'\\W) % 4 bt np * to his ſons they are + wholly given unto him & out of i + Heb.g;- the children of Iſrael. wen given. k Toattend upon him and obſerve his orders and eaſe him of part | of his burden in things hereafter mentioned. 10 And thou ſhalt appoint Aaron and his ſons, and chey ſhall wait on their prieſts office / : and the ſtranger 2 that cometh nigh » ſhall be put to death. 1 In their own perſons, not by the Levites. m (1. e.) Every one who is of another family than Aarens, yea though he be a Levite. See Numb: 1: 53: and 16: 40. # To wit, to execute any part of the Prieſts office. 1t And the LORD ſpake unto Moſes, ſaying, Wt = ©, 12 And1, behold, * I have taken the Levites from * 8: "6.8 among the children of Iſrael, inſtead of all the firſt-born | 18:6: # that openeth the matrix among the children of Iſrael ;
therefore the Levites ſhall be mine.
n Who were God's propriety by right of Redemption, Exod: r3: 12: and to whom the adminiſtration of holy things was former] committed, which now was taken away from them, either ws 4 they had forfeired this priviledge by joining with rhe reſt of their brethren in the Idolatrous worſhip ofthe calf, or becauſe they were to be mainly concerned in the dittribution and management of the inheritances which now they were going to poſſeſs, and therefore could not be at leiſure to attend upon the ſervice of the SanQuuary ; Which made it fit that this Work ſhould be committed to other hands. And God would not commit it to ſome other perſons in each
"Tribe, which mightbe an occaſion of Idolatry, cenfuſion, diviſien, and contempr of ſacred Things, but to one diſtin Tribe, which might be iatirely devoted to that ſervice, and particularly to the Tribe of Levi ; partly out of his reſpe& to Moſes and Aaron, branches of rhis Tribe ; partly as a recompence of their Zeal for God and againſt Ido!aters. See Exodus 32: 26, 29: Deut: 33: 9: And partly becauſe it was the ſmalleſt of the Tribes, and rherefore =_ hkely to find both employment in, and maintenance for the ork. ' #5... _13 Becauſe * all the firſt-born are mine ; * for on the Exod:13; * 2: Ley:27: day that I ſmote all the firſt-born in the land of Egypt, | 26: Ch: 8: T hallowed unto me all the firſt-born. in Iſrael, both ; 36: Luke manand beaſt ; mine they ſhall be : I the LORD o. | *. 62% 0 Who may appoint whom I pleaſe for my Service. : by x rag 3* 14 And the LORD ſpake unto Moſes in the wiider- neſs of Sinai, ſaying, .
15 Number the children of Levi, after the houſe of their fathers, by their families: every male from a month old p and upward, ſhalt thou number them.
p Becauſe at that time the firſt- born, in whoſe ſtead the Levites came, Numb: 8: 16: were offered ro God, Luke 2: 22: and to be re- deemed, Numb: 18: 16. And from that time the Levites were con- ſecrated te God, and were, as ſoon as they were capable, to be in- firuted in their Work. Elſewhere they are numbred from twent five years Old, when they were entred as novices to part of their Work, Numb: 8: 24: and from thirty years Old, when they were
_compleatly admitted to their whole Office.
16 And Moſes numbred them according to the
G: 16: Ch | 26. 57: by their families ; Libni, and Shimei. 2 Chron: © 19 And the ſons of Kohath by their families ; Am-.
| were Meſes and 4aron, and all the Prieſts: They had the chief place , about the Tabernacle, and the care of the moſt Holy Things here below, verſe 31. and in the Land of Canaan they had twenty three Cities, which were almoſt as many as both their brethren received. | See Joſ. 2r.
28 In the number of all the males, from a month old and upward vere eight thouſand and ſix hundred, keeping x the charge of tie fanuary j.
x Or, keepers, &c. i.e. appointed for-that Work, as foon as they were capable ofit. y (.e- ) Of thoſe holy things contained in ex nearly belonging to the ſanCtuacy, expreſſed werſe 31.
29 The families of the ſons of Kohath ſhall pitch on the ſide of the tabernacle ſouthward.
3o And the chief of the houſe of the father of che mp of the Kohathites, fhell be Elizaphan the ſon of
zriel,
31 And their charge ſhall bethe *ark, and the * table,
| and the * candleſtick, and * the altars, and the veſſels
of the ſanctuary wherewith they miniſter, and the han ings &, and all ys ſervice thereof a.
Z ich covered the moſt holy place, for all other hangi belonged to the Gerſhonives. 8 ( 7. e. Al the other i "= 9% 4 ing to it, of which ſee Numb: 4: 7,9, 14.
32 And Eleazar the ſon of Aaron the Prieft ſhall be chief b over the chief of the Levitesc: and have the over- ſight of them that keep the charge of the ſanQuary.
b Next under the High-Prieſt ; whence he is called the ſecond Prieſt, 2 Kings 25. 18. and in caſe Bf the High-priefts abſence by ſickneſs or other neceſſary occaſions, he was to perform his Work 1 Kings 4: 4: and he had a ſuperiority over all the reſt of the Prieſts and Levites.. c { 7. e ) Over theſe three perſons, who were each the chief of their ſeveral Families ; of whom ſee here, verſe 24, 31,
35+ 33 Of Merari was the family of the Mahlites, and the
family of the Muſhites; theſe arethe families of Merari.
34 And thoſe that were numbred of them, according to the number of the males, from a month old and upward, were ſix thouſand and two hundred.
35 And the chief of the houſe of the father of the families of Merari, as Zuriel the ſon of Abihail : :heſe ſhall pitch on the ſide of the tabernacle northward.
36 And ÞF wnder the cuſtody and charge of the ſons of Merari, ſhall be the boards of the tabernacle, and the bars thereof, and'the pillars thereof, and the ſockets thereof, and all the veſſels thereof, and all that ſerveth thereto:
37 And the pillars of the court round about, and their ſockets, and their pins, and their cords d.
> -+— Las theſe were for another uſe than thoſe mentioned
38 But thoſe. that encamp before the tabernacle to- ward che eaſt, even before the tabernacte of the con- gregation eaſtward ; ſhell be Moſes and Aaron, and his ſons, keeping the charge of the ſanQuary for the charge of the children of Iſrael e: and the ſtranger that cometh nigh ſhall be put to death.
e Either in their ſtead, that charge which they were obliged to
& 23; 6; Tam, a
keep cither by themſelves gr by others appointed by them, if God had
Chap. It: 1 F
q Not the beards, which belonged to Merari, verſe 36: but the ten :