How the altar

Before CHRIST

1491.

21 And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.

22 ¶ And the LORD said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. 23 Ye shall not make with me 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 thine oxen: in all places where I record

and others, whether you will be such as you have promised. Bp. Patrick.

24. An altar of earth] For the better observation of the foregoing command, He orders that the altars built to Him may be as simple as possible: and forbids their being constructed of "hewn stone," for fear of the tools being also employed in making any figure or image. Bp. Patrick.

66

in all places where I record my name &c.] That is, wheresoever is that place, which I have appointed, or shall appoint, to be the remembrance or memorial of my name and presence, there will I come unto thee and bless thee." It is here promised, that God will come unto men, and bless them, generally in every place dedicated to his worship and service: but more especially in those tokens or symbols, by which He testifies his covenant and commerce with men, and which are the memorials or monuments of his name. Such were the sacrifices and the altar, under the Jewish dispensation, often called the "Memorial," Lev. ii. v. vi. xxiv. inasmuch as they were rites of remembrance, whereby the name of God was commemorated or recorded, and his covenant with men renewed and testified. Such under the Christian dispensation, is the holy communion of Christ's body and blood, ordained by Him to be the "memorial" of his name in the New Testament. See Luke xxii. 19. It is true, we are not now confined to one place alone, as those under the law were; and God heareth the faithful prayers of his servants, wheresoever they are made to Him, as also He did then: yet in the place, where is his memorial, there in a special manner does He vouchsafe his presence to the sons of men, and visit them with his blessing. Jos. Mede. 25. And if thou wilt make me an altar &c.] As much as to say, Whilst you travel in the desert, I will not have a lasting altar, made either of marble or metal, that you may not, after the manner of the heathens, believe me to be the God of a particular place, or that I am confined to any province.' In this and the following verses God orders the matter and form of the altar in opposition to the laws, rules, and customs of the heathens. Locke.

26. Neither shalt thou go up by steps &c.] It was suitable to the state of travellers, to have their altars low. Besides, He would not have them imitate the Gentiles, who sacrificed in "high places," imagining their sacrifices were most acceptable, when nearest heaven. A further reason is assigned at the end of the verse, namely, to prevent unseemliness; and that the priests might not be exposed to ridicule and contempt, by means of the light and loose garments, which were worn in those countries. Bp. Patrick, Pyle. God requires the greatest modesty in his worshippers; whereas

should be made.

We

Chap. XXI. The laws thus delivered by God Himself, with all these solemn preparations, and in a manner so peculiarly calculated to impress awe, and exercise obedience, were of three sorts; moral, ceremonial, and civil. The moral law, which is comprised in the Ten Commandments, "written with the finger of God," and the law of nature, as it is called, are, in all essential points, the same. The heart of man being much depraved, and his understanding darkened, in consequence of the fall of Adam, God had been pleased to renew the impression of the general law of nature from time to time, by occasional communications of his will; and He now confirmed and explained it by an express revelation, which He commanded to be recorded in writing for the use of all future ages. This moral law, founded in the relation subsisting between God and man, is of universal and eternal obligation. We are to remember that the change, which sin produced in the nature of man, weakened the faculties with which he was originally created, and obscured the light of reason. may conceive that perfect reason would direct man to right conclusions concerning the nature of God and of man, and the duties which he owes to God and to his fellow-creatures. Still, while man, as a free agent, had, as necessarily belonging to that character, the power of opposing the suggestions of will to the deductions of reason, his state of happiness must have been insecure. Whether we consider the knowledge of this moral law as derived from perfect human reason, or, which is the same thing under another name, from the original nature of man given him by his Creator, (and in this sense the moral law would be justly termed the law of nature,) or whether we suppose the knowledge of this law communicated by some impression upon the mind, some mode of Divine inspiration, (like that, by which the Prophets were enabled to distinguish clearly and positively the declarations of God from the dictates of their own reason,) or by the audible voice of God Himself, accompanied by some visible mark of the Divine presence, the Divine origin of this law is equally established, and its immutable truth is equally apparent. The ceremonial, or positive law, relates to the priests, the tabernacle, the sacrifices, and other religious rites and services. God commanded that those, who should be employed about the tabernacle, or in the offices of publick worship, should be of the posterity of Levi: and hence this law is sometimes called the Levitical Law; but the priesthood itself was to be confined to Aaron and his descendants. The principal objects of the ceremonial law were, to preserve the Jews from idolatry,

Divers laws

Before CHRIST 1491.

a Lev. 25. 41. Deut. 15. 12. Jer. 34. 14.

+ Heb. with

his body.

+ Heb. saying shall say.

smilers. 22 For a hurt by chance. 28 For an ox that goreth. 33 For him that is an occasion of harm.

Now

OW these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them. 2 If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.

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 born him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out by himself.

5 And if the servant +shall plainly say, I 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

to which all the neighbouring nations were addicted, and to keep up in their minds the necessity of an atonement for sin. The civil law relates to the civil government of the Israelites, to punishments, marriages, estates, and possessions. The ceremonial and civil laws are intermixed with each other, and being adapted to the particular purpose of separating from the rest of the world one nation, among whom the knowledge of the true God, and the promise of a Redeemer, might be preserved, were designed for the sole use of the Israelites, and were to be binding upon them only till the coming of the Messiah. Bp. Tomline.

Ver. 1. Now these are the judgments &c.] The Mosaical Law was infinitely superiour, in point of humanity, to all the institutions of the most celebrated lawgivers of antiquity. It abounds with injunctions of mercy and pity, not only to Jews, but to strangers, to enemies, and even to those who had most cruelly oppressed and injured them. The dispositions in favour of the poor are truly singular and amiable, Lev. xxv. 35, 36; Exod. xxiii. 9; Lev. xix. 34; Deut. xxiii. 7; Exod. xxiii. 4; Deut. xv. 7, 8; Lev. xix. 9, 10; Deut. xxiv. 19. The provisions made for the security and comfort of that most useful, though too often most wretched, part of the species, slaves and servants, are entirely worthy of a law, that came down from heaven. That absolute and unlimited power over the lives of slaves, indulged to their tyrannical master by almost all heathen lawgivers, a power most scandalously abused to the disgrace of all humanity, was effectually restrained by the Jewish law, which punished the murder of a slave with the utmost rigour, Exod. xxi. 20. The kindness enjoined towards hired servants is most remarkable, Deut. xxiv. 14, 15. The injunctions respecting Hebrew slaves were no less merciful, Lev. xxv. 43; Deut. xv. 12, 13. It should seem also, as if all other bondmen or slaves, even those captured in war or brought from the neighbouring heathen nations, were to be emancipated in the year of the jubilee, that is, every fiftieth year, Lev. xxv. 10. The utmost care, in short, is taken throughout to guard against every species of tyranny and oppression, and to

and ordinances.

in the eyes of,

&c.

8 If she + please not her master, Heb. be evil who hath betrothed her to himself, then shall he let her be redeemed: to sell her unto a strange nation he shall have no power, seeing he hath dealt deceitfully with her.

9 And if he have betrothed her unto his son, he shall deal with her after the manner of daughters.

10 If he take him another wife; her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage, shall he not diminish.

11 And if he do not these three unto her, then shall she go out free without money.

d

12 He that smiteth a man, so b Lev. 24. 17. that he die, shall be surely put to death.

13 And if a man lie not in wait, but God deliver him into his hand;

:

protect the helpless and weak from the wanton insolence of prosperity and power. The tenderness of the Divine Legislator thought no creature below its notice and extended itself to the minutest articles of social and domestick life, which, though unnoticed by less benevolent lawgivers, do, in fact, constitute a very great and essential part of human happiness and misery.

With such heavenly institutions as these, which we shall in vain look for in any Pagan government, is every page of the Jewish law replete. It is from these we are to form our judgment of the Jews, of their religion, and its Divine Author; and if these had their proper effect on the manners of the people, they must have produced upon the whole a constant and habitual, though, perhaps, from the very nature of their situation, a confined benevolence, much superiour, not only to that of their rude contemporaries, but to the boasted lenity of much later and more polished nations. Bp. Porteus.

judgments] Those political laws which God thought fit to give for the determination of differences among the people, and for their just and peaceable government. Bp. Patrick.

2.

- an Hebrew servant,] Or slave; some Hebrews sold themselves from poverty; and others were sold by the court of judicature, on account of a theft, for which they were unable to make satisfaction. Bp. Patrick.

4. have given him a wife,] A Gentile bondmaid, who was before in the master's service. Bp. Patrick.

6. bore his ear through &c.] As a mark of servitude, and in token that he was now as it were fixed to the house. Bp. Patrick.

The meaning is, he shall not go free at the end of the usual term of seven years, but shall continue with him till his master's death, or till the year of jubilee. Dr. S. Clarke.

Divers laws

Before CHRIST 1491.

c Deut. 19. 3.

d Lev. 20. 9. Prov. 20. 20.

then I will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee.

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.

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

17 And he that curseth his Matt. 15. 4. father, or his mother, shall surely be || Or, revileth. put to death.

Mark 7. 10.

|| Or, his neighbour.

+ Heb. his ceasing.

+ Heb. avenged.

e Lev. 24. 20. Dent. 19. 21. Matt. 5. 38.

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.

and ordinances.

Before

1491.

26¶ And if a man smite the eye CHRIST 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 manservant's tooth, or his maidservant's tooth; he shall let him go free for his tooth's sake.

28 If an ox gore a man or a woman, that they die: then the ox f Gen. 9. 5. 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.

22 If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow he shall be surely punished, according as the woman's husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine.

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23 And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life,

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

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

wound

This expression, respecting a man being killed by accident, without any ill intention on the part of the slayer, is remarkable. It signifies that even those things, which to us seem the most casual and merely accidental, yet in respect of God, are really providential, and could not happen but by his (for wise reasons) permitting them to be done. Dr. S. Clarke.

14.-thou shalt take him from mine altar,] That is, the most sacred and inviolable place of refuge, which shall not protect a wilful murderer, 1 Kings ii. 28. Bp. Patrick.

16. he that stealeth a man, &c.] As liberty is equally valuable with life, the Jewish law with the strictest equity ordained, that if any man were convicted

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;

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.

of attempting to reduce any fellow-citizen to slavery, he should be punished with death. Dr. Graves.

21.for he is his money.] He bought him with his money; therefore not striking him for the purpose of killing him, he shall not be punished, since he is already punished in his loss. Bps. Hall and Patrick.

24. Eye for eye, &c.] Not in kind, but by a fine, proportioned to the damage received. The offender might in these cases, though not in murder, make a pecuniary satisfaction. Bp. Kidder. This mode of expression intimated that the punishment ought to be in proportion to the crime. This retaliation was never executed under the Mosaick law. The Jews misunderstood the law, which was only a direction to the magis

Divers laws

Before CHRIST 1491.

|| Or, goat.

a 2 Sam. 12. 6.

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.

CHAP. XXII.

1 of theft. 5 Of damage. 7 Of trespasses. 14 Of borrowing. 16 Of fornication. 18 Of witchcraft. 19 Of beastiality. 20 of idolatry. 21 Of strangers, widows, and fatherless. 25 Of usury. 26 Of pledges. 28 Of reverence to magistrates. 29 Of the firstfruits.

IF a man shall steal an ox, or

a

|| sheep, and kill it, or sell it; he shall restore five oxen for an ox, and a four sheep for a sheep.

2 If a thief be found breaking up, and be smitten that he die, there shall no blood be shed for him.

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.

trate, as if it authorized private revenge. Our Saviour therefore sets the law in its true light. Bp. Wilson.

36. — if it be known &c.] There is a great difference between what is done casually, and what is done constantly. The former verse speaks of the hurt done by a beast, that was not accustomed to push; and this, of the hurt done by one notoriously mischievous. Accordingly greater damages were given in this latter case than in the former. And by this general rule the Jews regulated all other cases. Bp. Patrick.

Chap. XXII. ver. 1.-five oxen-four sheep] The reason of the greater punishment for stealing an ox seems to be, that the ox was of greater value, was useful in agriculture, and perhaps was more easily stolen, as feeding separately in the field. Bp. Patrick.

3. If the sun be risen &c.] It is remarkable that the laws of most nations have punished more severely an attack by night than by day. The Jewish law made it justifiable to kill a housebreaker, only in the case of a nocturnal attempt: the Athenian and Roman laws enacted the same: and by the English law, if a person

and ordinances.

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 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 :

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.

b

Before CHRIST

1491.

12 And if it be stolen from him, b Gen. 31. 39. 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

attempts to break open a house in the night time, and is killed in the attempt, the slayer is acquitted; not so in the day time, unless the act carries with it an attempt at robbery also. Blackstone.

6. If fire break out, &c.] It is a common custom in the East, to set the dry herbage on fire, before the descent of the autumnal rains; which fires, for want of care, often do great damage: on this account it is expressly provided in the law of Moses, that those who occasion them maliciously, or through great negligence, should be liable to make all damages good. Harmer.

11.—an oath of the Lord] They shall be put to swear by the name of God. Bp. Hall. "An oath of the Lord" is an oath, wherein God is appealed to as the only witness, there being no need of this oath, where there was any other witness. He that had stolen was forced to forswear himself, if he would avoid discovery. Hence it is that theft and perjury are so often mentioned together in Scripture, one very often inferring the other. See Lev. xix. 11, 12; Prov. xxx. 8, 9; Zech. v. 3, 4. Bp. Kidder.

Divers laws

Before CHRIST 1491.

c Deut. 22. 28.

+ Heb.

weigh.

d Deut. 13. 13, 14, 15.

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.

17 If her father utterly refuse to give her unto him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins.

people.

29 Thou shalt not delay to offer the first of thy ripe fruits, and of thy + liquors: the firstborn of thy sons shalt thou give unto me.

30 Likewise shalt thou do with thine oxen, and with thy sheep: seven days it shall be with his dam; on the eighth day thou shalt give it

d

20 ¶ He that sacrificeth unto any 1 Mac. 2. 24. god, save unto the LORD only, he shall be utterly destroyed.

e Lev. 19. 33.

f Zech. 7. 10.

g Lev. 25. 37. Deut. 23. 19. l's. 15. 5.

h Acts 23. 5.

e

21 Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.

22 Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child.

23 If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry;

24 And my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless,

25 ¶ If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him

28 Thou shalt not revile the

18. -a witch] One who practises diabolical arts. Dr. Wells. A woman that pretends to the power of inverting the established order of nature. Bp. Kidder. The Hebrew word refers, in its original sense, to the pretended discovery of things hidden, or future, by magical means. Parkhurst.

27. For that is his covering &c.] To the present time the Arabs use their clothes as a covering both by day and by night. The usual size of their garments is six yards long, and five or six feet broad, serving them for a complete dress in the day; and as they sleep in their raiments, as the Israelites did of old, it serves likewise for a bed and covering at night. Dr. Shaw. 28.-the gods,] The judges or under magistrates. Bp. Patrick, Dr. Wells, &c.

the ruler of thy people.] The civil, the judiciary magistrate. He was not to be reviled, especially in the discharge of his office. Calmet.

31 ¶ And ye shall be holy men unto me: neither shall ye eat any k Lev. 22. 8. flesh that is torn of beasts in the field; ye shall cast it to the dogs.

Ezek 44. 31.

Chap. XXIII. ver. 2. Thou shalt not follow &c.] If thou art a judge, thou shalt not be influenced, either by the people, 'the multitude;" or by the great, who are generally attended by "many" supporters: to pronounce a false or unjust judgment. Bp. Patrick, Dr. Wells.

3. Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man &c.] If his cause be bad, let his poverty be what it will, thou mayest not countenance him in it. Bp. Sanderson.

6. Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor] As they were not to favour a man because he was poor, ver. 3, so much less might they wrong him, or forbear, to do him right, because he wanted money to prosecute his cause. Bp. Patrick.

7.-false matter;] False accusation, if the precept is addressed to persons in general: or false judgment, if it is addressed to judges, whom he seems to command not to "slay the innocent;" that is, not to pronounce a