In this chapter we have,
I. An order, pursuant to the laws already made, for the removing of the
unclean out of the camp, ver. 1-4 .
II. A repetition of the laws concerning restitution, in case of wrong
done to a neighbour
( ver. 5-8 ),
and concerning the appropriating of the hallowed things to the priests, ver. 9, 10 .
III. A new law made concerning the trial of a wife suspected of
adultery, by the waters of jealousy, ver. 11 , &c.
1 And the L ORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2 Command the children of Israel, that they put out of the camp
every leper, and every one that hath an issue, and whosoever is
defiled by the dead:
3 Both male and female shall ye put out, without the camp shall
ye put them; that they defile not their camps, in the midst
whereof I dwell.
4 And the children of Israel did so, and put them out without
the camp: as the L ORD spake unto Moses, so did the children of
Israel.
5 And the L ORD spake unto Moses, saying,
6 Speak unto the children of Israel, When a man or woman shall
commit any sin that men commit, to do a trespass against the
L ORD , and that person be guilty;
7 Then they shall confess their sin which they have done: and
he shall recompense his trespass with the principal thereof, and
add unto it the fifth part thereof, and give it unto him against whom he hath trespassed.
8 But if the man have no kinsman to recompense the trespass
unto, let the trespass be recompensed unto the L ORD , even to
the priest; beside the ram of the atonement, whereby an atonement
shall be made for him.
9 And every offering of all the holy things of the children of
Israel, which they bring unto the priest, shall be his.
10 And every man's hallowed things shall be his: whatsoever any
man giveth the priest, it shall be his.
Here is,
I. A command for the purifying of the camp, by turning out from within
its lines all those that were ceremonially unclean, by issues,
leprosies, or the touch of dead bodies, until they were cleansed
according to the law, v. 2, 3 .
1. These orders are executed immediately, v. 4 .
(1.) The camp was now newly-modelled and put in order, and therefore,
to complete the reformation of it, it is next to be cleansed. Note, The
purity of the church must be as carefully consulted and preserved as
the peace and order of it. It is requisite, not only that every
Israelite be confined to his own standard, but that every polluted
Israelite be separated from it. The wisdom from above is first pure,
then peaceable. (2.) God's tabernacle was now fixed in the midst of their camp, and
therefore they must be careful to keep it clean. Note, The greater
profession of religion any house or family make the more they are
obliged to put away iniquity far from their tabernacle, Job xxii. 23 .
The person, the place, in the midst of which God dwells, must
not be defiled; for, if it be, he will be affronted, offended, and
provoked to withdraw, 1 Cor. iii. 16, 17 .
2. This expulsion of the unclean out of the camp was to signify,
(1.) What the governors of the church ought to do: they must separate between the precious and the vile, and purge out
scandalous persons, as old leaven
( 1 Cor. v. 8, 13 ),
lest others should be infected and defiled, Heb. xii. 15 .
It is for the glory of Christ and the edification of his church that
those who are openly and incorrigibly profane and vicious should be put
out and kept from Christian communion till they repent.
(2.) What God himself will do in the great day: he will thoroughly
purge his floor, and gather out of his kingdom all things that
offend. As here the unclean were shut out of the camp, so into the
new Jerusalem no unclean thing shall enter, Rev. xxi. 27 .
II. A law concerning restitution, in case of wrong done to a neighbour.
It is called a sin that men commit ( v. 6 ),
because it is common among men; a sin of man, that is, a sin
against man, so it is thought it should be translated and
understood. If a man overreach or defraud his brother in any matter, it
is to be looked upon as a trespass against the Lord, who is the
protector of right, the punisher of wrong, and who strictly charges and
commands us to do justly. Now what is to be done when a man's awakened
conscience charges him with guilt of this kind, and brings it to his
remembrance though done long ago?
1. He must confess his sin, confess it to God, confess it to his
neighbour, and so take shame to himself. If he have denied it before,
though it go against the grain to own himself in a lie, yet he must do
it; because his heart was hardened he denied it, therefore he has no
other way of making it appear that his heart is now softened but by
confessing it.
2. He must bring a sacrifice, a ram of atonement, v. 8 .
Satisfaction must be made for the offence done to God, whose law is
broken, as well as for the loss sustained by our neighbour; restitution
in this case is not sufficient without faith and repentance.
3. Yet the sacrifices would not be accepted till full amends were made
to the party wronged, not only the principal, but a fifth part added to
it, v. 7 .
It is certain that while that which is got by injustice is knowingly
retained in the hands the guilt of the injustice remains upon the
conscience, and is not purged by sacrifice nor offering, prayers not
tears, for it is one and the same continued act of sin persisted in.
This law we had before
( Lev. vi. 4 ),
and it is here added that if the party wronged was dead, and he had no
near kinsman who was entitled to the debt, or if it was any way
uncertain to whom the restitution should be made, this should not serve
for an excuse to detain what was unjustly gotten; to whomsoever it
pertained, it was certainly none of his that got it by sin, and
therefore it must be given to the priest, v. 8 .
If there were any that could make out a title to it, it must not be
given to the priest (God hates robbery for burnt-offerings); but, if
there were not, then it lapsed to the great Lord ( ob defectum
sanguinis--for want of issue ), and the priests were his receivers.
Note, Some work of piety or charity is a piece of necessary justice to
be done by those who are conscience to themselves that they have done
wrong, but know not how otherwise to make restitution; what is not our
property will never be our profit.
III. A general rule concerning hallowed things given upon this
occasion, that, whatever was given to the priest, his it shall
be, v. 9, 10 .
1. He that gave it was not to receive his gift again upon any pretence
whatsoever. This law ratifies and confirms all grants for pious uses,
that people might not give things to the priests in a fit of zeal, and
then recall them in a fit of vexation.
2. The other priests should not come in sharers with that priest who
then officiated, and to whom the hallowed thing, whatever it was, was
given. Let him that was most ready and diligent in attending fare the
better for it: if he do the work, let him have the pay, and much good
may it do him.
11 And the L ORD spake unto Moses, saying,
12 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any
man's wife go aside, and commit a trespass against him,
13 And a man lie with her carnally, and it be hid from the eyes
of her husband, and be kept close, and she be defiled, and there
be no witness against her, neither she be taken with the
manner; 14 And the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous
of his wife, and she be defiled: or if the spirit of jealousy
come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be not
defiled:
15 Then shall the man bring his wife unto the priest, and he
shall bring her offering for her, the tenth part of an ephah of
barley meal; he shall pour no oil upon it, nor put frankincense
thereon; for it is an offering of jealousy, an offering of
memorial, bringing iniquity to remembrance.
16 And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the
L ORD :
17 And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel;
and of the dust that is in the floor of the tabernacle the priest
shall take, and put it into the water:
18 And the priest shall set the woman before the L ORD , and
uncover the woman's head, and put the offering of memorial in her
hands, which is the jealousy offering: and the priest shall
have in his hand the bitter water that causeth the curse:
19 And the priest shall charge her by an oath, and say unto the
woman, If no man have lain with thee, and if thou hast not gone
aside to uncleanness with another instead of thy husband, be
thou free from this bitter water that causeth the curse:
20 But if thou hast gone aside to another instead of thy
husband, and if thou be defiled, and some man have lain with thee
beside thine husband:
21 Then the priest shall charge the woman with an oath of
cursing, and the priest shall say unto the woman, The L ORD make
thee a curse and an oath among thy people, when the L ORD doth
make thy thigh to rot, and thy belly to swell;
22 And this water that causeth the curse shall go into thy
bowels, to make thy belly to swell, and thy thigh to rot: And
the woman shall say, Amen, amen.
23 And the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he
shall blot them out with the bitter water:
24 And he shall cause the woman to drink the bitter water that
causeth the curse: and the water that causeth the curse shall
enter into her, and become bitter.
25 Then the priest shall take the jealousy offering out of the
woman's hand, and shall wave the offering before the L ORD , and
offer it upon the altar:
26 And the priest shall take an handful of the offering, even the memorial thereof, and burn it upon the altar, and afterward
shall cause the woman to drink the water.
27 And when he hath made her to drink the water, then it shall
come to pass, that, if she be defiled, and have done trespass
against her husband, that the water that causeth the curse shall
enter into her, and become bitter, and her belly shall swell,
and her thigh shall rot: and the woman shall be a curse among her
people.
28 And if the woman be not defiled, but be clean; then she
shall be free, and shall conceive seed.
29 This is the law of jealousies, when a wife goeth aside to
another instead of her husband, and is defiled;
30 Or when the spirit of jealousy cometh upon him, and he be
jealous over his wife, and shall set the woman before the L ORD ,
and the priest shall execute upon her all this law.
31 Then shall the man be guiltless from iniquity, and this
woman shall bear her iniquity.
We have here the law concerning the solemn trial of a wife whose
husband was jealous of her. Observe,
I. What was the case supposed: That a man had some reason to suspect
his wife to have committed adultery, v. 12-14 .
Here,
1. The sin of adultery is justly represented as an exceedingly sinful
sin; it is going aside from God and virtue, and the good way, Prov. ii. 17 .
It is committing a trespass against the husband, robbing him of his
honour, alienating his right, introducing a spurious breed into his
family to share with his children in his estate, and violating her
covenant with him. It is being defiled; for nothing pollutes the mind
and conscience more than this sin does.
2. It is supposed to be a sin which great care is taken by the sinners
to conceal, which there is no witness of. The eye of the adulterer
waits for the twilight, Job xxiv. 15 .
And the adulteress takes her opportunity when the good man is not at
home, Prov. vii. 19 .
It would not covet to be secret if it were not shameful; and the devil
who draws sinners to this sin teaches them how to cover it.
3. The spirit of jealousy is supposed to come upon the husband,
of which Solomon says, It is the rage of a man ( Prov. vi. 34 ),
and that it is cruel as the grave, Cant. viii. 6 .
4. "Yet" (say the Jewish writers) "he must make it appear that he has
some just cause for the suspicion." The rule they give is, "If the
husband have said unto his wife before witnesses, 'Be not thou in
secret with such a man;' and, notwithstanding that admonition, it is
afterwards proved that she was in secret with that man, though her
father or her brother, then he may compel her to drink the bitter
water." But the law here does not tie him to that particular method of
proving the just cause of his suspicion; it might be otherwise proved.
In case it could be proved that she had committed adultery, she was to
be put to death
( Lev. xx. 10 );
but, if it was uncertain, then this law took place. Hence,
(1.) Let all wives be admonished not to give any the least occasion for
the suspicion of their chastity; it is not enough that they abstain
from the evil of uncleanness, but they must abstain from all appearance
of it, from every thing that looks like it, or leads to it, or may give
the least umbrage to jealousy; for how great a matter may a little fire kindle! (2.) Let all husbands be admonished not to entertain any causeless or
unjust suspicions of their wives. If charity in general, much more
conjugal affection, teaches to think no evil, 1 Cor. xiii. 5 .
It is the happiness of the virtuous woman that the heart of her
husband does safely trust in her, Prov. xxxi. 11 .
II. What was the course prescribed in this case, that, if the suspected
wife was innocent, she might not continue under the reproach and
uneasiness of her husband's jealousy, and, if guilty, her sin might
find her out, and others might hear, and fear, and take warning.
1. The process of the trial must be thus:--
(1.) Her husband must bring her to the priest, with the
witnesses that could prove the ground of his suspicion, and desire that
she might be put upon her trial. The Jews say that the priest was first
to endeavour to persuade her to confess the truth, saying to this
purport, "Dear daughter, perhaps thou wast overtaken by drinking wine,
or wast carried away by the heat of youth or the examples of bad
neighbours; come, confess the truth, for the sake of his great name
which is described in the most sacred ceremony, and do not let it be
blotted out with the bitter water." If she confessed, saying, "I am
defiled," she was not put to death, but was divorced and lost her
dowry; if she said, "I am pure," then they proceeded.
(2.) He must bring a coarse offering of barley-meal, without oil or
frankincense, agreeably to the present afflicted state of his family;
for a great affliction it was either to have cause to be jealous or to
be jealous without cause. It is an offering of memorial, to
signify that what was to be done was intended as a religious appeal to
the omniscience and justice of God.
(3.) The priest was to prepare the water of jealousy, the holy water
out of the laver at which the priests were to wash when they
ministered; this must be brought in an earthen vessel, containing (they say) about a pint; and it must be an earthen vessel, because the coarser and plainer every thing was the more
agreeable it was to the occasion. Dust must be put into the
water, to signify the reproach she lay under, and the shame she ought
to take to herself, putting her mouth in the dust; but dust from the
floor of the tabernacle, to put an honour upon every thing that
pertained to the place God had chosen to put his name there, and to
keep up in the people a reverence for it; see John viii. 6 .
(4.) The woman was to be set before the Lord, at the east gate
of the temple-court (say the Jews), and her head was to be uncovered,
in token of her sorrowful condition; and there she stood for a
spectacle to the world, that other women might learn not to do after
her lewdness, Ezek. xxiii. 48 .
Only the Jews say, "Her own servants were not to be present, that she
might not seem vile in their sight, who were to give honour to her; her
husband also must be dismissed."
(5.) The priest was to adjure her to tell the truth, and to denounce
the curse of God against her if she were guilty, and to declare what
would be the effect of her drinking the water of jealousy, v. 19-22 .
He must assure her that, if she were innocent, the water would do her
no harm, v. 19 .
None need fear the curse of the law if they have not broken the
commands of the law. But, if she were guilty, this water would be
poison to her, it would make her belly to swell and her thigh to
rot, and she should be a curse or abomination among her people, v. 21, 22 .
To this she must say, Amen, as Israel must do to the curses
pronounced on mount Ebal, Deut. xxvii. 15-26 .
Some think the Amen, being doubled, respects both parts of the
adjuration, both that which freed her if innocent and that which
condemned her if guilty. No woman, if she were guilty, could say Amen to this adjuration, and drink the water upon it, unless she
disbelieved the truth of God or defied his justice, and had come to
such a pitch of impudence and hard-heartedness in sin as to challenge
God Almighty to do his worst, and choose rather to venture upon his
curse than to give him glory by making confession; thus has whoredom taken away the heart. (6.) The priest was to write this curse in a scrip or scroll o
parchment, verbatim--word for word, as he had expressed it, and
then to wipe or scrape out what he had written into the water
( v. 23 ),
to signify that it was that curse which impregnated the water, and gave
it its strength to effect what was intended. It signified that, if she
were innocent, the curse should be blotted out and never appear against
her, as it is written, Isa. xliii. 25 , I am he that blotteth out thy transgression, and Ps. li. 9 , Blot out my iniquities; but that, if she were guilty, the curse,
as it was written, being infused into the water, would enter into her
bowels with the water, even like oil into her bones ( Ps. cix. 18 ),
as we read of a curse entering into a house, Zech. v. 4 .
(7.) The woman must then drink the water
( v. 24 );
it is called the bitter water, some think because they put
wormwood in it to make it bitter, or rather because it caused the
curse. Thus sin is called an evil thing and a bitter for the
same reason, because it causeth the curse, Jer. ii. 19 .
If she had been guilty (and otherwise it did not cause the curse), she
was made to know that though her stolen waters had been sweet, and her bread eaten in secret pleasant, yet the end was bitter as
wormwood, Prov. ix. 17 ,
and ch. v. 4 .
Let all that meddle with forbidden pleasures know that they will be
bitterness in the latter end. The Jews say that if, upon denouncing the
curse, the woman was so terrified that she durst not drink the water,
but confessed she was defiled, the priest flung down the water, and
cast her offering among the ashes, and she was divorced without dowry:
if she confessed not, and yet would not drink, they forced her to it;
and, if she was ready to throw it up again, they hastened her away,
that she might not pollute the holy place.
(8.) Before she drank the water, the jealousy-offering was waved and
offered upon the altar
( v. 25, 26 );
a handful of it was burnt for a memorial, and the remainder of it eaten
by the priest, unless the husband was a priest, and then it was
scattered among the ashes. This offering in the midst of the
transaction signified that the whole was an appeal to God, as a God
that knows all things, and from whom no secret is hid. (9.) All things being thus performed according to the law, they were to
wait the issue. The water, with a little dust put into it, and the
scrapings of a written parchment, had no natural tendency at all to do
either good or hurt; but if God was thus appealed to in the way of an
instituted ordinance, though otherwise the innocent might have
continued under suspicion and the guilty undiscovered, yet God would so
far own his own institution as that in a little time, by the miraculous
operation of Providence, the innocency of the innocent should be
cleared, and the sin of the guilty should find them out.
[1.] If the suspected woman was really guilty, the water she drank
would be poison to her
( v. 27 ),
her belly would swell and her thigh rot by a vile disease for vile
deserts, and she would mourn at the last when her flesh and body
were consumed, Prov. v. 11 .
Bishop Patrick says, from some of the Jewish writers, that the effect
of these waters appeared immediately, she grew pale, and her eyes ready
to start out of her head. Dr. Lightfoot says that sometimes it appeared
not for two or three years, but she bore no children, was sickly,
languished, and rotted at last; it is probable that some indications
appeared immediately. The rabbin say that the adulterer also died in
the same day and hour that the adulteress did, and in the same manner
too, that he belly swelled, and his secret parts rotted: a disease
perhaps not much unlike that which in these latter ages the avenging
hand of a righteous God has made the scourge of uncleanness, and with
which whores and whoremongers infect, and plague, and ruin one another,
since they escape punishment from men. The Jewish doctors add that the
waters had this effect upon the adulteress only in case the husband had
never offended in the same kind; but that, if he had at any time
defiled the marriage-bed, God did not thus right him against his
injurious wife; and that therefore in the latter and degenerate ages of
the Jewish church, when uncleanness did abound, this way of trial was
generally disused and laid aside; men, knowing their own crimes, were
content not to know their wives' crimes. And to this perhaps may refer
the threatening
( Hos. iv. 14 ), I will not punish your spouses when they commit adultery, for you
yourselves are separated with whores. [2.] If she were innocent, the water she drank would be physic to her: She shall be free, and shall conceive seed, v. 28 .
The Jewish writers magnify the good effects of this water to the
innocent woman, that, to recompense her for the wrong done to her by
the suspicion, she should, after the drinking of these waters, be
stronger and look better than ever; if she was sickly, she should
become healthful, should bear a man-child, and have easy labour.
2. From the whole we may learn,
(1.) That secret sins are known to God, and sometimes are strangely
brought to light in this life; however, there is a day coming when God
will, by Jesus Christ, as here by the priest, judge the secrets of
men according to the gospel, Rom. ii. 16 .
(2.) That, in particular, Whoremongers and adulterers God will
judge. The violation of conjugal faith and chastity is highly
provoking to the God of heaven, and sooner or later it will be reckoned
for. Though we have not now the waters of jealousy to be a sensible
terror to the unclean, yet we have a word from God which ought to be as
great a terror, that if any man defile the temple of God, him shall
God destroy, 1 Cor. iii. 17 .
(3.) That God will find out some way or other to clear the innocency of
the innocent, and to bring forth their righteousness as the light.
(4.) That to the pure all things are pure, but to the defiled
nothing is so, Tit. i. 15 .
The same word is to some a savour of life unto life, to others a
savour of death unto death, like those waters of jealousy,
according as they receive it; the same providence is for good to some
and for hurt to others, Jer. xxiv. 5, 8, 9 .
And, whatsoever it is intended for, it shall not return
void.
INTRODUCTION TO NUMBERS 5
This chapter contains a repetition of some former laws, concerning putting unclean persons out of the camp, Nu 5:1; making restitution in case of trespass against another, Nu 5:5; and of giving the offering of all holy things and all hallowed things to the priests, Nu 5:9; and a new law concerning jealousy, in a man, of his wife, Nu 5:11; when she was to be brought to the priest, and various rites and ceremonies to be used, Nu 5:15; who was to give her bitter water as a trial of her chastity, which, if guilty, would have a strange effect upon her, and make her accursed, but if not, would not affect her, and she would be free and happy, Nu 5:24.
Ver. 1. And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... Jarchi says, what follows was said on the day the tabernacle was erected, but it seems rather to have been delivered after the several camps were formed, and the people numbered, when those that were unclean were ordered to be cast out of them:
saying; as follows.
Numbers 5:2
Ver. 2. Command the children of Israel,.... Not as from himself, but from the Lord; deliver out the following as a command of his, to which obedience was required of all the children of Israel:
that they put out of the camp every leper; there were three camps, Jarchi says, in the time of their encampment; between the curtains was the camp of the Shechinah, or the divine Majesty; the encampment of the Levites round about; and from thence to the end was the camp of the standards, to the four winds, which was the camp of Israel; and the leper was to be put out of them all; so Ben Gersom; see Le 13:46;
and everyone that hath an issue; a gonorrhoea, man or woman, see
Le 15:2; according Jarchi, such an one might be in the camp of Israel, but was to be put out of the other two camps:
and whosoever is defiled by the dead; by attending the funerals of the dead, or touching them, see Le 21:1; such an one might go into the camp of the Levites, according to Jarchi and Ben Gersom; and was to be put of none but the camp of the Shechinah, or the tabernacle; but the camp of Israel seems to be meant of them all, out of which they were to be put, as an emblem of the rejection of all impure persons out of the church of God.
Numbers 5:3
Ver. 3. Both male and female shall ye put out,.... Whether leprous, or profluvious, or defiled by touching a dead carcass: by this law, Miriam, when leprous, was put out of the camp, Nu 12:14;
without the camp shall ye put them; which is repeated that it might be taken notice of, and punctually observed:
that they defile not their camps; of which there were four, the camps of Judah, Reuben, Ephraim, and Dan:
in the midst whereof I dwell; for the tabernacle, which was the dwelling place of the Lord, was in the midst of the camps of Israel; they were pitched on the four quarters of it; and this is a reason why impure persons were not suffered to be in the camp of Israel, because of the presence of God in the tabernacle so near them, to whom all, impurity is loathsome, and not to be permitted in his sight; and though this was ceremonial, it was typical of the uncleanness of sin, which is abominable to him, and renders persons unfit for communion with him, and with his people.
Numbers 5:4
Ver. 4. And the children of Israel did so, and put them without the camp,.... Aben Ezra observes, that this was done immediately before they journeyed, and that those that were defiled journeyed between the standard of Ephraim and the standard of Dan; but this, he says, was by way of conjecture, since it is not expressed:
as the Lord spake unto Moses, so did the children of Israel; they were obedient in this particular.
Numbers 5:5
Ver. 5. And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... Or continued to speak to him at the same time:
saying; as follows.
Numbers 5:6
Ver. 6. Speak unto the children of Israel,.... Put them in mind of the following law, that they observe it; and which is here repeated, because of two new things in it, as Jarchi observes, the one relates to confession, teaching that there is no fifth part nor trespass offering by witnesses, till a man confesses the thing; and the other is, concerning taking anything away by violence from a proselyte, which is to be given to the priests; see the original law in Le 6:1;
when a man or woman shall commit any sin that men commit; or, "any of the sins of men" {e}, which are commonly done by men, and men are subject to through the infirmity of the flesh, and the temptations of Satan; or "any sin against man" {f}, so some, as this referred to is expressly said to be, Nu 5:7;
to do a trespass against the Lord; for every sin against man is also against the Lord, being a breach of his command; as David's sin against Uriah was a sin against the Lord, Ps 51:4; though the Jews understand it particularly of lying and swearing falsely, appealing to God, and calling him to be a witness to a falsehood; and so the Targum of Onkelos seems to interpret it:
and the person be guilty; and knows he is so, and even knew it when he took an oath to the contrary; see Le 6:3.
{e} Mdah tajx lkm "ex omnibus peccatis hominis", Montanus. {f} "Ex omnibus peccatis contra hominem", Tigurine version; so Patrick.
Numbers 5:7
Ver. 7. Then they shall confess their sin which they have done,.... The form of which confession, according to Fagius, was, O Lord, I am guilty of death, I have deserved to be stoned for this sin, or to be strangled for this trespass, or to be burnt for this crime, &c.
and he shall recompense his trespass with the principal thereof, and add unto it the fifth [part] thereof; paying the whole of whatsoever he had in any manner defrauded his neighbour of, to which he was to add a fifth part of that; that is, as Aben Ezra interprets it, it he confesses of himself, but if there are witnesses of it he must add two fifths, and some say a fifth of a fifth:
and give [it] unto [him] against whom he hath trespassed; as a satisfaction for the injury done him.
Numbers 5:8
Ver. 8. But if a man have no kinsman to recompense the trespass to,.... This supposes that if a man should die, against whom the trespass is, before the restitution is made, then it shall be made to his heirs; and if he has none, then it was to be given to the priest, as after directed: the Jews {g} generally understand this of a proselyte, that has no heirs, for they say, there is no Israelite but has kinsmen, a brother or a son, or some one or other near of kin to him, of his father's family, even up to Jacob:
let the trespass be recompensed unto the Lord, [even] to the priest; that is, let the principal, with the fifth part, which is the recompence for the trespass committed, be given to the priest of the Lord, which is the same as if it was given to him, he being his minister:
beside the ram of the atonement, whereby an atonement shall be made for him; which, in this case, was ordered to be offered for the expiation, of the trespass, see Le 6:6; the Jewish canon is,
"he that takes away anything by force from a proselyte, and swears to him, and he (the proselyte) dies, lo, he shall pay the principal and the fifth to the priests, and the trespass offering to the altar, as it is said, "if a man has no kinsman", &c. when he brings the money and the trespass offering, and he is dead, the money shall be given to his sons, but the trespass offering (the ram) shall feed until it contracts some blemish, and then it shall be sold, and the price of it shall fall to the freewill offerings {h}.''
{g} Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Bava Kama, c. 9. sect. 11. Jarchi in loc. {h} Misn. Bava Kama, ib.
Numbers 5:9
Ver. 9. And every offering of all the holy things of the children of Israel,.... Of the holy sacrifices brought by them to be offered up; that part of them which is elevated, heaved, or waved, as the heave shoulder and wave breast:
which they bring unto the priest, shall be his; what they bring to him to offer for them shall be his who performs the service, even that part of them which is his due.
Numbers 5:10
Ver. 10. And every man's hallowed things shall be his,.... Which he, by a vow or freewill offering, separates to holy uses; these are at his own dispose, to give to what priest he will, or they are the priest's; for what a man devotes to the Lord is to be given to them, or such things as God has hallowed, sanctified, and set apart for sacred uses, as the firstfruits and tithes, they were the priests'; the Jewish writers {i} restrain it to tithes:
whatsoever any man giveth the priest, it shall be his; his personally, who officiates, or to whom the gift is given, and is not to be divided among the other priests in the course.
{i} Targ. Jon. Siphri & Midrash in Jarchi in loc.
Numbers 5:11
Ver. 11. And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... At the same time, and delivered to him a new law:
saying; as follows.
Numbers 5:12
Ver. 12. Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them,.... It being an affair which concerned them:
if any man's wife go aside, and commit a trespass against him; the sin of adultery, which is a going aside out of the way of virtue and chastity, and a trespass against an husband, a breach of the marriage covenant with him, a defiling his bed, doing an injury and dishonour to him, bringing confusion into his family, and a spurious offspring to possess his substance: though this is to be understood, not of certain adultery, of which there is plain and full proof, for then there would be no occasion of such a trial, as is afterwards directed to; besides, her husband, in such a case, might put her away, and even, according to the law, she was to be put to death, Le 20:10; but of her having committed it in the opinion of her husband, he having some ground of suspicion, though he could not be certain of it; and therefore, by this law, was allowed to make trial, that he might find it out, it at present only a suspected case, and a doubtful one; and the Jews {k} say,
"they never gave the waters drink but in a doubtful case:''
and so this may interpreted of her declining and departing from her husband's house, not keeping at home to mind the affairs of her family, but gadding abroad, and keeping company with another man, or other men; and that after she had been warned and charged by her husband to the contrary, and so had disobeyed him, and acted contrary to his will; and in that sense had committed a trespass, and so had given him suspicion of her unchastity, for which he might have some reason; if, as it is said in the Misnah {l}, he gave her an admonition before two witnesses, saying, have no talk with such a man, and yet she talks with him; or, as the commentators add {m}, be not secretly or in private with such an one, and yet goes into a private place with him, and stays so long with him that she may be defiled; this with them rendered her suspected.
{k} Bemidbar Rabba, sect. 9. fol. 195. 2. {l} Sotah, c. 1. sect. 1, 2. {m} Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Bava Kama, c. 9. sect. 11.
Numbers 5:13
Ver. 13. And a man lie with her carnally,.... That is, is suspected that he has so done, not that it is a clear case, for it follows;
and it be hid from the eyes of her husband, and be kept close; so that it is not known by her husband, nor by any other; "she hath hid herself", so Ainsworth, being in a private place with another man, though warned to the contrary by her husband:
and she be defiled, and [there be] no witness against her; of her being defiled, though there may be of her being in private with such a man:
neither she be taken [with the manner]; or in the act of uncleanness.
Numbers 5:14
Ver. 14. And the spirit of jealousy come upon him,.... A thought rises up in his mind, a strong suspicion works in him, which he cannot resist and throw off, but it remains with him, and makes him very uneasy, that his wife has defiled his bed, as it follows:
and he be jealous of his wife, and she be defiled; that his wife is defiled by a man; and which is the real case, as it afterwards appears, though at present he is not certain, only has a suspicion of it:
or if the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be not defiled; it is mere jealousy and suspicion, without any foundation for it; and his wife proved a chaste and virtuous woman; yet be it which it would, he being jealous, the following law was to take place, and the following rules to be observed.
Numbers 5:15
Ver. 15. Then shall the man bring his wife unto the priest,.... Not to the high priest but to a common priest, anyone then officiating in his course; for there was a jealousy offering to be offered up before the Lord upon the altar, which none but a priest might do; and besides, the whole process in this affair was to be carried, on by him: according to the Misnah {n}, the man brought his wife first to the sanhedrim, or court of judicature in the place where he lived; before whom, as Maimonides {o} says, he proved by witnesses that he had warned his wife of being in private with such a man, and yet she had done it again; and whereas she insisted on her chastity, he desired that the bitter waters might be given her, that the truth might appear; and then they sent him with two disciples of the wise men, to the great sanhedrim at Jerusalem, where the trial was made; who, in order to bring her too confession, endeavoured to terrify her, as they do persons in capital cases, and finding this wilt not do, then they used smooth words, saying, my daughter, perhaps much wine was the occasion of it, or much laughter, &c.
and he shall bring her offering for her: not the priest, but her husband, and that whether he is willing or not, as Aben Ezra; who also observes, that it may be interpreted, with her, or for her sake, not to make any expiation for any fault of his, that when he first observed her immodesty, did not reprove her; for the offering, though brought by him, was not his, but his wife's, and not to expiate her sin, but to bring it to remembrance, as is after expressed:
the tenth [part] of an ephah of barley meal; which was an omer,
Ex 16:36, the quantity of manna for one man every day, Ex 16:16, and the quantity of flour in the daily meat offering, Ex 29:40; only that was of fine wheaten flour; this of barley, the food of beasts, as the Targum of Jonathan remarks; and R. Gamaliel in the Misnah {p} says, that as her deed was the deed of a beast, so her offering was the food of a beast; and this is observed by Jarchi and Aben Ezra on the text, as the reason of barley being used in this offering: some say it was a symbol of her impudence, others of her being little at home, as the barley is not long under ground {q}; the true reason, it may be, was for her humiliation, being vile, and mean, hence it follows:
he shall pour no oil upon it, nor put frankincense thereon; as used to be oft meat offerings, denoting their acceptableness to God, Le 2:1; the reason seems to be, because these were tokens of joy and gladness, whereas this was a mournful affair to the husband, that he should have any cause of suspicion and jealousy, to the wife that she should be suspected, and to the whole family on that account:
for it [is] an offering of jealousy, an offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to remembrance; if guilty of it, and therefore oil and frankincense were forbidden in this kind of offering as in a sin offering, Le 5:11.
{n} Ut supra, (Misn. Bava Kama, c. 9.) sect. 3, 4. {o} Hilchot Sotah, c. 3. sect. 1. {p} Sotah, c. 2. sect. 1. {q} Apud Muis. in loc.
Numbers 5:16
Ver. 16. And the priest shall bring her near,.... Or "offer it", as the Vulgate Latin version, that is, the offering of jealousy:
and set her before the Lord; or "it", the offering; for which the Tigurine version is more express,
"let the priest offer that sacrifice, and set that before the Lord,''
for the setting of the woman before the Lord is spoken of in Nu 5:18.
Numbers 5:17
Ver. 17. And the priest shall take holy water,.... Out of the laver, as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan, and so Jarchi and Aben Ezra:
in an earthen vessel; which held half a log, and that was but a quarter of a pint, or three egg shells; for no more was assigned, to a suspected woman, according to the Misnah {r}. Some say only a fourth part: an earthen vessel was made use of, as everything vile and mean was in this affair:
and of the dust that is in the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put [it] into the water; first the water was put in, and then the dust, as Ben Gersom observes: there was a place a cubit square, where was a marble table, and a ring fixed in it, and when he lifted it up he took dust from under it, and put it so as it might be upon the top of the water {s}; which was used, either, as the Targum of Jonathan suggests, because the end of all flesh is to come to dust, and so to put her in mind of her original and her end; and in like manner the earthen vessel might signify, that she would be broke to pieces as that vessel; as also it might direct her thoughts to the tempter, by the influence of whose temptation she had been drawn into this sin, dust being the serpent's food; and this being taken off the floor of the tabernacle, might add to the veneration of it, and make it more solemn and awful to drink of it.
{r} Sotah, c. 2. sect. 2. Menachot, c. 9. sect. 3. {s} Sotah, c. 2. sect. 2.
Numbers 5:18
Ver. 18. And the priest shall set the woman before the Lord,.... In the east of the tabernacle, with her face to the west, where was the holy of holies, so Ben Gersom; but not immediately for they had her from place to place, as Jarchi says, till she was weary, and her mind disturbed, that she might confess; and if she said, I am defiled, she rent the writing of her dowry, and went out; but if she said, I am pure, they brought her to the eastern gate, the gate of Nicanor, for there they made women suspected of adultery to drink the waters {t}:
and uncover the woman's head; as a token of her immodesty and non-subjection to her husband, and that she might be seen by all, to cause shame in her: according to the Misnah {u}, the priest took off her clothes, and loosed her hair--if she was clothed with white garments, he clothed her with black; if she had on her ornaments of gold, chains, earrings, or rings, he took them away from her, that she might be unseemly, and whoever would might come and look at her:
and put the offering of memorial into her hands, which [is] the jealousy offering; to weary her, as Jarchi says, that if perhaps her mind was disturbed she would confess; and so in the Misnah {w} it is said, that her husband put this offering into her hands to weary her; but the true reason here seems to be, that it might appear to be her own offering:
and the priest shall have in his hand the bitter water that causeth the curse; not that the water was bitter of itself, for it was the water out of the laver, and had nothing in it but the dust of the floor of the tabernacle; though some think some bitter thing was put into it, so Ben Gersom, as wormwood; but it is so called from the effects of it on those that were guilty; it produced sad effects in them, bitter and distressing, and made them appear to be accursed ones, for it was not bitter till it entered, Nu 5:24; whereas it was not so to the innocent, nor attended with any such consequence to them; so that there was nothing in the water itself, but its efficacy was divine and supernatural.
{t} Sotah, c. 1. sect. 5. {u} Sotah, c. 1. sect. 5, 6. {w} Sotah, c. 2. sect. 1.
Numbers 5:19
Ver. 19. And the priest shall charge her by an oath,.... Or give her her oath:
and say unto the woman, if no man hath lain with thee: besides her husband:
and thou hast not gone aside to uncleanness [with another] instead of thy husband; which is but another phrase expressive of the same thing, the sin of adultery:
be thou free from this bitter water that causeth the curse; if this is the case, it shall produce no bitter effects, or bring any curse upon thee.
Numbers 5:20
Ver. 20. But if thou hast gone aside to another instead of thy husband,.... Gone aside from the paths of modesty and chastity, and betook herself to another man's bed instead of her husband's:
and if thou be defiled, by committing adultery:
and some man hath lain with thee beside thy husband; these phrases are all synonymous, and a heap of words are made use of to express the sin, and that there might be no evasion of it, and that it might be clear what was intended, this being said on oath.
Numbers 5:21
Ver. 21. Then the priest shall charge the woman with an oath of cursing,.... An oath which has a curse annexed to it, if taken falsely, which was to be pronounced upon the woman if guilty:
and the priest shall say unto the woman; pronouncing the imprecation or curse upon her, she having taken the oath, should she be guilty of the crime suspected of, and she had swore concerning:
the Lord make thee a curse, and an oath among the people; accursed according to the oath taken; or let this be the form of an oath and imprecation used by the people, saying, if I have done so and so, let me be accursed as such a woman, or let not that happen to me, as did to such a woman, so Jarchi:
when the Lord doth make thy thigh to rot, and thy belly to swell; upon drinking the bitter waters; but though these things followed upon that, yet not as the natural cause of them, for they are ascribed to the Lord, and to a supernatural and miraculous power of his, which went along with the drinking of them.
Numbers 5:22
Ver. 22. And this water that causeth the curse,.... Upon the drinking of which the curse follows, if guilty:
shall go into thy bowels; and there operate and produce the above effects, which are repeated again to inject terror:
to make [thy] belly to swell, and [thy] thigh to rot; here ends the form of the oath, which begins Nu 5:19;
and the woman shall say, amen, amen; so be it; let it be as pronounced, if I am guilty; which, as Aben Ezra observes, is repeated for the sake of confirmation; though the Jewish writers commonly understand it as respecting various things, the oath and the curse, the thing charged with, and the persons suspected of {x}.
{x} Misn. ib. sect. 5. Targum Jon. & Jerus. & Jarchi in loc.
Numbers 5:23
Ver. 23. And the priest shall write these curses in a book,.... The above curses imprecated on herself by an oath; the words and the letters of them were written at length, in a scroll of parchment; and, as some say also, her name, but not her double amen to them {y}:
and he shall blot [them] out with the bitter water: wash them out with it, and into it, or scrape them off of the parchment into it.
{y} Misnah, ut supra, (Sotah, c. 2) sect. 3.
Numbers 5:24
Ver. 24. And he shall cause the woman to drink the bitter water that causeth the curse,..... Having the curse imprecated upon herself, if guilty, scraped into it; and this she was obliged to drink, whether she would or not; so it is said, if the roll is blotted out, and she says I am defiled, the water is poured out, and her offering is scattered in the place of ashes; if the roll is blotted out, and she says I will not drink, then force her, and make her drink whether she will or no {z}:
and the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, [and become] bitter; produce the sad and bitter effects mentioned.
{z} Misnah, ut supra, (Sotah) c. 3. sect. 3.
Numbers 5:25
Ver. 25. Then the priest shall take the jealousy offering out of the woman's hand,.... Which she was obliged to hold in her hand while the above rites and ceremonies were performed; which was very heavy, being an omer of barley flour, a measure about three quarts, which was put into an Egyptian basket made of small palm tree twigs: and this was put into her hands to weary her, as before observed, that, having her mind distressed, she might the sooner confess her crime:
and shall wave the offering before the Lord: backwards and forwards, upwards and downwards, as Jarchi; who also observes, that the woman waved with him, for her hand was above the hand of the priest so the tradition is,
"he (her husband) took her offering out of the Egyptian basket, and put it into a ministering vessel, and gave it into her hand, and the priest put his hand under hers, and waved it {a}:''
and offer it upon the altar: this was the bringing of it to the southwest corner of the altar, as Jarchi says, before he took a handful out of it, as in other meat offerings.
{a} Misnah, ut supra, (Sotah) c. 3. sect. 1.
Numbers 5:26
Ver. 26. And the priest shall take an handful of the offering, [even] the memorial thereof,.... For good or evil, according as her works were, as Aben Ezra observes; a memorial for good, if innocent, and a memorial for evil, if guilty:
and burn [it] upon the altar; as the handful of other meat offerings used to be, Le 1:2;
and afterwards shall cause the woman to drink the water; oblige her to it; having proceeded thus far, and no confession made, namely, an oath taken, the curses of it written in a scroll and scraped into the waters, and the jealousy offering waved and offered.
Numbers 5:27
Ver. 27. And when he hath made her to drink the water,.... For, as before observed, and here by Jarchi again, if she says I will not drink it, after the roll is blotted out, they oblige her, and make her drink it whether she will or not, unless she says I am defiled:
then it shall come to pass, [that] if she be defiled, and have done trespass against her husband; or has committed adultery:
that the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, [and become] bitter; the water drank by her, and having the curses scraped into it, shall enter into her, and operate and produce bitter and dreadful effects:
and her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall rot; not through any natural virtue in the water, or what is put into it, either the dust of the floor of the tabernacle, or the scrapings of the parchment roll, these could have no physical influence to produce such effects; but they must be ascribed to a supernatural cause, the power and curse of God attending this draught. A certain Jewish writer {b} says, though very falsely, that the priest put poison into the water, which produced such effects; but then, how could an innocent woman escape the effects of it? that must be allowed to be miraculous and supernatural, was it so; but there is no manner of reason to believe that anything of this kind was put into it, The Jews say {c}, as soon, or before she had made an end of drinking: the water, the effects appeared; her face turned pale immediately, her eyes bolted out, and she was filled with veins, her body swelled, and they called out, Cast her out, cast her out, that she may not defile the court. And the text seems to intimate, as if the operation was immediate; yea, moreover, they say {d}, that as the waters searched her, so they searched him (the adulterer), because it is said twice, "shall enter, shall enter"; and that the same effects appeared in him as in her, but in neither, unless the husband was innocent; for if he was not pure from the same sin himself, the waters would not search his wife {e} hence they say {f}, when adulterers increased (under the second temple) the bitter waters ceased, according to Ho 4:14; see Mt 12:39. This practice has been imitated by the Heathens; the river Rhine, according to Julian the emperor {g}, tried the legitimacy of children; and so lakes have been used for the trial of perjury and unchastity, as the Stygian lake for perjury, and another of the same name near Ephesus for unchastity; into which, if persons suspected of adultery descended, having the form of an oath hanging about their necks, if they were pure, the waters stood unmoved, but if corrupt, they swelled up to their necks, and covered the tablet on which the oath was written {h}. The priestesses of a certain deity being obliged to live a single life, were tried by drinking bullocks' blood, upon which, if false to their oath and corrupt, they immediately died, as Pausanias {i} relates; and Macrobius {k} speaks of some lakes in Sicily, the inhabitants called the Cups, to which recourse was had when persons were suspected of any ill, and where an oath was taken of them; if the person swore truly, he departed unhurt, but if falsely, he immediately lost his life in the lake. Philostratus {l} relates of a water near Tyana, a city in Cappadocia, sacred to Jupiter, which the inhabitants call Asbamaea, which to those that kept their oaths was placid and sweet, but to perjured persons the reverse; it affected their eyes, hands, and feet, and seized them with dropsies and consumptions; nor could they depart from the water, but remained by it, mourning their sad case, and confessing their perjury: but what comes nearest to this usage of the Jews is a custom at marriages among the savages at Cape Breton {m}: at a marriage feast, two dishes of meat are brought to the bridegroom and bride in two "ouragans" (basins made of the bark of a tree), and the president of the feast addresses himself to the bride thus,
"and thou that art upon the point of entering into a respectable state, know, that the nourishment thou art going to take forebodes the greatest calamities to thee, if thy heart is capable of harbouring any ill design against thy husband, or against thy nation: shouldest thou ever be led astray by the caresses of a stranger; or shouldest thou betray thy husband, and thy country, the victuals contained in this "ouragan" will have the effects of a slow poison, with which thou wilt be tainted from this very instant; but if, on the other hand, thou remainest faithful to thy husband, and to thy country, if thou wilt never insult the one for his defect, nor give a description of the other to the enemy, thou wilt find this nourishment both agreeable and wholesome.''
Now if these relations can be credited, then much more this of the bitter waters, for though there was something wonderful and supernatural in them, yet nothing incredible:
and the woman shall be a curse among her people: the time she lives; but then all this while she was looked upon as an accursed person, and despised and shunned by all.
{b} R. Samuel Tzartzah, Mekor Chayim, fol. 91. 3. {c} Misn. Sotah, c. 3. sect. 4. {d} Ibid. c. 5. sect. 1. {e} T. Bab. Sotah, fol. 28. 1. Gersom in loc. {f} Misn. Sotah, c. 2. sect. 9. {g} Orat. 2. p. 151. Ep. 16. p. 131. {h} Vid. Salden. Otia, l. 1. Exercitat. 6. sect. 24. {i} Achaica, sive, l. 7. p. 450. {k} Saturnal. l. 5. c. 19. {l} Vita Apollonii, l. 1. c. 4. {m} Genuine Letters and Memoirs relating to the Isle of Cape Breton, &c.
Numbers 5:28
Ver. 28. And if the woman be not defiled, but be clean,.... If she is not guilty of adultery, but pure from that sin:
then she shall be free; from the effects of the bitter water; they shall have no such influence upon her, but she shall be as soured and healthful as ever; nay, the Jewish writers say more so, that if she had any sickness or disease upon her she would now be freed from it {n}; the Targum of Jonathan has it, her splendour shall shine, the brightness and beauty of her countenance:
and shall conceive seed; a man child, as the same Targum; and the Jewish writers say, if she was barren before, now she would be fruitful; but no more is meant by it than that her husband should receive her gladly, and she should live comfortably with him hereafter, and the blessing of God would be upon her, which would still be a confirmation of her chastity.
{n} Maimon. Hilchot Sotah, c. 3. sect. 22.
Numbers 5:29
Ver. 29. This [is] the law of jealousies,.... Which was appointed by God to deter wives from adultery, and preserve the people of Israel, the worshippers of him, from having a spurious brood among them; and to keep husbands from being cruel to their wives they might be jealous of, and to protect virtue and innocence, and to detect lewdness committed in the most secret manner; whereby God gave proof of his omniscience, that he had knowledge of the most private acts of uncleanness, and was the avenger of all such. The reasons why such a law was not made equally in favour of women, as of men, are supposed to be these: because of the greater authority of the man over the woman, which would seem to be lessened, if such a power was granted her; because marriage was not so much hurt, or so much damage came to families by the adultery of men, as of women; because women are more apt to be suspicious than men, and in those times more prone to adultery, through their eager desire of children, that they might not lie under reproach {o}:
when a wife goeth aside [to another] instead of her husband, and is defiled; is suspected of going aside to another man, and is supposed to be defiled by him.
{o} Vid. Salden. ut supra, (Otia, l. 1. Exercitat. 6.) sect. 19.
Numbers 5:30
Ver. 30. Or when the spirit of jealousy cometh upon him, and he be jealous over his wife,.... See Gill on "Nu 5:14";
and shall set the woman before the Lord; has carried the matter so far as to bring his wife to the priest or civil magistrate, and declare his suspicion, and the ground of it:
and the priest shall execute upon her all this law; he shall proceed according to the law, and perform every rite and ceremony required; nor could any stop be put to it, unless the woman owned she was defiled.
Numbers 5:31
Ver. 31. Then shall the man be guiltless from iniquity,.... Which otherwise he would not, by conniving at her loose way of living, and not reproving her for it, and bringing her either to repentance or punishment; and retaining and encouraging jealousy in his mind, without declaring it, and his reasons for it: the sense of the passage seems to be, that when a man had any ground for his suspicion and jealousy, and he proceeded according as this law directs, whether his wife was guilty or not guilty, no sin was chargeable on him, or blame to be laid to him, or punishment inflicted on him:
and the woman shall bear her iniquity; the punishment of it, through the effects of the bitter waters upon her, if guilty; nor was her husband chargeable with her death, she justly brought it on herself: or if not guilty, yet as she had by some unbecoming behaviour raised such a suspicion in him, nor would she be reclaimed, though warned to the contrary, she for it justly bore the infamy of such a process; which was such, as Maimonides says {p}, that innocent women would give all that they had to escape it, and reckoned death itself more agreeable than that, as to be served as such a woman was; See Gill on "Nu 5:18".
{p} Moreh Nevochim, par. 3. c. 49. p. 499.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.
The camp was to be cleansed. The purity of the
church must be kept as carefully as the peace and order of it. Every
polluted Israelite must be separated. The wisdom from above is first
pure, then peaceable. The greater profession of religion any house
or family makes, the more they are obliged to put away iniquity far
from them. If a man overreach or defraud his brother in any matter,
it is a trespass against the Lord, who strictly charges and
commands us to do justly. What is to be done when a man's
awakened conscience charges him with guilt of this kind, though
done long ago? He must confess his sin, confess it to God, confess
it to his neighbour, and take shame to himself; though it go against
him to own himself in a lie, yet he must do it. Satisfaction must be
made for the offence done to God, as well as for the loss sustained
by the neighbour; restitution in that case is not enough without faith
and repentance. While that which is wrongly gotten is knowingly
kept, the guilt remains on the conscience, and is not done away by
sacrifice or offering, prayers or tears; for it is the same act of sin
persisted in. This is the doctrine of right reason, and of the word of
God. It detects hypocrites, and directs the tender conscience to
proper conduct, which, springing from faith in Christ, will make way
for inward peace.
The camp was to be cleansed. The purity of the
church must be kept as carefully as the peace and order of it.
This is the doctrine of right reason, and of the word of
God. It detects hypocrites, and directs the tender conscience to
proper conduct, which, springing from faith in Christ, will make way
for inward peace.
Sources: Matthew Henry; Gill's Exposition; Matthew Henry Concise
Commentary
Commentary