Thy holy one - Aaron primarily, who was anointed the high priest of God, and whose office was the most holy that man could be invested with.
Therefore Aaron was called God's holy one, and the more especially so as he was the type of the Most Holy and blessed Jesus, from whom the Urim - all light and wisdom, and Thummim - all excellence, completion, and perfection, are derived.
Whom thou didst prove, etc. - God contended with Aaron as well as with Moses at the waters of Meribah, and excluded him from the promised land because he did not sanctify the Lord before the people.
From the words of St. Paul, [1Cor 10:8-12], it is evident that these words, at least in a secondary sense, belong to Christ. He is the Holy One who was tempted by them at Massah, who suffered their manners in the wilderness, who slew 23,000 of the most incorrigible transgressors, and who brought them into the promised land by his deputy, Joshua, whose name and that of Jesus have the same signification.
Verse 9
Who said unto his father, etc. - There are several difficulties in this and the following verses. Some think they are spoken of the tribe of Levi; others, of all the tribes; others, of the Messiah, etc.; but several of the interpretations founded on these suppositions are too recondite, and should not be resorted to till a plain literal sense is made out. I suppose the whole to be primarily spoken of Aaron and the tribe of Levi. Let us examine the words in this way, Who said unto his father, etc. The law had strictly enjoined that if the father, mother, brother, or child of the high priest should die, he must not mourn for them, but act as if they were not his kindred; see [Lev 21:11], [Lev 21:12]. Neither must Aaron mourn for his sons Nadab and Abihu, etc., though not only their death, but the circumstances of it, were the most afflicting that could possibly affect a parent's heart. Besides, the high priest was forbidden, on pain of death, to go out from the door of the tabernacle, [Lev 10:2-7], for God would have them more to regard their function (as good Mr. Ainsworth observes) and duty in his service, than any natural affection whatever. And herein Christ was figured, who, when he was told that his mother and brethren stood without, and wished to speak with him, said: "Who is my mother, and who are my brethren? whosoever shall do the will of my father who is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother;" [Mat 12:46-50]. It is likely also that Moses may refer here to the fact of the Levites, according to the command of Moses, killing every man his brother, friend, neighbor, and even son, who had sinned in worshipping the golden calf, [Exo 32:26]; and in this way the Chaldee paraphrast understands the words.
Verse 10
They shall teach Jacob, etc. - This was the office of the Levites, to teach, by their significant service and typical ceremonies, the way of righteousness and truth to the children of Israel. And of their faithfulness in this respect God bears testimony by the prophet, "My covenant was with him of life and peace," [Mal 2:5]; and, "The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips: he walked with me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity;" [Mal 2:6]. These words are a sufficient comment on the words of the text.
Verse 11
Bless, Lord, his substance - The blessing of God to the tribe of Levi was peculiarly necessary, because they had no inheritance among the children of Israel, and lived more immediately than others upon the providence of God. Yet, as they lived by the offerings of the people and the tithes, the increase of their substance necessarily implied the increase of the people at large: the more fruitful the land was, the more abundant would the tithes of the Levites be; and thus in the increased fertility of the land the substance of Levi would be blessed.
Verse 12
Of Benjamin - the beloved of the Lord - Alluding to his being particularly beloved of his father Jacob, [Gen 49:27], etc.
Shall dwell in safety by him - That is, by the Lord, whose temple, which is considered as his dwelling-place, was in the tribe of Benjamin, for a part of Jerusalem belonged to this tribe.
Shall cover him all the day - Be his continual protector; and he shall dwell between his shoulders - within his coasts, or in his chief city, viz., Jerusalem, where the temple of God was built, on his mountains Zion and Moriah, here poetically termed his shoulders.
Some object to our translation of the Hebrew ידיד yedid by the term beloved, and think the original should be divided as it is in the Samaritan, יד יד yad yad, the hand, even the hand of the Lord shall dwell for safety or protection, עליו alaiv, upon him. This makes a good sense, and the reader may choose.
Verse 13
Blessed - be his land - The whole of this passage certainly relates to the peculiar fertility of the soil in the portion that fell to this tribe which, the Jews say, yielded a greater abundance of all good things than any other part of the promised land.
The precious things of heaven - The peculiar mildness and salubrity of its atmosphere.
For the dew - A plentiful supply of which was a great blessing in the dry soil of a hot climate. The deep that coucheth beneath - Probably referring to the plentiful supply of water which should be found in digging wells: hence the Septuagint have αβυσσων πηγων, fountains of the deeps. Some suppose there has been a slight change made in the word מטל mittal, for the dew, which was probably at first מעל meal, From Above, and then the passage would read thus: For the precious things of heaven From Above, and for the deep that coucheth Beneath. This reading is confirmed by several of Kennicott's and De Rossi's MSS. The Syriac and Chaldee have both readings: The dew of heaven from above.
Verse 14
The precious fruits brought forth by the sun - All excellent and important productions of the earth, which come to perfection once in the year. So the precious things put forth by the moon may imply those vegetables which require but about a month to bring them to perfection, or vegetables of which several crops may be had in the course of a year.
Verse 15
The chief things of the ancient mountains - ומראש הררי קדם umerosh harerey kedem, and from the head or top of the ancient or eastern mountains, the precious things or productions being still understood. And this probably refers to the large trees, etc., growing on the mountain tops, and the springs of water issuing from them. The mountains of Gilead may be here intended, as they fell to the half tribe of Manasseh. And the precious things of the lasting hills may signify the metals and minerals which might be digged out of them.
Verse 16
The good will of him that dwelt in the bush - The favor of him who appeared in the burning bush on Mount Sinai, who there, in his good will - mere love and compassion, took Israel to be his people; and who has preserved and will preserve, in tribulation and distress, all those who trust in him, so that they shall as surely escape unhurt, as the bush, though enveloped with fire, was unburnt.
The top of the head, etc. - The same words are used by Jacob in blessing this tribe, [Gen 49:26]. The meaning appears to be that God should distinguish this tribe in a particular way, as Joseph himself was separated, נזיר nazir, a Nazarite, a consecrated prince to God, from among and in preference to all his brethren. See the notes on [Gen 49:25], etc.
Verse 17
His glory is like the firstling of his bullock - This similitude is very obscure. A bullock was the most excellent of animals among the Jews, not only because of its acceptableness in sacrifice to God, but because of its great usefulness in agriculture. There is something peculiarly noble and dignified in the appearance of the ox, and his greatest ornament are his fine horns; these the inspired penman has particularly in view, as the following clause proves; and it is well known that in Scriptural language horns are the emblem of strength, glory, and sovereignty; [Psa 75:5], [Psa 75:10]; [Psa 89:17], [Psa 89:24]; [Psa 112:9]; [Dan 8:3], etc.; [Luk 1:69]; [Rev 17:3], etc.
His horns are like the horns of unicorns - ראם reem, which we translate unicorn, from the μονοκερως monokeros of the Septuagint, signifies, according to Bochart, the mountain goat; and according to others, the rhinoceros, a very large quadruped with one great horn on his nose, from which circumstance his name is derived. See the notes on [Num 23:22]; [Num 24:8]. Reem is in the singular number, and because the horns of a unicorn, a one-horned animal, would have appeared absurd, our translators, with an unfaithfulness not common to them, put the word in the plural number.
To the ends of the earth - Of the land of Canaan, for Joshua with his armies conquered all this land, and drove the ancient inhabitants out before him.
They are the ten thousands of Ephraim, etc. - That is, The horns signify the ten thousands of Ephraim, and the thousands of Manasseh. Jacob prophesied, [Gen 48:19], that the younger should be greater than the elder; so here Tens of thousands are given to Ephraim, and only thousands to Manasseh. See the census, [Num 1:33-35] (note).
Verse 18
Rejoice, Zebulun, in thy going out - That is, Thou shalt be very prosperous in thy coasting voyages; for this tribe's situation was favorable for traffic, having many sea-ports. See [Gen 49:13] (note).
And, Issachar, in thy tents - That is, as Zebulun should be prosperous in his shipping and traffic, so should Issachar be in his tents - his agriculture and pasturage.
Verse 19
They shall call the people unto the mountain - By their traffic with the Gentiles (for so I think עמים ammim should be understood here) they shall be the instruments in God's hands of converting many to the true faith; so that instead of sacrificing to idols, they should offer sacrifices of righteousness.
They shall suck of the abundance of the seas - That is, grow wealthy by merchandise.
And of treasures hid in the sand - Jonathan ben Uzziel has probably hit upon the true meaning of this difficult passage: "From the sand," says he, "are produced looking-glasses and glass in general; the treasures - the method of finding and working this, was revealed to these tribes." Several ancient writers inform us that there were havens in the coasts of the Zebulunites in which the vitreous sand, or sand proper for making glass, was found. See Strabo, lib. xvi.; see also Pliny, Hist. Nat. l. xxxvi., c. 26; Tacitus, Hist. l. v., c. 7. The words of Tacitus are remarkable: Et Belus amnis Judaico mari illabitur; circa ejus os lectae arenae admixto nitro in vitrum excoquuntur. "The river Belus falls into the Jewish sea, about whose mouth those sands, mixed with nitre, are collected, out of which glass is formed," or which is melted into glass. Some think that the celebrated shell-fish called murex, out of which the precious purple dye was extracted, is here intended by the treasure hid in the sand: this also Jonathan introduces in this verse. And others think that it is a general term for the advantages derived from navigation and commerce.
Verse 20
Blessed be he that enlargeth Gad - As deliverance out of distress is termed enlarging, (see [Psa 4:1]), this may refer to God's deliverance of the tribe of Gad out of that distress mentioned [Gen 49:19], and to the enlargement obtained through means of Jephthah, [Jdg 11:33], and probably also to the victories obtained by Gad and Reuben over the Hagarites, [1Chr 5:18-20].
He dwelleth as a lion - Probably the epithet of lion or lion-like was applied to this tribe from their fierce and warlike disposition. And on this supposition, [1Chr 12:8], will appear to be a sufficient comment: And of the Gadites there were men of might, men of war for the battle, that could handle shield and buckler, whose faces were Like The Faces Of Lions, and were as swift as the roes upon the mountains. Tearing the arm or shoulder with the crown of the head seems simply to mean that no force should be able to prevail over them, or stand against them; as the arm or shoulder signifies dominion, and the crown of the head, sovereign princes.
Verse 21
He provided the first part - That is, he chose for himself a very excellent portion, viz., the land of Sihon and Og, in which this tribe had requested to be settled by the lawgiver, viz., Moses, from whom they requested this portion, [Num 32:1-5].
He came with the heads of the people - Notwithstanding this portion fell unto them on the east side of Jordan, yet they proceeded with the heads of the people, the chiefs of the other tribes.
To execute the justice of the Lord - To extirpate the old inhabitants of the country, according to the decree and purpose of the Lord. See on Numbers 32 (note).