THE LESSER LAW. Exodus 20:18 - Exodus 23:33. With the close of the Decalogue and its universal obligations, we approach a brief code of laws, purely Hebrew, but of the deepest moral interest, confessed by hostile criticism to bear every mark of a remote antiquity, and distinctly severed from what... [ Continue Reading ]
CHAPTER XXI. _ THE LESSER LAW (continued)._ PART II.--RIGHTS OF THE PERSON. Exodus 21:1. The first words of God from Sinai had declared that He was Jehovah Who brought them out of slavery. And in this remarkable code, the first person whose rights are dealt with is the slave. We saw that a denun... [ Continue Reading ]
PART III.--RIGHTS OF PROPERTY. Exodus 21:33 - Exodus 22:15. The vital and quickening principle in this section is the stress it lays upon man's responsibility for negligence, and the indirect consequences of his deed. All sin is selfish, and all selfishness ignores the right of others. Am I my brot... [ Continue Reading ]