mh_parser/vol_split/5 - Deuteronomy/Chapter 24.xml

<div2 id="Deu.xxv" n="xxv" next="Deu.xxvi" prev="Deu.xxiv" progress="92.47%" title="Chapter XXIV">
<h2 id="Deu.xxv-p0.1">D E U T E R O N O M Y</h2>
<h3 id="Deu.xxv-p0.2">CHAP. XXIV.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Deu.xxv-p1">In this chapter we have, I. The toleration of
divorce, <scripRef id="Deu.xxv-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.24.1-Deut.24.4" parsed="|Deut|24|1|24|4" passage="De 24:1-4">ver. 1-4</scripRef>. II. A
discharge of new-married men from the war, <scripRef id="Deu.xxv-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.24.5" parsed="|Deut|24|5|0|0" passage="De 24:5">ver. 5</scripRef>. III. Laws concerning pledges,
<scripRef id="Deu.xxv-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.24.6 Bible:Deut.24.10-Deut.24.13 Bible:Deut.24.17" parsed="|Deut|24|6|0|0;|Deut|24|10|24|13;|Deut|24|17|0|0" passage="De 24:6,10-13,17">ver. 6, 10-13, 17</scripRef>.
IV. Against man-stealing, <scripRef id="Deu.xxv-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Deut.24.7" parsed="|Deut|24|7|0|0" passage="De 24:7">ver.
7</scripRef>. V. Concerning the leprosy, <scripRef id="Deu.xxv-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Deut.24.8-Deut.24.9" parsed="|Deut|24|8|24|9" passage="De 24:8,9">ver. 8, 9</scripRef>. VI. Against the injustice of
masters towards their servants, <scripRef id="Deu.xxv-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Deut.24.14-Deut.24.15" parsed="|Deut|24|14|24|15" passage="De 24:14,15">ver. 14, 15</scripRef>. Judges in capital causes
(<scripRef id="Deu.xxv-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Deut.24.16" parsed="|Deut|24|16|0|0" passage="De 24:16">ver. 16</scripRef>), and civil
concerns, <scripRef id="Deu.xxv-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Deut.24.17-Deut.24.18" parsed="|Deut|24|17|24|18" passage="De 24:17,18">ver. 17, 18</scripRef>.
VII. Of charity to the poor, <scripRef id="Deu.xxv-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Deut.24.19" parsed="|Deut|24|19|0|0" passage="De 24:19">ver.
19</scripRef>, &amp;c.</p>
<scripCom id="Deu.xxv-p1.10" osisRef="Bible:Deut.24" parsed="|Deut|24|0|0|0" passage="De 24" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Deu.xxv-p1.11" osisRef="Bible:Deut.24.1-Deut.24.4" parsed="|Deut|24|1|24|4" passage="De 24:1-4" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Deut.24.1-Deut.24.4">
<h4 id="Deu.xxv-p1.12">The Law Concerning Divorce. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xxv-p1.13">b. c.</span> 1451.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Deu.xxv-p2">1 When a man hath taken a wife, and married her,
and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he
hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill
of divorcement, and give <i>it</i> in her hand, and send her out of
his house.   2 And when she is departed out of his house, she
may go and be another man's <i>wife.</i>   3 And <i>if</i> the
latter husband hate her, and write her a bill of divorcement, and
giveth <i>it</i> in her hand, and sendeth her out of his house; or
if the latter husband die, which took her <i>to be</i> his wife;
  4 Her former husband, which sent her away, may not take her
again to be his wife, after that she is defiled; for that <i>is</i>
abomination before the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xxv-p2.1">Lord</span>: and
thou shalt not cause the land to sin, which the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xxv-p2.2">Lord</span> thy God giveth thee <i>for</i> an
inheritance.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xxv-p3">This is that permission which the Pharisees
erroneously referred to as a precept, <scripRef id="Deu.xxv-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Matt.19.7" parsed="|Matt|19|7|0|0" passage="Mt 19:7">Matt. xix. 7</scripRef>, <i>Moses commanded to give a
writing of divorcement.</i> It was not so; our Saviour told them
that he only suffered it because of the hardness of their hearts,
lest, if they had not had liberty to divorce their wives, they
should have ruled them with rigour, and it may be, have been the
death of them. It is probable that divorces were in use before
(they are taken for granted, <scripRef id="Deu.xxv-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Lev.21.14" parsed="|Lev|21|14|0|0" passage="Le 21:14">Lev. xxi.
14</scripRef>), and Moses thought it needful here to give some
rules concerning them. 1. That a man might not divorce his wife
unless he <i>found some uncleanness in her,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.xxv-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.24.1" parsed="|Deut|24|1|0|0" passage="De 24:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>. It was not sufficient to say that
he did not like her, or that he liked another better, but he must
show cause for his dislike; something that made her disagreeable
and unpleasant to him, though it might not make her so to another.
This uncleanness must mean something less than adultery; for, for
that, she was to die; and less than the suspicion of it, for in
that case he might give her the waters of jealousy; but it means
either a light carriage, or a cross froward disposition, or some
loathsome sore or disease; nay, some of the Jewish writers suppose
that an offensive breath might be a just ground for divorce.
Whatever is meant by it, doubtless it was something considerable;
so that their modern doctors erred who allowed divorce for every
cause, though ever so trivial, <scripRef id="Deu.xxv-p3.4" osisRef="Bible:Matt.19.3" parsed="|Matt|19|3|0|0" passage="Mt 19:3">Matt.
xix. 3</scripRef>. 2. That it must be done, not by word of mouth,
for that might be spoken hastily, but by writing, and that put in
due form, and solemnly declared, before witnesses, to be his own
act and deed, which was a work of time, and left room for
consideration, that it might not be done rashly. 3. That the
husband must give it into the hand of his wife, and send her away,
which some think obliged him to endow her and make provision for
her, according to her quality and such as might help to marry her
again; and good reason he should do this, since the cause of
quarrel was not her fault, but her infelicity. 4. That being
divorced it was lawful for her to marry another husband, <scripRef id="Deu.xxv-p3.5" osisRef="Bible:Deut.24.2" parsed="|Deut|24|2|0|0" passage="De 24:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>. The divorce had dissolved
the bond of marriage as effectually as death could dissolve it; so
that she was as free to marry again as if her first husband had
been naturally dead. 5. That if her second husband died, or
divorced her, then still she might marry a third, but her first
husband should never take her again (<scripRef id="Deu.xxv-p3.6" osisRef="Bible:Deut.24.3-Deut.24.4" parsed="|Deut|24|3|24|4" passage="De 24:3,4"><i>v.</i> 3, 4</scripRef>), which he might have done if
she had not married another; for by that act of her own she had
perfectly renounced him for ever, and, as to him was looked upon as
defiled, though not as to another person. The Jewish writers say
that this was to prevent a most vile and wicked practice which the
Egyptians had of changing wives; or perhaps it was intended to
prevent men's rashness in putting away their wives; for the wife
that was divorced would be apt, in revenge, to marry another
immediately, and perhaps the husband that divorced her, how much
soever he though to better himself by another choice, would find
the next worse, and something in her more disagreeable, so that he
would wish for his first wife again. "No" (says this law) "you
shall not have her, you should have kept her when you had her."
Note, It is best to be content with such things as we have, since
changes made by discontent often prove for the worse. The
uneasiness we know is commonly better, though we are apt to think
it worse, than that which we do not know. By the strictness of this
law God illustrates the riches of his grace in his willingness to
be reconciled to his people that had gone a whoring from him.
<scripRef id="Deu.xxv-p3.7" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.1" parsed="|Jer|3|1|0|0" passage="Jer 3:1">Jer. iii. 1</scripRef>, <i>Thou hast
played the harlot with many lovers, yet return again to me.</i> For
his thoughts and ways are above ours.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Deu.xxv-p3.8" osisRef="Bible:Deut.24.5-Deut.24.13" parsed="|Deut|24|5|24|13" passage="De 24:5-13" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Deut.24.5-Deut.24.13">
<h4 id="Deu.xxv-p3.9">The Law of Divorce. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xxv-p3.10">b. c.</span> 1451.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Deu.xxv-p4">5 When a man hath taken a new wife, he shall not
go out to war, neither shall he be charged with any business:
<i>but</i> he shall be free at home one year, and shall cheer up
his wife which he hath taken.   6 No man shall take the nether
or the upper millstone to pledge: for he taketh <i>a man's</i> life
to pledge.   7 If a man be found stealing any of his brethren
of the children of Israel, and maketh merchandise of him, or
selleth him; then that thief shall die; and thou shalt put evil
away from among you.   8 Take heed in the plague of leprosy,
that thou observe diligently, and do according to all that the
priests the Levites shall teach you: as I commanded them, <i>so</i>
ye shall observe to do.   9 Remember what the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xxv-p4.1">Lord</span> thy God did unto Miriam by the way, after
that ye were come forth out of Egypt.   10 When thou dost lend
thy brother any thing, thou shalt not go into his house to fetch
his pledge.   11 Thou shalt stand abroad, and the man to whom
thou dost lend shall bring out the pledge abroad unto thee.  
12 And if the man <i>be</i> poor, thou shalt not sleep with his
pledge:   13 In any case thou shalt deliver him the pledge
again when the sun goeth down, that he may sleep in his own
raiment, and bless thee: and it shall be righteousness unto thee
before the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xxv-p4.2">Lord</span> thy God.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xxv-p5">Here is, I. Provision made for the
preservation and confirmation of love between new-married people,
<scripRef id="Deu.xxv-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.24.5" parsed="|Deut|24|5|0|0" passage="De 24:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>. This fitly
follows upon the laws concerning divorce, which would be prevented
if their affection to each other were well settled at first. If the
husband were much abroad from his wife the first year, his love to
her would be in danger of cooling, and of being drawn aside to
others whom he would meet with abroad; therefore his service to his
country in war, embassies, or other public business that would call
him from home, shall be dispensed with, <i>that he may cheer up the
wife that he has taken.</i> Note, 1. It is of great consequence
that love be kept up between husband and wife, and that every thing
be very carefully avoided which might make them strange one to
another, especially at first; for in that relation, where there is
not the love that should be, there is an inlet ready to abundance
of guilt and grief. 2. One of the duties of that relation is to
cheer up one another under the cares and crosses that happen, as
helpers of each other's joy; for a cheerful heart does good like a
medicine.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xxv-p6">II. A law against man-stealing, <scripRef id="Deu.xxv-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.24.7" parsed="|Deut|24|7|0|0" passage="De 24:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>. It was not death by the
law of Moses to steal cattle or goods; but to steal a child, or a
weak and simple man, or one that a man had in his power, and to
make merchandize of him, this was a capital crime, and could not be
expiated, as other thefts, by restitution—so much is <i>a man
better than a sheep,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.xxv-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Matt.12.12" parsed="|Matt|12|12|0|0" passage="Mt 12:12">Matt. xii.
12</scripRef>. It was a very heinous offence, for, 1. It was
robbing the public of one of its members. 2. It was taking away a
man's liberty, the liberty of a free-born Israelite, which was next
in value to his life. 3. It was driving a man out from the
inheritance of the land, to the privileges of which he was
entitled, and bidding him go serve other gods, as David complains
against Saul, <scripRef id="Deu.xxv-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.26.19" parsed="|1Sam|26|19|0|0" passage="1Sa 26:19">1 Sam. xxvi.
19</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xxv-p7">III. A memorandum concerning the leprosy,
<scripRef id="Deu.xxv-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.24.8-Deut.24.9" parsed="|Deut|24|8|24|9" passage="De 24:8,9"><i>v.</i> 8, 9</scripRef>. 1. The
laws concerning it must be carefully observed. The laws concerning
it we had, <scripRef id="Deu.xxv-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Lev.13.14" parsed="|Lev|13|14|0|0" passage="Le 13:14">Lev. xiii. 14</scripRef>.
They are here said to be commanded to the <i>priests and
Levites,</i> and therefore are not repeated in a discourse to the
people; but the people are here charged, in case of leprosy, to
apply to the priest according to the law, and to abide by his
judgment, so far as it agreed with the law and the plain matter of
fact. The plague of leprosy being usually a particular mark of
God's displeasure for sin, he in whom the signs of it did appear
ought not to conceal it, nor cut out the signs of it, nor apply to
the physician for relief; but he must go to the priest, and follow
his directions. Thus those that feel their consciences under guilt
and wrath must not cover it, nor endeavour to shake off their
convictions, but by repentance, and prayer, and humble confession,
take the appointed way to peace and pardon. 2. The particular case
of Miriam, who was smitten with leprosy for quarrelling with Moses,
must not be forgotten. It was an explication of the law concerning
the leprosy. Remember that, and, (1.) "Take heed of sinning after
the similitude of her transgression, by despising dominions and
speaking evil of dignities, lest you thereby bring upon yourselves
the same judgment." (2.) "If any of you be smitten with a leprosy,
expect not that the law should be dispensed with, nor think it hard
to be shut out of the camp and so made a spectacle; there is no
remedy: Miriam herself, though a prophetess and the sister of
Moses, was not exempted, but was forced to submit to this severe
discipline when she was under this divine rebuke." Thus David,
Hezekiah, Peter, and other great men, when they had sinned, humbled
themselves, and took to themselves shame and grief; let us not
expect to be reconciled upon easier terms.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xxv-p8">IV. Some necessary orders given about
pledges for the security of money lent. They are not forbidden to
take such securities as would save the lender from loss, and oblige
the borrower to be honest; but, 1. They must not take the millstone
for a pledge (<scripRef id="Deu.xxv-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.24.6" parsed="|Deut|24|6|0|0" passage="De 24:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>),
for with that they ground the corn that was to be bread for their
families, or, if it were a public mill, with it the miller got his
livelihood; and so it forbids the taking of any thing for a pledge
by the want of which a man was in danger of being undone. Consonant
to this is the ancient common law of England, which provides that
no man be distrained of the utensils or instruments of his trade or
profession, as the axe of a carpenter, or the books of a scholar,
or beasts belonging to the plough, as long as there are other
beasts of which distress may be made (<i>Coke, 1 Inst. fol.</i>
47). This teaches us to consult the comfort and subsistence of
others as much as our own advantage. That creditor who cares not
though his debtor and his family starve, nor is at all concerned
what become of them, so he may but get his money or secure it, goes
contrary, not only to the law of Christ, but even to the law of
Moses too. 2. They must not go into the borrower's house to fetch
the pledge, but must stand without, and he must bring it, <scripRef id="Deu.xxv-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.24.10-Deut.24.11" parsed="|Deut|24|10|24|11" passage="De 24:10,11"><i>v.</i> 10, 11</scripRef>. <i>The
borrower</i> (says Solomon) <i>is servant to the lender;</i>
therefore lest the lender should abuse the advantage he has against
him, and improve it for his own interest, it is provided that he
shall take not what he pleases, but what the borrower can best
spare. A man's house is his castle, even the poor man's house is
so, and is here taken under the protection of the law. 3. That a
poor man's bed-clothes should never be taken for a pledge,
<scripRef id="Deu.xxv-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.24.12-Deut.24.13" parsed="|Deut|24|12|24|13" passage="De 24:12,13"><i>v.</i> 12, 13</scripRef>. This
we had before, <scripRef id="Deu.xxv-p8.4" osisRef="Bible:Exod.22.26-Exod.22.27" parsed="|Exod|22|26|22|27" passage="Ex 22:26,27">Exod. xxii. 26,
27</scripRef>. If they were taken in the morning, they must be
brought back again at night, which is in effect to say that they
must not be taken at all. "Let the poor debtor sleep in his own
raiment, and bless thee," that is, "pray for thee, and praise God
for thy kindness to him." Note, Poor debtors ought to be sensible
(more sensible than commonly they are) of the goodness of those
creditors that do not take all the advantage of the law against
them, and to repay their kindnesses by their prayers for them, when
they are not in a capacity to repay it in any other way. "Nay, thou
shalt not only have the prayers and good wishes of thy poor
brother, but <i>it shall be righteousness to thee before the Lord
thy God,</i>" that is, "It shall be accepted and rewarded as an act
of mercy to thy brother and obedience to thy God, and an evidence
of thy sincere conformity to the law. Though it may be looked upon
by men as an act of weakness to deliver up the securities thou hast
for thy debt, yet it shall be looked upon by thy God as an act of
goodness, which shall in no wise lose its reward."</p>
</div><scripCom id="Deu.xxv-p8.5" osisRef="Bible:Deut.24" parsed="|Deut|24|0|0|0" passage="De 24" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Deu.xxv-p8.6" osisRef="Bible:Deut.24.14-Deut.24.22" parsed="|Deut|24|14|24|22" passage="De 24:14-22" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Deut.24.14-Deut.24.22">
<h4 id="Deu.xxv-p8.7">Justice and Generosity. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xxv-p8.8">b. c.</span> 1451.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Deu.xxv-p9">14 Thou shalt not oppress a hired servant
<i>that is</i> poor and needy, <i>whether he be</i> of thy
brethren, or of thy strangers that <i>are</i> in thy land within
thy gates:   15 At his day thou shalt give <i>him</i> his
hire, neither shall the sun go down upon it; for he <i>is</i> poor,
and setteth his heart upon it: lest he cry against thee unto the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xxv-p9.1">Lord</span>, and it be sin unto thee.
  16 The fathers shall not be put to death for the children,
neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every
man shall be put to death for his own sin.   17 Thou shalt not
pervert the judgment of the stranger, <i>nor</i> of the fatherless;
nor take a widow's raiment to pledge:   18 But thou shalt
remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt, and the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xxv-p9.2">Lord</span> thy God redeemed thee thence: therefore I
command thee to do this thing.   19 When thou cuttest down
thine harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field,
thou shalt not go again to fetch it: it shall be for the stranger,
for the fatherless, and for the widow: that the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xxv-p9.3">Lord</span> thy God may bless thee in all the work of
thine hands.   20 When thou beatest thine olive tree, thou
shalt not go over the boughs again: it shall be for the stranger,
for the fatherless, and for the widow.   21 When thou
gatherest the grapes of thy vineyard, thou shalt not glean
<i>it</i> afterward: it shall be for the stranger, for the
fatherless, and for the widow.   22 And thou shalt remember
that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt: therefore I command
thee to do this thing.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xxv-p10">Here, I. Masters are commanded to be just
to their poor servants, <scripRef id="Deu.xxv-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.24.14-Deut.24.15" parsed="|Deut|24|14|24|15" passage="De 24:14,15"><i>v.</i>
14, 15</scripRef>. 1. They must not oppress them, by overloading
them with work, by giving them undue and unreasonable rebukes, or
by withholding from them proper maintenance. A servant, though a
stranger to the commonwealth of Israel, must not be abused: "For
<i>thou wast a bondman</i> in the land where thou wast a stranger
(<scripRef id="Deu.xxv-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.24.18" parsed="|Deut|24|18|0|0" passage="De 24:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>), and thou
knowest what a grievous thing it is to be oppressed by a
task-master, and therefore, in tenderness to those that are
servants and strangers, and in gratitude to that God who set thee
at liberty and settled thee in a country of thy own, <i>thou shalt
not oppress a servant.</i>" Let not masters be tyrants to their
servants, for their Master is in heaven. See <scripRef id="Deu.xxv-p10.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.13" parsed="|Job|31|13|0|0" passage="Job 31:13">Job xxxi. 13</scripRef>. 2. They must be faithful and
punctual in paying them their wages: "<i>At his day thou shalt give
him his hire,</i> not only pay it in time, without further delay.
As soon as he had done his day's work, if he desire it, let him
have his day's wages," as those labourers (<scripRef id="Deu.xxv-p10.4" osisRef="Bible:Matt.20.8" parsed="|Matt|20|8|0|0" passage="Mt 20:8">Matt. xx. 8</scripRef>) <i>when evening had come.</i> He
that works by day-wages is supposed to live from hand to mouth, and
cannot have to-morrow's bread for his family till he is paid for
this day's labour. If the wages be withheld, (1.) It will be grief
to the servant, for, poor man, he <i>sets his heart upon it,</i>
or, as the word is, he <i>lifts up his soul to it,</i> he is
earnestly desirous of it, as the reward of his work (<scripRef id="Deu.xxv-p10.5" osisRef="Bible:Job.7.2" parsed="|Job|7|2|0|0" passage="Job 7:2">Job vii. 2</scripRef>), and depends upon it as
the gift of God's providence for the maintenance of his family. A
compassionate master, though it should be somewhat inconvenient to
himself, would not disappoint the expectation of a poor servant
that was so fond to think of receiving his wages. But that is not
the worst. (2.) It will be guilt to the master. "The injured
servant will cry against thee to the Lord; since he has no one else
to appeal to, he will lodge his appeal in the court of heaven, and
it will be sin to thee." Or, if he do not complain, the cause will
speak for itself, the "<i>hire of the labourers which is kept back
by fraud</i> will itself <i>cry,</i>" <scripRef id="Deu.xxv-p10.6" osisRef="Bible:Jas.5.4" parsed="|Jas|5|4|0|0" passage="Jam 5:4">Jam. v. 4</scripRef>. It is a greater sin than most
people think it is, and will be found so in the great day, to put
hardships upon poor servants, labourers, and workmen, that we
employ. God will do them right if men do not.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xxv-p11">II. Magistrates and judges are commanded to
be just in their administrations. 1. In those which we call
<i>pleas of the crown</i> a standing rule is here given, that
<i>the fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the
children for the fathers,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.xxv-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.24.16" parsed="|Deut|24|16|0|0" passage="De 24:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>. If the children make themselves
obnoxious to the law, let them suffer for it, but let not the
parents suffer either for them or with them; it is grief enough to
them to see their children suffer: if the parents be guilty, let
them die for their own sin; but though God, the sovereign Lord of
life, sometimes visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the
children, especially the sin of idolatry, and when he deals with
nations in their national capacity, yet he does not allow men to do
so. Accordingly, we find Amaziah sparing the children, even when
the fathers were put to death for killing the king, <scripRef id="Deu.xxv-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.14.6" parsed="|2Kgs|14|6|0|0" passage="2Ki 14:6">2 Kings xiv. 6</scripRef>. It was in an
extraordinary case, and no doubt by special direction from heaven,
that Saul's sons were put to death for his offence, and they died
rather as sacrifices than as malefactors, <scripRef id="Deu.xxv-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.21.9 Bible:2Sam.21.14" parsed="|2Sam|21|9|0|0;|2Sam|21|14|0|0" passage="2Sa 21:9,14">2 Sam. xxi. 9, 14</scripRef>. 2. In common pleas
between party and party, great care must be taken that none whose
cause was just should fare the worse for their weakness, nor for
their being destitute of friends, as strangers, fatherless, and
widows (<scripRef id="Deu.xxv-p11.4" osisRef="Bible:Deut.24.17" parsed="|Deut|24|17|0|0" passage="De 24:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>):
"<i>Thou shalt not pervert their judgment,</i> nor force them to
give their very raiment for a pledge, by defrauding them of their
right." Judges must be advocates for those that cannot speak for
themselves and have no friends to speak for them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xxv-p12">III. The rich are commanded to be kind and
charitable to the poor. Many ways they are ordered to be so by the
law of Moses. The particular instance of charity here prescribed is
that they should not be greedy in gathering in their corn, and
grapes, and olives, so as to be afraid of leaving any behind them,
but be willing to overlook some, and let the poor have the
gleanings, <scripRef id="Deu.xxv-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.24.19-Deut.24.22" parsed="|Deut|24|19|24|22" passage="De 24:19-22"><i>v.</i>
19-22</scripRef>. 1. "Say not, 'It is all my own, and why should
not I have it?' But learn a generous contempt of property in small
matters. One sheaf or two forgotten will make thee never the poorer
at the year's end, and it will do somebody good, if thou have it
not." 2. "Say not, '<i>What I give I will give,</i> and know whom I
give it to, why should I leave it to be gathered by I know not
whom, that will never thank me.' But trust God's providence with
the disposal of thy charity, perhaps that will direct it to the
most necessitous." Or, "Thou mayest reasonably think it will come
to the hands of the most industrious, that are forward to seek and
gather that which this law provides for them." 3. "Say not, 'What
should the poor do with grapes and olives? It is enough for them to
have bread and water;' for, since they have the same senses that
the rich have, why should not they have some little share of the
delights of sense?" Boaz ordered handfuls of corn to be left on
purpose for Ruth, and God blessed him. All that is left is not
lost.</p>
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