burdens, and building up each other on their most
holy. faith: and for whom food, or bread{u}, as in the
original, both temporal and spiritual, is provided;
both being to be had of the Lord, with whom there is
enough, and to spare; Christ is. the bread of life, and
his word and ordinances are the provisions of Zion;
which all that serve the city or church of God may
.partake of.
Ver. 19. And they that serve the oity shall serve it
out of all the tribes of Israel.] Whether they be civil
magistrates, or ministers of the word, they shall be of
Israel, and be Israelites indeed; and shall be taken out
of the several tribes; some out of one tribe, and some
out ofanother; all shall have the honour, as well as
the labour, of serving the church and interest of
Christ; yea, all true Israelites shall contribute as much
as in them lies to the service of it.
Ver. 20. All the oblation shall be five-and-twent!l thou-
sand by five-and-twenty thousand, &c.] Or, every ob-
lation"; every one of the oblations; that for the priests
and the sanctuary; that for the Levites, and that for
the city, its suburbs, and the maintenance of those
that served the city; each were a square of five-and-
twenty thousand reeds: ye shall offer the holy oblation
four-square, with the possession of the city; taking in
the possession of the city, or what that possessed, the
oblation of land for that, and its suburbs, and for pro-
duce to support those that served it, should be a four-
square of the above dimensions.
Ver. 21. And the residue shall be for the prince, &c.]
Not the civil magistrate, but the Prince Messlahr, the
King, Governor, and Protector of his church and
people: on the one side and on the other of the holy
oblation, and of the possession of the city: his portion
shall lie on each side of the portion for the sanctuary,
the priests and Levites, and tbr the city and its appur-
tenances; so that he will be the guardian and preserver
of them all; see the note on oh. xlv. 7: over-against the
five-and-twenty thousand of the oblation toward the east
border, and westward over-against the five-and-twenty
thousand toward the west border; or, before the face" of
thefive-and-twenty thousand of the oblation, &c.; that is,
next to the tribe of Judah, close by that, and just be-
fore the holy oblation of five-and-twenty thousand
reeds, both eastward und westward, should be the
portion of the prince on one side: over-against the por-
tions for the prince; or, over-against these shall be that
for the prince {y}; parallel with the portions of the several
tribes before described shall be that of the prince,
ú ,vhich belongs to him: and it shall-be the holy oblation;
and the sanctuary of the house shall be in the midst
thereof; that is, the holy oblation of the land for the
priests and Levites, and the sanctuary should be be-
tween that part of the prince's portion which lay next
to Judah, and that which lay next to Benjamin; of
which in the next verse.
Vet. 22. Moreover, from the possession of the Levites,
and from the possession of the city, &c.] Or, beyond
these, as it may be rendered, on the other side of
them; or, except" these: being in the midst of that
which is the prince's; between his two portions; or, as
it is next explained, between the border of Judah, and
the border of Benjamin, shall be .for the prince; that is,
all beyond and excepting that which belonged to the
priests and Levites, the sanctuary and the city, were
the prince's, which lay between Judah and Benjamin:
or thus it was; before the holy oblation one part of the
prince's portion ran, parallel with the tribe of Judah,
east and west; after the holy oblation on the other
side, another part of his portion touched the tribe of
Benjamin, and ran parallel with the east and west:
and so were between them both, as well as on each
side of the holy oblation: all this denotes the nearness
of Christ to his church and people; his protection of
them on all sides; and the largeness of his interest and
kingdom; see ch. xlv. 7-
Vet. 23. As for the rest of the tribes, &c.] Not yet
mentioned, which lay to the south of the sanctuary,
and are as follow: from the east side to the west side,
Benjamin shall have a portion; the sons of God's right
hand, who are as near and dear to him as a man's right
hand is to him. Judah and Benjamin are nearest to
the holy oblation-, sanctuary, city, and prince; the one
to the north of them, the other to the south; these
tribes being faithful to God, and with his saints, when
others departed from him; the Lord takes great notice
of his faithful ones, and honours them, Hos. xi. 12.
Ver. 24. And by the border of Benjamin, .from the
east side unto the west side, Simeon shall have a portion.]
Close by the border of Benjamin, running east and
west, Simeon's part and inheritance in the !and shall
be; even such true Israelites as hear, understand,
and believe the Gospel, and-practise what they hear.
This tribe is not now to be divided and scattered in
Israel, or to have its inheritance in Judah, as formerly,
Gen. xlix. 5--7. Josh. xix. 1--9. but to be distinct, and
have a portion by itself.
Vet. 25. And by the border of Simeon, from the east
side unto the west side, Issachar a portion.]] Next,
-closely adjoining to Simeon's inheritance, and in the
same direction, shall be Issachar's; such Christians as
shall have the rewards of grace for their services and
sufferings in times of tribulation.
Ver. 26. And by the border of Issachar, from the east
side unto the west side, Zebulun a portion.] In like
manner, next to Issachar's inheritance, and bordering
on it, shall be Zebulun's; who shall be no more a
haven for ships, having a different situation and allot-
ment; and may describe such Christians as dwell in
Christ, and he in them.
Vet. 27. And by the border of Zebulun, from the east
side unto the west side, Gad a portion.] The last of the
tribes; a troop of overcomers, who are more than con-
querers over all their enemies through Christ: all
Christians shall have their part and portion in the
church below, and in all the privileges and immunities
of it; and in the church above, in all the glories and
blessedness thereof.

{u} \^Mxll\^ in panem, Pagninus, Montanus, Piscator.
{w} \^hmwrth lk\^ omnis oblatio, Pagninus, Montanus.
{x} \^ynp la\^ ante facies, Pagninus; ante faciem, Starckius.
{y} \^ayvnl yqlx tmel\^ ex adverso portionum, id vero principis erit,
Tigurine version; juxta portiones, principi erit, Cocceius, Starckius.
{z} \^tzxam\^.