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had sons, and that they were heads of the families of Levites;—that is, that D. C.'s principle is false, and that the names given do not necessarily include the total number of sons born. The sons named are named for some particular reason, as stated above; as, e.g., to present the descent of the chief families, or to give the pedigree of some particular person necessary to be noted; as here, the sons of Izhar are mentioned, because the eldest, Korah, was one of the heads of the rebellion. In like manner, the sons of Uzziel are given, because Mishael and Elzaphan are elsewhere mentioned on a very remarkable occasion. That all the sons of Gershon, Kohath, and Merari are not mentioned, but only those that were necessary for the historian's purpose, is plain from the language in which they are spoken of. In Exod. vi. 14, where the enumeration begins, it is expressly said, "These be the heads of their fathers' houses;" then, after enumerating the sons of Reuben, who came into Egypt with him, it is said, "These are the families of Reuben," &c. But when we come to the descendants of Levi, we read, verse 16, "These are the names of the sons of Levi, according to their generations," and then are given the names of the sons of Levi,-Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, who were the heads of the houses of the Levites; and then, after going through a number of names, "These are the heads of the fathers of

the Levites, according to their families." The heads only are mentioned. But the designation head implies others that were not heads, i. e. there were other sons, who also had children, but not being heads they are not mentioned, but both themselves and their posterity were included in the families of the heads-a principle recognized 1 Chron. xxiii. 11, where it is said, when speaking of the descendants of Gershon, " And Tahath was the chief, and Zizah the second; but Jeush and Beriah did not multiply sons; therefore they were in one reckoning according to their father's house." Here, then, as in the case of the twelve Patriarchs, as only the heads or chief are mentioned, Gershon, Kohath, and Merari must have had more sons than are mentioned. If, therefore, we suppose, as above, that each of Levi's three sons had six sons, and that six is the rate of increase, then in the fifth generation from Gershon, Kohath, and Merari we should have 23,328, which is not very far different from 22,300, the number assigned in the Pentateuch. As in the preceding case, D. C.'s reasoning rests on false premises.

BISHOP COLENSO, CHAP. XX. The Priests, their Duties, and their Perquisites.

The duties and the perquisites of the Priests furnish the next materials for D. C.'s critical powers. And, first, he enumerates the duties. The Priests had duties to discharge in every case of burnt-offering, meat-offering, peace-offering, sin-offering, trespass-offering: they had to attend the leper, to see him several times, to examine his symptoms, and, in case of cure, to offer the required sacrifices; and so with regard to certain ceremonial pollutions. Then there were the cases of the Nazarites; the daily sacrifices; the additional sacrifices for the Sabbath, and on certain feast days, especially in the seventh month, for several days together, besides; and especially the sacrifices of the women after child-birth, of whom D. C. says there must have been at least two hundred and fifty a day, involving five hundred sacrifices; which, allowing five minutes for each, would have occupied forty-two hours, that is, eighteen hours more than the day is long. This certainly looks very formidable; especially as, according to D. C., to do all this work there were only three priests-Aaron (till his death), and his two sons, Eleazar and Ithamar.

What conclusion does D. C. mean to draw from all this? We suppose, that the book of Leviticus is unhistoric; that the Laws are not

Mosaic; that the book of Leviticus, with its wonderful, complex, and detailed system of sacrifice and ceremonial observances, is a forgery. When, then, was it forged? By whom? For what purpose? He admits that it existed in the days of Amos; as he says, that "the words of the Prophet Amos, verse 25, 'Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O House of Israel?' show that, in the Prophet's view, at all events, such sacrifices were required and expected of them;" i. e. about eight hundred years before Christ, in the time of Uzziah and Jeroboam the Second, the book of Leviticus was known, and believed to be historic. The whole system, then, must have been in operation at the time. There was a Temple, and there must have been Priests and Levites, with their duties and their perquisites. It could not, therefore, have been invented or forged then, nor in the preceding generation, nor immediately before that. In fact, such a complicated and burdensome system could not have been imposed, with such various and conflicting interests, at any one time that can be pointed out. In no one generation could the people have been persuaded that they always had Priests and Levites, and innumerable sacrifices, and burdensome laws, and a Tabernacle, if they had not had them. Then, again, who could have forged them? Not a layman. No layman could have spun out such

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a system of minute sacrificial rites, binding himself, and taxing himself and his fellows for the support of Priests and Levites to live at ease. Not a Levite; for he would not have subordinated himself and his tribe to the family of Aaron. Not a Priest; for one accustomed to the labours of the sacrificial system, if it had existed, would not have described the whole work as accomplished by three Priests. And no forger whatever would have thought of inserting all the allusions to the camp and camp-life. On D. C.'s own showing, it must have been written in the Desert; and this is the opinion of some of the most learned Rationalists, who, though they do not receive the history, yet believe that the Laws were given and written by Moses, and in the Desert. Now, then, suppose the Laws promulged amongst the people, known, and acted upon, with all D. C.'s difficulties. Aaron and his two sons would soon find the work too much for them. What, then, would they do? Doubtless they would go to Moses, and ask for

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"After a longer and more accurate investigation, I am firmly convinced, that a well-ordered collection of Mosaic laws is contained in the Pentateuch." And, again:have been compelled to receive the laws of the seven groups as truly Mosaic." Bertheau, Die Sieben Gruppen mosaischer Gesetze, Preface, pp. vi and ix. Compare Ewald, ii. p. 90, &c., who, although he does not speak so decidedly as Bertheau, makes great admissions. See also Bleek, Einleitung, pp. 175. 182, 183. 186, 187. 192, 193, &c.

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