1 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,
2 `Command the sons of Israel, and they bring unto thee pure olive oil, beaten, for the lamp, to cause a light to go up continually;
3 at the outside of the vail of the testimony in the tent of meeting doth Aaron arrange it from evening till morning before Jehovah continually -- a statute age-during to your generations;
4 by the pure candlestick he doth arrange the lights before Jehovah continually.
5 `And thou hast taken flour, and hast baked twelve cakes with it, two tenth deals are in the one cake,
6 and thou hast set them two ranks (six in the rank) on the pure table before Jehovah,
7 and thou hast put on the rank pure frankincense, and it hath been to the bread for a memorial, a fire-offering to Jehovah.
8 `On each sabbath-day he arrangeth it before Jehovah continually, from the sons of Israel -- a covenant age-during;
9 and it hath been to Aaron, and to his sons, and they have eaten it in the holy place, for it `is' most holy to him, from the fire-offerings of Jehovah -- a statute age-during.'
10 And a son of an Israelitish woman goeth out (and he `is' son of an Egyptian man), in the midst of the sons of Israel, and strive in the camp do the son of the Israelitish woman and a man of Israel,
11 and the son of the Israelitish woman execrateth the Name, and revileth; and they bring him in unto Moses; and his mother's name `is' Shelomith daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan;
12 and he causeth him to rest in charge -- to explain to them by the mouth of Jehovah.
13 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,
14 `Bring out the reviler unto the outside of the camp; and all those hearing have laid their hands on his head, and all the company have stoned him.
15 `And unto the sons of Israel thou dost speak, saying, When any man revileth his God -- then he hath borne his sin;
16 and he who is execrating the name of Jehovah is certainly put to death; all the company do certainly cast stones at him; as a sojourner so a native, in his execrating the Name, is put to death.
17 `And when a man smiteth any soul of man, he is certainly put to death.
18 `And he who smiteth a beast repayeth it, body for body.
19 `And when a man putteth a blemish in his fellow, as he hath done so it is done to him;
20 breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; as he putteth a blemish in a man so it is done in him.
21 `And he who smiteth a beast repayeth it, and he who smiteth `the life of' man is put to death;
22 one judgment is to you; as a sojourner so is a native; for I `am' Jehovah your God.'
23 And Moses speaketh unto the sons of Israel, and they bring out the reviler unto the outside of the camp, and stone him with stones; and the sons of Israel have done as Jehovah hath commanded Moses.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Leviticus 24
Commentary on Leviticus 24 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 24
Le 24:1-23. Oil for the Lamps.
2. Command the children of Israel—This is the repetition of a law previously given (Ex 27:20, 21).
pure oil olive beaten—or cold-drawn, which is always of great purity.
3, 4. Aaron shall order it from the evening unto the morning—The daily presence of the priests was necessary to superintend the cleaning and trimming.
4. upon the pure candlestick—so called because of pure gold. This was symbolical of the light which ministers are to diffuse through the Church.
5-9. take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes—for the showbread, as previously appointed (Ex 25:30). Those cakes were baked by the Levites, the flour being furnished by the people (1Ch 9:32; 23:29), oil, wine, and salt being the other ingredients (Le 2:13).
two tenth deals—that is, of an ephah—thirteen and a half pounds weight each; and on each row or pile of cakes some frankincense was strewed, which, being burnt, led to the showbread being called "an offering made by fire." Every Sabbath a fresh supply was furnished; hot loaves were placed on the altar instead of the stale ones, which, having lain a week, were removed, and eaten only by the priests, except in cases of necessity (1Sa 21:3-6; also Lu 6:3, 4).
10. the son of an Israelitish woman, &c.—This passage narrates the enactment of a new law, with a detail of the circumstances which gave rise to it. The "mixed multitude" [Ex 12:38] that accompanied the Israelites in their exodus from Egypt creates a presumption that marriage connections of the kind described were not infrequent. And it was most natural, in the relative circumstances of the two people, that the father should be an Egyptian and the mother an Israelite.
11. And the Israelitish woman's son blasphemed the name of the Lord—A youth of this half-blood, having quarrelled with an Israelite [Le 24:10], vented his rage in some horrid form of impiety. It was a common practice among the Egyptians to curse their idols when disappointed in obtaining the object of their petitions. The Egyptian mind of this youth thought the greatest insult to his opponent was to blaspheme the object of his religious reverence. He spoke disrespectfully of One who sustained the double character of the King as well as the God of the Hebrew people; as the offense was a new one, he was put in ward till the mind of the Lord was ascertained as to his disposal.
14. Bring forth him that hath cursed without the camp—All executions took place without the camp; and this arrangement probably originated in the idea that, as the Israelites were to be "a holy people" [De 7:6; 14:2, 21; 26:19; 28:9], all flagrant offenders should be thrust out of their society.
let all that heard him lay their hands upon his head, &c.—The imposition of hands formed a public and solemn testimony against the crime, and at the same time made the punishment legal.
16. as well the stranger, as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth the name of the Lord, shall be put to death—Although strangers were not obliged to be circumcised, yet by joining the Israelitish camp, they became amenable to the law, especially that which related to blasphemy.
17-22. he that killeth any man shall surely be put to death—These verses contain a repetition of some other laws, relating to offenses of a social nature, the penalties for which were to be inflicted, not by the hand of private parties, but through the medium of the judges before whom the cause was brought.
23. the children of Israel did as the Lord's commanded—The chapter closes with the execution of Shelomith's son [Le 24:14]—and stoning having afterwards become the established punishment in all cases of blasphemy, it illustrates the fate of Stephen, who suffered under a false imputation of that crime [Ac 7:58, 59].