Leviticus 22

in his house: they * shall eat of his meat. K C. 15.7,19. 1 The priests in their uncleanness must abstain from the holy things. 17 The sacrifices in the blood of Christ, and by his sanctifying Spirit: that we may not profane the Name of God in these hallowed things, but use them with acceptance, to his glory, and to our own benefit and comfort; and when, as his priests, we have feasted at his table, let us never more defile ourselves with the base pleasures of sin.—It is very proper, that we should carefully distinguish between those who ought, and those who ought not, to eat of these holy things: and we shall find, if we carefully consult the Scriptures, that the man who attempts to extenuate his own sin, or to justify himself before God by his own supposed virtues, puts as great an affront on Christ, whose bleeding love to sinners he professes to commemorate, as he who comes to the Lord’s table, from the indulgence of his passions by direct and gross immoralities.

This is a sin which is often committed unwittingly: but must be repented of, if men would not bear their own iniquities, which “is a burden too heavy for them” to support.— 7". Scott.

Notes on the verses

Chap. XXII. Ver. 2. That they separate themselves.—This seems obscure. Perhaps the meaning is, not to take to themselves what belonged to the peo- So the LXX. ‘That they be cautious about,” &c.——Profane not, &c, —[This is the very ground of the prohibition, that they might preserve in their] Hence, when they approach minds a holy reverence for the Divine Majesty.: If great men are to ed unto him, they must be free from every legal impurity. be approached with be approached with respect, much more must JEHOVAH holy reverence. }—Bagster. frequently returns to her father’s house on the 1 sands of widows in Bengal, whose husbands die before the consummation of marriage never leave their parents “— Ward’s Hindoos Ver.

16. Or suffer them.— Rather, Nor suffer them “themselves with the iniquity of trespass in their eating.” That Aas tree GS ccna voted ape transgressing.. S __ Ver. 21. § e perfect.—(This law is so founded on the na i itself, that it has been in force among all nations that each [did] sivas te thee deities. Herodotus (1. ii. 38.) describes how accurately the Egyptian priests examined the animals destined for sacrifice; how they looked while standing or lying, what was the appearance of the tongue, and, in general, whether they were without defect. Plutarch, in his Life of Solon, states, that he made it a law among the Athenians, that they should sacrifice select victims: and that it was a general custom to select the best cattle from the herd, and to distinguish them by a mark, appears from Virgil.

Pliny speaks of a solemn examination and inspection of the animals designed for sacrifice. He remarks among other particulars, that a calf is not fit for a victim if its tail does not reach at least to the knee joint, or if the person offering it brings it on his shoulder, and does not drive it before him, as it is in such cases lean and feeble. The gods did not, besides, approve of any victim that was lame, or belonged to a stranger, (ver. 25.) or which went away from the altar. }—Bagster. Ver. 27. Seven days.—{It was necessary for the mother’s health that the young one should suck so long; and prior to this time, the process of nutrition in a young animal can scarcely be considered as completely formed.

Besides this, it may justly be asserted, that the flesh of very young animals is comparatively innutritive. ‘There is something brutish in eating the young of beast or fowl, before its hair and hoofs are perfect in the one, and the feathers and claws in the other; and before this period, their flesh is not good for food. Consequently they were not fit for sacrifice, which is termed the bread or food of God. (Ver. 25.) Other ancient nations observed nearly the same rules, Pliny says, ‘* Young pigs are fit for sacrifice when they are five days old, kids and lambs when they are eight days old, and calves when they are thirty days old.” |—Bagster.