XXII. (1-4) Theft is here treated of with great brevity, only three kinds being distinguished — (1) Housebreaking; (2) stealing without conversion of the property; (3) stealing with conversion. The main principle of punishment laid down is the exaction from the offender o! _Double_ (Exodus 22:4). Wh... [ Continue Reading ]
IF A MAN SHALL STEAL AN OX, OR A SHEEP. — The flocks and herds of the Israelites constituted their principal property, and hence cattle-stealing is taken as the representative of theft in general. AND KILL IT, OR SELL IT. — Plainly showing persistence and determination. FIVE OXEN... FOUR SHEEP. —... [ Continue Reading ]
IF A THIEF BE FOUND BREAKING UP. — Rather, _breaking in: i.e.,_ making forcible entry into a dwelling-house. Most codes agree with the Mosaic in allowing the inmates of the house to resist such an attempt if made at night, and to shed the blood of the burglar, if necessary. He may be considered as h... [ Continue Reading ]
IF THE SUN BE RISEN UPON HIM. — In the daytime no violence is to be feared. The housebreaker seeks to avoid observation, and decamps if discovered. Moreover, assistance is readily obtainable, and thus there is no need of resorting to extreme measures. The English law makes exactly the same distincti... [ Continue Reading ]
IF THE THEFT BE CERTAINLY FOUND IN HIS HAND. — If he had not converted it, consumed it, or, if it were an animal, killed it, then, instead of the four-fold or five-fold restitution of Exodus 22:1, a restoration of double was to suffice.... [ Continue Reading ]
IF A MAN SHALL CAUSE A FIELD... TO BE EATEN. — On theft follows trespass, another injury to property. Two kinds of trespass alone are mentioned; but from these the principles to be followed in punishing trespass generally can be sufficiently made out. Accidental injury, such as that caused by fire e... [ Continue Reading ]
IF FIRE BREAK OUT, AND CATCH IN THORNS. — In the East, as elsewhere — _e.g.,_ Italy (Virg. _Georg.,_ i. 84) and England — it is customary at certain seasons to burn the weeds and other refuse of a farm, which, is collected for the purpose into heaps, and then set on fire. Such fires may spread, espe... [ Continue Reading ]
IF A MAN SHALL DELIVER UNTO HIS NEIGHBOUR MONEY OR STUFF TO KEEP. — The practice of making deposits of this kind was widespread among ancient communities, where there were no professional bankers or keepers of warehouses. The Greeks called such a deposit παρακαταθήκη. It was usually made in money, o... [ Continue Reading ]
(7-13) Property deposited in the hands of another for safe keeping might be so easily embezzled by the trustee, or lost through his negligence, that some special laws were needed for its protection. Conversely the trustee required to be safe-guarded against incurring loss if the property intrusted t... [ Continue Reading ]
TO SEE WHETHER HE HAVE PUT HIS HAND. — Kalisch translates, _to swear that he has not put his hand,_ and so the LXX. (καὶ δμεῖται) and Vulg. (_et jurabit quod non extenderit manum_)_. _... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR ALL MANNER OF TRESPASS. — Rather, _in_ _every case of fraud._ The context limits the expression to cases of fraud, or alleged fraud, _in connection with a deposit._ FOR OX, FOR ASS, FOR SHEEP. — The deposit of animals is unknown in classical antiquity, but might well be the custom of a people w... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IT DIE, OR BE HURT, OR DRIVEN AWAY. — The animal might “die_”_ naturally, or “be hurt” by a wild beast or a fall down the rocks, or “be driven away” by the marauding tribes of the desert. Both parties might be agreed on the fact of its disappearance; the dispute would be as to the mode of the di... [ Continue Reading ]
IF IT BE STOLEN FROM HIM, HE SHALL MAKE RESTITUTION. — IT seems to have been considered that theft could have been prevented by proper care, but that hurts from wild beasts or accidents were not preventible.... [ Continue Reading ]
LET HIM BRING IT FOR WITNESS. — This would not always be possible. Where it was not, the trustee could fall back on the oath.... [ Continue Reading ]
Lending is a species of deposit; but for the benefit, not of the depositor, but of the man with whom the deposit is made. The obligation of the latter to keep intact and to return is therefore even more stringent than in the preceding case. Consequently, if the thing lent were lost or injured, howev... [ Continue Reading ]
IF IT BE A HIRED THING. — Letting out for hire is akin to lending; but still quite a different transaction. Damage to a thing hired was not to be made good by the hirer, since the risk of it might be considered to have formed part of the calculation upon which the amount of the hire was fixed.... [ Continue Reading ]
IF A MAN ENTICE A MAID. — The seduction of a maiden is regarded more seriously in primitive than in more advanced communities. The father looked to receive a handsome sum (ἕδνα) from the man to whom he consented to betroth his virgin daughter; and required compensation if his daughter’s eligibility... [ Continue Reading ]
MISCELLANEOUS LAWS. (16-31) The remainder of the chapter contains laws which it is impossible to bring under any general head or heads, and which can, therefore, only be regarded as miscellaneous. Moses may have recorded them in the order in which they were delivered to him; or have committed them... [ Continue Reading ]
HE SHALL PAY MONEY ACCORDING TO THE DOWRY OF VIRGINS. — It is not stated what the amount was to be in this case; but probably it was more than in the other.... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU SHALT NOT SUFFER A WITCH TO LIVE. — The word translated “witch” in this passage is the feminine singular of that rendered by “sorcerers” in Exodus 7:11, and means “a mutterer of charms.” The use of the feminine form can only be accounted for by supposing that, practically, witchcraft was at the... [ Continue Reading ]
The sin here denounced was common among the Canaanitish nations (Leviticus 18:24), and not unknown in Egypt (Herod. ii. 46). It was therefore necessary that God’s abhorrence of it should be distinctly declared to Israel.... [ Continue Reading ]
HE THAT SACRIFICETH. — Sacrifice in this place represents worship generally, being its most essential act. Elsewhere the death-penalty is affixed to any acknowledgment of false gods (Deuteronomy 13:1). SHALL BE UTTERLY DESTROYED. — Heb., _Shall be devoted, i.e.,_ devoted to destruction.... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR YE WERE STRANGERS. — Ye should, therefore, sympathise with “strangers;” not “vex them,” not “oppress them,” but “love them as yourselves” (Leviticus 19:34). The condition of foreigners in Israel is shown to have been more than tolerable by the examples of the Kenites (Judges 1:16; Judges 4:11);... [ Continue Reading ]
(21-24) The juxtaposition of laws against oppression with three crimes of the deepest dye seems intended to indicate that oppression is among the sins which are most hateful in God’s sight. The lawgiver, however, does not say that it is to be punished capitally, nor, indeed, does he affix to it any... [ Continue Reading ]
IF THOU AFFLICT THEM IN ANY WISE, AND THEY CRY AT ALL UNTO ME. — Rather, _If thou afflict them sore, and they cry earnestly unto me._ On the transgression of the laws against oppression by the later Israelites, see Jeremiah 5:28; Jeremiah 7:6; Jeremiah 22:3; Jeremiah 22:17; Zech. 7:20; Malachi 3:5;... [ Continue Reading ]
USURER.... USURY. — The Hebrew _nûsheh_ and _nĕshek_ have no sense of “excess” attached to them. They mean simply “interest,” and _“_the man who lends upon interest.”... [ Continue Reading ]
(25-27) The Mosaic law of borrowing and lending was strange and peculiar. It was absolutely forbidden to exact any interest from those borrowers who were Israelites. The wording of the present passage, and of some others (Leviticus 25:35; Deuteronomy 15:7), construed strictly, prohibits interest onl... [ Continue Reading ]
THY NEIGHBOUR’S RAIMENT. — The _simlah,_ or _salmah,_ here translated “raiment,” was the large flowing outer raiment, elsewhere called _beged,_ which was commonly of woollen, and corresponded to the _abba_ of the modern Arabs. It was a warm wrapper, and has sometimes been compared to a Scotch plaid.... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU SHALT NOT REVILE THE GODS. — The LXX. And Vulgate give the passage this sense; and so it was understood, or at any rate expounded, by Philo (_De Vit. Mos._ ii. 26) and Josephus (_Ant. Jud._ iv. 8, § 10), who boasted that the Jews abstained from reviling the gods of the nations. But the practice... [ Continue Reading ]
THE FIRST OF THY RIPE FRUITS. — Heb., _of thy fulness._ “Firstfruits” were the spontaneous tribute of natural piety among almost all nations. They were called by the Greeks ἀπαρχαί, by the Romans _primitive._ Abel’s offering (Genesis 4:4) was one of the “firstlings of his flock,” and Cain’s probably... [ Continue Reading ]
THINE OXEN. — Rather, _thy beeves._ The word used is applied to horned cattle of either sex. SEVEN DAYS IT SHALL BE WITH HIS DAM. — Compare Leviticus 22:27. The main object of forbidding sacrifice before the eighth day would appear to have beer-regard for the health and comfort of the mother, which... [ Continue Reading ]
YE SHALL BE HOLY MEN UNTO ME. — Compare Exodus 19:6. The holiness really desired was holiness of heart and spirit. Outward ordinances could not effect this; but, to keep the thought perpetually before- men’s minds, a network of external obligations was devised, whereof a specimen is given in the law... [ Continue Reading ]