Verse 2. When a man shall make a singular vow.'--It is and always has been customary in different countries, and under various systems of religion, for persons in peculiar circumstances of prosperity or difficulty, to vow that they will make certain offerings or devote certain properties to the service of God. To such vows most of this chapter refers. This kind of vow is properly called 7 neder; which it is proper to indicate, as the discriminating terms employed in the original enable us, in most cases, to understand what is intended, better than the less marked distinctions of the translation.

-The persons.'-A man might dedicate himself to the services of the sanctuary, and became, as it were, a servant attached thereto. In the same way, he might vow his child. Samuel was thus devoted by his mother, and remained in the service of the sanctuary; for that appropriation being apparently satisfactory to all parties, he was not redeemed, according to the valuation here fixed for different ages and sexes. The rate of valuation, it will be observed, is low, and might be reduced, at the discretion of the priest, if the person were poor. It would appear that the appropriation of the devoted persons who remained unredeemed was at the discretion of the priest. Their duties were probably of the most servile kind, until after the Gibeonites were enthralled and obliged to do the hard work. We see that Samuel was treated with much consideration by the highpriest.

If a

16. Part of a field.'-This refers to inherited property, which was in ordinary circumstances inalienable. man, however, devoted it to the sanctuary, he was at liberty to redeem it on the usual terms-that of giving twenty per cent. beyond the estimated market value of the crops between the time of the transaction and the year of jubilee; but if then it remained unredeemed, it did not revert to the owner, but became the inalienable property of the sanctuary. This singular exception to the general release which the jubilee effected, we do not conceive to have been with any view of accumulating landed property in the hands of the priests, to which the policy of the Mosaical law is evidently averse, but to oblige every man to redeem his property, under the fear of losing it entirely at the jubilee. We must also consider that the nearest kinsman had the right to redeem; and as the Hebrews were strongly

averse to let hereditary property go out of the family, it is not likely that the priests could get much land under this law.

22. A field which he hath bought.'-The view taken in the preceding note seems to be corroborated by the present direction. Acquired property in land reverted to the owner at the jubilee in the usual way; while the inherited property, for the perpetuity of which the law is so careful to provide, was then lost. We should have expected the reverse to have been the case, if the object were not to impose on a man a sort of moral obligation to redeem his hereditary land, to prevent its absolute alienation.

28. * Devoted thing.'-This is not the neder, or common vow, such as we have previously considered, but another and more solemn, called D cherem. The difference seems to have depended on the form of the vow, the latter being accompanied with an anathema or execration, by the devotee, either on himself or others, if that were not done which he declared. We are most familiar with the operation of this bann in the case of cities and persons being, in time of war, devoted to utter destruction; and it is thought by many, that the 29th verse alludes to such persons devoted solemnly to death. Others, however, understand that remarkable passage to mean no more than that persons devoted by the cherem to the service of the sanctuary were to remain till death in that condition, without being redeemed. It is certain that nothing could, as in the former class of vows, be redeemed that was placed under the operation of the cherem, but it is difficult to ascertain how persons were in all cases affected by it. We are inclined to combine both alternatives, and to suppose that persons were either put to death, or else inalienably consecrated to the service of the sanctuary, according to the specific object of the vow. Perhaps the obscurity of this law arises from its allusions to consuetudinary practices, which were well known at the time, but of which we are ignorant. It is to be observed that Moses does not enjoin the vow to which this chapter relates, but only regulates the consequences of the act, or rather, perhaps, assigns certain consequences to it.

32. Whatsoever passeth under the rod.'-This is understood to be an allusion to the process which, according to the Jewish writers, was followed in taking the tithe. The cattle were placed in an enclosure, with a narrow entrance, through which one only could pass at a time. At this entrance, on the outside, stood a man with a rod marked with ochre, or other colouring matter; and as the animals passed out one by one, he counted them, and let his rod fall on every tenth without distinction; and whatever animal bore the mark thus impressed was taken for the tithe, whether it were male or female, sound or unsound,

CHAPTER I.

1 God commandeth Moses to number the people. 5 The princes of the tribes. 17 The number of every tribe. 47 The Levites are exempted for the service of the Lord.

of the land of Egypt, saying,

ND the LORD spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tabernacle of the congregation, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they were come out

2 Take ye the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, after their families, by the house of their fathers, with the number of their names, every male by their polls;

3 From twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel: thou and Aaron shall number them by their armies.

4 And with you there shall be a man of every tribe; every one head of the house of his fathers.

5 ¶ And these are the names of the men that shall stand with you: of the tribe of Reuben; Elizur the son of Shedeur.

6 Of Simeon; Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.

7 Of Judah; Nahshon the son of Amminadab.

8 Of Issachar; Nethaneel the son of Zuar.

9 Of Zebulun; Eliab the son of Helon. 10 Of the children of Joseph: of Ephraim; Elishama the son of Ammihud: of Manasseh; Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur.

tion together on the first day of the second month, and they declared their pedigrees after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, by their polls.

19 As the LORD commanded Moses, so he numbered them in the wilderness of Sinai. 20 And the children of Reuben, Israel's eldest son, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, by their polls, every male from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

21 Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Reuben, were forty and six thousand and five hundred.

22 Of the children of Simeon, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, those that were numbered of them, according to the number of the names, by their polls, every male from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to 23 Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Simeon, were fifty and nine thousand and three hundred.

24 Of the children of Gad, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

25 Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Gad, were forty and five thousand six hundred and fifty.

26 Of the children of Judah, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

27 Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Judah, were threescore and fourteen thousand and six hundred.

28¶Of the children of Issachar, by their

12 Of Dan; Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.

13 Of Asher; Pagiel the son of Ocran. 14 Of Gad; Eliasaph the son of Deuel. 15 Of Naphtali; Ahira the son of Enan. 16 These were the renowned of the congregation, princes of the tribes of their fathers, heads of thousands in Israel.

17 And Moses and Aaron took these men which are expressed by their names:

18 And they assembled all the congrega

of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

29 Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Issachar, were fifty and four thousand and four hundred.

30 Of the children of Zebulun, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

31 Those that were numbered of them, even

of the tribe of Zebulun, were fifty and seven thousand and four hundred.

32 ¶ Of the children of Joseph, namely, of the children of Ephraim, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

33 Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Ephraim, were forty thousand and five hundred.

34 Of the children of Manasseh, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

35 Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Manasseh, were thirty and two thousand and two hundred.

36Of the children of Benjamin, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

37 Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Benjamin, were thirty and five thousand and four hundred.

38 Of the children of Dan, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

39 Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Dan, were threescore and two thousand and seven hundred.

40 Of the children of Asher, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

41 Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Asher, were forty and one thousand and five hundred.

42 ¶ Of the children of Naphtali, throughout their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old

Verse 2. Take ye the sum of all the congregation.'This is the earliest census on record; but we have no reason to conclude that it was the first. We have no distinct information concerning the Egyptian usage in this respect: but it appears manifest that the Israelites, while in Egypt, had been accustomed to enumerations of the population, and that they had themselves been previously enumerated, but whether at their own instance or by their Egyptian tyrants does not appear. Thus we find that, at the time of the Exode, the number of the males above twenty years of age was well known (Exod. xii. 37). We would not indeed

and upward, all that were able to go forth to

war;

43 Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Naphtali, were fifty and three thousand and four hundred.

44 These are those that were numbered, which Moses and Aaron numbered, and the princes of Israel, being twelve men: each one was for the house of his fathers.

45 So were all those that were numbered of the children of Israel, by the house of their fathers, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war in Israel;

46 Even all they that were numbered were six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty.

47 T But the Levites after the tribe of their fathers were not numbered among them. 48 For the LORD had spoken unto Moses, saying,

49 Only thou shalt not number the tribe of Levi, neither take the sum of them among the children of Israel:

50 But thou shalt appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of testimony, and over all the vessels thereof, and over all things that belong to it they shall bear the tabernacle, and all the vessels thereof; and they shall minister unto it, and shall encamp round about the tabernacle.

51 And when the tabernacle setteth forward, the Levites shall take it down and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.

52 And the children of Israel shall pitch their tents, every man by his own camp, and every man by his own standard, throughout their hosts.

53 But the Levites shall pitch round about the tabernacle of testimony, that there be no wrath upon the congregation of the children. of Israel and the Levites shall keep the charge of the tabernacle of testimony.

54 And the children of Israel did according to all that the LORD commanded Moses, 30 did they.

rest the point on this circumstance alone, as the result may be thought to have been derived from subsequent enumeration; but it is of importance, when considered in connection with the circumstance that the first time a census is distinctly mentioned (Exod. xxx. 12), it is not enjoined as a new thing; but it is pre-supposed, as a matter of course, that Moses would number the people. But if the Israelites were then acquainted with the practice of periodical or occasional enumeration, they must have learnt it in Egypt; for a census is certainly not a practice of wandering shepherds, or one of which, untaught, they would have been

likely even to think. It is however interesting to find so important a measure of national policy in use at this early time, particularly when we recollect that it is of comparatively recent adoption in modern Europe. It was only in the course of the last century that the attention of governments began to be turned to the subject; and then attempts to obtain an accurate census were attended with great difficulty, and were in many instances perfectly fruitless. It is difficult to determine at what intervals the Hebrew enumerations were made. Four or five are mentioned in the Old Testament, but they are all at very unequal periods; and, judging from this, we might suppose they were occasional only. But the later Jews thought the enumeration was intended to be yearly, a construction inculcated for the purpose of rendering annual the polltax of half a shekel mentioned in Exod. xxx. 12. This tax is not, in Scripture, mentioned in connection with any other census; and it seems to have been only a temporary measure to raise funds for the making of the tabernacle. The later Jews, however, exacted the tax, without making the enumeration on which it should have been founded. There was the poll-tax, but not the census; even those who contended for the annual tribute allowed they had no such census, or indeed any census at all, except so far as that the amount of the tax formed a datum, on which a calculation might have been founded as to the number of the people. An annual census would indeed have been quite unnecessary, and scarcely practicable. On this ground, we may doubt whether the enumeration in Exod. xxxviii. 26, is the result of a different census from that now before us. A census must always occupy some time in making, and yet we find an interval of only a few months between the two periods; and if we suppose them different, it is impossible to conceive why a second enumeration should so immediately follow the first. Besides, the amount stated in both instances is the same, namely 603,550-an identity of numbers scarcely possible even in the interval of a few months, had the enumerations been different. It would therefore seem that the same enumeration is intended in both statements: it was completed doubtless in time to make the poll-tax available for the works of the tabernacle, and the result is stated incidentally in Exod. xxxviii., in connection with the amount derived from that tax; while in this place we have a more particular account of the same enumeration in order to shew the relative strength of the different tribes. There was, however, a second census, which took place, apparently, about thirty-eight years subsequent, on the borders of Canaan, in the next generation; from which, if we are at liberty to infer anything, we may suppose it was the intention of Moses that there should be a census in every generation. It is, however, doubtful whether the numbering of the people ever was, or was intended to be, periodical; and it is easy to discover a distinct object in every enumeration which the Scripture mentions. It will of course be observed that the enumeration only extends to males above twenty years of age, and could not therefore be useful for all the purposes to which national enumerations, in conjunction with tables of births and burials, are now applied. Still, such an enumeration of adult males was highly important, as affording a safe criterion by which the increase or decrease of the national strength and population might be estimated. It would be interesting to know in what manner the census was taken. The modern usages of the East afford no analogy; as, except in China and Japan, no enumerations of population are ever made, or even thought of. The population of towns is not known even to those to whom that knowledge would seem of importance. The want of at least an occasional census causes the most loose ideas on every subject relating to population. We have heard old men, of average intelligence, declare, in all sincerity, their belief that towns, in which they have lived for years, contained a million inhabitants, when they could not really have contained more than fifty to eighty thousand. When a person in authority really wishes to form some idea of the population of a town, it is formed either by a rough calculation as to the number of houses, multiplied by the supposed

average number of inhabitants to each house, or else by an account deduced from the consumption of a particular article of food. Thus, when Mr. Morier wished to ascertain the population of the city of Ispahan in Persia, the following process was adopted :-A small duty is paid to the local government on every sheep killed by the butchers, and the daily amount of this duty being ascertained, the number of sheep slaughtered became known. It then remained to be guessed how many inhabitants one sheep would serve. The proportion assumed was 300 to one sheep, and this being multiplied by the total number of sheep consumed (175), afforded the amount of population. The defects of such a process we need not point out; and yet we find the Jews having recourse to a very similar method at a time when they had for many centuries ceased to have regular enumerations, such as that now before us. Josephus relates that the prefect Cestius, being desirous of impressing Nero with a more proper idea of the importance of the Jewish nation than he was known to entertain, applied to the priests to know whether they possessed any means by which the number might be ascertained. As the Passover was approaching, when all the adult males were to appear at Jerusalem, they proposed to number the lambs sacrificed on that occasion, and to make the number slain the datum for a calculation of the population; for that sacrifice might not be eaten alone, and it was known that not less than ten persons partook of each lamb. It was accordingly found that the lambs sacrificed amounted to 256,500, which they multiplied by ten to obtain the required answer, which therefore must have been 2,565,000, although Josephus, whose numbers are perhaps corrupted, says 2,700,200. The defects of this calculation, as an estimate of the adult male population, are palpable. Only persons ceremonially clean could eat of the passover; many individuals were probably absent; and Josephus himself allows that the number who partook together of one lamb, was often not less than twenty; and indeed we know that thirteen were present at the passover which Jesus ate with his disciples.

16. Princes of the tribes of their fathers.-There are several expressions in this chapter which afford us considerable insight into the early national constitution of the Hebrews. Its forms were precisely those which we find to prevail, with slight modifications, in all nomade nations, and which all the tribes descending from Abraham followed, and which subsist among some of them (the Arabians for instance) to this day. They were, as is well known, divided into twelve great tribes, all having one common ancestor, and yet each having a distinct ancestor of its own-after whom it took its name, its members being called Beni-Reuben, Beni-Levi, etc. sons of Reuben, sons of Levi;' or the nation, collectively, from the common ancestor, Beni-Israel, sons of Israel.'-a principle of denomination which the Arabs exhibit to this day, calling their tribes Beni-Lam, Beni-Shammar, etc. Each tribe had its emir, sheikh, or chief, called here 'prince of the tribe;' and the names of the whole twelve are here given to us. They were not appointed by Moses; but their existence and authority are here recognised as already established in their respective tribes, and probably represented the authority which the patriarch of the tribe transmitted in the eldest branch of his family. This organization appears to have been carried down into Egypt, and to have subsisted there; and we probably shall not err in identifying these chiefs of tribes with the elders' to whom Moses in the first instance communicated his mission when he arrived in Egypt (Exod. iv. 29). The great tribes were again subdivided into certain large divisions called

בַתִּי אָבוֹת mishpachoth, and into smaller called מִשְׁפַחות

batti aboth, all having their heads or chiefs, who are probably the same persons called elders' in Deut. xix. 12, and xxi. 1-9; Josh. xxiii. and xxiv.; and elsewhere. On what principle these inferior heads were nominated we do not know; but as there is much apparent resemblance between this constitution and that which we find to prevail among the nomade tribes (Eelauts) of Persia, perhaps their