The sixth commandment is, "You shall not murder"(5:17). The representative laws in this chapter all protected people who were vulnerable for one reason or another. Civil law is in view.
God revealed the law concerning how the Israelites were to deal with manslayers earlier (cf. Num. 35:9-34). In Israel this kind of crime was a domestic rather than a civil matter. Families were to deal with it rather than the courts. The instructions given here urge application of this law and explain the need for three more cities of refuge west of the Jordan River. Moses had already designated three towns on the east side of the Jordan (4:41-43). The provision of cities of refuge taught the Israelites how important life is to God. The cities of refuge were extensions of the altar in the tabernacle courtyard as a place of asylum.212
"The extension of the power of Israel to the Euphrates under David and Solomon, did not bring the land as far as this river into their actual possession, since the conquered kingdoms of Aram were still inhabited by the Aramaeans, who, though conquered, were only rendered tributary. And the Tyrians and Phoenicians, who belonged to the Canaanitish population, were not even attacked by David."213
The Israelites never appointed this third set of three cities of refuge since she never secured the full extent of the Promised Land.
The previous pericope alluded to the need for witnesses, and this one explains their role. A common cause of hostility between individuals that sometimes led to homicide was a failure to agree on common boundaries and to respect property rights (cf. 1 Kings 21:1-26; 22:37-38).214In the ancient world boundary markers protected the property rights of individuals (v. 14). Many nations as well as Israel regarded them as sacred. Stones several feet high marked the boundaries of royal grants.215The Romans executed people who moved boundary markers.216Tribal boundaries were particularly significant in the Promised Land because Yahweh, the owner of the land, determined them.
In Israel judges assumed a person was innocent until proven guilty. Verses 15-21 explain what they were to do if they suspected some witness of giving false testimony. Normally at least two witnesses were necessary (17:6), but sometimes there was only one. In such a case the trial moved to the supreme court at the tabernacle (v. 17; cf. 17:8-13). False witnesses received the punishment they sought to bring on the persons they falsely accused (vv. 19, 21).217God here extended to all criminals the safeguards formerly guaranteed to capital offenders. Jesus did not deny the validity of this principle for the courtroom, but He forbade its application in interpersonal relationships (Matt. 5:38-42).
God's concern for His people's lives, possessions, and reputations stands out in this chapter.
These instructions deal with how Israel was to come into possession of the Promised Land (cf. Num. 33:50-56). They are in the context of civil legislation because Israel did not have a standing army. Soldiers volunteered to go into battle. Warfare and its prosecution are relevant to the subject of death and thus to the sixth commandment. This section provided a "manual of warfare"for the Israelites outlining their attitude and approach toward national enemies.218
"Because Yahweh was God not only of Israel but also of all the earth, these interests [of warfare] extended far beyond Israel's narrow concerns. He was, however, Israel's God in a special way, and as such He would lead His people in battle as the divine warrior (20:4)."219
In all wars Israel was to remember that God was with her and to rely on His help with confidence regardless of the enemy's strength (vv. 1-4). Christians too should recall God's past faithfulness when we encounter adversity and gain courage from His promises that He will be with us (Matt. 28:20; Heb. 13:5-6). The priest (v. 2) was not necessarily the high priest but the priest who accompanied the army in battle (as Phinehas did in Numbers 31:6).
"In the ancient world, priests and interpreters of omens were regular members of military staffs (cf. Num 10:8, 9; 31:6; I Sam 7:9ff.). The function of the Israelite priest was not analogous to that of a modern army chaplain. He rather represented the sanctuary in the name of which the Israelite host advanced; he consecrated the battle to the glory of the Lord of hosts and of his covenant kingdom."220
All soldiers with new responsibilities that would have distracted them from concentrating on their work as warriors (vv. 5-7), as well as fearful soldiers (v. 8), did not have to participate in a given battle.
"Beginnings were important in the Semitic mind and hence also in Israel. Since death in battle would deprive certain groups of men from commencing particular enterprises, exemptions were made."221
"It is a well-attested fact that fear or preoccupation in the midst of conflict can endanger the life not only of the person afflicted by it but also the person's compatriots. . . .
"In each of these instances death in war resulted in the dispossession of blessing and its appropriation by someone else who otherwise had no just claim to it. Mixed with the demand for compulsory military service, then, was a leaven of compassion that made possible to all men the enjoyment of that which constitutes life in its fullest--home, sustenance, and family love."222
God's purpose was to use only the best soldiers, those who were confident of God's promise of victory. Israel did not need a large army since God would fight for her.
The cities far from the Promised Land, contrasted with Canaanite cities (vv. 10-15), were not as degenerate as the Canaanite towns. Aramean women adopted the religions of their husbands, which is why Abraham insisted that his servant get a wife for Isaac from the Aramean culture rather than from among the Canaanites (Gen. 24). Thus the women and children of these more remote lands did not have to die. King Ahab later married a Canaanite woman, Jezebel, who did not adopt her husband's faith but imported Baalism into Israel.
The Israelite commanders were to offer terms of peace to each city they attacked outside the Promised Land (vv. 15-16). Israel was not to shed blood unnecessarily. If the city accepted the terms, the population would serve the Israelites (cf. Josh. 9:3-27). If it refused, the Israelites would kill all the males but spare the females, animals, and spoil. The Israelites were to destroy completely the people within the Promised Land (vv. 16-18).223
"The central purpose of these instructions is to emphasize that Israel's warfare was not intended for foreign aggression or personal wealth (cf Ge 14:21-24)."224
The law guarding fruit trees seems intended for application in all sieges whether against the Canaanites or others (vv. 19-20). Fruit trees were part of God's provision of food for His people. Other ancient nations wreaked total havoc in the territories they conquered.225However, Israel was not to destroy the important natural resource of fruit trees except for the reason stated (v. 20).
God's people should conduct their spiritual warfare confident in God's presence, power, and ultimate victory (cf. 2 Cor. 10:3-4; Eph. 6:12; Col. 2:15).
"The reason for grouping these five laws [in ch. 21], which are apparently so different from one another, as well as for attaching them to the previous regulations, is to be found in the desire to bring out distinctly the sacredness of life and of personal rights from every point of view, and impress it upon the covenant nation."226
Cities were responsible for murders committed within their jurisdictions. This indicates that there is corporate guilt in God's government. The ritual prescribed removed the pollution caused by bloodshed.
The heifer (young cow) represented the unknown murderer. It was his substitute. It was to be an animal that had not done hard labor; its vital force was undiminished (v. 3). The leaders were to take this heifer into an unplowed field in a valley where there was running water and break its neck. The breaking of the neck symbolized the punishment due the murderer but executed on his substitute. The blood of the heifer would fall on unplowed ground that would absorb it. It would disappear rather than turning up at some future date because of plowing. The water cleansed the hands of the elders who had become ritually defiled by the shedding of the sacrifice's blood. This ritual removed the impurity that would rest on the people of the city because someone they could not find had shed human blood near it. It atoned for this guilt in such a case.227
Everything in this section has some connection with the sixth commandment remote though it may be in some cases.
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