XIII. (1) IF THERE ARISE. — Three cases of instigation to idolatry are considered in this chapter: — 1. The false prophet (Deuteronomy 13:1). 2. A private individual (Deuteronomy 13:6). 3. A city (Deuteronomy 13:12). In every case the penalty is the same — death without mercy. Is this law the p... [ Continue Reading ]
IF THY BROTHER. — The substance of this law is that individual idolaters might be executed in Israel. It justifies Jehu and Jehoiada in destroying Baal out of Israel and Judah (2 Kings 10:19; 2 Kings 11:18). It also accounts for the covenant made in the time of Asa (2 Chronicles 15:13), that whosoev... [ Continue Reading ]
THINE HAND SHALL BE FIRST UPON HIM TO PUT HIM TO DEATH. — A law tending to prevent false accusation. Where the witness is obliged to carry out himself, or to aid in carrying out, the sentence he demands, secret accusation is impossible; and it is far less easy to pervert the law in order to prosecut... [ Continue Reading ]
IF THOU SHALT HEAR SAY IN ONE OF THY CITIES. — The only case of this kind is the case of Gibeah. We may fairly assume the abominations done there to have been connected with idolatry, from the allusions in Hosea 9:9; Hosea 10:9. But the outrage rather than the idolatry seems to have excited the indi... [ Continue Reading ]
CHILDREN OF BELIAL. — The very same expression is used in Judges 20:13 : “Deliver us the men, the children of Belial, that are among you.” This is the first place where the expression “sons of Belial” occurs, and Judges 19:22 is the second. It is generally explained by modern scholars as “worthlessn... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE CATTLE THEREOF. — So in Judges 20:48 : “The men of every city, the _beast,_ and all that were found.”... [ Continue Reading ]
AND SHALT BURN WITH FIRE THE CITY. — So Gibeah was treated (Judges xx 40).... [ Continue Reading ]
We seem to hear an echo of this verse in the close of the story of Achan (Joshua 7:26): “And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones, and they raised over him a great heap of stones unto this day. So _the Lord turned from the fierceness of... [ Continue Reading ]