deemed, aold for the benefit of the 1anc- try (see Deut. xiii. 13; Josh. vi. 17)" tu11ry. (Wordsworth). Vere. 28, 29.-Wbatever is already cherem Vera. 30-32.-Tithes, like the cherem (a word here first used o.e a term well under- are introduced as thin.,.s well known'. stood), that is, devoted to God, whether Abraham gave tithes to Melchizedek (Gen. devoted for the purpose of destruction or of xiv. 20; Heb. vii. 4). Jacob vowed the entire surrender to him, may be neither tenth to the Lord (Gen. xxviii. 22), whence redeemed nor sold. Whether it be of man, "!e see that the prnctice of the payment of like the Canaanites at Hormah (Numb. xxi. t1thea was not of Mosaio institution but 2), or of beast, as the sheep and oxen of the immemorial. The duty wu, however,'com- Amolekites (1 Sam. xv. 21), or of the 11.eld, manded afresh for the Israelites. "I have ae referred to in ver. 21, or of other inani- given the children of Levi all the tenth in mate objects, as the cities of Hormah Israel for an inheritance, for their aervice (Numb. :u:i. 2), it is either to be put to which they serve, even the service of the death or given up without re.erve or com- tabernacle" (Numb. xviii. 21), and of this mutation to God's ministers. In the case tithe they were to pay a tenth to the priests of men they must be put to death. "This (Numb. xviii. 26). Being already the provision would have applied only to the Lord's, the tithe of the corn and fruits could devoting of those who were already mani- not be vowed to the Lord, but it could be festly under the ban of Jehovah-those redeemed, or commuted, by the owner guilty of such outrageous and flagrant paying one-fifth more than the price at violation of the fundamental law of tho which it was valued. covenant that they manifestly came under Vera. 32, 83.-The tithe of the cattle the penalty of death. Such persons, instead conld neither be vowed nor redeemed. As of being tried and condemned, might be at the young oxen and aheep p888ed llllder the once devoted and put to deat.h" (Gardiner). rod by which they were counted by the " To this it may be added that the devotion herdsman, the tenth animal was touched by ban (cherem) of any object or person (the rod, according to tradition, having been was not to be done by private persons, at dipped in red paint), and handed over to the their own will, but wo.s performed by the Lev,tes. There was to be no change made civil magistrates, under known conditions in the animals, nor was commutation allowed. and laws; e.g. the cities of idolaters, such Ver. 34.-The final verse of the previous as Jericho, were so devoted, and the inhabi- chapter is repeated after the further legis- tants, by the command of God himself, who lation on vows and on their commut&tion has made his people to be the executioners been added, to show that it too makes part of his judgmente against inveterate idola- of the Sine.itio code.
HOMILETICS.
Vers, 1-34.-Vows are not instituted by the Mosaic legislation; they were already in existence as a habit of the Hebrew people, and they are only regulated by Moses. The principle on the subject of ,ows is that no one was bound to make a vow, but that when a vow was made, it must be observed by the payment of the thing vowed or its recognized commutation. Thus Deut. x.xiil. 21, "When thou sbalt vow a vow unto the Lord thy God, thou shalt not slack to pay it : for the Lord thy God will surely require it of thee; and it would be sin in thee. But if thou shalt forbear to vow, it shall be no sin in thee." And Numb. :xxx. 2, "If a man vow a vow unto the Lord, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth." And Eccles. v. 5, "Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou sbouldest vow and not pay." J. OLD TESTAMENT VOWS WERE PROMISES TO GOD TO GIVE UP TO SDI SOMETHING OF VALUE ON CONDITION OF DELIVERANCE IN DISTRESS 0B HELP IN ATTAD-"ING SOMETHING DEBmED, Examples: 1. Jacob's vow: "And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, a1:d raiment to put on, so that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the Lord be my God: and this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee" (Gen. xxviii. 20-22). 2. Jephthah'e vo,!: "And ~ephthah vowed a_vow u:nto the Lorn, a~d said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon mto mine bands, then 1t shall be that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the_ Lord's, and (or) I will offer it up THE BOOK OF LEVITICUS. [cu. u.vn. 1-34.