The
laws of this chapter provide, I. For the preservation of charity and good
neighbourship, in the care of strayed or fallen cattle, ver. 1-4. II. For
the preservation of order and distinction, that men and women should not
wear one another's clothes (ver. 5), and that other needless mixtures should
be avoided, ver. 9-11. III. For the preservation of birds, ver. 6, 7. IV. Of
life, ver. 8. V. Of the commandments, ver. 12. VI. Of the reputation of a
wife abused, if she were innocent (ver. 13-19), but for her punishment if
guilty, ver. 20, 21. VII. For the preservation of the chastity of wives,
ver. 22. Virgins betrothed (ver. 23-27), or not betrothed, ver. 28, 29. And,
lastly, against incest, ver. 30.
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Kindness
and Humanity.
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B.
C. 1451.
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1 Thou shalt not see
thy brother's ox or his sheep go astray, and hide thyself from them: thou
shalt in any case bring them again unto thy brother. 2 And if
thy brother be not nigh unto thee, or if thou know him not, then thou
shalt bring it unto thine own house, and it shall be with thee until thy
brother seek after it, and thou shalt restore it to him again. 3
In like manner shalt thou do with his ass; and so shalt thou do with his
raiment; and with all lost thing of thy brother's, which he hath lost, and
thou hast found, shalt thou do likewise: thou mayest not hide thyself.
4 Thou shalt not see thy brother's ass or his ox fall down by the way, and
hide thyself from them: thou shalt surely help him to lift them up
again.
The kindness that was commanded to be shown in reference to an enemy (Exod.
xxxiii. 4, &c.) is here required to be much more done for a neighbour,
though he were not an Israelite, for the law is consonant to natural equity.
1. That strayed cattle should be brought back, either to the owner or to the
pasture out of which they had gone astray, v. 1, 2. This must be done
in pity to the very cattle, which, while they wandered, were exposed; and in
civility and respect to the owner, nay, and in justice to him, for it was
doing as we would be done by, which is one of the fundamental laws of
equity. Note, Religion teaches us to be neighbourly, and to be ready to do
all good offices, as we have opportunity, to all men. In doing this, (1.)
They must not mind trouble, but, if they knew who the owner was, must take
it back themselves; for, if they should only send notice to the owner to
come and look after it himself, some mischief might befall it ere he could
reach it. (2.) They must not mind expense, but, if they knew not who the
owner was, must take it home and feed it till the owner was found. If such
care must be taken of a neighbour's ox or ass going astray, much more of
himself going astray from God and his duty; we should do our utmost to
convert him (Jam. v. 19), and restore him, considering ourselves, Gal. vi.
1. 2. That lost goods should be brought to the owner, v. 3. The Jews
say, "He that found the lost goods was to give public notice of them by
the common crier three or four times," according to the usage with us;
if the owner could not be found, he that found the goods might convert them
to his own use; but (say some learned writers in this case) he would do very
well to give the value of the goods to the poor. 3. That cattle in distress
should be helped, v. 4. This must be done both in compassion to the
brute-creatures (for a merciful man regardeth the life of a beast,
though it be not his own) and in love and friendship to our neighbour, not
knowing how soon we may have occasion for his help. If one member may say to
another, "I have at present no need of thee," it cannot say,
"I never shall."
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Various
Prohibitions.
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B.
C. 1451.
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5 The woman shall not
wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's
garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD
thy God. 6 If a bird's nest chance to be before thee in the way
in any tree, or on the ground, whether they be young ones, or eggs,
and the dam sitting upon the young, or upon the eggs, thou shalt not take
the dam with the young: 7 But thou shalt in any wise let
the dam go, and take the young to thee; that it may be well with thee, and that
thou mayest prolong thy days. 8 When thou buildest a new
house, then thou shalt make a battlement for thy roof, that thou bring not
blood upon thine house, if any man fall from thence. 9 Thou
shalt not sow thy vineyard with divers seeds: lest the fruit of thy seed
which thou hast sown, and the fruit of thy vineyard, be defiled.
10 Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together. 11 Thou
shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts, as of woollen and linen
together. 12 Thou shalt make thee fringes upon the four quarters
of thy vesture, wherewith thou coverest thyself.
Here are several laws in these verses which seem to stoop very low, and to
take cognizance of things mean and minute. Men's laws commonly do not so: De
minimis non curat lex--The law takes no cognizance of little things; but
because God's providence extends itself to the smallest affairs, his
precepts do so, that even in them we may be in the fear of the Lord,
as we are under his eye and care. And yet the significancy and tendency of
these statutes, which seem little, are such that, notwithstanding their
minuteness, being fond among the things of God's law, which he has written
to us, they are to be accounted great things.
I. The distinction of sexes by the apparel is to be kept up, for the
preservation of our own and our neighbour's chastity, v. 5. Nature
itself teaches that a difference be made between them in their hair
(1 Cor. xi. 14), and by the same rule in their clothes, which therefore
ought not to be confounded, either in ordinary wear or occasionally. To
befriend a lawful escape or concealment it may be done, but whether for
sport or in the acting of plays is justly questionable. 1. Some think it
refers to the idolatrous custom of the Gentiles: in the worship of Venus,
women appeared in armour, and men in women's clothes; this, as other such
superstitious usages, is here said to be an abomination to the Lord.
2. It forbids the confounding of the dispositions and affairs of the sexes:
men must not be effeminate, nor do the women's work in the house, nor must
women be viragos, pretend to teach, or usurp authority, 1 Tim. ii.
11, 12. Probably this confounding of garments had been used to gain
opportunity of committing uncleanness, and is therefore forbidden; for those
that would be kept from sin must keep themselves from all occasions of it
and approaches to it.
II. In taking a bird's-nest, the dam must be let go, v. 6, 7. The
Jews say, "This is the least of all the commandments of the law of
Moses," and yet the same promise is here made to the observance of it
that is made to the keeping of the fifth commandment, which is one of the
greatest, that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy
days; for, as disobedience in a small matter shows a very great contempt
of the law, so obedience in a small matter shows a very great regard to it.
He that let go a bird out of his hand (which was worth two in the bush)
purely because God bade him, in that made it to appear that he esteemed
all God's precepts concerning all things to be right, and that he could
deny himself rather than sin against God. But doth God take care for
birds? 1 Cor. ix. 9. Yes, certainly; and perhaps to this law our Saviour
alludes. Luke xii. 6, Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and
not one of them is forgotten before God? This law, 1. Forbids us to be
cruel to the brute-creatures, or to take a pleasure in destroying them.
Though God has made us wiser than the fowls of heaven, and given us dominion
over them, yet we must not abuse them nor rule them with rigour. Let
go the dam to breed again; destroy it not, for a blessing is in it,
Isa. lxv. 8. 2. It teaches us compassion to those of our own kind, and to
abhor the thought of every thing that looks barbarous, and cruel, and
ill-natured, especially towards those of the weaker and tender sex, which
always ought to be treated with the utmost respect, in consideration of the
sorrows wherein they bring forth children. It is spoken of as an instance of
the most inhuman cruelty that the mother was dashed to pieces upon her
children (Hos. x. 14), and that the women with child were ripped
open, Amos i. 13. 3. It further intimates that we must not take
advantage against any, from their natural affection and the tenderness of
their disposition, to do them an injury. The dam could not have been taken
if her concern for her eggs or young (unlike to the ostrich) had not
detained her upon the next when otherwise she could easily have secured
herself by flight. Now, since it is a thousand pities that she should fare
the worse for that which is her praise, the law takes care that she shall be
let go. The remembrance of this may perhaps, some time or other, keep us
from doing a hard or unkind thing to those whom we have at our mercy.
III. In building a house, care must be taken to make it safe, that none
might receive mischief by falling from it, v. 8. The roofs of their
houses were flat for people to walk on, as appears by many scriptures; now
lest any, through carelessness, should fall off them, they must compass them
with battlements, which (the Jews say) must be three feet and a half high;
if this were not done, and mischief followed, the owner, by his neglect,
brought the guilt of blood upon his house. See here, 1. How precious men's
lives are to God, who protects them, not only by his providence, but by his
law. 2. How precious, therefore, they ought to be to us, and what care we
should take to prevent hurt from coming to any person. The Jews say that by
the equity of this law they were obliged (and so are we too) to fence, or
remove, every thing by which life may be endangered, as to cover draw-wells,
keep bridges in repair, and the like, lest, if any perish through our
omission, their blood be required at our hand.
IV. Odd mixtures are here forbidden, v. 9, 10. Much of this we met
with before, Lev. xix. 19. There appears not any thing at all of moral evil
in these things, and therefore we now make no conscience of sowing wheat and
rye together, ploughing with horses and oxen together, and of wearing
linsey-woolsey garments; but hereby is forbidden either, 1. A conformity to
some idolatrous customs of the heathen. Or, 2. That which is contrary to the
plainness and purity of an Israelite. They must not gratify their own vanity
and curiosity by putting those things together which the Creator in infinite
wisdom had made asunder: they must not be unequally yoked with unbelievers,
nor mingle themselves with the unclean, as an ox with an ass. Nor must their
profession and appearance in the world be motley, or party-coloured, but all
of a piece, all of a kind.
V. The law concerning fringes upon their garments, and memorandums of the
commandments, which we had before (Num. xv. 38, 39), is here repeated, v.
12. By these they were distinguished from other people, so that it might be
said, upon the first sight, There goes an Israelite, which taught them not
to be ashamed of their country, nor the peculiarities of their religion, how
much soever their neighbours looked upon them and it with contempt: and they
were also put in mind of the precepts upon the particular occasions to which
they had reference; and perhaps this law is repeated here because the
precepts immediately foregoing seemed so minute that they were in danger of
being overlooked and forgotten. The fringes will remind you not to make your
garments of linen and woollen, v. 11.
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The
Punishment of Fornication.
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B.
C. 1451.
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13 If any man take a
wife, and go in unto her, and hate her, 14 And give occasions of
speech against her, and bring up an evil name upon her, and say, I took this
woman, and when I came to her, I found her not a maid: 15 Then
shall the father of the damsel, and her mother, take and bring forth the
tokens of the damsel's virginity unto the elders of the city in the
gate: 16 And the damsel's father shall say unto the elders, I
gave my daughter unto this man to wife, and he hateth her; 17
And, lo, he hath given occasions of speech against her, saying, I
found not thy daughter a maid; and yet these are the tokens of my
daughter's virginity. And they shall spread the cloth before the elders of
the city. 18 And the elders of that city shall take that man and
chastise him; 19 And they shall amerce him in a hundred shekels
of silver, and give them unto the father of the damsel, because he
hath brought up an evil name upon a virgin of Israel: and she shall be his
wife; he may not put her away all his days. 20 But if this thing
be true, and the tokens of virginity be not found for the
damsel: 21 Then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of
her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that
she die: because she hath wrought folly in Israel, to play the whore in her
father's house: so shalt thou put evil away from among you. 22
If a man be found lying with a woman married to a husband, then they shall
both of them die, both the man that lay with the woman, and the
woman: so shalt thou put away evil from Israel. 23 If a damsel that
is a virgin be betrothed unto a husband, and a man find her in the city,
and lie with her; 24 Then ye shall bring them both out unto the
gate of that city, and ye shall stone them with stones that they die; the
damsel, because she cried not, being in the city; and the man,
because he hath humbled his neighbour's wife: so thou shalt put away evil
from among you. 25 But if a man find a betrothed damsel in the
field, and the man force her, and lie with her: then the man only that lay
with her shall die: 26 But unto the damsel thou shalt do
nothing; there is in the damsel no sin worthy of death: for as
when a man riseth against his neighbour, and slayeth him, even so is
this matter: 27 For he found her in the field, and the
betrothed damsel cried, and there was none to save her.
28 If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, which is not betrothed,
and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found; 29
Then the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel's father fifty shekels
of silver, and she shall be his wife; because he hath humbled her, he may
not put her away all his days. 30 A man shall not take his
father's wife, nor discover his father's skirt.
These laws relate to the seventh commandment, laying a restraint by laying a
penalty upon those fleshly lusts which war against the soul.
I. If a man, lusting after another woman, to get rid of his wife slander her
and falsely accuse her, as not having the virginity she pretended to when he
married her, upon the disproof of his slander he must be punished, v.
13-19. What the meaning of that evidence is by which the husband's
accusation was to be proved false the learned are not agreed, nor is it at
all necessary to enquire--those for whom this law was intended, no doubt,
understood it: it is sufficient for us to know that this wicked husband, who
had thus endeavoured to ruin the reputation of his own wife, was to be
scourged, and fined, and bound out from ever divorcing the wife he had thus
abused, v. 18, 19. Upon his dislike of her he might have divorced her
if he had pleased, by the permission of the law (ch. xxiv. 1), but
then he must have given her her dowry: if therefore to save that, and to do
her the greater mischief, he would thus destroy her good name, it was fit
that he should be severely punished for it, and for ever after forfeit the
permission to divorce her. Observe, 1. The nearer any are in relation to us
the greater sin it is to belie them and blemish their reputation. It is
spoken of as a crime of the highest nature to slander thy own mother's
son (Ps. l. 20), who is next to thyself, much more to slander thy own
wife, or thy own husband, that is thyself: it is an ill bird indeed that
defiles its own nest. 2. Chastity is honour as well as virtue, and that
which gives occasion for the suspicion of it is as great a reproach and
disgrace as any whatsoever: in this matter therefore, above any thing, we
should be highly tender both of our own good name and that of others. 3.
Parents must look upon themselves as concerned to vindicate the reputation
of their children, for it is a branch of their own.
II. If the woman that was married as a virgin was not found to be one she
was to be stoned to death at her father's door, v. 20, 21. If the
uncleanness had been committed before she was betrothed it would not have
been punished as a capital crime; but she must die for the abuse she put
upon him whom she married, being conscious to herself of being defiled,
while she made him believe her to be a chaste and modest woman. But some
think that her uncleanness was punished with death only in case it was
committed after she was betrothed, supposing there were few come to maturity
but what were betrothed, though not yet married. Now, 1. This gave a
powerful caution to young women to flee fornication, since, however
concealed before, so as not to mar their marriage, it would very likely be
discovered afterwards, to their perpetual infamy and utter ruin. 2. It is
intimated to parents that they must by all means possible preserve their
children's chastity, by giving them good advice and admonition, setting them
good examples, keeping them from bad company, praying for them, and laying
them under needful restraints, because, if the children committed lewdness,
the parents must have the grief and shame of the execution at their own
door. That phrase of folly wrought in Israel was used concerning this
very crime in the case of Dinah, Gen. xxxiv. 7. All sin is folly,
uncleanness especially; but, above all, uncleanness in Israel, by profession
a holy people.
III. If any man, single or married, lay with a married woman, they were both
to be put to death, v. 22. This law we had before, Lev. xx. 10. For a
married man to lie with a single woman was not a crime of so high a nature,
nor was it punished with death, because not introducing a spurious brood
into families under the character of legitimate children.
IV. If a damsel were betrothed and not married, she was from under the eye
of her intended husband, and therefore she and her chastity were taken under
the special protection of the law. 1. If her chastity were violated by her
own consent, she was to be put to death, and her adulterer with her, v.
23, 24. And it shall be presumed that she consented if it were done in the
city, or in any place where, had she cried out, help might speedily have
come in to prevent the injury offered her. Qui tacet, consentire videtur--Silence
implies consent. Note, It may be presumed that those willingly yield to
a temptation (whatever they pretend) who will not use the means and helps
they might be furnished with to avoid and overcome it. Nay, her being found
in the city, a place of company and diversion, when she should have kept
under the protection of her father's house, was an evidence against her that
she had not that dread of the sin and the danger of it which became a modest
woman. Note, Those that needlessly expose themselves to temptation justly
suffer for the same, if, ere they are aware, they be surprised and caught by
it. Dinah lost her honour to gratify her curiosity with a sight of the daughters
of the land. By this law the Virgin Mary was in danger of being made a
public example, that is, of being stoned to death, but that God, by an
angel, cleared the matter to Joseph. 2. If she were forced, and never
consented, he that committed the rape was to be put to death, but the damsel
was to be acquitted, v. 24-27. Now if it were done in the field, out
of the hearing of neighbours, it shall be presumed that she cried out, but
there was none to save her; and, besides, her going into the field, a place
of solitude, did not so much expose her. Now by this law it is intimated to
us, (1.) That we shall suffer only for the wickedness we do, not for that
which is done to us. That is no sin which has not more or less of the will
in it. (2.) That we must presume the best concerning all persons, unless the
contrary do appear; not only charity, but equity teaches us to do so. Though
none heard her cry, yet, because none could hear it if she did, it shall be
taken for granted that she did. This rule we should go by in judging of
persons and actions: believe all things, and hope all things. (3.)
That our chastity should be as dear to us as our life when that is
assaulted, it is not at all improper to cry murder, murder, for, as
when a man riseth against his neighbour and slayeth him, even so is this
matter. (4.) By way of allusion to this, see what we are to do when
Satan sets upon us with his temptations: wherever we are, let us cry aloud
to heaven for help (Succurre, Domine, vim patior--Help me, O Lord, for I
suffer violence), and there we may be sure to be heard, and answered, as
Paul was, My grace is sufficient for thee.
V. If a damsel not betrothed were thus abused by violence, he that abused
her should be fined, the father should have the fine, and, if he and the
damsel did consent, he should be bound to marry her, and never to divorce
her, how much soever she was below him, and how unpleasing soever she might
afterwards be to him, as Tamar was to Amnon after he had forced her, v.
28, 29. This was to deter men from such vicious practices, which it is a
shame that we are necessitated to read and write of.
VI. The law against a man's marrying his father's widow, or having any undue
familiarity with his father's wife, is here repeated (v. 30) from
Lev. xviii. 8. And, probably, it is intended (as bishop Patrick notes) for a
short memorandum to them carefully to observe all the laws there made
against incestuous marriages, that being specified which is the most
detestable of all; it is that of which the apostle says, It is not so
much as named among the Gentiles, 1 Cor. v. 1.
