Deuteronomy 24 commentary

Where the providence of God, or his own wrong choice in marriage, has allotted to a Christian a trial instead of a help meet; he will from his heart prefer bearing the cross, to such relief as tends to sin, confusion, and misery. Divine grace will sanctify this cross, support under it, and teach so to behave, as will gradually render it more tolerable.

It is of great consequence that love be kept up between husband and wife; that they carefully avoid every thing which might make them strange one to another. Man-stealing was a capital crime, which could not be settled, as other thefts, by restitution. The laws concerning leprosy must be carefully observed. Thus all who feel their consciences under guilt and wrath, must not cover it, or endeavour to shake off their convictions; but by repentance, and prayer, and humble confession, take the way to peace and pardon. Some orders are given about pledges for money lent. This teaches us to consult the comfort and subsistence of others, as much as our own advantage. Let the poor debtor sleep in his own raiment, and praise God for thy kindness to him. Poor debtors ought to feel more than commonly they do, the goodness of creditors who do not take all the advantage of the law against them, nor should this ever be looked upon as weakness.

It is not hard to prove that purity, piety, justice, mercy, fair conduct, kindness to the poor and destitute, consideration for them, and generosity of spirit, are pleasing to God, and becoming in his redeemed people. The difficulty is to attend to them in our daily walk and conversation.

Although what relates to divorce was granted in indulgence to the Jews, yet Christ pronounces that it was never in accordance with the Law, because it is directly repugnant to the first institution of God, from whence a perpetual and inviolable rule is to be sought. It is proverbially said that the laws of nature are indissoluble; and God has declared once for all, that the bond of union between husband and wife is closer than that of parent and child; wherefore, if a son cannot shake off the paternal yoke, no cause can permit the dissolution of the connection which a man has with his wife. Hence it appears how great was the perverseness of that nation, which could not be restrained from dissolving a most sacred and inviolable tie. Meanwhile the Jews improperly concluded from their impunity that that was lawful, which God did not punish because of the hardness of their hearts; whereas they ought rather to have considered, agreeably to the answer of Christ, that man is not at liberty to separate those whom God hath joined together. (Matthew 19:6.) Still, God chose to make a provision for women who were cruelly oppressed, and for whom it was better that they should at once be set free, than that they should groan beneath a cruel tyranny during their whole lives. Thus, in Malachi, divorce is preferred to polygamy, since it would be a more tolerable condition to be divorced than to bear with a harlot and a rival. (Malachi 2:14.) And undoubtedly the bill or scroll of divorce, whilst it cleared the woman from all disgrace, cast some reproach on the husband; for he who confesses that he puts away his wife, because she does not please him, brings himself under the accusation both of moroseness and inconstancy. For what gross levity and disgraceful inconstancy it shows, that a husband should be so offended with some imperfection or disease in his wife, as to east away from him half of himself! We see, then, that husbands were indirectly condemned by the writing of divorce, since they thus committed an injury against their wives who were chaste, and in other respects what they should be. On these grounds, God in Isaiah, in order that He might take away from the Jews all subject of complaint, bids them produce the bill of divorce, if He had given any to their mother, (Isaiah 1:1;) as much as to say, that His cause for rejecting them was just, because they had treacherously revolted to ungodliness.

Some interpreters do not read these three verses continuously, but suppose the sense to be complete at the end of the first, wherein the husband testifies that he divorces his wife for no offense, but because her beauty does not satisfy his lust. If, however, we give more close attention, we shall see that it is only one provision of the Law, viz., that when a man has divorced his wife, it is not lawful for him to marry her again if she have married another. The reason of the law is, that, by prostituting his wife, he would be, as far as in him lay, acting like a procurer. In this view, it is said that she was defiled, because he had contaminated her body, for the liberty which he gave her could not abolish the first institution of God, but rather, as Christ teaches, gave cause for adultery. (Matthew 5:31, and 19:9.) Thus, the Israelites were reminded that, although they divorced their wives with impunity, still this license was by no means excused before God.

Leviticus 18

Leviticus 18:19

19. Also thou shalt not approach unto a woman to uncover her nakedness as long as she is put apart for her uncleanness.

19. Ad mulierem in segregatione immunditiae suae non accedes, revelando turpitudinem ejus.

Leviticus 20

Leviticus 20:18

18. And if a man shall lie with a woman having her sickness, and shall uncover her nakedness, he hath discovered her fountain, and she hath uncovered the fountain of her blood: and both of them shall be cut off from among their people.

18. Quicunque dormierit cum meretrice aegra, et revelaverit turpitudinem ejus, fontem ejus discooperuerit, ipsa etiam revelaverit fontem sanguinis sui: succidentur ambo e medio populi sui.

The immunity here given has for its object the awakening of that mutual love which may preserve the conjugal fidelity of husband and wife; for there is danger lest, if a husband departs from his wife immediately after marriage, the bride, before she has become thoroughly accustomed to him, should be too prone to fall in love with some one else. A similar danger affects the husband; for in war, and other expeditions, many things occur which tempt men to sin. God, therefore, would have the love of husband and wife fostered by their association for a whole year, that thus mutual confidence may be established between them, and they may afterwards continually beware of all incontinency.

But that God should permit a bride to enjoy herself with her husband, affords no trifling proof of His indulgence. Assuredly, it cannot be but that the lust of the flesh must affect the connection of husband and wife with some amount of sin; yet God not only pardons it, but covers it with the veil of holy matrimony, lest that which is sinful in itself should be so imputed; nay, He spontaneously allows them to enjoy themselves. With this injunction corresponds what Paul says,

“Let the husband render unto his wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband. Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer.” (1 Corinthians 7:3, 5.)

Numbers 5

Numbers 5:11-31

11. And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

11. Loquutus est Jehova ad Mosen, dicendo:

12. Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man’s wife go aside, and commit a trespass against him,

12. Alloquere filios Israel, et dicas illis, Quum diverterit uxor cujuspiam, et praevaricata fuerit praevaricatione:

13. And a man lie with her carnally, and it be hid from the eyes of her husband, and he kept close, and she be defiled, and there be no witness against her, neither she be taken with the manner;

13. Et coierit aliquis cum ea coitu seminis, absconditum autem fuerit ab oculis viri sui et delituerit, ipsaque polluta fuerit: testis vero non fuerit contra eam, neque ipsa fuerit deprehensa:

14. And the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be defiled; or if the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be not defiled:

14. Et transierit super eum spiritus zelotypiae, zelatusque fuerit uxorem suam, et ipsa polluta fuerit: vel transierit super eum spiritus zelotypiae, zelatusque fuerit uxorem suam, et ipsa non fuerit polluta:

15. Then shall the man bring his wife unto the priest, and he shall bring her offering for her, the tenth part of an ephah of barley meal; he shall pour no oil upon it, nor put frankincense thereon; for it is an offering of jealousy, an offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to remembrance.

15. Tunc adducet vir uxorem suam ad sacerdotem, et afferet obtationem ejus cum illa, nempe decimam partem epha farinae hordeaceae: non fundet super eam oleum, neque ponet super eam thus, quia oblatio zelotypiarum est, oblatio memoriae revocans in memoriam iniquitatem.

16. And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the Lord.

16. Et appropinquare faciet eam sacerdos, statuetque eam coram Jehova.

17. And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and of the dust that is in the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put it into the water.

17. Tolletque sacerdos aquam sanctum in vase testaceo, de pulvere quoque qui fuerit in pavimento tabernaculi tollet sacerdos, et mittet in aquam illam.

18. And the priest shall set the woman before the Lord, and uncover the woman’s head, and put the offering of memorial in her hands, which is the jealousy-offering: and the priest shall have in his hand. the bitter water that causeth the curse.

18. Tum statuet sacerdos mulierem coram Jehova, et discooperiet caput illius mulieris, ponetque super manus ejus oblationem memoriae, quae oblatio zelotypiarum est: et in manum sacerdotis erunt aquae amarae maledictae.

19. And the priest shall charge her by an oath, and say unto the woman, If no man have lain with thee, and if thou hast not gone aside to uncleanness with another instead of thy husband, be thou free from this bitter water that causeth the curse:

19. Et adjurabit eam sacerdos, dicetque illi, Si non coierit quispiam tecum, et si non declinaveris ad immunditiam sub viro tuo, munda esto ab aquis istis amaris maledictis:

20. But if thou hast gone aside to another instead of thy husband, and if thou be defiled, and some man have lain with thee besides thine husband:

20. Si vero declinaveris sub viro tuo, et polluta fueris, dederitque aliquis in te semen suum praeter virum tuum:

21. Then the priest shall charge the woman with an oath of cursing; and the priest shall say unto the woman, The Lord make thee a curse and an oath among thy people, when the Lord doth make thy thigh to rot, and thy belly to swell:

21. (Adjurabit, inquam, mulierem illam sacerdos adjuratione maledictionis, et dicet mulieri,) Det te Jehova in maledictionem et adjurationem in medio populi tui, quum dederit Jehova femur tuum cadens, et uterum tuum tumescentem:

22. And this water that causeth the curse shall go into thy bowels, to make thy belly to swell, and thy thigh to rot. And the woman shall say, Amen, amen.

22. Ingredianturque aquae maledictae istae in interiora tua, ut tumescere faciant uterum, et cadere faciant femur. Et dicet mulier illa, Amen, amen.

23. And the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall blot them out with the bitter water:

23. Et scriber maledictiones istas sacerdos in libro, et delebit postea illas cum aquis amaris:

24. And he shall cause the woman to drink the bitter water that causeth the curse: and the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter.

24. Tum ad potandum dabit mulieri aquas amaras maledictas, et ingredientur in eam aquae maledictae, in amaras.

25. Then the priest shall take the jealousy-offering out of the woman’s hand, and shall wave the offering before the Lord, and offer it upon the altar.

25. Postea capiet sacerdos e manu mulieris oblationem zelotypiarum, et elevabit illam coram Jehova, offeretque eam super altare.

26. And the priest shall take an handful of the offering, even the memorial thereof, and burn it upon the altar, and afterward shall cause the woman to drink the water.

26. Tollet etiam sacerdos pugillum plenum de oblatione memoriam ejus, adolebitque illud super altare, et postea ad potandum dabit mulieri aquas:

27. And when he hath made her to drink the water, then it shall come to pass, that if she be defiled, and have done trespass against her husband, that the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter, and her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall rot: and the woman shall be a curse among her people.

27. Ad potandum, inquam, dabit ei aquas illas: et erit, si polluta fuerit, praevaricataque fuerit praevaricatione in virum suum, tunc ingredientur in illam aquae maledictae versae in amaritudinem, intumescetque uterus ejus, et cadet femur ejus: et erit mulier illa in maledictionem in medio populi sui.

28. And if the woman be not defiled, but be clean; then she shall be free, and shall conceive seed.

28. Quod si non fuerit polluta mulier, sed munda fuerit, munda erit, seminabiturque semine.

29. This is the law of jealousies, when a wife goeth aside to another instead of her husband, and is defiled;

29. Haec est lex zelotypiarum, quum diverterit mulier sub viro suo, et polluta fuerit.

30. Or when the spirit of jealousy cometh upon him, and he be jealous over his wife, and shall set the woman before the Lord, and the priest shall execute upon her all this law.

30. Aut viri super quem transierit spiritus zelotypiae, et zelatus fuerit uxorem suam, statueritque mulierem coram Jehova, ac fecerit ei sacerdos secundum omnem legem hanc.

31. Then shall the man be guiltless from iniquity, and this woman shall bear her iniquity.

31. Et innocens erit vir ille ab iniquitate, mulier vero illa portabit iniquitatem suam.

Deuteronomy 24:6 No man shall take the nether. God now enforces another principle of equity in relation to loans, (not to be too strict Added from Fr. ) in requiring pledges, whereby the poor are often exceedingly distressed. In the first place, He prohibits the taking of anything in pledge which is necessary to the poor for the support of existence; for by the words which I have translated meta and catillus, i e., the upper and nether millstone, He designates by synecdoche all other instruments, which workmen cannot do without in earning their daily bread. As if any one should forcibly deprive a husbandman of his plough, or his spade, or harrow, or other tools, or should empty a shoemaker’s, or potter’s, or other person’s shop, who could not exercise his trade when deprived of its implements; and this is sufficiently clear from the context, where it is said, “He taketh a man’s life to pledge,” together with his millstones. He, then, is as cruel, whosoever takes in pledge what supports a poor man’s life, as if he should take away bread from a starving man, and thus his life itself, which, as it is sustained by labor, so, when its means of subsistence are cut off, is, as it were, itself destroyed.

The same punishment is here deservedly denounced against man-stealers as against murderers; for, so wretched was the condition of slaves, that liberty was more than half of life; and hence to deprive a man of such a great blessing, was almost to destroy him. Besides, it is not man-stealing only which is here condemned, but the accompanying evils of cruelty and fraud, i.e., if he, who had stolen a man, had likewise sold him. Now, such a sale could hardly be made among the people themselves, without the crime being immediately detected; and nothing could be more hateful than that God’s children should be alienated from the Church, and delivered over to heathen nations.

Deuteronomy 21

Deuteronomy 21:22, 23

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;

22. Quum fuerit in aliquo peccatum ad judicium mortis, et interficiendus fuerit, et suspenderis illum in ligno:

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.

23. Non pernoctabit cadaver ejus in ligno, sed sepeliendo sepelies eodem die: quia maledictio est Dei qui suspenditur, et non contaminabis terram tuam quam Jehova Deus tuus dat tibi in haereditatem.

8. Take heed in the plague of leprosy. I am aware how greatly interpreters differ from each other and how variously they twist whatever Moses has written about Leprosy. Some are too eagerly devoted to allegories; some think that God, as a prudent Legislator, merely gave a commandment of a sanitary, nature, in order that a contagious disease should not, spread among the people. This notion, however, is very. poor, and almost unmeaning; and is briefly. refuted by Moses himself, both where he recounts the history of Miriam’s leprosy, and also where he assigns the cause why lepers should be put out of the camp, viz that they might not defile the camp in which God dwelt, whilst he ranks them with those that have an issue, and that they are defiled by the dead. Wherefore, I have thought it well, previous to attempting the full elucidation of the matter, to adduce two passages, by way of preface, from whence the design of God may more fully appear. When, in this passage from Deuteronomy, He commands the people to “take heed” and “observe diligently” the plague of leprosy, there can be no question but that He thus ratifies what He had before set forth at greater length in Leviticus. And, first of all, He refers the judgment of the matter to the priests, that what they pronounce should be firm and unalterable; and secondly, He would have the priests, lest they should pronounce rashly, and according to their own wishes, to follow simply what He prescribed to them, so that they may only be the ministers, or heralds; whilst, as to the sovereign authority, He alone should be the Judge. He confirms the law which He imposes by a special example; because He had cast out Miriam, the sister of Moses, for a time, lest her uncleanness during her leprosy should defile the camp. For the view which some take, that He exhorts the people lest, through sin, they should bring upon themselves the same evil as Miriam, is not to the purpose. But that which I have stated makes excellent sense, viz., that God’s command, whereby He prohibited Miriam from entering the camp, was to have the force and weight of a perpetual law; because He thus ordained what He would always have done.

Numbers 5

Numbers 5:1-3

1. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

1. Et loquutus est Jehova ad Mosen, dicendo:

2. Command the children of Israel, that they put out of the camp every leper, and every one that hath an issue, and whosoever is defiled by the dead:

2. Praecipe filiis Israel ut ejiciant e castris omnem leprosum, omnem seminifluum, et omnem immundum super anima.

3. Both male and female shall ye put out, without the camp shall ye put them; that they defile not their camps, in the midst whereof I dwell.

3. Tam masculum quam faeminam ejicietis: extra castra ejicietis eos, ne contaminent castra sua, quia ego habito in medio eorum.

10. When thou dost lend thy brother anything He provides against another iniquity in reclaiming a pledge, viz., that the creditor should ransack the house and furniture of his brother, in order to pick out the pledge at his pleasure. For, if this option were given to the avaricious rich, they would be satisfied with no moderation, but would seize upon all that was best, as if making an assault on the very entrails of the poor: in a word, they would ransack men’s houses, or at any rate, whilst they contemptuously refused this or that, they would fill the wretched with rebuke and shame. God, therefore, will have no pledge reclaimed, except what the debtor of his own accord, and at his own convenience, shall bring out of his house, lie even proceeds further, that the creditor shall not take back any pledge which he knows to be necessary for the poor: for example, if he should pledge the bed on which he sleeps, or his counterpane, or cloak, or mantle. For it is not just that lie should be stripped, so as to suffer from cold, or to be deprived of other aids, the use of which he could not forego without loss or inconvenience. A promise, therefore, is added, that this act of humanity will be pleasing to God, when the poor shall sleep in the garment which is restored to him. He speaks even more distinctly, and says: The poor will bless thee, and it shall be accounted to thee for righteousness. For God indicates that He hears the prayers of the poor and needy, lest the rich man should think the bounty thrown away which lie confers upon a lowly individual. We must, indeed, be more than iron-hearted, unless we are disposed to such liberality as this, when we understand that, although the poor have not the means of repaying us in this world, still they have the power of recompensing us before God, i e., by obtaining grace for us through their prayers. An implied threat is also conveyed, that if the poor man should sleep inconveniently, or catch cold through our fault, God. will hear his groans, so that our cruelty will not be unpunished. But if the poor man, upon whom we have had compassion, should be ungrateful, yet, even though he is silent, our kindness will cry out to God; whilst, on the other hand, our tyrannical harshness will suffice to provoke God’s vengeance, although he who has been treated unkindly should patiently swallow his wrong. To be unto righteousness “It shall be righteousness unto thee,” A V., and rightly, as it would appear, for, as Piscator (in Poole’s Syn.) remarks, “ante צצץ deficit praepositio.” is equivalent to being approved by God, or being an acceptable act; for since the keeping of the Law is true righteousness, this praise is extended to particular acts of obedience. Although it must be observed that this righteousness fails and vanishes, unless we universally fulfill whatever God enjoins. It is, indeed, a part of righteousness to restore a poor man’s pledge; but if a mall be only beneficent in this respect., whilst in other matters he robs his brethren; or if, whilst free from avarice, he exercises violence, is given to lust or gluttony, the particular righteousness, although pleasing in itself to God, will not come into account. In fact, we must hold fast the axiom, that no work is accounted righteous before God, unless il, proceeds from a man of purity and integrity; whereas there is none such to be found. Consequently, no works are imputed unto righteousness, except because God deigns to bestow His gratuitous favor on believers. In itself, indeed, it would be true, that whatever act of obedience to God we perform, it is accounted for righteousness, i e., if the whole course of our life corresponded to it, whereas no work proceeds from us which is not corrupted by some defect. Thus, we must fly to God’s mercy, in order that, being reconciled to us, He may also accept our work.

What he had previously prescribed respecting the poor, lie afterwards applies to widows alone, yet so as to recommend all poor persons to us under their name; and this we gather both from the beginning of the verse (17,) in which lie instructs them to deal fairly and justly with strangers and orphans, and also from the reason which is added, viz., that they should reflect that they were bondmen in the land of Egypt; for their condition there did not suffer them proudly to insult the miserable; and it is natural that he should be the more affected with the ills of others who has experienced the same. Since, then, this reason is a general one, it is evident also that the precept is general, that we should be humane towards all that are in want.

Leviticus 25

Leviticus 25:35-38

35. And if thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen in decay with thee, then thou shalt relieve him; yea, though he be a stranger, or a sojourner: that he may live with thee.

35. Si attenuatus fuerit frater tuus, et vacillaverit manus ejus apud te, fulcies illum (vel, apprehendes ut sustineas): peregrinum et advenam: et vivet tecum.

36. Take thou no usury of him, or increase: but fear thy God; that thy brother may live with thee.

36. Non accipies usuram ab eo et augmentum: sed timebis Deum tuum: vivetque frater apud te.

37. Thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury, nor lend him thy victuals for increase.

37. Pecuniam tuam non dabis ei ad usuram, nec cum augmento dabis escam tuam.

38. I am the Lord your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your God.

38. Ego Jehova Deus vester qui eduxi vos de terra AEgypti, ut darem vobis terram Chanann, ac essem vobis in Deum.

Deuteronomy 23

Deuteronomy 23:19, 20

19. Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother; usury of money, usury of victuals, usury of any thing that is lent upon usury.

19. Non foenerabis fratri tuo foenus pecuniae, foenus cibi, foenus cujuscunque rei in qua foenus exercetur.

20. Unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon usury, but unto thy brother thou shalt not lend. upon usury; that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all that thou settest thine hand to in the land whither thou goest to possess it.

20. Extraneo foenerabis, ac fratri tuo non foenerabis: ut benedicat tibi Jehova Deus tuus in omni applicatione manus tuae super terram ad quam ingrederis, ut possideas eam.

14. Thou shalt not oppress an hired servant. This precept is akin to the foregoing. Moses pronounces that he who has hired a poor person for wages oppresses him unless he gives him immediate recompense for his labor; since the two admonitions, “thou shalt; not; oppress,” and “thou shalt give him his hire,” are to be read in connection with each other. Hence it follows, that if a hireling suffers from want because we do not pay him what he has earned, we are by our very delay alone convicted of unrighteousness. The reason is now more clearly expressed, viz., because he sustains his life by his daily labors. The expression on which C. founds this statement is translated by himself “ea (i.e., mercede) sustentat animam suam;” in our A. V., “setteth his heart upon it;“ margin, “Heb., lifteth his soul unto it.” Dathe has, “eam anhelat;” Ainsworth, “and unto it he lifteth up his soul,” and his note is, “that is, hopeth for and desireth it for the maintenance of his life. So the Greek here translateth, he hath hope; and in. Jeremiah 22:27, and 44:14, the lifting up of the soul signifieth a desire; and the soul is often put for the life. Hereupon the Hebrews say, Whosoever with-holdeth the hireling’s wage, is as if he took away his soul (or life) from him” etc. Although, however, this provision only refers to the poor, lest they should suffer hunger from the negligence or pride of the rich, still humanity in general is enforced, lest, whilst the poor labor for our profit, we should arrogantly abuse them as if they were our slaves, or should be too illiberal and stingy towards them, since nothing can be more disgraceful than that, when they are in our service, they should not at least have enough to live upon frugally. Finally, Moses admonishes us that this tyranny on the part of the rich shall not be unpunished, if they do not supply their workmen with the means of subsistence, even although no account shall be rendered of it before the tribunals of men. Hence we infer that this law is not political, but altogether spiritual, and binding on our consciences before the judgment-seat of God; for although the poor man may not sue us at law, Moses teaches us that it is sufficient for him to appeal to the faithfulness of God. Wherefore, although the earthly judge may absolve us a hundred times over, let us not therefore think that we have escaped; since God will always require of us from heaven, whatever may have been unjustly excused us on earth. The question, however, here arises, whether, if he who has been oppressed should not cry out, the criminality will cease in consequence of his silence; for the words of Moses seem to imply this, when he says, that the rich will be guilty, if the poor cry unto God and make complaint of their wrongs. The reply’ is easy, that Moses had no other intention than to over-. throw the vain confidence of the despisers, whereby they arc, stimulated to greater audacity in sin, and are hardened in iniquity. He says, therefore, that although, as far as men are concerned, they may allow us to pillage and rob, still a more awful judgment is to be dreaded; for God hears the complaints of the poor, who find no protector or avenger on earth. And surely, the more patiently he who is despoiled shall bear his wrong, the more ready will God be to undertake his cause; nor is there any louder cry to Him than patient endurance. If, however, any should object that the cry here spoken of is at variance with Christ’s command, that we should pray for our enemies, we answer at once, that God does not always approve of the prayers which He nevertheless answers. The imprecation of Jotham, the son of Gideon, took effect upon the Shechemites, (Judges 9:20,) although it was plainly the offspring of immoderate anger. Besides, it sometimes happens that the miserable, although they endure their injuries with pious meekness, still cease not to lay their sorrows and their groans in the bosom of God. Nor is this a slight consolation for the poor, that if no one on earth relieves them because their condition is low and abject, still God will hereafter take cognizance of their cause.

Deuteronomy 25

Deuteronomy 25:4

4. Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn

4. Non obligabis os bovi trituranti.

Here also God manifests how great is His regard for human life, so that blood should not be shed indiscriminately, when he forbids that children should be involved in the punishment of their parents. Nor was this Law by any means supererogatory, because on account of one man’s crime his whole race was often severely dealt with. It is not without cause, therefore, that God interposes for the protection of the innocent, and does not allow the punishment to travel further than where the crime exists. And surely our natural common sense dictates that it is an act of barbarous madness to put children to death out of hatred to their father. If any should object, what we have already seen, that God avenges “unto the third and fourth generation,” the reply is easy, that He is a law unto Himself, and that He does not rush by a blind impulse to the exercise of vengeance, so as to confound the innocent with the reprobate, but that He so visits the iniquity of the fathers upon their children, as to temper extreme severity with the greatest equity. Moreover, He has not so bound Himself by an inflexible rule as not to be free, if it so pleases Him, to depart from the Law; as, for example, He commanded the whole race of Canaan to be rooted out, because the land would not be purged except by the extermination of their defilements; and, since they were all reprobate, the children, no less than their fathers, were doomed to just destruction. Nay, we read that, after Saul’s death, his guilt was expiated by the death of his children, (2 Samuel 21;) still, by this special exception, the Supreme Lawgiver did not abrogate what He had commanded; but would have His own admirable wisdom acquiesced in, which is the fountain from whence all laws proceed.

Deuteronomy 20

Deuteronomy 20:10-18

10. When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it.

10. Quum accesseris ad urbem ut expugnes illam, clamabis ad eam pacem.

11. And it shall be, if it make thee answer of peace, and open unto thee, then it shall be, that all the people that is found therein shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee.

11. Et erit, si pacem responderit tibi, et aperuit tibi, universus populus qui fuerit repertus in ea, erunt tibi tributarii, servientque tibi.

12. And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it:

12. Si vero pacem non fecerit tecum, sed faciet tecum praelium, obsederisque eam;

13. And when the Lord thy God hath delivered it into thine hands, thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword:

13. Et dederit eam Jehova Deus tuus in manu tua: tunc percuties omnem masculum ejus acie gladii.

14. But the women, and the little ones, and the cattle, and all that is in the city, even all the spoil thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself: and thou shalt eat the spoil of thine enemies, which the Lord thy God hath given thee.

14. Tantum mulieres, et parvulos, et animalia, et quicquid fuerit in urbe, omnia spolia ejus praedaberis tibi: comedesque spolia inimicorum tuorum, quos dederit tibi Jehova Deus tuus.

15. Thus shalt thou do unto all the cities which are very far off from thee, which are not of the cities of these nations.

15. Sic facies omnibus urbibus longinquis a te valde, quae non sunt de urbibus gentium istarum.

16. But of the cities of these people, which the Lord thy God doth give thee. for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth.

16. Tantum de urbibus populorum istorum quos Jehova Deus tuus dat tibi in haereditatem, non vivificabis ullam animam:

17. But thou shalt utterly destroy them; namely, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee:

17. Sed perdendo perdes eos, Hitthaeum, Amorrhaeum, Chananaeum et Perisaeum, Hivaeum, et Jebusaeum, quemadmodum praecepit tibi Jehova Deus tuus:

18. That they teach you not to do after all their abominations, which they have done unto their gods; so should ye sin against the Lord your God.

18. Ne doceant vos facere secundum abominationes suas quas faciunt diis suis: et peccetis in Jehovam Deum vestrum.

God here inculcates liberality upon the possessors of land, when their fruits are gathered: for, when His bounty is exercised before our eyes, it invites us to imitate Him; and it is a sign of ingratitude, unkindly and maliciously, to withhold what we derive from His blessing. God does not indeed require that those who have abundance should so profusely give away their produce, as to despoil themselves by enriching others; and, in fact, Paul prescribes this as the measure of our alms, that their relief of the poor should not bring into distress the rich themselves, who kindly distribute. (2 Corinthians 8:13.) God, therefore, permits every one to reap his corn, to gather his vintage, and to enjoy his abundance; provided the rich, content with their own vintage and harvest, do not grudge the poor the gleaning of the grapes and corn. Not that He absolutely assigns to the poor whatever remains, so that they may seize it as their own; but that some small portion may flow gratuitously to them from the munificence of the rich. He mentions indeed by name the orphans, and widows, and strangers, yet undoubtedly He designates all the poor and needy, who have no fields of their own to sow or reap; for it will sometimes occur that orphans are by no means in want, but rather that they have the means of being liberal themselves; nor are widows and strangers always hungry; but I have explained elsewhere why these three classes are mentioned.

Deuteronomy 15

Deuteronomy 15:1-11

1. At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release.

1. Septimo quoque anno facies remissionem.

2. And this is the manner of the release: Every creditor that lendeth ought unto his neighbor shall release it; he shall not exact it of his neighbor, or of his brother; because it is called the Lord’s release.

2. Haec autem est ratio remissionis, ut remittat omnis qui mutuum dederit manu sua, id quod mutuum dederit amico suo: non reposcet ab amico suo, aut a fratre suo, quia proclamata est remissio Jehovae.

3. Of a foreigner thou mayest exact it again: but that which is thine with thy brother thine hand shall release;

3. Ab alienigena reposces, aut quod fuerit tibi apud fratrem tuum, remittet manus tua:

4. Save when there shall be no poor among you; for the Lord shall greatly bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it:

4. Nisi quia non sit (vel, prorsus certe non erit) in te mendicus: quia benedicendo benedicet tibi Jehova in terra quam ipse Deus tuus dat tibi in haereditatem ut possideas eam.

5. Only if thou carefully hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all these commandments which I command thee this day.

5. Sed ita duntaxat, si obediendo obedieris voci Jehovae Dei tui, ita ut custodias faciendo omne praeceptum istud quod ego praecipio tibi hodie.

6. For the Lord thy God blesseth thee, as he promised thee: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou shalt not borrow; and thou shalt reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over thee.

6. Nam Jehova Deus tuus benedixit tibi, quemadmodum dixit tibi: tum mutuo accepto pignore dabis gentibus multis, tu autem non accipies mutuo: et dominaberis gentibus multis, at tibi non dominabuntur.

7. If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates, in thy land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother;

7. Si fuerit apud te mendicus quispiam e fratribus tuis, in una e portis tuis, in terra tua quam Jehova Deus tuus dat tibi: non indurabis cor tuum, neque claudes manum tuam a fratre tuo mendico.

8. But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth.

8. Sed aperiendo aperies illi manum tuam, et mutuando mutuabis ei ad sufficientiam usque, id quo indiguerit.

9. Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him naught, and he cry unto the Lord against thee, and it be sin unto thee.

9. Cave tibi ne sit quidpiam in corde tuo impium, dicendo, Propinquus est annus septimus, annus remissionis: et malignus sit oculus tuus in fratrem tuum mendicum, ita ut non des ei: clamet autem contra te ad Jehovam, et erit in te peccatum.

10. Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him: because for this thing the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto.

10. Dando dabis ei, neque malignum erit cor tuum quum dederis ei: quia hujus rei gratia benedicet tibi Jehova Deus tuus in omnibus operibus tuis, et in omni expensione manuum tuarum.

11. For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.

11. Non enim deerit mendicus de medio terrae: idcirco praecipio tibi dicendo, Aperiendo aperies manum tuam fratri tuo, id est pauperi tuo et mendico tuo in terra tua.

CHAPTER 24

De 24:1-22. Of Divorces.

1-4. When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes--It appears that the practice of divorces was at this early period very prevalent amongst the Israelites, who had in all probability become familiar with it in Egypt [Lane]. The usage, being too deep-rooted to be soon or easily abolished, was tolerated by Moses (Mt 19:8). But it was accompanied under the law with two conditions, which were calculated greatly to prevent the evils incident to the permitted system; namely: (1) The act of divorcement was to be certified on a written document, the preparation of which, with legal formality, would afford time for reflection and repentance; and (2) In the event of the divorced wife being married to another husband, she could not, on the termination of that second marriage, be restored to her first husband, however desirous he might be to receive her.

5. When a man hath taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war--This law of exemption was founded on good policy and was favorable to matrimony, as it afforded a full opportunity for the affections of the newly married pair being more firmly rooted, and it diminished or removed occasions for the divorces just mentioned.

6. No man shall take the nether or the upper millstone to pledge--The "upper" stone being concave, covers the "nether" like a lid; and it has a small aperture, through which the corn is poured, as well as a handle by which it is turned. The propriety of the law was founded on the custom of grinding corn every morning for daily consumption. If either of the stones, therefore, which composed the handmill was wanting, a person would be deprived of his necessary provision.

7. If a man be found stealing any of his brethren--(See Ex 21:16).

8-9. Take heed in the plague of leprosy--(See Le 13:14).

10-13. When thou dost lend thy brother anything, thou shalt not go into his house to fetch his pledge--The course recommended was, in kind and considerate regard, to spare the borrower's feelings. In the case of a poor man who had pledged his cloak, it was to be restored before night, as the poor in Eastern countries have commonly no other covering for wrapping themselves in when they go to sleep than the garment they have worn during the day.

14-15. Thou shalt not oppress an hired servant that is poor and needy--Hired servants in the East are paid at the close of the day; and for a master to defraud the laborer of his hire, or to withhold it wrongfully for a night, might have subjected a poor man with his family to suffering and was therefore an injustice to be avoided (Le 19:13).

16-18. The fathers shall not be put to death for the children--The rule was addressed for the guidance of magistrates, and it established the equitable principle that none should be responsible for the crimes of others.

19-22. When thou cuttest down thine harvest in thy field--The grain, pulled up by the roots or cut down with a sickle, was laid in loose sheaves; the fruit of the olive was obtained by striking the branches with long poles; and the grape clusters, severed by a hook, were gathered in the hands of the vintager. Here is a beneficent provision for the poor. Every forgotten sheaf in the harvest-field was to lie; the olive tree was not to be beaten a second time; nor were grapes to be gathered, in order that, in collecting what remained, the hearts of the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow might be gladdened by the bounty of Providence.

Some uncleanness - Any cause of dislike, for this great latitude of meaning the fact itself authorizes us to adopt, for it is certain that a Jew might put away his wife for any cause that seemed good to himself; and so hard were their hearts, that Moses suffered this; and we find they continued this practice even to the time of our Lord, who strongly reprehended them on the account, and showed that such license was wholly inconsistent with the original design of marriage; see Mat 5:31 (note), etc.; Mat 19:3 (note), etc., and the notes there.

And write her a bill of divorcement - These bills, though varying in expression, are the same in substance among the Jews in all places. The following, collected from Maimonides and others, is a general form, and contains all the particulars of such instruments. The reader who is curious may find a full account of divorces in the Biblioth. Rab. of Bartolocci, and the following form in that work, vol. iv., p. 550. "In - day of the week, or day - of the month A., in - year from the creation of the world, or from the supputation (of Alexander) after the account that we are accustomed to count by, here, in the place B., I, C., the son of D., of the place B., (or if there be any other name which I have, or my father hath had, or which my place or my father's place hath had), have voluntarily, and with the willingness of my soul, without constraint, dismissed, and left, and put away thee, even thee, E., the daughter of F., of the city G., (or if thou have any other name or surname, thou or thy father, or thy place or thy father's place), who hast been my wife heretofore; but now I dismiss thee, and leave thee, and put thee away, that thou mayest be free, and have power over thy own life, to go away to be married to any man whom thou wilt; and that no man be refused of thine hand, for my name, from this day and for ever. And thus thou art lawful for any man; and this is unto thee, from me, a writing of divorcement, and book (instrument) of dismission, and an epistle of putting away; according to the Law of Moses and Israel.

A., son of B., witness.C., son of D., witness."

She is defiled - Does not this refer to her having been divorced, and married in consequence to another? Though God, for the hardness of their hearts, suffered them to put away their wives, yet he considered all after-marriages in that case to be pollution and defilement; and it is on this ground that our Lord argues in the places referred to above, that whoever marries the woman that is put away is an adulterer: now this could not have been the case if God had allowed the divorce to be a legal and proper separation of the man from his wife; but in the sight of God nothing can be a legal cause of separation but adultery on either side. In such a case, according to the law of God, a man may put away his wife, and a wife may put away her husband; (see Mat 19:9); for it appears that the wife had as much right to put away her husband as the husband had to put away his wife, see Mar 10:12.

When a man hath taken a new wife - Other people made a similar provision for such circumstances. Alexander ordered those of his soldiers who had married that year to spend the winter with their wives, while the army was in winter quarters. See Arrian, lib. i.

The nether or the upper mill-stone - Small hand-mills which can be worked by a single person were formerly in use among the Jews, and are still used in many parts of the East. As therefore the day's meal was generally ground for each day, they keeping no stock beforehand, hence they were forbidden to take either of the stones to pledge, because in such a case the family must be without bread. On this account the text terms the millstone the man's life.

The plague of leprosy - See on Leviticus 13 (note), and Leviticus 14 (note).

And if the man be poor, etc. - Did not this law preclude pledging entirely, especially in case of the abjectly poor? For who would take a pledge in the morning which he knew, if not redeemed, he must restore at night? However, he might resume his claim in the morning, and have the pledge daily returned, and thus keep up his property in it till the debt was discharged; see the note on Exo 22:26. The Jews in several cases did act contrary to this rule, and we find them cuttingly reproved for it by the Prophet Amos, Amo 2:8.

He is poor, and setteth his heart upon it - How exceedingly natural is this! The poor servant who seldom sees money, yet finds from his master's affluence that it procures all the conveniences and comforts of life, longs for the time when he shall receive his wages; should his pay be delayed after the time is expired, he may naturally be expected to cry unto God against him who withholds it. See most of these subjects treated at large on Exo 22:21-27 (note).

The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, etc. - This law is explained and illustrated in sufficient detail, Ezekiel 18.

Thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman - Most people who have affluence rose from comparative penury, for those who are born to estates frequently squander them away; such therefore should remember what their feelings, their fears, and anxieties were, when they were poor and abject. A want of attention to this most wholesome precept is the reason why pride and arrogance are the general characteristics of those who have risen in the world from poverty to affluence; and it is the conduct of those men which gave rise to the rugged proverb, "Set a beggar on horseback, and he will ride to the devil."

When thou cuttest down thine harvest - This is an addition to the law, Lev 19:9; Lev 23:22. The corners of the field, the gleanings, and the forgotten sheaf, were all the property of the poor. This the Hebrews extended to any part of the fruit or produce of a field, which had been forgotten in the time of general ingathering, as appears from the concluding verses of this chapter.

Some uncleanness - Some hateful thing, some distemper of body or quality of mind not observed before marriage: or some light carriage, as this phrase commonly signifies, but not amounting to adultery. Let him write - This is not a command as some of the Jews understood it, nor an allowance and approbation, but merely a permission of that practice for prevention of greater mischiefs, and this only until the time of reformation, till the coming of the Messiah when things were to return to their first institution and purest condition.

May not - This is the punishment of his levity and injustice in putting her away without sufficient cause, which by this offer he now acknowledgeth. Defiled - Not absolutely, as if her second marriage were a sin, but with respect to her first husband, to whom she is as a defiled or unclean woman, that is, forbidden things; forbidden are accounted and called unclean, Jud 13:7, because they may no more be touched or used than an unclean thing. Thou shalt not cause the land to sin - Thou shalt not suffer such lightness to be practised, lest the people be polluted, and the land defiled and accursed by that means.

Business - Any publick office or employment, which may cause an absence from or neglect of his wife. One year - That their affections may be firmly settled, so as there may be no occasions for the divorces last mentioned.

Mill - stone - Used in their hand - mills. Under this, he understands all other things necessary to get a livelihood, the taking away whereof is against the laws both of charity and prudence, seeing by those things alone he can be enabled both to subsist and to pay his debts. Life - His livelihood, the necessary support of his life.

Thou shalt not go in - To prevent both the poor man's reproach by having his wants exposed, and the creditor's greediness which might be occasioned by the sight of something which he desired, and the debtor could not spare.

The pledge - He shall chuse what pledge he pleases, provided it be sufficient for the purpose.

Thou shalt not sleep - But restore it before night, which intimates that he should take no such thing for pledge, without which a man cannot sleep.

Bless thee - Bring down the blessing of God upon thee by his prayers: for though his prayers, if he be not a good man, shall not avail for his own behalf, yet they shall avail for thy benefit. It shall be right - Esteemed and accepted by God as a work of righteousness, or mercy.

At this day - At the time appointed, weekly or daily.

Not put to death - If the one be free from the guilt of the others sin, except in those cases where the sovereign Lord of life and death, before whom none is innocent, hath commanded it, as Deu 13:1 - 18 Jos 7:24. For though God do visit the father's sins upon the children, Exo 20:5, yet he will not suffer men to do so.

Raiment - Not such as she hath daily and necessary use of, as being poor. But this concerns not rich persons, nor superfluous raiment.

1 WHen a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes , because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house .

(i. e.) He dislike and loath her. It is a figure called Melosis, whereby more is understood than is expressed, as Prov. 10. 2. and 17. 21. and 24. 23.

Heb. nakedness, or shamefulness, or filthiness of a thing, i. e. some filthy or hateful thing, some loathsome distemper of body or quality of mind not observed before Marriage: Or some light and unchast carriage, as this or the like phrase commonly signifies, but not amounting to Adultery, which was not punished with divorce, but with death.

Which is not a command to divorce them, as some of the Jews understood it, nor an allowance and approbation, as plainly appears not onely from the New Testment, Matth. 5. 31, 32. and 19. 8, 9. But also from the old Testament, Gen. 2. 24. Mal. 2. 16. but meerly a permission or toleration of that practise for prevention of greater mischiefs and cruelties of that hard hearted people towards their Wives, and this onely for a season, even until the time of reformation, as it is called Heb. 9. 10. i. e. till the coming of the Messias, when things were to return to their first institution and purest condition. The Husband is not here commanded to put her away, but if he do put her away, he is commanded to write and give her a bill of divorcement, before he send her out of his house. And though it be true, as our Saviour observes, that Moses did suffer these divorces, to wit, without punishing them, which also is here implyed, yet it must be acknowledged, that if we consult the Hebrew words, those three first verses may seem to be onely a supposition, and the words rendred, then let him write her, in the Hebrew run thus, and hath written her, and so it follows ver. 2. And she be departed out of his house, and be gone and become another mans wife; Then follows ver. 3. which, even according to our translation, carries on the supposition, And if the later husband hate her, &c. Then follows the position or prohibition ver. 4.

Marginal references: Mat. 5. 31. and 19. 7. Mar. 10. 4.; Heb. [illegible: 1 word] of nakedness. chap. 23. 14▪; Heb. cutti[illegible: 1+ letters]g off.

2 And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another mans wife .

For although he could not causelessly put her away without sin, yet she being put away and forsaken by her husband might marry another without sin, as is determined in the same or a like case, 1 Cor. 7. 15.

4 Her former husband, which sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife after that she is defiled : for that is abomination before the LORD, and thou shalt not cause the land to sin , which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.

This is the punishment of his levity and injustice in putting her away without sufficient cause, which by this offer he now acknowledgeth.

Not simply and absolutely, as if her second Marriage were a sin, but respectively, or as to her first husband, to whom she is as a defiled or unclean woman, that is, forbidden, for things forbidden are accounted and called unclean, Iudg. 13. 7. because they may no more be touched or used than an unclean thing.

(i. e.) Thou shalt not suffer such abhominable lightness and lewdness to be practised, least the people be polluted and the land defiled and accursed by that means.

Marginal references: Jer. 3. 1.; Or, [illegible: 1 word] so Gr.

5 When a man hath taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war, neither shall he be charged with any business : but he shall be free at home one year , and shall chear up his wife which he hath taken.

(i. e.) Any publick office or employment, which may cause an absence from or neglect of his Wife.

That their affections newly engaged may be firmly settled so as there may be no occasions for the divorces last mentioned.

Marginal references: chap. [illegible: 1+ letters]. [illegible: 1+ letters].; Heb. [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word] thing [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word] upon hi[illegible: 1+ letters].

6 No man shall take the nether or the upper milstone to pledge: for he taketh a mans life to pledge.

Used in their handmills, of which see Exod. 11. 5. Numb. 11. 28. Ier. 25. 10. Under this one kind he understands all other things necessary to get a livelihood, the taking away whereof is against the Laws both of charity and prudence, seeing by those things alone he can be enabled both to subsist and to pay his debts.

(i. e.) His livelihood, or the necessary supports of his life.

Marginal references: Heb. [illegible: 1 word] ▪

7 If a man be found stealing any of his brethren of the children of Israel, and maketh merchandise of him, or selleth him: then that thief shall die, and thou shalt put evil away from among you.

See on Exod. 21. 16.

8 Take heed in the plague of leprosie, that thou observe diligently, and do according to all that the priests the Levites shall teach you: as I commanded them , so ye shall observe to do.

By which words he plainly intimates, that they were not onely to have an eye to the Levites instructions, but also and especially unto the word and command of God, and that if the Levites sentence were manifestly contrary to the command of God, it were not to be obeyed. As now if a Levite or Priest should for fear or favour or gain pronounce a person to be clean who were really and manifestly unclean, and had the unquestionable marks of leprosie upon him, I suppose no man in his wits will question, but every man that saw and knew this were bound to avoid the touching of him, and that if he did touch him he should be defiled by it.

Marginal references: Lev. 13. & 14.

9 Remember what the LORD thy God did unto Miriam by the way after that ye were come forth out of Egypt.

Whom God smote with leprosie for her contempt of Moses, and therefore thou maist expect the same or like punishment if thou dost despise the counsel and direction of the Levites which I have set over thee and commanded thee to observe in this and the like matters.

Marginal references: Num. 12. 10.

10 When thou doest lend thy brother any thing, thou shalt not go into his house to fetch his pledge .

To prevent both the poor mans reproach by having his wants exposed to view, and the creditors insolence and greediness which might be occasioned by the sight of something which he desired and the debtour could not spare.

Marginal references: Heb. lend the loan of any thing to, &c.

11 Thou shalt stand abroad, and the man to whom thou doest lend, shall bring out the pledg abroad unto thee.

He shall chuse what pledge he please, provided onely it be sufficient for the purpose.

12 And if the man be poor, thou shalt not sleep with his pledg :

But restore it before night, which intimates that he should take no such thing for pledge without which a man cannot sleep, since it were an idle thing to fetch it and carry it every day. See on Exod. 22. 26, 27.

13 In any case thou shalt deliver him the pledg again, when the sun goeth down, that he may sleep in his own raiment, and bless thee : and it shall be righteousness unto thee before the LORD thy God .

Instrumentally, as ministers are said to convert and save sinners, to wit, bring down the blessing of God upon thee by his prayers: for though his prayers, if he be not a good man, shall not avail for his own behalf, yet they shall avail for thy benefit.

(i. e.) Esteemed and accepted by God as a work of righteousness, or holiness, or goodness and mercy, which oft is called righteousness, as Psal. 112. 9. Prov. 10. 2. Dan. 4. 27.

Marginal references: Exod. 22. 26.; Job 31. 20.

14 Thou shalt not oppress an h[illegible: 1+ letters]ed servant that is poor and needy, whether he be of thy brethren, or of thy strangers that are in thy land within thy gates.

Either by laying too grievous burdens of work upon him, or by with-holding his wages from him, as it follows.

15 At his day thou shalt give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down upon it , for he is poor, and setteth his heart upon it u, lest he cry against thee unto the LORD, and it be sin unto thee.

At the time appointed, weekly or daily.

To wit, after the day upon which it is due, and desired or demanded by him, for justice must not be denied nor delayed.

y Heb. lifteth up his soul to it, which notes his great desire and hope of it, and his dependance upon it: See Psal. 24. 4. Ier. 22. 27.

Marginal references: Lev. 19. 13. Jer. 22. 13.; Heb. he lifteth his soul unto it.

16 The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers : every man shall be put to death for his own sin .

Understand it thus, if the one be free from the guilt of the others sin, and except in those cases where the soveraign Lord of Life and Death, before whom none is innocent, hath commanded it, as Deut. 13. Ios. 7. 24. For this law is given to men, not to God, and though God do visit the fathers sins upon the children, Exod. 20. yet he will not suffer men to do so.

Understand onely, and not for any other mans sin.

Marginal references: 2 King. 14. 6. 2 Chron. 25. 4. Jer. 31. 29, 30. Ezek. 18. 20.

17 Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger, nor of the fatherless , nor take a widows raiment to pledg.

Nor of the widow, which is to be supplied out of the last member; nor indeed of any other person, but he particularly mentions these, partly because men are most apt to wrong such helpless persons, and partly because God is pleased especially to charge himself, and so to charge others, with the care of those who have no other refuge. See Isa. 1. 23. Ier. 5. 28.

To wit, such an one as she hath daily and necessary use of, as being poor, as may appear by comparing this with ver. 12, 13. and with other places. But this concerns not rich persons, nor superfluous raiment.

Marginal references: Exod. 22. 21, 22. Prov. 22. [illegible: 1+ letters]2. Jer. 22. 3. Ezek. 22. 29.; Exod. 22. 26.

18 But thou shalt remember that thou wast a bond-man in Egypt, and the LORD thy God redeemed thee thence: therefore I command thee to do this thing e.

To wit, affectionately and practically, and by thy compassionate sence of others miseries thou shalt make it evident that thou hast not forgotten thy own distresses and deliverances. I having thereby authority to command thee, and thou having obligations on that account both to obey me and to pity others in the same calamities which thou hast felt.

20 When thou beatest thine olive-tree , thou shalt not go over the boughs again; it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.

With staves, as they used to do to fetch down the olives.

Marginal references: Heb. thou shalt not bough it after thee.

Deu 24:1-5 contain two laws concerning the relation of a man to his wife. The first (Deu 24:1-4) has reference to divorce. In these verses, however, divorce is not established as a right; all that is done is, that in case of a divorce a reunion with the divorced wife is forbidden, if in the meantime she had married another man, even though the second husband had also put her away, or had died. The four verses form a period, in which Deu 24:1-3 are the clauses of the protasis, which describe the matter treated about; and Deu 24:4 contains the apodosis, with the law concerning the point in question. If a man married a wife, and he put her away with a letter of divorce, because she did not please him any longer, and the divorced woman married another man, and he either put her away in the same manner or died, the first husband could not take her as his wife again. The putting away (divorce) of a wife with a letter of divorce, which the husband gave to the wife whom he put away, is assumed as a custom founded upon tradition. This tradition left the question of divorce entirely at the will of the husband: “if the wife does not find favour in his eyes (i.e., does not please him), because he has found in her something shameful” (Deu 23:15). ערוה, nakedness, shame, disgrace (Isa 20:4; 1Sa 20:30); in connection with דּבר, the shame of a thing, i.e., a shameful thing (lxx ἄσχημον πρᾶγμα; Vulg. aliquam faetiditatem). The meaning of this expression as a ground of divorce was disputed even among the Rabbins. Hillel's school interpret it in the widest and most lax manner possible, according to the explanation of the Pharisees in Mat 19:3, “for every cause.” They no doubt followed the rendering of Onkelos, פתגם עבירת, the transgression of a thing; but this is contrary to the use of the word ערוה, to which the interpretation given by Shammai adhered more strictly. His explanation of דּבר ערות is “rem impudicam, libidinem, lasciviam, impudicitiam.” Adultery, to which some of the Rabbins would restrict the expression, is certainly not to be thought of, because this was to be punished with death.For the different views of the Rabbins upon this subject, seeMishnah tract. Gittin ix. 10; Buxtorf, de sponsal. et divort. pp. 88ff.;Selden, uxor ebr. l. iii. c. 18 and 20; and Lightfoot, horae ebr. et talm. ad Matth. v. 31f. כּריתת ספר, βιβλίον ἀποστασίου, a letter of divorce; כּריתת, hewing off, cutting off, sc., from the man, with whom the wife was to be one flesh (Gen 2:24). The custom of giving letters of divorce was probably adopted by the Israelites in Egypt, where the practice of writing had already found its way into all the relations of life.The rabbinical rules on the grounds of divorce and the letter of divorce, according to Maimonides, have been collected by Surenhusius, ad Mishn. tr. Gittin, c. 1 (T. iii. pp. 322f. of the Mishnah of Sur.), where different specimens of letters of divorce are given; the latter also in Lightfoot, l.c.

The law that the first husband could not take his divorced wife back again, if she had married another husband in the meantime, even supposing that the second husband was dead, would necessarily put a check upon frivolous divorces. Moses could not entirely abolish the traditional custom, if only “because of the hardness of the people’s hearts” (Mat 19:8). The thought, therefore, of the impossibility of reunion with the first husband, after the wife had contracted a second marriage, would put some restraint upon a frivolous rupture of the marriage tie: it would have this effect, that whilst, on the one hand, the man would reflect when inducements to divorce his wife presented themselves, and would recall a rash act if it had been performed, before the wife he had put away had married another husband; on the other hand, the wife would yield more readily to the will of her husband, and seek to avoid furnishing him with an inducement for divorce. But this effect would be still more readily produced by the reason assigned by Moses, namely, that the divorced woman was defiled (הטּמּאה, Hothpael, as in Num 1:47) by her marriage with a second husband. The second marriage of a woman who had been divorced is designated by Moses a defilement of the woman, primarily no doubt with reference to the fact that the emissio seminis in sexual intercourse rendered unclean, though not merely in the sense of such a defilement as was removed in the evening by simple washing, but as a moral defilement, i.e., blemishing, desecration of the sexual communion with was sanctified by marriage, in the same sense in which adultery is called a defilement in Lev 18:20 and Num 5:13-14. Thus the second marriage of a divorced woman was placed implicite upon a par with adultery, and some approach made towards the teaching of Christ concerning marriage: “Whosoever shall marry her that is divorced, committeth adultery” (Mat 5:32). - But if the second marriage of a divorced woman was a moral defilement, of course the wife could not marry the first again even after the death of her second husband, not only because such a reunion would lower the dignity of the woman, and the woman would appear too much like property, which could be disposed of at one time and reclaimed at another (Schultz), but because the defilement of the wife would be thereby repeated, and even increased, as the moral defilement which the divorced wife acquired through the second marriage was not removed by a divorce from the second husband, nor yet by his death. Such defilement was an abomination before Jehovah, by which they would cause the land to sin, i.e., stain it with sin, as much as by the sins of incest and unnatural licentiousness (Lev 18:25).

Attached to this law, which is intended to prevent a frivolous severance of the marriage tie, there is another in Deu 24:5, which was of a more positive character, and adapted to fortify the marriage bond. The newly married man was not required to perform military service for a whole year; “and there shall not come (anything) upon him with regard to any matter.” The meaning of this last clause is to be found in what follows: “Free shall he be for his house for a year,” i.e., they shall put no public burdens upon him, that he may devote himself entirely to his newly established domestic relations, and be able to gladden his wife (compare Deu 20:7).

Various Prohibitions. - Deu 24:6. “No man shall take in pledge the handmill and millstone, for he (who does this) is pawning life.” רחים, the handmill; רכב, lit., the runner, i.e., the upper millstone. Neither the whole mill nor the upper millstone was to be asked for as a pledge, by which the mill would be rendered useless, since the handmill was indispensable for preparing the daily food for the house; so that whoever took them away injured life itself, by withdrawing what was indispensable to the preservation of life. The mill is mentioned as one specimen of articles of this kind, like the clothing in Exo 22:25-26, which served the poor man as bed-clothes also. Breaches of this commandment are reproved in Amo 2:8; Job 22:6; Pro 20:16; Pro 22:27; Pro 27:13.

Deu 24:7-9

Repetition of the law against man-stealing (Exo 21:16). - Deu 24:8, Deu 24:9. The command, “Take heed by the plague of leprosy to observe diligently and to do according to all that the priests teach thee,” etc., does not mean, that when they saw signs of leprosy they were to be upon their guard, to observe everything that the priests directed them, as Knobel and many others suppose. For, in the first place, the reference to the punishment of Miriam with leprosy is by no means appropriate to such a thought as this, since Miriam did not act in opposition to the priests after she had been smitten with leprosy, but brought leprosy upon herself as a punishment, by her rebellion against Moses (Num 12:10.). And in the second place, this view cannot be reconciled with בּנגע השּׁמר, since השּׁמר with בּ, either to be upon one’s guard against (before) anything (2Sa 20:10), or when taken in connection with בּנפשׁ, to beware by the soul, i.e., for the sake of the worth of the soul (Jer 17:21). The thought here, therefore, is, “Be on thy guard because of the plague of leprosy,” i.e., that thou dost not get it, have to bear it, as the reward for thy rebellion against what the priests teach according to the commandment of the Lord. “Watch diligently, that thou do not incur the plague of leprosy” (Vulgate); or, “that thou do not sin, so as to be punished with leprosy” (J. H. Michaelis).

Deu 24:10-11 Warning against oppressing the Poor. - Deu 24:10, Deu 24:11. If a loan of any kind was lent to a neighbour, the lender was not to go into his house to pledge (take) a pledge, but was to let the borrower bring the pledge out. The meaning is, that they were to leave it to the borrower to give a pledge, and not compel him to give up something as a pledge that might be indispensable to him.

Deu 24:12-13

And if the man was in distress (עני), the lender was not to lie (sleep) upon his pledge, since the poor man had very often nothing but his upper garment, in which he slept, to give as a pledge. This was to be returned to him in the evening. (A repetition of Exo 22:25-26.) On the expression, “It shall be righteousness unto thee,” see Deu 6:25.

Deu 24:14-15

They were not to oppress a poor and distressed labourer, by withholding his wages. This command is repeated here from Lev 19:13, with special reference to the distress of the poor man. “And to it (his wages) he lifts up his soul:” i.e., he feels a longing for it. “Lifts up his soul:” as in Psa 24:4; Hos 4:8; Jer 22:27. On Deu 24:15, see Deu 15:9 and Jam 5:4.

Deu 24:16-18 Warning against Injustice. - Deu 24:16. Fathers were not to be put to death upon (along with) their sons, nor sons upon (along with) their fathers, i.e., they were not to suffer the punishment of death with them for crimes in which they had no share; but every one was to be punished simply for his own sin. This command was important, to prevent an unwarrantable and abusive application of the law which is manifest in the movements of divine justice to the criminal jurisprudence of the lane (Exo 20:5), since it was a common thing among the heathen nations - e.g., the Persians, Macedonians, and others - for the children and families of criminals to be also put to death (cf. Est 9:13-14; Herod. iii. 19; Ammian Marcell. xxiii. 6; Curtius, vi. 11, 20, etc.). An example of the carrying out of this law is to be found in 2Ki 14:6; 2Ch 25:4. In Deu 24:17, Deu 24:18, the law against perverting the right of strangers, orphans, and widows, is repeated from Exo 22:20-21, and Exo 23:9; and an addition is made, namely, that they were not to take a widow’s raiment in pledge (cf. Lev 19:33-34).

Deu 24:19-22

Directions to allow strangers, widows, and orphans to glean in time of harvest (as in Lev 19:9-10, and Lev 23:22). The reason is given in Deu 24:22, viz., the same as in Deu 24:18 and Deu 15:15.

The Law Concerning Divorce. (b. c. 1451.)

1 When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house. 2 And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man's wife. 3 And if the latter husband hate her, and write her a bill of divorcement, and giveth it in her hand, and sendeth her out of his house; or if the latter husband die, which took her to be his wife; 4 Her former husband, which sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after that she is defiled; for that is abomination before the Lord : and thou shalt not cause the land to sin, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.

This is that permission which the Pharisees erroneously referred to as a precept, Matt. xix. 7, Moses commanded to give a writing of divorcement. It was not so; our Saviour told them that he only suffered it because of the hardness of their hearts, lest, if they had not had liberty to divorce their wives, they should have ruled them with rigour, and it may be, have been the death of them. It is probable that divorces were in use before (they are taken for granted, Lev. xxi. 14), and Moses thought it needful here to give some rules concerning them. 1. That a man might not divorce his wife unless he found some uncleanness in her, v. 1. It was not sufficient to say that he did not like her, or that he liked another better, but he must show cause for his dislike; something that made her disagreeable and unpleasant to him, though it might not make her so to another. This uncleanness must mean something less than adultery; for, for that, she was to die; and less than the suspicion of it, for in that case he might give her the waters of jealousy; but it means either a light carriage, or a cross froward disposition, or some loathsome sore or disease; nay, some of the Jewish writers suppose that an offensive breath might be a just ground for divorce. Whatever is meant by it, doubtless it was something considerable; so that their modern doctors erred who allowed divorce for every cause, though ever so trivial, Matt. xix. 3. 2. That it must be done, not by word of mouth, for that might be spoken hastily, but by writing, and that put in due form, and solemnly declared, before witnesses, to be his own act and deed, which was a work of time, and left room for consideration, that it might not be done rashly. 3. That the husband must give it into the hand of his wife, and send her away, which some think obliged him to endow her and make provision for her, according to her quality and such as might help to marry her again; and good reason he should do this, since the cause of quarrel was not her fault, but her infelicity. 4. That being divorced it was lawful for her to marry another husband, v. 2. The divorce had dissolved the bond of marriage as effectually as death could dissolve it; so that she was as free to marry again as if her first husband had been naturally dead. 5. That if her second husband died, or divorced her, then still she might marry a third, but her first husband should never take her again (v. 3, 4), which he might have done if she had not married another; for by that act of her own she had perfectly renounced him for ever, and, as to him was looked upon as defiled, though not as to another person. The Jewish writers say that this was to prevent a most vile and wicked practice which the Egyptians had of changing wives; or perhaps it was intended to prevent men's rashness in putting away their wives; for the wife that was divorced would be apt, in revenge, to marry another immediately, and perhaps the husband that divorced her, how much soever he though to better himself by another choice, would find the next worse, and something in her more disagreeable, so that he would wish for his first wife again. "No" (says this law) "you shall not have her, you should have kept her when you had her." Note, It is best to be content with such things as we have, since changes made by discontent often prove for the worse. The uneasiness we know is commonly better, though we are apt to think it worse, than that which we do not know. By the strictness of this law God illustrates the riches of his grace in his willingness to be reconciled to his people that had gone a whoring from him. Jer. iii. 1, Thou hast played the harlot with many lovers, yet return again to me. For his thoughts and ways are above ours.

The Law of Divorce. (b. c. 1451.)

5 When a man hath taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war, neither shall he be charged with any business: but he shall be free at home one year, and shall cheer up his wife which he hath taken. 6 No man shall take the nether or the upper millstone to pledge: for he taketh a man's life to pledge. 7 If a man be found stealing any of his brethren of the children of Israel, and maketh merchandise of him, or selleth him; then that thief shall die; and thou shalt put evil away from among you. 8 Take heed in the plague of leprosy, that thou observe diligently, and do according to all that the priests the Levites shall teach you: as I commanded them, so ye shall observe to do. 9 Remember what the Lord thy God did unto Miriam by the way, after that ye were come forth out of Egypt. 10 When thou dost lend thy brother any thing, thou shalt not go into his house to fetch his pledge. 11 Thou shalt stand abroad, and the man to whom thou dost lend shall bring out the pledge abroad unto thee. 12 And if the man be poor, thou shalt not sleep with his pledge: 13 In any case thou shalt deliver him the pledge again when the sun goeth down, that he may sleep in his own raiment, and bless thee: and it shall be righteousness unto thee before the Lord thy God.

Here is, I. Provision made for the preservation and confirmation of love between new-married people, v. 5. This fitly follows upon the laws concerning divorce, which would be prevented if their affection to each other were well settled at first. If the husband were much abroad from his wife the first year, his love to her would be in danger of cooling, and of being drawn aside to others whom he would meet with abroad; therefore his service to his country in war, embassies, or other public business that would call him from home, shall be dispensed with, that he may cheer up the wife that he has taken. Note, 1. It is of great consequence that love be kept up between husband and wife, and that every thing be very carefully avoided which might make them strange one to another, especially at first; for in that relation, where there is not the love that should be, there is an inlet ready to abundance of guilt and grief. 2. One of the duties of that relation is to cheer up one another under the cares and crosses that happen, as helpers of each other's joy; for a cheerful heart does good like a medicine.

II. A law against man-stealing, v. 7. It was not death by the law of Moses to steal cattle or goods; but to steal a child, or a weak and simple man, or one that a man had in his power, and to make merchandize of him, this was a capital crime, and could not be expiated, as other thefts, by restitution—so much is a man better than a sheep, Matt. xii. 12. It was a very heinous offence, for, 1. It was robbing the public of one of its members. 2. It was taking away a man's liberty, the liberty of a free-born Israelite, which was next in value to his life. 3. It was driving a man out from the inheritance of the land, to the privileges of which he was entitled, and bidding him go serve other gods, as David complains against Saul, 1 Sam. xxvi. 19.

III. A memorandum concerning the leprosy, v. 8, 9. 1. The laws concerning it must be carefully observed. The laws concerning it we had, Lev. xiii. 14. They are here said to be commanded to the priests and Levites, and therefore are not repeated in a discourse to the people; but the people are here charged, in case of leprosy, to apply to the priest according to the law, and to abide by his judgment, so far as it agreed with the law and the plain matter of fact. The plague of leprosy being usually a particular mark of God's displeasure for sin, he in whom the signs of it did appear ought not to conceal it, nor cut out the signs of it, nor apply to the physician for relief; but he must go to the priest, and follow his directions. Thus those that feel their consciences under guilt and wrath must not cover it, nor endeavour to shake off their convictions, but by repentance, and prayer, and humble confession, take the appointed way to peace and pardon. 2. The particular case of Miriam, who was smitten with leprosy for quarrelling with Moses, must not be forgotten. It was an explication of the law concerning the leprosy. Remember that, and, (1.) "Take heed of sinning after the similitude of her transgression, by despising dominions and speaking evil of dignities, lest you thereby bring upon yourselves the same judgment." (2.) "If any of you be smitten with a leprosy, expect not that the law should be dispensed with, nor think it hard to be shut out of the camp and so made a spectacle; there is no remedy: Miriam herself, though a prophetess and the sister of Moses, was not exempted, but was forced to submit to this severe discipline when she was under this divine rebuke." Thus David, Hezekiah, Peter, and other great men, when they had sinned, humbled themselves, and took to themselves shame and grief; let us not expect to be reconciled upon easier terms.

IV. Some necessary orders given about pledges for the security of money lent. They are not forbidden to take such securities as would save the lender from loss, and oblige the borrower to be honest; but, 1. They must not take the millstone for a pledge (v. 6), for with that they ground the corn that was to be bread for their families, or, if it were a public mill, with it the miller got his livelihood; and so it forbids the taking of any thing for a pledge by the want of which a man was in danger of being undone. Consonant to this is the ancient common law of England, which provides that no man be distrained of the utensils or instruments of his trade or profession, as the axe of a carpenter, or the books of a scholar, or beasts belonging to the plough, as long as there are other beasts of which distress may be made (Coke, 1 Inst. fol. 47). This teaches us to consult the comfort and subsistence of others as much as our own advantage. That creditor who cares not though his debtor and his family starve, nor is at all concerned what become of them, so he may but get his money or secure it, goes contrary, not only to the law of Christ, but even to the law of Moses too. 2. They must not go into the borrower's house to fetch the pledge, but must stand without, and he must bring it, v. 10, 11. The borrower (says Solomon) is servant to the lender; therefore lest the lender should abuse the advantage he has against him, and improve it for his own interest, it is provided that he shall take not what he pleases, but what the borrower can best spare. A man's house is his castle, even the poor man's house is so, and is here taken under the protection of the law. 3. That a poor man's bed-clothes should never be taken for a pledge, v. 12, 13. This we had before, Exod. xxii. 26, 27. If they were taken in the morning, they must be brought back again at night, which is in effect to say that they must not be taken at all. "Let the poor debtor sleep in his own raiment, and bless thee," that is, "pray for thee, and praise God for thy kindness to him." Note, Poor debtors ought to be sensible (more sensible than commonly they are) of the goodness of those creditors that do not take all the advantage of the law against them, and to repay their kindnesses by their prayers for them, when they are not in a capacity to repay it in any other way. "Nay, thou shalt not only have the prayers and good wishes of thy poor brother, but it shall be righteousness to thee before the Lord thy God," that is, "It shall be accepted and rewarded as an act of mercy to thy brother and obedience to thy God, and an evidence of thy sincere conformity to the law. Though it may be looked upon by men as an act of weakness to deliver up the securities thou hast for thy debt, yet it shall be looked upon by thy God as an act of goodness, which shall in no wise lose its reward."

Justice and Generosity. (b. c. 1451.)

14 Thou shalt not oppress a hired servant that is poor and needy, whether he be of thy brethren, or of thy strangers that are in thy land within thy gates: 15 At his day thou shalt give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down upon it; for he is poor, and setteth his heart upon it: lest he cry against thee unto the Lord , and it be sin unto thee. 16 The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin. 17 Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger, nor of the fatherless; nor take a widow's raiment to pledge: 18 But thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt, and the Lord thy God redeemed thee thence: therefore I command thee to do this thing. 19 When thou cuttest down thine harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow: that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hands. 20 When thou beatest thine olive tree, thou shalt not go over the boughs again: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow. 21 When thou gatherest the grapes of thy vineyard, thou shalt not glean it afterward: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow. 22 And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt: therefore I command thee to do this thing.

Here, I. Masters are commanded to be just to their poor servants, v. 14, 15. 1. They must not oppress them, by overloading them with work, by giving them undue and unreasonable rebukes, or by withholding from them proper maintenance. A servant, though a stranger to the commonwealth of Israel, must not be abused: "For thou wast a bondman in the land where thou wast a stranger (v. 18), and thou knowest what a grievous thing it is to be oppressed by a task-master, and therefore, in tenderness to those that are servants and strangers, and in gratitude to that God who set thee at liberty and settled thee in a country of thy own, thou shalt not oppress a servant." Let not masters be tyrants to their servants, for their Master is in heaven. See Job xxxi. 13. 2. They must be faithful and punctual in paying them their wages: "At his day thou shalt give him his hire, not only pay it in time, without further delay. As soon as he had done his day's work, if he desire it, let him have his day's wages," as those labourers (Matt. xx. 8) when evening had come. He that works by day-wages is supposed to live from hand to mouth, and cannot have to-morrow's bread for his family till he is paid for this day's labour. If the wages be withheld, (1.) It will be grief to the servant, for, poor man, he sets his heart upon it, or, as the word is, he lifts up his soul to it, he is earnestly desirous of it, as the reward of his work (Job vii. 2), and depends upon it as the gift of God's providence for the maintenance of his family. A compassionate master, though it should be somewhat inconvenient to himself, would not disappoint the expectation of a poor servant that was so fond to think of receiving his wages. But that is not the worst. (2.) It will be guilt to the master. "The injured servant will cry against thee to the Lord; since he has no one else to appeal to, he will lodge his appeal in the court of heaven, and it will be sin to thee." Or, if he do not complain, the cause will speak for itself, the "hire of the labourers which is kept back by fraud will itself cry," Jam. v. 4. It is a greater sin than most people think it is, and will be found so in the great day, to put hardships upon poor servants, labourers, and workmen, that we employ. God will do them right if men do not.

II. Magistrates and judges are commanded to be just in their administrations. 1. In those which we call pleas of the crown a standing rule is here given, that the fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the children for the fathers, v. 16. If the children make themselves obnoxious to the law, let them suffer for it, but let not the parents suffer either for them or with them; it is grief enough to them to see their children suffer: if the parents be guilty, let them die for their own sin; but though God, the sovereign Lord of life, sometimes visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, especially the sin of idolatry, and when he deals with nations in their national capacity, yet he does not allow men to do so. Accordingly, we find Amaziah sparing the children, even when the fathers were put to death for killing the king, 2 Kings xiv. 6. It was in an extraordinary case, and no doubt by special direction from heaven, that Saul's sons were put to death for his offence, and they died rather as sacrifices than as malefactors, 2 Sam. xxi. 9, 14. 2. In common pleas between party and party, great care must be taken that none whose cause was just should fare the worse for their weakness, nor for their being destitute of friends, as strangers, fatherless, and widows (v. 17): "Thou shalt not pervert their judgment, nor force them to give their very raiment for a pledge, by defrauding them of their right." Judges must be advocates for those that cannot speak for themselves and have no friends to speak for them.

III. The rich are commanded to be kind and charitable to the poor. Many ways they are ordered to be so by the law of Moses. The particular instance of charity here prescribed is that they should not be greedy in gathering in their corn, and grapes, and olives, so as to be afraid of leaving any behind them, but be willing to overlook some, and let the poor have the gleanings, v. 19-22. 1. "Say not, 'It is all my own, and why should not I have it?' But learn a generous contempt of property in small matters. One sheaf or two forgotten will make thee never the poorer at the year's end, and it will do somebody good, if thou have it not." 2. "Say not, 'What I give I will give, and know whom I give it to, why should I leave it to be gathered by I know not whom, that will never thank me.' But trust God's providence with the disposal of thy charity, perhaps that will direct it to the most necessitous." Or, "Thou mayest reasonably think it will come to the hands of the most industrious, that are forward to seek and gather that which this law provides for them." 3. "Say not, 'What should the poor do with grapes and olives? It is enough for them to have bread and water;' for, since they have the same senses that the rich have, why should not they have some little share of the delights of sense?" Boaz ordered handfuls of corn to be left on purpose for Ruth, and God blessed him. All that is left is not lost.

CHAP. XXIIII.

WHen a man hath taken a wife, and beene her husband, and it shall be that she finde not grace in his eies, because hee hath found in her matter of nakednesse: and he shall write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her away out of his house: And shee depart out of his house, and goe and bee another mans: And the latter man hate her, and write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her away out of his house; or if the latter man die, which tooke her to him to wife: Her first husband which sent her away, may not returne to take her to bee unto him to wife, after that shee is caused to be defiled, for that is abomination before Iehovah; and thou shalt not cause the land to sinne, which Iehovah thy God giveth unto thee for an inheritance.

When a man hath taken a new wife, hee shall not goe out in the Armie, neither shall any thing passe upon him: hee shall be free in his house one yeare, and rejoyce with his wife which hee hath taken.

(A man) shall not take to pledge the neather mill-stone, or the upper mill-stone; for hee taketh to pledge, the soule.

If a man bee taken stealing a soule of his brethren, of the sonnes of Israel, and maketh gaine to himselfe by him, and selleth him; then that theefe shall die, and thou shalt put away evill from the middest of thee.

Take thou heed in the plague of leprofie, to observe diligently and to doe according to all that the Priests the Levites shall teach you; as I commanded them yee shall observe to doe. Remember what Iehovah thy God did unto Marie, in the way, after yee were come forth out of Egypt.

When thou lendest thy neighbour the loane of any thing, thou shalt not goe in into his house, to fetch his pawne. Thou shalt stand without, and the man to whom thou doest lend, shall bring forth unto thee the pawne without. And if hee be a poore man, thou shalt not lie downe with his pawne. Restoring thou shalt restore the pawne unto him when the Sunne goeth downe, that hee may lie downe in his raiment and blesse thee, and unto thee it shall bee justice before Iehovah thy God.

Thou shalt not fraudulently oppresse an hired servant that is poore and needy, of thy brethren, or of thy stranger which is in thy land, within thy gates. In his day thou shalt give his hire, and the Sun shall not goe downe upon it, for hee is poore, and unto it hee lifteth up his soule, that hee cry not against thee unto Iehovah, and it bee in thee a sinne.

The father shall not be put to death for the children, and the children shall not bee put to death for the fathers: they shall bee put to death every man in his owne sin. Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of the stranger, nor of the fatherlesse: thou shalt not take to pledge the garment of the widow. But thou shalt remember that thou wast a servant in Egypt, and Iehovah thy God redeemed thee thence, therefore I command thee to doe this thing. When thou reapest thine harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheafe in the field, thou shalt not returne to take it; it shall bee for the stranger, for the fatherlesse, and for the widow, that Iehovah thy God may blesse thee in all the worke of thine hands. When thou beatest thine Olive-tree, thou shalt not goe over the boughes after thee; it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherlesse, and for the widow. When thou gatherest the grapes of thy vine-yard, thou shalt not gather the single grapes after thee; it shall bee for the stranger, for the fatherlesse, and for the widow. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, therefore I command thee to doe this thing.

Annotations. BEene her husband] that is, done an husbands duty, lien with her: as the Greeke translateth, dwelt together with her. So Deut. 21. 13. For his mariage is signified by the former phrase, taken a wife, as is noted on Deut. 22. 13. grace] o[illegible: 1 letter], favour in his eies; in Greeke, grace before him. that is, if he like her not. matter of nakednesse] or, the nakednesse of any thing, that is, the discovery of some uncleane thing: or, by transplacing the words, any thing of nakednesse, that is, of shame and ignominy; as the Greeke translateth, a shamefull (or uncomely) thing. This is thought of some not to be meant of adultery, for which shee was to die if it were proved, Deut. 22. 22. but of some evill thing in her conditions or actions, which displeased her husband. So the phrase was used in Deut. 23. 14. for that which was uncleanly and unseemely. and he shall write] understand from the former sentence, and if hee shall write: for this is not a commandement, but a permission, as our Saviour saith, Moses because of the hardnesse of your hearts, suffered you to put away your wives; but from the beginning it was not so, Matt. 19. 8. So after in vers. 3. And the latter man shall hate her, that is, if hee shall hate her; for all is supposition, and permission, untill v. 4. where she is forbidden to her first husband. But the Hebrewes mistooke this for a commandement, Matt. 19. 7. and so doe to this day, as is to be seene in their writings, wherin good and bad are mixed together thus; A man may not take a wife, and have a purpose in him to divorce her, &c. She may not remaine under him, and minister unto him, if hee be purposed to divorce her. A man may not put away his first wife, except he hath found in her the nakednesse of some thing: and it becomes him not to be hasty to send away his first wife; but the second, if he hate her, let him send her away. A woman that is of evill conditions, and is not modest, as are the honest daughters of Israel, it is commanded to put her away. Maimony tom. 2. treat. of Divorces, chap. 10. sect. 21, 22. But the Lord, the God of Israel saith, that hee hateth putting away, Mal. 2. 16. And, What God hath joyned together, let no man put asunder, Matt. 19. 6. bill of divorcement] or, libell (booke) of cutting off; which the Greeke version (approved by the Evangelists, Matth. 19. 7.) calleth, a libell of divorcement, or, of departing away, because by it the woman was cut off from her husband, and departed from him and his house. Of this the Hebrewes have many canons; and the forme of this bill is in the Thalmud in Gittin, chap. 9. and by Maimony in treat. of Divorces, chap. 4. sect. 12. set downe in these words: IN such a day of the weeke, in such or such a day of the moneth N. in such or such a yeere from the creation (of the world,) or from the supputation (of Alexander) after the account which wee are wont to count by, here in the place N. IN. the sonne of N. of the place N. (or if there be any other name or surname which I have, or my fathers have had, or (which) my place hath, or my fathers place have had) have voluntarily, with the willingnesse of my soule, without constraint, both dismissed, and left, and put away thee, even thee N. the daughter of N. of the city N. (or if thou hast any other name or surname, thou, or thy fathers, or thy place, or thy fathers place) which hast beene my wife heretofore, but now I dismisse thee, and leave thee, and put thee away, that thou maiest be free, and have power over thine owne soule, to goe away, to bee married to any man whom thou wilt; and that no man be refused of thine hand, for my name, from this day and for ever. And thus thou art lawfull for any man; and this is unto thee from mee a writing of divorcement, and bill of dismission, and an epistle of putting (thee) away, according to the Law of Moses and Israel. N. sonne of N. Witnesse. N. sonne of N. Witnesse. give it] or, deliver it into her hand, and this also before witnesses. The Hebrewes observe ten things, which they say are requisite by the Law, and are the root (or foundation) of the divorce; 1 That a man put her not away, but of his owne will: gathered from these words, If shee finde not grace in his eies; but the woman may bee put away, whether shee be willing or not. 2 That hee put her away by a writing, not by any other thing. 3 That the matter of the writing be to divorce her and put her away out of his possession. 4 That the matter of that divorcement bee betweene him and her. 5 That it bee written by her name. 6 That there bee no action wanting after the writing thereof, save the delivery of it unto her. 7 That hee give it unto her. 8 That hee give it her before witnesses. 9 That hee give it her by the Law of Divorces, 10 And that it be the husband, or his deputy that delivereth it unto her. Maimony treat. of Divorces, chap. 1. sect. 1. Vnto these they adde also sundry other cautions, as, Where it is said in the Law, AND HE SHALL WRITE HER A BILL, &c. Whether hee write it with his owne hand, or speake to another to write it for him; and whether he deliver it with his owne hand, or speak to another to deliver it, (it is all one) it is not said, HE SHALL WRITE, but to signifie, that she may not be put away but by a writing; and, HEE SHALL GIVE (to signifie) that shee may not take it of her selfe. But it is necessary, that the husband speake himselfe unto the Scrivener to write it, and to the witnesses to subscribe it. Every bill that is not written by the name of the man that divorceth, and by the name of the woman divorced, is no bill. Who so writeth (a bill) to put away his wife, and bethinketh him, and doth not put her away, but uniteth himselfe with her after it is written, hee may not put her away by that bill at another time when hee would put her away. Whereas the Law saith, AND GIVE it IN HER HAND; the Scripture meaneth no more, but that it come unto her; and whether it be in her hand, or in her bosome, or to her deputy (or atturney) whose hand she hath made as her hand, it is all one. But it is necessary that he be made her atturney before two witnesses, and that there be two witnesses to testifie, that the bill came to the hand of her atturney. The husband cannot make an attourney to receive the bill for his wife, but hee may make one to carry it to his wife. If the atturney have received the bill, and before it commeth to the womans hand, the husband changeth his minde, and saith unto him, the bill which I sent by thee, be of none effect; or if he say before unto his wife, the bill which I have sent unto thee, be of none effect; or if hee send another messenger to make it of none effect; or if hee say unto others, the bill which I have sent to my wife be of none effect, loe it is of none effect, though it come (after) to his wives hand. But if (he speake it) after it become to her hand, or to the hand of her atturney, which was to receive it for her, he cannot make it of none effect. Hee that divorceth upon condition, if the condition be confirmed she is divorced; if not, shee is not divorced. As if he say, loe here is thy bill, upon condition that thou give me 200 pence, within these thirty daies; if she give them with his consent within thirty daies, shee is divorced, if after thirty daies shee is not divorced. If she give them to him by force, so that he is not willing to receive them, the bill is of none effect, till shee give them with his consent &c. Maimony treat. of Divorces, chap. 2. sect. 1. 5. and c. 3. s. 1. 5. and c. 6. s. 1, 3, 16. and c. 8. s. 1. 21. Vers. 2. be another mans] or, be to another man: either by full mariage, or by espousals onely; for a betrothed woman is a mans wife, Deut. 22. 23, 24. So the Hebrewes say; Hee that putteth away his wife, and she is betrothed to another, although she bee not married to him, shee is unlawfull for the first (husband.) And if the first doe returne and marry her, he is to be beaten, and to bee compelled to put her out, Deut. 24. 4. Maimony in Divorces, chap. 11. sect. 12. Shee might also become another mans by fornication, though she married not, Ier. 3. 1. yet the phrase often implieth the state of mariage, Rom. 7. 3, 4. unto which sense the Hebrewes restraine it here. Vers. 3. And the latter] understand from the last clause, And if the latter man hate, and if hee write her a bill, &c. for these are but suppositions, and bare permissions, not commandements which God would have done, as is before noted. Vers. 4. may not returne] or, cannot, it is not lawfull for him to take her againe: and this is the Law which God commandeth, whereby hee sheweth a dislike of the former divorcements; as after he plainly confirmeth by the Prophet, Mal. 2 16. For, Whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery, [and if he marry another, he committeth adultery,] and whosoever shall marrie her that is divorced, committeth adulterie, Matt. 5. 32. and 19. 9. she is caused to be defiled] or, is caused to defile herselfe: The Greeke and Chaldee translate, shee is defiled: but the Hebrew word Huttaraaah is of such a composition, as implieth both the defiling of her selfe, and the cause thereof by her husband, who put her away first. It was therefore an errour in the Iewes, to take this for a commandement of God, which he tolerated onely for the hardnesse of their hearts; and shewed the woman to be defiled by her second mariage, after her first unjust divorce. not cause the land to sinne] or, not suffer the land to sinne: which may be understood, that by their example others should not bee occasioned to doe the like; or, that by the Magistrates neglect of punishing this evill, others bee not emboldened. Or rather, that the land be not in sinne, that is, punishable for this sin, which extendeth not onely to the persons that doe it, but to all the people that suffer it: as there bee examples of the like in other cases, as Ios. 7. and 22. 17, 20. Therefore the Prophet alleaging this Law, saith, that the land should bee greatly polluted, Ier. 3. 1. and so the Greeke version here, in stead of sin saith, & ye shall not defile the lād. This Law is figuratively applyed in the practise of it unto God and his Church, unto whom he was an husband, Ier. 31. 32. and unto whom in time he did give a bill of divorcement, but for her adultery, Ier. 3. 8. not upon displeasure, without her due merit, as the Israelites often did to their wives, (for such a bill of divorce they could not shew,) but for her transgressions she was put away, Esay 50. 1. And though by this Law, a woman put away, and becomming another mans, might not returne to her first husband againe, yet God (who is above his Law) offereth his Church, after her many adulteries, to returne againe unto him by repentance and faith, Ier. 3. 1. Hos. 2. 2. 1. 9. and 3. 1, 5. The Apostle also applieth this Allegory to the Churches estate under the Law, and under the Gospel of Christ, Rom. 7. 1, 2, 3, &c. Vers. 5. in the armie] unto the war, as the Greeke translateth. In Deut. 20. a law was given for such as were betrothed and not married, had planted vineyards, or built houses, and not eaten of, or dwelt in them; the Hebrewes understand those two also in this law, saying, Hee that hath builded a house, and dedicated it, and he that maried his betrothed wife, or his brothers wife (Deut. 25. 6.) and hee that hath made his vineyard common, these goe not out to war till the yeare be ended. Maimony tom. 4. treat of Kings, chap. 7. sect. 10. any thing] or, ought of any thing, that is, of any charge or businesse concerning warres, or the like. Therefore whereas such as had not maried their spouses, nor dedicated their houses, nor made common their vineyards, when they were sent backe from the armie, were to provide victuals, and prepare the waies for the army, as is noted on Deut. 20. 7. they were all this first yeare free from these & other the like charges, as the Hebrewes say, These goe not out to the warre, neither are they charged with any thing in the world, Deut. 24. 5. By word of mouth wee have beene taught, that he shall be free a yeare, both for the house that he hath dedicated, and for the wife that he hath maried, and for the vineyard whose fruit he hath begun to eat of. All the yeare long hee neither provideth victualls, nor prepareth the way, nor watcheth on the walls, nor giveth to the tributes of the citie, neither may any thing in the world passe upon him. Maim. treat. of Kings, ch. 7. s. 10, 11. passe upon him] that is, as the Greeke explaineth it, he laid upon him. free] that is, exempted from all publike labours and charges. In the wars that King Asa made with Baasa, none was free, 1 King. 15. 22. where may be understood, none save such as Gods Law did exempt: or, not they neither, because of the great necessity of helpe. rejoyce with his wife] By this Law God shewed how much hee approved of holy wedlocke, (as by the former he shewed his hatred of unjust divorces) when to encourage the newly maried, against the cumbrances which that estate bringeth with it, and to settle their love each to other, he exempted those men from all wars, cares, and expences, that they might the more comfortably provide for their own estate. Vers. 6. (A man) shall not take] Hebr. He shall not take: this is to be understood of any man: therefore the Greeke and Chaldee change the person, to make the sense plainer, Thou shalt not take, speaking to every man, as after Moses also speaketh in vers. 17. nether milstone] elsewhere this word Rechajim signifieth both milstones, or the mill in generall, Exod. 11. 5. Here, by reason the upper milstone is after mentioned, the nether stone is specially meant. And under these particulars, all other of like necessary use for mans life are forbidden to be taken to pledge. The Hebrewes say, Hee that lendeth to his neighbour, &c. may not take to pledge vessells (or instruments) wherewith they make ready (meat) for the life; as milstones, or the woodden mill, or pots which they boyle meat in, or butchers knives, or the like things, Deut. 24. 6. and if hee take such to pledge, he must be forced to restore; and if the pawne be lost, or burnt before hee doe restore it, he is to be beaten. Maimony tom. 4. treat. of the Lender and Borrower, chap. 3. sect. 2. the upper milstone] called Recheb, a charret, because of the running thereof upon the nether stone: From hence they say, He that taketh to pledge many instruments which are for food, &c. is guilty for every instrument (or vessell) by it selfe, though they be two instruments wherewith they doe one worke, [as the nether milstone and the upper] he is guilty for them by the name of two instruments, and for them twaine hee is to bee twise beaten. Maimony ibid. chap. 3. sect. 3. See after in v. 11. 12. 17. the soule] that is, the life of the soule (or body) meaning the instruments of his livelihood: and as Thargum Ierusalemy expounds it, the necessities of the soule (or life) The Chaldee paraphraseth thus, for by them is made (ready) meat for every soule. Thus the milstones are named but for an instance, forbidding all other of like sort. Vers. 7. a soule] that is, any person, man, woman, or childe. of Israel] This the Hebrewes take as a limitation to Israel and the Proselytes thereof: and for stealing Infidels, they hold hee was but to make restitution. Maim. tom. 4. treat. of Theft, chap. 2. sect. 1. and chap. 9. sect. 6. maketh gaine or, serveth himselfe; the Greeke translateth, and bringing him under his power, selleth him. See this word used in Deut. 21. 14. and selleth him] The Hebrewes joyne this to the former, without which they thinke the theefe was not to dye. A theefe is not guilty of death, untill hee steale an Israelite, and get him into his power, and serveth himselfe of him, and selleth him to others, Deut. 24. 7. If he steale him, and serve himselfe with him, and doe not sell him, or doe sell him before he hath served himselfe by him, he is free (from death) Maim. treat. of Theft, ch. 9. sect. 2, 3. Others thinke that if he either served himselfe with him, or sold him, hee was to dye: and this may well bee the meaning of the Law; for and often signifieth or, as is noted on Gen. 13. 8. and 19. 12. shall dye] as the Hebrewes say, he was to be strangled to death. Maim. ibid. ch. 9. sect. 1. Vers. 8. plague of leprosie] which might bee on mens bodies, or on garments, or in houses. The Law of all these is given at large, in Levit. 13 and 14 Chapters. all that the Priests] the Greeke translateth, all the Law that the Priests the Levites shall shew unto you. This is a warning to Israel, that if any man had the Leprosie, or a sore like the Leprosie, he should not dissemble or hide it, or pluck off, or cut away the signes thereof, or labour by medicines to cure it, or doe any thing thereto, but as the Priest directed him according to the Law; because this plague was usually by the hand of God for mens sinnes, and did pollute both the person himselfe, and all that touched him; so that for the discerning and curing of this plague, they should seeke unto God, by the meanes which hee appointed. Therefore from this Law, the Hebrews teach; Hee that plucketh off the signes of uncleannesse, either all or some of them, or seareth the living (raw) flesh, all, or some of it, or cutteth all the sor[illegible: 1 letter] out of his flesh, or out of a garment, or house, [illegible: 1 letter]ither before he come to the Priest, or whiles he is shut up, or after, &c. hee transgresseth against this prohibition, TAKE THOV HEED IN THE PLAGVE OF LEPROSIE, &c. (Deut. 25. 8.) Maimony tom. 3. treat. of Leprosie, chap. 10. sect. 1. See the Annotations on Levit. 13. as I commanded them] If then the Priest spake or did otherwise than God prescribed, it was not to stand. A Priest that pronounceth him uncleane that is cleane, or him cleane that is uncleane, he doth nothing at all, for it is written (in Lev. 13. v. 14, 15.) he is uncleane, and the Priest shall pronounce him uncleane, &c. Maim. in Leprosie, ch. 9. sect. 3. Vers. 9. unto Marie] in Hebrew Mirjam, in Greeke Mariam; shee was the sister of Moses and Aaron, a Prophetesse in Israel, who for speaking against Moses, was smitten of God with Leprosie, Numb. 12. whose example is for a warning to all, that they should not sinne as shee did, lest God plague them also: and that the justice of the Law should bee executed upon all Lepers, without respect of persons. So all other examples in Scripture are examples unto us, 1 Cor. 10. 6,—11. and so Christ saith, Remember Lots wife, Luk. 17. 32. Vers. 10. when thou lendest] or, when thou shalt exact of thy neighbour the exaction of any thing, that is, any debt: which if it were with rigour, or of a poore man that had not to pay, was unlawfull. See the notes on Exod. 22. 25. The Greeke translateth, If there be a debt in thy neighbour, (that is, if he be indebted to thee) what debt soever. See the notes on Deut. 15. 2. thou shalt not goe in] This is spoken to the creditor, and (as the Hebrews say) to the messenger of the Magistrate sent to take a pawne. He that lendeth to his neighbour poore or rich, may not take a pawne of him, but by the Synedrion, [that is, by authority of the Magistrate:] and though it bee the messenger of the Synedrion that commeth for a pawne, he may not come into his house and take his pawne, but must stand without, and the borrower is to bring out a pawne unto him, Deut. 24. 10. If it be so, what (difference) is there betweene the crediter, and the messenger of the Synedrion? The messenger of the court, he may take the pawne out of the hand of the borrower by force, and give it the lender: but the creditor may not take the pawne, till the borrower give it him with consent. If the creditor transgresse, and goe into the borrowers house for his pawne, or snatcheth a pawne cut of his hand by force, hee is not to bee beaten, because the act is broken off, for he must restore the pawne, Deut. 24. 13. If he keepe not this [illegible: 1 word] to restore it, as if the pawne be lost or burnt, he is to be beaten, and to restore the price of the pawne. Maimon. [illegible: 1 letter]om. 4. treat. of the Lender and Borrower, ch. 3. sect. 4. Vers. 12. not lie downe] to sleepe; not goe to bed. For breach of this Law, the Lord reproveth Israel; They lay themselves downe upon clothes laid to pledge, by every altar, Amos 2. 8. But hereby not onely the use of the poore mans pawne, but the keeping of it is forbidden; with his pawne, that is, and his pawne by thee (or in thy custody) Maimony in Lender and Borrower, c. 3. s. 5. Vers. 13. when the Sun] or, as the Greeke translateth, about the going downe of the Sunne: in Exod. 22. 26. it is said, before the Sunne goeth downe; see the Annotations there, where is shewed, that every pawne is to bee restored when the poore man hath need of it, by night or by day. If the pawne must thus be restored when he hath need, what booteth it to take the pawne? The Hebrewes answer, that by this meanes the debt is not released in the seventh yeere, (which the Law biddeth, Deut. 15. 1, 2, 3.) and if the borrower die, his moveables are not made his childrens, but paiment is made by the pawne after his death. Maimony ibid. chap. 3. sect. 5. justice] in Greeke, almes, a worke of mercy, which God will reward: as on the contrary in v. 15. he saith, it bee in thee a sinne, that is, an iniquity which God will punish. Vers. 14. not fraudulently oppresse] or, not defraud: the Greeke translateth, Thou shalt not fraudulently keepe backe the hire of the poore, &c. which word the Apostle useth in like [illegible: 1 letter]ase, saying, Behold the hire of the labourers, &c. which is by you fraudulently kept backe, crieth, &c. Iam. 5. 4. and among the other weighty lawes, our Saviour nameth this for one, in Mark. 10. 19. See also Levit. 19. 13. thy gates] that is, as the Greeke and Chaldee translate, thy cities. Vers. 15. In his day] in Greeke, The same day, Day, is used for all time. his hire] or, his wages, whether for his owne labour, or for his beasts, or other things. So the Hebrewes explaine it, Whether it bee the hire of man, or the hire of beasts, or the hire of instruments, hee is bound to give it in his time: and if hee keepe it after the time, he transgresseth against a prohibition. Maimony tom. 4. treat. of Hiring; chap. [illegible: 1 word]. sect. 1. not goe downe upon it] in Lev. 19. 13. it is said, it shall not abide all night with thee; which two the Hebrewes unfold thus; What is the time (or day) of him that is hired? He that is hired for a day, (his hire) is due all that nights & of him it is said (in Lev. 19. 13.) it shall not abide all night with thee untill the morning: & he that is hired for a night, it is due all the day; and of him it is said, In his day thou shalt give his hire, (Deut. 24. 15.) And he that is hired for houres of the day, it is due all the day; if for houres of the night, it is [illegible: 1 word] all the night. He that is hired for a week, or for a moneth, or for a yeere, or for seven, if (the terme) goe out by day, it is due all that day; if it goe out by night, it is due all that night. Maimony ibidem, chap. 11. sect. 2. lifteth up his soule] that is, hopeth for and desireth it for the maintenance of his life. So the Greeke here translateth, hee hath hope; and in Ier. 22. 27. and 44. 14. the lifting up of the soule signifieth a desire: and the soule is often put for the life. Hereupon the Hebrewes say; Whosoever with-holdeth: the hirelings wage, is as if hee tooke away his soule (or life) from him; for it is written, unto it hee lifteth up his soule: and he transgresseth against foure prohibitions, and one commandement; against, Thou shalt not fraudulently oppresse; and against, Thou shalt not rob; and against, The hirelings worke (or wage) shall not abide all night with thee; and against, The sunne shall not goe downe upon it; and, In his day thou shalt give his hire. Maimony treat. of Hiring, ch. 11. sect. 2. a sinne] that is, a great iniquity which God will punish: for though he cry not, yet is it a sinne; but the cry of the poore hasteth Gods judgement; as on the contrary, the blessing of the poore procureth a good reward from the Lord, vers. 13. According to this phrase it is said, The wicked thought of foolishnesse (that is, of the foole) is sinne, Prov. 24. 9. that is, damnable, and to be punished of God. So in Iam. 4. 17. Ioh. 15. 22, 24. and 9. 41. And in 1 King. 1. 21. I and my sonne Solomon shall be sinners, that is, punished as malefactors. Accordingly God threatneth to come neere to them in judgment, and to bee a swift witnesse against those that fraudulently oppresse the hireling in his wages, Mal. 3. 5. Vers. 16. for the children] Hebr. for the sonnes. This law concerneth the Magistrates, who should not kill the children for the parents, or parents for the children, no not in case of treason, as K. Amaziah slew his servants which had slaine the king his father, but the sonnes of them that slew him he put not to death, according to this law of Moses, 2 Kin. 14. 5, 6. 2 Chron. 25. 4. And God himselfe professeth so to deale, saying, The sonne shall not beare the iniquity (that is, the punishment) of the father, neither shall the father beare the iniquity of the sonne, &c. the wickednesse of the wicked shall bee upon him, Ezek. 18. 20. The Chaldee Paraphrast here translateth, by the mouth of the sons; and so after, by the mouth of the fathers; meaning that they should not die by their testimony. And so the Hebrewes gather from this Law, saying, Neere kinsfolke are not fit to be witnesses by the Law, as it is written, The fathers shall not be put to death for the sonnes, &c. Wee have beene taught, that in this generall prohibition is comprised, that the fathers be not put to death by the [illegible: 1 span]th of the sonnes, nor the sonnes by the mouth of the fathers; and the same right is for other neere a kin. Maimony tom. 4. treat. of witnesses. c. 13. s. 1. But the first interpretation is most proper and certaine. not be put to death] so it is also alleaged in 2 Kin. 14. 6. but in 2 Chron. 25. 4. it is, they shall not die. The one openeth the other; and to die, is often used for, to be put to death, as Num. 35. 12. 30. Deut. 17. 1[illegible: 1 letter]. and 18. 20. and 22. 22. 25. in his sin] and for his sinne; for so the Hebrew in often noteth the cause: see Deut. 9. 4. Vers. 17. not wrest] or, not pervent, decline, or turne a side. This is forbidden in all judgment generally, Exod. 23. 2. Deut. 16. 19. specially concerning the posre, Exod. 23. 6. more specially here concerning the stranger and fatherlesse: against such as thus wrest judgment, the Lord will come neere to judgment, and be a swift witnesse against them, Mal. 3. 5. The Hebrewes say, Whosoever wresteth the judgment of any one of Israel, transgresseth against one prohibition, viz. Yee shall not doe unrighteousnesse in judgment, Levit. 19. 15. And if it bee of a stranger, hee transgresseth against two prohibitions, Deut. 24. 17. and if it be of the fatherlesse, hee transgresseth against three prohibitions, Deut. 24. 17. Maimony in Sanhedrin, chap. 20. sect. 12. nor of the fatherlesse] the word nor, or and, is supplied also by the Greeke version, and so is often to be understood, as two three Eunuchs, 2 King. 9. 32. for two or three, so, to morrow, the third day, for, or the third day, 1 Sam. 20. 12. Like a Crane, a Swallow, that is, or a Swallow, Esay 38. 14. and sundry the like. The holy Ghost sometime supplieth the defect, as is noted on Exod. 22. 30. In the Greeke here is added, and of the widow: so in Deut. 27. 19. Cursed be hee that wresteth the judgment of the stranger, fatherlesse, and widow; and all the people shall say, Amen. garment of the widow] or any other thing of hers that she hath need of: the garment is named but for an instance; as in Iob 24. 3. there is mentioned the widows ox[illegible: 1 letter]. The Hebrews have this generall canon; A widow, whether she bee poore or rich, they may take no pawne of her, neither at the time when they lend unto her, nor at any other time, neither by the commandement of the Synedrion, Deut. 24. 17. and if any take her pledge, they force him to restore it. If the pawne be lost or burnt before he restore it, he is to be beaten. Maimony treat. of the Lender and Borrower, chap. 3. sect. 1. Vers. 19. reapest thine harvest] This is an addition to the Law in Lev. 19. 9. there, a corner of the field, and the gleanings were commanded to be left for the poore; and here the forgotten sheafe. These three were due to the poore out of every corne-field in Israel. And the Hebrewes say, this law of the forgotten sheafe extended also to the vineyard, and other fruit trees, where whatsoever was forgotten, might not bee taken againe by the owner: see the Annotations on Levit. 19. 10. hast forgot] This the Hebrewes understand as spoken both to the owner, and to his labourers; that it is not a forgotten sheafe till all have forgotten it. But so as that [illegible: 1 letter]hey all be in the field; for if the owner bee in the citie, and speaketh of the sheafe in the field, which hee thinketh his workmen will forget, and they doe forget it, this (notwithstanding his remembrance of it) is a forgotten sheafe. Two sheafes asunder one from another are (counted as) forgotten; but three (or moe) are not. So for other things; as two vines, or other trees, standing asunder one from another, are as forgotten, but not moe. A tree that is forgotten among the trees, though it have many peckes of fruit upon it, yet is counted as forgotten. Finally, among many other like cautions, they say; What is forgotten among the sheaves? All that hee cannot stretch out his hand and take it: [that is, if it bee further than hee can reach from the place where hee standeth.] Maimony tom. 3. in Mattanoth gnanijim, chap. 5. And as it is for the sheaves, so for the standing corne: if a man forget-some of the standing corne, and reape it not, it is for the poore. Maimony ibid. chap. 1. sect. 6. for the stranger] in Greeke, the proselyte, one joyned to the Church of Israel: to such these gifts peculiarly belonged, and to other poore: see the Annotations on Levit. 19. 10. And as forgetting often signifieth a neglect, or passing over of a thing, so in this case: and a man might purposely passe over a sheafe and leave it as forgotten, for the poore, as Boaz did for the stranger Ruth, saying to his harvest-men, Let fall some of the sheaves for her, and let it lie that shee may gather it up, Ruth 2. 16. Or, if a man did it not purposely, but unawares, yet was hee to consider herein the providence of God, which caused him to forget or passe over a sheafe, for the poores sake: for as the Ostrich is said to forget her egges which shee leaveth in the earth, because God hath deprived her of wisdome, &c. Iob 39. 15, 17. so in this case of the sheafe, that the poore also might have occasion to minde the providence and love of God towards them, in this releefe. in all the worke] or, in every worke; the Greeke saith, in all the workes. This promise of blessing is to encourage them in well doing, for which they should not lose their reward: for that which is done unto poore Christians, is done unto Christ himselfe, Matth. 25. 40. and, Hee that is gratious unto the poore, lendeth unto the LORD; and that which hee hath given will bee pay him againe, Prov. 19. 17. So Boaz for his kindnesse unto Ruth, (whom afterwards hee tooke to wife) had a sonne of her (as a blessing of God) Obed, the grandfather of David the King, Ruth 4. Vers. 20. beatest] that is, as the Greeke translateth, gatherest the olives. The same is to be understood of all other trees of fruit which they gathered. not goe over the boughs] in Greeke, thou shalt not returne to gather the (olives) after thee: in Chaldee, thou shalt not take away after thee. It is the same law for trees, which was before for corne, that what was forgotten or past over at first, should not after be gathered, but left for the poore. As that which is forgotten in the revenues of the field, and the like, so that which is forgotten in all trees (is for the poore) as Deut. 24. 20. When thou beatest thine olive tree, &c. And the same law is for other trees. So there are two gifts for the poore from the trees, that which is forgotten, and the corner, Levit. 19. Maimony in Mattanoth gnanijim, chap. 1. sect. 6, 7. Vers. 21. not gather the single grapes] or, not gleane, and properly the grapes which grow not in clusters, as is noted on Levit. 19. 10. which law is here repeated: and by saying, after thee, hee seemeth to teach the same for the vine, which hee taught for the corne and other trees, that all forgotten grapes should bee for the poore. So the Hebrewes observe, that there are foure gifts for the poore in the vineyard; the grapes that are broken off, and the single grapes, and the corner, and that which is forgotten. Maim. in Mattanoth gnan. ch. 1. s. 7.