to anger with their vanities :
And I will move them to jealousy with those whieh

are not a people ;
I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.

22 For a fire is kindled in mine anger,
And burneth unto the lowest "pit,

And devoureth the earth with her inerease,

And setteth on fire the foundations of the mountains.

23 I will heap misehiefs upon them ;

I will spend mine arrows upon them :
-4 They shall be wasted with hunger, and devoured

with h burning heat
And bitter destruction ;

•l Heb. S/icol. b Heb. bunting coals. See Hab. iii. 5.

contrasted in the Hebrew ; the ' no-pcople ' answers to the 'no-
pod,' the 'senseless nation ' to ' their vanities,' and the same verbs,
' make jealous ' and 'vex' ^omit 'to anger') arc used in both
clauses. For the question as to the identity of this ' no-people,'
through whom Yahweh punishes Israel, see the introduction to
this chapter. They are not more a people than their gods are
God. Sec Introd.. p. 35.

vanities: Jit. 'breaths") a Jeremianic term for heathen
deities (e.g. viii. 19). Paul applies the second half of the verse
to Israel's jealous}' and vexation at the entrance of heathen into
the kingdom (Rom. x. 19).

22 f. Yqhwth's angry qgamst /tn'tklat Israel.

the lowest pit : Shcol is named, in parallelism with ' the
foundations of the mountains,' to denote the unlimited reach of
Yahweh's anger : see the diagram in the Ccntuiy Bible, ' Genesis,'
p. 66.

23. I will heap : Hebrew ' I will sweep (catch) up,' but we
ought probably to repoint the Hebrew consonants and read either
4 1 will add ' or (with versions) ' I will gather ' ; mischiefs :
Hebrew ' evils.'

spend : i. e. use up, exhaust the whole quiver against Israel
[cf. Ezek. v. 16).

24. The three plagues of hunger, pestilence, wild beasts (and
reptiles^ ; Jer. xiv. 12, &c. ; Ezek. xiv. 15, 21.

burning heat : ' the Fire-bolt, a poetical designation of the

DEUTERONOMY 32. 25-29. R? 227

And the teeth of beasts will I send upon them,

With the poison of crawling things of the dust.

Without shall the sword bereave, 25

And in the chambers terror ;

It shall destroy both young man and virgin,

The suckling with the man of gray hairs.

I said, I would scatter them afar, 26

I would make the remembrance of them to cease

from among men :
Were it not that I feared the provocation of the 27

enemy,
Lest their adversaries should misdeem,
Lest they should say, Our hand is exalted,
And the Lord hath not done all this.
For they are a nation void of counsel, 28

And there is no understanding in them.
Oh that they were wise, that they understood this, 29
That they would consider their latter end !

fiery darts, sent by Jehovah, to which the poet (or popular imagina-
tion) attributed fever, or other pestilential complaint' (Driver).

25. The evils of war, as a fourth plague, without and within, on
young and on old.

xxxii. 26, 27. ' I should have said, I will cleave them in pieces,
I will make, &c.' Yahweh was hindered from saying this (and
accomplishing it) by the reason given in verse 27, that the
enemies of Israel would count it their own victory over Yahweh
and His people, not Yahweh's will.

xxxii. 28-33. The poet laments Israel's failure to understand
disaster as part of Yahweh's purpose ; how can He be compared
with heathen deities, as though they were victorious over Him ?
nor can these corrupt nations be thought to be themselves pleasing
to Yahweh.

28. void of counsel : Hebrew 'perishing of counsel' (Jer. xlix.
7). This is the reason ('For') why such severe discipline is
necessary.

29. ■ If they had been wise, they would understand this, they
would discern their latter end,' i. e. that end to which Yahweh
purposed to leave them (verse 20).

Q 2

228 DEUTERONOMY 32. 3o-34. R?

30 How should one chase a thousand,
And two put ten thousand to flight,
Except their Rock had sold them,
And the Lord had delivered them up ?

31 For their rock is not as our Rock,

Even our enemies themselves being judges.

32 For their vine is of the vine of Sodom,
And of the fields of Gomorrah :
Their grapes are grapes of a gall,
Their clusters are bitter :

33 Their wine is the poison of dragons,
And the cruel venom of asps.

34 Is not this laid up in store with me,
Sealed up b among my treasures ?

■ See ch. xxix. 18. b Or, in my treasuries

30. The shameful defeat of Israel in battle is due, not to
Yahweh's inadequacy, but to His deliberate abandonment of
Israel's cause : cf. Isa. xxx. 17 ; contrast Lev. xxvi. 8.

31. Even Israel's foes shall recognize the unique supremacy of
Yahweh. (Thus the Egyptians are represented as confessing the
invincible might of Yahweh, Exod. xiv. 25.)

xxxii. 32, 33. The figure of the vine, so often used of Israel, is
here applied to Israel's foes, to describe their corruption in root
and fruit ; less probably, of Israel's corruption.

32. the vine of Sodom, &c. The names ' Sodom ' and
' Gomorrah ' are here used generally, as often (Isa. i. 10 ; Jer.
xxiii. 14), as types of wickedness.

32b. Their grapes are poisonous grapes,

Bitter clusters are theirs.

33. the poison of dragons: i.e. of serpents (Ps. xci. 13;
Exod. vii. 9 f.).

venom of asps : possibly of cobras. ' Poison ' and l venom '
should be interchanged in this verse to correspond more exactly
with the Hebrew.

xxxii. 34, 35. Yahweh declares that this corruption shall itself
be punished.

34. Sealed up among my treasures : read with R. V. marg.
For the figure (sin kept for punishment), see Hos. xiii. 12;
Job xiv. 17.

DEUTERONOMY 32. 35-38. R? 229

Vengeance is mine, and recompence, 35

At the time when their foot shall slide :

For the day of their calamity is at hand,

And the things that are to come upon them shall

make haste.
For the Lord shall judge his people, 36

And repent himself for his servants ;
When he seeth that their power is gone,
And there is none remaining, shut up or left at large.
And he shall say, Where are their gods, 37

The rock in which they a trusted ;
Which did eat the fat of their sacrifices, 38

a Or, took refuge

35. Vengeance is mine : quoted Heb. x. 30 ; Rom. xii. 19.
The LXX and the Samaritan Pentateuch, however, read ' For the
day of vengeance and recompense,1 which connects more closely
with the previous verse, and forms a better parallel with ' For the time
when their foot shall slide ' (so giving Yahweh His opportunity).

at hand : in which speedy approach of Yahweh's day of
intervention lies the practical comfort of the poem (cf. Isa. xl. 1).

36. Israel's helplessness affords a motive parallel with that of
heathen corruption for Yahweh's intervention.

judge: i. e., as the parallel line shows, examine His people's
case, and decide that the time for intervention is ripe.

repent himself : or ' have compassion on.' This half- verse
is repeated in Ps. cxxxv. 14.

power : Hebrew ' hand ' (Lev. xxv. 35), perhaps here in the
sense ' support.'

shut up or left at large : in Hebrew an alliterative phrase,
used to express ; all ' (1 Kings xiv. 10, &c.) ; we may compare
such a phrase in English as ' bag and baggage ' ; such phrases are
frequent in Semitic speech (xxix. 19). The precise origin of this
phrase is doubtful ; it may refer to those under taboo and those
free from taboo, a very important principle of classification for
primitive thought (Rel. Sem.,2 456).

xxxii. 37-39. Yahweh contrasts Himself with the gods who can
do nothing against His judgement. Where are the gods to which
Israel has turned for refuge (R. V. marg.) ? on which Israel has
lavished material gifts in vain.

230 DEUTERONOMY 32. 39-41. R?

And drank the wine of their drink offering ?
Let them rise up and help you,
Let them be your protection.

39 See now that I, even I, am he,
And there is no god with me :
I kill, and I make alive ;

I have wounded, and I heal :

And there is none that can deliver out of my hand.

40 For I lift up my hand to heaven,
And say, As I live for ever,

41 If I whet a my glittering sword,

And mine hand take hold on judgement ;
I will render vengeance to mine adversaries,
And will recompense them that hate me.

a Heb. the lightning of my sword.

38. let them be your protection : Hebrew g let there be unto
you a shelter ' (secret placed The versions read ' let them be.'

39. I am he : i. e. Yahweh, the supreme God (Isa. xli. 4,
xliii. 10, 13. xlviii. i2\the first and the last, with whom there is no
god (Deut. iv. 35), and from whose hand there is no deliverer
(Hos. ii. 10, v. 14 ; Isa. xliii. 13).

I kill ... I heal : both pronouns are emphatic in the Hebrew.
The reference is simply to the absolute power over life and death
possessed by Yahweh, and not to any doctrine of individual resur-
rection (1 Sam. ii. 6 ; Hos. vi. 2, &c).

xxxii. 40-42. Yahweh swears to take vengeance on Israels
foes.

lift up my hand : (Exod. vi. 8 ; Num. xiv. 30 ; Ezek. xx. 5,
and often in Ezekiel) the action of one taking an oath (Gen.
xiv. 22).

As I live: often in Ezekiel (v. 11), and elsewhere : Yahweh
swears by Himself (Heb. vi. 13).

41. If does not make the vengeance conditional, but when the
time for action arrives, the vengeance will be complete.

my glittering1 sword: (note R. V. marg.) cf. Nah. iii. 3,
Hab. iii. n for the flashing weapon of the warrior, here figura-
tively assigned to Yahweh, who takes hold on judgement as a
weapon.

DEUTERONOMY 32. 42-45. R? D3 231

I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, 42

And my sword shall devour flesh ;
With the blood of the slain and the captives,
a From bthe head of the leaders of the enemy.
c Rejoice, O d ye nations, with his people : 43

For he will avenge the blood of his servants,
And will render vengeance to his adversaries,
And will make expiation for his land, for his people.
And Moses came and spake all the words of this song 44

in the ears of the people, he, and Hoshea the son of Nun.

[D3] And Moses made an end of speaking all these 45

a Or, From the beginning of revenges upon the enemy

b Or, the hairy head of the enemy

c Or, Praise his people, ye nations d Or, ye nations, his people

42. Yahweh's battlefield described (cf. Isa. Ixiii. 3-6). The
weapons once turned against Israel (verses 23, 25) are now so
fiercely employed against Israel's foes that the poet must needs
personify their fury ; the very captives are slain to gratify them.

Prom the head, &c. The marginal alternatives show the
difficulty of translation ; the second of these is preferable to
the text, as giving a parallel detail to the 'blood,' these scalps
being the prey of Yahweh's sword.

43. Conclusion : let the (other) nations congratulate Israel upon
this vengeance taken on Israel's foes.

Rejoice, O ye nations, with his people : rather (cf. R. V.
marg.), ' Greet His people joyfully ' (the verb denotes the utterance
of a ringing cry, here inspired by the thought of Yahweh's inter-
vention).

make expiation : (see on xxi. 8) for the blood of Israel that
has been shed (the fact that this bloodshed was, in verse 25, a
divine punishment of Israel is disregarded).

for his land, for his people : read, with versions, \ for the
land of his people.'

44. Concluding note by the redactor, answering to the intro-
ductory note, xxxi. 30.

Hoshea: i.e. Joshua, which the versions read here. Cf.
xxxi. 19 (note).

xxxii. 45-47. Moses commends the law as Israel's life. This has
nothing to do with the Song, but is connected with xxxi. 24-9.

232 DEUTERONOMY 32. 46-51. D3 P

46 words to all Israel : and he said unto them, Set your
heart unto all the words which I testify unto you this
day ; which ye shall command your children, to observe

47 to do all the words of this law. For it is no vain thing
for you ; because it is your life, and through this thing ye
shall prolong your days upon the land, whither ye go over
Jordan to possess it.

48 [P] And the Lord spake unto Moses that selfsame

49 day, saying, Get thee up into this mountain of Abarim,
unto mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is
over against Jericho ; and behold the land of Canaan,
which I give unto the children of Israel for a possession :

50 and die in the mount whither thou goest up, and be
gathered unto thy people ; as Aaron thy brother died in

51 mount Hor, and was gathered unto his people : because

46. unto you : ' against you ' ; i God's law is viewed as a
testimony against human sin ' (Driver).

which ye shall command : rather, k in order that ye may
charge ' (iv. 10). Once more there is characteristic reference to
the religious training of the young (vi. 7, &c).

47. vain: Heb. ' empty ' of practical bearing on life ; to obey
this law is to live in prosperity (cf. xxx. 20).

xxxii. 48-52. Moses is ordered to ascend Mount Nebo, there
to die. He is to see from afar the Promised Land, but, because
of his infidelity at Kadesh, is not to enter it. (A duplicate, perhaps
editorial, of Num. xxvii. 12-14, P.)

48. that selfsame day: i. e. that of i. 3 (P).

49. Abarim : Heb. ' the Abarim/ meaning ' the regions beyond '
(the Jordan) ; the word denotes I the edge of the great Moabite
plateau overlooking the Jordan valley, of which Mount Nebo was
the most prominent headland ' (E.B., 4).

mount Nebo : (Num. xxxiii. 47) called ' the top of Pisgah '
in Deut. iii. 27 (D2), the two designations being editorially identified
in xxxiv. 1 (q. v.).

50. thy people : here, probably, in the original sense of the
word, ' thy father's kin,' as elsewhere (in this phrase) in P.

died in mount Kor : Num. xx. 22-9 ; the place signified is
unknown.

DEUTERONOMY 32. 52— 33. 1. PR? 233

ye trespassed against me in the midst of the children of
Israel at the waters of Meribah of Kadesh, in the wilder-
ness of Zin ; because ye sanctified me not in the midst of
the children of Israel. For thou shalt see the land 52
before thee ; but thou shalt not go thither into the land
which I give the children of Israel.

[R?] And this is the blessing, wherewith Moses the 33

51. trespassed: l acted unfaithfully': see Num. xx. 1-13 ;
for the locality (Kadesh), see on i. 2 ; for the sin of Moses, on

*• 37-

sanctified me not : the same verb (Kadash) is used in Num.
xx. 12, with play on the place-name, Kadesh.

52. before thee : ' from a distance ! : cf. 2 Kings iv. 25, where
R. V. renders the same word ' afar off.'

xxxiii. The Blessing of Moses. This poem is not incorporated
into the narrative of Deuteronomy like the ' Song,' but depends
simply on its superscription (xxxiii. 1) for its connexion with the
book. Mosaic authorship is disproved, not only by the reference
to Moses himself in verse 4, but by the assumption that the
conquest of Canaan lies in the past (verses 27, 28) and by other
features of the poem. It consists of an introduction (verses 2-5)
which describes Yahweh's coming from Sinai, the gift of law and
land, and the establishment of the kingdom ; of eleven longer or
shorter eulogistic or sympathetic sayings about the eleven tribes,
Simeon being omitted (verses 6-25) ; and of a conclusion (verses
26-9) emphasizing the providence of a unique God and the pros-
perity of a consequently unique people. In regard to the central
portion, each tribe is characterized by some salient feature in its
situation, character, or history, and the historical conditions at the
time of its composition may consequently be inferred. Simeon
has disappeared as a tribe (see on xviii. 1) ; Reuben (verse 6) is
diminishing ; the prayer is offered that Judah may return to his
people (verse 7). Levi is specially commended as a priestly
community (verses 8-1 1) ; in Benjamin's land is Yahweh's
sanctuary (verse 12) ; Joseph occupies the foremost place in the
poem, the fertility of his territory and its military origin being
emphasized (verses 13-17) ; Zebulun and Issachar are com-
mercially prosperous (verses 18, 19) ; the trans-Jordanic territory
of Gad appears to have been increased recently (verses 20, 21),
whilst the northern position of Dan, Naphtali, and Asher, and the
fertile territory of the two latter, are also noticed (verses 22-5%
From these references it seems clear that the date of the poem
must lie between the division of the kingdom, c. 930 b. c. (verse

234 DEUTERONOMY 33. 2. R?

man of God blessed the children of Israel before his
2 death. And he said,

The Lord came from Sinai,

7) and the fall of the Northern Kingdom, 734-722 (verse 16) ;
and within this period the prosperous reign of Jeroboam II (782-
743) best corresponds with the general atmosphere of contentment
and security (contrast xxxii. 1-43) in which the poem moves (so
Kuenen, Moore, Steuernagel, Bertholet, and others ; Dillmann
and Driver prefer a date under Jeroboam I, soon after the division
into two kingdoms had taken place). The central part of the poem
appears, from its chief interests, to have been written in the
Northern Kingdom, possibly (in view of verse 8 f.) by a Levite at
some northern sanctuary. The introduction (verses 2-5) and
conclusion (verses 26-9), whilst forming an effective setting for the
'blessings/ were originally, perhaps, an independent psalm, of
later (post-exilic ?) date (Steuernagel, Bertholet, Moore, Ox/. Hex.).
This psalm describes Israel's deliverance (through a theophany)
from the enemy, and its subsequent happy security. It must be
admitted, however, that the separation of psalm from ' blessings '
is not absolutely necessary, and the poem may well be read as
a unity, which ' breathes from end to end a national spirit exalted
by power and prosperity and unbroken by disaster ' (Moore, E.B.,
1090). It should be compared throughout with the (earlier)
*■ Blessing of Jacob ' (Gen. xlix).

xxxiii. 1. Editorial note, linking the poem to the context.

1. the blessing- : ef. Joshua xiv. 13 (note) for the significance
attached to such words ; here deepened by the fact that a dying
man speaks them (Gen. xxvii. 7).

the man of God : a name given to Moses in the title to Ps. xc,
and in Joshua xiv. 6. Elsewhere a frequent designation of the
prophet (e. g. 1 Sam. ix. 6).

xxxiii. 2-5. Introduction. Yahweh revealed Himself from the
south for the people He loved, to whom He gave law and land,
that He might rule them. (This seems to be the general meaning
of the section, but the text is frequently corrupt and the details of
interpretation uncertain.)

2. The opening verses form a theophany, such as is found in
Judges v. 4 f. (Ps. lxviii. 7 f.) ; Hab. iii. 3 f . : in each of these
Yahweh comes up from His abode in the south, to intervene for
His people.

Sinai: 'the mountain of God' (Exod. iii. 1), to which the
giving of the law was assigned because of its previous sacredness
(not vice versa). Yahweh says He has brought Israel unto

DEUTERONOMY 33. j. R? 235

And rose from Seir unto them ;

He shined forth from mount Paran,

And he came from the ten thousands of a holy ones :

At his right hand b was a fiery law unto them.

Yea, he loveth the c peoples ; 3

All d his saints are in thy hand :

And they sat down at thy feet ;

* Heb. holiness. b Or, was fire, a law Or, as otherwise

read, were streams for them c Or, tribes d Or, their holy

Himself (Exod. xix. 4), in bringing the people to Sinai (cf. Rel.
Sent.2 p. 118) ; Sinai is His abode on earth.

rose : i. e. like the sun, as the Hebrew verb denotes ■ cf.
Hab. iii. 4.

Seir (if. 1) . . . Paran (i. 1, place uncertain) ; perhaps named
as indicating the route by which Yahweh comes from Sinai to
Israel.

the ten thousands of holy ones : i. e. from the midst of the
angels surrounding Him (1 Kings xxii. 19, &c). But for 'holiness'
(see R. V. marg., i. e. Kodesh) LXX has the place-name Kadesh
(i. 2), which would give a better parallel with Paran ; and we
ought probably to read ' from ' (Dillmann) or ' to ' (Wellhausen)
' Meribath-Kadesh ' (xxxii. 51). The reading of the Hebrew
text is responsible for the later belief (cf. Targum and LXX) that
the law was ordained through angels (Acts vii. 53 ; Gal. iii. 19 ;
Heb. ii. 2).

a fiery law unto them : this can hardly be a correct render-
ing, since ' a fire, a law ' (R. V. marg.1) yields no good sense,
and supposes a Persian word to be used for 'law.' R. V. marg.2
gives a (doubtful) rendering of a word made by combining those
rendered ' fire ' and l law.' The text is corrupt, and numerous
attempts at emendation have been made, of which Dillmann's
1 a burning fire ' has perhaps won most acceptance (' from his
right hand ').

3. the peoples: read, with LXX, 'his people/ since the
reference must be to Israel, and the interpretation of R. V. marg.
is without sufficient justification.

his saints : R. V. marg. applies the pronoun to Israel.
Steuernagel follows Lucian's LXX in reading, ' in His hands '
for ' in thy hand.'

And they sat down at thy feet : the rendering of the verb is
based on a supposed Arabic cognate. But the words appear to

236 DEUTERONOxMY 33. 4-7. R?

Every one a shall receive of thy words.
Moses commanded us a law,
An inheritance for the assembly of Jacob
And h he was king in Jeshurun,
When the heads of the people were gathered,
All the tribes of Israel together.
; Let Reuben live, and not die ;

c Yet let his men be few.

And this is the blessing of Judah : and he said,
Hear, Lord, the voice of Judah,

a Or, received b Or, there was a king

0 Or, And let not his men

be corrupt, and the translation of the second half of this verse
is very doubtful. Driver renders :

And they [followed] at thy foot,
Receiving of thy words.

4. inheritance : i. e. probably Canaan ; ' for I is supplied by
R. V. to make a connexion.

5. he was king-: i.e. Yahweh. R.V. marg. will most
naturally refer to Saul.

Jeshurun : verse 26, xxxii. 15 (note).

xxxiii. 6-25. The separate blessings on the eleven tribes {excluding
Simeon).

6. Reuben (the firstborn, Gen. xlix. 3) ; blamed in the Song
of Deborah (Judges v. i5b, 16) for absence from the conflict ;
cursed by Jacob (Gen. xlix. 3, 4), and of little historical importance
(settled east of Jordan, Joshua xiii. 15-23, but not mentioned in
Mesha's inscription, c. 850). Here the hope is expressed that
the tribe may not become wholly extinct.

Yet let his men be few : this is the only approach to a curse
which the ' Blessing ' contains. The alternative of R. V. marg.
carries the negative of the first clause over into the second, but
this is grammatically improbable (cf. Driver, p. 395).

*7. And this is of Judah : probably, like the notes introducing
all the blessings except that of Reuben, an editorial insertion,
not belonging to the original poem.

Judah : settled in the south of Palestine (Joshua xv) ; not
named in the Song of Deborah ; becoming of historical importance
under David ; its military success and supremacy are praised in

DEUTERONOMY 33. 8. R? 237

And bring him in unto his people :

a With his hands he contended b for himself ;

And thou shalt be an help against his adversaries.

And of Levi he said, S

Thy Thummim and thy Urim are with cthy godly

one,
Whom thou didst prove at Massah,
With whom thou didst strive at the waters of

Meribah ;

a Or, Let his hands be sufficient for him b Or, for them

c Or, him whom thou lovest

the Blessing of Jacob (Gen. xlix. 8f.). Here the poet prays for
the reunion of Judah with his people (Israel) and for Judah's
victory over enemies in some present need. The verse is im-
portant for the dating of the Blessing, since it presupposes the
separation of the Northern and Southern Kingdoms, which took
place through Jeroboam I (c. 930 ; 1 Kings xii. 20).

for himself: Hebrew ' for him,' leaving the reference un-
certain (cf. K.V. marg.). Stade's conjecture, however (G. V. I.,
i. p. 160), ' With thy hands contend for him ' (making the line
a prayer to Yahweh, like the rest of the verse), is very probably
right, and has found frequent acceptance.

8. Levi : see note on xviii. i for the early history of this tribe,
here already a priestly community.

Thy Thummim and thy Urim : the sacred lot, administered
by the priest, probably giving a ' Yes ' or ' No ' in reply to
inquiry. The passage best illustrating this practice is the LXX
of 1 Sam. xiv. 41 : 'And Saul said, Yahweh. God of. Israel, why
hast thou not answered thy servant to-day ? is the wrong in me
or in Jonathan my son? Yahweh, God of Israel, give Urim; and if
thus thou say, give to thy people Israel, give Thummim.' Cf.
Exod. xxviii. 30 ; Lev. viii. 8 ; Ezra ii. 63.

with thy godly one : Hebrew ' for a man, thy kindly or pious
one ' ; either the tribe, conceived as a person, or Moses (Aaron) as
its representative.

Massah (Exod. xvii. 1-7), Meribah (Num. xx. 2-13) : the
O. T. narrative throws no light on the manner in which Levi was
tested and striven with (or for) ; nor can the references to Moses
and Aaron be said (representatively) to explain the present
passage, which supposes Levi to have come out successfully from
the ordeal.

238 DEUTERONOMY 33. 9-11. R?

Who said of his father, and of his mother, I have not

seen him ;
Neither did he acknowledge his brethren,
Nor knew he his own children :
For they have observed thy word,
And keep thy covenant.
They shall teach Jacob thy judgements,
And Israel thy law :
They shall put incense b before thee,
And whole burnt offering upon thine altar.
Bless, Lord, his substance,
And accept the work of his hands :
Smite through the loins of them that rise up against

him,

a Heb. in thy nostrils.

9. Levi's renunciation of the ties of blood, in faithful observance
of the priestly office. The reference is probably to the general
impartiality and independence of worldly considerations expected
of the priest, of which the incident recorded in Exod. xxxii. 27-9
will afford a particular illustration : cf. Lev. xxi. 11 ; 1 Sam. i. 28
(contrast Eli's partiality, ii. 29). The verbs should be rendered
in the present tense in verses 9, 10.

thy covenant : Mai. ii. 4-9.

10. The function of the Levitical priest (the whole tribe : see
on xviii. 1) is twofold : to give the oracles and other decisions
(cf. xvii. 10 f . ; law = direction, teaching) of Yahweh, and to offer
sacrifice.

incense : possibly in the earlier and more general meaning,
' smoke of sacrifice.' For the anthropomorphism of R. V. marg.,
cf. 1 Sam. xxvi. 19 (R. V. marg.) ; Gen. viii. 21, &c.

whole burnt offering": see on xiii. 16.

11. his substance : i. e. his possessions ; but ' strength ' (which
the Hebrew word originally means) is here preferable ; the work
of his hands will be Levi's sacrificial acts.

Smite through the loins of : Hebrew ' smite as to the loins '
round which is the girdle (Prov. xxxi. 17), and which are the seat
of bodily strength (Nahum ii. 1; Ezek. xxix. 7 ; Ps. Ixvi. II,
Ixix. 23), trembling in the anguish of travail (Isa. xxi. 3) or fear
(Nahum ii. 10). The particular reference to the (obscure) history

DEUTERONOMY 33. 12, 13. R? 239

And of them that hate him, that they rise not again.

Of Benjamin he said, I2

The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by him ;
He covereth him all the day long,
And he dwelleth between his shoulders.

And of Joseph he said, x3

Blessed of the Lord be his land ;
For the precious things of heaven, for the dew,

of Levi is unknown ; some opposition to the priestly prerogatives
(of. Num. xvi, 1 Kings xii. 31) is in view. The martial figure has
led some to suppose that the verse belongs to Judah, and should
follow verse 7 ; but this transposition does not seem necessary.

12. Benjamin : the tribe of Saul and Jonathan ; celebrated, in
the Blessing of Jacob (Gen. xlix. 27), for its martial character, as
•a ravening wolf ; here appearing as a favourite son of Yahweh,
even as of Jacob (Gen. xliv. 20), and called ' the beloved of Yah-
weh ' (note its central position in the land, Joshua xviii. 11 f.).

by him : omit with versions.

He covereth : ' surroundeth,' i. e. Yahweh protects Benjamin.

he dwelleth between his shoulders : Yahweh dwells (in
His sanctuary) amongst the mountains (for ' shoulders ' in this
sense, cf. Joshua xv. 8, xviii. 13) of Benjamin. The reference is
usually taken to be to the temple at Jerusalem (see on Joshua xv.
8 : cf. Josh, xviii. 28). Others (e.g. Bertholet, thinking of the North
Israelite origin of the poem) explain of the sanctuary at Bethel
(Amos vii. 13).

13. Joseph: i.e. Ephraim and Manasseh (verse 17: cf. Gen.
xlviii. 5), to which tribes the most prominent place in the Blessing
is here given (cf. Gen. xlix. 22-6, with which the present passage
shows literary relationship). The prominence is natural in view
of the historical importance of 'Joseph,' as the centre of the
Northern Kingdom, in which, moreover, this poem probably
originated (cf. verse 7). The blessings assigned to Joseph are
those of fertile territory (verses 13-16) and of military prowess
(verse 17). (In Gen. xlix. 23 f., Joseph has been hard pressed,
but has prevailed.)

Por the precious thing's : elsewhere ' choice fruits '
(Song of Songs, iv. 13, 16, vii. 13) ; here of the natural gifts on
which all fertility depends — sunshine, rain, and dew. Read 'from'
instead of 'for' throughout ; these gifts are the source of blessing.

for the dew: more probably 'above,' as in the related passage,

240 DEUTERONOMY 33. 14-17. R?

And for the deep that coucheth beneath,

14 And for the precious things of the fruits of the sun,
And for the precious things of the growth of the

moons,

15 And for the chief things of the ancient mountains,
And for the precious things of the everlasting hills,

16 And for the precious things of the earth and the

fulness thereof,
And the good will of him that dwelt in the bush :
Let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph,
And upon the crown of the head of him a that was

separate from his brethren.

1 7 b The firstling of his bullock, majesty is his ;

And his horns are the horns of the c wild-ox :

a Or, that is prince among b Or, His firstling bullock

c See Num. xxiii. 22.

Gen. xlix. 25 (cf. Gen. xxvii. 39), which gives a better contrast
with \ beneath ' in the next line.

the deep that coucheth beneath : i. e. \ the water under the
earth' (iv. 18, note), personified as a crouching monster, like
the Babylonian Tiamat (Jastrow, Bab. Ass. Rel., p. 411), with
which name the Hebrew word for ' deep ' {tehoni) is connected.

14. the growth of the moons: 'the produce of the months,'
i. e. of successive seasons.

15. for the chief things: < from the top' (Heb. 'head') ; the
* hill country of Ephraim ' (Joshua xvii. 15) is in view, whose very
summits are to yield their tribute.

16. the goodwill of him that dwelt in the hush : Exod. iii.
2-4 ; see above on verse 2 for the force of \ dwelt.' I Good-will '
— favour (verse 23), the noun corresponding to 'accept' in verse 1 1.

that was separate from his brethren: the Heb. word
'yiiazlr) denotes one separated religiously (consecrated), as in the
meaning ! Nazarite,' or as a ' prince ' (Lam. iv. 7, R.V. ' nobles') ;
hence the alternative of R. V. marg., which is preferable here.
The last two lines occur in Gen. xlix. 26.

17. his firstling bullock (R.V. marg.) ; i.e. Ephraim (Gen.
xlviii. 13-20).

the wild-ox (Job xxxix. 9-12) : a type now extinct (Driver,
note, p. 407).

DEUTERONOMY 33. 18-20. R? 241

With them he shall a push the peoples all of them, even

the ends of the earth :
And they are the ten thousands of Ephraim,
And they are the thousands of Manasseh.

And of Zebulun he said, l8

Rejoice, Zebulun, in thy going out j
And, Issachar, in thy tents.

They shall call the peoples unto the mountain ; 19

There shall they offer sacrifices of righteousness :
For they shall suck the abundance of the seas,
And the hidden treasures of the sand.

And of Gad he said, ao

a Or, gore

push (1 Kings xxii. n) : with reference to the military
strength of Ephraim (cf. Ps. xxii. 91, xcii. 10).

all of them, &c. : better as a parallel clause, ' Together the
ends of the earth,' i. e. remote peoples.

And they bis) : i. e. the horns ; but read, with the versions,
'they ' (of the Josephites in general) in the first instance.

18. Zebulun and Issachar : the blessing of commercial pros-
perity.

thy going1 out : a phrase denoting general activity (xxviii. 6),
here probably of the maritime occupations of Zebulun (Gen. xlix.
13), which must have had an outlet to the sea, in spite of Joshua
xix. 10 f., which defines an inland territory : cf. Judges v. 18.

in thy tents : i. e. at home (Joshua xxii. 4 note) : cf. Gen.
xlix. 14, 15, where Issachar is blamed for lack of energy. The
contrast here may be merely poetical.

19. call the peoples: the reference is probably to religious
festivals in connexion with some mountain sanctuary (Tabor?
Carmel? ), with which fairs were joined, as at Mecca (Stade, G.V.I.,
i. 171). To these other neighbouring peoples (e.g. the Phoeni-
cians) would come. The tenses here should be frequentatives
rather than futures : ' they call,' &c.

suck the abundance of the seas : see on verse 18 (Zebulun's
fishing and sea-carrying trade).

the hidden treasures of the sand: possibly Issachar's
manufacture of glass, for which sand from the neighbourhood of
'Akko was much used: Josephus, The Jewish War, ii. 10. a : see
the art. f Glass \ in D.B.

20. Gad: settled east of Jordan (Joshua xiii. 24-8); charac-

242 DEUTERONOMY 33. 21-23. R?

Blessed be he that enlargeth Gad :
He dwelleth as a lioness,

And teareth the arm, yea, the crown of the head.
2 r And he a provided the first part for himself,

For there was b the lawgiver's portion reserved ;
And he came ctvith the heads of the people,
He executed the justice of the Lord,
And his judgements with Israel.

22 And of Dan he said,
Dan is a lion's whelp,

That leapeth forth from Bashan.

23 And of Naphtali he said,

a Or, chose Heb. saw. b Or, a ruler's portion c Or, to

terized in Gen, xlix. 19 as victorious over assailants ; famous for
warriors (1 Chron. xii. 8f.).

he tlxat enlargeth Gad: i.e. Yahweh (cf. Gen. ix. 27;.
There may be a reference to the recovery of territory lost in the
Syrian wars (2 Kings xiv. 25 f.).

as a lioness : cf. Gen. xlix. 9 ; Ezek. xix. 2 f. ; Num. xxiii. 24

21. the first part : the territory of Gad being amongst the first
to be occupied by Israel (Num. xxxii. 1 f.).

the lawgiver's portion : ' the commander's portion I (cf.
R. V. marg. : Judges v. 14, R. V. ' governors ') ; possibly with refer-
ence to the qualities of the territory as rich pasture-ground.

And he came. Cf. Joshua i. 12 f., where the Gadites join in
the conquest of the rest of Canaan.

(with) i this emendation of R. V. is probably the best.

Justice . . . judgements 'ordinances) : i. e. he did his duty
in the conquest of Canaan, according to the revealed purpose of
Yahweh. The precise reference may be either to the discharge of
obligation to assist the other tribes (Num. xxxii. 31 f.) or to the
execution of Yahweh's judgement over the Canaanites (Gen. xv.
16 : cf. Exod. xxiii. 31-3).

22. Dan: here compared to the whelp of a Bashan lion, as in
Gen. xlix. 17 to a serpent surprising horse and rider by the way.
The reference may be to the surprise attack made by the Danites
on Laish, when migrating from their original territory (Joshua
xix. 47 : cf. Judges xviii. 27 f.) ; the name Laish, meaning ' lion,'
may also have suggested the use of the particular figure.

23. Naphtali : (Joshua xix. 32-9) elsewhere compared with ' a
hind let loose1 (Gen. xlix. 21).

DEUTERONOMY 33. 24-27. R? 243

O Naphtali, satisfied with favour,

And full with the blessing of the Lord :

Possess thou the a west and the south.

And of Asher he said, 24

Blessed be Asher bwith children ;
Let him be acceptable unto his brethren,
And let him dip his foot in oil.

Thy c bars shall be iron and brass ; 25

And as thy days, so shall thy a strength be.

There is none like unto God, O Jeshurun, a6

Who rideth upon the heaven for thy help,
And in his excellency on the skies.
The eternal God is thy dwelling place, 27

)r, sea b Or, above sons c Or, shoes d Or, rest

Or, security

satisfied with favour : i. e. that of Yahweh (verse 16, '. good
will '), with reference to the fertility of the district (Upper Galileej
occupied by this tribe.

the west: rather (R. V. marg.) 'the sea' (of Gennesareth ,
on the west of which the territory of Naphtali extended south-
wards.

24. Asher : here and in Gen. xlix. 20 the meaning of the name
('fortunate,' Gen. xxx. 13) is in view. The territory of Asher lay
nominally along the sea-coast, between Carmel and Phoenicia

Joshua xix. 24-31). See map for portion actually occupied.
with children : R. V. marg. is preferable (cf. Judges v. 24).
dip his foot in oil : Galilee was famous for its olive-trees.

25. bars : or bolts, with reference to defence against enemies,
possibly in view of Asher's position in the far north.

strength : so the versions, but the Hebrew word is unknown.
May Asher's strength to resist its enemies never decline.

26. Conclusion. Israel's God is unique, the abiding source of
its security and prosperity, and of its victory over enemies.

like unto God, O Jeshurun : so the Hebrew vowel-points ;
but we should doubtless read with the versions, ' like the God of
Jeshurun.' Cf. verse 5, xxxii. 15.

rideth. &c. Pss. xviii. 10 f., lxviii. 33; Isa. xbc. 1; note
that the theophany of verses 2-5 is here resume].

excellency : ' exaltation ' or ' dignity.'

R 2

244 DEUTERONOMY 33. 28— 34. 1. R? P

And underneath are the everlasting arms :
And he thrust out the enemy from before thee,
And said, Destroy.

28 And Israel dwelleth in safety,
The fountain of Jacob alone,
In a land of corn and wine ;
Yea, his heavens drop down dew.

29 Happy art thou, O Israel :

Who is like unto thee, a people saved by the Lord.

The shield of thy help,

And that is the sword of thy excellency !

And thine enemies shall a submit themselves unto

thee j
And thou shalt tread upon their high places.
34 [P] And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto

a Or, yield feigned obedience

everlasting- arms: which do not grow weary (cf. Hos.xi. 3
&c).

28. The fountain of Jacob : the succession of generations,
streaming forth (cf. Isa. xlviii. 1 ; Ps. Ixviii. 26) in isolated security
('alone ').

dew : cf. Gen. xxvii. 28 ; the dew is heavy and of great
importance in Palestine, because of the summer drought.

29. A unique people through a unique God.

saved : i. e. as the context shows, in battle, with no moral or
spiritual reference.

submit themselves : read as R. V. marg.
tread, &c. : see on xxxii. 13.

xxxiv. The Death of Moses. Moses, after viewing the Promised
Land from the top of Pisgah, dies there according to Yahweh's
decree. His unique personality and place in the history of
Israel.

1. the plains of Moab: these 'steppes' are named in Num.
xxxiii. 48 as the final station in the wanderings of Israel, f It was
probably the well-watered glen on the north of the Neba-Siaghah
ridge, the present Wady 'Ayun Musa, which Israel descended
and camped in ' {H.G.H.L., p. 564). The term • steppes' — charac-
teristic of P — here denotes the eastern part of the Jordan plain,
to the north of the Dead Sea, opposite Jericho.

DEUTERONOMY 34. 2-4. P JE 245

mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against
Jericho. [JE] And the Lord shewed him all the land
of Gilead, unto Dan ; and all Naphtali, and the land of 2
Ephraim and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, unto
the a hinder sea ; and the South, and the Plain of the 3
valley of Jericho the city of palm trees, unto Zoar.
And the Lord said unto him, This is the land which 4
ft That is, western.

unto mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah : cf. xxxii. 49 : the
former name of the mountain appears to be that of P, the latter
that of D2 (iii. 27) here combined editorially. The headland in
question is usually identified with that which now bears the name
'Neba,' nearly opposite the north end of the Dead Sea, and
between Heshbon and Medeba (G. A. Smith, in H.G.H.L., p. 563.
from whom is taken the following description of the actual view
from the summit) : ' All Western Palestine is in sight ; only the
hither side of the Jordan Valley is still invisible, and north and
south the view is hampered by the near hills.'' [From a second
summit] ' The whole of the Jordan Valley is now open to you.
from Engedi, beyond which the mists become impenetrable, to
where, on the north, the hills of Gilead seem to meet those of
Ephraim. The Jordan flows below : Jericho is visible beyond.
Over Gilead, it is said, Hermon can be seen in clear weather, but
the heat hid it from us.'

shewed him all the land : not ' the land of Gilead ' ; all that
follows ' land ' is in apposition to it (i. e. ' even Gilead,' &c).
Gilead is the land due north of Pisgah, as far as the R. Hieromax
''iii. 10) ; Dan (Joshua xix. 47) lies at the foot of Hermon (beyond
the range of actual vision).

2. Naphtali in the north of Canaan, be}'ond the Sea of Galilee
(xxxiii. 23).

the hinder sea: i. e. the Mediterranean (xi. 24 and note), not
actually visible from Neba.

3. the South : see on i. 7.

the Plain : Heb. ' the Round.' i. e. of the Jordan Valley
north of the Dead Sea. With this, the valley of Jericho is in
apposition (delete 'of') ; on the latter, see on Joshua ii. I.

Zoar : site uncertain ; it may have been at either the north
or south end of the Dead Sea : cf. H.G.H.L., p. 505 f., where the
latter is preferred.

4. which I sware : see on i. 8 : cf. Exod. xxxiii. 1.
According to the Jewish commentator Rashi (ed. Berliner,

246 DEUTERONOMY ;)4. 5-9. JE P

I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob,
saying, I will give it unto thy seed : I have caused thee
to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over

5 thither. So Moses the servant of the Lord died there
in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord.

6 And a he buried him in the valley in the land of Moab
over against Beth-peor : but no man knoweth of his

7 sepulchre unto this day. [P] And Moses was an hundred
and twenty years old when he died : his eye was not

8 dim, nor his natural force abated. And the children of
Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty
days : so the days of weeping in the mourning for Moses

9 were ended. And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the
spirit of wisdom ; for Moses had laid his hands upon

a Or. he ivas buried

p. 362) the vision granted to Moses included the episodes of
Israel's future history ; so that Moses saw Samson and Gideon.
Deborah and David, and all the national heroes taking up his
unfinished task of leadership, at their appointed place and time.

5. the servant of Yahweh : Exod. xiv. 31 ; Num. xii. 7 f. (JE),
and often in Joshua (RD).

according to the word of Yahweh. The Hebrew for ' word '
here is ' mouth,' which explains Rashi's expressive comment, ' by
a kiss ' (the Rabbinic legend being that Moses died by Yahweh's
kiss).

6. he buried him : i. e. Yahweh buried Moses (R. V. marg. =
one buried him, a less probable rendering here).

in the valley, &c. : cf. iii. 29 (note).
A legend with reference to this event (taken from the apocryphal
< Assumption of Moses ') is mentioned in Jude 9.

7. an hundred and twenty years old: as in xxxi. 2. This
traditional number is an inference from a life of three generations
(Exod. vii. 7 : cf. Acts vii. 23, 30).

nor his natural force abated : Heb. ' his moisture had not
fled ' ; not the lymph (whose exudation is indeed less in age than
in youth), which was unknown to the ancients, but some more
primitive conception of ' life-juice,' whose absence might be
suggested by the wrinkled skin of old age.

8. thirty days: so for Aaron, Num. xx. 29 (P).

9. the spirit of wisdom : (Isa. xi. 2) ; Hebrew thought ascribed

DEUTERONOMY 34. 10-12. P RD 247

him : and the children of Israel hearkened unto him,
and did as the Lord commanded Moses. [RD] And ro
there hath not arisen a prophet since in Israel like unto
Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face ; in all the 1 1
signs and the wonders, which the Lord sent him to do
in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh, and to all his servants,
and to all his land j and in all the mighty hand, and in 12
all the great terror, which Moses wrought in the sight of
all Israel.

any remarkable characteristic of mind or body to indwelling
spirit (juach). In this case it is mediated by the physical contact
of the hands of Moses (Num. xxvii. 18-23).

10. a prophet : cf. xviii. 15. In that promised line of prophets,
says the Deuteronomic redactor, the first has been unequalled ;
he held direct intercourse (Exod. xxxiii. 11 ; Num. xii. 6-8) with
Yahweh.

11, 12. in: i.e. in respect of the following points (he was
unequalled). The two verses were probably added by a later
writer, since they involve a different and more external point of
view from that of verse 10, and the grammatical connexion is
loose. For the language, see iv. 34, vi. 22, vii. 19, xi. 2, xxvi. 8,
xxix. 2.

THE BOOK OF JOSHUA

INTRODUCTION

THE BOOK OF JOSHUA

1. Contents and Relation to the Pentateuch.

i. The Book of Deuteronomy is a sermon ; the Book
of Joshua the preacher's illustrations collected into an
appendix. It describes the Conquest and Division of the
Promised Land from the standpoint of a Deuteronomic
preacher, six or seven centuries after the event. It reflects
actual history (§ iii) so far as this seemed to enforce
the doctrines of that seventh-century revival of religion,
whose chief monument is the Book of Deuteronomy.
But it draws implicit inferences as to the course of events,
which are not distinguished from the use of earlier records
by any explicit indication.

2. The name carried by this book, as by the Books of
' Samuel,' is taken from one of its prominent characters,
and does not imply the authorship of Joshua. There is
no intrinsic or extrinsic ground for connecting the book as
a written narrative with Joshua or any of his con-
temporaries (on xxiv. 26 see the note). As the ■ Book of
Joshua,' it narrates events in the history of Israel from
the death of Moses (i. 1 : cf. Deut. xxxiv. 9) to the death
of Joshua himself (xxiv. 29 : cf. Judges i. 1). These events
fall into two groups, coinciding with the two halves of the
book ; viz. (A) the Conquest of Canaan (chaps, i-xii), and
(B) the Division of the Land, with a related appendix
(chaps, xiii-xix, xx-xxiv).

(A) Joshua, as the authorized successor of Moses, receives
the promise of similar divine aid (i. 1-9), whereupon he pre-
pares for the passage of the Jordan (i. 10, 11), and enlists the
help of the tribes already settled on its eastern side (i. 12-18).
Part of this preparation is to send spies into Jericho, the chief
city opposite ; these men find shelter in the house of Rahab.

252 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA

who also enables them to escape when their presence is
suspected (chap. ii). On receipt of the information brought,
Israel crosses the Jordan dryshod, through the miraculous
withdrawal of its waters, and a suitable memorial is erected at
Gilgal, the first camp west of the Jordan (chaps, iii, iv). Here,
also, the males of Israel are circumcised, and the Passover
celebrated (v. 1-12). Joshua sees in a vision the captain of
Yahweh's host (v. 13-15), and is instructed as to the capture
of Jericho (vi. 1-5). Accordingly, the ark is carried in solemn
procession, and with armed escort, round the walls of Jericho,
for seven days, daily, and on the seventh day, seven times.
Then, at the final blast of the priests' trumpets, and at the
shout of the people, the walls of Jericho fall down, and the
city is taken (vi. 6-20), to be 'devoted,' except for Rahaband
her family, to Yahweh (vi. 21-7). But this first miraculous
success is followed by the repulse, with loss, of an attack on
Ai ; when Joshua, and the representatives of Israel, accuse
Yahweh of abandoning His people, they are told that this is
due to the secret reservation from Yahweh of part of the spoil
of Jericho, and are bidden to find the culprit (vii. 1-15). This
is done, by the test of the sacred lot, and Achan, the thief, and
his family are stoned (with their possessions) and burnt (vii.
16-26). The help of Yahweh is now renewed, and Ai is taken by
the stratagem of apparent flight, and an ambush ; its spoil, in
this case, falls to Israel (viii. 1-29). The scene then abruptly
changes to Shechem, in territory as yet unconquered, where
an altar is built, and a solemn ceremonial observed, according
to the command of Moses (viii. 30-5). We return from this
digression, with equal abruptness, to the camp at Gilgal.
whither comes a deputation from Gibeon, seeking alliance with
Israel, and obtaining it by the false representation that they
live in a far country ; but when the ruse employed is dis-
covered, the would-be allies are degraded to subjects (chap. ix).
The alliance itself provokes an attack on Gibeon from a
confederation of five kings of South Palestine, headed by
Adoni-zedek of Jerusalem ; Israel marches to the relief of the
besieged ch^, and puts the assailants to disastrous flight, by
the miraculous aid of Yahweh (x. 1 15). The five kings are
taken and killed (x. 16-27). There follows a list of six cities

INTRODUCTION 253

taken and destroyed <^x. 28-39,, and a summary statement of
the complete conquest of South Palestine (x. 40-3). A
similar coalition of four northern kings, headed by Jabin of
Hazor, is defeated by the Waters of Merom, and their subjects
are similarly 'devoted' to Yahweh (xi. 1-15). Thus, in two
great battles, the whole territory has been conquered (xi.
16-20), not excluding that of the Anakim (xi. 21, 22), and the
way is clear for its division (xi. 23). A list is given of thirty-
one conquered kings (chap. xii).

(B) The second half of the book opens with a review of
neighbouring territory, as yet unconquered, and with the
command of Yahweh to Joshua to allot the land to the tribes
as yet unsettled (xiii. 1-7). An account is given of the terri-
tory east of Jordan (xiii. 8-14), already assigned to Reuben
(xiii. 15-23), to Gad (xiii. 24-8), and to half Manasseh (xiii.
29-31). As Moses had distributed this eastern territory, so
Eleazar and Joshua distribute the western to the nine and a
half remaining tribes, excluding Levi (xiii. 32 — xiv. 5). An
appeal made by Caleb for the territory of Hebron promised
him by Yahweh is granted by Joshua (xiv. 6-15). The
borders of the territory of Judah are defined (xv. 1-12).
Caleb conquers Hebron, and Othniel conquers Debir (xv.
13-19). There follows a catalogue of the cities belonging to
Judah (xv. 20-63), and the definition of the territory of Ephraim
and Manasseh (xvi. i — xvii. 13), some exceptions to complete
occupation being noted. Ephraim and Manasseh complain
that their territory is too small, and are encouraged to acquire
more (xvii. 14-18). Before we pass to the territory assigned
to the remaining seven tribes, we hear of a solemn assembly
at Shiloh, from which a commission of twenty-one are sent to
register the territory, divided subsequently by lot (xviii. 1-10).
The territory of Benjamin is defined (xviii. 11-20) and its
cities catalogued (xviii. 21-8). The Simeonites inherit
certain cities in the midst of the territory of Judah (xix. 1-9),
Zebulun (xix. 10-16), Issachar (xix. 17-23), Asher (xix. 24-
31), Naphtali (xix. 32-9, and Dan (xix. 40-6) are given
their portions, though the Danites subsequently migrate to the
extreme north (xix. 47, 48). Here the account of the
division of the land concludes, with a reference to Timnath-

254 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA

Serah as Joshua's own share (xix. 49-51). There follows
what may be called an appendix, narrating the appointment of
six cities of refuge (chap, xx) and of the Levitical cities
(chap, xxi), the dismissal of those from eastern tribes who had
helped in the conquest of western territory (xxii. 1-8), a
dispute between eastern and western tribes over the building
of an altar (xxii. 9-34), and two farewell addresses of Joshua,
distinct and parallel (chaps, xxiii. xxiv), the second culminat-
ing in a covenant between Israel and Yahweh made at
Shechem (xxiv. 25-8). The book closes with notes on the
deaths of Joshua and Eleazar. and on the burial of Joseph's
bones at Shechem (xxiv. 29-33).

3. From the above review it is plain that the Book of
Joshua is closely connected with the Pentateuch, whose
proper sequel it forms. This applies in general to the
attainment of that Promised Land which Moses might
view from Pisgah only ; but it applies also to many of
the details (e. g. viii. 30 f.i, for which reference must be
made to the notes. Further, the literary sources l of the
book are the direct continuation of those of the Pentateuch,
and for this reason scholars speak of the ' Hexateuch,'
since no line is drawn for literary criticism at the death of
Moses. As a whole, however, the Book of Joshua was
never incorporated with the ' Books of Moses/ which
stood for the Jew on a unique level of inspiration, and
constitute the first of the three canonical sections into
which the Hebrew scriptures are divided. 'Joshua'
belongs to the second of these, and to its first half, known
as the * former prophets,' the other members of this sub -sec-
tion being Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings. This
different classification is reflected in a different treatment
of its text ; the Greek translation of the LXX (which varies
more from the Hebrew than in the case of any book of the
Pentateuch, except Exod. xxxv-xl) shows that the text was
not finally fixed before 200 B.C.2

1 i. e. the documents J, E, P.

2 Cf. Dillmann, N. D.J., p. 690.

INTRODUCTION 255

II. Sources and Composition.
1. The evidence for regarding the Book of Joshua as not
written by a single hand, or in a single generation, is of
the same character as that which has led to the analysis
of the Pentateuch into several component documents 1 ; it
arises partly from the subject-matter, and partly from the
language employed. The book contains duplicate and
independent accounts of the same event, as when Joshua
gives two parallel farewell addresses (chaps, xxiii, xxiv).
Within what lies before us as a single narrative there
are sometimes clear traces of the combination of two
differing accounts ; thus, in the story of the passage of the
Jordan, Joshua is said to have set up twelve memorial
stones, both in the bed of the river (iv. 9) and also at
Gilgal (iv. 20), whilst the people who have crossed the
river once in iii. 17 are said to cross it again in iv. 11.
Sometimes two statements directly exclude each other:
the king of Hebron who has been killed in x. 26 is again
killed in x. 37, whilst Hebron itself, there said to have
been taken, and to have had all its inhabitants killed, is
still in the hands of the enemy in xiv. 12, and has to be
taken by Caleb in xv. 14. It is less easy to illustrate the
linguistic evidence for the division of sources, especially
since its real force is cumulative, and the quotation of
isolated words or phrases, as characteristic of a particular
writer, is apt to misrepresent the weight of the argument.
But when we find (xxii. 30) the word ' congregation '
applied to Israel, which occurs in 124 previous instances,
and always amongst the priestly writers grouped under
the letter P, the probability is sufficiently great that it has
been written in the 125th case by a writer of the same
school. A broader test of the same kind may easily be
applied. Let any one read with attention to language
and expression Joshua i. 3-9 (cf. Deut. xxxi. 1-8), and

1 For these, and the general meaning of the symbols J, E,
and P, see the Century Bible, 'Genesis,' pp. 22-40, or, more
briefly, p. 53 of the present volume.

256 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA

then Joshua xxi. 1-42 (cf. Num. xxxv. 1-8), and he can
hardly fail to realize something of the difference between
Deuteronomistic and priestly writers respectively.

2. The careful reader of the first half of the Book of
Joshua (chaps, i-xii) will notice that it opens and closes
with passages closely akin in language and subject-matter
to the Book of Deuteronomy (i. 3-9, 12-18; xi. 10 — xii.
24). He will also find similar strongly-marked writing
occurring at intervals throughout the intervening chapters,
either in expansions of the context (ii. 10, 11) or in the
addition of independent sections (viii. 30-5). The same
kind of writing is found in the second half of the book
also, though to a much less extent (e. g. xxi. 43-xxii. 8).
These passages are denoted in the present edition by
the symbol RD, because their predominant character is
that of a redactor (R), writing in the spirit and language of
the Book of Deuteronomy (D). Some of these passages
may, of course, draw their facts from documents prior to
the Deuteronomic age, but, for the purposes of exact
historical research, they are to be regarded as statements
made at various times after the publication of Deutero-
nomy, in 621 B.C.

3. The second half of the book is in strong contrast
with the first. Its central feature (chaps, xv-xix) consists
of formal definition of territory, and unrelieved catalogues
of cities. Further, there is an account of cities of refuge
(chap, xx), and of Levitical cities (chap, xxi), both of
which connect with previous ordinances of the Priestly
Code (Num. xxxv). We notice also that the division of
territory is not made by Joshua alone, but by Eleazar the
priest and Joshua (xiv. 1, xvii. 4, xix. 51, xxi. 1). This
prominence given to priestly interests, and this detailed
attention to statistical information,1 are well-known
marks of the priestly writers, designated by the symbol

1 Note also the formal superscriptions and subscriptions to
sections (xiii. 32, xiv. 1 f., xviii. 1, xix. 51) and to sub-sections
(xiii. 23, &c).

INTRODUCTION 257

P. Their interest was much less in simple and descrip-
tive narrative, except when some institution, &c, had to be
described or explained ; the greater part of the narrative
of this document appears to have been an abstract or
connecting outline. Accordingly, it need not surprise us
that, whilst the document P forms the distinctive feature
of the second half of this book, dealing with the division
of the land, it has little to contribute towards the narra-
tive of the conquest in the first half. But, where it does
appear there, it is characteristically to describe the
celebration of the first Passover in Canaan (v. 10-12),
and to emphasize the leading part of ' the princes of the
congregation ' (a priestly phrase) in the negotiations with
the Gibeonites (ix. 17-21). The systematic document
thus utilized in the compilation of the book is of post-
exilic origin, and contains strata of various dates.

4. The remainder of the Book of Joshua (excluding
the parts assigned to RD and P, as above) is of quite
different character from the editorial expansions and
summaries of the Deuteronomist, and the tabulated in-
formation of the priestly writer. It gives us the account
of the Conquest of Canaan, and describes in vivid and
picturesque narrative the adventures of the spies in
Jericho, the miraculous dry-shod journey across the bed
of the Jordan, the vision seen by Joshua, the capture of
Jericho, the story of Achan's theft, and its disastrous
sequel, first for Israel, and then for himself, the renewed
attempt on and victory over Ai, the Gibeonite incident,
the battle of Gibeon, in which the southern coalition was
overthrown, and (much more briefly) the overthrow of the
northern kings. These incidents form the bulk of the
narrative in the first half of the book. They resemble
the JE narrative of the Pentateuch, and it is natural to
regard them as the continuation of that document. That
the document from which they are taken is itself com-
posite is indicated by the narrative itself, as may be seen
from the accounts of Rahab (chap, ii), the passage of the

258 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA

Jordan (chaps, iii, iv), the fall of Jericho (chap, vi), the
capture of Ai (chap, viii), the ruse of Gibeon (chap. ix).
But it is much more difficult to analyse this document
into its component parts than is the case with the
similar composite narrative of the Pentateuch. The
narrative has passed through the hands of three
editors, RJE, RD, and Rp, who appear to have used
greater editorial freedom than in regard to the more
sacred Mosaic records. Some scholars, therefore,
whilst recognizing the duality of source, do not attempt
a further analysis of JE into J and E (so Driver,
G. A. Smith), whilst others (Holzinger, Bennett,
Ox/. Hex.) think such an analysis is practicable.
In the present edition, the above narrative has been
indicated simply as JE, though attention is called in the
notes to some of the evidence for composite authorship.
But in the second half of the book the position is
different. We have a series of remarkable fragments
(xiii. 13, xv. 14-19, 63, xvi. 10, xvii. 11-18, xix. 47) which
are closely related to, and sometimes verbally identical
with, passages in the first chapter of Judges. These give
us a different conception of the occupation of territory
from that adopted by the book as a whole, and appear to
form part of the narrative of J, the earliest of the sources
underlying the book. Besides these important fragments,
to be considered in the next section, we have the second
farewell address of Joshua (xxiv. 1-25) belonging to E,
as does the first to RD.

5. The main stages in the compilation of the Book of
Joshua were probably the following. The narratives of J and
E, as combined by their Redactor (RJE), were used by RD,
though J may have been used apart from the combined
form. RD selected, expanded, and added to the narrative
of the Conquest, so producing a Deuteronomistic Book of
Joshua. The third redactional stage came when this was
combined with P by the Priestly Redactor, Rp. In this
last the procedure appears to have been the opposite to

INTRODUCTION 259

that adopted for the Pentateuch. ' The chronological
articulation from Gen. i to Deut. xxxiv. 7 is here entirely
lacking ... P is inserted into JED, whereas in the
Pentateuch JED is fitted into P.' »

III. The History of the Conquest.

1. The literary elements of the Book of Joshua now
lie before us in broad outline, viz. the work of J, of the
united JE, of the editorial RD, and of P. What light
does this analysis throw on the chief problem raised by
the book— the history of the conquest of Canaan by
Israel ?

(a) The fragments of J (see Introd. ii. 4) are admittedly
our oldest document. They tell us that Geshur and
Maacath were not occupied by Israel (xiii. 13) ; that
Caleb, acting independently, took Hebron, and his ally,
Othniel, took Debir (xv. 14-19) ; that Jerusalem remained
in the hands of the Jebusites (xv. 63), Gezer was not
occupied (xvi. 10), nor the line of important cities from
Beth-shean across the plain of Jezreel westwards (xvii.
n-13). The Josephites complain of being crowded into
too narrow a territory by the Canaanites (xvii. 14-18) ;
Dan, similarly oppressed, seeks new territory in the
extreme north (xix. 47}. Thus the earliest account we
possess of the Conquest suggests that it was but very
partially achieved, and that, so far as it was achieved, it
was the result of independent tribal warfare, rather than
of a national invasion, with conclusive campaigns under
a single leader. This impression is corroborated by the
additional portions of the same document which are

1 Oxford Hexateitch, ii. p. 315. The relation of the Priestly
and Deuteronomistic redactions is disputed : for another view,
see G. A. Smith in D.B., ii. p. 784. Steuernagel argues for a
different view of the whole process ; he thinks that a priestly
redactor added the JE portions to an already existent combina-
tion of D and P.

S 2

26o THE BOOK OF JOSHUA

found in Judges i. I — ii. 5. Here we read of an independent
invasion by Judah and Simeon (verses 1-7), of Kenite
movements from Jericho (verse 16), of a Josephite
occupation of the Bethel district (verses 22-6), and of
various tribal settlements among the Canaanite popula-
tion (verse 27 f.). Thus the history of the Conquest
according to J is that ' the tribes invade the land singly,
or as they are united by common interest ; they fight for
their own hand with varying success, or settle peaceably
among the older population. The larger cities with few
exceptions, the fertile valleys, and the seaboard plain
remain in the hands of the Canaanites * (Moore, Judges,
pp. 7, 8). This agrees with the subsequent course of
events. \ All that we know of the history of Israel in
Canaan in the succeeding centuries confirms the re-
presentation of Judges that the subjugation of the land by
the tribes was gradual and partial ; that not only were
the Canaanites not extirpated, but that many cities and
whole regions remained in their possession ; that the
conquest of these was first achieved by the kings David
and Solomon ' (/. c).

(b) The combined narrative of JE, drawn probably from
the later strata of these writers, agrees with J in repre-
senting Jericho as the door of entrance into Canaan, but
differs in describing the entrance of Israel as that of a
united body under the leadership of Joshua. Joshua is
represented as stepping into the position previously held
by Moses. This narrative also describes the two great
battles in the south and north, which are said to have
thrown open the land to Israel. In the closing chapter,
taken chiefly from E, the conquest of Canaan is repre-
sented as complete (cf. verses 12 (LXX) and 18).

(c) A further expansion of the facts stated in the
earliest source is found in the editorial work of RD. Not
only does he emphasize, probably by his selection, and
certainly by his summaries, the completeness of the
conquest of Canaan (e. g. xi. 23 : cf. the treatment of

INTRODUCTION 261

earlier sources for the two great battles, chaps, x, xi), but
he is specially eager to show how completely the Deutero-
nomic command to exterminate the peoples of Canaan
(Deut. xx. 16, 17) is obeyed by Joshua (viii. 2, 27, ix. 24,
x. 25, 28-43, xi. 10 f., xxi. 43 f.). It is the work, both
selective and productive, of this writer, which has given
its distinctive colouring to the Book of Joshua, and which
justifies the opening words of this Introduction. The
religious and moral evils of a Canaanite environment had
produced in the original author of Deuteronomy the con-
viction that the population of Canaan ought to have
been destroyed at the outset. In the historical school
nurtured on the principles of Deuteronomy there grew
the conviction that this population ??iust have been
destroyed by so faithful a servant of Yahweh as was
Joshua.

(d) The narrative of P, as already stated, is concerned
almost wholly with the division of the conquered land,
though its presupposition is that the conquest has been
complete (xviii. 1). It reflects in its geography the post-
exilic conditions ; ' the information given is full and
detailed with regard to Judah and Benjamin, the main
settlement of the restored community. Galilee, the other
settlement of the Jews of the Restoration, is described
with less completeness and clearness, under Zebulun,
Issachar, Asher, and Naphtali. The account of Ephraim
and Western Manasseh, i. e. the Samaritan territory, is
extremely meagre and confused' (Bennett, S.B.O.T.,
p. 76). The division of the land by lot, though unhistoric
on the scale represented by P, finds a point of contact in
the oldest source (xvii. 14 ; Judges i. 1-3) ; the points of
attack of the different invading parties, and therefore
their ultimate territory, may well have been decided by
the sacred lot (see on vii. 14).

2. The Book of Joshua gives us no information as to
the time of the invasion of Canaan by Israel, though we
may infer (see on xiv. 10) that its narrative extends over

262 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA

five or seven years from the death of Moses. It is
natural to ask whether there is any external evidence as
to the date of this invasion. This question admits of an
affirmative answer since the discovery of the Tell-el-
Amarna Letters in 1887, and of the 'Israel' Inscription
at Thebes in 1896. The latter of these may be named
first, as it appears to give us a fixed date before which
the Israelites had entered Canaan1. The inscription
gives a list of Syrian vassals of the Egyptian king
Merneptah, the son of Ramses II, about the middle of
the thirteenth century before Christ. In this list appears
the name ' Israel,' in such a connexion that settlement
in Palestine seems already presupposed, though Israel
is by no means the ruling people of Palestine. This
gives us therefore the date 1250 as the latest possible for
the entrance of Israel into Canaan. The evidence of the
Tell-el-Amarna Letters is less easy to summarize, or even
to utilize with certainty. These 300 or more tablets
preserve correspondence of Amenophis III and IV
of Egypt with various kings of Western Asia, and
especially with officials and vassals in Palestine. The
latter gives us a picture of Palestine about 1400 B.C.,
and the disorder revealed shows how easy it must
have been for invading tribes to secure an entrance.
The Egyptian sovereignty over Syria was threatened
both by such invasion and by civil war, which contributed
to it, since certain of the vassal kings seem to have hired
foreign mercenaries, e.g. Bedouin tribes, against their
rivals. In particular, there are letters from Abdchiba, of

1 A convenient account of the Tell-el-Amarna Tablets is
given by Bennett and Haupt, in S.B.O.T., pp. 47-55, or in
Niebuhr's Die Amarna-Zeit {Der alte Orient). The 'Israel'
Inscr. is discussed in detail by Meyer, Die Israeliten mid Hire
Nachbarstdmme (1906), p. 222 f. ; the whole topic is reviewed
both by him and by Steuernagel, Die Einwanderung der
israelitischen Stamme in Kanaan, p. 1 13 f., to which books the
above note is chiefly indebted.

INTRODUCTION 263

Jerusalem, complaining that ' the Chabiri are occupying
the King's cities.' These Chabiri appear in various parts
of Palestine, and it has been proposed to see in them the
general group of* Hebrews' (i.e. 'people from the other
side '), l tribes playing the same part as did the Israelites
later ' (Winckler, Die K ei tins chrif ten? p. 198). The pres-
sure of these Chabiri on Syria is of much wider extent than
that described in the Biblical records of Israel's invasion,
and many scholars contend that there are not sufficient
points of contact to justify the identification. But there
is little in the earliest accounts of Israel's invasion
which would fail to fit into the general background of the
movements of the Chabiri. The Tell-el-Amarna period
of about 1400 B. c. appears to form the terminus a quo,
as the Israel Inscription of 1250 B.C. forms the terminus
ad quern, for Israel's settlement in Palestine.

3. The traditional 'twelve tribes' (see on iv. 20), whose
geographical settlement occupies so large a place in this
book *, are the product of later theory, working on terri-
torial data, rather than the reflection of early conditions
(see E.B., c. 5204 ; D.B., iv. p. 810). ' Israel, as it invaded
Palestine, was a loose confederation of kindred tribes. . . .
It is, however, quite uncertain how far the tribes which we
find in Canaan under the monarchy correspond to tribes
which existed before the Conquest ' (Bennett, /. c). There
is still much division of opinion amongst scholars as to
the original tribal elements and combinations. Well-
hausen's reconstruction is, perhaps, best worth stating.
He argues from the division of the twelve sons of Jacob

1 The discussion of the geographical data of the Book of
Joshua belongs to a full Commentary, such as Dillmann's, and
to the geographical expert, and no attempt has been made in
the notes to deal with its difficult problems in any adequate
way. It may be noted here that one of the most essential
helps to the study of ' Joshua ' is G. A. Smith's Historical
Geography of the Holy Land (cited as H. G. H. L.). With this
should be named Buhl's Geographie des alien Paldstina.

264 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA

(Gen. xxxv. 23-26) amongst wives and concubines, and
from the birth of Benjamin in Palestine (Gen. xxxv.
18), that the invading tribes fell into two groups, viz. the
Sons of Leah (Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar,
and Zebulun) and Joseph, the Son of Rachel; the latter
formed the nucleus, and was joined by the former
group in the district south of Palestine (Gesckichte,
p. 16). These tribes dispossessed the Amorites, and
settled for some time east of Jordan, till the lack of union
amongst the Canaanites invited further aggression west-
wards. In the first attempt, made by Judah, Simeon,
and Levi, the two latter were destroyed ; Judah alone
gained a footing in the hill country west of the Dead Sea,
its losses being subsequently made good by union with
other clans from the south. The second attempt was
made chiefly by the Josephites, headed by Joshua, who
overthrew the Canaanites at Gibeon. The acquired
territory was occupied by Benjamin, Ephraim, and
Manasseh, with Shiloh as their sacred centre. A further
victory of Joshua opened up the north for occupation
{I.e., pp. 36, 37).

4. The place of Joshua, as a historical person, in such
a reconstruction as that just outlined, is that of an
Ephraimite leader (note his burial-place, xxiv. 30).
Later tradition credited him with the leadership of all
Israel, but as a matter of history his place in the northern
group corresponds with that of Caleb in the southern.
'The original kernel of the history of Joshua is a memory
of the battles of the House of Joseph for the hills of
Ephraim' (Holzinger, p. xv). Against this it has been
argued (Stade, G.V.I., i. pp. 64 f., 136 f.,) that the figure
of Joshua is wholly the creation of a later age : ' the
Joshua legend, unknown to J, and implying an entirely
unhistorical conception of the course of events in the
conquest of the land, is clearly formed on the lines of the
Moses legend' (p. 64). It is true that the part played by
Joshua becomes a greater one in the later sources, but

INTRODUCTION 265

hardly that he is unknown to the earlier1. The moderate
position of Kuenen still seems that which the evidence
supports : ' The Joshua of the book that bears his name,
the leader of the united Israel, the conqueror and divider
of all Canaan, is certainly not a historical character, but
neither is he a pure creation out of nothing 2 \ We can
still, therefore, with a good conscience, join Ben Sirach
(Ecclus. xlvi. 1 f.) in including Joshua in the list of
famous men to be praised, as ■ valiant in war,' and ' made
great,' if not ' that he might give [all] Israel their
inheritance,' yet as one who ■ fought in the sight of the
Lord, for he followed after the Mighty One.'

IV. Religious Ideas.

1. The actual events transacted on the stage of the Book
of Joshua are, as we have seen, like those belonging to
the origins of other nations, dim and obscure. But
just as the historical plays of Shakespeare, however
anachronistic, reveal our common humanity in the light of
Elizabethan nationalism, so the traditions of Israel's dim
past, though stamped with the thought and life of a later
generation, make a positive contribution to religion.
What is of little importance for the political may be of
great value for the religious history. The Book of Joshua
can illustrate for us some important phases in the de-
velopment of the religion of Yahweh.

2. Throughout the book we meet with various survivals
from the cruder and more primitive stages of thought, out
of which the ethical theism of Judaism and Christianity
have emerged. There are references to blood-revenge
(cities of refuge, chap, xx), to circumcision and the passover
(chap, v), to the ban (' devotion ' to Yahweh by destruction,

1 Cf. G. A. Smith's criticism of Stade in D.B., ii. p. 786 b,
though the inference there drawn from Joshua xvii. 14-18,
that Joshua appears in J < as the arbiter over all Israel,' seems
without justification.

2 The Hcxateuch (E. T.}, p. 237.

266 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA

passim), and to the place of sacred stones and trees in
Semitic religion (xxiv. 26), of which topics some notice has
been taken in the Introduction to Deuteronomy. We
may further note some survivals of primitive magic,
incorporated into the religion of Yahweh. The waters of
Jordan withdraw from the sacred feet of the priests (iii.
15, iv. 18), and it is the presence of the sacred ark that
keeps back the river (iv. 10). No one familiar with
primitive procedure can miss the significance of the seven-
fold manipulation of the ark in regard to Jericho (chap, vi),
though, of course, the magical ceremonies are here
blended with higher ideas of dependence on Yahweh. The
placing of the foot on the necks of captured kings (x. 24)
probably belongs to the very wide field of symbolic magic,
which accomplishes or renews an event by its repre-
sentative performance. The power of the spoken word
in oath (ii. 17 f.), treaty (ix. 18 f.), curse (vi. 26), or blessing
(xiv. 13, cf. xxiv. 10), is not to be confused with the ethical
aspect of these transactions. Most striking of all is the
narrative of Achan's theft, with its implication that what
is made taboo brings peril to the whole community in
contact with it. No more forcible example than this
could be given of the two leading characteristics of
ancient, as distinct from modern, psychology, viz. the
psychical influence of physical objects, and the non-
individualistic or corporate idea of personality (the whole
family exterminated, just as the whole of Israel suffered).
3. It need hardly be said that, even in the earliest sources
of the book, such conceptions are far transcended. The
best example of this is supplied by Joshua's vision of the
captain of Yahweh's host (v. 13-15). 'It is a noble
illustration of the truth that, in the great causes of God
upon the earth, the leaders, however supreme and solitary
they seem, are themselves led. There is a rock higher
than they ; their shoulders, however broad, have not to
bear alone the awful burden of responsibility. The sense
of supernatural conduct and protection, the consequent

INTRODUCTION 267

reverence and humility, which form the spirit of all Israel's
history, have nowhere in the O. T. received a more
beautiful expression than in this early fragment' (G. A.
Smith, D.B., ii. p. 788).

4. The religious spirit and attitude of the Deuteronomistic
redaction are clearly brought out in the first chapter (verses
5-7), viz. the assurance of the Divine presence and aid
where there is perfect obedience. The emphasis falls
throughout on the complete and absolute obedience of
Joshua to the commands of Moses, which are the com-
mands of Yahweh (xi. 15), and on the conviction that
obedient Israel's cause is also Yah wen's : 'What shall I
say, after that Israel hath turned their backs before their
enemies ? . . . and what wilt thou do for thy great
name ? ' (vii. 8, 9). Even the dark shadow of exter-
minating wars, which falls on this writer's contribution, is
thrown by a leader who stands in the blazing light of
Yahweh's ' holiness.'

5. The religious teaching in the priestly source (P), the
latest of all, is less direct, as is natural from the character
of its contents. But the significance of the division of the
land by the sacred lot must not be overlooked. ' Each
tribe is convinced that its possession is bestowed upon it
by Yahweh' (Steuernagel, p. 152). The zeal for the
sanctuary of Yahweh (xxii. 9-34), which the priestly writers
inherit and develop from the Deuteronomic reform, has its
noble side, as well as its historically demonstrated peril of
formalism and hypocrisy. The stones of the temple are
not without their own glory, because One came at last to
make men see more to admire in the self-sacrifice of the
woman who dropped her all into its treasury.

268 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA

NOTES ON LITERATURE

The commentaries used in the preparation of the notes to
this edition are those of : —

Dillmann (Numeri, Deuteronomhim, und Josua-), 1886.
Bennett ( The Book of Joshua, in Sacred Books of the Old

Testament, cited as S.B.O. T), 1899.
Steuernagel {Deuteronomhim und Josua), 1900.
Holzinger (Das Buch Josua), 1901.

The English reader who desires to gain a clear idea of the
literary composition of the book is recommended to use
Bennett's Joshua, where the different sources are indicated by
the use of different colours. Further details as to literary
criticism will be found in the Oxford Hexateuch (Carpenter
and Battersby), 1900. There is no large modern commentary
available in English ; but that promised by G. A. Smith in the
International Critical Commentary will doubtless become the
chief authority in English. Meanwhile, his general view of
the book may be seen in Hastings's Dictionary of the Bible
(vol. ii. pp. 779-88); with this may be compared the more
advanced critical discussion by Moore, in the Encyclopaedia
Biblica (vol. ii. c. 2600-2609). The subject-matter of Joshua
is, of course, discussed in all the larger histories of Israel, as
well as in numerous special monographs, dealing with the
origins of Israel, of which one of the most recent is Meyer's
Die Israeliten und Hire Nachbarstdmme (1906).

SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS

(see p. 53).

(Where Bennett, Dillmann, Holzinger and Steuernagel are
cited without further specification, the reference is to their
commentaries on Joshua named above.)

THE BOOK OF JOSHUA

REVISED VERSION WITH ANNOTATIONS

THE BOOK OF JOSHUA

[JE] Now it came to pass after the death of Moses the 1
servant of the Lord, that the Lord spake unto Joshua
the son of Nun, Moses' minister, saying, Moses my 2
servant is dead ; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan,
thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give
to them, even to the children of Israel. [RD] Every place 3
that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, to you have I
given it, as I spake unto Moses. From the wilderness, 4
and this Lebanon, even unto the great river, the river
Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the

I-XII. The Conquest of Canaan.

i. 1-9. Yahweh charges Joshua to take up the work of Moses
(with the same help from Himself), and to lead Israel into the
Promised Land.

1. after the death of Moses: Deut. xxxiv. 5f. ; for the place
where this charge was given, see note on Deut. i. 1.

Joshua : previously mentioned in Exod. xvii. 9-14, xxiv. 13,
xxxii. 17, xxxiii. n ; Num. xi. 28 ; Deut. xxxi. 14, 23 (all E) ; Deut.
i. 38, iii. 2r, 28, xxxi. 3, 7 (D 5) ; Num. xiii. 16, xiv. 6, 30, 38, xxvi. 65,
xxvii. 18, 22, xxxii. 12, 28, xxxiv. 17 ; Deut. xxxiv. 9 (P). The
name apparently means I Yahweh is deliverance,' and in its Greek
form becomes Jesus (Acts vii. 45 ; Heb. iv. 8). On the Joshua of
history, see Introd. III.

3. as I spake unto Moses: Deut. xi. 24 f., from which the
words in verse 3 f. are quoted : see the note there. This chapter
contains numerous references to, or echoes from, Deuteronomy,
and is clearly by a Deuteronomistic writer, incorporating older
material in verses 1, 2, to, ii.

4. all the land of the Hittites : not in the original passage,
nor here in LXX ; perhaps a gloss. The name * Hittites ' is here
used loosely (cf. Gen. xxiii. 10 ; Ezek. xvi. 3), like that of the

272 JOSHUA I. 5-9. RD

great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your

5 border. There shall not any man be able to stand before
thee all the days of thy life : as I was with Moses, so I
will be with thee : I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

6 Be strong and of a good courage : for thou shalt cause
this people to inherit the land which I sware unto their

7 fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courage-
ous, to observe to do according to all the law, which
Moses my servant commanded thee : turn not from it to
the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest a have good

8 success whithersoever thou goest. This book of the law
shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate
therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do
according to all that is written therein : for then thou
shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt

9 a have good success. Have not I commanded thee ? Be
strong and of a good courage ; be not affrighted, neither
be thou dismayed : for the Lord thy God is with thee
whithersoever thou goest.

a Or, deal ivisely

1 Canaanites.' The Hittite Empire proper lay between the
Euphrates and the Orontes in North and North-East Syria
(2 Kings vii. 6 ; E.B., 2096).

5. fail : 'drop ? (Deut. iv. 31, xxxi. 6, 8), or, possibly, as in Josh,
x. 6 (let drop the hand from).

6. Deut. i. 38, xxxi. 7 ; for the oath of Yahweh (frequently
named in Deuteronomy), Gen. xxii. 16 f.

7. Deut. v. 32, xxix. 9 ; only specifies rigorous obedience as
the condition of success, a main principle of the writer.

the law : omit with LXX, supported here by the Hebrew
itself.

8. The devotion to the law of Deuteronomy, in speech and
thought (cf. Ps. i. 2, 3), enjoined on kings (Deut. xvii. 19) as essen-
tial to success, is here required of Joshua ; the verse ' lays
down the programme for the rigorously Deuteronomistic conduct
of Joshua' (Dillmann).

JOSHUA 1. 10-16. JERD 273

[JE] Then Joshua commanded the officers of the 10
people, saying, Pass through the midst of the camp, and 1 1
command the people, saying, Prepare you victuals; for
within three days ye are to pass over this Jordan, [RD] to
go in to possess the land, which the Lord your God giveth
you to possess it.

And to the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to the 1 2
half tribe of Manasseh, spake Joshua, saying, Remember 13
the word which Moses the servant of the Lord com-
manded you, saying, The Lord your God giveth you rest,
and will give you this land. Your wives, your little ones, 14
and your cattle, shall abide in the land which Moses gave
you beyond Jordan ; but ye shall pass over before your
brethren armed, all the mighty men of valour, and shall
help them ; until the Lord have given your brethren rest, 15
as he hath given you, and they also have possessed the
land which the Lord your God giveth them : then ye
shall return unto the land of your possession, and possess
it, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you beyond
Jordan toward the sunrising. And they answered Joshua, 16
saying, All that thou hast commanded us we will do, and

i. 10, 11. Joshua orders food to be prepared for the passage of
the Jordan.

10. officers : see notes on Deut. xx. 5, 9.

11. victuals: as in ix. 11, where R.V. has 'provision.'
The use of this Hebrew word and the reference to ' three days '
are characteristic of E.

i. 12-18. Joshua reminds the tribes already settled east of
Jordan that they are to assist in the conquest of the west ; which
they profess their readiness to do, promising obedience to him as
to Moses.

12 f. Deut. iii. 18-20 : cf. Num. xxxii.

14. beyond Jordan : i. e. from the standpoint of a later age :
cf. Deut. i. 1.

15. then ye shall return: as recorded in xxii. 1-8.

and possess it : omit with LXX, supported by the Hebrew.

274 JOSHUA 1. 17—2. 2. RD JE

17 whithersoever thou sendest us we will go. According as
we hearkened unto Moses in all things, so will we
hearken unto thee : only the Lord thy God be with thee,

1 8 as he was with Moses. Whosoever he be that shall
rebel against thy commandment, and shall not hearken
unto thy words in all that thou commandest him, he shall
be put to death : only be strong and of a good courage.

2 [ JE] And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim
two men as spies secretly, saying, Go view the land, and
Jericho. And they went, and came into the house of an

2 harlot whose name was Rahab, and lay there. And it

ii. 1-24. Joshua sends two spies into Jericho, who lodge with
the harlot Rahab. She hides them when the authorities suspect
their presence. She tells the spies that she has heard of their
God, and believes in His power ; as a reward for saving them,
she asks that she and her relatives may be spared when the city
is taken. This the men swear, and give her a token to distinguish
her house. At her advice, they escape their pursuers by waiting
in the mountains for three days, after which they return safely,
and report their tidings to Joshua.

This narrative belongs to JE (apart from the expansion of RD in
verses 10, it), and shows signs of its composite origin (see
Introd., II. 4). Bennett's analysis is as follows : verses 1-9 (JE),
io-n (RD), 12-14 (J), 15-16 (E), 17 (JE), 18-2T (J, except
'which thou didst let us down by,' JE), 22-4 (E).

There appear to be doublets in verses 3, 12, 13, and 18, whilst
verse 15 interrupts the secret conversation in an improbable
way.

1. Shittim: iii. 1 ; Num. xxv. 1, xxxiii. 49 (Abel Hashittim,
'meadow of the acacia trees'), the last halting-place of Israel ;
in the Jordan Valley opposite to Jericho ; usually identified with
Kefrein.

Jericho : the ' Palm City ' (Deut. xxxiv. 3 ; Judges i. 16,
iii. 13 ; 2 Chron. xxviii. 15), in the Jordan Valley, about a mile
from the mountains leading up to Judah, five miles west of the
river, and rather more north of" the Dead Sea. For a review of
the history of Jericho, see G. A. Smith, H.G.H.L., pp. 266-8;
for a description of its ancient fertility, Josephus, The Jewish War,
iv. c. 8, § 3.

the house of an harlot : chosen as affording a pretext for
their presence.

JOSHUA 2. 3-6. JE 275

was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came
men in hither to-night of the children of Israel to search
out the land. And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, 3
saying, Bring forth the men that are come to thee, which
are entered into thine house : for they be come to search
out all the land. And the woman took the two men, and 4
hid them ; and she said, Yea, the men came unto me,
but I wist not whence they were : and it came to pass 5
about the time of the shutting of the gate, when it was
dark, that the men went out : whither the men went I
wot not : pursue after them quickly ; for ye shall overtake
them. But she had brought them up to the roof, and 6
hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in

Kahab: vi. 17-25; not elsewhere named in O. T. ; praised
for her works (in helping the spies), James ii. 25, for her faith
(verse gt), Heb. xi. 31 : cf. Matt. i. 5, where she figures in the
genealogy of Jesus Christ. Rabbinical tradition makes her the
ancestress of eight prophets and priests, including Jeremiah, and
even asserts that Joshua married her, when she had become a
proselyte (Lightfoot, Home Hebratcae, on Matt. i. 5). Her deeds
are honoured by Patristic writers also (see on verse 18).

3. the king1 of Jericho : the existence of many such local
' kings ' in Canaan at this period is confirmed by the Tell-el-Amarna
Letters (Introd., III. 2).

4. hid them : Hebrew 'hid him,' emended by R. V. with LXX ;
J or E may have spoken of one spy only.

5. The Hebrew is more graphic : ' the gate was for shutting, in
the dark, and the men went forth.'

6. the roof : i. e. the flat roof of the Eastern house, from which
the Philistines looked down on blind Samson (Judges xvi. 27) ;
where Saul slept, as Samuel's guest (1 Sam. ix. 25, R. V. marg.) ;
from which David, as he walked, saw Bathsheba (2 Sam. xi. 2) ;
where religious ceremonies were performed (Neh. viii. 16 ; Jer.
xix. 13 ; Zeph. i. 5) ; and whither men withdrew, like Peter, for
prayer (Acts x. 9). For safety, the law of Deuteronomy requires
it to be protected with a parapet (xxii. 8).

stalks of flax : i. e. stalks, two or three feet long, not yet
beaten out, but exposed to dry. Their fibres were used for the
manufacture of linen, whose antiquity is shown by its use in
mummy wrappings (see Post, in D.B. s. v. f Flax ').

T 2

276 JOSHUA 2. 7-i2. JERD JE

7 order upon the roof. And the men pursued after them
the way to Jordan unto the fords : and as soon as they
which pursued after them were gone out, they shut the

8 gate. And before they were laid down, she came up unto

9 them upon the roof; and she said unto the men, I know
that the Lord hath given you the land, and that your
terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the

ro land melt away before you. [RD] For we have heard
how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before
you, when ye came out of Egypt ; and what ye did unto
the two kings of the Amorites, that were beyond Jordan,

ii unto Sihon and to Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. And
as soon as we had heard it, our hearts did melt, neither
did there remain any more spirit in any man, because of
you: for the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above, and

)2 on earth beneath. [JE] Now therefore, I pray you, swear
unto me by the Lord, since I have dealt kindly with you,
that ye also will deal kindly with my father's house, and

*7. the fords: (Judges iii. 28) of which there are several, link-
ing Jericho with Gilead and Moab (H.G.H.L., p. 266).

9 f. Rahab is represented as acquainted not only with the name
' Yahweh ' (R. V. the Lord), but also with the successes already
won by Israel. In verses 10, 11 her words are amplified by
the Deuteronomic redactor, as the change in style clearly shows.
With verse 9, cf. Exod. xv. 14-16 (JE), and Deut. ii. 25, xi. 25.

melt away : i. e. in a psychical sense, of terror ; but the
Hebrew word means rather 'shake,' i quiver,' like waves (so Ges.-
Buhl, Siegfried-Stade, s. v. mug: cf. the Arabic maja, of the sea).

10. Exod. xiv. 15 f. ; Num. xxi. 21-35 • c^ Deut. ii. 24 f., iii. 1 f.

utterly destroyed : ' devoted,' Deut. ii. 34, iii. 6, &c.

neither did there remain any more spirit : Hebrew, • mack

no longer stood,' i. e. maintained itself. The phrase is peculiar,

and differs somewhat from that in v. 1 (cf. 1 Kings x. 5), though

meaning the same.

he is God, &c. : quoted from Deut. iv. 39 (q.v.), with
omission of 'there is none else.'

12. a true token: i.e. a trustworthy sign: possibly the
i scarlet thread ' of verse 18.

JOSHUA 2. 13-19. JE 277

give me a true token: and that ye will save alive my 13
father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters,
and all that they have, and will deliver our lives from
death. And the men said unto her, Our life • for yours, 14
if ye utter not this our business ; and it shall be, when
the Lord giveth us the land, that we will deal kindly and
truly with thee. Then she let them down by a cord 15
through the window : for her house was upon the town
wall, and she dwelt upon the wall. And she said unto 16
them, Get you to the mountain, lest the pursuers light
upon you ; and hide yourselves there three days, until the
pursuers be returned : and afterward may ye go your way.
And the men said unto her, We will be guiltless of this 17
thine oath which thou hast made us to swear. Behold, 18
when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of
scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down
by : and thou shalt gather unto thee into the house thy
father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy
father's household. And it shall be, that whosoever shall 19
go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood

■ Heb. instead of you to die.

14. The promise is made conditional on her continued secrecy ;
for its fulfilment, see vi. 22-5.

15. A picture of such a house (on the present wall of
Damascus) is given by Bennett, p. 58. Cf. Acts ix. 25. The
' window ' would probably be a small opening, closed by lattice-
work (2 Kings xiii. 17).

16. the mountain : better \ hill-country.' Its caves would
afford hiding-places, and the circuit to the west would throw the
pursuers off their track.

17. Wewillbe guiltless of : 'we are exempt from' (Gen. xxiv. 8,
41), i. e. if the three following conditions (use of the sign, gather-
ing of relatives, concealment of spies' mission, verses 19, 20) be
not kept.

18. scarlet thread : in early Christian writers, this became an
evident prophecy of the Atonement ; e. g. Clement of Rome, 1 Cor.
xii, and the note in Jacobson, Pat. Apost., ad he. See on verse 1.

278 JOSHUA 2. 20—3. 1. JE

shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless : and
whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall

20 be on our head, if any hand be upon him. But if thou
utter this our business, then we will be guiltless of thine

ar oath which thou hast made us to swear. And she said,
According unto your words, so be it. And she sent them
away, and they departed : and she bound the scarlet

2 2 line in the window. And they went, and came unto the
mountain, and abode there three days, until the pursuers
were returned : and the pursuers sought them throughout

??> all the way, but found them not. Then the two men
returned, and descended from the mountain, and passed
over, and came to Joshua the son of Nun ; and they told

24 him all that had befallen them. And they said unto
Joshua, Truly the Lord hath delivered into our hands
all the land ; and moreover all the inhabitants of the land
do melt away before us.

3 And Joshua rose up early in the morning, and

19. blood : conceived by early thought to be charged with
mysterious energy, and to be quasi-automatic in its working
(Deut. xxi. 8) ; it will be perilous to the spies only if shed within
the house of Rahab. See p. 24.

24. Omit truly ; for 'melt away,' see on verse 9.

chaps, iii, iv. The Passage of the Jordan. From Shittim, the
Israelites move to the Jordan, which they are to cross, headed by
the ark carried by priests. Joshua promises, and is promised, a dis-
play of Divine power (iii. 1-8). He declares that the waters of
Jordan shall withdraw from the feet of the priests ; this comes to
pass, all Israel passing over on dry ground (iii. 9-17). At the bidding
of Yahweh, Joshua orders twelve chosen men to take twelve stones
from the Jordan bed, where the ark-bearers stood, and to erect
them on the western shore as a memorial of the event. This is
done, and in addition, Joshua sets up twelve stones in the Jordan
bed itself, the ark meantime standing there. Forty thousand
fighting men of the tribes already settled accompany the people
(iv. 1-14). Joshua now commands the ark to be carried up from
the Jordan bed (regardless of verse n). When this is done, the

JOSHUA 3. 2-5. JE P JE 279

they removed from Shittim, and came to Jordan, he
and all the children of Israel ; and they lodged there
before they passed over. And it came to pass after 2
three days, that the officers went through the midst of
the camp ; and they commanded the people, saying, 3
When ye see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your
God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall
remove from your place, and go after it. [P] Yet there 4
shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand
cubits by measure : come not near unto it, that ye may
know the way by which ye must go ; for ye have not
passed this way heretofore. [JE] And Joshua said unto 5
the people, Sanctify yourselves : for to-morrow the Lord

waters return (iv. 15-19). The twelve stones from the Jordan
bed are set up at Gilgal to link the crossing in future memory
with that of the Red Sea (iv. 20-24).

The composite character of these two chapters is clearly shown
by the duplication of subject-matter, viz. (a passage of the people :
cf. iii. 17 b, iv. ia (RD) with iv. 10 b (JE) ; (6) passage of the
ark : cf. iv. 11 b (JE) with iv. 15-17 (P) ; (c) erection of stones : cf.
iv. 3b, 8b, 20 (JE ; stones taken out of the river-bed, and set up at
Gilgal) with iv. 9 (RD ; stones set up in the river-bed) ; (d) ex-
planation of the stones : cf. iv. 6, 7 (JE) with iv. 21-24 (RD).

1. lodged: Heb. 'passed the night.'

2. Cf. i. 10, 11 (E), to which this verse possibly belongs, as
verse 1 to J.

3. the ark of the covenant : Deut. x. 8 ; an earlier phrase is
' the ark of Yahweh ' (iii. 13), a later, 'the ark of the testimony'
(iv. 16). Bennett (p. 59s! calls attention to the absence of any
reference to the Tabernacle and its elaborate furniture (of which
there was no conception when the narrative of JE was written,
i. e. ninth to eighth centu^).

the priests the Levites : see on Deut. xviii. 1.

4. two thousand cubits =1,000 yards; the verse is probably
the addition of a priestly redactor, to emphasize the holiness of
the ark : cf. Num. xxxv. 5 (P), where the Levitical city stands
within a square, each side of which measures 2,000 cubits.
The 'Sabbath day's journey' (Acts i. 12), of the same extent,
was probably deduced as included in the ' place ' of Exod. xvi.
29 (E.B., 4175, note 4).

5. Sanctify yourselves : i. e. make yourselves ceremonially

280 JOSHUA 3. 6-1 r. JE RD JE RD JE

6 will do wonders among you. And Joshua spake unto
the priests, saying, Take up the ark of the covenant, and
pass over before the people. And they took up the ark

7 of the covenant, and went before the people. [RD] And
the Lord said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to
magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may
know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee.

8 [JE] And thou shalt command the priests that bear the
ark of the covenant, saying, When ye are come to the
brink of the waters of Jordan, ye shall stand still in
Jordan.

9 And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, Come
hither, and hear the words of the Lord your God.

io And Joshua said, Hereby ye shall know that the living
God is among you, [RD] and that he will without fail
drive out from before you the Canaanite, and the Hittite,
and the Hivite, and the Perizzite, and the Girgashite, and

ii the Amorite, and the Jebusite. [JE] Behold, the ark of

clean : vii. 13 ; Exod. xix. 10, 14, 15 (E), where the (longer) purifi-
cation includes the washing of garments and abstention from
sexual intercourse. Cf. Num. xi. 18, and for the ideas involved, E.B.
s. v. ' Clean and Unclean.' The general idea is that connexion with
4 holy ' persons, things, or events is specially perilous unless due
measures of psychical insulation be taken.

*7. Yahweh promises to confirm His commission to Joshua
(i. 5, 17), by which Joshua speaks as His prophet (verse o,f.).

8. brink : see on verse 15.

10. the living" God : Hos. i. 10 ; Ps. xlii. 2, lxxxiv. 2 : cf. Deut.
v. 26, &c, and the oath, 1 As Yahweh liveth I (Judges viii. 19,
and often), or 'As I live ' (Deut. xxxii. 40). The activity of
Yahweh among His people is presented as the ground of future
confidence.

drive out : S dispossess.' For this Deuteronomistic grouping
of the seven peoples, see Deut. vii. 1.

11. the covenant: interpolated, here and in verse 14, like
covenant of Yahweh' in verse 17, as is shown by the grammar of
the Hebrew sentences.

JOSHUA 3. 12-16. JE 281

the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passeth over
before you into Jordan. Now therefore take you twelve 12
men out of the tribes of Israel, for every tribe a man.
And it shall come to pass, when the soles of the feet of T3
the priests that bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all
the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the
waters of Jordan shall be cut off, even the waters that
come down from above ; and they shall stand in one
heap. And it came to pass, when the people removed 14
from their tents, to pass over Jordan, the priests that
bare the ark of the covenant being before the people ;
and when they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, 15
and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped
in the brink of the water, (for Jordan overfloweth all its
banks all the time of harvest,) that the waters which 16

the Lord of all the earth : i. e. Adon, not Yahweh. Note
the difference in type of R. V., which uses Lord to express
Yahweh. Cf. verse 13 ; Mic. iv. 13 ; Zech. iv. 14, vi. 5 ; Ps. xcvii.
5. Probably the phrase is here interpolated by RD (cf. Deut.
x. 14).

12. This must have been preceded in the original narrative by
the corresponding command of Yahweh, iv. 1 b~3 ; it is resumed
by iv. 4 f.

13. The miracle is to be mediated by the holiness of the priests'
feet, from which the waters will withdraw : in one heap, i. e. as
a wall, or dam.

14. removed: 'started off' ; the original meaning of the Heb.
verb is to ' pull up ' the tent-pegs, preparatory to a migration.

15. overfloweth: 1 Chron. xii. 15; Ecclus. xxiv. 26, 'full as
Jordan in the days of harvest.' The Jordan valley widens to
fourteen miles at Jericho. Within this valley lies a deeper bed,
varying to a mile in width, full of semi-tropical vegetation, and
marking the wider flow of the river in annual flood. l The river
itself is from ninety to one hundred feet broad, a rapid, muddy water
with a zig-zag current. The depth varies from three feet at some
fords to as much as ten or twelve' (H.G.H.L., pp. 482-6). The fact
that the river is at its harvest (April) flood is stated here to in-
crease the marvel of the miracle.

16. Above the place of crossing the water dams itself; below,

282 JOSHUA 3. 17—4. 3. JE RD JE

came down from above stood, and rose up in one heap,
a great way aofT, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan :
and those that went down toward the sea of the b Arabah,
even the Salt Sea, were wholly cut off: and the people

17 passed over right against Jericho. And the priests that
bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on
dry ground in the midst of Jordan, [RD] and all Israel
passed over on dry ground, until all the nation were
passed clean over Jordan.

4 And it came to pass, when all the nation were clean
passed over Jordan, [JE] that the Lord spake unto

2 Joshua, saying, Take you twelve men out of the people,
out of every tribe a man, and command ye them, saying,

3 Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the
place where the priests' feet stood firm, twelve stones,

a Another reading is, off from. b See Deut. i. 1.

it is conceived as running dry to the Dead (here called the Salt)
Sea. (The saltness, due to evaporation without outlet, is said
to be five times that of the ocean : H.G.H.L., p. 501.)

a great way off : specifying the distance of the dammed water
from the crossing; whilst the Hebrew editorial reading ('off
from Adam,' cited R. V. marg.) notes the extent of the waters ;
the former is preferable.

Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan : not named else-
where. ' An echo of this name may very plausibly be found in
Tell ed-Damieh, and Jisr ed-Damieh, names of a hill and bridge at
the confluence of the Jabbok (Zerka) with the Jordan, some six-
teen miles in a direct line above the ford opposite Jericho ' (E.B.,
58). Zarethan has not been identified (see note in Century Bible
on 1 Kings vii. 46).

17. clean over: i.e. completely, an old usage retained from
A.V. ; Heb. ' had finished to pass over.' The continued presence
of the ark in the river-bed gives the people confidence against
the wall of waters, and is probably conceived as actually holding
the waters in check (see on verse 13 and cf. iv. 7).

iv. 2, 3. Cf. iii. 12 (originally following these verses).

3. stood firm : the latter word is grammatically awkward, and
probably comes from iii. 17 ; the Heb. word for ' stood ' can refer
to either past or future, but in the present arrangement of the

JOSHUA 4. 4-9. JE RD 283

and carry them over with you, and lay them down in the
lodging place, where ye shall lodge this night. Then 4
Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of
the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man : and 5
Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the
Lord your God into the midst of Jordan, and take you
up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according
unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel :
that this may be a sign among you, that when your 6
children ask in time to come, saying, What mean ye by
these stones ? then ye shall say unto them, Because the 7
waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the
covenant of the Lord ; when it passed over Jordan, the
waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be
for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever.
And the children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded, 8
and took up twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan, as
the Lord spake unto Joshua, according to the number
of the tribes of the children of Israel ; and they carried
them over with them unto the place where they lodged,
and laid them down there. [RD] And Joshua set up 9
twelve stones in the midst of Jordan, in the place where
the feet of the priests which bare the ark of the covenant

narrative, it must, of course, be understood of the past. The
stones here are to be taken from the river-bed itself, for erection
at Gilgal.

5. The command must belong to a point in the original narrative
at which the people have not yet crossed.

the number of the tribes: see Introd., III. 3.

6. in time to come: verse 21; Exod. xiii. 14 ; Deut. vi. 20.

9. Note that the twelve stones here are to be set up in the
river-bed itself, to mark the resting-place of the ark during the
crossing. Probably the writer of this verse could point to such
stones as actually existent in his day. Steuernagel suggests that
these really marked the ford, but were explained under the influ-
ence of Deut. xxvii. 4*.

284 JOSHUA 4. 10-18. RD JE RD P RD P JE

10 stood : and they are there, unto this day. For the priests
which bare the ark stood in the midst of Jordan, until
every thing was finished that the Lord commanded
Joshua to speak unto the people, according to all that
Moses commanded Joshua : [ JE] and the people hasted

T t and passed over. And it came to pass, when all the people
were clean passed over, that the ark of the Lord passed
over, and the priests, in the presence of the people.

12 [RD] And the children of Reuben, and the children of
Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, passed over armed
before the children of Israel, as Moses spake unto them :

13 [P] about forty thousand ready armed for war passed
over before the Lord unto battle, to the plains of Jericho.

14 [RD] On that day the Lord magnified Joshua in the
sight of all Israel ) and they feared him, as they feared
Moses, all the days of his life.

15 [P] And the Lord spake unto Joshua, saying,

16 Command the priests that bear the ark of the testimony,

17 that they come up out of Jordan. Joshua therefore
commanded the priests, saying, Come ye up out of

18 Jordan. [JE] And it came to pass, when the priests

11. and the priests, in the presence of the people : the

natural rendering of the Hebrew is ' and the priests before the
people'; but the people have left the priests standing in the river-
bed, according to iii. 17 (cf. iv. 3, 8, 10). Some take 'before' as
=■ 'to the place before,' viz. 'the priests passed over to the head
of the people' (Bennett). LXX reads 'and the stones before
them ' (cf . verse 8).

12. Cf. i. 12-18; Num. xxxii. 20 f.

13. forty thousand : the whole number of males given in Num.
xxvi. 7, 18, 34 is about three times as great.

the plains of Jericho : a phrase parallel to ' the plains of
Moab' (Deut. xxxiv. 1, 8), which is characteristic of P : cf. v. 10.

14. Cf. iii. 7.

16. the ark of the testimony: characteristic of P (note on iii.
3). According to verse it (JE), the ark has already come up from
the river-bed.

JOSHUA 4- 19-24- JE P JE RD 285

that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord were come
up out of the midst of Jordan, and the soles of the
priests' feet were lifted up unto the dry ground, that the
waters of Jordan returned unto their place, and went
over all its banks, as aforetime. [P] And the people 19
came up out of Jordan on the tenth day of the first
month, and encamped in Gilgal, on the east border of
Jericho. [JE] And those twelve stones, which they 20
took out of Jordan, did Joshua set up in Gilgal.
[RD] And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, 2 1
When your children shall ask their fathers in time to
come, saying, What mean these stones? then ye shall let 22
your children know, saying, Israel came over this
Jordan on dry land. For the Lord your God dried up 23
the waters of Jordan from before you, until ye were
passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea,
which he dried up from before us, until we were passed
over : that all the peoples of the earth may know the 24

18. lifted up: i drawn out' (the same verb as in viii. 16,
* drawn away').

over all its banks : i. e. in the harvest-flood, named in iii. 15.

19. the first month : i. e. Abib, the post-exilic Nisan, our
April (iii. 15 : cf. Exod. xii. 2).

Gilgal : v. 9. The site is supposed to be indicated by the
mound Tell Jeljul, about a mile east of modern Jericho (E.B., 1730).

20. The stones are those of verse 8. The name i Gilgal ' means
a 'circle,' as of stones (see on v. 9). Whether they were now
first set up there, or were really a i cromlech ' of earlier date,
such as is still to be seen in Galilee, and east of Jordan, must
remain doubtful. The number * twelve,' probably of astral origin,
figures largely in connexion with sacred objects : cf. Exod. xv. 27,
xxiv. 4, xxviii. 17 f., xxxix. 10 f. ; Lev. xxiv. 5 ; 1 Kings vii. 25,
xviii. 31 (Zimmern in Die Keilinschriftcn and das A. T.,3 p. 629).

21 f. : parallel to iv. 6 f . (JE).

24. The emendation of the R. V. is necessary : the vowels of
the Hebrew Textus Receptus are meant to express ' that ye
might fear.' Notice the larger outlook of this passage (RD), as
compared with the simpler statement of the earlier JE (verse 7).

286 JOSHUA 5. r, 2. RD JE

hand of the Lord, that it is mighty ; that 9 they may
fear the Lord your God for ever.

5 And it came to pass, when all the kings of the
Amorites, which were beyond Jordan westward, and all
the kings of the Canaanites, which were by the sea,
heard how that the Lord had dried up the waters of
Jordan from before the children of Israel, until D we were
passed over, that their heart melted, neither was there
spirit in them any more, because of the children of
Israel.

2 [JE] At that time the Lord said unto Joshua, Make
thee knives of flint, and circumcise again the children of

a So with a change of vowel-points. The pointing of the text
is irregular. b Another reading is, they.

v. 1-12. The Camp at Gilgal. Terror of the inhabitants at the
news of the miracle (verse i). Joshua, at the bidding of Yahweh,
circumcises the males born since the Exodus (verses 2-9). The
Passover is celebrated at Gilgal, and the manna now ceases (verses
10-12).

1. Amorites . . . Canaanites: see on Deut. i. 7; broadly
speaking, the inhabitants of the highlands and lowlands respectively
are thus designated (not etymologically).

until we were passed over : read with the Massoretic
editors, some MSS. and the versions, as in R. V. marg. f they.'

2. knives of flint : Exod. iv. 25 ; a case of the survival of stone y
instruments into an iron age, due to religious conservatism, found ^
amongst the Egyptians in circumcision (Nowack, Arch. i. 167,
note 2), and in embalming (Herod, ii. 86) ; just as, in Peru, the
ceremonial hair-cutting of a child at two years was done with
a stone knife (Tylor, Primitive Culture, ii. p. 435).

circumcise : new light seems to be thrown on the origin of

this widespread custom by recent researches into the practices f j

of Australian aborigines, amongst whom it is found side by side j u

with the much more serious mutilation known as ' sub-incision ' j
(Spencer and Gillen, Native Tribes of Central Attstralia, p. 263 ; q

Nor/hern Tribes of Central Australia, p. 133). The explanation of j

the one must be applicable to the other, and no sanitary or 1 .

utilitarian explanation will suffice for sub-incision. Circumcision | ,.

is to be regarded as a mutilation originally connected with 1 ft.

marriage, made to propitiate supernatural powers (e. g. demons) I

JOSHUA 5. 3-6. JE RD 287

Israel the second time. And Joshua made him knives 3
of flint, and circumcised the children of Israel at athe
hill of the foreskins. [RD] And this is the cause why 4
Joshua did circumcise : all the people that came forth
out of Egypt, that were males, even all the men of war,
died in the wilderness by the way, after they came forth
out of Egypt. For all the people that came out were 5
circumcised : but all the people that were born in the
wilderness by the way as they came forth out of Egypt,
they had not circumcised. For the children of Israel 6
walked forty years in the wilderness, till all the nation,
even the men of war which came forth out of Egypt, were
consumed, because they hearkened not unto the voice of
the Lord : unto whom the Lord sware that he would
not let them see the land which the Lord sware unto
a Or, Gibeath-ha-araloth

by partial sacrifice of the organ. Consequently, it is practised at
initiation into manhood. This explanation finds support from
West Africa (Ellis, The Yo^uba- Speaking Peoples, p. 66). Cf.
Crawley, The Mystic Rose, p. 300. In the normal Hebrew rite,
two modifications have been introduced : (a) its transference
from puberty to infancy, (b) its assimilation into the worship of
Yahweh. See the articles on 'Circumcision ' in D.B. and E.B., and
the note in Driver's Genesis, pp. 189-91.

3. the hill of the foreskins : R. V. marg. transliterates the
Hebrew of the phrase, on the assumption that it might be a proper
name. The phrase probably refers, as Stade suggests, to some
local custom of circumcising young men at the sanctuary of Gilgal
(Judges ii. 1 ; much frequented in the eighth century: cf. Amos
iv. 4f., v. 5; Hos. iv. 15, ix. 15, xii. 11), where the foreskins
were buried.

4. after they came forth: 'in their exodus' (Deut. iv. 45}.
Cf. Deut. ii. 14-16.

4-7. The redactor does not explain why circumcision did not
take place on the way, if previously instituted. His aim may be
to harmonize the institution of circumcision by Joshua at Gilgal
with the view subsequently expressed by P (Gen. xvii), that it
was instituted by Abraham. The reference to Zipporah's son in

288 JOSHUA .5. 7-1 1. RD JE P

their fathers that he would give us, a land flowing, with

7 milk and honey. And their children, whom he raised up
in their stead, them did Joshua circumcise : for they were
uncircumcised, because they had not circumcised them

8 by the way. [JE] And it came to pass, when they had
done circumcising all the nation, that they abode in

9 their places in the camp, till they were whole. And the
Lord said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled away the
reproach of Egypt from off you. Wherefore the name of
that place was called h Gilgal, unto this day.

io [P] And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal ;

and they kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the
1 1 month at even in the plains of Jericho. And they did

eat of the b old corn of the land on the morrow after the

a That is, Rolling. b Or, produce Or, corn

Exod. iv. 24-6 perhaps refers to the transition from the circum-
cision of puberty to that of infancy, and ' does not at all necessarily
imply that J conceived circumcision to have been universal in
Egypt ' {Oxf. Hex., ii. p. 327). RD has probably added ' again,' and
' a second time ' in verse 2 ; but verse 9 seems to imply that Israel
was not circumcised in Egypt.

8. till they were whole : the inhabitants of Canaan are
perhaps represented as too terrified at the miraculous crossing to
use this opportunity for attack (verse 1).

9. the reproach of Egypt : i. e. the scorn of the circumcised
Egyptians for the (then) uncircumcised Israelites. Note how
widely this representation differs from that of Gen. xvii (P).

Gilgal : the play on the name (R. V. marg.) is not, of course,
a genuine etymology, since the name properly denotes, here as
elsewhere, a ' circle ' of stones (iv. 19, 20). Such word-plays are,
however, common in the O. T. (e. g. Gen. iv. 1, 25, v. 29, xxix.
32 f.); the verb galal does mean 'roll,' though ' Gilgal ' does not
mean ' rolling' (R. V. marg.).

10. The celebration of the Passover (P : cf. iv. 19) has been
purposely prefaced, as Dillmann points out, by the observance of
circumcision (Exod. xii. 44, 48).

on the fourteenth day of the month at even : Exod. xii. 6 f.
passover : see on Deut. xvi. 1.

11. old corn ; rather, R. V. marg.', ' produce ' (so in next verse,
here only).

JOSHUA 5. ir, ni. P JE 289

passover, unleavened cakes and parched corn, in the
selfsame day. And the manna ceased on the morrow, 12
after they had eaten of the ■ old corn of the land ; neither
had the children of Israel manna any more ; but they did
eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.

[JE] And it came to pass, when Joshua was by 13
a Or, produce Or, com

unleavened cakes : Exod. xii. 20 ; unleavened bread was to
be eaten for seven days, from the evening of the 14th to that of
the 21st. This originally formed a separate festival, but was com-
bined with that of the Passover (see on Deut. xvi).

parched corn: Lev. ii. 14, xxiii. 14; Ruth ii. 14; 1 Sam.
xvii. 17. l Ears of grain, barely ripe, roasted at the fire and eaten
instead of bread. This is still an article of food in the East '
(S.B. O. T. ' Leviticus,' ad loc. , p. 94). Lev. xxiii. 14 {of firstfruits^
is here disregarded.

12. manna: Exod. xvi. 35.

v. 13— vi. 27. An armed man appears to Joshua, and declares
himself the leader of the angels of Yahweh (v. 13-15) ; Yahweh
instructs Joshua as to the capture of Jericho (vi. 1-5). After the
necessary preparations verses 6, 7), the ark is carried once in
solemn procession round Jericho, seven priests blowing horns,
but the fighting men keeping silence inverses 8- n). This is
repeated up to six successive days (verses 12-14'. On the
seventh day the circuit is made seven times, at the last of which
the warriors are directed to raise a battle-cry (verses 15, 16).
Joshua orders that Rahab and her family shall be spared, but
all other persons and things ' devoted ' to Yahweh (verses 17-19A
At the shout accompanying the seventh circuit on the seventh
day the walls of Jericho fall, the city is ta! en, and Joshua's
orders are obeyed (verses 20-5). Joshua attaches a curse to the
rebuilding of Jericho (verse 26). Joshua's renown (verse 27).

That this narrative itself is composite is clear from the doublet
of vi. 20 (two shouts, one at the bidding of Joshua, verses 10,
16, the other at the signal of the horn, verte 5) ; that of the
rescue of Rahab (verses 22, 23, cf. verse 25) ; and that of the
destruction of the city (verse 21, cf. verse 24) ; whilst verses 8, 9,
and aga;n verses I7b, 18 interrupt the present order. The analysis
of this confused story is too uncertain to be attempted above.

v« '3-1$. The 'captain of Yahweh's host,' who speaks in v. 15,
was not originally identified with Yahweh, who speaks in vi. 2f.,
nor is Joshua represented in vi. 6 f. as being sti'l at the place of
the vision.

290 JOSHUA 5. i4r-6. 3. JE

Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, be-
hold, there stood a man over against him with his sword
drawn in his hand : and Joshua went unto him, and
said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries ?

14 And he said, Nay; but as a captain of the host of the
Lord am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to
the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What

15 saith my lord unto his servant ? And the captain of the
Lord's host said unto Joshua, Put off thy shoe from off
thy foot ; for the place whereon thou standest is holy.

6 And Joshua did so. (Now Jericho b was straitly shut up
because of the children of Israel : none went out, and

a none came in.) And the Lord said unto Joshua, See,
I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king

3 thereof, and the mighty men of valour. And ye shall

a Or, prince b Heb. shut the gates and was shut in.

The original substance of the message which followed verse 15
has therefore been replaced by what now follows. This mani-
festation should be compared with the somewhat similar experience
of Moses (Exod. iii. 2-5) at the outset of his mission. On the
underlying conceptions, see Introd., IV. 3.

13. over against: 'before.'

his sword drawn: so of the angel appearing to Balaam
(Num. xxii. 23, 31), and to David (1 Chron. xxi. 16).

14. the host of Yahweh: i. e. the angels (1 Kings xxii. to. ;
Gen. xxxii. 1, 2: cf. 2 Kings vi. 17, of the invisible forces of
Yahweh, on the side of His people). In Dan. viii. n the 'cap-
tain of the host ' may possibly mean God Himself. (For the idea
of the stars as Yahweh' s warrior-host, see Zimmern in Die
Keilinschriften 3, pp. 439, 456.)

15. Put off thy shoe: Exod. iii. 5; here, probably, with
reference to the sacredness of Gilgal itself (in original narrative).
Divine or supernatural appearances are specially connected with
sanctuaries ; e. g. to Jacob at Bethel (Gen. xxviii. 12), whilst the
messenger of Yahweh comes from Gilgal (Judges ii. 1). Priests
are apparently described by P as entering the sanctuary barefoot
(Exod. xxix. 20; Lev. viii. 23% with which the parallel practices
of modern Samaritans and Mohammedans may be compared.

vi. 1 should precede v. 13.

JOSHUA 6. 4-3. JE 291

compass the city, all the men of war, going about the city
once. Thus shalt thou do six days. And seven priests 4
shall bear seven a trumpets of rams' horns before the ark :
and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven
times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets.
And it shall be, that when they make a long blast with 5
the ram's horn, and when ye hear the sound of the
trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout ;
and the wall of the city shall fall down b flat, and the
people shall go up every man straight before him. And 6
Joshua the son of Nun called the priests, and said unto
them, Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven
priests bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark
of the Lord. And c they said unto the people, Pass on, 7
and compass the city, and let the armed men pass on
before the ark of the Lord. And it was so, that when 8
Joshua had spoken unto the people, the seven priests

* Or, jubile trumpets b Heb. in its place.

c Another reading is, he.

4. seven : the sacredness of the number is variously emphasized,
as giving these sevenfold acts a supernatural power ; the sevenfold
circuit isolates the city for Yahweh. This belief in the sacredness
of i seven,' held also in Egypt and India, is specially prominent
in Babylonia, with its seven planets, seven evil spirits, and seven-
walled underworld. It is extensively illustrated both in the O.T.
^periods of time, the week, altars, wells, lamps, sprinkling of
blood, &c.) and in the late Jewish Apocalypses (E.B., 3436 ; Rel.
Sent., p. 181). The verb 'swear,' in Hebrew, appears to mean
'bind oneself by seven.'

trumpets of rams' horns : Hebrew simply ' rams' horns.'
' Horn ' should be read for ' trumpet ' throughout this chapter.

7. they must refer to the priests ; the original reading^
followed by the Hebrew editors and the versions, is probably
that of R. V. marg. (with reference to Joshua, cf. verse 16 b).

8. The first part of the verse (to ' people ') is omitted by LXX.
which renders the verbs in verses 8, 9 by imperatives (e. g. < let
the priests pass on ') ; so that these verses, instead of being narrative,

U 2

292 JOSHUA 6. 9-16. JE

bearing the seven trumpets of rams' horns before the
Lord passed on, and blew with the trumpets : and the
9 ark of the covenant of the Lord followed them. And
the armed men went before the priests that blew the
trumpets, and the rearward went after the ark, the priests

10 blowing with the trumpets as they went. And Joshua
commanded the people, saying, Ye shall not shout, nor
let your voice be heard, neither shall any word proceed
out of your mouth, until the day I bid you shout ; then

11 shall ye shout. So he caused the ark of the Lord to
compass the city, going about it once : and they came
into the camp, and lodged in the camp.

12 And Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests

13 took up the ark of the Lord. And the seven priests
bearing the seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark
of the Lord went on continually, and blew with the
trumpets : and the armed men went before them ; and
the rearward came after the ark of the Lord, the priests

r4 blowing with the trumpets as they went. And the second
day they compassed the city once, and returned into the

1 5 camp : so they did six days. And it came to pass on
the seventh day, that they rose early at the dawning of
the day, and compassed the city after the same manner
seven times : only on that day they compassed the city

r6 seven times. And it came to pass at the seventh time,
when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said
unto the people, Shout ; for the Lord hath given you the

become part of the instructions of Joshua. The narrative proper
will then begin at verse ir. This avoids the interruption of
Joshua's address.

9. rearward : as in Num. x. 25 (figuratively of Yahweh, Isa. Hi.
12) ; here simply of armed men after, like those before the ark.
The 'people' in this procession will naturally be the 'men of
war ' alone (verse 3).

JOSHUA 6. 17-20. JE RD JE 293

city. And the city shall be "devoted, even it and all that 17

is therein, to the Lord : [RD] only Rahab the harlot shall

live, she and all that are with her in the house, because

she hid the messengers that we sent. And ye, in any 18

wise keep yourselves from the devoted thing, lest when

ye have devoted it, ye take of the devoted thing; so

should ye make the camp of Israel b accursed, and

trouble it. [JE] But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of 19

brass and iron, are holy unto the Lord : they shall come

into the treasury of the Lord. So the people shouted, 20

and the priests blew with the trumpets : and it came to

pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet,

that the people shouted with a great shout, and the wall

fell down c flat, so that the people went up into the city,

every man straight before him, and they took the city.

a See Lev. xxvii. 28, Deut. xx. 17. b Heb. devoted.

c Heb. in its place.

17. devoted : see note on Deut. xx. 17.

18. when ye have devoted it: read with LXX (cf. vii. ai),
' when ye desire it ' (Deut. vii. 25), which implies a very slight
change in the Hebrew consonants.

trouble : Heb. achar, from which the name Achor is derived
(vii. 24, 26) ; a stronger term than the English rendering suggests
(cf. Gen. xxxiv. 30).

19. brass : here, and elsewhere in O. T., bronze, i. e. copper
hardened by about 10 per cent, of tin. An analysis of some
ancient bronzes is given in S.B.O.T., adloc.

holy unto Yahweh : i.e. ' separated' for Him; see E.B.,
1 Clean and Unclean.'

treasury : see verse 24 (note).

20. The narrative is meant to describe a purely miraculous
event ; but, as G. A. Smith points out in his review of the history
of Jericho, ' in war she has always been easily taken. That her
walls fell down at the sound of Joshua's trumpets is no exaggera-
tion, but the soberest summary of all her history.' He indicates
two causes for this military weakness, viz. the character of the
surrounding country (hills behind easy to occupy ; partial control
of water supply), and the enervating climate of the Jordan Valley
in its effects on the inhabitants 'H.G.H.L., p. 268).

294 JOSHUA (J. 2T-26. JE

fi And they "utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both
man and woman, both young and old, and ox, and sheep,

2 a and ass, with the edge of the sword. And Joshua said
unto the two men that had spied out the land, Go into
the harlot's house, and bring out thence the woman, and

23 all that she hath, as ye sware unto her. And the young
men the spies went in, and brought out Rahab, and her
father, and her mother, and her brethren, and all that
she had, all her b kindred also they brought out; and

H they set them without the camp of Israel. And they
burnt the city with fire, and all that was therein : only
the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass and of
iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the Lord.

25 But Rahab the harlot, and her father's household, and
all that she had, did Joshua save alive; and she dwelt
in the midst of Israel, unto this day; because she hid
the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

a 6 And Joshua charged them with an oath at that time,
saying, Cursed be the man before the Lord, that riseth

a Heb. devoted. b Heb. families.

22. as ye aware unto her : ii. 14-20. But cf. ii. 15 with vi. 20.

23. without the camp : for the camp is to be holy (Deut. xxiii.
14) ; and they are heathen, and therefore ' unclean ' (cf. Num. v. 3,
xxxi. 19).

24. treasury of the house of Yahweh : LXX omits * house ' ;
if the phrase is to be understood of the temple, it is of course an
anachronism (cf. 1 Chron. xxix. 8 ; Joshua ix. 23 : cf. Exod.
xxiii. 19).

25. in the midst of Israel : xiii. 13 ; Deut. xvii. 20 ; unto this
day: i. e. as represented by her descendants.

26. charged them with an oath: rather, 'caused them to
swear.'

Cursed: the root-meaning of the word (' bound') suggests
the primitive attitude towards such a formula (often metrical),
which has a magical power to vindicate itself (cf. E.B., l Blessings
and Curses '). The beginning and the completion of a city on this
site shall cost the founder his children. The fulfilment of this
curse is said to have come on Hiel vi Kings xvi. 34% as LXX

JOSHUA 8. 27—7. 1. JE P 295

up and buildeth this city Jericho : with the loss of his
firstborn shall he lay the foundation thereof, and with
the loss of his youngest son shall he set up the gates of
it. So the Lord was with Joshua ; and his fame was in 27
all the land.

[P] But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the 7
devoted thing : for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of
Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of
the devoted thing : and the anger of the Lord was kin-
dled against the children of Israel.

here adds (though the name is different) ; possibly the misfortunes
of Hiel led to the ascription of the curse to Joshua. Jericho, at
any rate, is still standing in Joshua xviii. 21 ; Judges iii. 13 (see
on Joshua ii. 1) ; 2 Sam. x. 5. Kuenen thinks that sacrifice of
the two sons was originally in view (p. 240). Cf. Skinner's note
in the Century Bible, 1 Kings xvi. 34. For parallels to the curse
amongst other nations, see S.B. O. T., adloc, where Troy, Carthage,
and Kirrha are named.

vii. The Sin of Achan. An attack on Ai, made confidently, but
with insufficient forces, is defeated with some loss (verses 1-5).
Joshua appeals to Yahweh, for His name's sake (verses 6-9).
Yahweh declares that the defeat is due to Israel's failure to
' devote ' Jericho wholly (verses 10-13), and bids Joshua take
measures to ascertain the culprit (verses 13-15). This having
been done, Achan is revealed as the sinner (verses 16-18), and, at
Joshua's adjuration, he makes confession of his theft, and of the
hiding-place of the ; devoted ' articles (verses 19-21). These, with
Achan, all his family, and all his possessions, are taken to a suit-
able place, the living stoned to death, and all burnt ; a cairn of
stones is erected over them (verses 22-6).

No agreement in detail has been reached as to the distribution
of this chapter between J and E. Bennett and Holzinger regard
it as composite, but unanalysable ; Steuernagel assigns it mainly
to E, the Oxf. Hex. mainly to J.

1. committed a trespass : ' acted faithlessly' : cf. xxii. 20 (P,
of whom the word is characteristic, Lev. v. 15, as is that for
' tribe,' here and in a clause belonging to Rp in verse 18 (rnatteh)).
Achan : the name is modified into an epithet in 1 Chron. ii.
7 : i Achar the troubler (same consonants) of Israel, who acted
faithlessly in the herem?

Israel : ' Achan's breach of a taboo involves the whole host '
Rel. Sem., p. 162).

296 JOSHUA 7. 2-6. JE

2 [JE] And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which
is beside Beth-aven, on the east side of Beth-el, and
spake unto them, saying, Go up and spy out the land.

3 And the men went up and spied out Ai. And they
returned to Joshua, and said unto him, Let not all the
people go up ; but let about two or three thousand men
go up and smite Ai ; make not all the people to toil

4 thither j for they are but few. So there went up thither
of the people about three thousand men : and they fled

5 before the men of Ai. And the men of Ai smote of
them about thirty and six men : and they chased them
from before the gate even unto aShebarim, and smote

them at the going down : and the hearts of the people

6 melted, and became as water. And Joshua rent his
clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the

a Or, the quarries

2. Ai : (Heb. Hai = Aija, Aiath) viii. nf. ; probably to be
identified with Haiyan. ' There is a deep ravine to the north, an
open valley to the west, and a flat plain to south and east. This
site is -z\ miles south-east of Bethel, and on the road thence to
the Jordan Valley. It is evidently the site of an ancient town,
with rock-cut tombs' (Conder, in D.B., s.v.). Cf. Gen. xii. 8;
Isa. x. 28 ; Ezra ii. 28. It lay on the road from the Jordan
Valley to Bethel, a natural route for invaders to take who were
making for the centre of the country (H.G.H.L., p. 264).

Beth-aven (xviii. 12 ; 1 Sam. xiii. 5), not identified.

3. We are perhaps meant to see the first working of the stolen
herem in this unjustified expression of confidence. In the sequel,
at Yahweh's command (viii. 1), all the warriors are taken.

5. unto Shebarixn : lit.' breakings,' not known as a place-name.
The chief versions, with a different vocalization of the consonants,
render ' until they were broken.1

6. rent his olothes, &c. : parallels, partial or complete, may
be found in the mourning of Jacob for Joseph (Gen. xxxvii. 34") :
of the messenger from Gilboa (2 Sam. i. 2) ; of David, at the
report of the murder of his sons by Absalom (2 Sam. xiii. 31', ;
and in the grief of Joseph's brethren (Gen. xliv. 13), and of Job's
friends (Job ii. 12). The rent clothes are probably the modifica-
tion of an earlier mutilation of the flesh for the dead Dent. xiv.

JOSHUA 7. 7-1 1. JE 297

ark of the Lord until the evening, he and the elders of
Israel ; and they put dust upon their heads. And Joshua 7
said, Alas, O Lord God, wherefore hast thou at all
brought this people over Jordan, to deliver us into the
hand of the Amorites, to cause us to perish ? would that
we had been content and dwelt beyond Jordan ! Oh 8
Lord, what shall I say, after that Israel hath turned
their backs before their enemies ! For the Canaanites 9
and all the inhabitants of the land shall hear of it, and
shall compass us round, and cut off our name from the
earth : and what wilt thou do for thy great name ? And 10
the Lord said unto Joshua, Get thee up ; wherefore art
thou thus fallen upon thy face ? Israel hath sinned ; 1 .<
yea, they have even transgressed my covenant which I
commanded them : yea, they have even taken of the
devoted thing ; and have also stolen, and dissembled

1), here transferred from mourning to grief in general ; whilst
mourners also were accustomed to strew dust, taken from the
grave, on their heads (see E.B., c. 3222).

the elders of Israel: Deut. v. 23, xix. 12. xxi. af., 19 f.,
xxii. 15 f., xxv. 7 f., xxix. 10. xxxi. 9, 28.

I. Cf. Exod. xiv. 11 f. ; Num. xiv. 2 f.

9. our name . . . thy name : illustrating two of the pregnant
usages of < name ' in the O. T. ; in the former case for the national
existence (Isa. lv. 13 : cf. Deut. vii. 24, ix. 14), in the latter, for the
revealed character of Yahweh (1 Sam. xii. 22 ; Jer. xliv. 26 ; Ezek.
xxxvi. 23) . For this identification of the interests of Israel with
the honour of Yahweh, cf. Deut. ix. 28, and Introd., IV. 4. ' What-
ever the primitive meaning of the Hebrew Urn and the Assyrian
htmtt may have been, it was not merely u name H in our sense of
the word, but something much fuller, which would be applicable
to all forms of divine manifestation' (Cheyne, in E.B., c. 3268).

10. Yahweh diverts the thoughts of Joshua from the crushing
experience of Divine desertion to its moral cause and to the need
for action.

II. The sin of Israel is stated in five successive points, viz. the
overstepping of the covenant (here the injunction of vi. 17, 18 : cf.
Hos. viii. 1 ; Deut. xvii. 2), by infringement of the hercm. through
theft, implicit lying, and appropriation of Yahwelrs property.

$£ JOSHUA 7. 12-14. JE

also, and they have even put it among their own stuff.

12 Therefore the children of Israel cannot stand before
their enemies, they turn their backs before their enemies,
because they are become a accursed : I will not be with
you any more, except ye destroy the devoted thing from

1 3 among you. Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify
yourselves against to-morrow : for thus saith the Lord,
the God of Israel, There is a devoted thing in the midst
of thee, O Israel : thou canst not stand before thine
enemies, until ye take away the devoted thing from

'4 among you. In the morning therefore ye shall be

brought near by your tribes : and it shall be, that the

tribe which the Lord taketh shall come near by families ;

a See ch. vi. 18.

12. accursed: ' herem,' a devoted thing; they are themselves
under the ban of destruction by the presence of the herem, work
ing, so to speak, automatically in their midst. The underlying
conception is, therefore, not that of moral guilt, alone, or chiefly ;
there is here, as in primitive thought generally, a quasi-material
element interwoven with the moral.

13. sanctify : iii. 5 ; i. e. prepare for a sacred act by cere-
monial cleanliness.

14. brought near : Exod. xxii. 8, i.e. to God at the sanctuary,
for trial by lot.

taketh : i. e. by lot, as in 1 Sam. xiv. 41 (R. V. marg.), where
Jonathan is detected as the breaker of taboo. In this latter case
the LXX indicates that the lot was cast by Urim and Thummim
(Exod. xxviii. 30) as, possibly, here also (see on Deut. xxxiii. 8).
The whole procedure should be compared with that employed in
choosing Saul as king (1 Sam. x. 20-^4), the larger units being
dealt with through their representatives. Cf. note on xxii. 14
'All Israel consists of a number of tribes (shebet, in P, matteh),
a tribe of several clans (mishpachah), a clan of several H houses "
(beih, or bith db, pi. beth dboth), a " house " of a number of in-
dividuals' (Gray, Numbers, pp. 4, 5). Ancient faith in the sacred
casting of lots (Prov. xvi. 33) may be illustrated by its use alike
for the detection of a Jonah (Jonah i. 7) and the election of a
Matthias (Acts i. a6). The pre-Islamic Arabs obtained guidance
in the choice of alternatives by the use of pointless arrows (cf.
Ezek. xxi. ai, 2a) before an idol in his sanctuary ; one arrow,

JOSHUA 7. 15-21. JE 299

and the family which the Lord shall take shall come
near by households ; and the household which the Lord
shall take shall come near man by man. And it shall 15
be, that he that is taken with the devoted thing shall be
burnt with fire, he and all that he hath : because he hath
transgressed the covenant of the Lord, and because he
hath wrought folly in Israel.

So Joshua rose up early in the morning, and brought 16
Israel near by their tribes; and the tribe of Judah was
taken : and he brought near the a family of Judah ; and 1 7
he took the family of the Zerahites : and he brought
near the family of the Zerahites b man by man ; and
Zabdi was taken : and he brought near his household 18
man by man ; and Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of
Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken.
And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, 19
glory to the Lord, the God of Israel, and cmake con-
fession unto him ; and tell me now what thou hast done ;
hide it not from me. And Achan answered Joshua, and 20
said, Of a truth I have sinned against the Lord, the God
of Israel, and thus and thus have I done: when I saw 21
among the spoil a goodly d Babylonish mantle, and two

a According to some ancient authorities, families.

b According to some ancient authorities, by households.

c Or, give praise d Heb. mantle of Shinar.

when drawn, gave an affirmative, the other a negative response
(Wellhausen, Reste, p. 132).

15. folly in Israel: see on Deut. xxii. 21.

17. R.V. marg. should be read in both cases.

19. Achan will give glory and praise (R. V. marg. : cf. Ezra
x. 11) to Yahweh, who has thus displayed His knowledge of
hidden things, by confessing his sin, and so justifying the Divine
oracle before the people (cf. on one view of that passage, Ps.
li. 4). Cf. John ix. 24 (R.V.), where glory is to be given to God
by withdrawal of the blasphemy of verse 17 ; I Sam. vi. 5.

21. a goodly Babylonish mantle : Shimar (R. V. marg.) —

300 JOSHUA 7. 22-24. JE

hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty
shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them ;
and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my

22 tent, and the silver under it. So Joshua sent messengers,
and they ran unto the tent j and, behold, it was hid in

•» 3 his tent, and the silver under it. And they took them
from the midst of the tent, and brought them unto
Joshua, and unto all the children of Israel ; and they

-H laid them down before the Lord. And Joshua, and all
Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the
silver, and the mantle, and the wedge of gold, and his
sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and

Babylon (Gen. x. io) ; some specially costly cloak is intended,
the products of the Babylonian looms being famous.

two hundred shekels of silver : the shekel here is a weight,
coinage not being employed anywhere before the seventh century.
The Hebrews, after the Conquest, must have adopted the system of
weights current in Canaan, i. e. that of Babylonia, by which the
gold shekel would be about 253 grains troy, or a little more than
two sovereigns in weight, whilst the silver shekel would be about
224 grains troy, or rather more than the weight of an English
half-crown. The intrinsic value of the metal (its purchasing
power being, of course, much greater) would be about £a is. ocl. for
the gold shekel, and nearly 25. gel. for the silver (for further details,
see Kennedy, D.B., iii. p. 419 : cf. E.B., 4444).

23. laid them down : ' poured them out,' viz. before the
sanctuary.

24. The extension of the guilt of the individual to the whole
family group of which he is a member is due to that idea of
corporate responsibility which underlies ancient ethics and law as
a whole (cf. xxii. 18). From our point of view, we may say with
Mozley {Lectures on the O. T., p. 87), * The defective sense
of justice, then, in those early ages, arose from the defective
sense of individuality.' From the ancient standpoint, the justice
of the procedure follows from the idea of the blood-group (real or
fictitious) as a unity. It is possible, however, in the present case,
that one narrative contemplated the destruction of Achan alone
(cf. Deut. xxiv. 16), whilst this has been brought into conformity
with the law of Deut. xiii. 16 by the addition of Achan's goods
and family. For death by stoning, see Deut. xvii. 5 (note) : by

JOSHUA 7. 25—8. 2. JE RD 301

his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had : and they
brought them up unto the valley of Achor. And Joshua 25
said, Why hast thou troubled us ? the Lord shall trouble
thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones ;
and they burned them with fire, and stoned them with
stones. And they raised over him a great heap of stones, 26
unto this day ; and the Lord turned from the fierceness
of his anger. Wherefore the name of that place was
called, The valley of » Achor, unto this day.

[RD] And the Lord said unto Joshua, Fear not, neither 8
be thou dismayed : take all the people of war with thee,
and arise, go up to Ai : see, I have given into thy hand
the king of Ai, and his people, and his city, and his land :
and thou shalt do to Ai and her king as thou didst unto 2
a That is, Troubling.

the valley of Achor : xv. 7 : cf. Hos ii. 15 ; Isa. Ixv. 10;
identified by some with the Wady el-Kelt, leading down from the
hill-country to the Jordan Valley. In the following verse there
is a play on its name in I trouble ' < acbar).

26. a great heap of stones : viii. 29 ; 2 Sam. xviii. 17. The
original purpose of this widespread practice may have been to
prevent the ghost of the dead (conceived as quasi-material) from
emerging and troubling his survivors. Here it is a monument of
disgrace.

viii. 1-29. The Capture of Ai. Yahweh directs a renewed
attack on Ai (verses 1, 2). Joshua places to the west of Ai an
ambush of 30,000 picked men, who are to seize and burn the city,
when the inhabitants have been drawn out by the apparent flight
of the remaining Israelites (verses 3-9). The stratagem entirely
succeeds (verses 10- 17). The men of Ai are surrounded and
destroyed, as are the women left in the city verses 18-26). The
cattle and spoil, according to Yahweh's permission, are retained
by Israel ; the king of Ai is hanged, and a cairn erected on his
body at the gate of the burnt city (verses 27-9).

There are several indications that this narrative is drawn from
two independent sources, viz. the ambush set twice in the same
place (cf. verses 3-9 with verse 12), the double start 'verses 3*
and to% and the twice-burnt city (verses T9 and 28).

2. as thou didst unto Jericho: vi, 21 : cf Dent. ii. 34 f., iii
6f., xx. 16.

3Q2 JOSHUA 8. 3-9. RD JE RD JE

Jericho and her king : only the spoil thereof, and the
cattle thereof, shall ye take for a prey unto yourselves :

3 set thee an ambush for the city behind it. [JE] So
Joshua arose, and all the people of war, to go up to Ai :
and Joshua chose out thirty thousand men, the mighty

4 men of valour, and sent them forth by night. And he
commanded them, saying, Behold, ye shall lie in ambush
against the city, behind the city : go not very far from

5 the city, but be ye all ready : and I, and all the people
that are with me, will approach unto the city : and it
shall come to pass, when they come out against us, as

6 at the first, that we will flee before them ; and they will
come out after us, till we have drawn them away from the
city ; for they will say, They flee before us, as at the first ;

7 so we will flee before them : and ye shall rise up from
the ambush, and take possession of the city : for the

8 Lord your God will deliver it into your hand. And it
shall be, when ye have seized upon the city, that ye shall
set the city on fire; [RD] according to the word of
the Lord shall ye do : see, I have commanded you.

9 [JE] And Joshua sent them forth : and they went to the
ambushment, and abode between Beth-el and Ai, on the
west side of Ai : but Joshua lodged that night among
the people.

behind it : i. e. westwards of Ai : cf. verses 4, 9 ; Deut.
xi. 30.

3. Between the two halves of this verse we must suppose
Joshua to have marched from the camp at Gilgal (ix. 6) into the
neighbourhood of Ai (sixteen miles), where he detaches the am-
buscade (so Dillmann : cf. verse 9).

5. as at the first : vii. 5 f. ; note the use made of the former
defeat in the stratagem.

9. among1 the people: by the addition of a single Hebrew'
letter, read with Ewald and Dillmann, ' in the midst of the vale '
(verse 13). Joshua takes in person the position for the feigned
attack on Ai (as in the parallel, verse 13).

JOSHUA 8. 10-14. J£ 303

And Joshua rose up early in the morning, and mustered *°
the people, and went up, he and the elders of Israel,
before the people to Ai. And all the people, even the 1}
men of war that were with him, went up, and drew nigh,
and came before the city, and pitched on the north side of
Ai : now there was a valley between him and Ai. And he 12
took about five thousand men, and set them in ambush
between Beth-el and Ai, on the west side of a the city.
bSo they set the people, even all the host that was on 13
the north of the city, and their Hers in wait that were on
the west of the city ; and Joshua c went that night into
the midst of the vale. And it came to pass, when the 14
king of Ai saw it, that they hasted and rose up early,
and the men of the city went out against Israel to battle,
he and all his people, d at the time appointed, before the
Arabah ; but he wist not that there was an ambush

a Another reading is, Ai.

b Or, So the people set all &c.

c Some MSS. read, lodged that night in.

d Or, to the place appointed

10-12 must be regarded as a narrative parallel with that of
verses 3-9, and is usually assigned to E, as the former to J
(Dillmann, Bennett, Holzinger). We start again from Gilgal, the
march of the warriors to the north of Ai, and the detachment of
the (much smaller and more likely) ambush to the west, being
again narrated.

13 : omitted by LXX. It summarizes and combines J and E,
its theory apparently being that the first detachment preceded the
main body in the first night, lying in ambush at Ai, till joined by
the second detachment on the second night (Holzinger). The
R. V. text in both cases is preferable to the margin ; i they ' =
Joshua and the elders (verse 10).

liers in wait : ' rear,' lit. 'heel ' : cf. Gen. xlix. 19.

14 shows confusion, due probably to composite origin.

saw it : i. e. the position of the main body of Israel ; but the
pronoun is supplied by R. V.

at the time (place) appointed, before the Arabah yields
no meaning (LXX omits).

304 JOSHUA 8. 15-20. JE

j 5 against him behind the city. And Joshua and all Israel
made as if they were beaten before them, and fled by

16 the way of the wilderness. And all the people that were
in a the city were called together to pursue after them :
and they pursued after Joshua, and were drawn away

17 from the city. And there was not a man left in Ai or
Beth-el, that went not out after Israel : and they left the

18 city open, and pursued after Israel. And the Lord said
unto Joshua, Stretch out the javelin that is in thy hand
toward Ai ; for I will give it into thine hand. And
Joshua stretched out the javelin that was in his hand

19 toward the city. And the ambush arose quickly out of
their place, and they ran as soon as he had stretched out
his hand, and entered into the city, and took it ; and

20 they hasted and set the city on fire. And when the men
of Ai looked behind them, they saw, and, behold, the
smoke of the city ascended up to heaven, and they had I

* Another reading is, < It.

15. the way of the wilderness : i. e. eastwards, into the
desolate and mountainous country between Ai and the Tordan
Valley.

17. Beth-el: near to and west of Ai (viii. a).

javelin : or dart (kidon\, distinct from the spear or lance

hdnith). Joshua is represented as ki eping the javelin outstretched

.verse 36), just as Moses (Exod. xvii. ir. E) kept his hands uplifted

during the defeat of Amalek. Forms of symbolic magic are here

assimilated to the religion of Yahweh.

19. as soon as he had stretched out his hand : probably
added by the redactor of J and E, to interpret verse 18 as a signal.
But no arrangement for such a signal has been made with the
ambush ; in any case, it would have been useless, since the dis-
tance would make the javelin invisible itself, as Holzinger points
out, less suitable than the longer ' spear' for signalling^. We are ■
rather to think that whilst one source (E ?) represents the capture
of Ai as achieved through divine ' magic.' the other makes the
rising smoke (verses 20, 21) from the (invisible) city the signal for
the pursued to turn on their pursuers (so at the capture of Gibeah,
Judges xx. 38).

JOSHUA 8. 2f-29. JE RD JE 305

no a power to flee this way or that way : and the people
that fled to the wilderness turned back upon the pursuers.
And when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had 21
taken the city, and that the smoke of the city ascended,
then they turned again, and slew the men of Ai. And 22
the other came forth out of the city against them ; so
they were in the midst of Israel, some on this side, and
some on that side : and they smote them, so that they
let none of them remain or escape. And the king of Ai 23
they took alive, and brought him to Joshua. And it came 24
to pass, when Israel had made an end of slaying all
the inhabitants of Ai in the field, in the wilderness
wherein they pursued them, and they were all fallen
by the edge of the sword, until they were consumed,
that all Israel returned unto Ai, and smote it with the
edge of the sword. And all that fell that day, both of 25
men and women, were twelve thousand, even all the men
of Ai. For Joshua drew not back his hand, wherewith 26
he stretched out the javelin, until he had b utterly de-
stroyed all the inhabitants of Ai. [RD] Only the cattle 27
and the spoil of that city Israel took for a prey unto
tli em selves, according unto the word of the Lord which
he commanded Joshua. [JE] So Joshua burnt Ai, and 28
made it an c heap for ever, even a desolation, unto this
day. And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until the 29
eventide : and at the going down of the sun Joshua com-

9 Heb. hands. b Heb. devoted. ° Or, mound Heb. tel.

20. power : ' hand ' is frequently used in this figurative sense :
rf. Deut. xvi. 17, xxxii. 36, xxxiv. 12 ; Ps. lxxvi. 5.

23. an neap for ever: Deut. xiii. 16.

unto this day: but Ai was rebuilt in the neighbourhood
(Isa. x. 28 ; Ezra ii. 28).

29. hanged : i. e. after having been killed (x. 26 ; Deut. xxi.
22, 23); the reference is to impalement or gibbeting after death

o6 JOSHUA 8. 30-33. JE RD

manded, and they took his carcase down from the tree,
and cast it at the entering of the gate of the city, and
raised thereon a great heap of stones, unto this day.

30 [RD] Then Joshua built an altar unto the Lord, the God

31 of Israel, in mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the
Lord commanded the children of Israel, as it is written
in the book of the law of Moses, an altar of a unhewn
stones, upon which no man had lift up any iron : and
they offered thereon burnt offerings unto the Lord, and

32 sacrificed peace offerings. And he wrote there upon bthe
stones a copy of the law of Moses, °which he wrote,

33 in the presence of the children of Israel. And all Israel,
and their elders and officers, and their judges, stood on
this side the ark and on that side before the priests the

a Heb. whole. b See Deut. xxvii. 2-4.

c Or, ivhich he wrote in &c.

(E.B., p. 1959). The body is represented as being taken down at
sunset, in obedience to such laws as that of Deuteronomy (he. cit).
For the heap of stones, see on vii. 26.

viii. 30-35. An altar is built, sacrifices are offered, and the law
is inscribed on Mount Ebal (verses 30-2). The blessing and curse
of the Deuteronomic law are read to all Israel between Ebal and
Gerizim (verses 33-5).

These events, supposed to take place at Shechem, in the heart
of territory as yet unconquered, can hardly belong to their present
context (which, moreover, they interrupt). We may suppose the
section misplaced, and to be read after xi. 23, or (with Dillmann)
that the narrative of the conquest of Middle Canaan has been
omitted.

RD probably uses earlier material ; otherwise the Law of th«
Single Sanctuary would not be thus set aside by him.

30. mount Ebal : Deut. xxvii. 4 ; H.G.H.L., p. 120:

31. as it is written: Deut. xxvii. 5 (where see the notes).

32. upon the stones: presumably those of Deut. xxvii. 1-4,
with prepared surface, though the present passage alone wouk"
suggest that the stones of the altar are meant.

a copy of the law : Deut. xvii. 18. Read as in R. V. marg.

33. This public assembly for the reading of the (Deuteronomic)

JOSHUA 8. 34—9. i. RD 307

Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord,
as well the stranger as the homeborn ; half of them in
front of mount Gerizim, and half of them in front of
mount Ebal ; as Moses the servant of the Lord had
a commanded, that they should bless the people of Israel
first of all. And afterward he read all the words of the 34
law, the blessing and the curse, according to all that is
written in the book of the law. There was not a word 35
of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua read not
before all the assembly of Israel, and the women, and
the little ones, and the strangers that b were conversant
among them.

And it came to pass, when all the kings which 9

a Or, commanded at the first, that they should bless the people of
Israel. b Heb. walked.

law is not to be confused with the procedure commanded in Deut.
xxvii. 1 1-26, but connected rather with the general command of
Deut. xxxi. 11.

as well the stranger as the homeborn : (verse 35 ; Lev.
xxiv. 16, 22) the ger and the ezrah (see Robertson Smith,
Rel. Sem., p. 75). See on Deut. i. 16.

Gerizim: Deut. xi. 29; H.G.H.L., p. 120.

had commanded : ^text preferable to margin) nothing more
definite than Deut. xi. 29 is recorded; first of all: opposed to
afterward (verse 34) .

34. the words of the law : i. e. those inscribed on the stones ;
the reference to the blessing and the curse appears to be added in
view of Deut. xxvii. 12 f.

35. were conversant among- them: rather (cf. R. V. marg.),
' travelled in their midst.'

ix. The Stratagem of the Gibeonites. The kings of Canaan
prepare for common action against Israel (verses 1, 2). The
Gibeonites, by the device of worn apparel and stale provisions,
persuade Israel that they come from a far country ; an alliance is
therefore made with them (verses 3-15). When their actual
nearness is discovered, Israel journeys to their cities, the people
finding fault with their leaders because of the hasty oath of
alliance (verses 16-18). The leaders suggest that the Gibeonites
should be given a servile place in relation to the congregation of

X 2

3o8 JOSHUA 9. 2-4. RD JE

were beyond Jordan, in the hill country, and in the
lowland, and on all the shore of the great sea in front of
Lebanon, the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite,
the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, heard thereof;

2 that they gathered themselves together, to fight with
Joshua and with Israel, with one accord.

3 [JE] But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what

4 Joshua had done unto Jericho and to Ai, they also did

work wilily, and went and amade as if they had been

a Another reading, followed by most ancient versions, is, took
them provisions. See ver. 12.

Israel (verses 19-21). Joshua summons the Gibeonites, and
accuses them of deceit, which they defend as necessary, in view
of the herein of Yahweh (verses 22-4). They place themselves
at the disposal of Joshua, who gives them a servile place in relation
to the (future) temple (verses 25-7).

Apart from the additions of RD, the composite character of
the narrative is evident from the parallels, verses i5b, 17-21 (P),
and verses 22, 23, 26 (JE), in which the l princes ' and Joshua
respectively take the leadership. There are also signs within the
JE sections of a double narrative (cf. ' Hivites,1 verse 7, for
1 inhabitants of Gibeon,' verse 3 ; and note the action of the
Israelites apart from Joshua, verse 14).

ix. 1-2. Cf. the similar introductory note of RD in v. 1, describ-
ing the first effect of the invasion, as this does the resultant
alliance against Israel.

1. Three districts are mentioned, viz. the lowland, or
1 Shephelah,' properly the region of low hills, south of Ajalon,
between the plain of Philistia (here the shore of the great sea,
i. 4, i. e. the Mediterranean coast) on the one hand, and the
central range (the hill country) on the other (H.G.H.L., p. 203).
in front of Lebanon: should be connected with 'sea,' as
the absence of a comma in R. V. indicates.

the Hittite, &c. : xii. 8 ; for the list of six nations (seven in
iii. 10), see on Deut. vii. 1.

3. Gibeon : identified with el-Jib, five or six miles north-west
of Jerusalem ; here the chief of a league of four cities (verse 17),
itself greater than Ai (x. 2).

4. they also did work wilily: i.e. as well as Israel, in the
stratagem against Ai. Read with R. V. marg. ; the difference
simply involves the change of a Hebrew consonant to another like
it in form.

•

JOSHUA 9. 5-ii. JERDJE 309

ambassadors, and took old sacks upon their asses, and
wine-skins, old and rent and bound up ; and old shoes 5
and clouted upon their feet, and old garments upon
them ; and all the bread of their provision was dry and
was become mouldy. And they went to Joshua unto 6
the camp at Gilgal, and said unto him, and to the men
of Israel, We are come from a far country : now
therefore make ye a covenant with us. And the men of 7
Israel said unto the Hivites, Peradventure ye dwell
among us ; and how shall we make a covenant with you ?
And they said unto Joshua, We are thy servants. And 8
Joshua said unto them, Who are ye ? and from whence
come ye ? And they said unto him, From a very far 9
country thy servants are come [RD] because of the name
of the Lord thy God : for we have heard the fame of
him, and all that he did in Egypt, and all that he 10
did to the two kings of the Amorites, that were beyond
Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon, and to Og king
of Bashan, which was at Ashtaroth. [JE] And our 11
elders and all the inhabitants of our country spake to

bound up : i. e. mended by tying or sewing. Such skins, as
is well known, are still used in the East.

5. was become mouldy : rather (so in verse 12), 'crumbled.'

6. Gilgal : iv. 19, the Israelite base of operations (cfi x. 15, 43).
*7. Hivites : xi. 19 ; Gen. xxxiv. 2 ; 2 Sam. xxiv. 7. The

name denotes an unimportant people of Central Palestine, included
in the herem of Deut. vii. 2 ; its appearance here for ' Gibeonites,'
without explanation, points to the use of a different source, and
this is confirmed by the prominence of the * men of Israel ' without
Joshua.

8. We are thy servants : here the Gibeonites are represented
as offering subjection, rather than as seeking a treaty by craft ;
Joshua questions them regardless of verse 6.

91', 10. Cf. ii. 10 ; Deut. i. 21, 30, ii. 25, &c, for the ascription
to RD.

11. No king of Gibeon is mentioned ; the government, like that
ol Succoth Judges viii. 14), appears to have been in the hands of

3io JOSHUA 9. 12-17. JE P JE P

us, saying, Take provision in your hand for the journey,
and go to meet them, and say unto them, We are your

12 servants : and now make ye a covenant with us. This
our bread we took hot for our provision out of out-
houses on the day we came forth to go unto you ; but now,

13 behold, it is dry, and is become mouldy: and these
wine- skins, which we filled, were new; and, behold, they
be rent : and these our garments and our shoes are

H become old by reason of the very long journey. And
the men took of their provision, and asked not counsel at

15 the mouth of the Lord. And Joshua made peace with
them, and made a covenant with them, to let them live :
[P] and the princes of the congregation sware unto

16 them. [JE] And it came to pass at the end of three
days after they had made a covenant with them, that
they heard that they were their neighbours, and that

17 they dwelt among them. [P] And the children of
Israel journeyed, and came unto their cities on the third
day. Now their cities were Gibeon, and Chephirah,

a council of elders. After the word 'servants' the source broken
off at verse 7 is resumed,

14. The men (of Israel) take and taste their food to test their
words. Haupt (S.B.O. T., adloc.) contrasts the fresh fig produced
by Cato in the Senate to illustrate the proximity of Carthage
(Plin. xv. 20).

asked not counsel : Hebrew l asked not the mouth of
Yahweh ' (Isa. xxx. a), some form of the sacred lot being in-
tended.

15. The three sources seem each to have contributed something
to this verse, whose triplet affords a good example of the problems
of literary analysis. Joshua makes peace with the Gibeonites
(E ? cf. verse 8) ; a covenant is made with them, doubtless by the
men of Israel in the original narrative (J ? cf. verse 7) ; the
princes of the congregation swear to them (P, whose narrative is
continued in verses 17-21).

17. on the third day : the direct distance, as measured on the
map, from Gilgal to Gibeon, is about nineteen miles ; the journey

JOSHUA 9. 18-23. P JE 31 1

and Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim. And the children of 18
Israel smote them not, because the princes of the
congregation had sworn unto them by the Lord, the
God of Israel. And all the congregation murmured
against the princes. But all the princes said unto all 19
the congregation, We have sworn unto them by the
Lord, the God of Israel : now therefore we may not
touch them. This we will do to them, and let them 20
live ; lest wrath be upon us, because of the oath which
we sware unto them. And the princes said unto them, 21
Let them live : so they became hewers of wood and
drawers of water unto all the congregation; as the
princes had spoken unto them. [ JE] And Joshua called 2 2
for them, and he spake unto them, saying, Wherefore
have ye beguiled us, saying, We are very far from you ;
when ye dwell among us ? Now therefore ye are cursed, 2 3

by road would, of course, be greater. As for the three other
cities of the Gibeonite league, Chephirah and Kiriath-jearim lay a
little to the south-west of Gibeon : Beeroth may be el-Bire to the
north of Gibeon, near Bethel.

18. murmtired : Exod. xvi. 2 ; Num. xiv. 2, xvii. 5.

20. The binding power of the spoken word was generally
acknowledged by the ancient world ; it is to be distinguished from
the moral aspect of such promises. Here, indeed, a modern would
regard the pledge as cancelled by the deception employed to
obtain it ; whilst, if it were recognized as binding, he would
hardly feel free to evade it as in verse 21. The account of the
deception, however, does not belong to this source (P).

wrath : Num. i. 53, xvi. 46,. xviii. 5 : cf. 2 Sam. vi. 7,
xxi. if., &c.

21. Something seems to be wanting at the end of verse 20;
LXX finds this in verse 21, omitting 'and the princes said unto
them,' and reading ' they shall live, and shall be wood-cutters and
water-carriers for all the congregation.' The important uncial F
also reads ' and all the congregation did ' before the concluding
words i as the princes said unto them.' This service to the
people (to individual Israelites ? cf. Driver on Deut. xxix. to) is to
be distinguished from the temple-service intended in verses 23, 27.

3i2 JOSHUA 9. 2,-10. i. JE RD JE RD JE

and there a shall never fail to be of you bondmen, both
hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of
-4 my God. [RD] And they answered Joshua, and said,
Because it was certainly told thy servants, how that the
Lord thy God commanded his servant Moses to give
you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the
land from before you ; therefore we were sore afraid for
our lives because of you, and have done this thing.

25 And now, behold, we are in thine hand : as it seemeth

26 good and right unto thee to do unto us, do. [JE] And
so did he unto them, and delivered them out of the
hand of the children of Israel, that they slew them not.

27 And Joshua made them that day hewers of wood and
drawers of water for the congregation, and for the altar
of the Lord, unto this day, [RD] in the place which he
should choose.

10 [JE] Now it came to pass, when Adoni-zedek king of
a Heb. shall not be cut off from you.

23. hewers of wood and drawers of water: Deut. xxix. n ;
for the form of the curse, 2 Sam. iii. 29. The phrase is meant to
express servile work in general ; Hebrew, ' gatherers of wood.'

the house of my God: vi. 24 (the future temple) : cf.
verse 27 b.

24. Deut. vii. 1 f., xx. 10-18.

27. for the congregation : added by RF to harmonize with
verse 21 ; in the place which he should choose : Deut. xii. 5, &c. ;
here evidently added by RD. Saul, in patriotic zeal, tried to
exterminate the Gibeonites (2 Sam. xxi. 2). On the evidence of
Neh. iii. 7, vii. 25, it has been concluded that they were subse-
quently incorporated in Israel. Others have traced the Gibeon-
ites in the temple-slaves known as ' Nethinim' ; Ezra ii. 58, viii. 20 ;
Neh. vii. 60 ; 1 Chron. ix. 2.

x. The Southern Campaign. Five kings of South Canaan
invest Gibeon because of its defection to Israel (verses 1-5).
Joshua, in response to the appeal of Gibeon, makes a sudden
attack, after a night advance, and overthrows the besiegers, their
rout being completed by a hail-storm (verses 6-1 1). A fragment

JOSHUA 10. 2. JERDJE 313

Jerusalem heard how Joshua had taken Ai, and had
a utterly destroyed it ; [RD] as he had done to Jericho
and her king, so he had done to Ai and her king;
[JE] and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made
peace with Israel, and were among them ; that they
feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, as one

a Heb. devoted.

of poetry relating to this defeat is quoted, and ascribed to Joshua,
which is interpreted as narrating a miracle of help to Israel (verses
12-14). Joshua and the Israelites return to Gilgal (verse 15).
The hiding-place of the five kings at Makkedah is watched, till
the return of the Israelites from the pursuit (verses 16-21). Joshua
brings the five out from the cave, and uses them to confirm IsraePs
confidence in Divine aid, before they are killed, hanged, and
buried in the cave (verses 22-7). There follows a formal statement
of the capture and destruction of Makkedah, Libnah, Lachish
(aided by Gezerites), Eglon, Hebron, and Debir (verses 29-39). This
single campaign is alleged to have subjugated the whole of South
Canaan, and to have included the destruction of every breathing
thing (verses 40-3).

The subject-matter (apart from the editorial work of RD, and the
fragment of ancient poetry, verses I2b-i3a) falls into three divisions :

(a) the narrative of the battle of Gibeon (verses 1-15), [b) the
slaughter of the kings at Makkedah (verses 15- 27"), (c) the catalogue
of victories. Of these, the last is clearly by RD, whilst («) and

(b) are variously assigned, within the general limits of JE.

1. Adoni-zedek : i.e. 'The Lord is Zedek ' (Gray, Hebrew
Proper Names, p. 141), Zedek being the name of a Phoenician
deity. An inscription with the name Zedekjatan (Zedek has
given) was found on the site of a Phoenician temple in 1903, and
a Phoenician king bears the name Zedek-melek (Bloch, Phoen.
Gloss., p. 55). Note also the name Melchizedek (The king is
Zedek), and cf. Adonijah (The Lord is Jah). Adoni-zedek
appears in Judges i. sf. as Adoni-bezek (so LXX here), but the
latter form is less likely (cf. Moore, Judges, p. 16).

Jerusalem: xv. 63 (note) ; called "Uru-salim in the Tell el-
Amarna Letters of c. 1400 b. c, seven of which are from its ruler
Abdchiba (Introd., III. a). It there appears as l the fortified
capital of a small territory under hereditary princes ' (E.B., 2415).
Haupt explains the name as ' City of Safety ' {S.B.O. T., p. 70).

as he liad done, &c. : cf. viii. 2 for this interpolation of RD.

314 JOSHUA 10. 3-8. JERD

of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, [J

3 and all the men thereof were mighty. Wherefore Adoni- \
zedek king of Jerusalem sent unto Hoham king of ..
Hebron, and unto Piram king of Jarmuth, and unto
Japhia king of Lachish, and unto Debir king of Eglon,

4 saying, Come up unto me, and help me, and let us smite
Gibeon : for it hath made peace with Joshua and with .

5 the children of Israel. Therefore the five kings of the I
Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, ;
the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, the king of
Eglon, gathered themselves together, and went up, they
and all their hosts, and encamped against Gibeon, and

6 made war against it. And the men of Gibeon sent unto
Joshua to the camp to Gilgal, saying, Slack not thy hand
from thy servants j come up to us quickly, and save us,
and help us : for all the kings of the Amorites that dwell
in the hill country are gathered together against us.

7 So Joshua went up from Gilgal, he, and all the people of
war with him, and all the mighty men of valour.

8 [RD] And the Lord said unto Joshua, Fear them not :
for I have delivered them into thine hands ; there shall

2. as one of the royal cities: though itself possessing no king
(note on ix. n).

3. Hebron : the ancient and important city, near the modern
El-Khalil, nineteen miles south of Jerusalem, on the road to
Beersheba.

Jarmuth: (Khirbet el Yarmuk) sixteen miles west o
Jerusalem, near Bet-Nettif.

Lachish : (Tell el-Hesy) between Eleutheropolis and Gaza.

Eglon : (Kh. 'Ajlan) two miles north of Lachish, and twenty
three miles west of Hebron.

5. Amorites : Deut. i. 7 (note). The three last-named citii
lie in the Shephelah rather than in the ' hill-country ' (verse 6).

6. Slack not thy hand : lit. ' let drop ' (2 Sam. xxiv. r6), here,
with 4 from ' = ■ abandon.'

8. Cf. viii. 1 ; Deut. iii. a, vii. 24, &c, for ascription to RD,

JOSHUA 10. 9-12. RDJERD 315

not a man of them stand before thee. [JE] Joshua 9
therefore came upon them suddenly; for he went up
from Gilgal all the night. And the Lord discomfited 10
them before Israel, and he slew them with a great
slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them by the way of the
ascent of Beth-horon, and smote them to Azekah, and
unto Makkedah. And it came to pass, as they fled 11
from before Israel, while they were in the going down of
Beth-horon, that the Lord cast down great stones from
heaven upon them unto Azekah, and they died: they
were more which died with the hailstones than they
whom the children of Israel slew with the sword.

[RD] Then spake Joshua to the Lord in the day 12

9. he went up : more than twenty miles by a climbing road.

10. discomfited : Exod. xiv. 24 ; Judges iv. 15 ; 1 Sam. vii. 10 ;
better ' threw into panic' Note, as characteristic, how the
action of Israel is identified with that of Yahweh. So, on the
Moabite Stone (1. rg), Mesha describes his victory over the king of
Israel by saying, ' Kemosh drove him out before me.'

Beth-horon : i. e. the Upper, or more eastern Beth-horon,
five miles north-west of Gibeon, to which an ' ascent ' of nearly
two miles leads from the Lower Beth-horon lying to the north-
west.

Azekah: xv. 35 ; in the Shephelah, and near Socoh (1 Sam.
xvii. 1) ; in or near the Vale of Elah, though the exact site has not
been identified (Zakariya ?).

Makkedah: xii. 16. xv. 41; identified by Warren with
el-Mughar, south-west of Ekron, and twenty-five miles from
Gibeon (D.B., iii. p. 218), though this is considered doubtful by
others (H.G.H.L., p. 211).

11. the going1 down of Beth-horon : (i.e. the 'ascent' of
verse 10 : cf. 1 Mace. iii. 16, 24) probably extending to the whole
road down from the plateau to the maritime plain. On the
topography of this battle, see G. A. Smith {H.G.H.L., p. 209 f.).

great stones : cf. Ecclus. xlvi. 6. For the conception of
hailstones as Divine weapons, see Ecclus. xliii. 15 ; Exod. ix. 19,
25 ; Job xxxviii. 22; Hag. ii. 17; Rev. viii. 7 (see E.B., 1937).
Statistics of some remarkable hailstones are collected in D.B., ii.
282, where, also, are cited some historical cases of the discom-
fiture of armies by hail.

12f. An early fragment of poetry dramatically describes the

3i6 JOSHUA 10. i3, m. RD JE RD

when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the
children of Israel; [JE] and he said in the sight of
Israel,

Sun, a stand thou still upon Gibeon j
And thou, Moon, in the valley of Aijalon.
]3 And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed,

Until the nation had avenged themselves of their
enemies.
Is not this written in the book of b Jashar ? And the sun
stayed in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go
T4 down about a whole day. And there was no day like
that before it or after it, that the Lord hearkened unto
the voice of a man : [RD] for the Lord fought for Israel.

a Heb. he silent. b Or, The Upright See a Sam. i. 18.

warrior's desire for time enough to achieve victory, with its fulfil-
ment at Gibeon. As Bennett remarks, 'It means simply, "May
God grant us victory before the sun sets'' . . . there is no reason
to suppose that the narrative originally stated that a miracle
happened.' The poetry, however, was prosaically interpreted
by those who have handed it down to us, i. e. in the first place by
J (Ox/. Hex., Bennett) or E (Holzinger, Driver), and further
by RD, in quoting it from JE. Thus, the prose introduction
(verse i2a) interprets it as the prayer for a miracle ; the prose
conclusion (verses I3b, 14) asserts that the miracle took place.
From such categorical statements the song of the poet is clearly
distinguished (cf. Judges v. 20). I With a touch of primitive
feeling, Syrian peasants still cry in song to the sun to hasten his
going down, that they may rest' (Cheyne, E.B., 2333).

12. Aijalon : the town itself (now Yalo) being on the south side
of the valley, about fourteen miles from Jerusalem.

13. the book of Jashar : a written collection of ancient songs,
once handed down orally. The name 'Jashar' means 'upright'
(either of Israel, or of its brave men) : cf. the Arabic name 'Hamasa'
(valour) for a similar collection. One other quotation is made
from this source by the O. T., viz. David's Lament over Saul and
Jonathan (2 Sam. i. 18), so that the compilation of the songs must
be later than the time of David. It is possible that 1 Kings viii. 12,
13 is drawn from this collection (LXX : cf. D.B., ii. 551 ; E.B.,
2334; Rob. Smith, O.T.J. C.2, 435; Ryle's Canon, p. 21 note).

JOSHUA 10. i5-2r. JE 317

[JE~j And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, 15
unto the camp to Gilgal.

And these five kings fled, and hid themselves in the 16
cave at Makkedah. And it was told Joshua, saying, The 1 7
five kings are found, hidden in the cave at Makkedah.
And Joshua said, Roll great stones unto the mouth of 18
the cave, and set men by it for to keep them : but stay 19
not ye ; pursue after your enemies, and smite the hind-
most of them ; suffer them not to enter into their cities :
for the Lord your God hath delivered them into your hand.
And it came to pass, when Joshua and the children of 20
Israel had made an end of slaying them with a very great
slaughter, till they were consumed, and the remnant which
remained of them had entered into the fenced cities, that 21
all the people returned to the camp to Joshua at
Makkedah in peace : none n moved his tongue against
a Heb. whetted.

A similar collection called ' The Book of the Battles of Yahweh '
supplies the fragment of poetry quoted in Num. xxi. 14, 15.

15. The verse is identical with verse 43, and is omitted by
LXX ; it is out of place (cf. v. 21) in its present position, and
suggests that a new source is used, v. 16 f., to describe a particular
incident of the battle.

16. in the cave : a principal ground for the identification of
Makkedah (verse 10) with the present village of el-Mughar (' the
caves') ; 'at this site alone, of all the possible sites for Makkedah
in the Philistine plain, do caves still exist . . . cut out of the sand-
stone ' (Warren, D.B., iii. 218).

20. fenced cities : Heb. 'cities of fortification.' The earliest
defensive walls of the Canaanites seem to have been made simply
of unhewn blocks of stone, but Babylonian influence must have
led to more developed means of defence. 'The Lachish of this
period had crude brick walls nine or ten feet in thickness . . .
Fortresses such as Lachish the nomadic Hebrews could hardly
take by storm, not possessing the arms and engines of war
requisite for the purpose' (E.B., 1553).

21. moved Ms tongue : Heb. 'sharpened' (Exod. xi. 7: cf.
Isa. x. 14); a proverbial way of describing the return from the
pursuit ' in peace '.

318 JOSHUA 10. 22-27. JERDJE

22 any of the children of Israel. Then said Joshua, Open
the mouth of the cave, and bring forth those five kings unto

23 me out of the cave. And they did so, and brought forth
those five kings unto him out of the cave, the king of
Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the

24 king of Lachish, the king of Eglon. And it came to
pass, when they brought forth those kings unto Joshua,
that Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and said unto
the chiefs of the men of war which went with him, Come
near, put your feet upon the necks of these kings. And
they came near, and put their feet upon the necks of

25 them. [RD] And Joshua said unto them, Fear not, nor
be dismayed ; be strong and of good courage : for thus
shall the Lord do to all your enemies against whom ye

26 fight. [JE] And afterward Joshua smote them, and put
them to death, and hanged them on five trees : and they

27 were hanging upon the trees until the evening. And it
came to pass at the time of the going down of the sun,
that Joshua commanded, and they took them down off
the trees, and cast them into the cave wherein they had
hidden themselves, and laid great stones on the mouth
of the cave, unto this very day.

24. chiefs: Heb. kdztn, etymologically connected with the
Arabic Kadi, or < decider ' ; used, as here, of a military com-
mander : Judges xi. 6, 11 ; Dan. xi. 18 : of a civil dictator, Isa. iii.
6, 7 : and of a ruler in general, Isa. i. 10, &c.

upon the necks : Ps. ex. 1 ; Isa. li. 23 : such customs, for
primitive thought, are not simply what they would be for us,
expressive or symbolic actions ; they belong to the great realm of
symbolic magic ; they confirm and help to repeat the victory won.
Assyrian sculptures illustrate the practice. See Introd., p. 266.

26. See the note on viii. 29.

21?. unto this very day : i. e. some cave, with rocks lying
across its mouth, was pointed out in the writer's time as the place
where the bones of these kings lay.

JOSHUA 10. 28-33. RD 319

[RD] And Joshua took Makkedah on that day, and 28
smote it with the edge of the sword, and the king thereof;
he a utterly destroyed them and all the souls that were
therein, he left none remaining : and he did to the king
of Makkedah as he had done unto the king of Jericho.

And Joshua passed from Makkedah, and all Israel with 29
him, unto Libnah, and fought against Libnah : and the 30
Lord delivered it also, and the king thereof, into the hand
of Israel; and he smote it with the edge of the sword, and
all the souls that were therein ; he left none remaining in
it ; and he did unto the king thereof as he had done unto
the king of Jericho.

And Joshua passed from Libnah, and all Israel with 31
him, unto Lachish, and encamped against it, and fought
against it : and the Lord delivered Lachish into the 32
hand of Israel, and he took it on the second day, and
smote it with the edge of the sword, and all the souls
that were therein, according to all that he had done to
Libnah.

Then Horam king of Gezer came up to help Lachish ; 33
and Joshua smote him and his people, until he had left
him none remaining.

a Heb. devoted.

x. 28-39. The principal items in this southern campaign are
noted according to a regular formula. The emphasis falls, in
each case, on the completeness of the 'devotion ' (Jiereni).

28. them : read ' it,' as in verse 37 (MSS., Targ., LXX of Luc),
as he had done unto the king" of Jericho: not stated in

chap, vi ; probably the hanging of viii. 29 is meant (cf. x. 1).

29. Libnah: in the Shephelah (xv. 42), site unknown, but
between Makkedah and Lachish.

33. Gezer : Tell Jezer, six miles south of Lydda (cf.
H.G.H.L., p. 216). It is named in the Tell el-Amarna Letters as
captured by invaders ; also in an inscription of Merneptah of the
thirteenth century. Israel did not take it (xvi. 10: cf Judges
i 29).

320 JOSHUA 10. 34-40. RD

34 And Joshua passed from Lachish,and all Israel with him,
unto Eglon j and they encamped against it, and fought

35 against it ; and they took it on that day, and smote it
with the edge of the sword, and all the souls that were
therein he a utterly destroyed that day, according to all
that he had done to Lachish.

36 And Joshua went up from Eglon, and all Israel with

37 him, unto Hebron ; and they fought against it : and they
took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and the
king thereof, and all the cities thereof, and all the souls
that were therein ; he left none remaining, according to all
that he had done to Eglon ; but he a utterly destroyed it,
and all the souls that were therein.

38 And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to
■9 Debir; and fought against it: and he took it, and the

king thereof, and all the cities thereof; and they smote
them with the edge of the sword, and a utterly destroyed
all the souls that were therein ; he left none remaining :
as he had done to Hebron, so he did to Debir, and to
the king thereof; as he had done also to Libnah, and to
the king thereof.
;o So Joshua smote all the land, the hill country, and the
South, and the lowland, and the slopes, and all their

a Heb. devoted.

3*7. the king- thereof: already killed and hanged, according to
v. 26; the inconsistency is due to the different source (R11) of the
present statement, which is omitted by LXX in consequence.
Contrast, also, xiv. 13, xv. 13 ; Judges i. 10.

38. BeMr : called Kiriath-Sepher in xv. 15, Judges i. 11 ;
identified by some with ed-Dahaiiyeh, eleven miles south west of
Hebron (H.G.H.L., 279; but see p. 670, and E.B., ii. 2681;
Moore, Judges, p. 25).

x. 40-43, General summarv of the southern campaign (cf. Judges
i. 9\

40. the South: see on Deut. i. 7.

the slopes: or 'cliffs' Gray, Numbers, p. 286) xii. 3, xiii.

JOSHUA 10. 41—II. 1. RD JE 321

kings ; he left none remaining : but he a utterly destroyed
all that breathed, as the Lord, the God of Israel, com-
manded. And Joshua smote them from Kadesh-barnea 41
even unto Gaza, and all the country of Goshen, even
unto Gibeon. And all these kings and their land did 42
Joshua take at one time, because the Lord, the God of
Israel, fought for Israel. And Joshua returned, and all 43
Israel with him, unto the camp to Gilgal.

[JE] And it came to pass, when Jabin king of Hazor heard 11
a Heb. devoted.

20 ; connected with Pisgah (Deut. iii. 17, iv. 49) and with Arnon
(Num. xxi. 15) ; here more generally, it would seem, for the
regions west and east of the ' hill-country.'

all that breathed : Deut. xx. 16.
41. Kadesh-barnea : (Deut. i. 2) 'Ain Kadis, fifty miles south
of Beersheba.

Gaza : (Deut. ii. 23) near the coast, the most southern of the
chief Philistine cities.

the country of Goshen : (xi. 16) ; not, of course, that of
Egypt (Gen. xlvi. 28) ; the reference is obscure, since no place or
district of this name is known in the south of Palestine. The
town of this name in the hill-country of Judah (xv. 51) cannot be
intended.

xi. The Northern Campaign : general review. Jabin of Hazor
forms a league of northern kings (verses 1-4). A battle is fought
with them by the waters of Merom, in which they are utterly
defeated and destroyed (verses 4-9). Hazor, the centre of the
league, is captured and burnt ; the other cities are taken, but not
burnt ; the inhabitants, however, are in every case destroyed, the
spoil only, including the cattle, being retained by Israel (verses
10-15). The two campaigns, south and north, are briefly noticed ;
the Gibeonites form the solitary exception to the policy of ex-
termination (verses 16-20). Joshua also destroyed the Anakim,
except some in Philistia (verses 21, 22). Thus the whole land
was taken for division amongst Israel (verse 23).

The narrative of the defeat of the northern league against
Israel (xi. 1-9) is parallel to that of the southern (x. 1-27^, and is
apparently from the same source (JE) with additions (especially
in verses 2, 3) by RD. The subsequent summaries (xi. 10-23) are by
Deuteronomistic writers (verses 21-3 may belong to a different
stratum from the rest).

322 JOSHUA 11. 2,3. JERD

thereof, that he sent to Jobab king of Madon, and to the
2 king of Shimron, and to the king of Achshaph, [RD] and

to the kings that were on the north, in the hill country,

and in the Arabah south of Chinneroth, and in the low-
2 land, and in a the heights of Dor on the west, to the

Canaanite on the east and on the west, and the Amorite,

a Or, Naphoth Dor

1. Jabin king1 of Hazor : described in Judges iv. 2f. as the
' King of Canaan.' Sisera, said to be his general (Judges iv. 2),
is overthrown by the tribes Zebulun and Naphtali under Barak
and Deborah. The ' Song of Deborah ' (Judges v), which cele-
brates this victory and is our earliest source for the history of
Israel, does not mention Jabin. Probably there were two tradi-
tions relating to Jabin and Sisera respectively, which have been
combined by making Sisera the general of Jabin. ' The war of
Zebulun and Naphtali against Jabin, king of Hazor, and his allies is
recounted in Joshua xi. 1-9, where it is magnified into the conquest
of all the northern Canaanites by Joshua and all Israel, in the
same way in which the victory of Judah and Simeon over Adoni-
zedek (Adoni-bezek) of Jerusalem (Jud. i. 4-7) is elaborated in
Joshua x into the account of Joshua's conquest of all Southern
Canaan ' (Moore, Judges, p. 109).

Hazor : somewhere near Kedesh-Naphtali and Lake Huleh ;
but the site of this, as of other places named, has not been
identified. Hazor belonged to Naphtali (xix. 36), Shimron to
Zebulun (xix. 15), Achshaph to Asher (xix. 25). With possible
identifications, the four towns broadly represent Galilee.

2. hill country . . . lowland : i. e. Galilee, and the coast
north of Carmel respectively.

the Arabah sonth of Chinneroth : i. e. the Jordan Valley,
south of the Sea of Gennesareth (xii. 3, xiii. 27 ; Num. xxxiv.
ir). ThetownofKinnereth(xix.35; Deutiii. 17), of unknown site,
existed already in the sixteenth century b. c. (Thutmosis III), and
supplied the earlier name for the Sea of Gennesareth or Galilee.

the heights of Dor: Dor (Tanturah) was an important
Phoenician settlement on the coast between Carmel and Caesarea.
Its 'heights' or 'uplands' are probably the low hills south of
Carmel (Conder, D.B., i. 617, who, however, doubts the identifi-
cation with Tanturah).

3. Cf. Deut. vii. 1 for the names. The Hivites seem to belong
to Central Palestine (ix. 7), and probably ■ Hittites ' and ' Hivites'
should be interchanged (as in LXX, B). < The Hittites of the
Lebanon in the O. T. are, so far as we can judge, Semites, of the

JOSHUA 11. 4-8. RD JE 323

and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Jebusite in the
hill country, and the Hivite under Hermon in the land
of Mizpah. [JE] And they went out, they and all their 4
hosts with them, much people, even as the sand that is
upon the sea shore in multitude, with horses and chariots
very many. And all these kings met together ; and they 5
came and pitched together at the waters of Merom, to
fight with Israel. And the Lord said unto Joshua, Be G
not afraid because of them : for to-morrow at this time will I
deliver them up all slain before Israel : thou shalt hough
their horses, and burn their chariots with fire. So Joshua 7
came, and all the people of war with him, against them by
the waters of Merom suddenly, and fell upon them.
And the Lord delivered them into the hand of Israel, 8
and they smote them, and chased them unto great Zidon,

Palestinian rather than the Aramaean branch of the race '
(Moore, Judges, p. 82), and are not to be confused with the Hittite
empire of the Egyptian wars. For a statement of our present
knowledge of the Hittites, see Jastrow's article in E.B., 2094-2100.
the land of Mizpah (i. e. of the * watch-tower') ; some district
north-east of the waters of Merom.

4. chariots : plated with iron (xvii. 16) ; the Hittite chariot
had usually two horses and three riders, the driver, the bowman,
and the shield-bearer (see the illustrations in E.B., 729, or in
S.B.O.T., frontispiece to 'Joshua').

5. met together : Heb. ' assembled by appointment ' (Ps.
xlviii. 4).

the waters of Merom : usually identified (as in the map pre-
fixed to this volume) with Lake Huleh, the highest of the three
lakes in the Jordan Valley (H.G.H.L., p. 481) ; but this is doubted
by Buhl {Geographic des alien Paldstina, p. 113), and by recent
commentators. The geography of this campaign is obscure and
uncertain.

6. hough : ' hamstring,' i. e. cut the tendon of the joint in the
hind leg of a quadruped which corresponds to the ankle in man (cf.
2 Sam. viii. 4 ; Gen. xlix. 6) ; a custom due either to Israel's
inability to use horses and chariots (Steuernagel), or to the belief
that trust in Yahweh would be lessened by the use of such aids
(Dillmann) : cf. Isa. ii. 7 ; Deut. xvii. 16.

8. great Zidon: (xix. 28) ' great,' to distinguish it from a smaller

Y 2

324 JOSHUA 11. 9-14. JERD

and unto Misrephoth-maim, and unto the valley of
Mizpeh eastward ; and they smote them, until they left

9 them none remaining. And Joshua did unto them as
the Lord bade him : he houghed their horses, and burnt
their chariots with fire.

10 [RD] And Joshua turned back at that time, and took
Hazor, and smote the king thereof with the sword : for
Hazor beforetime was the head of all those kingdoms.

1 r And they smote all the souls that were therein with the
edge of the sword, a utterly destroying them : there was
none left that breathed : and he burnt Hazor with fire.

12 And all the cities of those kings, and all the kings of
them, did Joshua take, and he smote them with the edge
of the sword, and b utterly destroyed them ; as Moses the

13 servant of the Lord commanded. But as for the cities
that stood on their mounds, Israel burned none of them,

14 save Hazor only ; that did Joshua burn. And all the spoil
of these cities, and the cattle, the children of Israel took for
a prey unto themselves ; but every man they smote with
the edge of the sword, until they had destroyed them,

a Heb, devoting. b Heb. devoted.

place of the same name, for whose existence there is cuneiform 1
authority.

Misrephoth-maim : site unknown, but apparently on the is
sea-coast (xiii. 6). 'Ain-Mesherfe, south of the 'Ladder of Tyre,' Ai
is suggested.

10 f. Cf. the similar, but more detailed, review of the southern go
campaign, x. 28-43. $

the head : see on verse 1. lie

13. on their mounds : (Jer. xxx. 18) Hebrew, Arabic, and ve]
Syriac tel= l mound,' so frequent and familiar in place-names ; ]ol
used in Deut. xiii. 16, Jer. xlix. 2 of the 'heap' of ruins of aj ]
destroyed city. These elevated cities are apparently supposed to be j
reserved for the settlement of Israelites. k,

14. As in the case of Ai (viii. 27). orij

JOSHUA 11. 15-20. RD 325

neither left they any that breathed. As the Lord com- 15

manded Moses his servant, so did Moses command

Joshua: and so did Joshua j ahe left nothing undone of

all that the Lord commanded Moses.

So Joshua took all that land, the hill country, and all 16

the South, and all the land of Goshen, and the lowland,

and the Arabah, and the hill country of Israel, and the

lowland of the same ; from b mount Halak, that goeth up 1 7

to Seir, even unto Baal-gad in the valley of Lebanon

under mount Hermon : and all their kings he took, and

smote them, and put them to death. Joshua made war j 8

a long time with all those kings. There was not a city 19

that made peace with the children of Israel, save the

Hivites the inhabitants of Gibeon : they took all in

battle. For it was of the Lord to c harden their hearts, 20

to come against Israel in battle, that he might d utterly

destroy them, that they e might have no favour, but

a Heb. he removed nothing. b Or, the bare mountain

c Heb. make strong. d Heb. devote.

• Or, might not sue for favour

15. A keynote of the book, stating the dominant conception of
RD, in his compilation of the narrative of the Conquest. See
Introd., pp. 261, 267.

16-20. A combined review of the results of the two campaigns.

1*7. mount Halak, that goeth up to Seir : xii. 7 ; the ' Seir '
is that of Deut. ii. 5, in the extreme south of Palestine, west of the
Arabah.

Baal-gad : xii. 7, xiii. 5 (so called from the worship of the
god of Fortune practised there) ; perhaps Caesarea Philippi
(Panias), the objection being that the latter can hardly be said to
lie within the * valley-plain ' of Lebanon. The first part of this
verse corresponds to our English phrase 'from Land's End to
John o' Groats.'

18. a long time : see on xiv. 10, implying five or seven years.

20. harden (their hearts) : 'make obstinate ' ; Exod. iv. 21,
&c. (of Pharaoh). Their obstinacy is 'of Yah wen,' i.e. it
originated in His purpose and came through His inspiration.

favour : i. e. from Israel (Esra ix. 8, R.V. ; grace ' from

326 JOSHUA 11. 21—12. i. RD

that he might destroy them, as the Lord commanded
Moses.

21 And Joshua came at that time, and cut off the Anakim
from the hill country, from Hebron, from Debir, from
Anab, and from all the hill country of Judah, and from
all the hill country of Israel : Joshua a utterly destroyed

it them with their cities. There was none of the Anakim
left in the land of the children of Israel : only in Gaza, in

23 Gath, and in Ashdod, did some remain. So Joshua took
the whole land, according to all that the Lord spake
unto Moses ; and Joshua gave it for an inheritance unto
Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. And
the land had rest from war.

12 Now these are the kings of the land, whom the

* Heb. devoted.

Yahweh); elsewhere the word is used for 'supplication foi
favour/ whence comes R. V. marg.

21-23. An appendix on the expulsion of the giants by Joshua.

21. at that time: cf. x. 36, to which reference is possibly
made.

Anakim: the (long)-necked men, i.e. those of great
height ; xiv. 12, xv. 13, 14 (expelled by Caleb) ; Judges i. 10
(expelled by Judah) ; Deut. i. 28 ; Num. xiii. 22, 28, 33. They
are generally connected with Hebron, but are here more widely
distributed.

Debir : x. 38.

Anab : xv. 50 ; the name is still found near to Debir, fourteen
miles south-west of Hebron.

22. Gaza, Gath, Ashdod : the well-known cities of Philistia,
the first and the third near or on the sea-coast, the second inland,
probably at Tell-es-Safiyeh, at the entrance to the Vale of Elah
(H.G.H.L., p. 194 f.). An illustration of the tradition of this verse
is supplied by ' Goliath of Gath' (1 Sam. xvii. 4).

23. The two halves of this verse summarize respectively the
two halves of the Book of Joshua, viz. the Conquest (chaps,
i-xii) and the Division of Canaan (chaps, xiii-xxiv).

had rest : as in xiv. 15.

xii. Catalogue of the conquered kings on the east (verses 1-6)

JOSHUA 12. 2-6. RD 327

children of Israel smote, and possessed their land
beyond Jordan toward the sunrising, from the valley
of Arnon unto mount Hermon, and all the Arabah
eastward : Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt in 2
Heshbon, and ruled from Aroer, which is on the edge of
the valley of Arnon, and a the city that is in the middle
of the valley, and half Gilead, even unto the river
Jabbok, the border of the children of Ammon ; and the 3
Arabah unto the sea of Chinneroth, eastward, and unto
the sea of the Arabah, even the Salt Sea, eastward, the
way to Beth-jeshimoth ; and on the south, under the
slopes of Pisgah : and the border of Og king of Bashan, 4
of the remnant of the Rephaim, who dwelt at Ashtaroth
and at Edrei, and ruled in mount Hermon, and in 5
Salecah, and in all Bashan, unto the border of the
Geshurites and the Maacathites, and half Gilead, the
border of Sihon king of Heshbon. Moses the servant 6
of the Lord and the children of Israel smote them : and .
Moses the servant of the Lord gave it for a possession
a See Deut. ii. 36.

and on the west (verses 7-24) of Jordan ; Sihon (verses 4-5) and
Og (verses 4-5") having been overcome, and their territory
divided, by Moses (verse 6). whilst Joshua occupied and assigned
the western territory (verses 7, 8), viz. that of the thirty-one (or
thirty) kings here specified (verses 9-24).

The first half of this summary is based on Deut. ii, iii ; the
second incorporates the deeds of Joshua from Joshua vi f., but
adds (from some unknown source) fifteen kings, viz. those of
Geder, Hormah, Arad, Adullam, Bethel, Tappuah, Hepher,
Aphek of the Sharon (LXX), Tanaach, Megiddo, Kedesh,
Jokneam, Dor, Tirzah, the nations of Galilee (LXX).

1-6. For notes on the particular names, see Deut. ii and iii,
where all will be found except

3eth-jeshimoth : (xiii. 20; Num. xxxiii. 49) probably
Suweimeh, at the north-east corner of the Dead Sea ; here named
as a southern limit to the territory of Sihon ; and

Ashtaroth : ix. 10 ; Deut. i. 4.

328 JOSHUA 12. 7-13. RD

unto the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe
of Manasseh.

7 And these are the kings of the land whom Joshua and
the children of Israel smote beyond Jordan westward,
from Baal-gad in the valley of Lebanon even unto
a mount Halak, that goeth up to Seir j and Joshua gave
it unto the tribes of Israel for a possession according to

8 their divisions ; in the hill country, and in the lowland,
and in the Arabah, and in the slopes, and in the
wilderness, and in the South ; the Hittite, the Amorite,
and the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the

9 Jebusite : the king of Jericho, one ; the king of Ai,

10 which is beside Beth-el, one ; the king of Jerusalem,

1 1 one ; the king of Hebron, one ; the king of Jarmuth,

1 2 one ; the king of Lachish, one ; the king of Eglon, one ;

13 the king of Gezer, one; the king of Debir, one; the

a See ch. xi. 17.

V. Cf. xi. 17.

8. Cf. ix. 1, x. 40, xi. 2, 16 ; the wilderness of Judah (xv. 61 ;
Judges i. 16) is added, i. e. the district between the Dead Sea and
the ' hill-country,' known as Jeshimon (H.G.H.L., p. 313).

9f. Jericho (vi. if.), Ai (vii. 2f.), Jerusalem (x. 3, not itself
taken), Hebron (x. 36), Jarmuth (x. 3), Lachish (x. 31), Eglon
(x. 34), Gezer (x. 33), Debir (x. 38), Geder (not known, here
only), Hormah (Num. xiv. 45), Arad (Num. xxi. 1 ; Tell Arad,
seventeen miles south-east of Hebron, H.G.H.L., p. 278), Libnah
(x. 29), Adullam (Gen. xxxviii. 1 ; 'Aid el-ma, sixteen miles south-
west of Jerusalem, H.G.H.L., p. 229), Makkedah (x.28), Bethel (cf.
viii. 17), Tappuah (xvi. 8), Hepher (neither known, but in Central
Palestine), Aphek (not known), Lasharon (read with LXX, ' which
is in Sharon,' and connect with previous name), Madon, Hazor,
Shimron-meron, Achshaph (xi. 1, 2), Taanach (xvii. n, xxi. 25;
south of the Plain of Esdraelon), Megiddo (probably Lejjun,
opposite Jezreel, H.G.H.L., p. 386), Kedesh (xix. 37, north-west
of Lake Huleh, i.e. Kedesh-Naphtali), Jokneam (xix. n, xxi. 34 ;
north-west of Esdraelon), Dor (xi. 2), Goiim (as R. V. marg. ;
read with LXX, ' in Galilee' for ' in Gilgal '), Tirzah (in Mount
Ephraim, site disputed, H.G.H.L., p. 355 \ cf. E.B., 5102).

JOSHUA 12. 14—13. 1. RD JE 329

king of Geder, one ; the king of Hormah, one; the king 14
of Arad, one; the king of Libnah, one; the king of 15
Adullam, one ; the king of Makkedah, one ; the king of 16
Beth-el, one; the king of Tappuah, one; the king of 17
Hepher, one ; the king of Aphek, one ; the king of l8
Lassharon, one ; the king of Madon, one ; the king of 19
Hazor, one ; the king of Shimron-meron, one ; the king 20
of Achshaph, one ; the king of Taanach, one ; the king 2 1
of Megiddo, one; the king of Kedesh, one; the king of 22
Jokneam in Carmel, one ; the king of Dor in a the height 23
of Dor, one ; the king of b Goiim in Gilgal, one ; the 24
king of Tirzah, one : all the kings thirty and one.

[ JE] Now Joshua was old and well stricken in years ; 13

a Or, Naphaih-dor b Or, nations

XIII f. The Division of the Land.

Here begins the second half of the book, devoted to the
Division of the Land, whose conquest has been described in
chaps, i-xii. It belongs chiefly to P (see Introd., II. 3), and it
should be noticed that the boundaries for the nine and a half
tribes (cf. Num. xxxiv. 1-15) agree substantially with those of
the land allotted by Ezekiel for the twelve tribes, on their restora-
tion from exile (Ezek. xlvii. 13-20). '. Here, as in other things,
what Ezekiel embodies in his description of the ideal future, P
embodies in his account of the idealized past ' (Gray, Numbers,
P. 453).

xiii. Yahweh recapitulates to Joshua the districts left uncon-
quered, within the ideal boundaries (verses 1-6), and bids him
divide the land amongst the (western) tribes (verse 7). Summary
of the eastern territory (verses 8-12). An exception to the
occupation (Geshurites, verse 13), and to the participation (Levi,
verse 14, cf. verse 33). Inheritance of Reuben (verses 15-23), of
Gad (verses 24-8), and of Eastern Manasseh (verses 29-31), com-
pleting the division of the country east of Jordan (verse 32).

xiii. 1-14 has been expanded by the Deuteronomistic editor
from a fragment of JE, representing the conquest of the Promised
Land as incomplete. The remainder of the chapter belongs to
what is now the main source, P.

1. well stricken in years : the Hebrew idiom is 'advanced in

330 JOSHUA 13.2,3. JE RD

and the Lord said unto him, Thou art old and well
stricken in years, and there remaineth yet very much

2 land to be possessed. [RD] This is the land that yet
remaineth : all the regions of the Philistines, and all the

3 Geshurites ; from a the Shihor, which is before Egypt,

a Commonly called, the brook of Egypt. See Num. xxxiv. 5.

days ' ; in xxiv. 29 Joshua is said to have been 1 10 when he
died. See note on i. 1. •

remaineth, &c. : this verse, with 7*, may have referred
originally to the internal territory ; but it has been interpreted
by RD in verses 2-6 of the territory external to Israel, on the far
south and north. Kuenen {Hex. p. 135) and others connect it
with xviii. 2 f., as referring to the land to be divided among the
seven tribes (after the settlement of Judah and Joseph). If this
is correct, RD has altered * seven ' to ' nine and a half ' in verse 7,
when making the editorial transference.

2 f. Recapitulation of unconquered territory, on the borders of
Israel.

Philistines : particularized in verse 3, where are named the
inhabitants of their five principal cities, viz. Gaza, Ashkelon, and
Ashdod on or near the coast, Gath in the Shephelah, and Ekron
eight miles south-east of Lydda. Their • regions ' extended along
the Maritime Plain from Joppa for forty miles, to the south of
Gaza. For the history of this remarkable people, see Moore in
E.B., s.v., or G. A. Smith, H.G.H.L., chap. ix.

Geshurites : 1 Sam. xxvii. 8, where they are located south
of Philistia, in the extreme south-west of Palestine. The name
occurs also in verse ir (cf. xii. 5 ; Deut. iii. 14), but of another
group in the north-east of Palestine.

3. the Shihor : denoting the Pelusiac arm of the Nile in Isa.
xxiii. 3 ; Jer. ii. 18 ; so, possibly, here and in 1 Chron. xiii. 5.
In xv. 4, 47 (cf. Num. xxxiv. 5 ; 1 Kings viii. 65 ; 2 Kings
xxiv. 7 ; Isa. xxvii. 12 ; 2 Chron. vii. 8) the south-west border of
Judah is defined by the * Brook of Egypt,' identified with the
Wady el-'Arish, flowing into the Mediterranean midway between
Gaza and Pelusium. With this R. V. marg. identifies ' the
Shihor.' Authorities are divided as to these two views (cf.
Wilson, in D.B., iv. 498).

before Egypt: i.e. east of it (Deut. xxxii. 49, xxxiv, 1, E.V.
'over against'}, according to the familiar Hebrew idiom which
takes the left hand to represent the north (xix. 27 ; Gen. xiv. 15
R. V.), the right hand the south (Ps. lxxxix. 12), and behind, the
west (Judges xviii. 12).

JOSHUA 13. 4-6. RD 331

even unto the border of Ekron northward, which is
counted to the Canaanites : the five lords of the
Philistines ; the Gazites, and the Ashdodites, the
Ashkelonites, the Gittites, and the Ekronites ; a also 4
the Avvim, on the south : all the land of the Canaanites,
and Mearah that belongeth to the Zidonians, unto
Aphek, to the border of the Amorites : and the land of 5
the Gebalites, and all Lebanon, toward the sunrising,
from Baal-gad under mount Hermon unto the entering
in of Hamath : all the inhabitants of the hill country 6
from Lebanon unto Misrephoth-maim, even all the
Zidonians ; them will I drive out from before the
a Or, also the Avvim : from the south, all &c.

which is counted to the Canaanites : and is therefore part
of the (ideal) inheritance of Israel. The Philistines may have
seized this territory shortly before the Israelite invasion ; they
are not mentioned in the Tell el-Amarna Letters (1400 B.C.), nor
do they appear on the monuments of Ramses II (1340-1273). (Cf.
E.B.y 3718, and see on Deut. ii. 23.)

also the Avvim : Deut. ii. 23 ; with this connect the words
' on the south ' as in R. V. text, following the versions.

4. all the land of the Canaanites : Deut. i. 7 ; here, also, of
Phoenicia.

Mearah is unknown ; Aphek = Aphaca (Afka), at the mouth
of the river Adonis (Nahr Ibrahim) ; for Amorites, see on
Deut. i. 7.

5. the land of the Gebalites: Gebal = Byblus, the ancient
Phoenician city, and the centre of the Tammuz cult, four miles
north of the Adonis (now Jebeil).

Baal-gad: xi. 17.

the entering* in of Hamath : a phrase frequent in definitions
of the north boundary. Hamath lay on the Orontes, 150 miles
north of Dan ; ' the entrance to Hamath I is either the mouth of
the pass between Lebanon and Hermon, as the starting-point of
the road to Hamath (Driver on Amos vi. 2, Cam. Bib.), or the plain
H0ms, thirty miles south of Hama (Moore, Judges, p. 80).

6. Misrephoth-maim : xi. 8 ; the first part of the verse com-
prehends (from east to west) the territory named in verses 4, 5.

them will I drive out : the \ I ' is emphatic in the Hebrew ;
Yahweh makes Himself responsible for the expulsion of the

332 JOSHUA 13. 7-12. RD JE RD

children of Israel : only allot thou it unto Israel for an

7 inheritance, as I have commanded thee. [JE] Now
therefore divide this land for an inheritance [RD] unto

8 the nine tribes, and the half tribe of Manasseh. With
him the Reubenites and the Gadites received their
inheritance, which Moses gave them, beyond Jordan
eastward, even as Moses the servant of the Lord gave

9 them ; from Aroer, that is on the edge of the valley of
Arnon, and the city that is in the middle of the valley,

io and all the a plain of Medeba unto Dibon; and all the
cities of Sihon king of the Amorites, which reigned in
Heshbon, unto the border of the children of Ammon ;

ii and Gilead, and the border of the Geshurites and
Maacathites, and all mount Hermon, and all Bashan

1 2 unto Salecah j all the kingdom of Og in Bashan, which
reigned in Ashtaroth and in Edrei (the same was left of
the remnant of the Rephaim); for these did Moses

a Or, table land

peoples of these territories, so that Joshua may now proceed to
the division of the land.

allot : xxiii. 4 ; lit. i make (the lot) to fall ' : cf. Num. xxxiv. 2.

as I have commanded thee : i. 6 ; Deut. iii. 28, xxxi. 7.

7. the nine tribes: i.e. excluding Reuben and Gad, and the
half of Manasseh, whose territory is already assigned on the east
of Jordan. The first half of the verse continues verse 1, ' this
land ' being Canaan, not, of course, the land unconquered.

8. With him does not connect properly with verse 7, since
1 him ' must denote the eastern half of Manasseh, whilst verse 7
(to which the pronoun would refer) speaks of Western Manasseh.
Some words have dropped out between verse 7 and verse 8, e. g.
1 For the half tribe of Manasseh and ' (Dillmann). LXX inserts
' from the Jordan unto the Great Sea in the direction of the
sunset shalt thou give it. The Great Sea shall be the boundary,'
and reads in verse 8, i to the (two) tribes, and to the half of the
tribe of Manasseh, to Reuben and to Gad gave Moses,' &c.

8 f. which Moses gave them : xii. 1-5 ; Deut. iii. 8-13, where
see the notes.

JOSHUA 13. i3-2i. JRDP 333

smite, and drave them out. [J] Nevertheless the 13
children of Israel drave not out the Geshurites, nor the
Maacathites : but Geshur and Maacath dwelt in the
midst of Israel, unto this day. [RD] Only unto the 14
tribe of Levi he gave none inheritance ; the offerings of
the Lord, the God of Israel, made by fire are his
inheritance, as he spake unto him.

[P] And Moses gave unto the tribe of the children of 15
Reuben according to their families. And their border 16
was from Aroer, that is on the edge of the valley of
Arnon, and the city that is in the middle of the valley,
and all the a plain by Medeba ; Heshbon, and all her 1 7
cities that are in the a plain ; Dibon, and Bamoth-baal,
and Beth-baal-meon ; and Jahaz, and Kedemoth, and 18
Mephaath; and Kiriathaim, and Sibmah, and Zereth- 19
shahar in the mount of the valley ; and Beth-peor, and 20
the b slopes of Pisgah, and Beth-jeshimoth j and all the 2 1
cities of the a plain, and all the kingdom of Sihon king
of the Amorites, which reigned in Heshbon, whom
Moses smote with the chiefs of Midian, Evi, and Rekem,

a Or, table land b Or, springs

13. See Introd., III. 1 (a), for the important evidence of this
and similar statements (incompleteness of conquest).

14. the tribe of Levi : verse 33, xiv. 3 ; Deut. x. 9, xviii. i
(notes).

the offering's . . . made by fire : one word in Hebrew,
which has here been interpolated, as the grammar of the Hebrew
sentence shows (LXX omits). The sentence read originally as
verse 33".

xiii. 15-33. Tribal territories east of Jordan (P). Cf. Num.
xxxii. 34 f. Details as to the site (where identified) and history
of the cities hereafter catalogued may be found most conveniently
in the Bible Dictionaries, under the respective names ; points of
special interest only will be noticed here.

xiii. 15-23. The Inheritance of Reuben.

334 JOSHUA 13. 22-28. P

and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, the princes of Sihon, that

22 dwelt in the land. Balaam also the son of Beor, the
soothsayer, did the children of Israel slay with the sword

23 among the rest of their slain. And the border of the
children of Reuben was Jordan, and the border thereof.
This was the inheritance of the children of Reuben
according to their families, the cities and the villages
thereof.

24 And Moses gave unto the tribe of Gad, unto the

25 children of Gad, according to their families. And their
border was Jazer, and all the cities of Gilead, and half
the land of the children of Ammon, unto Aroer that is

26 before Rabbah ; and from Heshbon unto Ramath-
mizpeh, and Betonim; and from Mahanaim unto the

27 border of a Debir ; and in the valley, Beth-haram, and
Beth-nimrah, and Succoth, and Zaphon, the rest of the
kingdom of Sihon king of Heshbon, b Jordan and the
border thereof unto the uttermost part of the sea of

28 Chinnereth beyond Jordan eastward. This is the inherit-

a Or, Lidebir b Or, having Jordan for a border

21. the chiefs of Midian : Num. xxxi. 8, where their over-
throw is mentioned apart from that of Sihon.

22. Balaam: named with the Midianites in Num. xxxi. 8 also ;
the term applied to him, soothsayer (or diviner, Deut. xviii. 10),
originally denoted divination by drawing lots with headless arrows
at a sanctuary (see on vii. 14). Its later use, as here by P, is in
a more general and disparaging sense, viz. the 'oracle-monger'
(Gray, Numbers, p. 320). For the story of Balaam, see Num.
xxii-xxiv, esp. xxii. 5-6 ; cf. Joshua xxiv. 9, 10.

23. and the border thereof: should be rendered, as in Deut.
iii. 16, R. V. marg., ' for a border.'

xiii. 24-28. The Inheritance of Gad.

26. Debir : read with R. V. marg. (Lo-debar, 2 Sam. ix. 4,
xvii. 27, may be meant).

27. the sea of Chinnereth : xi. 2.

JOSHUA 13. 29—14. 1. P 335

ance of the children of Gad according to their families,
the cities and the villages thereof. -

And Moses gave inheritance unto the half tribe of 29
Manasseh : and it was for the half tribe of the children
of Manasseh according to their families. And their 3°
border was from Mahanaim, all Bashan, all the kingdom
of Og king of Bashan, and all a the towns of Jair, which
are in Bashan, threescore cities : and half Gilead, and 31
Ashtaroth, and Edrei, the cities of the kingdom of Og in
Bashan, were for the children of Machir the son of
Manasseh, even for the half of the children of Machir
according to their families.

These are the inheritances which Moses distributed in 32
the plains of Moab, beyond the Jordan at Jericho,
eastward. But unto the tribe of Levi Moses gave none 33
inheritance : the Lord, the God of Israel, is their
inheritance, as he spake unto them.

And these are the inheritances which the children of 14

a See Num. xxxii. 41.

xiii. 29-31. The Inheritance of East Manasseh.

30. the towns of Jair : ' tent-villages' : Deut. iii. 14 (note).

31. half Gilead: contrast verse 25 (verses 29-31 probably
form a later stratum of P).

Machir the sou of Manasseh : Deut. iii. 15 ; the following
words of the verse appear to be a corrective gloss in the light of
Num. xxvi. 29, where all Manassites are sons of Machir. See on
xvii. 1.

xiii. 32, 33. Subscription to account of the division of eastern
territory.

32. Num. xxxiv. 15 ; Deut. xxxiv. 1.

33. See on verse 14 ; here probably a later addition (omitted
by LXX).

xiv. Introduction to the division of western territory (verses
1-5). Caleb claims Hebron, according to the promise of Moses
(verses 6-9). He proposes to drive out the Anakim who are

336 JOSHUA 14. 2-4. P

Israel took in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the
priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the
fathers' houses of the tribes of the children of Israel,

2 distributed unto them, by the lot of their inheritance, as
the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses, for the

3 nine tribes, and for the half tribe. For Moses had given
the inheritance of the two tribes and the half' tribe
beyond Jordan : but unto the Levites he gave none

4 inheritance among them. For the children of Joseph
were two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim : and they gave
no portion unto the Levites in the land, save cities to
dwell in, with the a suburbs thereof for their cattle and

a Or, pasture lands

there (verses 10-12). Joshua accordingly gives Hebron to Caleb
(verses 13-15).

The account of the division of the country west of Jordan
(xiv. 1 — xix. 51) is drawn chiefly from P, to whom verses 1-5 of
this chapter belong, originally preceded by xviii. 1 (Dillmann).
The remainder of the chapter lies before us as by RD, though
probably based on E.

1. Eleazar the priest: the son and successor of Aaron (Deut.
x. 6), who, according to P (Num. xxxiv. 16-29), with Joshua,
and a prince from each tribe, has been appointed to divide the
land by lot (Num. xxvi. 54-6, xxxiii. 54). Contrast the different
representation of JE in xviii. 6, 8-10.

the heads of the fathers' : a shorter form of the phrase in
xxii. 14 (note).

2. toy the lot of their inheritance : read (with change of
a single Hebrew vowel) \ by lot, as their inheritance,' connecting
with verse 1.

as Yahweh commanded : Num. xxxiv. 13.

3 f. The writer proceeds to explain the number 9! by (a) the
subtraction of the o,\ trans-Jordanic tribes, (b) the exclusion of
Levi, (c) the two branches of the Josephites counting as two
tribes (Gen. xlviii. 5).

4. cities to dwell in : for these wholly ideal Levitical cities,
cf. Num. xxxv. 1-8 ; Lev. xxv. 32-4.

suburbs : better R. V. marg. f pasture lands,' held in common
(xxi. 11). The Hebrew word is, literally, 'a place where cattle
are driven.'

JOSHUA 14. 5-io. PRD 337

for their substance. As the Lord commanded Moses; 5
so the children of Israel did, and they divided the land.

[(E) RD] Then the children of Judah drew nigh unto 6
Joshua in Gilgal : and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the
Kenizzite said unto him, Thou knowest the thing that
the Lord spake unto Moses the man of God concerning
me and concerning thee in Kadesh-barnea. Forty years 7
old was I when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me
from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land ; and I brought
him word again as it was in mine heart. Nevertheless 8
my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the
people melt : but I wholly followed the Lord my God.
And Moses sware on that day, saying, Surely the land 9
whereon thy foot hath trodden shall be an inheritance to
thee and to thy children for ever, because thou hast
wholly followed the Lord my God. And now, behold, 10
the Lord hath kept me alive, as he spake, these forty
and five years, from the time that the Lord spake this

6. Caleb : of the tribe of Judah (Num. xiii. 6, xxxiv. 19), the
faithful and courageous spy (Num. xiv. 6). In another tradition
he is called the Kenizzite (Num. xxxii. 12 : cf. Judges i. 13), from
Kenaz, an Edomite tribe (Gen. xxxvi. 11).

Kadesh-barnea : Num. xiii. 26, xxxii. 8 ; for site, see on
Deut. i. 2.

7. in mine heart : Hebrew ' with ' ; the heart, in Hebrew
psychology, is the centre not of feeling only, but of all psychical
phenomena, including (as here) intellectual states (Deut. viii. 5 ;
1 Kings x. 2, &c).

8. For the conflicting testimonies of the spies, see Num. xiii.

9. whereon thy foot hath trodden: Hebron (Num. xiii. 22).
The promise is confirmed by the oath of Yahweh in Deut. i. 36 ;
cf. Num. xiv. 24.

10. these forty and five years : the exact time of desert-
wandering, after the departure from Kadesh-barnea, is given else-
where (Deut. ii. 14) as thirty-eight years. This would leave
a period of seven years (cf. xi. 18) for the conquest of Canaan,
as far as the present point of the narrative (or five years, if we

338 JOSHUA 14. n-15. RD

word unto Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness :
and now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old.

11 As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that
Moses sent me : as my strength was then, even so is my
strength now, for war, and to go out and to come in.

1 2 Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the Lord
spake in that day; for thou heardest in that day how
the Anakim were there, and cities great and fenced :
it may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall

13 drive them out, as the Lord spake. And Joshua
blessed him; and he gave Hebron unto Caleb the son

14 of Jephunneh for an inheritance. Therefore Hebron
became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh
the Kenizzite, unto this day ; because that he wholly

1 5 followed the Lord, the God of Israel. Now the name
of Hebron beforetime was a Kiriath-arba ; which Arba

a That is, The city of Arba.

subtract the conventional forty years). No other chronological
information is given in this book as to the Conquest (see Introd.,
III. 2).

11. to go out and to come in : Deut. xxviii. 6, xxxi. 2, &c.

12. this mountain: i.e. the 'hill-country' round Hebron,
which is in the highest part of the mountains of Judah.

Anakim: xi. 21 (note).
fenced: x. 20 (note).

13. blessed him: the solemn blessing, or curse (vi. 26},
especially at an important crisis, had great importance attached to
it by the Hebrews, as by other ancient peoples : cf. Gen. ix. 25,
xxvii. 35, &c Such blessings are really spells, charged with an
automatic power to affect the future.

15. Kiriath-arba : Judges i. 10. The name probably meant
'Tetrapolis,' the 'fourfold' city (cf. Moore, Judges, p. 23), ex-
plained by Jerome as being the fourfold burial-place of Adam,
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The numeral form \ arba ' was mis-
understood at an early date, and transformed into a legendary
hero of the Anakim, Arba, founder of the city, and (in xv. 13,
xxi. 1 1) the father of Anak.

JOSHUA 15. 1-5. RDP 339

ivas the greatest man among the Anakim. And the
land had rest from war.

[Pj And the lot for the tribe of the children of Judah 15
according to their families was unto the border of Edom,
even to the wilderness of Zin southward, at the uttermost
part of the south. And their south border was from the 2
uttermost part of the Salt Sea, from the ilbay that
looked southward : and it went out southward of the 3
ascent of Akrabbim, and passed along to Zin, and went
up by the south of Kadesh-barnea, and passed along by
Hezron, and went up to Addar, and turned about to
Karka : and it passed along to Azmon, and went out at 4
the brook of Egypt ; and the goings out of the border
were at the sea : this shall be your south border. And 5
a Heb. tongue.

xv. 1-12. The Inheritance of Judah ; defined by a line drawn
from the south end of the Dead Sea to Kadesh, and thence to the
Wady el-'Arlsh (verses 2-4) ; by the Dead Sea on the east (verse
5a) ; on the north, by a line drawn from the Dead Sea mouth of
the Jordan across to the Mediterranean, having on it, or near it,
the following places (amongst others), viz. Beth-Hoglah, Adum-
mim, En-Shemesh, Jerusalem, Kiriath-jearim, Chesalon, Beth-
Shemesh, Timnath, Ekron, Jabneel (verses 5b-n) ; on the west
by the Mediterranean (verse 12).

If. See especially G. A. Smith, H. G. H. L., chap, xiii, 'The
Borders and Bulwarks of Judaea,' where the character of the
debatable north frontier is described. The same frontier
delineated by towns and natural features in verses 5b-n is given,
for the most part, as the south border of Benjamin in xviii. 12-19
^though reversed, from west to east).

1. Edom: the district of Mount Seir (Deut. i. 2).

the wilderness of Zin : in which lay Kadesh (Deut. xxxii. 51 ;.

2. bay : verse 5, xviii. 19 ; whereas we speak of a ; tongue ' of
land, the Hebrews spoke of a 'tongue' of sea (Isa. xi. 15).; the
parallel description in Num. xxxiv. 3 says simply ' from the end
of the Salt Sea.'

3. the ascent of Akrabbim : Num. xxxiv. 4 ; i Scorpion Pass,'
one of the passes opening from the Wady el-Fikreh, possibly
that opposite the prominent Jebel Madurah.

4. the brook of Egypt : xiii. 3 (note) ; your : read f their' ^LXX).

Z 2

340 JOSHUA 15. 6-8. P

the east border was the Salt Sea, even unto the end of
Jordan. And the border of the north quarter was from

6 the a bay of the sea at the end of Jordan : and the
border went up to Beth-hoglah, and passed along by the
north of Beth-arabah ; and the border went up to

7 the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben : and the border
went up to Debir from the valley of Achor, and so
northward, looking toward Gilgal, that is over against
the ascent of Adummim, which is on the south side
of the river : and the border passed along to the waters
of En-shemesh, and the goings out thereof were at

8 En-rogel : and the border went up by the valley of the
son of Hinnom unto the bside of the Jebusite south-
ward (the same is Jerusalem) : and the border went up

a Heb. tongue. b Heb. shoulder.

5. bay : here that of the north end of the Dead Sea.

6. The line can be traced by means of the names selected in
the summary above, all of which will be found in any large map.

the stone of Bohan : xviii. 17 ; unknown both as regards
name and site. 'Bohen' in Hebrew means 'thumb,' and the
name may have been given to some rock or hill from a fancied
resemblance — the ' Thumb Rock.'
*7. the valley of Achor : vii. 24.

Gilgal : not, of course, the basal camp in the Jordan Valley.

ascent of Adummim : xviii. 17 ; probably Tala'at ed Dumm
(Ascent of Blood) on the ordinary road from Jericho to Jerusalem.
1 Curious red streaks appear from time to time on the stone, and
perhaps account for the sanguinary names which attach to the
road' (H.G.H.L., p. 265).

8. the valley of the son of Hinnom : Heb. ge ben-Hinnom,
or (xviii. 16) ge-Hinnom, familiar in its later form, Gehenna,
through associations engendered by the use of the valley for the
worship of Molech (2 Kings xxiii. 10) ; one of three possible
valleys south of Jerusalem, viz. the Wady er-Rababi, the Tyro-
poeon, and the Kidron, but probably the first (E.B., 2423 ; D.B.,

ii. 385*0.

unto the side of the Jebusite southward: south of the
'shoulder' on which Jerusalem stands; Jerusalem itself being
within the territory of Benjamin (xviii. 28).

JOSHUA 15. 9-13. P 341

to the top of the mountain that lieth before the valley of
Hinnom westward, which is at the uttermost part of the
vale of Rephaim northward : and the border was drawn 9
from the top of the mountain unto the fountain of the
waters of Nephtoah, and went out to the cities of mount
Ephron ; and the border was drawn to Baalah (the same
is Kiriath-jearim) : and the border turned about from 10
Baalah westward unto mount Seir, and passed along
unto the side of mount Jearim on the north (the same is
Chesalon), and went down to Beth-shemesh, and passed
along by Timnah : and the border went out unto the 1 1
side of Ekron northward : and the border was drawn to
Shikkeron, and passed along to mount Baalah, and went
out at Jabneel ; and the goings out of the border were
at the sea. And the west border was to the great sea, 12
and the border thereof. This is the border of the
children of Judah round about according to their
families.

And unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh he gave 13
a portion among the children of Judah, according to the

9. was drawn : ' inclined.'

the fountain of the waters of Nephtoah : xviii. 15 ; in its
original form, probably 'the fountain of Merneptah' (Calici, quoted
by Meyer, Die Israeliten, p. 222).

11. Jabneel: Yebna, twelve miles south from Joppa, and four
miles from the Mediterranean. Under the name Jamnia it became
famous as the religious centre of the Jewish race in the period
70 135 A. D.

12. The verse should read, ' And the west border was the Great
Sea as border ' : cf. xiii. 23.

xv. 13-20. Caleb acquires his portion. Verse 13 is redactional,
introducing an account of the acquisition of the territory around
Hebron by Caleb (cf. xiv. 6-15). This is one of the fragments
of J, closely related to the first chapter of Judges, which contains
a parallel and almost verbally identical narrative (Judges i. 10-15).
Verse 20 is the concluding formula of P to the whole definition
of the territory of Judah.

342 JOSHUA 15. 14-19. P J

commandment of the Lord to Joshua, even a Kiriath-
arba, which Arba was the father of Anak (the same

14 is Hebron). [J] And Caleb drove out thence the three
sons of Anak, Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai, the

15 children of Anak. And he went up thence against the
inhabitants of Debir : now the name of Debir beforetime

16 was Kiriath-sepher. And Caleb said, He that smiteth
Kiriath-sepher, and taketh it, to him will I give Achsah

17 my daughter to wife. And Othniel the son of Kenaz,
the brother of Caleb, took it : and he gave him Achsah

18 his daughter to wife. And it came to pass, when she
came unto him, that she moved him to ask of her father
a field : and she lighted down from off her ass ; and

1 9 Caleb said unto her, What wouldest thou? And she

a That is, the city of Arba.

13. Xiriath-arba : xiv. 15 (note).

14. Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai : Num. xiii. 22 ; Judges
i. 10 (according to the latter, it is Judah who smites them). The
names suggest Aramaean origin for the clans in question ; Sheshai
may be the Shasu (Syrian Bedouins) of the Egyptians ; the Talmai
of 2 Sam. iii. 3, xiii. 37 is the Aramaean king of Geshur (cf.
Gray, Numbers, p. 141 ; Moore, Judges, p. 24).

15. Debir: x. 38.

Kiriath-sepher: /;'/. (if the name be of Hebrew origin)
'city of writing,' but no inference can be drawn from such an
etymology as to the literary life of Canaan. It is quite likely that
some (unknown) Canaanite word, resembling Sepher in sound,
has been reproduced in a form familiar to Hebrew ears; cf. the
English modification of ' ecrevisse ' into ' crayfish.'

16. For the idea cf. 1 Sam. xvii. 25 ; 1 Chron. xi. 6.
Achsah must be taken to represent a Kenizzite clan con-
nected with the Othnielites of Debir, and the Calebites of
Hebron.

17. Othniel : called (Judges i. 13) the younger brother of
Caleb : cf. Judges iii. 9- 11.

18. 19. The story is a graceful one, and may well rest on some
personal incident, although its significance in the present con-
text is in relation to clans. Achsah, when she comes to her
future husband as the prize of battle, incites him to join her in

JOSHUA 15. 20-32. JP 343

said, Give me a a blessing ; for that thou hast l) set me in
the land of the South, give me also springs of water.
And he gave her the upper springs and the nether
springs.

[P] This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children 20
of Judah according to their families.

And the uttermost cities of the tribe of the children of 21
Judah toward the border of Edom in the South were
Kabzeel, and Eder, and Jagur; and Kinah, and Dimonah, 22
and Adadah ; and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Ithnan ; 23
Ziph, and Telem, and Bealoth ; and Hazor-hadattah, 24, 2c
and Kerioth-hezron (the same is Hazor) ; Amam, and 36
Shema, and Moladah ; and Hazar-gaddah, and Heshmon, 27
and Beth-pelet ; and Hazar-shual, and Beer-sheba, and 28
Biziothiah ; Baalah, and Iim, and Ezem ; and Eltolad, 29, 30
and Chesil, and Hormah ; and Ziklag, and Madmannah, 31
and Sansannah ; and Lebaoth, and Shilhim, and Ain, 32
and Rimmon : all the cities are twenty and nine, with
their villages.

a Or, present b Or, given me the land of the South

a further request. She descends from her ass to show respect for
her father, as did Abigail on meeting David (1 Sam. xxv. 23).
The 'present' (R.V.marg. : cf. Gen. xxxiii. n ; 1 Sam. xxv. 27,
xxx. 26 ; 2 Kings v. 15), for which she asks, consists of certain
water-rights, of consequence because the * South ' is the dry or
parched land. ' Property in water is older and more important
than property in land' (Rel. Sem., p. 104). The springs in
question may be those of a particularly well-watered valley (Seil
ed-Dilbeh) found between Hebron and Debir.

xv. 21-63. Catalogue of cities belonging to Judah. This catalogue
falls into four topographical divisions, viz. the Negeb or 'South'
(verses 21-32), the Shephelah or ' lowland ' (verses 33-47), the
' hill-country ' (verses 48-60), and the 'wilderness ' (verses 61-62).
An appended note states the inability of Judah to expel the
Jebusites from Jerusalem (verse 63s.

28. Biziothiaii : we should, perhaps, read, with slight change,
'her daughters ' (verse 45, Neh. xi. 28).

344 JOSHUA 15. 33-54- P

33, 34 In the lowland, Eshtaol, and Zorah, and Ashnah ; and

35 Zanoah, and En-gannim, Tappuah, and Enam ; Jarmuth,

ofi and Adullam, Socoh, and Azekah ; and Shaaraim, and

Adithaim, and Gederah, and Gederothaim ; fourteen

cities with their villages.

37, 38 Zenan, and Hadashah, and Migdal-gad ; and Dilan,

39 and Mizpeh, and Joktheel \ Lachish, and Bozkath, and

40 Eglon ; and Cabbon, and a Lahmam, and Chithlish ;

41 and Gederoth, Beth-dagon, and Naamah, and Makkedah;
sixteen cities with their villages.

42, 43 Libnah, and Ether, and Ashan ; and Iphtah, and
44 Ashnah, and Nezib ; and Keilah, and Achzib, and

Mareshah ; nine cities with their villages.
45, 46 Ekron, with her *> towns and her villages : from Ekron

even unto the sea, all that were by the side of Ashdod,

with their villages.

47 Ashdod, her towns and her villages ; Gaza, her towns
and her villages ; unto the brook of Egypt, and the great
sea, and the border thereof.

48 And in the hill country, Shamir, and Jattir, and

49 Socoh ; and Dannah, and Kiriath-sannah (the same is
5°$ 51 Debir) • and Anab, and Eshtemoh, and Anim ; and

Goshen, and Holon, and Giloh ; eleven cities with their
villages.
52» 53 Arab, and Dumah, and Eshan ; and Janim, and Beth-
54 tappuah, and Aphekah ; and Humtah, and Kiriath-arba
a Or, Lahmas b Heb. daughters.

32. twenty and nine: thiiMy-six are actually given; seven,
therefore, have been added subsequently, possibly in verses 26-8
(cf. Neh. xi. 26, 27) ; LXX unites Ain and Rimmon as one city.

36. fourteen: fifteen are actually given : Adithaim is omitted
by LXX.

47. and the border thereof: should be, as in xiii. 23, 'as the
border.'

JOSHUA 15. 55—16. i. P J JE 345

(the same is Hebron), and Zior ; nine cities with their
villages.

Maon, Carmel, and Ziph, and Jutah ; and Jezreel, and 55; 56
Jokdeam, and Zanoah ; Kain, Gibeah, and Timnah ; 57
ten cities with their villages.

Halhul, Beth-zur, and Gedor ; and Maarath, and 58, 59
Beth-anoth, and Eltekon ; six cities with their villages.

Kiriath-baal (the same is Kiriath-jearim), and Rabbah ; 60
two cities with their villages.

In the wilderness, Beth-arabah, Middin, and Secacah ; 61
and Nibshan, and the City of Salt, and En-gedi ; six 62
cities with their villages.

[J] And as for the Jebusites, the inhabitants of 63
Jerusalem, the children of Judah could not drive them
out : but the Jebusites dwelt with the children of Judah
at Jerusalem, unto this day.

[JE] And the lot for the children of Joseph went out 16

59. After this verse add with LXX, ' Tekoa, Ephratha, that is
Bethlehem, Peor, Etam, Kolon, Tatam, Sores, Kerem, Gallim,
Bether, Manahath, eleven cities and their villages.'

63. Another fragment of J = Judges i. 21 (except that 'Judah'
is replaced by 'Benjamin,' and 'could not' by 'did not/ the
present being the more original form of the verse). According
to verse 8 and xviii. 28, Jerusalem belongs to Benjamin, and the
redactor of Judges i has corrected J accordingly. For the con-
quest of Jerusalem by David (of Judah), see 2 Sam. v. 6 f. (cf.
2 Sam. xxiv. 18).

xvi, xvii. The Inheritance of Joseph : definition of south border
by a line drawn from Jericho through Bethel, the lower Beth-
horon, and Gezer (xvi. 1-3). Inheritance of Ephraim, as one of
the sons of Joseph (xvi. 4) ; definition of territory (xvi. 5-8) ;
which includes some cities in Manasseh (xvi. 9), and excludes
Gezer (xvi. 10). Inheritance of Manasseh (xvii. 1) ; divisions of
the tribe, male (xvii. 2), and female (xvii. 3) ; claim of the latter
to inherit (xvii. 4). Territory of Manasseh (xvii. 5-6), and its
borders (xvii. 7-10). Canaanite cities not dispossessed (xvii.

346 JOSHUA 16. 2, 3. JE

from the Jordan at Jericho, at the waters of Jericho on
the east, even the wilderness, going up from Jericho

2 through the hill country to Beth-el ; and it went out
from Beth-el to Luz, and passed along unto the border

3 of the Archites to Ataroth ; and it went down westward

11-13). The claim of the Josephites for a larger share (xvii.
14-18).

There is a marked contrast between the precise details in regard
to Judah, and the briefer and more generalized statements of these
chapters in regard to the Josephite territory ; it is probably due
to the fact that when this book was compiled the Northern King-
dom had ceased to exist, and its territory was no longer in Jewish
hands.

The territory of Joseph is the middle part of the country west
of Jordan, bounded by Benjamin (xviii. 11 f.) and Dan (xix. 40 f.)
on the south, and by Issachar (xix. 17 f.) and Asher (xix. 24 f.) on
the north. Its central feature is l the hill-country of Ephraim '
(xvii. 15 ; on the extension of this name to the whole territory,
see H.G. H.L., p. 325), in which the central range of Judah is
continued. On the west this descends to the Plain of Sharon,
with many points of easy access ; on the east it overhangs the
Jordan Valley, being steep and inaccessible in the southern half,
but with broad valleys opening up into the interior in the northern
half {pp. cit., 326). For the boundary between Judah (Benjamin,
and Israel, see H.G.H.L., chap, xii ('Judaea and Samaria— The
History of their Frontier'), where the reasons for its shifting
character are given.

1. the lot . . . went out : read, with LXX, ' the border. . . was.'
(The Hebrew text, if retained, will refer to the lot falling from
the receptacle in which it was shaken : cf. xviii. 11, &c.)

the waters of Jericho : probably 'Ain es-Sultan, a little
north-west of the present Riha.

This verse is as clumsy in Hebrew as it is in English, and is
possibly corrupt, but the general meaning is that the boundaiy
runs from Jericho to Bethel (leaving room for Benjamin, xviii. 12 f.,
between it and the north border of Judah, xv. 5bf.).

2. Beth-el to Luz: cf. Gen. xxviii. 19, where the sanctuary of
Bethel and the city of Luz are brought into close connexion.
Luz may be an addition here (cf. LXX), as the earlier name
of the place called Bethel (House of God) on account of its
sanctuary.

Archites: cf. 2 Sam. xv. 32 (Hushai the Archite) ; possibly
the inhabitants of the place now represented by 'Ain 'Arik, west
of Bethel.

JOSHUA 16. 4-9. JE P JE? 347

to the border of the Japhletites, unto the border of
Beth-horon the nether, even unto Gezer : and the goings
out thereof were at the sea. [P] And the children of 4
Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, took their inheritance.
And the border of the children of Ephraim according to 5
their families was thus : even the border of their
inheritance eastward was Ataroth-addar, unto Beth-horon
the upper ; and the border went out westward at 6
Michmethath on the north ; and the border turned
about eastward unto Taanath-shiloh, and passed along it
on the east of Janoah ; and it went down from Janoah 7
to Ataroth, and to Naarah, and reached unto Jericho,
and went out at Jordan. From Tappuah the border 8
went along westward to the brook of Kanah ; and the
goings out thereof were at the sea. This is the inherit-
ance of the tribe of the children of Ephraim according
to their families; [JE?] together with the cities which 9
were separated for the children of Ephraim in the midst

3. Japhletites: quite unknown, and not elsewhere mentioned.

4. the children of Joseph : Gen. xlviii. 20, where Ephraim
is made to take the place of Manasseh the firstborn ; P, how-
ever, here recognizes the primogeniture of Manasseh, though the
redactor has placed the description of Ephraimite territory first.

5. The Hebrew is confused ; the definition of the border seems
to have been condensed, in view of verses 1-3. Thus, only the
east half of the south border is repeated.

Ataroth-addar : ( = Ataroth, verse 2) may be Atara, three
and a half miles south of Bethel, on the road to Jerusalem.
Beth-horon : see on x. 10.

6-8. With Michmethath (east of Shechem, xvii. 7) begins the
north border, with Taanath-Shiloh, the east, which falls along the
edge of the Jordan Valley down to Jericho (verse 7) : while the
western part of the north border (verse 8) runs from Tappuah to
the brook of Kanah (xvii. 9) ; i. e. probably the Wady Kanah,
south-west of Shechem, a tributary of the ' Auja, which falls into
the Mediterranean above Joppa.

9. Cf. xvii. 8, where Tappuah is named as one of these extra-
territorial Ephraimite cities.

348 JOSHUA 16. 10— 17. 2. JE ? J P JE ?

of the inheritance of the children of Manasseh, all the

10 cities with their villages. [J] And they drave not out

the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer : but the Canaanites

dwelt in the midst of Ephraim, unto this day, and

became servants to do taskwork.

17 [P] And this was the lot for the tribe of Manasseh ;

for he was the firstborn of Joseph. [JE?] As for

Machir the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead,

because he was a man of war, therefore he had Gilead

2 and Bashan. And the lot was for the rest of the

children of Manasseh according to their families; for

the children of Abiezer, and for the children of Helek,

10. This verse belongs to the chain of J passages (cf. xv. 63),
and is repeated (to ' Ephraim ') in Judges i. 29. Gezer (cf. verse
3) retained its Canaanite population until the time of Solomon,
when it came into his possession as the dowry of his wife,
Pharaoh's daughter (cf. 1 Kings ix. 16).

became servants to do taskwork : xvii. 13 ; Gen. xlix. 15 ;
1 Kings ix. 21 ; lit. ' were for a working labour-gang.'

xvii. 1-6. The Tribal Divisions of Manasseh.

this was the lot for : Heb. ' and the lot was (drawn) for '
(as in verse 2).

for he was the firstborn of Joseph : a reason for the place
of Manasseh before Ephraim in P's account of the division of the
land ; the redactor has, however, reversed this order (cf. xvi. 5 f.)
in our present text.

Machir : Num. xxvi. 29 ; where, however, he is represented
as the only son of Manasseh (cf. Gen. 1. 23), whilst the six clans
named here (verse 2) as children of Manasseh are there the sons
of Gilead (the son of Machir). That implies the view that the
western half of Manasseh is of later origin than the eastern half.
The direct opposite is more probable. ' In later times the seats of
Machir were in Gilead ; but there is good ground for the opinion
that the conquest of this region was made, not in the first invasion
of the lands east of the Jordan by Israel, but subsequently, by
a reflux movement from Western Palestine ' (Moore on Judges
v. 14, where Machir is named amongst western clans). On the
various Biblical theories of Manassite clans (cf. 1 Chron. ii. 21 f.,
vii. 14L), see Driver in D.B., iii. 230 f.

therefore he had Gilead and Bashan : these being specially
open to attack from the east,

JOSHUA 17.3-7. JE?P 349

and for the children of Asriel, and for the children of
Shechem, and for the children of Hepher, and for the
children of Shemida : these were the male children of
Manasseh the son of Joseph according to their families.
[P] But Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of 3
Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, had no
sons, but daughters : and these are the names of his
daughters, Mahlah, and Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and
Tirzah. And they came near before Eleazar the priest, 4
and before Joshua the son of Nun, and before the
princes, saying, The Lord commanded Moses to give us
an inheritance among our brethren : therefore according
to the commandment of the Lord he gave them an
inheritance among the brethren of their father. And 5
there fell ten a parts to Manasseh, beside the land of
Gilead and Bashan, which is beyond Jordan ; because 6
the daughters of Manasseh had an inheritance among
his sons : and the land of Gilead belonged unto the rest
of the sons of Manasseh. And the border of Manasseh 7
a Heb. lines.

3. Zelophehad : Num. xxvi. 33, xxvii. 1 f. (cf. xxxvi. 10). Note
that Hepher is here the son of Gilead, whilst in verse 2 he is
son of Manasseh, therefore brother to Machir (verse 1), and uncle
to Gilead.

4. an inheritance among1 our brethren : the appeal is based
on the judgement of Yahweh recorded in Num. xxvii. 7. Hebrew
law before the Exile recognized sons only as heirs (Deut. xxi. 15 f.,
xxv. 5-10).

5. ten parts: according to Num. xxvii. 7, they are to
receive the inheritance of their father only, divided amongst the
five. Here each receives a share equal to that of each of the
clans in verse 2 (five without Hepher).

xvii. 7-10. The Territory of Manasseh. This is defined as
extending from Asher in the north, and Issachar in the east (verse
10), to the Wady Kanah (xvi. 8) in the south, the rest of the
south border being defined by a line drawn through En Tappuah
^xvi. 8), and north by Michmethah (east of Shechem).

7. Asher; not the territory of Asher (verse 10); it is sup-

350 JOSHUA 17. 8-u. P JE? P JE? P J

was from Asher to Michmethath, which is before
Shechem ; and the border went along to the right

8 hand, unto the inhabitants of En-tappuah. [JE?] The
land of Tappuah belonged to Manasseh : but Tappuah
on the border of Manasseh belonged to the children of

9 Ephraim. [P] And the border went down unto the
brook of Kanah, southward of the brook : [ JE ?] these
cities belonged to Ephraim among the cities of Manasseh :
[P] and the border of Manasseh was on the north side
of the brook, and the goings out thereof were at the sea :

o southward it was Ephraim's, and northward it was
Manasseh's, and the sea was his border ; and they
reached to Asher on the north, and to Issachar on the

i east. [J] And Manasseh had in Issachar and in Asher
Beth-shean and her a towns, and Ibleam and her towns,

a Heb. daughters.

posed to be the village Tejaslr, rather more than half-way on the
road from Shechem to Scythopolis. The text is, however,
doubtful.

before : to the right hand : Hebrew terms for east and south
respectively (see on xiii. 3).

9. these cities belonged to Ephraim among" the cities of
Manasseh : a fragment which is meaningless in its present con-
nexion : cf. xvi. 9. The rest of the verse describes the south
border as intersecting the Wady Kanah on its south bank, and
continuing along its north bank to the sea.

10. Manasseh is contiguous with Ephraim (xvi. 8) on the
south, with Asher on the north, with Issachar on the east.

xvii. 11-13. Manassite cities unconquered. A fragment of J,
practically identical with Judges i. 27, 28, except for the assertion
that these cities were extra-territorial possessions of Manasseh. It
is possible that the latter rests on the displacement of the words
' even the three heights. Yet the children of Manasseh could not
drive out ' from after ' Asher ' (verse 11) to the end of the verse (so
Dillmann, followed by Bennett; 'those cities' (verse 12) is then
regarded as an addition made necessary by the displacement).

11. Beth-shean . . . Megiddo: these Canaanite settlements
form *' a chain of fortified cities guarding all the passes ' from the

JOSHUA 17. 12-15. J 351

and the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, and the
inhabitants of En-dor and her towns, and the inhabitants
of Taanach and her towns, and the inhabitants of
Megiddo and her towns, even the three a heights. Yet 1 2
the children of Manasseh could not drive out the in-
habitants of those cities ; but the Canaanites would
dwell in that land. And it came to pass, when the 13
children of Israel were waxen strong, that they put
the Canaanites to taskwork, and did not utterly drive
them out.

And the children of Joseph spake unto Joshua, saying, 14
Why hast thou given me but one lot and one h part for
an inheritance, seeing I am a great people, forasmuch as
hitherto the Lord hath blessed me? And Joshua said 15
unto them, If thou be a great people, get thee up to the
forest, and cut down for thyself there in the land of the
Perizzites and of the Rephaim ) since the hill country of
a See. ch. xi. 2, xii. 23. b Heb. line.

mountains of Ephraim northwards. 'At the eastern end of this
cordon was Beth-shean, on the main road to Damascus ; at the
western extremity, Megiddo, on the road up from the coast,
commanding thus the great commercial and military road between
Egypt and the East ' (Moore, Judges, p. 43). See the map.

the three heights : R. V. marg. suggests that * the heights of
Dor ' (xi. 2, note) are meant, but the meaning of the words is
unknown.

12. would dwell: rather, 'persisted in dwelling.'

13. taskwork : see on xvi. 10.

xvii. 14-18. The Josephites demand a larger inheritance.
Another J fragment, probably belonging to the time when
Manasseh overflowed from its western to its eastern territory (see
on verse 1 : cf. Num. xxxii. 39-41).

15. forest could be some part of the territory described above;
it should, however, be noted that 2 Sam. xviii. 6 speaks of a
'forest of Ephraim,' east of Jordan, and probably the 'forest' of
Gilead (cf. Num. xxxii. 39) was in view in the original meaning
of this passage.

Perizzites : Deut. vii. 1.

352 JOSHUA 17. i6—18. i. JP

i6 Ephraim is too narrow for thee. And the children of
Joseph said, The hill country a is not enough for us :
and all the Canaanites that dwell in the land of the
valley have chariots of iron, both they who are in Beth-
shean and her towns, and they who are in the valley of

17 Jezreel. And Joshua spake unto the house of Joseph,
even to Ephraim and to Manasseh, saying, Thou art
a great people, and hast great power : thou shalt not

J 8 have one lot only : but the hill country shall be thine;
for though it is a forest, thou shalt cut it down, and the
goings out thereof shall be thine : for thou shalt drive
out the Canaanites, though they have chariots of iron,
and though they be strong.
18 [P] And the whole congregation of the children of
Israel assembled themselves together at Shiloh, and set

a Heb. is not found for us.

Rephaim : according to Deut. iii. 13, Bashan was known as
' the land of Rephaim.'

16. chariots of iron : see on xi. 4 ; specially strong chariots
for warfare, plated with iron, are meant. The moral effect of
these (to Israel) novel instruments of warfare may be compared
with that of the elephants of Pyrrhus on the Romans (Budde on
Judges i. 19).

18. the hill country : i. e. that of Gilead, on the view taken
above.

xviii. 1-10. Preparation for the division of the land (verse 1).
Seven tribes have yet to receive their inheritance (verse a): A
commission of three from each tribe is appointed to divide the
remaining land into seven parts (verses 3-5*), Judah, Joseph,
Levi, Gad, Reuben, and half Manasseh having already been pro-
vided for (verses 5b-7). After a systematic survey, the commission
divides the land into seven portions, which Joshua assigns by the
sacred lot at Shiloh (verses 8-10).

1. Apparently part of an introduction to the division of the
ivhole land west of Jordan (see note on xiv. 1).

Shiloh : (Judges xxi. 19) i. e. of Seilun, about twelve miles
south of Shechem. Here an annual feast was held (Judges xxi.
19 f.), and the ark was kept by Eli in a sanctuary (1 Sam. iii. 3^ 15 :
cf. Judges xviii. 31). Shiloh does not appear in history after 1 Sam.

JOSHUA 18. a-8. PJERDJE 353

up the tent of meeting there ; and the land was subdued
before them. [JE] And there remained among the chil- 2
dren of Israel seven tribes, which had not yet divided
their inheritance. And Joshua said unto the children of 3
Israel, How long are ye slack to go in to possess the
land, which the Lord, the God of your fathers, hath
given you ? Appoint for you three men for each tribe : 4
and I will send them, and they shall arise, and walk
through the land, and describe it according to their
inheritance ; and they shall come unto me. And they 5
shall divide it into seven portions : Judah shall abide in
his border on the south, and the house of Joseph shall
abide in their border on the north. And ye shall de 6
scribe the land into seven portions, and bring the descrip-
tion hither to me : and I will cast lots for you here before
the Lord our God. [RD] For the Levites have no 7
portion among you ; for the priesthood of the Lord
is their inheritance : and Gad and Reuben and the half
tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance beyond
Jordan eastward, which Moses the servant of the Lord
gave them. [JE] And the men arose, and went : and 8
Joshua charged them that went to describe the land,
saying, Go and walk through the land, and describe it, and

i-iv, and is thought to have been destroyed by the Philistines (cf.
Jer. vii. 12 ; Ps. lxxviii. 60).

3. slack : i. e. as contrasted with Judah and Joseph (verse 5),
who have taken possession of their inheritance.

4. describe : i. e. in the literal sense ; write down ' the cities
verse 9% in order that an equitable division may be made on the

forthcoming data. We have no evidence as to the date at which
the art of writing began to be practised by Israel.

6. cast lots: see on vii. 14.

V. The verse is an editorial note, explaining why seven portions
only are wanted : cf. xiii. 14, xiv. 3 f.

the priesthood of Yahweh : Deut. x. 8, xviii. 1 f.

a a

354 JOSHUA 18. 9-14. JE P

come again to me, and I will cast lots for you here before

9 the Lord in Shiloh. And the men went and passed

through the land, and described it by cities into seven

portions in a book, and they came to Joshua unto the

10 camp at Shiloh. And Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh
before the Lord : and there Joshua divided the land
unto the children of Israel according to their divisions.

1 1 [P] And the lot of the tribe of the children of Benjamin
came up according to their families : and the border of
their lot went out between the children of Judah and the

12 children of Joseph. And their border on the north
quarter was from Jordan ; and the border went up to
the a side of Jericho on the north, and went up through
the hill country westward } and the goings out thereof

13 were at the wilderness of Beth-aven. And the border
passed along from thence to Luz, to the aside of Luz
(the same is Beth-el), southward ; and the border went
down to Ataroth-addar, by the mountain that lieth on

14 the south of Beth-horon the nether. And the border
was drawn and turned about on the west quarter south-

a Heb. shoulder.

10. according to their divisions : (xi. 23, xii. 7) i. e. those
given in order in xviii. n— xix. 51 (Benjamin, Simeon, Zebulun.
Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and Dan).

xviii. 1 1 -28. The Inheritance of Benjamin.

11. came up: literally; or, as we should say, 'was drawn1
(in Lev. xvi. 9 the same Hebrew word is rendered ' fell').

the border . . . went out : ' the territory . . . lay.'

12. 13. The north border (contiguous with the south border of
Joseph, xvi. 1-4 q. v.) is described from east to west.

Beth-aven : somewhere east of Bethel, near Ai (vii. 2) and
west of Mich mash (1 Sam. xiii. 5, xiv. 23).

14. The west border, from Beth-horon in the north to Kiriath-
jearim in the south (cf. ix. 17, where the latter is one of the cities
in the league of Gibeon, and xv. 60, where it is included in the
territory of Judah).

JOSHUA 18. 15-20. P 355

ward, from the mountain that lieth before Beth-horon
southward ; and the goings out thereof were at Kiriath-
baal (the same is Kiriath-jearim), a city of the children
of Judah : this was the west quarter. And the south 15
quarter was from the uttermost part of Kiriath-jearim,
and the border went out westward, and went out to the
fountain of the waters of Nephtoah : and the border 16
went down to the uttermost part of the mountain that
lieth before the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is in
the vale of Rephaim northward ; and it went down to the
valley of Hinnom, to the side of the Jebusite southward,
and went down to En-rogel ; and it was drawn on the 17
north, and went out at En-shemesh, and went out to
Geliloth, which is over against the ascent of Adummim ;
and it went down to the stone of Bohan the son of
Reuben ; and it passed along to the side over against 18
the Arabah northward, and went down unto the Arabah :
and the border passed along to the side of Beth-hoglah 19
northward : and the goings out of the border were at the
north a bay of the Salt Sea, at the south end of Jordan :
this was the south border. And Jordan was the border 20
of it on the east quarter. This was the inheritance of
the children of Benjamin, by the borders thereof round

a Heb. tongue.

xviii. 15-19. The south border, described from west to east
contiguous with the north border of Judah, xv. 5-9 q. v.), from
kiriath-jearim to the north end of the Dead Sea.

15. the border went out westward : what is apparently
meant is that it started from this (most) westward point to go
eastward.

20. The east border.

xviii. 21-28. Catalogue of the cities of Benjamin ; twelve in the
east (verses 21-4) and fourteen in the west (verses 25-8), the
line of division between the two groups being that of the water-
shed, marked roughly by the road from Jerusalem to Shechem.

a a 2

356 JOSHUA 18. 21 — 19. & P

21 about, according to their families. Now the cities of the

tribe of the children of Benjamin according to their

families were Jericho, and Beth-hoglah, and Emek-keziz ;

22, 23 and Beth-arabah, and Zemaraim, and Beth-el; and

24 Avvim, and Parah, and Ophrah ; and Chephar-ammoni,

and Ophni, and Geba ; twelve cities with their villages :

25> 26 Gibeon, and Ramah, and Beeroth ; and Mizpeh, and

27 Chephirah, and Mozah ; and Rekem, and Irpeel, and

28 Taralah ; and Zelah, Eleph, and the Jebusite (the same
is Jerusalem), Gibeath, and Kiriath ; fourteen cities with
their villages. This is the inheritance of the children of
Benjamin according to their families.

19 And the second lot came out for Simeon, even for the
tribe of the children of Simeon according to their families :
and their inheritance was in the midst of the inheritance

2 of the children of Judah. And they had for their inherit-

3 ance Beer-sheba, or Sheba, and Moladah ; and Hazar-

4 shual, and Balah, and Ezem ; and Eltolad, and Bethul,

5 and Hormah ; and Ziklag, and Beth-marcaboth, and

6 Hazar-susah ; and Beth-lebaoth, and Sharuhen ; thirteen

7 cities with their villages : Ain, Rimmon, and Ether, and

8 Ashan \ four cities with their villages : and all the villages

xix. 1-9. The Inheritance of Simeon.

1. The statement of the second half of the verse replaces any
definition of borders.

2. Catalogue of the cities of Simeon, thirteen in the Negeb
(verses 2-6) and four in the Negeb and Shephelah (verse 7).
With some textual variations, all are included in the catalogue of
the cities of Judah (xv. 26-32, 42).

or Sheba: Heb. 'and Sheba.' perhaps a dittograph from the
preceding word (not wanted for the total of thirteen, and not in
the parallel passage, 1 Chron. iv. 28\ or possiblv for 'and Shema '
(xv. 26 ; so LXX).

7. Ain, Simmon : xv. 32 ; should be En-Rimmon (Neh. xi. 29)
as in LXX, which inserts Talcha (*Tochen? 1 Chron. iv. 32)
after it, so making up the total of four cities..

JOSHUA 19.9-13. P 357

that were round about these cities to Baalath-beer,
Ramah of the South. This is the inheritance of the
tribe of the children of Simeon according to their
families. Out of the ft part of the children of Judah 9
was the inheritance of the children of Simeon : for the
portion of the children of Judah was too much for them :
therefore the children of Simeon had inheritance in the
midst of their inheritance.

And the third lot came up for the children of Zebulun 10
according to their families : and the border of their in-
heritance was unto Sarid : and their border went up 1 1
westward, even to Maralah, and reached to Dabbesheth ;
and it reached to the brook that is before Jokneam ; and l -
it turned from Sarid eastward toward the sunrising unto
the border of Chisloth-tabor ; and it went out to Daberath,
and went up to Japhia ; and from thence it passed along 1 3
eastward to Gath-hepher, to Eth-kazin ; and it went out
a Heb. line.

8. Cf. 1 Chron. iv. 33, from which (cf. 1 Sam, xxx. 27) 8a is
perhaps inserted here (Steuernagel).

9. The actual history behind this statement seems to be that
' Simeon stands for one of the unsettled elements of the southern
population fused more or less permanently into a state by David '
•'E.B., 4531 : cf. 1 Chron. iv. 3ib).

xix. 10-16. The Inheritance 0/ Zebulun (south of Asher and of
Naphtali, north of Issachar).

10. Sarid: perhaps (reading Sadid) Tel-Shaddud, on the north
edge of the Plain of Esdaelon, and south-west of Nazareth. From
this point the south border is defined, first west (verse 11), then
east (verse 12).

11. Jokneam: xii. 22; in Carmel. near the north-west end of
the plain.

12. Chisloth-tabor: possibly Chesulloth (verse 18), two miles
south-east of Nazareth ; Daberath is Dabureye, four miles east of
Nazareth.

13. Gath-hepher: perhaps EUMeshed, three miles north-east
of Nazareth.

358 JOSHUA 19. 14-23. P

14 at Rimmon which stretcheth unto Neah ; and the border
turned about it on the north to Hannathon : and the

1 5 goings out thereof were at the valley of Iphtah-el ; and
Kattath, and Nahalal, and Shimron, and Idalah, and

16 Beth-lehem : twelve cities with their villages. This is the
inheritance of the children of Zebulun according to their
families, these cities with their villages.

1^ The fourth lot came out for Issachar, even for the

18 children of Issachar according to their families. And their

border was unto Jezreel, and Chesulloth, and Shunem ;

20 and Hapharaim, and Shion, and Anaharath ; and Rabbith,

21 and Kishion, and Ebez; and Remeth, and En-gannim,

22 and En-haddah, and Beth-pazzez ; and the border reached
to Tabor, and Shahazumah, and Beth-shemesh ; and the
goings out of their border were at Jordan : sixteen cities

23 with their villages. This is the inheritance of the tribe

Rimmon : Rummaneh, six miles north of Nazareth,
which stretcheth : read, with Dillmann, by a change of one
letter, 'and inclined.'

14. The north border (the west border, contiguous with Asher,
is not given : cf. verse 27).

15. Five cities are named abruptly as belonging to Zebulun,
whilst the total is stated to be twelve. Similar discrepancies,
pointing to textual omissions, occur in verses 30, 38.

xix. 17-23. The Inheritance of Issachar (having Manasseh to its
south (xvii. 7) and west (xvii. 10), Zebulun and Naphtali to its
north (verses 11, 34), and the Jordan to its east). Most of the
Plain of Esdraelon is included.

18. unto Jezreel : this cannot be part of the definition of the
border, since Jezreel lies in the centre of Issachar's territory ;
a catalogue of cities belonging to Issachar begins here ; note that
'border' can also mean ' territory.'

32. This verse apparently gives the east part of the north border,
contiguous with Naphtali, from Tabor (at or near the mountain of
that name) to the Jordan. These three cities, however, are
reckoned with the total of sixteen. The whole section is con-
fused, perhaps through abbreviation.

JOSHUA 19. 24-30. P 359

of the children of Issachar according to their families,
the cities with their villages.

And the fifth lot came out for the tribe of the children 24
of Asher according to their families. And their border 25
was Helkath, and Hali, and Beten, and Achshaph ; and 26
Allammelech, and Amad, and Mishal ; and it reached to
Carmel westward, and to Shihor-libnath ; and it turned 2 7
toward the sunrising to Beth-dagon, and reached to
Zebulun, and to the valley of Iphtah-el northward to
Beth-emek and Neiel j and it went out to Cabul on the
left hand, and Ebron, and Rehob, and Hammon, and 28
Kanah, even unto great Zidon ; and the border turned to 29
Ramah, and to a the fenced city of Tyre ; and the border
turned to Hosah ; and the goings out thereof were at the
sea b by the region of Achzib : Ummah also, and Aphek, 3°

a Or, the city of Mibzar Zor that is, the fortress of Tyre.
b Or, from Hebel to Achzib.

xix. 24-31. The Inheritance of Asher (along the Mediterranean
coast, from the Carmel district northwards). The text shows
disorder similar to that of the last section. The catalogue of the
cities and the definition of the border lines have been confused.
It is difficult to trace the boundaries intend*
and north. See map for general indication.

25. border: here * territory' (cf. verse n). Seven cities
belonging to Asher are first named (verses 25, 26*).

26. The southern limit is given by Carmel, where the point of
contact with Manasseh is found (xvii. 10).

Shihor-litonath : probably the Nahr ez-Zerka, flowing into
the Mediterranean a little north of Caesarea.

27. The east border (contiguous with Zebulun) is defined to
' the valley of Iphtah-el ' (verse 14), from which it continues north
to Zidon (verse 29). Beth-emek and Neiel belong to the catalogue
of cities.

28. Four cities belonging to the catalogue rather than to the
border.

29. The north border, which apparently turns southwards before
reaching the coast.

30. by the region of (Achzib) : by transposition of a letter we

360 JOSHUA 19. 31-39. P

and Rehob : twenty and two cities with their villages,
31 This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of

Asher according to their families, these cities with their

villages.
33 The sixth lot came out for the children of Naphtali,

even for the children of Naphtali according to their

33 families. And their border was from Heleph, from the
aoak in Zaanannim, and Adami-nekeb, and Jabneel,
unto Lakkum ; and the goings out thereof were at

34 Jordan : and the border turned westward to Aznoth-
tabor, and went out from thence to Hukkok; and it
reached to Zebulun on the south, and reached to Asher
on the west, and to Judah at Jordan toward the sunrising.

35 And the fenced cities were Ziddim, Zer, and Hammath,

36 Rakkath, and Chinnereth ; and Adamah, and Raman,
17, 38 and Hazor ; and Kedesh, and Edrei, and En-hazor ; and

Iron, and Migdal-el, Horem, and Beth-anath, and Beth-
39 shemesh ; nineteen cities with their villages. This is

* Or, oak (or terebinth) of Bezaanannim

should probably read Mahaiab (the Assyrian Mahalliba, named by
Sennacherib), itself varied to Ahlab in Judges i. 31. This, with
the next four names, will belong to the catalogue of cities, of
which, however, only seventeen (eighteen) instead of the alleged
total, twenty-two, appear to be named.

Ummah : read ' Akko ' with LXX and Judges i. 31.

xix. 32-39. The Inheritance of Naphtali.

32 f. ' Little that is definite can be gathered from the description
in verses 32-4 beyond the fact that Naphtali lay in the angle
between Asher and Zebulun' (Bennett, S.B.O.T.).

33. the oak: a sacred tree (cf. xxiv. 26), here become a land-
mark. For the tree cult of the Semites, cf. Rel. Sent.2, p. 185.

34. to Judah : meaningless (LXX omits) ; perhaps it comes
from a marginal gloss Mike Judah, ? indicating the similarity of the
east borders of Naphtali and Judah respectively.

35. fenced cities: verse 29 ^R. V. marg.), x. 20 viiote).
38. nineteen : sixteen names are actually given.

JOSHUA 19. 4o~43. PjP 361

the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Naphtali
according to their families, the cities with their villages.

The seventh lot came out for the tribe of the children 40
of Dan according to their families. And the border of 41
their inheritance was Zorah, and Eshtaol, and Ir-shemesh ;
and Shaalabbin, and Aijalon, and Ithlah ; and Elon, and 42,
Timnah, and Ekron ; and Eltekeh, and Gibbethon, and 44
Baalath ; and Jehud, and Bene-berak, and Gath-rimmon j 45
and Me-jarkon, and Rakkon, with the border over against 46
a Joppa. [ Jj And the border of the children of Dan 47
went out b beyond them : for the children of Dan went
up and fought against e Leshem, and look it, and smote
it with the edge of the sword, and possessed it, and dwelt
therein, and called Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan
their father. [P] This is the inheritance of the tribe of 48

a Heb. Japho. b Or, from them : and &c.

c In Jucig. xviii. 29, Laish.

xix. 40-48. The Inheritance of Dan (north-west of Judah). No
definition of border is given, but simply a catalogue of seventeen
or eighteen cities (verses 41-6). A verse is inserted from J,
describing the Danite migration to Laish in the north (verse 47).
41. border : ' territory ' (verses 18, 46).

Zorah, Eshtaol, and Ekron (verse 43) belong to Judah,
according to xv. 33, 45.

Ir-shamesh = Beth-shemesh, xv. 10.

46. over against Joppa : it is not said that Joppa itself be-
longed to Dan ; as a matter of history, it was never in the hands
of Israel till taken under Simon the Maccabee (1 Mace. xiii. 11).

47. The verse is placed by LXX after verse 48, with a preface,
drawn from Judges i. 34, 35, explaining that this migration was
due to Amorite pressure. In Judges xiii f., the Danites are settled
near Zorah and Eshtaol, but the greater part of the tribe migrated
lo the extreme north, as is described in Judges xviii.

went out beyond them : we should read, probably (cf. LXX),
' was too narrow for them ' (cf. xvii. 15).

Leshem : Laish or Dan, near the sources of the Jordan, the
most northern settlement of Israel, as is suggested by the well-
known phrase ■ from Dan even to Beersheba' (1 Sam. iii. 20, &c).

362 JOSHUA 19. 49—20. 2. PEP

the children of Dan according to their families, these
cities with their villages.

49 So they made an end of distributing the land for in-
heritance by the borders thereof; [E] and the children
of Israel gave an inheritance to Joshua the son of Nun

5° in the midst of them : according to the commandment
of the Lord they gave him the city which he asked, even
Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim : and he
built the city, and dwelt therein.

51 [P] These are the inheritances, which Eleazar the
priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the
fathers' houses of the tribes of the children of Israel,
distributed for inheritance by lot in Shiloh before the
Lord, at the door of the tent of meeting. So they made
an end of dividing the land.

20 And the Lord spake unto Joshua, saying, Speak to
the children of Israel, saying, Assign you the cities of

xix. 49-50. The Inheritance of Joshua (xxiv. 30 ; cf. Caleb, xv. 13).

50. Timnath-serah, xxiv. 3o = Timnath-heres, Judges ii. 9;
i.e. Tibneh, twelve miles north-east of Lydda, ten miles north-
west of Bethel.

51. Formal conclusion by P to the account of the division of the
land, answering to the introduction, xviii. 1, xiv. 1 f.

xx. The Cities of Refuge. Yahweh instructs Joshua to proceed
with the appointment of cities of refuge for those who have com-
mitted (unintentional) homicide (verses 1-6). The following are
accordingly set apart : Kedesh-Naphtali, Shechem, and Hebron
on the west (verse 7), and Bezer, Ramoth-Gilead, and Golan, on
the east of Jordan (verse 8) ; for the aforesaid purpose (verse 9).

The chapter is closely connected with Num. xxxv. 9 f. (P) as
the execution of the command there given. But certain parts of
it (' unawares ' in verse 3 ; verses 4, 5 ; verse 6, except ' until he
stand before the congregation for judgement ') show equally close
contact with Deut. xix, and with Deuteronomy in general. Since
these particular verses are not found in the LXX, it seems clear
that they have been added by a writer wishing to combine D's
version of the command with that of P, In the text above they
are placed in square brackets.

JOSHUA 20. s-7- P &3

refuge, whereof I spake unto you by the hand of Moses :
that the manslayer that killeth any person a unwittingly 3
[and unawares] may flee thither : and they shall be unto
you for a refuge from the avenger of blood. [And he 4
shall flee unto one of those cities, and shall stand at the
entering of the gate of the city, and declare his cause in
the ears of the elders of that city ; and they shall b take
him into the city unto them, and give him a place, that
he may dwell among them. And if the avenger of blood 5
pursue after him, then they shall not deliver up the man-
slayer into his hand ; because he smote his neighbour
unawares, and hated him not beforetime. And he shall 6
dwell in that city], until he stand before the congregation
for judgement, [until the death of the high priest that
shall be in those days : then shall the manslayer return,
and come unto his own city, and unto his own house,
unto the city from whence he fled.] And they c set 7
apart Kedesh in d Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali,
and Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-
arba (the same is Hebron) in the hill country of Judah.

a Or, through error b Heb. gather. c Heb. sanctified.

d Heb. Galil.

2. whereof I spake : Num. xxxv. 9 f.

3. unwittingly: or 'accidentally,' the phrase of P (Num.
xxxv. 11, 15).

unawares : the phrase of D (Deut. xix. 4, cf. iv. 42).
the avenger of blood : see on Deut. xix. 6.

4. 5. See the notes on Deut. xix for these verses and for the
whole subject.

6. until he stand, &c. : this belongs to verse 3 (LXX, and
Num. xxxv. 1 a) ; nor is it a real parallel with • until the death,' &c.

that shall he in those days s Deut. xvii. 9, xix. 17, xxvi. 3.

7. set apart: historically, no doubt, the reference is to the
maintenance of ancient sanctuary rights at these particular places.

Xedesh : xii. 22, xix. 37 ; Shechem, xxiv. 25 f. ; Xiriath-
arha, xiv. 15 (notes).

364 JOSHUA 20. 8—21. 4. P

x And beyond the Jordan at Jericho eastward, they
assigned Bezer in the wilderness in the a plain out of
the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead out of the
tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan out of the tribe of

9 Manasseh. These were the appointed cities for all the
children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth
among them, that whosoever killeth any person b unwit-
tingly might flee thither, and not die by the hand of the
avenger of blood, until he stood before the congregation.
21 Then came near the heads of fathers' houses of the
Levites unto Eleazar the priest, and unto Joshua the son
of Nun, and unto the heads of fathers' houses of the tribes

a of the children of Israel; and they spake unto them at
Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, The Lord com-
manded by the hand of Moses to give us cities to dwell

3 in, with the c suburbs thereof for our cattle. And the
children of Israel gave unto the Levites out of their
inheritance, according to the commandment of the
Lord, these cities with their suburbs.

4 And the lot came out for the families of the Kohath-

a Or, table land b Or, through error

c Or, pasture lands

Sf. According to Deut. iv. 41, 43 (where see the notes), these
three cities have already been assigned by Moses,
at Jericho eastward : omit with LXX.

9. the stranger : Num. xxxv. 15 ; Deut. i. 16 (note).

xxi. The Levitical Cities (cf. Num. xxxv. 1-8, P).

The representatives of the Levites ask for the appointment of

their promised cities (verses r, 2), which is thereupon made (verse

3). Catalogue of these cities by number (verses 4-7), and by name

verses 8-40). Summary (verses 41, 42), and conclusion to whole

account of the division of the land (verses 43-45).

1. the heads of fathers' (houses) : Exod. vi. 25: cf, Joshua
xxii. 14.

2. commanded : Num. xxxv. 2 f.

suburbs : substitute R. V. marg. throughout (see on xiv. 4).
4. According to Exod. vi. 16 ; Num. iii. 17, xxvi. 57, the-

JOSHUA 21. 5-10. P 365

ites : and the children of Aaron the priest, which were
of the Levites, had by lot out of the tribe of Judah, and
out of the tribe of the Simeonites, and out of the tribe of
Benjamin, thirteen cities.

And the rest of the children of Kohath had by lot out 5
of the families of the tribe of Ephraim, and out of the
tribe of Dan, and out of the half tribe of Manasseh,
ten cities.

And the children of Gershon had by lot out of the 6
families of the tribe of Issachar, and out of the tribe of
Asher, and out of the tribe of Naphtali, and out of the
half tribe of Manasseh in Bashan, thirteen cities.

The children of Merari according to their families had 7
out of the tribe of Reuben, and out of the tribe of Gad,
and out of the tribe of Zebulun, twelve cities.

And the children of Israel gave by lot unto the Levites 8
these cities with their suburbs, as the Lord commanded
by the hand of Moses. And they gave out of the tribe 9
of the children of Judah, and out of the tribe of the
children of Simeon, these cities which are here mentioned
by name : and they were for the children of Aaron, of 10
the families of the Kohathites, who were of the children

three sons (i. e. clans) of Levi were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari;
Kohath is here put first because the Aaronitic priests belong to
this division (verse 10). Amram, the eldest son of Kohath is the
father of Aaron and Moses ; the children of Aaron are Nadab and
Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

5. the rest of the children of Kohath are Izhar, Hebron, and
Uzziel (Exod. vi. 18).

out of the families : omitted by LXX and Pesh. ; read as in
verse 7, ' according to their families,' after * Kohath.'

6. the children of Gershon : Libni and Shimei (Exod. vi. 17).
*7. the children of Merari: Mahli and Mushi (Exod. vi. 10A

xxi. 9-19. Nine cities of Judah and Simeon (verses 13-16), and
four of Benjamin (verse 17) are assigned to the Aaronites.
10. The Hebrew breaks oft' abruptly ; see next note.

366 JOSHUA 21. n-20. P

1 1 of Levi : for theirs was the first lot. And they gave them
Kiriath-arba, which Arba was the father of a Anak, (the
same is Hebron,) in the hill country of Judah, with the

12 suburbs thereof round about it. But the fields of the
city, and the villages thereof, gave they to Caleb the
son of Jephunneh for his possession.

13 And unto the children of Aaron the priest they gave
Hebron with her suburbs, the city of refuge for the man-

14 slayer, and Libnah with her suburbs ; and Jattir with her

15 suburbs, and Eshtemoa with her suburbs ; and Holon with

16 her suburbs, and Debir with her suburbs ; and Ain with her
suburbs, and Juttah with her suburbs, and Beth-shemesh
with her suburbs ; nine cities out of those two tribes.

17 And out of the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with her

18 suburbs, Geba with her suburbs; Anathoth with her

19 suburbs, and Almon with her suburbs ; four cities. All
the cities of the children of Aaron, the priests, were
thirteen cities with their suburbs.

20 And the families of the children of Kohath, the

a Heb. Anok.

11, 12. Verse 11 forms a doublet with verse 13, and seems to
have been added (with verse 12) to reconcile the possession of
Hebron by both Caleb (xiv. 13, xv. 13) and Levi. The recon
ciliation is effected by distinguishing between the wider territory
('fields,' 'villages') as given to Caleb, and the immediately
neighbouring pasture-grounds (' suburbs ' : cf. Num. xxxv. 2) as
given to Levi.

Kiriath-arba : xv. 13. The six cities of refuge of chap, xx
are all included amongst the Levitical cities of chap, xxi, according
to Num. xxxv. 6.

16. Ain: read, with LXX, ' Asa' = Ashan (r Chron. vi. 59, in
a parallel list), the one Simeonite city assigned to Levi.

18. Anathoth, Almon: not named amongst the Benjamite
cities of xviii. 21-8.

19. the children of Aaron, the priests : sec on Deut. xviii. 1.

xxi. 20-26. Four cities of Ephraim (verses 21. 22), four of Dan

JOSHUA 21. 21-32. P 367

Levites, even the rest of the children of Kohath, they
had the cities of their lot out of the tribe of Ephraim.
And they gave them Shechem with her suburbs in the ai
hill country of Ephraim, the city of refuge for the man-
slayer, and Gezer with her suburbs ; and Kibzaim with 22
her suburbs, and Beth-horon with her suburbs ; four
cities. And out of the tribe of Dan, Elteke with her 23
suburbs, Gibbethon with her suburbs ; Aijalon with 24
her suburbs, Gath-rimmon with her suburbs ; four cities.
And out of the half tribe of Manasseh, Taanach with her 25
suburbs, and Gath-rimmon with her suburbs ; two cities.
All the cities of the families of the rest of the children of 26
Kohath were ten with their suburbs.

And unto the children of Gershon, of the families of 27
the Levites, out of the half tribe of Manasseh they gave
Golan in Bashan with her suburbs, the city of refuge for
the manslayer ; and Be-eshterah with her suburbs ; two
cities. And out of the tribe of Issachar, Kishion with 28
her suburbs, Daberath with her suburbs ; Jarmuth with 29
her suburbs, En-gannim with her suburbs ; four cities.
And out of the tribe of Asher, Mishal with her suburbs, 30
Abdon with her suburbs ; Helkath with her suburbs, 31
and Rehob with her suburbs ; four cities. And out of 32
the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with her suburbs,
the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Hammoth-dor
with her suburbs, and Kartan with her suburbs; three

verses 23, 24), two of Western Manasseh (verse 25), are assigned
to the non-Aaronitic Kohathites.

25. Gath-rimmon : probably a mistaken repetition from the
previous verse ; read ' Ibleam ' (cf. LXX, and 1 Chron. vi. 70).

xxi. 27-33. Two cities of East Manasseh (verse 27), four of
Issachar (verses 28, 29). four of Asher (verses 30, 31), three of
Naphtali (verse 32) are assigned to the Gershonites.

27. Be-eshterah = Beth-Eshterah, or Ashtaroth (xiii. 31).

368 JOSHUA 21. 33-4?, PRU

33 cities. All the cities of the Geishonites according to
their families were thirteen cities with their suburbs.

M And unto the families of the children of Merari, the
rest of the Levites, out of the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam

35 with her suburbs, and Kartah with her suburbs, Dimnah
with her suburbs, Nahalal with her suburbs; four cities.

36 "And out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer with her suburbs,

37 and Jahaz with her suburbs, Kedemoth with her suburbs,

38 and Mephaath with her suburbs ; four cities. And out
of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead with her suburbs,
the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Mahanaim with

39 her suburbs ; Heshbon with her suburbs, Jazer with her

40 suburbs ; four cities in all. All these were the cities
of the children of Merari according to their families,
even the rest of the families of the Levites ; and their lot
was twelve cities.

41 All the cities of the Levites in the midst of the posses-
sion of the children of Israel were forty and eight cities

42 with their suburbs. These cities were every one with their
suburbs round about them : thus it was with all these
cities.

43 [RD1 So the Lord gave unto Israel all the land which he
sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it

a Verses 36, 37 are not in the Massoretic text, but are found
in very many MSS. and in the ancient versions. See also
1 Chr. vi. 78. 79.

xxi. 34-40. Four cities of Zebulun (verses 34, 35), four of
Reuben (verses 36, 37% four of Gad (verses 38, 39) are assigned
to the Merarites.

35. Dimnah: not in LXX, nor in xix. to-t6 ; Rimmonah'?
fcf. xix. 13 ; 1 Chron. vi. 77 \

xxi. 41, 42. Concluding Summary.
forty and eight: so Num. xxxv. 7.

xxi. 43-45. General Deuteronomistic conclusion, emphasizing

JOSHUA 21 44—22. 5. RD 369

and dwelt therein. And the Lord gave them rest round 4 4
about, according to all that he sware unto their fathers :
and there stood not a man of all their enemies before
them ; the Lord delivered all their enemies into their
hand. There failed not aught of any good thing which 45
the Lord had spoken unto the house of Israel j all
came to pass.

Then Joshua called the Reubenites, and the Gadites, 23
and the half tribe of Manasseh, and said unto them, Ye -
have kept all that Moses the servant of the Lord com-
manded you, and have hearkened unto my voice in all
that I commanded you : ye have not left your brethren 3
these many days unto this day, but have kept the charge
of the commandment of the Lord your God. And now 4
the Lord your God hath given rest unto your brethren,
as he spake unto them : therefore now turn ye, and get
you unto your tents, unto the land of your possession,
which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you beyond
Jordan. Only take diligent heed to do the command- 5

the fidelity of Yahweh to his promises, as shown by Israel's
secure possession of Canaan.

45. failed: Heb. 'fell,' i.e. to the ground as unfulfilled
va Kings x. 10).

xxii. 1-8. Dismissal of the east of Jordan tribes. Joshua praises
their conduct (verses 1-3), and dismisses them to their own
territory (verse 4), bidding them continue their obedience to
Yahweh (verses 5, 6). Two notes are added, on the territory of
Manasseh and the division of spoil respectively (verses 7, 8).

3. many days : in xi. 18 the same phrase is rendered 'a long
time.'

charge : Deut. xi. 1.

4. hath given rest : as stated in xxi. 44.

tents: Deut. v. 30, xvi. 7; Israelite homes bore this name
long after the nomad dwelling had passed away with the nomad
life (cf. 2 Kings xiv. 12). The well-known phrase, ' To your tents,
O Israel ! ' is a formula of dispersion, not, as is often supposed, a
call to military action ^cf, e. g., 1 Kings xii. 16). :
5: A characteristic epitome of Deuteronomic religion.

370 JOSHUA 22. 6-9. RD P?

ment and the law, which Moses the servant of the Lord
commanded you, to love the Lord your God, and to
walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and
to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart

6 and with all your soul. So Joshua blessed them, and
sent them away : and they went unto their tents.

7 Now to the one half tribe of Manasseh Moses had
given inheritance in Bashan : but unto the other half
gave Joshua among their brethren beyond Jordan west-
ward. Moreover when Joshua sent them away unto

8 their tents, he blessed them, and spake unto them,
saying, Return with much wealth unto your tents, and
with very much cattle, with silver, and with gold, and
with brass, and with iron, and with very much raiment:
divide the spoil of your enemies with your brethren.

9 [P ?] And the children of Reuben and the children of

6. blessed them: xiv. 13 (note).

7. The following section (verse 9 f.) seems to have spoken
originally of Reuben and Gad only (cf. verses 25, 32, 34). Refer-
ences to ' the half tribe of Manasseh ' have been added in verses
9-1 1, 13, 15, 31 (30, 31), probably by the same annptator to whom
the present verse is due. For the probability that the territory
east of Jordan was not occupied by Manasseh till a later date than
that of the western invasion, see the notes on xvii. 1, 14-18.

8. Return with much wealth : as an address, the sentence is
peculiar, both in grammar and subject-matter ; LXX omits ' spake
unto them saying,' and renders the whole verse as narrative ('they
returned,' &c), which is more likely to have been the original
form of the words.

your brethren: i. e. those left east of Jordan iv. 12) : cf. the
equitable principle of David for the division of booty (1 Sam. xxx. 24).

xxii. 9-34. The Altar of the Eastern Tribes. The eastern tribes
return, and erect an altar by the Jordan (verses 9, 10). The report
of this leads to preparations for war by the western tribes (verses
11, ia). A deputation is sent, headed by Phinehas, to protest
against the building of this altar, and to point out the peril to all
in the sin of some (verses 13-20). The eastern tribes reply that
their act has no element of rebellion in it, since the altar is not for
sacrifice, but is a memorial of the abiding share of the eastern

JOSHUA 22. 10-12. P? 371

Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh returned, and de-
parted from the children of Israel out of Shiloh, which is
in the land of Canaan, to go unto the land of Gilead, to
the land of their possession, whereof they were possessed,,
according to the commandment of the Lord by the hand
of Moses. And when they came unto the region about 10
Jordan, that is in the land of Canaan, the children of
Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of
Manasseh built there an altar by Jordan, a great altar to
see to. And the children of Israel heard say, Behold, the 1 1
children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the
half tribe of Manasseh have built an altar in the forefront
of the land of Canaan, in the region about Jordan, on the
side that pertaineth to the children of Israel. And when 1 2

tribes in the worship of Yahweh, and a witness to future genera-
tions (verses 21-9). This explanation is accepted by the deputation,
and, on their return, by the western tribes (verses 30-4).

The central emphasis on the single sanctuary (of Jerusalem),
(see p. 36), would suggest a Deuteronomistic writer, but the
language and much of the subject-matter connect with P. The
whole idea is, of course, untrue to the earlier freedom of Israel's
religion, which permitted many altars (Exod. xx. 24).

9. Shiloh : xviii. 1.

Gilead: in its wider sense of the Israelite territory, north
and south of the Jabbok (Num. xxxii. 29, &c.) ; in Joshua xii. 2, 5
of the southern half, in xiii. 31 of the northern half.

"by the hand of Moses : Num. xxxii.

10. the region about (Jordan) : Heb. • Geliloth ' (circles),
perhaps a place-name (xviii. 17, a place between Benjamin and
Judah). LXX (B) and Pesh. have ' Gil gal,' which Dillmann
thinks probable. The altar is, in this verse, set up west of Jordan
as ' in the land of Canaan' implies (cf. verse 32).

a great altar to see to : i. e. one that was conspicuous ;
stated in view of the subsequent claim (verse 27) that it is monu-
mental, not sacrificial.

11. in the forefront of: 'in front of viii. 33, ix. 1), i.e.
opposite to.

in the region about (Jordan's : see on verse 10 ; Pesh. has
' Gilgal ? here, as there ; but LXX (B) has ' Gilead ' here.

on the side that pertaineth to : rather, * toward the region
opposite ' {Heb. Lex. B.D.B. : cf. Deut. xxx. 13, ' beyond the sea '},

B b 2

372 JOSHUA 22. 13-18. P?

the children of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation
of the children of Israel gathered themselves together at
Shiloh, to go up against them to war.

13 And the children of Israel sent unto the children of
Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half tribe
of Manasseh, into the land of Gilead, Phinehas the son

1 \ of Eleazar the priest ; and with him ten princes, one
prince of a fathers' house for each of the tribes of Israel ;
and they were every one of them head of their fathers'

1 g houses among the a thousands of Israel. And they came
unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad,
and to the half tribe of Manasseh, unto the land of Gilead,

16 and they spake with them, saying, Thus saith the whole
congregation of the Lord, What trespass is this that ye
have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away
this day from following the Lord, in that ye have builded

i ; you an altar, to rebel this day against the Lord ? Is the
iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we have not
cleansed ourselves unto this day, although there came a

18 plague upon the congregation of the Lord, that ye must

a Or, families

i. e. on the eastern side of Jordan. If the text be right (cf.
Steuernagel) verse ir comes from a source different from that of
verse 10.

13. Phinehas : Exod. vi. 25 ; Num. xxv. 7, xxxi. 6 ; Joshua
xxiv. 33.

14. ten. (princes) : i. e. representing Ephraim and Western
Manasseh separately, but not Levi (represented by Phinehas).

a fathers' house : Num. i. 4, 16, &c. ; the group deriving its
origin from one common ancestor (see note on Joshua vii. 14),
usually a subdivision smaller than the ' clan ' (mishpachah), here
for the tribe itself, as in Num. xvii. 2 (Steuernagel). The ' thou-
sand ' is another tribal division of varying extent.

16. trespass : rather, ' treachery,' infidelity (vii. 1), i. e. the
breach of the law in Deut. xii. 4 f.

17. the iniquity of Peor : Num. xxv. 1 9 : cf. Deut. iv. 3; for
the plague, see Num. xxv. 3, 8, 9.

JOSHUA 22. 19-22. P? 373

turn away this day from following the Lord ? and it will
be, seeing ye rebel to-day against the Lord, that to-
morrow he will be wroth with the whole congregation
of Israel. Howbeit, if the land of your possession be 19
unclean, then pass ye over unto the land of the posses-
sion of the Lord, wherein the Lord's tabernacle dwelleth,
and take possession among us I but rebel not against the
Lord, nor rebel against us, in building you an altar be-
sides the altar of the Lord our God. Did not Achan 20
the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the devoted thing,
and wrath fell upon all the congregation of Israel? and
that man perished not alone in his iniquity.

Then the children of Reuben and the children of Gad 21
and the half tribe of Manasseh answered, and spake unto
the heads of the H thousands of Israel, bThe Lord, the 22
God of gods, the Lord, the God of gods, he knoweth,
and Israel he shall know ; if it be in rebellion, or if in

a Or, families

b Or, God, even God, the Lord Heb. El Elohim Jehovah.

18. wroth with the whole congregation : (cf. Num. xxv. 3,
4, 11) see note on vii. 24.

IS. unclean: because a heathen land : cf. Amos vii. 17 (Hos.
ix. 3, 4 ; Ezek. iv. 13).

tabernacle : enclosed within the ' tent of meeting ' (xviii. 1 :
c.(. Num. iii. 25), which is described as of curtains of goats' hair
over the tabernacle (Exod. xxvi. 7). But the earlier sources know
nothing of this (note on iii. 3).

rebel against us : probably we ought to modify the vowels of
the Hebrew verb into ' make us rebels,' i. e. through our corporate
life (verse 20), by which the rebellion of some is visited on all.

20. Achan : vii. 1 f. ; Israel suffered defeat and thirty -six men
perished through the treachery of one man.

22. Yahweh, the God of gods : rather, ' The Mighty One, God,
Yahweh ' (Ps. 1. 1) ; the titles are brought together, and the
phrase duplicated, to increase the solemnity of the utterance,
which is best taken as consisting of three parallel and independent
titles. The first of these (El, R.V. marg.1 is the most general". Ihr
third the most special, the second the ordinary name for Deity
among the Hebrews (see Cheyne on Ps. 1. r).

374 JOSHUA 22. 23-28. P?

trespass against the Lord, (save thou us not this day,)

2 3 that we have built us an altar to turn away from following
the Lord ; or if to offer thereon burnt offering or meal
offering, or if to offer sacrifices of peace offerings thereon,

24 let the Lord himself require it \ and if we have not rather
out of carefulness done this, and of purpose, saying,
In time to come your children might speak unto our
children, saying, What have ye to do with the Lord,

25 the God of Israel ? for the Lord hath made Jordan a
border between us and you, ye children of Reuben and
children of Gad ; ye have no portion in the Lord \ so
shall your children make our children cease from fearing

26 the Lord. Therefore we said, Let us now prepare to
build us an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice :

27 but it shall be a witness between us and you, and between
our generations after us, that we may do the service of
the Lord before him with our burnt offerings, and with
our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings ; that your
children may not say to our children in time to come,

28 Ye have no portion in the Lord. Therefore said we, It
shall be, when they so say to us or to our generations in
time to come, that we shall say, Behold the pattern of
the altar of the Lord, which our fathers made, not for

23. burnt offering (Deut. xii. 6); meal offering: or cereal
oblation of flour, baked or fried cakes, or ears of wheat, with oil ;
peace offering : Deut. xxvii. 7 ; for details of these three offerings
see Lev. i, ii, iii, respectively.

24. out of carefulness, . . . and of purpose : better, 'from anxiety
on account of a (particular) thing,' i. e. exclusion from the worship
of Yahweh.

26. prepare: the Hebrew is 'make/ requiring some direct
object, which is missing.

28. pattern: Deut. iv. 16. 'likeness ' ; the distinctive character
of the Yahweh altar will prove an earlier relationship to Him,
with participation in His worship.

JOSHUA 22. 29-M. P? 375

burnt offering, nor for sacrifice ; but it is a witness be-
tween us and you. God forbid that we should rebel 29
against the Lord, and turn away this day from following
the Lord, to build an altar for burnt offering, for meal
offering, or for sacrifice, besides the altar of the Lord
our God that is before his tabernacle.

And when Phinehas the priest, and the princes of the 3°
congregation, even the heads of the thousands of Israel
which were with him, heard the words that the children
of Reuben and the children of Gad and the children of
Manasseh spake, it pleased them well. And Phinehas 8*
the son of Eleazar the priest said unto the children of
Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the children
of Manasseh, This day we know that the Lord is in the
midst of us, because ye have not committed this trespass
against the Lord : now have ye delivered the children of
Israel out of the hand of the Lord. And Phinehas the 32
son of Eleazar the priest, and the princes, returned from
the children of Reuben, and from the children of Gad,
out of the land of Gilead, unto the land of Canaan,
to the children of Israel, and brought them word again.
And the thing pleased the children of Israel ; and the 33
children of Israel blessed God, and spake no more of
going up against them to war, to destroy the land
wherein the children of Reuben and the children of
Gad dwelt. And the children of Reuben and the 34

29. God forbid : Heb. ' far be it for us.'

31. The absence of sin shows the presence of Yahweh ; the
explanation has delivered Israel from the peril of His wrath.

34. The name of the altar is wanting in the Hebrew. The
R. V. has followed the Peshitto and some Hebrew MSS. in supply-
ing the name ' Witness ' ; Dillmann and others prefer to supply
Gal'ed (Heap of Witness) by comparison of the narrative in Gen.
xxxi. 47 f.? which offers this phrase as the etymology of Gilead.

376 JOSHUA 23. i~4. P? RD

children of Gad called the altar *Ed\ For, said they,
it is a witness between us that the Lord is God.
23 [RD] And it came to pass after many days, when the
Lord had given rest unto Israel from all their enemies
round about, and Joshua was old and well stricken in

2 years ; that Joshua called for all Israel, for their elders
and for their heads, and for their judges and for their
officers, and said unto them, I am old and well stricken

3 in years : and ye have seen all that the Lord your God
hath done unto all these nations because of you \ for the

4 Lord your God, he it is that hath fought for you. Be-
hold, I have allotted unto you these nations that remain,
to be an inheritance for your tribes, from Jordan, with
all the nations that I have cut off, even unto the great

a That is, Witness.

xxiii. 1-16. The first farewell address of Joshua. Joshua addresses
the representatives of all Israel, reminding them of his old ago
(verses 1, 2), and of the completion of Yahweh's work (verse 3).
The remaining nations shall be dispossessed (verses 4, 5). Let
Israel faithfully obey the Mosaic Jaw of separation from these
nations and their gods (verses 6-8). It is Yahweh who has given
the victory, and is to be loved (verses 9-1 1). Marriage alliance
with these nations will be punished by their being preserved to
Israel's hurt (verses 12, 13). As Yahweh's promises of good
have been kept, so will it be with these threats of evil ; if Israel
worship other gods than Yahweh, His anger will destroy them,
even in this Land of Promise (verses 14-16).

This exhortation, clearly Deuteronomic in language and thought
throughout, should be compared with the farewell addresses of
Moses (Deut. xxviii. f.), which offer frequent parallels.

1. many days : xi. 18, xxii. 3.
given rest: xxii. 4

well stricken in years : xiii. 1.

2. all Israel : represented by the subordinate rulers (viii. 33 ;
Deut. xxix. 10) ; the place of the assembly is not stated.

4, these nations that remain : enumerated by this writer in
xiii. 2-6. After from Jordan the verse shows some disorder ;
read, with Graetz and Holzinger (cf. Vulg.), 'from all the nation?
which I have cut off, from Jordan and unto the Great Sea,'

JOSHUA 23. 5-12. RD 377

sea toward the going down of the sun. And the Lord 5
your God, he shall thrust them out from before you, and
drive them from out of your sight ; and ye shall possess
their land, as the Lord your God spake unto you.
Therefore be ye very courageous to keep and to do all 6
that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that ye
turn not aside therefrom to the right hand or to the left ;
that ye come not among these nations, these that remain 7
among you ; neither make mention of the name of their
gods, nor cause to swear by them, neither serve them, nor
bow down yourselves unto them : but cleave unto the 8
Lord your God, as ye have done unto this day. For 9
the Lord hath driven out from before you great nations
and strong : but as for you, no man hath stood before
you unto this day. One man of you a shall chase a 10
thousand : for the Lord your God, he it is that fighteth
for you, as he spake unto you. Take good heed there- ri
fore unto yourselves, that ye love the Lord your God.
Else if ye do in any wise go back, and cleave unto the 12
remnant of these nations, even these that remain among

" Or. hath chased

6. courageous : rather, ' strong ' (firm), as rendered in i. 6.
the book of the law of Moses : i. 8.

•7. make mention: Exod. xxiii. 13.

cause to swear : better, by a change of the vowel points.
• swear,' i. e. invoke them in an oath.

Marriage alliance is specially in view (verse 12 : cf. Deut. vii.
3), and the objection to it is based on religious grounds ; in the
home of a mixed marriage, the recognition of other gods than
Yahvveh could hardly be avoided : compare the difficulties of early
converts to Christianity, reflected in the N. T. (1 Or. vii. 12 f.).

10. shall cha~e : the Hebrew imperfect tense, here employed,
is neither future (R. V. text) nor perfect (R. V. marg.), but
frequentative = f would often chase \ {cf. Driver, Tenses, § 30).
For the figure, sre Dent xxxii. 30 of Israel's foes chnsing Israel),
xxviii. 7 : cf. Drut. i, 30, ii» 22

378 JOSHUA 23, 13— 24. r. RD E

you, and make marriages with them, and go in unto

1 3 them, and they to you : know for a certainty that
the Lord your God will no more drive these nations
from out of your sight 5 but they shall be a snare and
a trap unto you, and a scourge in your sides, and thorns
in your eyes, until ye perish from off this good land which

14 the Lord your God hath given you. And, behold, this
day I am going the way of all the earth : and ye know
in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one
thing hath failed of alt the good things which the Lord
your God spake concerning you ; all are come to pass

15 unto you, not one thing hath failed thereof. And it shall
come to pass, that as all the good things are come upon
you of which the Lord your God spake unto you, so
shall the Lord bring upon you all the evil things, until
he have destroyed you from off this good land which the

16 Lord your God hath given you. When ye transgress
the covenant of the Lord your God, which he com-
manded you, and go and serve other gods, and bow
down yourselves to them; then shall the anger of
the Lord be kindled against you, and ye shall perish
quickly from off the good land which he hath given
unto you.

24 [E] And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to

13. The snare is that of verse 7 ; the scourge and the thorns
Num. xxxiii. 55) are the continued presence of an alien popula-
tion in Israel's midst.

14. the way of all the earth: so David, speaking of his death
to Solomon (1 Kings ii. a).

16. transgress the covenant: vii. n, 15 : anger: cf. Deut. xi. 17.

xxiv. 1-28. The second farewell address of J osfaia ; ratification of
the covenant. Joshua, addressing Israel at Shechem, reviews in
the name of Yahweh the people's history (verses 1-13) ; the
points noticed being the call of Abraham (verse 3) and the fortunes
of his descendants (verse 4% the mission of Moses and Aaron, and

JOSHUA 24. 2. ERDE 379

Shechem, [RD] and called for the elders of Israel, and
for their heads, and for their judges, and for their
officers ; [E] and they presented themselves before God.
And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the 2
Lord, the God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt of old time
beyond the River, even Terah, the father of Abraham,
and the father of Nahor : and they served other gods

the deliverance from Egypt (verses 5-7), the victory over the
Amorites (verse 8), and the deliverance from Balak and Balaam
(verses 9, 10), the victory over the inhabitants of Canaan at Jericho,
and the acquisition of their territory (verses 11-13). On the basis
of this history Joshua appeals for loyalty to Yahweh ; his own
choice is made, let Israel choose either the gods of Abraham's
ancestors or those of their present environment if they will not
serve Yahweh (verses 14, 15). The people reply, confessing the
truth of Joshua's review, and professing loyalty to Yahweh (verses
16-18}. Joshua warns them of His exclusive claims and the perils
of forsaking Him ; but the people hold to their profession (verses
19-21), which Joshua embodies in a covenant (verses 22-5), recorded
in writing, and marked by a stone of witness (verses 25-7). He
then dismisses them (verse 28).

The passage, as a whole, belongs to E (in illustration of the
evidence see on verses 1, 2, 11, 12, 23, 26) ; the chief editorial
additions of RD are indicated in the text. The review of the
history is of value for literary criticism, as showing what was
included in the E document.

1. Shechem : xvii. 7, xx. 7, xxi. 21 ; for its character as a
sanctuary, prominent in E, see Gen. xxxiii. 20, xxxv. 4 : cf.
Deut. xxvii. 5 f. and. in this chapter, verses 26, 32 : note also ' before
God,' at end of this verse. It lies in what G. A. Smith calls 'the
only real pass across the range ' of central hills running north and
south (H.G.H.L., p. 119), and to this he traces its prominence in
the earlier history. It is still the centre of the government of the
province. The editorial addition cf. xxiii. 2) characterizes the
assembly as representative only.

2 f. Joshua speaks in the name of Yahweh (iii. 9), and therefore
to verse 13) in the first person, except for the accidental relapse
of the writer into the third in verse 7.

beyond the River: i. e. the Euphrates (Gen. xxxi. 21) ; the
term, thus used, is a mark of E. Terah, Abraham, XTahor : Gen.
xi. 26 f.

other gods: cf. Gen. xxxv. 4 (E), and especially xxxi. 53

380 JOSHUA 2 1 .vo. E

3 And I took your father Abraham from beyond the
River, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan

4 and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac. And I
gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau : and I gave unto Esau
mount Seir, to possess it; and Jacob and his children

5 went down into Egypt. And I sent Moses and Aaron,
and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did in
the midst thereof: and afterward I brought you out.

6 And I brought your fathers out of Egypt : and ye came
unto the sea; and the Egyptians pursued after your
fathers with chariots and with horsemen unto the Red

7 Sea. And when they cried out unto the Lord, he
put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought
the sea upon them, and covered them; and your eyes
saw what I did in Egypt: and ye dwelt in the wilder-

8 ness many days. And I brought you into the land
of the Amorites, which dwelt beyond Jordan ; and they
fought with you : and I gave them into your hand, and
ye possessed their land; and I destroyed them from

9 before you. Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of
Moab, arose and fought against Israel ; and he sent and

(E), where the Hebrew ('judge' is in the plural) shows that
Nahor's god is distinct from Abraham's. Note the importance of
this verse for the O.T. doctrine of revelation. Yahweh elects
Abraham from a heathen environment.

3f. The following references will enable the reader to trace
the details of this historical review : (verse 3) Gen. xii ; xvi. to.
xxii. 17, xxvi. 4, 24 ; xxi. 1 f. : (verse 4) Gen. xxv. 21 f. ; xxxii. 3 ;
xlvi : (verse 5) Exod. iii, iv. 16 ; plagued. lit. ' smote ■ (Exod.
viii. 2), vii. 14 f. ; xii. 29-51, xiii. 17 f. ('according to that' yields
no adequate sense ; read with LXX, A and Exod. iii. 20, { with
wonders') : (verse 6) Exod. xiv. 2 f . ; xiv. 6f. (drawings and
descriptionsof Egyptian chariots of this period in S.B.O.T., p. 42,
cf. Joshua xi. 6, xvii. 16, note) : (verse 7) Exod. xiv. 10 ; xiv.
19ft ; xiv. 30, 31: (verse 8 Num. xxi. 21-5: (verse 9) Num.
xxii-xxiv (cf. Micah vi. 5).

9. fought against Israel: not recorded (contrast Deut. ii. 9;

JOSHUA 24. io-r4. ERDERUE 3Sr

called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you : but I 10
would not hearken unto Balaam ; therefore he blessed
you still : so I delivered you out of his hand. And ye n
went over Jordan, and came unto Jericho : and the men
of Jericho fought against you, [RD] the Amorite, and the
Perizzite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the
Girgashite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; [E] and I
delivered them into your hand. And I sent the hornet 13
before you, which drave them out from before you, even
the two kings of the Amorites ; not with thy sword, nor
with thy bow. [RD] And I gave you a land whereon 13
thou hadst not laboured, and cities which ye built not,
and ye dwell therein ; of vineyards and oliveyards which
ye planted not do ye eat. [E] Now therefore fear the !4
Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth : and put

Judges xi. 25), though Moab is said to have prepared for battle
(Num. xxii. 6, 11).

10. he blessed you still : Hebrew ' he went on blessing you '
(cf. Davidson's Hebrew Syntax, p. 1 19^ ; the repeated blessings of
Balaam are here regarded as actually instrumental in the deliver-
ance ; see on vi. 26, xiv. 13.

11. Here we pass to the period covered by the Book of Joshua
itself (iii, iv, v. 10).

the men (of Jericho) : lit. * possessors oV (Hebrew ba'ale),
a characteristic idiom of E.

fought against you : not recorded (cf. vi. 20) in the extant
sources ; E probably had a different and more historical narrative
of the conquest of Canaan.

The names added by RD (cf. Deut. vii. 1) are intended to
include the Canaanite people as a whole in this review of
the conquest.

12. hornet: Exod. xxiii. 28 (E), Deut. vii. 20 (note).

the two kings of the Amorites : read (with LXX) 'twelve'
for 'two,' the corruption of the Hebrew text being due to con-
fusion with Sihon and Og.

not with thy sword, nor with thy bow : Gen. xlviii. 22 (E) ;
the victory has been won by Yahweh. As Steuernagel points
out, this does not disprove the presence of E in battle-narratives,
chaps, i-xii.

13. For this editorial addition, cf. Deut. vi. iof.

382 JOSHUA 24. 15-19. E

away the gods which your fathers served beyond the

15 River, and in Egypt ; and serve ye the Lord. And if it
seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this
day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your
fathers served that were beyond the River, or the gods
of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell : but as for me

1 6 and my house, we will serve the Lord. And the people
answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake

17 the Lord, to serve other gods; for the Lord our God,
he it is that brought us and our fathers up out of the
land of Egypt, from the house of a bondage, and that did
those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the
way wherein we went, and among all the peoples through

18 the midst of whom we passed : and the Lord drave out
from before us all the peoples, even the Amorites which
dwelt in the land : therefore we also will serve the Lord ;

19 for he is our God. And Joshua said unto the people, Ye
cannot serve the Lord ; for he is an holy God ; he is a

a Heb. bondmen.

14. gods : verse 23 ; probably the teraphim are meant, as in
Gen. xxxv. 4 (E), according to which they are buried at Shechem
by Jacob.

15. choose you : the choice offered, first between Yahweh
and other gods (verse 14), secondly between Aramaean and
Amorite gods (verse 15^ is severely practical ; which god can help
his worshippers most ? This thought underlies the whole of the
appeal of Joshua, as well as of Elijah on Carmel (1 Kings xviii. 21).

16. Q-od forbid: (xxii. 29) i far be it for us.' The people
answer, * It is Yahweh — our national God — who has done all you
say ; we (as well as you, emphatic in the Hebrew) will worship
Yahweh ' (verse 18).

ITi the house of bondage: Exod. xx. 2 (Deut. v. 6) ; Deut.
vi. 12, &c. ; properly denoting a place in which slaves are confined ;
hence, figuratively, of Egypt. The phrase is characteristic of
Deuteronomy, and is absent in LXX.

19. Joshua emphasizes the exclusive and exacting claims of
Yahweh.

holy = exalted (not primarily in an ethical sense). Steuer-

JOSHUA 24. 20-25. E 3*3

jealous God ; he will not forgive your transgression nor
your sins. If ye forsake the Lord, and serve strange 20
gods, then he will turn and do you evil, and consume
you, after that he hath done you good. And the people 21
said unto Joshua, Nay; but we will serve the Lord.
And Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses 22
against yourselves that ye have chosen you the Lord,
to serve him. And they said, We are witnesses. Now 23
therefore put away, said /ie, the strange gods which are
among you, and incline your heart unto the Lord, the
God of Israel. And the people said unto Joshua, The 24
Lord our God will we serve, and unto his voice will we
hearken. So Joshua made a covenant with the people 25

nagel well compares Isa. v. 16, where Yahweh's ' holiness' is
demonstrated by His power of judicial action.

jealous : Exod. xx. 5 ; Deul. iv. 24 (note).

transgression, sins : those, especially, of verse io, viz. of
disloyalty to Himself (not here in a general sense).

20. strange (gods) : ' foreign ' (so verse 23), Gen. xxxv. 2 (E ;
the phrase being characteristic of E.

22. witnesses : i. e. your present testimony will justify your
future punishment, should you be disloyal to Yahweh.

And they said, We are witnesses : these words are best
omitted, with LXX. The speech of Joshua should continue with-
out a break. As it is, R. V. has to supply ' said he.'

23. put away : verse 14, cf. Gen. xxxv. a.

25. covenant: Hebrew berith, whose Assyrian cognate sugges is
the root-meaning 'bind' or ' fetter' : cf. Deut. iv. 13 (note), xxix. 1 f;
here, as defined in the second half of the verse, an agreement made
between Joshua and Israel on the one side and Yahweh on the
other, to keep His statute and ordinance (Exod. xv. 25) that He
alone is to be served. Cf. the Divine covenant with Jehoiada and
Israel (2 Kings xi. 17) that they should be Yahweh's people.
Such a covenant is, of course, much simpler than the ceremony
of Exod. xxiv. 5 f. The interesting conjecture is offered by
Meyer Die Israeliten unci ihre Nachbarstdmme, 1906) that 'the
whole idea of a covenant with the national god, of a solemn
obligation, has its roots in the cultus of Shechem' tip. 501). He
calls attention to the original presence of a covenant-god (Judges
ix. 4, 46) at the Canaanite sanctuary of Shechem.

384 JOSHUA 24. Wlii E

that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in
Shechem.

26 And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of
God; and he took a great stone, and set it up there
under the oak that was a by the sanctuary of the Lord.

a ; And Joshua said unto all the people, Behold, this stone
shall be a witness against us ; for it hath heard all the
words of the Lord which he spake unto us: it shall be
therefore a witness against you, lest ye deny your God.

28 So Joshua sent the people away, every man unto his

inheritance.

a Or, in

26. these words : the reference will naturally be to the
particulars of the covenant c_* agreement just made (xxiv. ail).
The precise meaning of the book of the law of God will depend
on the view taken of the authorship of this verse. If the writer
were RD (so Dillmann, following Noeldeke:, we should naturally
think of the Deuteronomic Law-book ; Kuenen thinks we have
a reference to some other • book of law ' than the one we know
(Hex., p. 156; ; Bennett assigns the clause to a late priestly redactor,
and points out that ' The Book of the Law is regarded here as
capable of receiving additions from time to time ' S.B.O. T., p. 92^ ;
whilst Holzinger, Staerk, and Steuernagel would place at this point
in the original narrative (wholly or partly) the early Law-book,
Exod. xxi. 1 — xxiii. 19, known as the ' Book of the Covenant.' The
evidence does not seem to yield more than such individual con-
jectures, of which the last-named is perhaps best worth consideration.

a great stone: probably the 'pillar' or ynazzebah. con-
demned in Deut. xvi. 22 is meant, though here assimilated by E to
the worship of Yahweh.

the oak : the form of the word is peculiar to this passage
^aliah), and some would repunctuate to read ' terebinth 7 ; in any
case a sacred tree is meant, possibly that called ' the terebinth of
the director ' in Gen. xii, 6, from the oracular responses given by
or in connexion with it. This tree is in [K. V. marg.) the
sanctuary ; possibly the latter came into being round the tree as
centre. The same sacred place and tree appear to be mentioned
in Gen. xxxiii. 20, xxxv. 4 ; Deut. xi. 30; Judges ix. 6 (ef. ix.
37) : cf. Joshua viii. 33. See on Deut. xvi. 21,

87. witness : xxii. 34 ; Gen. xxxi. 48 : an appeal to such
a 'witness' is still 'made in the East ; it hath heard points to
primitive belief in a spirit dwelling within the stone ^fetishism).

■

JOSHUA 24. 29-33. ERDE 3^5

And it came to pass after these things, that Joshua the 29
son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being an
hundred and ten years old. And they buried him in the 3^
border of his inheritance in Timnath-serah, which is in
the hill country of Ephraim, on the north of the moun-
tain of Gaash. [RD] And Israel served the Lord all the 31
days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that out-
lived Joshua, and had known all the work of the Lord,
that he had wrought for Israel. [E] And the bones of 3*
Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of
Egypt, buried they in Shechem, in the parcel of ground
a which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor the father
of Shechem for an hundred pieces of money : and they
became the inheritance of the children of Joseph. And 33
Eleazar the son of Aaron died ; and they buried him in
bthe hill of Phinehas his son, which was given him in
the hill country of Ephraim.

a See Gen. xxxiii. 19. b Or, Gibeah of Phinehas

xxiv. 29-33. Concluding Notices, (a) The death and burial of
Joshua (verses 29-30) ; (6) obedience of Israel during the life-
time of Joshua's contemporaries (verse 31) ; (c) burial of Joseph's
bones (verse 32) ; (d) death and burial of Eleazar (verse 33).

Verses 28-31 occur, in varied order, in Judges ii. 6-9 also.

30. Timnath-serah: xix. 50 (LXX adds that the stone knives
with which he circumcised Israel at Gilgal were buried with him).

32. the bones of Joseph : Gen. 1. 25; Exod. xiii. 19.

an hundred pieces of money: the exact meaning of the
term used (kesitdh) is unknown. This piece of ground ' had the
same interest and significance for the northern kingdom which the
cave of Machpelah at Hebron had for the kingdom of Judah '
(Driver on Gen. xxxiii. 19).

they became, &c. : viz. Shechem and the piece of land ;
LXX reads, i and he gave it to Joseph for an inheritance,' which
is preferable.

33. the hill of Phinehas : to be taken as a place-name (with
R. V. marg.) ; Gibeath Phinehas may be Jebia, three and a half
miles east of Tibneh. It is not included in xxi. 10-18.

C C

INDEX

[The Numerals refer to the pages ; more important references
are denoted by an asterisk.']

Aaron, 105, 106, 232, 380.
Abbreviations, 53, 54.
Achan, *295f., 373.
Ai, 296, 301 f., 313.
Altar (eastern), 370 f.

— (Mount Ebal),i9o, 306.
Amalek, 184.

Ammon, +67, 172.

Anakim, 62, 326.

Ark, 106, 107, 215, 218, *279,

284, 307.
Asher, 243.
_ (territory of), 359.
Asherim, 9, 37, 95, 115, *t'W.

Balaam, 172, *334, 381.
Ban, *i58, 298, et passim.
Benjamin, 239.

— (territory of), 354 f.
Bethel, 304, 346, 356.
Beth-horon, *3i5, 355, 367.
Birth, 25.

Blessings, *338, 381.

Blood, *24, 118, 119, 160, 167,

278.
Blood-revenge, 24, 152, 363.

Caleb, 62, *337, *34i f., 366.
Canaan. See • Palestine.'
Canaanites (unconquered), 259,

260. See Map.
Canon, 43.
Charit}', 130, 187.
Children (training of), 29, &c.
Chinneroth, 322.

Chronology, 337 : cf. 261 f.
Circumcision, 108, *286, 287.
Codes of O. T. Law, 23, 54.
Conquest of Canaan, *259 261,

312 f., 321 f.
Conquest (list of kings\ 327,

328.
Cosmology, 78, 196, 226.
Covenant, *77, 83, 96, 143,

*383-
Curse, 192, *294-

Dan, 242.

— (territory of), 361.
Dead (cuttings for\ 125.

— (offerings to), 188.
Death, 25.

Debt (release from), 130 f.
Decalogue, 77, *84f., 103, 106.
Deuteronomy, Book of : —

— Character, 1 f., 42.

— Commentaries, &c, 52, 53.

— Contents, 4-8.

— Critical Analysis, 13.

— Date, 14 f.

— Discovery, 8, 9.

— Inspiration, 16, 17.

— Legislation, 18-33.

— Literary Influence, 45 f.

— Name, 146.

— Original Extent, 12.

— Quoted in N. T., 50-2.

— Relation to Canon, 43-5.

— Religion, 33-43.

i — Religious Influence, 49.

l88

DEUTERONOMY AND JOSHUA

Division of Land, 329 f.
Divorce, 176, 177.

Ebal, *H3, 189, 306, 307.
Edom (Esau), *65, 172, 339,

343, 380.
Elders, 31 : cf. 59, &c.
Eleazar, 106, 336, 349, 362. 364,

385-
Eunuchs, 171.

Family Jurisdiction, 164.
Fetishism, 26, 384.
First-fruits, 147, 185.
Firstlings, 135 : cf. 25.
Flogging, 181.
Fortresses (Canaanite), 317.

Gad, 72, 242, 273, 369.
— (territory of), 334.
Gerizim, *H3, 189, 306, 307.
Gezer, *3i9. 347, 348, 367.
Gibeon, 307 f., 356, 366.
Gilead, 70, 73, 348, 371 f.
Gilgal, *285f.,288, 314, 337.

Hammurabi (Code of), *2of.,

134, 141, 154, 159, 160, 163.

164, 166, 170, 171, 178, 179,

180, 183, 190.
Hanging, 165, 305.
Hebron, *3i4, 320, 326, 328,

338, 34 h 345, 363, 366.
Herem. See ' Ban.'
High Place, 10, *U5.
Hinnom (Valley of), 10 *34o,

355-
Horeb, 57, 60, 77, 83, 102, 149,
205.

Idolatry, 78, 97, 121, 143, 148,

192, 207.
Inheritance, Law of, 163.
Inscription, The ' Israel,' 262.

Issachar, 241.

— (territory of), 358.

I us Talionis, 21, 32, 155, 184.

Jabin, 322.

Jashar, Book of, 316.

Jeremiah (relation to Deut.),

45, 46.
Jericho (capture), 293 f.

— (site), 274.

Jerusalem, *ri6, 239, 313, 340,

345, 356.
Jeshurun, 224, 236, 243.
Jordan (passage of), 281 f.
Joseph, 239.

— (territory of), 345 f., 351.
Joshua, 63, 73, 74, 2T4, 216,

217, 231, 246, *264< *27r.
329, 362, 376, 385.

— Book of : —
Canonical Place, 254.
Commentaries, &c, 268.
Contents, 251-4.
Critical Analysis. 255 f.
Religious Ideas, 265-7.
Sources. (J, E, R", P), 255 f.

Judah, 236.

— (territory of), 339 f.
Judges, 31 : cf. 141.

Justice (organization of), *3"r,
32, 59, 144.

Kadesh-barnea, 57, 64, 67, 233.

321, 337. 339-
King (ideal), 145, 146.
Kings, Book of, 47.
Kiriath-arba (— Hebron, q. v.),

*338, 363, 366-

Landmarks, 153.
Law, Bedouin, 19.

— Evolution of, 18.

— O. T. Codes of, 23, 54.
Law-book of Josiah, *8f.. n,

83. 150, 194, 205.

INDEX

389

Levites, n, 107, 117 (&c), 144,
*i46-8, 161, 178, 191, 192.
215, 217, 237, 238, 279, 307.

333. 335, 353, 365.
Levitical Cities, 364 f.
Loans, 175, 178, 179.
Lot, Sacred, 267, *298, 353.

Magic and Divination, 10, *I48,

266, 304, 318.
Manasseh, 72, 273, 369.

— (territory of), 335, 348.
Marriage, 28, 156, 162, 168 f.,

377-
■ — Levi rate, 182 f.
Mazzeba/i, 10, 37, 115, *I42,384.
Mezuza, 49, 91.
Miracle, 122, 316.
Moab, 34, *66, 172.
Monotheism, Hebrew, *34 f,

39, 89-

Mourning, 162, 296.

Moses (alleged author of Deut-
eronomy), 14.

- — (law-giver), 18.

— (prophet), 149, 247.

— ' Blessing ' of, 233 f.

— Death of, 244 f.

— ' Song ' of, 218 f.

Name (significance of), 297.

Naphtali, 242.

— (territory of), 360.

Oath, 92, 311.

Og (ofBashan), 57, &c.

Palestine, Land and Climate,
in, 197, 199, 209, 223.

— Nations, 94.

— Topography, 58, 308.
Passover, 10, *i36f., 288.
Pentecost, 136 f.
Philistines, 330.
Phinehas, 372 f., 385.

Pisgah, 74, 83, 232. *245.
Priest. See ' Levite.'
Property, Laws of, 29 f.
Prophet, 121, 122, 149, 150,

247 : cf. 15.
Proselytes, 49, 206.
Prostitution, 9, 174.
Psycholog}', Primitive, 21, 25,

61,69,77, 118, 133, 134, 162.

181, 198, 223, 238, 246, 247.

266, 280, 30 t, 337.

Rahab, 275 f.

Reformation of Josiah. 9-1 1.

Refuge, Cities of, 82, 151 f.,

362 f.
Religion of Israel, 14 f., 331".,

265 f.
Rephaim, 66, &c.
Responsibilitj' (corporate). 300.

— (individual), 22, 180.
Retribution, Doctrine of, 40.

41, 48.
Reuben, 72, 236, 273, 369.

— (territory of), 333.
Revelation, 209, 380.

Sacrifice, 38 ;/., 1 16-18, 137,
138, 142, 147, 190, 306, 374.

Sanctuarj', Central, 10, 361.,
114 f.

Seir, Mount, 57, &c. See
'Edom.'

Servants (hired), 179.

Seven, 291.

Sex, 166, 173: cf. 'Marriage.'

Shechem, 113, *i93, 350. 363.

367, 379> 383, 385.
Shekel, 300.
Shema', 15, 35, 50, *89.
Shiloh, *352, 354, 362, 364, 371.
Sihon, 57, &c.
Simeon (territory of), 356 f.
Sinai, 234. See ' Horeb.'
Slavery, 22, 29, 133 f., 135, 174,

178.

39o DEUTERONOMY AND JOSHUA

Spies (mission of), 274.

Stoning, 123.

Stranger, *59, 128, 132, 180,

200, 206, 307.
Symbols, 53.

Tabernacles, Feast of, 136 f.
Taboo. See ' Ban.?
Tell-el-Amarna Tablets, 262,

263.
Tephillin, 49, 90.
Tithes, 129, 187.
Totemism, 27, 78, 126.
Tree, Sacred, 142, 360, 384 :

cf. 159.
Tribal Organization, 298.

Tribes, Twelve, 191, 233, 236 f..

♦263, 264, 332, 372.
Twelve, 285.

Virginity, 168 f.
Vows, 176.

Warfare, Laws of, 155.
Weights and Measures, 184.
Witnesses, Law of, 154.

Yahweh (conception of), 38 f.,
41, 99, 266.

Zebulun, 241.

— (territory of), 357 f.

Zizith, 49, 168.

OXFORD: HORACE HART, PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY

BS 491 .C45 1910 v. 2 SMC
Bible. English.
The Century Bible Revised
version. --

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