The Expositor's Bible: The Book Of Leviticus - free ebook by Samuel H. (Samuel Henry) Kellogg

W. ROBERTSON NICOLL, M.A., LL.D.

Editor of "The Expositor," etc. BY THE REV S. H. KELLOGG, D.D. Toronto, Canada London HODDER AND STOUGHTON 27, PATERNOSTER ROW ——— MCMVI...

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THE EXPOSITOR'S BIBLE.

Crown 8vo, cloth, price 7s. 6d. each vol. ——— First Series. Colossians. By the Rev. A. Maclaren , D.D., D.Lit. St. Mark. By the Right Rev. the Bishop of Derry. Genesis. By Prof. Marcus Dods , D.D. 1 Samuel. By Prof. W. G. Blaikie , D.D. 2 Samuel. By the same Author. Hebrews. By Principal T. C. Edwards , D.D. Second Series. Galatians. By Prof. G. G. Findlay , B.A., D.D. The Pastoral Epistles. By the Rev. A. Plummer , D.D. Isaiah I. — XXXIX. By Prof. G. A. Smith , DD. Vol. I. The Book of Revelatio

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S. H. KELLOGG, D.D.

AUTHOR OF "THE JEWS; OR, PREDICTION AND FULFILMENT," "THE LIGHT OF ASIA AND THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD," ETC. FIFTH EDITION London HODDER AND STOUGHTON 27, PATERNOSTER ROW ——— MCMVI Printed by Hazell, Watson &amp; Viney, Ld., London and Aylesbury....

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PART I.

THE TABERNACLE WORSHIP. I.-X., XVI. Section 1. The Law of the Offerings : i.-vi. Section 2. The Institution of the Tabernacle Service : viii.-x. (1) The Consecration of the Priesthood : vii. (2) The Induction of the Priesthood : ix., x. Section 3. The Day of Atonement : xvi....

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CHAPTER I.

"And the Lord called unto Moses, and spake unto him out of the tent of meeting."— Lev. i. 1. Perhaps no book in the Bible presents to the ordinary reader so many and peculiar difficulties as the book of Leviticus. Even of those who devoutly believe, as they were taught in their childhood, that, like all the other books contained in the Holy Scriptures, it is to be received throughout with unquestioning faith as the very Word of God, a large number will frankly own in a discouraged way that this

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CHAPTER II.

i. 2-4. The voice of Jehovah which had spoken not long before from Sinai, now speaks from out "the tent of meeting." There was a reason for the change. For Israel had since then entered into covenant with God; and Moses, as the mediator of the covenant, had sealed it by sprinkling with blood both the Book of the Covenant and the people. And therewith they had professedly taken Jehovah for their God, and He had taken Israel for His people. In infinite grace, He had condescended to appoint for Him

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CHAPTER III.

Lev. i. 5-17; vi. 8-13. After the laying on of the hand, the next sacrificial act was— The Killing of the Victim. "And he shall kill the bullock before the Lord" (ver. 5). In the light of what has been already said, the significance of this killing, in a typical way, will be quite clear. For with the first sin, and again and again thereafter, God had denounced death as the penalty of sin. But here is a sinner who, in accord with a Divine command, brings before God a sacrificial victim, on whose

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CHAPTER IV.

Lev. ii. 1-16; vi. 14-23. The word which in the original uniformly stands for the English "meal-offering" (A.V. "meat-offering," i.e. , "food-offering") primarily means simply "a present," and is often properly so translated in the Old Testament. It is, for example, the word which is used (Gen. xxxii. 13) when we are told how Jacob sent a present to Esau his brother; or, later, of the gift sent by Israel to his son Joseph in Egypt (Gen. xliii. 11); and, again (2 Sam. viii. 2), of the gifts sent

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CHAPTER V.

Lev. iii. 1-17; vii. 11-34; xix. 5-8; xxii. 21-25. In chap. iii. is given, though not with completeness, the law of the peace-offering. The alternative rendering of this term, "thank-offering" (marg. R.V.), precisely expresses only one variety of the peace-offering; and while it is probably impossible to find any one word that shall express in a satisfactory way the whole conception of this offering, it is not easy to find one better than the familiar term which the Revisers have happily retaine

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CHAPTER VI.

Lev. iv. 1-35. Both in the burnt-offering and in the peace-offering, Israel was taught, as we are, that all consecration and all fellowship with God must begin with, and ever depends upon, atonement made for sin. But this was not the dominant thought in either of these offerings; neither did the atonement, as made in these, have reference to particular acts of sin. For such, these offerings were never prescribed. They remind us therefore of the necessity of atonement, not so much for what we do

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CHAPTER VII.

Lev. iv. 4-35; v. 1-13; vi. 24-30. According to the Authorised Version (v. 6, 7), it might seem that the section, v. 1-13, referred not to the sin-offering, but to the guilt-offering, like the latter part of the chapter; but, as suggested in the margin of the Revised Version, in these verses we may properly read, instead of "guilt-offering," "for his guilt." That the latter rendering is to be preferred is clear when we observe that in vv. 6, 7, 9 this offering is called a sin-offering; that, eve

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CHAPTER VIII.

Lev. v. 14; vi. 7; vii. 1-7. As in the English version, so also in the Hebrew, the special class of sins for which the guilt-offering [11] is prescribed, is denoted by a distinct and specific word. That word, like the English "trespass," its equivalent, always has reference to an invasion of the rights of others, especially in respect of property or service. It is used, for instance, of the sin of Achan (Josh. vii. 1), who had appropriated spoil from Jericho, which God had commanded to be set ap

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CHAPTER IX.

Lev. vi. 16-18, 26; vii. 6-10, 14, 31-36. After the law of the guilt-offering follows a section (vi. 8-vii. 38) with regard to the offerings previously treated, but addressed especially to the priests, as the foregoing were specially directed to the people. Much of the contents of this section has already passed before us, in anticipation of its order in the book, as this has seemed necessary in order to a complete exposition of the several offerings. An important part of the section, however, r

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CHAPTER X.

Lev. viii. 1-36. The second section of the book of Leviticus (viii. 1-x. 20) is historical, and describes (viii.) the consecration of the tabernacle and of Aaron and his sons, (ix.) their induction into the duties of their office, and, finally (x.), the terrible judgment by which the high sanctity of the priestly office and of the tabernacle service was very solemnly impressed upon them and all the people. First in order (chap. viii.) is described the ceremonial of consecration. We read (vv. 1-4

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CHAPTER XI.

Lev. ix. 1-24. Aaron and his sons having now been solemnly consecrated to the priestly office by the ceremonies of seven days, their formal assumption of their daily duties in the tabernacle was marked by a special service suited to the august occasion, signalised at its close by the appearance of the glory of Jehovah to assembled Israel, in token of His sanction and approval of all that had been done. It would appear that the daily burnt-offering and meal-offering had been indeed offered before

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CHAPTER XII.

Lev. x. 1-20. The solemn and august ceremonies of the consecration of the priests and the tabernacle, and the inauguration of the tabernacle service, had a sad and terrible termination. The sacrifices of the inauguration day had been completed, the congregation had received the priestly benediction, the glory of Jehovah had appeared unto the people, and, in token of His acceptance of all that had been done, consumed the victims on the altar. This manifestation of the glory of the Lord so affecte

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CHAPTER XIII.

Lev. xvi. 1-34. In the first verse of chapter xvi., which ordains the ceremonial for the great annual day of atonement, we are told that this ordinance was delivered by the Lord to Moses "after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they drew near before the Lord, and died." [19] Because of the close historical connection thus declared between this chapter and chapter x., and also because in this ordinance the Mosaic sacrificial worship, which has been the subject of the book thus far, finds i

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PART II.

XI.-XV., XVII.-XXV. Section 1. The Law Concerning the Clean and the Unclean : xi.-xv. Section 2. The Law of Holiness : xvii.-xxii. Section 3. The Law Concerning Sacred Times (with Episode , xxiv.): xxiii.-xxv....

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CHAPTER XIV.

Lev. xi. 1-47. With chap. xi. begins a new section of this book, extending to the end of chap. xv., of which the subject is the law concerning various bodily defilements, and the rites appointed for their removal. The law is given under four heads, as follows:— I. Clean and Unclean Animals, and Defilement by Dead Bodies: chap. xi. II. The Uncleanness of Child-birth: chap. xii. III. The Uncleanness of Leprosy: chaps. xiii., xiv. IV. The Uncleanness of Issues: chap. xv. From the modern point of vi

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CHAPTER XV.

Lev. xv. 1-33. Inasmuch as the law concerning defilement from issues is presupposed and referred to in that concerning the defilement of child-bearing, in chap. xii., it will be well to consider this before the latter. For this order there is the more reason, because, as will appear, although the two sections are separated, in the present arrangement of the book, by the law concerning defilement by leprosy (xiii., xiv.), they both refer to the same general topic, and are based upon the same mora

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CHAPTER XVI.

Lev. xii. 1-8. The reference in xii. 2 to the regulations given in xv. 19, as remarked in the preceding chapter, shows us that the author of these laws regarded the circumstances attending child-birth as falling under the same general category, in a ceremonial and symbolic aspect, as the law of issues. As a special case, however, the law concerning child-birth presents some very distinctive and instructive features. The period during which the mother was regarded as unclean, in the full comprehe

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CHAPTER XVII.

Lev. xiii. 1-46. The interpretation of this chapter presents no little difficulty. The description of the diseases with which the law here deals is not given in a scientific form; the point of view, as the purpose of all, is strictly practical. As for the Hebrew word rendered "leprosy," it does not itself give any light as to the nature of the disease thus designated. The word simply means "a stroke," as also does the generic term used in ver. 2 and elsewhere, and translated "plague." Inasmuch a

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CHAPTER XVIII.

Lev. xiv. 1-32. The ceremonies for the restoration of the leper, when healed of his disease, to full covenant privileges, were comprehended in two distinct series. The first part of the ceremonial took place without the camp, and sufficed only to terminate his condition as one ceremonially dead, and allow of his return into the camp, and his association, though still under restriction, with his fellow-Israelites. The second part of the ceremonial took up his case on the eighth day thereafter, wh

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CHAPTER XIX.

Lev. xvii. 1-16. With this chapter begins another subdivision of the law. Hitherto we have had before us only sacrificial worship and matters of merely ceremonial law. The law of holy living contained in the following chapters (xvii.-xx.), on the other hand, has to do for the most part with matters rather ethical than ceremonial, and consists chiefly of precepts designed to regulate morally the ordinary engagements and relationships of every-day life. The fundamental thought of the four chapters

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CHAPTER XX.

Lev. xviii. 1-30. Chapters xviii., xix., and xx., by a formal introduction (xviii. 1-5) and a formal closing (xx. 22-26), are indicated as a distinct section, very commonly known by the name, "the Law of Holiness." As this phrase indicates, these chapters—unlike chap. xvii., which as to its contents has a character intermediate between the ceremonial and moral law—consist substantially of moral prohibitions and commandments throughout. Of the three, the first two contain the prohibitions and pre

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CHAPTER XXI.

Lev. xix. 1-37. We have in this chapter a series of precepts and prohibitions which from internal evidence appear to have been selected by an inspired redactor of the canon from various original documents, with the purpose, not of presenting a complete enumeration of all moral and ceremonial duties, but of illustrating the application in the everyday life of the Israelite of the injunction which stands at the beginning of the chapter (ver. 2): "Ye shall be holy: for I the Lord your God am holy."

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CHAPTER XXII.

Lev. xx. 1-27. In no age or community has it been found sufficient, to secure obedience, that one should appeal to the conscience of men, or depend, as a sufficient motive, upon the natural painful consequences of violated law. Wherever there is civil and criminal law, there, in all cases, human government, whether in its lowest or in its most highly developed forms, has found it necessary to declare penalties for various crimes. It is the peculiar interest of this chapter that it gives us certa

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CHAPTER XXIII.

Lev. xxi. 1-xxii. 33. The conception of Israel as a kingdom of priests, a holy nation, was concretely represented in a threefold division of the people,—the congregation, the priesthood, and the high priest. This corresponded to the threefold division of the tabernacle into the outer court, the holy place, and the holy of holies, each in succession more sacred than the place preceding. So while all Israel was called to be a priestly nation, holy to Jehovah in life and service, this sanctity was

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CHAPTER XXIV.

Lev. xxiii. 1-44. It is even an instinct of natural religion to observe certain set times for special public and united worship. As we should therefore anticipate, such observances are in this chapter enjoined as a part of the requirement of the law of holiness for Israel. It is of consequence to observe that the Revisers have corrected the error of the Authorised Version, which renders two perfectly distinct words alike as "feasts;" and have distinguished the one by the translation, "set feasts

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CHAPTER XXV.

Lev. xxiv. 1-23. It is not easy to determine with confidence the association of thought which occasioned the interposition of this chapter, with its somewhat disconnected contents, between chap. xxiii., on the set times of holy convocation, and chap. xxv., on the sabbatic and jubilee years, which latter would seem most naturally to have followed the former immediately, as relating to the same subject of sacred times. Perhaps the best explanation of the connection with the previous chapter is tha

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CHAPTER XXVI.

Lev. xxv. 1-55. The system of annually recurring sabbatic times, as given in chap. xxiii., culminated in the sabbatic seventh month. But this remarkable system of sabbatisms extended still further, and, besides the sacred seventh day, the seventh week, and seventh month, included also a sabbatic seventh year; and beyond that, as the ultimate expression of the sabbatic idea, following the seventh seven of years, came the hallowed fiftieth year, known as the jubilee. And the law concerning these t

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PART III.

XXVI., XXVII. 1. Conclusion: Promises and Threatenings : xxvi. 2. Appendix: Concerning Vows : xxvii....

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CHAPTER XXVII.

Lev. xxvi. 1-46. One would have expected that this chapter would have been the last in the book of Leviticus, for it forms a natural and fitting close to the whole law as hitherto recorded. But whatever may have been the reason of its present literary form, the fact remains that while this chapter is, in outward form, the conclusion of the Levitical law, another chapter follows it in the manner of an appendix. Chapter xxvi. opens with these words (vv. 1, 2): "Ye shall make you no idols, neither

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CHAPTER XXVIII.

Lev. xxvii. 1-34. As already remarked, the book of Leviticus certainly seems, at first sight, to be properly completed with the previous chapter; and hence it has been not unnaturally suggested that this chapter has by some editor been transferred, either of intention or accident, from an earlier part of the book—as, e.g. , after chapter XXV . The question is one of no importance; but it is not hard to perceive a good reason for the position of this chapter after not only the rest of the law, bu

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