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The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 3:43
Twenty and two thousand two hundred and threescore and thirteen. These were the first-born of the twelve tribes; but who were included under the designation "first-born" is a matter of grave dispute. The smallness of th…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 3:47
Five shekels apiece. This amount had already been fixed that every one who has some special call is a partner partly in the work of Christ, partly in the duty of the Church; he helps to carry on the one or to discharge…
Matthew Henry on Numbers 4:1-3
The middle-aged men of the tribe of Levi, all from thirty years old to fifty, were to be employed in the service of the tabernacle. The service of God requires the best of our strength, and the prime portion of our time…
The Office of the Levites. (b. c. 1490.)
THE OFFICE OF THE LEVITES. (B. C. 1490.) We have here a second muster of the tribe of Levi. As that tribe was taken out of all Israel to be God's peculiar, so the middle-aged men of that tribe were taken from among the…
Matthew Henry on Numbers 4:4-20
The Kohathites were to carry the holy things of the tabernacle. All the holy things were to be covered; not only for security and respect, but to keep them from being seen. This not only marked the reverence due to holy…
Matthew Henry on Numbers 4:21-33
We have here the charge of the other two families of the Levites, which, though not so honourable as the first, yet was necessary, and to be done regularly. All the things were delivered them by name. It intimates the c…
Matthew Henry on Numbers 4:21-33
We have here the charge of the other two families of the Levites, which, though not so honourable as the first, yet was necessary, and was to be done regularly. 1. The Gershonites were charged with all the drapery of th…
Matthew Henry on Numbers 4:34-49
God so ordered it, that though the Merarites were the fewest in number, yet they should have most able men among them; for whatever service God calls men to, he will furnish them for it, give strength in proportion to t…
Matthew Henry on Numbers 4:34-49
We have here a particular account of the numbers of the three families of the Levites respectively, that is, of the effective men, between thirty years old and fifty. Observe, 1. The Kohathites were, in all, 8600 from a…
Matthew Henry on Numbers 5:1-10
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…
The Unclean to Be Removed. (b. c. 1490.)
THE UNCLEAN TO BE REMOVED. (B. C. 1490.) 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 bod…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 5:1-4
THE NECESSITY OF PUTTING AWAY SIN In this section we have, spiritually, the necessary sentence of banishment upon those defiled with sin, and the duty of separating them. Consider, therefore— I. THAT NO LEPER MIGHT STAY…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 5:1-7
EXPOSITION THE UNCLEAN TO BE REMOVED (Numbers 5:1-4).
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 5:1-4
THINGS THAT DEFILE The book up to this point is occupied with the counting and discipline of the people, both those for war and those for tabernacle service. Now the cleansing of the camp is to be attended to. I. THE CL…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 5:1-4
THE PUBLIC EXCLUSION OF THE UNCLEAN This law, like many others, in part a sanitary law; but also educational in spiritual truth, and typical of eternal realities. Two truths taught:— I. THE HOLINESS OF GOD. This lesson,…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 5:1-4
THE EXPULSION AND RESTORATION OF THE UNCLEAN The host has now been marshaled. The several tribes have taken the places allotted to them in relation to the tabernacle and to one another. They are about to set forth on th…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 5:2
Every leper. The law of the leper had been given in great detail in Leviticus 13:1-59 and Leviticus 14:1-57, and it had been already ordered that he should be put out of the camp (Le Leviticus 13:46, and cf. Leviticus 1…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 5:3
That they defile not their camps, in the midst whereof I dwell. Cleanliness, decency, and the anxious removal even of unwitting pollutions were things due to God himself, and part of the awful reverence to be paid to hi…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 5:4
So did the children of Israel. It is difficult to form any estimate of the numbers thus separated; if we may judge at all from the prevalence of such defilements (especially those under the second head) now, it must hav…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 5:5-10
CONSCIENCE MONEY This precept is a continuation of the one laid down in the preceding verses, and, like it, admonishes the people regarding the purity which ought to prevail in a camp honoured with the presence of the H…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 5:5-8
CONFESSION AND RESTITUTION These trespasses are explained and illustrated in Le Numbers 6:1-7. In both passages provision is made for confession, restitution, interest, and atonement—in Leviticus the atonement being spo…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 5:5-10
NO FRAUD PERMITTED BY GOD We have here, as part of the moral law of God which changeth not, the duty of making confession of, and satisfaction for, any wrong done to another, and the duty of not withholding what is righ…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 5:6
Shall commit any sin that men commit. Literally, "[one] of all the transgressions of men," i.e; the wrongs current amongst men. To do a trespass against the Lord. This qualifies the former expression, and restricts its…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 5:8-10
EXPOSITION RESTITUTION TO BE MADE FOR TRESPASSES (Numbers 5:5-10).