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22 And the LORD said unto Moses, Thus | thine oxen: in all places, where I record my thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye name, I will come unto thee, and will bless thee. have seen that I have talked with you from 25 And if thou wilt make me an altar of heaven. stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone; for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.

23 Ye shall not make with me, a gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold. 24 An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt-offerings, and thy peace-offerings, thy sheep and

z Dent. 4. 36. Neh. 9. 13-a Ch 32 1, 2, 4. Ezek. 29. 39. & 13 8. Dan. 5. 4, 23. Zeph. 1. 5. e Deut. 12. 5, 11, 21. & 14. 23. & 16. 6, 11. & 26. 2.

b

1 Sam. 5. 4, 5. 2 Kings 17. 33. 2 Cor. 6. 14, 15, 16.-b Lev. 1. 2. 1 Kings 8. 43. & 9. 3. 2 Chron.

through the love and reverence ye feel to your Maker and Sovereign, ye may abstain from every appearance of evil, lest you should forfeit that love which is to you better than life. He who fears in the first sense, can neither love nor obey: he who fears not in the latter sense, is sure to fall under the first temptation that may occur. Blessed is the man who thus feareth always.

26 Neither shalt thou go up by steps, unto mine altar, & that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon.

Neh. 1. 9.
Josh, 8, 31.

6. 6. & 7. 16. & 12 13. Ezra 6. 12. Ps. 71. 7. Jer. 7. 10, 12-d Gen. 12. 2. Deut. 7. 13.-e Dent. 27. 5. 1 Mac. 4. 47.-f Heti build them with hewing. Deut. A. 5, 6.—g Lev. 10. 3. Psa. 8. 7. Heb. 12. 23, 29. inspired writer refers to those, in these prohibitions. God therefore ordered his altars to be made, 1. Either of simple turf, that there might be no unnecessary expense, which, in their present circumstances, the people could not well afford; and that they might be no incentives to idolatry from their costly or curious structure: or, 2. Of unhewn stone, that no images of animals or of the celestial bodies Verse 22. I have talked with you from heaven] Though might be sculptured on them, as was the case among the God manifested himself by the fire, the lightning, the idolaters, and especially among the Egyptians, as several earthquake, the thick darkness, &c. yet the ten words or of their ancient altars which remain to the present day, commandments, were probably uttered from the higher amply testify; which altars themselves, and the images regions of the air, which would be an additional proof to carved on them, became, in process of time, incentives to the people that there was no imposture in this case; for idolatry, and even objects of worship. In short, God though strange appearances and voices might be counter- formed every part of his worship so, that every thing befeited on earth, as was often, no doubt, done by the magi- longing to it might be as dissimilar as possible, from that cians of Egypt; yet it would be utterly impossible to rep- of the surrounding heathenish nations, and especially the resent a voice, in a long-continued series of instruction, as Egyptians, from whose land they had just now departed. proceeding from heaven itself, or the higher regions of the This seems to have been the whole design of those statutes, atmosphere. This, with the earthquake and repeated on which many commentators have written so largely and thunders, see on ver. 18. would put the reality of this learnedly, imagining difficulties, where probably there are whole procedure beyond all doubt; and this enabled Moses, none. The altars of the tabernacle were of a different Deut. v. 16. to make such an appeal to the people on a kind. fact incontrovertible, and of infinite importance, that God had indeed talked with them face to face.

Verse 23. Ye shall not make with me gods of silver] The expressions here are very remarkable. Before, it was said, Ye shall have no other gods BEFORE me, by al panai, ver. 3. Here they are commanded, Ye shall not make gods of silver or gold, na iti, WITH me, as emblems or representatives of God, in order, as might be pretended, to keep these displays of his magnificence in memory; on the contrary, he would have only an altar of earth, of plain turf, on which they should offer those sacrifices, by which they should commemorate their own guilt, and the necessity of an atonement to reconcile themselves to God. See the note on ver. 4.

In this and the preceding chapter, we have met with some of the most awful displays of the Divine majesty:manifestations of justice and holiness, which have had no parallel, and can have none, till that day arrive, in which he shall appear in his glory, to judge the quick and the dead. The glory was truly terrible, and to the children of Israel insufferable: and yet how highly privileged to have God himself speaking to them from the midst of the fire, giving them statutes and judgments, so righteous, so pure, so holy, and so truly excellent in their operation and their end, that they have been the admiration of all the wise and upright, in all countries and ages of the world, where their voice has been heard. Mohammed defied all the poets and literati of Arabia to match the lanVerse 24. Thy burnt-offerings and thy peace-offer-guage of the Korân: and for purity, elegance, and digings] The law concerning which, was shortly to be given, though sacrifices of this kind were in use from the days of Abel.

In all places where I record my name] Wherever I am worshipped, whether in the open wilderness, at the tabernacle, in the temple, the synagogue, or elsewhere, I will come unto thee and bless thee. These words are precisely the same in signification with those of our Lord, Matt. xviii. 20. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. And it was JESUS, who was the angel that spoke to them in the wilderness, Acts vii. 38. from the same mouth this promise in the Law, and that in the Gospel proceeded.

nity, it bore away the palm, and remained unrivalled. This indeed, was the only advantage which the work derived from its author; for its other excellencies, it was indebted to Moses and the prophets, to Christ and the apostles; as there is scarcely a pure, consistent, theological notion in it, that has not been borrowed from our sacred books. Moses calls the attention of the people not to the language in which these divine laws were given, though that is all that it should be, and every way worthy of its author; compressed yet perspicuous; simple yet dignified; in short, such as God should speak if he wished his creatures to comprehend; but he calls their attention to the purity, righteousness, and usefulness of the grand revelaVerse 25. Thou shalt not build it of hewn stone] Be- tion which they had just received. For what nation, says cause they were now in a wandering state, and had as yet he, is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them as no fixed residence; and therefore no time should be wasted Jehovah our God is, in all things that we call upon to rear costly altars, which could not be transported with for? And what nation hath statutes and judgments so them, and which they must soon leave. Besides, they righteous as all this law which I set before you this day? must not lavish skill or expense on the construction of an And that which was the sum of all excellency in the prealtar; the altar, of itself, whether costly or mean, was sent case was this, that the GoD who gave these laws nothing in the worship: it was only the place, on which dwelt among his people; to him they had continual access, the victim should be faid, and their mind must be atten- and from him received that power, without which, obetively fixed on that God, to whom the sacrifice was offer-dience, so extensive and so holy, would have been imposed, and on the sacrifice itself, as that appointed by the Lord to make an atonement for their sins.

Verse 26. Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto my altar] The word altar, comes from altus, high or elerated, though the Hebrew word na mizbeach, from a zabach, to stay, kill, &c. signifies merely a place for sacrifice: see Gen. xviii. 20. But the heathens, who imitated the rites of the true God in their idolatrous worship, made their altars very high; whence they derived their name altaria, altars, i. e. very high or elevated places; which they built thus, partly through pride and vain-glory, and partly that their gods might the better hear them. Hence also the high places or idolatrous altars, so often and so severely condemned in the Holy Scriptures. The heathens made some of their altars excessively high; and some imagine that the pyramids were altars of this kind, and that the

him

sible: and yet not one of these laws exacted more than eternal reason, the nature and fitness of things, the pros perity of the community, and the peace and happiness of the individual required. The LAW is holy, and the comMANDMENT is HOLY, JUST, and GOOD.

To show still more clearly the excellence and great utility of the ten commandments, and to correct some mistaken notions concerning them, it may be necessary to make a few additional observations. And, 1. It is worthy of remark, that there is none of these commandments, nor any part of one, which can fairly be considered as merely ceremonial. All are moral, and consequently of everlasting obligation. 2. When considered merely as to the let ter, there is certainly no difficulty in the moral obedience required to them. Let every reader take them up one by one, and ask his conscience before God, which of them he

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CHAPTER XXI.

CHAP. XXI.

Laws concerning servants: they shall serve for only seven years, 1. 2. If a servant brought a wife to servitude with him, both should go out free on the Seventh year, 3. If his master had given him a wife, and she bore him children, he might go out free on the seventh year, but his wife and children must remain, as the property of the master, 4. ff, through love to his master, wife, and children, he did not choose to avail himself of the privilege granted by the law, of going out free on the seventh year, his ear was to be bored to the door post with an awl, as an emblem of his being attached to the family for ever, 5, 6. Laws concerning maidsereants, betrothed to their masters, or to the sons of their masters, 7-11. Laws concerning battery and murder, 12-15. Concerning men-stealing, 16. Con

cerning him that curses his parents, 17. Of strife between man and man, 18, 19; between a master and his servants, 20, 21. Of injuries done to women in pregnancy, 22 The Lez Talionis, or law of like for like, 23-25. Of injuries done to servants, by which they gain the right of freedom, 26, 27. Laws concerning the or which has gored men, 28-32 Of the pit left uncovered, into which a man or beast has fallen, 33, 34. Lws concerning the or that kills another, 35, 36. An. Exod. Isr. 1. OW these are the judgments which thou shalt set before

Sivan

them.

NOW

h

2 If thou buy a Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve and in the seventh, he shall go out free for nothing.

h Ch 21-3, 4. Deut. 4. 14. & 6. 1.-i Lev. 25 39, 40, 41. Deut 15. 12 Jer. 34. 14. k Heb with his body.

is under a fatal and uncontrollable necessity to break? 3. Though by the incarnation and death of Christ, all the ceremonial law, which referred to him and his sacrifice, is necessarily abrogated; yet as none of these ten commandments refers to any thing properly ceremonial, therefore they are not abrogated. 4. Though Christ came into the world to redeem them who believe from the curse of the law, he did not redeem them from the necessity of walking in that newness of life, which these commandments so strongly inculcate. 5. Though Christ is said to have fulfilled the law for us, yet it is nowhere intimated in the Scripture, that he has so fulfilled these TEN LAWS, as to exempt us from the necessity and privilege of being no idolaters, swearers, sabbath-breakers, disobedient and cruel children, murderers, adulterers, thieves, and corrupt witnesses. All these commandments, it is true, he punctually fulfilled himself; and all these he writes on the heart of every soul redeemed by his blood. 6. Do not those who scruple not to insinuate, that the proper observation of these laws is impossible in this life, and that every man since the fall does daily break them in thought, word, and deed, bear false witness against God and his truth? and do they not greatly err, not knowing the scripture, which teaches the necessity of such obedience; nor the power of God, by which the evil principle of the heart is destroyed, and the law of purity written on the soul? If even the regenerate man, as some have unwarily asserted, does daily break these commands, these ten words, in thought, word, and deed, he may be as bad as Satan, for aught we know; for Satan himself cannot transgress in more forms than these: for sin can be committed in no other way, either by bodied or disembodied spirits, than by thought, or word, or deed. Such sayings as these tend to destroy the distinction between good and evil, and leave the infidel and the believer on a par as to their moral state. The people of God should be careful how they use them. 7. It must be granted, and indeed has sufficiently appeared from the preceding exposition of these commandments, that they are not only to be understood in the letter, but also in the spirit; and that therefore they may be broken in the heart, while outwardly kept inviolate: yet this cannot prove, that a soul influenced by the grace and Spirit of Christ cannot most conscientiously observe them; for the grace of the Gospel not only saves a man from outward, but also from inward sin;-for, says the heavenly messenger, his name shall be called JESUS, (i. e. Saviour) because he shall save (i. e. DELIVER) his people FROM their sins. Therefore the weakness or corruption of human nature forms no argument here, because the blood of Christ cleanses from all unrighteousness: and he saves to the uttermost all who come unto the Father through him. It is therefore readily granted, no man, unassisted and uninfluenced by the grace of Christ, can keep these commandments either in the letter or in the spirit; but he who is truly converted to God, and has Christ dwelling in his heart by faith, can in the letter and in the spirit do all these things, BECAUSE CHRIST STRENGTHENS him. Reader, the following is a good prayer, and oftentimes thou hast said it; now learn to pray it: "Lord, have mercy upon us, and ineline our hearts to keep these laws! Lord, have mercy upon us, and write all these thy laws in our hearts, we beseech thee!" Communion Service.

NOTES ON CHAPTER XXI. Verse 1. Now these are the judgments] There is so much good sense, feeling, humanity, equity, and justice, in the following laws, that they cannot but be admired by

3 If he came in by himself, he shall go out
by himself: if he were married, then his wife
shall go out with him.

4 If his master have given him a wife, and she
have borne him sons or daughters; the wife and
her children shall be her master's, and he shall
go out by himself.
shall plainly say, I
51 And if the servant m
love my master, my wife, and my children; I
will not go out free:

6 Then his master shall bring him unto the
"judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or
unto the door post; and his master shall bore
his ear through with an awl; and he shall serve
him for ever.

7 And if a man Peell his daughter to be a maid-servant, she shall not go out as the menservants do.

1 Deut. 15. 16, 17.-m Heb. saying shall say.-n Ch. 12. 12. & 22. 8, 29.-o Pasa.
40. 6.-p Neh. 5. 5-q Ver 2, 3.

every intelligent reader; and they are so very plain, as to
require very little comment. The laws in this chapter are
termed political, those in the succeeding chapter judicial
laws; and are supposed to have been delivered to Moses.
alone, in consequence of the request of the people, chap.
xx. 19. that God should communicate his will to Moses,
and that Moses should, as mediator, convey it to them.
Verse 2. If thou buy a Hebrew servant] Calmet enu-
merates six different ways in which a Hebrew might lose
his liberty: 1. In extreme poverty they might sell their
liberty. Levit. xxv. 39. If thy brother be waren poor,
and be sold unto thee, &c. 2. A father might sell his
children. If a man sell his daughter to be a maid-ser-
vant, see ver. 7. 3. Insolvent debtors became the slaves
of their creditors. My husband is dead-and the credi-
4. A thief, if he had not money to pay the
tor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen,
2 Kings iv. 1.
fine laid on him by the law, was to be sold for his profit
whom he had robbed. If he have nothing, then he shall
be sold for his theft, chap. xxii. 3, 4. 5. A Hebrew was
liable to be taken prisoner in war, and so sold for a slave.
6. A Hebrew slave, who had been ransomed from a Gen-
tile by a Hebrew, might be sold by him who ransomed
him, to one of his own nation.

Six years shall he serve] It was an excellent provision in these laws, that no man could finally injure himself by any rash, foolish, or precipitate act. No man could make himself a servant or slave for more than seven years; and if he mortgaged the family inheritance, it must return to the family at the jubilee, which returned every fiftieth year.

It is supposed that the term six years is to be understood as referring to the sabbatical years; for let a man come into servitude at whatever part of the interim between two sabbatical years, he could not be detained in bondage beyond a sabbatical year: so that if he fell into bondage the third year after a sabbatical year, he had but three years to serve; if the fifth, but one. See on chap. xxiii. 11, &c. Others suppose that this privilege belonged only to the year of jubilee, beyond which no man could be detained in bondage, though he had been sold only one year before.

Verse 3. If he came in by himself] If he and his wife came in together, they were to go out together: in all respects as he entered, so should he go out. This consideration seems to have induced St. Jerom to translate the pas"He shall have the same coat in going out, as he had sage thus: Cum quali veste intraverat, cum tali exeat. when he came in; i. e. if he came in with a new one, he as the former coat must have been worn out in his master's should go out with a new one, which was perfectly just, service, and not his own.

Verse 4. The wife and her children shall be her master's] It was a law among the Hebrews, that if a Hebrew had children by a Canaanitish woman, those children must be considered as Canaanitish only, and might be sold and bought, and serve for ever. The law here refers to such a case only.

Verse 6. Shall bring him unto the judges] DN IN el ha Elohim, literally, to God: or, as the Septuagint have it, eos ro xeITAPIO SU, to the judgment of God; who condescended to dwell among his people, who determined all their differences, till he had given them laws for all cases; and who by his omniscience brought to light the hidden things of dishonesty. See chap. xxii. 8.

Bore his ear through with an awl] This was a ceremony sufficiently significant, as it implied, 1. That he was closely attached to that house and family. 2. That he was

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14 But if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbour, to slay him with guile; thou shalt take him from mine altar, that he may die. 15 And he that smiteth his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death.

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16 And he that stealeth a man, and a selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.

17 And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death.

r Heb. be evil in the eyes of, &c.- 1 Cor. 7. 5-t Gen 9. 6. Lev. 24. 17. Numb. 35. 30, 31. Matt. 26. 52-u Numb. 35. 22. Dent. 19. 4, 5.- 1 Sam 24. 4, 10, 18. w Numb. 35. 11. Deut. 19. 3. Josh. 20. 2-x Numb. 15. 30. & 35. 20. Deut. 19. 11, 12. Heb. 10. 26.-y 1 Kings 2 23-34. 2 Kings 11. 15.

bound to hear all his master's orders, and to obey them punctually. Boring of the ear was an ancient custom in the east. It is referred to by Juvenal

Prior inquit, ego adsum.

Cur timeam, dubitemve locum defendere quamvis
Natus ad Euphraten, molles quod in aure fenestra.
Arguerint, licet ipse negem.
Sat. i. 102.

"First come, first served, he cries; and I, in spite Of your great lordships, will maintain my right: Though born a slace, though my torn ears are bor'd, 'Tis not the birth, 'us money makes the lord." Dryden. Calmet quotes a saying from Petronius as attesting the same thing; and one from Cicero, in which he rallies a Lybian who pretended he did not hear him: "It is not," said he, "because your ears are not sufficiently bored." Alluding to his having been a slave.

Verse 7. If a man sell his daughter] This the Jews allowed no man to do but in extreme distress, when he had no goods, either moveable or immoveable left, even to the clothes on his back; and he had this permission only while she was unmarriageable. It may appear at first view strange, that such a law should have been given; but let it be remembered, that this servitude could extend at the utmost only to six years; and that it was nearly the same as in some cases of apprenticeship among us, where the parents bind the child for seven years, and have from his master so much per week during that period.

Verse 9. Betrothed her to his son, he shall deal with her] He shall give her the same dowry he would give to one of his own daughters. From these laws we learn, that if a man's son married his servant, by his father's consent, the father was obliged to treat her in every respect as a daughter and if the son married another woman, as it appears he might do, ver. 10. he was obliged to make no abatement in the privileges of the first wife, either in her food, raiment, or duty of marriage; the word any onathah here, is the same with St. Paul's

the marriage debt, and with the six of the Septuagint, which signifies the cohabitation of man and wife. Verse 11. These three] 1. Her food, shearah, her flesh, for she must not, like a common slave, be fed merely on vegetables. 2. Her raiment, her private wardrobe, with all occasional necessary additions. And, 3. The marriage debt, a due proportion of the husband's time and company.

Verse 13. I will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee] From the earliest times, the nearest akin had a right to revenge the murder of his relation; and as this right was universally acknowledged, no law was ever made on the subject; but as this might be abused, and a person who had killed another accidentally, having had no previous malice against him, might be put to death by the avenger of blood, as the nearest kinsman was termed, therefore God provided the cities of refuge to which the accidental manslayer might flee, till the affair was inquired into, and settled by the civil magistrate.

Verse 14. Thou shalt take him from mine altar] Be

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18 And if men strive together, and one smite another with a stone, or with his fist, and he die not, but keepeth his bed: 19 If he rise again, and walk abroad upon his staff, then shall he that smote him be quit: only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall cause him to be thoroughly healed.

20 And if a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand; he shall be surely punished.

h

21 Notwithstanding, if he continue a day or two, he shall not be punished: for he is his

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24 Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,

25 Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

26 And if a man smite the eye of his servant, or the eye of his maid, that it perish; he shall let him go free, for his eye's sake.

27 And if he smite out his man-servant's tooth,

z Deut. 24. 7-a Gen. 37. 28.-b Ch. 22. 4.-c Lev. 20. 9. Prov. 20. 20. Matt. 15. 4. Mark 7. 10. Or, revileth-e Or, his neighbour-f 2 Sam. 3. 29-g Heb. his ceasing-h Heb. avenged. Gen. 4. 15, 24. Rom. 13. 4.-i Lev. 25. 45, 45. — Ya. 30. Deut. 22. 18, 19.-1 Lev. 24. 20. Deut. 19. 21. Matt. 5. 38.

fore the cities of refuge were assigned, the altar of God was the common asylum.

Verse 15. That smiteth his father, or his mother] As such a case argued peculiar depravity, therefore no mercy was to be shown to the culprit.

Verse 16. He that stealeth a man] By this law, every man-stealer, and every receiver of the stolen person, should lose his life: no matter whether the latter stole the man himself or gave money to a slave-captain, or negrodealer, to steal him for him.

Verse 19. Shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall cause him to be thoroughly healed] This was a wise and excellent institution, and most courts of justice still regulate their decisions on such cases by this Mosaic precept.

Verse 21. If the slave who had been beaten by his master, died under his hand, the master was punished with death; see Gen. ix. 5, 6. But if he survived the beating a day or two, the master was not punished; because it might be presumed, that the man died through some other cause. And all penal laws should be construed as favourably as possible to the accused.

Verse 22. And hurt a woman with child] As a posterity, among the Jews, was among the peculiar promises of their covenant, and as every man had some reason to think that the Messiah should spring from his family, therefore, any injury done to a woman with child, by which the fruit of her womb might be destroyed, was considered a very heavy offence: and as the crime was committed principally against the husband, the degree of punishment was left to his discretion. But if mischief followed, i. e. if the child had been fully formed, and was killed by this means, or the woman lost her life in conse quence, then the punishment of the person was death, as in other cases of murder: ver. 23.

Verse 24. Eye for eye] This is the earliest account we have of the Lex Talionis or law of like for like, which afterward prevailed among the Greeks and Romans. Among the latter, it constituted a part of the twelve tables, so famous in antiquity; but the punishment was afterward changed to a pecuniary fine, to be levied at the discretion of the prætor. It prevails less or more in most civilized countries; and is fully acted upon in the canon law, in reference to all calumniators :-Calumniator, si in accusatione defecerit, talionem recipiat. “If the calumniator fail in the proof of his accusation, let him suffer the same punishment which he wished to have inflicted upon the man whom he falsely accused." Nothing however of this kind was left to private rerenge: the magistrate awarded the punishment, when the fact was proved. Otherwise the Lex Talionis would have utterly destroyed the peace of society, and have sown the seeds of hatred, revenge, and all uncharitableness.

Verse 26. If a man smite the eye, &c.] See the following verse.

Verse 27. If he smite out his-tooth] It was a noble

A. M. 2513. B. C. 1491.

CHAP. XXII.

or his maid-servant's tooth; he shall let him go free for his tooth's sake.

m

28 If an ox gore a man or a woman, that they die: then the ox shall be surely stoned, and his flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be quit.

29 But if the ox were wont to push with his horn in time past, and it hath been testified to his owner, and he hath not kept him in, but that he hath killed a man or a woman; the ox shall be stoned, and his owner also shall be put to death.

30 If there be laid on him a sum of money, then he shall give for the ransom of his life whatsoever is laid upon him.

31 Whether he have gored a son, or have gored a daughter, according to this judgment shall it be done unto him.

32 If the ox shall push a man-servant or maid-servant; he shall unto their master

34 The owner of the pit shall make it good, and give money unto the owner of them; and the dead beast shall be his.

35 And if one man's ox hurt another's, that he die; then they shall sell the live ox, and divide the money of it; and the dead or also they shall divide.

36 Or if it be known, that the ox hath used to push, in time past, and his owner hath not kept him in; he shall surely pay ox for ox; and the dead shall be his own.

CHAPTER XXII.

Laws concerning deposits, or goods left in custody of others, which may have been
Laws concerning witcheraft,
Laws concerning theft, 1-4; concerning trespass, 5; concerning casualties, 6.
lost, stolen, or damaged, 1-13 Laws concerning things borrowed, or let out on
hire, 14, 15. Laws concerning seduction, 16, 17.
Laws concerning strangera, 21; concerning
18, bestiality, 19, idolatry, .
widows, 22-24; lending money to the poor, 25; concerning pledges, 26; concern
ing respect to magistrates, 23; concerning the first ripe fruits, and the first-horn
of man and beast, 29, 30. Directions concerning carcasses found torn in the
field, 31.

F a man shall steal an ox, or a An. Exod. Isr. 1.

This vickels of silver, and the Fox shall be I sheep, and kill it, he shall restore

stoned.

33 And if a man shall open a pit, or if a man shall dig a pit, and not cover it, and an ox or an ass fall therein;

m Gen. 9. 5.- Ver. 22 Numb. 35. 31-0 See Zech. 11. 12, 13. Matt. 26. 15. Phil. 2. 7.-p Ver. 23.

law that obliged the unmerciful slaveholder, to set a slave
If this
at liberty, whose eye or tooth he had knocked out.
did not teach them humanity, it taught them caution, as
one rash blow might have deprived them of all right to
the future services of the slave: and thus, self-interest
obliged them to be cautious and circumspect.

nations:

Verse 29. If an ox gore a man] It is more likely that a bull is here intended, as the word signifies both, see chap. xxii. 1. and the Septuagint translate the shor, of the original by raupes, a bull, and some are of opinion, that there were no castrated animals among the Jews. Mischief of this kind was provided against by most appears that the Romans twisted hay about the horns of their dangerous cattle, that people seeing it might shun them: hence that saying of Horace, Sat. lib. i. ver. 34. Fænum habet in cornu, longè fuge. has hay on his horns: fly for life!" The laws of the twelve tables ordered, that the owner of the beast should pay for what damages he committed, or deliver him to the person injured. See on chap. xxii. 1.

"He

His flesh shall not be eaten] This served to keep up a due detestation of murder, whether committed by man or beast; and at the same time punished the man as far as possible, by the total loss of the beast.

Verse 30. If there be laid on him a sum of moneythe ransom of his life] So it appears, that though by the law he forfeited his life, yet this might be commuted for a pecuniary mulct; at which, the life of the deceased might be valued by the magistrates.

Verse 32. Thirty shekels] Each worth about three shillings English; see Gen. xx. 16. xxxiii. 15. So, counting the shekel at its utmost value, the life of a slave was valued at four pounds, ten shillings. And at this price, these same vile people, valued the life of our blessed Lord; see Zech. xi. 12, 13. Matt. xxvi. 15. And in return, the justice of God has ordered it so, that they have been And sold for slaves into every country of the universe. yet, strange to tell, they see not the hand of God in this so visible retribution!

Verse 33. And if a man shall open a pit-or dig a pit] That is, if a man shall open a well or cistern that had been before closed up, or dig a new one, for these two cases are plainly intimated; and if he did this in some public place, where there was danger that men or cattle might fall into it: for a man might do as he pleased in his own grounds, as those were his private right. In the above case if he had neglected to cover the pit, and his neighbour's ox or ass was killed by falling into it, he was to pay its value in money. The 33d and 34th verses seem to be out of their places. They probably should conclude the chapter, as, where they are, they interrupt the statutes concerning the goring or, which begin at verse 28.

These different regulations are as remarkable for their justice and prudence, as for their humanity. Their great tendency is, to show the valuableness of human life, and the necessity of having peace and good understanding in every neighbourhood: and they possess that quality which should be the object of all good and wholesome laws, the prevention of crimes. Most criminal codes of jurisprudence seem more intent on the punishment of crimes, than

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five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep.
2 If a thief be found breaking up, and be
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q Or, goat.-r 2 Sam. 12. 6. Luke 19. 8. See Prov. 6. 31.-s Matt. 21. 43.-t Numb.
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on preventing the commission of them. The law of God always teaches and warns, that his creatures may not fall into condemnation; for judgment is his strange work, i. e. one reluctantly and seldom executed, as this text is frequently understood.

NOTES ON CHAPTER XXII.

Verse 1. If a man shall steal] This chapter consists chiefly of judicial laws, as the preceding chapter does of political; and in it the same good sense, and well-marked attention to the welfare of the community, and the moral In our translation of this first verse, by rendering differimprovement of each individual, are equally evident. ent Hebrew words by the same term in English, we have I shall produce the verse, greatly obscured the sense. with the original words which I think improperly translated, because one English term is used for two Hebrew words, which, in this place, certainly do not mean the same thing. If a man shall steal an ox, [ shor] or a sheep, [ sehand kill it, or sell it; he shall restore five oxen [p bakar] for an ox, [ shor] and four sheep, evident that the sacred writer did not intend that these [y tson] for a sheep, [n sch.] I think it must appear Where the words should be understood as above. A shor certainly is different from a bakar, and a seh from a tson. is difficult to say. The shor and the bakar are doubtless difference in every case lies, wherever these words occur, it creatures of the beere kind, and are used in different parts of the Sacred Writings, to signify the bull, the or, the heifer, the steer, the calf. The sch and the tson are used to signify the ram, the wether, the ewe, the lamb, the hegoat, the she-goat, and the kid. And the latter word s tson, seems frequently to signify the flock composed of As shor is used Job xxi. 10. for a bull, probably it either of these lesser cattle, or both sorts conjoined. may mean so here. If a man steal a BULL, he shall give five OXEN for him, which we may presume was no more than his real value; as very few bulls could be kept in a country destitute of horses, where oren were so necessary to till the ground. For though some have imagined that cannot be admitted on the above reason: for as they had no there were no castrated cattle among the Jews, yet this horses, and bulls would have been unmanageable and Tson ps is used for a flock either of sheep or dangerous, they must have had oren for the purposes of agriculture. goats; and sehr for an individual of either species. flock, must be given: i. e. a sheep stolen might be recomFor every seh, four, taken indifferently from the tson, or pensed with four out of the flock, whether of sheep or goats. So that a goat might be compensated with four sheep; or a sheep with four goats.

Verse 2. If a thief be found] If a thief was found breaking into a house in the night season, he might be killed; but not if the sun had risen, for then he might be known and taken, and the restitution made which is mentioned in the succeeding verse. So, by the law of England, it is a burglary to break and enter a house by night; and "anciently the day was accounted to begin only from sunrising, and to end immediately upon sun-set: but it is now generally agreed, that if there be day-light enough begun

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3 If the sun be risen upon him, there shall be blood shed for him; for he should make full restitution; if he have nothing, then he shall be "sold for his theft.

4 If the theft be certainly found in his hand alive, whether it be ox, or ass, or sheep; he shall restore double.

5 If a man shall cause a field or vineyard to be eaten, and shall put in his beast, and shall feed in another man's field: of the best of his own field, and of the best of his own vineyard, shall he make restitution.

6 If fire break out, and catch in thorns, so that the stacks of corn, or the standing corn, or the field, be consumed therewith; he that kindled the fire shall surely make restitution.

7 If a man shall deliver unto his neighbour money, or stuff to keep, and it be stolen out of the man's house; if the thief be found, let him pay double.

8 If the thief be not found, then the master of the house shall be brought unto the judges, to see whether he have put his hand unto his neighbour's goods.

9 For all manner of trespass, whether it be for ox, for ass, for sheep, for raiment, or for any manner of lost thing, which another challengeth to be his, the cause of both parties shall come before the judges; and whom the judges shall

u Ch. 21. 2-v Ch. 21. 16-w See Ver. 1,7. Prov. 6. 31.-x Ver. 4.-y Ch. 21. 6. Ver. 23.-z Deut. 25. 1-2 Chron. 19. 10.- Heb. 6. 16.-b Gen. 31. 39.

or left, either by the light of the sun or twilight, whereby the countenance of a person may be reasonably discerned, it is no burglary: but that this does not extend to moonlight; for then many midnight burglaries would go unpunished. And besides, the malignity of the offence does not so properly arise, as Mr. Justice Blackstone observes, from its being done in the dark, as at the dead of night; when all the creation, except beasts of prey, are at rest; when sleep has disarmed the owner, and rendered his castle defenceless." East's Pleas of the Crown, vol. ii. p. 509.

Verse 4. He shall restore double.] In no case of theft, was the life of the offender taken away: the utmost that

the law says on this point is, that, if when found breaking into a house, he should be smitten so as to die, no blood should be shed for him, ver. 2. If he had stolen and sold the property, then he was to restore four or five fold, ver. 1.; but if the animal was found alive in his possession, he was to restore double.

Verse 6. If a fire break out] Mr. Harmer observes, that it is a common custom in the east, to set the dry herbage on fire before the autumnal rains; which fires, for want of care, often do great damage: and in countries where great drought prevails, and the herbage is generally parched, great caution was peculiarly necessary; and a law to guard against such evils, and to punish inattention and neglect, was highly expedient. See Harmer's Observ. vol. iii. p. 310, &c.

Verse 7. Deliver unto his neighbour] This is called pledging in the Law of Bailments: it is a deposit of goods by a debtor to his creditor, to be kept till the debt be discharged. Whatever goods were thus left in the hands of another person, that person, according to the Mosaic law, became responsible for them: if they were stolen, and the thief was found, he was to pay double: if he could not be found, the oath of the person who had them in keeping, made before the magistrates, that he knew nothing of them, was considered a full acquittance. Among the Romans, if goods were lost which a man had entrusted to his neighbour, the depositary was obliged to pay their full value. But if a man had been driven by necessity, as in case of fire, to lodge his goods with one of his neighbours, and the goods were lost, the depositary was obliged to pay double their value, because of his unfaithfulness in a case of such distress, where his dishonesty, connected with the destruction by the fire, had completed the ruin of the sufferer. To this case the following law is applicable: Cum quis fidem elegit, nec depositum redditur, contentus esse debet simplo: cùm verò extante necessitate deponat, crescit perfidiæ crimen, &c. Digest. lib. xvi. tit. 3. 1. 1. Verse 8. Unto the judges] See the note on chap. xxi. 6. Verse 9. Challengeth to be his] It was necessary that such a matter should come before the judges, because the person in whose possession the goods were found, might have had them by a fair and honest purchase; and by sift

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condemn, he shall pay double unto his neighbour.

10 If a man deliver unto his neighbour an ass, or an ox, or a sheep, or any beast, to keep; and it die, or be hurt, or driven away, no man seeing it:

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11 Then shall an oath of the LORD be between them both, that he hath not put his hand unto his neighbour's goods; and the owner of it shall accept thereof, and he shall not make it good.

12 And if it be stolen from him, he shall make restitution unto the owner thereof.

13 If it be torn in pieces, then let him bring it for witness, and he shall not make good that which was torn.

14 ¶ And if a man borrow ought of his neighbour, and it be hurt, or die, the owner thereof || being not with it, he shall surely make it good. 15 But if the owner thereof be with it, he shall not make it good: if it be an hired thing, it came for his hire. 16 And if a man entice a maid that is not betrothed, and lie with her, he shall surely endow her to be his wife.

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ing the business, the thief might be found out, and if found, be obliged to pay double to his neighbour.

Verse 11. An oath of the Lord be between them] So solemn and awful were all appeals to God considered in those ancient times, that it was taken for granted that the man was innocent, who could by an oath appeal to the omniscient God, that he had not put his hand to his neighbour's goods. Since oaths have become multiplied, and since they have been administered on the most trifling occasions, their solemnity is gone, and their importance little regarded. Should the oath ever reacquire its weight and importance, it must be when administered ouly in cases of peculiar delicacy and difficulty; and as sparingly as in the days of Moses.

Verse 13. If it be torn in pieces-let him bring it for witness] Rather, Let him bring noon y ed ha-terephah, a testimony or evidence of the torn thing, such as the horns, hoofs, &c. This is still a law in some countries among graziers: if a horse, cow, sheep, or goat, entrusted to them be lost, and the keeper asserts it was devoured by dogs, &c. the law obliges him to produce the horns and hoofs, because, on these the owner's mark is generally found. If these can be produced, the keeper is acquitted by the law. The car is often the place marked, but this is not absolutely required, because a ravenous beast may eat the car as well as any other part; but he cannot eat the horns or the hoofs. It seems, however, that in after-times, two of the legs and the ear, were required as evidences to acquit the shepherd of all guilt. See Amos in. 12.

Verse 16. If a man entice a maid] This was an exceedingly wise and humane law, and must have operated powerfully against seduction and fornication; because the person who might feel inclined to take the advantage of a young woman, knew that he must marry her, and give her a dowry, if her parents consented; and if they did not eonsent that their daughter should wed her seducer, in this case he was obliged to give her the full dowry which could have been demanded, had she been still a virgin. According to the Targumist here, and to Deut. xxii. 29. the dowry was fifty shekels of silver, which the seducer was to pay to her father, and he was obliged to take her to wife; nor had he authority, according to the Jewish canons, ever to put her away by a bill of divorce. This one consideration was a powerful curb on disorderly passions, and must tend greatly to render marriage respectable, and prevent

all crimes of this nature.

Verse 18. Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.] If there had been no witches, such a law as this had never been made. The existence of the law, given under the direction of the Spirit of God, proves the existence of the thing. It has been doubted whether nomecashephah, which we translate witch, really means a person who prac tised divination or sorcery by spiritual or infernal agency. Whether the persons thus denominated only pretended to have an art which had no existence, or whether they really

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