Bible Commentaries
Go deeper in Scripture
Browse trusted public-domain commentary alongside DiscipleDeck Bible study. References inside each commentary open Bible previews in place.
27,299 commentary entries
The Pulpit Commentary
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 24:1-4
Everlasting light. cf. Revelation 1:12-20; also Psalms 43:3. The holy place, like the most holy, had no windows, and consequently required illumination. This was secured by the golden candlestick, with its seven lamps.…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 24:1-4
The lighting of the sanctuary. The face of Moses is glorious in the light of the gospel. I. THE CANDLESTICK WAS AN EMBLEM OF THE CHURCH OF GOD. (See Revelation 1:20.) 1. The candlestick in the holy place was one. 2. It…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 24:1-4
Ourselves as lights. There can be no doubt that the seven-branched candlestick in the holy place was typical of the Hebrew Church as the source of heavenly light. We therefore reach the subject of— I. LIGHT DIVINELY KIN…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 24:1-4
The lights in the sanctuary. Pure oil furnished by the people. The high priest responsible for the maintenance of the lamps. Pure oil, pure lamps, pure candlestick, before the Lord continually. The main lessons are thes…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 24:2-4
The candlestick. To many the regulations of Leviticus seem a cryptograph to which they have no key. To others, an inscription of old date with no reference to present concerns. Yet, dull-eyed must we be if we can discer…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 24:5-9
The lesson of the loaves. In this act of worship the Jews made weekly acknowledgment of the goodness of God to them and of their dependence on him; they presented to him a suitable offering of those things he had given…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 24:5-9
The bread of the presence. As there was light on the candlestick in God's house, so was there bread on his table. It was called the "shewbread," literally, "bread of faces," or of the presence, viz. of Jehovah. Let us c…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 24:5-9
The weekly offering. cf. 1 Corinthians 16:2; 1 Timothy 5:17, 1 Timothy 5:18. Along with the everlasting light from the golden candlestick, there was to be in the holy place a presentation of bread, which was made on the…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 24:5-9
The shewbread, or bread of the face, that is, of the presence, was to be made of fine flour, that is, of wheat, and to consist of twelve cakes or loaves, to represent the twelve tribes of Israel, each loaf containing up…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 24:5-9
The shewbread, or bread of the Presence. Corresponding with the number of the tribes, and representing them; a national offering; a meat offering, with frankincense, drink offering, and salt. Taken from the people, eate…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 24:5-9
The shewbread. The furniture and ministry of the tabernacle are most clearly understood in import, if it be remembered that they have a double reference. Like the clouds of the sky, one aspect is towards heaven, the oth…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 24:10-23
The law of death. Blasphemy, murder, willful injury, whether by Israelite or stranger, judged and punished on the principle of compensation without mercy (cf. Isaiah 12:1-6; Romans 11:1-36). I. Here is the evil of a fal…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 24:10-23
EXPOSITION The reason why the narrative of the blasphemer's death (Leviticus 24:10-23) is introduced in its present connection, is simply that it took place at the point of time which followed the promulgation of the la…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 24:10
The son of an Israelitish woman. This is the only place where the adjective Israelitish is found; and the word "Israelite" only occurs in 2 Samuel 17:25. Whose father was an Egyptian. The man could not, therefore, be a…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 24:10-16
The crime of blasphemy. cf. 2 Chronicles 26:10-23; Daniel 5:1-4, Daniel 5:30. The sanctity of the Name of God is distinctly declared in the third commandment. There the Lord declared that he would not hold the blaspheme…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 24:10-23
Shelomith's son. Here a narrative is introduced into the midst of a code of laws; but this is done as a preamble to enactments of whose publication the case was the occasion. We notice— I. THE CRIME OF THIS SON OF SHELO…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 24:10-12
A blasphemer punished. An incident is here inserted that explains part of the Law by pointing to its origin. It is a practical illustration that throws lurid light upon the possibility and consequences of transgression.…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 24:11
In the course of the straggle the Israelitish woman's son blasphemed the name of the Lord, and cursed. The word nakav is here rightly translated blasphemeth (cf. Leviticus 24:14, Leviticus 24:16, Leviticus 24:23), but t…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 24:12
And they put him in ward. The same course was followed in the case of the man found gathering sticks upon the sabbath day: "And they put him in ward, because it was not declared what should be done to him" (Numbers 15:3…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 24:17-22
The holy Law of God. These enactments, occasioned by the sin of the son of Shelomith, contain certain principles on which God founded his Law, and which he would have us introduce into our dealings and regulations now.…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 24:17-22
Public justice secured by the law of retaliation. cf. Matthew 5:38-48; Romans 12:19-21. There is here presented to us, as a law upon which Israel was to act, the principle of retaliation. And yet we have seen in the mor…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 24:17
In close connection with the command to slay the blasphemer is repeated the prohibition of murder, and the injunction that the murderer shall surely be put to death. Thus a distinction is sharply drawn between the judic…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 24:18-21
A summary of the law respecting minor injuries is added to that respecting murder. He that killeth a man, he shall be put to death, but he that killeth a beast shall make it good; and this lex talionis shall apply to al…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 24:22
As it had been a stranger who had on this occasion been the offender, the law, Ye shall have one manner of law, as well for the stranger, as for one of your own country, with the sanction, I am the Lord your God, is emp…