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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1706)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>N U M B E R S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. V.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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In this chapter we have,
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I. An order, pursuant to the laws already made, for the removing of the
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unclean out of the camp,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+5:1-4">ver. 1-4</A>.
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II. A repetition of the laws concerning restitution, in case of wrong
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done to a neighbour
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+5:5-8">ver. 5-8</A>),
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and concerning the appropriating of the hallowed things to the priests,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+5:9,10">ver. 9, 10</A>.
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III. A new law made concerning the trial of a wife suspected of
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adultery, by the waters of jealousy,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+5:11-31">ver. 11</A>, &c.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Nu5_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu5_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu5_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu5_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu5_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu5_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu5_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu5_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu5_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu5_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Unclean to Be Removed.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1490.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> spake unto Moses, saying,
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2 Command the children of Israel, that they put out of the camp
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every leper, and every one that hath an issue, and whosoever is
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defiled by the dead:
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3 Both male and female shall ye put out, without the camp shall
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ye put them; that they defile not their camps, in the midst
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whereof I dwell.
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4 And the children of Israel did so, and put them out without
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the camp: as the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> spake unto Moses, so did the children of
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Israel.
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5 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> spake unto Moses, saying,
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6 Speak unto the children of Israel, When a man or woman shall
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commit any sin that men commit, to do a trespass against the
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L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and that person be guilty;
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7 Then they shall confess their sin which they have done: and
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he shall recompense his trespass with the principal thereof, and
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add unto it the fifth <I>part</I> thereof, and give <I>it</I> unto <I>him</I>
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against whom he hath trespassed.
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8 But if the man have no kinsman to recompense the trespass
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unto, let the trespass be recompensed unto the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, <I>even</I> to
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the priest; beside the ram of the atonement, whereby an atonement
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shall be made for him.
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9 And every offering of all the holy things of the children of
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Israel, which they bring unto the priest, shall be his.
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10 And every man's hallowed things shall be his: whatsoever any
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man giveth the priest, it shall be his.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here is,
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I. A command for the purifying of the camp, by turning out from within
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its lines all those that were ceremonially unclean, by issues,
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leprosies, or the touch of dead bodies, until they were cleansed
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according to the law,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+5:2,3"><I>v.</I> 2, 3</A>.</P>
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<P>
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1. These orders are executed immediately,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+5:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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(1.) The camp was now newly-modelled and put in order, and therefore,
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to complete the reformation of it, it is next to be cleansed. Note, The
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purity of the church must be as carefully consulted and preserved as
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the peace and order of it. It is requisite, not only that every
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Israelite be confined to his own standard, but that every polluted
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Israelite be separated from it. <I>The wisdom from above is first pure,
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then peaceable.</I>
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(2.) God's tabernacle was now fixed in the midst of their camp, and
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therefore they must be careful to keep it clean. Note, The greater
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profession of religion any house or family make the more they are
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obliged to <I>put away iniquity far from their tabernacle,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+22:23">Job xxii. 23</A>.
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The person, the place, <I>in the midst of which God dwells,</I> must
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not be defiled; for, if it be, he will be affronted, offended, and
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provoked to withdraw,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+3:16,17">1 Cor. iii. 16, 17</A>.</P>
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<P>
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2. This expulsion of the unclean out of the camp was to signify,
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(1.) What the governors of the church ought to do: they must
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<I>separate between the precious and the vile,</I> and purge out
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scandalous persons, as old leaven
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+5:8,13">1 Cor. v. 8, 13</A>),
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lest others should be infected and defiled,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+12:15">Heb. xii. 15</A>.
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It is for the glory of Christ and the edification of his church that
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those who are openly and incorrigibly profane and vicious should be put
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out and kept from Christian communion till they repent.
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(2.) What God himself will do in the great day: he will <I>thoroughly
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purge his floor,</I> and <I>gather out of his kingdom all things that
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offend.</I> As here the unclean were shut out of the camp, so into the
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new Jerusalem <I>no unclean thing shall enter,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+21:27">Rev. xxi. 27</A>.</P>
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<P>
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II. A law concerning restitution, in case of wrong done to a neighbour.
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It is called <I>a sin that men commit</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+5:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>),
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because it is common among men; <I>a sin of man,</I> that is, <I>a sin
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against man,</I> so it is thought it should be translated and
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understood. If a man overreach or defraud his brother in any matter, it
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is to be looked upon as a trespass against the Lord, who is the
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protector of right, the punisher of wrong, and who strictly charges and
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commands us to do justly. Now what is to be done when a man's awakened
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conscience charges him with guilt of this kind, and brings it to his
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remembrance though done long ago?
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1. He must <I>confess his sin,</I> confess it to God, confess it to his
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neighbour, and so take shame to himself. If he have denied it before,
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though it go against the grain to own himself in a lie, yet he must do
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it; because his heart was hardened he denied it, therefore he has no
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other way of making it appear that his heart is now softened but by
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confessing it.
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2. He must bring a sacrifice, a <I>ram of atonement,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+5:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
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Satisfaction must be made for the offence done to God, whose law is
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broken, as well as for the loss sustained by our neighbour; restitution
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in this case is not sufficient without faith and repentance.
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3. Yet the sacrifices would not be accepted till full amends were made
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to the party wronged, not only the principal, but a fifth part added to
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it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+5:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
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It is certain that while that which is got by injustice is knowingly
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retained in the hands the guilt of the injustice remains upon the
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conscience, and is not purged by sacrifice nor offering, prayers not
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tears, for it is one and the same continued act of sin persisted in.
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This law we had before
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+6:4">Lev. vi. 4</A>),
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and it is here added that if the party wronged was dead, and he had no
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near kinsman who was entitled to the debt, or if it was any way
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uncertain to whom the restitution should be made, this should not serve
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for an excuse to detain what was unjustly gotten; to whomsoever it
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pertained, it was certainly none of his that got it by sin, and
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therefore it must be given to the priest,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+5:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
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If there were any that could make out a title to it, it must not be
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given to the priest (God hates robbery for burnt-offerings); but, if
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there were not, then it lapsed to the great Lord (<I>ob defectum
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sanguinis--for want of issue</I>), and the priests were his receivers.
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Note, Some work of piety or charity is a piece of necessary justice to
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be done by those who are conscience to themselves that they have done
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wrong, but know not how otherwise to make restitution; what is not our
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property will never be our profit.</P>
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<P>
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III. A general rule concerning hallowed things given upon this
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occasion, that, whatever was given to the priest, <I>his it shall
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be,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+5:9,10"><I>v.</I> 9, 10</A>.
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1. He that gave it was not to receive his gift again upon any pretence
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whatsoever. This law ratifies and confirms all grants for pious uses,
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that people might not give things to the priests in a fit of zeal, and
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then recall them in a fit of vexation.
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2. The other priests should not come in sharers with that priest who
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then officiated, and to whom the hallowed thing, whatever it was, was
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given. Let him that was most ready and diligent in attending fare the
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better for it: if he do the work, let him have the pay, and much good
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may it do him.</P>
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<A NAME="Nu5_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu5_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu5_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu5_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu5_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu5_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu5_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu5_18"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu5_19"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu5_20"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu5_21"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu5_22"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu5_23"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu5_24"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu5_25"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu5_26"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu5_27"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu5_28"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu5_29"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu5_30"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu5_31"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Bitter Water of Jealousy.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1490.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>11 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> spake unto Moses, saying,
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12 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any
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man's wife go aside, and commit a trespass against him,
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13 And a man lie with her carnally, and it be hid from the eyes
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of her husband, and be kept close, and she be defiled, and <I>there
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be</I> no witness against her, neither she be taken <I>with the
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manner;</I>
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14 And the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous
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of his wife, and she be defiled: or if the spirit of jealousy
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come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be not
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defiled:
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15 Then shall the man bring his wife unto the priest, and he
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shall bring her offering for her, the tenth <I>part</I> of an ephah of
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barley meal; he shall pour no oil upon it, nor put frankincense
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thereon; for it <I>is</I> an offering of jealousy, an offering of
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memorial, bringing iniquity to remembrance.
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16 And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the
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L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>:
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17 And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel;
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and of the dust that is in the floor of the tabernacle the priest
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shall take, and put <I>it</I> into the water:
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18 And the priest shall set the woman before the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and
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uncover the woman's head, and put the offering of memorial in her
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hands, which <I>is</I> the jealousy offering: and the priest shall
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have in his hand the bitter water that causeth the curse:
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19 And the priest shall charge her by an oath, and say unto the
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woman, If no man have lain with thee, and if thou hast not gone
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aside to uncleanness <I>with another</I> instead of thy husband, be
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thou free from this bitter water that causeth the curse:
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20 But if thou hast gone aside <I>to another</I> instead of thy
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husband, and if thou be defiled, and some man have lain with thee
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beside thine husband:
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21 Then the priest shall charge the woman with an oath of
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cursing, and the priest shall say unto the woman, The L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> make
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thee a curse and an oath among thy people, when the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> doth
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make thy thigh to rot, and thy belly to swell;
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22 And this water that causeth the curse shall go into thy
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bowels, to make <I>thy</I> belly to swell, and <I>thy</I> thigh to rot: And
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the woman shall say, Amen, amen.
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23 And the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he
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shall blot <I>them</I> out with the bitter water:
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24 And he shall cause the woman to drink the bitter water that
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causeth the curse: and the water that causeth the curse shall
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enter into her, <I>and become</I> bitter.
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25 Then the priest shall take the jealousy offering out of the
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woman's hand, and shall wave the offering before the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and
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offer it upon the altar:
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26 And the priest shall take an handful of the offering, <I>even</I>
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the memorial thereof, and burn <I>it</I> upon the altar, and afterward
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shall cause the woman to drink the water.
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27 And when he hath made her to drink the water, then it shall
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come to pass, <I>that,</I> if she be defiled, and have done trespass
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against her husband, that the water that causeth the curse shall
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enter into her, <I>and become</I> bitter, and her belly shall swell,
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and her thigh shall rot: and the woman shall be a curse among her
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people.
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28 And if the woman be not defiled, but be clean; then she
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shall be free, and shall conceive seed.
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29 This <I>is</I> the law of jealousies, when a wife goeth aside <I>to
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another</I> instead of her husband, and is defiled;
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30 Or when the spirit of jealousy cometh upon him, and he be
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jealous over his wife, and shall set the woman before the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>,
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and the priest shall execute upon her all this law.
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31 Then shall the man be guiltless from iniquity, and this
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woman shall bear her iniquity.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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We have here the law concerning the solemn trial of a wife whose
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husband was jealous of her. Observe,</P>
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<P>
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I. What was the case supposed: That a man had some reason to suspect
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his wife to have committed adultery,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+5:12-14"><I>v.</I> 12-14</A>.
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Here,
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1. The sin of adultery is justly represented as an exceedingly sinful
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sin; it is going aside from God and virtue, and the good way,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+2:17">Prov. ii. 17</A>.
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It is committing a trespass against the husband, robbing him of his
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honour, alienating his right, introducing a spurious breed into his
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family to share with his children in his estate, and violating her
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covenant with him. It is being defiled; for nothing pollutes the mind
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and conscience more than this sin does.
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2. It is supposed to be a sin which great care is taken by the sinners
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to conceal, which there is no witness of. <I>The eye of the adulterer
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waits for the twilight,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+24:15">Job xxiv. 15</A>.
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And the adulteress takes her opportunity when <I>the good man is not at
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home,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+7:19">Prov. vii. 19</A>.
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It would not covet to be secret if it were not shameful; and the devil
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who draws sinners to this sin teaches them how to cover it.
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3. The <I>spirit of jealousy</I> is supposed to come upon the husband,
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of which Solomon says, It is the <I>rage of a man</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+6:34">Prov. vi. 34</A>),
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and that it is <I>cruel as the grave,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=So+8:6">Cant. viii. 6</A>.
|
|
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4. "Yet" (say the Jewish writers) "he must make it appear that he has
|
|
some just cause for the suspicion." The rule they give is, "If the
|
|
husband have said unto his wife before witnesses, 'Be not thou in
|
|
secret with such a man;' and, notwithstanding that admonition, it is
|
|
afterwards proved that she was in secret with that man, though her
|
|
father or her brother, then he may compel her to drink the bitter
|
|
water." But the law here does not tie him to that particular method of
|
|
proving the just cause of his suspicion; it might be otherwise proved.
|
|
In case it could be proved that she had committed adultery, she was to
|
|
be put to death
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+20:10">Lev. xx. 10</A>);
|
|
|
|
but, if it was uncertain, then this law took place. Hence,
|
|
|
|
(1.) Let all wives be admonished not to give any the least occasion for
|
|
the suspicion of their chastity; it is not enough that they abstain
|
|
from the evil of uncleanness, but they must abstain from all appearance
|
|
of it, from every thing that looks like it, or leads to it, or may give
|
|
the least umbrage to jealousy; for <I>how great a matter</I> may a
|
|
<I>little fire kindle!</I>
|
|
|
|
(2.) Let all husbands be admonished not to entertain any causeless or
|
|
unjust suspicions of their wives. If charity in general, much more
|
|
conjugal affection, teaches to <I>think no evil,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+13:5">1 Cor. xiii. 5</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is the happiness of the virtuous woman that <I>the heart of her
|
|
husband does safely trust in her,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+31:11">Prov. xxxi. 11</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. What was the course prescribed in this case, that, if the suspected
|
|
wife was innocent, she might not continue under the reproach and
|
|
uneasiness of her husband's jealousy, and, if guilty, her sin might
|
|
find her out, and others might hear, and fear, and take warning.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. The process of the trial must be thus:--
|
|
|
|
(1.) Her husband must <I>bring her to the priest,</I> with the
|
|
witnesses that could prove the ground of his suspicion, and desire that
|
|
she might be put upon her trial. The Jews say that the priest was first
|
|
to endeavour to persuade her to confess the truth, saying to this
|
|
purport, "Dear daughter, perhaps thou wast overtaken by drinking wine,
|
|
or wast carried away by the heat of youth or the examples of bad
|
|
neighbours; come, confess the truth, for the sake of his great name
|
|
which is described in the most sacred ceremony, and do not let it be
|
|
blotted out with the bitter water." If she confessed, saying, "I am
|
|
defiled," she was not put to death, but was divorced and lost her
|
|
dowry; if she said, "I am pure," then they proceeded.
|
|
|
|
(2.) He must bring a coarse offering of barley-meal, without oil or
|
|
frankincense, agreeably to the present afflicted state of his family;
|
|
for a great affliction it was either to have cause to be jealous or to
|
|
be jealous without cause. It is an <I>offering of memorial,</I> to
|
|
signify that what was to be done was intended as a religious appeal to
|
|
the omniscience and justice of God.
|
|
|
|
(3.) The priest was to prepare the water of jealousy, the holy water
|
|
out of the laver at which the priests were to wash when they
|
|
ministered; this must be brought in an <I>earthen vessel,</I>
|
|
containing (they say) about a pint; and it must be an <I>earthen</I>
|
|
vessel, because the coarser and plainer every thing was the more
|
|
agreeable it was to the occasion. <I>Dust</I> must be put into the
|
|
water, to signify the reproach she lay under, and the shame she ought
|
|
to take to herself, putting her mouth in the dust; but dust from <I>the
|
|
floor of the tabernacle,</I> to put an honour upon every thing that
|
|
pertained to the place God had chosen to put his name there, and to
|
|
keep up in the people a reverence for it; see
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+8:6">John viii. 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
(4.) The woman was to be <I>set before the Lord,</I> at the east gate
|
|
of the temple-court (say the Jews), and her head was to be uncovered,
|
|
in token of her sorrowful condition; and there she stood for a
|
|
spectacle to the world, that other women might learn not to do <I>after
|
|
her lewdness,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+23:48">Ezek. xxiii. 48</A>.
|
|
|
|
Only the Jews say, "Her own servants were not to be present, that she
|
|
might not seem vile in their sight, who were to give honour to her; her
|
|
husband also must be dismissed."
|
|
|
|
(5.) The priest was to adjure her to tell the truth, and to denounce
|
|
the curse of God against her if she were guilty, and to declare what
|
|
would be the effect of her drinking the water of jealousy,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+5:19-22"><I>v.</I> 19-22</A>.
|
|
|
|
He must assure her that, if she were innocent, the water would do her
|
|
no harm,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+5:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
None need fear the curse of the law if they have not broken the
|
|
commands of the law. But, if she were guilty, this water would be
|
|
poison to her, it would make her <I>belly to swell and her thigh to
|
|
rot,</I> and she should be a curse or abomination among her people,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+5:21,22"><I>v.</I> 21, 22</A>.
|
|
|
|
To this she must say, <I>Amen,</I> as Israel must do to the curses
|
|
pronounced on mount Ebal,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+27:15-26">Deut. xxvii. 15-26</A>.
|
|
|
|
Some think the <I>Amen,</I> being doubled, respects both parts of the
|
|
adjuration, both that which freed her if innocent and that which
|
|
condemned her if guilty. No woman, if she were guilty, could say
|
|
<I>Amen</I> to this adjuration, and drink the water upon it, unless she
|
|
disbelieved the truth of God or defied his justice, and had come to
|
|
such a pitch of impudence and hard-heartedness in sin as to challenge
|
|
God Almighty to do his worst, and choose rather to venture upon his
|
|
curse than to give him glory by making confession; thus has whoredom
|
|
<I>taken away the heart.</I>
|
|
|
|
(6.) The priest was to write this curse in a scrip or scroll o
|
|
parchment, <I>verbatim--word for word,</I> as he had expressed it, and
|
|
then to wipe or scrape out what he had written into the water
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+5:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>),
|
|
|
|
to signify that it was that curse which impregnated the water, and gave
|
|
it its strength to effect what was intended. It signified that, if she
|
|
were innocent, the curse should be blotted out and never appear against
|
|
her, as it is written,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+43:25">Isa. xliii. 25</A>,
|
|
|
|
<I>I am he that blotteth out thy transgression,</I> and
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+51:9">Ps. li. 9</A>,
|
|
|
|
<I>Blot out my iniquities;</I> but that, if she were guilty, the curse,
|
|
as it was written, being infused into the water, would enter into her
|
|
bowels with the water, even <I>like oil into her bones</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+109:18">Ps. cix. 18</A>),
|
|
|
|
as we read of a curse entering into a house,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Zec+5:4">Zech. v. 4</A>.
|
|
|
|
(7.) The woman must then drink the water
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+5:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>);
|
|
|
|
it is called <I>the bitter water,</I> some think because they put
|
|
wormwood in it to make it bitter, or rather because it caused the
|
|
curse. Thus sin is called <I>an evil thing and a bitter</I> for the
|
|
same reason, because it <I>causeth the curse,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+2:19">Jer. ii. 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
If she had been guilty (and otherwise it did not cause the curse), she
|
|
was made to know that though her stolen waters had been sweet, and her
|
|
<I>bread eaten in secret pleasant,</I> yet the end was <I>bitter as
|
|
wormwood,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+9:17">Prov. ix. 17</A>,
|
|
|
|
and
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+5:4"><I>ch.</I> v. 4</A>.
|
|
|
|
Let all that meddle with forbidden pleasures know that they will be
|
|
bitterness in the latter end. The Jews say that if, upon denouncing the
|
|
curse, the woman was so terrified that she durst not drink the water,
|
|
but confessed she was defiled, the priest flung down the water, and
|
|
cast her offering among the ashes, and she was divorced without dowry:
|
|
if she confessed not, and yet would not drink, they forced her to it;
|
|
and, if she was ready to throw it up again, they hastened her away,
|
|
that she might not pollute the holy place.
|
|
|
|
(8.) Before she drank the water, the jealousy-offering was waved and
|
|
offered upon the altar
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+5:25,26"><I>v.</I> 25, 26</A>);
|
|
|
|
a handful of it was burnt for a memorial, and the remainder of it eaten
|
|
by the priest, unless the husband was a priest, and then it was
|
|
scattered among the ashes. This offering in the midst of the
|
|
transaction signified that the whole was an appeal to God, as a God
|
|
that knows all things, and <I>from whom no secret is hid.</I>
|
|
|
|
(9.) All things being thus performed according to the law, they were to
|
|
wait the issue. The water, with a little dust put into it, and the
|
|
scrapings of a written parchment, had no natural tendency at all to do
|
|
either good or hurt; but if God was thus appealed to in the way of an
|
|
instituted ordinance, though otherwise the innocent might have
|
|
continued under suspicion and the guilty undiscovered, yet God would so
|
|
far own his own institution as that in a little time, by the miraculous
|
|
operation of Providence, the innocency of the innocent should be
|
|
cleared, and the sin of the guilty should find them out.
|
|
|
|
[1.] If the suspected woman was really guilty, the water she drank
|
|
would be poison to her
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+5:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>),
|
|
|
|
her belly would swell and her thigh rot by a vile disease for vile
|
|
deserts, and she would <I>mourn at the last when her flesh and body
|
|
were consumed,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+5:11">Prov. v. 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
Bishop Patrick says, from some of the Jewish writers, that the effect
|
|
of these waters appeared immediately, she grew pale, and her eyes ready
|
|
to start out of her head. Dr. Lightfoot says that sometimes it appeared
|
|
not for two or three years, but she bore no children, was sickly,
|
|
languished, and rotted at last; it is probable that some indications
|
|
appeared immediately. The rabbin say that the adulterer also died in
|
|
the same day and hour that the adulteress did, and in the same manner
|
|
too, that he belly swelled, and his secret parts rotted: a disease
|
|
perhaps not much unlike that which in these latter ages the avenging
|
|
hand of a righteous God has made the scourge of uncleanness, and with
|
|
which whores and whoremongers infect, and plague, and ruin one another,
|
|
since they escape punishment from men. The Jewish doctors add that the
|
|
waters had this effect upon the adulteress only in case the husband had
|
|
never offended in the same kind; but that, if he had at any time
|
|
defiled the marriage-bed, God did not thus right him against his
|
|
injurious wife; and that therefore in the latter and degenerate ages of
|
|
the Jewish church, when uncleanness did abound, this way of trial was
|
|
generally disused and laid aside; men, knowing their own crimes, were
|
|
content not to know their wives' crimes. And to this perhaps may refer
|
|
the threatening
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+4:14">Hos. iv. 14</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>I will not punish your spouses when they commit adultery, for you
|
|
yourselves are separated with whores.</I>
|
|
|
|
[2.] If she were innocent, the water she drank would be physic to her:
|
|
<I>She shall be free, and shall conceive seed,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+5:28"><I>v.</I> 28</A>.
|
|
|
|
The Jewish writers magnify the good effects of this water to the
|
|
innocent woman, that, to recompense her for the wrong done to her by
|
|
the suspicion, she should, after the drinking of these waters, be
|
|
stronger and look better than ever; if she was sickly, she should
|
|
become healthful, should bear a man-child, and have easy labour.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. From the whole we may learn,
|
|
|
|
(1.) That secret sins are known to God, and sometimes are strangely
|
|
brought to light in this life; however, there is a day coming when God
|
|
will, by Jesus Christ, as here by the priest, judge the <I>secrets of
|
|
men according to the gospel,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+2:16">Rom. ii. 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
(2.) That, in particular, <I>Whoremongers and adulterers God will
|
|
judge.</I> The violation of conjugal faith and chastity is highly
|
|
provoking to the God of heaven, and sooner or later it will be reckoned
|
|
for. Though we have not now the waters of jealousy to be a sensible
|
|
terror to the unclean, yet we have a word from God which ought to be as
|
|
great a terror, that if <I>any man defile the temple of God, him shall
|
|
God destroy,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+3:17">1 Cor. iii. 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
(3.) That God will find out some way or other to clear the innocency of
|
|
the innocent, and to bring forth their righteousness as the light.
|
|
|
|
(4.) That to <I>the pure all things are pure,</I> but <I>to the defiled
|
|
nothing</I> is so,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Tit+1:15">Tit. i. 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
The same word is to some a <I>savour of life unto life, to others a
|
|
savour of death unto death,</I> like those waters of jealousy,
|
|
according as they receive it; the same providence is for good to some
|
|
and for hurt to others,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+24:5,8,9">Jer. xxiv. 5, 8, 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
And, whatsoever it is intended for, it <I>shall not return
|
|
void.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
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