Leviticus 24:17

_AND HE THAT KILLETH ANY MAN SHALL SURELY BE PUT TO DEATH._ He that killeth any man. These verses contain a repetition of some other laws relating to offences of a social nature, the penalties for which were to be inflicted, not by the hand of private parties, but through the medium of the judges before whom the cause was brought....

17._And he that killeth any man_. We now proceed to the confirmation of the Sixth Commandment afforded by the Judicial Law; and first, the punishment of death is awarded to murderers. To “smite the life” (26) is equivalent to wounding mortally, so that death ensues, as Moses more clearly explains himself in Exodus. But although he speaks briefly, like a legislator, there is no doubt but that he would have those whom he adjudges to die put to death by the sentence of the judges; the manner of executing the punishment we shall see in its proper place. Now although God did not carry out to absolute perfection the laws which He enacted, yet in their principle He desired that a clear and unreserved approval of His Commandments should appear. And this was the reason why I commenced with this passage, because it directly corresponds with the Sixth Commandment. (27)...

10-23 This offender was the son of an Egyptian father, and an Israelitish mother. The notice of his parents shows the common ill effect of mixed marriages. A standing law for the stoning of blasphemers was made upon this occasion. Great stress is laid upon this law. It extends to the strangers among them, as well as to those born in the land. Strangers, as well as native Israelites, should be entitled to the benefit of the law, so as not to suffer wrong; and should be liable to the penalty of this law, in case they did wrong. If those who profane the name of God escape punishment from men, yet the Lord our God will not suffer them to escape his righteous judgments. What enmity against God must be in the heart of man, when blasphemies against God proceed out of his mouth. If he that despised Moses' law, died without mercy, of what punishment will they be worthy, who despise and abuse the...

Verse Leviticus 24:17. _HE THAT KILLETH ANY MAN_] Blasphemy against God, i. e., speaking _injuriously_ of his name, his attributes, his government, and his revelation, together with murder, is to be punished with death: he that blasphemes God is a curse in society, and he who takes away, wilfully and by malicious intent, the life of any man, should certainly be put to death. In this respect God has absolutely required that life shall go for life....

EXPOSITION The reason why the narrative of the blasphemer's death (Leviticus 24:10-3) is introduced in its present connection, is simply that it took place at the point of time which followed the promulgation of the last law. It serves, however, to vindicate by a memorable example the principle which is at the foundation of every Mosaic law. "I am the Lord" is the often-repeated sanction, whether of a moral law or of a ceremonial regulation. But this bastard Israelite, one of the mixed multitude that had followed in the flight from Egypt (Exodus 12:38), blasphemed the Name of the Lord. If such blasphemy were to go unpunished, the obligation of law was dissolved. For, as Lange has said, "A community which suffers the reviling of the principle of their community without reaction, is mo

AND HE THAT KILLETH ANY MAN SHALL SURELY BE PUT TO DEATH. With the sword, as the Targum of Jonathan adds; which restrains it to any man of the children of Israel, but wrongly; for the original law respects any man whatever, Genesis 9:6; and so it does here; Exodus 21:12....

3. BLASPHEMY AND ISRAEL'S SIN FORESHADOWED CHAPTER 24:10-23 _ 1. The blasphemy (Leviticus 24:10)_ 2. The penalty executed (Leviticus 24:23) The blasphemer who blasphemed the Name and cursed, foreshadows the sin of Israel. They sinned and blasphemed that holy Name: and on account of the rejection of the Lord Jesus Christ, the curse has come upon them. But it will not be permanent. The remnant of Israel will be saved in the future day, when He comes back and they shall welcome Him: “Blessed is He that cometh in the Name of the Lord.” The Jews have based upon this incident of the blasphemer the traditional belief that it is sinful to pronounce the Name of Jehovah. For this reason they substitute the word “Adonai.” The twenty-fourth chapter shows in its first par

The Lex Talionis (_cf._ Exodus 21:23; Matthew 5:38). An early and simple form of the assessment and administration of judicial penalties. For Leviticus 24:17, _cf._ Genesis 9:5: in Exodus 21:20, the principle is not yet allowed full scope. Another early system was that of fines (assessed in a sort of tariff) for crimes (_cf._ Anglo-Saxon law and Code of Hammurabi; _cf._ also Exodus 21:18). A middle course is taken in the guilt offering when an extra one-fifth i

ANY MAN. the soul (Hebrew. _nephesh._ App-13) of. man. Hebrew. _'adam._...

Incident of the blasphemer, and laws arising out of that occurrence or suggested by it. This section closely resembles Numbers 15:32-36, which relates the punishment of the man found gathering sticks on the sabbath day. The blasphemer was only half Israelite; according to Deuteronomy 23:8 children of the Edomites and the Egyptians were admitted into the congregation in the third generation, but after the Return alliances with Egyptians and other -strange" nations were prohibited (Ezra 9:10; Nehemiah 13) on the ground that from such mixed marriages harmful results to the Jewish faith might be anticipated....