The Pulpit Commentary — Numbers — Section 132

to Moses by the fact that he communicated so. That men in the camp, and away from of it to the seventy." They propheaied. the visible centre and scene of Divine mani- The ;phenomenon here mentioned for the festations,ehonld beaccessible to the heavenly first time was no doubt an ecstatic utterance, afflatus was a vast astonishment to an ignor- not exactly beyond the control, but certainly ant people. We may compare the surprise beyond the origination, of those who pro· felt by the Jewish Christians when the sign phesied. It must not be confounded with of tongues was shown among the Gentile■ that state of calm, spiritual exaltation in (.Acts x. 45, 46). which such men ns Isaac and Jacob spake Ver. 27.-And there ran a young man. concerning things to come (Heb. xi. 20 ; cf. Literally, "the young man,"-,p~;:i; ovEav- Gen. xxvii 29; xlix. 28). The Hebrew for:oi;, Septo.agint,-by which some under- ~t(~JIJ'. means literally "were cansed to pour stand the young men of the camp collectively, forth,'" and the fundamental idea. is that but this is doubtful in grammar and unsatis- those affected became for the time being factory in sense. If this book was compiled vents for the audible utterance of thoughts from previous records, of which there are and expressions which were not theirs, but many apparent traces, we may suppose that the Holy Ghost's. Compare the thought in the name of this young man was there given, Job xxxii. 18-20, and the case of Saul and but here for some reason omitted. his messengers, as above. .As to the matter Ver. 28.-Joahua the son of Nun. See on of these prophesyings, we may probably con- Exod. xvii. 9. .As before, he is called Joshua clude that they were of the same nature as the by anticipation. One of his yollll.g men. ecstatic utterances of the tongues on the day This implies that there wero others who to of Pentecost and afterwards; not "prophecy" some extent shared his duties tow,uds Moses; in the ordinary sense, but inspired glorifica- but that Joshua stood in a peculiar relation tion of God, and declaration of his wonderful to his master is evident from Exod. xxiv. 13 works (.Acts ii. 4, 11). And did not cease. and :xxxii. 17, as well as from this passage Rather ·u did not add " or "repeat." ~!:)O' itself. llrly lord llrloses, forbil!. them. Pro- ~~l- Septuagint, ,cal our< fr, 1rpoa,!hvr~~ bably he did not know that they had been enrolled, and he was naturally jealous for Th~ ecstatic utterance did not continue or the honour of Moses-a jealousy which was reappear. The New Testament history no not at all unnecessary, ns the events of the doubt supplies us with the explanation of next chapter proved. The prophesying of this. The supernatural sign thus accorded Eldad and Medad in the camp might well was of little use in itself, and was of much seem like the setting up of an independent danger, because it attracted to its exhibition authority, not in harmony with that of an attention which was rather due to mo1·e Moses. inward o.nd spiritual things. .As a sign it Ver. 29.-Enviest thou for my sake l In was sufficient that it should be once unmis- this answer speaks for one( the meekest of takably manifested before all the people. men." It was his sad fate th11t his position (cf. 1 Cor. xiv. 22 ; xiii. 8). The perma- as representative of God obliged him to see nent charisma of the Holy Spirit which the repressed with terrible visitations any re- seventy received and retained from this time bellionagainst his sole and 11bsolute authority. forth wns no doubt the avriA~,/,•i: or r:v/3Ep• But he was devoid of personal l\mbition l\t all v~a,i; of 1 Cor. xii. 28 ; the gift of "help" times, and at this time weary and disgusted or "governance," not in temporal matters, with the responsibility of ruling such a but in the religious education and direction people, How much more for the glory of of the people. God, and for his own peace, would it l>e Ver. 26. -There remaiDed two of the men if not only these, but 11ll the people, shnrell. in the oamp. No reason is here given why the gifts of the Spirit I ¥ark ix. 38, 39 pre- they did not accompany the rest to the sonts a partial, but still II striking, parallel. tabernncle; but as they did not thereby Ver. 30.-llrloaes gat him into the camp. forfeit the gift designed for them, it is cer- .Although tho tabernacle stood in the midst tain that some necessity or duty detained of the camp, yet it was practically separated them. They were of them that were writ- from the tents of the other tribes by an opon ten. This incidental notice shows how usual space and by the encampments of the Levites. the practice of writing was, at any rate with There is, therefore, no ground for inferring Moses, who was "learned in all the wisdom from this and similar expressions that the of the Egyptians" (.Acts vii. 22). And they record really belongs to n time when the prophesied in the camp. .As II sign that tabernacle was pitched outside tha camp. they too had received the charisma from the Ver. 31.-A wind from the Lord. A Lord. Seeing that it was the work of the wind Divinely sent for this purposo. In Ps. Holy Spirit, there was of course nothing lx..xviii. 26 it is said to havo been n wind reo.lly more wonderful in their case than in from the cast nnd south, i. e. n wind blow- the case of the others, but no doubt it seemed ing up the Reel Sea o.ncl across tho Gulf of  112 THE BOOK OF NUMBERS.