The elders represented the citizens at large, the judges the magistracy: priests Deuteronomy 21:5 from the nearest priestly town, were likewise to be at hand. Thus, all classes would be represented at the purging away of that blood-guiltiness which until removed attached to the whole community.... [ Continue Reading ]
The requirements as regards place and victim are symbolic. The heifer represented the murderer, so far at least as to die in his stead, since he himself could not be found. As hearing his guilt the heifer must therefore be one which was of full growth and strength, and had not yet been ceremonially... [ Continue Reading ]
EARED - i. e., plowed; compare Genesis 45:6 note and references. The word is derived from the Latin, and is in frequent use by English writers of the fifteenth and two following centuries. STRIKE OFF THE HEIFER’S NECK - Rather, “break its neck” (compare Exodus 13:13). The mode of killing the victim... [ Continue Reading ]
The regulations which now follow in the rest of this and throughout the next chapter bring out the sanctity of various personal rights and relations fundamental to human life and society. Deuteronomy 21:10. The war supposed here is one against the neighboring nations after Israel had utterly destro... [ Continue Reading ]
The shaving the head (a customary sign of purification, Leviticus 14:8; Numbers 8:7), and the putting away “the garment of her captivity,” were designed to signify the translation of the woman from the state of a pagan and a slave to that of a wife among the covenant-people. Consistency required tha... [ Continue Reading ]
BEWAIL HER FATHER AND HER MOTHER A FULL MONTH - This is prescribed from motives of humanity, that the woman might have time and leisure to detach her affections from their natural ties, and prepare her mind for new ones.... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU SHALT NOT MAKE MERCHANDISE OF HER - Rather, thou shalt not constrain her: literally “treat her with constraint,” or “treat her as a slave.”... [ Continue Reading ]
Moses did not originate the rights of primogeniture (compare Genesis 25:31), but recognized them, since he found them pre-existing in the general social system of the East. Paternal authority could set aside these rights on just grounds Genesis 27:33, but it is forbidden here to do so from mere part... [ Continue Reading ]
The formal accusation of parents against a child was to be received without inquiry, as being its own proof. Thus the just authority of the parents is recognized and effectually upheld (compare Exodus 20:12; Exodus 21:15, Exodus 21:17; Leviticus 20:9); but the extreme and irresponsible power of life... [ Continue Reading ]
There were four methods of execution in use among the ancient Jews; stoning (Exodus 17:4; Deuteronomy 13:10, etc.), burning Leviticus 20:14; Leviticus 21:9, the sword Exodus 32:27, and strangulation. The latter, though not named in Scripture, is regarded by the rabbis as the most common, and the pro... [ Continue Reading ]
HE THAT IS HANGED IS ACCURSED OF GOD - i. e. “Bury him that is hanged out of the way before evening: his hanging body defiles the land; for God’s curse rests on it.” The curse of God is probably regarded as lying on the malefactor because, from the fact of his being hanged, be must have been guilty... [ Continue Reading ]