bears in the Greek Septuagint Version, BIBAOZ TENEZE?Σ; if we consider the state of the world when the Pentateuch which signifies the Book of the Generation or Production, because it commences with the history of the generation or production of all things. The Jews name the books of the Old Testament either from their authors, or the principal subjects treated in them, as the five books of Moses, and the Lamentations of Jeremiah, or from the first Hebrew word with which they begin : thus, the book of Genesis is in Hebrew called N BERESHITH, that is, in the beginning, from its initial word.' II. Although nothing is more certain than that this book was written by Moses, yet it is by no means agreed when he composed the history which it contains. Eusebius and some eminent critics after him have conjectured, that it was written while he kept the flocks of Jethro his father-in-law, in the wilderness of Midian. But the more probable opinion is that of Theodoret, which has been adopted by Moldenhawer and most modern critics, viz. that Moses wrote this book after the departure of the Israelites from Egypt and the promulgation of the law from Mount Sinai; for, previously to his receiving the divine call related in Exodus iii., he was only a private individual, and was not endued with the spirit of prophecy. Without that spirit he could not have recorded, with so much accuracy, the history of the creation, and the subsequent transactions to his own time: neither could he have foretold events then future, as in the predictions concerning the Messiah, and those respecting the descendants of Ishmael and the sons of Jacob; the verification and confirmation of which depended on circumstances, that had neither taken place nor could have happened at the time when the history was written in which they are recorded: but which circumstances, we know, did take place exactly as they were foretold, and which may be said, even now, to have an actual accomplishment before our eyes. A third conjecture has been offered by some Jewish writers, after rabbi Moses Ben Nachman, who suppose that God dictated to Moses all the contents of this book, during the first forty days that he was permitted to hold a communication with the Almighty on Mount Sinai, and that on his descent he committed the whole to writing. This hypothesis they found on Exodus xxiv. 12. where Jehovah says unto Moses, Come up to me in the mount, and be thou there, and I will give thee the tables of stone, and the law, and the precepts, which I have written to teach them :-understanding by the tables, the decalogue; by the precepts, all the ceremonial and judicia. ordinances; and by the law, all the other writings of Moses, whether historical or doctrinal. It is, however," as a pious writer has well remarked," as impossible, as it is of little Consequence, to determine which of these opinions is best founded; and it is sufficient for us to know, that Moses was assisted by the spirit of infallible truth in the composition of this sacred work, which he deemed a proper introduction to the laws and judgments delivered in the subsequent books." III. The book of Genesis comprises the history of about 2369 years according to the vulgar computation of time, or of 3619 years according to the larger computation of Dr. Hales. Besides the history of the creation, it contains an account of the original innocence and fall of man; the propa gation of mankind; the rise of religion; the general defection and corruption of the world; the deluge; the restoration of the world; the division and peopling of the earth; the call of Abraham, and the divine covenant with him; together with the first patriarchs, to the death of Joseph. This book also comprises some important prophecies respecting the Messiah. See iii. 15. xii. 3. xviii. 18. xxii. 18. xxvi. 4. xxviii. 14. and xlix. 10. IV. The SCOPE of the book of Genesis may be considered as twofold:-1. To record the history of the world from the commencement of time; and, 2. To relate the origin of the church, and the events which befell it during many ages. The design of Moses in this book will be better understood, 1 To avoid unnecessary references to the same authorities, it may here be stated, that besides the treatises referred to for particular facts and arguments, in this and the following sections of the present volume, the author has throughout consulted the dissertations of Calmet, Carpzov's Introductio ad Libros Biblicos Veteris Testamenti, Jahn's Introductio in Libros Sacros Veteris Fœderis, and Ackermann's expurgated edition of it; the prefaces of Alber in his Interpretatio Sacræ Scripturæ, Heidegger's Enchiridion Biblicum, on which treatise Van Til's Opus Analyticum is a commentary, and Moldenhawer's Introductio in omnes Libros Canonicos Veteris et Novi Testamenti. Of all these works an account will be found in the Appendix to vol. ii. For the plan of the prefaces to most of the books of the Old and New Testament, the author is indebted to the excellent works of Moldenhawer and Heidegger. See this fact fully proved, supra, vol. i. pp. 32-38. Pareus, Proleg. in Genesin, pp. 9, 10. Francofurti, 1617. Roberts's Clavis Bibliorum, p. 5. folio edit. was written. Mankind was absorbed in the grossest idolatry, which for the most part had originated in the neglect, the perversion, or the misapprehension of certain truths, that had once been universally known. Moses, therefore, commences his narrative by relating in simple language the truths thus disguised or perverted. In pursuance of this plan, he relates, in the book of Genesis, the true origin and history of all created things, in opposition to the erroneous notions entertained by the heathen nations, especially by the Egyptians : the origin of sin, and of all moral and physical evil; the esta blishment of the knowledge and worship of the only true God among mankind; their declension into idolatry; the promise of the Messiah; together with the origin of the church, and her progress and condition for many ages. Further, it makes known to the Israelites the providential his tory of their ancestors, and the divine promises made to them; and shows them the reason why the Almighty chose Abra ham and his posterity to be a peculiar people to the exclu sion of all other nations, viz. that from them should spring the Messiah. This circumstance must be kept in view throughout the reading of this book, as it will illustrate many otherwise unaccountable circumstances there related. It was this hope that led Eve to exclaim,-I have gotten a man,— the Lord. (Gen. iv. 1. Heb.) The polygamy of Lamech may be accounted for by the hope that the Messiah would be born of some of his posterity, as also the incest of Lot's daugh ters (Gen. xix. 31–38.), Sarah's impatience of her barrenness (Gen. xvi.), the polygamy of Jacob (Gen. xxix.), the consequent jealousies between Leah and Rachel (Gen. xxx.), the jealousies between Ishmael and Isaac, and especially Rebekah's preference of Jacob to Esau. It was these jea lousies, and these pretensions to the promise of the Messiah, that gave rise to the custom of calling God the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and not the God of Lot, Ishmael, and Esau, the promise having been particularly made and repeated to those three patriarchs. V. TYPES OF THE MESSIAH are Adam, as being a public person and federal head (compare Rom. v. 14. Gr. and 1 Cor. xv. 45.); Melchizedek (Psal. cx. 4. Heb. vi. 20. and vii.); and Isaac. (Gen. xxii. with Heb. xi. 18, 19.). VI. The Jews divide the book of Genesis into twelve paraschioth or larger sections, and forty-three siderim or PART I. The Origin of the World. (Ch. i. ii.) SECT. 2. The history of Adam and his descendants to Noah. SECT. 3. The increase of wickedness in the world, and its destruction by the deluge. (vi. vii.) PART III. The General History of Mankind after the Deluge. SECT. 1. The restoration of the world. (viii.) SECT. 3. The peopling of the world by his descendants. (x.) PART IV. The Particular History of the Patriarchs. (xii.—l.) birth of Isaac (xxi.), trial of Abraham (xxii.), the death of SECT. 2. The history of the church under the patriarch Isaac. (xxv. xxvi.) SECT. 3. The history of the church under the patriarch Jacob. (xxvii.-xxxvi.) SECT. 4. The history of the church under the patriarch Joseph. (xxxvii.-1.) $i. The afflictions of Jacob and Joseph:-Joseph sold into Egypt (xxxvii.), the incest of Judah (xxxviii.), the imprisonment of Joseph by Potiphar (xxxix. xl.) $ii. The deliverance and prosperity of Joseph:-his promotion in the court of Pharaoh (xli.), the journeys of his brethren in Egypt to pur chase corn (xlii-xlv.), the descent of Jacob into that country, and settlement there with his family (xlvi.-xlviii.), his prophetic benedictions of his children (xlix.), the burial of Jacob, and the death and burial of Joseph. (1.) Allix's Reflections upon Genesis. Bishop Watson's Collection of Tracts vol. i. pp. 247-259. For a summary of the religious doctrines and moral precepts of the patriarchal times, as exhibited in the book of Genesis, see Volume I. pp. 142, 143. VII. From an imaginary difficulty in explaining the literal sense of the first three chapters of Genesis, (a difficulty, however, which exists not with the devout reader of the sacred volume), some learned men, who admit the Pentateuch to have been written by Moses, have contended that the narrative of the creation and fall is not a recital of real events, but an ingenious philosophical mythos, or fable, invented by Moses after the example of ancient Greek writers, to give the greater weight to his legislative enactments! and designed to account for the origin of human evil, and also as an introduction to a history, great part of which they consider to be a mere poetic fiction. But the inventors of this fiction (for such only can we term it) have assumed that as proved which never had any existence; for the earliest Grecian cosmogony extant, namely, that of Hesiod, was not composed until at least five hundred and forty-five years after the death of Moses! Further, the style of these chapters, as, indeed, of the whole book of Genesis, is strictly historical, and betrays no vestige whatever of allegorical or figurative description; this is so evident to any one that reads with attention, as to need no proof. And since this history was adapted to the comprehension of the commonest capacity, Moses speaks according to optical, not physical truth: that is, he describes the effects of creation optically, or as they would have appeared to the eye, and without any assignment of physical causes. In doing which he has not merely accommodated his narrative to the apprehension of mankind in an infant state of society, and employed a method of recital best suited to a vulgar capacity; but he thereby also satisfies an important requisition of experimental philosophy, viz. to describe effects accurately and faithfully, according to their sensible appearances: by which means the mind is enabled to receive a clear and distinct impression of those appearances, and thus to reduce them to their proper causes, and to draw from them such conclusions as they are qualified to yield; for the determination of causes must follow an acquaintance with their effects." Besides, if it be granted that Moses was an inspired lawgiver, it becomes impossible to suppose that he wrote a fabulous account of the creation and fall of man, and delivered it as a divine revelation, because that would have been little, if at all, short of blasphemy; we must, therefore, believe this account to be true, or that it was declared and understood by the people, to whom it was addressed, to be allegorical. No such declaration was ever made; nor is there any mention of such an opinion being generally prevalent among the Jews in any early writing. The rabbis indeed, of later times, built a heap of absurd doctrines upon tais history: but this proves, if it proves any thing, that their ancestors ever understood it as a literal and true account; and, in fact, the truth of every part of the narrative contained in the book of Genesis is positively confirmed by the constant testimony of a people, who preserved a certain unmixed genealogy from father to son, through a long succession of ages: and by these people we are assured, that their ancestors ever did believe that this account, as far as it fell within human cognizance, had the authority of uninterrupted tradition from their first parent Adam, till it was written by the inspired pen of Moses."3 66 Further, in addition to the collateral testimony already adduced,' to the credibility and reality of the facts related in the first three chapters of the book of Genesis, there are numerous incidental references, in the Old and New Testament, to the creation, temptation, and fall of our first parents, which clearly prove that they were considered as acknowledged FACTS, not requiring proof, and handed down from primitive tradition. Of these we select the following instances, out of very many which might have been cited:This notion is current among the divines of Germany, and the modern Scians in this country; it is particularly enlarged upon by Bauer, (Herm. .r. pp. 351-365.), and by Gramberg (Libri Geneseos Adumbratio nova, 1-13. Lipstæ, 1828, 8vo.); and it is adopted by Dr. Geddes in his transn of the Bible (vol. i.), and also in his Critical Remarks, of which the ader will find a masterly refutation from the pen of the late eminently red Bishop Horsley, in the British Critic (O. S.), vol. xix. pp. 6-13. The yoger Rosenmüller had adopted this mythical interpretation in the first en of his Scholia on the Old Testament; but maturer consideration ing led him to see its erroneousness, he, greatly to his honour, returned proper and literal interpretation in the new edition of his Scholia, ry published. (Dublin Christian Examiner, May, 1827, p. 388.) Penn's Comparative Estimate of the Mineral and Mosaical Geologies, p. 163. (2d edit.) In pp. 165-268. there is an elaborate examination indication of the literal interpretation of the first chapter of Genesis. shop Tomline's Elements of Christ. Theol. vol. i. p. 61. See vol. i. pp. 69-78. 1. Allusions to the creation.-Psal. xxxiii. 9. He SPAKE and it was done; he COMMANDED, and it stood fast. This is manifestly an allusion to Gen. i. 3. et seq.-Psal. xxiv. 2. He (Jehovah) hath founded it (the earth) upon the seas, ana established it upon the floods.—2 Pet. iii. 5. By the word of the Lord the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water. In these two passages, the sacred writers allude to Gen. i. 6. 9.-2 Cor. iv. 6. Gon, who coMMANDED LIGHT to shine out of darkness, hath shined into our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of Paul alludes to Gen. i. 3. in so specific a manner, that it is imGod in the face (rather person) of Jesus Christ. Here St. possible not to perceive the designed reference. From Eccl. vii. 29. and Eph. iv. 24. compared with Col. iii. 10. and Jam. iii. 9. been created, is the moral image of God, viz. uprightness or we learn, that the divine image, in which man is said to have righteousness, true holiness, and knowledge. And the creation of our first parents, related as a fact in Gen. i. 27, 28., is explicitly mentioned as a real fact by our Lord, in Matt. xix. 4. and Mark x. 6., as also by the apostle Paul. Compare 1 Cor. xi. 9. 2. Allusions to the temptation and full of our first parents, which are related in Gen. iii.—Job xxxi. 33. If I covered my transgressions like Adam, by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom. -Matt. xxv. 41. Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. John viii. 44. Ye are of your father the devil, and the works of your father ye will [rather, wish to] do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own, for he is a liar, and the father of it.-1 Tim. ii. 13, 14. Adam was first formed, then Eve: and Adam was not deceived; but the woman having been deceived, was in the transgression.-2 Cor. xi. 3. The serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty.-1 John iii. 8. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose was the Son of God manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. The reality of the facts recorded in the first three chapters of the book of Genesis was acknowledged by the Jews who lived previously to the time of Christ. Vestiges of this belief are to be found in the apocryphal books of Wisdom and Ecclesiasticus. God created man to be immortal, and made him an image of his own eternity. Nevertheless, through envy of the devil, came death into the world, and they that hold of his side do find it. (Wisd. ii. 23, 24.)-Wisdom (that is, the eternal Son of God) preserved the first formed father of the world, who was created alone; and brought him out of his full (by the promised seed of the woman,) and gave him power to rule all things. (x. 1, 2.)—Of the woman came the beginning of sin; and through her we all die. (Ecclus. xxv. 24.) pendent testimonies, here collected together, prove that the The arguments to prove the literal sense of the first three chapters of V. TYPES OF THE MESSIAH are Aaron (Heb. iv. 14-16. v. 4, 5.);-the Paschal Lamb (Exod. xii. 46. with John xix. 36. and 1 Cor. v. 7, 8.);-the Manna (Exod. xvi. 15. with 1 Cor. x. 3.);-the Rock in Horeb (Exod. xvii. 6. with 1 Cor. x. 4.);-the Mercy Seat (Exod. xxxvii. 6. with Rom. iii. 25. Heb. iv. 16.) of the confusion of tongues which took place at Babel. (Gen. xi. 1-9.) And although some futile objections have been made against the chronology of this book, because it makes the world less ancient than is necessary to support the theories of some modern self-styled philosophers; yet even here, as we have already shown by an induction of particulars, the more rigorously it is examined and compared VI. By the Jews the book of Exodus is divided into with the extravagant and improbable accounts of the Chal-eleven paraschioth or chapters, and twenty-nine siderim or dæan, Egyptian, Chinese, and Hindoo chronology, the more sections: in our Bibles it is divided into forty chapters, the firmly are its veracity and authenticity established. "In contents of which are exhibited in the annexed SYNOPSIS:fine, without this history, the world would be in comparative PART I. Account of the Transactions previously to the Depar darkness, not knowing whence it came, or whither it goeth. ture of the Israelites from Egypt. In the first page of this sacred book, a child may learn more in an hour, than all the philosophers in the world learned without it in a thousand years." SECTION III. ON THE BOOK OF EXODUS. I. Title.-II. Author and date.-III. Occasion and subjectmatter.-IV. Scope.-V. Types of the Messiah.-VI. Synopsis of its contents.-VII. Remarks on the plagues inflicted upon the Egyptians. I. THE title of this book is derived from the Septuagint Version, and is significant of the principal transaction which it records, namely, the EOAO, Exodus, or departure of the Israelites from Egypt. By the Jews, and in the Hebrew copies, it is termed on Ve-ALEH SHEMOTH, "these are the words," from the initial words of the book, or sometimes merely Shemoth. It comprises a history of the events that took place during the period of 145 years, from the year of the world 2369 to 2514 inclusive, from the death of Joseph to the erection of the tabernacle. Twenty-five passages, according to Rivet, are quoted from Exodus by our Saviour and his apostles, in express words; and nineteen allusions to the sense are made in the New Testament. II. That Moses was the author of this book we have already shown, though the time when it was written cannot be precisely determined. As, however, it is a history of matters of fact, it was doubtless written after the giving of the law on Mount Sinai and the erecting of the tabernacle; for things cannot be historically related until they have actually taken place, and the author of this book was evidently an eye and ear-witness of the events he has narrated. III. The book of Exodus records the cruel persecution of the Israelites in Egypt under Pharaoh-Rameses II.; the birth, exposure, and preservation of Moses; his subsequent flight into Midian, his call and mission to Pharaoh-Amenophis II.; the miracles performed by him and by his brother Aaron the ten plagues also miraculously inflicted on the Egyptians; the institution of the passover, and the departure of the children of Israel from Egypt; their passage across the Red Sea, and the destruction of the Egyptian army: the subsequent journeyings of the Israelites in the desert, their idolatry, and frequent murmurings against God; the promulgation of the law from Mount Sinai, and the erection of the tabernacle. SECT. 1. The oppression of the children of Israel. (ch. i.) PART II. The Narrative of the Departure of the Israelita. PART III. Transactions subsequent to their Exodus. (ch. xiv. -xviii.) SECT. 1. The miraculous passage of the Red Sea, and the thanksgiving of Moses and the people of Israel, on their de liverance from Pharaoh and his host. (ch. xiv. xv. 1—22.) SECT. 2. Relation of various miracles wrought in behalf of the Israelites. (ch. xv. 23-27. xvi. xvii.) SECT. 3. The arrival of Moses's wife and children with Je- PART IV. The Promulgation of the Law on Mount Sinai. VII. The circumstances attending the plagues inflicted upon the Egyptians are fully considered by Mr. Bryant in his learned treatise on this subject (8vo. London, 1810), from which the following particulars are abridged. As many of the Israelites were followers of the idolatry that surrounded them, these miracles were admirably adapted to display the vanity of the idols and false gods, adored by their oppressors, the proud and learned Egyptians. 1. By the first plague-Water turned into blood (Exod. vii. 14-25.)-was demonstrated the superiority of Jehovah over their imaginary river-gods, and the baseness of the elements which they reverenced. The Nile was religiously honoured by the Egyptians, who valued themselves much upon the excellency of its waters, and esteemed all the natives of the river as in some degree sacred. The Nile was turned into blood, which was an object of peculiar abhor rence to the Egyptians. 2. In the plague of frogs (Exod. viii. 1-15.) the object of their idolatrous worship, the Nile, was made an instruIV. The SCOPE of Exodus is to preserve the memorial of ment of their punishment. Frogs were deemed sacred by the departure of the Israelites from Egypt, and to represent the Egyptians; but whether from reverence or abhorrence is the church of God, afflicted and preserved; together with the uncertain. By this plague, the waters of the Nile became providential care of God towards her, and the judgments a second time polluted, and the land was equally defiled. 3. The plague of lice (Exod. viii. 16-19.) reproved the inflicted on her enemies. It plainly points out the accomplishment of the divine promises and prophecies delivered to absurd superstition of the Egpytians, who thought it would Abraham, that his posterity would be very numerous (com- be a great profanation of the temple into which they were pare Gen. xv. 5. xvii. 4-6. and xlvi. 27. with Num. i. 1-going, if they entered it with any animalcula of this sort 3. 46.); and that they would be afflicted in a land not their own, whence they should depart in the fourth generation with great substance. (Gen. xv. 13-16. with Exod. xii. 35. 40, 41.) Further," in Israel passing from Egypt, through the Red Sea, the Wilderness, and Jordan, to the promised land, this book adumbrates the state of the church in the wilderness of this world, until her arrival at the heavenly Canaan,—an eternal rest."3 St. Paul, in 1 Cor. x. 1, &c. and in various parts of his Epistle to the Hebrews, has shown that these things prefigured, and were applicable to, the Christian church. A careful study of the mediation of Moses will greatly facilitate our understanding the mediation of Jesus Christ. 1 See vol. i. pp. 72-74. Fuller's Expository Discourses on Genesis, vol. i. p. 1. upon them. The people, and particularly the priests, never wore woollen garments, but only linen, because linen is least apt to produce lice. The judgment, inflicted by Moses in this plague, was so proper, that the priests and magicians immediately perceived from what hand it came, and confessed that this was the finger of God. 4. The plague of flies (Exod. viii. 20—32.) which was inflicted in the midst of winter, and not in the midst of summer, when Egypt swarms with flies, would show the Egyptians the folly of the god, whom they worshipped, that he might drive away the gad-fly, whose sting is extremely painful. 5. The fifth plague the murrain among cattle (Exod. ix. 1-7.) destroyed the living objects of their stupid worship. The sacred bull, the cow, or heifer, the ram, and the he-goal, fell dead before their worshippers. When the distemper contents. I. THE third book of the Pentateuch (by the Jews termed va-YIKRA, and he called, from its initial word) is in the Septuagint styled AETITIKON, and in our version Leviticus, or the Levitical book, because it principally contains the laws concerning the religion of the Israelites, which chiefly consisted of various sacrifices; the charge of which was committed to Aaron the Levite (as he is termed in Exod. iv. 14.) and to his sons, who alone held the priestly office in the tribe of Levi; which St. Paul therefore calls a "Levitical priesthood." (Heb. vii. 11.) In the Babylonish Talmud it is called the law of the priests, which appellation is retained in the Arabic and Syriac versions. that they might be wafted over the face of the country. This I. Title, author, and date.—II. Scope.—III. Synopsis of its was a significant command. The ashes were to be taken from that fiery furnace, which in the Scripture was used as a type of the slavery of the Israelites, and of the cruelty which they experienced in Egypt. (Deut. iv. 20.) The process has still a further allusion to an idolatrous and cruel rite, which was common among the Egyptians, and to which it is opposed as a contrast. They had several cities styled Typhonian, such as Heliopolis, Idythia, Abaris, and Busiris. In these, at particular seasons, they sacrificed men. The objects thus destined, were persons with bright hair, and a particular complexion, such as were seldom to be found among the native Egyptians. Hence, we may infer that they were foreigners; and it is probable, that whilst the Israelites resided in Egypt, they were chosen from their body. They were burnt alive upon a high altar, and thus sacrificed for the good of the people. At the close of the sacrifice, the priests gathered together the ashes of these victims, and scattered them upwards in the air, with the view, probably, that where any atom of this dust was carried, a blessing might be entailed. The like was, therefore, done by Moses, though with a different intention, and to a more certain effect. 7. The plague of hail, rain, and fire (Exod. ix. 13-35.), demonstrated that neither Osiris, who presided over fire, nor Isis, who presided over water, could protect the fields and the climate of Egypt from the thunder, the rain, and the hail of Jehovah. These phenomena were of extremely rare occurrence, at any period of the year: they now fell at a time when the air was most calm and serene. The author of this book, it is universally admitted, was Moses; and it is cited as his production in several books of Scripture. By comparing Exod. xl. 17. with Num. i. 1. we learn that this book contains the history of one month, viz. from the erection of the tabernacle to the numbering of the people who were fit for war, that is, from the beginning of the second year after Israel's departure from Egypt to the beginning of the second month of the same year, which was in the year of the world 2514, and before Christ 1490. The laws prescribed upon other subjects than sacrifices have no chronological marks by which we can judge of the times when they were given. II. The general SCOPE of this book is, to make known to the Israelites the Levitical laws, sacrifices, and ordinances, and by those" shadows of good things to come," to lead the Israelites to the Messiah (Heb. x. 1. with Gal. iii. 24.) : and it appears from the argument of Saint Paul, that they had some idea of the spiritual meaning of these various institutions. (1 Cor. x. 1—4.). 8. Of the severity of the ravages, caused by the plague of locusts, (Exod. x. 1-20.) some idea may be conceived from the account of those insects in this volume, p. 39. The Egyptians had gods, in whom they trusted to deliver their country from these terrible invaders. They trusted This book is of great use in explaining numerous passages much to the fecundity of their soil, and to the deities, Isis of the New Testament, especially the Epistle to the Heand Serapis, who were the conservators of all plenty. But brews, which, in fact, would be unintelligible without it. by this judgment they were taught that it was impossible In considering, however, the spiritual tendency of Leviticus, to stand before Moses the servant of God. The very winds, care must be taken not to apply the types too extensively: which they venerated, were made the instruments of their the observation of Jerome as to its spiritual import is undestruction; and the sea, which they regarded as their de-doubtedly very pious and just, but few persons will acquiesce fence against the locusts, could not afford them any pro- in his remark, that " almost every syllable in this book breathes a spiritual sacrament."3 tection. 9. The ninth plague consisted in three days' darkness over all the land of Egypt. (Exod. x. 21-27.) The Egyptians considered light and fire, the purest of elements, to be proper types of God. They regarded the sun, the great fountain of light, as an emblem of his glory and salutary influence on the world. The sun was esteemed the soul of the world, and was supposed with the moon to rule all things: and not only to be the conservators, but the creators of all things. Accordingly they worshipped them, as well as night and darkness. This miraculous darkness would, therefore, confirm still further (if further confirmation were wanting) the vanity of their idol-deities. III. Leviticus is divided by the Jews into nine paraschioth, which in our Bibles form twenty-seven chapters: it consists of four leading topics; comprising PART I. The Laws concerning Sacrifices, in which the differ- SECT. 1. The Burnt Offering (Lev. i.), which prefigured the SECT. 4. The Offering made for sins of ignorance (Lev. iv. 10. The infliction of the tenth and last plague the destruction of the first-born (Exod. xi. 1-8. xii. 29, 30.) was most equitable; because, after the Egyptians had been preserved by one of the Israelitish family, they had (contrary to all right, and in defiance of the stipulation originally made with the Israelites when they first went into Egypt,) enslaved the people to whom they had been so much indebted; had murdered their children, and made their bondage intolerable. We learn from Herodotus,2 that it was the custom of the Egyptians to rush from the house into the street, to bewail the dead with loud and bitter outcries: and every member of the family united in the bitter expressions of sorrow. How great, then, must their terror and their grief have been, when, at midnight, the Lord smote all the fire-born of the land of Egypt, from the first-born of Pharash that sat on his throne, unto the first-born of the captive 7. This, and the subsequent references to Jerome's Prefaces, are made Plutarch, Is. et Osir. v. 1. p. 380. D. 2 Lib. ii. cc. 85, 95. "Singula sacrificia, immo singula pene syllabæ, et vestes Aaron, et totus Ordo Leviticus spirant cælestia sacramenta."-Epist. ad Paulinuo, to the collection of them, which is prefixed to the Frankfort edition of the Latin Vulgate. (1826. 8vo ) penalty of sin. Thus Jesus Christ is said to have made his | Almighty over the Israelites, during their wanderings in the soul an offering for sin. (Isa. liii. 10. with 2 Cor. v. 21.) wilderness, and the temptations and murmurings there by which they provoked and offended their Heavenly Protector; PART II. The Institution of the Priesthood, in which the consecration of Aaron and his sons to the sacred office is related, so that, at length, he sware in his wrath that they should not together with the punishment of Nadab and Abihu. (Lev. enter into his rest. (Psal. xcv. 11.) St. Paul, warning the converted Hebrews, expressly states that they could not enter viii.-x.) into the land of Canaan because of their unbelief (Heb. iii. PART III. The Laws concerning Purifications both of the peo-19.); and in 1 Cor. X. 1.-11, he states that all these things ple and the Priests. (Lev. xi.—xxii.) happened unto them for ensamples, and they are written for our admonition. The method pursued in this book is precisely that which would be adopted by the writer of an itinerary; the respective stations are noted; and the principal occur rences that took place at each station are related, omitting such as are of comparatively less importance. This circumstance is an additional internal proof that Moses was the author of the Book of Numbers, which is cited as his work in many parts of Scripture. III. TYPES OF THE MESSIAH, in this book, are, The Water that issued from the Rock (Num. xx. with 1 Cor. x. 4. 11.); and the elevation of the Brazen Serpent. (Num. xxi. with John iii. 14.) Among these, the regulations concerning leprosy (xiii.) as representing the universal taint of sin, and those concerning the scape-goat and the great day of atonement (xvi.), demand particular attention; as typifying the death and resurrection of Christ, and the atonement made thereby (Heb. ix. 7-12. 24-27.); while they at the same time inculcate the hatefulness of sin, and the necessity of internal purity. Chapters xviii. and xix. contain various cautions to the Israelites to avoid the sinful practices of the Egyptians and Canaanites, with laws adapted to the peculiar circumstances and situations of the children of Israel, interspersed with several moral precepts inculcating the duties of humanity IV. This book contains only one PREDICTION concerning and mercy, and the necessity of strict integrity. PART IV. The Laws concerning the Sacred Festivals, Vows, the Messiah, viz. Numbers xxiv. 17. 19. which, Rosenmuller and some other eminent biblical critics have contended, Things devoted, and Tithes. Chapter xxiii. treats of the seven great festivals, viz. the Sab- cannot apply to Jesus Christ. This passage, it is true, in its primary and literal meaning, intimates that from the people bath, the passover, the feast of first-fruits, the feast of Pente- of Israel should arise a mighty prince, who would obtain an cost, the feast of trumpets, the great day of atonement, and entire conquest and bear rule over the kingdoms of Moab and the feast of tabernacles. The celebration of these solemn Edom: and it was fulfilled in David, for it is expressly festivals was of singular use for maintaining the system of recorded of him, that he finally subdued those nations. divine worship among the Israelites; for distinguishing them (2 Sam. viii. 2. 14.) But, in its full import, it has invariably from all other people; for the solemn commemoration of the been considered as referring to that illustrious personage, of many and great benefits conferred on them by Jehovah; for whom David was a type and a progenitor: and is, in fact, a the preservation and continuance of the public ministry; splendid prediction of the final and universal sway of the for preserving purity and unity in divine worship; and, Messiah, when the middle wall of partition shall be broken lastly, for prefiguring the manifold and great blessings be- down, and both Jews and Gentiles shall become one fold stowed on mankind by the Messiah. In chap. xxiv. vari- under one shepherd. This explanation is perfectly consonant ous ceremonial and judicial rites are enjoined: and in chap. to many other prophecies concerning the Saviour; which, in XXV. is recapitulated the law respecting the sabbatical year similar language, describe him as acquiring dominion over which had before been given (see Exod. xxiii. 10, 11.); the heathen countries, and destroying the enemies of his church: observance of the jubilee is enjoined, with various precepts and it is observable, that, in several of these ancient predicrespecting mercy, benevolence, &c. The jubilee was typi- tions, some particular opposers, as the Moabites and Edomin general. cal of the great time of release, the Gospel-dispensation. ites, are put for the "adversaries of the Lord, (See Isa. Ixi. 1-3. with Luke iv. 19.) Chap. xxvi. presents (See Psal. ii. 8. lxxii. 8. cx. 6. Isa. xi. 14. and xxv. 10.)' In this passage, an eminent critic observes, that Balaam, various prophetic promises and threatenings which have signally been fulfilled among the Jews. (Compare v. 22. in prophetic vision, descries the remote coming of Shiloh, with Num. xxi. 6. 2 Kings ii. 24. and xvii. 25. with Ezek. under the imagery of a star and a sceptre, or an illustrious v. 17.) The preservation of the Jews to this day, as a dis- prince. Though it was foretold that "the sceptre should tinct people, is a living comment on v. 44. The twenty-depart from Judah" at his coming, this prophecy confirms to seventh and last chapter comprises regulations concerning vows, and things devoted, as well as the tithes which were to be dedicated to the service of the tabernacle. SECTION V. ON THE BOOK OF NUMBERS. him a proper sceptre of his own: and our Lord claimed it when he avowed himself a "King" to Pilate, but declared that his "kingdom was not of this world." (John xviii. 36, 37.) This branch of the prophecy was fulfilled about 1600 years after; when, at the birth of Christ," the Magi from the East" (who are supposed by Theophylact to have been the posterity of Balaam) came to Jerusalem, saying, "Where is the [true] born king of the Jews? for we have seen his star at its rising, and are come to worship him."2 (Matt. ii. 1, 2.) V. The book of Numbers contains a history of the IsraelI. Title, author, date, and argument.—II. Scope.-III. Types Ites, from the beginning of the second month of the second of the Messiah.-IV. Prediction of the Messiah.-V. Chro-year after their departure from Egypt, to the beginning of nology.-VI. Synopsis of its contents.-VII. Observations on the books of the wars of the Lord, mentioned in Numbers xxi. 14. I. IN conformity with the Hebrew custom, this fourth book of Moses is usually termed, va-JeDaBaR, and he spake, because it commences with that word in the original text: it is also called ra, BeMIDBAR," In the Desert," which is the fifth word in the first verse, because it relates the transactions of the Israelites in the wilderness. By the Alexandrian translators it was entitled API MOI, which_appellation was adopted by the Greek fathers; and by the Latin translators it was termed Numeri, Numbers, whence our English title is derived; because it contains an account of the numbering of the children of Israel, related in chapters i.-iii. and xxvi. It appears from xxxvi. 13. to have been written by Moses in the plains of Moab. Besides the numeration and marshalling of the Israelites for their journey, several laws in addition to those delivered in Exodus and Leviticus, and likewise several remarkable events, are recorded in this book. II. The SCOPE of the Book of Numbers is, to transmit to posterity, for a perpetual example, the providential care of the the eleventh month of the fortieth year of their journeyings, —that is, a period of thirty-eight years and nine or ten months. (Compare Num. i. and xxxvi. 13. with Deut. i. 3.) Most of the transactions here recorded took place in the second and thirty-eighth years: the dates of the facts related in the middle of the book cannot be precisely ascertained. VI. According to the Jewish division, this portion of Holy Writ contains ten paraschioth or chapters; in our Bibles it 1 Robinson's Scripture Characters, vol. i. p. 480.-The saine author adds "Jesus, then, is the 'Star,' which Balaam foretold; the bright and morning star,' which, through the tender inercy of our God, hath visited us (Luke i. 78. Rev. xxii. 16.); and to him also the sceptre' of universal go vernment is committed. He shall have dominion; for he must reign i he hath put all enemies under his feet.' (1 Cor. xv. 25.) Balaam looked for ward to the time of his coming, which is usually called, as in Num. xxiv. 14., the latter days: and concerning him, he said, I shall see him, but not now; I shall behold him, but not nigh; which might intimate, that his ap pearance was far removed, and that he should see him only by the spirit of prophecy. But it may also refer to the second advent of the Saviour, when indeed both Balaam and every despiser of his grace' shall see him' in his glory-shall behold him, but not nigh' for they shall be driven out from him with shame and confusion, and be punished with everlasting destruc tion from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power."' Ibid. p. 481. 2 Dr. Hales's Analysis of Chronology, vol. ii. book i. p. 229. |