mh_parser/vol_split/3 - Leviticus/Chapter 19.xml

<div2 id="Lev.xx" n="xx" next="Lev.xxi" prev="Lev.xix" progress="58.68%" title="Chapter XIX">
<h2 id="Lev.xx-p0.1">L E V I T I C U S</h2>
<h3 id="Lev.xx-p0.2">CHAP. XIX.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Lev.xx-p1">Some ceremonial precepts there are in this
chapter, but most of them are moral. One would wonder that when
some of the lighter matters of the law are greatly enlarged upon
(witness two long chapters concerning the leprosy) many of the
weightier matters are put into a little compass: divers of the
single verses of this chapter contain whole laws concerning
judgment and mercy; for these are things which are manifest in
every man's conscience; men's own thoughts are able to explain
these, and to comment upon them. I. The laws of this chapter, which
were peculiar to the Jews, are, 1. Concerning their
peace-offerings, <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.5-Lev.19.8" parsed="|Lev|19|5|19|8" passage="Le 19:5-8">ver. 5-8</scripRef>.
2. Concerning the gleanings of their fields, <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.9-Lev.19.10" parsed="|Lev|19|9|19|10" passage="Le 19:9,10">ver. 9, 10</scripRef>. 3. Against mixtures of their
cattle, seed, and cloth, <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.19" parsed="|Lev|19|19|0|0" passage="Le 19:19">ver.
19</scripRef>. 4. Concerning their trees, <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.23-Lev.19.25" parsed="|Lev|19|23|19|25" passage="Le 19:23-25">ver. 23-25</scripRef>. 5. Against some superstitious
usages, <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.26-Lev.19.28" parsed="|Lev|19|26|19|28" passage="Le 19:26-28">ver. 26-28</scripRef>. But,
II. Most of these precepts are binding on us, for they are
expositions of most of the ten commandments. 1. Here is the preface
to the ten commandments, "I am the Lord," repeated fifteen times.
2. A sum of the ten commandments. All the first table in this, "Be
you holy," <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.2" parsed="|Lev|19|2|0|0" passage="Le 19:2">ver. 2</scripRef>. All the
second table in this, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour" (<scripRef id="Lev.xx-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.18" parsed="|Lev|19|18|0|0" passage="Le 19:18">ver. 18</scripRef>), and an answer to the
question, "Who is my neighbour?" <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.33-Lev.19.34" parsed="|Lev|19|33|19|34" passage="Le 19:33,34">ver. 33, 34</scripRef>. 3. Something of each
commandment. (1.) The first commandment implied in that which is
often repeated here, "I am your God." And here is a prohibition of
enchantment (<scripRef id="Lev.xx-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.26" parsed="|Lev|19|26|0|0" passage="Le 19:26">ver. 26</scripRef>) and
witchcraft (<scripRef id="Lev.xx-p1.10" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.31" parsed="|Lev|19|31|0|0" passage="Le 19:31">ver. 31</scripRef>), which
make a god of the devil. (2.) Idolatry, against the second
commandment, is forbidden, <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p1.11" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.4" parsed="|Lev|19|4|0|0" passage="Le 19:4">ver.
4</scripRef>. (3.) Profanation of God's name, against the third,
<scripRef id="Lev.xx-p1.12" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.12" parsed="|Lev|19|12|0|0" passage="Le 19:12">ver. 12</scripRef>. (4.)
Sabbath-sanctification is pressed, <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p1.13" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.3 Bible:Lev.19.30" parsed="|Lev|19|3|0|0;|Lev|19|30|0|0" passage="Le 19:3,30">ver. 3, 30</scripRef>. (5.) Children are required to
honour their parents (<scripRef id="Lev.xx-p1.14" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.3" parsed="|Lev|19|3|0|0" passage="Le 19:3">ver.
3</scripRef>), and the aged, <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p1.15" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.32" parsed="|Lev|19|32|0|0" passage="Le 19:32">ver.
32</scripRef>. (6.) Hatred and revenge are here forbidden, against
the sixth commandment, <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p1.16" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.17-Lev.19.18" parsed="|Lev|19|17|19|18" passage="Le 19:17,18">ver. 17,
18</scripRef>. (7.) Adultery (<scripRef id="Lev.xx-p1.17" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.20-Lev.19.22" parsed="|Lev|19|20|19|22" passage="Le 19:20-22">ver.
20-22</scripRef>), and whoredom, <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p1.18" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.29" parsed="|Lev|19|29|0|0" passage="Le 19:29">ver.
29</scripRef>. (8.) Justice is here required in judgment (<scripRef id="Lev.xx-p1.19" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.15" parsed="|Lev|19|15|0|0" passage="Le 19:15">ver. 15</scripRef>), theft forbidden (<scripRef id="Lev.xx-p1.20" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.11" parsed="|Lev|19|11|0|0" passage="Le 19:11">ver. 11</scripRef>), fraud and withholding dues
(<scripRef id="Lev.xx-p1.21" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.13" parsed="|Lev|19|13|0|0" passage="Le 19:13">ver. 13</scripRef>), and false
weights, <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p1.22" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.35-Lev.19.36" parsed="|Lev|19|35|19|36" passage="Le 19:35,36">ver. 35, 36</scripRef>.
(9.) Lying, <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p1.23" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.11" parsed="|Lev|19|11|0|0" passage="Le 19:11">ver. 11</scripRef>.
Slandering, <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p1.24" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.14" parsed="|Lev|19|14|0|0" passage="Le 19:14">ver. 14</scripRef>.
Tale-bearing, and false-witness bearing, <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p1.25" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.16" parsed="|Lev|19|16|0|0" passage="Le 19:16">ver. 16</scripRef>. (10.) The tenth commandment laying a
restraint upon the heart, so does that (<scripRef id="Lev.xx-p1.26" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.17" parsed="|Lev|19|17|0|0" passage="Le 19:17">ver. 17</scripRef>), "Thou shalt not hate thy brother in
thy heart." And here is a solemn charge to observe all these
statutes, <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p1.27" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.37" parsed="|Lev|19|37|0|0" passage="Le 19:37">ver. 37</scripRef>. Now
these are things which need not much help for the understanding of
them, but require constant care and watchfulness for the observing
of them. "A good understanding have all those that do these
commandments."</p>
<scripCom id="Lev.xx-p1.28" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19" parsed="|Lev|19|0|0|0" passage="Le 19" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Lev.xx-p1.29" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.1-Lev.19.10" parsed="|Lev|19|1|19|10" passage="Le 19:1-10" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Lev.19.1-Lev.19.10">
<h4 id="Lev.xx-p1.30">Ceremonial and Moral Laws. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Lev.xx-p1.31">b. c.</span> 1490.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Lev.xx-p2">1 And the <span class="smallcaps" id="Lev.xx-p2.1">Lord</span>
spake unto Moses, saying,   2 Speak unto all the congregation
of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for
I the <span class="smallcaps" id="Lev.xx-p2.2">Lord</span> your God <i>am</i> holy.
  3 Ye shall fear every man his mother, and his father, and
keep my sabbaths: I <i>am</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Lev.xx-p2.3">Lord</span> your God.   4 Turn ye not unto idols,
nor make to yourselves molten gods: I <i>am</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Lev.xx-p2.4">Lord</span> your God.   5 And if ye offer a
sacrifice of peace offerings unto the <span class="smallcaps" id="Lev.xx-p2.5">Lord</span>, ye shall offer it at your own will.  
6 It shall be eaten the same day ye offer it, and on the morrow:
and if ought remain until the third day, it shall be burnt in the
fire.   7 And if it be eaten at all on the third day, it
<i>is</i> abominable; it shall not be accepted.   8 Therefore
<i>every one</i> that eateth it shall bear his iniquity, because he
hath profaned the hallowed thing of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Lev.xx-p2.6">Lord</span>: and that soul shall be cut off from among
his people.   9 And when ye reap the harvest of your land,
thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt
thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest.   10 And thou shalt
not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather <i>every</i>
grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and
stranger: I <i>am</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Lev.xx-p2.7">Lord</span> your
God.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lev.xx-p3">Moses is ordered to deliver the summary of
the laws <i>to all the congregation of the children of Israel</i>
(<scripRef id="Lev.xx-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.2" parsed="|Lev|19|2|0|0" passage="Le 19:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>); not to Aaron
and his sons only, but to all the people, for they were all
concerned to know their duty. Even in the darker ages of the law,
that religion could not be of God which boasted of ignorance as its
mother. Moses must make known God's statutes to all the
congregation, and proclaim them through the camp. These laws, it is
probable, he delivered himself to as many of the people as could be
within hearing at once, and so by degrees at several times to them
all. Many of the precepts here given they had received before, but
it was requisite that they should be repeated, that they might be
remembered. Precept must be upon precept, and line upon line, and
all little enough. In these verses,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lev.xx-p4">I. It is required that Israel be a holy
people, because the God of Israel is a holy God, <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.2" parsed="|Lev|19|2|0|0" passage="Le 19:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>. Their being distinguished from
all other people by peculiar laws and customs was intended to teach
them a real separation from the world and the flesh, and an entire
devotedness to God. And this is now the law of Christ (the Lord
bring every thought within us into obedience to it!) <i>You shall
be holy, for I am holy,</i> <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:1Pet.1.15-1Pet.1.16" parsed="|1Pet|1|15|1|16" passage="1Pe 1:15,16">1 Pet.
i. 15, 16</scripRef>. We are the followers of the holy Jesus, and
therefore must be, according to our capacity, consecrated to God's
honour, and conformed to his nature and will. Israel was sanctified
by the types and shadows (<scripRef id="Lev.xx-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:Lev.20.8" parsed="|Lev|20|8|0|0" passage="Le 20:8"><i>ch.</i>
xx. 8</scripRef>), but we are <i>sanctified by the truth,</i> or
substance of all those shadows, <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p4.4" osisRef="Bible:John.17.17 Bible:Titus.2.14" parsed="|John|17|17|0|0;|Titus|2|14|0|0" passage="Joh 17:17,Tit 2:14">John xvii. 17; Tit. ii. 14</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lev.xx-p5">II. That children be obedient to their
parents: "<i>You shall fear every man his mother and his
father,</i> <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.3" parsed="|Lev|19|3|0|0" passage="Le 19:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>. 1.
The fear here required is the same with the honour commanded by the
fifth commandment; see <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Mal.1.6" parsed="|Mal|1|6|0|0" passage="Mal 1:6">Mal. i.
6</scripRef>. It includes inward reverence and esteem, outward
expressions of respect, obedience to the lawful commands of
parents, care and endeavour to please them and make them easy, and
to avoid every thing that may offend and grieve them, and incur
their displeasure. The Jewish doctors ask, "What is this fear that
is owing to a father?" And they answer, "It is not to stand in his
way nor to sit in his place, not to contradict what he says nor to
carp at it, not to call him by his name, either living or dead, but
'My Father,' or 'Sir;' it is to provide for him if he be poor, and
the like." 2. Children, when they grow up to be men, must not think
themselves discharged from this duty: every man, though he be a
wise man, and a great man, yet must reverence his parents, because
they are his parents. 3. The mother is put first, which is not
usual, to show that the duty is equally owing to both; if the
mother survive the father, still she must be reverenced and obeyed.
4. It is added, <i>and keep my sabbaths.</i> If God provides by his
law for the preserving of the honour of parents, parents must use
their authority over their children for the preserving of the
honour of God, particularly the honour of his sabbaths, the custody
of which is very much committed to parents by the fourth
commandment, <i>Thou, and thy son, and thy daughter.</i> The ruin
of young people has often been observed to begin in the contempt of
their parents and the profanation of the sabbath day. Fitly
therefore are these two precepts here put together in the beginning
of this abridgment of the statutes: "<i>You shall fear, every man,
his mother and his father, and keep my sabbaths.</i> Those are
hopeful children, and likely to do well, that make conscience of
honouring their parents and keeping holy the sabbath day. 5. The
reason added to both these precepts is, "<i>I am the Lord your
God;</i> the Lord of the sabbath and the God of your parents."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lev.xx-p6">III. That God only be worshipped, and not
by images (<scripRef id="Lev.xx-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.4" parsed="|Lev|19|4|0|0" passage="Le 19:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>):
"<i>Turn you not to idols,</i> to <i>Elilim,</i> to vanities,
things of no power, no value, gods that are no gods. Turn not from
the true God to false ones, from the mighty God to impotent ones,
from the God that will make you holy and happy to those that will
deceive you, debauch you, ruin you, and make you for ever
miserable. Turn not your eye to them, much less your heart. <i>Make
not to yourselves gods,</i> the creatures of your own fancy, nor
think to worship the Creator by molten gods. You are the work of
God's hands, be not so absurd as to worship gods <i>the work of
your own hands.</i>" Molten gods are specified for the sake of the
molten calf.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lev.xx-p7">IV. That the sacrifices of their
peace-offerings should always be offered, and eaten, according to
the law, <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.5-Lev.19.8" parsed="|Lev|19|5|19|8" passage="Le 19:5-8"><i>v.</i> 5-8</scripRef>.
There was some particular reason, it is likely, for the repetition
of this law rather than any other relating to the sacrifices. The
eating of the peace-offerings was the people's part, and was done
from under the eye of the priests, and perhaps some of them had
kept the cold meat of their peace-offerings, as they had done the
manna (<scripRef id="Lev.xx-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Exod.16.20" parsed="|Exod|16|20|0|0" passage="Ex 16:20">Exod. xvi. 20</scripRef>),
longer than was appointed, which occasioned this caution; see the
law itself before, <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Lev.7.16-Lev.7.18" parsed="|Lev|7|16|7|18" passage="Le 7:16-18"><i>ch.</i> vii.
16-18</scripRef>. God will have his own work done in his own time.
Though the sacrifice was offered according to the law, if it was
not eaten according to the law, it was not accepted. Though
ministers do their part, what the better if people do not theirs?
There is work to be done after our spiritual sacrifices, in a due
improvement of them; and, if this be neglected, all is in vain.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lev.xx-p8">V. That they should leave the gleanings of
their harvest and vintage for the poor, <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.9-Lev.19.10" parsed="|Lev|19|9|19|10" passage="Le 19:9,10"><i>v.</i> 9, 10</scripRef>. Note, Works of piety must
be always attended with works of charity, according as our ability
is. When they gathered in their corn, they must leave some standing
in the corner of the field; the Jewish doctors say, "It should be a
sixtieth part of the field;" and they must also leave the gleanings
and the small clusters of their grapes, which at first were
overlooked. This law, though not binding now in the letter of it,
yet teaches us, 1. That we must not be covetous and griping, and
greedy of every thing we can lay any claim to; nor insist upon our
right in things small and trivial. 2. That we must be well pleased
to see the poor supplied and refreshed with the fruit of our
labours. We must not think every thing lost that goes beside
ourselves, nor any thing wasted that goes to the poor. 3. That
times of joy, such as harvest-time is, are proper times for
charity; that, when we rejoice, the poor may rejoice with us, and
when our hearts are blessing God their loins may bless us.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Lev.xx-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19" parsed="|Lev|19|0|0|0" passage="Le 19" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Lev.xx-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.11-Lev.19.18" parsed="|Lev|19|11|19|18" passage="Le 19:11-18" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Lev.19.11-Lev.19.18">
<p class="passage" id="Lev.xx-p9">11 Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely,
neither lie one to another.   12 And ye shall not swear by my
name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I
<i>am</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Lev.xx-p9.1">Lord</span>.   13 Thou
shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob <i>him</i>: the wages
of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the
morning.   14 Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a
stumbling block before the blind, but shalt fear thy God: I
<i>am</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Lev.xx-p9.2">Lord</span>.   15 Ye
shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the
person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: <i>but</i>
in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.   16 Thou
shalt not go up and down <i>as</i> a talebearer among thy people:
neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbour: I
<i>am</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Lev.xx-p9.3">Lord</span>.   17 Thou
shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise
rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him.   18 Thou
shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy
people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I <i>am</i>
the <span class="smallcaps" id="Lev.xx-p9.4">Lord</span>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lev.xx-p10">We are taught here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lev.xx-p11">I. To be honest and true in all our
dealings, <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.11" parsed="|Lev|19|11|0|0" passage="Le 19:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>.
God, who has appointed every man's property by his providence,
forbids by his law the invading of that appointment, either by
downright theft, <i>You shall not steal,</i> or by fraudulent
dealing, "You shall not cheat, or deal falsely." Whatever we have
in the world, we must see to it that it be honestly come by, for we
cannot be truly rich, nor long rich, with that which is not. The
God of truth, who requires truth in the heart (<scripRef id="Lev.xx-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.51.6" parsed="|Ps|51|6|0|0" passage="Ps 51:6">Ps. li. 6</scripRef>), requires it also in the tongue:
<i>Neither lie one to another,</i> either in bargaining or common
converse. This is one of the laws of Christianity (<scripRef id="Lev.xx-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:Col.3.9" parsed="|Col|3|9|0|0" passage="Col 3:9">Col. iii. 9</scripRef>): <i>Lie not one to
another.</i> Those that do not speak truth do not deserve to be
told truth; those that sin by lying justly suffer by it; therefore
we are forbidden to <i>lie one to another;</i> for, if we lie to
others, we teach them to lie to us.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lev.xx-p12">II. To maintain a very reverent regard to
the sacred name of God (<scripRef id="Lev.xx-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.12" parsed="|Lev|19|12|0|0" passage="Le 19:12"><i>v.</i>
12</scripRef>), and not to call him to be witness either, 1. To a
lie: <i>You shall not swear falsely.</i> It is bad to tell a lie,
but it is much worse to swear it. Or, 2. To a trifle, and every
impertinence: <i>Neither shalt thou profane the name of thy
God,</i> by alienating it to any other purpose than that for which
it is to be religiously used.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lev.xx-p13">III. Neither to take nor keep any one's
right from him, <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.13" parsed="|Lev|19|13|0|0" passage="Le 19:13"><i>v.</i>
13</scripRef>. We must not take that which is none of our own,
either by fraud or robbery; nor detain that which belongs to
another, particularly the <i>wages of the hireling,</i> let it not
<i>abide with thee all night.</i> Let the day-labourer have his
wages as soon as he has done his day's work, if he desire it. It is
a great sin to deny the payment of it, nay, to defer it, to his
damage, a sin that cries to heaven for vengeance, <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Jas.5.4" parsed="|Jas|5|4|0|0" passage="Jam 5:4">Jam. v. 4</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lev.xx-p14">IV. To be particularly tender of the credit
and safety of those that cannot help themselves, <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.14" parsed="|Lev|19|14|0|0" passage="Le 19:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>. 1. The credit of the deaf:
<i>Thou shalt not curse the deaf;</i> that is, not only those that
are naturally deaf, that cannot hear at all, but also those that
are absent, and at present out of hearing of the curse, and so
cannot show their resentment, return the affront, nor right
themselves, and those that are patient, that seem as if they heard
not, and are not willing to take notice of it, as David, <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.38.13" parsed="|Ps|38|13|0|0" passage="Ps 38:13">Ps. xxxviii. 13</scripRef>. Do not injure any
because they are unwilling, or unable, to avenge themselves, for
God sees and hears, though they do not. 2. The safety of the blind
we must likewise be tender of, and not put a stumbling-block before
them; for this is to add affliction to the afflicted, and to make
God's providence a servant to our malice. This prohibition implies
a precept to help the blind, and remove stumbling-blocks out of
their way. The Jewish writers, thinking it impossible that any
should be so barbarous as to put a <i>stumbling-block in the way of
the blind,</i> understood it figuratively, that it forbids giving
bad counsel to those that are simple and easily imposed upon, by
which they may be led to do something to their own prejudice. We
ought to take heed of doing any thing which may occasion our weak
brother to fall, <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:Rom.14.13 Bible:1Cor.8.9" parsed="|Rom|14|13|0|0;|1Cor|8|9|0|0" passage="Ro 14:13,1Co 8:9">Rom. xiv. 13;
1 Cor. viii. 9</scripRef>. It is added, as a preservative from
these sins, <i>but fear thou God.</i> "Thou dost not fear the deaf
and blind, they cannot right themselves; but remember it is the
glory of God to help the helpless, and he will plead their cause."
Note, The fear of God will restrain us from doing that which will
not expose us to men's resentments.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lev.xx-p15">V. Judges and all in authority are here
commanded to give verdict and judgment without partiality
(<scripRef id="Lev.xx-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.15" parsed="|Lev|19|15|0|0" passage="Le 19:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>); whether
they were constituted judges by commission or made so in a
particular case by the consent of both parties, as referees or
arbitrators, they must do no wrong to either side, but, to the
utmost of their skill, must go according to the rules of equity,
having respect purely to the merits of the cause, and not to the
characters of the person. Justice must never be perverted, either,
1. In pity to the poor: <i>Thou shalt not respect the person of the
poor,</i> <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Exod.23.3" parsed="|Exod|23|3|0|0" passage="Ex 23:3">Exod. xxiii. 3</scripRef>.
Whatever may be given to a poor man as an alms, yet let nothing be
awarded him as his right but what he is legally entitled to, nor
let his poverty excuse him from any just punishment for a fault.
Or, 2. In veneration or fear of the mighty, in whose favour judges
would be most frequently biased. The Jews say, "Judges were obliged
by this law to be so impartial as not to let one of the contending
parties sit while the other stood, nor permit one to say what he
pleased and bid the other be short; see <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:Jas.2.1-Jas.2.4" parsed="|Jas|2|1|2|4" passage="Jam 2:1-4">James ii. 1-4</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lev.xx-p16">VI. We are all forbidden to do any thing
injurious to our neighbour's good name (<scripRef id="Lev.xx-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.16" parsed="|Lev|19|16|0|0" passage="Le 19:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>), either, 1. In common
conversation: <i>Thou shalt not go up and down as a
tale-bearer.</i> It is as bad an office as a man can put himself
into to be the publisher of every man's faults, divulging what was
secret, aggravating crimes, and making the worst of every thing
that was amiss, with design to blast and ruin men's reputation, and
to sow discord among neighbours. The word used for a tale-bearer
signifies a <i>pedlar,</i> or <i>petty chapman,</i> the interlopers
of trade; for tale-bearers pick up ill-natured stories at one house
and utter them at another, and commonly barter slanders by way of
exchange. See this sin condemned, <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Prov.11.13 Bible:Prov.20.19 Bible:Jer.9.4 Bible:Ezek.22.9" parsed="|Prov|11|13|0|0;|Prov|20|19|0|0;|Jer|9|4|0|0;|Ezek|22|9|0|0" passage="Pr 11:13,20:19,Jer 9:4,Eze 22:9">Prov. xi. 13; xx. 19; Jer. ix. 4,
5; Ezek. xxii. 9</scripRef>. Or, 2, In witness-bearing: Neither
<i>shalt thou stand</i> as a witness <i>against the blood of thy
neighbour,</i> if his blood be innocent, nor join in confederacy
with such bloody men as those described," <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p16.3" osisRef="Bible:Prov.1.11-Prov.1.12" parsed="|Prov|1|11|1|12" passage="Pr 1:11,12">Prov. i. 11, 12</scripRef>. The Jewish doctors put
this further sense upon it: "Thou shalt not stand by and see thy
brother in danger, but thou shalt come in to his relief and
succour, though it be with the peril of thy own life or limb;" they
add, "He that can by his testimony clear one that is accused is
obliged by this law to do it;" see <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p16.4" osisRef="Bible:Prov.24.11-Prov.24.12" parsed="|Prov|24|11|24|12" passage="Pr 24:11,12">Prov. xxiv. 11, 12</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lev.xx-p17">VII. We are commanded to rebuke our
neighbour in love (<scripRef id="Lev.xx-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.17" parsed="|Lev|19|17|0|0" passage="Le 19:17"><i>v.</i>
17</scripRef>): <i>Thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour.</i>
1. Rather rebuke him than hate him for an injury done to thyself.
If we apprehend that our neighbour has any way wronged us, we must
not conceive a secret grudge against him, and estrange ourselves
from him, speaking to him neither bad nor good, as the manner of
some is, who have the art of concealing their displeasure till they
have an opportunity of a full revenge (<scripRef id="Lev.xx-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.13.22" parsed="|2Sam|13|22|0|0" passage="2Sa 13:22">2 Sam. xiii. 22</scripRef>); but we must rather give
vent to our resentments with the meekness of wisdom, endeavour to
convince our brother of the injury, reason the case fairly with
him, and so put an end to the disgust conceived: this is the rule
our Saviour gives in this case, <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p17.3" osisRef="Bible:Luke.17.3" parsed="|Luke|17|3|0|0" passage="Lu 17:3">Luke
xvii. 3</scripRef>. 2. Therefore rebuke him for his sin against
God, because thou lovest him; endeavour to bring him to repentance,
that his sin may be pardoned, and he may turn from it, and it may
not be suffered to lie upon him. Note, Friendly reproof is a duty
we owe to one another, and we ought both to give it and take it in
love. <i>Let the righteous smite me, and it shall be a
kindness,</i> <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p17.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.141.5" parsed="|Ps|141|5|0|0" passage="Ps 141:5">Ps. cxli. 5</scripRef>.
Faithful and useful are those <i>wounds of a friend,</i> <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p17.5" osisRef="Bible:Prov.27.5-Prov.27.6" parsed="|Prov|27|5|27|6" passage="Pr 27:5,6">Prov. xxvii. 5, 6</scripRef>. It is here
strictly commanded, "<i>Thou shalt in any wise</i> do it, and not
omit it under any pretence." Consider, (1.) The guilt we incur by
not reproving: it is construed here into a hating of our brother.
We are ready to argue thus, "Such a one is a friend I love,
therefore I will not make him uneasy by telling him of his faults;"
but we should rather say, "therefore I will do him the kindness to
tell him of them." Love covers sin from others, but not from the
sinner himself. (2.) The mischief we do by not reproving: we
<i>suffer sin upon him.</i> Must we help the ass of an enemy that
has fallen under his burden, and shall we not help the soul of a
friend? <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p17.6" osisRef="Bible:Exod.23.5" parsed="|Exod|23|5|0|0" passage="Ex 23:5">Exod. xxiii. 5</scripRef>. And
by <i>suffering sin upon him</i> we are in danger of <i>bearing sin
for him,</i> as the margin reads it. If we reprove not the
<i>unfruitful works of darkness,</i> we have fellowship with them,
and become accessaries <i>ex post facto—after the fact,</i>
<scripRef id="Lev.xx-p17.7" osisRef="Bible:Eph.5.11" parsed="|Eph|5|11|0|0" passage="Eph 5:11">Eph. v. 11</scripRef>. It is thy
brother, thy neighbour, that is concerned; and he was a Cain that
said, <i>Am I my brother's keeper?</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Lev.xx-p18">VIII. We are here required to put off all
malice, and to put on brotherly love, <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.18" parsed="|Lev|19|18|0|0" passage="Le 19:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>. 1. We must be ill-affected to
none: <i>Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge;</i> to the
same purport with that <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.17" parsed="|Lev|19|17|0|0" passage="Le 19:17"><i>v.</i>
17</scripRef>, <i>Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart;</i>
for malice is murder begun. If our brother has done us an injury,
we must not return it upon him, that is avenging; we must not upon
every occasion upbraid him with it, that is bearing a grudge; but
we must both forgive it and forget it, for thus we are forgiven of
God. It is a most ill-natured thing, and the bane of friendship, to
retain the resentment of affronts and injuries, and to let that
<i>word devour for ever.</i> 2. We must be well-affected to all:
<i>Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.</i> We often wrong
ourselves, but we soon forgive ourselves those wrongs, and they do
not at all lessen our love to ourselves; and in like manner we
should love our neighbour. Our Saviour has made this the second
great commandment of the law (<scripRef id="Lev.xx-p18.3" osisRef="Bible:Matt.22.39" parsed="|Matt|22|39|0|0" passage="Mt 22:39">Matt.
xxii. 39</scripRef>), and the apostle shows how it is the summary
of all the laws of the second table, <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p18.4" osisRef="Bible:Rom.13.9-Rom.13.10 Bible:Gal.5.14" parsed="|Rom|13|9|13|10;|Gal|5|14|0|0" passage="Ro 13:9,10,Ga 5:14">Rom. xiii. 9, 10; Gal. v. 14</scripRef>. We
must love our neighbour as truly as we love ourselves, and without
dissimulation; we must evidence our love to our neighbour in the
same way as that by which we evidence our love to ourselves,
preventing his hurt, and procuring his good, to the utmost of our
power. We must do to our neighbour as we would be done to ourselves
(<scripRef id="Lev.xx-p18.5" osisRef="Bible:Matt.7.12" parsed="|Matt|7|12|0|0" passage="Mt 7:12">Matt. vii. 12</scripRef>), putting
<i>our souls into his soul's stead,</i> <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p18.6" osisRef="Bible:Job.16.4-Job.16.5" parsed="|Job|16|4|16|5" passage="Job 16:4,5">Job xvi. 4, 5</scripRef>. Nay, we must in many cases
deny ourselves for the good of our neighbour, as Paul, <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p18.7" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.9.19" parsed="|1Cor|9|19|0|0" passage="1Co 9:19">1 Cor. ix. 19</scripRef>, &amp;c. Herein the
gospel goes beyond even that excellent precept of the law; for
Christ, by laying down his life for us, has taught us even to
<i>lay down our lives for the brethren,</i> in some cases
(<scripRef id="Lev.xx-p18.8" osisRef="Bible:1John.3.16" parsed="|1John|3|16|0|0" passage="1Jo 3:16">1 John iii. 16</scripRef>), and so to
love our neighbour better than ourselves.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Lev.xx-p18.9" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19" parsed="|Lev|19|0|0|0" passage="Le 19" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Lev.xx-p18.10" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.19-Lev.19.29" parsed="|Lev|19|19|19|29" passage="Le 19:19-29" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Lev.19.19-Lev.19.29">
<p class="passage" id="Lev.xx-p19">19 Ye shall keep my statutes. Thou shalt not let
thy cattle gender with a diverse kind: thou shalt not sow thy field
with mingled seed: neither shall a garment mingled of linen and
woollen come upon thee.   20 And whosoever lieth carnally with
a woman, that <i>is</i> a bondmaid, betrothed to an husband, and
not at all redeemed, nor freedom given her; she shall be scourged;
they shall not be put to death, because she was not free.   21
And he shall bring his trespass offering unto the <span class="smallcaps" id="Lev.xx-p19.1">Lord</span>, unto the door of the tabernacle of the
congregation, <i>even</i> a ram for a trespass offering.   22
And the priest shall make an atonement for him with the ram of the
trespass offering before the <span class="smallcaps" id="Lev.xx-p19.2">Lord</span>
for his sin which he hath done: and the sin which he hath done
shall be forgiven him.   23 And when ye shall come into the
land, and shall have planted all manner of trees for food, then ye
shall count the fruit thereof as uncircumcised: three years shall
it be as uncircumcised unto you: it shall not be eaten of.  
24 But in the fourth year all the fruit thereof shall be holy to
praise the <span class="smallcaps" id="Lev.xx-p19.3">Lord</span> <i>withal.</i>
  25 And in the fifth year shall ye eat of the fruit thereof,
that it may yield unto you the increase thereof: I <i>am</i> the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Lev.xx-p19.4">Lord</span> your God.   26 Ye shall
not eat <i>any thing</i> with the blood: neither shall ye use
enchantment, nor observe times.   27 Ye shall not round the
corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy
beard.   28 Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for
the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I <i>am</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Lev.xx-p19.5">Lord</span>.   29 Do not prostitute thy
daughter, to cause her to be a whore; lest the land fall to
whoredom, and the land become full of wickedness.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lev.xx-p20">Here is, I. A law against mixtures,
<scripRef id="Lev.xx-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.19" parsed="|Lev|19|19|0|0" passage="Le 19:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>. God in the
beginning made the cattle <i>after their kind</i> (<scripRef id="Lev.xx-p20.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.1.25" parsed="|Gen|1|25|0|0" passage="Ge 1:25">Gen. i. 25</scripRef>), and we must acquiesce in
the order of nature God hath established, believing that is best
and sufficient, and not covet monsters. <i>Add thou not unto his
works, lest he reprove thee;</i> for it is the excellency of the
work of God that nothing can, without making it worse, be either
put to it or taken from it, <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p20.3" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.3.14" parsed="|Eccl|3|14|0|0" passage="Ec 3:14">Eccl. iii.
14</scripRef>. As what God has joined we must not separate, so what
he has separated we must not join. The sowing of mingled corn and
the wearing of linsey-woolsey garments are forbidden, either as
superstitious customs of the heathen or to intimate how careful
they should be not to mingle themselves with the heathen nor to
weave any of the usages of the Gentiles into God's ordinances.
Ainsworth suggests that it was to lead Israel to the simplicity and
sincerity of religion, and to all the parts and doctrines of the
law and gospel in their distinct kinds. As faith is necessary, good
works are necessary, but to mingle these together in the cause of
our justification before God is forbidden, <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p20.4" osisRef="Bible:Gal.2.16" parsed="|Gal|2|16|0|0" passage="Ga 2:16">Gal. ii. 16</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lev.xx-p21">II. A law for punishing adultery committed
with one that was a bondmaid that was espoused, <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.20-Lev.19.22" parsed="|Lev|19|20|19|22" passage="Le 19:20-22"><i>v.</i> 20-22</scripRef>. If she had not been
espoused, the law appointed no punishment at all; being espoused,
if she had not been a bondmaid, the punishment had been no less
than death: but, being as yet a bondmaid (though before the
completing of her espousals she must have been made free), the
capital punishment is remitted, and they shall both be scourged;
or, as some think, the woman only, and the man was to bring a
sacrifice. It was for the honour of marriage, though but begun by
betrothing, that the crime should be punished; but it was for the
honour of freedom that it should not be punished as the debauching
of a free woman was, so great was the difference then made between
bond and free (<scripRef id="Lev.xx-p21.2" osisRef="Bible:Gal.4.30" parsed="|Gal|4|30|0|0" passage="Ga 4:30">Gal. iv. 30</scripRef>);
but the gospel of Christ knows no such distinction, <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p21.3" osisRef="Bible:Col.3.11" parsed="|Col|3|11|0|0" passage="Col 3:11">Col. iii. 11</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lev.xx-p22">III. A law concerning fruit-trees, that for
the first three years after they were planted, if they should
happen to be so forward as to bear in that time, yet no use should
be made of the fruit, <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.23-Lev.19.25" parsed="|Lev|19|23|19|25" passage="Le 19:23-25"><i>v.</i>
23-25</scripRef>. It was therefore the practice of the Jews to
pluck off the fruit, as soon as they perceived it knit, from their
young trees, as gardeners do sometimes, because their early bearing
hinders their growing. If any did come to perfection, it was not to
be used in the service either of God or man; but what they bore the
fourth year was to be holy to the Lord, either given to the
priests, or eaten before the Lord with joy, as their second tithe
was, and thenceforward it was all their own. Now, 1. Some think
this taught them not to follow the custom of the heathen, who, they
say, consecrated the very first products of their fruit-trees to
their idols, saying that otherwise all the fruits would be blasted.
2. This law in the case of fruit-trees seems to be parallel with
that in the case of animals, that no creature should be accepted as
an offering till it was past eight days old, nor till that day were
children to be circumcised; see <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p22.2" osisRef="Bible:Lev.22.27" parsed="|Lev|22|27|0|0" passage="Le 22:27"><i>ch.</i> xxii. 27</scripRef>. God would have the
first-fruits of their trees, but, because for the first three years
they were as inconsiderable as a lamb or a calf under eight days
old, therefore God would not have them, for it is fit he should
have every thing at its best; and yet he would not allow them to be
used, because his first-fruits were not as yet offered: they must
therefore be accounted as uncircumcised, that is, as an animal
under eight days' old, not fit for any use. 3. We are hereby taught
not to be over-hasty in catching at any comfort, but to be willing
with patience to wait the time for the enjoyment of it, and
particularly to acknowledge ourselves unworthy of the increase of
the earth, our right to the fruits of which was forfeited by our
first parents eating forbidden fruit, and we are restored to it
only <i>by the word of God and prayer,</i> <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p22.3" osisRef="Bible:1Tim.4.5" parsed="|1Tim|4|5|0|0" passage="1Ti 4:5">1 Tim. iv. 5</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lev.xx-p23">IV. A law against the superstitious usages
of the heathen, <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.26-Lev.19.28" parsed="|Lev|19|26|19|28" passage="Le 19:26-28"><i>v.</i>
26-28</scripRef>. 1. Eating upon the blood, as the Gentiles did,
who gathered the blood of their sacrifices into a vessel for their
demons (as they fancied) to drink, and then sat about it, eating
the flesh themselves, signifying their communion with devils by
their feasting with them. Let not this custom be used, for the
blood of God's sacrifices was to be sprinkled on the altar, and
then poured at the foot of it, and conveyed away. 2. Enchantment
and divination, and a superstitious observation of the times, some
days and hours lucky and others unlucky. Curious arts of this kind,
it is likely, had been of late invented by the Egyptian priests, to
amuse the people, and support their own credit. The Israelites had
seen them practised, but must by no means imitate them. It would be
unpardonable in those <i>to whom were committed the oracles of
God</i> to ask counsel of the devil, and yet worse in Christians,
to whom <i>the Son of God is manifested,</i> who has <i>destroyed
the works of the devil.</i> For Christians to have their nativities
cast, and their fortunes told them, to use spells and charms for
the cure of diseases and the driving away of evil spirits, to be
affected with the falling of the salt, a hare crossing the way,
cross days, or the like, is an intolerable affront to the Lord
Jesus, a support of paganism and idolatry, and a reproach both to
themselves and to that worthy name by which they are called: and
those must be grossly ignorant, both of the law and the gospel,
that ask, "What harm is there in these things?" Is it no harm for
those that have fellowship with Christ to have fellowship with
devils, or to learn the ways of those that have? Surely <i>we have
not so learned Christ.</i> 3. There was a superstition even in
trimming themselves used by the heathen, which must not be imitated
by the people of God: <i>You shall not round the corners of your
heads.</i> Those that worshipped the hosts of heaven, in honour of
them, cut their hair so as that their heads might resemble the
celestial globe; but, as the custom was foolish itself, so, being
done with respect to their false gods, it was idolatrous. 4. The
rites and ceremonies by which they expressed their sorrow at their
funerals must not be imitated, <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p23.2" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.28" parsed="|Lev|19|28|0|0" passage="Le 19:28"><i>v.</i> 28</scripRef>. They must not make cuts or
prints in their flesh for the dead; for the heathen did so to
pacify the infernal deities they dreamt of, and to render them
propitious to their deceased friends. Christ by his sufferings has
altered the property of death, and made it a true friend to every
true Israelite; and now, as there needs nothing to make death
propitious to us (for, if God be so, death is so of course), so we
sorrow not as those that have no hope. Those whom the God of Israel
had set apart for himself must not receive the image and
superscription of these dunghill deities. <i>Lastly,</i> The
prostituting of their daughters to uncleanness, which is here
forbidden (<scripRef id="Lev.xx-p23.3" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.29" parsed="|Lev|19|29|0|0" passage="Le 19:29"><i>v.</i> 29</scripRef>),
seems to have been practised by the heathen in their idolatrous
worships, for with such abominations those unclean spirits which
they worshipped were well pleased. And when lewdness obtained as a
religious rite, and was committed in their temples, no marvel that
the land became full of that wickedness, which, when it entered at
the temple-doors, overspread the land like a mighty torrent, and
bore down all the fences of virtue and modesty. The devil himself
could not have brought such abominations into their lives if he had
not first brought them into their worships. And justly were those
given up to vile affections who forsook the holy God, and gave
divine honours to impure spirits. Those that dishonour God are thus
suffered to dishonour themselves and their families.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Lev.xx-p23.4" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.30-Lev.19.37" parsed="|Lev|19|30|19|37" passage="Le 19:30-37" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Lev.19.30-Lev.19.37">
<h4 id="Lev.xx-p23.5">Moral Laws. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Lev.xx-p23.6">b. c.</span> 1490.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Lev.xx-p24">30 Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my
sanctuary: I <i>am</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Lev.xx-p24.1">Lord</span>.
  31 Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek
after wizards, to be defiled by them: I <i>am</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Lev.xx-p24.2">Lord</span> your God.   32 Thou shalt rise up
before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear
thy God: I <i>am</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Lev.xx-p24.3">Lord</span>.
  33 And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye
shall not vex him.   34 <i>But</i> the stranger that dwelleth
with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt
love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I
<i>am</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Lev.xx-p24.4">Lord</span> your God.  
35 Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in meteyard, in
weight, or in measure.   36 Just balances, just weights, a
just ephah, and a just hin, shall ye have: I <i>am</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Lev.xx-p24.5">Lord</span> your God, which brought you out of
the land of Egypt.   37 Therefore shall ye observe all my
statutes, and all my judgments, and do them: I <i>am</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Lev.xx-p24.6">Lord</span>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lev.xx-p25">Here is, I. A law for the preserving of the
honour of the time and place appropriated to the service of God,
<scripRef id="Lev.xx-p25.1" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.30" parsed="|Lev|19|30|0|0" passage="Le 19:30"><i>v.</i> 30</scripRef>. This would be
a means to secure them both from the idolatries and superstitions
of the heathen and from all immoralities in conversation. 1.
Sabbaths must be religiously observed, and not those times
mentioned (<scripRef id="Lev.xx-p25.2" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.26" parsed="|Lev|19|26|0|0" passage="Le 19:26"><i>v.</i> 26</scripRef>) to
which the heathen had a superstitious regard. 2. The sanctuary must
be reverenced: great care must be taken to approach the tabernacle
with that purity and preparation which the law required, and to
attend there with that humility, decency, and closeness of
application which became them in the immediate presence of such an
awful majesty. Though now there is no place holy by divine
institution, as the tabernacle and temple then were, yet this law
obliges us to respect the solemn assemblies of Christians for
religious worship, as being held under a promise of Christ's
special presence in them, and to carry ourselves with a due decorum
while in those assemblies we attend the administration of holy
ordinances, <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p25.3" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.5.1" parsed="|Eccl|5|1|0|0" passage="Ec 5:1">Eccl. v. 1</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lev.xx-p26">II. A caution against all communion with
witches, and those that were in league with familiar spirits:
"<i>Regard them not, seek not after them,</i> be not in fear of any
evil from them nor in hopes of any good from them. Regard not their
threatenings, or promises, or predictions; seek not to them for
discovery or advice, for, if you do, you are defiled by it, and
rendered abominable both to God and your own consciences." This was
the sin that completed Saul's wickedness, for which he was rejected
of God, <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p26.1" osisRef="Bible:1Chr.10.13" parsed="|1Chr|10|13|0|0" passage="1Ch 10:13">1 Chron. x.
13</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lev.xx-p27">III. A charge to young people to show
respect to the aged: <i>Thou shall rise up before the hoary
head,</i> <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p27.1" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.32" parsed="|Lev|19|32|0|0" passage="Le 19:32"><i>v.</i> 32</scripRef>. Age
is honourable, and he that is the Ancient of days requires that
honour be paid to it. <i>The hoary head is a crown of glory.</i>
Those whom God has honoured with the common blessing of long life
we ought to honour with the distinguishing expressions of civility;
and those who in age are wise and good are worthy of double honour:
more respect is owing to such old men than merely to rise up before
them; their credit and comfort must be carefully consulted, their
experience and observations improved, and their counsels asked and
hearkened to, <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p27.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.32.6-Job.32.7" parsed="|Job|32|6|32|7" passage="Job 32:6,7">Job xxxii. 6,
7</scripRef>. Some, by the old man whose face or presence is to be
honoured, understand the elder in office, as by the hoary head the
elder in age; both ought to be respected as fathers, and in the
fear of God, who has put some of his honour upon both. Note,
Religion teaches good manners, and obliges us to give honour to
those to whom honour is due. It is an instance of great degeneracy
and disorder in a land when <i>the child behaves himself proudly
against the ancient, and the base against the honourable,</i>
<scripRef id="Lev.xx-p27.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.3.5 Bible:Job.30.1 Bible:Job.30.12" parsed="|Isa|3|5|0|0;|Job|30|1|0|0;|Job|30|12|0|0" passage="Isa 3:5,Job 30:1,12">Isa. iii. 5; Job xxx. 1,
12</scripRef>. It becomes the aged to receive this honour, and the
younger to give it; for it is the ornament as well as duty of their
youth to <i>order themselves lowly and reverently to all their
betters.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Lev.xx-p28">IV. A charge to the Israelites to be very
tender of strangers, <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p28.1" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.33-Lev.19.34" parsed="|Lev|19|33|19|34" passage="Le 19:33,34"><i>v.</i> 33,
34</scripRef>. Both the law of God and his providence had vastly
dignified Israel above any other people, yet they must not
therefore think themselves authorized to trample upon all mankind
but those of their own nation, and to insult them at their
pleasure; no, "<i>Thou shall not vex a stranger, but love him as
thyself,</i> and as one of thy own people." It is supposed that
this stranger was not an idolater, but a worshipper of the God of
Israel, though not circumcised, a proselyte of the gate at least,
though not a proselyte of righteousness: if such a one sojourned
among them, they must not vex him, nor oppress, nor over-reach him
in a bargain, taking advantage of his ignorance of their laws and
customs; they must reckon it as great a sin to cheat a stranger as
to cheat an Israelite; "nay" (say the Jewish doctors) "they must
not so much as upbraid him with his being a stranger, and his
having been formerly an idolater." Strangers are God's particular
care, as the widow and the fatherless are, because it is his honour
to help the helpless, <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p28.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.146.9" parsed="|Ps|146|9|0|0" passage="Ps 146:9">Ps. cxlvi.
9</scripRef>. It is therefore at our peril if we do them any wrong,
or put any hardships upon them. Strangers shall be welcome to God's
grace, and therefore we should do what we can to invite them to it,
and to recommend religion to their good opinion. It argues a
generous disposition, and a pious regard to God, as a common
Father, to be kind to strangers; for those of different countries,
customs, and languages, are all made of one blood. But here is a
reason added peculiar to the Jews: "<i>For you were strangers in
the land of Egypt.</i> God then favoured you, therefore do you now
favour the strangers, and do to them as you then wished to be done
to. You were strangers, and yet are now thus highly advanced;
therefore you know not what these strangers may come to, whom you
are apt to despise."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lev.xx-p29">V. Justice in weights and measures is here
commanded. That there should be no cheat in them, <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p29.1" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.35" parsed="|Lev|19|35|0|0" passage="Le 19:35"><i>v.</i> 35</scripRef>. That they should be
very exact, <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p29.2" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.36" parsed="|Lev|19|36|0|0" passage="Le 19:36"><i>v.</i> 36</scripRef>.
In weighing and measuring, we pretend a design to give all those
their own whom we deal with; but, if the weights and measures be
false, it is like a corruption in judgment, it cheats under colour
of justice; and thus to deceive a man to his damage is worse than
picking his pocket or robbing him on the highway. He that sells is
bound to give the full of the commodity, and he that buys the full
of the price agreed upon, which cannot be done without just
balances, weights, and measures. <i>Let no man go beyond or defraud
his brother,</i> for, though it be hidden from man, it will be
found that <i>God is the avenger of all such.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Lev.xx-p30">VI. The chapter concludes with a general
command (<scripRef id="Lev.xx-p30.1" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.37" parsed="|Lev|19|37|0|0" passage="Le 19:37"><i>v.</i> 37</scripRef>):
<i>You shall observe all my statutes, and do them.</i> Note, 1. We
are not likely to do God's statutes, unless we observe them with
great care and consideration. 2. Yet it is not enough barely to
observe God's precepts, but we must make conscience of obeying
them. What will it avail us to be critical in our notions, if we be
not conscientious in our conversations? 3. An upright heart has
respect to all God's commandments, <scripRef id="Lev.xx-p30.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.119.6" parsed="|Ps|119|6|0|0" passage="Ps 119:6">Ps.
cxix. 6</scripRef>. Though in many instances the hand fails in
doing what should be done, yet the eye observes all God's statutes.
We are not allowed to pick and choose our duty, but must aim at
standing complete in all the will of God.</p>
</div></div2>