The Pulpit Commentary — Numbers — Section 82

EXPOSITION. CHAPTER VII. ~• stood over." Tho most natural reforence IS to the fact of theil· J_>rosiding over tlie T!iE OFFERINGS OF TJiE PRINCES (eh. vii.). census, and so the Septuo.gmt, ovro1 o, ,rapla• Ver. 1.-0n the day that ltosea had fully r.ri11:orE~ i,d rik l,r11111:o,rij.. But it may mean eet up th!, tabernacle. This expression, •' on simply that they were the leaders of the the day (Hebrew, tn•i ; Septuagint, v numbered hosts, and offered as their natuml •ip•plf ), has given rise to· considerable diffi- representatives. culty. Strictly speaking it should moan the Ver. 3.-They brought their offering be- first day of the first month of the secol\d year fore the Lord, i. e. probably to the entrance (Ei:od. xl.17) ; a.nd so the Targum of Palestine, o_f the tabernacle. Six covered wagoD.11.. :ly ".It w~ on ~he day which begins the month n~t~· The meaning of the qualifying word Nisa.n. It 1s, however, quire clear from the narrative itself, as well as from its position :lf is extremely doubtful. The Targums that the offerings were not actually n1ad~ render it as the A. V. On the other hand until after the taking of the census and the Gesenius and. De W ette render it "litters :, distribution of their respective duties to the as the similar word 0'.;!1 in Isa. lxvi. 20 Leritical families, i. e. until the eve of tbe (where the Septuagint has lv Aaµ.,r,jva•c departure from. Sinai Moreover, since the ,jµ.,611t11v). Tho reading of the Septuagint s:i.me phrase, Cl1'i, occurs in ver. 10, it is aµ.a(aF >.~µ.,,,riviicai;, is equally doubtful'. certain that it cannot apply to the actual Aaµr,1v11, itself probably a foreign word is presentation of the offerings, which was spread explained bytheScholiasts as oµaia /3aaiA,~,i <>'l'er twelve days (ver. 11). The majority or 11.S iippa a1t1,ra11Tcw; and Aquila has her,; tlicrefore, of the commen t&tors would read aµa(a, act,raarai, and the Vulgate plawtra ~,,:;i here as in Gen. ii. 4, "at the time." t&::ta. But Euseh. Emis. understands it as meaning "two-wheeled vehicles." It is a It is, bowenr, impossible to admit that there matter of little importance, but the nature is auy similarity whatever between the two of the count1·y itself and the small number pssages. In Gen. ii. 4 the context itself as of oxen to ea.eh carriage point to the pro- well a.s the subject matter, oblige till to ~n- ba.bility that they had no wheels, and were derstand the phrase in the looser sense ; but carried by the oxen, one in front, and one in a plain historical account such as the behind, by menns of shafts, as is still the present the obligation is all the other wny. case in parts of India. Either the date here given is a mistake (which, on any supposition, is most im- Ver. 4.-'fheLord apake llllto ltoaea. The probable), or it must be referred to the in- Targum of Palestine here inserts the state- tention and inception of the princely offer- ment that Moses WBS not willing to receive ings, the actual presentation being made at them. He may very well have doubted the time indicated in the narrative, i. e. in whether God would so.nction their use, as it the first half of the second month. Aud had had not been commanded ; and it may be anointed it. From Levit. viii. 10, as com• that some delay, perhaps of several days, pared with Exod. tl 35, it would rather appear occurred before he was able to accept them that Moses did not anoint the tabernacle on and to assign them to their future t111es. Jn the day it was set np, but on some subsequent this, or some similar way, must be explained day. It is, however, a mistake to suppose the appa.rent discrepancy of time. that the tabernacle and the holy things were Ver. 5.-Take it of them. It was the first anointed throngh seven successive days: the absolutely voluntary offering made for the statement in Levit. viii 33-85 refers only to service of God, and 11.11 such altogether accept• the consecration of the priests. Since the able. Former "free-will offerings " had been anointing of the tabernacle was connected l!.t the least invited-this bad not. with the setting of it up, as the last act of Ver. 8.-Four wagons . . . he gave unto one ceremonial, and was only unavoidably the sons of llero.rl. The heavy portions J)Ostponed, there ia nothii 1g remarkable in of the fabric, which were iutrusted to the the two things being spoken of as if they had Merarites, especially required this means. of taken place on one and the same day. transport. Yer. 2.-The princes ofl1rael. These are Ver. 9.-Upon their 1ho11lde1'1. For which the sa.me men, and a.re called by the same purpose poles or bearing-frames had been titles, as those Divinely nominated in eh. i. provided, !Ill implying more honour and ca1-e 4, sq. No doubt they were the heads of the than the use of carriages. The death of Uzzah na.tioll!l according to some established rules seems to h&ve been the melancholy conse- of precedence before the exodus. Aud were quence of neglecting this rule {2 San1. vi. 3, over them that were aumbere4. Hebrew, 7, as compared with 1 Cluon. X\'. 13). CJJ, VII. 1-89.] THE BOOK OF NUMBERS. 59