Numbers 15

32. While the children of Israel were in the wilderness.** Moses mentions here, as is his wont, the first open transgression and its punishment, in order to exemplify the laws which he is laying down. The offence of Sabbath-breaking was one for which there could be no excuse. This law at least might be observed even in the wilderness. Espin.—His offence was the doing servile work; its spirit was presumptuous disobedience to Jehovah, and the penalty had already been declared. The case was expressly referred by Moses to Jehovah, and it is recorded as an exexample that the law of the Sabbath was not to be a dead letter. P. S.—In the judgment of this case we must carefully keep in view the significance of the Sabbath as the sign of God’s covenant with his people. An intentional transgression of the prohibition to work was an open breach of the covenant, an act of rebellion against the Lord. Gerl.

We think of huge sins; there are none. We think of little sins; there are none. In relation to the poor man who went out on the Sabbath day to gather a bundle of “sticks,” we look at the “sticks” and not at the Sabbath. Why not look at the reality of the case—of every case—and instead of dwelling upon the relative smallness of the offence, fix the imagination and the judgment and the conscience upon the thing violated?—for only in that way can we establish the balance of righteousness and begin to understand the movement of God. J. P.

De. 6 6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be upon thine heart : and 7 thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest 8 down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine 9 hand, and they shall be for frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the door-posts of thy house, and upon thy gates.De. 11 18 Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul ; and ye shall bind them for a sign upon your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between 19 your eyes. And ye shall teach them your children, talking of them, when thou sit- test in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, 20 and when thou risest up. And thou shalt write them upon the door-posts of thine 21 house, and upon thy gates : that your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, upon the land which the LORD swore unto your fathers to give them, as the days of the heavens above the earth.De. 6 20 When thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgements, which the LORD our God hath commanded 21 you ? then thou shalt say unto thy son, We were Pharaoh’s bondmen in Egypt ; and 22 the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand : and the LORD shewed signs and wonders, great and sore, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his house, 23 before our eyes : and he brought us out from thence, that he might bring us in, to 24 give us the land which he swore unto our fathers. And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might 25 preserve us alive, as at his day. And it shall be righteousness unto us, if we observe to do all this commandment before the LORD our God, as he hath com- manded us.Nu. 15 37 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and 38 bid them that they make them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of each border a cord of blue : 39 and it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the LORD, and do them ; and that ye go not about after your 40 own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring : that ye may 41 remember and do all my commandments, and be holy unto your God. I am the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God : I am the LORD your God.

De. 6 : 6. These words shall be upon thine heart. De. 11 : 18. Lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul. This is the first and fundamental requirement of this brief series. B.—God’s words must be laid up in our heart, that our thoughts may be daily conversant with them, and employed about them, and thereby the whole soul may be brought to abide and act under the influence and impression of them. This immediately follows upon the law of loving God with all our heart; for they that do so will lay up his Word in their hearts, both as an evidence and effect of that love, and as a means to preserve and increase it. He that loves God loves his Bible. H.

God’s words are to be received first of all into the heart. It is when individuals receive God’s testimony into the heart, as Lydia did, that it leads to a fitting public profession. “With the heart man believeth unto righteousness,” and then “with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” As the ark received the tables of the Law, so the heart of man is to be the depository of the Divine commandments. Edgar.—Truth, possessing the heart, becomes the fount of all righteous principle. As the pulverized soil is the proper home of seed, so the heart of man is the proper abode of truth. On stony tablets, in books, or in speech, it is only in transit toward its proper destination. Received and welcomed into the soul, it begins a process of blessed activity; it vitalizes, ennobles, beautifies every part of human nature. It is the seed of all virtue and goodness—the root of immortal blessedness. Truth in the heart is translated into righteousness in the life, and righteousness makes heaven. No enjoyment can be perfect in which our children do not share; and in sharing our joys with our children, we multiply our joys beyond all arithmetical measure. Such days of consecrated service will be “days of heaven upon earth.” Davies.

Where true love to God exists in the heart, it will manifest itself in a regard to his will and in the diligent keeping of his commandments. Hence his words were to be not only in the memory of the people, but laid upon their heart, that they might be ever present to the thought and will. 7. They were also to be inculcated upon their children, and to be the subject of conversation on all fitting occasions between them, the members of their household, and even their casual associates. Thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children; literally, Thou shalt sharpen them to thy children, impress them upon them, send them into them like a sharp weapon. W. L. A.—“And shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.”

These words were addressed not to the official representatives, the ecclesiastical leaders of Israel, but to the whole body of the people. They enjoin on every parent or head of a household the duty of teaching his children the commandments of God. And this teaching is to be distinctive, positive, diligent, earnest, oft-repeated, constant. Very many directions of a similar import are to be found throughout the Old Testament; reappearing also in the New; where parents are required to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. W. Adams.

De. 11 : 19. Ye shall teach them your children. This is repeated very often. The Jews do this diligently. As soon as their children are capable of understanding anything, they make them carefully read the holy books: and instruct them, so that before they can be called youths they are acquainted with the whole Law of God. In this they shame many Christians, who scarce understand as much of their religion when they are men and women, as the Jews do of theirs when they are mere children. Bp. Patrick.—It is decreed in the Law of Moses that children shall be taught it; and to this day the child’s first accents are almost formed by “the holy language,” as the Hebrews emphatically distinguish theirs, till they acquire the holy language itself, at least by rote. The Law of Moses inculcates that it should form the subject of their conversations, walking or sitting; and so familiar is this knowledge to the Jewish ear, that whenever their Law is quoted in conversation, which it frequently is, it is usual with an auditor to chime in with the close of the passage, like a chant often repeated. The Pentateuch is delivered by sections corresponding with the Sabbaths of the year, while each weekly section is further subdivided into two portions, delivered on two days weekly. At the close of the year the “Holy Law” has been twice repeated. D’Israeli.

The religious education of children is God’s way of perpetuating vital religion. No other agency, of the Church or Sunday-school, can relieve the parent from this duty or compensate for his neglect of it. This education is to be carried on painstakingly and systematically. “In thine house, when thou sittest, when thou liest down, when thou risest up, and when thou walkest by the way.” Orr.—Parents are em phatically enjoined to teach God’s truth to their own children. They cannot delegate this matter altogether to others. It is to be treated as of paramount importance. It is a subject to be talked of at all times as no other subject should be. The occasional services of the preacher, the Sabbath-school once in the week, will never suffice. The world has the Church at a prodigious advantage: six days against one. These are things to be taught not one day in seven, but every day, every morning and every evening, at all times, with utmost diligence. An.

Parental life holds a great trust in charge, to be committed to those who shall come after; that though one generation passeth away and another cometh, there may be no break in the continuity of holy thinking and living, from age to age. The Hebrews had their Law, which, as a revelation from God, was in advance of aught possessed by the rest of the world, and in which was couched the germ of larger truth that was to follow. There might be more light thrown upon it; there was never to be a forfeiture of it. Hence there were special reasons why parents should guard it intact for all the ages that were to follow. The light from the past is to be handed down for the ages to come, that sire and son and son’s son may rejoice in the same God, and insure a blessed continuity of holy faith and consecrated life. C. C.—The most sedulous care in instructing their children in the rites and ceremonies of their religion, and in the reasons on which they were founded, is frequently enjoined upon parents throughout the Mosaic narrative. The Psalmist also speaks of it (Ps. 78:5-8) as a positive institution among his people: “For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children: That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born: who should arise and declare them to their children: that they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments: and might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not steadfast with God.” Bush.—In these words of the Psalmist the duty is urged, partly for their own profit (verse 7), “That they might set their hope in God.” Acquaintance with God’s favor will encourage their faith; knowledge of his power will help them to believe his promise. By teaching thy children God’s actions, thou wilt fix them the faster, and they will make the greater impression upon thy own spirit. A frequent mention of things is the best art of memory: what the mouth preacheth often the mind will ponder much. Besides, it may work for thy children’s weal; the more they be acquainted with the goodness, wisdom, power, and faithfulness of God which appear in his works, the more they will fear, love, and trust him. Swinnock.

He whose memory is rich has a song for every day; he who recollects the past in all its deliverances, in all its sudden brightnesses, in all its revelations and appearances, cannot be terrified or chased by the spirit of fear: he lives a quiet life, deep as the peace of God. Can Moses suggest any way of keeping the memory of God’s providences quick and fresh? He lays down the true way of accomplishing this purpose: Speak about them, dwell upon them, magnify them, be grateful for them. What a reproach to those Christians who are dumb! How much they lose who never speak about God! “Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written. . . . And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels.”

De. 6:7. Talk of them. The very word is suggestive. The words of God are to be so thoroughly in our hearts as to become part of our life; then we may talk about them with the ease of conscious mastery, with the familiarity of the heart’s truest friendship. Religion is not to be introduced upon State occasions, or upon great days, or even upon the Sabbath day as an exclusive period of time. The Word of God is to be talked about, is to come into conversation as if it had a right to be there, to elevate the speech of social man, to give grace and dignity and solemnity to all the transactions of the day. J. P.—God’s words are to be the staple of home training. The children are to be taught them at home, when the “home school” is gathered together. God’s words are also to be the staple of conversation when parents and children are enjoying their saunters together. And the first thought of the morning and the last at night should be of God’s commandments. In this way the indoctrination of the rising generation is to be secured. Well would it be for us still if these old Jewish rules were practised. . . . The children are manifestly meant to be the companions of the parents, to have their parents’ society at home and abroad, at morning and night. The mistake made by many parents is not making themselves simply companionable. It is companionship that determines the bent of children. Edgar.

De. 6 : 20-25. Moses told Israel that questions would be asked. The son would ask of the father the meaning of institutions, statutes, and judgments, and the father was bound to reply to the son’s natural and rational inquiry. Such is our position now. It is incumbent upon us to be able to give some reason or explanation for the faith and the hope that are in us. We cannot adopt a better reply than the answer suggested by Moses. No originality of answer is required. The leader of Israel gave the only reply that will stand the test of reason and the wear and tear of time. We could enlarge the answer which Israel was to give, and ennoble it. We, too, were in a house of bondage. That must be our first point. Human nature had gone astray. The great cry of the ages was, “There is none righteous, no, not one.” The Christian argument starts there. All Christian doctrine is founded upon that one fact, or bears direct and vital relation to it. We, too, could add with Israel, that human nature was divinely delivered, and that the deliverance was attested by many “signs and wonders.” We, too, had a Deliverer, the same that Israel had; the name of our Deliverer is Jesus Christ. He was born in Bethlehem; he proclaimed himself the Son of Man, the Son of God; he looked upon the whole race with eyes filled with tears; he tasted death for every man; he died the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God; he was crucified, he died and was buried, and on the third day he rose again, and now he is in heaven, our Advocate before the throne; his wounds still upon him as historical marks, but the pain of the wounding is forever gone. That is our answer in brief and imperfect outline. We, therefore, stand upon this historical ground. J. P.

All the more substantial part of the lines of thought here indicated is unchanged and unchangeable. Christian parents are inheritors of the truth of God: they hold it in trust for their children: they, as they grow up, will inquire concerning it: its historic basis is the great deliverance effected by the Lord Jesus: Christians are now God’s peculiar people: they are redeemed that they may be holy, and that in holiness they may train succeeding generations: and just in proportion as through them loyalty to the truth and to God is leavening their posterity, are they bringing honor to the cause they espouse. Hebrews were to be conservative. Christians are to be also aggressive. We are to be “the light of the world,” and “the salt of the earth.” By the light of God’s love we are to scatter men’s darkness, and by the salt of God’s truth are we to stay its corruption. And just so far as our nation is imbued with righteousness and truth, will it have within it the guarantee of its own perpetuation. C. C.

20. Inquiry is the king’s highway to wisdom, and who dare block it up? God loves to hear honest inquiry. To afford instruction is the delight of the Divine Spirit, but what instruction will be valued if no spirit of inquiry is awake? Some questions which we ask can never be solved; they are beyond the range of the human mind. Some questions God will not answer, because they are vain and useless. But honest questions, with a view to practical obedience, God delights to hear. You can do the young no better service than encourage their minds to inquire after religious facts. “What mean these things?” Davies.

23,24. If they continued faithfully witnessing for God, the land would be continued to them; if not, they would have to quit, and give up the possession thereof to strangers. This is precisely the principle on which God governs the nations now. No nation can preserve itself in being by any other policy than that of obedience to God. Disloyalty to God and the right is the surest possible policy of decomposition. C. C.

25. Our righteousness.** As contrasted with Pauline sayings, the text is an illustration of the maxim, “On the outside of things look for differences, on the inside for likenesses.” Hare.—The form is that of the Law, the spirit is that of Christ, whose Gospel is the key to the Law’s utterances. Here is a requirement which believers in Christ are enabled to fulfil, though imperfectly, yet acceptably. The utmost that the Jew could render was that imperfect but sincere obedience which is still the mark of the true believer. The believer’s duty is to render a perfect obedience; his privilege is that, falling short of this, his sincere though faulty obedience will be graciously accepted for the sake of Christ. In harmony with his calling, it was to be the Jew’s aim to realize the righteousness which the Law set before him. But in his inability to do this the weakness of the Law revealed itself, and in contrast with this weakness (Rom. 8 : 3) is the power of the Gospel, enabling the believer to triumph, and to bring forth fruit unto holiness, the end of which is everlasting life (Rom. 6 : 22). This also is a “righteousness of faith,” as springing from faith, and rendered possible through it. It is his righteousness, yet in a deeper sense not his, but Christ’s, for it is the work of Christ living in him (Gal. 2 : 20). It is not the ground of acceptance, but a result of it; not a title to heaven, but a meetness for it. It is itself a gift of grace. Orr.

As to the religious instruction and the worship of the people, the Mosaic code recognizes and perpetuates the ancient patriarchal form of family religion. The new ritual did by no means supersede that. Except in providing by the institution of a Sabbath the time needful for religious instruction, and in distributing the Levites among the people everywhere as religious teachers, it is noteworthy that the laws of religion given by Moses seem to provide no systems and methods of religious instruction; but left that to the ancient custom of family religion among the patriarchs, and to the good sense of the people. S. R.—The Mosaic Law required that the greatest pains should be taken to mould the minds, the principles, the habits, and manners of the young. Parents were again and again commanded to teach their children from infancy all the words of the Law, and all the glorious facts of their national history. The whole system of legislation was crowded with commemorative rites and festivals. Into the meaning of these it was taken for granted that the young would inquire, and it was ordained that their curiosity should be satisfied by the explanations of their sires. The Passover reminded them of the wonders of the exode; the Pentecost of the terrific splendors which accompanied the giving of the Law; the feast of tabernacles of the hardships and miraculous supplies of the wilderness; and the monumental heap of stones at Gilgal of the standing of the waters of Jordan upon a heap to afford a passage to their forefathers. E. C. W.

The Law requires that a holy education in the fear and love of God be given to children. There are no special precepts in the Law with a view to this, but it is repeated again and again with great emphasis, that the Divine deeds in the redemption and guidance of Israel, and the Divine commands, are to be impressed on the children. O.—The home is here supposed to be a centre in which the conserving forces of truth and godliness are to be themselves conserved. What a profound principle Moses here indicates—viz., that a nation will be good or bad according to its home life! Wonderful! that an infant nation should, at starting, have this truth deep graven in its statutes—our land will be as our homes are! In the home, our God looks to the parent to give it its character, tone, and influence. A child’s religious faith is, in a high and holy sense, to be chosen for him by anticipation, by those who were “in Christ before” him. The truths are to be in the parents’ heart, that they may be poured out anew from thence as rivers of living water. Hence the word in verse 7, “Thou shalt sharpen them;” coming fresh out of the sanctuary of a living soul, they are to be pointed, quick, and breathing truths. By a variety of ways, the parent is to see his child’s spirit early saturated with the truths of God. Thus the child is from the first to be regarded as God’s child, to be trained for him. He is to receive God’s Word through the avenues of eye, ear, intellect, heart. Divine truth is to be ever before him, night and day, indoors and out. Those who gave him birth and who love him best are to mould his young life for God; he is to grow up as the Lord’s rightful possession, with the view of his afterward saying, in the spirit of devout surrender, “I am the Lord’s!” Whatever was essential in the days of Moses, in the training of children for God as the means of guarding a nation, is not less needful now. The wider the range of human learning becomes, the more needful it should be rightly directed; otherwise the greater the attainment, the greater the peril! C. C.

The most powerful agency for the promotion of piety and for the diffusion of practical righteousness is the household. If any one doubts it, let him study the history of monasticism, or let him look closely into the life of military camps. Religion, of necessity, makes the home its sanctuary and training school. For while it is personal, it is no less social. It has two great commandments, love to God and love to man. They cannot be severed. And so we find that while atheism breaks up the home, and remands the children to the care of the State, Christianity builds up the home, invests it with inviolable sanctities, and makes the parent a priest of righteousness. The Prophet Malachi declares that God ordained monogamy as the law of the household, in order that he might secure a godly seed. Polygamy enervates and brutalizes. It is the monogamous races that have seized the leadership of the world’s civilization. What the cell is to the human body, that the family is to society. Behrends.

The standing of children in the covenant entails serious obligations on the parents. (1) Religious instruction. The children had not been personally at Horeb. They had not seen the mighty works of God in Egypt and the desert. It was the duty of parents to acquaint them with the history, and to instruct them in their duties. (2) Religious training, which is education in act, as instruction is education in word. (3) Religious example. The parent is to be one who loves the Lord for himself. The Word is to be in his own heart. Only thus will he teach with effect. All this has its counterpart in the duties of Christian parents. The standing of children in the covenant entails serious obligations on the children. Where parental duties had been fulfilled, the Israelitish child was under the most sacred obligations to choose and adhere to the God of his fathers, and to serve him in the way prescribed. There was in this no interference with freedom, for when God proposes covenant relations to a human being, while it is his privilege, it can never be aught else than his duty to accept them. In the Christian Church, a like obligation rests on the children of believers. The baptized child is bound to serve God, and, if properly instructed, it cannot evade the responsibilities thus laid upon it. Great is the guilt of a child brought up in a Christian home, if wantonly it apostatizes. Orr.

De. 6: 7-9. To help in keeping a sense of religion in their minds, it was commanded that its great principles should be carried about with them wherever they went, as well as meet their eyes every time they entered their homes. It is probable that Moses used the phraseology in the seventh verse, merely in a figurative way, to signify assiduous, earnest, and frequent instruction; and perhaps he meant the metaphorical language in the eighth verse to be taken in the same sense also. But as the Israelites interpreted it literally, many writers suppose that a reference was made to a superstitious custom borrowed from the Egyptians, who wore jewels and ornamental trinkets on the forehead and arm, inscribed with certain words and sentences, as amulets to protect them from danger. These, it has been conjectured, Moses intended to supersede by substituting sentences of the Law; and so the Hebrews understood him, for they have always considered the wearing of the Tephilim or frontlets a permanent obligation. With regard to the other usage supposed to be alluded to, the ancient Egyptians had the lintels and imposts of their doors and gates inscribed with sentences indicative of a favorable omen [WILKINSON]; and this is still the case, for in Egypt and other Mohammedan countries the front doors of houses—in Cairo, for instance—are painted red, white, and green, bearing conspicuously inscribed upon them such sentences from the Koran as “God is the Creator,” “God is one, and Mohammed is his prophet.” Moses designed to turn this ancient and favorite custom to a better account, and ordered that, ininstead of the former superstitious inscriptions, should be written the words of God, persuading and enjoining the people to hold the laws in perpetual remembrance. Jimieson.

De. 6: 8; 11: 18. Bind them for a sign upon your hand, as frontlets between your eyes. He desires bracelets and frontlets to be made of the precepts of the Law, contrasting doubtless this spiritual ornament with chains of gold, as much as to say that they would more properly take delight in the pious recollection of the Law than in those trifling ornaments which attract men’s senses. The Jews, understanding this literally, accounted this external ostentation a mark of holiness, so as to think that they had almost done all they needed when they wore the Law on their arms and foreheads. Calv.

It shall be for a token or memorial of what God did for your forefathers; to make thee as sensible of God’s goodness as of that which thou hast in thy hand, or of a thing which is continually before thine eyes. The Jewish superstition of wearing what were called “phylacteries” took its rise from these words. Phylactery is a word derived from the Greek, and properly signifies a preservative, such as the Pagans carried about them to preserve them from evils, diseases, or dangers. The Jewish phylacteries were little boxes, or rolls of parchment, in which were written certain words of the Law. Patrick.—The Jewish custom originated at a time (probably after the return from Babylon) when Israel, by its traditions, had perverted the command of God into doctrines of men. Gert.—The manner in which the Jews understood and kept these commands may appear in their practice. They wrote the following four portions of the Law upon slips of parchment or vellum: Sanctify unto me the firstborn (Ex. 13 from verses 2-10, inclusive). And it shall be when the Lord shall bring thee into the land (Ex. 13 from verses 11-16, inclusive). Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord (De. 6 from verses 4-9, inclusive). And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently (De. 11 from verses 13-21, inclusive). These four portions, covered with leather, they tied to the forehead and to the hand or arm. Those which were for the head (the frontlets) they wrote on four slips of parchment, and rolled up each by itself, and placed them in four compartments, joined together in one piece of skin or leather. Those which were designed for the hand were formed of one piece of parchment, the four portions being written upon it in four columns, and rolled up from one end to the other. These were all correct transcripts from the Mosaic text, without one redundant or deficient letter, otherwise they were not lawful to be worn. Those for the head were tied on so as to rest on the forehead. Those for the hand or arm were usually tied on the left arm a little above the elbow, on the inside, that they might be near the heart, according to the command (De. 6 : 6). These phylacteries formed no inconsiderable part of a Jew’s religion; they wore them always when they read the Law, or when they prayed; and hence they called them tephillin, prayer-ornaments, oratories, or incitements to prayer. In process of time, the spirit of this law was lost in the letter, and when the word was not in their mouth nor the Law in their heart, they had their phylacteries on their heads and on their hands. And the Pharisees, who in our Lord’s time affected extraordinary piety, made their phylacteries very broad, that they might have many sentences written upon them, or the ordinary portions in very large and observable letters. A. C.

The words of God were to be bound for a sign [a memorial or directory] upon thine hand, the instrument of acting, and to be as frontlets [fillets or bands] between thine eyes, the organs of direction in walking or moving, and so on the forehead, the chamber of thought and purpose; and they were to inscribe them on the posts of their houses, and on their gates. The purport of this is that they were constantly and everywhere to have these commandments of the Lord in view and in mind, so as to undeviatingly observe them. W. L. A.—God’s words are to be kept before our own eyes and the eyes of others. This seems to be the idea about the frontlets between the eyes—in this way others had the words displayed for their benefit; whereas the placing them upon the hand was for the individual’s own memorial (cf. Isa. 49 : 16). So the person heartily interested in God’s Word will make arrangements to remind himself continually of it, and also to keep it before the minds of others. Religion thus becomes not only a constant personal experience, but a constant public profession. Edgar.—It is also intimated that we must never be ashamed to own our religion, nor to own ourselves under the check and government of it. Let it be written on our gates, and let every one that goes by our door read it, That we believe Jehovah to be God alone, and believe ourselves bound to love him with all our hearts. H.

The Jew was to write God’s commandments on the door-posts and on the gates of his house. The household was thus to be God’s. Households need conversion just as individuals do.

There is as much difference between a religious household and a worldly one as there is between a converted and an unconverted individual. The direction given consequently to the Jews covered the household as well as the person, and was thus perfect. Edgar.

It seems to have been a custom widely prevalent among the ancient Eastern peoples to carry about their persons slips of parchment or some other material, on which were written sentences of moral or religious import; and such sentences they were also wont to inscribe on conspicuous places of their dwellings; usages still to be found among the Moslems, and the latter of which was not altogether unknown among Western nations, of which traces may still be seen in Switzerland, Germany, and on old houses in both England and Scotland. This custom originated, probably, in a desire to have the sentiments inscribed always in mind; but for the most part these inscriptions came to be regarded as amulets or charms, the presence of which on the person or the house was a safeguard against evil influences, especially such as were supernatural. W. L. A.

Fringes in the borders of garments, and upon the fringe a ribband of blue.

There have been various conjectures as to the object of this law. The most probable is that the “fringe” was intended as a sort of badge by which, as well as by circumcision and by the fashion of their beards and by their peculiar diet, the Hebrews were to be distinguished from other people. Be this as it may, much superstition came in the end to be connected with the use of these fringes. The Pharisees are severely censured by our Saviour for the ostentatious hypocrisy with which they made broad the “borders” of their garments. Pict. Com.

29. It is plain that God had no other object but to exercise the Jews in constant meditation upon the Law. There was no religion contained in the fringes themselves, nor had that material texture any value in itself; but since men are forgetful in the cultivation of piety, God would by this aid make provision for their infirmity. When he says that they should “look upon it and remember,” he hints that they have need of these rudiments, which may strike their outward senses; and again, that unless their memory was kept awake, forgetfulness would steal upon them. But it is added that God has no satisfaction in mere knowledge, but demands serious affections and practical performance.

In the latter part of the verse he requires not only that their sluggishness should be stimulated but their wantonness restrained. When he says “that ye seek not after your own heart,” he intimates that unless God should restrain their wandering senses, they would be inclined to all superstitions and errors. Calv.

40,41. Very plainly and impressively is the full reason of this peculiar ordinance emphasized in these two verses, “That ye may remember and do all my commandments, and be holy unto your God.” “I am the Lord your God!” B.