*Chapter i., v. 14, chap, ii., v. 14. In one we find Eliasaph the son of
Reul, in the other Eliasaph the son of Deuel. In chap. vii., vv. 42 and
47, and in chap, x., v. 20, it is also Eliasaph son of Deuel. Which is
right?
Verse 46. By this verse we learn that the number of Jews, warriors (not
including the Levites), capable of bearing arms, was 603,550; and taking
old and young into consideration, you can hardly compute these at more
than three out of each ten, which would leave a total of about 2,000,000
males, the proportion of females would be upwards of 2,000,000 more;
these, together with male and female slaves, and the tribe of Levi, must
have made upwards of 5,000,000 people. This would be an immense number
to pass through a desert, where water and food were deficient.
Verse 49, see chap, iii., v. 15. The Lord must have changed his original
intention.
*Chapter iii., v. 39. 22,000 is incorrect, it should be 22,300--viz.,
Gershonites 7,500, Kohathites 8,600, Meranites 6,200. This may seem
a trifling error, but in a revelation from God we are not prepared to
expect errors at all; and in this case it is a grave error, and not a
mere slip of the copyist, or transcriber, for in verse 46 we are told
that the first-born were 273 more in number than the male Levites, when
in feet they were twenty-seven less. It is very extraordinary that the
Levites should be comparatively so few in number, especially when we
consider them as the most favoured by God. The whole of the Levites,
male and female, could not be much over 50,000, while the other tribes
averaged 350,000 each.
*Chapter iv., v. 20. The same mystery as before observed, coupled with
the usual threat of death to deter the uninitiated from too closely
examining the things of God.
Verse 23. By this the Levites are to serve from thirty to fifty; in
chap, viii., v. 24, it is from twenty-five to fifty.
*Chapter v., w. 8, 9, and 10. Here is a complete identification of
the rights of the Lord with those of the priest, 'Let the trespass be
recompensed unto the Lord, even unto the priest.' Whether this Book be a
revelation from God or not, it is quite clear that it is the interest of
the priesthood to support it.
Verses 17 to 27. We have read of various ordeals amongst savage nations,
and it is customary to deplore the ignorance and barbarity of the
nations amongst whom these customs are allowed to prevail. If we abide
by this style of criticism, what must we say of the legislator who
established the ordeal of the waters of jealousy?
*Chapter vii., v. 89. 'And when Moses was gone into the tabernacle
of the congregation to speak with him, then he heard the voice of one
speaking unto him from off the mercy-seat that was upon the ark of {70}
testimony, from between the two cherubims: and he spake unto him.' This
voice is uttered in the hearing of no one but Moses. The Douay reads,
'And when Moses entered into the tabernacle of the covenant to
consult the oracle, he heard the voice of one speaking to him from the
propitiary that was over the ark, between the two cherubims, and
from this place he spake to him.' Is not this similar to the
oracle-consulting of other nations? It is admitted now, by all
intelligent men, that the oracles of Delphos, of Ammon, and of Dodona,
were only instances of jugglery and cunning, practised by the priest on
the people. In what respects are the oracles of the Jews superior? In
an able article on the word 'oracle,' in Brande's Dictionary is the
following quotation:--
'The general characteristics of oracles were ambiguity, obscurity, and
convertability; so that one answer would agree with several various, and
sometimes directly opposite events. Thus when Croesus was on the point
of invading the Medes, he consulted the oracle of Delphi as to the
success of the enterprise, and received for answer, "That by passing the
River Halys, he would ruin a mighty empire." But whether it was his own
empire, or that of his enemies, that was destined to be ruined, was not
intimated, and in either case the oracle could not fail to be right. The
answer of the oracle to 'Pyrrhus is another well-known instance of this
sort of ambiguity. "_Aio, te Æacida, Romanos vincere posse_"--as it
might either be interpreted in favour of, or against, Pyrrhus. This
ambiguity and equivocation was not, however, the worst feature that
characterised the oracles of antiquity. They were at once ambiguous and
venal. A rich or a powerful individual seldom found much difficulty
in obtaining a response favourable to his projects, how unjust or
objectionable soever. But such and so powerful is the influence of
superstition, that this system of fraud and imposture maintained
a lengthened ascendancy, and interested responses of the oracles
frequently sufficed to excite bloody wars, and to spread desolation
through extensive States.'
*Chapter ix., vv. 15 to 17. The 'cloud and appearance of fire' might
have been easily produced by Moses himself, and, judging by the context,
it is a fair presumption, they being always rendered subordinate to his
plans.
*Chapter x., v. 9. Is it intended to be implied that the blowing the
alarm with trumpets, will the more readily bring God to the aid of the
Jews? If not, what is the meaning of this verse?
*Chapter xi., v. 4. It is not easy to understand how the Israelites
could be without flesh food, when we are told in Exodus, chap, xii., v.
38, that they took with them out of Egypt 'flocks and herds, even very
much cattle.'
Verse 16. If Moses had no assistance in the government of the Jews, he
must have entirely neglected the advice of Jethro, his father-in-law,
referred to on page 56.
*Chapter xii., v. 1. The following is from Dr. Giles's 'Hebrew
Records':--'The country to which the wife of Moses belonged, here
called Ethiopia, is Cush in the original Hebrew, and may fairly be {71}
interpreted in a very wide sense. Ethiopia, also, in Grecian history,
designated not only the modern Ethiopia, but parts of Egypt, Arabia,
and, perhaps, other neighbouring countries. We may then freely admit
that the Ethiopian woman here mentioned was the same person elsewhere
described as Jethro's daughter, but the manner in which her name is
here introduced, is perfectly incompatible with her having been already
described, and that so fully, in Exodus ii., as the daughter to the
priest of Midian, and married to Moses, possibly several years before
the strife, which Miriam and Aaron now stirred up on her account. This
leads to the following conclusion, either that the two accounts of
the wife of Moses were written by two distinct authors, or that the
Ethiopian woman whom Moses married was not the same as the daughter of
Jethro priest of Midian. In the former case the whole Pentateuch, as it
now is, cannot be considered as the work of Moses; in the latter case,
the mixture of the Israelites with other tribes would appear to have
begun very early after the Exodus, and to have been carried to a very
great extreme.'
*Chapter xiii., vv. 2 to 17. Why were these people sent to spy out the
land? God could have told his people all the particulars without this.
In ordering them to be sent, he must have foreknown and foreordained
that they should report falsely, and that the Israelites should believe
their report, in which case it is difficult to justify the forty years
wandering in the wilderness.
Verse 22. 'Hebron' has been noticed on page 5.
Verses 23 and 24. Bishop Patrick's note on this verse is highly sensible
and becoming:--'_The place was called the Brook Eschol._ That is, when
the Israelites got possession of the land, they called this brook
or valley "Eschol" in memory of this bunch of grapes, for so Eschol
signifies.' But the book, which relates that the place was called
Eschol, cannot have been written until the act of naming had taken
place.
Verse 33 is meant figuratively, otherwise the sons of Anak would be of
tremendous height and size.
*Chapter xiv., w. 1 to 4. This murmuring displeases God, but grave
consideration is required to understand why God was so displeased,
Twelve men, all equally trustworthy (as far as we can glean their
characters from the Book), are sent to view the promised land; ten
report unfavourably, and two, on the contrary, give a favourable
account. The balance of evidence is therefore very strong, and yet God
is displeased, because the Israelites put faith in the unfavourable
report. The case is even stronger than this. One of the two favourable
witnesses (Joshua) was a servant and partisan of Moses, and might
well be suspected of giving a highly coloured account of the country,
according to the wishes of his leader. Later historians have even
rendered more unfavourable the account given by the ten, rather than
corroborate that of Joshua and Caleb. Voltaire quotes a letter from St.
Jerome, in which he speaks of the land of promise as being about 160
miles long, and about fifty broad, all beyond being desert, that from
Jerusalem to Bethlehem there is nothing but pebbles, and scarce any
water to drink during the summer season. {72} Verses 11 to 37. There is
here a repetition of the mode in which Moses reasoned and expostulated
with God, pointed out on page sixty-two, the same fear lest the
Egyptians should hear of God's wrath against the Israelites, and
ultimately the same change is effected. In verse 20, the Lord says:
'I have pardoned according to thy word,' and immediately notified that
instead of pardoning the people, he intended them all to die on their
journey to the promised land.
Verses 43 to 45. In Exodus, chap. 17, vv. 14 and 16, God swore to
utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven, and to
have war with them from generation to generation. In this chapter he
aids and assists them to destroy the Israelites.
Verse 45. 'Hormah.' This verse could not have been written by Moses,
as the city of Zephath was not called Hormah until after the death of
Joshua (_vide_ Judges, chap, i., v. 17): in chap, xxi., vv. 1 to 3, we
find an account of the destruction of a city, and the naming it Hormah
'This' (says Dr. Shuckford, as quoted in the Family Bible) 'was effected
in the days of Joshua (Joshua, chap, xii., v. 14), or a little after
his death' (Judges, chap, i., v. 17). Yet Dr. Shuckford did not perceive
that the relation of an event, which happened in the days of
Joshua, could not have come from the pen of Moses. The second of the
above-mentioned texts--namely, the first three verses of Numbers xxi.,
describe the fulfilment of Israel's vow--not in a mere word or short
sentence, such as others--which the commentators explain by saying that
they are interpolations. The present text is too full for us to suppose
so: it is evidently an integral part of the main narrative, and cannot
be separated from it. The whole of this part of the history, therefore,
is liable to the same observation which has been so often made, that it
was written by some one who lived long after the time of Moses (_vide_
Dr. Giles's 'Hebrew Records').
*Chapter xv., vv. 32 to 36. These verses are the species upon which
fanatics ground their opposition to a free Sunday. The organ blower
may work in the organ loft of his parish church till the perspiration
streams from his brow--no serious voice checks his labour, but should he
dare take his accordion into the green fields, and there, with lighter
labour, beguile away his Sunday morning or afternoon, immediately the
reverend pastor, the pious churchwarden, the devout and stately beadle,
the meek and humble pew opener, with a thunder-like chorus-voice shout
after him, 'Sabbath-breaker, thy doom is hell.' This sentence is printed
in small capitals on a little tract--this tract does great good. John
Phillips, of Hare Street, Spitalfields, weaver, having been at work at
his loom from early on the previous Monday morning until late on the
Saturday evening, and feeling tired thereby, determines to take Mrs.
Phillips and his three children into Victoria Park; and, preparatory to
this, John Phillips hammers at a small piece of leather in the endeavour
to fix it to the sole of his boot, which is out of repair, suddenly his
room door opens, and a Scripture-reader enters, who solemnly hands John
the above-mentioned tract, and the following dialogue takes place:--
{73} S. R.--You are now breaking the Sabbath-day.
John P.--This is a work of necessity; the boot must be mended before I
can go out.
S. R.--If you read Numbers, you will find that a man who gathered sticks
on the Sabbath-day was put to death; and although you will not probably
die to-day, you will go to hell by-and-by. You should go to church.
John P.--If I did go there, every one would shrink from the mean dresses
of myself and family. If the free seats were full, we should have
to stand in the centre aisle, while those who paid to go to heaven
comfortably reclined on the cushions of their half-empty pews, or knelt
on their comfortable hassocks. In the green fields it is different, the
daisy is as bright, the grass as green, and the clover as sweet to me as
to the richest man in England; the sun shines on me although my dress is
corduroy. I feel better and happier to be free for a few hours from the
dense and smoky atmosphere of this house, and I cannot believe I shall
go to hell for that.
The Scripture Reader departs, and wends his way to Ebenezer Chapel.
This chapel is situate in a narrow street, between a sugar-baker's and a
soap-boiler's premises, and he cannot help regretting, as he smells the
foul exhalations from the sewer-grating, and the overcrowded grave-yard,
that it is unlawful to stroll into the green fields on the Lord's-day.
The bell-ringer, the grave-digger, the priest, the sexton, the
choristers, the organist, the organ-blower, the beadle, the pew-opener,
the bishop, the bishop's coachman, and groom, all ply on the Sunday
their several avocations without fear or threat of punishment; but if
John Thomas on that day, instead of driving my lord bishop to church,
and afterwards retiring to a neighbouring mews, to smoke his pipe in
an orthodox manner, until service is over, were to drive into the green
fields, or wander by the river side, he would most assuredly bring upon
himself denunciations of future damnation. By the fruit ye shall judge
of the tree. The fruit of this Sunday tree has been hypocritical,
outside show, a false and empty parade of Bibles and gilt-edged
prayer-books, grim faces, and constrained manners--this some people call
religion.
*Chapter xvi. contains the history of a rebellion on the part of Korah,
Dathan, Abiram, and On, against the authority of Moses, connected with
which there are several curious features; the rebels are swallowed up
and consumed by an explosion and fire, which of course is sent by the
Lord; but as Moses took a whole day to make the necessary preparations,
it is quite possible to account for the destruction of Korah and his
party in a more comprehensible manner. It is apparent that Moses had a
direct interest in the destruction of these men, who wished to share the
power he had arrogated to himself.
By verses 29 and 30 it is clear that the manner of their destruction
was pre-arranged by Moses; and it is also clear that the Israelites
themselves took this view of the matter, for in verse 41 we find them
charging Moses and Aaron with having killed the people of the Lord. {74}
*Chapter xvii., w. 1 to 8. This miracle of Aaron's rod budding amongst
the other rods was easy of accomplishment, when we remember how
carefully the tabernacle was guarded by Moses and his priests, who had
every facility for changing one rod for a branch from a fruit bearing
tree. The rod, according to this account, budded, blossomed, and bore
fruit, all within twenty-four hours.
Verse 6 says, there were 'twelve rods, and the rod of Aaron was among
their rods.' The Douay says, 'there were twelve rods, beside the rod of
Aaron.'
Verses 12 and 13. These verses are a sufficient evidence of the
care taken bv Moses to prevent the people inspecting too closely his
thaumaturgic tabernacle.
*Chapter xviii., v. 15. See chap, iii., vv. 12 and 41. There is some
confusion in these texts, as by the latter it was only the surplus
number, beyond the number of the Levites, who were to be redeemed with
money--here all are to pay the five shekels.
Verses 20 to 24. It is much to be regretted that our priests never
imagined that this part of the revelation had any personal relation to
them; great attention has been paid to the tithe part of the Book, but
our reverend pastors have most wonderfully overlooked the part which
says, 'Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land.' This, they say,
only applies to the Jews. On what principle, then, does any part of the
Book apply to the Gentiles?
*Chapter xix. contains a direction to the priest to burn a red heifer,
the ashes of which heifer become water, by a process not described; or
rather if the writer had condescended to be explicit, I suppose he means
that the ashes are to be mixed with water, this water is a kind of holy
water, with which every unclean person is to be sprinkled, under pain
of death. Amongst a people numbering 5,000,000, some must have had great
difficulty in getting access to this water, especially those residing at
a great distance from the place where the ashes were kept.
*Chapter xx. In the Douay translation of v. 6, Moses and Aaron say, 'O
Lord God, hear the cry of this people, and open to them thy treasure,
a fountain of living water, that being satisfied, they may cease to
murmur.' These words are entirely omitted in our version, and it would
seem that some other portion of the original account must be lost, as
we find the Lord reproaching Moses and Aaron for their exhibition of
unbelief, of which we have no account here.
Verses 10 and 11. This is a miracle. Voltaire says:--
'A miracle, according to the true meaning of the word, is something
admirable; and agreeably to this all is miracle. The stupendous order of
nature, the revolution of a hundred millions of worlds round a million
of suns, the activity of light, the life of animals, all are grand and
perpetual miracles.
'According to common acceptation, we call a miracle the violation of
these divine and eternal laws. A solar eclipse, at the time of the full
moon, or a dead man walking two leagues, and carrying his head in his
arms, we denominate a miracle.
'Many natural philosophers maintain that in this sense there are no
miracles, and advance the following arguments:-- {75} 'A miracle is the
violation of mathematical, divine, immutable, eternal laws. By the very
exposition itself a miracle is a contradiction in terms: a law cannot
at the same time be immutable and violated. But they are asked, cannot a
law, established by God himself be suspended by its author?
'They have the hardihood to reply that it cannot; and that it is
impossible a being, infinitely wise, can have made laws to violate them.
He could not, they say, derange the machine, but with a view of making
it work better; but it is evident that God, all-wise and omnipotent,
originally made this immense machine, the universe, as good and perfect
as he was able; if he saw that some imperfections would arise from the
nature of matter, he provided for that in the beginning; and accordingly
he will never change anything in it.
'Moreover God can do nothing without reason; but what reason could
induce him to disfigure, for a time, his own work?
'It is done, they are told, in favour of mankind. They reply, we must
presume, then, that it is in favour of all mankind; for it is impossible
to conceive that the divine nature should occupy itself only about a few
men in particular, and not for the whole human race; and even the whole
human race itself is a very small concern; it is less than a small
ant-hill, in comparison with all the beings inhabiting immensity. But is
it not the most absurd of all extravagances to imagine that the Infinite
Supreme should, in favour of three or four hundred emmets on this little
heap of earth, derange the operation of the vast machinery that moves
the universe?
'But, admitting that God chose to distinguish a small number of men by
particular favours, is there any necessity that in order to accomplish
this object he should change what he established for all periods and
for all places? He certainly can have no need of this inconsistency, in
order to bestow favours on any of his creatures: his favours consist in
his laws themselves: he has foreseen all, and arranged all, with a view
to them. All invariably obey the force which ne has impressed for ever
on nature.
'For what purpose would God perform a miracle? To accomplish some
particular design upon living beings? He would, then, in reality, be
supposed to say--I have not been able to effect, by my construction of
the universe, by my divine decrees, by my eternal laws, a particular
object. I am now going to change my eternal ideas and immutable laws,
to endeavour to accomplish what I have not been able to do by means
of them. This would be an avowal of his weakness, not of his power;
it would appear in such a being an inconceivable contradiction.
Accordingly, therefore, to dare to ascribe miracles to God, is, if man
can in reality insult God, actually offering him that insult. It is
saying to him, You are a weak and inconsistent being. It is therefore
absurd to believe in miracles; it is, in fact, dishonouring the
divinity.'
Verses 23 to 29. Aaron's death is rather curiously related; it was
certainly a sudden death, and the account almost conveys the idea that
Moses and Eleazer killed Aaron in the mount. {76} *Chapter xxi., vv.
1 to 3, have been before noticed; in addition it is only necessary to
observe, that the Israelites could scarcely have destroyed the cities of
the Canaanites, until they had entered the land of Canaan, into which it
is alleged they did not go in the lifetime of Moses.
Verses 8 and 9. See Exodus, chap, xx., v. 4. Dr. Giles observes:--
'The reason why God commanded Moses to adopt this course has not been
recorded; but the fact would probably be susceptible of a satisfactory
explanation, if we were acquainted more fully with the serpent-worship
which existed among the ancient people of Egypt. In the absence of
certain information, it may be supposed that the Israelites had been
taught to hold serpents in great respect whilst they were in Egypt, and
that Moses availed himself of their superstition to bend them the better
to his will.'
In our version, verse 8, Moses is told to make a 'fiery serpent:' in the
Douay, he is told to make a 'brazen serpent'--fiery serpents are very
rare animals.
Verse 14. 'The Book of the wars of the Lord.' What book is this? Who was
the author of it? What has become of it? Was it inspired? Was it more
ancient than the Pentateuch? In answer to all these questions, we can
say but little, except this, that the book referred to is one of several
books quoted from in our Bible, and now lost; the authorship is unknown;
it must have been a well-known book at the time Numbers was written,
and, consequently, more ancient than Numbers. There are many other books
quoted from, which are also lost.
The following is from the 'Hebrew Records,' in reference to this
subject:--
'In St. Paul's Epistle to the Hebrews, ix., 19, we read thus:--
'"For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people, according
to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water and
scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book and all the
people."
'The writer of this epistle must also have had more sources of
information than we now possess; for the account which he gives in the
verse before us does not exactly tally with any of the various verses in
the Levitical Law, where the subject is related. Nothing is said of the
"book" being sprinkled with the blood, even if the other parts of the
description are allowed to bear a sufficient resemblance.
'Another remarkable instance bearing upon my present argument, is
the account which St. Jude gives of a contest between Michael and the
Devil:--
'"Yet Michael, the archangel, when contending with the Devil he
disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing
accusation, but said, 'Lord rebuke thee!'"
'It is not known to what St. Jude alludes in this verse; nothing is said
in the Old Testament of any contest between the Devil and the archangel
Michael.
'In St. Paul's Second Epistle to Timothy, chap, iii., v. 8, are found
{77} the names of two of the magicians who competed with Moses in
magical arts in the presence of Pharaoh, King of Egypt.
'"Now, as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist
the truth; men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith."
'It is presumed that the names, "Jannes" and "Jambres," not found in
the Books of Moses, became known to St. Paul through the medium of other
writings, in which many particulars of Jewish history were recorded, but
now no longer in existence.
Several circumstances of the life and acts of Moses are known to us,
only because they are noticed in the New Testament, no mention being
made of them in the old Jewish Scriptures. For instance, in Acts vii.,
v. 22, etc., we are told that--
'"Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty
in words and deeds. And when he was full forty years old, it came into
his heart to visit his brethren of Israel, etc."
'But in the Book of Exodus the account of these things is much shorter,
and nothing is said of the age of Moses at the time referred to.
'Neither is there any authority in the Pentateuch for the remark which
occurs in Hebrews xi., 24:--
'"By faith Moses, when he came to years, refused to be called the son of
Pharaoh's daughter."
'These circumstances make it probable that there were other original
records in the time of St. Paul, which have since perished.
'This conclusion is supported by the admitted fact that many books which
have perished are quoted in the Old Testament itself. Such are the books
of Jasher, Enoch, the Wars of the Lord, and many others.
A perplexing train of argument opens to us from a consideration of these
facts. If the books which have perished were of value, why have they
perished? If they were of no value, why have valuable writers, like St.
Paul, quoted them? It is supposed that they were of inferior authority,
but this point has not been proved. If the existing books are genuine
relics of a high antiquity, yet some of the lost books were more ancient
still. The same Providence which has preserved the one has suffered the
others to sink, even though those which have floated down the stream of
time are imperfect on many points, which the others would have supplied.
*Chapter xxii., v. 1. 'On this side Jordan:' the Douay has it 'beyond
the Jordan:' the Hebrew is [------] (beyond, across, over, or on the
other side), see also page 6. It is evident in this case either that the
translators must have falsified the text to support their theory that
Moses was the writer of the book, or that there is a very extraordinary
coincidence of error. The whole of this subject has been carefully
examined in Dr. Giles's 'Hebrew Records,' pp. 284 to 289.
*Chapters xxii., xxiii., and xxiv. It is not at all wonderful that the
barbarous Midianites and Moabites should have looked upon Balaam as a
prophet, whose curse or blessing would affect the success of the {78}
Jews. In the dark ages we have many instances of persons revered by
the people of their countries, because they were believed to possess
supernatural powers; but is an inexplicable matter when we find
the superstitions of the ignorant people shared by God himself. God
communicated with Balaam. God said, 'Thou shalt not curse this people.'
God came to Balaam repeatedly; at first he forbade him to go to Balak,
and afterwards gave him permission; and then God's anger is kindled
because Balaam, in consequence of such permission, went with Balak's
messengers, and the angel of the Lord is sent to stand in Balaam's way.
I have remarked upon angels in pages 33 and 34; those who wish to
read more orthodox comments are referred to Dr. Pye Smith's 'Christian
Theology,' p. 327. This angel is invisible to the wise man, Balaam, but
is at once perceived by his ass. Is this intended as a covert sneer? Did
the writer mean that asses are always the first to perceive invisible
angels? The angel has 'his sword drawn in his hand'--this sword (being
also only visible to the ass), must have been (like Macbeth's dagger)
manufactured from different material from the swords commonly in use.
The ass obstinately refusing to go forward (and asses very often do
refuse to go forward, rather staying because a church, an angel, or a
Bible stops the way, than progressing with Freethinking searchers toward
the truth), is beaten by Balaam. The ass indignantly remonstrates,
inquiring why he is beaten; and as Balaam manifested no surprise
whatever when his ass spoke, we must conclude that the phenomenon was
not entirely new to him. The fable concludes by relating that Balaam
blessed the Jews, instead of cursing them.
*Chapter xxiii., v. 19. According to the Bible account, God has repented
several times (Genesis, chap, vi., vv. 6 and 7; Exodus, chap. xxxii., v.
14; 1 Samuel, chap, xv., v. xi.; 2 Samuel, chap. xxiv.,v. 16).
In chap, xxiv., v. 15, our version reads, 'The man whose eyes are open
hath said: 'the Douay has it,' The man whose eye is stopped up hath
said: 'the Breeches Bible renders it, 'The man whose eyes were shut up
hath said.'
*Chapter xxv., v. 4. See Deuteronomy, chap, iv., v. 31, 'The Lord thy
God is a merciful God.'
Verse 9. '24,000.' In 1 Corinthians, chap, x., v. 8, the number is given
as '23,000.'
*Chapter xxvi., vv. 10 and 11. The Douay says, 'And there was a great
miracle wrought; that when Core (Korah) perished, his sons did not
perish.' Our version omits the miracle, out says, that 'the children of
Korah died not:' yet in chap, xvi., vv. 32 and 33, we are told that 'the
earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all
the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods, they and all
that appertained unto them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth
closed upon them, and they perished from among the congregation.'
Verse 12. 'Nemuel' is called 'Jemuel' in Genesis, chap, xlvi, v. 10.
Verse 13. 'Zerah' is called 'Zohar' in Genesis, chap, xlvi., v. 10.
Verse 16. 'Ozni' is called 'Ezbon' in Genesis, chap, xliv., v. 16. {79}
Verse 23. 'Pua' is called 'Phuvah' in Genesis, chap, xlvi., v. 13.
Verse 24. 'Jashub' is called 'Job 'in Genesis, chap, xlvi., v. 13.
Verses 64 and 65. Phinehas and Eleazar at least were left, if no more
than they entered the promised land (_vide_ Joshua, chap, xiv., v. 1,
and chap, xxii., v. 13).
*Chapter xxvii., v. 14. We have no account whatever of any rebellion by
Moses. In Exodus, chap, xvii., it is the people who rebel against Moses.
*Chapter xxxi. gives an account of the slaughter of the Midianites, and
the destruction of their 'cities' and 'goodly castles' by 12,000 Jews,
and the capture of 32,000 virgins, 675,000 sheep, 72,000 oxen, and
61,000 asses. The number or slain is not given; but it is easy to
ascertain a minimum, if we reckon to each virgin for father, mother,
brother, married sisters and their husbands, and other married females
and their husbands, an average of four persons--which I conceive will
be an estimate much under the true amount--we shall find 128,000 to have
been slaughtered by 12,000 Jews, which is a statement rather difficult
to believe. This difficulty is increased when we remember that the
Midianites dwelt in 'cities' and 'goodly castles,' under shelter of
which they could have contended against the attacks of the Jews. After
all this fighting, the tired warriors must have had considerable trouble
(especially if the captives resisted) in bringing back the spoil, which
averaged to each man (supposing that all the Jewish soldiers had escaped
unhurt) three virgins, fifty-six sheep, six oxen, and five asses,
besides gold, silver, lead, iron, tin, brass, jewels, and other spoil.
The Jews, however, were mighty warriors; and it has been previously
noticed how two men slaughtered the whole of the inhabitants of a
city,(see page 41). I am compelled to add, that verse 7, which says that
the Jews slew 'all the males,' must be positively untrue, because if all
were killed except the 32,000 virgins taken captive, there would be an
end to the Midianitish nation; while in Judges, chap, vi., we actually
find the Midianites more powerful than the Israelites.
Verse 16. This 'counsel of Balaam' is never mentioned before.
Verse 18. Is not this command likely to produce a repetition of the
offence mentioned in chap, xxv., and for which the Israelites were so
heavily punished?
*Chapter xxxii., v. 40. 'Machir' must be a mistake, as he must have been
dead long since (_vide_ Genesis, chap. 1., v. 23); he could hardly have
lived long enough to see his own progeny number 52,700 (_vide_ chap,
xxvi., v. 34).
*Chapter xxxiii., v. 4. 'Upon their Gods also the Lord executed
judgments.'. What judgments were these? and, if there is only one true
God, were these judgments executed upon the mock gods of the Egyptians?
If this be so, the whole is a farce upon the face of it, without deeper
investigation.
*Chapter xxxv., v. 14. 'On this side Jordan:' the Douay reads, 'beyond
the Jordan:' the remarks on page 77 apply equally to this text.
Numbers is presented to us as a history of the wanderings of the {80}
Israelites during nearly forty years, with an account of some of the
wars in which they were engaged. It professes to be the work of the same
writer as the Book of Genesis; and in this respect its pretensions at
once fail, for it is not at all probable that one man would make such
strange variations in writing the names of the persons referred to on
page 78. It cannot be revelation from God--1st. Because it contains a
variety of errors, as in the names just alluded to, or in the times of
service of the Levites; or in the destruction of the children of Korah,
etc., etc. 2nd. Because it pictures a God of great mercy and long
suffering, ordering an indiscriminate and merciless slaughter, as in
the case of the Midianites. 3rd. Because it assumes that the curse
or blessing of Balaam would affect the welfare of the Israelites, and
represents an omniscient and immutable Deity as forgiving or punishing
sinners according as they sprinkled, or neglected to sprinkle,
themselves with water, in which had been mixed the ashes of a burnt red
cow. 4th. Because it is wholly, or in some part, compiled from other and
earlier writings, and, therefore, was not an original. As a narration
of events, it must be regarded with extreme suspicion. The numberings of
the Jews in chapter i., I cannot help considering as suppositious; and
the account of the wholesale slaughter of the Midianites is evidently
untrue. As an educational book, it is entirely without merit, and
affords neither instruction nor amusement to its reader, unless,
indeed, he be of a sufficiently depraved character to enable him to find
amusement in adding together the thousands of Israelites slaughtered by
God, or in calculating the probable number of the Midianites slain by
the children of Israel.