30 And Moses gat him into the camp, he for themselves round about the camp. and the elders of Israel.

2.

33 And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD Smote the people with a very great plague. 34 And he called the name of that place Kibroth-hattaavah: because there they buried the people that lusted.

35 And the people journeyed from Kibroth hattaavah unto Hazeroth; and abode at Hazeroth.

с

* Exod. xvi. 13; Psa. lxxviii. 26, 27, 28; cv. 40.—a Heb. as it Psa. lxxviii. 30, 31.the way of a day. Exod. xvi. 36; Ezek. xlv. 11.

were

We joyfully approve.

O that the Church might all receive

The spirit of prophecy,

And all in Christ accepted live,

And all in Jesus die!

Short Hymns on Select Passages of the Holy
Scriptures, by Charles Wesley, M. A., and
Presbyter of the Church of England. Bristol,

1762. 2 vols. 12mo.

That is, the graves of lust; Deut. ix. 22. Chap. xxxiii. 17.- Heb. they were in, &c. camp, and fell there in such multitudes as to lie two feet thick upon the ground; but the Hebrew will not bear this version. The Vulgate has expressed the sense, Volabantque in aere duobus cubitis altitudine And they flew in the air, two cubits super terram. high above the ground."

66

Verse 32. The people stood up, &c. While these immense flocks were flying at this short distance from the ground, fatigued with the strong wind and the distance they had come, they were easily taken by the people; and as various flocks continued to succeed each other for two days and a night, enough for a month's provision might be collected in that time. If the quails had fallen about the tents, there was no need to have stood up two days and a night in gathering them; but if they were on the wing, as the text seems to suppose, it was necessary for them to use despatch, and avail themselves of the passing of these birds whilst it continued. See Harmer, and see the note on Exod. xvi. 13. .

And they spread them all abroad] Maillet observes that birds of all kinds come to Egypt for refuge from the cold of a northern winter; and that the people catch them, pluck, and bury them in the burning sand for a few minutes, and thus prepare them for use. This is probably what is meant by spreading them all These sentiments are the more particularly remark-abroad round the camp. able as they come from one who was sufficiently Some authors think that the word by salvim, bigoted to what was called ecclesiastical orders and rendered quails in our translation, should be rendered regularity. locusts. There is no need of this conjecture; all difVerse 31. A wind from the Lord] An extraor-ficulties are easily resolved without it. The reader is dinary one, not the effect of a natural cause. And brought quails, a bird which in great companies visits Egypt about the time of the year, March or April, at which the circumstance marked here took place. Mr. Hasselquist, the friend and pupil of the famous Linnæus, saw many of them about this time of the year, when he was in Egypt. See his Travels, p. 209.

Two cubits high upon the face of the earth.] We may consider the quails as flying within two cubits of the ground; so that the Israelites could easily take as many of them as they wished, while flying within the reach of their hands or their clubs. The common notion is, that the quails were brought round about the

particularly referred to the note on Exod. xvi. 13.

Verse 33. The wrath of the Lord was kindled] In what way, and with what effects, we cannot precisely determine. Some heavy judgment fell upon these murmurers and complainers, but of what kind the sacred writer says nothing.

Verse 34. Kibroth-hattaavah] The graves of lust; and thus their scandalous crime was perpetuated by the name of the place.

1. ST. JUDE speaks of persons who were murmurers and complainers, walking after their own lusts, ver. 16, and seems to have this people particularly in view.

The sedition of Miriam

CHAP. XII.

and Aaron against Moses.

ishments, and yet walk in the same way, presuming on God's mercy, while we continue to provoke his justice. Let us settle it in our minds as an indisputable truth, that God is better acquainted with our wants than we are ourselves; that he knows infinitely better what we need; and that he is ever more ready to hear than we are to pray, and is wont to give more than we can desire or deserve.

whom the sacred text calls peμpipoipoi, complainers | murmuring, and the death of multitudes of these murof their lot. They could never be satisfied; even murers was the consequence! We hear of such punGod himself could not please them, because they were ever preferring their own wisdom to his. God will save us in his own way, or not at all; because that way, being the plan of infinite wisdom, it is impossible that we can be saved in any other. How often have we professed to pray, "Thy will be done!" And how seldom, very seldom, have our hearts and lips corresponded! How careful should we be in all our prayers to ask nothing but what is perfectly consistent with the will of God! Many times our prayers and desires are such that, were they answered, our ruin would be inevitable. "THY will be done!" is the greatest of all prayers; and he who would pray safely and successfully, must at least have the spirit of these words in all his petitions. The Israelites asked flesh when they should not have asked for it; God yields to their

2. In no case has God at any time withheld from his meanest followers any of the spiritual or temporal mercies they needed. Were he to call us to travel through a wilderness, he would send us bread from heaven, or cause the wilderness to smile and blossom as the rose. How strange is it that we will neither believe that God has worked, or will work, unless we see him working!

CHAPTER XII.

Miriam and Aaron raise a sedition against Moses, because of the Ethiopian woman he had married, 1, and through jealousy of his increasing power and authority, 2. The character of Moses, 3. Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, are suddenly called to the tabernacle, 4. The Lord appears in the pillar of the cloud, and converses with them, 5. Declares his purpose to communicate his will to Moses only, 6-8. His anger is kindled against. Miriam, and she is smitten with the leprosy, 9, 10. Aaron deplores his transgression, and entreats for Miriam, 11, 12. Moses intercedes for her, 13. The Lord requires that she be shut out of the camp for seven days, 14. The people rest till she is rèstored, 15, and afterwards leave Hazeroth, and pitch in the wilderness of Paran, 16.

3 (Now the man Moses was very meek, of the cloud, and stood in the door of the

NOTES ON CHAP. XII. Verse 1. Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses] It appears that jealousy of the power and influence of Moses was the real cause of their complaint, though his having married an Ethiopian woman haishshah haccushith—THAT WOMAN, the Cushite, probably meaning Zipporah, who was an Arab born in the land of Midian-was the ostensible cause.

Verse 2. Hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses?] It is certain that both Aaron and Miriam had received a portion of the prophetic spirit, (see Exod. iv. 15, and xv. 20, and therefore they thought they might have a share in the government; for though there was no kind of gain attached to this government, and no honour but such as came from God, yet the love of power is natural to the human mind; and in many instances men will sacrifice even honour, pleasure, and profit to the lust of power.

xix. 4; Isa. xxxvii. 4: Ezek. xxxv. 12, 13.- f Ecclus. xlv. 4. Psa. lxxvi. 9.- h Chap. xi. 25; xvi. 19.

Verse 3. Now the man Moses was very meek] How could Moses, who certainly was as humble and modest as he was meek, write this encomium upon himself? I think the word is not rightly understood; y anav, which we translate meek, comes from y anah, to act upon, to humble, depress, afflict, and is translated so in many places in the Old Testament; and in this sense it should be understood here: "Now this man Moses was depressed or afflicted more than any man

xn haadamah, of that land." And why was he so ? Because of the great burden he had to bear in the care and government of this people, and because of their ingratitude and rebellion both against God and himself; of this depression and affliction, see the fullest proof in the preceding chapter. The very power they envied was oppressive to its possessor, and was more than either of their shoulders could sustain.

Verse 4. And the Lord spake suddenly] The sud

Miriam is smitten with leprosy,

A. M. 2514.
B. C. 1490.

An. Exod. Isr.

2.

A. M.. 2514.
B. C. 1490.

2.

tabernacle, and called Aaron and white as snow and Aaron looked Miriam and they both came forth, upon Miriam, and, behold, she An. Exod. Isr. 6 And he said, Hear now my was leprous. words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. 71 My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all a mine house. 8 With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the LORD shall he behold wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses ?

11 And Aaron said unto Moses, Alas, my lord, I beseech thee, "lay not the sin upon us, wherein we have done foolishly, and wherein we have sinned.

-12 Let her not be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when he cometh out of his mother's womb.

13 And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, Heal her now, O God, I beseech thee.

14 And the LORD said unto Moses, If her

9 And the anger of the LORD was kindled father had but spit in her face, should she not against them; and he departed.

Gen. xv. 1; xlvi. 2; Job xxxiii. 15; Exek. i. 1; Dan. viii. 2; x. 8, 16, 17; Luke i, 11, 22; Acts x. 11, 17; xxii. 17, 18. Gen. xxxi. 10, 11; Kings iii. 5; Matt. i. 20,- Le Psa. cv. 26. Heb. iii. 2, 5.- 1 Tim. iii, 15. Exod. xxxiii. 11; Deut. xxxiv. 10.

den interference of God in this business shows at once the importance of the case and his displeasure.

be ashamed seven days? let her be shut out from the camp seven days, and after that let her be received in again.

P1 Cor. xiii. 12. Exod. xxxiii. 19.2 Pet. ii. 10; Jude 8.- Deut. xxiv. 9.-12 Kings v.27; xv. 5; 2 Chron. xxvi. 19, 20.— u2 Sam. xix. 19; xxiv. 10; Prov. xxx. 32. Psa. lxxxviii. 4. See Hob. xii. 9. Lev. xiii. 46; chap. v. 2, 3.

How

priesthood itself have fallen into contempt.
many priests and preachers who deserved to be ex-
posed to reproach and infamy, have been spared for
the sake of the holy character they bore, that the min-
istry might not be blamed!. But the just God will
visit their transgressions in some other way, if they do
not deeply deplore them and find mercy through Christ.
Nothing tends to discredit the work of God so much
as the transgressions and miscarriages of those who

Verse 6. If there be a prophet] We see here the different ways in which God usually made himself known to the prophets, viz., by visions-emblematic appearances, and by dreams, in which the future was announced by dark speeches, bechidoth, by enigmas or figurative representations, ver. 8. But to Moses God had communicated himself in a different way he spoke to him face to face, apparently, show-minister in holy things. ing him his glory: not in dark or enigmatical speeches; - Verse 14. If her father had but spit in her face] this could not be admitted in the case in which Moses was engaged, for he was to receive laws by Divine inspiration, the precepts and expressions of which must all be ad captum vulgi, within the reach of the meanest capacity. As Moses, therefore, was chosen of God to be the lawgiver, so was he chosen to see these laws duly enforced for the benefit of the people among whom he presided.

Verse 7. Moses—is faithful] ́8) neeman, a prefect or superintendent. So Samuel is termed, 1 Sam. ii. 35; iii. 20; David is so called, 1 Sam. xviii. 27, Neeman, and son-in-law of the king. Job, xii. 20, speaks of the Neemanim as a name of dignity. It seems also to have been a title of respect given to ambassadors, Prov. xiii. 17; xxv. 13. Calmet well observes that the word fidelity is often used for an employ, office, or dignity, and refers to 1 Chron. ix. 22, 26, 31; 2 Chron. xxxi. 12, 15; xxxiv. 12, &c. Moses was a faithful, well-tried servant in the house of God, and therefore he uses him as a familiar, and puts confidence in him.

Verse 10. Miriam became leprous] It is likely Miriam was chief in this mutiny; and it is probable that it was on this ground she is mentioned first, (see ver. 1,) and punished here, while Aaron is spared. Had he been smitten with the leprosy, his sacred character must have greatly suffered, and perhaps the

This appears to have been done only in cases of great provocation on the part of the child, and strong irritation on the side of the parent, Spitting in the face was a sign of the deepest contempt. See Job xxx. 10; Isa. 1. 6; Mark xiv. 65, In a case where a parent was obliged by the disobedient conduct of his child to treat him in this way, it appears he was banished from the father's presence for seven days. If then this was an allowed and judged case in matters of high provocation on the part of a child, should not the punishment be equally severe where the creature has rebelled against the Creator? Therefore Miriam was shut out of the camp for seven days, and thus debarred from coming into the presence of God her father, who is represented as dwelling among the people. To a soul who knows the value and inexpressible blessedness of communion with God, how intolerable must seven days of spiritual darkness be! But how indescribably wretched must their case be who are cast out into outer darkness, where the light of God no more shines, and where his approbation can no more be felt for ever! Reader, God save thee from so great a curse!

Several of the fathers suppose there is a great mystery hidden in the quarrel of Miriam and Aaron with Moses and Zipporah. Origen (and after him several others) speaks of it in the following manner :

CHAPTER XIII.

Twelve men, one out of every tribe, are sent to examine the nature and state of the land of Canaan, 1-3. Their names, 4-16. Moses gives them particular directions, 17-20. They proceed on their journey, 21, 22. Come to Eshcol, and cut down a branch with a cluster of grapes, which they bear between two of them upon a staff, 23, 24. After forty days they return to Paran, from searching the land, and show to Moses and the people the fruit they had brought with them, 25, 26. Their report they acknowledge that the land is good, but that the inhabitants are such as the Israelites cannot hope to conquer, 27-29. Caleb endeavours to do away the bad impression made, by the report of his fellows, upon the minds of the people, 30. But the others persist in their former statement, 31; and greatly amplify the difficulties of conquest, 32, 33.

NUMBERS.

5 of the tribe of Simeon, Sha- | Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Oshea the son 6. Of the tribe of Judah, Ca- of Nun, Jehoshua. leb the son of Jephunneh.

17 And Moses sent them to spy out the land 7 Of the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of of Canaan, and said unto them, Get you up Joseph. this way southward, and go up into the

8 Of the tribe of Ephraim, Oshea the son mountain : of Nun.

9 Of the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of people that dwelleth therein, whether they be Raphu. strong or weak, few or many;

20 And what the land is, whether it be i fat or lean, whether there be wood therein or not. 13 Of the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of And be ye of good courage, and bring of the Michael. fruit of the land. (Now the time was the time

14 of the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of the first-ripe grapes.)

21 So they went up, and searched the land 15 Of the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of from the wilderness of Zin unto m Rehob, as Machi.

Verse 20. The land-whether it be fal or lean] Every one a ruler] Not any of the princes of the Whether the soil be rich or poor; which might be people, (see chap. i.,) for these names are different known by its being well wooded, and by the fruits it from those; but these now sent were men of conside-produced; and therefore they were desired to examine ration and importance in their respective tribes. it as to the trees, &c., and to bring some of the fruits with them.