Phinehas. — The fact that the high priest is. still the grandson of Aaron, who had shown such noble zeal in the desert (Numbers 25:8; Psalms 106:30), is. an important note of time, and proves decisively that this narrative, like the last, is anterior to much that has been recorded in the earlier Chapter s. It is remarkable that the chief personages in these two wild scenes are the grandson of Moses and the grandson of Aaron, and it is a strange illustration of the disorder of the times that while the latter fulfils the supreme functions of the high priest, the former, who has sunk to the condition of a poor wandering Levite, does not go to his powerful cousin, but serves an unknown and schismatic image for a most paltry pittance.
Tomorrow. — Comp. Judges 4:14; Joshua 8:1. This is the first promise of success. The people needed to be taught that even in a religious war they could by no means rely on their own strength. How often has history laughed to scorn the cynical remark of Napoleon that “Providence usually favours the strongest battalion!”