Chapter Twenty-Four
Oil for the Lamps
24:1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Command the people of Israel to bring you pure oil from beaten olives for the lamp, that a light may be kept burning regularly. 3 Outside the veil of the testimony, in the tent of meeting, Aaron shall arrange it from evening to morning before the LORD regularly. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. 4 He shall arrange the lamps on the lampstand of pure gold before the LORD regularly.
The instruction to have the people of Israel bring pure olive oil to the Tabernacle is repeated here (see Exodus 27:20-21). The oil was to be used to light the lamps inside the Holy Place. The High Priest was given the responsibility to maintain (Hebrew word ‘yā·’ǎrōk’,[1] meaning to set in order, to organize, to take care of, make arrangement for, etc.) the lamps (see commentary under Exodus 27:21 regarding the meaning of the phrase “from evening to morning”). It was the on-going daily duty of the High Priest to make sure that the lampstand (Hebrew ‘menō·rā(h)’),[2] made of ‘pure’, the text does not state ‘gold’, however it can be implied from other verses, see Exodus 25:31-40), never ran out of oil. Using the word ‘yā·’ǎrōk’ may imply that the High Priest was allowed to delegate that responsibility to the other priests.
Bread for the Holy Place
24:5 “You shall take fine flour and bake twelve loaves from it; two tenths of an ephah shall be in each loaf. 6 And you shall set them in two piles, six in a pile, on the table of pure gold before the LORD. 7 And you shall put pure frankincense on each pile, that it may go with the bread as a memorial portion as a food offering to the LORD. 8 Every Sabbath day Aaron shall arrange it before the LORD regularly; it is from the people of Israel as a covenant forever. 9 And it shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a holy place, since it is for him a most holy portion out of the LORD’s food offerings, a perpetual due.”
Twelve loaves of bread made from flour (considered to be wheat flour)[3] were to be baked and placed on the golden table inside the Holy Place, the first room in the structure. They were to be arranged in two piles (Hebrew ‘mǎ·’ǎrā·ḵôt’,[4] meaning a row or a line), six on each row on the table. Frankincense was to be put on top of the bread as it was to be considered a memorial portion (the portion of a sacrifice that was eaten) of a food offering to YHWH. The High Priest was to do this every Sabbath day. The bread that was removed from the table to make room for the new dozen loaves was to be eaten by the priests on the Tabernacle grounds, a holy place, since the bread was a holy portion out of YHWH’s food offerings (see Leviticus 6:16; 8:31; 21:22). This was also an on-going statute.
The text simply reads, “two-tenths,” and does not specify a unit of measure. It is generally understood to be an ephah (implied here by ESV), making each loaf approximately out of a little less than a pint of flour. Many believe that the loaves baked would then be large, perhaps too large for the table, suggesting that the unit of measure could be a seah or an omer, which depending on the source of conversion could be larger. We need to remember that since none of these units of measures are precisely known, the discussion is largely moot.
Punishment for Blaspheming the Name of God
24:10 Now an Israelite woman’s son, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the people of Israel. And the Israelite woman’s son and a man of Israel fought in the camp, 11 and the Israelite woman’s son blasphemed the Name, and cursed. Then they brought him to Moses. His mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan. 12 And they put him in custody, till the will of the LORD should be clear to them.
The text momentarily returns to a narrative form to present a poignant lesson. We are told that an Israelite woman’s son went out among the people of Israel and began fighting with an Israelite man (no details given as to the nature of the fight). During the altercation the woman’s son blasphemed the name of God (the text does not include “of God,” the Hebrew word ‘šēm’,[5] is only a reference to a name, however, the context of this passage clearly implies it refers to blaspheming the name of God) and publicly cursed. The people who witnessed the blaspheming apprehended and arrested the woman’s son, awaiting instruction from God. It is interesting that we are told that the boy’s father was an Egyptian, perhaps indicating that the son was not raised as an Israelite.
24:13 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 14 “Bring out of the camp the one who cursed, and let all who heard him lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him. 15 And speak to the people of Israel, saying, Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin. 16 Whoever blasphemes the name of the LORD shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him. The sojourner as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.
God responded and told Moses to bring the boy who cursed and have all those that witnessed him cursing lay their hands on his head (publicly identifying him as being guilty), followed by having the entire congregation stone him to death. Then Moses was to tell the people of Israel that whoever curses God will be punished for their disobedience and whoever blasphemes the name of YHWH, will be put to death with the penalty being that all the congregation is to stone them to death. That statute includes people passing through as well as for the native Israelite, there was to be no blaspheming the name of God among His people.
A Life for a Life
24:17 “Whoever takes a human life shall surely be put to death. 18 Whoever takes an animal’s life shall make it good, life for life. 19 If anyone injures his neighbor, as he has done it shall be done to him, 20 fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; whatever injury he has given a person shall be given to him. 21 Whoever kills an animal shall make it good, and whoever kills a person shall be put to death. 22 You shall have the same rule for the sojourner and for the native, for I am the LORD your God.” 23 So Moses spoke to the people of Israel, and they brought out of the camp the one who had cursed and stoned him with stones. Thus the people of Israel did as the LORD commanded Moses.
Repeated several times in Scripture is the declaration that no one is to take another’s life, such as premeditated murder, act of revenge, or for any other selfish reason (see Genesis 9:5-6; Exodus 20:13; 21:12; Numbers 35:31; Deuteronomy 19:11-12). In Exodus chapter 21 we were introduced to the concept of restitution where the punishment for a crime is proportional to the offense. An animal’s life was to be “paid back” with a replacement animal of equal or greater value (see also Exodus 21:33-34), a life for a life. These requirements are repeated in verse 21.
The concept is now applied to injuries, no one is to injure their neighbor. If an injury were to occur, then they were to be given the same treatment. Several examples are given, a fracture for a fracture, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth (see commentary under Exodus 21:24). The same injury was to be given to the one who inflicted the initial injury (note that there is no reference to escalation, adding greater injury).
Moses was given instruction to inform the people of Israel about these statutes and to understand that they also apply to any sojourner among them. The people then escorted the man who had cursed and blasphemed the name of God outside their camp and stoned him as God had instructed.
Considerations
Three times in the Old Testament the phrase “an eye for an eye” is used (see Exodus 21:24; Leviticus 24:20; Deuteronomy 19:21). However, people most often remember those words being spoken by Jesus in what is known as the “Sermon on the Mount.” One of the main themes of that sermon is to help people understand that life does not center around their own lives, the reality is that life centers around Jesus. In the sermon, Jesus reminds those listening that He always takes care of His people and that, instead of being focused and continually think about themselves, they should be thinking about others, and perhaps the best way to begin would be to relinquish the ‘right’ to retaliation. Even though someone may have seriously hurt them or embarrassed them, they need to hand that pain over to God.
In the sermon Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.” (Matthew 5:38-42) But why go the extra mile? When Christians do something that is contrary to how the world would expect, people take notice. The apostle Peter, in his first epistle told his readers that they should always be “prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15b). When people see something being done differently (especially an unselfish act) they will take notice and possibly ask you why (offering an opportunity for evangelism). Actions generally have more substance and meaning than just words. Even though someone may have intended wrongdoing, it is a better witness to not retaliate and go that extra mile. It is often thought the best way to demonstrate the love of God is with an unwarranted and unselfish response.
Respect for Life Must Be Taught and Understood
The concept of a life for a life is only valid if the person killing or inflicting an injury considers their own life to be valuable, or that all life is indeed precious. If someone is so self-absorbed that they consider other people expendable or less important, such as a psychopath, they would not, and perhaps could not, consider life, especially other people’s lives, as being valuable. That is why this lesson must be taught from an early age.
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[1] Strong’s Hebrew 6186.
[2] Strong’s Hebrew 4501.
[3] See commentary under Leviticus 2:1-3.
[4] Strong’s Hebrew 4635.
[5] Strong’s Hebrew 8034.