Laws to be Observed DEUTERONOMY, XX. of Egypt. (2) And it shall be, when ye 1 Heb., be tender. in Warfare. unto the people, and they shall say, What man is there that is fearful and fainthearted? let him go and return the people, (3) and shall say unto them, 2 Heb., make haste. unto his house, lest his brethren's heart 3 Heb., made it a ch. 24. 5. (5) And the officers shall speak unto the people, saying, What man is there that hath built a new house, and hath Judg. 7. 3. not dedicated it? let him go and return 3 4 Heb., melt. 4 faint as well as his heart. (9) And it shall be, when the officers have made an end of speaking unto the people, that they shall make captains of the armies to lead the people. 5 (10) When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it. (1) And it shall be, if it make thee answer of peace, and open unto thee, then it shall be, that all the people that is found therein shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee. (12) And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it: (13) and when the LORD thy God hath delivered it into thine hands, thou shalt smite every male head of the people. thereof with the edge of the sword: (14) but the women, and the little ones, and the cattle, and all that is in the city, even all the spoil thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself; and thou shalt eat the spoil of thine enemies, which the LORD thy God hath given thee. 5 Heb., to be in the to his house, lest he die in the battle, 6 Heb., spoil. (2) The priest.-There is no mention of the Levite here. The priest is named as a distinct personage. The words which the priest are to pronounce are, as it were, the blessing of Jehovah on the campaign. It follows that Israel could not lawfully go to war except when the blessing of Jehovah might be invoked. (3) Let not your hearts faint, fear not.-In these words Isaiah strengthened Ahaz (chap. vii. 4): "fear not, neither be faint-hearted." Tremble. As in the Margin, "make haste." (Comp. 2 Sam. iv. 4, and 2 Kings vii. 15.) Be ye terrified.—A strong word. The idea is, "do not even be unnerved, much less alarmed, at the sight of them.” (4) For the Lord your God is he that goeth with you. "They come in the might of flesh and blood; but ye come in the might of the Eternal (Rashi). So David to Goliath: Thou comest to me with a sword and with a spear, and with a shield; but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied (1 Sam. xvii. 45). And so the Psalmist : "Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the Lord our God" (Ps. xx. 7). (5) And the officers.-The shôterim of chap. xvi. 18; the civil magistrates apparently. The organisation of Israel was not military, but military leaders were to be appointed for special services, as appears by verse 9, "they shall make captains of the armies." The captains of thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens were called shoterim (chap. i. 15). (58) What man is there . . . -These questions show that, primarily, all Israelites of military age (20 to 50) were expected to attend the muster; then those who were unprepared for the campaign were suffered to depart. The only recorded instance of the observance of these rules is in Judges vii. 3, at the muster of Gideon's army. The proclamation "Whosoever is afraid, let him depart," sent away 22,000 out of 32,000 on that occasion, or rather more than two-thirds of the army! (9) Captains of the armies-i.e., special leaders for the campaigns, whose command would probably cease when it was over. We may suppose from mention of the "thousands" in the army-"the captain of their thousand" (1 Sam. xvii. 18)—that the military divisions corresponded with the civil organization of the people so far as this, that the men of the same thousand," according to Jethro's arrangement, would be brigaded together, and have one captain. If, as is also possible, the word "thousand" in military language signifies the contingent furnished by a "thousand" in Israel, irrespective of its number, it would remove many difficulties; for the whole thousand would very rarely be in the field together, and the contingent sent by a given thousand" might consist of a very few men. If, therefore, the contingent of sixty "thousands" were to be described as 60,000, and the sixty companies were all cut up or annihilated, it might be reported as a slaughter of 60,000 men, while the lives actually lost would be nothing like so many. 66 Laws of Sieges. DEUTERONOMY, XXI. (15) Thus shalt thou do unto all the cities which are very far off from thee, which are not of the cities of these nations. (16) But of the cities of these people, which the LORD thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth: (17) but thou shalt utterly destroy them; namely, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee: (18) that they teach you not to do after all their abominations, which they have done. unto their gods; so should ye sin against the LORD your God. (19) When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by forcing an ax against them: for thou mayest eat of them, and thou shalt not cut them down (for the tree of the field is man's life) to employ them in the siege: (20) only the trees which thou knowest that they be not trees for meat, thou shalt destroy and cut them down; and thou shalt build bulwarks against the city that maketh war with thee, until it be subdued. (15) Thus-i.e., sparing the women and the little ones. (16-18) But of the cities of these people . thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth that they teach you not to do after all their abominations.-Upon the inhabitants of these cities the Israelites executed the sentence of Jehovah. Their abominations are sufficiently indicated in Lev. xviii. 24-28, and xx. 23. These verses (16-18) are parenthetical; verse 19 returns to the previous subject. (19) And thou shalt not cut them down (for the tree of the field is man's life).- Literally, the passage seems rather to mean this, Is the tree of the field a man, that it should escape thee and enter into the siege? It will not run away and fight in the trenches as a man might do. What need is there to cut it down? This seems to be the view of the Targums, the LXX., and the Jewish commentators, besides modern authorities cited in the Variorum Bible. The destruction of the trees around Jerusalem was a notable feature of the Roman war. XXI. Verses 1-9. UNDETECTED HOMICIDES. (1) If one be found slain.—It is remarkable that in our own time the most effectual remedy against outrages of which the perpetrators cannot be discovered is a fine upon the district in which they occur. (2) Thy elders and thy judges shall come forth.-Rashi says these were to be special commissioners, members of the great Sanhedrin. Undetected Homicide. CHAPTER XXI.-(1) If one be found slain in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it be not known who hath slain him: (2) then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure unto the cities which are round about him that is slain: (3) and it shall be, that the city which is next unto the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take an heifer, which hath not been wrought with, and which hath not drawn in the yoke; (and the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer unto a rough valley, which is neither eared nor sown, and shall strike off the heifer's neck there in the valley: (5) and the priests the sons of Levi shall come near; for them the LORD thy God hath chosen to minister unto him, and to bless in the name of the LORD; and by their 4 word shall every controversy and every stroke be tried: (6) and all the elders of that city, that are next unto the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer that is beheaded in the valley: (7) and they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it. (8) Be merciful, O LORD, unto thy people Israel, whom thou (3-4) An heifer, which hath not been wrought with... a rough valley which is neither eared nor sown.-Rashi's note on this is curious: "The Holy One, blessed be He! said, ' A yearling heifer which hath borne no fruit shall come and be beheaded in a place which yieldeth no fruit, to atone for the murder of the man whom they did not suffer to bear fruit.' Some have thought that the valley was neither to be cared (ploughed) nor sown from that time forward." The verbs are not past in the Hebrew, and the words may bear this meaning. If so, the district in which the murder occurred would be mulcted in that portion of land for ever. (5) And the priests.-See on verse 8. (7) Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it.-"Not that the chief magistrates of the city are supposed to have shed this blood; but that they have not contrived or procured the murder by any maintenance or partnership in the deed" (Rashi). We cannot but feel how impossible such solemn public declarations would be if the murderer had been harboured by the inhabitants of the place. (8) Be merciful, O Lord. In the sense of the publican's prayer in St. Luke xviii. be propitiated," literally, cover. The mercy seat is the " covering" of the Law, which protects Israel from it. The sacrifices are a "covering "for the sinner from a punishment of sin. According to Rashi, the prayer in the eighth verse is spoken by the priests; and it seems probable enough. No part in the transaction is assigned to them, unless it be this. And their presence was certainly necessary. Marriage of Captive Women. DEUTERONOMY, XXI. hast redeemed, and lay not innocent. (10) When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies, and the LORD thy God hath delivered them into thine hands, and thou hast taken them captive, (11) and seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a desire unto her, that thou wouldest have her to thy wife; (12) then thou shalt bring her home 1 Heb.,in the midst. The Birthright. sell her at all for money, thou shalt not make merchandise of her, because thou hast humbled her. (15) If a man have two wives, one beloved, and another hated, and they have born him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the firstborn son be her's that was hated: (16) then it shall be, when he maketh his sons to inherit that which he hath, that he may not make 2 Or, suffer to grow. the son of the beloved firstborn before the son of the hated, which is indeed the firstborn: (17) but he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn, by giving him a double portion of all that to thine house; and she shall shave her Heb., make, or, he hath: for he is the beginning of his head, and 23 pare her nails; (13) and she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thine house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month: and after that thou shalt go in unto her, and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife. (14) And it shall be; if thou have no delight in her, then thou shalt let her go whither she will; but thou shalt not dress. 4 Heb., that is strength; the right of the firstborn is his. (18) If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his found with him. mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them: (19) then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of the city, and unto the gate And the blood shall be forgiven them.Literally, shall be covered for them. Not the same expression as Lev. iv. 20, 26, 31, 35. But we can hardly follow the Jewish commentators into the question whether, if the perpetrator of the murder were afterwards discovered, the blood of the heifer which had been shed already could be allowed to atone for it, so that the murderer need not be punished. Verses 10-14. MARRIAGE OF CAPTIVE WOMEN. (10, 11) When thou seest among the captives a beautiful woman.—This could not be among the seven nations, of whom it is said (chap. xx. 16), thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth." But it may well apply to the recent case of the Midianitish maidens (Num. xxxi. 15-18), who had been taken captive in great numbers, and would naturally be reduced to slavery. It is clear from this passage that they could not be treated as concubines. (12) Shall shave her head, and pare her nails. Rashi's view is that the object of this order is to spoil the beauty of the captive. The long hair is to be cut off, and the nails pared. On this last point the Targums differ; one taking the view that they are to be left to grow and the other the opposite interpretation. In 2 Sam. xix. 24, there are two examples of the use of the word in the sense of attending to the person. The correct interpretation in this place depends upon the purpose for which the thing was to be done. If the intention was any kind of purification, and long or taper nails were considered an ornament (as by some Eastern nations), it is more probable that the nails were to be cut short. (13) The raiment of her captivity.-Rashi takes this to mean the beautiful raiment put on for the purpose of attracting her captors. (Compare Jezebel's attempt to captivate Jehu, 2 Kings ix. 30.) Whatever may be the precise intent of these several instructions, it is clear that the law is intended to encourage lawful marriage, and no other form of union. In this view it throws an important light upon the treatment of the Midianitish captives in Num. xxxi. (14) Thou shalt not make merchandise of her. -This shows that, in ordinary cases, these captives would be sold as slaves, without the restrictions imposed on Israelitish slavery. (See Lev. xxv. 44—46.) Verses 15-17. THE BIRTHRIGHT. (15) One beloved, and another hated-i.e., one preferred above the other, according to the idiomatic use of this phrase in Hebrew. (17) A double portion.-Literally, the mouth of two, i.e., two shares. Supposing there were four sons, the estate would be divided into five shares, and the firstborn would take two. So Jacob said to Joseph (Gen. xlviii. 22): “I have given thee one portion above thy brethren." The birthright of which Reuben was deprived for ill conduct, was given to Joseph's sons (1 Chron. v. 1). So Elisha said to Elijah before they were parted. "I pray thee let a double portion (the first-born's share) of thy spirit be upon me" (2 Kings ii. 9). Verses 18-21. THE INCORRIGIBLE SON. (18) If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son.-Here we are again reminded that the Law of Jehovah was also the civil and criminal law of Israel. The systematic breach of the first commandment of the second table of the Law, no less than of the first commandment of the first table, entailed the penalty of death. Manifestly this enactment, if carried out, would be a great protection to the country against The Incorrigible Son. DEUTERONOMY, XXII. of his place; (20) and they shall say unto the elders of the city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard. (21) And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear. a Gal. 3. 13. Lost Property. b CHAPTER XXII.—(1) Thou shalt not see thy brother's ox or his sheep go astray, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt in any case bring them again unto thy brother. (2) And if thy brother be not nigh unto thee, or if thou know him not, then thou shalt bring it unto thine own house, and it shall be with thee until thy brother seek after it, and 1 Heb., the curse of thou shalt restore it to him again. (3) In like manner shalt thou do with his ass; and so shalt thou do with his raiment; and with all lost thing of thy brother's, which he hath lost, and thou hast found, shalt thou do likewise: thou mayest not hide thyself. (4) Thou shalt not see thy brother's ass or his ox fall down by the way, and hide thyself from God. (22) And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree: (23) his body shall not remain all night. upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that Ex. 23, 4. is hanged is 1accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance. lawless and abandoned characters, and would rid it of one very large element in the dangerous classes. (20) Stubborn and rebellious. - The Hebrew words became proverbial as the worst form of reproach, sûrêr û-móreh. This word môreh was the one employed by Moses, when, speaking "unadvisedly" (Num. xx. 10), he said to the people, " Hear now, ye rebels, must we fetch you water out of this rock?" It appears in the Revised New Testament, in the margin of St. Matt. v. 22, for "thou fool." But the Greek word there employed is true Greek, and has its own affinities in the New Testament. And the word môreh is true Hebrew. They may be idiomatically synonymous. They are not etymologically identical. A glutton and a drunkard.-The same two words are found in Prov. xxiii. 20-22, "Be not among wine bibbers; among riotous euters of flesh: For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags. Hearken unto thy father that begat thee; and despise not thy mother when she is old." The context of this quotation seems to make it a distinct reference to the law in Deut. xxi. (21) Shall stone him with stones.-Rashi says that the Law cuts short the man's career, anticipating what its close will be. When he has spent all his father's money, he will take to the road, and become a public robber. It is better that he die innocent of such crimes than guilty. We can hardly adopt this view of the case; but it contains one feature that is terribly true. Verses 22, 23.-HANGING. (22) And he be put to death.-Better, and he hath been put to death. Hanging followed death in Israel (Josh. x. 26, 27). (23) His body shall not remain all night.— Observed by Joshua, but broken by the Gibeonites (2 Sam. xxii. 9, 10, 14). He that is hanged is accursed of God.—In the LXX., "Cursed of God is every one that hangeth upon a tree," and cited in this form by St. Paul (Gal. iii. 13). We cannot see why he should be pronounced cursed, except for the sake of that which was designed by "the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God," that His Son Jesus Christ should bear our sins in His own body on the tree, and redeem us from the curse of the Law, by being "made a curse for us." 666 Rashi's note upon this shows how strangely the rays of truth are sometimes refracted in the Jewish mind: "He that is hanged is the curse of God '—that is, he is the King's disgrace. For man was made in the likeness of His image. And Israel are his children. There were two twin brothers, who were much alike. One was made king, the other was taken up for highway robbery, and was hanged. Every one who saw him said, "There hangs the king!' From this note it is clear that Rashi takes the words to mean, "He that is hanged is God's disgrace," because man is "made after the similitude of God." There is no doubt as to the shame of the punishment which our Lord endured and despised. Thou shalt in any wise bury him that day. -Another law, remarkably and providentially fulfilled in our Lord's death. We do not read that the robbers who were crucified with Him were buried, though their bodies were removed from the cross. It is not improbable that this law was also intended to prevent the barbarous practice of leaving men impaled on sharp stakes or suspended upon crosses from day to day until they died of pain and thirst. It certainly is a disgrace to the Divine image to treat it thus. XXII. Verses 1-4. LOST PROPERTY. (1) Go astray.-Literally, being driven away, as by wild beasts (Jer. 1. 17), or by robbers. It is not simply straying. "I will seek that which was lost and bring again that which was driven away" (Ezek. xxxiv. 16), and so in many other passages. Thou shalt not hide thyself from them. -Comp. Prov. xxiv. 12. "If thou sayest, Behold we knew it not doth not He know it ?" And Isa. lviii. 7, "that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh." (3) In like manner with all lost thing of thy brother's.-This is only a particular case of the second great commandment. 'Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” 66 (4) Thou shalt not see thy brother's ass or his ox fall down and hide thyself.In Exod. xxiii. 4, 5, this is put even more strongly. If thou meet thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again. If thou 66 Divers DEUTERONOMY, XXII. thy seed. Precepts. them: thou shalt surely help him to lift 1 Heb. fulness of upon thine house, if any man fall from them up again. thence. (5) The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God. (6) If a bird's nest chance to be before thee in the way in any tree, or on the ground, whether they be young ones, or eggs, and the dam sitting upon the young, or upon the eggs, thou shalt not take the dam with the young: (7) but thou shalt in any wise let the dam go, and take the young to thee; that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days. a Lev. 19. 19. 1 b Num. 15. 38. (8) When thou buildest a new house, then thou shalt make a battlement for thy roof, that thou bring not blood 2 Heb., wings. see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden. . . thou shalt surely help with him." (5) The woman shall not wear .-One of the things of which we may well say with St. Paul, "Doth not nature itself teach you?" (6) If a bird's nest.-On this precept there is a remarkable comment in the Talmud (Kiddushin, p. 39, b). "Rabbi Akiba says, You will not find a single duty prescribed in the Law with a promise of reward attached to it, which has not also the resurrection of the dead hanging thereby. In the command to honour thy father and mother, it is written (chap. v.) 'that thy days may be prolonged and that it may go well with thee. In the liberty of the nest it is written (here), that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days.' Suppose a man's father says to him, Climb up the tower and bring me the young birds. He ascends the tower, lets the dam go, and takes the young. But on his way back, he falls and is killed. Where is the 'going well in his case, and where is the prolonging of his days? Aye, but that it may go well with thee in the world where all goes well, and that thy days may be prolonged in that world where all is abiding.” (8) When thou buildest a new house. Obviously the Law refers to houses with flat roofs, upon which it was customary to walk (1 Sam ix. 25, 26; 2 Sam. xi. 2). (9-11) These precepts appear also in Lev. xix. 19, more briefly. (9) Defiled- —or sanctified. Different crops become "common" at different times. The year's corn was freed by the wave-sheaf and wave-loaves. The trees not for five years. The rule about the ox and the ass may rest partly on the ground of humanity, the step and the pull of the two creatures being so very unlike. St. Paul gives a spiritual sense to the precept in 2 Cor. vi. 14. Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers." The ox was a clean animal and fit for sacrifice. The ass was unclean, and must be redeemed with a lamb. The clean and unclean must not till the holy land of Jehovah together. 66 (9) Thou shalt not sow thy vineyard with divers seeds: lest the fruit of thy seed which thou hast sown, and the fruit of thy vineyard, be defiled. (10) Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together. (1) a Thou shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts, as of woollen and linen together. (12) Thou shalt make thee 'fringes upon the four 2 quarters of thy vesture, wherewith thou coverest thyself. (13) If any man take a wife, and go in unto her, and hate her, (14) and give occasions of speech against her, and bring up an evil name upon her, and say, I took this woman, and when I came to her, I found her not a maid: (15) then shall the father of the damsel, All these precepts are part of the laws of holiness in Leviticus-rules of behaviour arising from the fact that Israel is the special people of a holy God. (11) A garment of woollen and linen together.-In Ezek. xliv. 17, 18, the priests are altogether forbidden the use of woollen garments during their ministry. "The fine linen is the righteousness of saints" (Rev. xix. 8), literally, their requirements. That is what they need. But it is said of the priests in Ezekiel, "They shall not gird themselves with anything that causeth sweat: That which cometh out of the man defileth him." Again, in God's dwelling-place, the interior or mishkân, the tabernacle where He abode, was of fine linen. The outer tent and coverings were of hair and skin and wool. The tabernacle where He dwells, and the earthly house of the tabernacle, must be kept distinct, while His tabernacle" remaineth among us in the midst of our uncleanness." (See Lev. xvi. 16). (12) Thou shalt make thee fringes.-See Num. xvi. 32-41 for the origin of this requirement. may call this fringe (or крásπedov, Greek) on the four sides of the square shawl or mantle, a mourning for the one man who was executed for sabbath breaking in the wilderness, as well as a reminder to Israel to do all the commandments and be holy unto their God. Of this pásmedov, when worn by our Lord on earth, the sick laid hold and were healed. His obedience and His suffering for the transgressions of God's people are perfect and without flaw. We The principle of these precepts is evident. Even the dress of God's people must be distinctive. And whether they eat or drink, or whatsoever they do, they must do all to the glory of God. These laws have a symbolical and a sanitary side; being made for the physical well-being as well as for the spiritual teaching of God's people. |