Of the betrothed maid-servant. A. M. 2513. CHAP. XXI. Of men-stealing and manslaughter. A. M. 2513. 7 And if a man h sell his upon his neighbour, to slay him An. Exod. Isr. 1. daughter to be a maid-servant, with guile; thou shalt take An. Exod. Isr. 1. she shall not go out i as the him from mine altar, that he men-servants do. may die. Sivan. k 8 If she please not her master, who hath betrothed her to himself, then shall he let her be redeemed to sell her unto a strange nation he shall have no power, seeing he hath dealt deceitfully with her. 9 And if he have betrothed her unto his son, he shall deal with her after the manner of daughters. 10 If he take him another wife; her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage, shall he not diminish. 11 And if he do not these three unto her, then shall she go out free, without money." 12 He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death. q 13 And if a man lie not in wait, but God • deliver him into his hand; then I will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee. 14 But if a man come presumptuously Ver. 2, 3.- k Heb. be evil in the eyes of, &c. Gen. ix. 6; Lev. xxiv. 17; Num. xxxv. 30, Numbers xxxv. 22; Deut. xix. 4, 5. -P Num. xxxv. 11; Deut. xix. 3; Josh. xxxv. 20; Deut. xix. 11, 12; Heb. x. h Neh. v. 5.11 Cor. vii. 3.31; Matthew xxvi. 52.1 Sam. xxiv. 4, 10, 18.xx. 2. Num. xv. 30; Verse 7. If a man sell his daughter] This the Sivan. 15 And he that smiteth his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death. 16 And he that stealeth a man, and * selleth him, or if he be " found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death. V 17 And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death. 18 And if men strive together, and one smite another with a stone, or with his fist, and he die not, but keepeth his bed: 19 If he rise again, and walk abroad upon his staff, then shall he that smote him be quit only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall cause him to be thoroughly healed. 20 And if a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand; he shall be surely a punished. 21 Notwithstanding, if he continue a day or 261 Kings ii. 28-34; 2 Kings xi. 15. Deut. xxiv. 7. Gen. xxxvii. 28.- Chap. xxii. 4.- Lev. xx. 9; Prov. xx. 20; Matt. xv. 4; Mark vii. 10.- w Or, revileth. * Or, his neighbour.—y 2 Sam. iii. 29.- -z Heb. his ceasing. Heb. avenged; Gen. iv. 15, 24; Rom. xiii. 4. Verse 13. I will appoint thee a place whither he Jews allowed no man to do but in extreme distress— | shall flee.] From the earliest times the nearest akin when he had no goods, either movable or immovable had a right to revenge the murder of his relation, and left, even to the clothes on his back; and he had this as this right was universally acknowledged, no law permission only while she was unmarriageable. It was ever made on the subject; but as this might be may appear at first view strange that such a law abused, and a person who had killed another accidentshould have been given; but let it be remembered, ally, having had no previous malice against him, might that this servitude could extend, at the utmost, only to be put to death by the avenger of blood, as the nearsix years; and that it was nearly the same as in some est kinsman was termed, therefore God provided the cases of apprenticeship among us, where the parents cities of refuge to which the accidental manslayer bind the child for seven years, and have from the mas-might flee till the affair was inquired into, and settled ter so much per week during that period. by the civil magistrate. Verse 9. Betrothed her unto his son, he shall deal with her] He shall give her the same dowry he would give to one of his own daughters, From these laws we learn, that if a man's son married his servant, by his father's consent, the father was obliged to treat her in every respect as a daughter; and if the son married another woman, as it appears he might do, ver. 10, he was obliged to make no abatement in the privileges of the first wife, either in her food, raiment, or duty of marriage. The word nny onathah, here, is the same with St. Paul's operλopevny evvotav, the mar-captain or negro-dealer to steal him for him. riage debt, and with the ohiav of the Septuagint, which signifies the cohabitation of man and wife. Verse 14. Thou shall take him from mine altar] Before the cities of refuge were assigned, the altar of God was the common asylum. Verse 15. That smiteth his father, or his mother] As such a case argued peculiar depravity, therefore no mercy was to be shown to the culprit. Verse 16. He that stealeth a man] By this law every man-stealer, and every receiver of the stolen person, should lose his life; no matter whether the latter stole the man himself, or gave money to a slave Verse 19. Shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall cause him to be thoroughly healed.] This was a wise and excellent institution, and most courts of justice still regulate their decisions on such cases by this Mosaic precept. Verse 11. These three] 1. Her food, sheerah, her flesh, for she must not, like a common slave, be fed merely on vegetables. 2. Her raiment her private wardrobe, with all occasional necessary additions. And, Verse 21. If the slave who had been beaten by his 3. The marriage debt-a due proportion of the hus-master died under his hand, the master was punished d's time and company, with death; see Gen. ix. 5, 6. But if he survived Law of like for like, A. M. 2513. B. C. 1491. Sivan. b A. M. 2513. B. C. 1491. Sivan. two, he shall not be punished : 28 If an ox gore a man or a An. Exod. Isr. 1. for he is his money. с 29 But if the ox were wont to push with his horn in time past, and it hath been testified to his owner, and he hath not kept him in, 23 And if any mischief follow, then thou but that he hath killed a man or a woman; shalt give life for life, d the ox shall be stoned, and his owner also 24 Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for shall be put to death. hand, foot for foot, 30 If there be laid on him a sum of money, 25 Burning for burning, wound for wound, then shall he give for f the ransom of his life stripe for stripe. 26 And if a man smite the eye of his servant, or the eye of his maid, that it perish; he shall let him go free for his eye's sake. 27 And if he smite out his man-servant's tooth, or his maid-servant's tooth; he shall let him go free for his tooth's sake. b Lev. xxv. 45, 46.- - Ver. 30; Deut. xxii. 18, 19.xxiv. 20; Deut. xix. 21; Matt. v. 38. d Lev. the beating a day or two the master was not punished, because it might be presumed that the man died through some other cause. And all penal laws should be construed as favourably as possible to the accused. Verse 22. And hurt a woman with child] As a posterity among the Jews was among the peculiar promises of their covenant, and as every man had some reason to think that the Messiah should spring from his family, therefore any injury done to a woman with child, by which the fruit of her womb might be destroyed, was considered a very heavy offence; and as the crime was committed principally against the husband, the degree of punishment was left to his discretion. But if mischief followed, that is, if the child had been fully formed, and was killed by this means, or the woman lost her life in consequence, then the punishment was as in other cases of murder-the person was put to death; ver. 23. Verse 24. Eye for eye] This is the earliest account we have of the lex talionis, or law of like for like, which afterwards prevailed among the Greeks and Romans. Among the latter, it constituted a part of the twelve tables, so famous in antiquity; but the punishment was afterwards changed to a pecuniary fine, to be levied at the discretion of the prætor. It prevails less or more in most civilized countries, and is fully acted upon in the canon law, in reference to all calumniators: Calumniator, si in accusatione defecerit, talionem recipiat. "If the calumniator fail in the proof of his accusation, let him suffer the same punishment which he wished to have inflicted upon the man whom he falsely accused," Nothing, however, of this kind was left to private revenge; the magistrate awarded the punishment when the fact was proved, otherwise the lex talionis would have utterly destroyed the peace of society, and have sown the seeds of hatred, revenge, and all uncharitableness, whatsoever is laid upon him. 31 Whether he have gored a son, or have gored a daughter, according to this judgment shall it be done unto him. 32 If the ox shall push a man-servant or a maidservant; he shall give unto their master thirty shekels of silver, and the box shall be stoned. e Gen. ix. 5.-Ver. 22; Num. xxxv. 31. 12, 13; Matt. xxvi. 15; Phil. ii. 7. - See Zech. xi. h Ver. 28. Verse 26. If a man smite the eye, &c.] See the following verse. Verse 27. If he smite out his-tooth] It was a noble law that obliged the unmerciful slave-holder to set the slave at liberty whose eye or tooth he had knocked out. If this did not teach them humanity, it taught them caution, as one rash blow might have deprived them of all right to the future services of the slave; and thus self-interest obliged them to be cautious and circumspect. Verse 28. If an ox gore a man] It is more likely that a bull is here intended, as the word signifies both, see chap. xxii. 1; and the Septuagint translate the shor of the original by ravpos, a bull. Mischief of this kind was provided against by most nations. It appears that the Romans twisted hay about the horns of their dangerous cattle, that people seeing it might shun them; hence that saying of Horace, Sat., lib. i., sat. 4, ver, 34: Fænum habet in cornu, longe fuge. "He has hay on his horns; fly for life!" The laws of the twelve tables ordered, That the owner of the beast should pay for what damages he committed, or deliver him to the person injured. See on chap. xxii. 1. His flesh shall not be eaten] This served to keep up a due detestation of murder, whether committed by man or beast; and at the same time punished the man as far as possible, by the total loss of the beast, Verse 30. If there be laid on him a sum of money→ the ransom of his life] So it appears that, though by the law he forfeited his life, yet this might be commuted for a pecuniary mulct, at which the life of the deceased might be valued by the magistrates. Verse 32. Thirty shekels] Each worth about three shillings English; see Gen. xx. 16; xxiii. 15. So, counting the shekel at its utmost value, the life of a slave was valued at four pounds ten shillings. And at this price these same vile people valued the life of our blessed 34 The owner of the pit shall make it good, and give money unto the owner of them; and the dead beast shall be his. 35 And if one man's ox hurt another's, that and the dead shall be his own. 36 Or if it be known that the ox hath used to push in time past, and his owner hath not kept him in; he shall surely pay ox for ox; ter, as, where they are, they interrupt the statutes concerning the goring ox, which begin at verse 28. THESE different regulations are as remarkable for their justice and prudence as for their humanity. Lord; see Zech. xi. 12, 13; Matt. xxvi. 15. And in return, the justice of God has ordered it so, that they have been sold for slaves into every country of the universe. And yet, strange to tell, they see not the hand of God in so visible a retribution ! Verse 33. And if a man shall open a pit, or-dig | Their great tendency is to show the valuableness of a pit] That is, if a man shall open a well or cistern human life, and the necessity of having peace and good that had been before closed up, or dig a new one; for understanding in every neighbourhood; and they posthese two cases are plainly intimated and if he did sess that quality which should be the object of all good this in some public place where there was danger that and wholesome laws-the prevention of crimes. Most men or cattle might fall into it; for a man might do criminal codes of jurisprudence seem more intent on as he pleased in his own grounds, as those were his the punishment of crimes than on preventing the comprivate right. In the above case, if he had neglected mission of them. The law of God always teaches and to cover the pit, and his neighbour's ox or ass was warns, that his creatures may not fall into condemnakilled by falling into it, he was to pay its value in tion; for judgment is his strange work, i. e., one remoney. The 33d and 34th verses seem to be out of luctantly and seldom executed, as this text is frequently their places. They probably should conclude the chap-understood. : CHAPTER XXII. Laws concerning theft, 1-4; concerning trespass, 5; concerning casualties, 6. Laws concerning deposits, or goods left in custody of others, which may have been lost, stolen, or damaged, 7–13. Laws concerning things borrowed or let out on hire, 14, 15. Laws concerning seduction, 16, 17. Laws concerning witchcraft, 18; bestiality, 19; idolatry, 20. Laws concerning strangers, 21; concerning widows, 22-24; lending money to the poor, 25; concerning pledges, 26; concerning respect to magistrates, 28; concerning the first ripe fruits, and the first-born of man and beast, 29, 30.- Directions concerning carcasses found torn in the field, 31. A. M. 2513. Sivan. a Or, goat. IF F a man shall steal an ox, or an ox, and four sheep for a a it; he shall restore five oxen for b2 Sam. xii. 6; Luke xix. 8; see Prov. vi. 31. NOTES ON CHAP. XXII. sheep. 2 If a thief be found break- A. M. 2513. An. Exod. Isr. 1. seh.) I think it must appear evident, that the sacred Verse 1. If a man shall steal] This chapter con-writer did not intend that these words should be unsists chiefly of judicial laws, as the preceding chapter does of political; and in it the same good sense, and well-marked attention to the welfare of the community and the moral improvement of each individual, are equally evident. In our translation of this verse, by rendering different Hebrew words by the same term in English, we have greatly obscured the sense. : I shall produce the verse with the original words which I think improperly translated, because one English term is used for two Hebrew words, which in this place certainly do not mean the same thing. If a man shall steal an ox ( shor) or a sheep, ( seh,) and kill it, or sell it; he shall restore five oxen (p bakar) for an ox, (W shor,) and four sheep (¡ ison) for a sheep ( derstood as above. A shor certainly is different from a bakar, and a seh from a tson. Where the difference in every case lies, wherever these words occur, it is difficult to say. The shor and the bakar are doubtless creatures of the beeve kind, and are used in different parts of the sacred writings to signify the bull, the ox, the heifer, the steer, and the calf. The seh and the tson are used to signify the ram, the wether, the ewe, the lamb, the he-goat, the she-goat, and the kid. And the latter word jy son seems frequently to signify the flock, composed of either of these lesser cattle, or both sorts conjoined. As shor is used, Job xxi. 10, for a bull, probably it may mean so here. If a man steal a BULL he shall give five oXEN for him, which we may presume was 3 If the sun be risen upon him, there shall be blood shed for him; for he should make full restitution; if he have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft. 4 If the theft be certainly found in his hand alive, whether it be ox, or ass, or sheep; he shall restore double. 5 If a man shall cause a field or vineyard to be eaten, and shall put in his beast, and shall feed in another man's field; of the best of his own field, and of the best of his own vineyard, shall he make restitution. and goods in the custody of others. A. M. 2513. B. C. 1491. Sivan. 6 If fire break out, and catch in thorns, so that the stacks of An. Exod. Isr. 1. corn, or the standing corn, or the field, be consumed therewith; he that kindled the fire shall surely make restitution. 7 If a man shall deliver unto his neighbour money or stuff to keep, and it be stolen out of the man's house; if the thief be found. let him pay double. h 8 If the thief be not found, then the master of the house shall be brought unto the judges, to see whether he have put his hand unto his neighbour's goods. 9 For all manner of trespass, whether it be for ox, for ass, for sheep, for raiment, or for i Chap. xxi. 6; ver. 28. d Num. xxxv. 27. Ch. xxi. 2.- f Chap. xxi. 16. See ver. 1, 7; Prov. vi. 31. no more than his real value, as very few bulls could be kept in a country destitute of horses, where oxen were so necessary to till the ground. For though some have imagined that there were no castrated cattle among the Jews, yet this cannot be admitted on the above reason; for as they had no horses, and bulls would have been unmanageable and dangerous, they must have had oxen for the purposes of agriculture. Tson is used for a flock either of sheep or goats, and seh for an individual of either species. For every seh, four, taken indifferently from the tson or flock, must be given; i. e., a sheep stolen might be recompensed with four out of the flock, whether of sheep or goats so that a goat might be compensated with four sheep, or a sheep with four goats. Verse 2. If a thief be found] If a thief was found breaking into a house in the night season, he might be killed; but not if the sun had risen, for then he might be known and taken, and the restitution made which is mentioned in the succeeding verse. So by the law of England it is a burglary to break and enter a house by night; and "anciently the day was accounted to begin only from sunrising, and to end immediately upon sunset but it is now generally agreed that if there be daylight enough begun or left, either by the light of the sun or twilight, whereby the countenance of a person may reasonably be discerned, it is no burglary; but that this does not extend to moonlight, for then many midnight burglaries would go unpunished. And besides, the malignity of the offence does not so properly arise, as Mr. Justice Blackstone observes, from its being done in the dark, as at the dead of night, when all the creation except beasts of prey are at rest; when sleep has disarmed the owner, and rendered his castle defenceless.”—East's Pleas of the Crown, vol. ii., p. 509. Verse 4. He shall restore double.] In no case of theft was the life of the offender taken away; the utmost that the law says on this point is, that, if when found breaking into a house, he should be smitten so as to die, no blood should be shed for him; ver. 2. If he had stolen and sold the property, then he was to b Ver. 4. restore four or fivefold, ver. 1; but if the animal was found alive in his possession, he was to restore double. Verse 6. If fire break out] Mr. Harmer-observes that it is a common custom in the east to set the dry herbage on fire before the autumnal rains, which fires, for want of care, often do great damage: and in countries where great drought prevails, and the herbage is generally parched, great caution was peculiarly necessary; and a law to guard against such evils, and to punish inattention and neglect, was highly expedient. See Harmer's Observat., vol. iii., p. 310, &c. Verse 7. Deliver unto his neighbour] This is called pledging in the law of bailments; it is a deposit of goods by a debtor to his creditor, to be kept till the debt be discharged. Whatever goods were thus left in the hands of another person, that person, according to the Mosaic law, became responsible for them; if they were stolen, and the thief was found, he was to pay double; if he could not be found, the oath of the person who had them in keeping, made before the magistrates, that he knew nothing of them, was considered a full acquittance. Among the Romans, if goods were lost which a man had intrusted to his neighbour, the depositary was obliged to pay their full value. But if a man had been driven by necessity, as in case of fire, to lodge his goods with one of his neighbours, and the goods were lost, the depositary was obliged to pay double their value, because of his unfaithfulness in a case of such distress, where his dishonesty, connected with the destruction by the fire, had completed the ruin of the sufferer. To this case the following law is applicable: Cum quis fidem elegit, nec depositum redditur, contentus esse debet simplo: cum vero extante necessitate deponat, crescit perfidiæ crimen, &c.—Digest., lib. xvi., tit. 3, l. 1. Verse 8. Unto the judges] See the note on chap. xxi. 6. Verse 9. Challengeth to be his] It was necessary that such a matter should come before the judges, because the person in whose possession the goods were found might have had them by a fair and honest purchase; and, by sifting the business, the thief might be Concerning things borrowed, A. M. 2513. Sivan. CHAP. XXII. A. M. 2513. seduction, and witchcraft. any manner of lost thing, which 13 If it be torn in pieces, then An. Exod. Isr. 1. another challengeth to be his, the let him bring it for witness, and An. Exod. Isr. 1. cause of both parties shall he shall not make good that come before the judges; and whom the judges which was torn. shall condemn, he shall pay double unto his neighbour. 10 If a man deliver unto his neighbour an ass, or an ox, or a sheep, or any beast, to keep; and it die, or be hurt, or driven away, no man seeing it: 11 Then shall an oath of the LORD be between them both, that he hath not put his hand unto his neighbour's goods; and the owner of it shall accept thereof, and he shall not make it good. 12 And if it be stolen from him, he shall make restitution unto the owner thereof. B * Deut. xxv. 1; 2 Chron. xix. 10.- Heb. vi. 16.- m Gen. xxxi. 39. Deut. xxii. 28, 29.- Heb. weigh; Gen. xxiii. 16. found out, and if found, be obliged to pay double to his neighbour. Verse 11. An oath of the Lord be between them] So solemn and awful were all appeals to God considered in those ancient times, that it was taken for granted that the man was innocent who could by an oath appeal to the omniscient God that he had not put his hand to his neighbour's goods. Since oaths have become multiplied, and since they have been administered on the most trifling occasions, their solemnity is gone, and their importance little regarded. Should the oath ever reacquire its weight and importance, it must be when administered only in cases of peculiar delicacy and difficulty, and as sparingly as in the days of Moses. Verse 13. If it be torn in pieces-let him bring it for witness] Rather, Let him bring ed hatterephah, a testimony or evidence of the torn thing, such as the horns, hoofs, &c. This is still a law in some countries among graziers: if a horse, cow, sheep, or goat, intrusted to them, be lost, and the keeper asserts it was devoured by dogs, &c., the law obliges him to produce the horns and hoofs, because on these the owner's mark is generally found. If these can be produced, the keeper is acquitted by the law. The ear is often the place marked, but this is not absolutely required, because a ravenous beast may eat the ear as well as any other part, but he cannot eat the horns or the hoofs. It seems however that in after times two of the legs and the ear were required as evidences to acquit the shepherd of all guilt. See Amos iii. 12. Sivan. 14 And if a man borrow aught of his neighbour, and it be hurt, or die, the owner thereof being not with it, he shall surely make it good. 15 But if the owner thereof be with it, he shall not make it good: if it be a hired thing, it came for his hire. 16 And if a man entice a maid that is not betrothed, and lie with her, he shall surely endow her to be his wife. 18 Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." P Gen. xxxiv. 12; Deut. xxii. 29; 1 Sam. xviii. 25. - Lev. xix. 26, 31; xx. 27; Deut. xviii. 10, 11; 1 Sam. xxviii. 3, 9. ed had she been still a virgin. According to the Targumist here, and to Deut. xxii. 29, the dowry was fifty shekels of silver, which the seducer was to pay to her father, and he was obliged to take her to wife; nor had he authority, according to the Jewish canons, ever to put her away by a bill of divorce. This one consideration was a powerful curb on disorderly passions, and must tend greatly to render marriages respectable, and prevent all crimes of this nature. Verse 18. Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.] If there had been no witches, such a law as this had never been made. The existence of the law, given under the direction of the Spirit of God, proves the existence of the thing. It has been doubted whether DWOD mecashshephah, which we translate witch, really means a person who practised divination or sorcery by spiritual or infernal agency. Whether the persons thus denominated only pretended to have an art which had no existence, or whether they really possessed the power commonly attributed to them, are questions which it would be improper to discuss at length in a work of this kind; but that witches, wizards, those who dealt with familiar spirits, &c., are represented in the sacred writings as actually possessing a power to evoke the dead, to perform supernatural operations, and to discover hidden or secret things by spells, charms, incantations, &c., is evident to every unprejudiced reader of the Bible. Of Manasseh it is said: He caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times [ veonen, he used divination by clouds] and used enchantVerse 16. If a man entice a maid] This was an ments, and used witchcraft, [ vechishsheph,] and exceedingly wise and humane law, and must have ope- dealt with a familiar spirit, [i ny veasah ob, perrated powerfully against seduction and fornication; formed a variety of operations by means of what was because the person who might feel inclined to take the afterwards called the veνuа vwvos, the spirit of advantage of a young woman knew that he must mar- Python,] and with wizards, ['y yiddeoni, the wise ry her, and give her a dowry, if her parents consent- or knowing ones es;] and he wrought much evil in the ed; and if they did not consent that their daughter sight of the Lord; 2 Chron. xxxiii. 6. It is very should wed her seducer, in this case he was obliged to likely that the Hebrew cashaph, and the Arabic give her the full dowry which could have been demand-cashafa, had originally the same meaning, to |