Leviticus 24:23

_AND MOSES SPAKE TO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, THAT THEY SHOULD BRING FORTH HIM THAT HAD CURSED OUT OF THE CAMP, AND STONE HIM WITH STONES. AND THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL DID AS THE LORD COMMANDED MOSES._ The children of Israel did as the Lord commanded. The chapter closes with the execution of Shelomith's son; and stoning having afterward become the established punishment in all cases of blasphemy, illustrates the fate of Stephen, who suffered under a false imputation of that crime....

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 24:23. _AND STONE HIM WITH STONES._] We are not to suppose that the culprit was exposed to the unbridled fury of the thousands of Israel; this would be _brutality_, not _justice_, for the very worst of tempers and passions might be produced and fostered by such a procedure. The Jews themselves tell us that their manner of stoning was this: they brought the condemned person without the camp, because his crime had rendered him _unclean_, and whatever was unclean must be put _without the camp_. When they came within four cubits of the place of execution, they stripped the criminal, if a man, leaving him nothing but a cloth about the waist. The place on which he was to be executed was elevated, and the witnesses went up with him to it, and laid their hands upon him, for the purposes mentioned...

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 MOSES SPAKE UNTO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL,.... As the Lord had commanded him: THAT THEY SHOULD BRING FORTH HIM THAT HAD CURSED OUT OF THE CAMP, AND STONE HIM WITH STONES; which were the instructions God had given to Moses upon inquiring his mind and will about this matter: AND THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL DID AS THE LORD COMMANDED MOSES; they took the blasphemer, and led him out of the camp, put their hands on him, and stoned him with stones till he died....

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

LEVITICUS 24:10; LEVITICUS 24:23. The punishment for blasphemy connected, as in Leviticus 10:1 and Sabbath breaking, with an actual example. Language and literary manner suggest that the section is later than H, as also the new beginning in Leviticus 24:15 and the position of Leviticus 24:23. The guilty man, the offspring of a mixed marriage (forbidden in Deuteronomy 7:3;...

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....

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...

OIL FOR THE LAMPS. THE SHEWBREAD. LAWS ON BLASPHEMY 1-4. Oil for the Lamps in the Tabernacle. On the construction of the Lampstand see Exodus 25:31, and with the present passage cp. Exodus 27:20 and notes there. 5-9. The Table of Shewbread is described in Exodus 25:23 (see notes there). On this table, which stood in the Holy Place, twelve new unleavened loaves were laid each sabbath day, and after lying for seven days were removed and eaten by the priests, fresh loaves being again substituted. These loaves, the number of which corresponded to that of the tribes of Israel, are called the 'bread of the Presence,' as being laid before God, or 'bread of the pile' as being arranged in two rows ...