mh_parser/vol_split/2 - Exodus/Chapter 22.xml

<div2 id="Ex.xxiii" n="xxiii" next="Ex.xxiv" prev="Ex.xxii" progress="42.21%" title="Chapter XXII">
<h2 id="Ex.xxiii-p0.1">E X O D U S</h2>
<h3 id="Ex.xxiii-p0.2">CHAP. XXII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Ex.xxiii-p1">The laws of this chapter relate, I. To the eighth
commandment, concerning theft (<scripRef id="Ex.xxiii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Exod.22.1-Exod.22.4" parsed="|Exod|22|1|22|4" passage="Ex 22:1-4">ver.
1-4</scripRef>), trespass by cattle (<scripRef id="Ex.xxiii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Exod.22.5" parsed="|Exod|22|5|0|0" passage="Ex 22:5">ver. 5</scripRef>), damage by fire (<scripRef id="Ex.xxiii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Exod.22.6" parsed="|Exod|22|6|0|0" passage="Ex 22:6">ver. 6</scripRef>), trusts (<scripRef id="Ex.xxiii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Exod.22.7-Exod.22.13" parsed="|Exod|22|7|22|13" passage="Ex 22:7-13">ver. 7-13</scripRef>), borrowing cattle (<scripRef id="Ex.xxiii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Exod.22.14-Exod.22.15" parsed="|Exod|22|14|22|15" passage="Ex 22:14,15">ver. 14, 15</scripRef>), or money, <scripRef id="Ex.xxiii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Exod.22.25" parsed="|Exod|22|25|0|0" passage="Ex 22:25">ver. 25-27</scripRef>. II. To the seventh
commandment. Against fornication (<scripRef id="Ex.xxiii-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Exod.22.16-Exod.22.17" parsed="|Exod|22|16|22|17" passage="Ex 22:16,17">ver. 16, 17</scripRef>), bestiality, <scripRef id="Ex.xxiii-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Exod.22.19" parsed="|Exod|22|19|0|0" passage="Ex 22:19">ver. 19</scripRef>. III. To the first table,
forbidding witchcraft (<scripRef id="Ex.xxiii-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Exod.22.18" parsed="|Exod|22|18|0|0" passage="Ex 22:18">ver.
18</scripRef>), idolatry, <scripRef id="Ex.xxiii-p1.10" osisRef="Bible:Exod.22.20" parsed="|Exod|22|20|0|0" passage="Ex 22:20">ver.
20</scripRef>. Commanding to offer the firstfruits, <scripRef id="Ex.xxiii-p1.11" osisRef="Bible:Exod.22.29-Exod.22.30" parsed="|Exod|22|29|22|30" passage="Ex 22:29,30">ver. 29, 30</scripRef>. IV. To the poor,
<scripRef id="Ex.xxiii-p1.12" osisRef="Bible:Exod.22.21-Exod.22.24" parsed="|Exod|22|21|22|24" passage="Ex 22:21-24">ver. 21-24</scripRef>. V. To the
civil government, <scripRef id="Ex.xxiii-p1.13" osisRef="Bible:Exod.22.28" parsed="|Exod|22|28|0|0" passage="Ex 22:28">ver. 28</scripRef>.
VI. To the peculiarity of the Jewish nation, <scripRef id="Ex.xxiii-p1.14" osisRef="Bible:Exod.22.31" parsed="|Exod|22|31|0|0" passage="Ex 22:31">ver. 31</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Ex.xxiii-p1.15" osisRef="Bible:Exod.22" parsed="|Exod|22|0|0|0" passage="Ex 22" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Ex.xxiii-p1.16" osisRef="Bible:Exod.22.1-Exod.22.6" parsed="|Exod|22|1|22|6" passage="Ex 22:1-6" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Exod.22.1-Exod.22.6">
<h4 id="Ex.xxiii-p1.17">Judicial Laws. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Ex.xxiii-p1.18">b. c.</span> 1491.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ex.xxiii-p2">1 If a man shall steal an ox, or a sheep, and
kill it, or sell it; he shall restore five oxen for an ox, and four
sheep for a sheep.   2 If a thief be found breaking up, and be
smitten that he die, <i>there shall</i> no blood <i>be shed</i> for
him.   3 If the sun be risen upon him, <i>there shall be</i>
blood <i>shed</i> for him; <i>for</i> 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.   6 If fire break out, and catch in
thorns, so that the stacks of corn, or the standing corn, or the
field, be consumed <i>therewith;</i> he that kindled the fire shall
surely make restitution.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ex.xxiii-p3">Here are the laws,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ex.xxiii-p4">I. Concerning theft, which are these:—1.
If a man steal any cattle (in which the wealth of those times
chiefly consisted), and they be found in his custody, he must
restore double, <scripRef id="Ex.xxiii-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Exod.22.4" parsed="|Exod|22|4|0|0" passage="Ex 22:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>.
Thus he must both satisfy for the wrong and suffer for the crime.
But it was afterwards provided that if the thief were touched in
conscience, and voluntarily confessed it, before it was discovered
or enquired into by any other, then he should only make restitution
of what he had stolen, and add to it a fifth part, <scripRef id="Ex.xxiii-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Lev.6.4-Lev.6.5" parsed="|Lev|6|4|6|5" passage="Le 6:4,5">Lev. vi. 4, 5</scripRef>. 2. If he had killed or
sold the sheep or ox he had stolen, and thereby persisted in his
crime, he must restore <i>five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a
sheep</i> (<scripRef id="Ex.xxiii-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:Exod.22.1" parsed="|Exod|22|1|0|0" passage="Ex 22:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>),
more for an ox than for a sheep because the owner, besides all the
other profit, lost the daily labour of his ox. This law teaches us
that fraud and injustice, so far from enriching men, will
impoverish them: if we unjustly get and keep that which is
another's, it will not only waste itself, but it will consume that
which is our own. 3. If he was not able to make restitution, he
must be sold for a slave, <scripRef id="Ex.xxiii-p4.4" osisRef="Bible:Exod.22.3" parsed="|Exod|22|3|0|0" passage="Ex 22:3"><i>v.</i>
3</scripRef>. The court of judgment was to do it, and it is
probable that the person robbed had the money. Thus with us, in
some cases, felons are transported into plantations where alone
Englishmen know what slavery is. 4. If a thief broke a house in the
night, and was killed in the doing of it, his blood was upon his
own head, and should not be required at the hand of him that shed
it, <scripRef id="Ex.xxiii-p4.5" osisRef="Bible:Exod.22.2" parsed="|Exod|22|2|0|0" passage="Ex 22:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>. As he that
does an unlawful act bears the blame of the mischief that follows
to others, so likewise of that which follows to himself. A man's
house is his castle, and God's law, as well as man's, sets a guard
upon it; he that assaults it does so at his peril. Yet, if it was
in the day-time that the thief was killed, he that killed him must
be accountable for it (<scripRef id="Ex.xxiii-p4.6" osisRef="Bible:Exod.22.3" parsed="|Exod|22|3|0|0" passage="Ex 22:3"><i>v.</i>
3</scripRef>), unless it was in the necessary defence of his own
life. Note, We ought to be tender of the lives even of bad men; the
magistrate must afford us redress, and we must not avenge
ourselves.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ex.xxiii-p5">II. Concerning trespass, <scripRef id="Ex.xxiii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Exod.22.5" parsed="|Exod|22|5|0|0" passage="Ex 22:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>. He that wilfully put his cattle
into his neighbour's field must make restitution of the best of his
own. Our law makes a much greater difference between this and other
thefts than the law of Moses did. The Jews hence observed it as a
general rule that restitution must always be made of the best, and
that no man should keep any cattle that were likely to trespass
upon his neighbours or do them any damage. We should be more
careful not to do wrong than not to suffer wrong, because to suffer
wrong is only an affliction, but to do wrong is a sin, and sin is
always worse than affliction.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ex.xxiii-p6">III. Concerning damage done by fire,
<scripRef id="Ex.xxiii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Exod.22.6" parsed="|Exod|22|6|0|0" passage="Ex 22:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>. He that
designed only the burning of thorns might become accessory to the
burning of corn, and should not be held guiltless. Men of hot and
eager spirits should take heed, lest, while they pretend only to
pluck up the tares, they root out the wheat also. If the fire did
mischief, he that kindled it must answer for it, though it could
not be proved that he designed the mischief. Men must suffer for
their carelessness, as well as for their malice. We must take heed
of beginning strife; for, though it seem but little, we know not
how great a matter it may kindle, the blame of which we must bear,
if, with the madman, we cast fire-brands, arrows, and death, and
pretend we mean no harm. It will make us very careful of ourselves,
if we consider that we are accountable, not only for the hurt we
do, but for the hurt we occasion through inadvertency.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ex.xxiii-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Exod.22.7-Exod.22.15" parsed="|Exod|22|7|22|15" passage="Ex 22:7-15" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Exod.22.7-Exod.22.15">
<p class="passage" id="Ex.xxiii-p7">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.   8 If the thief be
not found, then the master of the house shall be brought unto the
judges, <i>to see</i> whether he have put his hand unto his
neighbour's goods.   9 For all manner of trespass, <i>whether
it be</i> for ox, for ass, for sheep, for raiment, <i>or</i> for
any manner of lost thing, which <i>another</i> challengeth to be
his, the cause of both parties shall come before the judges;
<i>and</i> whom the judges 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 <i>it:</i>   11
<i>Then</i> shall an oath of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ex.xxiii-p7.1">Lord</span> be between them both, that he hath not put
his hand unto his neighbour's goods; and the owner of it shall
accept <i>thereof,</i> and he shall not make <i>it</i> good.  
12 And if it be stolen from him, he shall make restitution unto the
owner thereof.   13 If it be torn in pieces, <i>then</i> let
him bring it <i>for</i> witness, <i>and</i> he shall not make good
that which was torn.   14 And if a man borrow <i>ought</i> of
his neighbour, and it be hurt, or die, the owner thereof
<i>being</i> not with it, he shall surely make <i>it</i> good.
  15 <i>But</i> if the owner thereof <i>be</i> with it, he
shall not make <i>it</i> good: if it <i>be</i> an hired
<i>thing,</i> it came for his hire.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ex.xxiii-p8">These laws are,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ex.xxiii-p9">I. Concerning trusts, <scripRef id="Ex.xxiii-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Exod.22.7-Exod.22.13" parsed="|Exod|22|7|22|13" passage="Ex 22:7-13"><i>v.</i> 7-13</scripRef>. If a man deliver goods,
suppose to a carrier to be conveyed, or to a warehouse-keeper to be
preserved, or cattle to a farmer to be fed, upon a valuable
consideration, and if a special confidence be reposed in the person
they are lodged with, in case these goods be stolen or lost, perish
or be damaged, if it appear that it was not by any fault of the
trustee, the owner must stand to the loss, otherwise he that has
been false to this trust must be compelled to make satisfaction.
The trustee must aver his innocence upon oath before the judges, if
the case was such as afforded no other proof, and they were to
determine the matter according as it appeared. This teaches us, 1.
That we ought to be very careful of every thing we are entrusted
with, as careful of it, though it be another's, as if it were our
own. It is unjust and base, and that which all the world cries
shame on, to betray a trust. 2. That there is such a general
failing of truth and justice upon earth as gives too much occasion
to suspect men's honesty whenever it is their interest to be
dishonest. 3. That <i>an oath for confirmation is an end of
strife,</i> <scripRef id="Ex.xxiii-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Heb.6.16" parsed="|Heb|6|16|0|0" passage="Heb 6:16">Heb. vi. 16</scripRef>. It
is called an <i>oath for the Lord</i> (<scripRef id="Ex.xxiii-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Exod.22.11" parsed="|Exod|22|11|0|0" passage="Ex 22:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>), because to him the appeal is
made, not only as to a witness of truth, but as to an avenger of
wrong and falsehood. Those that had offered injury to their
neighbour by doing any unjust thing, yet, it might be hoped, had
not so far debauched their consciences as to profane an oath of the
Lord, and call the God of truth to be witness to a lie: perjury is
a sin which natural conscience startles at as much as any other.
The religion of an oath is very ancient, and a plain indication of
the universal belief of a God, and a providence, and a judgment to
come. 4. That magistracy is an ordinance of God, designed, among
other intentions, to assist men both in discovering rights disputed
and recovering rights denied; and great respect ought to be paid to
the determination of the judges. 5. That there is no reason why a
man should suffer for that which he could not help: masters should
consider this, in dealing with their servants, and not rebuke that
as a fault which was a mischance, and which they themselves, had
they been in their servants' places, could not have prevented.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ex.xxiii-p10">II. Concerning loans, <scripRef id="Ex.xxiii-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Exod.22.14-Exod.22.15" parsed="|Exod|22|14|22|15" passage="Ex 22:14,15"><i>v.</i> 14, 15</scripRef>. If a man (suppose) lent
his team to his neighbour, if the owner was with it, or was to
receive profit for the loan of it, whatever harm befel the cattle
the owner must stand to the loss of: but if the owner was so kind
to the borrower as to lend it to him gratis, and put such a
confidence in him as to trust it from under his own eye, then, if
any harm happened, the borrower must make it good. Let us learn
hence to be very careful not to abuse any thing that is lent us; it
is not only unjust, but base and disingenuous, inasmuch as it is
rendering evil for good; we should much rather choose to lose
ourselves than that any should sustain loss by their kindness to
us. <i>Alas, master! for it was borrowed,</i> <scripRef id="Ex.xxiii-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.6.5" parsed="|2Kgs|6|5|0|0" passage="2Ki 6:5">2 Kings vi. 5</scripRef>.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ex.xxiii-p10.3" osisRef="Bible:Exod.22" parsed="|Exod|22|0|0|0" passage="Ex 22" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Ex.xxiii-p10.4" osisRef="Bible:Exod.22.16-Exod.22.24" parsed="|Exod|22|16|22|24" passage="Ex 22:16-24" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Exod.22.16-Exod.22.24">
<p class="passage" id="Ex.xxiii-p11">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.   17 If her father utterly refuse to give her unto him,
he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins.   18
Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.   19 Whosoever lieth
with a beast shall surely be put to death.   20 He that
sacrificeth unto <i>any</i> god, save unto the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ex.xxiii-p11.1">Lord</span> only, he shall be utterly destroyed.  
21 Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were
strangers in the land of Egypt.   22 Ye shall not afflict any
widow, or fatherless child.   23 If thou afflict them in any
wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry;
  24 And my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the
sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children
fatherless.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ex.xxiii-p12">Here is, I. A law that he who debauched a
young woman should be obliged to marry her, <scripRef id="Ex.xxiii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Exod.22.16-Exod.22.17" parsed="|Exod|22|16|22|17" passage="Ex 22:16,17"><i>v.</i> 16, 17</scripRef>. If she was betrothed to
another, it was death to debauch her (<scripRef id="Ex.xxiii-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.22.23-Deut.22.24" parsed="|Deut|22|23|22|24" passage="De 22:23,24">Deut. xxii. 23, 24</scripRef>); but the law here
mentioned respects her as single. But, if the father refused her to
him, he was to give satisfaction in money for the injury and
disgrace he had done her. This law puts an honour upon marriage and
shows likewise how improper a thing it is that children should
marry without their parents' consent: even here, where the divine
law appointed the marriage, both as a punishment to him that had
done wrong and a recompence to her that had suffered wrong, yet
there was an express reservation for the father's power; if he
denied his consent, it must be no marriage.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ex.xxiii-p13">II. A law which makes witchcraft a capital
crime, <scripRef id="Ex.xxiii-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Exod.22.18" parsed="|Exod|22|18|0|0" passage="Ex 22:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>.
Witchcraft not only gives that honour to the devil which is due to
God alone, but bids defiance to the divine Providence, wages war
with God's government, and puts his work into the devil's hand,
expecting him to do good and evil, and so making him indeed <i>the
god of this world;</i> justly therefore was it punished with death,
especially among a people that were blessed with a divine
revelation, and cared for by divine Providence above any people
under the sun. By our law, consulting, covenanting with,
invocating, or employing, any evil spirit, to any intent
whatsoever, and exercising any enchantment, charm, or sorcery,
whereby hurt shall be done to any person whatsoever, is made
felony, without benefit of clergy; also pretending to tell where
goods lost or stolen may be found, or the like, is an iniquity
punishable by the judge, and the second offence with death. The
justice of our law herein is supported by the law of God recorded
here.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ex.xxiii-p14">III. Unnatural abominations are here made
capital; such beasts in the shape of men as are guilty of them are
unfit to live (<scripRef id="Ex.xxiii-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Exod.22.19" parsed="|Exod|22|19|0|0" passage="Ex 22:19"><i>v.</i>
19</scripRef>): <i>Whosoever lies with a beast shall die.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ex.xxiii-p15">IV. Idolatry is also made capital,
<scripRef id="Ex.xxiii-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Exod.22.20" parsed="|Exod|22|20|0|0" passage="Ex 22:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>. God having
declared himself jealous in this matter, the civil powers must be
jealous in it too, and utterly destroy those persons, families, and
places of Israel, that worshipped any god, save the Lord: this law
might have prevented the woeful apostasies of the Jewish nation in
after times, if those that should have executed it had not been
ringleaders in the breach of it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ex.xxiii-p16">V. A caution against oppression. Because
those who were empowered to punish other crimes were themselves
most in danger of this, God takes the punishing of it into his own
hands.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ex.xxiii-p17">1. Strangers must not be abused (<scripRef id="Ex.xxiii-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Exod.22.21" parsed="|Exod|22|21|0|0" passage="Ex 22:21"><i>v.</i> 21</scripRef>), not wronged in
judgment by the magistrates, not imposed upon in contracts, nor
must any advantage be taken of their ignorance or necessity; no,
nor must they be taunted, trampled upon, treated with contempt, or
upbraided with being strangers; for all these were vexations, and
would discourage strangers from coming to live among them, or would
strengthen their prejudices against their religion, to which, by
all kind and gentle methods, they should endeavour to proselyte
them. The reason given why they should be kind to strangers is,
"<i>You were strangers in Egypt,</i> and knew what it was to be
vexed and oppressed there," Note, (1.) Humanity is one of the laws
of religion, and obliges us particularly to be tender of those that
lie most under disadvantages and discouragements, and to extend our
compassionate concern to strangers, and those to whom we are not
under the obligations of alliance or acquaintance. Those that are
strangers to us are known to God, and he preserves them, <scripRef id="Ex.xxiii-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.146.9" parsed="|Ps|146|9|0|0" passage="Ps 146:9">Ps. cxlvi. 9</scripRef>. (2.) Those that profess
religion should study to oblige strangers, that they may thereby
recommend religion to their good opinion, and take heed of doing
any thing that may tempt them to think ill of it or its professors,
<scripRef id="Ex.xxiii-p17.3" osisRef="Bible:1Pet.2.12" parsed="|1Pet|2|12|0|0" passage="1Pe 2:12">1 Pet. ii. 12</scripRef>. (3.) Those
that have themselves been in poverty and distress, if Providence
enrich and enlarge them, ought to show a particular tenderness
towards those that are now in such circumstances as they were in
formerly, doing now by them as they then wished to be done by.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ex.xxiii-p18">2. Widows and fatherless must not be abused
(<scripRef id="Ex.xxiii-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Exod.22.22" parsed="|Exod|22|22|0|0" passage="Ex 22:22"><i>v.</i> 22</scripRef>): <i>You
shall not afflict them,</i> that is, "You shall comfort and assist
them, and be ready upon all occasions to show them kindness." In
making just demands from them, their condition must be considered,
who have lost those that should deal for them, and protect them;
they are supposed to be unversed in business, destitute of advice,
timorous, and of a tender spirit, and therefore must be treated
with kindness and compassion; no advantage must be taken against
them, nor any hardship put upon them, from which a husband or a
father would have sheltered them. For, (1.) God takes particular
cognizance of their case, <scripRef id="Ex.xxiii-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:Exod.22.23" parsed="|Exod|22|23|0|0" passage="Ex 22:23"><i>v.</i>
23</scripRef>. Having no one else to complain and appeal to, they
will <i>cry unto God,</i> and he will be sure <i>to hear them;</i>
for his law and his providence are guardians to the widows and
fatherless, and if men do not pity them, and will not hear them, he
will. Note, It is a great comfort to those who are injured and
oppressed by men that they have a God to go to who will do more
than <i>give them the hearing;</i> and it ought to be a terror to
those who are oppressive that they have the cry of the poor against
them, which God will hear. Nay, (2.) He will severely reckon with
those that do oppress them. Though they escape punishments from
men, God's righteous judgments will pursue and overtake them,
<scripRef id="Ex.xxiii-p18.3" osisRef="Bible:Exod.22.24" parsed="|Exod|22|24|0|0" passage="Ex 22:24"><i>v.</i> 24</scripRef>. Men that have
a sense of justice and honour will espouse the injured cause of the
weak and helpless; and shall not the righteous God do it? Observe
the equity of the sentence here passed upon those that oppress the
widows and fatherless: their wives shall become widows, and their
children fatherless; and the Lord is known by these judgments,
which he sometimes executes still.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ex.xxiii-p18.4" osisRef="Bible:Exod.22.25-Exod.22.31" parsed="|Exod|22|25|22|31" passage="Ex 22:25-31" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Exod.22.25-Exod.22.31">
<p class="passage" id="Ex.xxiii-p19">25 If thou lend money to <i>any of</i> my people
<i>that is</i> poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer,
neither shalt thou lay upon him usury.   26 If thou at all
take thy neighbour's raiment to pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto
him by that the sun goeth down:   27 For that <i>is</i> his
covering only, it <i>is</i> his raiment for his skin: wherein shall
he sleep? and it shall come to pass, when he crieth unto me, that I
will hear; for I <i>am</i> gracious.   28 Thou shalt not
revile the gods, nor curse the ruler of thy people.   29 Thou
shalt not delay <i>to offer</i> the first of thy ripe fruits, and
of thy liquors: the firstborn of thy sons shalt thou give unto me.
  30 Likewise shalt thou do with thine oxen, <i>and</i> with
thy sheep: seven days it shall be with his dam; on the eighth day
thou shalt give it me.   31 And ye shall be holy men unto me:
neither shall ye eat <i>any</i> flesh <i>that is</i> torn of beasts
in the field; ye shall cast it to the dogs.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ex.xxiii-p20">Here is, I. A law against extortion in
lending. 1. They must not receive use for money from any that
borrowed for necessity (<scripRef id="Ex.xxiii-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Exod.22.25" parsed="|Exod|22|25|0|0" passage="Ex 22:25"><i>v.</i>
25</scripRef>), as in that case, <scripRef id="Ex.xxiii-p20.2" osisRef="Bible:Neh.5.5 Bible:Neh.5.7" parsed="|Neh|5|5|0|0;|Neh|5|7|0|0" passage="Ne 5:5,7">Neh.
v. 5, 7</scripRef>. And such provision the law made for the
preservation of estates to their families by the year of jubilee
that a people who had little concern in trade could not be supposed
to borrow money but for necessity, and therefore it is generally
forbidden among themselves; but to a stranger, whom yet they might
not oppress, they were allowed to lend upon usury: this law,
therefore, in the strictness of it, seems to have been peculiar to
the Jewish state; but, in the equity of it, it obliges us to show
mercy to those of whom we might take advantage, and to be content
to share, in loss as well as profit, with those we lend to, if
Providence cross them; and, upon this condition, it seems as lawful
to receive interest for my money, which another takes pains with
and improves, but runs the hazard of, in trade, as it is to receive
rent for my land, which another takes pains with and improves, but
runs the hazard of, in husbandry. 2. They must not take a poor
man's bed-clothes in pawn; but, if they did, must restore them by
bed-time, <scripRef id="Ex.xxiii-p20.3" osisRef="Bible:Exod.22.26-Exod.22.27" parsed="|Exod|22|26|22|27" passage="Ex 22:26,27"><i>v.</i> 26,
27</scripRef>. Those who lie soft and warm themselves should
consider the hard and cold lodgings of many poor people, and not do
any thing to make bad worse, or to add affliction to the
afflicted.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ex.xxiii-p21">II. A law against the contempt of authority
(<scripRef id="Ex.xxiii-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Exod.22.28" parsed="|Exod|22|28|0|0" passage="Ex 22:28"><i>v.</i> 28</scripRef>): <i>Thou
shalt not revile the gods,</i> that is, the <i>judges</i> and
<i>magistrates,</i> for their executing these laws; they must do
their duty, whoever suffer by it. Magistrates ought not to fear the
reproach of men, nor their revilings, but to despise them as long
as they keep a good conscience; but those that do revile them for
their being a terror to evil works and workers reflect upon God
himself, and will have a great deal to answer for another day. We
find those under a black character, and a heavy doom, that
<i>despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities,</i> <scripRef id="Ex.xxiii-p21.2" osisRef="Bible:Jude.1.8" parsed="|Jude|1|8|0|0" passage="Jude 1:8">Jude 8</scripRef>. Princes and magistrates are
our fathers, whom the fifth commandment obliges us to honour and
forbids us to revile. St. Paul applies this law to himself, and
owns that he ought not to <i>speak evil of the ruler of his
people;</i> no, not though the ruler was then his most unrighteous
persecutor, <scripRef id="Ex.xxiii-p21.3" osisRef="Bible:Acts.23.5" parsed="|Acts|23|5|0|0" passage="Ac 23:5">Acts xxiii. 5</scripRef>;
see <scripRef id="Ex.xxiii-p21.4" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.10.20" parsed="|Eccl|10|20|0|0" passage="Ec 10:20">Eccl. x. 20</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ex.xxiii-p22">III. A law concerning the offering of their
first-fruits to God, <scripRef id="Ex.xxiii-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Exod.22.29-Exod.22.30" parsed="|Exod|22|29|22|30" passage="Ex 22:29,30"><i>v.</i> 29,
30</scripRef>. It was appointed before (<scripRef id="Ex.xxiii-p22.2" osisRef="Bible:Exod.13.1-Exod.13.22" parsed="|Exod|13|1|13|22" passage="Ex 13:1-22"><i>ch.</i> xiii</scripRef>), and it is here repeated:
<i>The firstborn of thy sons shalt thou give unto me;</i> and much
more reason have we to give ourselves, and all we have, to God, who
<i>spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all.</i> The
first ripe of their corn they must not delay to offer. There is
danger, if we delay our duty, lest we wholly omit it; and by
slipping the first opportunity, in expectation of another, we
suffer Satan to cheat us of all our time. Let not young people
delay to offer to God the first-fruits of their time and strength,
lest their delays come, at last, to be denials, through the
deceitfulness of sin, and the more convenient season they promise
themselves never arrive. Yet it is provided that the firstlings of
their cattle should not be dedicated to God till they were past
seven days old, for then they began to be good for something. Note,
God is the first and best, and therefore must have the first and
best.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ex.xxiii-p23">IV. A distinction put between the Jews and
all other people: <i>You shall be holy men unto me;</i> and one
mark of that honourable distinction is appointed in their diet,
which was, that they should not <i>eat any flesh that was torn of
beasts</i> (<scripRef id="Ex.xxiii-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:Exod.22.31" parsed="|Exod|22|31|0|0" passage="Ex 22:31"><i>v.</i> 31</scripRef>),
not only because it was unwholesome, but because it was paltry, and
base, and covetous, and a thing below those who were holy men unto
God, to eat the leavings of the beasts of prey. We that are
sanctified to God must not be curious in our diet; but we must be
conscientious, not feeding ourselves without fear, but eating and
drinking by rule, the rule of sobriety, to the glory of God.</p>
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