Deuteronomy 21 commentary

If a murderer could not be found out, great solemnity is provided for putting away the guilt from the land, as an expression of dread and detesting of that sin. The providence of God has often wonderfully brought to light these hidden works of darkness, and the sin of the guilty has often strangely found them out. The dread of murder should be deeply impressed upon every heart, and all should join in detecting and punishing those who are guilty. The elders were to profess that they had not been any way aiding or abetting the sin. The priests were to pray to God for the country and nation, that God would be merciful. We must empty that measure by our prayers, which others are filling by their sins. All would be taught by this solemnity, to use the utmost care and diligence to prevent, discover, and punish murder. We may all learn from hence to take heed of partaking in other men's sins. And we have fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, if we do not reprove them.

By this law a soldier was allowed to marry his captive, if he pleased. This might take place upon some occasions; but the law does not show any approval of it. It also intimates how binding the laws of justice and honour are in marriage; which is a sacred engagement.

This law restrains men from disinheriting their eldest sons without just cause. The principle in this case as to children, is still binding to parents; they must give children their right without partiality.

Observe how the criminal is here described. He is a stubborn and rebellious son. No child was to fare the worse for weakness of capacity, slowness, or dulness, but for wilfulness and obstinacy. Nothing draws men into all manner of wickedness, and hardens them in it more certainly and fatally, than drunkenness. When men take to drinking, they forget the law of honouring parents. His own father and mother must complain of him to the elders of the city. Children who forget their duty, must thank themselves, and not blame their parents, if they are regarded with less and less affection. He must be publicly stoned to death by the men of his city. Disobedience to a parent's authority must be very evil, when such a punishment was ordered; nor is it less provoking to God now, though it escapes punishment in this world. But when young people early become slaves to sensual appetites, the heart soon grows hard, and the conscience callous; and we can expect nothing but rebellion and destruction.

By the law of Moses, the touch of a dead body was defiling, therefore dead bodies must not be left hanging, as that would defile the land. There is one reason here which has reference to Christ; “He that is hanged is accursed of God;” that is, it is the highest degree of disgrace and reproach. Those who see a man thus hanging between heaven and earth, will conclude him abandoned of both, and unworthy of either. Moses, by the Spirit, uses this phrase of being accursed of God, when he means no more than being treated most disgracefully, that it might afterward be applied to the death of Christ, and might show that in it he underwent the curse of the law for us; which proves his love, and encourages to faith in him.

1. If one be found slain in the land. This Supplement: is of a mixed character, relating partly to the civil, and partly to the criminal law. We are informed by it how precious to God is the life of man; for, if a murder had been committed by some unknown person, He requires an expiation to be made, whereby the neighboring cities should purge themselves from the pollution of the crime. Whence it appears that the earth is so polluted by human blood, that those who encourage murder by impunity, implicate themselves in the guilt. The question here is as to a secret crime, the guilt of which attaches to the neighboring cities, until, by the institution of a diligent inquiry, they can testify that the author is not discovered; how much less excusable, then, will they be, if they allow a murderer to escape with impunity? The rite prescribed is, that the elders of the nearest city should take a heifer which had not drawn in a yoke, and bring it into a stony and barren valley, cut off its neck with the assistance of the priests, wash their hands, and bear witness that their hands as well as their eyes are pure, as not being cognizant of the criminal. God chose a heifer that had not born a yoke, in order that the satisfaction made by innocent blood might be represented in a more lively manner; whilst it was to be killed in a desert place, that the pollution might be removed from the cultivated lands. For, if the blood of the heifer had been shed in the middle of the market-place of the city, or in any inhabited spot, the familiarity with the sight of blood would have hardened their minds in inhumanity. For the purpose, therefore, of awakening horror, it was drawn out into a solitary and uncultivated spot, that they might be thus accustomed to detest cruelty. But although, properly speaking, this was not a sacrifice which could be offered nowhere except in the sanctuary, still it nearly approached to the nature of a sacrifice, because the Levites were in attendance, and a solemn deprecation was made; nevertheless, they were not only employed as ministers of the altar, but also as judges, for their office is expressed in the words, that they were “chosen to minister to God, to bless the people, and to pronounce sentence as to every stroke.”

6. And all the elders of that city. The washing of their hands had the effect of stirring them up the more, so that they should not inconsiderately protest in that solemn rite that they were pure and guiltless; for it was just as if they had presented the corpse of the dead mall before God, and had stood themselves opposite to it to purge away the crime. At the same time, also, they ask for pardon, because it might have been through their carelessness that the man was smitten; and again, since, by the sacrilege of Achan alone the whole people were contaminated, it was to be feared lest the vengeance of God should extend more widely on account of the offense committed. And thus they were again taught how greatly God abominates murders, when the people pray that they may be pardoned for the crime of another, as if, by the very looking upon it, they had contracted guilt. God at length declares that He will not impute it to them, when they have duly performed this rite of expiation; not because the heifer was the price of satisfaction to propitiate God, but because in this way they humbly reconciled themselves to Him, and shut the door against murders for the time to come. On this account it is said — “Thou shalt put away the blood from among you;” for if the murder be passed over without observation, there remains a blot upon the people, and the earth itself, in a manner, stinks before God.

Deuteronomy 12

Deuteronomy 12:15, 16, 20-25

15. Notwithstanding thou mayest kill and eat flesh in all thy gates, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which he hath given thee: the unclean and the clean may eat thereof, as of the roe-buck, and as of the hart.

15. Pro omni desiderio animae tuae mactabis, et comedes carnes secundum benedictionem Jehovae Dei tui, quam dederit tibi intra omnes portas tuas: immundus et mundus comedet eas, sicut capream et cervum.

16. Only ye shall not eat the blood; ye shall pour it upon the earth as water.

16. Tantummodo sanguinem non comedetis, super terram effundetis illum instar aquae.

20. When the Lord thy God shall enlarge thy border, as he hath promised thee, and thou shalt say, I will eat flesh, (because thy soul longeth to eat flesh,) thou mayest eat flesh, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after.

20. Quum dilataverit Jehova Deus tuus terminum tuum, quemadmodum loquutus est tibi, et dixeris, Comedam carnem, quod concupiscat anima tua vesci carnibus: juxta omne desiderium animae tuae comedes carnes.

21. If the place which the Lord thy God hath chosen to put his name there be too far from thee, then thou shalt kill of thy herd, and of thy flock, which the Lord hath given thee, as I have commanded thee, and thou shalt eat in thy gates whatsoever thy soul lusteth after.

21. Quum longinquus a te fuerit locus quem elegerit Jehova Deus tuus ut ponat nomen suum ibi, mactabis de bobus tuis et de pecudibus tuis quas dederit Jehova tibi: quemadmodum praecepi tibi, et vesceris in portis tuis secundum omne desiderium animae tuae.

22. Even as the roe-buck and the hart is eaten, so thou shalt eat them; the unclean and the clean shall eat of them alike.

22. Certe quemadmodum comeditur caprea et cervus, sic comedes illas: immundus pariter et mundus vescentur illis.

23. Only be sure that thou eat not the blood: for the blood is the life; and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh.

23. Tantum roborare ut non comedas sanguinem: quia sanguis est anima, et non comedes animam una cum carne.

24. Thou shalt not eat it; thou shalt pour it upon the earth as water.

24. Non comedes illum, sed in terram effundes illum instar aquae.

25. Thou shalt not eat it; that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the Lord.

25. Non vesceris illo, ut bene sit tibi, et filiis tuis post te, quum feceris quod rectum est in oculis Jehovae.

Leviticus 7

Leviticus 7:26-27

26. Moreover, ye shall eat no manner of blood, whether it be of fowl or of beast, in any of your dwellings.

26. Nullum sanguinem comedetis in cunctis habitationibus vestris, tam de avibus quam de jumentis.

27. Whatsoever soul it be that eateth any manner of blood, even that soul shall be cut off from his people.

27. Omnis anima quae comederit ullum sanguinem, excidetur anima illa e populis suis.

Leviticus 19

Leviticus 19:26

26. Ye shall not eat anything with the blood.

26. Non comedetis cum sanguine.

10. When thou goest forth to war. The same thing is now commanded respecting wives as above respecting meats. As regarded the Canaanites, who were destined and devoted to destruction, we have seen that the Israelites were prohibited from taking their women to wife, lest this connection should be an enticement to sin; but Moses now goes further, viz., that the Israelites, having obtained a victory over other nations, should not marry any of the captive women, unless purified by a solemn rite. This, then, is the sum, that the Israelites should not defile themselves by profane marriages, but in this point also should keep themselves pure and uncorrupt, because they were separated from other people, to be the peculiar people of God. It was better, indeed, that they should altogether abstain from such marriages; yet it was difficult so to restrain their lust as that they should not decline from chastity in the least, degree; and hence we learn how much license conquerors allow themselves in war, so that there is no room for perfect purity in them. Wherefore God so tempers His indulgence as that the Israelites, remembering the adoption wherewith He had honored them, should not disgrace themselves, but in the very fervor of their lust should retain some religious affection. But the question here is not of unlawful ravishment, but Moses only speaks of women who have been made captives by the right of war, for we know that conquerors have abused them with impunity, because they had them under their power and dominion. But since many are led astray by the blandishments of their wives, God applies a remedy, viz., that the abjuration of their former life should precede their marriage; and that none should be allowed to marry a foreign wife until she shall have first renounced her own nation. To this refers the ceremony, that the woman should shave her head, and cut her nails, and change her garments, and lament her father and her family for an entire month, viz., that she may renounce her former life, and pass over to another people. Some of the rabbins twist the words to a different meaning, as if God would extinguish love in the minds of the husbands by disfiguring the women; for the shaving of the head greatly detracts from female beauty and elegance; and “to make the nails,” for so the words literally mean, they understand as to let them grow; and the prolongation of the nails has a disgusting appearance. But their gloss is refuted by the context, in which she is commanded to put off the raiment of her captivity.: But I have no doubt but that their month of mourning, their shaven head, and the other signs, are intended by God for their renewal, so that they may accustom themselves to different habits. And with the same object they are commanded to bewail their parents as if dead, that they may bid farewell to their own people. To this the Prophet seems to allude in Psalm 45:10, when he says, “Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father’s house;” for he intimates that otherwise the marriage of a foreign woman with Solomon would not be pure and legitimate, unless she should relinquish her superstitions, and devote herself to God’s service. Nor was it needless that God should require the Israelites diligently to beware lest they should take wives as yet aliens from the study of true religion, since experience most abundantly shows how fatal a snare it is. But although we are not now bound to this observance, yet the rule still holds good that men should not rashly ally themselves with women still devoted to wicked superstitions. Addition in Fr., “Pour s’envelopper en leur impiete."

Judicial Supplements

Deuteronomy 18

Deuteronomy 18:19

19. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.

19. Erit autem ut si quis non audierit verba mea quae loquetur Propheta in nomine meo, ego re-quiram ab eo.

14. And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her. I have been compelled to separate this sentence from the foregoing context which I have explained elsewhere; Vide vol. 2, p. 70. for Moses there gave instructions how a captive woman was to be taken to wife if her beauty attracted a Jewish husband. That law then had reference to chastity and conjugal fidelity, and especially to the purity of God’s worship; but now Moses prescribes that, if a man have dishonored a captive woman, he should not sell her, but let her go free, and by this satisfaction wipe out, or at any rate diminish, the injury. Hence we infer that this rule of justice depends on the Eighth Commandment, Let none defraud another. This condition was at least tolerable for the captive; for, although chastity is a special treasure, yet liberty, which is justly called an inestimable blessing, was no trifling consolation to her. The penalty, then, of lust, was that the conqueror should lose his booty.

15. If a man have two wives. Inasmuch as it is here provided that a father should not unjustly transfer what belongs to one son to another, it is a part and supplement of the Eighth Commandment, the substance of which is, that every one’s rights should be preserved to him. For, if the father substituted another son in the place of his first-born, it was unquestionably a kind of theft. But, since it rarely happens that a father unnaturally degrades his first-born from his precedence, if all are born of the same mother, God reminds us that He did not enact this law without cause; for, where polygamy was allowed, the mind of the husband was generally most inclined to the second wife; because, if he had loved the first with true affection, he would have been contented with her as the companion of his life and bed, and would not have thought of a second. When, therefore, the husband grew tired of his first wife, and desired a second, he might be coaxed by her blandishments to leave away from the children of his first marriage what naturally belonged to them. Hence, therefore, the necessity of the remedy whereby the father’s power of altering the right of primogeniture is barred; for, although they might allege that they only gave what was their own, yet it was an act of ungodly arrogance to reject him whom God had deigned to honor. For he who arrogates such power to himself, or who assigns the birth-right to whom he will, almost arrogates to himself the ability to create. This right, as is stated in verse 17, was a double portion of the paternal inheritance. The reason which is added, is equivalent to saying, that the first-born is the principal honor and ornament of the father. Still, if there was a just cause for disinheriting the first-born, another successor might be substituted in his stead, as Jacob shewed in his case when he disinherited Reuben. (Genesis 49:4.) When it is said, “before the son of the hated,” some expound it to mean “during his lifetime;” others retain the Hebrew phrase, “before his face.” Their opinion, however, is probable, who take this particle comparatively, for “instead of her son.” The wife is called hated, not that her husband is positively her enemy, but because he loves her least; for contempt is considered as hatred, and he is called an enemy who does not render conjugal benevolence.

Deuteronomy 20

Deuteronomy 20:5-8

5. And the officers shall speak unto the people, saying, What man is there that hath built a new house, and hath not dedicated it? let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man dedicate it.

5. Quum bellandum erit, alloquentur praefecti populum, dicendo, Quis est vir qui aedificavit domum novam, et non dedicavit eam? abeat, et revertatur ad domum suam, ne forte moriatur in praelio, et alius dedicet eam.

6. And what man is he that hath planted a vineyard, and hath not yet eaten of it? let him also go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man eat of it.

6. Et quis est vir qui plantavit vineam, et non fecit eam communem? abeat et revertatur ad domum suam: ne forte moriatur in praelio, et alius communem eam faciat.

7. And what man is there that hath betrothed a wife, and hath not taken her? let him go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man take her.

7. Et quis est vir qui despondit mulierem, et non accepit eam? abeat et revertatur domum suam ne forte moriatur in praelio, et alius eam accipiat.

8. And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say, What man is there that is fearful and faint-hearted? let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren’s heart faint as well as his heart.

8. Addent praefecti alloqui populum, dicendo, Quis est vir timidus et mollis corde? abeat, et revertatur domum suam, ne dissolvatur cor fratrum ejus, sicut cor illius.

18. If a man have a stubborn. What God had previously adverted to in two clauses, tie now embraces in a general law, for it cannot be doubted but that by rebellious children all are designated who are abusive or insulting to their father and mother. For if it be a capital crime to be disobedient to parents, much more is it to strike, or beat them, and to assail them with reproachful words. In sum, Moses declares that those are deserving of death who are of such a stubborn and intractable disposition as to reject the authority of their father and mother, and to hold them in contempt. Whence also we infer what it is to honor our father and mother, for the punishment is only denounced for the transgression of the Commandment. When, therefore, the law delivers over to death all who contumaciously rebel against the discipline of their parents, it follows that they have refused them their due honor. An admirable means, however, of moderating the severity of the law is introduced, when God requires the case to be decided on the evidence of the father and mother; and commands that it should be publicly heard, so that none may be condemned at the will of private individuals. By the Roman law the power of life and death over his children “A father among the Romans had the power of life and death over his children. He could not only expose them when infants, but, even when his children were grown up, he might imprison, scourge, send them bound to work in the country, and also put them to death by any punishment he pleased, if they deserved it. Sall. Cat., 39.; Liv., 2:41; 8:7; Dionys., 8:79.” — Adam’s Rom. Antiq. was given to the father, because it was not probable that fathers would be carried away by such senseless inhumanity as to deal cruelly with their own bowels; but, since sometimes fathers are found who are not unlike wild beasts, and examples show us that many, blinded by hate or avarice, have not spared their own children, this concession of the Roman law is justly to be repudiated. I allow, indeed, that those who desired to inflict punishment on their children called their friends into council; but, whereas, the walls of a private dwelling conceal many disgraceful things, God imposed a much better restraint on parents when He did not suffer them to go further than to lay the information and to give their testimony. For, although he would have credit given to their testimony, still, when the children were brought to the tribunal of the judges, a legal trim undoubtedly ensued; and this form of proceeding is prescribed, viz., that the father and mother should bring their son and make their complaint before the judges of his incorrigible stubbornness. It is true that the sentence is immediately subjoined; yet we must infer, nevertheless, that the judges pronounced it before the criminal was stoned, else it would have been ridiculous that they should sit there like cyphers. The very mention of a trial, therefore, implies that the son was heard in his defense, so as to clear himself of the crime, if he was not guilty of it: for, suppose the moroseness of the father and mother were notorious; or that the father accused the son by the instigation of a stepmother; or that any unworthy spite were discovered; or that the father and mother had conspired to destroy their son in a fit of passion: the defense of the cause is, therefore, implied in the adverb then, The particle ו sometimes has this force, but is here translated in A V and for it would have been more than absurd that the son should be condemned without being heard. Especially, when he was to be stoned by the whole people, it was necessary that he should be first convicted; and on this ground he was brought forth publicly, that he might be allowed to plead his cause. But although those were condemned who were addicted to other vices also, yet Moses expressly mentions gluttons and drunkards, to show that, although no capital crime were alleged, still, dissolute profligacy was sufficient, if the son could not be corrected by his parents; for it is plain that those are in a desperate state who have so east away submissiveness and shame as to receive no profit from the admonitions of their parents. From the end of the verse we gather what was the twofold object of the punishment — that the earth should be purged of the sins whereby it was in a manner, polluted, and that the death of him who had transgressed might be an example to all.

Exodus 22

Exodus 22:28

28. Thou shalt not revile the gods, nor curse the ruler of thy people.

28. Diis non detrahes, et principi populi tui non maledices.

Deuteronomy 20

Deuteronomy 20:9

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.

9. Quum finem fecerint praefecti militares loquendi ad populum, constituent principes turmarum in capite populi.

The object of this precept was to banish inhumanity and barbarism from the chosen people, and also to impress upon them horror even of a just execution. And surely the body of a man suspended on a cross is a sad and hideous spectacle; for the rights of sepulture are ordained for man, both as a pledge and symbol of the resurrection, and also to spare the eyes of the living, lest they should be defiled by the sight of so horrible a thing. Moses does not here speak generally, but only of those malefactors who are unworthy of the honor of burial; yet the public good is regarded in the burial even of such as these, lest men should grow accustomed to cruelty, and thus become more ready to commit murder. Moreover, that they may take more careful heed in this matter, he declares that the land would be defiled, if the corpse should be left hanging on the cross, since such inhumanity pollutes and disgraces the land. And this was more intolerable in Judea, which God had given as an inheritance to his elect people, that he might be there worshipped reverentially, and purely, every profanation being excluded. The man so hanged is called See margin, A. V. “the curse of God,” because this kind of punishment is detestable in itself. God, indeed, does not forbid criminals to be crucified, or hanged on a gallows, but rather gives His sanction to this mode of punishment; He only, by His own example, exhorts the Israelites to abhor all atrocity. Although, therefore, He does not disapprove of the punishment, He still says that lie abominates those that are hanged on a tree, that the scandal may be immediately removed; nor does He call them accursed, as if their salvation was to be despaired of, but because the hanging was a mark of His curse. This passage Paul applies to Christ, to teach us that He was made κατάρα (a curse) for us, that He might deliver us from the curse of the Law. (Galatians 3:13.) For, since all are guilty of transgression, and thus the whole race of mankind is implicated in the curse, there was no other mode of deliverance, except that Christ should substitute Himself in our place. Nor was God unmindful of His sentence, when He suffered His only-begot, tea Son to be crucified. Hence it follows that He submitted Himself to our condition, in order; that we might receive God’s blessing; since He was

“made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21.)

Deuteronomy 25

Deuteronomy 25:1-3

1. If there be a controversy between men, and they come unto judgment, that the judges may judge them; then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked.

1. Si fuerit lis inter aliquos, et accesserint ad judicium, et judicaverint eos: justificaverintque justum, et impium condemnaverint:

2. And it shall be, if the wicked man be worthy to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down, and to be beaten before his face, according to his fault, by a certain number.

2. Si quidem caedendus fuerit impius, tunc prosternet eum judex, et caedere jubebit illum coram se secundum iniquitatem ejus ad numerum.

3. Forty stripes he may give him, and not exceed: lest, /f he should exceed, and beat him above these with many stripes, then thy brother should seem vile unto thee.

3. Quadraginta plagis caedere jubebit illum, non addet: ne forte si addat caedere eum ultra plagis multis, vilescat frater tuus in oculis tuis.

CHAPTER 21

De 21:1-9. Expiation of Uncertain Murder.

1-6. If one be found slain ... lying in the field, and it be not known who hath slain him--The ceremonies here ordained to be observed on the discovery of a slaughtered corpse show the ideas of sanctity which the Mosaic law sought to associate with human blood, the horror which murder inspired, as well as the fears that were felt lest God should avenge it on the country at large, and the pollution which the land was supposed to contract from the effusion of innocent, unexpiated blood. According to Jewish writers, the Sanhedrin, taking charge of such a case, sent a deputation to examine the neighborhood. They reported to the nearest town to the spot where the body was found. An order was then issued by their supreme authority to the elders or magistrates of that town, to provide the heifer at the civic expense and go through the appointed ceremonial. The engagement of the public authorities in the work of expiation, the purchase of the victim heifer, the conducting it to a "rough valley" which might be at a considerable distance, and which, as the original implies, was a wady, a perennial stream, in the waters of which the polluting blood would be wiped away from the land, and a desert withal, incapable of cultivation; the washing of the hands, which was an ancient act symbolical of innocence--the whole of the ceremonial was calculated to make a deep impression on the Jewish, as well as on the Oriental, mind generally; to stimulate the activity of the magistrates in the discharge of their official duties; to lead to the discovery of the criminal, and the repression of crime.

De 21:10-23. The Treatment of a Captive Taken to Wife.

10-14. When thou goest to war ... and seest among the captives a beautiful woman ... that thou wouldest have her to thy wife--According to the war customs of all ancient nations, a female captive became the slave of the victor, who had the sole and unchallengeable control of right to her person. Moses improved this existing usage by special regulations on the subject. He enacted that, in the event that her master was captivated by her beauty and contemplated a marriage with her, a month should be allowed to elapse, during which her perturbed feelings might be calmed, her mind reconciled to her altered condition, and she might bewail the loss of her parents, now to her the same as dead. A month was the usual period of mourning with the Jews, and the circumstances mentioned here were the signs of grief--the shaving of the head, the allowing the nails to grow uncut, the putting off her gorgeous dress in which ladies, on the eve of being captured, arrayed themselves to be the more attractive to their captors. The delay was full of humanity and kindness to the female slave, as well as a prudential measure to try the strength of her master's affections. If his love should afterwards cool and he become indifferent to her person, he was not to lord it over her, neither to sell her in the slave market, nor retain her in a subordinate condition in his house; but she was to be free to go where her inclinations led her.

15-17. If a man have two wives, one beloved, and another hated--In the original and all other translations, the words are rendered "have had," referring to events that have already taken place; and that the "had" has, by some mistake, been omitted in our version, seems highly probable from the other verbs being in the past tense--"hers that was hated," not "hers that is hated"; evidently intimating that she (the first wife) was dead at the time referred to. Moses, therefore, does not here legislate upon the case of a man who has two wives at the same time, but on that of a man who has married twice in succession, the second wife after the decease of the first; and there was an obvious necessity for legislation in these circumstances; for the first wife, who was hated, was dead, and the second wife, the favorite, was alive; and with the feelings of a stepmother, she would urge her husband to make her own son the heir. This case has no bearing upon polygamy, which there is no evidence that the Mosaic code legalized.

18-21. If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son--A severe law was enacted in this case. But the consent of both parents was required as a prevention of any abuse of it; for it was reasonable to suppose that they would not both agree to a criminal information against their son except from absolute necessity, arising from his inveterate and hopeless wickedness; and, in that view, the law was wise and salutary, as such a person would be a pest and nuisance to society. The punishment was that to which blasphemers were doomed [Le 24:23]; for parents are considered God's representatives and invested with a portion of his authority over their children.

22-23. if a man have committed a sin ... and thou hang him on a tree--Hanging was not a Hebrew form of execution (gibbeting is meant), but the body was not to be left to rot or be a prey to ravenous birds; it was to be buried "that day," either because the stench in a hot climate would corrupt the air, or the spectacle of an exposed corpse bring ceremonial defilement on the land.

Shall bring down the heifer unto a rough valley - נחל איתן nachal eythan might be translated a rapid stream, probably passing through a piece of uncultivated ground where the elders of the city were to strike off the head of the heifer, and to wash their hands over her in token of their innocence. The spot of ground on which this sacrifice was made must be uncultivated, because it was considered to be a sacrifice to make atonement for the murder, and consequently would pollute the land. This regulation was calculated to keep murder in abhorrence, and to make the magistrates alert in their office, that delinquents might be discovered and punished, and thus public expense saved.

Shall wash their hands over the heifer - Washing the hands, in reference to such a subject as this, was a rite anciently used to signify that the persons thus washing were innocent of the crime in question. It was probably from the Jews that Pilate learned this symbolical method of expressing his innocence.

And seest - a beautiful woman - No forcible possession was allowed even in this case, when the woman was taken in war, and was, by the general consent of ancient nations, adjudged as a part of the spoils. The person to whose lot or share such a woman as is here described fell, might, if he chose, have her for a wife on certain conditions; but he was not permitted to use her under any inferior character.

She shall shave her head - This was in token of her renouncing her religion, and becoming a proselyte to that of the Jews. This is still a custom in the East; when a Christian turns Mohammedan his head is shaven, and he is carried through the city crying, la alahila allah we Mohammed resooli Allah; "There is no God but God, and Mohammed is the prophet of God."

Pare her nails - ועשתה את צפרניה veasethah eth tsipporneyha, "she shall make her nails." Now whether this signifies paring or letting them grow, is greatly doubted among learned men. Possibly it means neither, but colouring the nails, staining them red with the hennah, which is much practiced in India to the present day, and which was undoubtedly practiced among the ancient Egyptians, as is evident from the nails of mummies which are found thus stained. The hennah, according to Hasselquist, grows in India, and in Upper and Lower Egypt; it flowers from May to August. The manner of using it is this: the leaves are powdered, and made into a paste with water: they bind this paste on the nails of their fingers and toes, and let it stand on all night; in the morning they are found to be of a beautiful reddish yellow, and this lasts three weeks or a month, after which they renew the application. They often stain the palms of their hands and the soles of their feet in the same way, as appears from many paintings of eastern ladies done in India and Persia, which now lie before me. This staining the soles of the feet with the hennah is probably meant in 2Sam 19:24 : Mephibosheth had not dressed (literally made) his feet - they had not been thus coloured.

One beloved, and another hated - That is, one loved less than the other. This is the true notion of the word hate in Scripture. So Jacob Hated Leah, that is, he loved her less than he did Rachel; and Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I Hated, that is, I have shown a more particular affection to the posterity of Jacob than I have to the posterity of Esau. See the note on Gen 29:31. From this verse we see that polygamy did exist under the Mosaic laws, and that it was put under certain regulations; but it was not enjoined, Moses merely suffered it, because of the hardness of their hearts, as our Lord justly remarks Mat 19:8.

The stubborn, rebellious, gluttonous, and drunken son is to be stoned to death - This law, severe as it may seem, must have acted as a powerful preventive of crime. If such a law were in force now, and duly executed, how many deaths of disobedient and profligate children would there be in all corners of the land!

His body shall not remain all night upon the tree - Its exposure for the space of one day was judged sufficient. The law which required this answered all the ends of public justice, exposed the shame and infamy of the conduct, but did not put to torture the feelings of humanity by requiring a perpetual exhibition of a human being, a slow prey to the most loathsome process of putrefaction. Did ever the spiking of the heads of state criminals prevent high treason? or the gibbeting of a thief or a murderer, prevent either murder or robbery? These questions may be safely answered in the negative; and the remains of the ancient barbarism which requires these disgusting and abominable exhibitions, and which are deplored by every feeling heart, should be banished with all possible speed. In the case given in the text, God considers the land as defiled while the body of the executed criminal lay exposed, hence it was enjoined, Thou shalt in any wise bury him that day.

For he that is hanged is accursed of God - That is, he has forfeited his life to the law; for it is written, Cursed is every one who continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the law to do them; and on his body, in the execution of the sentence of the law, the curse was considered as alighting; hence the necessity of removing the accursed thing out of sight. How excellent are all these laws! How wondrously well calculated to repress crimes by showing the enormity of sin! It is worthy of remark that in the infliction of punishment prescribed by the Mosaic law, we ever find that Mercy walks hand in hand with Judgment.

The field - Or, in the city, or any place: only the field is named, as the place where such murders are most commonly committed.

Thy elders and judges - Those of thy elders who are judges: the judges or rulers of all the neighbouring cities. Measure - Unless it be evident which city is nearest; for then measuring was superfluous.

Which hath not drawn in the yoke - A fit representative of the murderer, in whose stead it was killed, who would not bear the yoke of God's laws. A type also of Christ, who was under the yoke, but what he had voluntarily taken upon himself.

A rough valley - That such a desert and horrid place might beget an horror of murder and of the murderer. Strike off the neck - To shew what they would and should have done to the murderer if they had found him.

Every controversy - Of this kind: every controversy which shall rise about any stroke, whether such a mortal stroke as is here spoken of, or any other stroke or wound given by one man to another.

They shall answer - To the priests who shall examine them. This blood - This about which the present enquiry is made: or this which is here present: for it is thought the corps of the slain man was brought into the same place where the heifer was slain. Nor have we seen or understood how or by whom this was done.

Forgiven - Though there was no mortal guilt in this people, yet there was a ceremonial uncleanness in the land, which was to be expiated and forgiven.

Enemies - Of other nations, but not of the Canaanites.

Hast a desire unto her - Or, hast taken delight in her: which may be a modest expression for lying with her, and seems probable, because it is said, De 21:14, that he had humbled her. And here seem to be two cases supposed, and direction given what to do in both of them, that he did desire to marry her, of which he speaks, De 21:11 - 13. that he did not desire this, of which he speaks, De 21:14.

She shall shave her head - In token of her renouncing her heathenish idolatry and superstition, and of her becoming a new woman, and embracing the true religion.

Raiment of captivity - Those sordid raiments which were put upon her when she was taken captive. Bewail her father and mother - Either their death, or which was in effect the same, her final separation from them.

If thou have no delight in her - If thou dost not chuse to marry her. Thou shalt not make merchandise of her - Make gain of her, either by using her to thy own servile works, or by prostituting her to the lusts or to the service of others.

Two wives - This practice, though tolerated, is not hereby made lawful; but only provision is made for the children in this case. Hated - Comparatively, that is, less loved.

His father and mother - The consent of both is required to prevent the abuse of this law to cruelty. And it cannot reasonably be supposed that both would agree without the son's abominable and incorrigible wickedness, in which case it seems a righteous law, because the crime of rebellion against his own parents did so fully signify what a pernicious member he would be in the commonwealth of Israel, who had dissolved all his natural obligations. Unto the elders - Which was a sufficient caution to preserve children from the malice of any hard - hearted parents, because these elders were first to examine the cause with all exactness, and then to pronounce the sentence.

A glutton and a drunkard - Under which two offences others of a like or worse nature are comprehended.

On a tree - Which was done after the malefactor was put to death some other way, this publick shame being added to his former punishment.

He is accursed of God - He is in a singular manner cursed and punished by God's appointment with a most shameful kind of punishment, as this was held among the Jews and all nations; and therefore this punishment may suffice for him, and there shall not be added to it that of lying unburied. And this curse is here appropriated to those that are hanged, to so signify that Christ should undergo this execrable punishment, and be made a curse for us, Gal 3:13, which though it was to come in respect to men, yet was present unto God. Defiled - Either by inhumanity towards the dead: or by suffering the monument of the man's wickedness, and of God's curse, to remain publick a longer time than God would have it, whereas it should he put out of sight, and buried in oblivion.

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:

Or, in the city, or any place: onely the field is named, as the place where such murders are most commonly committed and most easily concealed.

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.

Those of thy Elders who are Judges: for the latter word explains and restrains the former, the Judges or rulers of all the neighbouring cities, who were all concerned in this enquiry.

Unless it be evident and confessed which city is hearest, for then measuring was superfluous.

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 .

A fit vicegerent and representative of the muderer, in whose stead it was kild, who by this act hath shewn himself to be a son of Belial, who would not bear the yoke of Gods law. A type also of Christ, who was obliged to no work and under no yoke, but what he had voluntarily taken upon himself.

4 And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer unto a rough valley, which is neither eared nor sowen , and shall strike off the heifers neck there in the valley.

Partly to represent the hard and unprofitable and untutoured heart of the murderer; and partly that such a desert and horrid place might beget an horrour of murder and of the murderer.

To shew what they would and should have done to the murderer if they had found him.

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 word shall every controversie , and every stroke be tried.

Both to direct them in all the circumstances of action and to see that the law was observed, and to bless them in Gods name, by praying for them, and absolving or pronouncing them guiltless in this matter.

Not absolutely all manner of controversies that could possibly arise, as if their word were to determine whether there were a God or providence or no, whether God should be worshipped, and his commands observed or no, whether Moses was a true Prophet or an impostour, whether Apostate and Idolatrous Israelites should be punished or no; which is apparently absurd and ridiculous; but every such controversie as might arise about the matter here spoken of, nothing being more usual than to understand universal expressions in a limited sence, and indeed this is limited and explained by the following words, and every stroke, the particle and being put expositively, of which instances have been formerly given, i. e. every controversie which shall arise about any stroke, whether such a mortal stroke as is here spoken of, a murder, which may well be called a stroke, as to smite is oft used for to kill, as Gen. 4. 15. Levit. 24. 17. &c. or any other stroke or wound given by one man to another.

Marginal references: chap. 10. [illegible: 1+ letters].; chap. 17. 8. 9.; Heb. [illegible: 1 word] ▪ [illegible: 1+ letters].

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.

In testimony of their innocency. See on Mat. 27. 24.

Marginal references: See Ps. 19. 1[illegible: 1+ letters].

7 And they shall answer , and say, Our hands have not shed this blood , neither have our eyes seen it .

To wit, to the Priests who shall examine them and determine this controversie.

This about which the present enquiry is made: or this which is here present: for it is thought the Corps of the slain man was brought into the same place where the heifer was slain.

Nor have we seen or understood how or by whom this was done.

8 Be merciful, O LORD, unto thy people Israel whom thou hast redeemed, and lay not innocent blood unto thy people of Israels charge: and the blood shall be forgiven them .

(i. e.) Not imputed to them nor punished in them: for God is sometimes said to forgive, when he doth not punish, as Psal. 78. 38. Besides though there was no moral guilt in this people, yet there was a ceremonial uncleanness in the land, which was to be expiated and forgiven.

Marginal references: Judg. 9. 2[illegible: 1+ letters].; Heb. in the midst.

10 When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies , and the LORD thy God hath delivered them into thine hand, and thou hast taken them captive;

Of other nations, but not of the Canaanites, for they might not spare their women, and much less marry them, Exod. 34. 16. Deut. 7. 3.

11 And seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a desire unto her , that thou wouldest have her to thy wife:

Or, hast cleaved to her, to wit, in love: or hast taken delight in her. Which may be a modest expression for lying with her, and seems probable, because it is said v. 14. that he had humbled her, to wit, by military insolence when he took her captive, not after he had married her, for then he would have expressed it thus, because thou hast married her, which had been more emphatical than to say, because thou hast humbled her. And here seem to be two cases supposed, and direction given what to do in both of them, 1. that he did desire to marry her, of which he speaks ver. 11, 12, 13. 2. that he did not desire this, or not delight in her, of which he speaks, ver. 14.

12 Then thou shalt bring her home to thine house, and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails .

Either 1. to take off his affections from her by rendring her uncomely and deformed, but then the last words must not be rendred, shall pare her nails, but shall nourish them or suffer them to grow, as the Chaldee, Arabick and divers of the learned Iews and other Interpreters render it. Or 2. to express her sorrow for the loss of her father and mother, as it follows ver. 13. it being the antient custom of mourners in most nations to shave themselves, and in some to pare their nails, in others to suffer them to grow. Or rather 3. in token of her renouncing her heathenish Idolatry and superstition, and of her becoming a new woman, and embracing the true religion. Which her captive condition and subjection to his will would make her inclinable to do in profession.

Marginal references: Or, suffer to grow.; Heb make or dress.

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 .

(i. e.) Either 1 those goodly raiments in which she was when she was taken captive, in stead of which she now must put on a servile habit, as this is generally understood, or rather 2. those servile and sordid raiments which were put upon her when she was taken captive, as the manner was to do with captives, as the phrase it self seems to intimate, as prison-garments, Ier. 52. 33. are such garments as prisoners use to wear; and garments of praise are praise-worthy or glorious garments, and it seems harsh to call those garments of captivity, which are made for and generally worn by free persons onely, and which are usually taken away from persons when they come into captivity; Adde, that this doth not seem to be any part or token of her sorrow, but rather a mending of her condition, and exchanging her servile habit for a better and more decent one, which might be though this were a mourning habit.

Either their death, or, which was in effect the same, her final separation from them. Withall this signified her alienation from them or from their superstitious and Idolatrous courses, and her translation of her love from all other persons to her husband and to the true religion. Compare Psal. 45. 11.

Supposing what might very rationally be supposed of one in her circumstances, and what she signified by the foregoing rites, that she should submit to her husbands Religion, in which case the marriage might be tolerable. Or this was a permission and indulgence given to them for the hardness of their hearts, as in the case of Divorce, Deut. 24. 1. Mat. 19. 8.

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 sell her at all for mony, thou shalt not make merchandise of her , because thou hast humbled her .

Either 1. after thou hast married her, and so this is a permission of a Divorce, which being indulged towards an Israelitish woman, was not likely to be denied towards a stranger. Or rather 2. before thy marriage: for it is not probable, that God having given him competent time for the trial of his affections to her before he was permitted to marry her would suffer him upon so sleight an occasion within a day or two after so solemn a contract to send her away: nor is there a word spoken here of any Divorce.

(i. e.) Make gain of her, either by using her to thy own servile works, or by prostituting her to the lusts or to the service of others.

(i. e.) Lain with her as this phrase is oft used, as Gen. 34. 2. Deut. 22. 24, 29. Iudg. 19. 24. Ezek. 22. 10, 11.

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 first-born son be hers that was hated:

Either 1. both together: which practise, though tolerated, is not hereby made lawful, but onely provision is made for the children in that case. Or 2. one after another.

Comparatively, i. e. less loved, as Gen. 29. 31. Mat. 6. 24. Luk. 14. 26.

16 Then it [illegible: 1 word] be, when he maketh his sons to inheri[illegible: 1+ letters] [illegible: 1+ letters]t which he hath, that he may not make t[illegible: 1+ letters] [illegible: 1+ letters]on of the beloved, first-born, before the so[illegible: 1+ letters] [illegible: 1+ letters]f of the hated, which is indeed the first-born.

It is not lawful, because contrary to the rights and law of nature.

c Or, before the face of the son, i. e. in his life time, as this phrase is understood Gen. 11. 28. and 16. 12. and 25. 18. And when this phrase is rendred before another it signifies onely in the presence of another, but never notes the preference of one person to another, which the Hebrews express in another manner. And this may be added to intimate, that if the eldest son were dead and had left a child, the father was free to give the right of his first-born unto his second son rather than to the child of the eldest. Or this phrase may be an aggravation of the fact, whereby his father did in a manner spit in his face, and fasten a reproach upon him in his very sight and presence.

Marginal references: Chro. 11. 22.

17 But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the first born, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath: for he is the beginning of his strength ; the right of the firstborn is his.

(i. e.) Make it appear that he owns him.

For the phrase see 2 King. 2. 9. Zach. 13. 8. and for the thing see Gen. 25. 31. 1 Chron. 5. 1.

(i. e.) The first evidence of his manly strength and ability for procreation.

Marginal references: Heb. that is fou[illegible: 1+ letters]d with him.; Gen. 49. 3.

19 Then shall his Father and his mother lay hold of him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city , and unto the gate of his place.

The consent of both is required to prevent the abuse of this Law to cruelty. And it cannot reasonably be supposed that both would agree without manifest necessity and the sons abominable and incorrigible wickedness, in which case it seems a fit and righteous law, because the crime of Rebellion against his own Parents was so high in it self, and did so fully signifie what a pernicious Member, and son of Belial he would be in the Commonwealth of Israel, who had dissolved all his Natural Obligations. Yet the Iews say this Law was never put in practice, and therefore it might be made for terrour and prevention, and to render the authority of Parents more sacred and powerful.

Which was a sufficient caution to preserve Children from the malice of any hard-hearted Parents, because these Elders were first to examine the cause with all exactness, and then to pronounce the sentence.

20 And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious , he will not obey our voice: he is a glutton, and a drunkard .

Adds incorrigibleness to all his wickedness.

Under which two offences others of a like or worse nature are comprehended by a Synechdoche.

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.

Which was the punishment appointed for blasphemers and Idolaters, which if it seem severe, it is to be considered that Parents are in Gods stead, and entrusted in good measure with his authority over their Children, and that Families are the matter and foundation of the Church and Commonwealth, and they who are namely Members and Rebellious children in them do commonly prove the bane and plague of these, and therefore no wonder if they are nipped in the bud.

22 And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree :

Which was done after the Malefactor was put to death, some other way this publick shame being added to his former punishment. See Ios. 7. 25. and 8. 29. and 10. 26. 2 Sam. 4. 12.

23 His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day (for he that is hanged, is accursed of God ) that thy land be not defiled , which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.

(i. e.) He is in a singular manner cursed and punished by Gods appointment with a most shameful kind of punishment, as this was held among the Iews and all Nations; and therefore this punishment may suffice for him, and there shall not be added to it that of lying unburied, which was another great calamity, Ier. 16. 4. And this curse is here appropriated to those that are hanged, partly because this punishment was inflicted onely upon the most notorious and publick Offenders, and such as brought the curse of God upon the community, as Numb. 25. 4. 2 Sam. 21. 6. and principally to foresignifie that Christ should undergo this execrable punishment, and be made a curse for us, Gal. 3. 13. which though it was yet to come in respect to men, yet was present unto God, and in his eye at this time. And so this is delivered with respect unto Christ, as many other passages of Scripture manifestly are.

To wit, morally, either by inhumanity towards the dead: or rather by suffering the monument or memorial of the mans great wickedness, and of Gods curse to remain publick and visible a longer time than God▪ would have it, whereas it should be put out of sight, and buried in oblivion.

Marginal references: Gal. 3. 13.; Heb. the curse of God.

Deu 21:1-2

Expiation of a Murder Committed by an Unknown Hand. - Deu 21:1 and Deu 21:2. If any one was found lying in a field in the land of Israel (נפל fallen, then lying, Jdg 3:25; Jdg 4:22), having been put to death without its being known who had killed him (וגו נודע לא, a circumstantial clause, attached without a copula, see Ewald, §341, b. 3), the elders and judges, sc., of the neighbouring towns, - the former as representatives of the communities, the latter as administrators of right, - were to go out and measure to the towns which lay round about the slain man, i.e., measure the distance of the body from the towns that were lying round about, to ascertain first of all which was the nearest town.

Deu 21:3-4

This nearest town was then required to expiate the blood-guiltiness, not only because the suspicion of the crime or of participation in the crime fell soonest upon it, but because the guilt connected with the shedding of innocent blood rested as a burden upon it before all others. To this end the elders were to take a heifer (young cow), with which no work had ever been done, and which had not yet drawn in the yoke, i.e., whose vital force had not been diminished by labour (see at Num 19:2), and bring it down into a brook-valley with water constantly flowing, and there break its neck. The expression, “it shall be that the city,” is more fully defined by “the elders of the city shall take.” The elders were to perform the act of expiation in the name of the city. As the murderer was not to be found, an animal was to be put to death in his stead, and suffer the punishment of the murderer. The slaying of the animal was not an expiatory sacrifice, and consequently there was no slaughtering and sprinkling of the blood; but, as the mode of death, viz., breaking the neck (vid., Exo 13:13), clearly shows, it was a symbolical infliction of the punishment that should have been borne by the murderer, upon the animal which was substituted for him. To be able to take the guilt upon itself and bear it, the animal was to be in the full and undiminished possession of its vital powers. The slaying was to take place in a איתן נחל, a valley with water constantly flowing through it, which was not worked (cultivated) and sown. This regulation as to the locality in which the act of expiation was to be performed was probably founded upon the idea, that the water of the brook-valley would suck in the blood and clean it away, and that the blood sucked in by the earth would not be brought to light again by the ploughing and working of the soil.

Deu 21:5

The priests were to come near during this transaction; i.e., some priests from the nearest Levitical town were to be present at it, not to conduct the affair, but as those whom Jehovah had chosen to serve Him and to bless in His name (cf. Deu 13:5), and according to whose mouth (words) every dispute and every stroke happened (cf. Deu 17:8), i.e., simply as those who were authorized by the Lord, and as the representatives of the divine right, to receive the explanation and petition of the elders, and acknowledge the legal validity of the act.

Deu 21:6-8

The elders of the town were to wash their hands over the slain heifer, i.e., to cleanse themselves by this symbolical act from the suspicion of any guilt on the part of the inhabitants of the town in the murder that had been committed (cf. Psa 26:6; Psa 73:13; Mat 27:24), and then answer (to the charge involved in what had taken place), and say, “Our hands have not shed this blood (on the singular שׁפכה, see Ewald, §317, a.), and our eyes have not seen” (sc., the shedding of blood), i.e., we have neither any part in the crime nor any knowledge of it: “grant forgiveness (lit., 'cover up,' viz., the blood-guiltiness) to Thy people...and give not innocent blood in the midst of Thy people Israel,” i.e., lay not upon us the innocent blood that has been shed by imputation and punishment. “And the blood shall be forgiven them,” i.e., the bloodshed or murder shall not be imputed to them. On נכּפּר, a mixed form from the Niphal and Hithpael, see Ges. §55, and Ewald, §132, c.

Deu 21:9

In this way Israel was to wipe away the innocent blood (the bloodshed) from its midst (cf. Num 35:33). If the murderer were discovered afterwards, of course the punishment of death which had been inflicted vicariously upon the animal, simply because the criminal himself could not be found, would still fall upon him.

Deu 21:10-11

Treatment of a Wife who had been a Prisoner of War. - If an Israelite saw among the captives, who had been brought away in a war against foreign nations, a woman of beautiful figure, and loved her, and took her as his wife, he was to allow her a month’s time in his house, to bewail her separation from her home and kindred, and accustom herself to her new condition of life, before he married her. What is said here does not apply to the wars with the Canaanites, who were to be cut off (vid., Deu 7:3), but, as a comparison of the introductory words in Deu 21:1 with Deu 20:1 clearly shows, to the wars which Israel would carry on with surrounding nations after the conquest of Canaan. שׁבי and שׁביה, the captivity, for the captives.

Deu 21:12-14

When the woman was taken home to the house of the man who had loved her, she was to shave her head, and make, i.e., cut, her nails (cf. 2Sa 19:25), - both customary signs of purification (on this signification of the cutting of the hair, see Lev 14:8 and Num 8:7), - as symbols of her passing out of the state of a slave, and of her reception into the fellowship of the covenant nation. This is perfectly obvious in her laying aside her prisoner’s clothes. After putting off the signs of captivity, she was to sit (dwell) in the house, and bewail her father and mother for a month, i.e., console herself for her separation from her parents, whom she had lost, that she might be able to forget her people and her father’s house (Psa 45:11), and give herself up henceforth in love to her husband with an undivided heart. The intention of these laws was not to protect the woman against any outbreak of rude passion on the part of the man, but rather to give her time and leisure to loosen herself inwardly from the natural fellowship of her nation and kindred, and to acquire affection towards the fellowship of the people of God, into which she had entered against her will, that her heart might cherish love to the God of Israel, who had given her favour in the eyes of her master, and had taken from her the misery and reproach of slavery. But her master becoming her husband, she entered into the rights of a daughter of Israel, who had been sold by her father to a man to be his wife (Exo 21:7.). If after this her husband should find no pleasure in her, he was to let her go לנפשׁהּ, i.e., at her free will, and not sell her for money (cf. Exo 21:8). “Thou shalt not put constraint upon her, because thou hast humbled her.” התעמּר, which only occurs again in Deu 24:7, probably signifies to throw oneself upon a person, to practise violence towards him (cf. Ges. thes. p. 1046).

Deu 21:15-17

The Right of the first-born. - Whilst the previous law was intended to protect the slave taken in war against the caprice of her Israelitish master, the law which follows is directed against the abuse of paternal authority in favour of a favourite wife. If a man had two wives, of whom one was beloved and the other hated, - as was the case, for example, with Jacob, - and had sons by both his wives, but the first-born by the wife he hated, he was not, when dividing his property as their inheritance, to make the son of the wife he loved the first-born, i.e., was not to give him the inheritance of the first-born, but was to treat the son of the hated wife, who was really the first-born son, as such, and to give him a double share of all his possession. בּכּר, to make or institute as first-born. וגו בּן על־פּני, over (by) the face of, i.e., opposite to the first-born son of the hated, when he was present; in other words, “during his lifetime” (cf. Gen 11:28). יכּיר, to regard as that which he is, the rightful first-born. The inheritance of the first-born consisted in “a mouth of two” (i.e., a mouthful, portion, share of two) of all that was by him, all that he possessed. Consequently the first-born inherited twice as much as nay of the other sons. “Beginning of his strength” (as in Gen 49:3). This right of primogeniture did not originate with Moses, but was simply secured by him against arbitrary invasion. It was founded, no doubt, upon hereditary tradition; just as we find in many other nations, that certain privileges are secured to the first-born sons above those born afterwards.

Deu 21:18-19

Punishment of a Refractory Son. - The laws upon this point aim not only at the defence, but also at the limitation, of parental authority. If any one’s son was unmanageable and refractory, not hearkening to the voice of his parents, even when they chastised him, his father and mother were to take him and lead him out to the elders of the town into the gate of the place. The elders are not regarded here as judges in the strict sense of the word, but as magistrates, who had to uphold the parental authority, and administer the local police. The gate of the town was the forum, where the public affairs of the place were discussed (cf. Deu 22:15; Deu 25:7); as it is in the present day in Syria (Seetzen, R. ii. p. 88), and among the Moors (Höst, Nachrichten v. Marokkos, p. 239).

Deu 21:20

Here they were to accuse the son as being unmanageable, refractory, disobedient, as “a glutton and a drunkard.” These last accusations show the reason for the unmanageableness and refractoriness.

Deu 21:21

In consequence of this accusation, all the men of the town were to stone him, so that he died. By this the right was taken away from the parents of putting an incorrigible son to death (cf. Pro 19:18), whilst at the same time the parental authority was fully preserved. Nothing is said about any evidence of the charge brought by the parents, or about any judicial inquiry generally. “In such a case the charge was a proof in itself. For if the heart of a father and mother could be brought to such a point as to give up their child to the judge before the community of the nation, everything would have been done that a judge would need to know” (Schnell, d. isr. Recht, p. 11). - On Deu 21:21, cf. Deu 13:6 and Deu 13:12.

Deu 21:22-23

Burial of those who had been Hanged. - If there was a sin upon a man, מות משׁפּט, lit., a right of death, i.e., a capital crime (cf. Deu 19:6 and Deu 22:26), and he was put to death, and they hanged him upon a tree (wood), his body was not to remain upon the wood over night, but they were to bury him on the same day upon which he as hanged; “for the hanged man is a curse of God,” and they were not to defile the land which Jehovah gave for an inheritance. The hanging, not of criminals who were to be put to death, but of those who had been executed with the sword, was an intensification of the punishment of death (see at Num 25:4), inasmuch as the body was thereby exposed to peculiar kinds of abominations. Moses commanded the burial of those who had been hanged upon the day of their execution, - that is to say, as we may see from the application of this law in Jos 8:29; Jos 10:26-27, before sunset, - because the hanged man, being a curse of God, defiled the land. The land was defiled not only by vices and crimes (cf. Lev 18:24, Lev 18:28; Num 35:34), but also by the exposure to view of criminals who had been punished with death, and thus had been smitten by the curse of God, inasmuch as their shameful deeds were thereby publicly exposed to view. We are not to think of any bodily defilement of the land through the decomposition consequent upon death, as J. D. Mich. and Sommer suppose; so that there is no ground for speaking of any discrepancy between this and the old law. - (On the application of this law to Christ, see Gal 3:13.), - This regulation is appended very loosely to what precedes. The link of connection is contained in the thought, that with the punishment of the wicked the recollection of their crimes was also to be removed. Going deeper and deeper into the manifold relations of the national life, Moses first of all explains in Deu 22:1-12 the attitude of an Israelite, on the one hand, towards a neighbour; and, on the other hand, towards the natural classification and arrangement of things, and shows how love should rule in the midst of all these relations. The different relations brought under consideration are selected rather by way of examples, and therefore follow one another without any link of connection, for the purpose of exhibiting the truth in certain concrete cases, and showing how the covenant people were to hold all the arrangement of God sacred, whether in nature or in social life.

Undetected Murder. (b. c. 1451.)

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 a heifer, which hath not been wrought with, and which hath not drawn in the yoke; 4 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 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 hast redeemed, and lay not innocent blood unto thy people of Israel's charge. And the blood shall be forgiven them. 9 So shalt thou put away the guilt of innocent blood from among you, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the Lord .

Care had been taken by some preceding laws for the vigorous and effectual persecution of a wilful murderer (ch. xix. 11, &c.), the putting of whom to death was the putting away of the guilt of blood from the land; but if this could not be done, the murderer not being discovered, they must not think that the land was in no danger of contracting any pollution because it was not through any neglect of theirs that the murderer was unpunished; no, a great solemnity is here provided for the putting away of the guilt, as an expression of their dread and detestation of that sin.

I. The case supposed is that one is found slain, and it is not known who slew him, v. 1. The providence of God has sometimes wonderfully brought to light these hidden works of darkness, and by strange occurrences the sin of the guilty has found them out, insomuch that it has become a proverb, Murder will out. But it is not always so; now and then the devil's promises of secresy and impunity in this world are made good; yet it is but for a while: there is a time coming when secret murders will be discovered; the earth shall disclose her blood (Isa. xxvi. 21), upon the inquisition which justice makes for it; and there is an eternity coming when those that escaped punishment from men will lie under the righteous judgment of God. And the impunity with which so many murders and other wickednesses are committed in this world makes it necessary that there should be a day of judgment, to require that which is past, Eccl. iii. 15.

II. Directions are given concerning what is to be done in this case. Observe,

1. It is taken for granted that a diligent search had been made for the murderer, witnesses examined, and circumstances strictly enquired into, that if possible they might find out the guilty person; but if, after all, they could not trace it out, not fasten the charge upon any, then, (1.) The elders of the next city (that had a court of three and twenty in it) were to concern themselves about this matter. If it were doubtful which city was next, the great sanhedrim were to send commissioners to determine that matter by an exact measure, v. 2, 3. Note, Public persons must be solicitous about the public good; and those that are in power and reputation in cities must lay out themselves to redress grievances, and reform what is amiss in the country and neighbourhood that lie about them. Those that are next to them should have the largest share of their good influence, as ministers of God for good. (2.) The priests and Levites must assist and preside in this solemnity (v. 5), that they might direct the management of it in all points according to the law, and particularly might be the people's mouth to God in the prayer that was to be put up on this sad occasion, v. 8. God being Israel's King, his ministers must be their magistrates, and by their word, as the mouth of the court and learned in the laws, every controversy must be tried. It was Israel's privilege that they had such guides, overseers, and rulers, and their duty to make use of them upon all occasions, especially in sacred things, as this was. (3.) They were to bring a heifer down into a rough and unoccupied valley, and to kill it there, v. 3, 4. This was not a sacrifice (for it was not brought to the altar), but a solemn protestation that thus they would put the murderer to death if they had him in their hands. The heifer must be one that had not drawn in the yoke, to signify (say some) that the murderer was a son of Belial; it must be brought into a rough valley, to signify the horror of the fact, and that the defilement which blood brings upon a land turns it into barrenness. And the Jews say that unless, after this, the murderer was found out, this valley where the heifer was killed was never to be tilled nor sown. (4.) The elders were to wash their hands in water over the heifer that was killed, and to profess, not only that they had not shed this innocent blood themselves, but that they knew not who had (v. 6, 7), nor had knowingly concealed the murderer, helped him to make his escape, or been any way aiding or abetting. To this custom David alludes, Ps. xxvi. 6, I will wash my hands in innocency; but if Pilate had any eye to it (Matt. xxvii. 24) he wretchedly misapplied it when he condemned Christ, knowing him to be innocent, and yet acquitted himself from the guilt of innocent blood. Protestatio non valet contra factum—Protestations are of no avail when contradicted by fact. (5.) The priests were to pray to God for the country and nation, that God would be merciful to them, and not bring upon them the judgments which the connivance at the sin of murder would deserve. It might be presumed that the murderer was either one of their city or was now harboured in their city; and therefore they must pray that they might not fare the worse for his being among them, Num. xvi. 22. Be merciful, O Lord, to thy people Israel, v. 8. Note, When we hear of the wickedness of the wicked we have need to cry earnestly to God for mercy for our land, which groans and trembles under it. We must empty the measure by our prayers which others are filling by their sins. Now,

2. This solemnity was appointed, (1.) That it might give occasion to common and public discourse concerning the murder, which perhaps might some way or other occasion the discovery of it. (2.) That it might possess people with a dread of the guilt of blood, which defiles not only the conscience of him that sheds it (this should engage us all to pray with David, Deliver me from blood—guiltiness), but the land in which it is shed; it cries to the magistrate for justice on the criminal, and, if that cry be not heard, it cries to heaven for judgment on the land. If there must be so much care employed to save the land from guilt when the murderer was not known, it was certainly impossible to secure it from guilt if the murderer was known and yet protected. All would be taught, by this solemnity, to use their utmost care and diligence to prevent, discover, and punish murder. Even the heathen mariners dreaded the guilt of blood, Jon. i. 14. (3.) That we might all learn to take heed of partaking in other men's sins, and making ourselves accessory to them ex post facto—after the fact, by countenancing the sin or sinner, and not witnessing against it in our places. We have fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness if we do not reprove them rather, and bear our testimony against them. The repentance of the church of Corinth for the sin of one of their members produced such a carefulness, such a clearing of themselves, such a holy indignation, fear, and revenge (2 Cor. vii. 11), as were signified by the solemnity here appointed.

The Case of Captive Women. (b. c. 1451.)

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 to thine house; and she shall shave her head, and 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 sell her at all for money, thou shalt not make merchandise of her, because thou hast humbled her.

By this law a soldier is allowed to marry his captive if he pleased. For the hardness of their hearts Moses gave them this permission, lest, if they had not had liberty given them to marry such, they should have taken liberty to defile themselves with them, and by such wickedness the camp would have been troubled. The man is supposed to have a wife already, and to take this wife for a secondary wife, as the Jews called them. This indulgence of men's inordinate desires, in which their hearts walked after their eyes, is by no means agreeable to the law of Christ, which therefore in this respect, among others, far exceeds in glory the law of Moses. The gospel permits not him that has one wife to take another, for from the beginning it was not so. The gospel forbids looking upon a woman, though a beautiful one, to lust after her, and commands the mortifying and denying of all irregular desires, though it be as uneasy as the cutting off of a right hand; so much does our holy religion, more than that of the Jews, advance the honour and support the dominion of the soul over the body, the spirit over the flesh, consonant to the glorious discovery it makes of life and immortality, and the better hope.

But, though military men were allowed this liberty, yet care is here taken that they should not abuse it, that is,

I. That they should not abuse themselves by doing it too hastily, though the captive was ever so desirable: "If thou wouldest have her to thy wife (v. 10, 11), it is true thou needest not ask her parents' consent, for she is thy captive, and is at thy disposal. But, 1. Thou shalt have no familiar intercourse till thou hast married her." This allowance was designed to gratify, not a filthy brutish lust, in the heat and fury of its rebellion against reason and virtue, but an honourable and generous affection to a comely and amiable person, though in distress; therefore he may make her his wife if he will, but he must not deal with her as with a harlot. 2. "Thou shalt not marry her of a sudden, but keep her a full month in thy house," v. 12, 13. This he must do either, (1.) That he may try to take his affection off from her; for he must know that, though in marrying her he does not do ill (so the law then stood), yet in letting her alone he does much better. Let her therefore shave her head, that he might not be enamoured with her locks, and let her nails grow (so the margin reads it), to spoil the beauty of her hand. Quisquid amas cupias non placuisse nimis—We should moderate our affection for those things which we are tempted to love inordinately. Or rather, (2.) This was done in token of her renouncing idolatry, and becoming a proselyte to the Jewish religion. The shaving of her head, the paring of her nails, and the changing of her apparel, signified her putting off her former conversation, which was corrupt in her ignorance, that she might become a new creature. She must remain in his house to be taught the good knowledge of the Lord and the worship of him: and the Jews say that if she refused, and continued obstinate in idolatry, he must not marry her. Note, The professors of religion must not be unequally yoked with unbelievers, 2 Cor. vi. 14.

II. That they should not abuse the poor captive. 1. She must have time to bewail her father and mother, from whom she was separated, and without whose consent and blessing she is now likely to be married, and perhaps to a common soldier of Israel, though in her country ever so nobly born and bred. To force a marriage till these sorrows were digested, and in some measure got over, and she was better reconciled to the land of her captivity by being better acquainted with it, would be very unkind. She must not bewail her idols, but be glad to part with them; to her near and dear relations only her affection must be thus indulged. 2. If, upon second thoughts, he that had brought her to his house with a purpose to marry her changed his mind and would not marry her, he might not make merchandise of her, as of his other prisoners, but must give her liberty to return, if she pleased, to her own country, because he had humbled her and afflicted her, by raising expectations and then disappointing them (v. 14); having made a fool of her, he might not make a prey of her. This intimates how binding the laws of justice and honour are, particularly in the pretensions of love, the courting of affections, and the promises of marriage, which are to be looked upon as solemn things, that have something sacred in them, and therefore are not to be jested with.

The Right of the Firstborn. (b. c. 1451.)

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 hers that was hated: 16 Then it shall be, when he maketh his sons to inherit that which he hath, that he may not make 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 he hath: for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.

This law restrains men from disinheriting their eldest sons out of mere caprice, and without just provocation.

I. The case here put (v. 15) is very instructive. 1. It shows the great mischief of having more wives than one, which the law of Moses did not restrain, probably in hopes that men's own experience of the great inconvenience of it in families would at last put an end to it and make them a law to themselves. Observe the supposition here: If a man have two wives, it is a thousand to one but one of them is beloved and the other hated (that is, manifestly loved less) as Leah was by Jacob, and the effect of this cannot but be strifes and jealousies, envy, confusion, and every evil work, which could not but create a constant uneasiness and vexation to the husband, and involve him both in sin and trouble. Those do much better consult their own ease and satisfaction who adhere to God's law than those who indulge their own lusts. 2. It shows how Providence commonly sides with the weakest, and gives more abundant honour to that part which lacked; for the first-born son is here supposed to be hers that was hated; it was so in Jacob's family: because the Lord saw that Leah was hated, Gen. xxix. 31. The great householder wisely gives to each his dividend of comfort; if one had the honour to be the beloved wife, it often proved that the other had the honour to be the mother of the first-born.

II. The law in this case is still binding on parents; they must give their children their right without partiality. In the case supposed, the eldest son, though the son of the less-beloved wife, must have his birthright privilege, which was a double portion of the father's estate, because he was the beginning of his strength that is, in him his family began to be strengthened and his quiver began to be filled with the arrows of a mighty man (Ps. cxxvii. 4), and therefore the right of the first-born is his, v. 16, 17. Jacob had indeed deprived Reuben of his birthright, and given it to Joseph, but it was because Reuben had forfeited the birthright by his incest, not because he was the son of the hated; now, lest that which Jacob did justly should be drawn into a precedent for others to do the same thing unjustly, it is here provided that when the father makes his will, or otherwise settled his estate, the child shall not fare the worse for the mother's unhappiness in having less of her husband's love, for that was not the child's fault. Note, (1.) Parents ought to make no other difference in dispensing their affections among their children than what they see plainly God makes in dispensing his grace among them. (2.) Since it is the providence of God that makes heirs, the disposal of providence in that matter must be acquiesced in and not opposed. No son should be abandoned by his father till he manifestly appear to be abandoned of God, which is hard to say of any while there is life.

Punishment of a Rebellious Son; Burial of Malefactors. (b. c. 1451.)

18 If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his 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 his city, and unto the gate of his place; 20 And they shall say unto the elders of his 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. 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 is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.

Here is, I. A law for the punishing of a rebellious son. Having in the former law provided that parents should not deprive their children of their right, it was fit that it should next be provided that children withdraw not the honour and duty which are owing to their parents, for there is no partiality in the divine law. Observe,

1. How the criminal is here described. He is a stubborn and rebellious son, v. 18. No child was to fare the worse for the weakness of his capacity, the slowness or dulness of his understanding, but for his wilfulness and obstinacy. If he carry himself proudly and insolently towards his parents, contemn their authority, slight their reproofs and admonitions, disobey the express commands they give him for his own good, hate to be reformed by the correction they give him, shame their family, grieve their hearts, waste their substance, and threaten to ruin their estate by riotous living—this is a stubborn and rebellious son. He is particularly supposed (v. 20) to be a glutton or a drunkard. This intimates either, (1.) That these were sins which his parents did in a particular manner warn him against, and therefore that in these instances there was a plain evidence that he did not obey their voice. Lemuel had this charge from his mother, Prov. xxxi. 4. Note, In the education of children, great care should be taken to suppress all inclinations to drunkenness, and to keep them out of the way of temptations to it; in order hereunto they should be possessed betimes with a dread and detestation of that beastly sin, and taught betimes to deny themselves. Or, (2.) That his being a glutton and a drunkard was the cause of his insolence and obstinacy towards his parents. Note, There is nothing that draws men into all manner of wickedness, and hardens them in it, more certainly and fatally than drunkenness does. When men take to drink they forget the law, they forget all law (Prov. xxxi. 5), even that fundamental law of honouring parents.

2. How this criminal is to be proceeded against. His own father and mother are to be his prosecutors, v. 19, 20. They might not put him to death themselves, but they must complain of him to the elders of the city, and the complaint must needs be made with a sad heart: This our son is stubborn and rebellious. Note, Those that give up themselves to vice and wickedness, and will not be reclaimed, forfeit their interest in the natural affections of the nearest relations; the instruments of their being justly become the instruments of their destruction. The children that forget their duty must thank themselves and not blame their parents if they are regarded with less and less affection. And, how difficult soever tender parents now find it to reconcile themselves to the just punishment of their rebellious children, in the day of the revelation of the righteous judgment of God all natural affection will be so entirely swallowed up in divine love that they will acquiesce even in the condemnation of those children, because God will be therein for ever glorified.

3. What judgment is to be executed upon him: he must publicly stoned to death by the men of his city, v. 21. And thus, (1.) The paternal authority was supported, and God, our common Father, showed himself jealous for it, it being one of the first and most ancient streams derived from him that is the fountain of all power. (2.) This law, if duly executed, would early destroy the wicked of the land. (Ps. ci. 8), and prevent the spreading of the gangrene, by cutting off the corrupt part betimes; for those that were bad members of families would never make good members of the commonwealth. (3.) It would strike an awe upon children, and frighten them into obedience to their parents, if they would not otherwise be brought to their duty and kept in it: All Israel shall hear. The Jews say, "The elders that condemned him were to send notice of it in writing all the nation over, In such a court, such a day, we stoned such a one, because he was a stubborn and rebellious son." And I have sometimes wished that as in all our courts there is an exact record kept of the condemnation of criminals, in perpetuam rei memoriam—that the memorial may never be lost, so there might be public and authentic notice given in print to the kingdom of such condemnations, and the executions upon them, by the elders themselves, in terrorem—that all may hear and fear.

II. A law for the burying of the bodies of malefactors that were hanged, v. 22. The hanging of them by the neck till the body was dead was not used at all among the Jews, as with us; but of such as were stoned to death, if it were for blasphemy, or some other very execrable crime, it was usual, by order of the judges, to hang up the dead bodies upon a post for some time, as a spectacle to the world, to express the ignominy of the crime, and to strike the greater terror upon others, that they might not only hear and fear, but see and fear. Now it is here provided that, whatever time of the day they were thus hanged up, at sun-set they should be taken down and buried, and not left to hang out all night; sufficient (says the law) to such a man is this punishment; hitherto let it go, but no further. Let the malefactor and his crime be hidden in the grave. Now, 1. God would thus preserve the honour of human bodies and tenderness towards the worst of criminals. The time of exposing dead bodies thus is limited for the same reason that the number of stripes was limited by another law: Lest thy brother seem vile unto thee. Punishing beyond death God reserves to himself; as for man, there is no more that he can do. Whether therefore the hanging of malefactors in chains, and setting up their heads and quarters, be decent among Christians that look for the resurrection of the body, may perhaps be worth considering. 2. Yet it is plain there was something ceremonial in it; by the law of Moses the touch of a dead body was defiling, and therefore dead bodies must not be left hanging up in the country, because, by the same rule, this would defile the land. But, 3. There is one reason here given which has reference to Christ. He that is hanged is accursed of God, that is, it is the highest degree of disgrace and reproach that can be done to a man, and proclaims him under the curse of God as much as any external punishment can. Those that see him thus hang between heaven and earth will conclude him abandoned of both and unworthy of either; and therefore let him not hang all night, for that would carry it too far. Now the apostle, showing how Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law by being himself made a curse for us, illustrates it by comparing the brand here put on him that was hanged on a tree with the death of Christ, Gal. iii. 13. Moses, by the Spirit, uses this phrase of being accursed of God, when he means no more than being treated most ignominiously, that it might afterwards be applied to the death of Christ, and might show that in it he underwent the curse of the law for us, which is a great enhancement of his love and a great encouragement to our faith in him. And (as the excellent bishop Patrick well observes) this passage is applied to the death of Christ, not only because he bore our sins and was exposed to shame, as these malefactors were that were accursed of God, but because he was in the evening taken down from the cursed tree and buried (and that by the particular care of the Jews, with an eye to this law, John xix. 31), in token that now, the guilt being removed, the law was satisfied, as it was when the malefactor had hanged till sun-set; it demanded no more. Then he ceased to be a curse, and those that were his. And, as the land of Israel was pure and clean when the dead body was buried, so the church is washed and cleansed by the complete satisfaction which thus Christ made.

CHAP. XXI.

IF one be found slaine in the land which Iehovah thy God giveth unto thee to possesse it, fallen in the field; and it be not knowne who hath smitten him: Then thy Elders, and thy Iudges shall come forth, and they shall measure unto the cities which are round about him that is slaine. And it shall be that the citie which is next unto the slaine [illegible: 1 word], even the Elders of that citie shall take an heiffer of the herd, which hath not beene wrought with, which hath not drawne in the yoke. And the Elders of that citie shall bring downe the Heiffer unto a rough valley, which shall not be tilled, nor sowen, and shall strike off the Heiffers necke there in the valley. And the Priests, the sonnes of Levi, shall come neere; for them Iehovah thy God hath chosen to minister unto him, and to blesse in the name of Iehovah; and by their mouth shall be every controversie, and every stroke. And all the Elders of that citie that are next unto the slaine man, shall wash their hands over the Heiffer that is beheaded in the valley. And they shall answer, and say; Our hands have not shed this bloud, and our eyes have not seene it. Make expiation for thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, O Iehovah; and lay not innocent bloud in the middest of thy people Israel, and the bloud shall be expiated for them. And thou shalt put away innocent bloud from the middest of thee, when thou shalt doe that which is right in the eyes of Iehovah. [non-Latin text not transcribed]

When thou goest forth to battell against thine enemies, and Iehovah thy God hath delivered them into thine hands, and thou hast taken captive a captivity of them: And thou seest in the captivity a woman of a beautifull forme, and hast a desire unto her, and wouldest take her unto thee to wise: Then thou shalt bring her home to thy house, and she shall shave her head, and doe her nailes. And she shall put off the raiment of her captivity from upon her, and shal remaine in thine house, & shall weep for her father and her mother a moneth of daies; and after that thou shalt goe in unto her, and be her husband, and she shall be unto thee to wife. And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her, then thou shalt send her away whither she will; but selling thou shalt not sell her for money: thou shalt not make a gaine to thy selfe of her, because thou hast humbled her.

If a man have two wives, one beloved, and another hated, and they have borne him sonnes, the beloved, and the hated; and if the first-borne sonne be hers that was hated:

Then it shall be in the day that he maketh his sonnes to inherit that which he hath, he may not make the sonne of the beloved first-borne, before the sonne of the hated, which is the first-borne. But the first-born, the sonne of the hated shall he acknowledge, by giving to him a double portion of all that is [illegible: 1 letter]ound his; for he is the beginning of his strength, the right of the first birth-right is his.

If a man have a sonne stubborne and rebellious, which obeyeth not the voice of his father, and the voice of his mother, and they have chastned him, & he will not hearken unto them: Then shal his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the Elders of his citie, and unto the gate of his place. And they shall say unto the Elders of his citie, This our sonne is stubborne and rebellious, he obeyeth not our voice, he is a glutton, and a drunkard. And all the men of his citie shall stone him with stones, and hee shall die; and thou shalt put away the evill from the middest of thee, and all Israel shall heare and feare.

And if there be in a man a sinne worthy of death, and hee be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree: His carkasse shall not remaine all night upon the tree; but burying thou shalt burie him in that day, for hee that is hanged is the curse of God; and thou shalt not defile thy land which Iehovah thy God giveth unto thee for an inheritance.

Annotations. SLaine] or, Wounded, meaning to death; as the Chaldee translateth, killed: and this Law was to be kept, whether one or many were found slaine. giveth] or, is giving, to wit, shortly. This being a figurative expiation, done by Priests, with the death of an heiffer, &c. sheweth this Law to be peculiar to the common-wealth of Israel: and so the Hebrewes say, The Law for the beheaded heiffer is not to be used but in the land of Israel. Maimony in Misneh, tom. 4. treat. of Murder, ch. 10. sect. 1. fallen] that is, lying dead: as, there fell, 1 Chron. 21. 14. is expounded there died, 2 Sam. 24. 15. The Greeke translateth it fallen: the Chaldee, lying. All these circumstances the Hebrewes hold unto strictly; It is said, Slaine (or Wounded) not hanged, nor broken; for such an one is not called Chalal, (Slaine:) in the Land (or Ground,) not hid in an heape: Fallen, not hanging on a tree: in the Field, not swimming on the water. Maimony treat. of Murder, chap. 9. sect. 11. not knowne] for if it be knowne, they behead no heiffer for him. If but one have seene the murderer, and though it be a slave, or a woman, or one whose testimony is not allowable, yet there is no beheading of the heiffer: therefore if there be many open murderers, the killing of the heiffer ceaseth. If one witnesse say, I saw the murderer; & another witnesse denie it, saying, Thou didst not see him, (and these witnesses come both together,) then they behead the heiffer. Maimony ibidem, ch. 9. sect. 12. 13. Vers. 2. thy Elders] he saith not the Elders of that citie, as after in vers. 3. (for it is not knowne as yet to what citie it belongeth;) but thy Elders (O Israel) which were of the generall States of the Land. The Hebrewes say, When a slaine man is found fallen on the earth, &c. they leave him in his place, and five Elders come forth from the high Councell that is in Ierusalem, and they measure from him unto the cities that are round about the slaine man. Maim. ibidem, ch. 9. s. 1. thy Iudges] to whom criminall causes did belong, for the triall of them. unto the cities] he saith not, unto the townes, or villages, but cities: and by the Hebrewes, they measured not to any citie, but such as had in it a Court of three and twenty (Magistrates.) And though he be found by a cities sid &c. yet they measure. And when they have measured, and the citie next him is knowne, then they burie the slaine man in his place, and the Elders of Ierusalem returne to their place; and the Senate of that citie bring an heiffer, &c. When they measure, they doe it exactly. And they measure from the nose of him (that is slaine.) If his body be in one place, and his head in another, they bring the body to the head, and bury it in the place there of. If there be many dead, one beside another, they measure from the nose of every one of them. And if one citie be neerest to them all, it bringeth one heiffer for them all. Maimony treat. of Murder, chap. 9. sect. 4: 9, 10. Vers. 3. an heiffer] which was by the death thereof to make expiation, in figure, for this murder, as ordinary sacrifices did for mens sinnes. And this was done by the next citie, because of presumption of the fact, when other proofe failed: and this heiffer was to be of the mens of that citie, saith Maim. ibidem, sect. 2. and an heiffer of the second yeere, or under; but if it were a day older than two yeeres, it was unlawfull, Maim. ibidem, chap. 9. sect. 2. and chap. 10. sect. 2. in the yoke] the same caution was for the red heiffer, Num. 19. 2. see the Annotations there. But why speaketh he of the yoke, after he had said, not wrought with? seeing to draw with the yoke is comprehended in other worke? The Hebrewes answer, Because the yoke maketh it disallowable, whether it be in the houre of worke or not. When it hath drawne in the yoke but an hand-bredth, it is unlawfull, though it neither ploughed therewith, nor did any other worke. Maim. ibid. chap. 10. sect. 3. Vers. 4. a rough valley] or, a strong bourne: the Hebrew Nachal is both a valley, Gen. 26. 17. 19. and a water-streame running in a valley, Deut. 2. 13. 36. both which we call a bourne. Ethan signifieth strength, or strong and durable, and is applied sometime to waters, Exod. 14. 27. Psalm. 74. 15. And Nachal Ethan, in Amos 5. 24. is a mightie streame. So here wee may understand this to be not only a valley, but a streame also in it, as the Chaldee version confirmeth: but the Greeke translateth it, a rough valley. Maimony in treat. of Murder, chap. 9. sect. 2. saith, they bring downe the heiffer unto a bourne that floweth strongly, and that is the Ethan spoken of in the Law. shall not be tilled] either at the time when the heiffer is killed, or after. The valley wherein the heiffer is beheaded, is unlawfull to be sowen or tilled for ever, (Deut. 21. 4.) and who so worketh any worke there, in the body of the ground, as to plough, or dig, or sow, or plant, or any the like, he is to be beaten. But it is lawfull to dresse flax there, or to dig up stones, or any thing which is not as tillage or sowing, &c. Maimony treat, of Murder, chap. 10. sect. 9. strike off the necke] or behead, (as in vers. 6.) with an axe on the hinder parts thereof, saith Maimony ibidem, ch. 9. sect. 3. The Greeke translateth, cut the sinewes of the heiffer. After it was beheaded, and expiation made, the heiffer was buried in the place where it was killed, and it was unlawfull to have any profit (or use) thereof. Maim. ibidem, c. 10. s. 6. Vers. 5. the sonnes of Levi] in Greeke, the Levites. What they were to doe, is not expressed by Moses, but may be gathered by their office here described, to minister, &c. and by vers. 8. where praier is made for atonement. And so the Hebrews explaine it, that the Elders were to wash their hands, and say, Our hands have not shed, &c. (v. 7.) and the Priests said, Make expiation for thy people, &c. vers. 8. Maimony treat. of Murder, cha. 9. s. 3. to [illegible: 1 letter]inister] the Greeke saith, to stand before him. See Deut. 10. 8. their mouth] that is, as the Chaldee expoundeth it, their word, meaning the word of God which they should shew, Ezek. 44. 23, 24. shall be] to wit, judged, or tried, or (as this case seemeth to import) expiated. stroke] or plague; in Chaldee, plague of leprosie: See the notes on Deut. 17. 8. Vers. 6. all the Elders] both the Magistrates then bearing office, and such as had borne it before. For all such were called Elders, as appeareth by Iudg. 8. 14. where the Princes and Elders of Succoth, were threescore & seventeen men. So in this case, the Hebrewes say, The Iudges of that citie, with all the Elders, although they be an hundred, they all wash their hands there, in the place where the heiffers necke is stricken off. Maimony treat. of Murder, ch. 9. s. 3. shall wash] in signe that they were innocent of that bloud-shed: as Psal. 26. 6. Matth. 27. 24. Vers. 7. shall answer] that is, shall speake: for so the word answer is often used for the beginning of a speech, Io[illegible: 1 letter]. 3. 2. have not shed] or, hath not shed: for the Hebrew hath a double reading, implying both singular and plural; to signifie that they had not any hand in this murder. not seen it] to wit, shed by any other: for else, this expiation had not been thus made, as is noted on vers. 1. Vers. 8. Make expiation] or Make atonement: in Greeke, be mercifull. Here the Chaldee version addeth, The Priests shall say, Make exptation, &c. and so the Hebrewes explaine it, as is noted on v. 5. hast redeemed] the Greek addeth, out of the land of Egypt. lay not innocent bloud] Hebr. give not, that is, as the Chaldee openeth it, give not the guilt of innocent bloud; in our phrase, lay it not to their charge. The Greeke translateth, that there may not [illegible: 1 word] innocent bloud in thy people. To give, is often used for to suffer, (as is noted on Gen. 20. 6.) in [illegible: 1 span]ch sense it may also be taken here, suffer not in [illegible: 1 span]nt bloud, to wit, to be unpunished, but bring the murderer to light. expiaeted for them] or, mercifully forgiven them: but the murderer (if afterward hee were taken,) was not hereby forgiven, which the Hebrewes gather from the next words, saying; Although the murtherer be found after the [illegible: 1 span]eading of the heiffer, yet he is to be killed; for it is [illegible: 1 span]ten (Deut. 21. 9.) And thou shalt put away in [illegible: 1 span]t bloud. Maim. treat of Murder, ch. 10. s. 8. Vers. 9. innocent bloud] that is, the guilt there [illegible: 1 span] [illegible: 1 word] the Chaldee addeth, the shedder of innocent [illegible: 1 word], according to the former exposition. right [illegible: 1 word] eies] the Greeke translateth, that which is good [illegible: 1 word] pleasing before the Lord. [non-Latin text not transcribed] Here beginneth the nine and fortieth Section, or Lecture of the Law: See Gen. 6. 9. Vers. 10. delivered them] Hebr. given (or deli [illegible: 1 span]d him) speaking of the multitude of enemies, [illegible: 1 word] one man; so after. captivity of them] Hebr. [illegible: 1 span]ity of him: that is, a multitude of captives or [illegible: 1 word] So in Num. 21. 1. This Law is like the [illegible: 1 word] divorce, Deut. 24. which our Saviour tel [illegible: 1 span] [illegible: 1 word] suffered for the hardnesse of mens hearts, [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 letter]9. 8. And the Hebrewes themselves, ([illegible: 1 span]gh much addicted to strange women, and [illegible: 1 word] of wives,) understand this Law with sun [illegible: 1 span] limitations; and to be partly for necessity, when [illegible: 1 word] in the warres were absent from their wives, and tempted with concupiscence. Vers. 11. in the captivity] that is, amongst the captives, or prisoners. At any other time, the Hebrewes say, this was not lawfull. hast a desire] or affectest, settest thy love; as Gen. 34. 8. and wouldest take her] or, and takest her, to wit, by promise. The Hebrewes say of Souldiers that come into the heathens coast, that they may in their hunger, eat swines flesh, or other uncleane meats, when they can get no other: And so a man may lie with an heathen woman, if his concupiscence urge him therto; but he may not lie with her and goe his way, bust must bring her home to his house; and he may not lie with her the second time, untill he have married her. Neither is it lawfull for him to take this beautifull woman, save in the time of captivitie, as it is written; And thou seest in the captivity, &c. Neither is it lawfull to lie with two, for it is said, HER: nor lawfull to take two, and lie with the one, and leave the other for his brother. Maimony tom. 4. treat. of Kings and Warres, ch. 8. s. 1, 2, 3. This lying with her, seemeth to be impiied in those words, thou hast humbled her, v. 14. which phrase is not used, but of an estate out of marriage, as is noted on Gen. 34. 2. Vers. 12. home to thy house] Hebr. into the midst of thine house, that is, into it, as this phrase meaneth: See the notes on Gen. 2. 9. she shall shave] the Greeke changeth the person, saying; thou shalt shave: for this being a shame and dishonour unto her, (1 Cor. 11. 6. 15.) it is not likely the woman would willingly doe it, but the man (in whose power she was) must see it done. doe her nailes] or make them, which the Chaldee expoundeth, let them grow: though the phrase may be taken otherwise, to pare or cut them, (as in 2 Sam. 19. 24.) and so the Greeke translateth; yet the letting of them grow, seemeth here to be meant, for her more deformity, answerable to the shaving of her head. The Hebrews open it thus; After he hath lien with her once, whiles she is in her paganisme, if she take upon her to come under the wings of Gods Majesty, she is baptised for a Proselyte out of hand: and if she will not, she must remaine in his house thirty daies (Deu. 21. 13.) and she is to let her nailes grow, and shave her head, to the end, that she may be deformed in his eies; and she must be with him in his house, that he may looke upon her and loath her. And he is to perswade with her, that she may receive (the faith:) if she receive it, she is made a Proselyte, and baptised as all strangers, And she must tarry three moneths, one maneth weeping (for her father,) and two moneths after it, and he is to take her with bill of dowry, & mariage. And if he have no delight in her, he is to send her away whither she will, & if he sell her, he transgresseth, &c. (Deut. 21. 14.) If she will not become a Proselyte, they perswade with her 12. moneths. If (yet) she will not, (but) receiveth the 7. commandements which were commanded to the sons of Noe, [whereof see the Annotations on Gen. 9. 4.] then he is to send her away whither she will, and loe she is as all other strangers that dwell (in the land,) but he may not marrie her; for it is unlawfull to marry a woman which is not a Proselyte. If she be with childe by his first lying with her; then the childe is a stranger, and is not his sonne for any matter, because he is of an heathē mother, &c. If the beautifull woman will not leave her idolatry after twelve moneths, they are to kill her: and so the ci[illegible: 1 letter]i[illegible: 1 letter] that would make peace, they may make no covenant with them, till they renounce their idolatry, and destroy all the places thereof, and receive the other commandements which were commanded [illegible: 1 letter]o the sonnes of Noe: for every heathen that yeeldeth not to those commandements, are to be killed, if they be under our hand, faith Maim. in treat of Kings, [illegible: 1 word]. 8. s. 5.—9. Vers. 13. raiment] in Greeke, the garments of her captivity, to wit, those wherein she was taken, and shall put on mourning weeds: which was another signe of her humiliation, and meanes to withdraw the mans love from her, if she continued in her unbeleefe. remaine] or, sit in thine house, where thou maist behold and observe her carriage. a moneth of daies] that is, thirty daies, an whole moneth. This was in respect of her speciall case forementioned. And whereas the Hebrewes speake of two moneths longer, (as is noted on vers. 12) the reason thereof they elsewhere shew to be in regard of his lying with her, left she should be with childe, that so the seed of [illegible: 1 letter]srael might be knowne from the heathens; for by Exod. 21. 4. it appeareth that a heathen bond-womans children were her masters, and not counted the Israelites who begat them: and by Ezr. 10. 3. 44. it is evident, that not only the heathens wives, but such also as were borne of them, were put away. The Hebrewes say; Every woman that is divorced, or is a widow, she may not marry againe, till she have tarri[illegible: 1 letter]d ninety daies, besides the day of her divorce, or of her husbands death; to the end that it may be [illegible: 1 word] whether she be with childe or no, and that th[illegible: 2 letters]e may be proofe whether it be the seed of her first husband, or of her second. A bond-woman that is [illegible: 1 word] free, and an heathen woman that becommeth a [illegible: 1 word], th[illegible: 1 letter]y must tarry 90 daies. And though is [illegible: 1 word] a heathen man & his wife that become Proselytes, they separate them ninety daies, to distinguish the seed which is begotten in holy state, from the seed which is not so begotten. And so the beautifull (captive) although there is a law given her of 30. daies for the [illegible: 1 letter]itting of her selfe, she must tarry 90. daies, for the fitting of her child. Maimony in treat. of Divorces, ch. 11. s. 18. 21. goe in] to wit, into the (marriage) chamber, as [illegible: 1 letter]udg. 15. 1. and be her husband] or, marrie her, and so [illegible: 1 word] with her, as Dew. [illegible: 1 letter]4. [illegible: 1 word]. This might not be with an Infidell, Deut. 7. [illegible: 1 word]. See the Annotations there. Vers. 14. If thou have no delight in her] This see [illegible: 1 span] be meant before marriage, not after: for that, God allowed no such sending her away after marriage; but if after he had onc[illegible: 1 letter] lye[illegible: 1 letter] with her, & had humbled her (as after he speake[illegible: 1 letter]h;) the mans affections were withdrawne from her, by beholding her in that deformity & mournfull state within his house; then God permitted this leaving her, but with the cautions following. whither she will Hebr. to her soule, that is, according to her owne will or desire. The Greek translateth, thou shalt send her away free[illegible: 1 letter] f[illegible: 1 letter]lling thou shalt not sell] that is, not at all, or shalt in [illegible: 1 word] case sell her, as other captives might be; and this recompence she had, and the man sustained this losse, for that hee had humbled her; whereby God shewed compassion to this afflicted woman, and his dislike of the mans lying with her before, though for the hardnesse of mens hearts he suffered it so to be; as Matth. 19. 8. make a gaine to thy selfe] or, serve thy selfe, make her [illegible: 1 letter]hy servant. The Hebrew Hithgnammer, is found onely here, and in Deut. 24. 7. where the Greeke expresseth it by Katadunasteo, which is to sub due, or bring under ones power; which word is used in like sense, Acts 10. 38. and Iam. 2. 6. for such as were oppressed under the power of the devill, and of rich men. So that the man, as hee might not sell this woman, so neither make a servant of her to himselfe, or others. So the Hebrewes expound it, If he sell her, [illegible: 1 letter]e transgresseth this prohibition, Selling thou shalt not sell her, &c. And so if he subdue her, after that she is lien with, to be a bond-woman, when he hath use of her service, he transgresseth this prohibition, Thou shalt not make a gaine to thy selfe by her, for he may not serve himselfe by her. Maimony treat. of Kings, ch. 8. s. 6. humbled her] or, afflicted her. This word being used for unlawfull copulations, as in Gen. 34. 2. Deut. 22. 24, 29. Iudg. 19. 24. 2 Sam. 13. 12, 14. Ezek. 22. 10, 11. Lam. 5. 11. sheweth also, that God approved not of his fact: and that this sending her away, was not to be after marriage, but after his first lying with her onely, as is before noted. Vers. 15. two wives] which though it was contrary to Gods first institution, Gen. 2. 22, 23, 24. and was begun by Kains posterity, Gen. 4. 19. yet the corruption being spred over all, and even in the Church, God for a time suffered this untill the time of reformation; but approved not of it, as appeareth by Mal. 2. 15. Matth. 19. 4, 5. And here provideth by his Law, against troubles and confusion that might arise in families by such polygamy. and another hated] Hebr. and one hated; but this word one in the latter branch of the sentence, is used for another; and is so explained by the Holy Ghost: as where it is said in Matth. 24. 40. the one shall be taken, and the one left; another Evangelist expresseth it thus, the one shall be taken, and the other le[illegible: 1 letter]t, Luk. 17. 36. And by hated, understand lesse loved than the other: for it is spoken by way of comparison, as in Gen. 29. 31. Vers. 16. he maketh his sonnes to inherit] or, divideth the inheritance to his sonnes: from which words the Hebrewes gather, that The first-borne which is borne after his fathers death, is not to have a double portion. Maimony treat. of Inheritances, ch. 2. s. 2. he may not] or, he cannot; he shall not be able, that is, it is not lawfull for him. make first-borne] that is, give the first birth-right, which was a double portion. As Ioseph had the first birth-right, when a portion was given him above his brethren, 1 Chr. 5. 1, 2. Gen. 48. 5, 22. before the son] which the Greeke translateth, despising the son. Vers. 17. acknowledge] in Chaldee, separate, to wit, by His words and actions. a double p[illegible: 2 letters]tion] Hebr. the mouth (that is, the part) of two, which the Chaldee translateth two parts, as the like phrase signifieth in Zach. 13. 8. By which Scriputre we may learne what this double p[illegible: 1 letter]rtion was, that if a man had two sonnes, his goods were divided into three parts, whereof the eldest had two parts, and the youngest the third. For the first-borne was to be reckoned as two sonnes; as Ioseph (who had the first birth-right, 1 Chron. 5. 2▪) was two tribes, Ephraim and Manasses. The Hebrewes explaine it thus; The first-borne is to receive a double portion of his fathers goods, Deut. 21. 17. As, if he leave five sonnes, and one of them is the first-borne, he is to have a third of his goods, and every of the other foure receiveth a sixt part. If he leave nine sonnes, the first-borne hath a fi[illegible: 1 letter]t part, and every of the other eight, a tenth part. And so according to this partition doe they part alwaies. Maimony treat. of Inheritances, ch. 2. s. 1. According to this phrase Eliseus desired a double portion of Elias spirit, 2 Kin. 2. 9. that he might have so much more as any of his other disciples. of all that is found his] the word found of[illegible: 1 letter]é signifieth things present, as in Ge. 19. 15. 2 Chron. 5. 11. and 31. 1. So in this case by the Hebrewes judgement, The first-borne had not a double portion of the goods which might come after his fathers death, but of the goods which were assuredly his fathers, & come into his hand (or power) ss it is written, OF ALL THAT IS FOVND HIS. As, one of the heires of his father that dieth after the death of his father; the first-borne, and the single (brother) doe inherit his goods alike. And so if his father hath a debt owing him, or hath a ship at sea, they are heires of it alike. Maim. treat. of Inheritan [illegible: 3 letters], ch. 3. sect. 1. It is also said, found his; he saith [illegible: 1 word] found hers; and by the Hebrewes it is holden, [illegible: 2 letters]at The first-borne hath not a double portion of his mothers goods: but the first-borne and another sonne that are heires to their mother, doe share alike, whether he be the first-borne for inheritance, or the first that openeth the wombe. The first-borne for inherita[illegible: 1 letter]ce▪ is [illegible: 1 letter]e that is first-borne to his father, as it is written (in v. 17.) THE BEGINNING OF HIS STRENGTH; and they respect not the [illegible: 1 span]er, though she have borne many sonnes, if he be [illegible: 1 word] fathers first-borne, he hath a double portion. He [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 2 letters]mmeth (into the world) after untimely births [illegible: 1 word] were before him,] is the first-borne for inheri [illegible: 3 letters]ce. And so one borne at his fulltime, if he be borne [illegible: 1 word] he that commeth after him, is the first-borne [illegible: 1 span]ritance. If a man have sonnes while hee is an [illegible: 1 span]en, and after becommeth a proselyte, he hath no [illegible: 1 span] borne for inheritance. But an Israelite that hath [illegible: 1 span] by a bond-woman, or by an heathen woman, [illegible: 1 span]ch as he is not called his sonne, he that com [illegible: 1 span] after him of an Israelitesse, is the first-borne for [illegible: 1 span]nce, and hath a double portion. Maim. ibi [illegible: 1 span], ch. 2. s. 8 9, 10, 12. of his strength] or, of [illegible: 1 span]our. So Iakob said of Reuben his eldest, [illegible: 1 span]49. 3. The Greeke translateth, of his children. [illegible: 1 span] this is the first reason of the Law, from nature [illegible: 1 span]e. the right] Hebr. the judgement; which [illegible: 1 span]eeke explaineth thus, the first birth-rights [illegible: 1 span] (or belong) unto him. And this may be un [illegible: 1 span]ood in respect of the Iudgement or Law of [illegible: 1 word] L[illegible: 1 letter]rd; which is added unto the former reason [illegible: 1 word] nature, and maketh the first-bornes right more firme unto him. Wherefore as Esau beforehand sold his birth-right, and the sale was confirmed, Gen. 25. 33. so generally The first-borne that selleth the portion of the birth-right before it be parted, his sale is firme, because the portion is his before it is parted, saith Maimony treat. of Inheritance, c. 3. s. 6. And by reason of this right of the first-borne, his children after him do inherit also, as this Hebrew canon sheweth, Who so hath two sonnes, a first-borne, and another, and they die both of them whiles he liveth, and leave children behinde them, the first-borne leaveth a daughter, & the single (brother) leaveth a sonne; the sonne of the single (brother) shall inherit of the old mans goeds a third part, which was his fathers portion; & the daughter of the first-borne shall inherit two thirds, which was her fathers portion. And such is the right of brethrens children, and of the fathers brothers children, and of all that doe inherit: if the father of one of the heires were a first-borne, the heire receiveth the portion of his first birth-right for him. Maimony ibidem, c. 2. s. 7. By this Law was fore-shadowed how the elect, the Israel of God, Gal. 6. 16. which are his first-borne, Exod. 4. 22. and Church of the first-born which are written in heaven, Heb. 12. 23. shall have a double portion, and inherit the good things of God, as they which have the promise of the life which now is, and of that which is to come, 1 Tim. 4. 8. and are the heires of God, and joint-heires with Christ, Rom. 8. 17. and being justified by his grace, are made heires according to the hope of eternall life, Tit. 3. 7. God having begotten them againe, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for us, 1 Pet. 1. 4. Vers. 18. stubborne] or perverse, revolting, refractarie, that turneth away from God and his Law: and it implieth the affection of the heart, as Ier. 5. 23. and the cariage and action as an untamed heiffer, Hos. 4. 16. Neh. 9. 29. And so the Apostle translateth it into Greeke, by two words, disobedient (or unperswaded,) and gaine-saying, Rom. 10. 21. from Esay 65. 2. So here the Greeke expoundeth it, disobedient. rebellious] The Hebrew Moreh signifieth one that changeth or turneth to the worse, both in heart and action, and in particular turneth from and opposeth the word of God, as Deut. 1. 26. 43. and 9. 7, 23, 24. The Greeke here translateth it Contentious. The instance of this rebellion is shewed in v. 20. obeieth not] or [illegible: 1 letter]earkeneth not; the Chaldee translateth, receiveth not the word. chastened] or nurtured; which implieth both words and acts, as by rebukes, stripes, and outward punishment, Levit. 26. 23, 28. and sometime by the hand of the Magistrate, Deut. 22. 18. in which sense the Hebrews understand this here. And having spoken before of words, this therefore is meant of blowes also. Vers. 19. and his mother] both of them; so that one alone was not enough to cause him to be put to death. The Hebrew Doctors, as they are alwaies warie in cases that concerne the taking away of any mans life; so in this above others, they set downe many and strange limitations; as, first they restraine it to those particular sinnes of gluttony and drunkennesse, vers. 20. and that gluttony to be eating of flesh onely, and drunkennesse with wine onely. Also that the sonne is not to be put to death, unlesse hee have stollen somewhat from his father, and bought therewith flesh and wine for riot, and eaten and drunke it without his fathers leave, in a company that are all vaine and vile persons. That a sonne onely, not a daughter, is to be put to death by this Law, and hee not a little one, or a childe, who is not within the rule or compasse of the commandements; not a man that is growne up, and is in his owne power. So that hee must be at least above twelve yeeres of age. And if he be married three moneths, and his wife be knowne to be with childe, they free him also from this Law, because it is said a sonne, and not a father. Moreover, that the father and mother must bring this rebellious sonne first to the court of three Iudges, and there complaine of his disobedience; bringing with them two witnesses of his stealth and gluttony: whereupon he is there beaten, as others are for the like crime; and this is that chastening in v. 18. If he fall againe to stealth and riot, his father and mother bring him againe before the Magistrates, with the witnesses, and he is condemned to death. But if before sentence is passed on him, his father and mother doe relent in pitie towards him, hee is let goe. If he flee away before sentence is gone out against him, and be afterward taken when hee is in mans state (which they also judge by the haire on his face) hee is not put to death; but if hee scape away after sentence of condemnation, he is stoned to death whensoever hee is taken. If his father be willing to bring him to the Magistrate, and the mother not; or the mother willing, and the father not; he is not to be judged as a rebellious sonne. If either parent have lost their hand, or be lame, or dumbe, or blinde, or deafe, the sonne passeth not under this condemnation; for it is said, they must lay hold on him, and bring him, and must say, this our sonne, &c. hee obeieth not our voice, &c. These, and the like cautions, are noted by Maimony in treat. of Rebels, chap. 7. and in the Bab. Thalmud. in Sanhedrin, ch. 8. but they have not all of them found ground from the Scripture. Howbeit if any sonne be by any of these exceptions saved, that he die not as a rebellious sonne, yet is he under all other punishments which the Magistrates inflict on other riotours, and like malefactors. the gate of his place] that is, the gate of the place where he dwelt, at which gate the Magistrates used to sit, Deut. 22. 15. and 25. 7. So the Chaldee here translateth, the gate of the judgementhall of his place. Vers. 20. a glutton] or riotour, devourer: in Hebrew Zolel, which hath the signification of vilenesse, Ier. 15. 19. The Chaldee addeth, a glutton (or riotous eater) of flesh, and a riotous drinker of wine: which words seeme also to be understood in the Hebrew, and are so expressed in Prov. 23. 20. Be not amongst riotous drinkers of wine, amongst riotous eaters of flesh: for the riotous drinker, and the riotous eater (or glutton) shall come to poverty. Where in the latter sentence, the words flesh and wine are omitted, as here they are in Moses. And to these two, flesh and wine, the Hebrewes do restraine this law, as before is noted: but oft times such things are named for an instance, and doe imply all other of like sort. Vers. 21. and he shall die] or, that he die. The sinnes of riot and drunkennesse were not by Moses Law punishable by death: this therefore was in respect of his disobedience to his parents, which greatly aggravated his sinne, and for which hee was to die, when other drunkards scaped with lighter punishment. Hereupon Solomon uttered his parable, He that keepeth the Law, is a wise son; but he that is a companion of gluttons, shameth his father, Prov. 28. 7. all Israel shall heare] The like is spoken of the death of some other notorious malefactors, as Deut. 13. 11. and 17. 13. and 19. 30. So in this case, the Hebrewes say, The rebellious sonne must be proclaimed, and they publish by writings unto all Israel, In such a Court wee stoned such an one, because hee was a stubborne and rebellious sonne. Maimony treat. of Rebels, chap. 7. sect. 13. Vers. 22. worthy of death] Hebr. of the judgement of death; which the Chaldee well expoundeth, desert of judgement to be killed. and thou hang him] The Hebrewes understand not this of putting him to death by hanging, but of hanging a man up after hee was stoned to death; which was done for more detestation of some hainous malefactors. Their words are; We are commanded to hang the blasphemer, and the Idolater: and a man is hanged, but not a woman. After they are stoned to death, they fasten a peace of timber in the earth, and out of it there commeth a peece of wood; then they tie both his hands one to another, and hang him neere unto the setting of the Sun, and let him downe out of hand; and if he abide all night, it is a transgression, Deut. 21. 23. And we are commanded to burie all that are killed by the Iudges, the same day that they are killed. They may not be hanged on a tree that groweth on the ground, but on that which hath beene plucked up, that there may not need any cutting of it downe: for the tree that he is hanged on is to be buried with him, that there be no evill memoriall of him, for men to say, this is the tree wheron such a man was hanged. And so the stone wherewith the stoned is killed, and the sword wherewith a man is put to death, and the napkin wherwith he is strangled, they all are buried. Maimony in Sanhedrin, ch. 15. sect. 6. &c. In the Scripture we have examples of Rechab and Baanah, who for murdering Ishbosheth, were by Davids commandement slaine, their hands and feet cut off, and they hanged up, 2 Sam. 4. 12. where their hanging seemeth to be after their death: and so in others; as Ios. 10. 26. which might also be the case of the King of Ai, Ies. 8. 29. & of those Idolaters in Num. 25. 4. And the Scripture sheweth a double punishment for some hainous sinnes, as in Achans family, who were burned with fire, after they were stoned, Ios. 7. 25. Among the Romans afterward they hanged or fastned them to the tree alive; and such was the death of our Lord Christ, who bare, our [illegible: 1 span]es in his owne bodie on the tree, 1 Pet. 2. 24. Luke 23. 33,—39. Vers. 23. burying] in Greeke, with buriall thou shall burie him, that is, in any wise burie him. This was also sulfilled in our Saviours body, which was buried the same day that he was hanged on tree, Ioh. 19. 31, 38, 42. he that is hanged] to wit, on tree, as Gal. 3. 13. This speech, as many other of like sort, is generall; therefore the Greeke translateth, every one that is hanged on tree; and that interpretation the Apostle alleageth in Gal. 3. 13. the curse] that is, cursed as the A postle expoundeth it, (according to the Greeke version,) Gal. 3. 13. And here in the utmost rigour and severity of the Law God fore-signified the riches of his grace towards sinners in Christ, who redeemed us from the curse of the Law, being made a curse for us, as appeared in that he was hanged on the tree, Gal. 3. 13. He was reckoned among the transgressors, Luke 22. 37. and God made him to be sinne for us, who knew no sinne, that wee might be made the righteousnesse of God in him, 2 Cor. 5. 21. The Chaldee translateth, For because he sinned before the Lord, he is hanged. and thou shalt not defile the land] or, as the Greeke translateth, and the land shall not be defiled: which might be by the monument of Gods curse remaining upon it visibly. So the buriall was to abolish the curse from appearing in the Lords land. A figure of the fruit and effect of our Saviours buriall, whereby the rigour of the Law was declared to be satisfied, and all our sinnes defaced, and removed out of Gods sight, that they shall neve[illegible: 1 letter]be imputed unto us.