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Ask a Questionthe coney--not the rabbit, for it is not found in Palestine or Arabia, but the hyrax, a little animal of the size and general shape of the rabbit, but differing from it in several essential...
All fowls that creep, &c.--By "fowls" here are to be understood all creatures with wings and "going upon all fours," not a restriction to animals which have exactly four feet, because many...
the weasel--rather, the mole. the mouse--From its diminutive size it is placed among the reptiles instead of the quadrupeds. the tortoise--a lizard, resembling very nearly in shape, and in the hard...
the days of her purifying--Though the occasion was of a festive character, yet the sacrifices appointed were not a peace offering, but a burnt offering and sin offering, in order to impress the...
bald...forehead bald--The falling off of the hair, when the baldness commences in the back part of the head, is another symptom which creates a suspicion of leprosy. But it was not of itself a...
if he be poor, and cannot get so much; then he shall take one lamb--a kind and considerate provision for an extension of the privilege to lepers of the poorer class. The blood of their smaller...
the vessel of earth, that he toucheth which hath the issue, shall be broken--It is thought that the pottery of the Israelites, like the earthenware jars in which the Egyptians kept their water, was...
every soul that eateth that which died of itself (Ex 22:31; Le 7:24; Ac 15:20), be unclean until the even--that is, from the moment of his discovering his fault until the evening. This law,...
if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him--The Israelites were to hold out encouragement to strangers to settle among them, that they might be brought to the knowledge and...
if a man eat of the holy thing unwittingly--A common Israelite might unconsciously partake of what had been offered as tithes, first-fruits, &c., and on discovering his unintentional error, he was...
In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath--That was the first day of the ancient civil year. a memorial of blowing of trumpets--Jewish writers say that the...
the children of Israel did as the Lord's commanded--The chapter closes with the execution of Shelomith's son [Le 24:14]--and stoning having afterwards become the established punishment in all cases...
shall put his hand upon the head--This was a significant act which implied not only that the offerer devoted the animal to God, but that he confessed his consciousness of sin and prayed that his...
ye shall burn no leaven, nor any honey, in any offering of the Lord--Nothing sweet or sour was to be offered. In the warm climates of the East leavened bread soon spoils, and hence it was regarded...
the skin of the bullock, and all his flesh--In ordinary circumstances, these were perquisites of the priests. But in the expiation necessary for a sin of the high priest, after the fat of the...
Moses...washed them with water--At consecration they were subjected to entire ablution, though on ordinary occasions they were required, before entering on their duties, only to wash their hands...
brought the other ram,--&c. After the sin offering and burnt offering had been presented on their behalf, this was their peace offering, by which they declared the pleasure which they felt in...
Yet these may ye eat of every flying creeping thing that goeth upon all four, which have legs above their feet--Nothing short of a scientific description could convey more accurately the nature "of...
the ferret--the Hebrew word is thought by some to signify the newt or chameleon, by others the frog. the chameleon--called by the Arabs the warral, a green lizard. the snail--a lizard which lives...
then he shall number to himself seven days for his cleansing--Like a leprous person he underwent a week's probation, to make sure he was completely healed. Then with the sacrifices prescribed, the...
To the end that the children of Israel may bring their sacrifices, which they offer in the open field--"They" is supposed by some commentators to refer to the Egyptians, so that the verse will...
Whatsoever man...offereth...And bringeth it not unto the door of the tabernacle--Before the promulgation of the law, men worshipped wherever they pleased or pitched their tents. But after that...
I am the Lord your God--This renewed mention of the divine sovereignty over the Israelites was intended to bear particularly on some laws that were widely different from the social customs that...
the souls that commit them shall be cut off--This strong denunciatory language is applied to all the crimes specified in the chapter without distinction: to incest as truly as to bestiality, and to...
I am the Lord--This solemn admonition, by which these various precepts are repeatedly sanctioned, is equivalent to "I, your Creator--your Deliverer from bondage, and your Sovereign, who have wisdom...
If the people of the land do any ways hide their eyes from the man, &c.--that is, connive at their countrymen practising the horrid rites of Molech. Awful was it that any Hebrew parents could so...
But he shall not defile himself--"for any other," as the sense may be fully expressed. "The priest, in discharging his sacred functions, might well be regarded as a chief man among his people, and...