Bible Commentary (1871–1879 Edition)
Qiiw'ls are Sent, NUilBERS XTI, XIII. Jfiriatri's Leproey.
as tar as they coul.l march in one clay In tlie sandy desert, under a vertical sun. Assuming it to be twenty miles, this immense cloud of quails (Psalm 77. 27) covered a space of forty miles in diameter. Others reduce it to sixteen. But it is doubtful whether the measurement be from the centre or the extremities of the camp. It is evident, however, that the language describes tlie countless number of these quails, as it were two cubits lilgli Some have supposed that they fell on the ground above each other to that height—a supposition which would leave a vast quantity useless as food to the Israelites, who were forbidden to eat any animal tliat died of itself, or from wliicli the blood was not poured out. Others thinli that, being exhausted with a long flight, they could not odus 15. 201; and, therefore, they considered the conduct of Moses, in exercising an exclusive authority in this matter, as an encroachment on" their rights (Micali
6. 4). 3. nie man Moseu Avas -vvry meek—(Exodus 14. 13;
32.12, 13; ch. 14.13; 21.7; Deuteronomy 9,18.) This observation miglit have been made to account for Moses taking no notice of their angry reproaches, and for God's interposing so speedily for the vindication of His servant's cause. The circumstance of Moses recording an enlogium on a distinguishing excellence of his own character is not without a parallel among the sacred writers, when forced to it by the insolence and contempt of opponents (2 Corinthians 11.5; 12. 11, 12). But it is not iinproljahle that, as this verse appears to be a parentiiesis, it may have been inserted as a gloss by Ezra or some later prophet. Others, Instead of "very meek," suggest " ver.v .afflicted," as the proper rendering. 4. The Lord spake suddenly unto Moses, and nnto Aaron, and unto Bliriam—The divine Interposition was made thus openly and immediately, in order to suppress the sedition, and prevent its spreading amongst the people. 5. Tlie Lord came down lu the pillar of tire cloud, antl stood In tlie floor of the tabernacle — without gaining admission, as was the usual piivilege of Aaron, though it was denied to all other men and women. This public exclusion was designed to be a token of the divine displeasure. 6. Hear now my words —A difl'erence of degree is here distinctly expressed in the fly more than three feet above the earth, and so were easily felled or caught. A more recent explanation applies the phrase, "two cubits high," not to the accumulation of the mass, but to the size of the individual birds. P'locks of large red-legged cranes, three feet high, measuring seven feet from tip to tip, have been frequently seen on the western shores of the Gulf of Akaba, or eastern arm of the Red Sea. [.Stanley, Shubert.] 33. People stood np i. e., rose up In eager haste—some at one time, others at another—some, perhaps, through avidity, both day and night, ten homers—ten ass' loads ; or, " homers" may be used indefinitely, as in Exodus 8. II; Judges 15.
16; and " ten" for many : so that the phrase ten homers is equivalent to great heaps. The collectors were probably one or two from each family ; and, being distrustful of God's goodness, gathered not for immediate consumption only, but for future use. In eastern and soutliern seas, innumerable quails are often seen, which, when weary, gifts and authority even of divinely commissioned prophets. Moses having been set overall God's house, r.e., His cliurch and people, was consequently invested with supremac.v over Miriam and Aaron also, and privileged beyond all others Iiy direct and clear manifestations of the presence and will of God. 8. with bim will I speak mouth to mouth—immediately, not by an interpreter, nor by visionarj' symbols presented to his fancy, apparently—plainly and surely, not In dnrU speeches—parables or similitudes, the sImllKude of the Lord shall he behold—not the face or essence of God, who is invisfall down, covering every spot on the deck and rigging of vessels; and in Egypt they come in such myriads that the people knock them down with sticks, spread tUem all nbro.Td for tliemsel-ves—salted and dried them for future use. Iiy the simple process to which they had been accustomed in Egypt. 33. Wlillc tlie flesU was yet between tbeir teeth, ere it was chewed lit., cut off—i. e., ere the supply of quails, which lasted a month (v. 20), was exhausted. The probability is, that their stomachs, having been long inured to manna (a light food), were not preible (Exodus 33. 20; Colossians 1.15; John 1. IS) ; but some nnmistakable evidence of His glorious presence (Ex(xlns
33. 2; 3t. 5). The latter clause should have been conjoined with the preceding one, thus : " not in dark speeches, and In a figure shall he behold the Ijord." The slight change
Xjared for so sudden a change of regimen—a heavy, solid diet of animal food, of whicli they seem to have partaken to so intemperate a degree as to produce a general surfeit, and fatal consequences. On a former occasion their murmurs for fl'^sh were raised (Exodus 10), because they were in want of food. Here tliey proceeded, not from necessity,
In the punctuation removes all appearance of contradiction to Deuteronomy 4. 15.
10-16. Her TjKprosy. 10. the cloud departed from the tabernaclei'. p., from the door to resume its permanent position over the mercy-seat. Miriam became leprous—This malady in its most malignant form (Exodus
1)Ut wanton lustful desire; and f lieir sin, in the rigliteous judgment of God, was ma<le to carry its own piiuisliment. 34. Called the name of that place Kibrothhattaavali— the graves of lust, or those that lusted; so that the name of the pl.ace proves that the mortality was confined to those who had indulged inordinately. 35. Hazerotli—the extreme soutliern station of this route was a watering-place in a spacious plain,now Ain Iladerah.
4. 6; 2 Kings 5. 27), as its colour, combiiK'd witli its sudden appearance, proved, was inflicted as a divine judgment; and she was m.ade the victim, either from lier extreme violence, or because the leprosy on Aaron would have interrupted or dislionoured the holy service. 11-1.3. On tlie luiiiilile and penil(>ntial submission of .\aron, Moses int<>rceded for both the oiniiders, espiM'ijilly for Afiriam, who was restored ; not, however, till slie had been made, by her exclusion, a pulilic example. 14. Her father had but spM lu her face should she not be ashamed seven days !—'I'lie Jews, in eorniiion witli all people in the East, seem to ha ve had an intense aliliorrenee of spitting, and
CHAPTER XII.
Ver. 1-9. Miriam AND Aaron'.s Sedition. 1. An Ethiopian woman — Ileb., a Cushite woman— Arabia was jsually called in Scripture the land of Cush— its )nhal)itants being descendants of that son of Ham (see on Exodus 2. I.')), and being accounted generally a vile and contemplllile race. (Amos 0. 7.) The occasion of this seditious outl)reak on tlie part of Miriam and A.iron against Moses was the great cliangc made In the government by the adopt ion of the seventy ruler.s—and their irritating disparagement of his wife—who, in all probability, was Zipporah, and not a second wife he had recently married—arose from Jealoimy of her relatives, through whoso Influence the Innovation had been first made (Exodus for a parent to express his (Ilspleasnre by doing so on the person of one of liis children, or even on the ground In his pre.seice, separated that child .as unclean from society for seven days. l.'j. The people Journeyed not till Miriam wan brought In nnln— Ei t her not to crush her by a sentence of oveiwhelmiiig severity, or not to expose her, being a prophetess, to popular contempt. 10. Pitched In <he wilderness of Paran—The station of encampments seems to have been Illthma (ch. 33. 19).
CHAPTER XIII.
18.1, wlille they were overlooked or neglected. Miriam
Ver. 1-3"). Tiiic Names or the Men wtio were .Sent to SEAuril THE T/AND. 1, !J. The li Ord spake unto Mosea, Send thou men, that they may senix-h the land of CannanCf. DeutcMonomy I. '22, whence It a|ipears, thai while the proposal (if dolegiiting contldcntial meu frou
Is mentioned l)eforo Aaron as being the chief Instigator and leader of the sedition. 'Z. Ilath the Iord Indeed Hpoken only by mnsexT hath he not also spoken by «ihT—The prophetlciil name and character was tieblowed upon Aaron (Exodus I. 15, IC) and Miriam (Ex- ]04 spies Stat Out. NUMBERS XIV. Murmuring at the Spies' Report.
tra. [Stanley.] 37, 38. They told him, and said. Wo came unto the land whitlier thou sentest us, and surely It flowcth with mlllc and honey—The repoi't was given publicly in the audience of the people, and it was artfully arranged to begin tlieir narrative with commendations of tlie natural fertility of the country, in order that tlieir subsequent slanders miglit the more readily receive credit. 29. The Amalekltcs dwell In the land of the south—Tlieir territory lay between the Dead and the Red Seas, skirting tlie borders of Canaan. Hittitea dwell In tlic mountains—Their settlements were in the soutlierii and mountainous part of Palestine. (Genesis 23.
each tribe to explore the land of Canaan emanated from the people who petitioned for it, the measure received the special sanction of God, who granted their request at once as a trial, and a punishment of their distrust. 3. THese men were heads of the children of Israel — Not the princes who are named (ch. 10.), but chiefs, leading men, though not of the first rank. 16. Oshea i. e., .a desire of salvation. Jehoshua, by prefixing the name of God, means "divinely appointed," "head of salv.ation," "Saviour," the same as Jesus. 17. Get you up this way, and go up Into tlic mountain—Mount Seir (Deuteronomy 1. 2), which lay directly from Sinai across the wilderness of Paran, in a north-easterly direction into the southern parts of the promised land. 30. Now the time was the time of the first ripe grapes—Tliis was in August, when the first clusters are gatliered, the second in September, and the third in October. The .spies' absence for a pe. 'od of fortjdays, determines the grapes they brought from Eshcol to have been of the second period. 21-34. So they searched the land — Tliey advanced from south to north, reconnoitring the whole land, the wilderness of Zln—a long level plain, or deep valley of sand—the monotony of which is relieved by a few tamarisk and rethem trees, and wliich, under the names of El Ghor and El Araba, forms the continuation of the Jordan valley, extending from tlie Dead Sea to the Gulf of Akaba. Rehoto—or, Beth-rehob, was a city and district situated, according to some, eastward of Sidon
7.) The C'an.ianites dwell by the sea—Tlie remnant of the original inliabitants, who liad been dispossessed by the Philistines, were divided into two nomadic hordes one settled eastward near llie Jordan ; the other westward, by the Mediterranean. 33. A I.-tnd that eatrth up the Inhabitants—(. e., .in unliealtiiy climate and country. Jewish writers say that in the course of their tr,ivels they saw a great many funerals, vast numbers of the CanaaiiItes being cut ott' at tliat time, in tlie providence of God, by a plague or the hornet. (Joshua 21. 12.) men of great stature—TIlis was evidently a false and ex.'iggerated report, representing, from timidity or malicious artifice, wliat was true of a few as descriptive, of tlie people generally. 33. there we saw tlie giants, t,!ie sons of AnaU The name is derived from the son of Arba—a great man among the Araiiians{Josliua 15. U), who probably obtained his appellation from wearing a sjilendid collar or chain round Ills necli, as the word imports. The epithet "giant" evidently refers liere to stature. (See on Genesis 6. 4.) And and, according to others. Is the same as El Hole, an extensive and fertile champaign country, at the foot of Anii-libanus, a few leagues below Pane.is. as men come unto Ilamath—or, " the entering in of Hamath" (2 Kings it is probable the Anakims were a distinguished family, or perhaps a select body of warriors, cliosen for tlieir extraordinary size, we were In our own sight as grnsshoppers—a strong Orientalism, by which tlie treacheroiia spies gave an exaggerated report of tlie physical strength of the people of Cauaa;i.
now the valley of Balbeck, a mountain-pass or opening in the northern frontier, which formed the extreme limit in that direction of the inheritance of Israel. From tlie mention of these places, the route of the scouts appears to have been along the course of the Jordan in their advance, and their return was by the western border, tlirougli the territories of the Sidonians and Phil-
CHAPTER XIV.
istines. 3!i. unto Hebron—situated in tlie heart of the mountains of Judali, in the southern extremity of Palestine. The town or "cities of Hebron," as it is expressed In tlie Heb., consists of a numljer of sheickdoms distinct
Ver. 1-45. 1. The People Murmur at the Spies' Report. All the congregation lifted up their voice and cried-Not literally the whole, for there were some exceptions. 2-4:. Would God tliat we had died in Eiypt— Such insolence to their generous leaders, and such ba.se Ingratitude to God, show the deep degradation of the Israelites, and the absolute necessity of the decree that debarred that generation from entering the promised land. They were punished by their wishes being granted to die in that wilderness. A leader to reconduct them to Egypt is spoken of (Nehemiah 9. 17)as actually nominated. The sinfulness and insane folly of their conduct are almost incredible. Their conduct, however, is paralleled by too many amongst ourselves, who shrink from the smallest dil Rculfroiii each otiier, standing at tlie foot of one of those hills that form a bowl round and enclose it. " The children of Anak," mentioned in this verse, seem to have been also chiefs of townsliips; and this coincidence of polity, existing in ages so distant from eacli other, is remarkable. iVERE Monro.] Hebron (Kirjatli-Arba, Genesis 23. 2) was one of the oldest cities in the world. Zoan (tlie Tanis of the Greeks)—was situated on one of tlie eastern branches of the Nile, near the lake Menzala, and the early royal residence of the Pharaohs, that boasted a higher antiqnity than any other city In Egypt. Its name, whieli signifies flat and level, is descriptive of its situation in the low grounds of the Delta. 33. They came unto the brook of Eshcol— 1 e., "the torrent of the cluster." Its situation was a little to the south-west of Hebron. The valley and its sloping hills are still covered with vineyards, the ch.aracter of whose fruit corresponds to ties, and rather remain slaves to sin than resolutely try to surmount the obstacles that lie in their way to the Canaan above. 5. Moses and Aaron fell on their faces —as humble and earnest suppliants—either to the people, entreating them to desist from so perverse a design;—or rather, to God, as the usual and only refuge from the violence of that tumultuous and stifle-necked ralible, and a hopeful means of softening and Impressing their liearts. 6. Joshua and Caleb, whicli were of tliem that searched the land, rent their clothes—the two honest spies testifiedtheirgrief and horror. In thestrongest manner, at the mutiny against Moses and the blasphemy against God; while at the same time they endeavoured, by a truthful statement, to persuade the people of the ease with which they might olitain possession of so desirablo a country, provided they did not, by their robollion and ingratitude, provoke God to abandon them. 8. A land flowing with milk and honey—a general expression, descriptive of a rich and fertile country; but the two articles specified were amongst the principal productsof tho Holy Land. 9. Their detence Is departed—i/e6., their shadow. The Sultan of Turke.v and the Schali of Persia are called " the shadow of God," " the refuge of the world." So that the meaning of the phrase, "their defence Isdcw
Its ancient celebrity, and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes—The grapes roared In this locality are still as magnificent as formerly— they are said by one to be equal in size to prunes, and compared by another to a man's thumb. One cluster sometimes weighs 10 or 12 pounds. The mode of carrying the cluster cut down by the spies, though not necessary from Us weight, was evidently adopted to preserve It entire as a specimen of the productions of the promised land; and the Impression made by the sight of it would be all the greater that the Israelites were familiar only with the scanty vines and small grapes of Egypt.
SS6. They came to Kadesh—an Important encampment of the Israelites. But its exact situation is not certainly known, nor Is It determined whether it is the same or a different place from Kadesh -barnea. It is supposed to be Identical with AIn-el-Welbeh, a fatuous spring on the eastern side of tlie desert [Kobinson], and also willi Pe-