Leviticus 24:20

_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....

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 24:20. _BREACH FOR BREACH_] This is a repetition of the _lex_ _talionis_, which _see explained, Clarke's note "_Exodus 21:24_"_....

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

BREACH FOR BREACH, EYE FOR EYE, TOOTH FOR TOOTH,.... Which is not to be taken strictly or literally, but for the price or value of those, which is to be given in a pecuniary way; Exodus 21:24, Exodus 21:25; AS HE HATH CAUSED A BLEMISH IN A MAN, SHALL IT BE DONE TO HIM; unless he gives satisfaction, and pays a valuable consideration for it....

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

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....

BREACH FOR BREACH, &C.— These words fully prove that we are to take those in Exodus 21:24 in a literal sense. We are not to imagine that individuals were permitted to avenge themselves, they were to refer their injuries to the judges. There is no doubt, however, that reason, in various cases, required a compensation; for the same member is far more valuable to one man than to another; as in that case mentioned by Diodorus Siculus, lib. 12: where the one-eyed man complains of the rigour of this law, as it took place among the heathens: for, if he lost his other eye, he must have suffered more than the man whom he injured, and who still had one eye left; so the right hand of a scribe, or painter, cannot be so well spared as that of a finger. The _lex talionis,_ therefore, of the twelve tables made this exception, _si membrum rupit, ni cum eo pacet, talio esto; i.e._ unless he agre

3. HISTORICAL: THE PUNISHMENT OF A BLASPHEMER 24:10-23 TEXT 24:10-23 10 And the son of an Israelitish woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel; and the son of the Israelitish woman and a man of Israel strove together in the camp: 11 and the son of the Israelitish woman blasphemed the Name, and cursed; and they brought him unto Moses. And his mother's name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan. 12 And they put him in ward, that it might be declared unto them at the mouth of Jehovah. 13 And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, 14 Bring forth him that hath cursed without the camp; and let all that heard him lay their hands upon his head, and let all the congregation stone him. 15 And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, Whosoever curseth his God shall bear his sin. 16 And he that blasphemeth the name of Jehovah...