freewill offerings, for your burnt offerings, and for your meat offerings, and for your drink offerings, and for your peace offerings.

40 And Moses told the children of Israel according to all that the LORD commanded Moses.

Verse 1. "A day of blowing the trumpets."-This was one of the new moon days, celebrated with more than ordinary solemnity, on account, probably, of its commencing the new year; for the first day of the seventh month of the sacred year was the new year's day of the more ancient civil year. It is the only one of the new moon days on which servile work is interdicted. It is called "the feast of trumpets:" and we are to understand that the trumpet-blowing was greater on this day than on any other of the solemn festivals. The Scripture gives no reason for this peculiarity, or indeed for the festival itself. Numerous conjectures have been offered to supply the omission. Many Jewish writers think that the trumpets were blown in order to awaken men to repentance against the great fast, or day of expiation, which followed nine days after. But to this it has been well objected by Bishop Patrick, that the words (1, zikron teruah) translated “a memorial of blowing of trumpets" in the parallel text, Lev. xxiii. 24, properly signifies a memorial of triumph, a shouting for joy, the word teruah being never used in Scripture but for a sound or shout of rejoicing. The opinion most commonly received by the Jews is, that the trumpets were blown in memory of the intention to offer Isaac in sacrifice, and the substitution of a ram in his place. On which account they say that the trumpets used on this occasion were made of rams' horns, and they still use such in their synagogues under this impression. They also inform us that a ram's head was eaten on this day for the same reason, and also to betoken that the Jews would be the head and not the tail. A notion, derived from the Mishna, is also entertained that on this day God sits to determine the events of the following year, and to judge the conduct of men, who pass before him as a flock before the shepherd; and that the blowing of trumpets is to disturb Satan when he comes to accuse the Israelites. Some of the Christian lathers think that the institution was to commemorate the delivery of the law on Mount Sinai, which was attended by the sound of the trumpet. The most general opinion however, both among Jews and Christians, is, that the observance was instituted to commemorate the creation of the world when "the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy" (Job xxxviii. 7). This opinion has the advantage that it may be held in common with any of the others; and is not incompatible even with the view which we entertain, which is, that the day, being new year's day, was celebrated by the blowing of trumpets, for much the same reason that we celebrate the commencement of our new year by the ringing of bells, namely, to usher in the year with tokens of public rejoicing. It will be observed that the opinions concerning the creation of the world, of the judgment which takes place on that day, and of the intended sacrifice of Isaac, are not stated as opposite notions, since they are all entertained by the modern Jews, whose prayers for the day make frequent allusions to all three.

..

39. "These things ye shall do unto the Lord in your set feasts."-The laws in this and the preceding chapter contain a repetition of previous injunctions. They are here given again, probably, like the recapitulation in Deuteronomy, to remind the new generation about to enter Canaan of the obligations laid upon their fathers, and which were to continue in force under the approaching alteration in their condition of life. Of all the sacrifices enjoined in the law, the Jews, who have now abode many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice" (Hos. iii. 4), offer none. Instead of sacrifices they have certain observances, with appropriate prayers and readings of Scripture; and on a day when there should be a sacrifice they read in their synagogues the passage of Scripture enjoining that sacrifice, under the impression that, in their present depressed circumstances, the public reading of the injunction will be accepted in place of compliance with it. (See Leo of Modena's History of the Rites, &c. of the Jews.')

CHAPTER XXX.

1 Vows are not to be broken. 3 The exception of a maid's vow. 6 Of a wife's. 9 Of a widow's, or her that is divorced.

AND Moses spake unto the heads of the tribes concerning the children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded.

2 If a man vow a vow unto the LORD, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not 'break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth.

3 If a woman also vow a vow unto the LORD, and bind herself by a bond, being in her father's house in her youth;

4 And her father hear her vow, and her bond wherewith she hath bound her soul, and her father shall hold his peace at her: then all her vows shall stand, and every bond wherewith she hath bound her soul shall stand.

5 But if her father disallow her in the day that he heareth; not any of her vows, or of her bonds wherewith she hath bound her soul, shall stand: and the LORD shall forgive her, because her father disallowed her.

6 And if she had at all an husband, when 'she vowed, or uttered ought out of her lips, wherewith she bound her soul;

7 And her husband heard it, and held his peace at her in the day that he heard it: then her vows shall stand, and her bonds wherewith she bound her soul shall stand.

8 But if her husband disallowed her on the day that he heard it; then he shall make her vow which she vowed, and that which she uttered with her lips, wherewith she bound her soul, of none effect: and the LORD shall forgive her.

9 But every vow of a widow, and of her that is divorced, wherewith they have bound their souls, shall stand against her.

1 Heb. profane. 2 Heb. her vows were upon her.

10 And if she vowed in her husband's house, or bound her soul by a bond with an oath;

11 And her husband heard it, and held his peace at her, and disallowed her not: then all her vows shall stand, and every bond wherewith she bound her soul shall

stand.

12 But if her husband hath utterly made them void on the day he heard them; then whatsoever proceeded out of her lips concerning her vows, or concerning the bond of her soul, shall not stand: her husband hath made them void; and the LORD shall forgive her.

13 Every vow, and every binding oath to

Verse 2. "If a man vow a vow."-This chapter relates wholly to vows; and its contents were, not improbably, delivered in answer to some questions or difficulties which had been propounded to Moses on the subject. It will be right to observe that nothing is said either in approval or disapprobation of vows in general, and it may be reasonably concluded that these laws were intended to regulate and modify practices already existing. Moses nowhere exhorts to the practice of vowing, and sometimes speaks of vows as if they might be rashly taken. Michaelis has a good general remark, which is applicable to the whole subject:- Moses appears to have retained vows as an ancient usage among his people; only taking care that the jus tertu, the rights of a father, or a husband, should not be affected by them; and that where rashly made, they should not become too burdensome; and with this view ordaining an authority, for the purpose of alleviating and buying them off. This is nearly the spirit of his law. Of many vows that became common in later times, he had not even an idea, and, of course, could enjoin nothing respecting them. The most common vow, to which he often alludes, and which he pre-supposes as known, was the promising an offering to Goda sort of vow which we can no longer make. By other vows, either something was presented as a gift to God, who had then a visible sanctuary and priests; or else there was promised a piece of self-denial, uninjurious to the commonwealth, and, in general, not of perpetual endurance. It was to a people who made vows of this sort that Moses gave his laws." The Rabbins very properly observe, that no vow could be admitted as coming within the scope of these laws if it bound the person to do a forbidden thing, or any thing contrary to the honour and known will of God. Such Vows were in themselves void.

"According to all that proceedeth out of his mouth."-This phrase frequently occurs in connection with vows; and it would seem from hence, that to render a vow binding it was necessary that it should be actually uttered-not merely made in the heart. Such a mental act would appear to have been regarded rather as a resolution to vow than as a vow itself. This limitation is of more importance than would at first sight appear, and was probably intended to prevent the anxiety which conscientious persons might sometimes be led to entertain on account of the difficulty which might occur of distinguishing between a bare intention and a vow actually completed.

3. “In her youth.”—The Rabbins say that this means till she was twelve years of age. We should rather think that there was no distinct reference to age; for as we find the husband possessing a power of nullifying his wife's vows, without any restriction as to her age, it is but reasonable to conclude that the father possessed the same power till she was married. And this seems the more probable when we consider that among the Hebrews, as at present in most nations of the East, it was a very rare circumstance for a female to remain unmarried beyond girlhood, and that she was often betrothed long before the actual marriage took place. The same authorities inform us that when a girl was betrothed, the concurrence of her father and betrothed husband was requisite to nullify her vow. We see from verse 9, that a woman seems never to have been independent in this matter, or perhaps in any other, until she either become a widow or a divorced wife.

CHAPTER XXXI.

1 The Midianites are spoiled, and Balaam slain. 13 Moses is wroth with the officers, for saving the women alive. 19 How the soldiers, with their captives and spoil, are to be purified. 25 The proportion whereby the prey is to be divided. 48 The voluntary oblation unto the treasury of the Lord.

AND the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

2 'Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites: afterward shalt thou be gathered unto thy people.

L

3 And Moses spake unto the people, say

Chap. 25. 17.

ing, Arm some of yourselves unto the war,
and let them go against the Midianites, and
the LORD of Midian.
avenge
4 Of every tribe a thousand, throughout all
the tribes of Israel, shall
ye send to the war.
5 So there were delivered out of the thou-
sands of Israel, a thousand of every tribe,
twelve thousand armed for war.

6 And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand of every tribe, them and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, with the holy instruments, and the trumpets to blow in his hand.

2 Chap. 27. 13. 3 Heb. a thousand of a tribe, a thousand of a tribe.

7 And they warred against the Midian- | and all the princes of the congregation, ites, as the LORD commanded Moses; and they slew all the males.

13 And Moses, and Eleazar the priest,
5 Heb. host of war. Chap. 25, 2. 72 Pet. 2, 15.

34 And threescore and one thousand jewels.

36 And the half, which was the portion and fifty shekels.

16 Heb. heave offering.

53 (For the men of war had taken spoil, every man for himself.)

and of hundreds, and brought it into the tabernacle of the congregation, for a memorial for the children of Israel before the

54 And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of the captains of thousands, LORD.

Verse 2. "The Midianites.”—See the note on Exod. ii. 15. Whatever opinion be entertained concerning the origin of the Midianites on the Red Sea, among whom Moses found a refuge from the wrath of Pharaoh, there is no question that those who now engage our attention were the descendants of Midian, the son of Abraham by Keturah, who, together with his brethren, were sent away by the patriarch, during his life-time, "eastward into the east country;" that is, into the country eastward from that part of Canaan in which Abraham then was. This was at Beersheba, in the south of Canaan; and now accordingly we find the Midianites settled in, or at least occupying the region where, after this direction, we should expect to look for them, namely, to the east and south-east of the Moabites, who dwelt on the eastern coast of the Dead Sea. Or rather perhaps we should say, that, as they appear to have been to a considerable extent a nomade people, they pastured their flocks in the unsettled country beyond the Moabites, with whom, as a kindred though a more settled people, they appear to have been on the most friendly terms; and on whose borders were situated those "cities and goodly castles" which they possessed. It will contribute to the better understanding of the subsequent history of this people, in connection with the Israelites, to keep in mind this often forgotten fact, that the Midianites were, to a considerable extent, a nomade people, extending their wanderings much beyond any limits which could be assigned to them as a territorial possession. This people were induced, by the wicked advice of Balaam-and with an express and diabolical intention of depriving them of Jehovah's protection-to attempt to seduce the Hebrews to idolatry and idolatrous whoredom. To their success in this endeavour, the 24,000 lives which were lost in the matter of Baal-peor bore awful testimony. Were the people of Israel to be thus punished, and should the primary instigators of the idolatry and rebellion escape? Such was not the Divine will; and now we find the Israelites ordered to execute the Lord's vengeance upon Midian. No one can doubt that, in this case, the Hebrews were the executioners of a judicial sentence; and it is well to remember this, that we may, from this affair, be led to draw no inference as to the conduct and results of a war in ordinary circumstances. The sequel exhibits the result. It appears, however, that only the Midianites who were in the neighbourhood of the Hebrew camp, and who were the actual criminals, were involved in the recorded destruction, great as it was; and this is one proof, among many, of the wide-spread and partially nomade character of this people. Accordingly, at no great distance of time afterwards, we find them so powerful as to render the Israelites their tributaries, and to oppress them greatly for seven years, obliging them to seek refuge in “dens which are in the mountains, and caves, and strong holds" (Judg. vi. 2). From this oppression the Hebrews were delivered by Gideon, who, with a very inferior force, almost annihilated the Midianites, so that from that time they appear to have lost their distinct national existence, and became mixed with the kindred nations, the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, and Arabians.

6. "The holy instruments, and the trumpets."-What these holy instruments were, as distinct from the trumpets, is not very evident; and the Hebrew, as well as the Christian commentators, are much divided on the subject. Some think that the Urim and Thummim are intended, whereby the Lord might be consulted about any difficulty that might arise in the management of the war; others think it was the ark, which we in future times find, on some occasions, accompanying the army (Josh. vi. 4, 6, 7; 1 Sam. iv. 4, 5; xiv. 18; 2 Sam. xi. 1). There are serious objections to both of these opinions; and it seems more probable that we should regard the ↑ (vau) prefixed to the word "trumpets" not as copulative (and), but as explanative (even), and then read, "the holy instruments, even the trumpets." It will be recollected that the silver trumpets were to accompany the army, in charge of the priests, who were to sound the war alarm with them.

7. "Slew all the males.”—This slaughter of the males is not a peculiarity of the present transaction, since it formed part of the general war-law, as given in Deut. xx., to which we must refer for remarks on the general subject. Our present observations are confined to the circumstances which the ordinary military laws do not explain.

8. "Balaam also....they slew with the sword.”—It is said, in chap. xxiv. 25, that Balaam went and returned to his own country, that is, Mesopotamia. It seems more probable that he stopped among the Midianites, after having set out with an intention to return home, than that he had already come back from so considerable a distance as the Euphrates. However, if he did go home, there was certainly sufficient inducement for him to come back after he had learned the success of the villanous advice he had given to the Midianites on his way. This is the opinion of the Hebrew writers, who say, that when he heard that the Israelites had fallen into the snare which he had laid for them, he made no doubt that they would then be easily defeated, and hastened to obtain a share in the spoil. But others only say, that on hearing of the plague which had swept away so many thousand Hebrews, he delayed not to return and claim the due wages of his iniquity from the princes of Midian. His iniquity found other wages.

"Sword."-The history of warlike weapons forms a curious and instructive chapter in the history of man. Swords of metal could by no means be the earliest, or one of the earliest, of those weapons which in process of time men devised for the purpose of defending themselves or offending others. Such an instrument as a sword cannot well be of any thing but metal; and therefore a considerable advance in civilization, indicated by the existence of the art of working metals, must have been made before the sword was invented. Hence it is that swords and sabres have never been known to any but civilized or semi-civilized nations; nothing of the kind being ever found among savages. Yet we see this weapon in the most remote ages known in Asia. It is in fact the most early weapon mentioned in Scripture. It was with the sword that Simeon and Levi did such terrible execution at Sechem; and the patriarch Jacob mentions the sword and the bow as the weapons with which he had defeated the Amorites (Gen. xlviii. 22). There is no doubt that the swords of the most ancient times were of brass, or rather copper. To speak of a copper sword may seem strange; but it is certain that copper was wrought long before iron, and applied to every domestic, operative, and warlike purpose for which metal was required. That this was the case in the time of Homer, we see from his poems, where we observe brass applied to almost every use. The Iliad, from its great antiquity and from its frequent descriptions of arms and armour, is our most valuable guide in this class of subjects. We there find that there is no sort of weapon which is not in some instances, if not always, made of brass; and indeed where the material of a metallic weapon is mentioned at all, we usually find it to be brass. As to swords, their material is not generally mentioned; but the famous sword of Achilles himself was of brass, whence we may conclude that they were generally of that metal. Swords were also at that early time highly enriched, as we see by the description of Agamemnon's: