Strict Obedience enjoined. DEUTERONOMY, XIII. The False Prophet to be Slain. or, possessest choose: (27) and thou shalt offer thy burnt 1 Heb., inheritest, come to pass, whereof he spake unto offerings, the flesh and the blood, upon the altar of the LORD thy God: and the blood of thy sacrifices shall be poured out upon the altar of the LORD thy God, and thou shalt eat the flesh. (28) Observe and hear all these words thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; (3) thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye which I command thee, that it may go 2 Heb., ofter them. love the LORD your God with all your well with thee, and with thy children after thee for ever, when thou doest that which is good and right in the sight of the LORD thy God. 3 Heb., abomina- heart and with all your soul. (4) Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him. (5) And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath *spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt Pro 30. thou put the evil away from the midst of thee. a ch. 4. 2; Josh. 1. (29) When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou 1succeedest them, and dwellest in their land; (30) take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. (31) Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every 3 abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods. (32) What thing soever I command you, observe to b ch. 10. 20. do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it. a CHAPTER XIII.—(1) If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, (2) and the sign or the wonder (6) If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers; namely, of the gods of the people. which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; (8) thou shalt 4 Heb., spoken re- not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity volt against the (27) The blood of thy sacrifices-i.e., peace offerings, the only kind of which the worshipper as well as the priest might partake. (30) Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared. A necessary caution. "The fear" of heathen deities often attached itself to their seats of worship. It was found necessary to caution Israel against the fear of them and the dread of them in much later times. (See Jer. x. 2-5.) (32) What thing soever I command you. No later writer could put these words into the mouth of Moses, if he had altered the precepts of Moses to any appreciable extent. But there are instances in the history of Israel which seem to require some such law as this in all its three sections. The case of the false prophet justifies the action of Elijah, who took the prophets of Baal from Carmel when proved to be impostors, and "brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there." (6) If thy brother.-The substance of this law is that individual idolaters might be executed in Israel. It justifies Jehu and Jehoiada in destroying Baal out of Israel and Judah (2 Kings x. 19—27, xi. 18). It also accounts for the covenant made in the time of Asa (2 Chron. xv. 13), that whosoever would not serve the Lord God of Israel should be put to death, whether man or woman. The law may seem harsh, but its principle is reproduced in the Gospel: "He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me" (Matt. x. 37). “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple" (Luke xiv. 26). It is impossible to deny or escape the identity of the Lord Jesus with the Jehovah of the Old Testament. The Idolater to be Slain DEUTERONOMY, XIV. and Idolatrous Cities Destroyed. 1 Heb., bondmen. him, neither shalt thou spare, neither a ch. 17. 7. b destroying it utterly, and all that is therein, and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword. (16) And thou shalt gather all the spoil of it into the midst of the street thereof, and shalt burn with fire the city, and all the spoil thereof every whit, for the LORD thy God: and it shall be an heap for ever; it shall not be built again. (17) And there shall cleave nought of the cursed thing to thine hand: that the LORD may turn from the fierceness of his anger, and shew thee mercy, and have compassion 2 Or, naughty men. upon thee, and multiply thee, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers; (18) when thou shalt hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep all his commandments which I command thee this day, to do that which is right in the eyes of the LORD thy God. 3 Or, devoted. (12) If thou shalt hear say in one of thy cities, which the LORD thy God hath given thee to dwell there, saying, (13) Certain men, 2 the children of Belial, are gone out from among you, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known; (14) then shalt thou enquire, and make search, and ask diligently; and, behold, if it be e Lev. 19. 28. truth, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought among you; (15) thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, a ch.7.6 & 26. 18. He does not always put the execution of His judgments into human hands, but He is the same for ever. (9) Thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death.-A law tending to prevent false accusation. Where the witness is obliged to carry out himself, or to aid in carrying out, the sentence he demands, secret accusation is impossible; and it is far less easy to pervert the law in order to prosecute a private quarrel. (12) If thou shalt hear say in one of thy cities. The only case of this kind is the case of Gibeah. We may fairly assume the abominations done there to have been connected with idolatry, from the allusions in Hos. ix. 9, x. 9. But the outrage rather than the idolatry seems to have excited the indignation of Israel (see Judges xx., xxi.). It is noticeable that in the remonstrance with the Benjamites at Gibeah (Judges xx. 13): "Now therefore deliver us the men, the children of Belial, which are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death, and put away evil from Israel"there seems to be an allusion to the language of this chapter in verses 5 and 11. (13) Children of Belial.-The very same expression is used in Judges xx. 13: "Deliver us the men, the children of Belial, that are among you." This is the first place where the expressionsons of Belial " occurs, and Judges xix. 22 is the second. It is generally explained by modern scholars as "worthlessness." Rashi curiously makes it "destroyers of the yoke" (of Jehovah). (15) And the cattle thereof.-So in Judges xx. 48: The men of every city, the beast, and all that were found." (16) And shalt burn with fire the city.-So Gibeah was treated (Judges xx 40). (17) We seem to hear an echo of this verse in the close of the story of Achan (Josh. vii. 26): "And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones, and they raised over him a great heap of stones unto this day. So the Lord turned from the fierceness of his anger.” XIV. (1) Ye are the children of Jehovah.-This fact is made the foundation of all the laws of ceremonial and moral holiness in the Pentateuch, more especially in the Book of Leviticus, where these laws are chiefly to be found. Ye shall not cut yourselves.-The precept is repeated with little variation from Lev. xix. 28. Any baldness between your eyes-i.c., apparently, " on your foreheads." The word for baldness in this place is generally used for baldness on the back of the head. 66 (2) For thou art an holy people.-This verse is repeated from chap. vii. 6, word for word, except the and," which is added here. In the former passage, the principle is made the ground for destroying all monuments of idolatry in the land of Israel. Here it is made the basis of outward personal dignity and purity. This recalls the arrangement of the Book of Leviticus somewhat forcibly. The laws of ceremonial holiness stand first in that book, before the law of yearly atonement. Then follow the laws of moral holiness. But the principle and ground of all these laws is the same: "Ye shall be holy, for I am holy, and ye are Mine.' Nations. Rather, peoples. The commonwealth of Israel and its institutions are contrasted with other states and their institutions. Beasts, Fish, and Birds DEUTERONOMY, XIV. chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto a Lev. 11. 2, &c. a 1 Or, bison. 2 Heb., dishon. (3) Thou shalt not eat any abominable thing. (4) These are the beasts which ye shall eat: the ox, the sheep, and the goat, (5) the hart, and the roebuck, and the fallow deer, and the wild goat, and the 12 pygarg, and the wild ox, and the chamois. (6) And every beast that parteth the hoof, and cleaveth the cleft into two claws, and cheweth the cud among the beasts, that ye shall eat. (7) Nevertheless these ye shall not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the cloven hoof; as the camel, and the hare, and the coney: for they chew the cud, Lev. 11. 9. but divide not the hoof; therefore they are unclean unto you. (8)And the swine, because it divideth the hoof, yet cheweth not the cud, it is unclean unto you: ye shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead carcase. (9) These ye shall eat of all that are in the waters: all that have fins and. scales shall ye eat: (10) and whatsoever hath not fins and scales ye may not eat; it is unclean unto you. c Lev. 11. 19. which may be Eaten. (11) Of all clean birds ye shall eat. (12) But these are they of which ye shall not eat the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray, (13) and the glede, and the kite, and the vulture after his kind, (14) and every raven.after his kind, (15) and the owl, and the night hawk, and the cuckow, and the hawk after his kind, (16) the little owl, and the great owl, and the swan, (17) and the pelican, and the gier eagle, and the cormorant, (18) and the stork, and the heron after her kind, and the lapwing, and the bat. (19) And every creeping thing that flieth is unclean unto you: they shall not be eaten. (20) But of all clean fowls ye may eat. (21) Ye shall not eat of any thing that dieth of itself: thou shalt give it unto the stranger that is in thy gates, that he may eat it; or thou mayest sell it unto an alien: for thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God. d Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk. (22) Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year. (23) And thou shalt d Ex. 25.19&34. 26. eat before the LORD thy God, in the (3) Thou shalt not eat any abominable thing. That is, anything which Jehovah has pronounced abominable. The distinctions between His creatures were alike established and removed by the Creator. Yet, no doubt, they had also a. sanitary purpose in relation to the chosen people. (4) These are the beasts which ye shall eat.— The following paragraph to the end of verse 8 answers to Lev. xi. 2-8, with this difference. The beasts that are to be eaten are specified in Deuteronomy. The exceptions are given in Leviticus. 66 "The The ox, the sheep, and the goat.-These being sacrificial animals, naturally stand first. sheep and the goat" are literally, a young one of the sheep or of the goats." This may serve to illustrate Exod. xii. 5, "Ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats." According to the letter of the Law in Exodus, the Passover victim might be either lamb or kid. The word sêh, used there and in Gen. xxii. 7, 8, is not distinctive of the species. This word is rendered "lamb" in several places in our English Version. (5) The wild goat.-In German the "steinbock" is given as the equivalent for this creature. The pygarg (dishon) is sometimes taken to be the buffalo. If all these creatures were then to be found in Palestine, there must have been far more uncleared land than there has been for many centuries past. (6-8) These directions are the same given in Lev. xi. 3-8. (9-10) See Lev. xi. 9-12. (12) These are they of which ye shall not eat. With one exception, the unclean birds are the same described in Lev. xi. 13-19. (13) The glede, and the kite, and the vulture.-In Lev. xi. 14," the vulture and the kite" alone are named. The Hebrew words are in Leviticus dââh and ayyah. In this place they are rââh, ayyah, and dayyah. The close resemblance between the names is noticeable. For a description of the creatures, see list in Variorum Bible. (21) That he may eat it.-Literally, and he will eat it. The common practice, and not the intention of the writer, may be indicated. It should be remembered that these rules and restrictions were intended to raise the Israelites above the common level; not to degrade the other nations in comparison of them. Strangers were not compelled to eat what Israel refused; they were left free to please themselves. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk. This is the last appearance of a command repeated twice in Exodus (chaps. xxiii. 19, xxxiv. 26). See Notes there. (22) Thou shalt truly tithe. — The Talmud and Jewish interpreters in general are agreed in the view that the tithe mentioned in this passage, both here and in verse 28, and also the tithe described in chap. xxvi. 12-15, are all one thing-"the second tithe;" and entirely distinct from the ordinary tithe assigned to the Levites for their subsistence in Num. xviii. 21, and by them tithed again for the priests (Num. xviii. 26). The tithe described in Numbers was called "the first tithe," and was not considered sacred. The second tithe, on the contrary, was always regarded as a holy thing. (23) And thou shalt eat before the Lord thy God-i.e., thou shalt eat the second tithe. This was to be done two years; but in the third and sixth years The Second Tithe. DEUTERONOMY, XV. thee. place which he shall choose to place his | Heb., asketh of a ch. 12. 19. (24) And if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it; or if the place be too far from thee, which the LORD thy God shall choose to set his name there, when the LORD thy God hath blessed thee: (25) then shalt thou turn it into money, and bind up the Lev. 25. 2, 4. money in thine hand, and shalt go unto the place which the LORD thy God shall choose: (26) and thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the LORD thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household, (27) and the Levite that is within thy gates; thou shalt not forsake him; for he hath no part nor inheritance with thee. The Seven Years' Release. (28) At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine increase the same year, and shalt lay it up within thy gates: (29) and the Levite, (because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee,) and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand which thou doest. CHAPTER XV.-) At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release. (2) And this is the manner of the release: Every creditor that lendeth ought unto his neighbour shall release it; he shall not exact it of his neighthe lending of his bour, or of his brother; because it is called the LORD's release. (3) Of a foreigner thou mayest exact it again: but that which is thine with thy brother thine hand shall release; (4) 3 save when there shall be no poor among you; for 2 Heb., master of hand. 3 or. To the end the LORD shall greatly bless thee in the that there be no land which the LORD thy God giveth poor among you. there was a different arrangement (see verse 28). In the seventh year, which was Sabbatical, there would probably be no tithe, for there was to be no harvest. The profit of the earth was for all, and every one was free to eat at pleasure. (26) Thou shalt bestow that money.-The Jews were very particular in not permitting the second tithe to be expended upon anything not permitted here. The rules as to its disposal form a separate treatise in the Talmud, called Ma'aser Shênî, "second tithe." Or for strong drink.-From this it is clear that the use of strong drink is not sinful in itself. The same word appears in its Greek form (Heb., shêcar; Greek, siker) in Luke i. 15. (28) At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe.-This is called by the Jews Ma'aser 'Ani, "the poor's tithe." They regard it as identical with the second tithe, which was ordinarily eaten by the owners at Jerusalem; but in every third and sixth year was bestowed upon the poor. (29) And the Levite.-Rashi says, 66 the Levite shall come and take the first tithe (described in Num. xviii.), and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow the second tithe." But there is no proof whatever that anything except the second tithe is alluded to in the whole of this passage. The Levite always shared with the poor (see chap. xvi. 11, 14). Rashi's opinion is worth notice chiefly for the following reason. Some modern critics insist that the Law of Deuteronomy is contradictory to that of Numbers in respect of tithe; but if the Jews, who kept the whole Law strictly, not only saw no discrepancy between its several precepts, but actually took the precept in Deuteronomy to imply the precept in Numbers, why should we go out of our way to make difficulties now? If the precepts were harmonious and compatible, why should they be the work of different men? It is hardly likely that a whole XV. (1) At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release.-The Law in this place is an extension of that which we find in Exod. xxi. 2, &c., and Lev. xxv. 3, &c. There was not only to be a manumission of Hebrew slaves and a Sabbath for the land in the seventh year, but also a release of debts, of which all the Israelites must have the benefit. (4) Save when there shall be no poor (man) among you. This clause is the source of a very interesting passage in the Acts of the Apostles, chap. iv. 34, "Great grace was upon them all, for neither was there among them any (one) that lacked." The words at the beginning of the verse in Hebrew, save when," may also be rendered (as in the Margin) "to the end that," or "to such an extent that there shall be no poor man among you." Those who can well afford to pay need not be excused from their obligations. 66 Precepts about Lending. DEUTERONOMY, XV. b Matt. 5. 42; Luke thee for an inheritance to possess it: a ch. 28. 12. 1 Heb., word. (7) If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden 2 Heb., Belial. thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother: (8) but thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth. (9) Be Relieving the Poor. 1 ware that there be not a thought in thy 2 wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and he cry unto the LORD against thee, and it be sin unto thee. (10) Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him because that for this thing the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto. (11) For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land. (12) And if thy brother, an Hebrew man, or an Hebrew woman, be sold e Ex. 21. 2; Jer. unto thee, and serve thee six years; 34. 14. For the Lord thy God shall greatly bless thee. So in Acts iv. 33, "Great grace was upon them all." The blessing need not be equal and universal prosperity, if those who have the good things of this world will always remember the poor to such an extent that no member of the community shall be left in want. (5) Only if thou carefully hearken.-"Then there will be none among thee in want." So Rashi expounds, in the very spirit of the passage in Acts iv. (6) As he promised thee.-"I will bless thee " was said to Abram (Gen. xii. 2). Thou shalt lend.-The root of the word in Hebrew is closely connected with the word for "slave." "The borrower is servant to the lender" (Prov. xxii. 7). (7) A poor man.-"That needeth anything." Within any of thy gates.-"The poor of thine own city come before the poor of another city." Thou shalt not harden.-" There are some men who grieve' (grudge) whether they give or not; therefore it is said, "Thou shalt not harden thy heart; there are some who stretch out the hand (to give), and yet close it; therefore it is said, Thou shalt not shut thine hand.” (8) Thou shalt open thine hand wide.—“ Even many times." And shalt surely lend.—“If he does not like to take it as a gift, grant it to him as a loan." Sufficient for his need.-"But it is not thy duty to make him rich." In that which he wanteth.-" Even a horse to ride on, and a slave to run before him." (10) Thou shalt surely give.-"Even a hundred times." Him." Between thee and him alone." (Comp. "Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth" in Matt. vi. 3). I have thought it worth while to borrow the comments of Rashi on these verses (7—10) almost entire, to show how well the Jews have understood the true principles of Christian charity from the law of Moses. That people has always been remarkable for kindness to its own poor. For this thing.-Literally, this word, or this promise. And Rashi observes, "Even when thou hast promised to give, thou wilt receive the reward of the promise as well as the reward of the deed;" and we may compare St. Paul. 'If there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not." (2 Cor. viii. 12.) (11) For the poor shall never cease. - There is no contradiction between this verse and verse 4 above. There will always be some men falling into poverty; but it is our business to see that they do not remain in want. The poor will never cease, except by the provision made for them by their brethren. God will never make all men absolutely equal in this world. Thy brother, thy poor, and thy needy.— According to Rashi, the word translated "needy" is stronger than the word for "poor." The "poor are in humble circumstances; the "needy" are actually in want. In commenting on this verse, Rashi asks a similar question to that of the lawyer in St. Luke x. 29, "Who is this brother? Thy poor man." He might have added that "thy poor" and "thy needy are expressions teaching the truth that we are "members one of another." We may not pass by our poorer brethren, and say we have nothing to do with them. Jehovah calls them ours-"thy poor man," and "thy needy man." The words are both in the singular number in the Hebrew. We cannot shake off the relationship or the responsibility in any one case. (12) If thy brother, an Hebrew man, or an Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee.-This law is expressly referred to in Jeremiah xxxiv. 9, 13, 14, as given in the time of the Exodus, and as applicable both to men and women. It first appears in Exod. xxi. 2-11, where it occupies the first section of the Sinaitic code. There is no need to suppose that anything enacted here is contradictory to the Law as given there; but there are certain peculiarities about the case of the female slave which create exceptions. (See below on verse 17.) Rashi notes two fresh points in the Law as given in Deuteronomy: one concerning the Hebrew woman (an Hebrew "or an Hebrewess -verse 12; Jer. xxxiv. 9) and another concerning the "furnishing" (verse 14). (12) In the seventh year.-This is to be understood of the Sabbatical year whenever it came. It would |