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The Law Concerning Vows. (b. c. 1490.)
THE LAW CONCERNING VOWS. (B. C. 1490.) This is part of the law concerning singular vows, extraordinary ones, which though God did not expressly insist on, yet, if they were consistent with and conformable to the general…
Matthew Henry on Leviticus 27:14-25
Our houses, lands, cattle, and all our substance, must be used to the glory of God. It is acceptable to him that a portion be given to support his worship, and to promote his cause. But God would not approve such a degr…
Concerning Things Sanctified. (b. c. 1490.)
CONCERNING THINGS SANCTIFIED. (B. C. 1490.) Here is the law concerning real estates dedicated to the service of God by a singular vow. I. Suppose a man, in his zeal for the honour of God, should sanctify his house to Go…
Matthew Henry on Leviticus 27:26-33
Things or persons devoted, are distinguished from things or persons that were only sanctified. Devoted things were most holy to the Lord, and could neither be taken back nor applied to other purposes. Whatever productio…
Matthew Henry on Leviticus 27:26-34
Here is, I. A caution given that no man should make such a jest of sanctifying things to the Lord as to sanctify any firstling to him, for that was his already by the law, Leviticus 27:26. Though the matter of a general…
Matthew Henry on Leviticus 27:34
The last verse seems to have reference to this whole book. Many of the precepts in it are moral, and always binding; others are ceremonial, and peculiar to the Jewish nation; yet they have a spiritual meaning, and so te…
Matthew Henry on Numbers 1:1-43
The people were numbered to show God's faithfulness in thus increasing the seed of Jacob, that they might be the better trained for the wars and conquest of Canaan, and to ascertain their families in order to the divisi…
The Numbering of the Israelites. (b. c. 1490.)
THE NUMBERING OF THE ISRAELITES. (B. C. 1490.) I. We have here a commission issued out for the numbering of the people of Israel; and David, long after, paid dearly for doing it without a commission. Here is, 1. The dat…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 1:1-3
GOD COMMANDS A CENSUS I. THE PLACE AND TIME OF THE COMMAND. God spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai. Many wildernesses, though uncultivated, were fertile and well watered, but the wilderness of Sinai was a desolat…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 1:1-16
THE CENSUS OF SINAI (Numbers 1:1-54). EXPOSITION THE CENSUS DIVINELY COMMANDED (Numbers 1:1-16).
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 1:1
In the tabernacle of the congregation—where the Lord spake with Moses "face to face" (Exodus 33:11), and where all the laws of Leviticus had been given (Leviticus 1:1). On the first day of the second month, in the secon…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 1:1-16
THE NUMBERING OF GOD'S PEOPLE We have here, spiritually, the Church of God militant here on earth, "drawn up unto eternal life (Acts 13:48), numbered and counted and ordered by the Great Captain of the Lord's host; man…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 1:2
Take ye the sum of all the congregation. The census here ordered had clearly been anticipated, as far as the numbers were concerned, by the results of the half-shekel poll-tax for the service of the sanctuary levied som…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 1:3
By their armies. Every citizen was a soldier. The military monarchies of mediaeval or of modern days, with their universal obligation to service in the ranks, have (so far) but followed the example of ancient Israel.
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 1:3
FROM TWENTY YEARS OLD AND UPWARD. By this census all the young men of Israel were urged to the consideration of a possible claim upon them. It is to the young men that a country looks when her integrity and liberties ar…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 1:4
A man of every tribe. The former census, which was for religious purposes only, was made with the assistance of the Levites. This, which was rather for political and military purposes, was supervised by the lay heads of…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 1:5
These are the names of the men. The tribes are here mentioned (through their princes) very nearly in the order of their subsequent encampment—south, east, west, and north. Gad alone is displaced, in order that he may be…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 1:5-16
THE MEN OF RENOWN WHO MANAGED THE CENSUS I. THEY ARE MERE NAMES TO US. Were we asked who Eliab was, we should say the eldest, envious, angry brother of David, not the census-taker for Zebulun; or Gamaliel, he who stood…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 1:7
Nahshon—the brother-in-law of Aaron (Exodus 6:23), and ancestor of David and of Jesus Christ (Matthew 1:4).
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 1:10
Elishama—grandfather of Joshua (1 Chronicles 7:26). All the rest are unnamed elsewhere.
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 1:16
Heads of thousands. Septuagint, chiliarchs; but the word is used for families (see 6:15), and, like all such words, it rapidly lost its numerical significance. HOMILETICS
Matthew Henry on Numbers 1:17-43
We have here the speedy execution of the orders given for the numbering of the people. It was begun the same day that the orders were given, The first day of the second month; compare Numbers 1:1. Note, When any work is…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 1:17
These men. Designated by direct command of God; yet probably the same, or some of the same, selected by Moses for obvious personal and social reasons a short time before (Exodus 18:25).
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 1:17-46
EXPOSITION THE CENSUS TAKEN (Numbers 1:17-46).