Click *H for Haydock Commentary. *Footnote for footnote etc.
Click any word in Latin Greek or Hebrew to activate the parser. Then click on the display to expand the parser.
*H And when you shall begin to divide the land by lot, separate ye firstfruits to the Lord, a portion of the land to be holy, in length twenty-five thousand and in breadth ten thousand: it shall be holy in all the borders thereof round about.
Ver. 1. By lot. MS. 2 reads bogurl; (printed benachala) so the Vulg. sortito. Kennicott. — Heb. "when you shall make the land fall," which usually implies by lot: yet the partition was not made thus, (C. xlviii. 1.) nor at all, (C.) otherwise the prophet might mention how the lots would have fallen to Dan, in the north, &c. H. — The Jews either could not comply, or did not take this to be a command. If they had returned all together, they might probably have put it in execution. But many of them preferred staying where they had gotten a settlement, and the rest only returned in small parties, some not before the reign of Alexander. Those who arrived first, occupied as much as possible their ancient limits. 1 Esd. iii. 1. and 2 Esd. viii. and xi. C. — Thousand: reeds, or cubits. Ch. — Many prefer the latter, which is specified v. 2, (H.) as it agrees with the dimensions of the temple. C. xlii. 16. If reeds or toises were meant, the city would be disproportionate with the rest of the divisions: 50,000 would make 25 leagues, of 2,500 paces each; and if each tribe had as much, the country must have comprised 325 leagues, whereas from Emath to Cadesbarne (C. xlvii. 17.) there at not above 150. C. — To form an idea of the proposed partition, we must suppose the country reached from a little north of Emesa, on the Orontes, to Cadesbarne south, and from the Mediterranean to Damascus, or a little farther east, and beyond the sources of Jazer. 1. Dan, 2. Aser, 3. Nephthali, 4. Manasses, 5. Ephraim, 6. Ruben, and 7. Juda, had about equal portions with that designed for 8. the temple, the Levites, and prince, whose southern limits reached almost to Accaron and the Dead Sea. 9. Benjamin, 10. Simeon, 11. Issachar, 12. Zabulon, and 13. Gad, had each about half the quantity of the others, though the tribes occupied the whole extent from east to west, their lots being marked out by parallel lines. Between Juda and Benjamin, a square of 500 cubits was assigned for the temple; another square of 4,500, or 18,000 in circuit, lay round the former for the city of the Levites: round this were suburbs 250 cubits broad, walled about, and having three gates on each side. Next them dwelt their lay servants, in a space 5,000 cubits broad, and 25,000 long, from east to west. A plot of ground on the north and south, sufficient to complete this square was to support them with provisions. On the east side of the Jordan, and on the west of this square for the priests and their servants, two portions almost of equal dimensions with it, were appropriated to the prince. His lot was 25,000 cubits long, and 12,500 broad. C. xlviii. 21. See Calmet's plan. H. — About. It could not be alienated to private men, or for any other purpose. W.
*H And there shall be for the sanctuary on every side five hundred by five hundred, foursquare round about: and fifty cubits for the suburbs thereof round about.
Ver. 2. Suburbs. Heb. also, "vacant spaces."
*H And with this measure thou shalt measure the length of five and twenty thousand, and the breadth of ten thousand, and in it shall be the temple and the holy of holies.
Ver. 3. Measure, from the centre of the temple; so that the dimensions given must be doubled, (C. xlviii. 10.) as also v. 5.
*H The holy portion of the land shall be for the priests the ministers of the sanctuary, who come near to the ministry of the Lord: and it shall be a place for their houses, and for the holy place of the sanctuary.
Ver. 4. Place. There the priests shall dwell.
*H And five and twenty thousand of length, and ten thousand of breadth shall be for the Levites, that minister in the house: they shall possess twenty store chambers.
Ver. 5. Chambers for the Levites on duty. Sept. read, "towns." But only one seems to be specified, 18,000 cubits in circumference.
*H And you shall appoint the possession of the city five thousand broad, and five and twenty thousand long, according to the separation of the sanctuary, for the whole house of Israel.
Ver. 6. According. Heb. "along or (C.) over-against the oblation of the holy portion." Prot. — Israel, destined to serve the priests. H.
*H For the prince also on the one side and on the other side, according to the separation of the sanctuary, and according to the possession of the city, over against the separation of the sanctuary, and over against the possession of the city: from the side of the sea even to the sea, and from the side of the east even to the east. And the length according to every part from the west border to the east border.
Ver. 7. Border. Two equal lots, one on the east and the other on the west, were assigned the prince, each 20,000 cubits broad, and 12,500 long. C. xlviii. 21. C. — He dwelt near the priests, for their protection; as the people were on both sides of him, that he might sustain no injury. W.
*H He shall have a portion of the land in Israel: and the princes shall no more rob my people: but they shall give the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes:
Ver. 8. Rob. Instead of their right, (1 K. viii. 11.) the source of continual vexations, a certain revenue is specified, v. 13.
*H Thus saith the Lord God: Let it suffice you, O princes of Israel: cease from iniquity and robberies, and execute judgment and justice, separate your confines from my people, saith the Lord God.
Ver. 9. Confines: encroach not. C. — Heb. and Sept. "take away your oppressions;" (H.) Chal. "scandals." C.
*H The ephi and the bate shall be equal, and of one measure: that the bate may contain the tenth part of a core, and the ephi the tenth part of a core: their weight shall be equal according to the measure of a core.
Ver. 11. The ephi and the bate. These measures were of equal capacity; but the bate served for liquids, and the ephi for dry things. Ch. v. 13, 14. W. — Ezechiel specifies the measures, that the people might not use those of Babylon, after their return.
* Footnotes
-
*
Exodus
30:13
And this shall every one give that passeth at the naming, half a sicle according to the standard of the temple. A sicle hath twenty obols. Half a sicle shall be offered to the Lord.
-
*
Leviticus
27:25
All estimation shall be made according to the sicle of the sanctuary. A sicle hath twenty obols.
-
*
Numbers
3:47
Thou shalt take five sicles for every bead, according to the weight of the sanctuary. A sicle hath twenty obols.
*H And the sicle hath twenty obols. Now twenty sicles, and five and twenty sicles, and fifteen sicles, make a mna,
Ver. 12. Sicles. It would be shorter to say, "sixty sicles make a mna."
*H And these are the firstfruits, which you shall take: the sixth part of an ephi of a core of wheat, and the sixth part of an ephi of a core of barley.
Ver. 13. Take, for the prince's revenue. He had the sixtieth part of corn and of oil; or rather (C.) he had an exact tithe of the latter. v. 14. Chal. M.
* Summa
*S Part 3, Ques 86, Article 4
[II-II, Q. 86, Art. 4]
Whether Men Are Bound to Pay First-fruits?
Objection 1: It would seem that men are not bound to pay first-fruits. After giving the law of the first-born the text continues (Ex. 13:9): "It shall be as a sign in thy hand," so that, apparently, it is a ceremonial precept. But ceremonial precepts are not to be observed in the New Law. Neither therefore ought first-fruits to be paid.
Obj. 2: Further, first-fruits were offered to the Lord for a special favor conferred on that people, wherefore it is written (Deut. 26:2, 3): "Thou shalt take the first of all thy fruits . . . and thou shalt go to the priest that shall be in those days, and say to him: I profess this day before the Lord thy God, that I am come into the land, for which He swore to our fathers, that He would give it us." Therefore other nations are not bound to pay first-fruits.
Obj. 3: That which one is bound to do should be something definite. But neither in the New Law nor in the Old do we find mention of a definite amount of first-fruits. Therefore one is not bound of necessity to pay them.
_On the contrary,_ It is laid down (16, qu. vii, can. Decimas): "We confirm the right of priests to tithes and first-fruits, and everybody must pay them."
_I answer that,_ First-fruits are a kind of oblation, because they are offered to God with a certain profession (Deut. 26); where the same passage continues: "The priest taking the basket containing the first-fruits from the hand of him that bringeth the first-fruits, shall set it before the altar of the Lord thy God," and further on (Deut. 26:10) he is commanded to say: "Therefore now I offer the first-fruits of the land, which the Lord hath given me." Now the first-fruits were offered for a special reason, namely, in recognition of the divine favor, as though man acknowledged that he had received the fruits of the earth from God, and that he ought to offer something to God in return, according to 1 Paral 29:14, "We have given Thee what we received of Thy hand." And since what we offer God ought to be something special, hence it is that man was commanded to offer God his first-fruits, as being a special part of the fruits of the earth: and since a priest is "ordained for the people in the things that appertain to God" (Heb. 5:1), the first-fruits offered by the people were granted to the priest's use. Wherefore it is written (Num. 18:8): "The Lord said to Aaron: Behold I have given thee the charge of My first-fruits." Now it is a point of natural law that man should make an offering in God's honor out of the things he has received from God, but that the offering should be made to any particular person, or out of his first-fruits, or in such or such a quantity, was indeed determined in the Old Law by divine command; but in the New Law it is fixed by the declaration of the Church, in virtue of which men are bound to pay first-fruits according to the custom of their country and the needs of the Church's ministers.
Reply Obj. 1: The ceremonial observances were properly speaking signs of the future, and consequently they ceased when the foreshadowed truth was actually present. But the offering of first-fruits was for a sign of a past favor, whence arises the duty of acknowledgment in accordance with the dictate of natural reason. Hence taken in a general sense this obligation remains.
Reply Obj. 2: First-fruits were offered in the Old Law, not only on account of the favor of the promised land given by God, but also on account of the favor of the fruits of the earth, which were given by God. Hence it is written (Deut. 26:10): "I offer the first-fruits of the land which the Lord hath given me," which second motive is common among all people. We may also reply that just as God granted the land of promise to the Jews by a special favor, so by a general favor He bestowed the lordship of the earth on the whole of mankind, according to Ps. 113:24, "The earth He has given to the children of men."
Reply Obj. 3: As Jerome says [*Comment. in Ezech. 45:13, 14; cf. Cap. Decimam, de Decim. Primit. et Oblat.]: "According to the tradition of the ancients the custom arose for those who had most to give the priests a fortieth part, and those who had least, one sixtieth, in lieu of first-fruits." Hence it would seem that first-fruits should vary between these limits according to the custom of one's country. And it was reasonable that the amount of first-fruits should not be fixed by law, since, as stated above, first-fruits are offered by way of oblation, a condition of which is that it should be voluntary. _______________________
*H And one ram out of a flock of two hundred, of those that Israel feedeth for sacrifice, and for holocausts, and for peace offerings, to make atonement for them, saith the Lord God.
Ver. 15. One ram. He shall receive the tithe of sheep, &c. and take one out of two hundred, on condition that he furnish victims. v. 17. C. — The obligation was mutual. S. Jerom explains it of the high priest and people. W.
*H And the prince shall give the holocaust, and the sacrifice, and the libations on the feasts, and on the new moons, and on the sabbaths, and on all the solemnities of the house of Israel: he shall offer the sacrifice for sin, and the holocaust, and the peace offerings to make expiation for the house of Israel.
Ver. 17. Holocaust. This was given before perhaps gratis. 2 Par. xxxi. 3. Solomon and Ezechias shewed great magnificence. After the captivity the people laid on the third of a sicle per head, as this order was not observed. 2 Esd. x. 32.
*H Thus saith the Lord God: In the first month, the first of the month, thou shalt take a calf of the herd without blemish, and thou shalt expiate the sanctuary.
Ver. 18. Take, or order the priests to do this annually, to prepare for the Passover. v. 21. Moses mentions nothing of this, and it does not appear to have been put in execution. C. — Yet it might be the first year after the dedication of the temple. The prophet does not say it was to be done every year. H.
*H And so shalt thou do in the seventh day of the month, for every one that hath been ignorant, and hath been deceived by error, and thou shalt make expiation for the house.
Ver. 20. Seventh, or so many days before the solemn feast. Sept. "on the first of the seventh month," the feast of trumpets. Num. xxix. 1. C.
*H And he shall offer the sacrifice of an ephi for every calf, and an ephi for every ram: and a hin of oil for every ephi.
Ver. 24. Sacrifice. Heb. mincha, flour. Prot. "meat offering." H.
*H In the seventh month, in the fifteenth day of the month, in the solemn feast, he shall do the like for the seven days: as well in regard to the sin offering, as to the holocaust, and the sacrifice, and the oil.
Ver. 25. Day: the feast of tabernacles, to be observed like the Pasch. Num. xxix. 12. C.