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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>D E U T E R O N O M Y</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XIX.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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The laws which Moses had hitherto been repeating and urging mostly
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concerned the acts of religion and devotion towards God; but here he
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comes more fully to press the duties of righteousness between man and
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man. This chapter relates,
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I. To the sixth commandment, "Thou shalt not kill,"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+19:1-13">ver. 1-13</A>.
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II. To the eighth commandment, "Thou shalt not steal,"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+19:14">ver. 14</A>.
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III. To the ninth commandment, "Thou shalt not bear false witness,"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+19:15-21">ver. 15</A>, &c.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="De19_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="De19_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="De19_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="De19_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="De19_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="De19_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="De19_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="De19_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="De19_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="De19_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="De19_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="De19_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="De19_13"> </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 Cities of Refuge.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1451.</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 When the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God hath cut off the nations, whose land
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the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God giveth thee, and thou succeedest them, and
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dwellest in their cities, and in their houses;
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2 Thou shalt separate three cities for thee in the midst of thy
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land, which the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God giveth thee to possess it.
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3 Thou shalt prepare thee a way, and divide the coasts of thy
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land, which the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God giveth thee to inherit, into three
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parts, that every slayer may flee thither.
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4 And this <I>is</I> the case of the slayer, which shall flee
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thither, that he may live: Whoso killeth his neighbour
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ignorantly, whom he hated not in time past;
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5 As when a man goeth into the wood with his neighbour to hew
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wood, and his hand fetcheth a stroke with the axe to cut down the
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tree, and the head slippeth from the helve, and lighteth upon his
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neighbour, that he die; he shall flee unto one of those cities,
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and live:
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6 Lest the avenger of the blood pursue the slayer, while his
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heart is hot, and overtake him, because the way is long, and slay
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him; whereas he <I>was</I> not worthy of death, inasmuch as he hated
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him not in time past.
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7 Wherefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt separate three
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cities for thee.
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8 And if the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God enlarge thy coast, as he hath sworn
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unto thy fathers, and give thee all the land which he promised to
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give unto thy fathers;
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9 If thou shalt keep all these commandments to do them, which I
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command thee this day, to love the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God, and to walk ever
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in his ways; then shalt thou add three cities more for thee,
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beside these three:
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10 That innocent blood be not shed in thy land, which the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>
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thy God giveth thee <I>for</I> an inheritance, and <I>so</I> blood be upon
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thee.
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11 But if any man hate his neighbour, and lie in wait for him,
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and rise up against him, and smite him mortally that he die, and
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fleeth into one of these cities:
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12 Then the elders of his city shall send and fetch him thence,
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and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he
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may die.
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13 Thine eye shall not pity him, but thou shalt put away <I>the
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guilt of</I> innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with
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thee.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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It was one of the precepts given to the sons of Noah that <I>whoso
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sheddeth man's blood by man shall his blood be shed,</I> that is, by
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the avenger of blood,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+9:6">Gen. ix. 6</A>.
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Now here we have the law settled between blood and blood, between the
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blood of the murdered and the blood of the murderer, and effectual
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provision made,</P>
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<P>
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I. That the cities of refuge should be a protection to him that slew
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another casually, so that he should not die for that as a crime which
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was not his voluntary act, but only his unhappiness. The appointment of
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these cities of refuge we had before
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+21:13">Exod. xxi. 13</A>),
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and the law laid down concerning them at large,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+35:10-15">Num. xxxv. 10</A>,
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&c. It is here repeated, and direction is given concerning three
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things:--</P>
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<P>
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1. The appointing of three cities in Canaan for this purpose. Moses had
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already appointed three on that side Jordan which he saw the conquest
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of; and now he bids them, when they should be settled in the other part
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of the country, to appoint three more,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+19:1-3,7"><I>v.</I> 1-3, 7</A>.
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The country was to be divided into three districts, as near by as might
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be equal, and a city of refuge in the centre of each so that every
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corner of the land might have one within reach. Thus Christ is not a
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refuge at a distance, which we must ascend to heaven or go down to the
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deep for, but the word is nigh us, and Christ in the word,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+10:8">Rom. x. 8</A>.
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The gospel brings salvation <I>to our door,</I> and there it knocks for
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admission. To make the flight of the delinquent the more easy, the way
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must be prepared that led to the city of refuge. Probably they had
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causeways or street-ways leading to those cities, and the Jews say that
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the magistrates of Israel, upon one certain day in the year, sent out
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messengers to see that those roads were in good repair, and they were
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to remove stumbling-blocks, mend bridges that were broken, and, where
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two ways met, they were to set up a Mercurial post, with a finger to
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point the right way, on which was engraven in great letters, <I>Miklat,
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Miklat--Refuge, Refuge.</I> In allusion to this, gospel ministers are
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to show people the way to Christ, and to assist and direct them in
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flying by faith to him for refuge. They must be ready to remove their
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prejudices, and help them over their difficulties. And, blessed be God,
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<I>the way of holiness,</I> to all that seek it faithfully, is a
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highway so plain that <I>the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err
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therein.</I></P>
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<P>
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2. The use to be made of these cities,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+19:4-6"><I>v.</I> 4-6</A>.
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(1.) It is supposed that it might so happen that a man might be the
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death of his neighbour without any design upon him either from a sudden
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passion or malice prepense, but purely by accident, as by the flying
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off of an axe-head, which is the instance here given, with which every
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case of this kind was to be compared, and by it adjudged. See how human
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life lies exposed daily, and what deaths we are often in, and what need
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therefore we have to be always ready, our souls being continually in
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our hands. How are the sons of men <I>snared in an evil time, when it
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falls suddenly upon them!</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+9:12">Eccl. ix. 12</A>.
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An evil time indeed it is when this happens not only to the slain but
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to the slayer.
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(2.) It is supposed that the relations of the person slain would be
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forward to avenge the blood, in affection to their friend and in zeal
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for public justice. Though the law did not allow the avenging of any
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other affront or injury with death, yet the avenger of blood, the blood
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of a relation, shall have great allowances made for the heat of his
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heart upon such a provocation as that, and his killing only, should not
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be accounted murder if he did it before he got to the city of refuge,
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though it is owned he was not worthy of death. Thus would God possess
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people with a great horror and dread of the sin of murder: if mere
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chance-medley did thus expose a man, surely he that wilfully does
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violence to the blood of any person, whether from an old grudge or upon
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a sudden provocation, must flee to the pit, and <I>let no man stay
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him</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+28:17">Prov. xxviii. 17</A>);
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yet the New Testament represents the sin of murder as more heinous and
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more dangerous than even this law does.
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+3:15">1 John iii. 15</A>,
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<I>You know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.</I>
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(3.) It is provided that, if an avenger of blood should be so
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unreasonable as to demand satisfaction for blood shed by accident only,
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then the city of refuge should protect the slayer. Sins of ignorance
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indeed do expose us to the wrath of God, but there is relief provided,
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if by faith and repentance we make use of it. Paul that had been a
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persecutor obtained mercy, because he did it ignorantly; and Christ
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prayed for his crucifiers, <I>Father, forgive them, for they know not
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what they do.</I></P>
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<P>
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3. The appointing of three cities more for this use in case God should
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hereafter enlarge their territories and the dominion of their religion,
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that all those places which came under the government of the law of
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Moses in other instances might enjoy the benefit of that law in this
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instance,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+19:8-10"><I>v.</I> 8-10</A>.
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Here is,
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(1.) An intimation of God's gracious intention to enlarge their coast,
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as he had promised to their fathers, if they did not by their
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disobedience forfeit the promise, the condition of which is here
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carefully repeated, that, if it were not performed, the reproach might
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lie upon them, and not on God. He promised to give it, <I>if thou shalt
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keep all these commandments;</I> not otherwise.
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(2.) A direction to them to appoint three cities more in their new
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conquests, which, the number intimates, should be as large as their
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first conquests were; wherever the border of Israel went this privilege
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must attend it, that <I>innocent blood be not shed,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+19:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
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Though God is the saviour and preserver of all men, and has a tender
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regard to all lives, yet the blood of Israelites is in a particular
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manner precious to him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+72:14">Ps. lxxii. 14</A>.
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The learned Ainsworth observes that the Jewish writers themselves own
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that, the condition not being performed, the promise of the enlarging
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of their coast was never fulfilled; so that there was no occasion for
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ever adding these three cities of refuge; yet the holy blessed God (say
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they) <I>did not command it in vain, for in the days of Messiah the
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prince</I> three other cities shall be added to these six: they expect
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it to be fulfilled in the letter, but we know that in Christ it has its
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spiritual accomplishment, for the borders of the gospel Israel are
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enlarged according to the promise, and in Christ, <I>the Lord our
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righteousness,</I> refuge is provided for those that by faith flee to
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him.</P>
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<P>
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II. It is provided that the cities of refuge should be no sanctuary or
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shelter to a wilful murderer, but even thence he should be fetched, and
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delivered to the avenger of blood,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+19:11-13"><I>v.</I> 11-13</A>.
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1. This shows that wilful murder must never be protected by the civil
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magistrate; he bears the sword of justice in vain if he suffers those
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to escape the edge of it that lie under the guilt of blood, which he by
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office is the avenger of. During the dominion of the papacy in our own
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land, before the Reformation, there were some churches and religious
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houses (as they called them) that were made sanctuaries for the
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protection of all sorts of criminals that fled to them, wilful
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murderers not excepted, so that (as Stamford says, in his <I>Pleas of
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the Crown, lib.</I> II. <I>c.</I> xxxviii.) the government follows not
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Moses but Romulus, and it was not till about the latter end of Henry
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VIII's time that this privilege of sanctuary for wilful murder was
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taken away, when in that, as in other cases, the word of God came to be
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regarded more than the dictates of the see of Rome. And some have
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thought it would be a completing of that instance of reformation if the
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benefit of clergy were taken away for man-slaughter, that is, the
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killing of a man upon a small provocation, since this law allowed
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refuge only in case of that which our law calls chance-medley.
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2. It may be alluded to to show that in Jesus Christ there is no refuge
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for presumptuous sinners, that <I>go on still in their trespasses.</I>
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If we thus <I>sin wilfully,</I> sin and go on in it, there <I>remains
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no sacrifice,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+10:26">Heb. x. 26</A>.
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Those that flee to Christ from their sins shall be safe in him, but not
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those that expect to be sheltered by him in their sins. Salvation
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itself cannot save such: divine justice will fetch them even from the
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city of refuge, the protection of which they are not entitled to.</P>
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<A NAME="De19_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="De19_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="De19_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="De19_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="De19_18"> </A>
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<A NAME="De19_19"> </A>
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<A NAME="De19_20"> </A>
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<A NAME="De19_21"> </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>False Witnesses.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1451.</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>14 Thou shalt not remove thy neighbour's landmark, which they
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of old time have set in thine inheritance, which thou shalt
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inherit in the land that the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God giveth thee to possess
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it.
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15 One witness shall not rise up against a man for any
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iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the
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mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall
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the matter be established.
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16 If a false witness rise up against any man to testify
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against him <I>that which is</I> wrong;
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17 Then both the men, between whom the controversy <I>is,</I> shall
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stand before the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, before the priests and the judges, which
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shall be in those days;
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18 And the judges shall make diligent inquisition: and, behold,
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<I>if</I> the witness <I>be</I> a false witness, <I>and</I> hath testified
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falsely against his brother;
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19 Then shall ye do unto him, as he had thought to have done
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unto his brother: so shalt thou put the evil away from among you.
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20 And those which remain shall hear, and fear, and shall
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henceforth commit no more any such evil among you.
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21 And thine eye shall not pity; <I>but</I> life <I>shall go</I> for
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life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here is a statute for the preventing of frauds and perjuries; for the
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divine law takes care of men's rights and properties, and has made a
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hedge about them. Such a friend is it to human society and men's civil
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interest.</P>
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<P>
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I. A law against frauds,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+19:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
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1. Here is an implicit direction given to the first planters of Canaan
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|
to fix land-marks, according to the distribution of the land to the
|
|
several tribes and families by lot. Note, It is the will of God that
|
|
every one should know his own, and that all good means should be used
|
|
to prevent encroachments and the doing and suffering of wrong. When
|
|
right is settled, care must be taken that it be not afterwards
|
|
unsettled, and that, if possible, no occasion of dispute may arise.
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|
2. An express law to posterity not to remove those land-marks which
|
|
were thus fixed at first, by which a man secretly got that to himself
|
|
which was his neighbour's. This, without doubt, is a moral precept, and
|
|
still binding, and to us it forbids,
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|
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|
(1.) The invading of any man's right, and taking to ourselves that
|
|
which is not our own, by any fraudulent arts or practices, as by
|
|
forging, concealing, destroying, or altering deeds and writings (which
|
|
are our land-marks, to which appeals are made), or by shifting hedges,
|
|
meer-stones, and boundaries. Though the land-marks were set by the hand
|
|
of man, yet he was a thief and a robber by the law of God that removed
|
|
them. Let every man be content with his own lot, and just to his
|
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neighbours, and then we shall have no land-marks removed.
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(2.) It forbids the sowing of discord among neighbours, and doing any
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thing to occasion strife and law-suits, which is done (and it is very
|
|
ill done) by confounding those things which should determine disputes
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|
and decide controversies. And,
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|
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(3.) It forbids breaking in upon the settled order and constitution of
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|
civil government, and the altering of ancient usages without just
|
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cause. This law supports the honour of prescriptions. <I>Consuetudo
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facit jus--Custom is to be held as law.</I></P>
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<P>
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II. A law against perjuries, which enacts two things:--
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1. That a single witness should never be admitted to give evidence in a
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criminal cause, so as that sentence should be passed upon his
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|
testimony,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+19:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
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This law we had before,
|
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+35:30">Num. xxxv. 30</A>,
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|
|
and in this book,
|
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+17:6"><I>ch.</I> xvii. 6</A>.
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|
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This was enacted in favour to the prisoner, whose life and honour
|
|
should not lie at the mercy of a particular person that had a pique
|
|
against him, and for caution to the accuser not to say that which he
|
|
could not corroborate by the testimony of another. It is a just shame
|
|
which this law puts upon mankind as false and not to be trusted; every
|
|
man is by it suspected: and it is the honour of God's grace that the
|
|
record he has given concerning his Son is confirmed both in heaven and
|
|
in earth by <I>three witnesses,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:7">1 John v. 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>Let God be true and every man a liar,</I>
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|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+3:4">Rom. iii. 4</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. That a false witness should incur the same punishment which was to
|
|
have been inflicted upon the person he accused. <I>If two, or
|
|
three,</I> or many witnesses, concurred in a false testimony, they were
|
|
all liable to be prosecuted upon this law.
|
|
|
|
(2.) The person wronged or brought into peril by the false testimony is
|
|
supposed to be the appellant,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+19:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
And yet if the person were put to death upon the evidence, and
|
|
afterwards it appeared to be false, any other person, or the judges
|
|
themselves, <I>ex officio--by virtue of their office,</I> might call
|
|
the false witness to account.
|
|
|
|
(3.) Causes of this kind, having more than ordinary difficulty in them,
|
|
were to be brought before the supreme court, <I>The priests and
|
|
judges,</I> who are said to be <I>before the Lord,</I> because, as
|
|
other judges sat in the gates of their cities, so these at the gate of
|
|
the sanctuary,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+17:12"><I>ch.</I> xvii. 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
(4.) There must be great care in the trial,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+19:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
A diligent inquisition must be made into the characters of the persons,
|
|
and all the circumstances of the case, which must be compared, that the
|
|
truth might be found out, which, where it is thus faithfully and
|
|
impartially enquired into, Providence, it may be hoped, will
|
|
particularly advance the discovery of.
|
|
|
|
(5.) If it appeared that a man had knowingly and maliciously borne
|
|
false witness against his neighbour, though the mischief he designed
|
|
him thereby was not effected, he must undergo the same penalty which
|
|
his evidence would have brought his neighbour under,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+19:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>Nec lex est justior ulla--Nor could any law be more just.</I> If the
|
|
crime he accused his neighbour of was to be punished with death, the
|
|
false witness must be put to death; if with stripes, he must be beaten;
|
|
if with a pecuniary mulct, he was to be fined the sum. And because to
|
|
those who considered not the heinousness of the crime, and the
|
|
necessity of making this provision against it, it might seem hard to
|
|
punish a man so severely for a few words' speaking, especially when no
|
|
mischief did actually follow, it is added: <I>Thy eye shall not
|
|
pity,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+19:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
No man needs to be more merciful than God. The benefit that will accrue
|
|
to the public from this severity will abundantly recompense it:
|
|
<I>Those that remain shall hear and fear,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+19:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
Such exemplary punishments will be warnings to others not to attempt
|
|
any such mischief, when they see how he that <I>made the pit and digged
|
|
it has fallen into the ditch which he made.</I></P>
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