Bible Commentaries
Numbers 10

Verses 1-36

TENTH SECTION
The Trumpets are appointed to give the signals for departure

Numbers 10:1-10

1And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 2Make thee two trumpets of silver; 1of a whole piece shalt thou make them: that thou mayest use them for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps. 3And when they shall blow with them, all the assembly shall assemble themselves to thee at the door of the 2tabernacle of the congregation. 4And if they blow but with one trumpet, then the princes, which are heads of the thousands of Israel, shall gather themselves unto thee. 35When ye blow an alarm, then the camps that lie on the east parts shall 4go forward. 6When ye blow an alarm the second time, then the camps that lie on the south side shall take their journey: they shall blow an alarm for their journeys. 7But when the congregation is to be gathered together, ye shall blow, but ye shall not sound an alarm. 8And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow with the trumpets; and they shall be to you for an 5ordinance for ever throughout your generations. 9And if ye go to war in your land against the 6enemy that oppresseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remembered before the Lord your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies. 10Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; that they may be to you for a memorial before your God: I am the Lord your God.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

The two silver trumpets (חֲצוֹצְרֹת, to be distinguished from the horn, שׁוֹפָר, see Leviticus 25:0), appointed to give all the signals for the army of God, but especially to sound the signal for departure, form a beautiful and fitting conclusion of all the preparations for the march.

They were made of wrought silver. According to the representation on the Arch of Titus, and on Jewish coins, which show what they were at a later date, they seem to have been straight trumpets. [See Smith’s Bib. Dict. article Cornet.—Tr.]

They belonged to the central Sanctuary, were sacred implements, in some sense were, as the censers, symbols of prayers (Numbers 10:9), and might not be blown by any but the priests.

They were first blown for the guidance of the army through the desert, but afterwards also when any war broke out, then at festivals, and particularly at the festival sacrifices, at national feasts, and afterwards generally at the enlarged festival cultus. Although most likely they sounded but one note, they were yet made to utter a very expressive language, so that in their employment we have unmistakably a type of our military signals. Their various significations were as follows: 1) If both were blown (Numbers 10:3), then the whole congregation (virtually by their representatives, according to Keil?) assembled before the door of the Tabernacle. 2) If only one was blown (Numbers 10:4), then the princes of the tribes were to assemble with Moses (at the Tabernacle). 3) If they were not merely blown in single, interrupted blasts (תָּקַע), but in a protracted peal (תָּקַע תְּרוּעָה, then it was the signal for departure. 4) The first peal summoned the banner of Judah with his associates to depart (Numbers 10:5). The second peal concerned the division toward the south (Numbers 10:6 a). The arrangement is not further expressed in detail, because further on the departure is more exactly described. Moreover one could suppose that the first signal concerned also the Tabernacle, seeing that, in fact, it proceeded from the central Sanctuary, whereas the third [?] signal might suffice to notify all the following divisions. The peal is expressly reserved only for the marching processions; for the assembling of the congregation trumpet blasts suffice.

Furthermore the trumpets were appointed on the one hand to call to war (Numbers 10:9), and on the other to the feasts of peace (Numbers 10:10). Among sacrifices, however, none but burnt-offerings and peace-offerings were glorified by the trumpets; the former by trumpet peals, the latter by trumpet blasts. Once more in Numbers 10:10 the enforcement of the commandments by the clang of trumpets is emphasized. And in this place also we hear again the solemn declaration of the Law-Giver: I am Jehovah your God.

As the State has imparted a special language to military music, so the Church has done to its bells; one might even say it has completely so done to its melodies in the songs of the Church. In the institution of the trumpets, moreover, there is included the unity of ingredients belonging both to the Church and to the State. They are the instruments of the legal theocracy whose idyllic or paradisaical intervals are proclaimed by the horn.
[Your solemn feasts “are the feasts mentioned in chapters 28 and 29 and Leviticus 23:0.” Keil. Other occasions when the blowing of trumpets is mentioned: 31:6; 2 Chronicles 13:12; 2 Chronicles 13:14; 2 Chronicles 20:21-22; 2Ch 20:28; 1 Chronicles 15:24; 1 Chronicles 16:6; 2Ch 5:12; 2 Chronicles 7:6; Ezra 3:10; Nehemiah 12:35; Nehemiah 12:41; 2 Chronicles 29:27. Metaphorical reference to the custom: Isaiah 58:1; Isaiah 27:13; Joel 2:15-16; 1 Corinthians 14:8.—Tr.]

HOMILETICAL HINTS

Numbers 10:1-10. The silver trumpets the signals of the congregation. The distinction in their use (one or two blasts, or a winding peal). So the Christian bells in their unity and distinction. How they seem to speak so differently according to the different disposition of the hearers. As a merry peal; in funeral tolling; in the fire alarm. There are enemies of faith that hate Christianity to the very sound of its bells (and of the organ too); whereas to others the tones of bells are like a language of the gospel. The bell proclaims and celebrates the sacred season, the organ the sacred place.

____________________

SECOND DIVISION

TO KADESH. THE DEPARTURE AND MARCH UNTIL THE DEFEAT OF THE ARMY. THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRITUAL INSUFFICIENCY OF THE TYPICAL ARMY OF GOD

Numbers 10:11 to Numbers 14:45

FIRST SECTION

The Departure. Order of March. Hobab the Desert Guide [Numbers 10:11-28]. The Watchwords of Moses for the March [Numbers 10:29-36].

Numbers 10:11-28

11And it came to pass on the twentieth day of the second month, in the second year, that the cloud was taken up from off the tabernacle of the testimony. And 12the children of Israel took their journeys out of the wilderness of Sinai; and the cloud rested in the wilderness of Paran. 13And they first took their journey according to the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses.

14In the first place went the standard of the camp of the children of Judah according to their 7armies: and over his host was Nahshon the son of Amminadab. 15And over the host of the tribe of the children of Issachar was Nethaneel the son of Zuar. 16And over the host of the tribe of the children of Zebulun was Eliab the son of Helon. 17And the tabernacle was taken down; and the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari set forward, 8bearing the tabernacle.

18And the standard of the camp of Reuben set forward according to their aarmies: and over his host was Elizur the son of Shedeur. 19And over the host of the tribe of the children of Simeon was Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai. 20And over the host of the tribe of the children of Gad was Eliasaph the son of Deuel. 21And the Kohathites set forward bbearing the sanctuary: and 9the other did set up the tabernacle against they came.

22And the standard of the camp of the children of Ephraim set forward according to their aarmies: and over his host was Elishama the son of Ammihud. 23And over the host of the tribe of the children of Manasseh was Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur. 24And over the host of the tribe of the children of Benjamin was Abidan the son of Gideoni.

25And the standard of the camp of the children of Dan set forward, 10 which was the rearward of all the camps 11throughout their hosts: and over his host was Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai. 26And over the host of the tribe of the children of Asher was Pagiel the son of Ocran. 27And over the host of the tribe of the children of 28Naphtali was Ahira the son of Enan. 12Thus were the journeyings of the children according to their aarmies, 13when they set forward.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

1. The date of the departure: the twentieth day of the second month of the second year. The disappearance of the cloud from the dwelling of the Tabernacle gave the sign for the departure.
2. The beginning and the preliminary goal of the march: from the desert of Sinai to the desert of Paran. Especially deserving of notice is the expression: the cloud abode in the desert of Paran. The cloud abode there, i. e., the Tabernacle also abode there, the congregation abode there. It took its abiding residence in the desert. The intermediate stations are not given here, though they are in 33. The way in respect to its hardship is described Deuteronomy 1:19. Some matters of moment that preceded the actual settlement in the desert are related in what follows to 14:45. In the first half, as far as 13:16, we learn the chief events of the march until the arrival at Hazeroth toward Paran: Hobab; Taberah: the lusting after the flesh-pots of Egypt; the rebellion in reference to the induction of the elders into office and to their inspiration; the presumption of Miriam and of Aaron. In the second half, as far as 14:45, we learn of the fatal events connected with sending out the spies, and with the report of the latter.

3. The desert of Paran. See an extended notice of this in Knobel p. 41; Keil in loc., and our former notices. The desert of Paran (from פָּעָר? “unclosing, opening”) borders on the south of Palestine, on the west side of the mountains of Edom, having an indefinite extent. Particular features of it are designated by a mount Paran, by a plateau Paran, by a place Paran, a ravine Paran, etc. Thus it was composed of single deserts and was bordered by other deserts. [It is not plain whether Dr. Lange refers to Scripture notices of Paran, or to modern explorations. In either case the statement is inaccurate; Scripture does not distinguish so many local features, and modern exploration does not trace the name in anything but Wady Feiran. If the latter be Rephidim (see under 1:1–4), it cannot be Paran.—Tr.]

4. The departure: (a) The banner of Judah (comprehending their tribes, as do also the banners that follow). (b) The Gershonites and Merarites as bearers of the Tabernacle. (c) The banner of Reuben. (d) The Kohathites with the Sanctuary. The other Levites were obliged to be in advance, in order to set up the Tabernacle at a resting place for the bearers of the Sanctuary who followed later. (e) The banner of Ephraim [comp. Psalms 80:2]. (f) The banner of Dan. It is obvious from Numbers 10:33 that the Tabernacle, or rather the ark of the covenant as its most peculiar sanctuary, might change its position according to different situations. Also from Joshua 6:7; Numbers 3:4. But in the latter case, also, an armed troop preceded it for its protection.

5 [E. H. Palmer (The Desert of the Exodus) says:“I concur with Wilton (The Negeb, p. 124) in believing that the wilderness of Paran comprised the whole desert of Et Tih, and that Mount Paran was the southernmost portion of the mountain plateau in the north-east, at present inhabited by the ‘Azazimeh Arabs, and known as Jebel Magrah. In this Ain Gadis, or Kadesh, is situated, and as it lies below the southern border of the Negeb, it is not included in the region into which Israel made the unsuccessful attempt to penetrate.” p. 420. He describes the desert of Et Tih as follows: It “is a limestone plateau of irregular surface, the southern portion of which projects wedge-wise into the Sinaitic Peninsula. It is bounded on the north by the Mediterranean Sea and the Mountains of Judah [The Negeb mentioned above]; on the west by the isthmus of Suez; and on the east by the ‘Arabah, that large valley or depression which runs between the Gulf of ‘Akabah and the Dead Sea. The southern edge, which, as just now remarked, projects wedgewise into the Siniatic Peninsula, terminates in a long cliff or escarpment, steep and abrupt on the south-western side, and gradually falling away toward the south-east. The surface of the plateau itself, is an arid, featureless waste, its monotony relieved only by a few isolated mountain groups. It is drained for the most part by Wady el ‘Arish [the River of Egypt], which takes its rise in the highest portion of the southern cliff, and flows northward toward the Mediterranean, being joined in its course by several large valleys flowing down from Jebel el ‘Ejmeh [the south-eastern side of the triangle], and by systems of water-courses which come down from the hilly country in the north-east. The country is nearly waterless, with exception of a few springs situated in the larger wadies; but even here water can only be obtained by scraping small holes or pits (called themail) in the ground, and bailing it out with the hand. All that is obtained by the process is a yellowish solution, which baffles all attempts at filtering. The ground is for the most part hard and unyielding; and is covered in many places with a carpet of small flints. In spite of the utterly arid nature of the soil, a quantity of brown, parched herbage is scattered over the surface, and affords excellent fuel for the camp-fire. During the greater part of the year this remains to all appearances burned up and dead, but it bursts into sudden life with the spring and winter rains. In the larger wadies, draining as they do so extensive an area, a very considerable amount of moisture infiltrates through the soil, producing much more vegetation than in the plains. Sufficient pasturage for the camels is always to be had in these spots, and here and there a few patches of ground are even available for cultivation.” pp. 232–235, Harper’s edition. The desert of Paran must not be confounded with Wady Feiran, the modern Arabic representative of the name (ibid. p. 31), a beautiful region, so named from an ancient oily Paran, whose ruins are still there.

Towards this wilderness, that is the eastern part of it of which the River of Egypt forms the western boundary line, the Israelites now took their journey, “unaware as yet that on its wastes the next eight and thirty years of their existence would be spent.” (The Bible Comm.). Several encampments were made, and remarkable providences experienced before they entered it. It is therefore mentioned here by anticipation. Comp. Smith’s Bib. Dict., Article Kadesh and Paran.—Tr.]

HOMILETICAL HINTS

the march of god’s host from kadesh, and its stay there. the ruin of the first generation

Numbers 10:11 to Numbers 20:13

Numbers 10:11 : The very hopeful start. Numbers 11:0 : The first rebellion. A contest between murmuring and prayer. A contest between the home-sickness of the lust of the flesh for Egypt, and inspired, wondrously blest hope in Jehovah’s help, and helping through in the way of the future. Numbers 12:0 : A contest of spiritual and priestly arrogance with the spirit of right. Chaps. 13, 14: A contest between despondency and obstinacy, and the firm heroism of those that were faithful to God. Numbers 15:0 : A contest between the degeneracy of the wilderness, and giving renewed stringency to the law. Chaps. 16, 17: A contest between religious enthusiasm and political insurrection on the one hand, and the priestly-political arrangement instituted by God with its authorities, on the other. At the same time a contest between the condemnation to death, and the priestly atonement. Numbers 18:0 : Prerogatives of the priests and Levites settled. Numbers 19:0 : Provision made for the duty toward dead bodies, and for the purity of the living congregation. Numbers 20:1-13 : The contest between the murmuring congregation, and Moses and Aaron at the water of strife.

Numbers 10:11-28. The host of God sets out at God’s signal for decamping, the lifting up of the cloud. The movement of the form of faith, of the religious idea in the direction of the future. The date of the departure. Such a date in the world’s history is unforgotten. The order of the departure; no tumultuous movement; no uproar as a start. The direction of the departure from Sinai to Canaan, or from the mountain of the law to the promised land. Primarily toward Paran, or to Kadesh. The sanctuary in the midst, the ark in advance. A movement that does not enclose the sanctuary is no march for the people of God. The banners in advance of the tribes. The actual peculiarities of the tribes constitute no conflict with unity, but the soul of the unity.

[On 10:12. “All our removes in this world are but from one wilderness to another. The changes which we think will be for the better do not always prove so; while we carry about with us, wherever we go, the common infirmities of nature, we must expect, wherever we go, to meet with its common calamities; we shall never be at rest, never at home, till we come to heaven, and all will be well there.” M. Henry.

On 10:13. “Some think that mention is thus frequently made in this and the foregoing chapter of the commandment of the Lord, guiding and governing them in all their travels, to obviate the calumny and reproach which were afterward thrown upon Israel, that they tarried so long in the wilderness, because they had lost themselves there, and could not find the way out. No, the matter was not so; in every stage, in every step, they were under divine directions; and if they knew not where they were, yet He that led them did. Note. Those that have given up themselves to the direction of God’s word and Spirit, steer a steady course, even when they seem bewildered. While they are sure they cannot lose their God and Guide, they need not fear losing their way (ibid.)—Tr.]

____________________

Hobab the Desert-guide. The Watch Words of Moses for the March

Numbers 10:29-36

29And Moses said unto Hobab, the son of Raguel the Midianite, Moses’ father in law, We are journeying unto the place of which the Lord said, I will give it you: come thou with us, and we will do thee good: for the Lord hath spoken good concerning Israel. 30And he said unto him, I will not go; but I will depart to mine own land, and to my 14kindred. 31And he said, Leave us not, I pray thee; forasmuch as thou knowest how we are to encamp in the wilderness, and thou mayest be to us instead of eyes. 32And it shall be, if thou go with us, it shall be, that what goodness the Lord shall do unto us, the same will we do unto thee.

33And they departed from the mount of the Lord three days’ journey: and the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them in the three days’ journey, to search out a resting place for them. 34And the cloud of the Lord was upon them by day, when they went out of the camp. 35And it came to pass, when the ark set forward, that Moses said, Rise up, Lord, and let thine enemies be scattered; and let them that hate thee flee before thee. 36And when it rested he said, Return, O Lord, unto the 15 many thousands of Israel.

TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL

[Numbers 10:36. שׁוּבָה with the simple accusative of place whither. Comp. this construction of שׁוּב in 2 Samuel 15:34. The transitive force preferred by some (Maurer, The Bib. Comm.) could give no satisfactory sense here. The word in Isaiah and Jeremiah, in view of the captivity, has a developed, pregnant sense that would be an anachronism in this place (see Naegelsbach on Isaiah 1:27), or it would mean return to Egypt.

“The inverted nuns, ׆, at the beginning and close of Numbers 10:35-36, which are found, according to R. Menachem’s de Lonzano Or Torah (f. 17), in all the Spanish and German MSS. and are sanctioned by the Masorah, are said by the Talmud (tract. de Sabbatho) to be merely signa parentheseos, quœ monerent prœter historiœ seriem versum 35 et 36 ad capitis finem inseri (comp. Matt. Hilleri de Arcano Kethib et Keri libri duo, pp. 158, 159). The Cabbalists, on the other hand, according to R. Menach. l. c. find an allusion in it to the Shechinah, “quœ velut obversa ad tergum facie sequentes Israelitas ex impenso amore respiceret.” In other MSS., however, which are supported by the Masora Erffurt, the inverted nun is found in the words בִּ׆ְסֹעַ (Numbers 10:35) and בְּמִתְאֹ׆ְנִים (11:1): the first, ad innuendum ut sic retrorsum agantur omnes hostes Israelitarum; the second, ut esset symbolum perpetuum perversitatis populi, inter tot illustria signa liberationis et maximorum beneficiorum Dei acerbe quiritantium, ad declarandam ingratitudinem et contumaciam suam (comp. J. Buxtorf, Tiberias, p. 169).” Keil.—Tr.].

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

1. Moses and Hobab.

Numbers 10:29-32. On the relation of the names Raguel, Exodus 2:18, Jethro, Exodus 3:1, and Hobab, see Smith’s Bib. Dict. articles, Hobab, Jethro, Raguel. Even if the grandfather stood as a patriarch over the father, still it is not to be supposed that also the daughters of the father would be simply called the daughters of the grandfather and given in marriage. This consideration justifies the assumption of Josephus, Ant. 2, 12, 1, that Raguel and Jethro were two names for one person. The honorable name Raguel, “Friend of God,” would then be chosen in the first passage, Exodus 2:18, as accounting for the pious and obliging behaviour of the priest toward Moses. And when here a Hobab is named as father-in-law (חֹתֵן) of Moses, it has a twofold explanation; either the same word may mean both father-in-law and brother-in-law; or, after the death of the actual father-in-law, the eldest brother of a wife stepped into the place of the father-in-law. When we consider how easily at that time marriage could be dissolved, and that the repudiated wife had even still a legitimate domicil in her paternal house, it were very natural that, on the death of her father, her eldest brother could assume the legal character of a father-in-law (חתן). If accordingly we assume that Jethro, who, before the giving of the law came to Moses in the wilderness (Exodus 18:1), had in the meantime died, then the difficulty may be solved by assuming that Hobab had succeeded to the dignity of the name. Hobab’s (חֹבָב, “love, a lover”) being called the son of Raguel, any way makes no particular difficulty.

According to our text, it may be supposed that Hobab came to Moses with Jethro, and remained with him, after the latter had returned to his priestly office in Midian (18:27). Both stood in the balance between sympathy for their tribe and the attraction of the Mosaic faith (Exodus 18:10-12). The father remained, like John the Baptist, with his people, the son most probably with Moses. Now that the march to the northward must begin, Hobab, who hitherto had been able to preserve a connection with his people in the neighborhood of Sinai, must now part from them. Hence the request of Moses that he should march along with them and partake of the glorious destiny that Jehovah had promised to His people. Hobab hesitates, because he wishes to remain with his people. Moses begs pressingly and humbly: Leave us not, for thou knowest where we must encamp in the wilderness, and thou shalt be our eye.—Out of this Knobel makes another contradiction: “According to the Elohist, 9:17, such a guide was not necessary, since the cloud going in advance of them indicated the camping-grounds.” Keil has scarcely deprived this negative literalism of its force by remarking, that although the pillar of cloud guided the march of Israel, yet Hobab might still have afforded important services to the Israelites. Here the negative and positive literalism stand face to face. “What Hobab did further is not mentioned, but ‘as no further hesitancy is reported, but the departure of Israel is announced immediately after, Hobab must therefore have complied’ (Knobel). This is reduced to a certainty by the fact, that in the commencement of the times of the Judges the sons of the brother-in-law of Moses went out with the children of Judah into the wilderness south of Arad (Judges 1:16); they therefore had come with the Israelites to Canaan, and still dwelt in that region in the time of Saul (1 Samuel 15:6; 1 Samuel 27:10; 1 Samuel 30:29” (Keil). Further discussion see in Knobel, p. 43.

2. The first three days’ journeys.—The whole route from Sinai to Kadesh in the quickest and most direct course is estimated to be eleven days’ journeys (Keil, p. 231): it is therefore not without significance that the first three days’ journeys are made prominent; immediately after that the first great disturbance of the march appears to have occurred. There may be, besides, the symbolical meaning conveyed, that in the typical kingdom of God, under the law, it fares well only three days, while the real kingdom of God has to pass only three troubled days at once (Hosea 6:2).

Knobel would make the tent here mean that the Ark of the covenant went three days ahead; in which case, however, the Israelites would have lost sight of it altogether. “The Elohist has it different,” he proceeds, “according to whom the Ark of the covenant did not go in advance, but in the midst of the tribes.” Thus would another contradiction be discovered! First of all a distinction must be made between the Ark of the covenant and the holy things collectively, and then between these and the component parts of the Tabernacle. This distinction Keil rightly recognizes, with the explanation: From this time on the cloud, which embodied (?) the presence of Jehovah, was associated with the Ark of the covenant as with the visible throne of His gracious presence ordained by Jehovah Himself. With which should now be combined, that the guiding cloud in the literal sense covered at the same time the whole army. But let us perceive what the text further says.

Numbers 10:35. When the Ark arose, Moses spake: Rise up, Jehovah, etc. [comp. Psalms 68:0].—And when it settled down he said: Turn thee about Jehovah, to the crowd of the thousands of Israel.—We repeat, it is not according to the analogy of Scripture to suppose that Moses learned and uttered the divine word as the interpreter of the cloud. Rather is the word of God here also intended to make us notice the symbolical significance of the cloud. [“Moses (Numbers 10:35) calls them not the enemies of the people, but of God, in order that the Israelites might be assured that they fought under His auspices; for thus might both a more certain victory be expected, since the righteous God, who avenges iniquity, was defending His own cause; and also it was no slight matter of consolation and rejoicing when the people heard that whosoever should arise to harass them unjustly were also the enemies of God, since He will protect His people as the apple of His eye. Therefore has the Prophet (Psalms 68:1) borrowed this passage in order to arm the Church with confidence and to maintain it in cheerfulness under the violent assaults of its enemies.” Again, Numbers 10:36. “Moses to correct their impatience (at the delays of the journey) reminds the people that their halts were advantageous to them, so that God, dwelling at home like the father of a family, might manifest His care of them; for the allusion is to men who take advantage of a time of repose and release from other business, to occupy themselves more unrestrainedly in paying attention to their own family.” Calvin.—Tr.]

HOMILETICAL HINTS

Numbers 10:29-36. Hobab, or human knowledge and science as guides of the way. The significance of Jethro, Hobab, Hiram and others for the history of the kingdom of God. The first three happy days’ journey in the covenant of the law. Their resemblance to the fourth, fifth and sixth centuries. The warlike watchword of Moses at the start; the festal watchword at the last. War and peace have their times even for the kingdom of God.

[Numbers 10:29. “Those that are bound for the heavenly Canaan should invite and encourage all their friends to go along with them, for we shall have never the less of the treasures of the covenant and the joys of heaven for others coming in to share with us. And what argument can be more powerful with us to take God’s people than this, that God hath spoken good concerning them? It is good having fellowship with those that have fellowship with God (1 John 1:3) and going with those with whom God is, Zechariah 8:23.” M. Henry.

Numbers 10:30. “The things of this world which are seen draw strongly from the pursuit of the things of the other world, which are not seen. The magnetic virtue of this earth prevails with most people above the attractions of heaven itself.” Ibid.

Numbers 10:31-32. “The great importunity Moses used with Hobab to alter his resolution. He urges (1) That he might be serviceable to them, not to show where they must encamp, nor the way they must march (the cloud was to direct that), but to show the conveniences and inconveniences of the place they must march through and encamp in, that they might make the best use of the conveniences and the best fence against the inconveniences. Note, it will very well consist with our trust in God’s providence to make use of the help of our friends in those things wherein they are capable of being serviceable to us. Even they that were led by a miracle must not slight the ordinary means of direction.” Ibid. Moses does not flatter Hobab with the notion that he can confer a favor on God; a mistaken way of urging sinners that is not uncommon. (2) “That they would be kind to him. Note (a) We can give only what we receive. This is all we dare promise, to do good, as God shall enable us. (b) Those that share with God’s Israel in their labors and hardships shall share with them in their comforts and honors. If we suffer with them, we shall also reign with them, 2 Timothy 2:12; Luke 22:28-29.” Ibid.—Tr.]

Footnotes:

[1]of rounded twisted work; embossed work (Bunsen); solid (Zunz).

[2]Tent of Meeting.

[3]And when.

[4]take their journey.

[5]statute.

[6]oppressor.

[7]hosts.

[8]who bore.

[9]That is, the Gershonites and the Merarites, see Numbers 10:17; Numbers 1:51.

[10]closing all the camps.

[11]according to.

[12]Heb. These.

[13]and.

[14]native place.

[15]Heb. ten thousand thousands.