The law of inheritance. Josue is appointed to succeed Moses.
Salphaads daughters succede to their fathers inheritance. 8. And the law is established that for lack of sonnes daughters shal inherite, and for lack also of daughters the next of kinne. 12. God commandeth Moyses to ascend into Mount Abarim, and thence view the promised Land, but fortelleth him that he shal die, and not goe into it. 15. He then prayeth God to prouide an other to lead the people, 18, and Iosue is designed in presence of Eleazar and the people.
1Then came the daughters of Salphaad, the son of Hepher, the son of Galaad, the son of Machir, the son of Manasses, who was the son of Joseph: and their names are Maala, and Noa, and Hegla, and Melcha, and Thersa.Allora andarono le figliuole di Salphaad (figliuolo di Hepher figliuolo di Galaad figliuolo di Machir figliuolo di Manasse, il quale fu figliuolo di Giuseppe): i nomi delle quali erano Maala, e Noa, ed Hegla, e Melcha, e Thersa:AND there came the daughters of Salphaad, the sonne of Hepher, the sonne of Galaad, rhe sonne of Machir, the sonne of Manasses, who was the sonne of Ioseph: whose names are, Malaa, and Noa, and Hegla, and Melcha, and Thersa.Accesserunt autem filiæ Salphaad, filii Hepher, filii Galaad, filii Machir, filii Manasse, qui fuit filius Joseph: quarum sunt nomina, Maala, et Noa, et Hegla, et Melcha, et Thersa. 2And they stood before Moses and Eleazar the priest, and all the princes of the people at the door of the tabernacle of the covenant, and said:E si presentarono a Mosè, e ad Eleazaro sommo sacerdote, e a tutti i principi del popolo dinanzi alla porta del tabernacolo dell'alleanza, e dissero:And they stood before Moyses and Eleazar the priest, and al the princes of the people at the doore of the tabernacle of couenant, and said:Steteruntque coram Moyse et Eleazaro sacerdote et cunctis principibus populi ad ostium tabernaculi fœderis, atque dixerunt: 3Our father died in the desert, and was not in the sedition, that was raised against the Lord under Core, but he died in his own sin: and he had no male children. Why is his name taken away out of his family, because he had no son? Give us a possession among the kinsmen of our father.Il padre nostro si morì nel deserto, e non ebbe parte alla sedizione mossa contro il Signore, di cui il caporione fu Core; ma si morì nel suo peccato: egli non ebbe figliuoli maschi. Per qual ragione il suo nome è tolto alla sua famiglia, non avendo egli avuto un figliuolo? Dateci una porzione tra i parenti di nostro padre.Our father died in the desert, neither was he in the sedition, that was raised against our Lord vnder Core, but he died in his owne sinne: he had no men children. Why is his name taken away out of his familie, because he hath not a sonne? Geue vs possession among the kinne of our father.Pater noster mortuus est in deserto, nec fuit in seditione, quæ concitata est contra Dominum sub Core, sed in peccato suo mortuus est: hic non habuit mares filios. Cur tollitur nomen illius de familia sua, quia non habuit filium ? date nobis possessionem inter cognatos patris nostri. 4And Moses referred their cause to the judgment of the Lord.E Mosè rimise la loro causa al giudizio del Signore,And Moyses referred their cause to the iudgement of our Lord.Retulitque Moyses causam earum ad judicium Domini.
5And the Lord said to him:Il quale gli disse:Who said to him:Qui dixit ad eum: 6The daughters of Salphaad demand a just thing: Give them a possession among their father’s kindred, and let them succeed him in his inheritance.Le figliuole di Salphaad chiedono una cosa giusta: da' loro una porzione tra' parenti del padre loro, e succedano nella eredità di lui.The Daughters of Salphaad require a iust thing: geue them possession among their fathers kinne, and let them succede him in the inheritance.Justam rem postulant filiæ Salphaad: da eis possessionem inter cognatos patris sui, et ei in hæreditatem succedant. 7And to the children of Israel thou shalt speak these things:E a' figliuoli d'Israele dirai:And to the children of Israel thou shalt speake these thinges:Ad filios autem Israël loqueris hæc: 8When a man dieth without a son, his inheritance shall pass to his daughter.Se un uomo muore senza aver figliuoli, l'eredità passerà alle figliuole:When a man dieth without a sonne, his inheritance shal passe to his daughter.Homo cum mortuus fuerit absque filio, ad filiam ejus transibit hæreditas. 9If he have no daughter, his brethren shall succeed him.Se non avrà nissuna figliuola, i suoi fratelli saranno suoi eredi:If he haue no daughter, he shal haue his brethren his successours.Si filiam non habuerit, habebit successores fratres suos. 10And if he have no brethren, you shall give the inheritance to his father’s brethren.E se non avrà nemmen fratelli, darete l'eredità a' fratelli del padre di lui:And if he haue no brethren neither, you shal geue the inheritance to his fathers brethren.Quod si et fratres non fuerint, dabitis hæreditatem fratribus patris ejus. 11But if he have no uncles by the father, the inheritance shall be given to them that are the next akin. And this shall be to the children of Israel sacred by a perpetual law, as the Lord hath commanded Moses.E se neppur avrà delli zii paterni, sarà data l'eredità a' più prossimi, che egli abbia: e sarà questa una legge perpetua pe' figliuoli d'Israele, come ha ordinato il Signore a Mosè.but if he haue no such vncles by the father neither, the inheritance shal be geuen to them thar are the next of kinne. and this shal be to the children of Israel a holie ordinance by a perpetual law, as the Lord hath commanded Moyses.Sin autem nec patruos habuerit, dabitur hæreditas his qui ei proximi sunt. Eritque hoc filiis Israël sanctum lege perpetua, sicut præcepit Dominus Moysi.
12The Lord also said to Moses: Go up into this mountain Abarim, and view from thence the land which I will give to the children of Israel.Disse ancora il Signore a Mosè: Sali su questo monte Abarim, e di là contempla la terra, che io darò a' figliuoli d'Israele:Our Lord also said to Moyses: Goe vp into this mountaine Abarim, and view from thence the Land which I wil geue to the children of Israel.Dixit quoque Dominus ad Moysen: Ascende in montem istum Abarim, et contemplare inde terram, quam daturus sum filiis Israël. 13And when thou shalt have seen it, thou also shalt go to thy people, as thy brother Aaron is gone:E quando l'avrai veduta, andrai anche tu a trovare il tuo popolo, come andò Aronne tuo fratello:and when thou shalt haue seene it, thou also shalt goe to thy people, as thy brothet Aaron is gone:Cumque videris eam, ibis et tu ad populum tuum, sicut ivit frater tuus Aaron: 14Because you offended me in the desert of Sin in the contradiction of the multitude, neither would you sanctify me before them at the waters. These are the waters of contradiction in Cades of the desert of Sin.Perché voi mi disgustaste nel deserto di Sin nella contraddizione della moltitudine, e non voleste glorificarmi dinanzi a lei per mezzo delle acque: queste son le acque di contraddizione presso Cades nel deserto di Sin.because you did offend me in the desert Sin in the contradiction of the multitude, neither would you sanctifie me before them vpon the waters. these are the waters of contradiction in Cades of the desert Sin.quia offendistis me in deserto Sin in contradictione multitudinis, nec sanctificare me voluistis coram ea super aquas. Hæ sunt aquæ contradictionis in Cades deserti Sin. 15And Moses answered him:Mosè gli rispose:To whom Moyses answered:Cui respondit Moyses: 16May the Lord the God of the spirits of all flesh provide a man, that may be over this multitude:Il Signore Dio degli spiriti di tutti gli uomini provveda a questo popolo un capo,Our Lord the God of the spirites of al flesh prouide a man, that may be ouer this multitude:Provideat Dominus Deus spirituum omnis carnis hominem, qui sit super multitudinem hanc: 17And may go out and in before them, and may lead them out, or bring them in: lest the people of the Lord be as sheep without a shepherd.Il quale abbia virtù per andare e stare al loro governo, e per guidarli fuori, e per ricondurgli: affinché non sia il popolo del Signore come un branco di pecore senza pastore.and may goe out and enter in before them, and bring them out, or bring them in: lest the people of our Lord be as sheepe without a pastor.et possit exire et intrare ante eos, et educere eos vel introducere: ne sit populus Domini sicut oves absque pastore.
18And the Lord said to him: take Josue the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and put thy hand upon him.E il Signore disse a lui: Prendi Giosuè figliuolo di Nun, nel quale sta il (mio) spirito, e poni sopra di lui la tua mano,And our Lord said to him: Take Iosue the sonne of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and put thy hand vpon him.Dixitque Dominus ad eum: Tolle Josue filium Nun, virum in quo est spiritus, et pone manum tuam super eum. 19And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest and all the multitude:Alla presenza di Eleazaro sommo sacerdote, e di tutta la moltitudine:Who shal stand before Eleazar the priest and al the multitude:Qui stabit coram Eleazaro sacerdote et omni multitudine: 20And thou shalt give him precepts in the sight of all, and part of thy glory, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may hear him.E gli darai i tuoi precetti pubblicamente, e una parte di tua autorità, affinché tutta la sinagoga de' figliuoli d'Israele l'obbedisca.and thou shalt geue him preceptes in the sight of al, and part of thy glorie, that al the synagogue of the children of Israel may heare him.et dabis ei præcepta cunctis videntibus, et partem gloriæ tuæ, ut audiat eum omnis synagoga filiorum Israël. 21If any thing be to be done, Eleazar the priest shall consult the Lord for him. He and all the children of Israel with him, and the rest of the multitude shall go out and go in at his word.Per lui Eleazaro sacerdote consulterà il Signore, quando siavi da far qualche cosa. Secondo la parola di lui egli andrà, o starà, e con lui tutti i figliuoli d'Israele, e tutta la moltitudine.For him, if anie thing be to be done, Eleazar the priest shal consult the Lord. At his word shal he goe out and shal goe in, and al the children of Israel with him, and the rest of the multitude.Pro hoc, si quid agendum erit, Eleazar sacerdos consulet Dominum. Ad verbum ejus egredietur et ingredietur ipse, et omnes filii Israël cum eo, et cetera multitudo. 22Moses did as the Lord had commanded. And, when he had taken Josue, he set him before Eleazar the priest, and all the assembly of the people,Fece Mosè, come aveva ordinalo il Signore. E prese Giosuè, e lo presentò dinanzi ad Eleazaro sommo sacerdote, e a tutta l'adunanza del popolo:Moyses did as out Lord had commanded. And when he had taken Iosue, he sette him before Eleazar the priest, and al the assemblie of the people.Fecit Moyses ut præceperat Dominus: cumque tulisset Josue, statuit eum coram Eleazaro sacerdote et omni frequentia populi. 23And laying his hands on his head, he repeated all things that the Lord had commanded.E imposte le mani sul capo di lui, spiegò tutti gli ordini dati dal Signore.And imposing his handes on his head, he repeted al thinges that our Lord had commanded.Et impositis capiti ejus manibus, cuncta replicavit quæ mandaverat Dominus.
27:1
Year of the World 2553.
Calmet
Salphaad, a descendant of Joseph, had departed this life in the desert, being one of those who sinned, by murmuring, at Cades-barne. See chap. 14., and 15:32. (Calmet)
Haydock
He only left these five daughters behind him; and, as many others might be under the same predicament, their case deserved the attention of the legislator, who referred it to God. (Haydock)
27:3
Menochius
Father, the portion which would have been assigned him; that so those whom we may marry, may take the inheritance, under the name of Salphaad, which some of the children may also bear. (Menochius)
27:4
Kennicott
Their. The first of these pronouns is written larger than usual, the second is improperly masculine in Hebrew; both, it is pretended, to honour the young women. (Kennicott)
27:9
Him. The Jews observe, that if the father of the deceased were still alive, he would take the inheritance. (Selden, Success. xii. and xiii.) But if his wife were inclined to marry again, she might insist on his next relation taking her, before she could be required to give up his goods, Deuteronomy 25:5. Hence the Gemarra of Babylon says, "If we are the daughters of Salphaad, let them give us his estate; but if we are not his daughters, let them make the brother of Salphaad marry our mother."
27:11
Calmet
Uncles. His nephews are at a greater distance from the original stock. The Phoenicians carried the same regulations into Africa. (Grotius, Jur. 2:7.) The relations by the mother's side, could claim no part. The husband was heir to all his wife's goods, except her dowry, which went to her children. People born of a slave, or of a harlot or strange woman, were not lawful heirs. "These regulations have been adopted by all civilized nations." (Origen, hom. 22.) (Calmet)
27:12
Year of the World 2553.
27:13
Menochius
People, in limbo. (Menochius)
Haydock
He was not buried in the grave of his ancestors, but on some part of Mount Abarim, called Nebo, Deuteronomy 34:1, 6. (Haydock)
Du Hamel
Moses, hoping that his sentence of exclusion from the promised land might be only a threat, had earnestly besought God to let him enter. But being forbidden to speak of the matter any more, he understood that it was as irrevocable as an oath, Deuteronomy 3:26., and 4:21. He turned, therefore, his whole solicitude to obtain of God some one, who might enjoy the honour and happiness of conducting the people, and putting them in possession of God's promises. He regards not flesh and blood on this occasion, (Philo, de caritate.; Salien,) but sets a noble pattern for all ecclesiastical superiors to imitate. (Du Hamel)
27:16
Flesh, who gives life, and penetrates the secrets of hearts, chap. 16:22.
27:17
Shepherd. Christ makes use of the same comparison, John 10:1. Kings are often styled shepherds in Homer. Moses begs that his successor may be enabled to conduct the multitude in both peace and war.
Calmet
To go in and out, means to govern, (3 Kings 3:7,) and includes all the occurrences of life, Acts 1:21., and Psalm 120:8. (Calmet)
Worthington
Thus, temporal princes are the shepherds of the people. But they are not, on that account, supreme in spiritual causes. For here Josue only receives part of the glory of Moses, while Eleazar is appointed to consult the Lord for him, and to direct him in all matters of importance, ver. 20, 21. (Worthington)
27:18
Calmet
Spirit of God, which was given to him, when he was appointed a judge; ( Numbers 11:17.) the spirit of prophesy, (Onkelos,) and of wisdom, (Deuteronomy 34:9.) of which he received a fresh increase, by the imposition of the hands of Moses. By the like ceremony people are confirmed, and ministers of religion are still ordained, Acts 6:6., and 1 Timothy 4:14. (Calmet)
Salien
God endues Josue with all the necessary qualifications for his high office. He makes choice of him, and not of any of the relations of Moses, that the people might not be offended at the supreme power being in a manner engrossed by one family; and he appoints one 93 year old, that the success of war might not be attributed to Josue, though he had been long at the head of the armies, and a man of the greatest authority, even the vice-gerent of Moses. He declares his election before all the multitude, with the high priest at their head, that there might be no dispute about the matter; and, on this account, he requires various external ceremonies to be observed. (Salien)
27:20
Haydock
Precepts, to accept of this office, (Calmet) and to discharge it with integrity. (Haydock)
Salien
Glory, not that which shone on the face of Moses, as Onkelos would have it, but all the marks of distinction due to a chief magistrate, (Calmet) the insignia of his office. See Exodus 18:21. (Salien)
Menochius
Treat him with respect, as your successor. (Menochius)
Tirinus
Let him henceforward commence to exercise his authority before you, that all the people may hear and obey him. (Sararius) (Tirinus)
27:21
Haydock
For him. Hebrew adds, "according to the judgment of Urim." See Exodus 28:30. Nothing better shews the theocracy of the Hebrews, as Josephus styles it, (contra Apion, 2,) than this order for the chief magistrate in civil affairs, to consult and be guided by God's minister, and by the sentence which he should pronounce in his name. Till the reign of David, at least, we find few wars undertaken, without consulting God: (Calmet) and the Rabbins assert, that the kings could not declare any war of their own accord, without the consent of the high priest and Sanhedrim. (Selden, Syned. 3:12.) Saul lost his crown and life for not complying with the injunctions of God, which were communicated to him by the prophet Samuel. (Haydock)
27:23
Haydock
Commanded. This Moses executed on his birth-day, when he was 120 years old, (Deuteronomy 31:2, 7,) having frequently before given proper instructions to Josue, Deuteronomy 1:38., and 32:44. (Haydock)
27:3
For the general murmuring, wherof al the people were guiltie. cha. 14. •. 29.
27:17
Temporal Princes are also pastors, or shepheards of the people: but this made not Iosue supreme in spiritual causes. For it is clere in the next lines that he had but part of Moyses his glorie, or office. and that was to be temporal prince, Eleazar being chief in causes spiritual, before vvhom and the multitude he was ordained Duke, but Eleazar consulted God for him, and directed his principal actions, called here his going out, and going in.
27:16
St Ignatius of Antioch † AD 108 Epistle from Maria of Cassobelæ 1
… Maris our friend, bishop of our native Neapolis, which is near Zarbus, and Eulogius, and Sobelus the presbyter, be sent to us, that we be not destitute of such as preside over the divine word as Moses also says, “Let the Lord God look out a man who shall guide this people, and the congregation of the Lord shall not be as sheep which have no shepherd.”
27:17
St Ignatius of Antioch † AD 108 Epistle to Hero, a Deacon of Antioch 8
… Be strong, therefore, O Hero, like a hero, and like a man. For from henceforth thou shalt lead in and out the people of the Lord that are in Antioch, and so “the congregation of the Lord shall not be as sheep which have no shepherd.”
27:18
St Justin Martyr † AD 165 Dialogue with Trypho 49
To this I replied, “Do you not think that the same thing happened in the case of Joshua the son of Nave (Nun), who succeeded to the command of the people after Moses, when Moses was commanded to lay his hands on Joshua, and God said to him, ‘I will take of the spirit which is in thee, and put it on him?’ ”
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Fragments from the Lost Writings of Irenaeus, XIX 1
“Take unto thee Joshua ( ᾽Ιησοῦν ) the son of Nun.”
27:20
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Fragments from the Lost Writings of Irenaeus, XX 1
“And he laid his hands upon him.” The countenance of Joshua was also glorified by the imposition of the hands of Moses, but not to the same degree [as that of Moses]. Inasmuch, then, as he had obtained a certain degree of grace, [the Lord] said, “And thou shall confer upon him of thy glory.”
27:23
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Fragments from the Lost Writings of Irenaeus, XX 1
… Inasmuch, then, as he had obtained a certain degree of grace, [the Lord] said, “And thou shall confer upon him of thy glory.” For [in this case] the thing given does not cease to belong to the giver.
27:1
1 and 2. And the daughters of Salphaad came, etc., and stood before Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the princes of the people, at the door of the tabernacle. — Because near the door of the tabernacle was the tent of Moses, and to it, or certainly to the neighboring court of the tabernacle, the elders of the people gathered, called together by Moses to a council.
27:3
2 and 3. And they said: Our father, etc., died in his sin, — namely on account of the sin of murmuring, at the time of the spies, which sin was common to the whole people. For all from the twentieth year and above, on account of this sin, died in the desert. 3. He had not male sons here; why is his name taken away from his family, because he had not a son? Give us a possession among the kinsmen of our father, — as if to say, Give us daughters an inheritance in Chanaan, for our father dead without male offspring, so that through this inheritance of ours the name and family of our father may remain in Israel: for thus some of our sons will be named after this inheritance of Salphaad, posterity or the family of Salphaad; for some of our sons will follow the name and inheritance of their father, others will follow the name and inheritance of their mother, or of the maternal grandfather, namely ours, and of our father (for inheritance among the Hebrews was immovable and perpetual, and consequently the family whose it was, and from which it was named, was perpetual). Otherwise indeed, if no inheritance be given to us, our sons, not of our father, but of the husband to whom we marry, will both use the inheritance and receive the name; and thus the name and family of our father will perish. Thus Abulensis.
From this place it is gathered that among the Hebrews, if there was any male offspring, he was the heir of all, so that daughters could have no part of the inheritance: the reason was, because families are named, distinguished and preserved through males, not through females. But it was by God's providence in the Old Testament that there was such great care for the preservation and distinction of families, both on account of the rights of primogeniture, and on account of the certainties of all families, according to the successions of inheritances: so that it would be certain, one family dying out, which family would be nearest in blood to it, so as to succeed to its inheritance; and also so that it would be clear that Christ was born of the Jews, and of Judah, as God had promised to Jacob, Genesis xlix, 10. And this was one among other causes why God willed the blessed Virgin to marry Joseph, so that to the Jews, who thought entirely that she had conceived and borne Christ from Joseph, it could be proved that Christ descended from David and Judah. For all the Jews knew that Joseph descended from them.
27:4
4. And Moses referred their cause to the judgment of the Lord, — that is to say, Moses consulted the Lord on this question, at the door of the tabernacle (for there God spoke through a pillar of cloud), or at the mercy seat in the Holy of Holies.
27:5
5 and 6. Who (the Lord) said to him (Moses): The daughters of Salphaad ask for a just thing; give to them (command that they be given in Chanaan. For Moses did not enter Chanaan, and consequently could give to no one in it an inheritance actually and in fact) a possession among the kinsmen of their father. — Therefore these daughters obtained a possession, not by their own right, but by their father's: whence they are said to succeed to their father in the inheritance, namely that which the father would have had in Chanaan, if he had lived and entered it; because Hebrew women had no right to inheritances, except in this one case, if namely their father had died without male offspring, and therefore his name would perish: then indeed daughters succeeded to their father, and were preferred to all other kinsmen (as God decrees in the following verse), but so that they had only one portion of their father's, which was divided equally among all the daughters of the father, whereas male sons individually, from twenty years and upward, each obtained and divided their own possessions in Chanaan by their right.
27:11
11. The inheritance shall be given to those who are nearest to him, — namely males. For the law speaks of succession which takes place on the father's side. For if anyone had succeeded to his mother and maternal grandfather in the inheritance and died without children, the kinsmen of the mother succeeded to him, not of the father, because these goods were of the mother's family, or of the maternal grandfather's (not however of the father's); whence they ought to remain in it, and could not be transferred to another, for instance the father's, family, as Abulensis teaches, Question xxxiii, and this lest there should be a mixing and confusion of families and tribes. For to this end God commanded that inheritances should not be transferred from one family or tribe to another, so that from the inheritance it might be certain of what family or tribe each person was.
27:12
12. The Lord also said to Moses: Go up into this mountain Abarim, — both so that from it you may see the promised land; and so that you may die in it: this is clear from what follows. This mountain Abarim, at least according to its various parts and ridges, has various names. For it is called Phasga, Phogor, the heights of Baal, Nebo; for in Nebo Moses is said to have died, Deuteronomy, last chapter, verse 4. God willed Moses to die on the mountain, not in the camp, lest the Hebrews, prone to idols, should worship his body as a deity. Behold from there the land, which I will give to the children of Israel, — so that at least you may enjoy some pleasure in the vision of the land, which you so greatly desired to enter and longed for, as is clear from Deuteronomy iii, 24 and 25. For from that place it is clear that Moses prayed most earnestly to God for entry into the promised land; but God refusing this, and commanding him to be silent, he asked that a successor be appointed for him, as is clear from this chapter, verse 16.
27:13
13. You shall go also to your people, — you shall die, O Moses, in Moab, and shall go to the limbo of the fathers, or to the bosom of Abraham.
27:16
16 and 17. Let the Lord God of spirits (that is to say, You who are God of spirits, that is who alone create spirits and souls — hence the Apostle, Hebrews chapter xii, 9, calls God the father of spirits; but parents, fathers of the flesh — and who know the spirits and hearts of all men, and consequently know best who would be most fit for such a great task, so that namely one might succeed me in the governance of such and so great a people, provide and appoint) a man, who may be over this multitude, and may go out and go in before them, — that is to say may be a leader and guide to them in every work, both military and civil. For this metaphor, taken from shepherds leading out a flock, signifies this in Hebrew; for they go out and go in before it, and thus they feed and govern it.
27:18
18. Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit of God. — "The spirit of God," that is, prudence, piety, fortitude and the other virtues necessary for such a leader. And lay thy hand upon him, — so that by this ceremony Joshua may be established as thy successor, and leader of the people, and consequently may be endowed by me with greater spirit and grace suited to that office, as is said in Deuteronomy, last chapter, verse 9. Concerning this ceremony I have spoken in 1 Timothy iv, 14.
27:20
20. Thou shalt give him precepts, — concerning the manner of governing the people, especially that he may preserve and promote them in the true religion and law of the one God.
And part of thy glory, — as if to say, Communicate, O Moses, with Joshua thy horns, that is, the splendor and rays of thy countenance, as the sun does to the moon, says Rabbi Moses. Whence the Chaldean translator renders it: And he shall give of thy splendor upon him. Hence also the Hebrews commonly compare Moses to the sun, Joshua to the moon, which receives light from the sun; but nowhere does Scripture or the ancients give these rays to Joshua; nor could Moses breathe them into Joshua. Thus Abulensis, who refutes this at length. Others understand by glory the meekness and humility of Moses, which made him wonderfully lovable and praiseworthy to the people; for from the fact that he was accustomed to speak with God as a friend with a friend, he became no more proud, but showed himself pious and gentle toward all. Yet Moses could not breathe this meekness of his into Joshua himself. I say therefore: Give Joshua part of thy glory, that is, of thy honor and authority among the people, so that thou mayest compel him, as the future leader of the people, with reverence, and present and commend him as such to all the people, so that the people may accept him from thee as a leader, and may revere him, as one whom they see honored by thee and endowed with authority; whence follows: "That all the congregation of the children of Israel may hear him." Cajetan adds that Moses is commanded here to communicate the insignia of his magistracy and principate with Joshua, for example, to give him his rod, which was as it were a scepter, and therefore the insignium of principate; to assign him part of his servants, to give him a signet ring, a cloak, etc. For with these insignia a new magistrate and prince is usually decorated and as it were inaugurated. Oleaster translates it otherwise, namely: "Give Joshua part of thy abjection, or humility;"; for the root הוד hod, whence הודה hoda, signifies to cast down, to abase, as if to say, Teach Joshua thy humility and meekness, so that it may make him acceptable to the people, as it made thee. This sense is not incongruous; the former, however, is more genuine, and is that of the Septuagint, the Chaldean and others commonly.
Why the sons of Moses did not succeed him in the leadership of the people, the Author of the Work on the Marvels of Holy Scripture, book I, chapter xxv, cited in St. Augustine, volume III, gives this reason: that "they," he says, "were born of a Gentile mother (of Zipporah the Midianite) on account of Moses' exile." Joshua therefore succeeded him, who was a Hebrew both from his maternal and paternal lineage. Add: this leadership of the people from Egypt was unique and extraordinary, not hereditary; it was therefore conferred by God's election upon Moses, and upon his minister Joshua. Finally, the descendants of Moses were degenerate, Judges xviii, 30.
27:21
21. For him (for Joshua) if any thing is to be done, Eleazar the priest shall consult the Lord. — In Hebrew, Eleazar shall inquire for him, in the judgment of the Urim before the Lord, as if to say, Eleazar the high priest, clothed in the ephod and the rational, on which Urim is inscribed, and thus being in the pontifical vestments, and performing as it were the office of high priest, concerning doubtful matters occurring to Joshua, shall inquire of the Lord, and thus shall be instructed and taught by him in all things. Concerning this oracle of Urim see what is said on Exodus xxviii, 30.
At his word he shall go out, and he shall go in, he and all the children of Israel. — "His," namely of Joshua, says Abulensis. "For thus," he says, "Joshua is placed in authority, because he was a secular prince, directly over the high priest, so that Eleazar was bound to obey Joshua in all things which he commanded, as the rest of the people; and thus it was in the time of Moses, because he himself was not a priest: Aaron, however, because he was the high priest, obeyed him, because he was the prince of the people, and thus it was in the Old Testament, that the high priests were under kings: but now it is the contrary, because all secular power obeys the Supreme Pontiff, who is among all ecclesiastical men, as the high priest among all the priests and Levites of the Hebrews;" thus far Abulensis. But that his word does not refer to Joshua, but to Eleazar, is clearly evident from the Hebrew. The sense therefore is: "at his word," that is according to his oracle, namely of Eleazar, who went before, "he shall go in and go out," that is he shall do whatever is to be done, both "he himself," namely Joshua, and "all the children of Israel." For although God had delegated Moses by special privilege as a Prophet, legislator and consecrator of priests, so that in Moses there was both power, namely civil and sacred, or priestly, and that by eminence and superintendence: for Moses was the high priest and pontiff, but extraordinary; for he was more worthy than Aaron, indeed he ought to have directed Aaron: whence it is said in Psalm xcviii: "Moses and Aaron among his priests;" yet afterwards God divided these powers, so that Eleazar should succeed Moses in the priesthood, Joshua in the principate, and then Joshua and the civil princes were directed by the pontiffs, and they were commanded to stand by the oracle and definition of the pontiffs, so that the ecclesiastical power of the new law might be signified, which surpasses the civil, and ought not rarely to direct it: and from this cause king Saul, because namely he was disobedient to Samuel the Levite and Prophet, fell from the kingdom equally as from life.
Concerning Offices to be Conferred According to Merit, Not According to Kinship Let princes and Prelates learn here to confer offices and benefices, not upon sons and relatives, but upon the more worthy. Behold, Moses resigned the principate by the command of God into Joshua sprung from another tribe, namely Ephraim; but the pontificate, not upon his two sons whom he had, but upon Aaron he resigned: and "so that we might learn," says St. Jerome in chapter 1 to Titus, "that these dignities are not to be deferred to blood, but to life. But now," he says, "we see many make this a benefit, so that they do not seek to raise up in the Church those whom they know would profit the Church more; but those whom they themselves love, or whose services have won them over, or for whom someone of their ancestors has asked; and, to pass over worse things, those who obtained to become Clerics by means of bribes." Origen also pondered this, homily 22 in Numbers: "There is here," he says, "no acclamation of the people, no consideration of kinship had. And certainly, what else is it to direct the pontificate to enriching a family, than to profane a thing so sacred, and so divine altogether, and to apply it to secular use, as that Baltazar did at the banquet? Which indeed sacrilege he paid for dearly, immediately stripped both of kingdom and of life." Celestine V, as Alvarus relates, when he heard that his brother's son had come to the court, immediately ordered him to be cast out, and when many Cardinals as intercessors had intervened, with great labor and prayers they obtained this from him at last, that he would grant him some simple and meager benefice: which he having accepted, was immediately sent home. Thus Alvarus, book II On the Lamentation of the Church, chapter xv, and Jerome Platus, On the Dignity of Cardinals, chapter xxv. Nothing more illustrious regarding this matter than Pope Clement IV, who in the year 1265 elected Pastor of the Church, held this same constancy in a wonderful manner. For thus it has been handed down to memory that he had two daughters taken from a lawful marriage, and of these, to one, so that she might be placed in a monastery, he ordered 30 pounds Tournois to be paid; to the other, so that she might marry, three hundred, on the condition that she marry a man of equal condition. Moreover, when he had a nephew, to whom he himself had never given anything, but the Bishop of Gaul had conferred three canonries upon him in favor of the Pontiff; many afterwards asking that he honor him with some dignity, not only could he never be induced to do this, but he even compelled him of his own accord, so that from those three benefices he retain one, whichever he preferred, and resign the others. Thus Platus in the same place. Platina adds in his Life that he responded to friends interceding for the aforesaid nephew in these words: "I shall yield to God, not to flesh and blood; God wills that His gifts be expended on pious causes. He is not a worthy successor of Peter who gives more weight to kinship than to piety and Christ." Furthermore, Onuphrius and Ciacconus in their work on Clement IV record an epistle of Clement himself on this matter; which, because it is rare and most worthy of eternal memory and imitation, I have been pleased to insert here; it reads as follows: "While many rejoice over our promotion, we alone are those who more certainly experience the immensity of the burden, and therefore what brings joy to others brings us fear and anguish. Indeed, so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself upon hearing these things, we wish you to know that you ought to be more humble than usual. For what humbles us greatly ought not to exalt our relatives, especially since the honor of this age is momentary and passes like the morning dew: nor do we wish you or your brother or any of our other relatives to come to us without our special mandate, for if frustrated in his hope, should he presume to come otherwise, he would have to return in confusion. Moreover, do not seek a higher rank in your sister's marriage because of us, for we would not have you as favored, nor as helpers in anything. If, however, you marry her to the son of a simple knight, we propose to assist you with three hundred pounds of Tours. And if you seek higher things, expect not a penny from us; and we wish this itself to be most secret, known only to you and your mother. Know also that we wish none of our blood, male or female, to be puffed up under the pretext of our elevation; but we wish both Nobility and Cecilia to have those husbands whom they would have if we were in simple clerical rank. Visit Sibylla, and tell her not to change her place, but to remain with Susan, and to observe all maturity and honest deportment, and not to presume to undertake prayers for us for anyone. For even for him for whom they would be made, they would be useless, and for those who asked them, harmful. And if by chance gifts should be offered through any for this reason, let her reject them if she wishes to retain our favor. Greet your mother and brothers. Given at Perugia, on the feast of Saints Perpetua and Felicity." Bravo, Clement, by this deed you have made your name eternal more than by any marble; your grateful and holy memory shall live forever; no age will obliterate this your bull; future ages shall speak of this your glory, posterity shall praise your wisdom, the heavenly citizens shall celebrate your integrity before God and the whole world, on that last and decisive day of the great judgment, and thereafter throughout all eternity; whereas if you had consigned your goods, not your own but Christ's, to the forgetful, soon to perish, and often to ungrateful heirs, you would long since have lain buried in inglorious and unknown oblivion with yours in perpetual forgetfulness (to say nothing of offense to God and men)! For God does not permit families raised up and exalted by ecclesiastical goods to endure long, as frequent experience teaches. You may therefore say what you said while living and hoping, but now possessing and enjoying you say: "The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup, thou art he that wilt restore my inheritance to me." Marcellus the Pontiff, although he held the pontificate for very few days, nevertheless in this brief time gave a specimen of that virtue which he would doubtless have maintained thereafter. For this Pontiff, once made, permitted none of his relatives to come to Rome, not even his brother Alexander, and he even permitted his two sons, whom he himself was educating in Rome, to be greeted by no one, to go out in public rarely, and scarcely except to hear Mass. Onuphrius also relates, who was most intimate with him and knew his innermost counsels, that it was his deliberate and fixed intention to give to his brother and his children only as much as would be fitting for some noble person born in that station; not, however, that they should raise themselves beyond private condition, nor be advanced to any dignity. Indeed, he determined not to give even a penny from the Church's revenues except by the judgment of all the Cardinals. Thus Platus, On the Dignity of Cardinals, cap. xxv. There also occurred in our own times a memorable deed of Adrian VI, whom they say was so moderate toward all his relatives that he even seemed harsh to some. For a cousin's son studying letters in the Sienese gymnasium, because he had come to Rome without being called, he immediately sent back mounted on a hired horse; and others joined by fairly close affinity, who had hastened to him from Germany, he gave to each a woolen cloak and moderate traveling money, and ordered them to return on foot as they had come. The same, in the same place. St. Richard, Bishop of Chichester, was unwilling by any means to admit his relatives, even those mature and fit for ecclesiastical benefices, knowing that the Prince of Pastors, our Lord Jesus Christ, entrusted the keys of the kingdom of heaven not to the Blessed John the Evangelist, his own kinsman, but to the Blessed Peter, who was in no way connected to him by blood. Thus it is found in his Life in Surius, 3 April. O how many today are benefices turned to malefices! how many offices do men swallow like deadly morsels! For those who confer them on relatives or unlearned, impure, vicious and unworthy friends, do not bestow benefices but poisons, by which they themselves kill their own souls and those of their dependents, and send them to the infernal regions. These men play with the patrimony of Christ and the commonwealth, as if it were their own and ancestral inheritance, and do not consider that they are merely stewards of it, not masters: they do not consider how strict an account Christ will demand of them for this dispensation entrusted to them; they do not consider that they, as pastors, ought to feed the whole Church of God, not this or that relative with such great loss to many and the common good. Woe to Prelates, woe to Princes!
27:23
23. He replied, — he recounted, he narrated: in Hebrew it is, he commanded.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
27:1
Thersa (Heb. Tirzah; Gr. Θεραΐ)
… Tirzah; Gr. Θεραΐ). - A city of ancient Palestine (Josh. 12:24), located in the territory of the tribe of Manasseh (Num. 27:1; Josh. 17:3), chosen by Jeroboam as the capital of the Kingdom of Israel (1 Kings 14:17).
27:12
… Among these mountains took place the oracles of Balaam (v.) and the last events of the exodus from Egypt (Num. 27:12; 33:47 ff.; Deut. 32:49; 34:1). Angelo Penna
27:14
… of the Amorites (Deut. 1:19), that is, to the land of Canaan (Num. 13:30), south of the Negeb (Num. 13:17), in the desert of Pharan, the present-day Badjed et-Tih, or "desert of solitude" (Num. 13:4), or also in the desert of Sin (Num. 13:22; 20:1; 27:14; 33:36; Deut. 32:51) — the boundaries between the two deserts were not clearly determined, unless indeed one wishes to consider the desert of Sin as the northern part of the desert …
Moses (Mōšeh, Μω[θ]σῆς, Vulg. MoySES, Ancient Latin Moses)
mann, op. cit., p. 25): other rebellions occurred, such as the one led by Korah, epidemics and various "sins," among them one of M. himself (Num. 20, 12; cf. 20, 24; 27, 14; Deut. 32, 51), besides the general one of the people, which seems to have involved a true and proper apostasy from Yahweh, as well as from M. (v. NUMERI).
3. Desert (Heb. Sin) that marked the southern frontier of Canaan, crossed by the spies in the Promised Land (Num. 13:21). Kadesh-Barnea was included within the borders at the southwestern edge of the desert (ibid. 20:1; 27:14; 33:36; Deut. 32:51), it bounded Edom to the west and the tribe of Judah to the southeast (Jos. 15:1-3). The name seems to have been preserved in the southern region of Palestine, …
27:17
… Moses says that the people of the Lord need a leader so that they may not be like a flock without a shepherd (Num. 27:17). The whole of Psalm 22 refers to the shepherd and the flock, which also recurs in Psalms 95 and 100. Isaiah assures that the Lord will send shepherds (3:15, and even more so in 40:11); …
… apologue II Sam. 12, 3-4), the lamb requires as its correlative the shepherd (cf. Dante, Par. IX, 131 ff.; X, 94; XXIX, 106). The Messiah will be a shepherd solicitous for men, a flock without a guide (cf. Mt. 9, 36; Mc. 6, 34; I Pt. 2, 25; Num. 27, 17), he will be the Good Shepherd (Io. 10, 2-16; cf. Lc. 15, 4-6; Mt. 12, 12; 18, 11 ff.) who entrusts his lambs to Peter (Io. 21, 15; τὰ ἀρνία μου).
27:18
… one being consecrated, a rite used in the Old Testament, where it is encountered as a means of transmitting to others one's own virtue and one's own office; and in the New Testament also as a means of communicating the Holy Spirit (Gen. 48, 14 ff.; Num. 27, 18 and 23; Mk. 5, 25; 8, 23-25; 10, 13 ff.; Lk. 4, 40; 13, 31 etc.; Acts 6, 6; 13, 3; 28, 8; I Tim. 4, 14; II Tim. 1, 6); then with incensation, with the anointing of the sacred …
I. THE REVELATION. - In the Old Testament there are numerous texts that seem to refer to the Holy Spirit (Spirit of Yahweh, Spirit of God): for example, in Gen. 1:2; 41:38; Ex. 31:3; Num. 27:18, and more often in the prophetic books; Isaiah announces the outpouring of the Spirit upon the Messiah (Is. 41:1; 42:1 ff.; principally 11:1-2, a text that became classic for the enumeration …
… For some time already J. had been designated to take up the succession of Moses and initiated with a kind of rite of investiture (Num. 27:18-23) into his office; the dying Moses repeated the designation, insisting on the particular task assigned to him of guiding Israel to the conquest and partition of Canaan (Deut. 31:3, …
… or generally by him on whose initiative and for whose benefit particular sacrifices were offered (cf. Lev. 1:4: holocaust; ibid. 3:2, 8, 13: peace offering; ibid. 4:4, 24, 29, 33: sin offering). c) As a rite of investiture or conferral of power: Num. 27:18-20, when God commands Moses to appoint Joshua as his successor, he says to him: "Tolle Josue... et pone manum tuam super cum"; and indeed Moses, obeying the divine command, did so: "Impositis …
27:21
… condescension, to remove them from the temptation to turn to soothsayers and mediums (I Sam. 28, 5-20; II Reg. 1, 1-14, etc.), he authorizes them to consult him himself by means of the ephod (I Sam. 23, 6-13; 30, 6-8) and of the úrim and tumulm (Num. 27, 21, etc.; v. A. Clamer, loc. cit., p. 422).
They were kept in a small pouch hanging from the breast of the high priest, to whom alone their use belonged (Ex. 28:30; Lev. 8:8; Num. 27:21; Deut. 33:8). They were considered part of the priestly garment, the ephod (v.), indeed implicitly understood under that latter name, although never explicitly mentioned with it …
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · Vulgata Clementina · original Douay-Rheims (Douay 1609-10), transcription by EEBO-TCP (CC0) · La Sacra Bibbia, tradotta dalla Volgata da Antonio Martini (1769-1781) (LaParola (laparola.net), Martini OSIS text, Public domain (LaParola's electronic edition marks it 'Dominio pubblico')). Public domain.