1883 Haydock Douay Rheims Bible
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| Leviticus 1:1 | And the Lord called Moses, *and spoke to him from the tabernacle of the testimony, saying: | Year of the World 2514, Year before Christ 1490. |
| Leviticus 1:2 | Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them: The man among you that shall offer to the Lord a sacrifice of the cattle, that is, offering victims of oxen and sheep, | Offer, voluntarily, without any command. Some sacrifices were of precept, Exodus 22:29. (Menochius) --- These first chapters are addressed to the people; the 6th [chapter] from ver. 9, to the priests. Oxen, goats, and sheep, pigeons, and turtles, were to be offered in sacrifice, and small birds also, in the purification of lepers, (chap. 14:4,) as they might easily be procured. (Calmet) --- By sacrifice, we testify the dominion of God over all. They were offered by the patriarchs, and by all nations. God requireth that the victim should be without blemish, and slain with certain ceremonies wisely ordained, Psalm103:24. (Worthington) --- A sacrifice. Hebrew korban, a present of any sort, Mark 7. --- Sheep and goats, ver. 10. The same term, tson, signifies both. (Menochius) |
| Leviticus 1:3 | *If his offering be a holocaust, and of the herd, he shall offer a male without blemish, at the door of the testimony, to make the Lord favourable to him: Exodus 29:10. | A holocaust. That is, a whole burnt-offering; (olocauston) so called, because the whole victim was consumed with fire; and given in such manner to God as wholly to evaporate, as it were, for his honour and glory; without having any part of it reserved for the use of man. The other sacrifices of the Old Testament were either offerings for sin, or peace-offerings: and these latter again were either offered in thanksgiving for blessings received, or by way of prayer for new favours or graces. So that sacrifices were then offered to God for four different ends or intentions, answerable to the different obligations which man has to God: 1. By way of adoration, homage, praise, and glory, due to his divine Majesty. 2. By way of thanksgiving for all benefits received from him. 3. By way of confessing and craving pardon for sins. 4. By way of prayer and petition for grace and relief in all necessities. In the New Law we have but one sacrifice, viz. that of the body and blood of Christ: but this one sacrifice of the New Testament perfectly answers all these four ends; and both priests and people, as often as it is celebrated, ought to join in offering it up for these four ends. (Challoner) (St. Augustine, City of God 8:17.; St. Chrysostom in Psalm xcv.) --- We have an altar, (Hebrews 13:10,) on which the unbloody sacrifice is offered, (Matthew 26:25,) as the blood of Christ was on the cross, Hebrews 9:25. (Worthington) |
| Leviticus 1:4 | And he shall put his hand upon the head of the victim, and it shall be acceptable, and help to his expiation. | Victim. To transfer all the curses due to him upon it, (Eusebius, Demon. 1:10,) and to testify that he gives it up entirely for the honour of God. (Lyranus) --- The Egyptians cut off the head of the victim, and vented upon it imprecations, begging that the gods would discharge upon it all the evils which they had deserved. Then they sold it to some foreigner, or threw it into the Nile. (Herodotus 2:39.) All nations seem to have acknowledged, that life should be given for life. Hanc animam vobis pro meliore damus: (Ovid, Fast. I.) and they had holocausts, in imitation of the Hebrews. (Bochart) --- Expiation. Hebrew, "it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him," provided he be in proper dispositions. (Menochius) --- The primary intention of the holocaust was to honour God: but this insured his favour also, and pardon. (Du Hamel) |
| Leviticus 1:5 | And he shall immolate the calf before the Lord, and the priests, the sons of Aaron, shall offer the blood thereof, pouring it round about the altar, which is before the door of the tabernacle: | He, by the hands of the priests, (chap. 10:1,) as the Septuagint express it, "they shall immolate;" (Menochius) though we might infer from this text, that the person who offered the victim, had to slay it; (Calmet) while the priests alone could pour the blood upon and around the altar. Without the effusion of blood remission is not made, Hebrews 9:22. (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 1:6 | And when they have flayed the victim, they shall cut the joints into pieces, | They. Regularly the Levites performed this office. The skin belonged to the priest, Leviticus 7:8. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 1:7 | And shall put fire on the altar, having before laid in order a pile of wood: | Fire. Hebrew and Septuagint place the fire first, then the wood. It was the sacred fire which was never extinguished, but removed from the altar in marches, (chap. 4:13,) perhaps in a censer or pan. (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 1:8 | And they shall lay the parts that are cut out in order thereupon, to wit, the head, and all things that cleave to the liver, | All things, etc. Hebrew pador, may signify the fat, or the trunk of the animal. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 1:9 | The entrails and feet being washed with water: and the priest shall burn them upon the altar for a holocaust, and a sweet savour to the Lord. | Sweet. Not that the Deity can take delight in sweet odours: but he is pleased with the devotion of men. For their advancement in piety, he required these sacrifices; 1. to keep the people from idolatry; 2. to teach them to consecrate their body and effects to him, as well as their souls, to serve justice unto sanctification; (Romans 6:19; John 4:24) as without the help of exterior observances, the mind will hardly rise to the contemplation of truth; 3. to prefigure the greater mysteries of the Christian religion, of which the law was only a shadow, incapable of conferring justifying grace. (John 1:17; Galatians 3:11.) (Worthington) --- The law was our pedagogue, in Christ, that we might be justified by faith, Galatians 3:24. |
| Leviticus 1:10 | And if the offering be of the flocks, a holocaust of sheep or of goats, he shall offer a male without blemish: | Male. Lyranus seems to have read "a year old," in the Vulgate. But it is not found in the Hebrew or in any version. It may have been taken from Exodus 12:5, where the paschal lamb must be a male of one year. --- Blemish. The Septuagint add, "and he shall put his hand upon its head." (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 1:11 | And he shall immolate it at the side of the altar that looketh to the north, before the Lord: but the sons of Aaron shall pour the blood thereof upon the altar round about: | |
| Leviticus 1:12 | And they shall divide the joints, the head, and all that cleave to the liver: and shall lay them upon the wood, under which the fire is to be put: | |
| Leviticus 1:13 | But the entrails and the feet they shall wash with water. And the priest shall offer it all, and burn it all upon the altar for a holocaust, and most sweet savour to the Lord. | |
| Leviticus 1:14 | But if the oblation of a holocaust to the Lord be of birds, of turtles, or of young pigeons, | Pigeons. Hebrew and Septuagint say nothing about the age; though the Rabbins assure us, that old turtles and young pigeons were to be immolated, as being more excellent. God requires only what each person may easily procure. This third species of holocaust was chiefly intended for the poor, Leviticus 12:8. But if they could not afford even this, they might offer flour, Leviticus 2. |
| Leviticus 1:15 | The priest shall offer it at the altar: and twisting back the neck, and breaking the place of the wound, he shall make the blood run down upon the brim of the altar. | The neck. Some say, without pulling the head off (Grotius); which the Rabbins deny. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 1:16 | But the crop of the throat, and the feathers he shall cast beside the altar at the east side, in the place where the ashes are wont to be poured out; | Throat. Hebrew mierath, is rendered "the crop and its contents," by the Chaldean, Syriac, and Samaritan. |
| Leviticus 1:17 | And he shall break the pinions thereof, and shall not cut, nor divide it with a knife, and shall burn it upon the altar, putting fire under the wood. It is a holocaust and oblation of most sweet savour to the Lord. | Pinions, as if it were to be roasted. Eusebius remarks, that the pagans plunged their birds into the sea, then poured the blood round the altar, and afterwards burnt them. Abram did not divide the birds, Genesis 15:10. (Calmet) --- Oblation. Hebrew, "made by fire;" or which must be all consumed, except the crop and feathers. (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 2:0 | Of offerings of flour, and first-fruits. | |
| Leviticus 2:1 | When *any one shall offer an oblation of sacrifice to the Lord, his offering shall be of fine flour, and he shall pour oil upon it, and put frankincense, | Year of the World 2514. One, (anima). The soul is put to denote the whole person. --- Of sacrifice. Hebrew mincha, which is applied to inanimate things, particularly to flour, "a present of wheat." (Vatable) --- As the other sacrifices have peculiar names, this is barely called sacrifice by the Vulgate. It was instituted, 1. for the poor; 2. to support the ministers of religion; 3. to shew that God was to be honoured with the fruits of the earth; 4. sacrifice being intended as a sort of feast, bread, salt, wine, and oil accompany it; and also incense, which was almost solely reserved for God. (Menochius) --- The person who offered the sacrifice, had to furnish all things belonging to it. The Samaritan and Septuagint add at the end of this verse, "Behold what is the offering of the Lord." Similar words occur, (ver. 6. and 16,) in Hebrew. Sacrifices of flour were the most ancient of all. Ovid (Fast. ii.) says, Farra tamen veteres jaciebant, farra metebant, etc. "Numa taught the people to worship the gods with fruits and flour, and to make supplication with a salted cake." (Pliny, 18:2.) Fruge deos colere, et mola salsa supplicare. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 2:2 | And shall bring it to the sons of Aaron, the priests: and one of them shall take a handful of the flour and oil, and all the frankincense, and shall put it a memorial upon the altar, for a most sweet savour to the Lord. | Memorial. "To worship and celebrate the name of God." (Louis de Dieu.) |
| Leviticus 2:3 | *And the remnant of the sacrifice shall be Aaron's, and his sons', holy of holies of the offerings of the Lord. Ecclesiasticus 7:34. | Holy of holies. That is, most holy; as being dedicated to God, and set aside by his ordinance for the use of his priests. (Challoner) --- All was to be eaten or consumed in the tabernacle. The high priest offered a gomor full of flour and oil, rather baked, every day, Leviticus 6:20. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 2:4 | But when thou offerest a sacrifice baked in the oven, of flour, to wit, loaves without leaven, tempered with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil: | |
| Leviticus 2:5 | If thy oblation be from the frying-pan, of flour tempered with oil, and without leaven, | |
| Leviticus 2:6 | Thou shalt divide it into little pieces, and shalt pour oil upon it. | |
| Leviticus 2:7 | And if the sacrifice be from the gridiron, in like manner the flour shall be tempered with oil: | |
| Leviticus 2:8 | And when thou offerest it to the Lord, thou shalt deliver it to the hands of the priest. | |
| Leviticus 2:9 | And when he hath offered it, he shall take a memorial out of the sacrifice, and burn it upon the altar for a sweet savour to the Lord. | Out of. The handful, which shall be burnt, shall cause God to remember and grant the request of the offerer, equally as if the whole were consumed. (Menochius) |
| Leviticus 2:10 | And whatsoever is left, shall be Aaron's, and his sons', holy of holies of the offerings of the Lord. | |
| Leviticus 2:11 | Every oblation, that is offered to the Lord, shall be made without leaven, neither shall any leaven or honey be burnt in the sacrifice to the Lord. | Without leaven or honey. No leaven or honey was to be used in the sacrifice offered to God: to signify that we are to exclude from the pure worship of the gospel, all double-dealing and affection to carnal pleasures. (Challoner) --- The prohibition of leaven regarded these sacrifices. It was offered with the first-fruits, (chap. 23:17,) and perhaps also in peace-offerings, Leviticus 7:13. Honey is here rejected, as incompatible with the other ingredients, to admonish us to lead a penitential life, and to keep at a greater distance from the customs of the pagans, who generally accompanied their oblations with honey, Ezechiel 16:18. Herodotus (B. ii.) says, the Egyptians used honey in sacrifice. (Calmet) --- By unleavened bread, the Hebrews were reminded of their flight out of Egypt; and by refraining from honey, they were taught to act like men. (Menochius) |
| Leviticus 2:12 | You shall offer only the first-fruits of them and gifts: but they shall not be put upon the altar, for a savour of sweetness, | First-fruits, etc., to be voluntarily given to the priests, in honour of God. The honey arising from the dates might also be offered. --- It was little inferior to that of bees. (Josephus, Jewish Wars 5:3.) See Numbers 15:19. |
| Leviticus 2:13 | Whatsoever sacrifice thou offerest, *thou shalt season it with salt, neither shalt thou take away the salt of the covenant of thy God from thy sacrifice. In all thy oblations thou shalt offer salt. Mark 9:48. | Salt. In every sacrifice salt was to be used, which is an emblem of wisdom and discretion, without which none of our performances are agreeable to God. (Challoner) --- Salt is not prescribed in the sacrifices of animals. But it was to be used in them, as we learn from the Jews, and from St. Mark 9:48, Every victim shall be salted. The ancient poets never specify salt in their descriptions of sacrifices. But Pliny assures us, that in his time it was of the greatest authority, and always used in sacrifices, with cakes. Maxime in sacris intelligebatur salis auctoritas, quando nulla conficiuntur sine mola salsa. (B. 31:7.) --- Covenant. It is so called, because it was a symbol of the durable condition of the alliance with God, which was renewed in every sacrifice; (Calmet) or it may signify "the salt prescribed" by God: for the law and covenant are often used synonymously. (Menochius) --- Let your speech be always in grace, seasoned with salt, Colossians 4:6. See Numbers 18:19. |
| Leviticus 2:14 | But if thou offer a gift of the first-fruits of thy corn to the Lord, of the ears yet green, thou shalt dry it at the fire, and break it small like meal, and so shalt thou offer thy first-fruits to the Lord, | And break, etc. Hebrew has simply, "corn beaten out (or ready to be beaten out) of full ears." (Haydock) --- These were to be offered at the Passover. (Du Hamel) |
| Leviticus 2:15 | Pouring oil upon it, and putting on frankincense, because it is the oblation of the Lord. | |
| Leviticus 2:16 | Whereof the priest shall burn for a memorial of the gift, part of the corn broken small, and of the oil, and all the frankincense. | |
| Leviticus 3:0 | Of Peace-offerings. | |
| Leviticus 3:1 | And if his oblation be a sacrifice of peace-offerings, *and he will offer of the herd, whether male or female, he shall offer them without blemish before the Lord. | Year of the World 2514. Peace-offerings. Peace, in the Scripture language, signifies happiness, welfare, or prosperity; in a word, all kind of blessings. Such sacrifices, therefore, as were offered either on occasion of blessings received, or to obtain new favours, were called pacific or peace-offerings. In these some part of the victim was consumed with fire on the altar of God: other parts were eaten by the priests, and the persons for whom the sacrifice was offered. (Challoner) --- Female beasts might here be sacrificed, but not birds. The victims were either offered to praise God for past favours, or to comply with some vow, or were perfectly free, Leviticus 7:12. Three sorts of victims, the ox, the sheep, and the goat, denoted all those who served God in innocence, or in the state of penance. (Du Hamel) --- Of these sacrifices "of the perfect," none of the unclean could taste, Leviticus 7:20. When only flour or bread was given, the donor received no part again. |
| Leviticus 3:2 | And he shall lay his hand upon the head of his victim, which shall be slain in the entry of the tabernacle of the testimony, and the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall pour the blood round about upon the altar. | Which shall. Hebrew, "which he gives, he shall slay it....the priests shall pour," etc. Yet some assert, that laymen were not allowed to approach the altar. |
| Leviticus 3:3 | And they shall offer of the sacrifice of peace-offerings, for an oblation to the Lord, *the fat that covereth the entrails, and all the fat that is within: Exodus 29:13. | Fat. All the fat was carefully presented to the Lord. The Persians offered this alone. Omentum in flamma a pingue liquefaciens. (Catullus, Epig. de Magis.) |
| Leviticus 3:4 | The two kidneys, with the fat wherewith the flanks are covered, and the caul of the liver with the two little kidneys. | Flanks. St. Jerome sometimes translates the Hebrew loins, as the Septuagint and Symmachus do; (Psalm 37:7) and this Bochart believes is the most proper signification. (Calmet) --- Two is not specified in the Latin, nor little in the Hebrew. |
| Leviticus 3:5 | And they shall burn them upon the altar, for a holocaust, putting fire under the wood: for an oblation of most sweet savour to the Lord. | For a. Some translate, "upon the," others "after the burnt-sacrifice;" as if that were always to be offered first, every day. (Calmet) --- But is seems that the peace-offering was an imitation of the holocaust, with respect to the fat, caul, and kidneys, which were to be entirely consumed. (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 3:6 | But if his oblation, and the sacrifice of peace-offering be of the flock, whether he offer male or female, they shall be without blemish. | |
| Leviticus 3:7 | If he offer a lamb before the Lord, | |
| Leviticus 3:8 | He shall put his hand upon the head of his victim: and it shall be slain in the entry of the tabernacle of testimony: and the sons of Aaron shall pour the blood thereof round about upon the altar. | It. Hebrew and Septuagint, "he shall slay," ver. 2, 13. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 3:9 | And they shall offer of the victim of peace-offerings a sacrifice to the Lord: the fat and the whole rump, | Whole rump. Septuagint, "the loin without blemish." The tail of the Arabian sheep is extremely large and fat, weighing eight or ten pounds; so that it is necessary to support it on a vehicle. (Busbecque, ep. 3.) The tail was not sacrificed in any other species. (Menochius) |
| Leviticus 3:10 | With the kidneys, and the fat that covereth the belly and all the vitals, and both the little kidneys, with the fat that is about the flanks, and the caul of the liver with the little kidneys. | With, etc. Hebrew, "and the two kidneys with their fat by the flanks, and the great lobe of the liver, above the kidneys, shall they take." (Haydock) --- All our affections must be consecrated to God, and our passions kept under. (Du Hamel) |
| Leviticus 3:11 | And the priest shall burn them upon the altar, for the food of the fire, and of the oblation of the Lord. | Food, destined for the honour of God, and to be consumed by fire. In other places, God calls these sacrifices his food, and the altar his table. (Chap. 21:21.; Malachias 1:7, 12.) |
| Leviticus 3:12 | If his offering be a goat, and he offer it to the Lord, | |
| Leviticus 3:13 | He shall put his hand upon the head thereof: and shall immolate it in the entry of the tabernacle of the testimony. And the sons of Aaron shall pour the blood thereof round about upon the altar. | |
| Leviticus 3:14 | And they shall take of it for the food of the Lord's fire, the fat that covereth the belly, and that covereth all the vital parts : | |
| Leviticus 3:15 | The two little kidneys, with the caul that is upon them, which is by the flanks, and the fat of the liver with the little kidneys: | |
| Leviticus 3:16 | And the priest shall burn them upon the altar, for the food of the fire, and of a most sweet savour. All the fat shall be the Lord's. | |
| Leviticus 3:17 | By a perpetual law for your generations, and in all your habitations: neither blood nor fat shall ye eat at all. | Fat. It is meant of the fat, which by the prescription of the law was to be offered on God's altar: not of the fat of meat, such as we commonly eat. (Challoner) --- This distinction is sufficiently insinuated; (chap. 7:25,) whence it also appears that the fat, here forbidden, is only that, which, in all sacrifices, appertains to the Lord, ver. 9, 10. The fat which was intermingled with the flesh might be eaten, and even the rest if the animal was not sacrificed. God repeatedly forbids the use of blood, Leviticus 17:13. Yet the Jews abstain from the fat also of all oxen, sheep, and goats; (Josephus, [Antiquities?] 3:10,) and some, adhering to the words of this text, forbid the use of fat indiscriminately. (Calmet) --- Cornelius a Lapide condemns it, if the animal might be offered in sacrifice, though it were slain at home. |
| Leviticus 4:0 | Of offerings for sins of ignorance. | |
| Leviticus 4:1 | And the Lord spoke to Moses,* saying: | Year of the World 2514. |
| Leviticus 4:2 | Say to the children of Israel: The soul that sinneth through ignorance, and doth any thing concerning any of the commandments of the Lord, which he commanded not to be done: | Ignorance. To be ignorant of what we are bound to know is sinful: and for such culpable ignorance, these sacrifices, prescribed in this and the following chapter, were appointed. (Challoner) --- Not to be done. Hence the Rabbins admit sins of ignorance, only against the negative precepts. But when God forbids one thing, he commands the contrary; and we may sin by ignorance against any of his ordinances. If the ignorance be voluntary, it enhances the crime; and Aristotle well observes that drunkards, who do an injury, are to be doubly punished, because their fault is voluntary in its cause, (ad Nicom. 3:7). But if the ignorance were perfectly involuntary, and inculpable, no sacrifice was required; so that God here speaks only of that sort of ignorance which involved some degree of negligence. This fault could not be forgiven without interior good dispositions. The sacrifice only reached to the cleansing of the flesh, (Hebrews 9:13,) or to screen the culprit from the severity of the law and of the magistrates; (Calmet) though they might help the inward dispositions of the heart, and thus contribute to obtain God's pardon. (Origen; St. Augustine, q. 20) The difference between peccatum and delictum, is not perfectly ascertained. Some think the former word denotes sins of malice, and the latter those of ignorance. Tirinus maintains the contrary, as a more costly sacrifice, he says, is required for the latter. (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 4:3 | If the priest that is anointed shall sin, making the people to offend, he shall offer to the Lord for his sin, a calf without blemish. | Anointed. That is, "the high priest," Septuagint. Inferior priests were not anointed, except the sons of Aaron, at the beginning. (Calmet) --- Ignorance in such a one is greatly to be avoided, as it tends to scandalize the people. (Haydock) --- The same ceremonies are prescribed, as on the day of expiation; only the priest did not enter the most holy place. --- Offend, in some smaller matter. If he engaged his brethren in the crime of idolatry, he should die, Deuteronomy 13:15. (Calmet) --- Before the solemn unction, he might be expiated, like one of the princes. (Menochius) Calf. Hebrew par, does not specify the age. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 4:4 | And he shall bring it to the door of the testimony before the Lord, and shall put his hand upon the head thereof, and shall sacrifice it to the Lord. | |
| Leviticus 4:5 | He shall take also of the blood of the calf, and carry it into the tabernacle of the testimony. | The blood. As the figure of the blood of Christ shed for the remission of our sins; and carried by him into the sanctuary of heaven. |
| Leviticus 4:6 | And having dipped his finger in the blood, he shall sprinkle with it seven times before the Lord, before the veil of the sanctuary. | Seven. A number consecrated in Scripture, (Calmet) and not superstitious. (Worthington) --- Apuleius (Met. xi.) mentions it. Septies submerso fluctibus capite. (Calmet) --- Sanctuary, or most holy place. (Menochius) |
| Leviticus 4:7 | And he shall put some of the same blood upon the horns of the altar of the sweet incense most acceptable to the Lord, which is in the tabernacle of the testimony. And he shall pour all the rest of the blood at the foot of the altar of holocaust in the entry of the tabernacle. | |
| Leviticus 4:8 | And he shall take off the fat of the calf for the sin-offering, as well that which covereth the entrails, as all the inwards: | |
| Leviticus 4:9 | The two little kidneys, and the caul that is upon them which is by the flanks, and the fat of the liver, with the little kidneys, | |
| Leviticus 4:10 | As it is taken off from the calf of the sacrifice of peace-offerings, and he shall burn them upon the altar of holocaust. | |
| Leviticus 4:11 | But the skin and all the flesh, with the head and the feet, and the bowels, and the dung, | |
| Leviticus 4:12 | And the rest of the body, he shall carry forth without the camp into a clean place, where the ashes are wont to be poured out: and he shall burn them upon a pile of wood, they shall be burnt in the place where the ashes are poured out. | Ashes of the victims. They were first laid beside the altar of holocausts. By this ceremony, the priest begged that his sins might be removed from the sight of God, (Menochius) by virtue of Christ's sacrifice, who suffered out of the gate of Jerusalem, Hebrews 13:13. The high priest was obliged to offer this sacrifice himself, to expiate his own sin, as well as that of the people, Hebrews 9:7. |
| Leviticus 4:13 | And if all the multitude of Israel shall be ignorant, and through ignorance shall do that which is against the commandment of the Lord, | Multitude assembled. Septuagint add, "be involuntarily ignorant, and no one of the congregation perceive the truth, (or word,) and shall transgress, by commission or omission, one of all the precepts of the Lord." Such was the offence of Saul and the people, 1 Kings 14:33. On these occasions, the elders were to put their hands on the victim, to acknowledge the general offence, if it were not of too heinous a nature to be expiated by sacrifice. See Deuteronomy 13:12. |
| Leviticus 4:14 | And afterwards shall understand their sin, they shall offer for their sin a calf, and shall bring it to the door of the tabernacle. | |
| Leviticus 4:15 | And the ancients of the people shall put their hands upon the head thereof before the Lord. And the calf being immolated in the sight of the Lord, | |
| Leviticus 4:16 | The priest that is anointed, shall carry of the blood into the tabernacle of the testimony. | |
| Leviticus 4:17 | And shall dip his finger in it and sprinkle it, seven times before the veil. | |
| Leviticus 4:18 | And he shall put of the same blood on the horns of the altar that is before the Lord, in the tabernacle of the testimony: and the rest of the blood, he shall pour at the foot of the altar of holocaust, which is at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony. | |
| Leviticus 4:19 | And all the fat thereof he shall take off, and shall burn it upon the altar: | |
| Leviticus 4:20 | Doing so with this calf, as he did also with that before: and the priest praying for them, the Lord will be merciful unto them. | |
| Leviticus 4:21 | But the calf itself he shall carry forth without the camp, and shall burn it as he did the former calf: because it is for the sin of the multitude. | |
| Leviticus 4:22 | If a prince shall sin, and through ignorance do any one of the things that the law of the Lord forbiddeth, | A prince. King, magistrate, general, chief of a tribe, or great family; in a word, one elevated above the rest (Nasi), as appears, Numbers 1:4.; Numbers 7:2. |
| Leviticus 4:23 | And afterwards shall come to know his sin, he shall offer a buck-goat without blemish, a sacrifice to the Lord. | |
| Leviticus 4:24 | And he shall put his hand upon the head thereof; and when he hath immolated it in the place where the holocaust is wont to be slain before the Lord, because it is for sin, | He. Samaritan and Septuagint read, "they shall have," referring it to the priests. |
| Leviticus 4:25 | The priest shall dip his finger in the blood of the victim for sin, touching therewith the horns of the altar of holocaust, and pouring out the rest at the foot thereof. | |
| Leviticus 4:26 | But the fat he shall burn upon it, as is wont to be done with the victims of peace-offerings: and the priest shall pray for him, and for his sin, and it shall be forgiven him. | Him. Moses does not here specify what was to be done with the flesh. But (chap. 6:26,) he commands it to be given to the priests. (Calmet) --- In the sacrifices for the sins of the multitude, or of the priest, all was consumed; to express a greater detestation of such offences, (Tirinus) and that the priests might derive no benefit from them. (Theodoret, q. 3.; St. Thomas Aquinas 1:2, q. 102, a. 3.) (Worthington) --- Those who offered these victims received no part of them again, nor were oil or incense used; as all delicacies must be rejected by penitents. (Tirinus) |
| Leviticus 4:27 | And if any one of the people of the land shall sin through ignorance, doing any of those things that by the law of the Lord are forbidden, and offending, | The land. A rustic or plebeian. (Menochius) --- The offences of such might be expiated by the sacrifice of a goat, ewe, lamb, ram, two pigeons, or flour, Leviticus 5:7. and 11:15. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 4:28 | And shall come to know his sin, he shall offer a she-goat without blemish. | |
| Leviticus 4:29 | And he shall put his hand upon the head of the victim that is for sin, and shall immolate it in the place of the holocaust. | Of, etc. One Hebrew manuscript, the Septuagint, and Syriac read, "in the place in which he shall slay the holocaust." The Samaritan has they slay, both here and ver. 24. and 33, which seems the truer reading. (Kennicott) |
| Leviticus 4:30 | And the priest shall take of the blood with his finger, and shall touch the horns of the altar of holocaust, and shall pour out the rest at the foot thereof. | |
| Leviticus 4:31 | But taking off all the fat, as is wont to be taken away of the victims of peace-offerings, he shall burn it upon the altar, for a sweet savour to the Lord: and he shall pray for him, and it shall be forgiven him. | |
| Leviticus 4:32 | But if he offer of the flock a victim for his sin, to wit, an ewe without blemish: | |
| Leviticus 4:33 | He shall put his hand upon the head thereof, and shall immolate it in the place where the victims of holocausts are wont to be slain. | |
| Leviticus 4:34 | And the priest shall take of the blood thereof with his finger, and shall touch the horns of the altar of holocaust, and the rest he shall pour out at the foot thereof. | |
| Leviticus 4:35 | All the fat also he shall take off, as the fat of the ram that is offered for peace-offerings is wont to be taken away: and shall burn it upon the altar, for a burnt-sacrifice of the Lord: and he shall pray for him and for his sin, and it shall be forgiven him. | For a. Hebrew may be "according to, like (Haydock) upon, besides, after the holocausts." (Calmet) See Leviticus 3:5. |
| Leviticus 5:0 | Of other sacrifices for sins. | |
| Leviticus 5:1 | If any one sin, *and hear the voice of one swearing, and is a witness either because he himself hath seen, or is privy to it: if he do not utter it, he shall bear his iniquity. | Year of the World 2514. Swearing. We are accountable for the sins of others, to which we are accessory, as appears from this and part of the following chapter. No distinction of persons is here noticed. If any one, therefore, be witness to another's promise, confirmed by oath, and, being cited to the bar, refuse to speak, he shall be guilty of sin, and offer the sacrifice proscribed (ver. 6,) for all the preceding cases. Restitution must also be made to the injured person. (Menochius) --- But others suppose that no sacrifice was allowed for such an obstinate wretch as when not answered when the judge swore or adjured him. He was liable to be put to death. The associate of the thief fell under the like punishment as the thief himself, when he would not reveal the theft to the judge, Proverbs 29:24. Others again understand this swearing to mean blaspheming God. If the hearer do not reprehend him, he shall suffer as his accomplice. (Origen; Philo) --- Junius thinks that the neglect of fraternal correction, was to be expiated by the sacrifice prescribed for the sins of ignorance, concerning which Moses is treating. But it seems that the person here mentioned was to die, as the words he shall bear his iniquity, commonly denote, Leviticus 19:8.; etc. (Calmet) --- When perjury prejudiceth another's cause, we are bound to reveal what we know to the judge, if it can be done so as to avoid scandal. (Worthington) --- Not. Hebrew editions read loa, instead of la, both here and in 34 other places; an irregularity unknown in some manuscripts, and to the Samaritan copy. Perhaps it may have been occasioned by lu, "to him," being of the same sound with la. (Kennicott) |
| Leviticus 5:2 | Whosoever toucheth any unclean thing, either that which hath been killed by a beast, or died of itself, or any other creeping thing: and forgetteth his uncleanness, he is guilty, and hath offended: | Beast. All wild beasts were deemed unclean; but domestic clean cattle, though slain, did not defile; (Calmet) while some of the unclean did, even alive, Leviticus 11:26, 31. (Haydock) --- Fishes are comprised under the name of reptiles; yet some were not unclean, Leviticus 11:9. The Septuagint neglect reptiles, and put "the carcasses of impure abominations;" by which they probably mean dogs, and such things as the Egyptians adored. This verse does not regard those who had only touched something unclean, as such were to be purified at night, by washing their garments; but it refers to those who, having neglected that ordinance, had still ventured to touch something sacred, and were therefore required to offer the sacrifice, assom, (Calmet) as for an irreligious behaviour towards God. (Tirinus) |
| Leviticus 5:3 | And if he touch any thing of the uncleanness of man, according to any uncleanness wherewith he is wont to be defiled, and having forgotten it, come afterwards to know it, he shall be guilty of an offence. | Of man, who may be in a state of legal uncleanness. If he neglect or forget to purify himself, he must offer a sacrifice, either such as he may choose, (St. Augustine, q. 2.) or such as the priest may require. (Lyranus) (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 5:4 | The person that sweareth, and uttereth with his lips, that he would do either evil or good, and bindeth the same with an oath, and his word, and having forgotten it afterwards understandeth his offence, | Lips. This is necessary before he can be punished by men; but every secret promise binds before God. (Tostat) --- Evil or good: any thing whatsoever, whether favour or punishment, whether the completion of it be difficult or easy. (Calmet) --- Thus parents sometimes foolishly swear that they will chastise their children unmercifully; libertines that they will live in luxuries as long as they have any money; ill-natured people that they will never speak to such a one, that they will murder, etc. To execute such promises, even confirmed by an oath, would be a double crime. Let them ask pardon of God for their rash oath. (Philo) --- Herod made his oath a pretext for killing John the Baptist, deluding himself, perhaps, with a false interpretation of this law. (Haydock) --- As such hasty oaths are easily forgotten, when the guilty person recollected himself, he was bound to confess his fault to the priest in the following manner, according to the Rabbins: Placing his hands between the horns of his victim, he shall say, "I beseech you, Lord, I have sinned; I have committed iniquity and prevarication; I have committed such a fault. I repent, I am filled with sorrow and confusion for having done so; I will relapse no more." These doctors teach, that without confession and sorrow no sacrifice will remit sin. (Calmet) --- To preserve the secret of confession, the priests were ordered to eat the victims alone. (Philo, etc.) (Tirinus) |
| Leviticus 5:5 | Let him do penance for his sin, | Let, etc. Hebrew, "and surely when he is guilty in one of these things, he shall confess that he hath sinned therein; (ver. 6.) and he shall bring his sin-offering unto the Lord, for his transgression," etc. Confession to the priest was requisite, before all the other sacrifices for sin. See Josephus, [Antiquities?] 3:10. (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 5:6 | And offer of the flocks an ewe-lamb, or a she-goat, and the priest shall pray for him and for his sin: | |
| Leviticus 5:7 | But if he be not able to offer a beast, let him offer two turtles, *or two young pigeons to the Lord, one for sin, and the other for a holocaust, Leviticus 12:8.; Luke 2:14. | |
| Leviticus 5:8 | And he shall give them to the priest: who shall offer the first for sin, and twist back the head of it to the little pinions, so that it stick to the neck, and be not altogether broken off. | |
| Leviticus 5:9 | And of its blood he shall sprinkle the side of the altar, and whatsoever is left, he shall let it drop at the bottom thereof, because it is for sin. | Sin. The flesh belonged to the priest, Leviticus 6:26. |
| Leviticus 5:10 | And the other he shall burn for a holocaust, as is wont to be done: and the priest shall pray for him, and for his sin, and it shall be forgiven him. | |
| Leviticus 5:11 | And if his hand be not able to offer two turtles, or two young pigeons, he shall offer for his sin the tenth part of an ephi of flour. He shall not put oil upon it, nor put any frankincense thereon, because it is for sin: | Ephi, or a gomor, which is the tenth part of three pecks and three pints, English. (Arbuthnot.) --- For sin, and therefore to shew how odious sin is to God, he will not allow any frankincense to be offered. (Menochius) |
| Leviticus 5:12 | And he shall deliver it to the priest: who shall take a handful thereof, and shall burn it upon the altar for a memorial of him that offered it: | Memorial. See Leviticus 2:2. At the end, the Hebrew and Septuagint add, "It is a sin-offering;" peccatum. (Calmet) --- Hence the priests are said to eat the sins of the people, Osee 4:8. |
| Leviticus 5:13 | Praying for him and making atonement: but the part that is left, he himself shall have for a gift. | |
| Leviticus 5:14 | And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: | |
| Leviticus 5:15 | If any one shall sin through mistake, transgressing the ceremonies in those things that are sacrificed to the Lord, he shall offer for his offence a ram without blemish out of the flocks, that may be bought for two sicles, according to the weight of the sanctuary: | The ceremonies: omitted in Hebrew and Septuagint --- Sanctified[Sacrificed?], neglecting to pay the first-fruits; or, by mistake, eating any of the victims reserved for God, or for the priests. --- Two sicles. St. Jerome seems to have read in the dual number, whereas the Hebrew pointed copies have sicles indefinitely; and the Rabbins understand two, when the word is plural and undetermined. Theodoret reads fifty, which some maintain is the ancient translation of the Septuagint, though it is not found in any of our copies. Hebrew may be rendered "a ram (or) according to thy estimation, sicles of silver." The particle or is sometimes understood. It is probable that when the fault was considerable, a ram was to be sacrificed, and restitution made of what was due with the fifth part besides; but if the fault was small, the priest determined how many sicles were to be presented for sacred purposes. --- Sanctuary. See Exodus 30:13. |
| Leviticus 5:16 | And he shall make good the damage itself which he hath done, and shall add the fifth part besides, delivering it to the priest, who shall pray for him, offering the ram, and it shall be forgiven him. | |
| Leviticus 5:17 | If any one sin through ignorance, and do one of those things which by the law of the Lord are forbidden, and being guilty of sin, understand his iniquity, | Through ignorance. These words are not found in the Hebrew or Septuagint; but the context shews, that they must be understood. Some pretend that the ignorance here spoken of, is that by which a person doubts whether the thing which he touched was unclean or not. But we may explain these last verses as a recapitulation of what had been already ordered. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 5:18 | He shall offer of the flocks a ram without blemish to the priest, according to the measure, and estimation of the sin; and the priest shall pray for him, because he did it ignorantly: and it shall be forgiven him, | Sin. If it were grievous, the priest required a more valuable victim, ver. 15. |
| Leviticus 5:19 | Because by mistake he trespassed against the Lord. | Lord. Hebrew, "It is a victim for the sin which he has committed against the Lord." From this chapter, as well as from Numbers 5:7, it is obvious that a special confession was necessary, not only for those who had fallen into the disorder of leprosy, which was a figure of sin, and often inflicted by God in punishment of it; but also, when they had given way to the smallest transgression against the commands and ceremonies of the Lord. (Haydock) --- This custom is still observed by the Jews. (Galatinus 10:3.) |
| Leviticus 6:0 | Oblations for sins of injustice: ordinances concerning the holocausts and the perpetual fire: the sacrifices of the priests, and the sin-offerings. | |
| Leviticus 6:1 | The Lord spoke to Moses,* saying: | Year of the World 2514. |
| Leviticus 6:2 | Whosoever shall sin, and despising the Lord, shall deny to his neighbour the thing delivered to his keeping, which was committed to his trust; or shall by force extort any thing, or commit oppression, | Despising: interpretatively; not formally, as Numbers xv. (Estius) --- The Lord, who knows the truth, and is an avenger of all injustice, even the most secret. (Haydock) --- The law inflicts indeed a smaller punishment, as these offences are supposed to be secret, and the offender is thus invited to repent, and to repair the injury done. When the crime is public, the law is more severe. (Calmet) --- Hebrew, "If a soul transgress and sin against the Lord." Septuagint, "If any one wilfully despise the commands," etc. (Haydock) --- Trust. Hebrew and Septuagint, "or a sum given for traffic for their common benefit." --- Oppression, by any means whatsoever detaining the wages of the labourer, etc. |
| Leviticus 6:3 | Or shall find a thing lost, and denying it, shall also swear falsely, or shall do any other of the many things, wherein men are wont to sin, | Lost. We acquire no title to the thing by finding it. The Roman law, as well as divines, condemn those who appropriate the thing found to their own use, as guilty of theft, whether they knew to whom it belonged or not; and Plato greatly commends the law of Solon, "Take not what thou didst not put down," a rule which the Dyrbeans and the people of Biblos rigorously observed. We may, however, take up what is lost, (Calmet) and endeavour to find the owner, who must indemnify us for our trouble; and, if we never find him, we are directed to give the price to the poor, for the owner's welfare. (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 6:4 | Being convicted of the offence, he shall restore | Convicted, by his own conscience, and by the judgment of the priest to whom he has confessed his sin. The Hebrew expresses the different sorts of sins specified above, which the Vulgate denotes by the word offence. |
| Leviticus 6:5 | All that he would have gotten by fraud, in the principal, *and the fifth part besides to the owner, whom he wronged. Numbers 5:7. | Wronged. Hebrew and Chaldean add, "in the day of his sin-offering;" and the Septuagint, "in which he is convicted." No unnecessary delay in making restitution can be allowed to the sincere penitent, who wishes to make his peace with God. |
| Leviticus 6:6 | Moreover for his sin he shall offer a ram without blemish out of the flock, and shall give it to the priest, according to the estimation and measure of the offence: | The. Hebrew, "thy estimation for a sin-offering." (Haydock) --- Wilful sins require a more noble victim than those of ignorance, which were expiated by the sacrifice of a goat. (Menochius) |
| Leviticus 6:7 | And he shall pray for him before the Lord, and he shall have forgiveness for every thing in doing of which he hath sinned. | |
| Leviticus 6:8 | And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: | |
| Leviticus 6:9 | Command Aaron and his sons: This is the law of a holocaust: It shall be burnt upon the altar, all night until morning: the fire shall be of the same altar. | Holocaust. The regulations respecting it, as they regard the priests, are here given, as Leviticus 1., directions were given to those who presented the victims. --- Morning. All the parts of the victim were not laid on at the same time. The like was observed during the day also, when no other sacrifices were to be offered on this altar. --- Of the same, not strange, unhallowed fire, but such as was kept continually burning on the altar of holocausts, as the Hebrew intimates; "the fire of the altar shall be burning in it." During the marches in the desert, it is not written how this fire was preserved. The Persians believed that their eternal fire came down from heaven, and the vestal virgins kept their sacred fire at Rome, with superstitious care. Theophrastus (ap. Eusebius, praep. 1:9,) mentions the keeping of fire in the temples, as one of the most ancient rites of religion. |
| Leviticus 6:10 | The priest shall be vested with the tunic and the linen breeches; and he shall take up the ashes of that which the devouring fire hath burnt, and putting them beside the altar, | |
| Leviticus 6:11 | Shall put off his former vestments, and being clothed with others, shall carry them forth without the camp, and shall cause them to be consumed to dust in a very clean place. | Others; such as were worn on common occasions, out of the tabernacle. --- And shall, etc. Hebrew has only, "unto a clean place," as the other versions and some Latin copies read. The meaning of the addition is, that all the bones, etc., must be perfectly reduced to dust, before they be carried out of the camp. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 6:12 | And the fire on the altar shall always burn, and the priest shall feed it, putting wood on it every day in the morning, and laying on the holocaust, shall burn thereupon the fat of the peace-offerings. | Fat, along with the whole burnt-offering. (Menochius) |
| Leviticus 6:13 | This is the perpetual fire which shall never go out on the altar. | The perpetual fire. This fire came from heaven, (chap. 9:24,) and was always kept burning on the altar: as a figure of the heavenly fire of divine love, which ought to be always burning in the heart of a Christian. (Challoner) --- It must be fed by assiduous meditation on the Scripture and holy things. (Du Hamel) |
| Leviticus 6:14 | This is the law of the sacrifice and libations, which the children of Aaron shall offer before the Lord, and before the altar. | Sacrifice of flour, moneé, Leviticus 2:1. --- And libations. These words are added, to shew that oil and wine accompanied this sacrifice. |
| Leviticus 6:15 | The priest shall take a handful of the flour that is tempered with oil, and all the frankincense that is put upon the flour: and he shall burn it on the altar for a memorial of most sweet odour to the Lord: | |
| Leviticus 6:16 | And the part of the flour that is left, Aaron and his sons shall eat, without leaven: and he shall eat it in the holy place of the court of the tabernacle. | He. Only the priests, who were actually officiating, could partake of it. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 6:17 | And therefore it shall not be leavened, because part thereof is offered for the burnt-sacrifice of the Lord. It shall be most holy, as that which is offered for sin and for trespass. | |
| Leviticus 6:18 | The males only of the race of Aaron shall eat it. It shall be an ordinance everlasting in your generations concerning the sacrifices of the Lord: every one that toucheth them shall be sanctified. | Lord. As long as this law shall be in force. (Menochius) --- Sanctified. Theodoret (q. 5,) seems to assert, that all such were obliged to serve the altar in some function or other. If any unclean person touched the victims wilfully, he was slain; if, by mistake, the blood sprinkled a garment, it was to be washed, ver. 27. |
| Leviticus 6:19 | And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: | |
| Leviticus 6:20 | This is the oblation of Aaron, and of his sons, which they must offer to the Lord, in the day of their anointing: They shall offer the tenth part of an ephi of flour for a perpetual sacrifice, half of it in the morning, and half of it in the evening: | Evening. And this shall continue as long as they are high priests, from the day of their consecration, (Josephus, [Antiquities?] 3:20.; Cajetan,) a perpetual sacrifice. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 6:21 | It shall be tempered with oil, and shall be fried in a frying-pan. | |
| Leviticus 6:22 | And the priest that rightfully succeedeth his father, shall offer it hot, for a most sweet odour to the Lord, and it shall be wholly burnt on the altar. | Rightfully. According to the law, which decides that, if the first-born be deformed, the next shall succeed, Leviticus 21:18. Hebrew, "the priest, of his sons, who is anointed in his stead, shall offer it." No mention is made of its being hot, either here or in the Septuagint. (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 6:23 | For every sacrifice of the priest shall be consumed with fire, neither shall any man eat thereof. | Sacrifice of flour, not of animals, Exodus 29:28. |
| Leviticus 6:24 | And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: | |
| Leviticus 6:25 | Say to Aaron and his sons: This is the law of the victim for sin: In the place where the holocaust is offered, it shall be immolated before the Lord. It is holy of holies. | Sin of individuals. The victims offered by the priest, or by the whole people, were to be burnt, Leviticus 4:7. |
| Leviticus 6:26 | The priest that offereth it, shall eat it in a holy place, in the court of the tabernacle. | Tabernacle. No part shall be given to those who are not of the sacerdotal race. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 6:27 | Whatsoever shall touch the flesh thereof, shall be sanctified. If a garment be sprinkled with the blood thereof, it shall be washed in a holy place. | Place, in the court, that so it may be worn again. (Menochius) |
| Leviticus 6:28 | And the earthen vessel, wherein it was sodden, shall be broken; but if the vessel be of brass, it shall be scoured, and washed with water. | Sodden, or boiled. Such vessels, of private people, as had been used to boil part of the victim, (1 Kings 2:13,) were either to be abandoned to the service of the altar, or broken, etc. (Calmet) --- Earthen vessels might imbibe some part of the consecrated juice. (Menochius) |
| Leviticus 6:29 | Every male of the priestly race shall eat of the flesh thereof, because it is holy of holies. | |
| Leviticus 6:30 | For the victim that is slain for sin, *the blood of which is carried into the tabernacle of the testimony to make atonement in the sanctuary, shall not be eaten, but shall be burnt with fire. Leviticus 4:5.; Hebrews 13:11. | Fire. As they are the victims for the sins of the priest and of the people, Leviticus 4:6, 18. (Menochius) |
| Leviticus 7:0 | Of sacrifices for trespasses and thanks-offerings. No fat nor blood is to be eaten. | |
| Leviticus 7:1 | This* also is the law of the sacrifice for a trespass, it is most holy: A.M. 2514. | Trespass. Trespasses, for which these offerings were to be made, were less offences, than those for which the sin-offerings were appointed. (Challoner) See Leviticus 4:2. --- Delictum, trespass, answers to the Hebrew asham, and the Greek plemmeleia; (Haydock) being of a more extensive signification that the Hebrew chete, sin, as it comprises even sins against knowledge. (Parkhurst) See Leviticus 4:2. --- No particular ceremonies are enjoined, (ver. 7,) only a he-goat or a ram was to be offered; if the former, the rump, etc., were to be given (ver. 3); if the latter, the fat of the intestines and the reins were to be offered, and the blood poured out at the foot of the altar. --- Victim. Septuagint, "ram." --- Holy. To be eaten by priests, and in the court of the tabernacle, ver. 6. (Calmet) --- Sins of commission, peccata, and of omission, delicta, are equally offensive to God. (St. Augustine, q. 20.) (Worthington) |
| Leviticus 7:2 | And where the holocaust is immolated, the victim also for a trespass shall be slain: the blood thereof shall be poured round about the altar. | |
| Leviticus 7:3 | They shall offer thereof the rump and the fat that covereth the entrails: | |
| Leviticus 7:4 | The two little kidneys, and the fat which is by the flanks, and the caul of the liver, with the little kidneys. | |
| Leviticus 7:5 | And the priest shall burn them upon the altar, it is the burnt-sacrifice of the Lord for a trespass. | |
| Leviticus 7:6 | Every male of the priestly race, shall eat this flesh in a holy place, because it is most holy. | |
| Leviticus 7:7 | As the sacrifice for sin is offered, so is also that for a trespass: the same shall be the law of both these sacrifices: it shall belong to the priest that offereth it. | |
| Leviticus 7:8 | The priest that offereth the victim of holocaust, shall have the skin thereof. | Skin. Of these skins a great profit was made. (Philo, de Praem. Sacerd.) |
| Leviticus 7:9 | And every sacrifice of flour that is baked in the oven, and whatsoever is dressed on the gridiron, or in the frying-pan, shall be the priest's that offereth it: | Priest's; to be divided among his brethren, ver. 10. They officiated a week by turns. (Calmet) --- Each, therefore, claimed the parts allotted by God to the priest on duty. But it is not certain what part they could retain for their own use. Some think that the unbaked flour alone was to be distributed equally, ver. 10. (Bonfrere) |
| Leviticus 7:10 | Whether they be tempered with oil, or dry, all the sons of Aaron shall have one as much as another. | |
| Leviticus 7:11 | This is the law of the sacrifice of peace-offerings that is offered to the Lord. | This. Here the Roman, Septuagint, Junius, etc., commence the 7th chapter. |
| Leviticus 7:12 | If the oblation be for thanksgiving, they shall offer loaves without leaven tempered with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and fine flour fried, and cakes tempered and mingled with oil: | Oil. Any of these sorts of bread would suffice. Jacob and Jethro had formerly offered sacrifices of praise, and the Greeks had some which they termed Soteria. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 7:13 | Moreover loaves of leavened bread, with the sacrifice of thanks, which is offered for peace-offerings: | Bread, for the use of the priests, Leviticus 2:11. |
| Leviticus 7:14 | Of which one shall be offered to the Lord for first-fruits, and shall be the priest's that shall pour out the blood of the victim. | Of which leavened bread, one, representing all the rest, shall be offered for first-fruits. Hebrew, "a heave-offering," not as a sacrifice. (Menochius) --- Others maintain that a loaf, without leaven, was laid upon the altar; and all the rest given to the priest. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 7:15 | And the flesh of it shall be eaten the same day, neither shall any of it remain until the morning. | Morning. Thus were they admonished to let the poor share of the bounty which God had bestowed upon them. (Theod. and Philo) |
| Leviticus 7:16 | If any man by vow, or of his own accord, offer a sacrifice, it shall in like manner be eaten the same day: and if any of it remain until the morrow, it is lawful to eat it: | It. The victim of thanksgiving was more worthy, as it proceeded from a more disinterested motive. (Menochius) --- Such victims as were perfectly voluntary might be received, though they had some defect, Leviticus 22:23. |
| Leviticus 7:17 | But whatsoever shall be found on the third day shall be consumed with fire. | Fire. No part must be reserved so long, as to become offensive and putrid. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 7:18 | If any man eat of the flesh of the victim of peace-offerings on the third day, the oblation shall be of no effect, neither shall it profit the offerer: yea rather whatsoever soul shall defile itself with such meat, shall be guilty of transgression. | Yea rather. Hebrew, "it is an abomination to be thrown away," and the soul, etc. Thus by neglecting to comply exactly with God's commands, we lose the fruits of our former piety. (Haydock) --- The flesh of these victims might be eaten in any clean place, by all those who were not defiled, Leviticus 10:14. (Josephus) (Tirinus) |
| Leviticus 7:19 | The flesh that hath touched any unclean thing, shall not be eaten, but shall be burnt with fire: he that is clean shall eat of it. | Shall eat of it. That is, of the flesh of the thanks-offering. (Challoner) --- People might eat the flesh of animals which had been touched by something unclean, Deuteronomy 12:15, 22. But victims, defiled by any accident, were to be burnt. The others were to be eaten only by such as were clean. (Menochius) |
| Leviticus 7:20 | If any one that is defiled, shall eat of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace-offerings, which is offered to the Lord, he shall be cut off from his people. | People excommunicated, or even slain, either by God, or by the judge. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 7:21 | And he that hath touched the uncleanness of man, or of beast, or of any thing that can defile, and shall eat of such kind of flesh, shall be cut off from his people. | Uncleanness of man, means a person defiled, or his excrements. (A Lapide) |
| Leviticus 7:22 | And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: | |
| Leviticus 7:23 | Say to the children of Israel: The fat of a sheep, and of an ox, and of a goat you shall not eat. | Eat, when they have been once immolated. See Leviticus 3:17. |
| Leviticus 7:24 | The fat of a carcass that hath died of itself, and of a beast that was caught by another beast, you shall have for divers uses. | Uses. Hebrew, "for any other use: but you shall not eat it." Origen (hom. 5,) seems to reject this fat entirely. |
| Leviticus 7:25 | If any man eat the fat that should be offered for the burnt-sacrifice of the Lord, he shall perish out of his people. | |
| Leviticus 7:26 | Moreover you shall not eat the blood of any creature whatsoever, whether of birds or beasts. | Beasts. Hence the Rabbins except the blood of fishes, as it is not specified. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 7:27 | Every one that eateth blood, shall perish from among the people. | |
| Leviticus 7:28 | And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: | |
| Leviticus 7:29 | Speak to the children of Israel, saying: He that offereth a victim of peace-offerings to the Lord, let him offer therewith a sacrifice also, that is, the libations thereof. | Sacrifice....Libations, flour, wine, and oil. (Lyranus) |
| Leviticus 7:30 | He shall hold in his hands the fat of the victim, and the breast: and when he hath offered and consecrated both to the Lord, he shall deliver them to the priest, | Hands, upon a silver dish. The priest shall direct his hands to form a triple cross. (Cajetan) (Tirinus) |
| Leviticus 7:31 | Who shall burn the fat upon the altar, but the breast shall be Aaron's, and his sons'. | The breast, and other parts mentioned, Deuteronomy 18:3. |
| Leviticus 7:32 | The right shoulder also of the victims of peace-offerings, shall fall to the priest for first-fruits. | |
| Leviticus 7:33 | He among the sons of Aaron, that offereth the blood and the fat, he shall have the right shoulder also for his portion. | |
| Leviticus 7:34 | For the breast that is elevated, and the shoulder that is separated, I have taken of the children of Israel, from off their victims of peace-offerings, and have given them to Aaron the priest, and to his sons, by a law for ever, from all the people of Israel. | Separated from the breast for the Lord, and waved before Him, as the Hebrew intimates. |
| Leviticus 7:35 | This is the anointing of Aaron and his sons, in the ceremonies of the Lord, in the day when Moses offered them, that they might do the office of priesthood, | Anointing. Le Clerc translates the food. On this Aaron shall be maintained. This shall be his salary or portion, in quality of God's anointed. |
| Leviticus 7:36 | And the things that the Lord commanded to be given them by the children of Israel, by a perpetual observance in their generations. | Israel. Hebrew adds, "in the day of his anointing," or consecration. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 7:37 | This is the law of holocaust, and of the sacrifice for sin, and for trespass, and for consecration, and the victims of peace-offerings: | Law. Six sorts of sacrifices are here specified, holocausts, flour-offerings, sin and trespass-offerings, those for the consecration of priests, and the peace-offerings. |
| Leviticus 7:38 | Which the Lord appointed to Moses in Mount Sinai, when he commanded the children of Israel, that they should offer their oblations to the Lord in the desert of Sinai. | In, or at the foot of Mount Sinai. (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 8:0 | Moses consecrateth Aaron and his sons. | |
| Leviticus 8:1 | And the Lord spoke to Moses, *saying: | Year of the World 2514, Year before Christ 1490. |
| Leviticus 8:2 | *Take Aaron with his sons, their vestments, and the oil of unction, a calf for sin, two rams, a basket with unleavened bread, Exodus 29:35.; Exodus 40:13. | Bread. This basket stood near the altar of holocausts, in the court. Most part of this chapter has been already explained, Exodus xxix. |
| Leviticus 8:3 | And thou shalt gather together all the congregation to the door of the tabernacle. | |
| Leviticus 8:4 | And Moses did as the Lord had commanded. And all the multitude being gathered together before the door of the tabernacle, | |
| Leviticus 8:5 | He said: This is the word that the Lord hath commanded to be done. | |
| Leviticus 8:6 | And immediately he offered Aaron and his sons: and when he had washed them, | |
| Leviticus 8:7 | He vested the high priest with the strait linen garment, girding him with the girdle, and putting on him the violet tunic, and over it he put the ephod, | Garment, subucula, which is styled a strait tunic, Exodus 28. This was girded close, while the upper garment (máil) was fastened by the ephod, contrary to what Josephus and others have asserted. (Calmet) --- Truth. When the ephod and rational were joined together, God gave his oracles, 1 Kings 23:9. No woman could wear the ornaments, which were made by divine wisdom. (St. Cyril, in Lev. 13:6.) (Worthington) |
| Leviticus 8:8 | And binding it with the girdle, he fitted it to the rational, in which was Doctrine and Truth. | |
| Leviticus 8:9 | He put also the mitre upon his head: and upon the mitre over the forehead, he put the plate of gold consecrated with sanctification, as the Lord had commanded him. | Sanctification. Having these words engraven on it, Holiness to the Lord. |
| Leviticus 8:10 | He took also the oil of unction, with which he anointed the tabernacle, with all the furniture thereof. | |
| Leviticus 8:11 | And when he had sanctified and sprinkled the altar seven times, he anointed it, and all the vessels thereof, and the laver with the foot thereof he sanctified with the oil. | |
| Leviticus 8:12 | *And he poured it upon Aaron's head, and he anointed and consecrated him: Ecclesiasticus 45:18. | Head. To shew that he was the fountain of the priesthood, and that power was derived from him. |
| Leviticus 8:13 | And after he had offered his sons, he vested them with linen tunics, and girded them with girdles, and put mitres on them, as the Lord had commanded. | Linen. Aquila translates "inward." It was next to the skin. --- Mitres, caps, Exodus 28:4. These were the garments of priests. Those of the Levites are not particularized. About six years before the destruction of the temple by Titus, the Levites obtained of Agrippa leave to wear the linen tunic, which was deemed a great innovation, seldom left unpunished. (Josephus, Antiquities 20:8.) |
| Leviticus 8:14 | He offered also the calf for sin: and when Aaron and his sons had put their hands upon the head thereof, | Calf. This ceremony was repeated for seven days, ver. 33. (Calmet) --- At the same time, Moses consecrated the altars and all the furniture of the tabernacle, ver. 10. |
| Leviticus 8:15 | He immolated it: and took the blood, and dipping his finger in it, he touched the horns of the altar round about. Which being expiated, and sanctified, he poured the rest of the blood at the bottom thereof. | |
| Leviticus 8:16 | But the fat that was upon the entrails, and the caul of the liver, and the two little kidneys, with their fat, he burnt upon the altar: | |
| Leviticus 8:17 | And the calf with the skin, and the flesh, and the dung, he burnt without the camp, as the Lord had commanded. | |
| Leviticus 8:18 | He offered also a ram for a holocaust: and when Aaron and his sons had put their hands upon its head, | |
| Leviticus 8:19 | He immolated it, and poured the blood thereof round about upon the altar. | |
| Leviticus 8:20 | And cutting the ram into pieces, the head thereof, and the joints, and the fat he burnt in the fire, | |
| Leviticus 8:21 | Having first washed the entrails, and the feet; and the whole ram together, he burnt upon the altar, because it was a holocaust of most sweet odour to the Lord, as he had commanded him. | |
| Leviticus 8:22 | He offered also the second ram, in the consecration of priests: and Aaron, and his sons put their hands upon the head thereof: | |
| Leviticus 8:23 | And when Moses had immolated it, he took of the blood thereof, and touched the tip of Aaron's right ear, and the thumb of his right hand, and in like manner also the great toe of his right foot. | Foot. The whole person was thus sensibly consecrated to God's service. (Haydock) --- The pagan high priest, among the Romans, was adorned in silk and ribbands, with a crown of gold. Being conducted under ground, the blood of an ox, which had been sacrificed, came upon his head, ears, and other parts of his body, through little holes, made in a board; and thus besmeared, he was recognized by the people. (Prudent. hym. S. Romani, Saumaise. etc.) |
| Leviticus 8:24 | He offered also the sons of Aaron: and when with the blood of the ram that was immolated, he had touched the tip of the right ear of every one of them, and the thumbs of their right hands, and the great toes of their right feet, the rest he poured on the altar round about: | |
| Leviticus 8:25 | But the fat, and the rump, and all the fat that covereth the entrails, and the caul of the liver, and the two kidneys with their fat, and with the right shoulder, he separated. | |
| Leviticus 8:26 | And taking out of the basket of unleavened bread, which was before the Lord, a loaf without leaven, and a cake tempered with oil, and a wafer, he put them upon the fat, and the right shoulder, | |
| Leviticus 8:27 | Delivering all to Aaron, and to his sons: who having lifted them up before the Lord, | Who having. Moses supported and directed the hands of the priests. |
| Leviticus 8:28 | He took them again from their hands, and burnt them upon the altar of holocaust, because it was the oblation of consecration, for a sweet odour of sacrifice to the Lord. | |
| Leviticus 8:29 | And he took of the ram of consecration, the breast for his portion, elevating it before the Lord, as the Lord had commanded him. | |
| Leviticus 8:30 | And taking the ointment, and the blood that was upon the altar, he sprinkled Aaron, and his vestments, and his sons, and their vestments with it. | Vestments. It is a maxim among the Rabbins, that a priest without his vestments, is not considered as such; and he is put to death, if he should dare to approach the altar in that condition. When the priests lay aside their sacred robes, they are looked upon as laymen. (Calmet) --- The high priest was consecrated by the unction on the head; (ver. 12,) those of an inferior condition, were sprinkled with ointment mixed with blood, etc. (Menochius) |
| Leviticus 8:31 | And when he had sanctified them in their vestments, he commanded them, saying: Boil the flesh before the door of the tabernacle, and there eat it. Eat ye also the loaves of consecration, that are laid in the basket, as the Lord commanded me, saying: *Aaron and his sons shall eat them: Exodus 29:31.; Exodus 30:22.; Exodus 40:9.; Leviticus 24:9. | |
| Leviticus 8:32 | And whatsoever shall be left of the flesh and the loaves, shall be consumed with fire. | |
| Leviticus 8:33 | And you shall not go out of the door of the tabernacle for seven days, until the day wherein the time of your consecration shall be expired. For in seven days the consecration is finished: | Finished. During this time, some say they were allowed to go our for a short time, to satisfy the calls of nature; while others say they were to continue always in the tabernacle, or in the court. Afterwards the priests on duty continued all the time in the temple, adorned with their sacred robes. The high priest could not wear his on other occasions, except some very urgent affair required it, as was the case when Jaddus went to meet Alexander. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 8:34 | As at this present it hath been done, that the rite of the sacrifice might be accomplished. | Done....so. The Hebrew adds, "the Lord hath commanded to do, to make atonement for you." (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 8:35 | Day and night shall you remain in the tabernacle, observing the watches of the Lord, lest you die: for so it hath been commanded me. | Watches. They might be permitted to take a little sleep during part of this week. (Tirinus) --- In: Hebrew, "at the door of the tabernacle of the assembly, attentive to the ordinances of the Lord." (Haydock) --- Die, as Nadab did afterwards. Moses officiated as the consecrating priest. One of the most venerable of the order, consecrated the successors of Aaron. Some assert, that they only invested him with the pontifical robes. (Numbers 20:25.; 1 Machabees 10:21.) (Calmet) --- The power of Moses was extraordinary; that of Aaron was ordinary, designed to continue in after ages. (St. Augustine, q. 23.) None must presume to take this office of priest, but such as are called by God, Hebrews 5. Those of the old law, were initiated by sacred rites or sacraments, which signified the grace of God, requisite to perform their duties well. They were chosen from among men, to be more holy; of which their washing was a sign, as their splendid robes were to remind them of their sublime dignity and authority over the people. The high priest had seven special ornaments: 1. white linen, to denote purity; 2. a curious girdle, intimating that he must use discretion in all things; 3. the long tunic of various colours, with bells, etc., signifying heavenly conversation upon earth, union and harmony in faith and morals; 4. an ephod, with two precious stones on the shoulders, teaching him to support the failings of the multitude; 5. the rational, with its ornaments, shew that the pontiff should be solicitous to teach sound and profitable doctrine; 6. the mitre indicates, that all his actions should be referred to God above; and lastly, the plate of gold denotes that he should have God always in view, and never forget that consummate holiness which He requireth. See St. Jerome, ep. ad Fabiol. --- The three ornaments of the priests, put them in mind of purity, discretion, and a right intention, to be observed in all their conduct. On this occasion, a change was introduced in the priesthood, as the law was new; the first-born being obliged to give place to Aaron's family. Thus, when these were deprived of the exclusive privilege, and people from any family were chosen by Christ, the law of Moses ceased to exist, Hebrews 7. The ordination of the former was a figure of that sacrament, by which Christian priests still receive grace and power. (2 Timothy 1.; Theodoret, q. 48. Num.; St. Augustine, de bono conj. 24.) (Worthington) |
| Leviticus 8:36 | And Aaron and his sons did all things which the Lord spoke by the hand of Moses. | |
| Leviticus 9:0 | Aaron offereth sacrifice for himself and the people. Fire cometh from the Lord upon the altar. | |
| Leviticus 9:1 | And when* the eighth day was come, Moses called Aaron and his sons,** and the ancients of Israel, and said to Aaron: Exodus 29:1. | Year of the World 2514. Come. From the consecration of the tabernacle, (Menochius) and of Aaron. --- Israel. The princes of the tribes. (Calmet) --- They were to offer sacrifice by the hands of their new priests. |
| Leviticus 9:2 | Take of the herd a calf for sin, and a ram for a holocaust, both without blemish, and offer them before the Lord. | Calf. As they had formerly adored a calf, so now they sacrifice one to God. (St. Jerome in Jer. vii.) |
| Leviticus 9:3 | And to the children of Israel thou shalt say: Take ye a he-goat for sin, and a calf, and a lamb, both of a year old, and without blemish, for a holocaust, | Children. Samaritan and Septuagint, "the ancients," or princes of the people, for whom a he-goat is sacrificed. --- Old. Not above, though they might be younger. |
| Leviticus 9:4 | Also a bullock and a ram for peace-offerings: and immolate them before the Lord, offering for the sacrifice of every one of them flour tempered with oil: for to-day the Lord will appear to you. | Offering, etc. Hebrew simply, "and a flour-offering tempered with oil; for," etc. (Haydock) --- All these sacrifices were accompanied with an offering of this nature, as they were in imitation of a dinner presented to God. (Menochius) --- You. By the cloud, resting upon the tabernacle, or by fire proceeding thence. God will manifest his presence by miracles, ver. 24. |
| Leviticus 9:5 | They brought therefore all things that Moses had commanded before the door of the tabernacle: where when all the multitude stood, | |
| Leviticus 9:6 | Moses said: This is the word which the Lord hath commanded: do it, and his glory will appear to you. | |
| Leviticus 9:7 | And he said to Aaron: Approach to the altar, and offer sacrifice for thy sin: offer the holocaust, and pray for thyself and for the people: and when thou hast slain the people's victim, pray for them, as the Lord hath commanded. | Thy sin. Christ needed not daily (as the other priests) to offer sacrifices, first for his own sins, and then for the people's, Hebrews 7:27. |
| Leviticus 9:8 | And forthwith Aaron approaching to the altar, immolated the calf for his sin: | |
| Leviticus 9:9 | And his sons brought him the blood of it: and he dipped his finger therein, and touched the horns of the altar, and poured the rest at the foot thereof. | The altar of holocausts; as he is yet considered only as a private person; afterwards he touches the altar of perfumes. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 9:10 | And the fat, and the little kidneys, and the caul of the liver, which are for sin, he burnt upon the altar, as the Lord had commanded Moses: | Burnt, or placed in order to be burnt by the fire sent by God, ver. 24. (Menochius) |
| Leviticus 9:11 | But the flesh and skins thereof he burnt with fire without the camp. | Camp. According to the prescriptions given, Leviticus 4:12. |
| Leviticus 9:12 | He immolated also the victim of holocaust: and his sons brought him the blood thereof, which he poured round about on the altar. | |
| Leviticus 9:13 | And the victim being cut into pieces, they brought to him the head and all the members, all which he burnt with fire upon the altar, | |
| Leviticus 9:14 | Having first washed the entrails and the feet with water. | Water. Hebrew adds, "he burnt them upon the holocaust, upon the altar." |
| Leviticus 9:15 | Then offering for the sin of the people, he slew the he-goat: and expiating the altar, | And expiating the altar. Hebrew, "he offered it (the goat) for sin, as the first," for himself, placing the parts of the victim upon his own holocaust. (Haydock) --- The Chaldean says, "he expiated the altar with the blood of the he-goat, as he did before." |
| Leviticus 9:16 | He offered the holocaust: | |
| Leviticus 9:17 | Adding in the sacrifice the libations, which are offered withal, and burning them upon the altar, besides the ceremonies of the morning holocaust. | Holocaust. Which were religiously observed every day. The law respecting the libations was given already, though it be related, Numbers 15:4. (Menochius) |
| Leviticus 9:18 | He immolated also the bullock and the ram, the peace-offerings of the people: and his sons brought him the blood, which he poured upon the altar round about. | |
| Leviticus 9:19 | The fat also of the bullock, and the rump of the ram, and the two little kidneys, with their fat, and the caul of the liver, | |
| Leviticus 9:20 | They put upon the breasts. And after the fat was burnt upon the altar, | |
| Leviticus 9:21 | Aaron separated their breasts, and the right shoulders, elevating them before the Lord, as Moses had commanded. | Elevating them. After which they were used by the priest, Leviticus 7:31. (Calmet) --- As. Samaritan and some Hebrew manuscripts read, "as the Lord had commanded Moses." (Kennicott) |
| Leviticus 9:22 | And stretching forth his hands to the people, he blessed them. And so the victims for sin, and the holocausts, and the peace-offerings, being finished, he came down. | Hands. Thus representing the form of a cross, on which Christ redeemed us; in memory of which we still make the same sign. (Worthington) --- Them. The blessing is recorded, Numbers 6:24. And the Lord bless thee, etc. (Menochius) --- In blessing an individual, the priest laid his hands upon him; but he stretched them out towards the multitude, as a mark of superiority. |
| Leviticus 9:23 | And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of the testimony, and afterwards came forth and blessed the people. *And the glory of the Lord appeared to all the multitude: 2 Machabees 2:10. | Testimony. To offer incense, which always preceded the morning holocaust. --- Glory; or fire, probably issuing from the tabernacle, and consuming the victims in a moment. Thus God was pleased to shew his approbation of the priests and victims, (Calmet) and at the same time, to impress a religious awe upon the minds of the spectators. (Haydock) --- This fire was carefully preserved and nourished by the priests with wood; though the Rabbins say, this was done only to conceal the miracle of its perpetual continuance. A fire, of the same nature, came down upon the victims, when Solomon dedicated his temple, (2 Paralipomenon 7:1,) and was kept burning till the captivity, when it was hidden in a cistern. Being found afterwards, like a muddy water, God kindled it again, (2 Machabees 1:18; 2:10,) and it was not lost till the persecution of Epiphanes. |
| Leviticus 9:24 | And behold a fire coming forth from the Lord, devoured the holocaust, and the fat that was upon the altar: which when the multitude saw, they praised the Lord, falling on their faces. | The Lord: 2 Machabees 2:10, explains this text. Fire came down from heaven, appearing like a flash of lightning, in the midst of the victims. (Josephus, Antiquities 3:9.) (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 10:0 | Nadab and Abiu for offering strange fire, are burnt by fire. Priests are forbidden to drink wine, when they enter into the tabernacle. The law of eating the holy things. | |
| Leviticus 10:1 | And *Nadab and Abiu, **the sons of Aaron, taking their censers, put fire therein, and incense on it, offering before the Lord strange fire: which was not commanded them. Numbers 3:4.; Numbers 26:61.; 1 Paralipomenon 24:2. | Year of the World 2514. The eldest sons, as they are mentioned first, Exodus 6:23. --- Censers. On the same evening of their consecration. --- Fire. Not taken from the altar of holocausts, Leviticus 6:9. Whether they neglected to do so out of respect for the miraculous fire, or out of thoughtlessness and inattention, their fault was severely punished, however venial in itself; (Tirinus) that all might learn to comply exactly with God's commands, and not dare to explain them away. Thus we must carefully avoid the mixing of falsehood with the word of God. (Theod., q. 9.) (Worthington) --- Those in power, like priests, if they be negligent, shall suffer great torments, Wisdom 6:7. They must expect to be treated with rigour. (St. Augustine, q. 21.) Estius infers, from the command to abstain from wine being given, (ver. 8,) that these priests had been rather intoxicated. Josephus says, they had not offered proper victims; and the Rabbins assert, that they were not clothed with the sacred garments: but the Scripture only condemns them for taking strange fire. Some imagine, that no formal precept had yet been given. But had not God commanded (chap. 6:9, 12,) that the victims should be burnt with the perpetual fire on the altar, and were not these young priests guilty of rashness in doing any thing of their own head, without positive instructions? Hence some infer that their offence was mortal, and their punishment a prelude of eternal torments; while others piously hope that their sin was only venial, and that it was expiated by their repentance and violent death, in which sense Philo explains they died before the Lord. Hence they were buried honourably. |
| Leviticus 10:2 | And fire coming out from the Lord, destroyed them, and they died before the Lord. | Lord. Near the altar of incense, being stricken, as it were with lightning, so that their garments were not injured. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 10:3 | And Moses said to Aaron: This is what the Lord hath spoken: I will be sanctified in them that approach to me, and I will be glorified in the sight of all the people. And when Aaron heard this, he held his peace. | Spoken, by this exemplary judgment. (Haydock) --- We do not find the exact words recorded before: but there are some equivalent, shewing that God requires a particular sanctity in his ministers. (Chap. 8:35; Exodus 19:22.) The altar shall be sanctified by my glory; (Exodus 29:43,) may be considered as a prediction of what happened on this melancholy occasion. --- Peace. Excessive grief requires silence; curae graviores silent. "He was filled with grief." Septuagint, adoring the judgments of God. The fortitude of Mino and Xenophon, who, upon hearing of the death of their sons, did not desist from sacrificing, is greatly admired. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 10:4 | And Moses called Misael and Elisaphan, the sons of Oziel, the uncle of Aaron, and said to them: Go and take away your brethren from before the sanctuary, and carry them without the camp. | Brethren; cousins. These were ordered to bury the priests, as Aaron and his family were employed about the altar, (Haydock) and could not perform the office without contracting a legal uncleanness. (Josephus) (Tirinus) |
| Leviticus 10:5 | And they went forthwith and took them as they lay, vested with linen tunics, and cast them forth, as had been commanded them. | |
| Leviticus 10:6 | And Moses said to Aaron, and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his sons: Uncover not your heads, and rend not your garments, lest perhaps you die, and indignation come upon all the congregation. Let your brethren, and all the house of Israel, bewail the burning which the Lord has kindled: | Uncover not. Take not off your mitres; (Septuagint) let not your hair grow long, (Chaldean) as the Egyptians do in mourning, nor yet shave your heads, like the priests of Isis. This God forbids, Leviticus 21:5. And Ezechiel, (Ezechiel 44:20,) probably with reference to this law, says, Neither shall they shave their heads, nor wear long hair....and no priest shall drink wine when, etc. --- Garments, sacred vestments, which were worn only in the tabernacle or temple. (Calmet) --- The high priests are forbidden to tear their garments at funerals, (chap. 21:10,) as this would betray a want of fortitude. --- Perhaps. This does not imply any doubt. (Menochius) See Genesis 3:3. --- Indignation of God, punishing the people, while there is none to entreat for them. --- Burning of the two priests. |
| Leviticus 10:7 | But you shall not go out of the door of the tabernacle, otherwise you shall perish: for the oil of the holy unction is on you. And they did all things according to the precept of Moses. | On you. So that you cannot now join in the funeral, as there are so few anointed. (Haydock) --- On other occasions, priests are allowed to mourn, Leviticus 21. |
| Leviticus 10:8 | The Lord also said to Aaron: | |
| Leviticus 10:9 | You shall not drink wine nor any thing that may make drunk, thou nor thy sons, when you enter into the tabernacle of the testimony, lest you die: because it is an everlasting precept through your generations : | Drunk. Hebrew shekar; which the Septuagint and Vulgate commonly translate by sicera, any strong liquor, (St. Jerome) particularly palm-wine. (St. Chrysostom in Isai. 5:11.) Jonathan says old wine. Hecateus assures us, that the Jews drink no wine at all in the temple. But the Rabbins admit of some exceptions. This abstinence was prescribed by any other nations to their priests and magistrates in office. (Calmet) --- The intent of the law, is to prevent any mistake arising from the fumes of wine, (ver. 10,) as likewise all drowsiness or foolish mirth. As mourning and excessive grief are prohibited on the one hand; so are intoxicating liquors, on the other. (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 10:10 | And that you may have knowledge to discern between holy and unholy, between unclean and clean: | |
| Leviticus 10:11 | And may teach the children of Israel all my ordinances, which the Lord hath spoken to them by the hand of Moses. | |
| Leviticus 10:12 | And Moses spoke to Aaron, and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his sons, that were left: Take the sacrifice that is remaining of the oblation of the Lord, and eat it without leaven beside the altar, because it is holy of holies. | Sacrifice, of flour or bread. A tent was undoubtedly erected, where the priests might take the necessary refreshments of meat and sleep, during the days of their service. |
| Leviticus 10:13 | And you shall eat it in a holy place: which is given to thee and thy sons of the oblations of the Lord, as it hath been commanded me. | |
| Leviticus 10:14 | The breast also that is offered, and the shoulder that is separated, you shall eat in a most clean place thou and thy sons, and thy daughters with thee. For they are set aside for thee and thy children, of the victims of peace-offerings of the children of Israel: | Place, at home. The Septuagint translate, "in the holy place;" understanding that these sacrifices for sin were to be eaten in the court of the tabernacle. Malvenda allows, that the children of the priests, and their wives, might come thither to eat the parts of the peace-offerings allotted to them. But of this there is no proof. |
| Leviticus 10:15 | Because they have elevated before the Lord the shoulder and the breast, and the fat that is burnt on the altar, and they belong to thee, and to thy sons, by a perpetual law, as the Lord hath commanded. | Sons. Samaritan and Septuagint add, "and thy daughters." The male children were allowed to partake of the sin-offerings: those of peace, were given also to females. |
| Leviticus 10:16 | *While these things were a doing, when Moses sought for the buck-goat, that had been offered for sin, he found it burnt: and being angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron that were left, he said: 2 Machabees 2:11. | While, etc. Hebrew, "and Moses sought diligently for," etc. This goat had been offered the same day, for the sins of the priest and of the people, Leviticus 9:15. Aaron had not taken the parts allotted to his family, being too much grieved, and perhaps thinking that they could not eat all. (Calmet) --- Therefore, he judged it conformable to God's command to consume the whole, chap 7:17. Moses fearing lest the thing had been done through negligence, finds fault with his two sons; but on hearing the remonstrance of Aaron, is satisfied. (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 10:17 | Why did you not eat in the holy place the sacrifice for sin, which is most holy, and given to you, that you may bear the iniquity of the people, and may pray for them in the sight of the Lord, | People. Offering the sacrifices of expiation, as mediators between them and God. |
| Leviticus 10:18 | Especially whereas none of the blood thereof hath been carried within the holy places, and you ought to have eaten it in the sanctuary, as was commanded me? | Places. This is not a victim, the blood of which is to be poured out in the holy place, and the flesh consumed with fire. (Calmet) --- You ought, or might lawfully have eaten it, Leviticus 6:25. |
| Leviticus 10:19 | Aaron answered: This day hath been offered the victim for sin, and the holocaust before the Lord: and to me what thou seest has happened: how could I eat it, or please the Lord in the ceremonies, having a sorrowful heart? | How, etc. My children are slain. Hebrew, "and if I had eaten the sin-offering to-day, would it have been agreeable to the Lord?" (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 10:20 | Which when Moses had heard he was satisfied. | |
| Leviticus 11:0 | The distinction of clean and unclean animals. | |
| Leviticus 11:1 | And the Lord spoke *to Moses and Aaron, saying: | Year of the World 2514, Year before Christ 1490. Aaron. God shews him this honour after his consecration, though not always. See Leviticus 12. and 17., etc. (Worthington) |
| Leviticus 11:2 | Say to the children of Israel:* These are the animals which you are to eat of all the living things of the earth. Deuteronomy 14:3. | Animals which you are to eat, etc. The prohibition of so many kinds of beasts, birds, and fishes, in the law, was ordered, 1. to exercise the people in obedience and temperance; 2. to restrain them from the vices of which these animals were symbols; 3. because the things here forbidden were for the most part unwholesome, and not proper to be eaten; 4. that the people of God, by being obliged to abstain from things corporally unclean, might be trained up to seek a spiritual cleanness. (Challoner) --- These animals had no natural uncleanness: for all things are clean to the clean, Titus 1:15. But they were looked upon as such by the prejudice of the people, and many of them possessed noxious qualities. If they had been the most excellent, the will of God is a sufficient reason to enforce the duty of abstinence; (Calmet) as it was in the case of Adam and Eve. As some animals were adored, and others were deemed unclean by the Gentiles, the Hebrews were commanded to sacrifice some of the former description, and to abhor also the latter, that they might never be so foolish, as to imitate the perversity of the nations, in looking upon any animal as a god. (Theod., q. 11.) St. Thomas Aquinas (I. 2. q. 102. a. 6,) explains at large, out of the holy fathers, the different vices, which the unclean animals represent. (Worthington) --- By the distinction of these creatures, God would have his people known, Leviticus 20:24, 26. Those who chose rather to die than to transgress in this point, are justly honoured by the Church as martyrs, 2 Machabees 6. and 7. (St. Gregory, or. 20.) (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 11:3 | Whatsoever hath the hoof divided, and cheweth the cud among the beasts you shall eat. | Hoof divided, and cheweth the cud. The dividing the hoof, and chewing the cud, signify discretion between good and evil, and meditating on the law of God: and where either of these is wanting, a man is unclean. In like manner, fishes were reputed unclean that had not fins and scales: that is, souls that did not raise themselves up by prayer, and cover themselves with the scales of virtues, (Challoner) particularly of mortification and penance. (Worthington) |
| Leviticus 11:4 | But whatsoever cheweth indeed the cud, and hath a hoof, but divideth it not, as the camel and others, that you shall not eat, but shall reckon it among the unclean. | Camel, which hath a hard skin connecting its hoof below. The Arabs and Persians eat its flesh. God will have his people keep at a distance from imitating them; and that is one of the reasons for this and similar precepts. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 11:5 | The cherogrillus which cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof, is unclean. | The cherogrillus. Some suppose it to be the rabbit, others the hedgehog: St. Jerome intimates that it is another kind of animal common in Palestine, which lives in the holes of rocks, or in the earth. We choose here, as also in the names of several other creatures that follow, (which are little known in this part of the world) to keep the Greek or Latin names. (Challoner) --- Bochart (Hierozoicon) may be consulted on this subject. He supposes, that the Hebrew shaphan, denotes the Arabian rat called aliarbuho. But the Jews themselves are ignorant of many of these animals. (Calmet) --- Both choiros and grullos, signify swine. The porcupine, or the bear-mouse of Palestine, may be meant. (Menochius) |
| Leviticus 11:6 | The hare also: for that too cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof. | Cheweth. Some copies of the Septuagint add not, which agrees with the nature of the hare; though the people to whom Moses addresses himself were of a different persuasion. Its hoof is not divided into two parts only, and therefore it is accounted unclean. |
| Leviticus 11:7 | *And the swine, which, though it divideth the hoof, cheweth not the cud. 2 Machabees 6:18. | Swine. This animal was abhorred by many other nations. If an Egyptian happened to touch one, he plunged into the Nile. (Herodotus 2:47.) Few are to be seen in the East. Yet the people of Crete and of Samos held swine in veneration; and they were offered in sacrifice to Venus, by the Cyprians. They seem designed for slaughter, as they are good for nothing alive. They are very subject to leprosy. (Calmet) --- The Jews would hardly name them, but called them "the beast." Old Eleazer was strongly instigated to pretend at least to eat swine's flesh, but preferred a painful death before the transgression of God's law, 2 Machabees 6:18. (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 11:8 | The flesh of these you shall not eat, nor shall you touch their carcasses, because they are unclean to you. | Carcasses. They might be touched while alive, ver. 24. |
| Leviticus 11:9 | These are the things that breed in the waters, and which it is lawful to eat. All that hath fins, and scales, as well in the sea, as in the rivers, and the pools, you shall eat. | Eat. The Egyptians, and the priests of the Syrian goddess, abstained from fish. --- Pools. Hebrew and Septuagint torrents. (Calmet) --- Eels are prohibited, etc. (Menochius) |
| Leviticus 11:10 | But whatsoever hath not fins and scales, of those things that move and live in the waters, shall be an abomination unto you, | Scales. Numa forbade fish without scales to be used in the sacred feasts. (Pliny, [Natural History?] 32:2.) |
| Leviticus 11:11 | And detestable: their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall avoid. | |
| Leviticus 11:12 | All that have not fins and scales, in the waters, shall be unclean. | |
| Leviticus 11:13 | Of birds these are they which you must not eat, and which are to be avoided by you: The eagle, and the griffon, and the osprey, | The griffon. Not the monster which the painters represent, which has no being upon earth; but a bird of the eagle kind, larger than the common. (Challoner) --- Osprey. The sea or black eagle, which is very clear-sighted, and expert in catching fish. Pliny relates, (B. 10:3,) that it tries its young by making them look at the sun, and hurls them down if they refuse. But this seems fabulous. |
| Leviticus 11:14 | And the kite, and the vulture, according to their kind. | |
| Leviticus 11:15 | And all that is of the raven kind, according to their likeness. | |
| Leviticus 11:16 | The ostrich, and the owl, and the larus, and the hawk according to its kind. | Ostrich; which was served up at the tables of the Persian kings. Hebrew, "the daughter of the hiena;" (both êiáne) or the swan, Isaias 13:21. --- Owl, or perhaps the male ostrich, which cruelly abandons its young. --- Larus, the water-hen. (Calmet) --- Some have the cuckow. (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 11:17 | The screech-owl, and the cormorant, and the ibis, | Owl, or the onocrotalus, which makes a hideous noise like an assibis, a bird adored in Egypt. Bochart takes the Hebrew to mean an owl, as well as the following term, swan, (Calmet) which is not probable. |
| Leviticus 11:18 | And the swan, and the bittern, and the porphyrion, | Bittern, onocrotalum. See ver. 17. Protestant version has "pelican and the gier-eagle," for porphyrion. (Haydock) --- Its beak and long legs are red. (Pliny, [Natural History?] 10:46.) Bochart understands the vulture, and the Samaritan version the pelican; both of which are remarkable for the care they take of their young. Reme may be derived from rem, "mercy." |
| Leviticus 11:19 | The heron, and the charadrion according to its kind, the houp also, and the bat. | Heron, or "stork," noted for the same quality: chasida, means "piety." --- Charadrion, a kind of heron, (Calmet) mentioned by Aristotle, 8:3. It is found in deep holes and rocks. (Menochius) --- Some translate parrot, peacock, kite, etc. Anapha,may denote a bird easily vexed. (Calmet) --- Houp, or lapwing. (Haydock) --- Bat. Strabo (xvii.) speaks of some very large, which were salted and eaten at Borsippe. |
| Leviticus 11:20 | Of things that fly, whatsoever goeth upon four feet, shall be abominable to you. | Feet. Such as bees, (Calmet) and other insects of which he speaks. (Menochius) |
| Leviticus 11:21 | But whatsoever walketh upon four feet, but hath the legs behind longer, wherewith it hoppeth upon the earth, | Walketh. Hebrew adds lo, "not." But the Massorets read lu, "to it," agreeably to the Vulgate. (Calmet) --- Protestant version, "Yet these may ye eat, of every flying creeping thing that goeth upon all four, which have legs above their feet, to leap withal upon the earth." |
| Leviticus 11:22 | That you shall eat, as the bruchus in its kind, the attachus, and the ophiomachus, and the locust, every one according to their kind. | Locust. The three former are species of the same kind. The bruchus is a young locust, without wings, (St. Augustine in Psal. civ.,) and the attachus the least of all. (Pliny, 29:5.) The ophiomachus is large, "encounters serpents," and is destitute of wings. The nations called Acridophagi, received their name from their feeding upon locusts, which are the food of the common people in Syria and Africa. See Pliny, 11:29, etc. Clenard, in 1541, wrote from Fez, that he had seen the sky darkened with clouds of locusts, which the people endeavoured presently to destroy, and filled waggons with their bodies, for food. Kirsten says, they are very delicious. Arnulph assures us, that they are a finger's breadth, and are fried in oil by the poor. (Raban. in Matthew 3:4.) See Joel 2:(Calmet) --- There is no need, therefore, of having recourse to crab fish and wild pears, for John the Baptist's food, as Beza has done. (Tirinus) |
| Leviticus 11:23 | But of flying things, whatsoever hath four feet only, shall be an abomination to you: | Only. Equal in length, ver. 20-21. (Menochius) |
| Leviticus 11:24 | And whosoever shall touch the carcasses of them, shall be defiled, and shall be unclean until the evening: | Evening. If he were guilty of sin in so doing, contrition would be necessary to regain God's favour. (Worthington) --- But the legal uncleanness would not be removed till the evening; as the one might subsist while the other was remitted. (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 11:25 | And if it be necessary that he carry any of these things when they are dead, he shall wash his clothes, and shall be unclean until the sun set. | Necessary. To prevent the obstruction of the road, or the infection of the air. (Menochius) --- When any person touched these carcasses, he was obliged to wash his clothes immediately, and still to refrain from touching any thing sacred till sun-set. (Estius) --- If a dog chanced to die in the house of an Egyptian, all the family shaved their hair and began to mourn. The food and wine in the house could no longer be used. (Eusebius, praep. 2:1.) They adored the dog. But other nations, which did not adore animals, esteemed those unworthy of sacred things who had touched a carcass, though they invoked their gods by slaying beasts, as Porphyrius remarks. (Eusebius, praep. 5:10.) They put off their shoes when they enter certain temples, for the same reason. Scortea non ulli fas est inferre sacello---ne violent puros exanimata Deos. |
| Leviticus 11:26 | Every beast that hath a hoof, but divideth it not, nor cheweth the cud, shall be unclean: and he that toucheth it shall be defiled. | It. When dead. It was lawful to ride on a camel, but not to eat its flesh. |
| Leviticus 11:27 | That which walketh upon hands, of all animals which go on all four, shall be unclean: he that shall touch their carcasses shall be defiled until evening. | Hands. Like a monkey, frog, etc., the fore-feet of which rather resemble hands. |
| Leviticus 11:28 | And he that shall carry such carcasses, shall wash his clothes, and shall be unclean until evening; because all these things are unclean to you. | |
| Leviticus 11:29 | These also shall be reckoned among unclean things, of all that move upon the earth, the weasel, and the mouse, and the crocodile, every one according to their kind: | Weasel. Bochart understands the mole, in opposition to all the versions: choled, means indeed "to root up the earth." (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 11:30 | The shrew, and the chameleon, and the stellio, and the lizard, and the mole: | Chameleon, feeds upon air, and assumes various colours. (Pliny 8:33.) It resembles a lizard, as does the stellio, Pliny 29:4. --- Lizard. Protestants, "snail." (Haydock) [31.?] Unclean, either to eat or touch, ver. 41-43. (Chap. 5:2.) |
| Leviticus 11:31 | All these are unclean. He that toucheth their carcasses shall be unclean until the evening. | |
| Leviticus 11:32 | And upon what thing soever any of their carcasses shall fall, it shall be defiled, whether it be a vessel of wood, or a garment, or skins or hair-cloths; or any thing in which work is done, they shall be dipped in water, and shall be unclean until the evening, and so afterwards shall be clean. | |
| Leviticus 11:33 | But an earthen vessel, into which any of these shall fall, shall be defiled, and therefore is to be broken. | Broken. See Leviticus 6:28, where a similar injunction is given. (Menochius) --- And (ver. 35,) ovens and pots, made of earthenware, according to Pollux, are to be destroyed. (Tirinus) |
| Leviticus 11:34 | Any meat which you eat, if water from such a vessel be poured upon it, shall be unclean; and every liquor that is drunk out of any such vessel, shall be unclean. | Water, unclean, or in a polluted vessel. |
| Leviticus 11:35 | And upon whatsoever thing any of these dead beasts shall fall, it shall be unclean: whether it be oven, or pots with feet, they shall be destroyed, and shall be unclean. | |
| Leviticus 11:36 | But fountains and cisterns, and all gatherings together of waters shall be clean. He that toucheth their carcasses shall be defiled. | Clean. They would be so difficult to purify, and water is so necessary. |
| Leviticus 11:37 | If it fall upon seed-corn, it shall not defile it. | |
| Leviticus 11:38 | But if any man pour water upon the seed, and afterwards it be touched by the carcasses, it shall be forthwith defiled. | Defiled, and given to the beasts. (Menochius) |
| Leviticus 11:39 | If any beast die, of which it is lawful for you to eat, he that toucheth the carcass thereof, shall be unclean until the evening: | Beast die a natural death, or be suffocated, or be slain by a wild beast. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 11:40 | And he that eateth or carrieth any thing thereof, shall wash his clothes, and shall be unclean until the evening: | Clothes, and his whole body, either together or separate, as the Rabbins explain the law. (Selden, syn. 1:3.) If any one eat or touch these things, on purpose, he was liable to a more severe punishment, (Menochius) and his soul was defiled by disobedience, ver. 43. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 11:41 | All that creepeth upon the earth shall be abominable, neither shall it be taken for meat. | |
| Leviticus 11:42 | Whatsoever goeth upon the breast on four feet, or hath many feet, or traileth on the earth, you shall not eat, because it is abominable. | Abominable. Serpents, worms, and reptiles are proscribed. (Menochius) |
| Leviticus 11:43 | Do not defile your souls, nor touch aught thereof, lest you be unclean. | |
| Leviticus 11:44 | For I am the Lord your God:* be holy, because I am holy. Defile not your souls by any creeping thing, that moveth upon the earth. 1 Peter 1:16. | Holy, and detest the uncleanness of the Gentiles, in their sacrifices and feasts. (St. Augustine, City of God 6:7.) |
| Leviticus 11:45 | For I am the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that I might be your God. | Your God. By these laws, the Jews were to be distinguished from other nations. (Haydock) --- They were also to be reminded, that God was very jealous of their interior sanctity, since he required so great a legal purity. Without the former, they might easily conclude that the latter would not please him. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 11:46 | You shall be holy, because I am holy. This is the law of beasts and fowls, and of every living creature that moveth in the waters, and creepeth on the earth. | |
| Leviticus 11:47 | That you may know the differences of the clean and unclean, and know what you ought to eat and what to refuse. | |
| Leviticus 12:0 | The purification of women after child-birth. | |
| Leviticus 12:1 | And the Lord spoke to Moses,* saying: | Year of the World 2514. |
| Leviticus 12:2 | Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them: *If a woman having received seed shall bear a man-child, she shall be unclean seven days, according to the days of the separation of her flowers. Luke 2:22. | Child. By this manner of expressing himself, Moses excludes the blessed Virgin, as the ancient fathers and the moderns generally remark. She conceived without concupiscence, and was subject to none of the usual inconveniences of child-birth. (Suarez) --- So that whether this law was instituted to expiate the former, or to purify the latter, she was not included. All other mothers were separated, at least seven days, and longer if their state required it; (Calmet) during which time, they were treated like those mentioned, chap 15:19. After that period they were allowed to manage their affairs, as usual, but not to touch any thing sacred, nor suffer their husbands to approach them, till the expiration of 33 days more, ver. 4. (Menochius) --- Euripides blames Diana for keeping such women at a distance from her altar, while she delighted in human sacrifices. (Iphigen. 5:380.) Censorinus says, "Praegnans ante diem quadragesimum non prodit in Fanum; et post partum pleraeque graviores sunt, nec sanguinem interdum continent." (Grotius) |
| Leviticus 12:3 | *And on the eighth day the infant shall be circumcised: John 7:22. | Eighth. Nothing but the child's health could retard the day, (Calmet) unless the parents were under the necessity of taking a journey, as they were in the desert, etc. (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 12:4 | But she shall remain three and thirty days in the blood of her purification. She shall touch no holy thing, neither shall she enter into the sanctuary, until the days of her purification be fulfilled. | Sanctuary, or court of the tabernacle, where the women had probably a place apart. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 12:5 | But if she shall bear a maid-child, she shall be unclean two weeks, according to the custom of her monthly courses, and she shall remain in the blood of her purification sixty-six days. | Days. In all 80, double the time required for a male child, as they infirmities of women continue so much longer when they bear a female. (Vales. sac. Philos. c. xviii.) Hippocrates allows forty-two days for the one, and thirty for the other. --- Purification. Some copies of the Septuagint read, in her pure, others, in her impure blood; which Origen attempts to reconcile by observing, that she is deemed less impure during the last thirty-three or sixty-six days, than in the preceding ones. (Calmet) --- During these, she was treated almost like those who were under the greatest legal uncleanness, Leviticus 15.; Numbers 5. Those who were under the less, might enter the court of the Gentiles, and did not infect others by their touch. (Josephus, contra Apion 2.) (Tirinus) |
| Leviticus 12:6 | And when the days of her purification are expired, for a son, or for a daughter, she shall bring to the door of the tabernacle of the testimony, a lamb of a year old for a holocaust, and a young pigeon, or a turtle, for sin, and shall deliver them to the priest: | Lamb, to thank God for her happy delivery. --- Sin, or uncleanness, which was esteemed a legal offence. Perhaps this sacrifice was also designed to expiate the sins she might have fallen into, (Menochius) since she was last able to offer one; and likewise the original sin of her female offspring. That of males was effaced by circumcision. (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 12:7 | Who shall offer them before the Lord, and shall pray for her, and so she shall be cleansed from the issue of her blood. This is the law for her that beareth a man-child or a maid-child. | Blood, which has caused her legal uncleanness. |
| Leviticus 12:8 | And if her hand find not sufficiency, and she is not able to offer a lamb, she shall take two turtles, *or two young pigeons, one for a holocaust, and another for sin: and the priest shall pray for her, and so she shall be cleansed. Leviticus 5:7.; Leviticus 5:11.; Luke 2:24. | Lamb. This was the case of the blessed Virgin Mary: (Luke 2:24,); so poor was she! (Menochius) --- It seems difficult to conceive, how all the women of Palestine could present themselves before the tabernacle, 40 or 80 days after the childbirth. Perhaps the law regarded those only who lived in the neighbourhood. The priests explained to the rest what they had to do, whether they might defer bringing their offspring to the next great festival, or they might send it by another hand. We read that Anna came to the temple after she had weaned Samuel, 1 Kings 1:21. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 13:0 | The law concerning leprosy in men, and in garments. | |
| Leviticus 13:1 | And the Lord spoke *to Moses and Aaron, saying: | Year of the World 2514. |
| Leviticus 13:2 | The man, in whose skin or flesh shalt arise a different colour or a blister, or as it were something shining, that is, the stroke of the leprosy, shall be brought to Aaron the priest, or any one of his sons. | Colour, etc. Hebrew, "a tumour, abscess, or white spot," which are three marks of leprosy. (Calmet) --- Leprosy. The leprosy was a figure of sin: and the observances prescribed in this and the following chapter, intimate what ought spiritually to be done, in order to be delivered from so great an evil, or preserved from it. (Challoner) --- The authority of the priests in the new law to bind or loose sins, was hereby prefigured. (St. Chrysostom, de Sacerd. 3.) (Worthington) |
| Leviticus 13:3 | And if he see the leprosy in his skin, and the hair turned white, and the place where the leprosy appears lower than the skin and the rest of the flesh; it is the stroke of the leprosy, and upon his judgment he shall be separated. | Flesh. These two signs indicated the species of leprosy called volatile, or impetigo, (Menochius) resembling a scab, which did not penetrate the flesh or bones, as our leprosy or elephantiasis does. (Vales.; chp. XIX.) --- Separated from society. Hebrew, "he shall contaminate him." See ver. 11. (Haydock) --- Some assert, that the physician was first to be consulted. But none but the priests could declare them unclean, or set them at liberty. After they had pronounced sentence, the lepers might apply for medicines to others. |
| Leviticus 13:4 | But if there be a shining whiteness in the skin, and not lower than the other flesh, and the hair be of the former colour, the priest shall shut him up seven days. | |
| Leviticus 13:5 | And the seventh day he shall look on him: and if the leprosy be grown no farther, and hath not spread itself in the skin, he shall shut him up again other seven days. | |
| Leviticus 13:6 | And on the seventh day he shall look on him: if the leprosy be somewhat obscure, and not spread in the skin, he shall declare him clean, because it is but a scab: and the man shall wash his clothes, and shall be clean. | Obscure. Some translate the Hebrew "retired," with the Syriac and Arabic versions. --- Scab, "an ebullition," or pustule. (Theodoret; St. Jerome in Nah. ii.) --- Clothes, and himself. See Leviticus 11:40. |
| Leviticus 13:7 | But if the leprosy grow again, after he was seen by the priest, and restored to cleanness, he shall be brought to him, | |
| Leviticus 13:8 | And shall be condemned of uncleanness. | Uncleanness, or permanent leprosy. |
| Leviticus 13:9 | If the stroke of the leprosy be in a man, he shall be brought to the priest, | |
| Leviticus 13:10 | And he shall view him. And when there shall be a white colour in the skin, and it shall have changed the look of the hair, and the living flesh itself shall appear: | Living flesh. The leprosy is caused by immense numbers of worms, which crawl between the skin and the flesh, and sometimes infect the latter, and the very bones, garments, etc. Hence the flesh seems all in motion, and living. (Haydock) --- The different spots in the skin represent heretical opinions obscuring the true faith, of which priests are the judges, Deuteronomy 17. (St. Augustine, q. Evang. 2:40.) (Worthington) |
| Leviticus 13:11 | It shall be judged an inveterate leprosy, and grown into the skin. The priest therefore shall declare him unclean, and shall not shut him up, because he is evidently unclean. | Inveterate. Celsus says, this sort of leprosy is hardly ever cured. --- Up. But, as the Roman Septuagint reads, "shall separate him," from the people. |
| Leviticus 13:12 | But if the leprosy spring out running about in the skin, and cover all the skin from the head to the feet, whatsoever falleth under the sight of the eyes, | |
| Leviticus 13:13 | The priest shall view him, and shall judge that the leprosy which he has is very clean: because it is all turned into whiteness, and therefore the man shall be clean. | Clean. The white leprosy causeth no itching. (Gorrheus.; Celsus, 5:28.) Theodoret (q. 16,) says, it is incurable; and therefore, the person infected is not shut up, out of pity. So St. Paul (1 Corinthians 5:11,) forbids us to eat with a dissolute Christian, while he allows us to have commerce with infidels, though they be wholly corrupt. But others assert, it is not so difficult to cure as that which is partial, ver. 14. The hand of Moses was stricken with this white leprosy, Exodus 4:6. (Calmet) --- This species is not so contagious. (Menochius) |
| Leviticus 13:14 | But when the live flesh shall appear in him, | Live flesh, raw, the skin being consumed in various parts. |
| Leviticus 13:15 | Then by the judgment of the priest he shall be defiled, and shall be reckoned among the unclean: for live flesh, if it be spotted with leprosy, is unclean. | |
| Leviticus 13:16 | And if again it be turned into whiteness, and cover all the man, | Whiteness, after the red flesh is covered with skin as usual. |
| Leviticus 13:17 | The priest shall view him, and shall judge him to be clean. | |
| Leviticus 13:18 | When also there has been an ulcer in the flesh and the skin, and it has been healed, | |
| Leviticus 13:19 | And in the place of the ulcer, there appeareth a white scar, or somewhat red, the man shall be brought to the priest: | |
| Leviticus 13:20 | And when he shall see the place of the leprosy lower than the other flesh, and the hair turned white, he shall declare him unclean; for the plague of leprosy is broken out in the ulcer. | Ulcer, as before, ver. 3. |
| Leviticus 13:21 | But if the hair be of the former colour, and the scar somewhat obscure, and be not lower than the flesh that is near it, he shall shut him up seven days. | |
| Leviticus 13:22 | And if it spread, he shall judge him to have the leprosy: | |
| Leviticus 13:23 | But if it stay in its place, it is but the scar of an ulcer, and the man shall be clean. | Place, which is contrary to the nature of leprosy. |
| Leviticus 13:24 | The flesh also and skin that hath been burnt, and after it is healed hath a white or a red scar, | Scar. If it had proceeded from burning it would have been black. (Menochius) |
| Leviticus 13:25 | The priest shall view it, and if he see it turned white, and the place thereof is lower than the other skin: he shall declare him unclean, because the evil of leprosy is broken out in the scar. | |
| Leviticus 13:26 | But if the colour of the hair be not changed, nor the blemish lower than the other flesh, and the appearance of the leprosy be somewhat obscure, he shall shut him up seven days, | Obscure. Hebrew may be, "stopped," as it is opposed to ver. 22, if it spread. See ver. 55-56. |
| Leviticus 13:27 | And on the seventh day he shall view him: if the leprosy be grown farther in the skin, he shall declare him unclean. | Unclean. Hebrew adds, "it is the stroke of leprosy," and the Septuagint, "it has spread in the ulcer." |
| Leviticus 13:28 | But if the whiteness stay in its place, and be not very clear, it is the sore of a burning, and therefore he shall be cleansed, because it is only the scar of a burning. | |
| Leviticus 13:29 | If the leprosy break out in the head or the beard of a man or woman, the priest shall see them, | |
| Leviticus 13:30 | And if the place be lower than the other flesh, and the hair yellow, and thinner than usual: he shall declare them unclean, because it is the leprosy of the head and the beard. | Leprosy, or scurf. (Calmet) --- This species causes the hair to be yellow, and not white. (Menochius) |
| Leviticus 13:31 | But if he perceive the place of the spot is equal with the flesh that is near it, and the hair black, he shall shut him up seven days: | Black. The Hebrew, Samaritan, etc., prefix "not," which ought probably to be away, as the natural colour of the hair, in that country, is black; while yellow, or white hair, give reason to suspect leprosy; and (ver. 32,) the Hebrew says, "if there be no yellow hair in it," which insinuates that it was black before. The Septuagint have explained both verses in the same sense, as they found the negation also. If we admit it, we may distinguish black hair from that which approaches to brown, or light-coloured hair. When therefore a person, who had before black hair, has experienced some change, he must be shut up seven days; after which, if his hair be not become yellow or reddish, he must be shaved, etc. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 13:32 | And on the seventh day he shall look upon it. If the spot be not grown, and the hair keep its colour, and the place of the blemish be even with the other flesh: | |
| Leviticus 13:33 | The man shall be shaven all but the place of the spot, and he shall be shut up other seven days. | |
| Leviticus 13:34 | If on the seventh day the evil seem to have staid in its place, and not lower than the other flesh, he shall cleanse him, and his clothes being washed he shall be clean. | |
| Leviticus 13:35 | But if after his cleansing, the spot spread again in the skin, | |
| Leviticus 13:36 | He shall seek no more whether the hair be turned yellow, because he is evidently unclean. | |
| Leviticus 13:37 | But if the spot be staid, and the hair be black, let him know that the man is healed, and let him confidently pronounce him clean. | |
| Leviticus 13:38 | If a whiteness appear in the skin of a man or a woman, | |
| Leviticus 13:39 | The priest shall view them. If he find that a darkish whiteness shineth in the skin, let him know that it is not the leprosy, but a white blemish, and that the man is clean. | Blemish, or scab, of which Celsus speaks, B. 5. |
| Leviticus 13:40 | The man whose hair falleth off from his head, he is bald and clean: | |
| Leviticus 13:41 | And if the hair fall from his forehead, he is bald before and clean. | |
| Leviticus 13:42 | But if in the bald head or in the bald forehead, there be risen a white or reddish colour, | Colour, indicating some bad humours, which had caused the hair to fall off. |
| Leviticus 13:43 | And the priest perceive this, he shall condemn him undoubtedly of leprosy, which is risen in the bald part. | |
| Leviticus 13:44 | Now whosoever shall be defiled with the leprosy, and is separated by the judgment of the priest, | |
| Leviticus 13:45 | Shall have his clothes hanging loose, his head bare, his mouth covered with a cloth, and he shall cry out that he is defiled and unclean. | Loose, both for the benefit of the leper, and that others may beware of him. (Menochius) --- Bare, letting the hair grow, (chap. 21:5, 10,) in testimony of mourning. The leper behaved like one in mourning, tearing his garments, neglecting his hair and beard, or cutting them, and, through shame, covering his face, Ezechiel 24:22. The Persians would not allow any lepers to enter their cities. (Herodotus 2:138.) (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 13:46 | All the time that he is a leper and unclean, he shall dwell alone without the camp. | Camp, or city, unless some great man, like king Ozias, might be permitted to dwell there in a house, secluded from all society, 4 Kings 15:5. --- 2 Paralipomenon 26:21. |
| Leviticus 13:47 | A woollen or linen garment that shall have the leprosy | Garment that shall have the leprosy. These prescriptions, with relation to garments and houses infected with the leprosy, are to teach us to fly all such company and places as are apt to be the occasion of sin. |
| Leviticus 13:48 | In the warp, and the woof, or a skin, or whatsoever is made of a skin, | |
| Leviticus 13:49 | If it be infected with a white or red spot, it shall be accounted the leprosy, and shall be shewn to the priest. | White. Hebrew and Septuagint, "greenish." |
| Leviticus 13:50 | And he shall look upon it, and shall shut it up seven days: | |
| Leviticus 13:51 | And on the seventh day, when he looketh on it again, if he find that it is grown, it is a fixed leprosy: he shall judge the garment unclean, and every thing wherein it shall be found: | Grown. Hebrew adds here, (and ver. 53, 56, 57, 59,) "in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in a skin, or in any work that is made of a skin." |
| Leviticus 13:52 | And therefore it shall be burnt with fire. | |
| Leviticus 13:53 | But if he see that it is not grown, | |
| Leviticus 13:54 | He shall give orders, and they shall wash that part wherein the leprosy is, and he shall shut it up other seven days. | |
| Leviticus 13:55 | And when he shall see that the former colour is not returned, nor yet the leprosy spread, he shall judge it unclean, and shall burn it with fire, for the leprosy has taken hold of the outside of the garment, or through the whole. | Returned, which it had before it was infected, and, consequently, as the Hebrew reads, "behold the plague has not changed its colour." (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 13:56 | But if the place of the leprosy be somewhat dark, after the garment is washed, he shall tear it off, and divide it from that which is sound. | Dark, or "at a stand." See ver. 6. Hebrew keha, means to sink, like the eyes of an old man, etc. |
| Leviticus 13:57 | And if after this there appear in those places that before were without spot, a flying and wandering leprosy: it must be burnt with fire. | Flying, as that in man, ver. 12. Hebrew, "it is a leprosy, which returns and is rooted." Chaldean, "it spreads." (Calmet) See Calmet's Diss. on the Leprosy. --- This dreadful disorder is very common in Arabia and Palestine. During the holy wars many of the Europeans were infected with it. The Jews believe, that the leprosy of garments and of houses was restrained to Judea, and attacked them only when the people rebelled against God. (Oleaster) --- The providence of God often visited those, who would not obey his ministers, with this disorder, (Deuteronomy 24:8.; Numbers 12.) (Theodoret q. 18.) (Tirinus) |
| Leviticus 13:58 | If it cease, he shall wash with water the parts that are pure, the second time, and they shall be clean. | |
| Leviticus 13:59 | This is the law touching the leprosy of any woollen or linen garment, either in the warp or woof, or any thing of skins, how it ought to be cleansed, or pronounced unclean. | Pronounced. This word should refer to both; mundari vel contaminari, how it ought to be pronounced clean or unclean; as the law regards the declaration of the priests, and not the medicines to be used for the leprosy. (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 14:0 | The rites or sacrifices in cleansing the leprosy. Leprosy in houses. | |
| Leviticus 14:1 | And the Lord spoke to Moses,* saying: | Year of the World 2514. |
| Leviticus 14:2 | This is the rite of a leper, when he is to be cleansed: He shall be brought to the priest: | |
| Leviticus 14:3 | *Who going out of the camp, when he shall find that the leprosy is cleansed, Matthew 8:4. | Camp. The leper was not left to his own judgment to mix with society, as soon as he perceived himself cleansed. He had to send for a priest; and one of the most discerning among those who made it their employment to study in the court of the tabernacle, was commissioned to examine him. (Grotius) --- The sacrifice was offered without the camp, (Calmet) if it may be called a sacrifice. (Menochius) --- That of Christ's body was not yet instituted, which supplies all the rest. (St. Augustine, contra adv. 1:19.) (Worthington) |
| Leviticus 14:4 | *Shall command him, that is to be purified, to offer for himself two living sparrows, which it is lawful to eat, and cedar-wood, and scarlet and hyssop. Mark 1:44.; Luke 5:14. | Sparrows. Hebrew tsipporim. Septuagint, "little birds," which the law only determines must be clean; such probably as might be procured most easily. The leper was to present them, and kill one. But the priest sprinkled with its blood the other bird, which was tied with a scarlet ribband to the cedar-wood and hyssop, in such a manner that its head and wings were not much wet, as it as to fly away. (Calmet) --- The cedar prevents putrefaction, the hyssop is very odoriferous, the scarlet and the bird denote beauty and life, which qualities the leper must acquire. So the penitent regains the virtues he had lost, with interest. (Tirinus) |
| Leviticus 14:5 | And he shall command one of the sparrows to be immolated in an earthen vessel, over living waters: | Living waters. That is, waters taken from a spring, brook, or river: (Challoner) not stagnant or rain water. |
| Leviticus 14:6 | But the other that is alive he shall dip, with the cedar-wood, and the scarlet and the hyssop, in the blood of the sparrow that is immolated: | |
| Leviticus 14:7 | Wherewith he shall sprinkle him that is to be cleansed seven times, that he may be rightly purified: and he shall let go the living sparrow, that it may fly into the field. | Rightly. According to law. (Haydock) --- The number seven is used to denote perfection, ver. 15, etc. (Menochius) --- Field. An emblem of the liberty which the leper would soon enjoy. (Haydock) --- The pagans cast over their head the things which had been used for their purification. (Virgil, Ec. 8:102.) Fer cineres, Amarilli, foras, rivoque fluenti---Transque caput jace, ne respexeris. --- They were afraid to trample upon them. (Gell. 10:15.; Metam. 13:954.) They were also accustomed to set birds at liberty in honour of their gods. Demosthenes accuses Conon of having eaten those which had been used in his purification. Bonfrere believes that Moses does not here prescribe any sacrifice. Why then is a priest employed to make these aspersions? (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 14:8 | And when the man hath washed his clothes, he shall shave all the hair of his body, and shall be washed with water; and being purified, he shall enter into the camp, yet so that he tarry without his own tent seven days: | Body, even to the feet, Isaias 7:20. (Haydock) --- Probably with a pair of scissors. (Calmet) --- The Egyptians priests did so every third day, that nothing impure might be concealed. (Herod., 2:37.) The greatest caution was requisite to prevent the return of the leprosy; and therefore, after the first purification, (ver. 4,) the leper is not allowed to go home, till a sufficient time has elapsed to ascertain whether he be radically healed, and then he must offer a sacrifice, ver. 10. (Haydock) --- But why so many prescriptions for a disease so involuntary, (Calmet) which must have already caused the unhappy sufferer so much pain? (Haydock) --- The Rabbins assert, that the leprosy was sent to punish some secret transgression, particularly some pride or detraction; as they maintain, that every illness is in punishment of some offence. (Abarbanel.) (Grotius) --- If [It?] was often the effect of intemperance or negligence; and the sacrifices were exacted, to make some reparation to God for remaining in the camp and near the tabernacle, at the commencement of the disorder. (Calmet) --- This foul cutaneous disease was also very infectious, and the law was designed to impress people with a horror of it, and to teach them to prevent its ravages as much as possible. (Haydock) --- A sparrow is slain, and the hair shaved, to indicate that all sinful affections must be cut off by the true penitent, while the sparrow, which is sent away into the desert, reminds him that he must live a stranger to pleasure, and perfectly mortified. (Du Hamel) --- Days; without having any communication with his wife. (Lyranus) |
| Leviticus 14:9 | And on the seventh day he shall shave the hair of his head, and his beard and his eye-brows, and the hair of all his body. And having washed again his clothes, and his body, | |
| Leviticus 14:10 | On the eighth day he shall take two lambs without blemish, and an ewe of a year old without blemish, and three tenths of flour tempered with oil for a sacrifice, and a sextary of oil apart. | A sextary; Hebrew log: a measure of liquids, which was the twelfth part of a hin; and held about as much as six eggs. (Challoner) --- For each of the victims a sacrifice of flour and oil was required. (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 14:11 | And when the priest that purifieth the man, hath presented him, and all these things before the Lord, at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony, | |
| Leviticus 14:12 | He shall take a lamb, and offer it for a trespass-offering with the sextary of oil: and having offered all before the Lord, | Offered. Hebrew, "elevated, or waved," as Exodus 29:24. |
| Leviticus 14:13 | He shall immolate the lamb, where the victim for sin is wont to be immolated, and the holocaust; that is, in the holy place: for as that which is for sin, so also the victim for a trespass-offering pertaineth to the priest: it is holy of holies. | Place; on the left hand of the altar of holocausts, Leviticus 1:11. This sacrifice is different from that for sin, ver. 19. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 14:14 | And the priest taking of the blood of the victim that was immolated for trespass, shall put it upon the tip of the right ear of him that is cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and the great toe of his right foot. | Taking of the blood, etc. These ceremonies, used in the cleansing of a leper, were mysterious and very significative. The sprinkling seven times with the blood of the little bird, the washing himself and his clothes, the shaving his hair and his beard, signify the means which are to be used in the reconciliation of a sinner, and the steps by which he is to return to God, viz. by the repeated application of the blood of Christ; the washing his conscience with the waters of compunction; and retrenching all vanities and superfluities, by employing all that is over and above what is necessary in alms deeds. The sin-offering, and the holocaust or burnt-offering, which he was to offer at his cleansing, signify the sacrifice of a contrite and humble heart, and that of adoration in spirit and truth, with gratitude and thankfulness, for the forgiveness of sins, with which we are ever to appear before the Almighty. The touching the right ear, the thumb of the right hand, and the great toe of the right foot, first with the blood of the victim, and then with the remainder of the oil, which had been sprinkled seven times before the Lord, signify the application of the blood of Christ, and the unction of the sevenfold grace of the Holy Ghost to the sinner's right ear, that he may duly hearken to and obey the law of God; and to his right hand and foot, that the works of his hands, and all the steps or affections of his soul, signified by the feet, may be rightly directed to God. (Challoner) See Leviticus 8:23. --- These ceremonies might serve to call to the leper's recollection the benefit which he had received, and to distinguish him from others. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 14:15 | And he shall pour of the sextary of oil into his own left hand, | |
| Leviticus 14:16 | And shall dip his right finger in it, and sprinkle it before the Lord seven times. | |
| Leviticus 14:17 | And the rest of the oil in his left hand, he shall pour upon the tip of the right ear of him that is cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and the great toe of his right foot, and upon the blood that was shed for trespass, | Blood. Septuagint and Syriac, "upon the place of the blood," on the person's ear, thumb, and toe. |
| Leviticus 14:18 | And upon his head. | |
| Leviticus 14:19 | And he shall pray for him before the Lord, and shall offer the sacrifice for sin: then shall he immolate the holocaust, | |
| Leviticus 14:20 | And put it on the altar with the libations thereof, and the man shall be rightly cleansed. | |
| Leviticus 14:21 | But if he be poor, and his hand cannot find the things aforesaid: he shall take a lamb for an offering for trespass, that the priest may pray for him, and a tenth part of flour tempered with oil for a sacrifice, and a sextary of oil, | Offering. Hebrew, "a trespass-offering to be waved," ver. 12, 24. --- Oil. The same quantity of oil is required as ver. 10. The rest is diminished two-thirds; only instead of the ewe and one lamb, two turtles or pigeons are substituted. (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 14:22 | *And two turtles, or two young pigeons, of which one may be for sin, and the other for a holocaust: Leviticus 5:7.; Leviticus 5:11.; Leviticus 12:8.; Luke 2:24. | |
| Leviticus 14:23 | And he shall offer them on the eighth day of his purification to the priest, at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony before the Lord. | |
| Leviticus 14:24 | And the priest receiving the lamb for trespass, and the sextary of oil, shall elevate them together. | |
| Leviticus 14:25 | And the lamb being immolated, he shall put of the blood thereof upon the tip of the right ear of him that is cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and the great toe of his right foot: | |
| Leviticus 14:26 | But he shall pour part of the oil into his own left hand, | |
| Leviticus 14:27 | And dipping the finger of his right hand in it, he shall sprinkle it seven times before the Lord: | |
| Leviticus 14:28 | And he shall touch the tip of the right ear of him that is cleansed, and the thumb of his right hand, and the great toe of his right foot, in the place of the blood that was shed for trespass, | |
| Leviticus 14:29 | And the other part of the oil that is in his left hand, he shall pour upon the head of the purified person, that he may appease the Lord for him. | |
| Leviticus 14:30 | And he shall offer a turtle, or young pigeon, | |
| Leviticus 14:31 | One for trespass, and the other for a holocaust, with their libations. | Trespass. Hebrew, "sin," ver. 19. The Chaldean and Septuagint agree with the original text. (Menochius) |
| Leviticus 14:32 | This is the sacrifice of a leper, that is not able to have all things that appertain to his cleansing. | |
| Leviticus 14:33 | And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: | |
| Leviticus 14:34 | When you shall be come into the land of Chanaan, which I will give you for a possession, if there be the plague of leprosy in a house, | If there. Hebrew, "and I send the plague;" whence some infer, that this leprosy was an effect of God's special indignation against the owners of the house. (Muis; etc.) |
| Leviticus 14:35 | He whose house it is, shall go and tell the priest, saying: It seemeth to me, that there is the plague of leprosy in my house. | |
| Leviticus 14:36 | And he shall command, that they carry forth all things out of the house, before he go into it, and see whether it have the leprosy, lest all things become unclean that are in the house. And afterwards he shall go in to view the leprosy of the house. | Become. If any thing was left in the house, it was deemed unclean, as soon as the priest had declared that the house was infected; and therefore, all was to be removed before he came, (Calmet) and might be used without scruple, unless some marks of leprosy appeared afterwards upon the garments, Leviticus 13:47. |
| Leviticus 14:37 | And if he see in the walls thereof as it were little dints, disfigured with paleness or redness, and lower than all the rest, | Paleness. Hebrew, "greenish." (Haydock) --- Such spots are often observable in damp churches and cloisters, and cause the plaster to fall off. It is probable that little worms produce this effect. To prevent these vermin from spreading, Moses orders the whole house to be demolished and carried away, if it cannot be otherwise purified. (Calmet) --- Thus the plague is communicated not only by persons, but also by all the things which they have touched. The same signs of leprosy are found both in men and in houses. (Menochius) |
| Leviticus 14:38 | He shall go out of the door of the house, and forthwith shut it up seven days, | |
| Leviticus 14:39 | And returning on the seventh day, he shall look upon it. If he find that the leprosy is spread, | |
| Leviticus 14:40 | He shall command, that the stones wherein the leprosy is, be taken out, and cast without the city into an unclean place: | |
| Leviticus 14:41 | And that the house be scraped on the inside round about, and the dust of the scraping be scattered without the city into an unclean place: | Scraped. Hebrew, "he shall scrape." But the Samaritan copy has more properly, "they shall scrape." (Houbigant) |
| Leviticus 14:42 | And that other stones be laid in the place of them that were taken away, and the house be plastered with other mortar. | |
| Leviticus 14:43 | But if, after the stones be taken out, and the dust scraped off, and it be plastered with other earth, | |
| Leviticus 14:44 | The priest going in perceive that the leprosy is returned, and the walls full of spots, it is a lasting leprosy, and the house is unclean: | |
| Leviticus 14:45 | And they shall destroy it forthwith, and shall cast the stones and timber thereof, and all the dust, without the town into an unclean place. | |
| Leviticus 14:46 | He that entereth into the house when it is shut, shall be unclean until evening. | |
| Leviticus 14:47 | And he that sleepeth in it, and eateth any thing, shall wash his clothes. | |
| Leviticus 14:48 | But if the priest going in perceive that the leprosy is not spread in the house, after it was plastered again, he shall purify it, it being cured. | |
| Leviticus 14:49 | And for the purification thereof he shall take two sparrows, and cedar-wood, and scarlet and hyssop: | |
| Leviticus 14:50 | And having immolated one sparrow in an earthen vessel over living waters, | |
| Leviticus 14:51 | He shall take the cedar-wood, and the hyssop, and the scarlet, and the living sparrow, and shall dip all in the blood of the sparrow that is immolated, and in the living water, and he shall sprinkle the house seven times: | |
| Leviticus 14:52 | And shall purify it as well with the blood of the sparrow, as with the living water, and with the living sparrow, and with the cedar-wood, and the hyssop, and the scarlet. | |
| Leviticus 14:53 | And when he hath let go the sparrow to fly freely away into the field, he shall pray for the house, and it shall be rightly cleansed. | For the house, that it may be no more infected; and for the people, to whom it belongs; that they may carefully avoid offending God, the avenger of all sin. Hebrew, "you shall make an atonement for the house," or for the sins of its inhabitants. (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 14:54 | This is the law of every kind of leprosy and stroke, | Stroke. Hebrew, "scurf," ulcers, wounds, etc. (Calmet) --- "The leprosy of the head or beard," Chaldean. (Montanus) (Tirinus) |
| Leviticus 14:55 | Of the leprosy of garments and houses, | |
| Leviticus 14:56 | Of a scar and of blisters breaking out, of a shining spot, and when the colours are diversely changed: | |
| Leviticus 14:57 | That it may be known when a thing is clean, or unclean. | Be known when. Hebrew, "to teach in what day, etc.....This is the law of leprosy." (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 15:0 | Other legal uncleannesses. | |
| Leviticus 15:1 | And the Lord spoke* to Moses and Aaron, saying: | Year of the World 2514. |
| Leviticus 15:2 | Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: The man that hath an issue of seed, shall be unclean. | Issue of seed, shall be unclean. These legal uncleannesses were instituted in order to give the people a horror of carnal impurities. (Challoner) --- If the gonorrhoea, and the lawful act of marriage, (ver. 16,) and nocturnal delusions, (Deuteronomy 23:10,) induce a kind of uncleanness---surely to imitate Onan is most detestable, Genesis 28:9. (Tirinus) --- The Jews rank the latter crime with murder, and so does Tertullian. See Exodus 21:22. |
| Leviticus 15:3 | And then shall he be judged subject to this evil, when a filthy humour, at every moment, cleaveth to his flesh, and gathereth there. | At every moment, is not in Hebrew, but something like it occurs in the Samaritan and Septuagint. According to the Hebrew, the uncleanness subsists for some time after the issue has ceased. Grotius pretends that these disorders were contagious; but the reason why God requires such purity in his people, is given [in] ver. 31. He dwelt among them, and would not allow of any disrespectful behaviour. There were to live like priests in his temple. The pagans in Egypt, Greece, and Italy, required the like attention to cleanliness in their priests. (Herod., ii.) --- Noctem flumine purgas. (Persius ii.) (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 15:4 | Every bed on which he sleepeth, shall be unclean, and every place on which he sitteth. | |
| Leviticus 15:5 | If any man touch his bed, he shall wash his clothes: and being washed with water, he shall be unclean until the evening. | |
| Leviticus 15:6 | If a man sit where that man hath sitten, he also shall wash his clothes: and being washed with water, shall be unclean until the evening. | |
| Leviticus 15:7 | He that toucheth his flesh, shall wash his clothes: and being himself washed with water shall be unclean until the evening. | |
| Leviticus 15:8 | If such a man cast his spittle upon him that is clean, he shall wash his clothes: and being washed with water, he shall be unclean until the evening. | |
| Leviticus 15:9 | The saddle on which he hath sitten shall be unclean: | |
| Leviticus 15:10 | And whatsoever has been under him that hath the issue of seed, shall be unclean until the evening. He that carrieth any of these things, shall wash his clothes: and being washed with water, he shall be unclean until the evening. | |
| Leviticus 15:11 | Every person whom such a one shall touch, not having washed his hands before, shall wash his clothes: and being washed with water, shall be unclean until the evening. | Such a one; the person under the disorder, unless he have washed his hands. |
| Leviticus 15:12 | If he touch a vessel of earth, it shall be broken: but if a vessel of wood, it shall be washed with water. | Broken, after he is perfectly healed. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 15:13 | If he who suffereth this disease be healed, he shall number seven days after his cleansing; and having washed his clothes, and all his body in living water, he shall be clean. | |
| Leviticus 15:14 | And on the eighth day he shall take two turtles, or two young pigeons, and he shall come before the Lord, to the door of the tabernacle of the testimony, and shall give them to the priest: | |
| Leviticus 15:15 | Who shall offer one for sin, and the other for a holocaust: and he shall pray for him before the Lord, that he may be cleansed of the issue of his seed. | Offer, (faciet) "shall sacrifice." (Du Hamel) --- For sin. Legal, or any other that he may have incurred. |
| Leviticus 15:16 | The man from whom the seed of copulation goeth out, shall wash all his body with water: and he shall be unclean until the evening. | Evening, whether the action were lawful or not. (Menochius) --- Some explain this verse, of nocturnal inconveniences; and ver. 18, of the act of marriage. The latter rendered unclean only in as much as it hindered a person from partaking of any thing sacred, though he might perform the duties of life. (Calmet) --- This law was to lay some restraint on the too frequent use of marriage. (Theodoret) (Du Hamel) |
| Leviticus 15:17 | The garment or skin that he weareth, he shall wash with water, and it shall be unclean until the evening. | |
| Leviticus 15:18 | The woman, with whom he copulateth, shall be washed with water, and shall be unclean until the evening. | |
| Leviticus 15:19 | The woman, who at the return of the month hath her issue of blood, shall be separated seven days. | At....month. The Hebrew and other versions omit this. (Calmet) --- But "her issue in her flesh," implies as much. (Haydock) --- Days, not out of the camp, but from the company of men. |
| Leviticus 15:20 | Every one that toucheth her, shall be unclean until the evening. | One, except infants, etc. |
| Leviticus 15:21 | And every thing that she sleepeth on, or that she sitteth on in the days of her separation, shall be defiled. | |
| Leviticus 15:22 | He that toucheth her bed shall wash his clothes: and being himself washed with water, shall be unclean until the evening. | |
| Leviticus 15:23 | Whosoever shall touch any vessel on which she sitteth, shall wash his clothes: and himself being washed with water, shall be defiled until the evening. | |
| Leviticus 15:24 | If a man copulateth with her in the time of her flowers, he shall be unclean seven days: and every bed, on which he shall sleep, shall be defiled. | Days, supposing the case was not brought before the judge, and the man did it through ignorance: otherwise it was death, Leviticus 20:18. |
| Leviticus 15:25 | The woman that hath an issue of blood many days out of her ordinary time, or that ceaseth not to flow after the monthly courses, as long as she is subject to this disease, shall be unclean, in the same manner as if she were in her flowers. | |
| Leviticus 15:26 | Every bed on which she sleepeth, and every vessel on which she sitteth, shall be defiled. | |
| Leviticus 15:27 | Whosoever toucheth them shall wash his clothes: and himself being washed with water, shall be unclean until the evening. | |
| Leviticus 15:28 | If the blood stop and cease to run, she shall count seven days of her purification: | Run. Then she might act as usual, without defiling what she touched. It seems from ver. 13, that this law regarded only the time while the tabernacle was in the camp. It would have been very difficult to observe it, when the people were dispersed throughout the land of Chanaan. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 15:29 | And on the eighth day she shall offer for herself to the priest, two turtles, or two young pigeons, at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony. | |
| Leviticus 15:30 | And he shall offer one for sin, and the other for a holocaust, and he shall pray for her before the Lord, and for the issue of her uncleanness. | |
| Leviticus 15:31 | You shall teach therefore the children of Israel, to take heed of uncleanness, that they may not die in their filth, when they shall have defiled my tabernacle that is among them. | Teach. So the Septuagint also read. Hebrew, "Thus you shall remove....from their filth." (Houbigant) --- Filth. God threatens to kill them, if they approach unclean. (Menochius) --- St. Jerome (in Gal. v.) understands this of those abominable sins, which ought not to be mentioned. (Worthington) |
| Leviticus 15:32 | This is the law of him that hath the issue of seed, and that is defiled by copulation, | |
| Leviticus 15:33 | And of the woman that is separated in her monthly times, or that hath a continual issue of blood, and of the man that sleepeth with her. | |
| Leviticus 16:0 | When and how the high priest must enter into the sanctuary. The feast of expiation. | |
| Leviticus 16:1 | And the Lord spoke to Moses,* after the death of the two sons of Aaron,** when they were slain upon their offering strange fire: Leviticus 10:1. | Year of the World 2514. Fire. It was upon this occasion that the feast of expiation (kippurim) was instituted, to enforce the reverence due to holy things, and particularly to the tabernacle. Hebrew adds, "before the Lord," (Haydock) and does not specify strange fire; but the Chaldean and the Syriac do. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 16:2 | And he commanded him, saying: Speak to Aaron thy brother,* that he enter not at all into the sanctuary, which is within the veil before the propitiatory, with which the ark is covered, lest he die, (for I will appear in a cloud over the oracle) Exodus 30:10.; Hebrews 9:7. | Enter not. No one but the high priest, and he but once a year, could enter into the sanctuary: to signify that no one could enter into the sanctuary of heaven till Christ our high priest opened it by his passion, Hebrews 10:8. (Challoner) --- When the tabernacle was to be removed, and when he had to consult the Lord, he might also enter, arrayed in his pontifical attire. If the high priest was prevented by any legal uncleanness, the next priest was substituted to perform his office. (Josephus, [Antiquities?] 17:8.) Adjutor vicarius propter cognationem ei datus est. |
| Leviticus 16:3 | Unless he first do these things: He shall offer a calf for sin, and a ram for a holocaust. | |
| Leviticus 16:4 | He shall be vested with a linen tunic, he shall cover his nakedness with linen breeches: he shall be girded with a linen girdle, and he shall put a linen mitre upon his head: for these are holy vestments: all which he shall put on, after he is washed. | Washed. On this day the high priest appeared in linen clothes, like one of the inferior priests, without the jewels; though Josephus (Jewish Wars 5:15,) asserts the contrary. (Calmet) --- This was a feast of sorrow and of penance. (Tirinus) --- Perhaps he put on his more costly attire before he entered the holy of holies, ver. 23, 24. (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 16:5 | And he shall receive from the whole multitude of the children of Israel two buck-goats for sin, and one ram for a holocaust. | |
| Leviticus 16:6 | And when he hath offered the calf, and prayed for himself, and for his own house, | Calf, or young bull, which Aaron offered for himself and all the family of Levi, to expiate the sins which they might have committed during the year. If their sins were voluntary, they were obliged also to have perfect charity and contrition. The ram was offered for the sins of the people. Moses speaks of the red heifer, (Numbers xix.) which was also offered, out of the camp, for the people. This solemn day was to be kept by all as a rigid "fast from meat, drink, washing, anointing, wearing shoes, or using marriage." This is the idea which the Oriental nations generally have of a fast. They commence at midnight, and end with the following sun-set; after which they eat what they think proper. (Calmet) --- On the day of expiation, the Jews made a tenfold confession of their sins. (Morinus, poenit. 2:22.) |
| Leviticus 16:7 | He shall make the two buck-goats to stand before the Lord, in the door of the tabernacle of the testimony: | |
| Leviticus 16:8 | And casting lots upon them both, one to be offered to the Lord, and the other to be the emissary-goat: | The emissary-goat: caper emissarius; in Greek, apopompaios; in Hebrew, Hazazel. The goat to go off, or as some translate it, the scape-goat. This goat, on whose head the high priest was ordered to pour forth prayers, and to make a general confession of the sins of the people, laying them all, as it were, on his head; and after that to send him away into the wilderness, to be devoured by wild beasts, was a figure of our Saviour, charged with all our sins, in his passion. |
| Leviticus 16:9 | That whose lot fell to be offered to the Lord, he shall offer for sin: | |
| Leviticus 16:10 | But that whose lot was to be the emissary-goat, he shall present alive before the Lord, that he may pour out prayers upon him, and let him go into the wilderness. | |
| Leviticus 16:11 | After these things are duly celebrated, he shall offer the calf, and praying for himself and for his own house, he shall immolate it: | After....celebrated. These words are not in the Hebrew. |
| Leviticus 16:12 | And taking the censer, which he hath filled with the burning coals of the altar, and taking up with his hand the compounded perfume for incense, he shall go in within the veil into the holy place: | Censer, which resembled one of our chalices; without any chains, etc., Apocalypse 5:8. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 16:13 | That when the perfumes are put upon the fire, the cloud and vapour thereof may cover the oracle, which is over the testimony, and he may not die. | \f + \fr 16:13-14\ft The cloud, --- The blood, etc. This is to teach us, that if we would go into the sanctuary of God, we must take with us the incense of prayer, and the blood, that is, the passion of Christ. Where also note, that the high priest, before he went into the holy of holies, was to wash his whole body; and then to put on white linen garments; to signify the purity and chastity with which we are to approach to God. (Challoner) --- The Septuagint call this goat apopompaion, "the averter of evils, or the one sent away." Hazazel is taken by Spencer Julian, the apostate, (ap. St. Cyril. 9. and ep. 39,) to mean the devil; as if the goat was sent or sacrificed to him, which is very foolish. (Calmet) --- East. That is, the forepart of the mercy-seat, which was not to be touched with the blood, (Menochius) no more than the veil. (Rabbins) |
| Leviticus 16:14 | He shall take also of the blood of the calf, and sprinkle with his finger seven times towards the propitiatory to the east. | |
| Leviticus 16:15 | And when he hath killed the buck-goat for the sin of the people, he shall carry in the blood thereof within the veil, as he was commanded to do with the blood of the calf, that he may sprinkle it over-against the oracle, | Oracle. He probably took this blood at the same time with that of the calf, Hebrews 9:7. (Menochius) --- Though some Rabbins assert, the high priest entered the holy of holies four times on that day. (Drusius) --- Pausanias tells us, that the temples of Dindymenes and Orcus were opened only once a year. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 16:16 | And may expiate the sanctuary from the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and from their transgressions, and all their sins. According to this rite shall he do to the tabernacle of the testimony, which is fixed among them in the midst of the filth of their habitation. | Filth. God deigned to have his tabernacle in the midst of the camp, where so many sins, and marks of disrespect, as well as legal uncleannesses, were found. (Haydock) --- Sin so defileth the soul, that the most holy place is contaminated thereby. (Theodoret, q. 22.) |
| Leviticus 16:17 | *Let no man be in the tabernacle when the high priest goeth into the sanctuary, to pray for himself and his house, and for the whole congregation of Israel, until he come out. Luke 1:10. | Out. Even the other priests were excluded from the tabernacle. The high priest placed incense on the censer as soon as he entered within the veil, and prayed for all blessings, in few words, that the people might not be uneasy, fearing lest something had befallen him. This was the form: "Be pleased to grant, O Lord our God, that this year may be warm and rainy, that the sovereign power may abide in the house of Juda, that thy people may not be deprived of any of the necessaries of life; and hear not the petitions of travellers," (which are commonly vain and selfish) of "of sinners," as others translate. (Calmet) --- Those who were forbidden to be present on this occasion, might have made the same objections as Protestants do against the law of the Church, which prescribes a language not commonly understood by all, in the administration of her sacraments. Have either any reason to be offended? (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 16:18 | And when he is come out to the altar that is before the Lord, let him pray for himself, and taking the blood of the calf, and of the buck-goat, let him pour it upon the horns thereof round about: | Let him pray for himself. Hebrew, "he shall expiate or purify it," the altar of incense. Josephus says he also sprinkled with blood the great altar of holocausts, ver. 20. (Antiquities 3:10.) |
| Leviticus 16:19 | And sprinkling with his finger seven times, let him expiate, and sanctify it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel. | |
| Leviticus 16:20 | After he hath cleansed the sanctuary, and the tabernacle, and the altar, then let him offer the living goat: | |
| Leviticus 16:21 | And putting both hands upon his head, let him confess all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their offences and sins: and praying that they may light on his head, he shall turn him out, by a man ready for it, into the desert. | |
| Leviticus 16:22 | And when the goat hath carried all their iniquities into an uninhabited land, and shall be let go into the desert, | Desert, to be devoured by wild beasts, (Menochius) or hurled down a precipice. |
| Leviticus 16:23 | Aaron shall return into the tabernacle of the testimony, and putting off the vestments, which he had on him before when he entered into the sanctuary, and leaving them there, | |
| Leviticus 16:24 | He shall wash his flesh in the holy place, and shall put on his own garments. And after that he is come out, and hath offered his own holocaust, and that of the people, he shall pray both for himself and for the people: | Flesh, which was, in some sort, defiled by touching the goat. --- Garments, belonging to his office. --- Come out of the holy of holies. (Calmet) --- The remainder of the day was spent in joy. The priest washed himself, as a sign that he had obtained pardon. (Menochius) |
| Leviticus 16:25 | And the fat that is offered for sins, he shall burn upon the altar. | |
| Leviticus 16:26 | But he that hath let go the emissary-goat, shall wash his clothes, and his body with water, and so shall enter into the camp. | Camp. This was always required of those who had burnt the bodies of the victims out of the camp, as ver. 28, and Numbers 19:7. (Outram) --- In some of the sacrifices for sin, the priests might eat part of the flesh. But here all was consumed, as the victim was offered for the sins of all. |
| Leviticus 16:27 | But the calf and the buck-goat, that were sacrificed for sin, and whose blood was carried into the sanctuary, to accomplish the atonement, they shall carry forth without the camp, *and shall burn with fire, their skins, and their flesh, and their dung: Hebrews 13:11. | |
| Leviticus 16:28 | And whosoever burneth them, shall wash his clothes and flesh with water, and so shall enter into the camp. | |
| Leviticus 16:29 | And this shall be to you an everlasting ordinance: *The seventh month, the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and shall do no work, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you. Leviticus 23:27-28. | Tenth. Beginning on the evening of the ninth Tisri, which corresponds with part of our September and October, and is the first month of the civil year, Leviticus 33:32. Afflict, by a rigid abstinence from all that might give delight to the body. Children of seven years old begin to join in this mortification. Boys of 13, and girls of 11 years old complete, were obliged to fast. See ver. 6. The Samaritans pray all the day, and give no food even to infants during the 24 hours. (Calmet) --- Moses was the first who shewed them the example; and this was the only day which he prescribed to be kept as a fast. The Jews afterwards appointed many more. (Haydock) --- Maimonides says, this festival was instituted in memory of the descent of Moses from Mount Sinai the third time, when he came to announce to the people that God had pardoned their idolatry. Usher thinks it was in memory of Adam's fall. The Jews still observe it in some degree. As they are not allowed to sacrifice, they kill a white cock, and the women a hen, on the 9th at evening. Those with child kill both. They confess their sins, receive 39 lashes, ask pardon of those whom they have offended, and generally spend the fore part of this month in acts of piety and of penance. (Buxtorf, Syn. 20.) --- Stranger; a proselyte of justice, such as were bound to observe the law. |
| Leviticus 16:30 | Upon this day shall be the expiation for you, and the cleansing from all your sins: you shall be cleansed before the Lord. | |
| Leviticus 16:31 | For it is a sabbath of rest, and you shall afflict your souls by a perpetual religion. | Of rest. Hebrew, "of sabbaths;" that is, a day of most perfect rest; so that even meat is not allowed to be dressed on it, as it is on other festivals, Leviticus 23:27. (Calmet) --- Religion. Fasting is therefore an act of religion. (Du Hamel) |
| Leviticus 16:32 | And the priest that is anointed, and whose hands are consecrated to do the office of the priesthood in his father's stead, shall make atonement: and he shall be vested with the linen robe and the holy vestments, | |
| Leviticus 16:33 | And he shall expiate the sanctuary, and the tabernacle of the testimony, and the altar, the priests also and all the people. | |
| Leviticus 16:34 | And this shall be an ordinance for ever, that you pray for the children of Israel, and for all their sins once in a year. He did therefore as the Lord had commanded Moses. | |
| Leviticus 17:0 | No sacrifices to be offered but at the door of the tabernacle: a prohibition of blood. | |
| Leviticus 17:1 | And the Lord spoke *to Moses, saying: | Year of the World 2514. |
| Leviticus 17:2 | Speak to Aaron and his sons, and to all the children of Israel, saying to them: This is the word which the Lord hath commanded, saying: | |
| Leviticus 17:3 | Any man whosoever of the house of Israel, if he kill an ox, or a sheep, or a goat, in the camp, or without the camp, | If he kill, etc. That is, in order to sacrifice. The law of God forbids sacrifices to be offered in any other place but at the tabernacle or temple of the Lord: to signify that no sacrifice would be acceptable to God, out of his true temple, the one, holy, Catholic Apostolic Church. (Challoner) --- On other occasions, many believe that the blood of oxen, sheep, and goats, was to be poured out in honour of God by the priest, who received a part of each, Deuteronomy 18:3 and 12:15, 22. (Theodoret, q. 23.) Perhaps this law regards the time when the Hebrews sojourned in the desert; and that of Deuteronomy has a reference to those times when they should obtain possession of Chanaan. (Calmet) --- We read of some private people, like Manue and Elias, who offered sacrifice at a distance from the tabernacle. But this was done by a particular inspiration of God, who dispensed with his own law. (St. Augustine, q. 56.) (3 Kings 18:23 and Judges 13:19.) (Menochius) See Josue 8:31. |
| Leviticus 17:4 | And offer it not at the door of the tabernacle an oblation to the Lord, shall be guilty of blood: as if he had shed blood, so shall he perish from the midst of his people. | |
| Leviticus 17:5 | Therefore the children of Israel shall bring to the priest their victims, which they kill in the field, that they may be sanctified to the Lord before the door of the tabernacle of the testimony, and they may sacrifice them for peace-offerings to the Lord. | They. The Egyptians and other nations, kill in the field, as the Hebrews had also done, till it was now prohibited. Some were, perhaps, still much inclined to adore, (Calmet) and to offer sacrifices privately to devils; (ver. 7,) and therefore God forbids any sacrifice, but such as was performed by his priests at the tabernacle. (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 17:6 | And the priest shall pour the blood upon the altar of the Lord, at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony, and shall burn the fat for a sweet odour to the Lord. | |
| Leviticus 17:7 | And they shall no more sacrifice their victims to devils, with whom they have committed fornication. It shall be an ordinance for ever to them and to their posterity. | Devils. Hebrew sehirim: which some translate goats, (the hairy ones,) satyrs, etc. The Egyptians adored the goat, (which they represented like the god Pan) particularly in the territory of Mendes, near which the Hebrews had dwelt. Its worship was very abominable and obscene. (Strabo xvii.) (Calmet) --- Ezechiel (xvi. 22,) intimates, that the Hebrews were given to idolatry in Egypt. They had also recently adored the calf. (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 17:8 | And thou shalt say to them: The man of the house of Israel, and of the strangers who sojourn among you, that offereth a holocaust or a victim, | |
| Leviticus 17:9 | And bringeth it not to the door of the tabernacle of the testimony, that it may be offered to the Lord, shall perish from among his people: | |
| Leviticus 17:10 | If any man whosoever of the house of Israel, and of the strangers that sojourn among them, eat blood, I will set my face against his soul, and will cut him off from among his people: | Eat blood. To eat blood, was forbidden in the law; partly because God reserved it to himself to be offered in sacrifices on the altar, as to the Lord of life and death; and as a figure of the blood of Christ; and partly to give men a horror of shedding blood, Genesis 9:4, 5, 6. (Challoner) --- Some barbarians feast on human blood. The Massagetes drunk the blood of horses, and the Gelonians of Pontus mixed it with milk. ([Virgil,?] Georg. 3:463.) If the Hebrews did any such thing, and it became public, they were put to death. But if it remained private, God threatens to take vengeance himself of their cruelty and disobedience. The face often denotes anger. |
| Leviticus 17:11 | Because the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you, that you may make atonement with it upon the altar for your souls, and the blood may be for an expiation of the soul. | Life, (anima). The sensitive soul depends on the blood. The soul and the blood are often used in the same sense. (Deuteronomy 12:23 and Psalm 29:10.) Sanguine quaerendi reditus animaque litandum---Argolica. (Virgil, Aeneid ii.) (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 17:12 | Therefore I have said to the children of Israel: No soul of you, nor of the strangers that sojourn among you, shall eat blood. | |
| Leviticus 17:13 | Any man whosoever of the children of Israel, and of the strangers that sojourn among you, if by hunting or fowling, he take a wild beast or a bird, which it is lawful to eat, let him pour out its blood, and cover it with earth. | Hunting, with nets, or with bow and arrow. If a dog had killed the prey, it would have rendered it unclean. (Tostat) But perhaps dogs were not employed in hunting by the Hebrews. The Persians use lions, etc. (Chardin) (Calmet) --- Earth, to prevent any abusive custom, such as that of the magicians, who pretended to raise spirits by blood. Tiresias would not disclose the truth to Ulysses, till he had drunk some blood. (Homer, Odyssey xxii.) The Jews abhorred things strangled, and the apostles forbade the primitive Christians to use them, Acts xv. Phocilides, the pagan, says, "abandon such remains to dogs; beasts eat the leavings of beasts." (Eusebius) (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 17:14 | *For the life of all flesh is in the blood: therefore I said to the children of Israel: You shall not eat the blood of any flesh at all, because the life of the flesh is in the blood, and whosoever eateth it, shall be cut off. Genesis 9:4.; Leviticus 7:26. | |
| Leviticus 17:15 | The soul that eateth that which died of itself, or has been caught by a beast, whether he be one of your own country or a stranger, shall wash his clothes and himself with water, and shall be defiled until the evening: and in this manner he shall be made clean. | Stranger. Perhaps the proselyte of justice, not simply of the gate, for the latter were allowed to eat and purchase what had died of itself, Deuteronomy 14:21. --- Clean, having offered the sacrifice, Leviticus 4:27. But if he ate such things knowingly, or neglected these regulations, he was more severely punished. (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 17:16 | But if he do not wash his clothes, and his body, he shall bear his iniquity. | |
| Leviticus 18:0 | Marriage is prohibited in certain degrees of kindred: and all unnatural lusts. | |
| Leviticus 18:1 | And the Lord spoke to Moses,* saying: | Year of the World 2514. |
| Leviticus 18:2 | Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them: I am the Lord your God. | God, to whom the right of giving laws belongs. (Du Hamel) |
| Leviticus 18:3 | You shall not do according to the custom of the land of Egypt, in which you dwelt: neither shall you act according to the manner of the country of Chanaan, into which I will bring you, nor shall you walk in their ordinances. | Ordinances respecting marriages, divine worship, etc. (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 18:4 | You shall do my judgments, and shall observe my precepts, and shall walk in them. I am the Lord your God. | |
| Leviticus 18:5 | *Keep my laws and my judgments, which if a man do, he shall live in them. I am the Lord. Ezechiel 20:11.; Romans 10:5.; Galatians 3:12. | Live in them, a long and happy life, (Chaldean) attended with grace and glory. (Lyranus) --- Jesus Christ and St. Paul explain it of eternal life. (Matthew 19:17 and Romans 10:5.) (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 18:6 | No man shall approach to her that is near of kin to him, to uncover her nakedness. I am the Lord. | Approach to marry, much less to gratify his sensual appetite. (Haydock) --- To him. Hebrew, "None shall approach to any of their descendants;" ad omnes reliquias carnis suae; to any of those who spring from the same stock. The Jews assert, that all are bound by the law of nature to abstain from their own mother and sister, from another's wife, and from unnatural conjunctions. (Selden, Jur. 5:11.) (Calmet) --- Nakedness, or turpitude, which title the body deserves, when it is used in a manner contrary to the law of God. |
| Leviticus 18:7 | Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father, or the nakedness of thy mother: she is thy mother, thou shalt not uncover her nakedness. | Father, with whom the daughters must not have any connexion, as Myrrha had with Cynoras. (Metam. x.) (Haydock) --- All relations in a right line are excluded for ever, according to the emperor Justinian. The reason of these various impediments is, 1. That God's people may not resemble infidels, who permitted such things, ver. 3. The Persians married their own mothers, daughters and sisters. (St. Clement of Alexandria, strom. 3.) Semiramis married her son Justin. Cleopatra was both mother and wife of the two Ptolemies, Philometor and Euergetes, or Physcon. (Tirinus) --- The Egyptians took their sisters to wife for a long time, by the authority of their laws, and in imitation of Isis. (Diodorus 1.; Clem. recogn. 9.) Solon permitted people to marry their step-sisters by the same father, and Lycurgus only those by the same mother. (Philo ad 6. praec.) 2. By this law, the bands of society are strengthened, and families become connected. (St. Augustine, City of God 15:16.) 3. Disorders which would easily take place under the same roof, on the prospect of a future marriage, are prevented. 4. The contrary practice would often prove contrary to order and decency, as the son would be raised above his mother. These regulations seem to have been made from the beginning, or at least from the time of the deluge; since the nations not subject to the law of Moses, are condemned for the transgression of them, ver. 24. See Genesis 19:33. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 18:8 | Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's wife: for it is the nakedness of thy father. | Father. He hath known her; and to him she belongs, as being one flesh. (Haydock) --- If he were even dead, it would shew a want of respect to marry his widow, though she were not your own mother. (Calmet) --- This law, Ruben and the incestuous Corinthian transgressed. [1 Corinthians 5:1] (Tirinus) |
| Leviticus 18:9 | Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy sister, by father or by mother, whether born at home or abroad. | Abroad; being born of your mother, while she was married to another. The marriages of brothers and sisters at the beginning, were authorized by necessity; but now they are the more to be condemned, as religion forbids them. (St. Augustine, City of God 15:16.) Some Rabbins assert, that such connexions were lawful till the time of Moses. But St. Epiphanius (haer. 39,) maintains, they had been condemned long before. Seneca (St. Augustine, City of God 6:10,) acknowledges that such marriages of the pagan gods were not right; ne pie quidem: and Plato says, they are hateful to God. The Romans punished them with death. Many barbarians do not, however, make any scruple to contract marriage with their children, or with their mothers. (St. Jerome, contra Jov. 2:2.; Eurip. Hermione.) (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 18:10 | Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy son's daughter, or thy daughter's daughter: because it is thy own nakedness. | |
| Leviticus 18:11 | Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's wife's daughter, whom she bore to thy father, and who is thy sister. | Sister, by thy step-mother. |
| Leviticus 18:12 | Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's sister: because she is the flesh of thy father. | Father. Nearly related, and springing from the same source. (Menochius) |
| Leviticus 18:13 | Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother's sister: because she is thy mother's flesh. | |
| Leviticus 18:14 | Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's brother: neither shalt thou approach to his wife, who is joined to thee by affinity. | Who....affinity. Hebrew, "she is thy aunt." Some say that, in the old law, a person might marry his niece, but not his aunt; as the order of nature would be inverted if the aunt were subject to her nephew. But others assert that the law was reciprocal, and excluded the marriage of both. The emperor Claudius married his niece Agrippina, and authorized others to do the like. But only one imitated him at Rome; (Suetonius) though Tacitus (An. xii.) says, other nations did it with solemnity, as they had no law to the contrary. Aliis gentibus solemnia, etc. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 18:15 | Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy daughter-in-law: because she is thy son's wife, neither shalt thou discover her shame. | |
| Leviticus 18:16 | Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother's wife: because it is the nakedness of thy brother. | Brother; though she may be even divorced from him. (St. Augustine, q. 61.) If the brother were dead without offspring, the next relation was bound to marry her; (Deuteronomy 25:5) and the kinsman of Booz was accounted infamous for neglecting this duty, Ruth 4:6. |
| Leviticus 18:17 | Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy wife, and her daughter. Thou shalt not take her son's daughter or her daughter's daughter, to discover her shame: because they are her flesh, and such copulation is incest: | Daughter, together, or successively; even if she were the child of another husband. --- Incest. Hebrew, "a crime." Aquila, "an abomination." Septuagint, "an impiety." |
| Leviticus 18:18 | Thou shalt not take thy wife's sister for a harlot, to rival her, neither shalt thou discover her nakedness, while she is yet living. | Rival her, (in pellicatum). Hebrew and Chaldean, "to trouble her." After the death of one sister, it seems, another might be taken. Jacob had two at once. Some think that polygamy is here forbidden. But the law seems to have tolerated it; and only condemns many, or too great a number, with respect to the king, Deuteronomy 17:17. The impediments specified in this chapter may be comprised in these four verses: Nata, soror, neptis, matertera, fratris et uxor, ∫ Et patrui conjux, mater, privigna, noverca,∫ Uxorisque soror, privigni nata, nurusque,∫ Atque soror patris, conjungi lege vetantur. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 18:19 | Thou shalt not approach to a woman having her flowers, neither shalt thou uncover her nakedness. | Thus, etc. The refractory were to be slain, chap 20:18. It was thought that the infant would be in danger; and hence the Jews punished with death the man whose child was born lame. St. Augustine (q. 64,) believes that this law is still in force; and some accuse the person who neglects it, as guilty of a venial sin. (Bonfrere) |
| Leviticus 18:20 | Thou shalt not lie with thy neighbour's wife, nor be defiled with mingling of seed. | Wife. This crime is to be punished like the rest, ver. 29. |
| Leviticus 18:21 | *Thou shalt not give any of thy seed to be consecrated to the idol Moloch, nor defile the name of thy God: I am the Lord. Leviticus 20:2. | Consecrated. Hebrew, "to pass through the fire to Moloch." Septuagint, "to serve the ruler." Syriac, "to marry strange women;" as also Leviticus 20:2. One of the sons of Achaz was offered to this idol of the Ammonites; and yet, perhaps, succeeded his father; (4 Kings 16:3; 18:1,) which shews that the children were not always burnt to death, but only lustrated, or made to pass over or between two fires. Yet many assert that the children were frequently consumed in the flames, and God condemns the cruel parents to be punished with death, Leviticus 20:2. The brazen idol was heated red hot, and the unhappy victim was placed in its arms, or the priests dragged the child over or between the fires. The surrounding nations delighted in human victims. The Carthaginians offered them till the time of Iphicrates. Adrian abolished several such cruel customs among the Greeks. See Porphyrius, de Abst. 2:Jerem. 7:31. --- God; by causing any to suppose that he is cruel, like the idols. We must mention his name with the utmost respect. "The mouth, which utters the sacred name of God, ought never to pronounce a shameful word." (Philo de 10. praec.) Some think, that the idolaters honoured their god by committing an abominable action in his presence. See Malvenda. But most people understand that human sacrifices are here forbidden. (Calmet) --- The nations of Carolina very lately observed the same custom as the ancient idolaters, in sacrificing their children to the devil, by buring them to death in a brazen statue. (Vives in Civ. Dic. 7:19.) Moloch was represented as a king, in all his ornaments, with the head of a calf. He was, perhaps, the idol adored by other nations, under the name of Saturn, who devoured his own children. (Bonfrere) (Tirinus) |
| Leviticus 18:22 | Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind, because it is an abomination. | Abomination, punished so severely in the Sodomites, Genesis 19. Yet, even the philosophers of Greece were not at all ashamed of it. Bardesanes assures us, that the eastern nations punished it with death, and would not allow the guilty the honours of burial. Those beyond the Euphrates were so shocked at it, that they would kill themselves if they were only accused of such a crime. (Ap. Eusebius, praep. 6:10.) |
| Leviticus 18:23 | Thou shalt not copulate with any beast, neither shalt thou be defiled with it. *A woman shall not lie down to a beast, nor copulate with it: because it is a heinous crime. Leviticus 20:16. | Crime. Hebrew, "confusion." The Egyptians did so with goats, as part of their religion. See Leviticus 20:16. and An. Univ. Hist. We need not, however, infer from this law, that the crime was common among the Jews, as Voltaire would insinuate. (Haydock) --- Nothing but monsters can proceed from such wickedness. (Menochius) |
| Leviticus 18:24 | Defile not yourselves with any of these things, with which all the nations have been defiled, which I will cast out before you, | |
| Leviticus 18:25 | And with which the land is defiled: the abominations of which I will visit, that it may vomit out its inhabitants. | |
| Leviticus 18:26 | Keep ye my ordinances and my judgments, and do not any of these abominations: neither any of your own nation, nor any stranger that sojourneth among you. | |
| Leviticus 18:27 | For all these detestable things, the inhabitants of the land have done that were before you, and have defiled it. | |
| Leviticus 18:28 | Beware then lest in like manner, it vomit you also out, if you do the like things, as it vomited out the nation that was before you. | Vomited. Moses speaks of what would shortly happen, as if it had already come to pass, which is familiar with the prophets. (Calmet) --- He represents the earth as sick and disgusted with the crimes of its inhabitants, in the same manner as the Book of Wisdom 5:23, says, the water of the sea shall rage (or foam, excandescet) against them. The strong expression used by Moses, shews to what a length the Chanaanites had carried their abominations; so that God, justly irritated, orders them all to be exterminated. |
| Leviticus 18:29 | Every soul that shall commit any of these abominations, shall perish from the midst of his people. | People. Hebrew hammam. The same temporal punishment is inflicted upon all the aforesaid crimes, though they were not all equally grievous. The smallest of them deserved to be treated with such severity, to prevent the spreading of such contagious vices. (Haydock) --- The regulations respecting marriage, were not immutable, or all determined by the law of nature, which admits of no dispensation. Only those relations in a right line, and the first in the collateral line, can be esteemed of this description. (Du Hamel) --- If Protestants maintain, that all these regulations of Moses are part of the natural law, and bind Christians, they must also allow that a person must marry the widow of his deceased brother, if he has left no children, Deuteronomy xxv. God would never have established this general rule for his people, if it were in opposition to the natural law; which is clear and obvious to all people by the light of reason, according to Aristotle. (Polit. ii.) Neither would so many holy men have violated this law without reproof, if it had prohibited the marriages of two sisters, of aunts, etc. See Genesis 29.; Exodus 6:20. God never dispensed in the right line; (1 Corinthians 5:1,) and such relations, or even people in the first collateral degree of consanguinity, marrying, are punished with death, Leviticus 20. Whereas those in the second degree, or in the first of affinity, undergo a smaller punishment; which shews that the transgression, in both cases, is not against the law of nature. No man ever undertook to dispense with the marriage of brothers and sisters; though Beza lays this to the charge of Pope Martin V. But the person alluded to, only obtained leave to retain the sister of her whom he had privately dishonoured, when his marriage could not be dissolved without great scandal. (St. Antonin. 3. p. tit. 1:11.) As, therefore, some of these impediments were introduced by the positive ceremonial law of the Jews, which was abrogated by Jesus Christ, they have no other force at present than what they derive from the authority of Christian republics, which have adopted some and changed others, appointing, in some countries, death for the punishment of theft, and not of adultery, though the old law enjoined the reverse. See Leviticus 20:10, and Genesis 38:24; Exodus 22:1. The Church may, therefore, surely dispense with those laws which she has enacted. (Worthington) (Council of Trent, Session 24:3.) --- She has indeed restricted marriage between relations to the fourth degree included, both of consanguinity and of affinity. See the Council of Lateran, under Pope Innocent 3:But she will not allow people to marry their aunts, brothers' widows, or sisters of their deceased wife, as the Jews do. (Tirinus) |
| Leviticus 18:30 | Keep my commandments. Do not the things which they have done, that have been before you and be not defiled therein. I am the Lord your God. | |
| Leviticus 19:0 | Divers ordinances, partly moral, partly ceremonial or judicial. | |
| Leviticus 19:1 | The Lord spoke to Moses, *saying: | Year of the World 2514. |
| Leviticus 19:2 | Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them:* Be ye holy, because I, the Lord your God, am holy. Leviticus 11:44.; 1 Peter 1:16. | |
| Leviticus 19:3 | Let every one fear his father and his mother. Keep my sabbaths. I am the Lord your God. | Sabbaths. Both those which occur every week, and extraordinary ones, ver. 30. |
| Leviticus 19:4 | Turn ye not to idols, nor make to yourselves molten gods. I am the Lord your God. | Idols. Hebrew, "vain things." (Calmet) --- Molten, or any other sort of workmanship. (Menochius) |
| Leviticus 19:5 | If ye offer in sacrifice a peace-offering to the Lord, that he may be favourable, | |
| Leviticus 19:6 | You shall eat it on the same day it was offered, and the next day: and whatsoever shall be left until the third day, you shall burn with fire. | |
| Leviticus 19:7 | If after two days any man eat thereof, he shall be profane and guilty of impiety: | Profane. Hebrew, "it shall be defiled." Septuagint, "improper for sacrifice." Aquila, "It shall be rejected." (Calmet) --- So that the person who had offered it, shall become more guilty. (Menochius) |
| Leviticus 19:8 | And shall bear his iniquity, because he hath defiled the holy thing of the Lord, and that soul shall perish from among his people. | |
| Leviticus 19:9 | *When thou reapest the corn of thy land, thou shalt not cut down all that is on the face of the earth to the very ground: nor shalt thou gather the ears that remain. Leviticus 23:22. | Ground. Hebrew and Septuagint, "the extremity of thy field." The Rabbins say, a sixtieth part of all the products of the earth, was to be left for the poor. (Selden, Jur. 6:6.) Thus God teaches his people to exercise themselves in the acts of mercy. (Du Hamel) |
| Leviticus 19:10 | Neither shalt thou gather the bunches and grapes that fall down in thy vineyard, but shalt leave them to the poor and the strangers to take. I am the Lord your God. | Strangers. Septuagint and Syriac, "proselytes," who might dwell in the country. As the soil did not belong to them, great compassion was requisite: otherwise they must have perished, or become slaves. --- Lord; the sole proprietor. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 19:11 | You shall not steal. You shall not lie, neither shall any man deceive his neighbour. | Lie. "When no injury is done to another, it is a great question whether a lie can ever be justified. The case would perhaps be easily decided, if we considered the commandments alone, and not the examples," of those holy men who seem to have sometimes thought it lawful. (St. Augustine, q. 68) But is it not better to allow that these were under an inculpable mistake, than to defend one fault, because it is not attended with the guilt of another, by hurting others? Even lies of jest and of excuse, are contrary to the gravity and open-dealing of a Christian; and God never speaks of lying without marks of disapprobation. (Haydock) --- Hebrew, "you shall not deny, or extenuate yourselves," pretending that you cannot give alms. (Oleaster) |
| Leviticus 19:12 | *Thou shalt not swear falsely by my name, nor profane the name of thy God. I am the Lord. Exodus 20:7. | Profane. No greater indignity can be offered to God, than to solicit Him, as it were, to assist us in doing evil, by attesting falsehood. (Philo) |
| Leviticus 19:13 | *Thou shalt not calumniate thy neighbour, nor oppress him by violence. *The wages of him that hath been hired by thee, shall not abide with thee until the morning. Ecclesiasticus 10:6.; Deuteronomy 24:14.; Tobias 14:15. | Morning. Pay what is due to the labourer, immediately, if he desire it. (Haydock) --- It was customary among the Jews to pay their workmen in the evening, Matthew 20:8. |
| Leviticus 19:14 | Thou shalt not speak evil of the deaf, nor put a stumbling-block before the blind: but thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, because I am the Lord. | Deaf. The word Kophos, used by the Septuagint, means also the dumb, as these defects are generally found in the same person. Nothing can be more base, than to attack those who are unable to defend themselves. Solon forbids anyone "to speak ill of the dead," though he may receive an injury from his children. Those who undermine and ruin the reputation of the absent, are no less to be condemned. |
| Leviticus 19:15 | Thou shalt not do that which is unjust, nor judge unjustly. *Respect not the person of the poor, nor honour the countenance of the mighty. But judge thy neighbour according to justice. Deuteronomy 1:17.; Deuteronomy 16:19.; Proverbs 24:23.; Ecclesiasticus 42:1.; James 2:2. | |
| Leviticus 19:16 | Thou shalt not be a detractor nor a whisperer among people. Thou shalt not stand against the blood of thy neighbour. I am the Lord. | Detracter, whisperer. Hebrew rakil, stands for both these terms. Some translate a parasite, a merchant, vilifying the goods of others to enhance the price of his own; or a spy, seeking to discover and laugh at others' faults. --- Neighbour; accusing him wrongfully, to the danger of his life; or lying in wait for him like an assassin. But strive rather to rescue those who are attacked. Those who neglect this duty, are responsible for the consequences, according to the Jews, (Selden, Jur. 4:3,) and the laws of the Egyptians. (Diodorus 1.) |
| Leviticus 19:17 | *Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart,** but reprove him openly, lest thou incur sin through him. 1 John 2:11.; 1 John 3:14.; Ecclesiasticus 19:13.; Matthew 18:5.; Luke 17:3. | Openly, is not in the Hebrew or other versions. Instead of bearing malice at the heart, we are authorized to demand our right in a legal manner, or to correct in a fraternal matter, the person who may have injured us, lest we incur sin for our neglect, and the offender continue impenitent. Jesus Christ instructs us to do this with as little disturbance as possible, Matthew 18:15. Yet public sins must undergo a public correction, 1 Timothy 5:20. (St. Augustine, ser. 82.) Love should regulate our complaints. (St. Augustine, q. 70.) |
| Leviticus 19:18 | Seek not revenge, nor be mindful of the injury of thy citizens. *Thou shalt love thy friend as thyself. I am the Lord. Matthew 5:43.; Matthew 22:39.; Luke 6:27.; Romans 13:9. | Revenge, by private authority, or out of passion, which the pagans themselves acknowledged was more becoming a brute than a man, ferae est. (Musonias, Sen. de ira 2:32.) --- Citizens. Hebrew, "observe or lie not in wait." Septuagint, "act not with fury against the son of thy people." (Calmet) --- Hebrew notor, means to upbraid when doing a kindness. --- Thy friend. Hebrew rehaka, may denote thy neighbour, or any one with whom we have any thing to do. Thus God orders us to love strangers as ourselves, (ver. 34,) and to help our enemy, Exodus 23:4. The false insinuations of the Jews are fully exploded by Jesus Christ, Matthew 22:39. We must love the offender, but detest the offence. (St. Augustine, contra Faust. 19:24.) If God required his people to exterminate the Chanaanites, he did not authorized them to entertain any personal animosity against their persons, but they were to act as ministers of his justice. "O Lord, (said Philo very justly) we do not rejoice at the misfortune of our enemy, (Flaccus) having learnt from thy holy laws to compassionate the distress of others. But we thank thee for....delivering us from our afflictions." (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 19:19 | Keep ye my laws. Thou shalt not make thy cattle to gender with beasts of any other kind. Thou shalt not sow thy field with different seeds. Thou shalt not wear a garment that is woven of two sorts. | Kind. Mules were therefore either brought from other countries, (3 Kings 10:28,) or they were produced by some of the same species, as, good authors assert, is frequently the case in Syria, Cappadocia, etc. (Pliny, [Natural History?] 8:44.; Pineda) (Tirinus) --- Spencer (Leg. 2:20,) says, without any proof, that this law had a reference to the impure conjunctions of animals, in honour of Venus and of Priapus. --- Different seeds, etc. This law tends to recommend simplicity and plain-dealing in all things; and to teach the people not to join any false worship or heresy with the worship of the true God. (Challoner) --- Draw not the yoke with infidels, 2 Corinthians vi. (Theodoret, q. 27.) These different colours were not in themselves evil, since they were used in the priests' vestments. They insinuate, that we must avoid schisms. (Worthington) --- The sowing of different seeds tends to impoverish the soil. (Pliny, 18:10.) The Egyptians sowed various seeds on a board, covered with fine mould; and, observing which sort was destroyed by the heat of the sun in the dog-days, superstitiously refrained, that year, from sowing any of it, lest it should produce no crop. (Palladius) --- Sorts. The Rabbins say of linen and wool, as Deuteronomy 22:11. They allow other sorts. Josephus ([Aniquities?] 4:8,) supposes, that garments of the former description were thus reserved for the priests alone. The Flamen, among the Romans, could not wear a woollen garment sowed with thread, without committing a sin; piaculum erat, says Servius. These precepts were to be literally observed, though they concealed a moral instruction of the greatest consequence, importing that all unnatural intercourse was to be avoided. Pythagoras conveyed his instructions under similar enigmatical expressions, saying, "we must not stir up the fire with a sword," etc., as Solomon does likewise. (Proverbs 30:15 and Ecclesiasticus 12:3, 6.) (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 19:20 | If a man carnally lie with a woman that is a bond-servant and marriageable, and yet not redeemed with a price, nor made free: they both shall be scourged, and they shall not be put to death, because she was not a free woman. | Marriageable. Hebrew, "promised, or given in marriage." Septuagint, "reserved for another....she shall," etc. Onkelos and the Arabic version suppose also, that the woman alone was to be scourged with leather thongs; a punishment to which the Samaritan copy condemns only the man. The Rabbins agree with the Septuagint. Others translate, "there shall be an enquiry made, or they shall be set free, and shall not die." |
| Leviticus 19:21 | And for his trespass he shall offer a ram to the Lord, at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony: | |
| Leviticus 19:22 | And the priest shall pray for him, and for his sin, before the Lord, and he shall have mercy on him, and the sin shall be forgiven. | Pray. Hebrew and Septuagint, "shall atone for him with the ram of the sin-offering, before the Lord, for his sin." |
| Leviticus 19:23 | When you shall be come into the land, and shall have planted in it fruit-trees, you shall take away the first-fruits of them: the fruit that comes forth shall be unclean to you, neither shall you eat of them. | The first-fruits. Praeputia, literally their fore-skins: it alludes to circumcision, and signifies that for the first three years the trees were to be as uncircumcised, and their fruit unclean; till the fourth year their increase was sanctified and given to the Lord, that is, to the priests. (Challoner) --- In some countries, people take off the buds to strengthen the tree. (Calmet) --- The fruit, during the three first years, is not esteemed so good or wholesome; and therefore, it could not with propriety be presented to God. (Philo de Creatione.) --- Unclean. Hebrew, "three years shall it be as uncircumcised unto you; it shall not be eaten." (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 19:24 | But in the fourth year, all their fruit shall be sanctified, to the praise of the Lord. | Lord. It was to be brought to the holy city, and offered with the other tithes, out of which a feast was made for the poor, etc. (Josephus, [Antiquities?] 4:8.) Besides the first-fruits for the priests, and the tithes for the Levites, out of which they again paid tithes to the priests, there was an annual tithe prescribed, (Deuteronomy 12:12,) to supply a feast for the indigent, etc., at Jerusalem, along with this fruit; and another, every third year, designed for the poor alone (Deuteronomy 14:28,) at the place of each one's abode. (Tirinus) |
| Leviticus 19:25 | And in the fifth year you shall eat the fruits thereof, gathering the increase thereof. I am the Lord your God. | |
| Leviticus 19:26 | You shall not eat with blood. You shall not divine nor observe dreams. | Blood. The flesh of any animal. The blood must belong to God. The members of the Sanhedrim eat nothing on the day that a criminal is executed, supposing that this is the meaning of the precept. The Septuagint read erim, "on the mountains;" and another version has, "on the roof," as if the worship of idols on high places were forbidden. (Haydock) --- Divine. Perhaps by means of "serpents," or "plates of brass," as the Hebrew ness, may insinuate. These methods were known to the ancients. (Horace, Ode 3:37.; Pliny 30:2.) (Calmet) --- Dreams. Hebrew, times. See Galatians 4:10. (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 19:27 | Nor shall you cut your hair round-wise: nor shave your beard. | Cut your hair, etc. This, and other such like things, of themselves indifferent, were forbidden by God, that they might not imitate the Egyptians or other infidels, who practised these things out of superstition, in honour of their false deities. (Challoner) --- The pagans consecrated locks of hair, and their beard, when it was first cut, to Apollo, the river gods, the hours, Esculapius, etc. Some, at Rome, hung the hair on a tree. (Tirinus) --- The Arabians and Macae left only a tuft of hair at the top of their head, in imitation of Bacchus. (Herodotus 3:8.; 4:175.) This tuft is called sisoe by the Septuagint who seem to have alluded o the Hebrew term tsitsith. See Ezechiel 8:3. The ancient scholiast says, this was left in honour of Saturn. It resembled a crown. The same custom was observed by the Syrians, (Lucian) Idumeans, etc. (Jeremias 9:25.) --- Beard. Hebrew, "the angle, or extremity of your beard." These regulations would seem beneath the attention of a lawgiver. But they were made in opposition to some profane customs of the surrounding nations. The Jews still observe this direction, and leave the beard from the ear to the chin, (where they let it grow pretty long) and also two mustaches, or whiskers, on the top lip. The Egyptian mummies have only the beard on the chin. The eyebrows and other hair of the gods and inhabitants of Egypt, were entirely cut off. In mourning the chin was also shaved. God forbids his people to imitate them. (Calmet) --- But heretics need not hence infer, that the tonsure of priests and monks is reprehensible. (Radulph.) --- Superstition and affected delicacy in curling, etc., are to be avoided. (Tirinus) |
| Leviticus 19:28 | You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh, for the dead, neither shall you make in yourselves any figures or marks: I am the Lord. | Dead. Adonis or Osiris; as if you were mourning for them, in which sense the former verse may be explained. At funerals it was customary to cut off the hair. Achilles and his soldiers did so at the death of Patroclus. (Homer) --- The Persians also cut the manes of their horses, to shew their grief for the loss of Masistius, (Herodotus 9:24,) as Alexander did when Hephaestion died. (Plutarch) --- The Egyptians, Assyrians, etc., cut their hair on the like occasions, and the Hebrews did so too; whether they neglected this law, or it was rather designed only to hinder them from joining in a superstitious lamentation for some idol. They also cut their bodies, Genesis l, and Jeremias 41:5. The pagans did so, intending thereby to appease the anger of the infernal deities: ut sanguine....inferis satisfaciant, (Varro, Servius): or to please the deceased. (Plutarch, de consol.) Thus Virgil represents Anna, Aeneid iv.: Unguibus ora soror faedans et pectora pugnis. The Roman and Athenian laws restrained this cruelty of women towards themselves. But in Persia, the children and servants of great men still make an incision upon their arms, when their father or master dies. The women in Greece also observe a solemn mourning, with loud lamentations, tearing their cheeks and hair, and reciting the memorable actions of the deceased. The Christians and Jews of Syria inflict still more dangerous wounds upon themselves. The latter have always esteemed it lawful to adopt the customs of the nations with whom they lived, provided they were not attended with superstition; which makes us conclude, that what Moses here forbids, was done in honour of some idol. --- Marks, made with a hot iron, representing false gods, as if to declare that they would serve them for ever. (Philo) --- The Assyrians had generally such characters upon their bodies. Philopator ordered the converts from the Jewish religion to be marked with ivy, in honour of Bacchus. (3 Macchabees) Theodoret (q. 18,) mentions, that the pagans were accustomed to cut their cheeks, and to prick themselves with needles, infusing some black matter, out of respect for the dead, and for demons. Allusion is made to these customs, Apocalypse 13:16, and Isaias 49:15. Christians have sometimes marked their arms with the cross, or name of Jesus. (Procopius in Isai. 44:5.) (Calmet) --- As St. Jane Frances de Chantal did her breast. (Breviary, August 21.) Nomen pectori insculpsit. St. Paul says, I bear the marks of the Lord Jesus in my body, Galatians 6:17. The Church historians relate, that St. Francis and St. Catharine received miraculously the prints of his wounds. (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 19:29 | Make not thy daughter a common strumpet, lest the land be defiled, and filled with wickedness. | Strumpet, which was done formerly in the honour of idols. "They gave to Venus the prostitutions of their daughters." (St. Augustine, City of God 18:5.) "In Cyprus they lead the unmarried women to the sea-shore, in order to acquire a dowry by these means on certain stated days, as a libation to Venus." (Justin.) --- Such things were common in the East. See Lucian de dea Syr.; Strabo xvi. -- Joel 3:3, reproaches the Jews with prostituting their sons and daughters for bread; for there were also effeminate men among them. (3 Kings 14:24 and 4 Kings 23:7.) See Baruch 6:42 and Osee 4:14. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 19:30 | Keep ye my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary. I am the Lord. | |
| Leviticus 19:31 | Go not aside after wizards, neither ask any thing of soothsayers, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God. | Wizards. Hebrew oboth, denotes familiar spirits, (1 Kings viii.[xxviii.?] 7,) which gave answers from the belly or breast, as from a bottle; whence such wizards are called by the Greeks, engastrimuthoi; and by Sophocles, sternomanteis. (Calmet) --- Soothsayers, are properly those who judge what will happen by inspecting victims. (Menochius) --- Hebrew yiddehonim, means connoisseurs, intelligent people, gnostics, or those who pretend that they can penetrate the secrets naturally impenetrable to the mind of man. Septuagint epaoidoi, "enchanters," who undertake to keep off all misfortunes. "Surely, (says Pliny, 30:1,) to learn this art, (of magic) Pythagoras....and Plato undertook long voyages by sea, or rather went into banishment. This they extolled at their return; this they kept as a secret. Hanc in arcanis habuere." |
| Leviticus 19:32 | Rise up before the hoary head, and honour the person of the aged man: and fear the Lord thy God. I am the Lord. | Aged man. Such are supposed to be possessed of wisdom and experience. The Egyptians and Lacedemonians rose up out of respect to an old man. (Herodotus 2:80.) The Rabbins pretend that a person ought to rise up when the old man is four cubits distant, provided he be, as he ought, a man of wisdom; for otherwise he is entitled to no honour. But this would be making inferiors judges of their merit. The Chaldean, Philo, etc., comprise those "learned in the law," under the name of old men. |
| Leviticus 19:33 | *If a stranger dwell in your land, and abide among you, do not upbraid him : Exodus 22:21. | |
| Leviticus 19:34 | But let him be among you as one of the same country: and you shall love him as yourselves: for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God. | |
| Leviticus 19:35 | Do not any unjust thing in judgment, in rule, in weight, or in measure. | Rule; Hebrew, "taking dimensions" with a yard, tape, etc. |
| Leviticus 19:36 | Let the balance be just, and the weights equal, the bushel just, and the sextary equal. I am the Lord your God, that brought you out of the land of Egypt. | Weights. Hebrew, "stones of justice," for stone weights were formerly used, Proverbs 16:11. --- Bushel, etc. Hebrew, "a just epha, and a just hin." (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 19:37 | Keep all my precepts, and all my judgments, and do them. I am the Lord. | |
| Leviticus 20:0 | Divers crimes to be punished with death. | |
| Leviticus 20:1 | And the Lord spoke to Moses, *saying: | Year of the World 2514. |
| Leviticus 20:2 | Thus shalt thou say to the children of Israel: *If any man of the children of Israel, or of the strangers, that dwell in Israel, give of his seed to the idol Moloch, dying let him die: the people of the land shall stone him. Leviticus 18:21. | Moloch. See Leviticus 18:21. |
| Leviticus 20:3 | And I will set my face against him: and I will cut him off from the midst of his people, because he hath given of his seed to Moloch, and hath defiled my sanctuary, and profaned my holy name. | I will thus execute vengeance upon him by the hands of the people; and, in case they neglect it, or the crime be secret, I will surely punish the guilty person, and all who may have consented to his wickedness, ver. 5. (Haydock) --- Face: Chaldean, "wrath," which manifests itself on the countenance. (Du Hamel) |
| Leviticus 20:4 | And if the people of the land neglecting, and as it were little regarding my commandment, let alone the man that hath given of his seed to Moloch, and will not kill him: | My commandment: Hebrew, "If the people hide their face not to see:" (Calmet) or Septuagint, "look over on purpose, and neglect the man who has given of his seed to the ruler." |
| Leviticus 20:5 | I will set my face against that man, and his kindred, and will cut off both him and all that consented with him, to commit fornication with Moloch, out of the midst of their people. | |
| Leviticus 20:6 | The soul that shall go aside after magicians and soothsayers, and shall commit fornication with them, I will set my face against that soul, and destroy it out of the midst of its people. | Them. To have recourse to them, is to deal with the devil and to commit idolatry. See Leviticus 19:31. |
| Leviticus 20:7 | *Sanctify yourselves, and be ye holy, because I am the Lord your God. 1 Peter 1:16. | |
| Leviticus 20:8 | Keep my precepts, and do them. I am the Lord that sanctify you. | Sanctify you, and order you to keep at a distance from the impure worship of other nations. (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 20:9 | *He that curseth his father or mother, dying let him die: he hath cursed his father, and mother, let his blood be upon him. Exodus 21:17.; Proverbs 20:20.; Matthew 15:4.; Mark 7:10. | Die. The Rabbins say, by being strangled, when nothing farther is added: but if the following addition be made, stoning is understood. But their authority is not of much weight, and is contradicted, ver. 2. Stoning was the most usual method of putting to death in the days of Moses, and is commonly meant; or perhaps the judges might determine the mode of execution. --- Upon him. He deserves to die. He can blame no other. See Matthew 27:25. (Calmet) --- For greater infamy, the person to be stoned or hung, was stripped of his clothes. (Tirinus) --- The punishment of lapidation (ver. 2,) seems to be designed for the following crimes, as it was for adultery, Deuteronomy 22:24. (Menochius) (John 8:5.) |
| Leviticus 20:10 | *If any man commit adultery with the wife of another, and defile his neighbour's wife, let them be put to death, both the adulterer and the adulteress. Deuteronomy 22:22.; John 8:5 | Adulteress. Philo (de Josephus) says, whoever discovered a man in the very act, might kill him; and the Roman law allowed the same liberty, impune necato. But God requires a juridical process, and witnesses, as we see in the case of Susanna, (Daniel xiii.) and in that of the woman who was brought to our Saviour. [John viii.] One witness might authorize a person to put his wife away, and if he then retained her, he was esteemed a fool, Proverbs 18:23. But more witnesses were requisite before she could be put to death. They put their hands on the heads of the guilty, thus taking their blood upon themselves, if they accused them wrongfully. Solon allowed the husband to kill the adulterer. The woman was not permitted to wear any ornaments, or to enter any temple afterwards. If she did, any one might tear her clothes, and beat, but not kill her. |
| Leviticus 20:11 | If a man lie with his stepmother, and discover the nakedness of his father, let them both be put to death: their blood be upon them. | Father. See Leviticus 18:8. It is supposed that the father was dead, otherwise the punishment would probably be greater than for adultery. The Samaritan, "with the wife of his father's brother." (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 20:12 | If any man lie with his daughter-in-law, let both die, because they have done a heinous crime: their blood be upon them. | Crime. Hebrew tebel, "confusion," the same term which is used in speaking of bestiality, (chap. 18:23,) though the latter crime be more enormous. (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 20:13 | If any one lie with a man as with a woman, both have committed an abomination, let them be put to death: their blood be upon them. | |
| Leviticus 20:14 | If any man after marrying the daughter, marry her mother, he hath done a heinous crime: he shall be burnt alive with them: neither shall so great an abomination remain in the midst of you. | Alive, is not in the original; but must be understood. The Rabbins say melted lead was to be poured down the throats of the guilty. The words of Moses seem rather to refer to external fire. (Calmet) --- With them, if they both gave their consent to the crime. (Menochius) |
| Leviticus 20:15 | He that shall copulate with any beast or cattle, dying let him die, the beast also ye shall kill. | The beast also ye shall kill. The killing of the beast was for the greater horror of the crime, and to prevent the remembrance of such abomination. (Challoner) --- The beast was to be killed with clubs; the man was stoned to death. (Jonathan) |
| Leviticus 20:16 | *The woman that shall lie under any beast, shall be killed together with the same: their blood be upon them. Leviticus 18:6.; Leviticus 18:23. | Them. This monstrous abomination, teras, as Herodotus, an eye-witness calls it, was not unknown to the Egyptians. Gunaiki tragos emisgeto; (B. 2:46,) nor to other nations. (Apuleius, Met. 10.) |
| Leviticus 20:17 | If any man take his sister, the daughter of his father, or the daughter of his mother, and see her nakedness, and she behold her brother's shame: they have committed a crime: they shall be slain, in the sight of their people, because they have discovered one another's nakedness, and they shall bear their iniquity. | A crime. Hebrew chesed, commonly signifies an act of piety or goodness, as if Moses intended to insinuate that such marriages were at first lawful. (Thalmud; Selden, Jur. 5:8.) But a softer term is used to denote a great impiety, as the Hebrews say to bless, when they mean to curse, or to blaspheme; (Calmet) and the Greeks call the furies Eumenides, or "the good-natured." --- One another's. Hebrew, "He hath uncovered his sister's," etc. Whether they saw what was indecent or not, if they admitted of any unlawful commerce, they were to be stoned to death. (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 20:18 | If any man lie with a woman in her flowers, and uncover her nakedness, and she open the fountain of her blood, both shall be destroyed out of the midst of their people. | People, if the action become public; otherwise the man may be purified, chap 15:24. This intemperance was by a positive law declared a mortal offence in the Jews, though in itself it might be venial. (Sanchez 9:21.) The text shews that the woman here gives her consent. --- And she open. Hence she deserves to die, for exposing herself and her children to great danger. (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 20:19 | Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy aunt by thy mother, and of thy aunt by thy father: he that doth this, hath uncovered the shame of his own flesh, both shall bear their iniquity. | Flesh, or relation. (Menochius) |
| Leviticus 20:20 | If any man lie with the wife of his uncle by the father, or of his uncle by the mother, and uncover the shame of his near akin, both shall bear their sin: they shall die without children. | Children. The Sadducees read, "they shall die naked." The present Hebrew has simply, "they shall be without children;" their offspring shall be illegitimate. (St. Augustine, q. 76.) God will not bless their marriage. "Such we know can have no children." (St. Gregory, q. 6.; St. Augustine, Apost. Anglorum.) The guilty shall be slain without delay. (Grotius) (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 20:21 | He that marrieth his brother's wife, doth an unlawful thing, he hath uncovered his brother's nakedness: they shall be without children. | |
| Leviticus 20:22 | Keep my laws, and my judgments, and do them; lest the land, into which you are to enter to dwell therein, vomit you also out. | |
| Leviticus 20:23 | Walk not after the laws of the nations, which I will cast out before you; for they have done all these things, and therefore I abhorred them. | |
| Leviticus 20:24 | But to you I say: Possess their land, which I will give you for an inheritance, a land flowing with milk and honey. I am the Lord your God, who have separated you from other people. | Honey. Most fertile and delicious. (Menochius) |
| Leviticus 20:25 | Therefore do you also separate the clean beast from the unclean, and the clean fowl from the unclean: defile not your souls with beasts, or birds, or any things that move on the earth, and which I have shewn you to be unclean. | |
| Leviticus 20:26 | *You shall be holy unto me, because I the Lord am holy, and I have separated you from other people, that you should be mine. 1 Peter 1:16. | Mine. This is the reason of these different prescriptions, that they may know the dignity to which they have been raised, and may avoid the manners of the profane. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 20:27 | *A man, or woman, in whom there is a pythonical or divining spirit, dying let them die: they shall stone them: their blood be upon them. Deuteronomy 18:11.; 1 Kings 28:7. | Spirit. Hebrew ob, means also a bottle. See Leviticus 19:31. If those who consult such people be guilty, the authors of the delusion deserve death still more. (Haydock) --- The spirit of python is no other than the spirit of the devil, or of Apollo, who was called Pythius, on account of his having slain the serpent python. His oracles were in great request, as he was supposed to know the secrets of futurity. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 21:0 | Ordinances relating to the priests. | |
| Leviticus 21:1 | The Lord said also to Moses: *Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and thou shalt say to them: Let not a priest incur an uncleanness at the death of his citizens: | Year of the World 2514. An uncleanness; viz., such as was contracted in laying out the dead body, or touching it; or in going into the house, or assisting at the funeral, etc. (Challoner) --- At the death. Hebrew, "for a soul;" by which name the carcass is here denoted, because it had once been ruled by the soul. (St. Augustine, q. 81.) This law related only to the family of Aaron, when no absolute necessity or near relationship required their attendance. When such offices of charity should be deemed defiling, it is not easy to say. But the ancients generally looked upon them in this light, Leviticus 10:6. Porphyrius enquired of Anebo, why the holy inspector touched not the dead, since in all sacred transactions, the death of animals generally intervenes. We know not the answer of this pretended prophet Egypt; and Jamblicus confesses, that he cannot resolve the difficulty. The Romans placed a branch of cypress before the door where a corpse was lying, lest any priest might see it unthinkingly, and be defiled. (Servius) "At their return from a funeral they sprinkled themselves with water, and passed over fire." (Festus) The Rabbins say, that no one could be buried in Jerusalem, nor in the towns of the Levites, on account of the sanctity of those places, and for fear lest the priests might thus contract some uncleanness. (Calmet) --- To account for all these regulations, we only need to observe that such was the will of God; and here it may surely be said, stat pro ratione voluntas. He might thus intend to exercise their obedience; to keep their minds from being too much depressed by the sight of the dead, and to remind us all that we ought carefully to avoid sin, which kills the soul, and renders us really unclean before God. (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 21:2 | But only for his kin, such as are near in blood, that is to say, for his father and for his mother, and for his son, and for his daughter, for his brother also, | |
| Leviticus 21:3 | And for a maiden sister, who hath had no husband: | Sister, of the same parents. (Vatable) --- Husband; for if she have, he ought to bury his wife, and to mourn for her. To be deprived of these advantages, was then esteemed a great misfortune. |
| Leviticus 21:4 | But not even for the prince of his people, shall he do any thing that may make him unclean. | Prince. Hebrew, "Let not the prince (of the priests, Acts 23:5,) render himself unclean," by attending the funerals of any of the people; or "let not the husband," etc. He may be allowed to attend his wife to the grave: or, as others more probably assert, even this is not permitted. She is not one of the persons privileged, ver. 2, and Ezechiel 44:25. Ezechiel (xxiv. 16,) receives a command not to bewail the death of his wife. The Romans thought their priests would be defiled, by attending the funerals even of their own wives; and Sylla, going to dedicate a temple to Hercules, sent Metella a bill of divorce, and ordered her to be removed from his house, when she was just expiring. (Plutarch) |
| Leviticus 21:5 | *Neither shall they shave their head, nor their beard, nor make incisions in their flesh. Leviticus 19:27.; Ezechiel 44:20. | Flesh. This would indicate an impotent grief, and want of patience. (Haydock) --- They were not allowed to put on the usual signs of mourning, as the common people were, provided they did it not in honour of an idol, Leviticus 19:27. |
| Leviticus 21:6 | They shall be holy to their God, and shall not profane his name: for they offer the burnt-offering of the Lord, and the bread of their God, and therefore they shall be holy. | |
| Leviticus 21:7 | *They shall not take to wife a harlot or a vile prostitute, nor one that has been put away from her husband: because they are consecrated to their God, Leviticus 19:29. | Vile, (ver. 14,) defiled, (sordidam). Hebrew chalala, "a profane woman," (Pagnin) or one of ill-fame; as captives, inn-keepers, are generally esteemed. Zone, means a common prostitute. (Josephus, [Antiquities?] 3:3.) None of these fit matches for the priests. |
| Leviticus 21:8 | And offer the loaves of proposition. Let them therefore be holy, because I also am holy, the Lord, who sanctify them. | And offer. Hebrew addresses this to Moses. "Thou shalt sanctify him, therefore, because he offereth the bread of thy God." |
| Leviticus 21:9 | If the daughter of a priest be taken in whoredom, and dishonour the name of her father, she shall be burnt with fire. | Fire. Provided she be betrothed, and still in her father's house; so that the infamy fall upon him. (Jonathan) --- For if she be with her husband, she must undergo the usual punishment of stoning. Other young women received no corporal punishment for simple fornication: the man was bound to marry them, if the father consented; and, at any rate, he was forced to give them a dowry, Exodus 22:16. (Calmet) --- But if the woman pretended falsely that they were virgins, they were stoned, Deuteronomy 22:20. |
| Leviticus 21:10 | The high priest, that is to say, the priest that is the greatest among his brethren, upon whose head the oil of unction hath been poured, and whose hands have been consecrated for the priesthood, and who hath been vested with the holy vestments, shall not uncover his head, he shall not rend his garments: | Head. Septuagint, "by taking off his cidaris, or tiara." He shall not shave his head, Leviticus 10:6. --- Garments, at funerals, nor the sacred vestments at all. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 21:11 | Nor shall he go in at all to any dead person: not even for his father, or his mother, shall he be defiled. | |
| Leviticus 21:12 | Neither shall he go out of the holy places, lest he defile the sanctuary of the Lord, because the oil of the holy unction of his God is upon him. I am the Lord. | Places. This is to be understood in the same sense. He must not leave his sacred functions to attend any corpse whatever. Having the honour of representing God, and being his first minister on earth, the utmost purity is required of him. Inferior priests may mourn on some occasions; and the Levites are not distinguished, in this respect, from the people; to shew that God requires sanctity in his officers, proportionate to their exaltation. --- Oil. Hebrew, "He is the Nozor; or the crown of the anointing oil of," etc. Joseph has the title of Nazir, (Genesis 49:26,) which is borne by the prime ministers of the Eastern kings. Such is the high priest in the temple. Let Christian priests hence learn what sanctity will be required of them. But why is the pontiff forbidden to bury his father, since he obtains that dignity after his decease. St. Augustine (q. 83,) answers, that he was to be consecrated immediately after, that he might offer incense. Another might, however, perform that office. On some occasions, the high priest was deposed, or the dignity transferred to another family. Infirmities might also hinder him from performing the duty. (Calmet) --- Priests must be detached, as much as possible, from all things which might divert them from their sacred offices. The greatest holiness is required of those who receive the body of Jesus Christ. (Du Hamel) |
| Leviticus 21:13 | *He shall take a virgin unto his wife: Ezechiel 44:22. | Wife. Josephus says he could not divorce her. The Rabbins allow him only one wife at a time. It is said that Joiada had two. But that might be successively; and it is not certain that he was the high priest; (2 Paralipomenon 24:3.; Calmet) though he has that title in the Vulgate, 2 Paralipomenon 22:11. (Haydock) --- His wife must be an Isrealite. The Septuagint intimates, "of his own race." But this is denied by others. He could not marry his brother's widow, (Selden) nor a girl under twelve and a half. "The Egyptian priests marry only one, while others have as many wives as they please." (Diodorus I.) (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 21:14 | But a widow or one that is divorced, or defiled, or a harlot, he shall not take, but a maid of his own people : | Widow. Other priests might marry the widows of their fellow priests, Ezechiel 44:22. |
| Leviticus 21:15 | He shall not mingle the stock of his kindred with the common people of his nation: for I am the Lord who sanctify him. | Nation. The wife of the high priest must be of noble birth, that he may speak to kings and princes with more authority. (Menochius) --- Hebrew, "he shall not defile his race," etc., by marrying one of another nation, or contrary to law. If he do, the children shall have no share in the priesthood. |
| Leviticus 21:16 | And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: | |
| Leviticus 21:17 | Say to Aaron: Whosoever of thy seed throughout their families, hath a blemish, he shall not offer bread to his God, | A blemish. These corporal defects or deformities, which disqualified the priests from officiating in the old law, were figures of the vices which priests are to beware of in the new law. (St. Gregory, Cura pastorum.) (Challoner) --- The Rabbins reckon 140 blemishes on which the Sanhedrim had to pass sentence. They also require in the high priest superior beauty, strength, riches, and wisdom. |
| Leviticus 21:18 | Neither shall he approach to minister to him: If he be blind, if he be lame, if he have a little, or a great, or a crooked nose, | Nose. Hebrew, "a flat nose, or any thing superfluous." Septuagint, "the nose, (hand) or ears slit." This verse rejects those whose members are too large, as the next does those who have them too small. |
| Leviticus 21:19 | If his foot, or if his hand be broken, | |
| Leviticus 21:20 | If he be crook-backed, or blear-eyed, or have a pearl in his eye, or a continual scab, or a dry scurf in his body, or a rupture: | Eyed. Hebrew dak, may denote "a dwarf." Syriac, or something very thin, Exodus 16:14. --- Pearl, (albuginem) whiteness. --- Rupture, (herniosus). One perhaps troubled with the stone, (Menochius) whose testicles have been bruised, (Onkelos) or who has only one (Septuagint and Syriac). |
| Leviticus 21:21 | Whosoever of the seed of Aaron the priest hath a blemish, he shall not approach to offer sacrifices to the Lord, nor bread to his God. | |
| Leviticus 21:22 | He shall eat nevertheless of the loaves that are offered in the sanctuary, | |
| Leviticus 21:23 | Yet so that he enter not within the veil, nor approach to the altar, because he hath a blemish, and he must not defile my sanctuary. I am the Lord who sanctify them. | Veil, which separates the sanctuary from the court. The Athenians chose the most handsome man ot be the king of ceremonies; and the people of Eli appointed such only to carry the sacred vessels, etc. (Atheneus 13:2.) (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 21:24 | Moses therefore spoke to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all Israel, all the things that had been commanded him. | |
| Leviticus 22:0 | Who may eat the holy things: and what things may be offered. | |
| Leviticus 22:1 | And the Lord spoke to Moses, *saying: | Year of the World 2514. |
| Leviticus 22:2 | Speak to Aaron and to his sons, that they beware of those things that are consecrated of the children of Israel, and defile not the name of the things sanctified to me, which they offer. I am the Lord. | Offer. He does not speak of such things as fell to the share of the priests; (Menochius) but orders them to behave with great reverence when they perform their sacred offices, lest others should take occasion to treat the name of God and holy things with disrespect. Hebrew and Septuagint, "let them not profane my holy name, which they are bound to sanctify; or in what they consecrate to me." Such things must not be used for ordinary purposes. (St. Basil, ser. de Bapt. 2:2, and 3.) |
| Leviticus 22:3 | Say to them, and to their posterity: Every man of your race, that approacheth to those things that are consecrated, and which the children of Israel have offered to the Lord, in whom there is uncleanness, shall perish before the Lord. I am the Lord. | Approacheth, etc. This is to give us to understand, with what purity of soul we are to approach to the blessed sacrament, of which these meats that had been offered in sacrifice were a figure. (Challoner) --- Such as were unclean, either fasted till the evening, or ate unconsecrated meats till they were purified. --- Perish. The Rabbins say, by the hands of the other priests. The judges could only condemn him to be whipped. If his crime were secret, the punishment was left to God. (Selden, syn. 2:1.) |
| Leviticus 22:4 | The man of the seed of Aaron, that is a leper, or that suffereth a running of the seed, shall not eat of those things that are sanctified to me, until he be healed. He that toucheth any thing unclean by occasion of the dead, and he whose seed goeth from him as in generation, | And he, etc. Hence it is plain, even the Jewish priests were bound to observe continence during the time of their ministry. (Calmet) --- For the same reason, the priests of the new law, who may be called at any time to perform their more sacred functions, engage voluntarily in the state of perpetual celibacy. (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 22:5 | And he that toucheth a creeping thing, or any unclean thing, the touching of which is defiling, | Or any. Hebrew, "or a man who may contaminate," as lepers, etc. (Menochius) |
| Leviticus 22:6 | Shall be unclean until the evening, and shall not eat those things that are sanctified: but when he hath washed his flesh with water, | |
| Leviticus 22:7 | And the sun is down, then being purified, he shall eat of the sanctified things, because it is his meat. | |
| Leviticus 22:8 | *That which dieth of itself, and that which was taken by a beast, they shall not eat, nor be defiled therewith. I am the Lord. Leviticus 17:5.; Exodus 22:31.; Deuteronomy 14:21.; Ezechiel 44:13. | That. See Leviticus 17:15. |
| Leviticus 22:9 | Let them keep my precepts, that they may not fall into sin, and die in the sanctuary, when they shall have defiled it. I am the Lord who sanctify them. | In the sanctuary, is not found in Hebrew which is difficult to explain. "They shall observe my precepts, (or "watches," entering upon the ministry at 17; Josephus; Menochius) and not bear sin for it, and die in it, because they have profaned it;" which it, may be understood either of the consecrated food, (ver. 7,) or of the sanctuary. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 22:10 | No stranger shall eat of the sanctified things: a sojourner of the priest's, or a hired servant, shall not eat of them. | Sojourner. "Guest," or friend, Syriac. None but priests could taste this meat, except they were going to remain in the family for ever. Hence servants and slaves of the Jewish nation, who would one day regain their liberty, are excluded. |
| Leviticus 22:11 | But he whom the priest hath bought, and he that is his servant, born in his house, these shall eat of them. | |
| Leviticus 22:12 | If the daughter of a priest be married to any of the people, she shall not eat of those things that are sanctified, nor of the first-fruits. | |
| Leviticus 22:13 | But if she be a widow, or divorced, and having no children return to her father's house, she shall eat of her father's meats, as she was wont to do when she was a maid; no stranger hath leave to eat of them. | Children. If she had any, she remained with them. (Philo, Monar. 2.) |
| Leviticus 22:14 | He that eateth of the sanctified things through ignorance, shall add the fifth part with that which he ate, and shall give it to the priest into the sanctuary. | He. A layman, who, through mistake, ate of any of the tithes, etc., was obliged to give the capital, and a fifth part besides, with a sacrifice, mentioned [in] Leviticus 5:15. --- Sanctuary. Hebrew and Septuagint, "He shall give to the priest the holy thing." But if he ate it on purpose, he was to be slain, Numbers 15:30. |
| Leviticus 22:15 | And they shall not profane the sanctified things of the children of Israel, which they offer to the Lord; | They; the common people shall not profane, by touching them afterwards, or by retaining any part. (Calmet) --- The priests shall answer for the profanation, if it be committed through their neglect. (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 22:16 | Lest perhaps they bear the iniquity of their trespass, when they shall have eaten the sanctified things. I am the Lord who sanctify them. | |
| Leviticus 22:17 | And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: | |
| Leviticus 22:18 | Speak to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them: The man of the house of Israel, and of the strangers who dwell with you, that offereth his oblation, either paying his vows, or offering of his own accord, whatsoever it be which he presenteth for a holocaust of the Lord, | Strangers: proselytes of justice, or converts of the Jewish religion. See ver. 25. |
| Leviticus 22:19 | To be offered by you, it shall be a male without blemish, of the beeves, or of the sheep, or of the goats. | Without blemish. To teach us to aim at perfection in all our offerings and performances. |
| Leviticus 22:20 | If it have a blemish, you shall not offer it, neither shall it be acceptable. | |
| Leviticus 22:21 | *The man that offereth a victim of peace-offerings to the Lord, either paying his vows, or offering of his own accord, whether of beeves or of sheep, shall offer it without blemish that it may be acceptable: there shall be no blemish in it. Deuteronomy 15:21.; Ecclesiasticus 35:14. | |
| Leviticus 22:22 | If it be blind, or broken, or have a scar or blisters, or a scab, or a dry scurf: you shall not offer them to the Lord, nor burn any thing of them upon the Lord's altar. | Scar. Septuagint, "If its tongue be cut out, or slit." which was a blemish among the heathens. (Servius in Aeneid vi.; lectas de more bidentes.) They also required the victims to be perfect. The Egyptians had officers called Sealers, who were directed by many books how to choose the proper victims. The Hebrew priests had to examine such as were offered to them, with the utmost nicety. See the Misna of Babylon. The idea of God's perfection, has taught all nations to present to Him nothing but what is perfect, particularly when they offer victims. |
| Leviticus 22:23 | An ox or a sheep, that hath the ear and the tail cut off, thou mayst offer voluntarily: but a vow may not be paid with them. | Ear....cut. Hebrew saruang, which is translated a crooked nose, Leviticus 21:18. The Septuagint and Syriac agree here with the Vulgate: but the moderns generally adopt the interpretation of the Rabbins, who say the word is applied to those animals whose double members, feet, ears, etc., are disproportionately long; as kolut, means too short. (Bochart) (Calmet) --- Voluntarily, for the use of the priests, but not for any sacrifice, ver. 21. (Du Hamel) |
| Leviticus 22:24 | You shall not offer to the Lord any beast that hath the testicles bruised or crushed, or cut and taken away: neither shall you do any such thing in your land. | Bruised. Hebrew does not specify what part, no more than the Syriac or Arabic versions; but the Septuagint, Chaldean, Rabbins, and most commentators agree with us. --- Do any, etc. (faciatis.) You shall not sacrifice (Syriac) any thing that is rendered unfit to propagate its kind: neither shall you reduce either man or beast to that condition. (Josephus, contra Apion ii.; Rabbins) |
| Leviticus 22:25 | You shall not offer bread to your God, from the hand of a stranger, nor any other thing that he would give: because they are all corrupted, and defiled: you shall not receive them. | Bread, which always accompanies the sacrifices for sin. Holocausts might be offered by the Gentiles. (2 Machabees 3:3.; 1 Esdras 6:9.) (Josephus, Antiquities 18:7.; Selden, Jur. 3:4, 7.) --- Them. To reconcile this with ver. 18, we must understand because in the sense of in as much as; they are all corrupted, when contrary to these regulations. The strangers shall not be allowed to offer any blemished victim. Hebrew, "Neither from the hand of a stranger shall you offer the bread (or victims) of your God of any of these; because....blemishes are in them: they shall not be accepted (by God) for you (or them)." The Chaldean and other versions explain it in the same sense. Presents of gold, etc., were accepted, and kept in the temple. The family of Augustus shewed their generosity in this respect. (Philo, Legat.) (Calmet) --- Strangers, or pagans, could not offer victims, but they might give money to purchase them. (Tirinus) |
| Leviticus 22:26 | And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: | |
| Leviticus 22:27 | When a bullock, or a sheep, or a goat, is brought forth, they shall be seven days under the udder of their dam: but the eighth day, and thenceforth, they may be offered to the Lord. | Lord. In this and the following verses, we are taught a lesson of humanity. (Tertullian) --- The Romans did not offer sheep or goats till they were eight days old: though the Jews were at liberty to sacrifice them after that term, they generally waited till they were thirty days old. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 22:28 | Whether it be a cow, or a sheep, they shall not be sacrificed the same day with their young ones. | |
| Leviticus 22:29 | If you immolate a victim for thanksgiving to the Lord, that he may be favourable, | |
| Leviticus 22:30 | You shall eat it the same day, there shall not any of it remain until the morning of the next day. I am the Lord. | |
| Leviticus 22:31 | Keep my commandments, and do them. I am the Lord. | |
| Leviticus 22:32 | Profane not my holy name, that I may be sanctified in the midst of the children of Israel. I am the Lord who sanctify you, | |
| Leviticus 22:33 | And who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that I might be your God: I am the Lord. | |
| Leviticus 23:0 | Holy-days to be kept. | |
| Leviticus 23:1 | And the Lord spoke to Moses, *saying: | Year of the World 2514. |
| Leviticus 23:2 | Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them: These are the feasts of the Lord, which you shall call holy. | Holy. The Hebrew, Chaldean, and Septuagint add, "and meet together; or, these are my feasts of assembly." On these days the people were called together to hear the word of God, etc. (Menochius) |
| Leviticus 23:3 | Six days shall ye do work: the seventh day, because it is the rest of the sabbath, shall be called holy. You shall do no work on that day: it is the sabbath of the Lord in all your habitations. | Sabbath. Hebrew, "the rest of rest;" a day in which no unnecessary servile work must be done, no more than on the great holidays, ver. 6, 8. (Haydock) --- Called holy, because it shall be really so: in which sense the word is often used, Isaias 9:6, etc. --- Day; you must not even dress meat, which was also forbidden on the day of expiation. --- Lord, on which he ceased from work, and which you must keep in his honour. --- Habitations. In the temple, the priests were intent upon sacrificing, which was indeed a material, but not a formal, violation of the sabbath, Matthew 12:5. |
| Leviticus 23:4 | These also are the holy-days of the Lord, which you must celebrate in their seasons. | |
| Leviticus 23:5 | *The first month, the fourteenth day of the month at evening, is the Phase of the Lord: Exodus 12:18.; Numbers 28:16. | |
| Leviticus 23:6 | And the fifteenth day of the same month, is the solemnity of the unleavened bread of the Lord. Seven days shall you eat unleavened bread. | Bread. The obligation of eating none but this sort of bread began at the second evening of the 14th, which was the beginning of the 15th of Nisan, Exodus 12:6, 12. (Menochius) |
| Leviticus 23:7 | The first day shall be most solemn unto you, and holy: you shall do no servile work therein: | |
| Leviticus 23:8 | But you shall offer sacrifice in fire to the Lord seven days. And the seventh day shall be more solemn, and more holy: and you shall do no servile work therein. | In fire. Septuagint, "holocausts," extraordinary ones, besides the daily burnt-offerings, Numbers 28:19. --- More holy than the five intermediate days, on which servile work was allowed. In this and the former verse, more and most are not specified in the Hebrew and Septuagint. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 23:9 | And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: | |
| Leviticus 23:10 | Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them: When you shall have entered into the land which I will give you, and shall reap your corn, you shall bring sheaves of ears, the first-fruits of your harvest, to the priest: | Land of Chanaan, at which time these feasts began to be observed. (Menochius) See Leviticus 2:14. --- Before the harvest commenced, first-fruits were offered to the Lord. A gomer containing about three pints of barley was given to the priests, by the nation at large, as each individual was not bound to make a particular solemn offering. The judges deputed three men to gather this barley on the evening of the 15th [of] Nisan, where the neighbourhood assembled near Jerusalem. It was gathered by them in three different fields, after having been thrice assured that the sun was set, and that they had leave to reap, in answer to their triple demands on each head. Then they placed the ears in three boxes, which they brought to the court of the sanctuary, and having ground the barley, and poured a log of oil and an handful of incense upon it, presented it to the priest, who heaving it in the form of a cross, threw as much as he could hold in his hand upon the altar, and kept the rest for himself. (Josephus, [Antiquities?] 3:10; etc. Private people offered also in kind or in money their first-fruits, or between the 40th and the 60th part of what their land produced. This custom is almost as ancient as the world, (Genesis 4:3,) and we may say that it forms a part of natural religion, which all nations have observed. Porphyrius esteems it an impiety to neglect it. He says that the Thoes, living on the borders of Thrace, were in a moment destroyed, because they offered neither sacrifices nor first-fruits. (De Abstin. 2:7.) The ancient Romans and Greeks were very punctual in this respect. (Pliny, 18:20.) Those officers who collected the first-fruits among the latter were styled Parasites. Many of the festivals among the heathens, occurred at the end of harvest. (Aristotle, ad Nicom. viii.) The Jews might reap their wheat, but they could not taste it, before they had offered the first-fruits, at Pentecost. (Chap. 23:17; Exodus 23:16.) --- Of ears. Hebrew homer, or gomer, "a sheaf," denotes also a measure, which was called an assaron, containing almost three pints. |
| Leviticus 23:11 | Who shall lift up the sheaf before the Lord, the next day after the sabbath, that it may be acceptable for you, and shall sanctify it. | Sabbath. Onkelos has "the good day," from which the 50 days of Pentecost were counted. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 23:12 | And on the same day that the sheaf is consecrated, a lamb without blemish, of the first year, shall be killed for a holocaust of the Lord. | |
| Leviticus 23:13 | And the libations shall be offered with it, two tenths of flour tempered with oil, for a burnt-offering of the Lord, and a most sweet odour: libations also of wine, the fourth part of a hin. | |
| Leviticus 23:14 | You shall not eat either bread, or parched corn, or frumenty of the harvest, until the day that you shall offer thereof to your God. It is a precept for ever throughout your generations, and all your dwellings. | Corn (polentam). Some translate bruised corn, or a sort of cake. See Leviticus 2:4. --- Dwellings, even out of the holy land, which was peculiar to this law. (Grotius) |
| Leviticus 23:15 | *You shall count therefore from the morrow after the sabbath, wherein you offered the sheaf of the first-fruits, seven full weeks, Deuteronomy 16:9. | Sabbath. Not the ninth day of the week, but the first day of the Passover; from the morrow of which seven weeks or 49 days were reckoned; and the next day was Pentecost. (Menochius) --- They began, therefore, to count on the 16th of Nisan, and end on the 6th of the third month Sivan. All the intermediate days took their denomination from this second day of the Passover; so that the next Saturday was called the first sabbath after the second day; in Greek Deuteroproton, the second-first; (Luke 6:1,) a term which had puzzled all the interpreters until Jos. Scaliger made this discovery. (Emend. vi.) The Samaritans count from the day after that sabbath which follows the Passover; so that if the festival fall on Monday, they celebrate Pentecost later than the Jews. See their Letter to Huntington. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 23:16 | Even unto the morrow after the seventh week be expired, that is to say, fifty days, and so you shall offer a new sacrifice to the Lord. | Sacrifice. Hebrew mincha, which relates to the offerings of corn and liquors. Two loaves of wheaten flour leavened, were presented probably by the nation. This festival was instituted in memory of the law being given from Mount Sinai, which was a figure of the law of grace promulgated by the Holy Ghost and by the apostles, on the day of Pentecost. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 23:17 | Out of all your dwellings, two loaves of the first-fruits, of two tenths of flour leavened, which you shall bake for the first-fruits of the Lord. | Loaves. The Protestants supply wave loaves, (Haydock) though their Hebrew text has nothing. The Samaritan is more correct. (Houbigant) |
| Leviticus 23:18 | And you shall offer with the loaves seven lambs without blemish of the first year, and one calf from the herd, and two rams, and they shall be for a holocaust with their libations, for a most sweet odour to the Lord. | Lambs. More were prescribed, Numbers 28:27. Josephus joins all together. ([Antiquities?] B. 3:10.) |
| Leviticus 23:19 | You shall offer also a buck-goat for sin, and two lambs of the first year, for sacrifices of peace-offerings. | |
| Leviticus 23:20 | And when the priest hath lifted them up with the loaves of the first-fruits before the Lord, they shall fall to his use. | Use. None of the peace-offerings were burnt upon the altar, as the bread was leavened. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 23:21 | And you shall call this day most solemn, and most holy. You shall do no servile work therein. It shall be an everlasting ordinance in all your dwellings and generations. | Most holy. Hebrew, "a holy convocation." (Haydock) --- It is generally supposed that it had an octave, though the Scripture says nothing of it. |
| Leviticus 23:22 | *And when you reap the corn of your land, you shall not cut it to the very ground: neither shall you gather the ears that remain: but you shall leave them for the poor and for the strangers. I am the Lord your God. Leviticus 19:9. | |
| Leviticus 23:23 | And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: | |
| Leviticus 23:24 | *Say to the children of Israel: The seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall keep a sabbath, a memorial, with the sound of trumpets, and it shall be called holy. Numbers 29:1. | Memorial, or a memorable sabbath. This third great festival sanctified the commencement of the civil year in Tisri, the sabbatical month, according to the ecclesiastical calculation. (Tirinus) See Numbers 29:3. --- The sound of trumpets, which ushered in the year with great solemnity, reminded the Jews of the approaching fast, ver. 27, (Maimonides) and of those terrible sounds which had been heard at Sinai. (Theodoret, q. 32.) The Rabbins say that a ram's horn was used, because Abraham had sacrificed a ram instead of his son. (Genesis 22:11.; Zacharias 9:14.) The Jews on this day sound the horn 30 times, feast, and wish one another a happy year. (Boxtorf, xyn. xix.) We know not on what account this festival was instituted. But it was probably ordained in order that the people might learn to thank God for the favours received during the past year, and might beg his blessing on that, upon which they were now entering. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 23:25 | You shall do no servile work therein, and you shall offer a holocaust to the Lord. | |
| Leviticus 23:26 | And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: | |
| Leviticus 23:27 | *Upon the tenth day of this seventh month shall be the day of atonement, it shall be most solemn, and shall be called holy: and you shall afflict your souls on that day, and shall offer a holocaust to the Lord. Leviticus 16:29.; Numbers 29:7. | |
| Leviticus 23:28 | You shall do no servile work in the time of this day: because it is a day of propitiation, that the Lord your God may be merciful unto you. | Servile is not in the original, or in the other versions, nor in the Vulgate, ver. 30; whence it is inferred, that this day of atonement was to be kept like the sabbath: so that even meat could not be made ready on it lawfully, Leviticus 16:29. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 23:29 | Every soul that is not afflicted on this day, shall perish from among his people: | Every. It was difficult for any grown-up person to be entirely guiltless, amid such a variety of precepts, (Menochius) which St. Peter says neither they nor their fathers could bear, Acts 15:10: and St. James (iii.) observes, in many things we all offend. If any proved so happy as to keep without blame, (Luke 1:6.; Haydock) they were bound, at least, to grieve for the injury done to God by their fellow-members. See Daniel 9:5. (Menochius) |
| Leviticus 23:30 | And every soul that shall do any work, the same will I destroy from among his people. | |
| Leviticus 23:31 | You shall do no work therefore on that day: it shall be an everlasting ordinance unto you in all your generations, and dwellings. | |
| Leviticus 23:32 | It is a sabbath of rest, and you shall afflict your souls, beginning on the ninth day of the month: from evening until evening you shall celebrate your sabbaths. | Sabbaths. The Church adopts this custom in her divine office. The Jewish day began and ended with sun-set, Exodus 12:6. (Calmet) --- No part of the ninth of Tisri belonged to this feast, (ver. 27,) which only began at the expiration of it. (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 23:33 | And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: | |
| Leviticus 23:34 | Say to the children of Israel: From the fifteenth day of this same seventh month, shall be kept the feast of tabernacles seven days to the Lord. | Seven days, during which the people were bound to rejoice, but not to abstain from servile work; except on the first and eighth day. (Tirinus) --- Tabernacles: Greek Scenopegia; because, during the octave, the Jews lived in tents, or booths, made of branches, etc., ver. 42. |
| Leviticus 23:35 | *The first day shall be called most solemn and most holy: you shall do no servile work therein. And seven days you shall offer holocausts to the Lord. John 7:37. | |
| Leviticus 23:36 | The eighth day also shall be most solemn and most holy, and you shall offer holocausts to the Lord: for it is the day of assembly and congregation: you shall do no servile work therein. | Most holy. Hebrew, "an holy assembly." The great day of the festivity, John 7:37. --- Congregation. Hebrew hatsereth, "retention." All were bound to wait till this day was over. In other festivals, it was sufficient if they were present one day. This was the concluding day of the feast of tabernacles. Septuagint exodion. Plutarch (Sym. 4:5.) observes, that this festival greatly resembles that of Bacchus. Ovid (Fast. iii.) speaking of the feast of Anna Perenna, describes it thus: Sub Jove pars durat, pauci tentoria ponunt, Sub quibus e ramis frondea facta casa est. Casaubon (on Athen. 4:9. and 5:5.) mentions other feasts, on which the pagans dwelt under tents. The devil has caused his slaves to imitate most of the holy ceremonies of the true religion. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 23:37 | These are the feasts of the Lord, which you shall call most solemn and most holy, and shall offer on them oblations to the Lord, holocausts and libations according to the rite of every day. | |
| Leviticus 23:38 | Besides the sabbaths of the Lord, and your gifts, and those things that you shall offer by vow, or which you shall give to the Lord voluntarily. | |
| Leviticus 23:39 | So from the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you shall have gathered in all the fruits of your land, you shall celebrate the feast of the Lord seven days: on the first day and the eighth shall be a sabbath, that is, a day of rest. | Eighth. On the feast of the Passover, the 7th day after the 15th was kept holy, because the 14th, or the Phase, made also a part of the solemnity, ver. 5, 8. (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 23:40 | And you shall take to you on the first day, the fruits of the fairest tree, and branches of palm trees, and boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God. | Fairest tree, branches of the orange or citron tree, laden with blossoms and fruit. (Tirinus) --- Josephus ([Antiquities?] 3:10,) says, they took branches of myrtle, willows, and palm trees, on which they fixed oranges. This is the fruit which the Hebrews generally understand to be hereby designated. In the same sense the Arabic and Syriac translate "golden apples." --- Thick trees, of any species; though Josephus, etc., restrain it to the myrtle, which was certainly used on this occasion, 2 Esdras 8:12. --- Willows. Septuagint adds also, "branches of agnus from the torrent." Perhaps Moses only meant, that these branches should be used in forming the tents; but the Jews hold them in their hands, while they go in solemn procession round the pulpit in their synagogues, during every day of the octave, before breakfast, crying out Ana hosiah na, etc., "Save us we beseech thee, O Lord; we beseech thee, grant us good success." They gave the title of hosannah to those branches; in allusion to which, the children sung in honour of Jesus Christ, Hosanna to the Son of David. --- Rejoice; dancing and singing before the altar of holocausts, 2 Kings 6:14. The wisdom of God shines forth, in thus attaching to his worship a carnal people, by intermingling with the most solemn ceremonies some relaxation and pleasure. By calling them together so often in the year, they became also better acquainted with one another, and more in love with their religion and country. The ancient lawgivers entertained the like sentiments. (Seneca, Strabo x.) But the pagans generally carried these diversions to excess. (Calmet) --- In this chapter we find six festivals specified: 1. sabbath; 2. Passover; 3. Pentecost; 4. trumpets; 5. expiation; 6. tabernacles, lasting till the octave day of assembly and collection. These three last were celebrated in the 7th month, the 1st of the civil year. There was also a feast on all the new moons, Numbers 28:11. (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 23:41 | And you shall keep the solemnity thereof seven days in the year. It shall be an everlasting ordinance in your generations. In the seventh month shall you celebrate this feast, | |
| Leviticus 23:42 | And you shall dwell in bowers seven days: every one that is of the race of Israel, shall dwell in tabernacles: | Days. Tostatus affirms they might pass the nights in their houses; but most people suppose, the Jews spent the whole octave in bowers. |
| Leviticus 23:43 | That your posterity may know, that I made the children of Israel to dwell in tabernacles, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God. | |
| Leviticus 23:44 | And Moses spoke concerning the feasts of the Lord to the children of Israel. | Feasts. In the institution of these feasts, as in the other regulations of Moses, there was something ceremonial, which might be altered, and something moral, which regards even those times when the Jewish religion was to cease. (St. Augustine, q. 43.) --- Hence we must conclude, that the obligation of keeping certain days holy, must always remain. But those appointed for the Jews, as they foretold the future Messias, must be changed, lest otherwise we might seem to confess that he is still to come. (Romans xiv.; Galatians iv.; Colossians ii.) We are not therefore allowed to Judaize abstaining from work on the Jewish sabbath, (Council of Laodicea,) as Antichrist will require. (St. Gregory, ep. 11:3.) --- But we must keep Sunday instead, (as even Protestants maintain, though there be no Scripture for it) by authority of tradition, in memory of Christ's resurrection, etc. (St. Jerome, ep. ad Hed. ib.[ibid.?, St. Gregory, ep. 11:3.?]; St. Augustine, de C.[City of God?] 22:30.) So also we observe the Christian festivals, in honour of our Lord and his saints, instead of those which God appointed for the Jews, either by himself or by his ministers: for we find that some were instituted after the time of Moses, (Esther ix., and 1 Machabees iv.) and these were sanctioned by the observance of Christ himself, It was the feast of the dedication, and Jesus walked in the temple, etc., John 10:22-23. (Worthington) |
| Leviticus 24:0 | The oil for the lamps. The loaves of proposition. The punishment of blasphemy. | |
| Leviticus 24:1 | And the Lord spoke to Moses, *saying: | Year of the World 2514. |
| Leviticus 24:2 | Command the children of Israel, that they bring unto thee the finest and clearest oil of olives, to furnish the lamps continually, | Command. It is probable that this order was given while Beseleel was working at the tabernacle. (Calmet) --- The people were to furnish the necessary sacrifices, etc., by the half sicle, Exodus 30:13, and by voluntary contributions on the three great festivals, on which no one was to appear empty-handed, Exodus 23:15. Some chose to put their contributions towards the temple in the treasury, Luke 21:1. --- Oil: Hebrew, "pure oil of the olive beaten, for light to," etc. |
| Leviticus 24:3 | Without the veil of the testimony in the tabernacle of the covenant. And Aaron shall set them from evening until morning before the Lord, by a perpetual service, and rite in your generations. | |
| Leviticus 24:4 | They shall be set upon the most pure candlestick before the Lord continually. | |
| Leviticus 24:5 | Thou shalt take also fine flour, and shalt bake twelve loaves thereof, two tenths shall be in every loaf : | Bake. The family of Caath had to perform this office, 1 Paralipomenon 9:32, and 23:29. (Menochius) --- [Ver. 7.] Incense. Septuagint add, "salt." Villalpend also places wine on the table. (B. 4:57.) --- Memorial for the Lord to bless his people, and for them to make their oblations to him as to the living God, from whom all blessings are derived. (Haydock) --- The incense was burnt instead of the bread, when fresh loaves were placed there. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 24:6 | And thou shalt set them six and six, one against another, upon the most clean table before the Lord: | |
| Leviticus 24:7 | And thou shalt put upon them the clearest frankincense, that the bread may be for a memorial of the oblation of the Lord. | |
| Leviticus 24:8 | Every sabbath they shall be changed before the Lord, being received of the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant: | Of the, etc. The Israelites gave a sufficient maintenance to the ministers of religion, out of which these provided the loaves; as St. Jerome testifies, Malachias 1. |
| Leviticus 24:9 | And they shall be Aaron's and his sons', that they may eat them in the holy place: because it is most holy of the sacrifices of the Lord, by a perpetual rite. | |
| Leviticus 24:10 | And behold there went out the son of a woman of Israel, whom she had of an Egyptian, among the children of Israel, and fell at words in the camp with a man of Israel. | Egyptian. Many of these came out along with the Hebrews, Exodus 12:38. |
| Leviticus 24:11 | And when he had blasphemed the Name, and had cursed it, he was brought to Moses: (now his mother was called Salumith, the daughter of Dabri, of the tribe of Dan:) | The Name. Some Latin copies add, "of God;" but the best omit it, with the Hebrew, etc. This is, however, the meaning. (Calmet) --- The son of Salumith being in a rage, cursed that sacred name; (ver. 15,) and, as he perhaps had attempted to vent his fury upon whatever came in his way, God here reiterates the laws against murder, etc., ver. 17. The Jews are so much afraid of taking the name of God (Yehovah) in vain, that they have for a long time abstained from pronouncing it at all; (Haydock) and here they have probably omitted it on purpose. (Houbigant) But this seems to border upon superstition, is contrary to the design of God, who revealed that august name, and inserted it very frequently in the holy Bible, and in the very prayer, which the senators have to recite; (Deuteronomy 21:8,) and, can any one suppose, that he would not have them pronounce it, even in their solemn devotions? Many of the Rabbins suppose, that blasphemy is not to be punished with death, if any other name of God be used: but others are more reasonable. Our Saviour was not accused by the Jews of transgressing, in this respect, when they condemned him as guilty of blasphemy, Matthew 26:64. The name of God, is often used in the same sense as we use the words majesty, lordship, etc., as being more emphatical, and dignified. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 24:12 | And they put him into prison, till they might know what the Lord would command. | |
| Leviticus 24:13 | And the Lord spoke to Moses, | |
| Leviticus 24:14 | Saying: Bring forth the blasphemer without the camp, and let them that heard him, put their hands upon his head, and let all the people stone him. | Head. To testify, that if they witness falsehood, they are willing to suffer the same punishment; and to beg that God would accept this victim, and not afflict all his people. (Tirinus) |
| Leviticus 24:15 | And thou shalt speak to the children of Israel: The man that curseth his God, shall bear his sin: | His God. Hebrew Elohaiv. Philo explains this of idols, as if it were unlawful to speak ill of them, lest we should proceed to do so with respect to the true God. But the prophets, and the most holy personages, had no scruple in speaking contemptuously of the pagan divinities. --- His sin, and the punishment of it. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 24:16 | And he that blasphemeth the name of the Lord, dying let him die: all the multitude shall stone him, whether he be a native or a stranger. He that blasphemeth the name of the Lord, dying let him die. | |
| Leviticus 24:17 | *He that striketh and killeth a man, dying let him die. Exodus 21:12. | |
| Leviticus 24:18 | He that killeth a beast, shall make it good, that is to say, shall give beast for beast. | |
| Leviticus 24:19 | He that giveth a blemish to any of his neighbours: as he hath done, so shall it be done to him: | Blemish. Hebrew mum, denotes any thing by which the body is disfigured or hurt. (Menochius) |
| Leviticus 24:20 | *Breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth shall he restore. What blemish he gave, the like shall he be compelled to suffer. Exodus 21:24.; Deuteronomy 19:21.; Matthew 5:38. | Breach, or fracture: if he break a bone, the like detriment shall he receive. |
| Leviticus 24:21 | He that striketh a beast, shall render another. He that striketh a man shall be punished. | Striketh, so as to kill or render useless, percusserit, (Haydock) ver. 18. --- Punished. Septuagint, "slain." They omit the first part of this verse. |
| Leviticus 24:22 | Let there be equal judgment among you, whether he be a stranger, or a native that offends: because I am the Lord your God. | Stranger. The Jews improperly restrain this law to those nations only which have embraced their religion. God requires that the judges shall not shew more favour to their countrymen, than to others who may dwell among them. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 24:23 | And Moses spoke to the children of Israel: and they brought forth him that had blasphemed, without the camp, and they stoned him. And the children of Israel did as the Lord had commanded Moses. | |
| Leviticus 25:0 | The law of the seventh and of the fiftieth year of jubilee. | |
| Leviticus 25:1 | And the Lord spoke to Moses* in Mount Sinai, saying: | Year of the World 2514. |
| Leviticus 25:2 | Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them: When you shall have entered into the land which I will give you, observe the rest of the sabbath to the Lord. | The rest (sabbathises sabbatum). The land was to enjoy the benefit of rest every seventh year, to remind God's people that he had created the world, and that he still retained dominion over it, (St. Augustine, q. 91, 92,) requiring the spontaneous fruits of that year as a tribute, part of which he gave to the poor. In the mean time, all creatures rested from their labours, and the people were taught to have an entire confidence in Providence. (Calmet) --- This law was given in the desert of Sinai, in the month of Nisan, the second year after the exit: but it did not begin to be in force, till the Hebrews entered into the land of Chanaan. (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 25:3 | *Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and shalt gather the fruits thereof: Exodus 23:10. | |
| Leviticus 25:4 | But in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath to the land, of the resting of the Lord: thou shalt not sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard. | |
| Leviticus 25:5 | What the ground shall bring forth of itself, thou shalt not reap: neither shalt thou gather the grapes of the first-fruits as a vintage: for it is a year of rest to the land: | Reap entirely, but only take a part, ver. 6. --- First-fruits. None shall be this year presented to the Lord. Hebrew has the word Nezireka, "Nazareat," alluding to the custom of those who, out of devotion, let their hair grow; as here only the spontaneous fruits of the unpruned vine were to be eaten; they were separated, as the word also means, or "sanctified," (Septuagint) being abandoned indifferently for the use of any one that pleased to eat of them, and no longer fenced in by the proprietor, (Calmet) though he might take the first, or choicest fruit, for his own use, (Menochius,) or at least he might take his share like the rest. (Tirinus) |
| Leviticus 25:6 | But they shall be unto you for meat, to thee and to thy man-servant, to thy maid-servant and thy hireling, and to the strangers that sojourn with thee: | |
| Leviticus 25:7 | All things that grow shall be meat to thy beasts and to thy cattle. | Cattle. This last term in Hebrew, Septuagint, etc., means "wild beasts," which must also live. At this period of the seventh year, debts were to be remitted, the law read, etc., Exodus 21:2 and Deuteronomy 15:2, and 31:10. But in the jubilee year, even those Hebrew slaves, whose ears had been pierced, and those who had sold their land, regained their liberty and possessions. (Calmet) --- Their children and wives, according to Josephus, went out with them, ver. 41. Houses and suburbs for gardens, etc., might be sold for ever, if they were not redeemed the first year, excepting those of the Levites, ver. 34. (Tirinus) |
| Leviticus 25:8 | Thou shalt also number to thee seven weeks of years, that is to say, seven times seven, which together make forty-nine years: | Years. It is dubious whether the 49th or the 50th year was appointed for the jubilee. The former year is fixed upon by many able chronologers, who remark, that if two years of rest had occurred together, it would have been a serious inconvenience; and Moses might have said the 50th year for a round number, or comprise therein the year of the former jubilee, as we give five years to the olympiad, and eight days to the week, though the former consists only of four years, and the latter of seven days. (Rader; Scaliger; etc.) But others decide for the fiftieth year, ver. 10. (Philo; Josephus, [Antiquities] 3:10.; St. Augustine, q. 92.; Salien; etc.) (Calmet) --- On the feast of expiation of the 49th year, they promulgated the following to be the year of jubilee. (Menochius) --- Usher places the first in the year of the world 2609, 49 years after the partition of the land by Josue in 2560: Salien dates 50 years from the entrance (ver. 2,) of the Hebrews into Chanaan, in the year of the world 2583, six years sooner; and places the first jubilee [in] 2633, immediately after the sabbatic year, which fell in the 32nd year of Othoniel. He supposes that both were proclaimed at the same time, on the 1st of Tisri, Ros Hassana, "the head of the year;" though the heralds went about the country only on the 10th. The writers both of the Synagogue and of the Church generally adopt the 50th for the year of jubilee; and the pretended inconvenience of two years' rest is nugatory, since God promised a three years' crop, ver. 21. (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 25:9 | And thou shalt sound the trumpet in the seventh month, the tenth day of the month, in the time of the expiation in all your land: | |
| Leviticus 25:10 | And thou shalt sanctify the fiftieth year, and shalt proclaim remission to all the inhabitants of thy land: for it is the year of jubilee. Every man shall return to his possession, and every one shall go back to his former family: | Remission; that is, a general release and discharge from debts and bondage, and a reinstating of every man in his former possessions. (Challoner) --- Jubilee: Hebrew jubol means "liberty" (Josephus); "re-establishment" (Philo); (Calmet) --- "deliverance" (Abenezra). The Rabbins falsely assert, that a ram's horn was used on this occasion: but Bochart shews that it is solid and unfit for the purpose. (B. 2:42.) They also maintain, that from the 1st of this sacred month, as it is called by Philo, till the 10th, the slaves spent their time in continual rejoicings in their master's house, and on the latter day they were set free. Cunaeus (Rep., 1:6,) observes, that the jubilee was discontinued after the captivity, though the sabbatic year was still kept. (Calmet) --- Indeed the Jews were often very negligent in these respects, and God complained and punished them for it, Leviticus 27:32.; etc. The avarice of the great ones chiefly caused these wise regulations to be despised, though, from time to time, God enforced their observance, that it might be clearly known from what family the Messias sprung. After his birth they were abrogated, as no longer necessary. (Haydock) --- Something similar was instituted by Solon, and styled "the shaking off burdens," for the redemption both of men and goods. (Laertius) (Menochius) --- The Locrians could not alienate their patrimony. (Aristotle, polit. 2:7, and 6:4.) The Rabbins deviate from the spirit of their lawgiver, when they assert, that persons might sell their inheritance for a greater number of years than 50, if they specified how many, etc. (Selden, Succes. 3:24.) In the Christian dispensation, the jubilee denotes a time of indulgence, in consequence of the power left by Jesus Christ, Matthew 16:19 and 2 Corinthians 2:10.) The first was given by Pope Boniface VIII in 300; and others were granted every century, till Pope Clement VI reduced the space to 50 years, 1542. Pope Gregory XI would have them dispensed to the faithful every 33 years, and Pope Paul XI every 25th, that more might partake of so great a benefit. This has been done since his time, and the Popes often grant them when the Church is in great danger, and also in the year when they are consecrated. (Calmet) --- They are designed to promote the fervour of piety, and the remission of punishment due to sin. (Haydock) --- Family. Slaves shall obtain their liberty. This law set a restraint upon the rich, that they might not get possession of too much land, or oppress the poor. Lycurgus, with the same view, established an equality of lands among the Spartans, and Solon acknowledged the propriety of the regulation, which he probably saw practised in Egypt. (Diodorus I.) (Calmet) --- The Agrarian laws at Rome, were often proposed; but they caused nothing but confusion and riot. (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 25:11 | Because it is the jubilee and the fiftieth year. You shall not sow, nor reap the things that grow in the field of their own accord, neither shall you gather the first-fruits of the vines, | |
| Leviticus 25:12 | Because of the sanctification of the jubilee: but as they grow you shall presently eat them. | Eat them. No wine was to be made of the grapes, nor the corn heaped up, to the detriment of the poor. All is claimed by God, as his own property. |
| Leviticus 25:13 | In the year of the jubilee all shall return to their possessions. | |
| Leviticus 25:14 | When thou shalt sell any thing to thy neighbour, or shalt buy of him; grieve not thy brother: but thou shalt buy of him according to the number of years from the jubilee, | Grieve. Hebrew, "deceive not." St. Chrysostom observes, that to engage another to sell us any thing for what we know is beneath its value, is theft. (Grotius, Jur. 2:12.) The Rabbins also decide that, if an Israelite be defrauded a sixth part, restitution must be made, ver. 17. (Selden, Jur. 6:6.) |
| Leviticus 25:15 | And he shall sell to thee according to the computation of the fruits. | |
| Leviticus 25:16 | The more years remain after the jubilee, the more shall the price increase: and the less time is counted, so much the less shall the purchase cost. For he shall sell to thee the time of the fruits. | |
| Leviticus 25:17 | Do not afflict your countrymen, but let every one fear his God: because I am the Lord your God. | |
| Leviticus 25:18 | Do my precepts, and keep my judgments, and fulfil them: that you may dwell in the land without any fear, | |
| Leviticus 25:19 | And the ground may yield you its fruits, of which you may eat your fill, fearing no man's invasion. | |
| Leviticus 25:20 | But if you say: What shall we eat the seventh year, if we sow not, nor gather our fruits? | |
| Leviticus 25:21 | I will give you my blessing the sixth year, and it shall yield the fruits of three years: | Three years. After the harvest of the sixth year was gotten in, the land rested from September to September, the beginning of the 8th year, when it was tilled again. Nothing would be ripe till about March; yet the harvest of the 6th year would suffice to furnish food till that time, or even for a year longer, as it would be requisite, when the year of jubilee succeeded that of rest, ver. 8. (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 25:22 | And the eighth year you shall sow, and shall eat of the old fruits, until the ninth year: till new grow up, you shall eat the old store. | |
| Leviticus 25:23 | The land also shall not be sold for ever: because it is mine, and you are strangers and sojourners with me. | For ever. Samaritan version, "absolutely." The only exception to this law is, when a person makes a vow to give some land to the Lord, and will not redeem it, chap 27:20. In that case, God re-enters upon his property, and it belongs to his priests. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 25:24 | For which cause all the country of your possession shall be under the condition of redemption. | |
| Leviticus 25:25 | If thy brother, being impoverished, sell his little possession, and his kinsman will, he may redeem what he had sold. | |
| Leviticus 25:26 | But if he have no kinsman, and he himself can find the price to redeem it: | |
| Leviticus 25:27 | The value of the fruits shall be counted from that time when he sold it: and the overplus he shall restore to the buyer, and so shall receive his possession again. | Fruits. An estimation shall be made of what the buyer would probably have gotten for the fruits of the land, till the year of jubilee, and that sum shall be given to him; (Calmet) or what benefit he has already derived from the land shall be computed; so that, if he purchased it for 100 sicles, and had received the value of 80, he should be content with the addition of 20 more, ver. 53. (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 25:28 | But if his hands find not the means to repay the price, the buyer shall have what he bought, until the year of the jubilee. For in that year all that is sold shall return to the owner, and to the ancient possessor. | |
| Leviticus 25:29 | He that selleth a house within the walls of a city, shall have the liberty to redeem it, until one year be expired: | City. These houses are of greater consequence, and therefore God dissuades his people from selling them; though if they think proper to do so, he holds out an encouragement to those who buy, that they may afford a better price, on the prospect of keeping possession for ever. (Menochius) |
| Leviticus 25:30 | If he redeem it not, and the whole year be fully out, the buyer shall possess it, and his posterity for ever, and it cannot be redeemed, not even in the jubilee. | |
| Leviticus 25:31 | But if the house be in a village, that hath no walls, it shall be sold according to the same law as the fields: if it be not redeemed before, in the jubilee it shall return to the owner. | |
| Leviticus 25:32 | The houses of Levites, which are in cities, may always be redeemed: | |
| Leviticus 25:33 | If they be not redeemed, in the jubilee they shall all return to the owners, because the houses of the cities of the Levites are for their possessions among the children of Israel. | Owners. The Levites had no other possessions, but these cities and 2000 cubits of land around them. The priests might buy of one another, Jeremias 31:7. |
| Leviticus 25:34 | But let not their suburbs be sold, because it is a perpetual possession. | |
| Leviticus 25:35 | If thy brother be impoverished, and weak of hand, and thou receive him as a stranger and sojourner, and he live with thee, | And thou. Hebrew, "thou shalt receive him: and of the stranger....(36) take no usury." There are two precepts; to relieve those in distress, and not to injury any one. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 25:36 | Take not usury of him, nor more than thou gavest: fear thy God, that thy brother may live with thee. | |
| Leviticus 25:37 | Thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury, nor exact of him any increase of fruits. | |
| Leviticus 25:38 | I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that I might give you the land of Chanaan, and might be your God. | |
| Leviticus 25:39 | If thy brother, constrained by poverty, sell himself to thee, thou shalt not oppress him with the service of bond-servants: | |
| Leviticus 25:40 | But he shall be as a hireling, and a sojourner: he shall work with thee until the year of the jubilee, | Hireling, who has engaged to work for a term of years, either of six, or at most 49. After the year of the jubilee, he might enter into fresh engagements with his late master. (Haydock) --- The Hebrews have always hated slavery. We have never been slaves to any, John 8:33. They were not allowed to part with their liberty, except from absolute distress; (Maimonides) and then they do not submit to what they call intrinsical slavery. --- [Ver. 41.] Children. His wife and children were not made slaves with him. But if his master gave him a second wife, her children belonged to their common master. (Selden, Jur. 6:1.) |
| Leviticus 25:41 | And afterwards he shall go out with his children, and shall return to his kindred and to the possession of his fathers. | |
| Leviticus 25:42 | For they are my servants, and I brought them out of the land of Egypt: let them not be sold as bond-men: | |
| Leviticus 25:43 | Afflict him not by might, but fear thy God. | |
| Leviticus 25:44 | Let your bond-men, and your bond-women, be of the nations that are round about you. | |
| Leviticus 25:45 | And of the strangers that sojourn among you, or that were born of them in your land, these you shall have for servants: | Servants, or slaves, whom you may treat with greater severity than the Hebrews, and keep for ever, even though they may have embraced the true faith. But still you must remember that they are your brethren. |
| Leviticus 25:46 | And by right of inheritance shall leave them to your posterity, and shall possess them for ever. But oppress not your brethren, the children of Israel, by might. | |
| Leviticus 25:47 | If the hand of a stranger, or a sojourner, grow strong among you, and thy brother being impoverished sell himself to him, or to any of his race: | Stranger, or Gentile, who engages at least to keep the precepts given to Noe[Noah]. (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 25:48 | After the sale he may be redeemed. He that will of his brethren shall redeem him: | |
| Leviticus 25:49 | Either his uncle, or his uncle's son, or his kinsman, by blood, or by affinity. But if he himself be able also, he shall redeem himself, | Himself. He might have saved up something by greater industry. The Athenians allowed their slaves the same privilege. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 25:50 | Counting only the years from the time of his selling unto the year of the jubilee: and counting the money, that he was sold for, according to the number of the years and the reckoning of a hired servant. | |
| Leviticus 25:51 | If there be many years that remain until the jubilee, according to them shall he also repay the price. | |
| Leviticus 25:52 | If few, he shall make the reckoning with him according to the number of the years, and shall repay to the buyer for what remaineth of the years, | |
| Leviticus 25:53 | His wages being allowed for which he served before: he shall not afflict him violently in thy sight. | Wages. Hebrew, "as a yearly hired servant shall he be with him." What was customarily given to a hired servant for a certain number of years, might be a rule to judge how much was to be paid for redemption. (Haydock) --- Thus if a man had engaged to serve 20 years for 100 sicles, and at the expiration of 10 years wished to redeem himself, he might do it for half that sum. Some think, that those Hebrews who had sold themselves to a Gentile, sojourning among them, could not take the benefit of the sabbatic year, (Exodus 21:6,) because Moses is silent on this head. But this argument is not satisfactory. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 25:54 | And if by these means he cannot be redeemed, in the year of the jubilee he shall go out with his children. | |
| Leviticus 25:55 | For the children of Israel are my servants, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt. | |
| Leviticus 26:0 | God's promises to them that keep his commandments. And the many punishments with which he threatens transgressors. | |
| Leviticus 26:1 | I am the Lord* your God:** you shall not make to yourselves any idol or graven thing, neither shall you erect pillars, nor set up a remarkable stone in your land, to adore it: for I am the Lord your God. Exodus 20:4.; Deuteronomy 5:8.; Psalm 96:7. | Year of the World 2514. To adore it. This explains the prohibition of making graven things, etc. The Protestants translate as usual, "Ye shall make you no idols, nor graven image, neither rear ye up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land to bow down unto it." They seem terribly afraid of images, as if they were all idols. See Exodus 20:4. (Haydock) --- Pillars. Hebrew mattseba, "statue, or monument." Such were erected by Jacob, Josue, and even by Moses himself, without any offence or danger of idolatry, Genesis 28:8 and Josue 4:4 and Exodus 24:4. Apuleius (Flor.) makes mention, among other species of superstition, "of a stone anointed, and of an altar crowned with flowers." --- The stone, which is here condemned, is one set up "for adoration." (Onkelos) --- Hebrew, "a stone of sight," placed on some eminence, or on the high roads. Strabo, (xvii.) speaking of those which he had seen in Egypt along the roads, says, "they are lofty, polished, and almost like a sphere, some 12 feet in diameter. There are sometimes three, of different dimensions, one upon another. Some were to be seen upon Mount Libanus. They were objects of adoration." The Greeks raised heaps of stones on the high roads, in honour of Mercury, Proverbs 26:7[8?]. (Calmet) --- We are not forbidden to place land-marks, etc.: but we must not adore them. (Du Hamel) |
| Leviticus 26:2 | Keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord. | Reverence. The Rabbins inform us, with what respect their ancestors appeared in the temple. They left their sticks and shoes behind them, and washed their feet; entering solely to perform some act of religion, and not to go a shorter road to another street. When they had ended their devotions, they retired slowly without turning their back to the sanctuary. (Outram, Sacrif. lib. 3. n. 7.) |
| Leviticus 26:3 | *If you walk in my precepts, and keep my commandments, and do them, I will give you rain in due seasons, Deuteronomy 28:1. | Due seasons. Before harvest, in spring; and after that in autumn; when they sow their wheat and barley in Palestine. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 26:4 | And the ground shall bring forth its increase, and the trees shall be filled with fruit. | |
| Leviticus 26:5 | The threshing of your harvest shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing-time: and you shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land without fear. | Time. So great shall be the abundance, that you will scarcely have time to get all the work done before you will be called off to something else. (Haydock) --- These promises would be so much the more agreeable to them, as in Egypt, they had been forced to keep in their houses two or three months together, on account of the overflowing of the Nile. In that country, as well as in Greece and Palestine, people sow both wheat and barley about October; while in other countries the latter is sown in spring. The harvest is ready in about six months, and that of wheat in seven. (Pliny, [Natural History?] 18:18.; Hesiod, ep. ii.) (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 26:6 | I will give peace in your coasts: you shall sleep, and there shall be none to make you afraid. I will take away evil beasts: and the sword shall not pass through your quarters. | |
| Leviticus 26:7 | You shall pursue your enemies, and they shall fall before you. | |
| Leviticus 26:8 | Five of yours shall pursue a hundred others, and a hundred of you ten thousand: your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. | Five. Thus Gedeon's 300 men put to flight the great army of the Madianites; (Judges 7:22,) and the Machabees destroyed vast numbers with a small force. |
| Leviticus 26:9 | I will look on you, and make you increase: you shall be multiplied, and I will establish my covenant with you. | |
| Leviticus 26:10 | You shall eat the oldest of the old store, and, new coming on, you shall cast away the old. | Old; Being unable to consume all. (Menochius) --- Hebrew, "ye shall eat old store, and bring forth the old because of the new." Septuagint, "you shall eat the old of old, and you shall bring out the old from the face of the new." Like a householder, who bringeth forth out of his treasury new things and old, Matthew 13:52. (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 26:11 | I will set my tabernacle in the midst of you, and my soul shall not cast you off. | |
| Leviticus 26:12 | *I will walk among you, and will be your God, and you shall be my people. 2 Corinthians 6:16. | |
| Leviticus 26:13 | I am the Lord your God: who have brought you out of the land of the Egyptians, that you should not serve them, and who have broken the chains of your necks, that you might go upright. | Upright; and be no longer bowed down with a heavy yoke, like oxen. "I have broken the locks of your prison, and have set you at liberty," Arabic. (Calmet) --- A Greek proverb says, "Never was a slave's head right, but always crooked, like his neck." (Menochius) |
| Leviticus 26:14 | *But if you will not hear me, nor do all my commandments, Deuteronomy 28:15.; Malachias 2:2. | |
| Leviticus 26:15 | If you despise my laws, and contemn my judgments, so as not to do those things which are appointed by me, and to make void my covenant: | |
| Leviticus 26:16 | I also will do these things to you: I will quickly visit you with poverty, and burning heat, which shall waste your eyes, and consume your lives. You shall sow your seed in vain, which shall be devoured by your enemies. | Heat. Hebrew kaddachath, is rendered "scab and jaundice," by the Septuagint: and by others "a dangerous wind," like that which causes so many diseases in Egypt. The precise meaning of some terms in this verse is not well known. |
| Leviticus 26:17 | I will set my face against you, and you shall fall down before your enemies, and shall be made subject to them that hate you, you shall flee when no man pursueth you. | |
| Leviticus 26:18 | But if you will not yet for all this obey me, I will chastise you seven times more for your sins, | More, (septuplum.) "Very often, or very much;" in which sense it is used in this chapter. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 26:19 | And I will break the pride of your stubbornness, and I will make to you the heaven above as iron, and the earth as brass: | As brass (aeneam.) "Brazen," without moisture, and barren. (Onkelos) |
| Leviticus 26:20 | Your labour shall be spent in vain, the ground shall not bring forth her increase, nor the trees yield their fruit. | |
| Leviticus 26:21 | If you walk contrary to me, and will not hearken to me, I will bring seven times more plagues upon you for your sins: | |
| Leviticus 26:22 | And I will send in upon you the beasts of the field, to destroy you, and your cattle, and make you few in number, and that your highways may be desolate. | Desolate, none being left to frequent them: or the few who remain, shall keep within doors, lest the wild beasts should meet and devour them, Isaias 33:8. |
| Leviticus 26:23 | And if even so you will not amend, but will walk contrary to me: | |
| Leviticus 26:24 | I also will walk contrary to you, and will strike you seven times for your sins. | |
| Leviticus 26:25 | And I will bring in upon you the sword that shall avenge my covenant. And when you shall flee into the cities, I will send the pestilence in the midst of you, and you shall be delivered into the hands of your enemies. | |
| Leviticus 26:26 | After I shall have broken the staff of your bread: so that ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and give it out by weight: and you shall eat, and shall not be filled. | Bread; or that which supports you. You shall be deprived of the necessaries of life. --- One oven shall be used by 10 families, so little bread shall be baked, and even that little shall be delivered out by weight. I will also deprive it of its nutritive qualities, so that it shall not satisfy your craving appetite. (Calmet) See Psalm 104:16 and Isaias 3:1. |
| Leviticus 26:27 | But if you will not for all this hearken to me, but will walk against me: | |
| Leviticus 26:28 | I will also go against you with opposite fury, and I will chastise you with seven plagues for your sins, | Fury. You will gain nothing by opposing me, but your own destruction. I will treat you, as you would deal with me. (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 26:29 | So that you shall eat the flesh of your sons and of your daughters. | Daughters. To such extremities were the Jews reduced, at the sieges of Samaria and Jerusalem. (4 Kings 6:28 and Lamentations 4:10.) (Josephus, Jewish Wars 7:8.) |
| Leviticus 26:30 | I will destroy your high places, and break your idols. You shall fall among the ruins of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you, | Places. The temple of Solomon was built on Mount Moria or Sion. The Persians sacrificed upon the mountains, and the Romans and Athenians built their most magnificent temples on the highest parts of their respective cities. --- Idols. Hebrew chammanim, denotes the chariots dedicated to the sun; (4 Kings 23:11,) or the pyreia, or enclosures for the sacred fire, in honour of the god Homanus, (Strabo xv.) whose name is probably derived from this Hebrew word, (Calmet) as well as Hammon, a title of Jupiter. (Menochius) --- Ruins. Hebrew, "and cast your carcasses upon the carcasses of your gods of dirt, and my soul shall vomit you out." The Egyptians embalmed the carcasses of their sacred animals. God threatens that, if his people be so stupid as to adore them, they shall die, and be deprived of sepulture. |
| Leviticus 26:31 | Insomuch that I will bring your cities to be a wilderness, and I will make your sanctuaries desolate, and will receive no more your sweet odours. | Odours. Even the sanctuary of the Lord shall be destroyed, as you will be unworthy to have it among you, or to offer sacrifices to me. (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 26:32 | And I will destroy your land, and your enemies shall be astonished at it, when they shall be the inhabitants thereof. | |
| Leviticus 26:33 | And I will scatter you among the Gentiles, and I will draw out the sword after you, and your land shall be desert, and your cities destroyed: | |
| Leviticus 26:34 | Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths all the days of her desolation: when you shall be | Desolation. It shall be uncultivated; and though you would not comply with my injunctions to let it rest one year out of seven, it shall now remain desolate for many years together. (Haydock) --- Theodoret (q. 37) says for 70 years; the number of sabbatic years, from the reign of Saul till the captivity of Babylon, during the space of 490 years. This verse seems evidently to allude to those days of distress. (Calmet) (2 Paralipomenon 36:21.) --- But we can hardly suppose that none of the sabbatic years should have been duly observed during the reigns of David, Solomon, etc. (Haydock) --- Instead of enjoy, Hebrew may be "shall expiate her sabbaths," or the neglect of them. The same term, tirtse, is used, (ver. 41 and 43,) and the Vulgate generally renders it agreeable, speaking of sacrifices, Leviticus 1:4 and 22:20. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 26:35 | In the enemies' land, she shall keep a sabbath, and rest in the sabbaths of her desolation, because she did not rest in your sabbaths when you dwelt therein. | Your sabbaths, holidays and years of rest, and of jubilee. The earth is represented as entering into the views of God, and rejoicing at his judgments. (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 26:36 | And as to them that shall remain of you, I will send fear in their hearts in the countries of their enemies, the sound of a flying leaf shall terrify them, and they shall flee as it were from the sword: they shall fall, when no man pursueth them, | Fear. Septuagint, "timidity, or slavishness." Hebrew morec, "softness and inactivity." (Calmet) --- Their haughty temper shall be broken; and though they have dared to rebel against their God, the fall of a leaf shall now terrify them. (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 26:37 | And they shall every one fall upon their brethren, as fleeing from wars, none of you shall dare to resist your enemies. | Brethren, in their flight; while each one is endeavouring to save himself. The Rabbins say they shall be punished for the sins of their brethren, if they have not endeavoured to prevent them. |
| Leviticus 26:38 | You shall perish among the Gentiles, and an enemy's land shall consume you. | Consume you. The Hebrew spies said that the land of Chanaan devoured its inhabitants. Such shall be in reality the enemies' country in your regard. You shall not be able to establish yourselves or be happy there. |
| Leviticus 26:39 | And if of them also some remain, they shall pine away in their iniquities, in the land of their enemies, and they shall be afflicted for the sins of their fathers, and their own: | Own. The sins of their fathers, which they have imitated, shall fall upon them; so that they shall pine away with remorse and misery. |
| Leviticus 26:40 | Until they confess their iniquities and the iniquities of their ancestors, whereby they have transgressed against me, and walked contrary unto me. | |
| Leviticus 26:41 | Therefore I also will walk against them, and bring them into their enemies' land, until their uncircumcised mind be ashamed: then shall they pray for their sins. | Mind. Hebrew, "heart," wicked, rebellious, and unclean. (Menochius) --- Pray for. Hebrew and Syriac, "please themselves in," etc. They shall see what advantage they have derived from their sins. (Calmet) --- Then they shall enter into themselves, like the prodigal son. (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 26:42 | And I will remember my covenant, that I made with Jacob, and Isaac, and Abraham. I will remember also the land: | Jacob is placed first, because he was the father of no other nation; as Abraham and Isaac were. (Worthington) |
| Leviticus 26:43 | Which when she shall be left by them, shall enjoy her sabbaths, being desolate for them. But they shall pray for their sins, because they rejected my judgments, and despised my laws. | |
| Leviticus 26:44 | And yet for all that when they were in the land of their enemies, I did not cast them off altogether, neither did I so despise them that they should be quite consumed, and I should make void my covenant with them. For I am the Lord their God. | I did not. He speaks of a future event, which he sees will certainly come to pass, as if it had already happened. As God had preserved his people, in Egypt, conformably to his covenant with the patriarchs, so he will be reconciled to them, after they shall have done penance, and acknowledged all their excesses, in the captivity of Babylon. (Haydock) --- The church never ceases all together. (Worthington) |
| Leviticus 26:45 | And I will remember my former covenant, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, in the sight of the Gentiles, to be their God. I am the Lord. These are the judgments, and precepts, and laws, which the Lord gave between him and the children of Israel, in Mount Sinai, by the hand of Moses. | Moses. What has been hitherto recorded, was mostly prescribed by God at Mount Sinai, as some of the following laws were also. (Calmet) --- It would seem as if this were the conclusion of Leviticus. We must remember, however, that these divisions were not introduced by Moses, as he wrote his five books without any interruption, like one verse. So St. John seems to conclude his Gospel, (chap. 20:31,) though he afterwards adds another chapter. (Haydock) |
| Leviticus 27:0 | Of vows and tithes. | |
| Leviticus 27:1 | And the Lord spoke to Moses, *saying: | Year of the World 2514. |
| Leviticus 27:2 | Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them: The man that shall have made a vow, and promised his soul to God, shall give the price according to estimation. | Estimation. Hebrew is obscure, "Whoever has separated, or made a singular vow; the souls to the Lord according to thy estimation." (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "shall vow as it were the price of a soul to the Lord." (Haydock) --- The person or the beast shall belong to the Lord; but if it be redeemed, the priests shall fix a price, according to the following regulations. Whatever was vowed must be subject to these rules, or it shall remain for the service of the altar. The priests may sell it, if it be an impure animal. Those which were fit for sacrifice, were to be immolated, ver. 9, etc. No change of them was allowed, lest a worse should ever be substituted for a better; (Calmet) and because God is better pleased with things that are offered to him by vow. (Worthington) |
| Leviticus 27:3 | If it be a man from twenty years old unto sixty years old, he shall give fifty sicles of silver, after the weight of the sanctuary: | |
| Leviticus 27:4 | If a woman, thirty. | |
| Leviticus 27:5 | But from the fifth year until the twentieth, a man shall give twenty sicles: a woman ten. | Fifth. The parents might make a vow of their children. (Menochius) |
| Leviticus 27:6 | From one month until the fifth year, for a male shall be given five sicles: for a female three. | |
| Leviticus 27:7 | A man that is sixty years old, or upwards, shall give fifteen sicles: a woman ten. | |
| Leviticus 27:8 | If he be poor, and not able to pay the estimation, he shall stand before the priest: and as much as he shall value him at, and see him able to pay, so much shall he give. | The estimation. Hebrew is pointed improperly, "thy estimation;" for the price was fixed already. The priest had leave to reduce it only in favour of the poor. (Houbigant) See ver. 2, and following. |
| Leviticus 27:9 | But a beast, that may be sacrificed to the Lord, if any one shall vow, shall be holy, | |
| Leviticus 27:10 | And cannot be changed, that is to say, neither a better for a worse, nor a worse for a better. And if he shall change it: both that which was changed, and that for which it was changed, shall be consecrated to the Lord. | |
| Leviticus 27:11 | An unclean beast, which cannot be sacrificed to the Lord, if any man shall vow, shall be brought before the priest: | |
| Leviticus 27:12 | Who judging whether it be good or bad, shall set the price: | |
| Leviticus 27:13 | Which if he that offereth it will give, he shall add above the estimation, the fifth part. | That offereth it. This addition of the Vulgate shews, that if any other purchased the animal, he would not have to give a fifth part more than the value. That only concerned the person who had made the vow, to punish him for his inconstancy, and that he might not have a desire to get possession again of what he had once consecrated to the Lord. If the beast was valued at 40 sicles, he would therefore have to pay 50. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 27:14 | If a man shall vow his house, and sanctify it to the Lord, the priest shall consider it, whether it be good or bad, and it shall be sold according to the price which he shall appoint. | |
| Leviticus 27:15 | But if he that vowed, will redeem it, he shall give the fifth part of the estimation over and above, and shall have the house. | House. The Rabbins say this fifth part went towards repairing the temple. We may suppose it was laid on to indemnify the priests, for the loss which they sustained by selling a house, or a field, (ver. 16,) to the former owner; since if any other had purchased them, the priests would have been able to sell them again at the return of every jubilee. At that period, even the former proprietor would not obtain a title to possess them for ever; (ver. 21,) and therefore he would not need to pay any more than the stated value. (Tostat) (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 27:16 | And if he vow the field of his possession, and consecrate it to the Lord, the price shall be rated according to the measure of the seed. If the ground be sowed with thirty bushels of barley, let it be sold for fifty sicles of silver. | Possession, or inheritance. If he had only purchased the field, he could not, by his vow, transfer the property of it to the priests beyond the year of jubilee, ver. 22. --- Seed, not of the produce, which is uncertain. The goodness of the soil must also be considered. --- Silver: which rent must be paid every year, except on those of rest, when the earth was not cultivated. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 27:17 | If he vow his field immediately from the year of jubilee that is beginning, as much as it may be worth, at so much it shall be rated. | |
| Leviticus 27:18 | But if some time after: the priest shall reckon the money according to the number of years that remain until the jubilee, and the price shall be abated. | |
| Leviticus 27:19 | And if he that had vowed, will redeem his field, he shall add the fifth part of the money of the estimation, and shall possess it. | |
| Leviticus 27:20 | And if he will not redeem it, but it be sold to any other man, he that vowed it, may not redeem it any more; | |
| Leviticus 27:21 | For when the day of jubilee cometh, it shall be sanctified to the Lord, and as a possession consecrated pertaineth to the right of the priests. | Consecrated. Hebrew, "a field of anathema," devoted and separated from common uses for ever to the Lord. (Haydock) --- Priests. They were bound to sell it from one jubilee to another to some of the same tribe, to which the person, who vowed it, had belonged. (Menochius) --- In the new law, religious people often consecrate themselves and their effects to the service of God; and it would be a sacrilege to alienate them from such pious uses to any thing profane. They are anathema, a deposit of offering to the Lord; while those who violate them, are anathema, accursed. (Haydock) (Tirinus) |
| Leviticus 27:22 | If a field that was bought, and not of a man's ancestors' possession, be sanctified to the Lord, | |
| Leviticus 27:23 | The priest shall reckon the price according to the number of years, unto the jubilee: and he that had vowed, shall give that to the Lord. | |
| Leviticus 27:24 | But in the jubilee, it shall return to the former owner, who had sold it, and had it in the lot of his possession. | |
| Leviticus 27:25 | All estimation shall be made according to the sicle of the sanctuary. *A sicle hath twenty obols. Exodus 30:13.; Numbers 3:47.; Ezechiel 45:12. | Obols. Hebrew, "gerah." which were worth 1d.-2687; so that a sicle amounts to 2s. 3d.-375. (Arbuthnot.) |
| Leviticus 27:26 | The first-born, which belong to the Lord, no man may sanctify and vow: whether it be bullock, or sheep, they are the Lord's. | First-born. Septuagint add "of beasts." Men, though belonging to the Lord on that title already, (Exodus 13:2,) might still be more particularly consecrated to him by vow, as Samuel was. (Calmet) --- A vow must be concerning some greater good to which we are not otherwise bound. Such vows are agreeable to God, and can never be broken without sin. See Genesis 31:13 and 1 Timothy 5:12. (Worthington) |
| Leviticus 27:27 | And if it be an unclean beast, he that offereth it shall redeem it, according to thy estimation, and shall add the fifth part of the price. If he will not redeem it, it shall be sold to another, for how much soever it was estimated by thee. | Unclean, either on account of some blemish, or because it is of those species which cannot be sacrificed; such as the horse, camel, etc., which might nevertheless be vowed to the Lord, and sold for the benefit of his priests. --- By thee. Moses and the succeeding priests. Many manuscripts read, with the Septuagint and Chaldean, "by him," leaving the matter to the person's conscience; but the printed Hebrew and Vulgate agree. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 27:28 | *Any thing that is devoted to the Lord, whether it be man, or beast, or field, shall not be sold, neither may it be redeemed. Whatsoever is once consecrated, shall be holy of holies to the Lord. Josue 6:17.; Josue 6:25. | Devoted. Hebrew, "anathema," different from the other vows. In this case all that had life was slain, (or consecrated to God; Haydock) houses were demolished, the land belonged to the priests for ever, so that they could only let it out to laymen for a certain rent. Moses thus devoted the Amalecites to destruction; (Exodus 17:14) and Saul had orders to put in execution what he had denounced, 1 Kings xv. It is doubtful whether people could thus devote their children and slaves. Most authors suppose, that it was necessary that God or the nation at large should pronounce such a sentence, as was done with respect to Achan, Josue viii. See Numbers 21:2 and Judges 11:31. (Calmet) |
| Leviticus 27:29 | And any consecration that is offered by man, shall not be redeemed, but dying shall die. | Die. Grotius says, only public enemies and deserters could be thus devoted. Other men and women were only consecrated for ever to the divine service. (Du Hamel) |
| Leviticus 27:30 | All tithes of the land, whether of corn, or of the fruits of trees, are the Lord's, and are sanctified to him. | Tithes. Abraham and Jacob paid tithes, out of devotion, Genesis xiv. and 28:22. Moses first made a law on this subject, which began to be in force when the Hebrews had obtained quiet possession of Chanaan. The people paid them more exactly when they were determined to keep God's law, and had pious princes at their head, 2 Paralipomenon 31:5. At other times they were very negligent, Malachias 3:10. This forced Esdras to appoint inspectors, Namnim, to collect them. The Pharisees affected a degree of exactitude in this respect, (Luke 11:42 and Matthew 23:23,) paying what some Jews do not suppose to be necessary, though our Saviour says it was. Since the destruction of the temple the Jews pay none. The first-fruits and tithes of wheat, barley, figs, raisins, olives, pomegranates, and dates, were required, though it be not certain what quantity of the first-fruits was given; some say between the 40th and the 60th part of the produce. Wine and wool were also to be offered. The tithes were taken after the first-fruits and the heaved oblations (thorume) were paid. They belonged to the Levites, and these gave a tithe to the priests, Numbers 18:28. See Leviticus 19:24. The Eastern kings required a tithe of their subjects, for the support of their families, 1 Kings 8:15. God does the like, Malachias 3:10. The Persians, Carthaginians, Greeks, Romans, and even the Arabs and Scythians, religiously paid their tithes in honour of their false gods. See Cyrop. iv. and Q. Curtius 4:2.; Herodotus 2:135.; Pliny, [Natural History?] 12:14.; Mela. 2:5, etc. The Romans often consecrate the tithes of their spoils to Hercules, as the Carthaginians did also. The Scythians sent them to Apollo. (Solin 27, etc.) (Calmet) --- Scaliger and Amama dispose the tithes, and the oblations of the Hebrews, in the following order. Supposing a person's annual produce amount to 6000 bushels, an oblation (thorume) of at least 100 was to be made to the priests: out of the remaining 5900, a first tithe of 590 belonged to the Levites, out of which they paid 59 to the priests. The residue, of 5310 bushels, paid a second tithe of 531, to be consumed in feasts in the temple, (a custom which the ancient Christians imitated in their love-feasts, called agape; Calmet) The original produce was thus reduced to 4779 bushels; and both the tithes amounted to 1121 and the oblation to 100. The thorume consisted of flour dressed, and of oil, wine (Amama) and wool, (Calmet) to be given to the priests on the feast of Pentecost, Leviticus 23:15. It could not be less than the 60th part of the produce, (Ezechiel 45:13.) and it was necessary to pay it before any could be used in the family. Hence these oblations are often called first-fruits, and have been confounded with those sheaves which were to be offered at the beginning of harvest. (Amama) |
| Leviticus 27:31 | And if any man will redeem his tithes, he shall add the fifth part of them. | Of them. When the distance from Jerusalem was great, so that a person judged it more convenient to sell his tithes, and with the money purchase more for a feast in Jerusalem, (which the Rabbins call Zudui, Charisterion, grace or thanksgiving) he had to pay something additional, 12, for example, instead of 10. (Scaliger) |
| Leviticus 27:32 | Of all the tithes of oxen, and sheep, and goats, that pass under the shepherd's rod, every tenth that cometh shall be sanctified to the Lord. | Rod; on which was some red colouring, to mark the tenth animal as it passed through a narrow gate. If it was proper for sacrifice, its blood was poured out around the altar, and its flesh was returned to the giver. If it could not be offered in sacrifice, it was slain. The priest received none of the victim, no more than the paschal lamb. (Outram, sac. 1:11.) But a feast was made of flesh for the person's friends, and he gave a portion to the poor and to the Levites. --- The Lord, as a sacrifice of thanksgiving, in which the greatest part of the victim is consumed by the person who offers it. The priests have but a small share, Leviticus 3:(Calmet) |
| Leviticus 27:33 | It shall not be chosen neither good nor bad, neither shall it be changed for another. If any man change it: both that which was changed, and that for which it was changed, shall be sanctified to the Lord, and shall not be redeemed. | |
| Leviticus 27:34 | These are the precepts which the Lord commanded Moses, for the children of Israel, in Mount Sinai. | Sinai. The laws specified in the ten first chapters of the following book, were given here also. (Haydock) |