6 Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among them that call upon his name: they called unto Jehovah, and *he* answered them.
And Jehovah said unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, my soul [would] not [turn] toward this people. Send [them] out of my sight, and let them go forth.
And Moses took half the blood, and put [it] in basons; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. And he took the book of the covenant, and read [it] in the ears of the people; and they said, All that Jehovah has said will we do, and obey! And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled [it] on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant that Jehovah has made with you concerning all these words.
And he cried to Jehovah; and Jehovah shewed him wood, and he cast it into the waters, and the waters became sweet. There he made for them a statute and an ordinance; and there he tested them.
and thou shalt slaughter the bullock before Jehovah, at the entrance of the tent of meeting; and thou shalt take of the blood of the bullock, and put it on the horns of the altar with thy finger, and shalt pour all the blood at the bottom of the altar. And thou shalt take all the fat that covereth the inwards, and the net of the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, and burn them upon the altar. And the flesh of the bullock, and its skin, and its dung, shalt thou burn with fire outside the camp: it is a sin-offering. And thou shalt take one of the rams, and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram; and thou shalt slaughter the ram, and shalt take its blood, and sprinkle [it] on the altar round about. And thou shalt cut up the ram into its pieces, and wash its inwards, and its legs, and put [them] upon its pieces, and upon its head; and thou shalt burn the whole ram upon the altar: it is a burnt-offering to Jehovah -- a sweet odour; it is an offering by fire to Jehovah. And thou shalt take the second ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands upon the head of the ram; and thou shalt slaughter the ram, and take of its blood, and put [it] on the tip of the [right] ear of Aaron, and on the tip of the right ear of his sons, and on the thumb of their right hand, and on the great toe of their right foot; and thou shalt sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about. And thou shalt take of the blood that is upon the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle [it] on Aaron, and on his garments, and on his sons, and on the garments of his sons with him; and he shall be hallowed, and his garments, and his sons, and his sons' garments with him. Also of the ram shalt thou take the fat, and the fat-tail, and the fat that covereth the inwards, and the net of the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, and the right shoulder -- for it is a ram of consecration -- and one loaf of bread, and one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer out of the basket of the unleavened [bread] that is before Jehovah; and thou shalt put all this in the hands of Aaron, and in the hands of his sons, and shalt wave them as a wave-offering before Jehovah. And thou shalt receive them of their hand and burn [them] upon the altar over the burnt-offering, for a sweet odour before Jehovah: it is an offering by fire to Jehovah. And thou shalt take the breast of the ram of consecration which is for Aaron, and wave it as a wave-offering before Jehovah; and it shall be thy part. And thou shalt hallow the breast of the wave-offering, and the shoulder of the heave-offering, that hath been waved and heaved up, of the ram of the consecration, of that which is for Aaron, and of [that] which is for his sons. And they shall be for Aaron and his sons, as an everlasting statute, on the part of the children of Israel; for it is a heave-offering; and it shall be a heave-offering on the part of the children of Israel of the sacrifices of their peace-offerings, [as] their heave-offering to Jehovah. And the holy garments of Aaron shall be his sons' after him, to be anointed therein, and to be consecrated in them. The son that is priest in his stead shall put them on seven days, when he cometh into the tent of meeting to serve in the sanctuary. And thou shalt take the ram of the consecration, and boil its flesh in a holy place. And Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram, and the bread that is in the basket, at the entrance of the tent of meeting. They shall eat the things with which the atonement was made, to consecrate [and] to hallow them; but a stranger shall not eat [of them], for they are holy. And if [any] of the flesh of the consecration, and of the bread, remain until the morning, then thou shalt burn the remainder with fire: it shall not be eaten, for it is holy. And thus shalt thou do to Aaron, and to his sons, according to all that I have commanded thee: seven days shalt thou consecrate them. And thou shalt offer every day a bullock as a sin-offering for atonement; and the altar shalt thou cleanse from sin, by making atonement for it, and shalt anoint it, to hallow it. Seven days shalt thou make atonement for the altar and hallow it; and the altar shall be most holy: whatever toucheth the altar shall be holy.
And Moses besought Jehovah his God, and said, Why, Jehovah, doth thy wrath burn against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a strong hand? Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, For misfortune he has brought them out, to slay them on the mountains, and to annihilate them from the face of the earth? Turn from the heat of thine anger, and repent of this evil against thy people! Remember Abraham, Isaac and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou sworest by thyself, and saidst to them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give to your seed, and they shall possess [it] for ever! And Jehovah repented of the evil that he had said he would do to his people.
And it came to pass the next day, that Moses said to the people, Ye have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up to Jehovah: perhaps I shall make atonement for your sin.
And Moses said to Jehovah, Behold, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people; but thou dost not let me know whom thou wilt send with me; and thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in mine eyes. And now, if indeed I have found grace in thine eyes, make me now to know thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thine eyes; and consider that this nation is thy people! And he said, My presence shall go, and I will give thee rest. And he said to him, If thy presence do not go, bring us not up hence.
and arranged the bread in order upon it before Jehovah; as Jehovah had commanded Moses. And he put the candlestick in the tent of meeting, opposite to the table, on the side of the tabernacle southward. And he lighted the lamps before Jehovah; as Jehovah had commanded Moses. And he put the golden altar in the tent of meeting before the veil. And he burnt on it fragrant incense; as Jehovah had commanded Moses. And he hung up the curtain of the entrance to the tabernacle. And he put the altar of burnt-offering at the entrance to the tabernacle of the tent of meeting, and offered on it the burnt-offering and the oblation; as Jehovah had commanded Moses.
And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, Take Aaron and his sons with him, and the garments and the anointing oil, and the bullock of the sin-offering, and the two rams, and the basket of unleavened [bread]; and gather all the assembly together at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And Moses did as Jehovah had commanded him; and the assembly was collected at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And Moses said to the assembly, This is the thing which Jehovah has commanded to be done. And Moses brought Aaron near, and his sons, and bathed them with water. And he put upon him the vest and girded him with the girdle, and clothed him with the cloak, and put the ephod on him, and he girded him with the girdle of the ephod, and fastened the ephod on him. And he put the breastplate on it, and put on the breastplate the Urim and the Thummim; and he put the turban upon his head; and upon the turban, on the front of it, he put the golden plate, the holy diadem; as Jehovah had commanded Moses. And Moses took the anointing oil, and anointed the tabernacle and all that was in it, and hallowed them. And he sprinkled thereof on the altar seven times, and anointed the altar and all its utensils, and the laver and its stand, to hallow them. And he poured of the anointing oil on Aaron's head, and anointed him, to hallow him. And Moses brought Aaron's sons near and clothed them with the vests, and girded them with the girdles, and bound the high caps on them, as Jehovah had commanded Moses. And he brought near the bullock for the sin-offering; and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the bullock for the sin-offering; and he slaughtered [it], and Moses took the blood, and put [it] on the horns of the altar round about with his finger, and cleansed the altar from sin, and the blood he poured at the bottom of the altar, and hallowed it, making atonement for it. And he took all the fat that was on the inwards, and the net of the liver, and the two kidneys, and their fat, and Moses burned [them] on the altar. And the bullock, and its skin, and its flesh, and its dung he burned with fire outside the camp, as Jehovah had commanded Moses. And he presented the ram of the burnt-offering; and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram; and he slaughtered [it]; and Moses sprinkled the blood on the altar round about. And the ram he cut up into its pieces; and Moses burned the head, and the pieces, and the fat; and the inwards and the legs he washed in water; and Moses burned the whole ram on the altar: it was a burnt-offering for a sweet odour, it was an offering by fire to Jehovah; as Jehovah had commanded Moses. And he presented the second ram, the ram of consecration; and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram; and one slaughtered [it]; and Moses took of its blood, and put [it] on the tip of Aaron's right ear, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the great toe of his right foot; and he brought Aaron's sons near, and Moses put of the blood on the tip of their right ear, and on the thumb of their right hand, and on the great toe of their right foot; and Moses sprinkled the blood upon the altar round about. And he took the fat, and the fat tail, and all the fat that was on the inwards, and the net of the liver, and the two kidneys and their fat, and the right shoulder; and out of the basket of unleavened bread that was before Jehovah he took one unleavened cake, and a cake of oiled bread, and one wafer, and put them on the fat and upon the right shoulder; and he gave all into Aaron's hands, and into his sons' hands, and waved them as a wave-offering before Jehovah. And Moses took them from off their hands, and burned [them] on the altar, over the burnt-offering: they were a consecration-offering for a sweet odour: it was an offering by fire to Jehovah. And Moses took the breast, and waved it as a wave-offering before Jehovah; of the ram of consecration it was Moses' part; as Jehovah had commanded Moses. And Moses took of the anointing oil, and of the blood that was on the altar, and sprinkled [it] on Aaron, on his garments, and on his sons, and on his sons' garments with him; and hallowed Aaron, his garments, and his sons, and his sons' garments with him.
And Moses said to Jehovah, Then the Egyptians will hear it; for in thy might thou broughtest up this people from the midst of them; and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land, [who] have heard that thou, Jehovah, art in the midst of this people, that thou, Jehovah, lettest thyself be seen eye to eye, and that thy cloud standeth over them, and that thou goest before them, in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night; if thou now slayest this people as one man, then the nations that have heard thy fame will speak, saying, Because Jehovah was not able to bring this people into the land that he had sworn unto them, he has therefore slain them in the wilderness. And now, I beseech thee, let the power of the Lord be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying, Jehovah is slow to anger, and abundant in goodness, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but by no means clearing [the guilty], visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, upon the third and fourth [generation]. Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of thy loving-kindness, and as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now. And Jehovah said, I have pardoned according to thy word.
And Aaron took as Moses had said, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and behold, the plague had begun among the people; and he put on incense, and made atonement for the people. And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed.
And Samuel took a sucking-lamb, and offered it as a whole burnt-offering to Jehovah; and Samuel cried to Jehovah for Israel, and Jehovah answered him. And as Samuel was offering up the burnt-offering, the Philistines advanced to battle against Israel. And Jehovah thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and discomfited them; and they were routed before Israel. And the men of Israel went out of Mizpah, and pursued the Philistines, and smote them, as far as below Beth-car. And Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and called the name of it Eben-ezer, and said, Hitherto Jehovah has helped us.
And Samuel called to Jehovah; and Jehovah sent thunder and rain that day. And all the people greatly feared Jehovah and Samuel. And all the people said to Samuel, Pray to Jehovah thy God for thy servants, that we die not; for we have added to all our sins the wickedness to ask for ourselves a king. And Samuel said to the people, Fear not: *ye* have done all this wickedness; yet turn not aside from following Jehovah, and serve Jehovah with all your heart; and turn ye not aside; for [it would be] after vain things which cannot profit nor deliver; for they are vain. For Jehovah will not cast away his people for his great name's sake; because it has pleased Jehovah to make you his people. Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against Jehovah in ceasing to pray for you; and I will teach you the good and right way. Only, fear Jehovah, and serve him in truth, with all your heart; for see how great things he has done for you.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Psalms 99
Commentary on Psalms 99 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
Song of Praise in Honour of the Thrice Holy One
This is the third of the Psalms (Psalms 93:1-5, Psalms 97:1-12, Psalms 99:1-9) which begin with the watchword מלך ה . It falls into three parts, of which the first (Psalms 99:1-3) closes with קדושׁ הוּא , the second (Psalms 99:4, Psalms 99:5) with קדושׁ הוּא , and the third, more full-toned, with אלחנוּ קדושׁ ה - an earthly echo of the trisagion of the seraphim. The first two Sanctuses are two hexastichs; and two hexastichs form the third, according to the very same law by which the third and the sixth days of creation each consists of two creative works. This artistic form bears witness against Olshausen in favour of the integrity of the text; but the clare-obscure of the language and expression makes no small demands upon the reader.
Bengel has seen deepest into the internal character of this Psalm. He says, “The 99th Psalm has three parts, in which the Lord is celebrated as He who is to come, as He who is, and as He who was, and each part is closed with the ascription of praise: He is holy.” The Psalm is laid out accordingly by Oettinger, Burk, and C. H. Rieger.
The three futures express facts of the time to come, which are the inevitable result of Jahve's kingly dominion bearing sway from heaven, and here below from Zion, over the world; they therefore declare what must and will happen. The participle insidens cherubis (Psalms 80:2, cf. Psalms 18:11) is a definition of the manner (Olshausen): He reigns, sitting enthroned above the cherubim. נוּט , like Arab. nwd , is a further formation of the root na , nu, to bend, nod. What is meant is not a trembling that is the absolute opposite of joy, but a trembling that leads on to salvation. The Breviarium in Psalterium , which bears the name of Jerome, observes: Terra quamdiu immota fuerit, sanari non potest; quando vero mota fuerit et intremuerit, tunc recipiet sanitatem . In Psalms 99:3 declaration passes over into invocation. One can feel how the hope that the “great and fearful Name” (Deuteronomy 10:17) will be universally acknowledged, and therefore that the religion of Israel will become the religion of the world, moves and elates the poet. The fact that the expression notwithstanding is not קדושׁ אתּה , but קדושׁ הוּא , is explained from the close connection with the seraphic trisagion in Isaiah 6:3. הוּא refers to Jahve; He and His Name are notions that easily glide over into one another.
The second Sanctus celebrates Jahve with respect to His continuous righteous rule in Israel. The majority of expositors construe it: “And (they shall praise) the might of the king, who loves right;” but this joining of the clause on to יודוּ over the refrain that stands in the way is hazardous. Neither can ועז מלך משׁפּט אהב , however, be an independent clause, since אהב cannot be said of עז , but only of its possessor. And the dividing of the verse at אהב , adopted by the lxx, will therefore not hold good. משפט אהב is an attributive clause to מלך in the same position as in Psalms 11:7; and עז , with what appertains to it, is the object to כּוננתּ placed first, which has the king's throne as its object elsewhere (Psalms 9:8, 2 Samuel 7:13; 1 Chronicles 17:12), just as it here has the might of the king, which, however, here at the same time in מישׁרים takes another and permutative object (cf. the permutative subject in Psalms 72:17), as Hitzig observes; or rather, since מישׁרים is most generally used as an adverbial notion, this מישׁרים (Psalms 58:2; Psalms 75:3; Psalms 9:9, and frequently), usually as a definition of the mode of the judging and reigning, is subordinated: and the might of a king who loves the right, i.e., of one who governs not according to dynastic caprice but moral precepts, hast Thou established in spirit and aim (directed to righteousness and equity). What is meant is the theocratic kingship, and Psalms 11:4 says what Jahve has constantly accomplished by means of this kingship: He has thus maintained right and righteousness (cf. e.g., 2 Samuel 8:15; 1 Chronicles 18:14; 1 Kings 10:9; Isaiah 16:5) among His people. Out of this manifestation of God's righteousness, which is more conspicuous, and can be better estimated, within the nation of the history of redemption than elsewhere, grows the call to highly exalt Jahve the God of Israel, and to bow one's self very low at His footstool. להדם רגליו , as in Psalms 132:7, is not a statement of the object (for Isaiah 45:14 is of another kind), but (like אל in other instances) of the place in which, or of the direction (cf. Psalms 7:14) in which the προσκύνησις is to take place. The temple is called Jahve's footstool (1 Chronicles 28:2, cf. Lamentations 2:1; Isaiah 60:13) with reference to the ark, the capporeth of which corresponds to the transparent sapphire (Exodus 24:10) and to the crystal-like firmament of the mercaba (Ezekiel 1:22, cf. 1 Chronicles 28:18).
The vision of the third Sanctus looks into the history of the olden time prior to the kings. In support of the statement that Jahve is a living God, and a God who proves Himself in mercy and in judgment, the poet appeals to three heroes of the olden time, and the events recorded of them. The expression certainly sounds as though it had reference to something belonging to the present time; and Hitzig therefore believes that it must be explained of the three as heavenly intercessors, after the manner of Onias and Jeremiah in the vision 2 Macc. 15:12-14. But apart from this presupposing an active manifestation of life on the part of those who have fallen happily asleep, which is at variance with the ideas of the latest as well as of the earliest Psalms concerning the other world, this interpretation founders upon Psalms 99:7 , according to which a celestial discourse of God with the three “in the pillar of cloud” ought also to be supposed. The substantival clauses Psalms 99:6 bear sufficient evident in themselves of being a retrospect, by which the futures that follow are stamped as being the expression of the contemporaneous past. The distribution of the predicates to the three is well conceived. Moses was also a mighty man in prayer, for with his hands uplifted for prayer he obtained the victory for his people over Amalek (Exodus 17:11.), and on another occasion placed himself in the breach, and rescued them from the wrath of God and from destruction (Psalms 106:23; Exodus 32:30-32; cf. also Numbers 12:13); and Samuel, it is true, is only a Levite by descent, but by office in a time of urgent need a priest ( cohen ), for he sacrifices independently in places where, by reason of the absence of the holy tabernacle with the ark of the covenant, it was not lawful, according to the letter of the law, to offer sacrifices, he builds an altar in Ramah, his residence as judge, and has, in connection with the divine services on the high place ( Bama ) there, a more than high-priestly position, inasmuch as the people do not begin the sacrificial repasts before he has blessed the sacrifice (1 Samuel 9:13). But the character of a mighty man in prayer is outweighed in the case of Moses by the character of the priest; for he is, so to speak, the proto- priest of Israel, inasmuch as he twice performed priestly acts which laid as it were a foundation for all times to come, viz., the sprinkling of the blood at the ratification of the covenant under Sinai (Ex. 24), and the whole ritual which was a model for the consecrated priesthood, at the consecration of the priests (Lev. 8). It was he, too, who performed the service in the sanctuary prior to the consecration of the priests: he set the shew-bread in order, prepared the candlestick, and burnt incense upon the golden altar (Exodus 40:22-27). In the case of Samuel, on the other hand, the character of the mediator in the religious services is outweighed by that of the man mighty in prayer: by prayer he obtained Israel the victory of Ebenezer over the Philistines (1 Samuel 7:8.), and confirmed his words of warning with the miraculous sign, that at his calling upon God it would thunder and rain in the midst of a cloudless season (1 Samuel 12:16, cf. Sir. 46:16f.).
The poet designedly says: Moses and Aaron were among His priests, and Samuel among His praying ones. This third twelve-line strophe holds good, not only of the three in particular, but of the twelve-tribe nation of priests and praying ones to which they belong. For Psalms 99:7 cannot be meant of the three, since, with the exception of a single instance (Numbers 12:5), it is always Moses only, not Aaron, much less Samuel, with whom God negotiates in such a manner. אליהם refers to the whole people, which is proved by their interest in the divine revelation given by the hand of Moses out of the cloudy pillar (Exodus 33:7.). Nor can Psalms 99:6 therefore be understood of the three exclusively, since there is nothing to indicate the transition from them to the people: crying ( קראים , syncopated like חטאים , 1 Samuel 24:11) to Jahve, i.e., as often as they (these priests and praying ones, to whom a Moses, Aaron, and Samuel belong) cried unto Jahve, He answered them-He revealed Himself to this people who had such leaders ( choragi ), in the cloudy pillar, to those who kept His testimonies and the law which He gave them. A glance at Psalms 99:8 shows that in Israel itself the good and the bad, good and evil, are distinguished. God answered those who could pray to Him with a claim to be answered. Psalms 99:7 , is, virtually at least, a relative clause, declaring the prerequisite of a prayer that may be granted. In Psalms 99:8 is added the thought that the history of Israel, in the time of its redemption out of Egypt, is not less a mirror of the righteousness of God than of the pardoning grace of God. If Psalms 99:7-8 are referred entirely to the three, then עלילות and נקם , referred to their sins of infirmity, appear to be too strong expressions. But to take the suffix of עלילותם objectively ( ea quae in eos sunt moliti Core et socii ejus ), with Symmachus ( καὶ ἔκδικος ἐπὶ ταῖς ἐπηρείναις αὐτῶν ) and Kimchi, as the ulciscens in omnes adinventiones eorum of the Vulgate is interpreted,
(Note: Vid., Raemdonck in his David propheta cet. 1800: in omnes injurias ipsis illatas, uti patuit in Core cet .)
is to do violence to it. The reference to the people explains it all without any constraint, and even the flight of prayer that comes in here (cf. Micah 7:18). The calling to mind of the generation of the desert, which fell short of the promise, is an earnest admonition for the generation of the present time. The God of Israel is holy in love and in wrath, as He Himself unfolds His Name in Exodus 34:6-7. Hence the poet calls upon his fellow-countrymen to exalt this God, whom they may with pride call their own, i.e., to acknowledge and confess His majesty, and to fall down and worship at ( ל cf. אל , Psalms 5:8) the mountain of His holiness, the place of His choice and of His presence.