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ther he be home-born, or a stranger, the same reproacheth Jehovah; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people. "Because he hath despised the word of Jehovah, and hath broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off, his iniquity shall be upon him.

And the sons of Israel were in the wilderness: and they found

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man. WITH AN HIGH HAND,] That is, boldly, proudly and presumptuously, as the Gr. translateth, with the hand of pride; and Thargum Jonathan, with pride, (or presumption) This phrase, when it is spoken of good works, meaneth boldness, courage and magnanimity, in heart and carriage; as, Israel went out of Egypt with an high hand,' Num. xxxiii. 3; Exod. xiv. 8, but here of evil, it meaneth pride and presumption showing itself openly and boldly; which Onkelos in Chald. expoundeth, "with an uncovered head," as being not ashamed of the deed (for when men were ashamed, they used to cover their heads,' Jer. xiv. 4.) Of like sort, is 'the high arm,' in Job xxxviii. 15, where the Gr. also expoundeth it, the arm of the proud:) and the high (or lofty) eyes,' Ps. xviii. 28; exxxi. 1. REPROACHETH,] Or, blasphemeth; which the Gr. and Chald. translate, provoketh to anger. It meaneth a reproaching with words, as 2 Kings xix. 6, 22, and is applied bere unto deeds, as also in Ezek. xx. 27, *yet in this your fathers have reproached (or blasphemed) me, in that they have trespassed a trespass against me.' So a presumptuous sinner is counted as a blasphemer of God, and hath no sacrifice for his sin, but is to be cut off. And this word Christ hath respect unto, in Luke xii. 10, unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven.' THAT SOUL,] In Chald. that man. CUT OFF,] In Gr. and Chald. destroyed: which phrase the apostle useth in Acts iii. 23, shall be destroyed from among the people.' That word meaneth destruction by the hand of God, as in 1 Cor. x. 10; Heb. xi. 28. So the Heb. doctors understand the cutting off, mentioned in the law of Moses: which sometimes is so explained, as in Lev. xvii. 10. God saith, I will cut him off from among his people.' But if there were witnesses of the fact, the magistrates punished them, either by death, or beating: see the notes on Deut. xxv. 2.

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VER. 31.-DESPISED THE WORD,] Or, contemned, set it at nought, as vile; dishonoured it. Hereupon is that proverb, 'He that despiseth the word, shall be destroyed; but he that feareth the commandment, shall be rewarded,' Prov. xiii. 13. BROKEN,] Or, disannulled, frustrated; made void: it is op. posed unto establishing or confirming. This word Christ useth in Mark vii. 9, Full well

ye frustrate the commandment of God.' Usually it is applied to the breaking of the 'covenant' of God, as in Gen. xvii. 14; Lev. xv. 44, and often in the prophets; sometimes of the law and commandments, Ps. cxix. 126; Ezra ix. 14; Heb. x. 28. SHALL UTTERLY BE CUT OFF,] Or, shall be cut off with cutting off: the doubling of the word, is for more certainty, and speed; and as the Heb. doctors gather from it," in this world, and in the world to come:" see the annot, on Gen. xvii. 14. So R. Menachem here saith, "Although we find apostates (from God) to live more than fifty years, and that they are not cut off from the life of this world; yet know that their deserts hang upon them in this world, and vengeance shall be taken on them abundantly in the world to come." HIS INIQUITY,] Or, the iniquity of it, (of the soul, that is, of the person) shall be upon it; or, in it; or, with it. By iniquity, understanding punishment for iniquity, as in Gen. xix. 15, and as sin, is for the punishment of sin, Lev. xxii. 9. Or, we may take iniquity properly; as Sol. Jarchi expoundeth it, "when iniquity is in him, that he repenteth not." R. Menachem here allegeth an exposition of the ancients, "that soul shall be cut off, and the iniquity thereof with it: as if he should say, the iniquity shall cleave unto it after it is cut off, to be punished for ever; according to that (in Is. Ixvi. 24.) Their worm shall not die; which Jonathan (the Chald. paraphrast) expoundeth, Their soul shall not die. And our doctors have said, It shall be cut off in this world, it shall be cut off from the world to come." So the Chald. on Moses, which goeth under the name of Jonathan paraphraseth, "that man shall be destroyed in the world that is to come, and shall give account of his sin at the great day of judgment."

VER. 32. WERE IN THE WILDERNESS,] "For so (saith Chazkuni) it was decreed concerning them, that they should not come into the land (of Canaan.) In the former commandments of the drink-offerings, and cake, it was written, When ye be come into the land, &c. to teach, that they were not to practise them save in the land: but the Sabbath was to be kept both within the laud and without, though it were in the wilderness; and therefore it is written concerning it, In the wilderness.

a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day. $3 And they that found him gathering sticks, brought him near unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and unto all the congregation. 34 And they put him in ward, because it was not declared what should be done to him. 35 And Jehovah said unto Moses, The man shall be made to die the death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp. 36 And all the congregation brought him forth without the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died, as Jehovah commanded Moses.

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37 And Jehovah said unto Moses, saying, " Speak unto the sons

VER. 34.-IN WARD,] That is, in prison. So they dealt with the blasphemer, in Lev. xxiv. 12. IT WAS NOT DECLARED,] In Gr. they had not judged, or determined. Wherefore was it thus? seeing the law had twice said, that the breaker of the Sabbath should die, Exod. xxxi. 4; xxxv. 2. Sol. Jarchi saith, "it was not declared what manner of death he should die: but they knew that he that profaned the Sabbath was to die." And the Chald. called Jonathan's paraphraseth thus; "This judgment was one of the four judgments that came before Moses the prophet, which he judged according to the word of the holy (God.) Some of them were judgments of lesser moment, and some of them judgments of life and death. In the judgments of lesser moment (of pecuniary matters) Moses was ready, but in judgments of life and death he made delays. And both in the one and in the other, Moses said, I have not heard, [viz. what God would have done.] For to teach the heads (or chief) of the Synedrions (or assizes) that should rise up after him, that they should be ready to dispatch inferior causes (or money matters) but not hasty in matters of life and death. And that they should not be ashamed to inquire, in causes that are too hard for them; seeing Moses who was the master of Israel, had need to say, I have not heard. Therefore he imprisoned him; because as yet it was not declared, what sentence should pass upon him." The four judgments which he speaketh of, were about the unclean that would keep the passover, Num. ix. 7, 8, and the daughters of Zelophehad that claimed possession in the land, Num. xxvii. 4, 5, (these were the causes of less importance:) about the blasphemer, Lev. xxiv., and the Sabbath-breaker here: both which he kept in ward, till he had an answer from the Lord.

VER. 35.-STONE HIM,] This was esteemed the heaviest of all the four kinds of death that malefactors suffered in Israel: see the notes on Exod. xxi. 12. WITHOUT THE CAMP,] Hereupon they used to carry such out of the cities, and execute them far off from

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the judgment-hall, as Sol. Jarchi noteth. So they dealt with Stephen, casting him out of the city, and stoning him, Acts vii. 58, likewise with Naboth, 1 Kings xxi. 13, also with the blasphemer, Lev. xxiv. 15, which was a circumstance that aggravated the punishment, being a kind of reproach,' as the apostle noteth, Heb. xiii. 11-13. And this severity showeth of what weight the commandment touching the Sabbath is, the profanation whereof God would have thus to be avenged. And it further signified the eternal death of such as do not keep the Sabbath of Christ, entering into the rest of God by faith, and ceasing from their own works, as God did from his, Heb. iv. 1-4, 10, 11.

VER. 37.-AND JEHOVAH SAID,] After the violating of the Sabbath, and punishment for it, God giveth a law, and ordaineth a sign of remembrance, to further the sanctification of his people, that they might think upon his commandments, and do them.

VER. 38.-SONS OF ISRAEL,] This law for fringes concerned Israel only, not other nations; and as the Hebs. say, "men only were bound to wear them, not women. Women and servants, and little children, are not bound by the law to wear the fringe. But by the words of the scribes, every child that knoweth to clothe himself, is bound to wear the fringe, to the end he may be trained up in the commandments. And women and servants that will wear them, may so do, but they bless not [God, as men do when they put them on:] and so all other commandments which women are not bound unto, if they will do them, they do them without blessing first," Maim. tom. i. in Zizith, (or treat. of Fringes) chap. iii. sect. 9. THAT THEY MAKE,] They themselves, and not heathens for them: "a fringe which is made by an heathen, is unlawful; as it is written, Speak to the sons of Israel, that they make unto them," Maim. in Zizith, chap. i. sect. 12. A FRINGE,] That is, fringes, as in Deut. xxii. 12. Moses speaketh of many: and so the Gr. and Chald. translate it here. A fringe is in Heb. called Tsitsith (or Zizith)

of Israel, and say unto them; that they make unto them a fringe on the skirts of their clothes, throughout their generations; and that they put upon the fringe of the skirt, a ribband of blue.

which in Ezek. viii. 3, is used for a 'lock of hair' of the head; and is here applied to a fringe, the threads whereof hang down as locks of hair. And the Heb. doctors call it also Gnanaph, that is, a branch, because it bangeth as branches or twigs of a tree. "The branch which they make upon the skirt of a garment, is called Tsitsith, because it is like to (Tsitsith) a lock of the head, Ezek. viii. 3. And this branch is called white, because we are not commanded to dye (or colour) it. And for the threads of this branch, there is no set number by the law. And they take a thread of wool, which is died like the colour of the firmament, and tie it upon the branch (or fringe;) and this thread is called blue," Maim. in Zizith, chap. i. sect. 1, 2. The fringe is called in Gr. craspeda, and this word is used by the Holy Spirit in Matt. xxiii. 5, and of it, the Chald. also calleth it cruspedin. The word gedilim, used for fringes, in Deut. xxii. 12, were the thrums of the cloth which was woven: and Tsitsith the fringe here spoken of, were threads tied unto those thrums with knots. ON THE SKIRTS,] Heb. on the wings. This is expounded in Deut. xxii. 12, 'on the four skirts' (or wings.) The skirt end, or border of a garment, is usually called a wing, as in Ruth iii. 9; 1 Sam. xv. 27; xxiv. 5, 11; Deut. xxii. 30; Zach. viii, 23; Ezek. v. 3; Hag. ii. 12, so the four ends or corners of the earth, are called the four wings' thereof, Job xxxvii. 3; xxxviii. 13; Is. xi. 12; Ezek. vii. 2. "The garment which a man is bound to make the fringe on by the law, is a garment which hath four skirts, or more than four: and it is a garment of woollen or of linen only. But a garment of other

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stuff, as of silk, or cotton, or camels' hair, or the like, are not bound to have the fringe, save by the words of our wise men, that men may be admonished to keep the precept of the fringe. For all clothes spoken of in the law absolutely, are not, save of woollen and linen only. When he maketh a fringe on a garment that has five or six skirts, he maketh it but on four of the skirts, as it is said, Upon the four skirts, Deut. xxii. 12. A garment that is borrowed, is not bound to have the fringe for thirty days; after and thenceforward it is bound. A garment of wool, they make the white thereof of threads of wool: and a garment of flax (or linen) they make the white thereof of threads of flax; and so of every garment after the kind thereof, &c. Every man that is bound to do this commandment, if he put upon him a garment which

is meet to have the fringe, must put on the fringe, and then put the garment on; and if he put it on without the fringe, he breaketh the commandment. But clothes meet to have the fringe so long as a man puts them not on, but foldeth and layeth them up, they are not bound to have the fringe: for it is not a duty in respect of the garment, but in respect of the man which hath the garment,' Maim. in Zizith, chap. iii. sect. 1-5, 10. UPON THE FRINGE,] Or, with the fringe. A RIBBAND,] Or, a thread, as the word is Englished in Judg. xvi. 9, or, a lace, as in Exod. xxxix. 31, it hath the name of twisting or wreathing. The Gr. and Chald. translate it, a thread: and so it is explained by the Heb. doctors; who also say, "whether they were threads of white, or threads of blue, if he would make them of twisted threads, he might so do; and though the thread were twisted of eight threads, and a ribband made of them, it was counted but one thread. The threads of the fringe, whether white or blue, must be spun for the fringe by name," Maim. in Zizith, chap. i. sect. 11. OF BLUE,] Or, of sky-colour. The Hebs. say, "the blue spoken of in the law in every place, is wool dyed, and like the clear firmament. And the blue for the fringe must be dyed in a known dye that will continue in the fair colour and not change: and whatsoever is not so dyed, is unlawful for the fringe, though it be like the colour of the firmament. The dye for this blue was made (they say) with the blood of the Chalazon, which is a fish of blue colour, and the blood of it is black as ink, and it is found in the salt sea. And with that blood they mix vermillion, &c. Also it must be dyed for the fringe by name," Maim. in Zizith, chap. ii. sect. 1-3, and Talmud in Menachoth, chap. iv. As for the fringe (which they usually call the white, because it was not commanded to be dyed, it might be of any colour, as the garment itself, except blue, whereof they write thus; "The garment which is all red, or green, or of other dyed colours, they make the white threads (or fringe) thereof, like the dyed colour thereof; green, if it be green; or red, if it be red. If it be all blue, then they make the white (the fringe) thereof of other colours, any save black, for that will turn and appear bluish: and they tie upon all, one thread of blue, like as they do in other fringes which are not dyed," Maim. ibid. chap. ii. sect. 8. By reason of this different colour, they also say, "There are found in this commandment (of the fringe) two

39 And it shall be unto you for a fringe; that ye may see it, and remember all the commandments of Jehovah, and do them and that ye seek not after your own heart, and after your own eyes, after

commandments; that a man make on the skirt, a branch issuing out of it; and that he tie upon the branch a thread of blue, (Num. xv. 38.) And the blue hindereth not the white; neither doth the white hinder the blue. As if a man have no blue, he maketh the white alone, &c. Though one hindereth not another, yet are they not two commandments, but one. Our former wise men have said (from these words,) And it shall be unto you for a fringe, Num. xv. 39, this teacheth that both of them are one commandment. And the four fringes (on the four skirts) do hinder one another [so that one may be without another] for they four are one commandment (Deut. xxii. 12.) And he that weareth a garment wherein is the white (fringe) or the blue (ribband) or both of them together, he keepeth one commanding precept," Maim. in Zizith, chap. sect. 3-5.

VER. 39.-FOR A FRINGE,] By the institution of God it was made unto them a fringe, and so a religious sign to help their memories, and to further their sanctification: wherefore they used to sanctify this, as all other like divine ordinances, by prayer; and when they put on this garment, they "blessed the Lord their God, the King of the world, which sanctified them by his commandments, and commanded them to array themselves with fringes. And whensoever they clothed themselves herewith in the day-time, they blessed for them before they put them on. But they blessed not for the fringes at the time of the making of them, because the end of the commandment is, that they should be arrayed herewith," Maim. in Zizith, chap. iii. sect. 8. THAT YE MAY SEE IT,] Or, and ye shall see (or look upon) it; on yourselves, and on one another. Wherefore the Hebs, say, "A blind man was bound to wear the fringe: for though he saw it not, others did see it," Maim. in Zizith, chap. iii. sect. 7. By many means of sundry sorts, God warned his people of old, to walk religiously and holily before him; and it is observed by some of themselves," that the holy blessed God left nothing in the world, wherein he gave not some commandment to Israel: if they went out to plow, (he said) Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together,' Deut. xii. 10; if to sow, 'Thou shalt not sow with divers kinds,' Lev. xix. 19; if to reap, Thou shalt not wholly reap the corner of thy field,' &c. Lev. xix. 9; if to knead their dough, 'Of the first of your dough, ye shall offer a cake,' Num. xv. 20; if they killed (a beast,) 'They shall give unto the priest, the shoulder and

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the two cheeks,' &c. Deut. xviii. 3; if they found a bird's nest, Thou shalt send away the dam,' Deut. xxii. 6, 7; if they caught wild beast or fowl, He shall pour out the blood thereof, and cover it with dust,' Lev. xvii. 13; if they planted, 'Ye shall count as uncir cumcised the uncircumcision thereof,' &c. Lev. xix. 23; if they had a man-child born, The fore-skin of his flesh shall be circumcised,' Lev. xii. 2; if they buried the dead, 'Ye shall not cut yourselves,' &c. Deut. xiv. 1; if they shaved themselves, Ye shall not round a corner of your head,' &c. Lev. xix. 27; if they builded an house, 'Thou shalt make a battlement,' &c. Deut. xxii. 8; And thou shalt write them upon the posts,' &c. Deut. vi. 9; if they clothed themselves, 'Ye shall make ye a fringe,'" &c. Chazkuni on Num. xv. AND REMEMBER ALL,] This was the spiritual use of this ordinance, that it might lead them unto a continual remembrance and practice of all the law; without which the outward rite was vain. The many threads of the fringes on the four skirts of their garment, signified the many commandments of God which they should put upon them, to be as it were clothed with them, and to walk in them: the heaven-coloured riband, taught them an heavenly affection to all the law, and an holy conversation; and led them spiritually to put on the 'wedding garment,' Matt. xxii. 11; the Lord Jesus Christ,' Rom. xiii. 14; the whole armour of God,' Eph. vi. 11; and the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and holiness of truth,' Eph. iv. 24; that their conversation might be in heaven,' Phil. iii. 20. From these words, the Heb. doctors say, "A man should always be careful to array himself with such a garment as was bound to have the fringe, that he might keep this commandment: and in the time of prayer, he is to be warned hereof more especially. It is a great shame for wise men, that they should pray, and not be arrayed herewith. A man must for ever be warned of this commandment of the fringe, for the scripture maketh it of great weight, and all the commandments, every one depend upon it," Maim. in Zizith, chap. iii. sect. 11, 12. But they abused this, as other divine ordinances, to superstition and hypocrisy; and were reproved by our Saviour for making their phylacteries' broad, and enlarging the borders (or fringes) of their garments,' Matt, xxiii. 5. And this their vanity (neglecting the spiritual end) appeareth in their writings; for unto the thrums or threads of

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which you go a whoring. That ye may remember and do all my commandments, and be holy unto your God. "I am Jehovah your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, to be unto you a God; I am Jehovah your God.

the garment, "which were three inches, they fastened threads doubled in the midst, whose length (they say) might not be less than four inches, but more than so they might be, though a cubit, or two cubits," Maim. in Zizith, chap. i. sect. 6. And for the virtue hereof, they say, "Whoso diligently keepeth this law of fringes, is made worthy, and shall see the face of the majesty of God:" (Baal hatturim on Num. xv.) "and when a man is clothed with the fringe, and goeth out therewith to the door of his habitation, he is safe, and God rejoiceth, and the destroying angel departeth from thence, and the man shall be delivered from all hurt, and from all destruction," &c. (R. Menachem on Num. xv.) Thus easy it is for men to abuse holy things, and to pervert the right use and end of them by their own inventions. See the annot. on Exod. xiii. 9. And although they put so great religion in these fringes, yet as they have lost the spirit and life of this commandment, so God hath deprived them of the outward rite, that they have not at this day, (by their own confession) the blue or heaven-coloured riband; "The blue (leceleth) is not found in our hands at this day, because we know not to make the dye (or colour) of it: for every blue in wool is not called teceleth. But the teceleth (or blue spoken of in the law,) it is known that it is impossible to make it at this day; and therefore we make the white only," saith Rambam (or Maim.) in his exposition on Talmud Bab. in Menachoth, chap. iv. AND THAT YE SEEK NOT,] Or, and ye shall not seek, (or search, as Num. xiv. 36,) which word Solomon applieth to his heart, searching out' things by wisdom, Eccl. i. 13; vii. 25. The Gr. here translateth it, turn aside; the Chald. err, (or go astray.) YOUR HEART,] In Chald, the imagination of your heart. Here God calleth men from their own wisdom and inventions to his law only; for 'every imagination of the thoughts of man's heart, is only evil every day,' Gen. vi. 5. And he that trusteth in his own heart, is a fool,' Prov. xxviii. 26. YOUR EYES,] In Chald. the sight of your eyes. So the Holy Spirit saith, Walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes; but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment,' Eccl. xi. 9. And the apostle mentioneth the lust of the eyes, as that VOL. II.

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which is not of the Father, but of the world,' 1 John ii. 16. The Hebs. say, "The heart and the eyes are the spies of the body, and brokers to bring it into transgression; the eye seeth, and the heart lusteth, and the body acteth the transgression," Sol. Jarchi on Num. xv. The Lord condemning the heart, which is the most noble of all the inward parts, and the eyes which are the most excellent of all the outward, teacheth that the whole man is corrupted throughout, and to be reformed by the law and Spirit of God. For, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God,' John iii. 5. YOU GO A WHORING,] In Chald. you err (or go astray.) To go a whoring after other gods, is a usual phrase for idolatry, Exod. xxxiv. 15; Deut. xxxi. 16; 1 Chron. v. 25; Judg. ii. 17, the same is implied here, as God saith, I am broken with their whorish heart, which hath departed from me; and with their eyes, which go a whoring after their idols,' Ezek. vi. 9, but it meaneth also all other sins which men's unclean hearts and impure eyes carry them unto, with consent and delight: see Lev. xx. 5, 6; Ps. cvi. 39; Jam. iv. 4. The Hebs. say, "If any man be drawn after the thoughts of his heart, he will be found a waster of the world, because of the slenderness (or shortness) of his understanding. As, sometimes he will search after idolatry, and sometimes will think peculiarly of the Creator, whether there be any or none; what is above, and what beneath; what was before, and what shall be after. And sometimes of prophesy, whether it be truth or no; and sometimes of the law, whether it be from heaven or no. And he knoweth not what to judge of them, till he know the truth concerning his Creator, but will be found a revolter unto heresies. Concerning this thing is that warning in the law, where it is said, And ye shall not seek after your heart, and after your eyes, after which ye go a whoring, Num. xv. 39, as if he should say, There shall not any one of you be drawn after his own slender understanding (or knowledge,) as to imagine that his cogitation can attain to the truth; so have our wise men said, After your heart; this (meaneth) heresies; and after your eyes, this is whoredom. And this is an occasion for a man to deprive himself of the world (or life) that is to come," Maim. treat. of Idolatry chap. ii. sect. 3.

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