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the congregation' (ch. i. 3; iii. 8, 13, etc.). The Israelites are always described as a congregation, iv. 13 sq., under the command of the elders of the congregation,' iv. 15; or of 'a ruler,' iv. 23. Everything has reference to life in a camp, and that camp under the command of Moses, iv.-xii. 21 ; vi. 11; xiv. 8; xvi. 26, 28. A later writer could scarcely have placed himself so entirely in the times, or have so completely adopted the ideas and modes of thinking of the age of Moses; and this is especially true if, as has been asserted, these laws gradually sprung from the usages of the people, and were written down at a later period, and then set forth under the sanction of the venerable name of Moses. But these laws so entirely suit the age in which Moses lived, that in order to adapt them to the requirements of a later period they must have undergone considerable modification, accommodation, and a peculiar mode of interpretation. This inconvenience would have been avoided by a person who intended to forge and antedate laws in favour of the later modes of Levitical worship. One having this object in view would have striven to identify the past as much as possible with the present.

Among other passages which bear out this statement the following may be briefly inspected. The writers to whom we have referred have ventured to characterise the section comprised in ch. viii.-x. as having a mythical colouring-the object of this insinuation being to get rid of the miracle in ix. 24; and if we ask what object any one could have to invent such a fiction, we are told that a sufficient motive is supplied by the desire of the priests to support the pretensions of the hierarchy by the solemn ceremony of Aaron's consecration. But to any such intention the account of the crime committed by Nadab and Abihu is strikingly opposed. Even Aaron himself appears to have been somewhat remiss in the observance of the law (comp. x. 16, sq. with iv. 22, sq.). The tendency would, therefore, appear rather to have been anti-hierarchical, and if a forgery, it is without a motive, and even runs counter to the interests of those by whom it is said to have been promulgated. The law in xvii. 3-6, which forbids the slaughter of any beast except at the tabernacle, could only be observed in the wilderness, and therefore some modifications were necessary in Palestine, which are accordingly made in the later law of Deut. xii. 21. A more striking indication of the time at which the law in Leviticus was delivered could not well be found than is implied in this circumstance, for the invention of which as a fiction no possible motive can be assigned. The law of xvii. 3-6 is also admirably adapted to a people emigrating from Egypt, being intended to guard the people from imitating the rites and sacrifices connected with the worship of he-goats in that country. The laws concerning purifications and distinctions of meat, appear, in like manner, especially important in connection with the recent emigration of the people from Egypt. The fundamental principle of these laws is undoubtedly Mosaical, but in the individual application of them there is much which strongly reminds us of Egypt, as will appear in the course of our notes. This is also the case in ch. xviii., where the lawgiver has avowedly in view the two opposites, Egypt and Canaan (v. 3); and that the lawgiver was intimately acquainted with the former country is shewn by the caution against marriages with sisters-a custom peculiar to Egypt, and contrary to the moral sentiment of even heathen antiquity.

But the book of Leviticus has also a prophetical character. This especially appears in xxv. xxvi., where the predictions of the law embrace the whole futurity of the nation. It is impossible to say that these were predictions after the events without asserting that the book was written at the very close of the Israelitish history; and to have then persuaded a nation, after the lapse of so many ages, covering a period the history of which was well known, to receive it with the sanction of Moses, would have been as great a miracle as any which the Scripture itself records. We must rather grant that passages like these form the real basis on which the authority of the later prophets chiefly rested: and such passages also most strikingly prove that the views of the lawgiver were not merely external, but had a deeper purpose, which was clearly understood by Moses himself. That purpose was to regulate the national life in all its bearings, and to consecrate the whole nation to God. See especially xxv. 18, sq. Yet not the less is the external character of these laws impressed upon and evinced by the history of the nation; and all the perverted ingenuity and learning which has been brought to bear on the subject have utterly failed to shew how, for instance, the laws concerning the Sabbath and the year of Jubilee could possibly have been promulgated at any period later than the time of Moses. That the Levitical law had, moreover, a covert and mysterious signification, beyond that which these considerations develope, is admitted by most commentators. It seems, indeed, impossible for any one who receives the Epistle to the Hebrews as part of the inspired Word of God, to doubt that the whole service had a spiritual meaning; and that its institutions, ordinances, and appointments were unquestionably prefigurative of Gospel appointments. Thus its sacrifices and oblations, which, if performed in faith and obedience, were to conciliate forgiveness of sins (Ezek. xx. 11; Rom. x. 5; Gal. iii. 12), have been justly regarded as significant of the atonement to be made by Christ; and the requisite qualities of these sacrifices were emblematical of his immaculate character. The whole service,' says Bishop Marsh,' like the veil of Moses, concealed a spiritual radiance under an outward covering; and the internal import bearing a precise and indisputable reference to future circumstances and events, is stamped with the indelible proofs of Divine contrivance.'

The book of Leviticus is usually considered to embrace the history of a single month, being the first month of the second year after the departure from Egypt. But some maintain that its historical period does not exceed eight days, being the time occupied in the consecration of Aaron and his sons. As the book affords no data for the chronological arrangement of its facts, the point is one which cannot be very positively determined. It contains the further statement and development of the Sinaitic legislation, the beginnings of which are described in Genesis. It exhibits the historical progress of that legislation, and we are therefore not to expect to find the laws detailed in a systematic form. There is, nevertheless, a certain order observed, which arose from the nature of the subject, and of which the plan may be easily perceived. The whole is intimately connected with the contents of Exodus. That book concludes with a description of the sanctuary with which all external worship was connected; and this commences with describing the worship itself. It contains the chief laws which relate to the offerings, the feasts, and the priests, as well as to the ordinances of sacred discipline. It contains only a little of historical information, and that relates to the priests, describing the consecration of Aaron and his sons, and the deaths of Nadab and Abihu, viii.-x.

A large number of books on the subjects of Leviticus have been written; but the commentaries on it are involved in the general commentaries on the whole Bible, or of the whole Pentateuch. The only separate commentary we are acquainted with is that of Professor Bush, under the title of Notes on the Book of Leviticus, New York, 1843, in which the author has, with handsome acknowledgment, transcribed most of the notes on the book which were contained in the first edition of the Pictorial Bible. [There is also a very good commentary by Rev. A. Bonar. London: 1846. 3d Edition, 1852.] On the general subject of this Introduction, see the works referred to at the end of the introduction to Genesis, and in particular Jahn's Einleitung; Hengstenberg's Authentie des Pentateuches; Havernick's Handbuch der historisch-kritischen Einleitung in das A. Test., 1839, and his Art. LEVITICUS in the Cyclopædia of Biblical Literature; Glaire's Introduction historique et critique aux Livres de l'Ancien et du N. Test., 1839; Calmet's Préface sur le Lévitique; Horne's Introduction; Gray's Key to the Old Testament.

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5 And he shall kill the bullock before the LORD and the priests, Aaron's sons, shall bring the blood, and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

6 And he shall flay the burnt offering, and cut it into his pieces.

7 And the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire upon the altar, and lay the wood in of the taber-order upon the fire. nacle of the congrega

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tion, saying,
2 Speak
unto the

children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man of you bring an offering unto the LORD, ye shall bring your offering of the cattle, even of the herd, and of the flock.

3 ¶ If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation

before the LORD.

4 And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.

8 And the priests, Aaron's sons, shall lay the parts, the head, and the fat, in order upon the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar.

9 But his inwards and his legs shall he wash in water: and the priest shall burn all on the altar, to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD.

10 ¶ And if his offering be of the flocks, namely, of the sheep, or of the goats, for a burnt sacrifice; he shall bring it a male without blemish.

11 And he shall kill it on the side of the altar northward before the LORD: and the priests, Aaron's sons, shall sprinkle his blood round about upon the altar.

12 And he shall cut it into his pieces, with his head and his fat: and the priest shall lay

1 Exod. 29. 10.

them in order on the wood that is on the fire altar, and 'wring off his head, and burn it on which is upon the altar.

13 But he shall wash the inwards and the legs with water: and the priest shall bring it all, and burn it upon the altar: it is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD.

14 And if the burnt sacrifice for his offering to the LORD be of fowls, then he shall bring his offering of turtledoves, or of young pigeons.

15 And the priest shall bring it unto the

2 Or, pinch off the head with the nail.

the altar; and the blood thereof shall be wrung out at the side of the altar.

16 And he shall pluck away his crop with his feathers, and cast it beside the altar on the east part, by the place of the ashes.

17 And he shall cleave it with the wings thereof, but shall not divide it asunder: and the priest shall burn it upon the altar, upon the wood that is upon the fire: it is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD.

3 Or, the filth thereof.

Verse 4. The burnt offering.—This chapter relates to burnt offerings, a general statement concerning which may suitably introduce the notes which illustrate the separate details. Such offerings occupied the first and most conspicuous place in the Hebrew system of ritual worship, on which account, doubtless, it is that the present book, which is devoted to the description of the ritual service, begins with them. They were also of all others the most ancient: for of this kind was assuredly the sacrifice of Abel; and the worship which Noah and the patriarchal fathers rendered to God, included burnt offerings as an essential element. Indeed the directions respecting such offerings which the present chapter contains, are introduced in such a way as to shew that the legislator was not introducing a new practice, but regulating one that already existed and was well understood. It does not enact that such offerings shall be made, but directs the course that shall be taken when they are made. The earliest records of heathen antiquity shew moreover that such sacrifices were in use among nearly all ancient nations, and were distinguished by accompanying rites and ceremonies, very similar to those which are here described; and this clearly indicates that they derived their origin from one common source, which can have been no other than the primitive practice brought over from the old world by Noah, the second father of mankind, and transmitted by him to the subsequent generations of men, who took it with them into all the countries of their dispersion. There can be no mistake in drawing this conclusion with respect to any custom which is known to have existed before the Deluge, and which we afterwards find kept up, with due solemnity, by the only persons who survived that desolating event. The origin of such sacrifices is not stated in Scripture; and many writers hesitate to express an opinion on the subject. when we consider that the practice is nearly as old as the creation, as shewn by the sacrifice of Abel; and when we reflect that the slaughter and burning of an inoffensive animal was not a process very obvious in the first exercises of natural reason, as a means of averting the divine displeasure, there will seem no great difficulty in concluding that it was in its origin a Divine institution, framed for the purpose of instilling into mankind an idea of vicarious punishments, in preparation for the vast result which was destined to be eventually connected with it, and teaching that sin might thus be acknowledged, and the Divine wrath incurred by it appeased.

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The Hebrew word for these offerings is my olah, from nyalah, to ascend,' which they derived from the circumstance that the whole of the offering was to be consumed by fire upon the altar, and to rise, as it were, in smoke towards heaven. Hence also the adverb

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li. 21; comp. Judg. xx. 40). And this designation is properly enough represented by the word dλokauтwμa (whence the Latin holocaustum), entire burnt offering,' which the Septuagint employs. Originally all offerings from the animal kingdom seem to have passed under the name of Olah, since a portion at least of every sacrifice, of whatever kind-and in particular that portion which constituted the offering to God, was consumed by fire upon the altar. In process of time, however, when the sacrifices became divided into numerous classes, a more limited sense was given to the term olah; in its being then solely applied to those sacrifices in which the priests did not share, and which were designed to propitiate the anger of Jehovah, incurred by sin generally, or by particular transgressions. Only oxen, male sheep or goats, or turtle-doves and young pigeons, all without blemish, were fit for burnt offerings. The offerer in person was obliged to take his offering first of all into the fore-court, as far as the gate of the tabernacle, where the animal was examined by the officiating priest to ascertain that it was without blemish. The offerer then laid his hand upon the victim, confessing his sins, and by this act dedicated it as his sacrifice to propitiate the Almighty. The animal was then killed, towards the north of the altar; and the priest having received the blood, proceeded to sprinkle it around the altar, that is upon the lower part of the altar, not immediately upon the altar, lest the fire should be extinguished (ch. iii. 2; Deut. xii. 27; 2 Chron. xxix. 22). They then proceeded to flay or skin the animal, and to cut it in pieces, acts which as well as the slaying might, it seems, be performed by the offerer himself (v. 6); but which he was not bound to do, and which in later times seems to have been usually done by the Levites. The entrails and legs were then washed in water, and the priest having meanwhile disposed the wood in a proper manner upon the altar, received the separated parts of the victim and took them to the rise of the altar, where he sprinkled them with salt; after which he proceeded to lay them on the wood as nearly as possible in the shape of the slain animal. We must not omit to notice that peculiar feature of the law, by which the offering was allowed to be varied according to the circumstances of the offerer. While the rich man brought his bullock, the considerate and benignant spirit of the law made provision for the poor man also, who, as his means might permit, might bring a lamb or even a turtle-dove or a young pigeon, these birds being very common and cheap in Palestine. With regard to these, nothing is said about sex, whether they were to be males or females. The mode of killing them was it seems by nipping off the head with the thumb nail, which with the other particulars described in v. 11-17, are stated by the Jewish writers as forming the most nice and difficult portion of the priestly duties.

The present chapter has respect only to voluntary or spontaneous burnt offerings: but there were others, which will hereafter come under our notice, such as the standing

burnt offerings, being then offered every morning and evening on behalf of the whole people (Num. xxviii. 3; Exod. xxix. 38), and at the three great festivals (Lev. xxiii. 37; Num. xxviii. 11-27; xxix. 22; Lev. xvi. 3; comp. 2 Chron. xxxv. 12-16). Also the prescribed burnt offerings, being such as the law itself required from individuals on particular occasions, such as those brought by women rising from childbed (ch. xii. 6); by persons cured of leprosy (ch. xiv. 19-32); by persons cleansed from issue (ch. xv. 14, seq.); and by the Nazarites, when rendered unclean by contact with a dead body (Num. vi. 9), or after the days of their separation were accomplished (Num. vi. 14). As voluntary offerings we find in the sequel, that these sacrifices were offered on almost all important occasions, events, and solemnities, whether private or public, and often in very large numbers (see Judg. xx. 26; 1 Sam. vii. 9; 2 Chron. xxxi. 2; 1 Kings iii. 4; 1 Chron. xxix. 21; 2 Chron. xxix. 21; Ezra vi. 17; viii. 35). There is nothing said in the law to prevent the hea then from presenting such offerings if they felt inclined to testify such respect to the God of Israel; and in fact we find that they were not excluded from this privilege in those later times when the law was more stringently construed than at its institution; for we find in Josephus several instances of heathen kings ordering sacrifices to be offered on their behalf in the temple. Augustus in particular ordered a sacrifice of two sheep and one ox to be offered for him every day in the temple.

2. Bring your offering of the cattle, even of the herd, and of the flock.'-That is to say, that only such animals as formed part of their herds and flocks, and were used for food, should be offered for sacrifice. This excluded camels and asses, although of the herd, and also all wild beasts, as well as many animals the use of which for food was allowed. In fact, we never read that other quadrupeds than oxen, sheep, and goats were sacrificed to Jehovah, either before or after the delivery of the Law. This formed one important distinction between the sacrifices of the Hebrews and those of other ancient nations; for although the latter sacrificed oxen, sheep, and goats, they also offered many other animals, clean and unclean, wild and tame. Thus, horses were sacrificed to the sun, hogs to Ceres and (in Egypt) to Bacchus, dogs to Hecate and others, and wolves to Mars. In Arabia camels were anciently sacrificed, as is still done occasionally. No fish were ever brought to the altar. The dove seems to be the only bird directed to be offered; but it appears from chap. xiv. 4-7, that any clean bird was in particular cases an eligible offering; but, in practice, it seems doubtful whether any other than doves were ever actually offered.

3. Without blemish.'-It is carefully provided that whatever was offered to Jehovah as a sacrifice or oblation should be the most perfect of its kind. The particular disqualifying blemishes are enumerated in ch. xxii. 20-24. No directions are there given as to the colours of the selected beast; perhaps because such restrictions might, in a considerable degree, have operated in limiting the power of the mass of the people to offer sacrifices. The water of purification is, however, directed to be made with the blood of a red heifer in Num. xix. 2; and as that animal was not only to be without blemish, but without spot,' it is probable that, in all instances, animals of one unvariegated colour were preferred. The regulations on this subject may perhaps receive illustration from the practices of the Egyptians, as detailed by Herodotus. He states that they sacrificed to Apis white bulls; and as the existence of a single black hair upon them rendered them unfit to be victims, they were examined with the most scrupulous exactness by a priest appointed for the purpose: if the result of this examination proved satisfactory to him, he fastened to its horns a label, which, after applying wax, he sealed with his ring. The animal was then led away: and it was a capital crime to sacrifice any bull which had not in this manner been examined and sealed by the priest. It is thought, from various incidental allusions in Scripture, that there was a similar inspection and

sealing among the Israelites, who could not be unacquainted with the sacrificial usages of the Egyptians.

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5. He shall kill the bullock. This is regarded as an instance of a usage very common in the Hebrew, of a verb employed in a kind of impersonal sense, equivalent to the on dit one says,' of the French, or the man sagt of the Germans; both of which answer to our it is said.' The expression therefore does not here seem to denote any one in particular as the slayer of the victim. In conformity with this, the Sept. has apátovo, they shall slay,' and modern translators wisely render by one shall kill the bullock,' or, still better, the bullock shall be killed.' The practice seems to have been that the priests and Levites were not obliged to slay any of the victims, but such as were offered for the whole of the people. Those brought by private persons were, at first, usually slain by themselves, but the office gradually devolved more and more upon the Levites, and was at length almost entirely discharged by them. The victim was slain immediately on the spot where the hands had been placed upon it, which was on the north side of the altar. The Jewish writers state that the victim to be slain was bound, his fore legs and hind legs together, and was laid thus bound with his head towards the south, and his face towards the west, and he that killed him stood on the east side of him with his face westward, and then cut through the throat and windpipe at one stroke. It is also stated that a person stood ready with a basin to receive the blood, which he stirred to prevent it from coagulating before it was sprinkled. This most curiously agrees with the mode in which the Egyptians slaughtered their oxen, as represented in the annexed engraving; and this is the more remarkable, as the mode of proceeding among other ancient nations was very dif ferent, and had more resemblance to that of our own slaughterers, who first strike the animal down, and then cut its throat.

SLAYING THE BULLOCK.

Sprinkle the blood.'-This sprinkling of the blood, which the Hebrews regarded as eminently the seat of life, was the most important and solemn part of the ceremony in all sacrifices; for by this sprinkling the atonement was made; for the blood was the life of the heart, and it was always supposed that life went to redeem life' (Horne's Introduction, iii. 290). Hence this act was eminently the peculiar function of the priest, and even a priest was required to be in the highest state of legal purity and correctness to be qualified for this act. The blood itself is said by the Jewish writers to have been received in a vessel specially appropriated to the use, and hallowed for the service. In addition to what has on this point been stated in the leading note, we have only to add, that the surplus blood, left after the sprinkling had been performed, was poured out at the foot of the altar, where there was probably a trench, such as that which, in the temple, conveyed the superfluous blood into the valley of the Kidron, where it was sold to the gardeners to manure their grounds. It was not only among the Hebrews that the effusion of the life blood was the most essential act of sacrifice. It was regarded among the ancient Persians and some other nations as so exclusively essential that they did not burn the sacrifice at all, but only slew it before the altar, or at most offered only the omentum; believing that the life of the victim was all that their gods

required. Indeed, it is to be observed that in all cases the sacrifice does not consist in burning the animal so much as in the killing at the altar. Many curious and illustrative traces of this custom of sprinkling or offering the blood may be discovered among nations remote from each other in time and place. Among the Greeks the blood was reserved in a vessel and offered on the altar. With the Romans also the blood was received in goblets and poured upon the altar. Among the Scythians (who often sacrificed men) the blood of the victims was sprinkled on their deity-an iron sword; with blood also they profusely sprinkled or varnished the trunks of their sacred trees. The Indians who reside among the hills of Rajamahall must contrive, in their religious sacrifices, that the blood should fall, or be sprinkled on the shrine chumdah, the consecrated muckmun branch, and bamboos, etc. (Asiatic Researches, iv. 52, 55). A sanguinary goddess is pleased during 100,000 years with the sacrifice of three men, and delights in blood as in ambrosia (A. R. v. 373). Some Indian tribes worship a

rude stone by an offering of blood (Buchanan's Mysore, iii. 253). The Chaman Tartars stain their idols with blood; and even in the New World we find a similar custom among the Aztecks (Humboldt, i. 219). See further in the note on Ezek. xxiii. 14.

6. He shall flay, etc. -The remark with which the note on v. 5 opens applies equally here. Anciently the person who brought the victim, when he had slain it, proceeded to flay the carcass, and then to cut it in pieces. But in later times this was done by the priests and Levites. In the times of Josephus, there were tables of marble and columns in the temple, expressly adapted to all the processes of slaying the victims and preparing them for the altar. The Jewish writers furnish a vast deal of information respecting the processes observed in flaying and cutting up the animals; but we find little that the reader will judge interesting, unless it be that the animal was hanged up by the heels for the purpose, and that it was customary to divide it into twelve parts.

CHAPTER II.

1 The meat offering of flour with oil and incense, 4 either baken in the oven, 5 or on a plate, 7 or in a fryingpan: 12 and of the firstfruits in the ear. 13 The salt of the meat offering.

AND when any will offer a meat offering unto the LORD, his offering shall be of fine flour; and he shall pour oil upon it, and put frankincense thereon.

2 And he shall bring it to Aaron's sons the priests and he shall take thereout his handful of the flour thereof, and of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof; and the priest shall burn the memorial of it upon the altar, to be an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD:

3 And 'the remnant of the meat offering shall be Aaron's and his sons': it is a thing most holy of the offerings of the LORD made by fire.

4 And if thou bring an oblation of a meat offering baken in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil.

5 And if thy oblation be a meat offering baken in a pan, it shall be of fine flour unleavened, mingled with oil.

6 Thou shalt part it in pieces, and pour oil thereon it is a meat offering.

7 ¶ And if thy oblation be a meat offering baken in the fryingpan, it shall be made of fine flour with oil.

8 And thou shalt bring the meat offering that is made of these things unto the LORD: 2 Or, on a flat plate, or, slice.

1 Ecclus. 7. 31.

and when it is presented unto the priest, he shall bring it unto the altar.

9 And the priest shall take from the meat offering a memorial thereof, and shall burn it upon the altar: it is an 'offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD.

10 And that which is left of the meat offering shall be Aaron's and his sons': it is a thing most holy of the offerings of the LORD made by fire.

11 No meat offering, which ye shall bring unto the LORD, shall be made with leaven: for ye shall burn no leaven, nor any honey, in any offering of the LORD made by fire.

12 As for the oblation of the firstfruits, ye shall offer them unto the LORD: but they shall not be burnt on the altar for a sweet

savour.

13 ¶ And every oblation of thy meat offering 'shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering: with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt.

14 And if thou offer a meat offering of thy firstfruits unto the LORD, thou shalt offer for the meat offering of thy firstfruits green ears of corn dried by the fire, even corn beaten out of full ears.

15 And thou shalt put oil upon it, and lay frankincense thereon: it is a meat offering. 16 And the priest shall burn the memorial of it, part of the beaten corn thereof, and part of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof: it is an offering made by fire unto the LORD.

8 Verse 2.

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