Exposition of the Laws of Moses, Exegesis 1 · Part 24
Commandement V. EXERCITAT. XXIIII. Of the maintenance of the Prieſts under the Law. A ceremoniall appendix of Command. 5.
Num. 18.21. And behold I have given the children of Levi, all the tenth in Iſrael, &c.
LEt us conſider here, firſt, who payes tithes. Secondly, to whom they were payed. Thirdly, for what end they were payed. Fourthly, what things the Prieſts and the Levites had beſide: the tithes, and laſtly, the bleſſing upon thoſe who payed their tithes.
Firſt, the people payed their tithes to the Levites, becauſe the Levites Adhaerebant Sacerdotibus, they were joyned to the Prieſts, Num. 18.2. And thy brethren alſo of the Tribe of Levi, of the tribe of thy father, bring them with the [Vaijlavu] ut adhereſcant tibi, that they may bee joyned unto thee; the children of Levi called Levites, foreign filius adhaeſienis ſic dictus a matre quia putabat maritum ſibi adhaeſurum a foreign adheſit & hic, aliudit dominus, cum dicit foreign ut ado…reſtant.were adjuncts to the Prieſts, and therefore the people payed the tithe to them.
The ſecond thing to be conſidered here, is to whom they payed tithe, the people payed their tithe to the Levites.
Queſt. How did the Phariſes pay tithe, ſeeing they were Church-men,foreign decimas do vel decimas accipio. Anſw. the Phariſie ſaid I tithe, that is, I pay tithe. Luc. 18.12.
foreign docentes. foreign ſeparati.All the Phariſes were not teaching Phariſees, they were not all [Poraſhim] Docentes, but ſome were [Paruſhim] vel foreign, ſeparati; and of theſe ſome manured the ground, and were Laike Phariſes, as wee may call them; and thoſe payed tithe as well as others.
Then the Levites payed their tithes to the Prieſts. Sometimes the Prieſts are called Levites in the Scripture,Prieſt, ſometimes called Levites. as Ezek. 44.15. The Prieſts, the Levites, the ſonnes of Zadok; therefore although when the people are commanded to pay their tithes, the Levites are onelyonly mentioned, yet the Prieſts are comprehended under the name of Levites, becauſe the tithes belonged to the Prieſthood onelyonly; when the Prieſts and the Levites are taken Compoſite, then the tithes belong to them both iointly; but when they are taken oppoſite, then the people muſt pay their tithe to the Levites, and the Levites muſt pay their tithe to the Prieſt, Heb. 7.5. The ſonnes of Levi who receives the office of Prieſthood, have Commandement to take tithes of the people.
Why the Lord would have the Levites pay tithes.The Levites payed to the Prieſt the tithe of the tithes, although they had no inheritance in the land, yet the Lord would have them to honor him with a heave offering, and it was reckoned to them as if they had poſſeſſions and Lands; and beſides this, they payed tithes of the ground of the ſuburbe, and fields which were given them; therefore, Num. 18.28.29, Thus you alſo ſhall offer an heave offering unto the Lord of all your tythes which yee receive of the children of Iſrael, and ye ſhall give thereof the Lords heave offring to Aaron the Prieſt out of all your gifts yee ſhall offer, &c.
Thirdly, to what end they were payed; the tithes were given as a ſigne of homage, and thankfullneſſe to God, Prov. 3.9. Honour the Lord with th y ſubſtan, Why the tithes were payed.and with the firſt fruits of all thine increaſe; and as Kings have their tributes payed unto them for the maintenance of their attendance, Rom. 13.6.7. So the Lord will have his tribute payed to him, for the maintenance of his ſervants the Prieſts; therefore the tithe is called his heave offering, Levit. 27.30. and before the Law was given, Iacob payed them to the Lord, Gen. 28.22.A…raham and Iacob payed tithes before the law. and Abraham the tenth generation from Sem payed them to Melchizedecke the Prieſt, and the Lord appointed them for the Prieſts, Num. 18.28.
Now that we may underſtand what great plenty and a boundance, the Levites had, who had the Lord for their portion. Num. 18.20. Deut. 18.2. Ezek. 44.28.The great plenty which the Levite, had for their ſervice. Let us conſider what they had in particular.
Firſt, they had a part of the meatoffering called Mincha. Secondly, they had a part of the peace offering, the breaſt, and the ſhoulder and skin of the burnt offering, Num. 18.18. Levit. 7.13. Thirdly, they had the firſt fruits of the Corne, of the wine, and of the oyle, [Reſhith] preſtantiſsimum, foreign primitie primiti…um foreign primitiae.the beſt of them and the fat of the oyle, Num. 18.12. Deut. 18.4. and they had [Biccurim] the firſt fruits. The difference Betwixt [Biccurim] and [Reſhith] was this; Reſhith were the firſt fruits which the Levites tooke from the people; but Biccurim were the firſt fruits which the people preſented to the Lord, and the Lord gave them to the Prieſts, Num. 18.13. What ſo ever is firſt ripe in the Land ſhall bee thine; Reſhith was the firſt of the firſt fruits, and Biccurim were the firſt fruits themſelves.
It was not determined by the Law how much they ſhould offer here,What every one was to offer of their firſt …ruits. but the Doctors of the Iewes determined afterwards, that none ſhould offer leſſe than one of ſixty, and none ſhould offer more than one of forty, and the middle ſort one of fifty, and they called him who offered one of ſixty;foreign Oculus malus. foreign Oculus bonus. foreign Oculus inter utrumque. the man with the evill eye, or the covetous eye, or the covetous man, Prov. 23.6. eat not the bread of him who hath an evill eye, that is, of a covetous man; and he who payed one of forty, they called him the man with the good eye, Ecclus. 35.8. Give the Lord his honor with a good eye, and diminiſh not the firſt fruits of thine hand, and he who payed one of fifty, they called him, the man with the middle eye.
foreign Obl…to magna.This was called [Tereumah Gedolah] the great heave offering by way of excellency, and they payed this, not onelyonly of things commanded in the Law, but alſo of their oates, Lentiles, and fitches: although theſe ſerved not for the ſuſtentation of man; but onelyonly in time of famine mine to ſatisfie their hunger; yet they payed them, and they payed alſo tithe of Aniſe and Mint, which did grow in their gardens, which our Lord doth not blame, Matth. 23. for he addeth, theſe things yee ſhould have done: all theſe, becauſe they were not determinated by the law, they gave at leaſt to the Prieſts the ſixty part, ſo they gave the ſixty part of their wool in their Tereumah Gedolah to the Prieſt.
The Prieſts and Levites had the f…ee…ill offerings and the eſtimation of male and female and according to their abilitie and ſexe.Beſides theſe firſt fruits which they were bound to pay, they payed likewiſe free will offerings, Levit. 7.16. So when they made a ſingular vow, they were valued according to their age, and according to their ſexe, Levit. 27.3.4. The eſtimation of the male from twenty yeare old, even unto ſixty, was fifty Shekels of Silver, after the Shekell of the ſanctuary; and the eſtimation of the female was thirty. Againe, from five yeare old to twenty, the eſtimation of the male was twenty Shekels, and of the female ten. Thirdly, from a monethmonth old to five yeares old, the eſtimation of the male was five; and the female was three Shekels of ſilver. Fourthly, if they were paſt ſixty yeares and above, the eſtimation of the male was fifteene ſhekels: and of the female, ten ſhekels. Fiftly, the poorer were valued after the valuation of the Prieſts, according to their ability, and all theſe came for the maintenance of the Prieſts. So they had a part of things conſecrated, Levit. 7.35. Num. 18.13.
The Levites had the tenth part of all the fruits which did grow in Iſrael; then the Prieſts got Decimas Decima…um the tithe of the tithes from the Levites: the huſband man payed to the Levites the tenth of his whole encreaſe,foreign Decima prima. foreign Decima ex Decima. and this was called [Magnaſar riſhon] the firſt tithe; and the Levites payed out of this, the tenth to the Prieſts, which was the hundreth part of the husband mans increaſe [Magnaſar min Hamagnaſar] decima ex decima.
The third tithe was given to the poore, and it was the ninth part of the whole increaſe. Tobit. 1.7.8. It was called [Magnaſar ſhani] the ſecond tithe,foreign Decima ſecunda, vel ſecundi anni. foreign Decima tertia, vel tertij anni. and in the firſt and ſecond yeare, this tithe was reſerved by the huſband man, and either taken up to Ieruſalem, or elſe ſold and put in mony, that the Levite, the widdow and the poore might eat of it there at the three great feaſts, and it differed nothing from the tithe of the third yeare, but onelyonly in the uſe, as Maimony ſheweth, and every third yeare it was given to the poore, but every firſt and ſecond yeare it was given to the Prieſt, and to the Levite, and to the widdow, and they did eate it before the Lord in Ieruſalem, by this we may perceive how the husband-man payed the ninth part of his whole increaſe every yeare: Let us put this caſe,The husbandman paid the moſt part of his increaſe. a husband-man hath an hundreth and two logs of oyle, of this he was to pay two to the Lord, which was his Tereumah Gedolah, and this was one of fifty; and then ten to the Levites, and nine of the hundreth, to the poore for the ſecond tithe, ſo that of an hundreth and two logs, he payed twenty and one, which was the fift part of the hundreth, and ſome more.
They had the firſt borne of man and beaſt.Moreover, they had the firſt borne of all ſorts of cattell, as of ſheepe, beeves, and goats; and the price of the reſt which were to be redeemed according to the Prieſts eſtimation. Likewiſe the firſt borne of man redeemed at five ſhekels the man, Ezek. 44.30. Neh. 10.36. And when all the males appeared before the Lord three times in the yeare; none of them muſt come empty handed; all theſe the Prieſts got.
And beſides all this, the Levites had forty eight cities, and two thouſand cubites of ground round about them on every ſide,They had 48 cities and ſo much ground about them. with their Cattell and flockes; the number of the Levites were but twenty three thouſand, Num. 26. The tribe of Aſher was fifty three thouſand, and two hundreth; and the tribe of Nephthali was forty five thouſand and foure hundreth; and the tribe of Iſſachar, was ſixty foure thouſand and three hundreth, and the tribe of Dan, was ſixty foure thouſand and foure hundreth, and yet the greateſt of them all, had but ninteene Cities; but the Levites being but few in number, got moe Cities than any of them all; and the reaſon was,The Levites were not the tenth part of the people yet they had the tenth part of the in… reaſe. becauſe the Lord would provide liberally for them; the Levites who were not the tenth part of the people, yet they got the tenth part of the increaſe of the Land, and Prieſts who were but a ſmall number in reſpect of the Levites, yet they got the hundreth part of the increaſe of the Land, and becauſe the Prieſts had ſuch a plentifull portion, therefore the Lord alludeth to this, Alluſion. Iere. 13.14. I will ſatiate the ſoule of the Prieſt with fatneſſe.
The Lord was their portion, Num. 18.20. Deut, 18.1. Ezek. 44.28. and the godly allude to this, Alluſion. Pſal. 73.26. God is my part for ever, Alluſion. So Pſal. 142.6. Thou art my part in the Land of the Living, Lam. 3.24. The Lord is my part, ſaith my ſoule, therfore I will hope in him. Pſal. 16,The Hebrewes repeate words to ſignifie that nothing ſhould be omitted. foreign Et praecipuum omnium primitiarum ex omnibus, et omnis oblationis omnium ex omnibus oblationibus veſtris Sacerdoeſto. Ʋox foreign hic quinquies repetitur. The bleſſing of God upon thoſe who payed their tithes. the Lord is the portion of mine inheritance.
And ſee what a care the Lord had that they ſhould want none of theſe. Ezek. 44.30. And the firſt of all the firſt fruits of all things, and every oblation of all of every ſort, ſhall be the Prieſts; the Hebrewes when they would have a thing preciſely kept, they double this word [Col] as Pſal. 119.128. Therefore I eſteeme all thy precepts, concerning all things to be right, So here the firſt of all the firſt fruits of all things, &c.
The laſt thing to be conſidered here, is the bleſſing of God upon thoſe who payed their tithes, they were to pay to the Prieſts the firſt fruits, and tithes of all their increaſe of every ſort. And the firſt of their dough That he might cauſe the bleſsing reſt in their houſe, Ezek. 44. So Mal. 3.10. Bring ye all the tithes into the ſtorehouſe, that there may be meate in mine houſe, and prove me now here with, ſaith the Lord of hoſts, if I will not open you the windowes of heaven, and powre you out a bleſsing, that there ſhalt not be roome enough to receive it, Deut, 16.74. Thou ſhall rejoyce in the feaſt before the Lord, thou & thy ſon, and thy daughter, and thy maid ſervant, and the Levite, and the ſtranger, and the fatherleſſe, and the widdow, The Lord had foure, and the Prieſt had foure at the eating of the Tithe of the third yeare as the Hebrewes ſay.that are within thy gates; And the Hebrewes ſay, the Levite, the fatherleſſe, the ſtranger, and the widow, foure that belong to me, anſwerable to foure that belong to thee, thy ſonne, thy daughter, thy man and thy maide; if thou comfort thoſe that are mine, I will bleſſe and comfort theſe that are thine, and they ſay, when a man payeth his tithes, he is the husbandman, and God Almighty is the Prieſt; but when he payeth them not, then God is the husbandman, and he is the Prieſt, and then, Ten Akers of Vine ſhall yeeld but one Bath. Eſay, 5.8.
Concluſion. The Concluſion of this is, they who have the Lord for their portion can lacke nothing, Pſal. 23.1. here was none of the Prieſts that did ſhut the doores of Gods ſanctuary or kindle fire upon his Altar for nought, Malac. 1.10.