Exodus 21:1--22:31
decisions <04941> [the judgments.]
set <07760> [which.]
Hebrew <05680> [an Hebrew.]
seventh <07637> [and in the.]
himself ....... himself <01610> [by himself. Heb. with his body.]
servant <05650> [And if.]
<0559> [shall plainly say. Heb. saying shall say.]
judges <0430> [the judges.]
pierce ... ear <0241 07527> [bore his ear.]
This significant ceremony was intended as a mark of permanent servitude, and was calculated to impress the servant with the duty of hearing all his master's orders, and obeying them punctually.
forever <05769> [for ever.]
sells <04376> [sell.]
go out <03318> [go out.]
does not please ... master <07451 0113> [please not. Heb. be evil in the eyes of, etc.]
designated <03259> [who hath.]
deceitfully <0898> [seeing.]
food <07607> [her food.]
{Sheairah,} "her flesh;" he shall not only afford her a sufficient quantity of food, as before, but of the same quality. She is not to be fed, like a common slave, with a sufficiency of bread, vegetables, milk, etc., but with her customary supply of flesh, and other agreeable articles of food.
premeditation <06658> [lie not.]
<0430> [God.]
appoint <07760> [I will appoint.]
if .... willfully <02102> [presumptuously.]
kill <02026> [slay.]
take ...... altar <03947 04196> [take him.]
To smite either father or mother, in a manner which indicated either contempt or malice, or left marks of violence, was deemed a proof of so ungrateful and unnatural a disposition, that no provocation was admitted as an excuse, but the offence was made capital: nay, he who cursed his father or mother, who uttered imprecations, ill wishes, or revilings, against a parent, was included in the same sense; though few crimes were made capital by the law of Moses. The law of God, as delegated to parents is honoured when they are honoured, and despised when they are despised: and to rebel against the lawful exercise of this authority is rebellion against God.--Rev. T. Scott
kidnaps <01589> [stealeth.]
sells him .... caught <04376 04672> [selleth him.]
him .... caught ... holding <04672 03027> [found in.]
treats <07043> [curseth. or, revilteth.]
<0582> [men.]
neighbor <07453> [another. or, his neighbour. a stone.]
staff <04938> [upon his staff.]
<05414> [only he shall pay.]
This was a wise and excellent institution. The same provision is made in the civil law; and most courts of justice still regulate their decisions in such cases by this Mosaic precept.
loss of time <07674> [the loss. Heb. his ceasing.]
strikes <05221> [smite.]
surely ... punished <05358> [he shall.]
surely ... punished <05358> [punished. Heb. avenged.]
fight <05327> [strive.]
court decides <06414> [as the judges.]
life .... life <05315> [life for life.]
This is the earliest account we have of the [towtopatheia,] tautopatheia,] Lex Talionis, law of like for like.
ox .............. ox .................. ox <07794> [the ox.]
owner ............... killed .............. man .... put to death <01167 04191> [his owner also.]
redemption <06306> [for the ransom.]
ox .................... ox <07794> [and the ox.]
sheep ..................... sheep ..... sheep <07716 06629> [sheep. or, goat. he shall.]
There is a smaller compensation required in other things, (ver. 9,) and also a disproportion between an ox and a sheep. The reason of the former is, as Maimonides explains it, because money, goods, etc., are better guarded in houses and cities, than cattle in a field; which consequently can be more easily stolen. The reason of the latter seems to be, as it is explained by Bishop Patrick, that an ox was of greater value, and more useful for the purposes of husbandry.
five .... cattle <02568 01241> [five oxen.]
breaking <04290> [breaking.]
blood <01818> [no blood.]
sold <04376> [then he shall.]
in fact ... found <04672> [found.]
pay back double <07999 08147> [he shall restore double.]
make restitution <07999> [shall he make restitution.]
fire breaks out <0784 03318> [If fire break out.]
Mr. Harmer observes, that it is a common custom in the East to set the dry herbage on fire; which fires, from want of care, often produce great damage. Hence a law to guard against such evils was highly expedient.
stacked grain <01430> [so that the stacks of corn.]
started ... fire <01200 01197> [he that kindled the fire.]
thief ... caught <01590 04672> [if the thief be found.]
repay double <07999 08147> [let him pay double.]
judges <0430> [the judges.]
cases ... illegal possessions ........................... matter <01697 06588> [for all manner of trespass.]
cases .............................. matter .... two ................... double <08147 01697> [the cause of both parties.]
two .................. repay double <08147 07999> [pay double unto his.]
oath .... Lord <03068 07621> [an oath of the Lord.]
laid <07971> [that he hath not.]
stolen from ..... pay <01589 07999> [stolen from him.]
torn ... pieces <02963> [torn in pieces.]
bring .... evidence <05707 0935> [let him bring it for witness.]
Or, rather, "Let him bring" {aid hatteraiphah,} an evidence of the thing torn, such as the horns, hoofs, etc.
borrows <07592> [borrow.]
it ..... borrowed ..... pay <07999> [make it good.]
paid .... hire <07939 0935> [it came for his hire.]
man seduces <06601 0376> [a man entice.]
her ... refuses <03985> [utterly.]
pay <08254> [pay. Heb. weigh.]
bride price ... virgins <01330 04119> [dowry of virgins.]
sacrifices <02076> [sacrificeth.]
utterly <02763> [utterly.]
wrong ... foreigner ........ foreigners <01616 03238> [vex a stranger.]
foreigner ........ foreigners <01616> [for ye were strangers.]
cry <06817> [they cry at all.]
surely hear <08085> [I will surely.]
anger <0639> [my wrath.]
wives <0802> [your wives.]
take ........ pledge <02254> [to pledge.]
cries out <06817> [when he crieth.]
gracious <02587> [for I am gracious.]
God <0430> [the gods. or, judges.]
curse <0779> [nor curse.]
hold back <0309> [shalt not delay.]
[the first of they ripe fruits. Heb. they fulness. liquors.]
Heb. tear. the firstborn.
this <03651> [Likewise.]
seven days ............. on .... day <07651 03117> [seven days.]
holy <06944> [holy.]
eat <0398> [neither.]
Leviticus 20:1-27
Any man <0376> [Whosoever.]
gives <05414> [giveth.]
[Moloch. Molech.]
The Rabbins describe this idol as made of brass sitting upon a throne of the same metal, in the form of a man, with the head of a calf, adorned with a royal crown, and his arms extended as if to embrace any one. When they offered any children to him, they heated the statue by a great fire kindled within, and the victim was put into his arms, and thus consumed. Others relate, that the idol, which was hollow, was divided into seven compartments within; in one of which they put flour, in the second turtles, in the third a ewe, in the fourth a ram, in the fifth a calf, in the sixth an ox, and the seventh a child; which were all burnt together by heating the statue inside. The account which Diodorus (l. xx.) gives of the statue of Saturn, to which the Carthaginians, descendants of the Canaanites, sacrificed their children, is very similar. For they had a brazen stature of Saturn, stretching out his hands towards the ground, in such a manner that the children placed within them tumbled down into a pit full of fire. To this account Milton alludes, in Paradise Lost, B. 1. 392.
people <05971> [the people.]
will set .................... given <05414> [I will set.]
defiled <02930> [to defile.]
profaned <02490> [profane.]
however ....... shut <05956> [hide.]
death <04191> [and kill.]
set <07760> [I will.]
clan <04940> [against his.]
prostitution .... prostitution <02181> [whoring.]
spirits <0178> [familiar.]
prostitution <02181> [go.]
cut ... off <03772> [cut him.]
In the days of Moses, superstition was almost the {sensus communis} of the human race, which then made severe punishment necessary: by means of the Christian dispensation such errors are now exploded, the cultivation of philosophy and natural history having harmonised and contributed their feebler share of light, so that we no longer have to deplore mischiefs occasioned by the silly curiosity attempting to unfold future events.
sure <08104> [And ye.]
sanctifies <06942> [sanctify.]
curses .............. cursed <07043> [curseth.]
The term {yekallel} signifies not only to curse, but to speak contemptuously, disrespectfully, or to make light of a person: so that all speeches which have a tendency to lessen our parents in the eyes of others, or to render their judgment, piety, etc., suspected or contemptible, is here included; though the act of cursing, or of treating the parent with injurious or opprobrious language, is what is particularly intended. He who conscientiously keeps the fifth commandment, can be in no danger of the judgment here denounced.
blood <01818> [his blood.]
commits adultery ........ adulterer .... adulteress <05003> [the adulterer.]
blood <01818> [their.]
sexual <07901> [lie.]
perversion <08397> [confusion.]
woman <0802> [a wife.]
burned <08313> [burnt.]
woman ............... woman <0802> [And if a woman.]
We are assured by Herodotus (in Euterp.) that the abominations here referred to existed among the Egyptians, and even formed part of their superstitious religious system, and we have reason to believe that they were not uncommon among the Canaanites. (See ch. 18:24, 25). Need we wonder then, that God should have made laws of this nature, and appointed the punishment of death for these crimes? This one observation will account for many of those strange prohibitions which we find in the Mosaic law.
animal ............... animal <0929> [and the beast.]
menstruating <01739> [having.]
laid bare <06168> [discovered. Heb. made naked.]
mother's <0517> [mother's.]
has laid bare .......... punishment <06168> [uncovereth.]
aunt <01733> [uncle's wife.]
childless <06185> [childless.]
brother's .......... brother's <0251> [his brother's.]
indecency <05079> [an unclean thing. Heb. a separation.]
[statues.]
regulations <04941> [judgments.]
vomit <06958> [spue you.]
statutes <02708> [in the manners.]
disgust <06973> [therefore.]
said <0559> [But I. See on]
land <0776> [a land.]
Milk and honey were the chief dainties of the ancients as they are now among the Arabs, particularly the Bedouins. Hence not only the Hebrews, but also the Greeks and Romans, painted the highest pleasantness and fertility by an abundance of milk and honey. The image used in the text, and frequently by ancient authors on similar subjects, is a metaphor, derived from a breast, producing copious streams of milk.
apart <0914> [which.]
distinguish ......................................... distinguished <0914> [put difference.]
detestable <08262> [abominable.]
creeps <07430> [creepeth. or, moveth.]
Lord <03068> [the Lord.]
apart <0914> [severed.]
spirit <0178> [a familiar.]
blood <01818> [their blood.]
Deuteronomy 13:1-18
prophet <05030> [a prophet.]
That is, one pretending to the divine inspiration and authority of the prophetic office, or a dreamer of dreams, one who pretends that some deity has spoken to him in the night season, and giveth thee a sign, {oth,} what appears to be a miraculous proof of his mission, or a wonder, {mopheth,} some portentous sign, such as an eclipse, which he, who knew when it would happen, might predict to the people, who knew nothing of the matter, and thereby accredit his pretensions. But no pretended miracles must be admitted as a proof that the people might violate the first and great commandment.
foretells <02492> [a dreamer.]
listen <08085> [hearken.]
testing <05254> [proveth.]
Lord ... God .......... love him <0430 0157 03068 03426> [ye love the Lord your God.]
<03212> [walk.]
obey <08085> [and obey.]
remain loyal <01692> [and cleave.]
prophet <05030> [prophet.]
encouraged <01696> [spoken. Heb. spoken revolt against the Lord. turn you.]
purge ... evil ... within <07451 01197 07130> [put the evil away from the midst.]
full brother <0251> [thy brother.]
<05315> [which is.]
seduce <05496> [entice.]
known <03045> [which thou.]
give in <014> [consent.]
feel <05869> [shall thine.]
kill ... without fail <02026> [But.]
hand ............ hands <03027> [thine hand.]
stone <05619 068> [stone him.]
By this law, every Israelite was bound in conscience to inform against, to prosecute, and to assist at the execution of any one, even the nearest relation or friend, who attempted to persuade him to idolatry; yet it is observable that parents and husbands are not expressly mentioned in the list of those who were thus publicly accused.--Scott.
delivered ... from <03318> [which brought.]
slavery <05650> [bondage. Heb. bondmen.]
<01121> [the children. or, naughty men.]
evil <01100> [Belial.]
Belial is derived by some from {beli,} not, and {ƒl,} over, i.e., one so proud and envious as not to bear a superior; by others, from {beli,} not, and {ol,} a yoke, i.e., a lawless, ungovernable person, [andres paranomoi,] "lawless men," as the LXX render. It is, however, more probably derived from {beli,} not, and {y„ƒl}, profit, i.e., a worthless person, good for nothing to himself or others, and capable of nothing but mischief.
departed <03318> [are gone.]
<03212> [Let us.]
annihilate <02763> [destroying it utterly.]
burn <08313 0784> [burn with.]
ruin <08510> [an heap.]
<01692> [cleave.]
placed under judgment <02764> [cursed. or, devoted.]
Lord <03068> [the Lord.]
show <05414> [and shew.]
multiply <07235> [and multiply.]
promised <07650> [as he hath.]
keeping <08104> [to keep.]
