John Calvin Commentary Leviticus 24:5

"And thou shalt take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes thereof: two tenth parts [of an ephah] shall be in one cake." — Leviticus 24:5 (ASV)

We now come to the third part of the external service of God, which will bring us to the end of our exposition of the Second Commandment. We must, then, now discuss the sacred oblations. I have thought it best to give the first place among these to the loaves, which had their designated table opposite the candlestick on the north side, as we saw in the construction of the Tabernacle.

For although mention of them will recur elsewhere, yet, since they were offered separately and placed before the Ark of the Covenant, as it were in God’s sight, they must not be discussed apart from the sacrifices.

I have already explained that this was no ordinary symbol of God’s favor, when He descended familiarly to them, as if He were their table companion. They were called “the bread of faces,”²²⁷ because they were placed before the eyes of God; and thus He showed His special favor, as if coming to banquet with them.

Nor can it be doubted that He commanded them to be twelve in number, with reference to the twelve tribes, as if He would admit to His table the food offered by each of them. The “two tenths” make the fifth part of the epah. And it is plain indeed that this rite was thus accurately prescribed by God, to prevent diversity in so serious a matter from gradually leading to many corruptions.

In the word “tenths,” He seems to allude to the tax which He had imposed on the people, so that the holiness of the loaves might be enhanced. But why He required two “tenths” rather than one I do not know, nor do I think there is any use in inquiring more curiously.

I refer to the frankincense the words, that it may be on the bread for a memorial: as if to say that the bread, seasoned by the smell of the incense, would renew the memory of the children of Israel, so that they should be of a sweet fragrance before God. Others translate it “a monument” instead of “for a memorial,” but with the same meaning. But although some think that the bread itself is called a memorial, it is more applicable to the frankincense; for it is afterwards added, that the incense should be at the same time a burnt sacrifice, namely, because in it the bread was, as it were, offered in burnt sacrifice.

²²⁷ לחם-פנים “ “panes facierum.” In .” In Exodus 25:30, as in several other places, the , as in several other places, the shew-bread of A. V. is a translation of these words. — is a translation of these words. — W