John Calvin Commentary Numbers 10
John Calvin Commentary
Numbers 10
John Calvin Commentary
Numbers 10
"Make thee two trumpets of silver; of beaten work shalt thou make them: and thou shalt use them for the calling of the congregation, and for the journeying of the camps." — Numbers 10:2 (ASV)
Make you two trumpets of silver. This passage regarding the silver trumpets, which gave the gathering-signal so that the people should always be attentive to the voice and will of God, is properly connected to the First Commandment. For God wanted the Israelites to be set in motion by their sound wherever they were to go, so that they should not dare to begin anything either in war or in peace, except under His guidance and auspices, as it were.
Their use was threefold: namely, to gather the people or the rulers to public assemblies; to arm them against their enemies; and, thirdly, to announce the sacrifices and festivals.
It might seem absurd, and somewhat improper, to appoint the priests to be trumpeters, since there was no splendor or dignity in this office. However, God intended in this way to awaken greater reverence in the minds of the people, so that the authority of the priests should precede all their actions.
For this office, to which they were appointed, was not a servile one, such that they would blow the trumpets at the command of others. Rather, God thus set them over public affairs so that the people might not tumultuously call their assemblies in the blindness and rashness of passion, but rather that modesty, gravity, and moderation should be observed in them.
We know how often in earthly affairs God is not regarded, but plans are confidently discussed without reference to His word. He testified, therefore, by this employment of the priests, that all assemblies, except those in which He should preside, were accursed. Pagan nations also had their ceremonies, such as auguries, supplications, soothsayings, and victims,75 because natural reason dictated that nothing could be engaged in successfully without Divine assistance. But God wanted His people to be bound to Him in another way, so that, when called by the sound of the sacred trumpets as by a voice from heaven, they should assemble for holy and pious deliberations.
The circumstance of the place also has the same object. The door of the Tabernacle was to them as if they placed themselves in the sight of God. We will speak of the word מועד, mogned,76 elsewhere. Although it signifies an appointed time or place, and also an assembly of the people, I prefer translating it convention, because God there in a solemn manner, as if before His sacred tribunal, called the people to witness, or, according to appointment, proceeded to make a covenant with them.
He was also unwilling for wars to be undertaken hastily, or with the desire for vengeance, but wanted the priests to perform the office of heralds (feciales), so that He Himself might be their originator. It was also honorable for the priests to be the proclaimers of the festivals and to summon the people to the sanctuary.
Now, since we understand the Legislator's intention, let us briefly touch upon the words. We have said that the priests, when they sounded, were, as it were, the organs or interpreters of God, so that the Israelites might depend upon His voice and commandment.
If only the princes or heads of thousands were to be called, they sounded only once; if it was a convocation of the whole people, they doubled the sound. A similar distinction was observed in war, so that a different signal would be given according to which camps were to advance.
Some use the fictitious word taratantara,77 in place of what I have translated 'with jubilation'; it is probable that it was a louder and more protracted sound, but blown with intervals.
We must, however, observe the promise, which is inserted, that the Israelites should be remembered before the Lord, that He should put their enemies to flight. This was not as if the safety or deliverance of the people was attached to the trumpets, but because they did not go to battle except in reliance on God’s aid.
For the reality itself is conjoined with the external symbol: namely, that they should fight under God, follow Him as their Leader, and account all their strength to be in His grace.
And that all the saints were guided by this rule appears from Psalm 20:7:
Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.
And again, There is no king saved by the multitude of an host; a mighty man is not delivered by much strength. Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy (Psalms 33:16–18).
75 “Comme d’espier le vol des oiseaux, ou de regarder les entrailles des sacrifices, et meme sacrifier, et faire prieres solennelles;” such as observing the flight of birds or examining the entrails of sacrifices, and even sacrificing and offering solemn prayers. — ;” such as observing the flight of birds or examining the entrails of sacrifices, and even sacrificing and offering solemn prayers. — Fr.
76 “Le mot Hebrieu, que nons avons translate convenance.” — .” — Fr. An heemantic from An heemantic from יעד, to give previous notice, to summon together. , to give previous notice, to summon together. W.
77 Thus Malvenda in Poole’s Syn., “et clangetis taratantara ” The word is used by Ennius “ ” The word is used by Ennius “At tuba terribili sonitu taratantara dixit.” — .” — Serv. in, AEn, 4. , 4. A.V., “an alarm."., “an alarm."
"Also in the day of your gladness, and in your set feasts, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow the trumpets over your burnt-offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace-offerings; and they shall be to you for a memorial before your God: I am Jehovah your God." — Numbers 10:10 (ASV)
Also in the day of your gladness. This was as if God wished to make it clear that He approved of no festivals, and that no sacrifices pleased Him, unless His command preceded them. For the people were not permitted to choose this or that day; but the authority to prescribe them was in the hands of the ministers of sacred things.
Indeed, God Himself had appointed the New-moons (Neomenias, vel novilunia) and the other solemnities; but, to prevent any change, since people are always daring in their innovations, He desired their lawful observance to be sanctioned by the sound of the trumpets, as if He Himself, through the priests, announced the holy assemblies.
The sacrifices, which others have translated “of your peace-offerings,”78 I translate, and not without reason, “of your prosperities.” For this is what שלמיכם, shalmecem, properly means. It was the name they gave to their supplications and testimonies of thanksgiving when they had been delivered from some great danger or were visited by some extraordinary blessing from God.
But Moses says that the trumpets were to be for a memorial before their God, because when they assembled at His command, He would look upon them and honor them with His paternal favor.
78 So So A.V שלמיכם, , Pacificorum vestrorum, is the rendering of is the rendering of SM. To justify rendering this form of the word To justify rendering this form of the word your prosperities, the vowel-points should be different. the vowel-points should be different. Your sacrifices of thanksgiving, is the ordinary interpretation of the lexicographers. — is the ordinary interpretation of the lexicographers. — W
"And it came to pass in the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth day of the month, that the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle of the testimony." — Numbers 10:11 (ASV)
And it came to pass on the twentieth day. Moses records that after leaving Mount Sinai, the camp was first pitched in the wilderness of Paran; and although the distance was not great—being, as we shall soon see, a three days’ journey—still the fatigue was sufficient to harass and weary the people. It is mentioned in praise of their obedience that they were expeditious in setting forth according to the commandment of God; but soon after, through failure of the spirit of perseverance, their levity and inconstancy betrayed itself.
When it is said that they journeyed by their journeyings, (profectos esse per suas profectiones,) it refers to their whole progress through the desert. As to the word, I do not know why Jerome translated it turmas, (troops,) for its root is the verb נסע nasang, which is used with it; and according to its constant use in Scripture, it plainly means stations,427 or halting-places. We say in French journees, or gistes.
427 “Stationibus, vel auspiciis;” the latter being evidently a misprint for hospitiis. — — Lat. “Gistum, hospitium, susceptio; Gall, hospitium, susceptio; Gall, giste; jus, quod dominis feudalibus competebat in vassallorum suorum praediis, qui staffs ae condietis vicibus eos in domibus suis hospitio, et conviviis excipere tenebantur. Quod quidem jus jus, quod dominis feudalibus competebat in vassallorum suorum praediis, qui staffs ae condietis vicibus eos in domibus suis hospitio, et conviviis excipere tenebantur. Quod quidem jus Mansionaticum sub prima et secunda Regum Francorum stirpe, sub tertia vero sub prima et secunda Regum Francorum stirpe, sub tertia vero Gistum,Procuratio, Coenaticum, Comestio, Pastus, Prandium dictum suis locis observamus.” — Adelung’s Du Cange. dictum suis locis observamus.” — Adelung’s Du Cange.
"And in the first [place] the standard of the camp of the children of Judah set forward according to their hosts: and over his host was Nahshon the son of Amminadab." — Numbers 10:14 (ASV)
In the first place went the standard of the camp. The actual order of march is described here.
The whole people, with the exception of the Levites, were divided into four hosts, or parts, as four of the tribes were set over the others, with each leading tribe having two others under its command.
This was their procedure: whenever they halted anywhere, the four standards surrounded the sanctuary and the Ark of the Covenant from the four cardinal directions.
While on the march, the Levites carrying the tabernacle, according to the burdens assigned to them, were interspersed among the various divisions.
The Ark, carried on the shoulders of the Levites, went ahead of the whole army, so that all might follow more confidently, with God thus clearly showing them the way.
Nahshon of the tribe of Judah led the first host; Elizur of the tribe of Reuben, the second; Elishama of the tribe of Ephraim, the third; and Ahiezer of the tribe of Dan, the fourth.
It is obvious that in the precedence given to the tribe of Judah, God, to some extent, provided a foreshadowing of Jacob's prophecy. The Reubenites, being descended from the firstborn, would not have willingly given up their position unless that right had been transferred to the tribe of Judah by God’s decree, spoken through Jacob.
This was not because sovereignty and royal power actually belonged to Judah before the time of David, but because God wanted a single spark to shine in the midst of the deep darkness. Through this, He could nurture the hope of the promised salvation in every heart, and so the dignity of this tribe might eventually more easily bring everyone to obedience.
In this, however, it became clear how perverse and intractable was the spirit of the greater part of them who struggled against the divine decree in their rejection of David.
Reuben occupied the second place as a mitigation of his disgrace. Again, by the tribe of Manasseh's subjection to the descendants of Ephraim, the prophecy of the same patriarch was also fulfilled in this respect. Nor does there seem to be any other reason why the fourth standard was given to the tribe of Dan, except that Jacob had declared, Dan shall judge his people (Genesis 49:16), an expression that signified his preeminence.
Although it is possible that the four standard-bearing tribes were chosen for their strength and the number of their people, still, unless the descendants of Reuben and Manasseh had been thoroughly convinced that their lower position was in accordance with God's command, their jealousy would never have allowed them to calmly submit to others, to whom they were superior by natural order. Their self-restraint, therefore, was praiseworthy, because their voluntary subjection kept them in check without any forced compulsion. At the end, Moses records that they did not advance in this way only once, but that they observed the same order and regulations throughout their entire journey, and that their camp was always arranged so that no disputes arose to disturb them.
"And Moses said unto Hobab, the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses` father-in-law, We are journeying unto the place of which Jehovah said, I will give it you: come thou with us, and we will do thee good; for Jehovah hath spoken good concerning Israel." — Numbers 10:29 (ASV)
And Moses said unto Hobab the son of Raguel. Those are very seriously mistaken who have assumed Hobab7 to be Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, who, as we have already seen, had returned home a few days after he came to visit him. Now, old age, almost in a state of decrepitude, would have been poorly suited for, or unequal to, such difficult labors. Moses was now eighty years old, and much younger than his father-in-law. But all doubt is removed by Judges 4, where we read that the descendants of Hobab were still surviving in the land of Canaan.
Therefore, when the good old man (Jethro) went home, he left his son Hobab—still in the prime of life, and to whom, because of his familiarity with the region, the desert country was well known—as a companion for his son-in-law, who could be useful to him in performing many services.
Here, however, whether tired by delay and difficulties, offended by the malicious and perverse spirit of the people, or preferring his home and a settled life to those prolonged wanderings, Hobab desired to follow his father. However, so that we might know that he had not sought his dismissal as a mere pretense (as is often the case),8 Moses expressly states that he could not immediately persuade him to stay with his entreaties; indeed, Hobab was not attracted by the promises with which Moses endeavored to tempt him, until he had been persistently pleaded with.
Although the expectation of the promised land was set before him, yet, since mention is only made of temporal and transient prosperity, it may therefore be probably conjectured that he had not benefited from his opportunities as he should have. He had seen and heard the signs of God’s awesome power when the Law was given; yet Moses urged him to accompany them with no other argument than that he would enjoy the riches of the land.
Perhaps Moses desired to give him some taste of God's graciousness and fatherly love, as manifested in the temporal blessing, in order to lift his mind to higher things. Still, Moses merely referred to God's promise and then assured Hobab that he would share in all their good things. Nevertheless, this alone is no small matter: that he should be attracted not by an uncertain hope, but by the sure enjoyment of those good things which God, who cannot lie, had promised. For deceptive allurements often invite people to undergo labors and encounter perils; but Moses presented God, so to speak, as his guarantor, inasmuch as He had promised that He would give the people a fertile land, full of an abundance of all good things.
In any case, Hobab represents to us, as in a mirror, the innate disposition of the entire human race to long for what it apprehends by the carnal sense. It is natural to prefer our own country, however barren and wretched, to other lands, even the most fertile and delightful; thus, the Ithaca of Ulysses has passed into a proverb.9 But let me now reprove another fault, namely, that, generally speaking, all people set their affections on this present life: thus, Hobab despises God's promise and holds fast to the love of his native land.
7 So De Lyra, S.M., Fagius, Tostatus, the 70, etc. See note on Fagius, Tostatus, the 70, etc. See note on Exodus 2:18, , ante, vol. 1, p. 54..
8 “(Comme il adviendra souventes fois que les hommes font des rencheris);” as it will often happen that people want to be pressed to stay. — Fr.
9 “Comme l’isle en laquelle Ulysses estoit ne, n’estant qu’une poure isle, voire quasi semblable a un rocher, est venue en un proverbe;” thus the island in which Ulysses was born, being but a poor island, indeed almost like a rock, has passed into a proverb. — Fr. See Cicero See Cicero De Orat., 1:44, and 1:44, and De Legg., 2:1.2:1.
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