This chapter treats of the oil for the lamps, and the ordering of them, Lev. 24:1–4; of the making of the shewbread cakes, and the setting of them on the table, Lev.

And the Lord spake unto Moses After he had delivered to him the laws concerning the purity of the priests, and the perfection of the sacrifices they were to offer, and concerning the feasts the people were to keep, he spoke to Moses of some other things which concerned both people and priests:…

Command the children of Israel Moses was the chief magistrate under God, and being clothed with authority from him, had power to command the children of Israel to do what the Lord required of them: that they bring unto thee pure oil olive, beaten, for the light; this was to be at the public…

Without the vail of the testimony That is, on the outside of the vail which divided between the holy and holy of holies, and which was before the ark in which the testimony or law was: in the tabernacle of the congregation; which the apostle calls the first, namely, the holy place in which the…

He shall order the lamps on the pure candlestick So called, as Jarchi suggests, for these two reasons, partly because it was made of pure gold, and partly because it was to be kept pure and clean, and free from ashes, by the priest; see ; before the Lord continually; which both respects the…

And thou shalt take fine flour Of wheat, and the finest of it: and bake twelve cakes thereof; answerable to the twelve tribes, as the Targum of Jonathan, which were typical of the spiritual Israel of God; two tenth deals shall be in one cake; that is, two tenth parts of an ephah, which were two…

And thou shalt set them in two rows The twelve cakes: six on a row; not by the side of each other, but six upon one another: upon the pure table; the shewbread table, so called because overlaid with pure gold, and kept clean and bright, ; before the Lord; for this stood in the holy place, in the…

And thou shalt put pure frankincense upon each row Two cups of frankincense, in each of which was an handful of it, and which were set by each row of the cakes, as Jarchi observes: that it may be on the bread for a memorial; or “for the bread”, instead of it, for a memorial of it; that being to be…

Every sabbath he shall set it in order before the Lord continually That is, the priest or priests then ministering, who should bring new cakes and place them in the above order, having removed the old ones, which was done in this manner; four priests went in, two had in their hands the two rows (of…

And it shall be Aaron’s and his sons’ The twelve cakes of the old bread, when taken off the shewbread table; these were divided between the courses of the priests that carried in and brought out; and the high priest had half from each course, so that the half was for Aaron or the high priest, and…

And the son of an Israelitish woman Whose name, and the name of his mother, are afterwards given; whose father was an Egyptian; Jarchi says, this is the Egyptian whom Moses slew, ; and so others in Abendana: went out among the children of Israel; went out of Egypt with them, according to the Targum…

And the Israelitish woman’s son blasphemed the name of the Lord, and cursed As they were striving together, or when the trial was over, he being cast, fell into outrageous blasphemies against God, who made such laws for the civil polity of Israel, and cursed the judges that had given sentence…

And they put him in ward In some prison, a place known in the camp, as Aben Ezra observes: that the mind of the Lord might be shewed them; for, though this was a breach of the third command, in which God declares he would not hold such an one guiltless, ; yet no particular punishment being…

And the Lord spake unto Moses From off the mercy seat in the holy of holies, where he had promised to meet him and commune with him about anything he should inquire of him, as he did at this time: saying; as follows.

Bring forth him that hath cursed without the camp To show that he had no part nor lot in Israel, and that he was unworthy to be a member of their civil community, or of their church state; and, besides, the place of stoning, or where malefactors suffered any kind of death, was without the camp, as…

And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel On this occasion, and gave them some laws and rules concerning the above affair, and other things: saying, whosoever curseth his God shall bear his sin; which some understand of anyone of another nation, that cursed the God he used to serve in his…

And he that blasphemeth the name of the Lord Or, “but he that blasphemeth” from whence the Jews gather, that the name Jehovah must be expressed, or it is no blasphemy; so Jarchi; but it is not bare using or expressing the word Jehovah that is blasphemy, but speaking ill and contemptuously of God,…

And he that killeth any man shall surely be put to death. ] With the sword, as the Targum of Jonathan adds; which restrains it to any man of the children of Israel, but wrongly; for the original law respects any man whatever, ; and so it does here; (See Gill on Ex. 21:12).

And he that killeth a beast shall make it good Pay for it, give the value of it, or another as good as that instead of it, as follows: beast for beast; or “soul for soul”; life for life, that is, a living one for that the life of which is taken away, and one every way as good as that.

And if a man cause a blemish in his neighbour Does him any hurt or mischief, causes any mutilation or deformity in him by striking him: as he hath done, so shall it be done unto him: not that a like damage or hurt should be done to him, but that he should make satisfaction for it in a pecuniary…

Breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth Which is not to be taken strictly or literally, but for the price or value of those, which is to be given in a pecuniary way; (See Gill on Ex. 21:24), (See Gill on Ex.

And he that killeth a beast, he shall restore it The same as in , which is repeated for the confirmation of it, and that it might be observed, though Jarchi takes it to be a different law; before, he says, it speaks of him that kills a beast, here of him that makes any wound or bruise in it, which…

Ye shall have one manner of law Respecting the above things, blaspheming of the name of God, taking away the life of man, or of any beast, and of doing damage to either: as well for the stranger as for one of your own country; the above laws were binding upon proselytes as well as Israelites, and…

And Moses spake unto the children of Israel As the Lord had commanded him: that they should bring forth him that had cursed out of the camp, and stone him with stones; which were the instructions God had given to Moses upon inquiring his mind and will about this matter: and the children of Israel…