308 lines
24 KiB
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308 lines
24 KiB
XML
<div2 id="Deu.xxvi" n="xxvi" next="Deu.xxvii" prev="Deu.xxv" progress="92.88%" title="Chapter XXV">
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<h2 id="Deu.xxvi-p0.1">D E U T E R O N O M Y</h2>
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<h3 id="Deu.xxvi-p0.2">CHAP. XXV.</h3>
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<p class="intro" id="Deu.xxvi-p1">Here is, I. A law to moderate the scourging of
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malefactors, <scripRef id="Deu.xxvi-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.25.1-Deut.25.3" parsed="|Deut|25|1|25|3" passage="De 25:1-3">ver. 1-3</scripRef>. II.
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A law in favour of the ox that treads out the corn, <scripRef id="Deu.xxvi-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.25.4" parsed="|Deut|25|4|0|0" passage="De 25:4">ver. 4</scripRef>. III. For the disgracing of him
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that refused to marry his brother's widow, <scripRef id="Deu.xxvi-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.25.5-Deut.25.10" parsed="|Deut|25|5|25|10" passage="De 25:5-10">ver. 5-10</scripRef>. IV. For the punishment of an
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immodest woman, <scripRef id="Deu.xxvi-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Deut.25.11-Deut.25.12" parsed="|Deut|25|11|25|12" passage="De 25:11,12">ver. 11,
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12</scripRef>. V. For just weights and measures, <scripRef id="Deu.xxvi-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Deut.25.13-Deut.25.16" parsed="|Deut|25|13|25|16" passage="De 25:13-16">ver. 13-16</scripRef>. VI. For the destroying of
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Amalek, <scripRef id="Deu.xxvi-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Deut.25.17-Deut.25.19" parsed="|Deut|25|17|25|19" passage="De 25:17-19">ver. 17</scripRef>,
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&c.</p>
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<scripCom id="Deu.xxvi-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Deut.25" parsed="|Deut|25|0|0|0" passage="De 25" type="Commentary"/>
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<scripCom id="Deu.xxvi-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Deut.25.1-Deut.25.4" parsed="|Deut|25|1|25|4" passage="De 25:1-4" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Deut.25.1-Deut.25.4">
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<h4 id="Deu.xxvi-p1.9">Stripes Not to Exceed Forty. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xxvi-p1.10">b. c.</span> 1451.)</h4>
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<p class="passage" id="Deu.xxvi-p2">1 If there be a controversy between men, and
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they come unto judgment, that <i>the judges</i> may judge them;
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then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked.
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2 And it shall be, if the wicked man <i>be</i> worthy to be
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beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down, and to be
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beaten before his face, according to his fault, by a certain
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number. 3 Forty stripes he may give him, <i>and</i> not
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exceed: lest, <i>if</i> he should exceed, and beat him above these
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with many stripes, then thy brother should seem vile unto thee.
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4 Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out <i>the
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corn.</i></p>
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<p class="indent" id="Deu.xxvi-p3">Here is, I. A direction to the judges in
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scourging malefactors, <scripRef id="Deu.xxvi-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.25.1-Deut.25.3" parsed="|Deut|25|1|25|3" passage="De 25:1-3"><i>v.</i>
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1-3</scripRef>. 1. It is here supposed that, if a man be charged
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with a crime, the accuser and the accused (<i>Actor</i> and
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<i>Reus</i>) should be brought face to face before the judges, that
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the controversy may be determined. 2. If a man were accused of a
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crime, and the proof fell short, so that the charge could not be
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made out against him by the evidence, then he was to be acquitted:
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"<i>Thou shalt justify the righteous,</i>" that is, "him that
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appears to the court to be so." If the accusation be proved, then
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the conviction of the accused is a justification of the accuser, as
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righteous in the prosecution. 3. If the accused were found guilty,
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judgment must be given against him: "Thou shalt <i>condemn the
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wicked;</i>" for to justify the wicked is as much an abomination to
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the Lord as it is to condemn the righteous, <scripRef id="Deu.xxvi-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Prov.17.15" parsed="|Prov|17|15|0|0" passage="Pr 17:15">Prov. xvii. 15</scripRef>. 4. If the crime were not made
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capital by the law, then the criminal must be beaten. A great many
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precepts we have met with which have not any particular penalty
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annexed to them, the violation of most of which, according to the
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constant practice of the Jews, was punished by scourging, from
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which no person's rank or quality did exempt him if he were a
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delinquent, but with this proviso, that he should never be
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upbraided with it, nor should it be looked upon as leaving any mark
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of infamy or disgrace upon him. The directions here given for the
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scourging of criminals are, (1.) That it be done solemnly; not
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tumultuously through the streets, but in open court before the
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judge's face, and with so much deliberation as that the stripes
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might be numbered. The Jews say that while execution was in doing
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the chief justice of the court read with a loud voice <scripRef id="Deu.xxvi-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.28.58-Deut.28.59 Bible:Deut.29.9" parsed="|Deut|28|58|28|59;|Deut|29|9|0|0" passage="De 28:58,59,29:9">Deut. xxviii. 58, 59, and xxix.
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9</scripRef>, and concluded with those words (<scripRef id="Deu.xxvi-p3.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.78.38" parsed="|Ps|78|38|0|0" passage="Ps 78:38">Ps. lxxviii. 38</scripRef>), <i>But he, being full of
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compassion, forgave their iniquity.</i> Thus it was made a sort of
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religious act, and so much the more likely to reform the offender
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himself and to be a warning to others. (2.) That it be done in
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proportion to the crime, <i>according to his fault,</i> that some
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crimes might appear, as they are, more heinous than others, the
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criminal being <i>beaten with many stripes,</i> to which perhaps
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there is an allusion, <scripRef id="Deu.xxvi-p3.5" osisRef="Bible:Luke.12.47-Luke.12.48" parsed="|Luke|12|47|12|48" passage="Lu 12:47,48">Luke xii. 47,
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48</scripRef>. (3.) That how great soever the crime were the number
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of stripes should never exceed <i>forty,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.xxvi-p3.6" osisRef="Bible:Deut.25.3" parsed="|Deut|25|3|0|0" passage="De 25:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>. Forty <i>save one</i> was the
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common usage, as appears, <scripRef id="Deu.xxvi-p3.7" osisRef="Bible:2Cor.11.24" parsed="|2Cor|11|24|0|0" passage="2Co 11:24">2 Cor. xi.
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24</scripRef>. It seems, they always gave Paul as many stripes as
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ever they gave to any malefactor whatsoever. They abated one for
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fear of having miscounted (though one of the judges was appointed
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to number the stripes), or because they would never go to the
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utmost rigour, or because the execution was usually done with a
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whip of three lashes, so that thirteen stripes (each one being
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counted for three) made up thirty-nine, but one more by that
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reckoning would have been forty-two. The reason given for this is,
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<i>lest thy brother should seem vile unto thee.</i> He must still
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be looked upon as <i>a brother</i> (<scripRef id="Deu.xxvi-p3.8" osisRef="Bible:2Thess.3.15" parsed="|2Thess|3|15|0|0" passage="2Th 3:15">2
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Thess. iii. 15</scripRef>), and his reputation as such was
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preserved by this merciful limitation of his punishment. It saves
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him from seeming vile to his brethren, when God himself by his law
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takes this care of him. Men must not be treated as dogs; nor must
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those seem vile in our sight to whom, for aught we know, God may
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yet give grace to make them precious in his sight.</p>
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<p class="indent" id="Deu.xxvi-p4">II. A charge to husbandmen not to hinder
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their cattle from eating when they were working, if meat were
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within their reach, <scripRef id="Deu.xxvi-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.25.4" parsed="|Deut|25|4|0|0" passage="De 25:4"><i>v.</i>
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4</scripRef>. This instance of the beast that trod out the corn (to
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which there is an allusion in that of the prophet, <scripRef id="Deu.xxvi-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Hos.10.11" parsed="|Hos|10|11|0|0" passage="Ho 10:11">Hos. x. 11</scripRef>) is put for all similar
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instances. That which makes this law very remarkable above its
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fellows (and which countenances the like application of other such
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laws) is that it is twice quoted in the New Testament to show that
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it is the duty of the people to give their ministers a comfortable
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maintenance, <scripRef id="Deu.xxvi-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.9.9-1Cor.9.10" parsed="|1Cor|9|9|9|10" passage="1Co 9:9,10">1 Cor. ix. 9,
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10</scripRef>, and <scripRef id="Deu.xxvi-p4.4" osisRef="Bible:1Tim.5.17-1Tim.5.18" parsed="|1Tim|5|17|5|18" passage="1Ti 5:17,18">1 Tim. v. 17,
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18</scripRef>. It teaches us in the letter of it to make much of
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the brute-creatures that serve us, and to allow them not only the
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necessary supports for their life, but the advantages of their
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labour; and thus we must learn not only to be just, but kind, to
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all that are employed for our good, not only to maintain but to
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encourage them, especially those that labour among us in the word
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and doctrine, and so are employed for the good of our better
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part.</p>
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</div><scripCom id="Deu.xxvi-p4.5" osisRef="Bible:Deut.25.5-Deut.25.12" parsed="|Deut|25|5|25|12" passage="De 25:5-12" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Deut.25.5-Deut.25.12">
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<h4 id="Deu.xxvi-p4.6">Marriage of a Brother's
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Wife. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xxvi-p4.7">b. c.</span> 1451.)</h4>
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<p class="passage" id="Deu.xxvi-p5">5 If brethren dwell together, and one of them
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die, and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not marry
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without unto a stranger: her husband's brother shall go in unto
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her, and take her to him to wife, and perform the duty of a
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husband's brother unto her. 6 And it shall be, <i>that</i>
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the firstborn which she beareth shall succeed in the name of his
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brother <i>which is</i> dead, that his name be not put out of
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Israel. 7 And if the man like not to take his brother's
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wife, then let his brother's wife go up to the gate unto the
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elders, and say, My husband's brother refuseth to raise up unto his
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brother a name in Israel, he will not perform the duty of my
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husband's brother. 8 Then the elders of his city shall call
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him, and speak unto him: and <i>if</i> he stand <i>to it,</i> and
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say, I like not to take her; 9 Then shall his brother's wife
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come unto him in the presence of the elders, and loose his shoe
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from off his foot, and spit in his face, and shall answer and say,
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So shall it be done unto that man that will not build up his
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brother's house. 10 And his name shall be called in Israel,
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The house of him that hath his shoe loosed. 11 When men
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strive together one with another, and the wife of the one draweth
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near for to deliver her husband out of the hand of him that smiteth
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him, and putteth forth her hand, and taketh him by the secrets:
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12 Then thou shalt cut off her hand, thine eye shall not
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pity <i>her.</i></p>
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<p class="indent" id="Deu.xxvi-p6">Here is, I. The law settled concerning the
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marrying of the brother's widow. It appears from the story of
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Judah's family that this had been an ancient usage (<scripRef id="Deu.xxvi-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.38.8" parsed="|Gen|38|8|0|0" passage="Ge 38:8">Gen. xxxviii. 8</scripRef>), for the keeping up
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of distinct families. The case put is a case that often happens, of
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a man's dying without issue, it may be in the prime of his time,
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soon after his marriage, and while his brethren were yet so young
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as to be unmarried. Now in this case, 1. The widow was not to marry
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again into any other family, unless all the relations of her
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husband did refuse her, that the estate she was endowed with might
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not be alienated. 2. The husband's brother, or next of kin, must
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marry her, partly out of respect to her, who, having forgotten her
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own people and her father's house, should have all possible
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kindness shown her by the family into which she was married; and
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partly out of respect to the deceased husband, that though he was
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dead and gone he might not be forgotten, nor lost out of the
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genealogies of his tribe; for the first-born child, which the
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brother or next kinsman should have by the widow, should be
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denominated from him that was dead, and entered in the genealogy as
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his child, <scripRef id="Deu.xxvi-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.25.5-Deut.25.6" parsed="|Deut|25|5|25|6" passage="De 25:5,6"><i>v.</i> 5, 6</scripRef>.
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Under that dispensation we have reason to think men had not so
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clear and certain a prospect of living themselves on the other side
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death as we have now, to whom <i>life and immortality are brought
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to light by the gospel;</i> and therefore they could not but be the
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more desirous to live in their posterity, which innocent desire was
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in some measure gratified by this law, an expedient being found out
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that, though a man had no child by his wife, yet <i>his name should
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not be put out of Israel,</i> that is, out of the pedigree, or,
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which is equivalent, remain there under the brand of childlessness.
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The Sadducees put a case to our Saviour upon this law, with a
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design to perplex the doctrine of the resurrection by it (<scripRef id="Deu.xxvi-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Matt.22.24-Matt.22.33" parsed="|Matt|22|24|22|33" passage="Mt 22:24-33">Matt. xxii. 24</scripRef>, &c.), perhaps
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insinuating that there was no need of maintaining the immortality
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of the soul and a future state, since the law had so well provided
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for the perpetuating of men's names and families in the world. But,
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3. If the brother, or next of kin, declined to do this good office
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to the memory of him that was gone, what must be done in that case?
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Why, (1.) He shall not be compelled to do it, <scripRef id="Deu.xxvi-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:Deut.25.7" parsed="|Deut|25|7|0|0" passage="De 25:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>. If he like her not, he is at
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liberty to refuse her, which, some think, was not permitted in this
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case before this law of Moses. Affection is all in all to the
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comfort of the conjugal relation; this is a thing which cannot be
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forced, and therefore the relation should not be forced without it.
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(2.) Yet he shall be publicly disgraced for not doing it. The
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widow, as the person most concerned for the name and honour of the
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deceased, was to complain to the elders of his refusal; if he
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persist in it, she must <i>pluck off his shoe, and spit in his
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face,</i> in open court (or, as the Jewish doctors moderate it,
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spit <i>before</i> his face), thus to fasten a mark of infamy upon
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him, which was to remain with his family after him, <scripRef id="Deu.xxvi-p6.5" osisRef="Bible:Deut.25.8-Deut.25.10" parsed="|Deut|25|8|25|10" passage="De 25:8-10"><i>v.</i> 8-10</scripRef>. Note, Those justly
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suffer in their own reputation who do not do what they ought to
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preserve the name and honour of others. He that would not build up
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his brother's house deserved to have this blemish put upon his own,
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that it should be called <i>the house of him that had his shoe
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loosed,</i> in token that he deserved to go barefoot. In the case
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of Ruth we find this law executed (<scripRef id="Deu.xxvi-p6.6" osisRef="Bible:Ruth.4.7" parsed="|Ruth|4|7|0|0" passage="Ru 4:7">Ruth
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iv. 7</scripRef>), but because, upon the refusal of the next
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kinsman, there was another ready to perform the duty of a husband's
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brother, it was that other that plucked off the shoe, and not the
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widow—Boaz, and not Ruth.</p>
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<p class="indent" id="Deu.xxvi-p7">II. A law for the punishing of an immodest
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woman, <scripRef id="Deu.xxvi-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.25.11-Deut.25.12" parsed="|Deut|25|11|25|12" passage="De 25:11,12"><i>v.</i> 11, 12</scripRef>.
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The woman that by the foregoing law was to complain against her
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husband's brother for not marrying her, and to spit in his face
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before the elders, needed a good measure of assurance; but, lest
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the confidence which that law supported should grow to an excess
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unbecoming the sex, here is a very severe but just law to punish
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impudence and immodesty. 1. The instance of it is confessedly
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scandalous to the highest degree. A woman could not do it unless
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she were perfectly lost to all virtue and honour. 2. The occasion
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is such as might in part excuse it; it was to help her husband out
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of the hands of one that was too hard for him. Now if the doing of
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it in a passion, and with such a good intention, was to be so
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severely punished, much more when it was done wantonly and in lust.
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3. The punishment was that her hand should be cut off; and the
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magistrates must not pretend to be more merciful than God: <i>Thy
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eye shall not pity her.</i> Perhaps our Saviour alludes to this law
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when he commands us to <i>cut off the right hand</i> that
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<i>offends us,</i> or is an occasion of sin to us. Better put the
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greatest hardships that can be upon the body than ruin the soul for
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ever. Modesty is the hedge of chastity, and therefore ought to be
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very carefully preserved and kept up by both sexes.</p>
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</div><scripCom id="Deu.xxvi-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.25" parsed="|Deut|25|0|0|0" passage="De 25" type="Commentary"/>
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<scripCom id="Deu.xxvi-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.25.13-Deut.25.19" parsed="|Deut|25|13|25|19" passage="De 25:13-19" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Deut.25.13-Deut.25.19">
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<h4 id="Deu.xxvi-p7.4">Amalek to Be Destroyed. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xxvi-p7.5">b. c.</span> 1451.)</h4>
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<p class="passage" id="Deu.xxvi-p8">13 Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers
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weights, a great and a small. 14 Thou shalt not have in
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thine house divers measures, a great and a small. 15
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<i>But</i> thou shalt have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and
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just measure shalt thou have: that thy days may be lengthened in
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the land which the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xxvi-p8.1">Lord</span> thy God
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giveth thee. 16 For all that do such things, <i>and</i> all
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that do unrighteously, <i>are</i> an abomination unto the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xxvi-p8.2">Lord</span> thy God. 17 Remember what
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Amalek did unto thee by the way, when ye were come forth out of
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Egypt; 18 How he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost
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of thee, <i>even</i> all <i>that were</i> feeble behind thee, when
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thou <i>wast</i> faint and weary; and he feared not God. 19
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Therefore it shall be, when the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xxvi-p8.3">Lord</span>
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thy God hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round about, in
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the land which the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xxvi-p8.4">Lord</span> thy God
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giveth thee <i>for</i> an inheritance to possess it, <i>that</i>
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thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven;
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thou shalt not forget <i>it.</i></p>
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<p class="indent" id="Deu.xxvi-p9">Here is, I. A law against deceitful weights
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and measures: they must not only not use them, but they must not
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have them, not have them in the bag, not have them in the house
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(<scripRef id="Deu.xxvi-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.25.13-Deut.25.14" parsed="|Deut|25|13|25|14" passage="De 25:13,14"><i>v.</i> 13, 14</scripRef>); for,
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if they had them, they would be strongly tempted to use them. They
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must not have a great weight and measure to buy by and a small one
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to sell by, for that was to cheat both ways, when either was bad
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enough; as we read of those that made the <i>ephah</i> small, in
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which they measured the corn they sold, and the <i>shekel</i>
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great, by which they weighed the money they received for it,
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<scripRef id="Deu.xxvi-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Amos.8.5" parsed="|Amos|8|5|0|0" passage="Am 8:5">Amos viii. 5</scripRef>. But <i>thou
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shalt have a perfect and just weight,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.xxvi-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.25.15" parsed="|Deut|25|15|0|0" passage="De 25:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>. That which is the rule of
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justice must itself be just; if that be otherwise, it is a constant
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cheat. This had been taken care of before, <scripRef id="Deu.xxvi-p9.4" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.35-Lev.19.36" parsed="|Lev|19|35|19|36" passage="Le 19:35,36">Lev. xix. 35, 36</scripRef>. This law is enforced
|
||
with two very good reasons:—1. That justice and equity will bring
|
||
down upon us the blessing of God. The way to have our days
|
||
lengthened, and to prosper, is to be just and fair in all our
|
||
dealings <i>Honesty is the best policy.</i> 2. That fraud and
|
||
injustice will expose us to the curse of God, <scripRef id="Deu.xxvi-p9.5" osisRef="Bible:Deut.25.16" parsed="|Deut|25|16|0|0" passage="De 25:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>. Not only unrighteousness
|
||
itself, but all that do unrighteously, are an <i>abomination to the
|
||
Lord.</i> And miserable is that man who is abhorred by his Maker.
|
||
How hateful, particularly, all the arts of deceit are to God,
|
||
Solomon several times observes, <scripRef id="Deu.xxvi-p9.6" osisRef="Bible:Prov.11.1 Bible:Prov.20.10 Bible:Prov.20.23" parsed="|Prov|11|1|0|0;|Prov|20|10|0|0;|Prov|20|23|0|0" passage="Pr 11:1,20:10,23">Prov. xi. 1; xx. 10, 23</scripRef>; and the
|
||
apostle tells us <i>that the Lord is the avenger of all such</i> as
|
||
overreach and <i>defraud in any matter,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.xxvi-p9.7" osisRef="Bible:1Thess.4.6" parsed="|1Thess|4|6|0|0" passage="1Th 4:6">1 Thess. iv. 6</scripRef>.</p>
|
||
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xxvi-p10">II. A law for the rooting out of Amalek.
|
||
Here is a <i>just weight</i> and a <i>just measure,</i> that, as
|
||
Amalek had measured to Israel, so it should be measure to Amalek
|
||
again.</p>
|
||
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xxvi-p11">1. The mischief Amalek did to Israel must
|
||
be here remembered, <scripRef id="Deu.xxvi-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.25.17-Deut.25.18" parsed="|Deut|25|17|25|18" passage="De 25:17,18"><i>v.</i> 17,
|
||
18</scripRef>. When it was first done it was ordered to be recorded
|
||
(<scripRef id="Deu.xxvi-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Exod.17.14-Exod.17.16" parsed="|Exod|17|14|17|16" passage="Ex 17:14-16">Exod. xvii. 14-16</scripRef>), and
|
||
here the remembrance of it is ordered to be preserved, not in
|
||
personal revenge (for that generation which suffered by the
|
||
Amalekites was gone, so that those who now lived, and their
|
||
posterity, could not have any personal resentment of the injury),
|
||
but in a zeal for the glory of God (which was insulted by the
|
||
Amalekites), that <i>throne of the Lord</i> against which the hand
|
||
of Amalek was stretched out. The carriage of the Amalekites towards
|
||
Israel is here represented, (1.) As very base and disingenuous.
|
||
They had no occasion at all to quarrel with Israel, nor did they
|
||
give them any notice, by a manifesto or declaration of war; but
|
||
took them at an advantage, when they had just come out of the house
|
||
of bondage, and, for aught that appeared to them, were only going
|
||
to <i>sacrifice to God in the wilderness.</i> (2.) As very
|
||
barbarous and cruel; for they smote those that were more feeble,
|
||
whom they should have succoured. The greatest cowards are commonly
|
||
the most cruel; while those that have the courage of a man will
|
||
have the compassion of a man. (3.) As very impious and profane:
|
||
they feared not God. If they had had any reverence for the majesty
|
||
of the God of Israel, which they saw a token of in the cloud, or
|
||
any dread of his wrath, which they lately heard of the power of
|
||
over Pharaoh, they durst not have made this assault upon Israel.
|
||
Well, here was the ground of the quarrel: and it shows how God
|
||
takes what is done against his people as done against himself, and
|
||
that he will particularly reckon with those that discourage and
|
||
hinder young beginners in religion, that (as Satan's agents) set
|
||
upon the weak and feeble, either to divert them or to disquiet
|
||
them, and offend his little ones.</p>
|
||
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xxvi-p12">2. This mischief must in due time be
|
||
revenged, <scripRef id="Deu.xxvi-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.25.19" parsed="|Deut|25|19|0|0" passage="De 25:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>.
|
||
When their wars were finished, by which they were to settle their
|
||
kingdom and enlarge their coast, then they must <i>make war upon
|
||
Amalek</i> (<scripRef id="Deu.xxvi-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.25.19" parsed="|Deut|25|19|0|0" passage="De 25:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>),
|
||
not merely to chase them, but to consume them, to <i>blot out the
|
||
remembrance of Amalek.</i> It was an instance of God's patience
|
||
that he deferred the vengeance so long, which should have led the
|
||
Amalekites to repentance; yet an instance of fearful retribution
|
||
that the posterity of Amalek, so long after, were destroyed for the
|
||
mischief done by their ancestors to the Israel of God, that all the
|
||
world might see, and say, that he who <i>toucheth them toucheth the
|
||
apple of his eye.</i> It was nearly 400 years after this that Saul
|
||
was ordered to put this sentence in execution (<scripRef id="Deu.xxvi-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.15.1-1Sam.15.35" parsed="|1Sam|15|1|15|35" passage="1Sa 15:1-35">1 Sam. xv.</scripRef>), and was rejected of God
|
||
because he did not do it effectually, but spared some of that
|
||
devoted nation, in contempt, not only of the particular orders he
|
||
received from Samuel, but of this general command here given by
|
||
Moses, which he could not be ignorant of. David afterwards made
|
||
some destruction of them; and the Simeonites, in Hezekiah's time,
|
||
smote the rest that remained (<scripRef id="Deu.xxvi-p12.4" osisRef="Bible:1Chr.4.43" parsed="|1Chr|4|43|0|0" passage="1Ch 4:43">1 Chron.
|
||
iv. 43</scripRef>); for when God judges he will overcome.</p>
|
||
</div></div2> |