14. In Joshua’s time _the interpretation of the laws_, and _of the word of God_, belonged to Eleazar the high-priest; who was also, under God, their absolute king. Which is collected, first of all, out of the _covenant itself_; in which the commonwealth of Israel is called a _priestly kingdom_, or, as it is recited in 1 Peter ii. 9, a _royal priesthood_. Which could in no wise be said, unless by the institution and _covenant_ of the people, the regal power were understood to belong to the _high-priest_. Neither doth this repugn what hath been said before, where Moses, and not Aaron, had the kingdom under God. Since it is necessary, when one man institutes the form of a future commonwealth, that one should govern the kingdom which he institutes during his life, (whether it be _monarchy_, _aristocracy_, or _democracy_); and have all that power for the present, which he is bestowing on others for the future. Now, that Eleazar the priest had not only _the priesthood_, but also the _sovereignty_, is expressly set down in Joshua’s call to the administration. For thus it is written (Numb, xxvii. 18, 19, 20, 21): _Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay thine hand upon him, and set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation, and give him a charge in their sight; and thou shalt put some of thine honour upon him, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may be obedient; and he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall ask counsel for him after the judgment of Urim, before the Lord; at his word shall they go out, and at his word shall they come in, and all the children of Israel with him, even all the congregation. Where to ask counsel of God for whatsoever is to be done_, that is, _to interpret God’s word_, and in the name of God to command in all matters, belongs to Eleazar; and _to go out_ and _to come in at his word_, that is to say, to obey, belongs both to Joshua and _to all the people_. It is to be observed also, that that speech, _part of thy glory_, clearly denotes that Joshua had not a power equal with that which Moses had. In the meantime it is manifest, that even in Joshua’s time the supreme power and authority of interpreting the word of God, were both in one person. [Sidenote: They were also united in the high-priest, until king Saul’s time.]