Imagens da página
PDF
ePub

shall celebrate it in the seventh month. 42. You shall dwell in tabernacles seven days, all that are Israelites born shall dwell in tabernacles; 43. That your genera

a feast called 'the bearing of fig-tree branches', and another 'the bearing of the thyrsus', on which they enter the Temple with thyrsi in their hands. What they do in the holy place, I do not know; but it is probable that they perform some Bacchic rites; for, like the Argives on the Dionysia, they use small trumpets, in order to call upon their God; they have, besides, harp-players, whom the Jews themselves call Levites, whether this name is derived from Lysius, or rather from Euius" (Plut. Sympos. IV. vi. 2).

[blocks in formation]

PHILOLOGICAL REMARKS. quires no additional proof that this portion was composed without reference to the preceding commands on Tabernacles; it mentions again the time, the duration, and the most solemn days of the festival, as if these points had not been explicitly stated before; it has by the compiler of our chapter been inserted unabridged on account of the two fresh subjects it includes the instructions on the vegetable products, and the new reason assigned for the booths; and it evidently imparts to the chapter a fragmentary character.

The particle (ver. 39) is used when new matter is introduced (comp. supra ver. 27). Ebn Ezra supposes that it places the Day of Atonement in juxtaposition with Tabernacles, the one being a time of fasting, the other of feasting (with reference to Deut. XVI. 15,78); but another section and a general conclusion (vers. 3338) intervene between the laws of the Day of Atonement and this conjunction. Josephus (Ant. III. x. 4) supposes, without probability, that

as the Feast of Ingathering is kept "when the season of the year is changing for winter", tabernacles were to be erected as a protection against the cold: it is unnecessary to seek another reason besides the thoughtful one given in the text. The speculations of the Rabbins and of later Jews on the meaning of "the four kinds" of products here mentioned, are numerous and often ingenious; let it suffice to give one specimen: the willow represents the plants that have neither blossom nor fruit; the myrtle those that have blossoms but no fruit; the palm those that bear fruit but have no blossoms; and the citron or orange those that have both blossom and fruit; thus, the four together call to mind vegetation in all its varied forms (comp. Midr. Rabb. Vayikr. Sect. XXX.; Maimon. Mor. Nev. III. 43; Arama, Aked. ch. 67; etc.).—The word (ver. 39) when you gather in, refers to the earliest meaning of the festival as the "Feast of Ingathering" (Exod. XXIII. 16; XXXIV. 22), and being characteristic, it is seldom omitted (comp. Deut. XVI. 13, S

-is some אֹסֶף for though ;(מגרנך ומיקבך

times distinguished as fruit harvest from as vintage (Isai. XXXII. 10; Mic. VII. 1), it includes a collection of any kind, and s is a general store-house (1 Chr. XXVI. 15, 17).

If the Jewish interpretation of the use of the four products be correct, that is, if these were to be held in the hand during prayer, the principal nouns ought to be in the singular; we might indeed so take the first, "the fruit (--) of a beautiful tree", and the third, "a bough of a

tions may know that I caused the children of Israel to dwell in tabernacles, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

thick-leaved tree" ( y ), but

כַּפּוֹת תְּמָרִים not the two others, for

cannot be translated otherwise than by "branches of palm-trees", and "y

otherwise than by "willows of the brook". Therefore, everything considered, it appears, that the plants enumerated in the 40th verse were, in their original context, intended to be employed for the tabernacles, as in the corresponding verses in Nehemiah; but that they were inserted by our compiler in this passage so as to convey the sense attached to them by his later readers. The Rabbins explain that is written defectively, without, to intimate that one branch only is required (comp. Rashi in loc.); to obtain this meaning, we might rather read (comp. Job XV. 32); but the following plural is opposed to any such acceptation. In fact, the 40th verse has every appearance of a later interpolation; for, interrupting the context, it renders especially the first

in ver. 41 difficult and irregular, as this refers to in ver. 39.From the circumstance that is without the conjunction it has been concluded, that the words 19 --D imply the general notion, which is specified by the three following plants (so Keil in loc.); but "branches" and "twigs" cannot be described as "fruit" (), as this word is not so wide in meaning. "The fruit of the beautiful tree" (y) is by Jewish tradition understood as the pomecitron (comp. Joseph. Ant. III. x. 4, ὁ μῆλος ὁ τῆς Περσέας, which is a larger kind of citron, almost of the size of a melon, and is said to weigh sometimes thirty pounds; XIII.XIII. 5,

zizptov; Mishn. Succ. III. 5-7; and

Ebn Ezra, "there exists indeed no tree-fruit more beautiful than the citron"); but we have no means of testing the correctness of this view; and the Talmud (Succ. 34, 35°) explains that it is "a tree the wood and fruit of which have the same taste", or one "which remains (7) on its tree from year to year" (comp. also Rashi). The other ancient translations render the words literally (Sept. καρπὸν ξύλου ὡραῖον, Vulg. fructus arboris pulcherrimae, etc; comp. Cels. Hierob. I. 251, 252; Dachs et Cramer, Succah, pp. 207 sqq.; Cleric. in loc.). "a thick" or "thick-leaved tree" (comp. Ezek. VI. 13; XX. 28), is by tradition taken as myrtle (), “the twigs of which are twisted like cords

literally עץ בית

y and ropes" (Rashi; comp. Neh. VIII. 15; Isai. XLI. 19; LV. 13; Zech. I. 8; etc.; Onk. and Jon. 7, etc.).—

(from to plait, to interweave, especially foliage and boughs) is indeed properly booth made of branches and leaves, to serve as cattle folds (Gen. XXXIII. 17), as a protection against a fierce sun (Jon. IV. 5) or showers of rain (Isai. IV.6; comp. Ps. XXXI. 23), or to be used by persons watching in vineyards and orchards (Isai. I. 8; Job XXVII. 18); but though the word involves the notion of frail and perishable (Job XXVII. 18; Am. IX. 11), it is also applied, almost as a synonym of bs, to permanent dwellings and every habitation (Ps. XVIII. 12; Job XXXVI. 29), the tents of encamping soldiers (2 Sam. XI. 11; 1 Ki. XX. 12, 16), and the Tent of Meeting (2 Sam. 1. c.). We cannot, therefore, agree with

44. And Moses told to the children of Israel the festivals of the Lord.

those who consider the reason here assigned for the booths of Tabernacles as "little appropriate" (Hupfeld, Graf, a. o.): the Hebrews dwelt during their journeys in rp, though these were perhaps more frequently made of canvas than of foliage and branches, and in the former case were more properly tents, which are frequently mentioned in the history of the Hebrew wanderings in the wilderness (comp. Exod. XVI. 16; XVIII. 7; XXXIII. 8, 10; Num. XI. 10; XVI. 26, 27; XIX. 14; XXIV. 5; Deut. I. 27; V. 27; XI. 6). The Talmud understands the booths figuratively as "the protecting clouds of Divine glory"

[merged small][ocr errors][merged small]

VII.

MISCELLANEOUS LAWS.

CHAPTER XXIV.

SUMMARY. God gives to Moses instructions with regard to the lights of the Candlestick and to the Shew-bread (vers. 1-9). The son of an Egyptian father and a Hebrew mother publicly blasphemed the name of God. Moses ordered that the offender should be kept in custody, and he was directed by God to cause him to be stoned to death without the camp by the whole congregation (vers. 10-15). At the same time, God imparts some general commands on blasphemy, on slaying a man or a beast, and on bodily injuries inflicted upon another (vers. 16-22). The judgment on the blasphemer was duly executed (ver. 23).

1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2. Com

1. When the laws on the priesthood (ch. XXI. XXII.) and on the holy seasons to be celebrated at the common Temple (ch.XXIII.)had been set forth, it was deemed appropriate to add some of the chief regulations concerning the sacerdotal service of the Sanctuary, and hence commands on the perpetual light of the Candlestick and on the perpetual Shewbread of the golden Table were here inserted: they had indeed, at least partially, been enjoined before, when the whole Tabernacle was described, but it was held that they ought to be enforced again after the

installation of Aaron and his sons in their holy offices.

PHILOLOGICAL REMARKS. These may have been the guiding principles of the final reviser of our Book; and they seem to be the most logical that can be discovered; yet they are far from satisfactory if viewed in connection with the economy of the Pentateuch. For the command on the lights of the Candlestick occurs before, in nearly identical terms, in Exodus (XXVII. 20, 21), and there is really no cogent reason why it should have been repeated; especially as it was before referred to as a

mand the children of Israel that they bring to thee pure oil of the olive beaten for the light, to put on the lamps continually. 3. Without the vail of the testimony, in the Tent of Meeting, shall Aaron arrange it

well known ordinance (Exod. XXX. 7, 8; XL. 4), and had already been acted upon by Moses at the erection of the Tabernacle (Exod. XL. 25.) In the former Book, it occupies indeed an isolated position, for it is there separated from the description of the Candlestick itself and the other implements of the Holy, and is placed between the law of the brazen Altar and of the priestly garments; but its position is no less isolated in our section, which does not attempt a systematic survey of the Temple service, but is confined to two single rites selected at random or at least without appreciable motive, since not even the daily holocausts are mentioned. If, therefore, the introduction of the two commands in this place does not illustrate the fragmentary character of the Book of Leviticus, they bespeak that of the Pentateuch: and when subsequently the execution of the command is related, the command itself is partially given in a different form (Num. VIII. 1-4; comp. IV. 7; Exod. XXV. 37). Even Bertheau states, as the result ofa careful analysis, that the whole of the twenty-fourth chapter cannot originally have formed part of the collection of the Sinaitic laws (Gruppen, pp. 220-223). The perplexity of apologists is instructive. The repetition of the two ordinances, it is presumed, was occasioned "by some historical event" (Ranke, Untersuchungen, I. 109): but the Law is generally very exact in relating such historical events, whereas, in this instance, there is not the remotest allusion (comp. vers. 10-14; X. 1-7; Num. IX. 6-14;

XV. 32—36; etc.). Again, the oliveoil and the Shew-bread, it is asserted, representing the choicest productions of the Holy Land in corn and fruit, were intended to serve in the Temple as perpetual gifts of gratitude for God's unceasing mercy, just as the chief festivals were seasons of gratitude, and this constitutes the internal connection with the preceding chapter (Ranke, 1. c. II. 110, 111): however, the principal object of the first command is not an offering of oil, but the perpetual light; and the Shew-bread does not so much symbolise gratitude as supplication (see infra on ver. 2-9). Another and more mystical interpreter declares that "the oil of the seven-branched Candlestick burning before the Lord represents the Israelites as the community which makes its light shine into the darkness of this world; and the Shew-bread symbolises a spiritual sacrifice which they offer to God, and which consists of the fruits of their labours in the kingdom of heaven" (Keil, Comm. in loc. p. 144; Archaeol. § 21 note 3): but if our commands have such typical meaning, they have little in common with the preceding laws which refer to the practical life and the atonement of the nation; the oil, however, is not meant as an emblem of the activity of the Israelites, but of watchfulness; and the Shew-bread has reference to the people's daily life and material prosperity. Jewish commentators, well aware of the anomalous position of this section, contend that it had been revealed to Moses when he received the Divine instructions concerning the sacred im

« AnteriorContinuar »