Leviticus 17:1--20:27
house <01004> [be of.]
slaughters ... ox <07819 07794> [that killeth an.]
brought <0935> [bringeth.]
shed blood <01818 02803> [blood shall.]
shed <08210> [he hath.]
cut off <03772> [be cut off.]
field <06440> [in the open.]
sacrificing .................... sacrifice ..... peace offering <02076 08002> [and offer them.]
splash <02236> [sprinkle.]
offer <06999> [burn.]
goat <08163> [unto devils.]
goat <08163> [devils.]
{Seirim,} properly signifies hairy or hairy ones; and hence is used not only for he-goats, but also for some fabulous beings or sylvan gods, to whom was ascribed the form of goats. Maimonides says that the Zabian idolaters worshipped demons under the form of goats; and that this custom being spread among other nations, gave occasion to this precept. He-goats, however, are probably intended here, which were objects of divine honour among the Egyptians under the name of honour among the Egyptians under the name of Mendes. Herodotus says that all goats were worshipped in Egypt; but particularly he-goats. From these seem to have sprung Pan, Silenus, and the innumerable herd of those imaginary beings, fauns, satyrs, dryads, etc., all woodland gods, and held in veneration by the Greeks and Romans.
prostitutes <02181> [gone a whoring.]
Though this phrase is equivalent, in Scripture, to that of committing idolatry, yet it is to be taken sometimes in a literal sense. Baalpeor and Ashtaroth were worshipped with obscene rite; and public prostitution formed a great part of the worship among the Egyptians, Moabites, Canaanites, Greeks, and Romans.
offers <05927> [that offereth.]
eats ............. eats <0398> [that eateth.]
I will set <05414> [I will.]
life .......................... lives ........... life <05315> [the life.]
This sentence, which contains a most important truth, had existed in the Mosaic writings for more than 3,000 years, before the attention of any philosopher was drawn to the subject. That the blood actually possesses a living principle, and that the life of the whole body is derived from it, is a doctrine of revelation, and a doctrine which the experiments of the most accurate anatomists have served strongly to confirm. The proper circulation of this important fluid through the whole human system was first taught by Solomon in figurative language, (Ec 12:6,) and discovered, as it is called, and demonstrated by Dr. Harvey in 1628; though some Italian philosophers had the same notion a little before. This accurate anatomist was the first who fully revived the Mosaic notion of the vitality of the blood; which was afterwards adopted by the justly celebrated Dr. John Hunter, professor of anatomy, and established by him, by a great variety of strong reasoning and accurate experiments.
assigned <05414> [I have.]
resident foreigner <01616> [neither.]
hunts <06679> [which hunteth.]
hunts <06679> [hunteth. Heb. hunteth any hunting. pour out.]
person <05315> [every soul.]
died of natural causes ..... torn <05038 02966> [that which died of itself. Heb. a carcase. both wash.]
do .... do ................... do <04639> [the doings.]
do .... do ................... do <04639> [and after.]
anyone ... does <0834 0120 06213> [which if a man do.]
Lord <03068> [I am the Lord.]
close relative <07607> [near to kin. Heb. remainder of his flesh.]
Not withstanding the prohibitions here, it must be evident, that in the infancy of the world, persons very near of kin, and even brothers and sisters, must have joined in matrimonial alliances; and therefore we cannot pronounce them immoral in themselves. But, in these first instances, necessity required it; but when this necessity no longer existed, the thing became inexpedient and improper: for 1. As human nature now is, it is very expedient that those who are so much together in youth, should, by such a restriction be taught to look upon all such intercourse as prohibited and incestuous; for unless such restrictions are made, it would be impossible to prevent the prevalence of very early corruption among young persons. (See Michaelis on the laws of Moses, Art. 108.) 2. That the duties owing by nature to relatives might not be confounded with those of a social or political kind; for could a man be a brother and a husband, or a son and a husband at the same time, and fulfil the duties of both? Impossible. 3. That by intermarrying with other families, relationship and its endearments might be diffused. These prohibitions are, therefore, to be considered so eminently moral obligations as to be observed by all mankind.
sexual intercourse <01540> [to uncover.]
woman <0802> [a woman.]
lewdness <02154> [it is wickedness.]
woman <0802> [wife. or, one wife to another.]
rival <06887 01540> [to vex her.]
Molech <05674 04432> [pass through.]
Molech signifies a king, or governor, of similar import with BaÆ’l, lord, or governor; and it is generally supposed that the sun was worshipped under this name; and more particularly as the fire appears to have been so much employed in his worship. It seems clear that children were not only consecrated to him by passing through the fire, which appears to be alluded to here, but that they were actually made a burnt offering to him. (See the parallel passages.) That the several abominations afterwards mentioned were actually practised by many heathen nations is abundantly attested by their own writers.
Molech <04432> [to Molech.]
[Moloch.]
profane <02490> [profane.]
animal ............... animal <0929> [any beast.]
perversion <08397> [confusion.]
defile ...................... defiled <02930> [Defile.]
nations <01471> [for.]
land ................... land <0776> [the land.]
punishment <06485> [therefore.]
vomited <06958> [vomiteth.]
obey <08104> [keep.]
foreigner <01616> [nor any stranger.]
[See on]
abominable <08441> [abominable.]
defile <02930> [that ye defile.]
Lord <03068> [I am.]
holy ......... holy <06918> [Ye shall.]
respect <03372> [fear.]
keep <08104> [keep.]
idols <0457> [not unto.]
[See on]
gods ... cast metal ....... God <0430 04541> [molten gods.]
sacrifice <02077> [a sacrifice.]
sacrifice ........... sacrifice <02076> [ye shall.]
accepted <07522> [your own will.]
The Hebrews had several kinds of offerings, which they called {corban}. Some were free-will offerings, and others were of obligation. The first fruits, the tenths, the sin-offerings, were of obligation; the peace-offerings, vows, offerings of oil, wine, bread, and other things which were made to the temple, or to the ministers of the Lord, were offerings of devotion; these constituted the greater part. They indeed were a shadow of good things to come, which we enjoy in full fruition through THE ONE great SACRIFICE, even Jesus Christ. "Aaron must lay his robes away, His mitre and his vest, When God himself comes down to be The offering and the priest."
spoiled <06292> [abominable.]
accepted <07521> [it shall.]
gather .... harvest ......................... harvest <07105 07114> [ye reap the harvest.]
In what code of laws merely human, is a requisition to be found so counteracting to selfishness, so encouraging to liberality, and so beneficently considering to the poor and needy? But the Mosaic dispensation, like the Christian, breathed with love to God, and benevolence to man. To the honour of the public and charitable spirit of the English, this merciful law is, in general, as much attended to as if it had been incorporated with the gospel.
pick <05953> [glean.]
pick ................... leave <05953 05800> [thou shalt.]
[shalt not.]
falsely .... fellow <0376 08266> [lie one.]
swear <07650> [ye shall.]
profane <02490> [profane.]
oppress <06231> [shalt not.]
wages <06468> [the wages.]
curse <07043> [not curse.]
fear <03372> [fear.]
slanderer <07400> [tale-bearer.]
stand <05975> [stand.]
hate <08130> [hate.]
reprove <03198> [rebuke.]
incur sin <05375 02399> [and not suffer sin upon him. or, that thou bear not sin for him.]
vengeance <05358> [not avenge.]
vengeance ............... love <05358 0157> [thou shalt.]
animals ... breed <07250 0929> [thy cattle gender.]
These practices might have been considered as altering the original constitution of God in creation; and this is the view which the Jews, and also Josephus and Philo, take of the subject. There were, probably, also both moral and political reasons for these prohibitions. With respect to heterogenous mixtures among cattle, it was probably forbidden, to prevent excitements to the abominations condemned in the preceding chapter. As to seeds, in many cases, it would be highly improper to sow different kinds in the same plot of ground. If oats and wheat, for instance, were sown together, the latter would be injured, and the former ruined. This prohibition may therefore be regarded as a prudential agricultural maxim. As to different kinds of garments, the prohibition might be intended against pride and vanity in clothing.
two different kinds .............. two different kinds ... seed ........... two different kinds <03610> [mingled.]
man ................. man <02778 0376> [betrothed to an husband. or, abused by any. Heb. reproached by, or, for man. she shall be scourged. or, they. Heb. there shall be a scourging. they shall.]
sin ............. sin <02403> [and the sin.]
enter <0935> [And when.]
forbidden ....... forbidden <06188 06189> [uncircumcised.]
fruit <06529> [all the.]
holy praise ..... Lord <01974 03068 06944> [holy to praise the Lord withal. Heb. holiness of praises to the Lord.]
blood <01818> [with the blood.]
divination <05172> [use.]
still ....... practice ..... soothsaying <06049> [nor.]
slash <08296> [cuttings.]
incise <05414> [print.]
profane <02490> [prostitute. Heb. profane. to cause.]
keep <08104> [keep.]
fear <03372> [reverence.]
foreigner <01616> [And if.]
oppress <03238> [vex him. or, oppress him.]
injustice <05766> [no unrighteousness.]
measures <04060> [in meteyard.]
honest balances honest .... honest ..... honest <06664 03976> [Just balances.]
weights <068> [weights. Heb. stones. I am. See on]
Any man <0376> [Whosoever.]
gives <05414> [giveth.]
[Moloch. Molech.]
The Rabbins describe this idol as made of brass sitting upon a throne of the same metal, in the form of a man, with the head of a calf, adorned with a royal crown, and his arms extended as if to embrace any one. When they offered any children to him, they heated the statue by a great fire kindled within, and the victim was put into his arms, and thus consumed. Others relate, that the idol, which was hollow, was divided into seven compartments within; in one of which they put flour, in the second turtles, in the third a ewe, in the fourth a ram, in the fifth a calf, in the sixth an ox, and the seventh a child; which were all burnt together by heating the statue inside. The account which Diodorus (l. xx.) gives of the statue of Saturn, to which the Carthaginians, descendants of the Canaanites, sacrificed their children, is very similar. For they had a brazen stature of Saturn, stretching out his hands towards the ground, in such a manner that the children placed within them tumbled down into a pit full of fire. To this account Milton alludes, in Paradise Lost, B. 1. 392.
people <05971> [the people.]
will set .................... given <05414> [I will set.]
defiled <02930> [to defile.]
profaned <02490> [profane.]
however ....... shut <05956> [hide.]
death <04191> [and kill.]
set <07760> [I will.]
clan <04940> [against his.]
prostitution .... prostitution <02181> [whoring.]
spirits <0178> [familiar.]
prostitution <02181> [go.]
cut ... off <03772> [cut him.]
In the days of Moses, superstition was almost the {sensus communis} of the human race, which then made severe punishment necessary: by means of the Christian dispensation such errors are now exploded, the cultivation of philosophy and natural history having harmonised and contributed their feebler share of light, so that we no longer have to deplore mischiefs occasioned by the silly curiosity attempting to unfold future events.
sure <08104> [And ye.]
sanctifies <06942> [sanctify.]
curses .............. cursed <07043> [curseth.]
The term {yekallel} signifies not only to curse, but to speak contemptuously, disrespectfully, or to make light of a person: so that all speeches which have a tendency to lessen our parents in the eyes of others, or to render their judgment, piety, etc., suspected or contemptible, is here included; though the act of cursing, or of treating the parent with injurious or opprobrious language, is what is particularly intended. He who conscientiously keeps the fifth commandment, can be in no danger of the judgment here denounced.
blood <01818> [his blood.]
commits adultery ........ adulterer .... adulteress <05003> [the adulterer.]
blood <01818> [their.]
sexual <07901> [lie.]
perversion <08397> [confusion.]
woman <0802> [a wife.]
burned <08313> [burnt.]
woman ............... woman <0802> [And if a woman.]
We are assured by Herodotus (in Euterp.) that the abominations here referred to existed among the Egyptians, and even formed part of their superstitious religious system, and we have reason to believe that they were not uncommon among the Canaanites. (See ch. 18:24, 25). Need we wonder then, that God should have made laws of this nature, and appointed the punishment of death for these crimes? This one observation will account for many of those strange prohibitions which we find in the Mosaic law.
animal ............... animal <0929> [and the beast.]
menstruating <01739> [having.]
laid bare <06168> [discovered. Heb. made naked.]
mother's <0517> [mother's.]
has laid bare .......... punishment <06168> [uncovereth.]
aunt <01733> [uncle's wife.]
childless <06185> [childless.]
brother's .......... brother's <0251> [his brother's.]
indecency <05079> [an unclean thing. Heb. a separation.]
[statues.]
regulations <04941> [judgments.]
vomit <06958> [spue you.]
statutes <02708> [in the manners.]
disgust <06973> [therefore.]
said <0559> [But I. See on]
land <0776> [a land.]
Milk and honey were the chief dainties of the ancients as they are now among the Arabs, particularly the Bedouins. Hence not only the Hebrews, but also the Greeks and Romans, painted the highest pleasantness and fertility by an abundance of milk and honey. The image used in the text, and frequently by ancient authors on similar subjects, is a metaphor, derived from a breast, producing copious streams of milk.
apart <0914> [which.]
distinguish ......................................... distinguished <0914> [put difference.]
detestable <08262> [abominable.]
creeps <07430> [creepeth. or, moveth.]
Lord <03068> [the Lord.]
apart <0914> [severed.]
spirit <0178> [a familiar.]
blood <01818> [their blood.]
