1If there is a controversy between men, and they come to judgment and the judges judge them, then they shall justify the righteous and condemn the wicked.2It shall be, if the wicked man is worthy to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down and to be beaten before his face, according to his wickedness, by number.3He may sentence him to no more than forty stripes. He shall not give more, lest if he should give more and beat him more than that many stripes, then your brother will be degraded in your sight.
4You shall not muzzle the ox when he treads out the grain.
1 If there is a controversy between men, and they come to judgment and the judges judge them, then they shall justify the righteous and condemn the wicked.
2 It shall be, if the wicked man is worthy to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down and to be beaten before his face, according to his wickedness, by number.
3 He may sentence him to no more than forty stripes. He shall not give more, lest if he should give more and beat him more than that many stripes, then your brother will be degraded in your sight.
4 You shall not muzzle the ox when he treads out the grain.
KJVKing James Version
1 If there be a controversy between men, and they come unto judgment, that the judges may judge them; then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked.
2 And it shall be, if the wicked man be worthy to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down, and to be beaten before his face, according to his fault, by a certain number.
3 Forty stripes he may give him, and not exceed: lest, if he should exceed, and beat him above these with many stripes, then thy brother should seem vile unto thee.
4 Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn.
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JPSJPS Tanakh (1917)
1 If there be a controversy between men, and they come unto judgment, and the judges judge them, by justifying the righteous, and condemning the wicked,
2 then it shall be, if the wicked man deserve to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down, and to be beaten before his face, according to the measure of his wickedness, by number.
3 Forty stripes he may give him, he shall not exceed; lest, if he should exceed, and beat him above these with many stripes, then thy brother should be dishonoured before thine eyes.
4 Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn.
1 Timothy 5:17-18(v4)Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and in teaching. For the Scripture…
1 Corinthians 9:9-10(v4)For it is written in the law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.” Is it for the oxen that God cares, or…
Proverbs 12:10(v4)A righteous man respects the life of his animal, but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.
Proverbs 17:15(v1)He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the righteous, both of them alike are an abomination to Yahweh.
Deuteronomy 1:16-17(v1)I commanded your judges at that time, saying, “Hear cases between your brothers and judge righteously between a man and his brother, and…
Show all 41 cross-references
Deuteronomy 17:8-9(v1)If there arises a matter too hard for you in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being…
Job 18:3(v3)Why are we counted as animals, which have become unclean in your sight?
Hosea 10:11(v4)Ephraim is a trained heifer that loves to thresh; so I will put a yoke on her beautiful neck. I will set a rider on Ephraim. Judah will…
Luke 12:47-48(v2)That servant, who knew his lord’s will, and didn’t prepare, nor do what he wanted, will be beaten with many stripes, but he who didn’t…
Exodus 23:6-7(v1)“You shall not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits. “Keep far from a false charge, and don’t kill the innocent and…
Deuteronomy 16:18-20(v1)You shall make judges and officers in all your gates, which Yahweh your God gives you, according to your tribes; and they shall judge the…
Deuteronomy 19:17-19(v1)then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before Yahweh, before the priests and the judges who shall be in those…
2 Samuel 23:3(v1)The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spoke to me, ‘One who rules over men righteously, who rules in the fear of God,
2 Chronicles 19:6-10(v1)and said to the judges, “Consider what you do, for you don’t judge for man, but for Yahweh; and he is with you in the judgment. Now…
Job 29:7-17(v1)when I went out to the city gate, when I prepared my seat in the street. The young men saw me and hid themselves. The aged rose up and…
Psalms 58:1-2(v1)Do you indeed speak righteousness, silent ones? Do you judge blamelessly, you sons of men? No, in your heart you plot injustice. You…
Psalms 82:2-4(v1)“How long will you judge unjustly, and show partiality to the wicked?” “Defend the weak, the poor, and the fatherless. Maintain the rights…
Proverbs 31:8-9(v1)Open your mouth for the mute, in the cause of all who are left desolate. Open your mouth, judge righteously, and serve justice to the poor…
Isaiah 1:17(v1)Learn to do well. Seek justice. Relieve the oppressed. Defend the fatherless. Plead for the widow.”
Isaiah 1:23(v1)Your princes are rebellious and companions of thieves. Everyone loves bribes and follows after rewards. They don’t defend the fatherless,…
Isaiah 5:23(v1)who acquit the guilty for a bribe, but deny justice for the innocent!
Isaiah 11:4(v1)but he will judge the poor with righteousness, and decide with equity for the humble of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of…
Isaiah 28:27(v4)For the dill are not threshed with a sharp instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned over the cumin; but the dill is beaten out with a…
Isaiah 32:1-2(v1)Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in justice. A man shall be as a hiding place from the wind, and a…
Jeremiah 21:12(v1)House of David, Yahweh says, ‘Execute justice in the morning, and deliver him who is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my wrath…
Ezekiel 44:24(v1)“ ‘ “In a controversy they shall stand to judge. They shall judge it according to my ordinances. They shall keep my laws and my statutes in…
Micah 3:1-2(v1)I said, “Please listen, you heads of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel: Isn’t it for you to know justice? You who hate the good, and…
Habakkuk 1:4(v1)Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails; for the wicked surround the righteous; therefore justice comes out perverted.
Habakkuk 1:13(v1)You who have purer eyes than to see evil, and who cannot look on perversity, why do you tolerate those who deal treacherously, and keep…
Malachi 3:18(v1)Then you shall return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him who serves God and him who doesn’t serve him.
Matthew 3:10(v1)“Even now the ax lies at the root of the trees. Therefore every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit is cut down, and cast into the fire.
Matthew 10:17(v2)But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to councils, and in their synagogues they will scourge you.
Matthew 27:26(v2)Then he released to them Barabbas, but Jesus he flogged and delivered to be crucified.
Acts 5:40(v2)They agreed with him. Summoning the apostles, they beat them and commanded them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.
Acts 16:22-24(v2)The multitude rose up together against them and the magistrates tore their clothes from them, then commanded them to be beaten with rods.…
James 2:2-3(v3)For if a man with a gold ring, in fine clothing, comes into your synagogue, and a poor man in filthy clothing also comes in, and you pay…
1 Peter 2:20(v2)For what glory is it if, when you sin, you patiently endure beating? But if, when you do well, you patiently endure suffering, this is…
1 Peter 2:24(v2)He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness. You were healed by his wounds.
Luke 15:30(v3)But when this your son came, who has devoured your living with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’
Luke 18:9-12(v3)He spoke also this parable to certain people who were convinced of their own righteousness, and who despised all others. “Two men went up…
2 Corinthians 11:24-25(v3)Five times I received forty stripes minus one from the Jews. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I suffered…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (22 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Geneva Bible translators1599 · Public DomainOn vv1–3Whether there be a plaintiff or none, the magistrates…
Whether there be a plaintiff or none, the magistrates ought to try our faults, and punish according to the crime.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp1656 · Public DomainOn vv1–4Deu 25:1 If there be a controversy between men,…
Deu 25:1 If there be a controversy between men, and they come unto judgment, that [the judges] may judge them; then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked.
Ver. 1. If there be a controversy.] Among the Mohammedans there are very few law suits, and the reason is given, Quod temere litigantes publice flagellis caeduntur, because they that sue others without just cause are whipped publicly. Once it was counted ominous to commence actions and follow suits. Of our common barristers we may well say, as the historian doth of mathematicians, Genus hominum quod in rep. nostra et vetabitur semper et retinebitur. {a}
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{a} Caesar. Com. Tac., lib. i. cap. 7.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole1685 · Public DomainOn vv1–4A controversy about criminal matters, as it follows. They…
A controversy about criminal matters, as it follows. They shall justify, i.e. acquit him from guilt and false accusations, and free him from punishment.
Condemn the wicked; declare him guilty, and pass sentence of condemnation to suitable punishments upon him.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry1710 · Public DomainOn v1Here is, I. A direction to the judges in…
Here is, I. A direction to the judges in scourging malefactors, Deu 25:1-3. 1. It is here supposed that, if a man be charged with a crime, the accuser and the accused (Actor and Reus) should be brought face to face before the judges, that the controversy may be determined. 2. If a man were accused of a crime, and the proof fell short, so that the charge could not be made out against him by the evidence, then he was to be acquitted: "Thou shalt justify the righteous," that is, "him that appears to the court to be so." If the accusation be proved, then the conviction of the accused is a justification of the accuser, as righteous in the prosecution. 3. If the accused were found guilty, judgment must be given against him: "Thou shalt condemn the wicked;" for to justify the wicked is as much an abomination to the Lord as it is to condemn the righteous, Pro 17:15. 4. If the crime were not made capital by the law, then the criminal must be beaten. A great many precepts we have met with which have not any particular penalty annexed to them, the violation of most of which, according to the constant practice of the Jews, was punished by scourging, from which no person's rank or quality did exempt him if he were a delinquent, but with this proviso, that he should never be upbraided with it, nor should it be looked upon as leaving any mark of infamy or disgrace upon him. The directions here given for the scourging of criminals are, (1.) That it be done solemnly; not tumultuously through the streets, but in open court before the judge's face, and with so much deliberation as that the stripes might be numbered. The Jews say that while execution was in doing the chief justice of the court read with a loud voice Deu 28:58, Deu 28:59, and Deu 29:9, and concluded with those words (Psa 78:38), But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity. Thus it was made a sort of religious act, and so much the more likely to reform the offender himself and to be a warning to others. (2.) That it be done in proportion to the crime, according to his fault, that some crimes might appear, as they are, more heinous than others, the criminal being beaten with many stripes, to which perhaps there is an allusion, Luk 12:47, Luk 12:48. (3.) That how great soever the crime were the number of stripes should never exceed forty, Deu 25:3. Forty save one was the common usage, as appears, Co2 11:24. It seems, they always gave Paul as many stripes as ever they gave to any malefactor whatsoever. They abated one for fear of having miscounted (though one of the judges was appointed to number the stripes), or because they would never go to the utmost rigour, or because the execution was usually done with a whip of three lashes, so that thirteen stripes (each one being counted for three) made up thirty-nine, but one more by that reckoning would have been forty-two. The reason given for this is, lest thy brother should seem vile unto thee. He must still be looked upon as a brother (Th2 3:15), and his reputation as such was preserved by this merciful limitation of his punishment. It saves him from seeming vile to his brethren, when God himself by his law takes this care of him. Men must not be treated as dogs; nor must those seem vile in our sight to whom, for aught we know, God may yet give grace to make them precious in his sight.
II. A charge to husbandmen not to hinder their cattle from eating when they were working, if meat were within their reach, Deu 25:4. This instance of the beast that trod out the corn (to which there is an allusion in that of the prophet, Hos 10:11) is put for all similar instances. That which makes this law very remarkable above its fellows (and which countenances the like application of other such laws) is that it is twice quoted in the New Testament to show that it is the duty of the people to give their ministers a comfortable maintenance, Co1 9:9, Co1 9:10, and Ti1 5:17, Ti1 5:18. It teaches us in the letter of it to make much of the brute-creatures that serve us, and to allow them not only the necessary supports for their life, but the advantages of their labour; and thus we must learn not only to be just, but kind, to all that are employed for our good, not only to maintain but to encourage them, especially those that labour among us in the word and doctrine, and so are employed for the good of our better part.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill1763 · Public DomainOn vv1–4If there be a controversy between men,.... Between two…
If there be a controversy between men,.... Between two or more:
and they come unto judgment; into a court of judicature, bring their cause thither:
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that the judges may judge them; who were never less than three; the great sanhedrim at Jerusalem consisted of seventy one, the lesser court was of twenty three, and the least of all three only:
then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked: acquit the one, whose cause is good, and condemn the other to punishment, who is guilty of a crime, and as that deserves; which is to do righteous judgment; the contrary to this is an abomination to the Lord, Pro 17:15.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley1765 · Public DomainOn vv1–4Stripes not to exceed forty, ver. 1-3. The ox…
Stripes not to exceed forty, ver. 1-3. The ox not to be muzzled, ver. 4. Of marrying the brother's widow, ver. 5-10. Of an immodest woman, ver. 11, 12. Of just weights and measures, ver. 13-16. Amalek to be destroyed, ver. 17-19.
Justify - Acquit him from guilt and false accusations, and free him from punishment.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke1810 · Public DomainOn vv1–4Punishment by whipping not to exceed forty stripes, 1-3.
CHAPTER XXV
Punishment by whipping not to exceed forty stripes, 1-3.
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The ox that treads out the corn is not to be muzzled, 4.
The ordinance concerning marrying the wife of that brother who
has died childless, 5-10.
Of the woman who acts indecently in succouring her husband,
11, 12.
Of false weights and measures, 13-16.
Amalek is to be destroyed, 17-19.
NOTES ON CHAP. XXV
Verse 1. They shall justify the righteous] This is a very important passage, and is a key to several others. The word צדק tsadak is used here precisely in the same sense in which St. Paul sometimes uses the corresponding word δικαιοω, not to justify or make just, but to acquit, declare innocent, to remit punishment, or give reasons why such a one should not be punished; so here the magistrates הצדיקו hitsdiku, shall acquit, the righteous-declare him innocent, because he is found to be righteous and not wicked: so the Septuagint: και δικαιωσουσιν τον δικαιον they shall make righteous the righteous-declare him free from blame, not liable to punishment, acquitted; using the same word with St. Paul when he speaks of a sinner's justification, i. e., his acquittance from blame and punishment, because of the death of Christ in his stead.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson1811 · Public DomainOn vv1–4Deu 25:1. If there be a controversy between men…
Deu 25:1. If there be a controversy between men — Having made provision for the security of private right in some such remarkable cases as might be sufficient standards whereby to regulate all others, and having fixed punishments to the breach of the most capital laws, Moses now comes to such criminal matters as deserved only corporal penalties, and directs the inferior courts to be just and impartial in their proceedings upon all such complaints. They shall justify the righteous — Acquit him from guilt and false accusations, and free him from punishment. Condemn the wicked — Declare him guilty, and pass sentence of condemnation upon him to suitable punishment.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes1834 · Public DomainOn vv1, 3, 4Render it:
Render it:
(1) If there be a controversy between men, and they come to judgment, and the judges judge them, and justify the righteous and condemn the wicked (compare the marginal reference. and Exo 23:7; Pro 17:15);
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(2) then it shall be, etc.
Deu 25:2
Scourging is named as a penalty in Lev 19:20. The beating here spoken of would be on the back with a rod or stick (compare Pro 10:13; Pro 19:29; Pro 26:3).
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary1859 · Public DomainOn vv2–4Down, tying him to a low pillar; (Menochius) (Grotius)…
Down, tying him to a low pillar; (Menochius) (Grotius) though many assert, that the criminal was forced to lie prostrate on the ground, as the Jews still do, in Germany, when they undergo this punishment. (Buxtorf, Syn. 20.) The Jews do not commonly give above 39 strokes, and double the number is inflicted on the back, from what fall upon the breast.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown1871 · Public DomainOn v4Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth…
Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn--In Judea, as in modern Syria and Egypt, the larger grains were beaten out by the feet of oxen, which, yoked together, day after day trod round the wide open spaces which form the threshing-floors. The animals were allowed freely to pick up a mouthful, when they chose to do so: a wise as well as humane regulation, introduced by the law of Moses (compare Co1 9:9; Ti1 5:17-18).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon1874 · Public DomainOn vv1–4LAWS WITH REGARD TO CORPORAL PUNISHMENT, Deu_25:1-3.
LAWS WITH REGARD TO CORPORAL PUNISHMENT, Deu_25:1-3.
1. A controversy — In disputes between two men the court was to give the decision in favour of the one who was in the right. The guilty one was to be punished with stripes, which were to be in proportion to his guilt.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges1878 · Public DomainOn vv1–41. controversy] litigation.
1. controversy] litigation.
and shall have declared righteous him who is in the right and declared guilty him who is guilty] The vbs. and adjs. are to be taken in a legal sense: see above on Deu_9:5.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers1878 · Public DomainOn v1Deu_25:1-3. HUMANITY IN PUNISHMENTS.
XXV.
Deu_25:1-3. HUMANITY IN PUNISHMENTS.
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(1) They shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked.—“I will not justify the wicked” (Exo_23:7). “He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the Lord” (Pro_17:15). It should be noticed that justify is here used forensically, not meaning to make righteous, but to treat as righteous. Those who object to this sense in St. Paul’s Epistles, will find it hard to put any other sense upon the word in the rest of Holy Scripture.
(2) If the wicked man be worthy to be beaten.—Literally, a son of beating, or of Haccôth, according to the Hebrew. The treatise called Maccôth, in the Talmud, describes the infliction of the punishment in later times, when “of the Jews five times” St. Paul “received forty stripes save one.” The details have been described by Canon Farrar in an appendix to his Life of St. Paul.
Shall cause him to lie down.—The Talmud interprets the position as not sitting nor standing, nor exactly lying, but with the body inclined.
Before his face.—This is interpreted as on the front of his body. The thirty-nine stripes were given thirteen on one shoulder, thirteen on the other, and thirteen on the breast.
(3) Forty stripes.—The Talmud says that they considered first what a man could bear, and flogged him according to their estimate. In some cases, if the whole punishment could not be administered at once, it was divided. It is contemplated as possibly fatal, however.
Lest . . . thy brother should seem vile unto thee.—The punishment was not considered to be any degradation, after it had been inflicted. It was inflicted in the synagogue, and the law was read mean while from Deu_28:58-59, with one or two other passages.
(4) Thou shalt not muzzle the ox.—We have a comment on these words from St. Paul in two places (1Co_9:9, and 1Ti_5:18). It is not only written for the sake of the oxen, but to prove that the “labourer is worthy of his hire;” “they that preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. H. Mackintosh1880 · Public DomainOn v1Deuteronomy 22 - 25
Deuteronomy 22 - 25
The portion of our book on which we now enter, though not calling for elaborate exposition, yet teaches us two very important practical lessons In the first place, many of the institutions and ordinances here set forth prove and illustrate, in a most striking way, the terrible depravity of the human heart. They show us, with unmistakable distinctness, what man is capable of doing, if left to himself. We must ever remember, as we read some of the paragraphs of this section of Deuteronomy, that God the Holy Ghost has indicted them. We, in our fancied wisdom, may feel disposed to ask why such passages were ever penned? Can it be possible that they are actually inspired by the Holy Ghost? and of what possible value can they be to us? If they were written for our learning, then what are we to learn from them?
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Our reply to all these questions is, at once, simple and direct; and it is this, the very passages which we might least expect to and on the page of inspiration teach us, in their own peculiar way, the moral material of which we are made, and the moral depths into which we are capable of plunging. And is not this of great moment? Is it not well to have a faithful mirror held up before our eyes in which we may see every moral trait, feature and lineament perfectly reflected? Unquestionably. We hear a great deal about the dignity of human nature, and very many find it exceedingly hard to admit that they are really capable of committing some of the sins prohibited in the section before us, and in other portions of the divine Volume. But we may rest assured that when God commands us not to commit this or that particular sin, we are verily capable of committing it. This is beyond all question. Divine wisdom would never erect a dam if there was not a current to be resisted. There would be no necessity to tell an angel not to steal; but man has theft in his nature, and hence the command applies to him. And just so in reference to every other prohibited thing; the prohibition proves the tendency - proves it beyond all question. We must either admit this or imply the positive blasphemy that God has spoken in vain.
But then it may be said; and is said by many, that while some very terrible samples of fallen humanity are capable of committing some of the abominable sins prohibited in scripture, yet all are not so. This is a most thorough mistake. Hear what the Holy Ghost says, in the seventeenth chapter of the prophet Jeremiah. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked." Whose heart is he speaking of? Is it the heart of some atrocious criminal, or of some untutored savage? Nay; it is the human heart, the heart of the writer and of the reader of these lines.
Hear also what our Lord Jesus Christ says on this subject. "Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies." Out of what heart? Is it the heart of some hideously depraved and abominable wretch wholly unfit to appear in decent society? Nay; it is out of the human heart the heart of the writer and of the reader of these lines.
Let us never forget this; it is a wholesome truth for every one of us. We all need to bear in mind that if God were to withdraw His sustaining grace, for one moment, there is no depth of iniquity into which we are not capable of plunging; indeed, we may add - and we do it with deep thankfulness it is His own gracious hand that preserves us, each moment, from becoming a complete wreck, in every way, physically, mentally, morally, spiritually, and in our circumstances. May we keep this ever in the remembrance of the thoughts of our hearts, so that we may walk humbly and watchfully, and lean upon that arm which alone can sustain and preserve us!
But, we have said, there is another valuable lesson furnished by this section of our book which now lies open before us. It teaches us, in a manner peculiar to itself, the marvellous way in which God provided for everything connected with His people. Nothing escaped His gracious notice; nothing was too trivial for His tender care. No mother could be more careful of the habits and manners of her little child, than the Almighty Creator and moral Governor of the universe was of the most minute details connected with the daily history of His people. By day and by night, waking and sleeping at home and abroad, He looked after them. Their clothing, their food, their manners and ways toward one another, how they were to build their houses, how they were to plough and sow their ground, how they were to carry themselves in the deepest privacy of their personal life - all was attended to and provided for in a manner that fills us with wonder, love and praise. We may here see, in a most striking way, that there is nothing too small for our God to take notice of when His people are concerned. He takes a loving, tender, fatherly interest in their most minute concerns. We are amazed to find the Most High God, the Creator of the ends of the earth, the Sustainer of the vast universe, condescending to legislate about the matter of a bird’s nest; and yet why should we be amazed when we know that it is just the same to Him to provide for a sparrow as to feed a thousand millions of people daily?
But there was one grand fact which was ever to be kept prominently before each member of the congregation of Israel, namely, the divine presence in their midst. This fact was to govern their most private habits, and give character to all their ways. "The Lord thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up, thine enemies before thee; therefore shall thy camp be holy; that he see no unclean thing in thee, and turn away from thee." (Deut. 23: 14.)
What a precious privilege to have Jehovah walking in their midst! What a motive for purity of conduct, and refined delicacy in their persons and domestic habits! If He was in their midst to secure victory over their enemies, He was also there to demand holiness of life. They were never, for one moment, to forget the august Person who walked up and down in their midst. Would the thought of this be irksome to any? Only to such as did not love holiness, purity and moral order. Every true Israelite would delight in the thought of having One dwelling in their midst who could not endure ought that was unholy, unseemly or impure.
The Christian reader will be at no loss to seize the moral force and application of this holy principle. It is our privilege to have God the Spirit dwelling in us, individually and collectively. Thus we read, in 1 Corinthians 6: 19, "What! know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?" This is individual. Each believer is a temple of the Holy Ghost, and this most glorious and precious truth is the ground of the exhortation given in Ephesians 4: 30, "Grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption."
How very important to keep this ever in the remembrance of the thoughts of our hearts! What a mighty moral motive for the diligent cultivation of purity of heart, and holiness of life! When tempted to indulge in any wrong current of thought or feeling, any unworthy manner of speech, any unseemly line of conduct, what a powerful corrective would be found in the realisation of the blessed fact that the Holy Spirit dwells in our body as in His temple! If only we could keep this ever before us it would preserve us from many a wandering thought, many an unguarded and foolish utterance, many an unbecoming act.
But, not only does the Holy Spirit dwell in each individual believer, He also dwells in the church collectively. "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" (1 Cor. 3: 16.) It is upon this fact that the apostle grounds his exhortation in 1 Thess 5: 19 "Quench not the Spirit." How divinely perfect is scripture! How blessedly it hangs together! The Holy Ghost dwells in us individually; hence we are not to grieve Him. He dwells in the assembly, hence we are not to quench Him, but give Him His right place, and allow full scope for His blessed operations. May these great practical truths find a deep place in our hearts, and exerts more powerful influence over our ways both in private life and in the public assembly!
We shall now proceed to quote a few passages from the section of our book which now lies open before us strikingly illustrative of the wisdom, goodness, tenderness, holiness and righteousness which marked all the dealings of God with His people of old. Take, for example, the very opening paragraph. "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. 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. 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. 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" (Deut. 22: 1-4)
Here the two lessons of which we have spoken are, very distinctly, presented. What a deeply humbling picture of the human heart have we in that one sentence, "Thou mayest not hide thyself!" We are capable of the base and detestable selfishness of hiding ourselves from our brother’s claims upon our sympathy and succour - of shirking the holy duty of looking after his interests - of pretending not to see his real need of our aid. Such is man! Such is the writer!
But oh! how blessedly the character of our God shines out in this passage! The brother’s ox, or his sheep, or his ass was not - to use a modern phrase - to be thrust into pound, for trespass; it was to be brought home, cared for, and restored, safe and sound, to the owner without charge for damage. And so with the raiment. How lovely is all this! How it breathes upon us the very air of the divine presence, the fragrant atmosphere of divine goodness, tenderness and thoughtful love! What a high and holy privilege for any people to have their conduct governed and their character formed by such exquisite statutes and judgements!
Again, take the following passage so beautifully illustrative of divine thoughtfulness: "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." The Lord would have His people thoughtful and considerate of others; and hence, in building their houses, they were not merely to think of themselves, and their convenience, but also of others and their safety.
Cannot Christians learn something from this? How prone we are to think only of ourselves, our own interests, our own comfort and convenience! How rarely it happens that, in the building or furnishing of our houses, we bestow a thought upon other people! We build and furnish for ourselves; alas! self is too much our object and motive spring in all our undertakings; nor can it be otherwise unless the heart be kept under the governing power of those motives and objects which belong to Christianity. We must live in the pure and heavenly atmosphere of the new creation, in order to get above and beyond the base selfishness which characterizes fallen humanity. Every unconverted man woman and child on the face of the earth is governed simply by self, in some shape or another. Self is the centre, the object, the motive-spring of every action.
True, some are more amiable, more affectionate, more benevolent, more unselfish, more disinterested, more agreeable than others; but it is utterly impossible that "the natural man" can be governed by spiritual motives, or an earthly man be animated by heavenly objects. Alas! We have to confess, with shame and sorrow, that we who profess to be heavenly and spiritual are so prone to live for ourselves, to seek our own things, to maintain our own interests, to consult our own ease and convenience. We are all alive and on the alert when self, in any shape or form, is concerned.
All this is most sad and deeply humbling. It really ought not to be, and it would not be if we were looking more simply and earnestly to Christ as our great Exemplar and model in all things. Earnest and constant occupation of heart with Christ is the true secret of all practical Christianity. It is not rules and regulations that will ever make us Christ-like in our spirit, manner and ways. We must drink into His spirit, walk in His footsteps, dwell more profoundly upon His moral glories, and then we shall, of blessed necessity, be conformed to His image. "We all with open face beholding as in a glass [or mirror katoptrizomenoi.] the glory, are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the, Spirit of the Lord." (2 Cor. 3.)
We must now ask the reader to turn, for a moment, to the following very important practical instructions - full of suggestive power for all Christian workers "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." (Deut. 22: 9.)
What a weighty principle is here! Do we really understand it? Do we see its true spiritual application? It is to be feared there is a terrible amount of "mingled seed" used in the so-called spiritual husbandry of the present day. How much of "philosophy and vain deceit.," how much of "science falsely so called," how much of "the rudiments of the world" do we find mixed up in the teaching and preaching throughout the length and breadth of the professing church! How little of the pure, unadulterated seed of the word of God, the "incorruptible seed" of the precious gospel of Christ, is scattered broadcast over the field of Christendom, in this our day! How few, comparatively, are content to confine themselves within the covers of the Bible for the material of their ministry! Those who are, by the grace of God faithful enough to do so, are looked upon as men of one idea, men of the old school, narrow and behind the times.
Well, we can only say, with a full and glowing heart, God bless the men of one idea, men of the precious old school of apostolic preaching! Most heartily do we congratulate them on their blessed narrowness, and their being behind these dark and infidel times. We are fully aware of what we expose ourselves to in thus writing; but this does not move us. We are persuaded that every true servant of Christ must be a man of one idea, and that idea is Christ; he must belong to the very oldest school, the school of Christ; he must be as narrow as the truth of God; and he must, with stern decision, refuse to move one hair’s breadth in the direction of this infidel age. We cannot shake off the conviction that the effort on the part of the preachers and teachers of Christendom to keep abreast of the literature of the day must, to a very large extent, account for the rapid advance of rationalism and infidelity. They have got away from the holy scriptures, and sought to adorn their ministry by the resources of philosophy, science and literature. They have catered more for the intellect than for the heart and conscience. The pure and precious doctrines of holy scripture, the sincere milk of the word, the gospel of the grace of God and of the glory of Christ, were found insufficient to attract and keep together large congregations. As Israel of old despised the manna, got tired of it, and pronounced it light food, so the professing church grew weary of the pure doctrines of that glorious Christianity unfolded in the pages of the New Testament, and sighed for something to gratify the intellect, and feed the imagination. The doctrines of the cross, in which the blessed apostle gloried, have lost their charm for the professing church, and any who would be faithful enough to adhere and confine themselves in their ministry to those doctrines might abandon all thought of popularity.
But let all the true and faithful ministers of Christ, all true workers in His vineyard apply their hearts to the spiritual principle set forth in Deuteronomy 22: 9; let them, with unflinching decision, refuse to make use of "divers seeds" in their spiritual husbandry; let them confine themselves in their ministry to "the form of sound words," and ever seek "rightly to divide the word of truth," that so: they may not be ashamed of their work, but receive a full reward in that day when every man’s work shall be tried of what sort it is. We may depend upon it, the word of God - the pure seed - is the only proper material for the spiritual workman to use. We do not despise learning; far from it, we consider it most valuable in its right place. The facts of science, too, and the resources of sound philosophy may all be turned to profitable account in unfolding and illustrating the truth of holy scripture. We find the blessed Master Himself and His inspired apostles making use of the facts of history and of nature in their public teaching; and who in his sober senses, would think of calling in question the value and importance of a competent knowledge of the original languages of Hebrew and Greek, in the private study and public exposition of the word of God?
But admitting all this, as we most fully do, it leaves wholly untouched the great practical principle before us-a principle to which all the Lord’s people and His servants are bound to adhere, namely, that the Holy Ghost is the only power, and holy scripture the only material for all true ministry in the gospel and the church of God. If this were more fully understood and faithfully acted upon, we should witness a very different condition of things throughout the length and breadth of the vineyard of Christ.
Here, however, we must close this section. We have elsewhere sought to handle the subject of "The Unequal Yoke," and shall not therefore dwell upon it here.* The Israelite was not to plow with an ox and an ass together; neither was he to wear a, garment of divers sorts, as of woollen and linen. The spiritual application of both these things is as simple as it is important. The Christian is not to link himself with an unbeliever, for any object whatsoever, be it domestic, religious, philanthropic, or commercial, neither must he allow himself to be governed by mixed principles. His character must be formed and his conduct ruled by the pure and lofty principles of the word of God. Thus may it be with all who profess and call themselves Christians.
{*See a pamphlet entitled, "The Unequal Yoke."}
C. H. Mackintosh, Notes on the Pentateuch — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary1880 · Public DomainOn vv1, 4Vers. 1-3. The first and second verses should be…
LAWS RELATING TO CORPORAL PUNISHMENT, LEVIRATE MARRIAGES, AND WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.
Vers. 1-3. The first and second verses should be read as one sentence, of which the protasis is in ver. 1 and the apodosis in ver. 2, thus: If there be a strife between men, and they come to judgment, and they ( i.e. the judges) give judgment on them, and justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked, then it shall be, if the wicked deserve to be beaten (literally, be the son of blows), that the judge, etc. It is assumed that the judges shall pronounce just judgment, and apportion to the guilty party his due punishment; and then it is prescribed how that is to be inflicted. In the presence of the judge the man was to be cast down, and the adjudged number of blows were to be given him, not, however, exceeding forty, lest the man should be rendered contemptible in the eyes of the people, as if he were a mere slave or brute. This punishment was usually inflicted with a stick (Exo_21:10; 2Sa_7:14, etc.) as is still the case among the Arabs and Egyptians; sometimes also with thorns; (Jud_1:8:7, 16) sometimes with whips and scorpions, i.e. scourges of cord or leather armed with sharp points or hard knots. (1Ki_12:11, 1Ki_12:14) Though the culprit was laid on the ground, it does not appear that the bastinado was used among the Jews as it is now among the Arabs; the back and shoulders were the parts of the body on which the blows fell. (Pro_10:13 Pro_19:29 Pro_26:3; Isa_1:6) According to his fault, by a certain number; literally, according to the requirement of his crime in number; i.e. according as his crime deserved. The number was fixed at forty, probably because of the symbolical significance of that number as a measure of completeness. The rabbins fixed the number at thirty-nine, apparently in order that the danger of exceeding the number prescribed by the Law should be diminished; (cf. 2Co_11:24) but another reason is assigned by Maimonides, viz. that, as the instrument of punishment was a scourge with three tails, each stroke counted for three, and thus they could not give forty, but only thirty-nine, unless they exceeded the forty (Maimon., "In Sanhedrin," 17:2).
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Vers. 1-3. Humanity to be respected in judicial inflictions.
This passage is an interesting illustration of the restraints which the Law of Moses puts on the Hebrews, as to the semi-barbarous customs of other nations. It is well known that punishment by bastinado was common among the ancient Egyptians. It would be not unnaturally adopted by the Hebrews. There are here three matters to be noticed.
1. Here is a principle to be recognized (ver. 1).
2. The punishment
1. is to be inflicted in the presence of the judge, and
2. is not to exceed forty stripes.
3. The reason given is very impressive, "lest thy brother should seem vile unto thee," i.e. lest he should be so excessively punished as to be afterwards unfit for service, and lest he should be the common butt of any one who chose to dishonor him. Human nature is to be respected, even in carrying out legal sentences on crime. Trapp says, "The Turks, when cruelly lashed, are compelled to return to the judge that commanded it, to kiss his hand, to give him thanks, and to pay the officer that whipped them!
I The sight of a human being coming under the sentence of criminal law is matter for intense sadness.
II The punishment to be inflicted on him should be such in matter and degree as to assert right principle, but not such as needlessly to dishonor him. For
III Humanity, in spite of crime, has dignity about it still. Sin and the sinner are not inseparable. God can kill one and save the other!
IV With a view to a criminal"s salvation, whatever of honor remains in his nature should be carefully guarded and tenderly appealed to.
HOMILIES BY J. ORR. Vers. 1-3. The bastinado.
Professor W. R. Smith ("Old Testament," p. 376) regards this law of stripes as indicating a late date for Deuteronomy. He argues from the customs of the free Bedouins. But it is perilous to reason from the customs of the Bedouins to the punishments in vogue among a people who had lived some centuries in Egypt, where, as is well-known, the bastinado was in constant use. The sculptures at Beni-Hassan represent the very scene here described. We learn
I THAT IT IS THE FUNCTION OF CIVIL MAGISTRATES TO PUNISH CRIME. (Vers. 1, 2.) They bear the sword for this purpose. (Rom_14:4; 1Pe_2:14) The modern humanitarian spirit tends to exalt the reformatory and preventive ends of punishment, at the expense of the retributive. That every effort should be put forth for the reformation of the criminal which the case admits of, we cordially allow. But the danger is, in these matters, that sentiment degenerate into sentimentalism. Crime deserves punishment, and on that ground alone, were there no other, ought to receive it. No theory can be satisfactory which loses sight of retribution, and makes reformation and prevention the all in all.
II THAT PENALTIES OUGHT TO BE SUFFICIENTLY SEVERE. (Ver. 2.) To be effective in early stages of civilization, penalties must be severe, prompt, and specific enough to be vividly conceived (cf. H. Spencer"s "Essays:" "Prison Ethics"). The progress of society admits of the substitution of punishments appealing to a higher class of sensibilities. But even these ought adequately to express the measure of the criminal"s desert. If Mr. Spencer were right, the slightest restraint compatible with the safety of the community, combined with compulsory self-support, would be punishment sufficient for the greatest crimes. The sense of justice in mankind rejects such ideas. Carlyle"s teaching in "Model Prisons" is healthier than this.
III THAT PENALTIES OUGHT TO BE MEASURED. (Ver. 3.) It is difficult to believe that in our own country, at the beginning of this century, the theft of five shillings from the person was a crime punishable by death. Yet the statute-book bristled with enactments, of which, unhappily, this was not the worst. Such outrageous disproportion between crime and punishment must have robbed the law"s sentences of most of their moral effect. Anomalies exist still, which it would be to any statesman"s credit to endeavor to remove.
IV THAT PENALTIES SHOULD NOT BE UNDULY DEGRADING, (Vet, 3.) Lest "thy brother should seem vile unto thee." The effect of excessive severity is to harden, degrade, dehumanize. It often drives the criminal to desperation. As a victim of the older criminal code expressed it, "A man"s heart is taken from him, and there is given to him the heart of a beast." The tendency in modern feeling is toward the abolition of corporal punishments entirely, as degrading alike to him who administers them, and to those by whom they are endured.
Observe:
1. The profound idea on which the law rested. The body, part of human nature, and sharing its dignity as made in God"s image.
2. The best laws may be unjustly and cruelly administered. J.O. (2Co_11:24, 2Co_11:25)
HOMILIES BY D. DAVIES Vers. 1-3. Earthly magistracy an argument for the heavenly.
It is not conceivable that God should have taken such pains, through Moses, to secure pure administration of justice in earthly courts, unless he had established a like court of judicature in heaven. So far as the will of God is embodied in the judicial procedure on earth, it is copied from the pattern of heavenly things.
I A JUDICIAL COURT IS CREATED FOR THE DISCRIMINATION OF HUMAN CHARACTER. The purpose of all examination and testimony is to separate the evil from the good to bring to light the righteousness and the wickedness of men. Justice delights more in vindicating and commending the righteous than in censuring and condemning the wicked. Justice found a nobler occupation in marshalling Mordecai through the city, and proclaiming his innocence, than in erecting the gallows for the execution of Haman. Human judges, however, can discern only what is palpable and conspicuous. They have not an organ of insight delicate enough to detect the lesser excellences and blemishes; nor can they penetrate into the interior nature of man. These institutions are only the shadows of heavenly things. But every man stands before the tribunal of a higher Judge, where not only actions, but motives, intentions, and feelings, are examined and weighed. Here, without the possibility of mistake, the righteous are justified, the wicked are condemned. Discrimination is perfect: separation will be complete.
II A JUDICIAL COURT IS ORDAINED FOR THE PUNISHMENT OF EVIL DEEDS.
1. The true punishment is measured by the scale of demerit. It is enjoined to be "according to his fault." In God"s sagacious judgment, every degree of blameworthiness is noted. Nothing appertaining to moral conduct is beneath the notice of God"s eye. We value far too little moral qualities. As we grow like God, we shall gain in that penetrative power which discerns the beauty of goodness and the blackness of iniquity.
2. Punishment is a loss of manliness. "The judge shall cause him to lie down." His dignity shall be prostrate. Sin robs us of manliness, but the loss does not come into public view until punishment follows. To be righteous throughout is to be a man.
3. Punishment is to be public. The culprit is "to be beaten before the judge"s face." This publicity is part of the penalty. It is summary to be inflicted at once. And publicity is also a safeguard against cruelty and against excess. So God invites public recognition and public approval of his doings. The ransomed universe shall unite in the testimony, "Just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.
III A JUDICIAL COURT REVEALS THE VALUE OF A HUMAN LIFE. The penalties were to be moderate, "lest thy brother should seem vile unto thee." The first ends of punishment are the reformation and improvement of the offender. If it is possible to teach the culprit the value of himself, and inspire him with a hatred of sin, we have done him unspeakable good. We do not spend so much in cutting and polishing a common stone as we do a ruby or a sapphire. Let our treatment of men be as if we esteemed them the jewels of God. D.
HOMILIES BY R.M. EDGAR Vers. 1-3. Corporal punishment.
We have here directions given for the punishment of criminals. As the Hebrews had no gaol system, a properly graduated corporal punishment supplied most effectively its place. Moses here directs the judges to look carefully into the case, and to assign a certain number of stripes, which are never to exceed forty, the chastisement being given in the presence of the judge. Thus the largest measure of equity was introduced into their penal system.
I RETRIBUTION OF SOME KIND IS CONSONANT WITH OUR IDEAS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. To be allowed to sin with impunity would be, we all feel, an immoral regulation under any government, and especially immoral under a theocracy. Punishment for sin is demanded by the human conscience. All quarrel with retribution as such argues a want of conscientiousness.
II BUT RETRIBUTION SHOULD BE PROPORTIONAL TO SIN. This is what the law before us secured. The stripes were to be few or many, according to the crime, but never to exceed forty. The judgment was to be righteous and equitable all through.
III WE LOOK INSTINCTIVELY FOR THE SAME EQUITY UNDER THE GOVERNMENT OF GOD. And this is exactly what we have. And here let us observe
1. Sin is not allowed to go unpunished under Gods government. It has been very confidently asserted that, if people are penitent, no atonement is needed to secure pardon. But, supposing penitence a possible experience apart from the spectacle of a pierced and atoning Savior, (Zec_12:10) should we not have "sin with impunity" under the reputedly just government of God? Those who glibly talk of penitence being all that is required, have formed no broad or consistent notion of the necessities of government. Now, the Divine arrangement has been to lay the "stripes" we deserve upon his willing Son. "With his stripes we are healed". (Isa_53:5) The sin is punished in the person of a sinless and mostwilling Substitute, and the demands of justice met. We may be sure that, as the Father presided at the punishment, no more was laid on Jesus than the demands of simple justice and the exigencies of the government required. And
2. Unpardoned because impenitent sinners shall have their punishment graduated according to the strictest justice. It has been asserted that punishment without end would be excessive for the sins of a short life on earth. But it is forgotten that "everlasting punishment" is the shadow simply of "everlasting sin." The latter, alas! is possible through the freedom of the creature; and as sin continues, so must punishment. At the same time, the graduation of punishment in the other world will be as accurate and as careful as the corporal punishment under the Law of Moses. In fact, it is this idea of stripes our Lord employs to express the truth. "And that servant which knew his lord"s will, and made not ready, nor did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes; but he that knew not, and did things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. And to whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be required; and to whom they commit much, of him will they ask the more". (Luk_12:47, Luk_12:48, Revised Version) It is thus clearly seen that the utmost care will be taken to graduate the penalties in the hereafter, so that no one shall have the least ground of complaint. The vulgar revolt against the everlasting punishment revealed in Scripture is due to the idea that the criminals are thrown pellmell together and punished in the lump. With far greater care, however, shall each impenitent one have his penalties meted out to him than prisoners have under the most conscientious judges.
IV INSTEAD OF BANDYING ABOUT ARGUMENTS IN FAVOR OF RELIEF UNDER PUNISHMENT, IT WOULD BE KINDER FOR CONTROVERSIALISTS TO INDUCE MEN THROUGH FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST TO ACCEPT OF PARDON AND SO ESCAPE PENALTY. The spectacle at present is a sad one. Writers are pursuing the phantom of remission of sins and of punishment in the other life, as a new gospel for sinners, instead of urging their fellows to flee at once to Jesus, the only Refuge. This much is certain, "Him that cometh unto me," says Christ, "I will in no wise cast out." Upon such a promise any soul may repose. But the uncertainty of speculation is proverbial, and can never be the sheet-anchor of any sane soul. Let men come to Jesus, and the question of punishment, so far as they are concerned, is settled forever. Punishment gives way to pardon; while at the same time, it is felt that the sin has not gone unpunished. R.M.E.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary1892 · Public DomainOn v1Critical Notes.—Corporal punishment. Controv., dispute arising from inflicted injury.…
Deu_25:2. Lie down. “Precisely the same as the Egyptian bastinado, which was applied to the bared back of the culprit, who was stretched flat on the ground, his hands and feet being held by attendants” (Jam). The law of Moses introduced two restrictions, the infliction of punishment In presence of the judge and the limit to 40 stripes. If a criminal deserved severer punishment he was executed.
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Deu_25:5. Ox In other kinds of labour oxen were muzzled. The spiritual sense is applied, 1Co_9:9; 1Ti_5:18; Hos_10:11.
Deu_25:5-10. Law of Levirate Marriages. This usage existed before the law of Moses (Gen_38:8-11) and seems to have originated in patriarchal times, for preserving the name and honour of the eldest son—the chieftain of the family. The Mosaic law rendered the custom obligatory (Mat_22:25) on younger brothers, or the nearest kinsman, to marry the widow (Rth_4:4), by associating the natural desire of perpetuating of a brother’s name with the preservation of property in the Hebrew families and tribes (Num_33:54; Num_36:9). If a younger brother declined to comply with law, the widow brought her claim before the authorities in public assembly (the gate of the city); she was ordered to loose the thong of his shoe (Deu_25:9) a sign of degradation—following up that act by spitting, not in his face, but in his presence before him on the ground (Jam.)
Deu_25:11-12. Severe penalty imposed upon a shameless woman, who wilfully should endanger or take away the power of offspring from a man, Exo_21:22.
Deu_25:13-16. Weights and measures. Divers. lit., “a stone and a stone”—one just and one false, or a light and heavy one. Weights consisted of stones; facility in procuring them tempted to fraud. Measures, lit., “an ephah and an ephah,” the common or standard measure in Israel. Lengthened. cf. Deu_4:26; Deu_5:16. Unrighteously. Moses sums up all the breaches of the law. (Keil.)
Deu_25:17-19. Doom of Amalek. Did, met, thee, i.e., stealthily and in hostile encounter; not found in Exo_17:14. The Jews had not only to manifest love and kindness, but often to inflict punishment upon God’s enemies. They were executors of Divine judgment upon Amalek and others; cf. 1Sa_15:3; 1Sa_15:32-33.
PUNISHMENT OF THE GUILTY.—Deu_25:1-3
God took special care for the administration of justice. The guilty must be punished, and the innocent defended. It is the duty of earthly tribunals to govern in equity.
I. Punishment incurred. There must not be mere report or accusation. The accused and accuser must be brought face to face, the dispute decided before the authorities, and the criminal be found “worthy to be beaten.” The wicked cannot sin with impunity. Punishment was demanded under the theocracy. Conscience predicts retribution and human magistrates are appointed to administer it. In doing so they are types of the eternal judge.
II. Punishment inflicted. We have special directors given to make the penal system just and effective.
1. By the authority of the judge. Not by some private heartless official wishing for revenge. Magistrates bear the sword, (Rom_14:4; 1Pe_2:14; 1Pe_2:21).
2. In publicity. “Before his face.” This would be itself a part of punishment and a check to cruelty and excesss.
3. According to desert. “According to his fault.” There must be discrimination and rectitude. To justify the wicked and condemn the just would reverse the order of justice, and become “an abomination to the Lord” (Pro_17:15).
4. In measured degree. “Forty stripes he may give and not exceed,” Deu_5:3. Stripes, few or many, according to guilt, but never to exceed forty. Punishment should ever be measured according to strictest justice. Our penal code has been disgraced by cruel administration, and punishment has often been excessive, outrageous, and beyond moral desert. “They shall judge it according to my judgments.”
5. With scrupulous fear. Lest “thy brother should seem vile unto thee.” Excessive punishment degrades humanity, dishonours law, and hardens the criminal. He must be corrected, reformed, and treated with humanity. “Count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.”
THE RIGHTS OF LABOUR.—Deu_25:4
The command not to put a muzzle upon the ox, is no doubt proverbial in its nature, and even in the context before us is not intended to apply merely literally to an ox employed in threshing, but to be understood, in the general sense in which the Apostle Paul uses it in (1Co_9:9, and 1Ti_5:18), viz.: that a labourer was not to be deprived of his wages. Keil.
I. Rights enforced by common usage. The use of oxen in treading out corn unmuzzled still prevails among Arabs and eastern nations. If God takes “care for oxen,” we must treat them kindly. The ox is not a mere animal, but a labourer, contributing to the sustenance and help of man.
II. Rights enforced by special enactment. This was a wonderful provision in the law of Moses. Nothing was too trivial connected with men or brutes. God defends the rights of every creature, and teaches us to recognise the nobility of labour in the smallest law.
III. Rights enforced by Divine law. This is a general principle, extending to the plougher and the sower. Toilers of hand and brain are not mere drones, but essential to the well-being of society. In all departments “the labourer is worthy of his hire.” The highest authority applies the law to ministerial support (Luk_10:1). “If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things?” (Tim. Deu_5:18).
HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Deu_25:3. Exceed. Abuse of power in excessive punishment. Power given for edification not destruction (2Co_13:10). “There is an honour due to all men (1Pe_2:17), and though we must hate the sin, yet not the sinner,” Trapp. The reason assigned by the legislator in this statute for restricting the number of stripes is very remarkable. It is not simply a motive of compassion for a sufferer—it is a respect for human nature, the rights of which are preserved even in a criminal. To inflict upon a man an excessive and degrading punishment is to outrage the feelings of those who witness it, and to pour contempt upon humanity itself. This humane character of the Mosaic legislation is deserving of special notice. How rigorous soever it may be in some respects, it upholds the dignity of man’s nature, and does not permit even a guilty offender to “seem vile unto others.”—Jamieson.
Deu_25:4. Not muzzle the ox. Though enacted in a particular case, it teaches the humane lesson that animals, while engaged in the service of man, are entitled to his indulgence and kindness. Paul quotes this law (1Co_9:9; 1Ti_5:18), and shows that God did not appoint it for the sake of oxen alone, but that every labourer is worthy of his hire, and hence declares the obligation of men to exercise justice in properly rewarding those who labour for their advantage, especially those who labour for the good of their souls. The application, so far from weakening, seems to confirm its obligation and reference to that point, inasmuch as it displays to us that, in the eye of God, the same principles of equity are expected to prevail amongst all His creatures, and that they are not to be confined to our dealings with men.—Jamieson.
THE LAW OF LEVIRATE MARRIAGE.—Deu_25:5-10
This law is not peculiar to the Jews, but is found in all essential respects the same among various Oriental nations, ancient and modern, and exists at present among the South African tribes, the Arabians, the Druses, and the tribes of the Caucasus (Speak. Com.)
I. The duty imposed. The obligation was onerous and recognised as one of affection for the memory of the deceased. It devolved upon the neighbouring kinsman—“brethren that dwell together,” not “a stranger.” Affection is needful in married life. This cannot be forced. Love leads to duty and self-sacrifice.
II. The design of the obligation. (a) To prevent alienation of property; (b) To raise up seed. To be without issue was considered a great calamity (Gen_16:4); a successor and heir a great blessing; (c) To perpetuate a name, “that his name be not put out of Israel.” Parents are anxious to maintain the honour and preserve the name of the family. Loss of inheritance, alienation of the rights of the firstborn, are a disgrace. God’s favour is better than fame which “is the shade of immortality, and in itself a shadow.”
Unblemished let me live, or die unknown,
Oh! grant me honest fame, or grant me none.—Pope.
III. The reproach of neglecting the obligation. It was not so binding as to permit no escape. If the brother preferred to submit to reproach. “If the man like not,” he might refuse (Deu_25:7). Then the thong of his shoe was loosed, he was stripped of power and degraded as a slave. Spitting in the face or in his presence, was the strongest expression of insult and contempt. The man was not worthy to take his brother’s place, was scornfully rejected by the woman herself, and his name became a bye word in Israel. “The house of him that hath his shoe loosed.”
TRADE MORALITY.—Deu_25:13-16
The language of Scripture on this point demands the serious attention of all engaged in trade. Principles of life are given in minute detail and enforced by special sanctions.
I. God requires honesty in trade. Not only in courts of law, but in commercial life, in the market place, and in the shop, justice must be done. There must be no different weights and measures; one for buying and another for selling; one light and another heavy. This was the iniquitous system of Jews. Accurate inspection may restrain gross deceit with us. But trickery and close dealing, evasion of legal rights, and deviation from honest trading are too prevalent. Advantage is taken of ignorance. Impositions, double-dealings and hard bargains are struck with cleverness and self-satisfaction (Pro_20:14). Christian professors and Christian churches have need of warning and care. “That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter” (1Th_4:6).
II. Honesty in trade is enforced by special sanctions. That which is the standard of measure, the rule of justice must of itself be just. If not there will be fraud and deceit.
1. Justice will gain temporal advantage. “That thy days may be lengthened in the land” (Deu_25:15). Might prolonged life and made it happy. As a matter of self-interest, “Honesty is the best policy.” It will enrich spiritual experience, promote social morality and preserve national life.
2. Justice will secure God’s approval. We must act as under his eye and seek “a conscience void of offence towards God and man.” Equity and not “customs of the trade” must be our law. “A false balance is abomination to the Lord; but a just weight (a perfect stone) is his delight” (Pro_11:1).
3. Injustice will expose to God’s curse. “All that do unrighteously are abomination unto the Lord.” Man may excuse convenient lies, commend trickery for its wisdom (Luk_16:1-8) and cry “business is business,” but such trading is hateful to God, will bring shame and curse upon those who practise it. “Divers weights (a stone and a stone) and divers measures (an ephah and ephah), both of them are alike abomination to the Lord” (Pro_20:10).
THE CHRISTIAN IN COMMERCE
The greatest difficulties in the way of a Christian commercial life, arise out of the practices which prevail. Enforce right conduct, you are met by an appeal to general sanction, and a reference to the consequences which would follow from its adoption, in ridicule and condemnation, in loss and suffering. Thus the Christian tradesman must shape his principles in the way of reform and opposition—
I. Endeavour to point out what Christianity requires of a man in his dealings in business with his fellow-men.
1. Christianity requires the most rigid adherence to the principles of moral integrity in commerce. Truth is one of these, which lies at the basis of all intercourse, and without which society would be impossible. All positive misrepresentations, all arts by which one thing is passed off for another, all false appearances given to things, and all deficient scales and measures, are condemned. Honesty is another Christian virtue in commerce. In giving everyone his due, in meeting all equitable claims. For a man to refuse to pay his debts is dishonest. “Owe no man anything.” A debt is a debt until it be paid or forgiven. Bankruptcy is not payment. No earthly tribunal can exempt from the claims of eternal justice, and an honest debtor will deem nothing his while creditors are unsatisfied in fact or feeling. It is a grand saying of De Foe, “The obligations of an honest man can never die.”
2. Christianity requires the exercise of love and kindness in commerce. A man may be just, and yet a monster of inhumanity. The Christian spirit of love should not be confined to some departments of human life and excluded from others. It is designed to create a higher morality than that of the world, it will dictate much which law cannot take cognizance of, and preserve for the wretched practice of exclusive dealing, of punishing a man for his politics or religion by withholding custom and thus making commerce the instrument of bigotry and exclusiveness.
3. Christianity requires that a man should preserve his soul in peace and patience in commerce. Commerce implies contact with others. It compels intercourse with men of powerful passions, different dispositions and opposite principles. Hence we are sorely tried, exposed to innumerable disappointments, vexations and annoyances. We may be deceived by those we trusted, and injured by those we benefited. All this must be endured in meekness, and the heart must be kept calm and unruffled, seek no revenge, but cherish the spirit of love
4. Christianity requires that commerce should be consecrated and elevated by the spirit of holiness. There is a hardening and corrupting tendency in commercial pursuits. Constant calculation of profit and loss, incessant contemplation of pecuniary interests are apt to contract and debase the soul. The man who gives himself wholly to gain becomes earthly, sensual and devilish. All spiritual generous sensibilities and aspirations are destroyed. He becomes less malleable than the coin with which he deals. But Christianity teaches that commerce is a means, not an end; “that a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of things which he possesses;” that we may be yet having all things, and rich, yet having nothing. Commerce will be really noble and raised from the dust, when the higher faculties are cultivated with secular pursuits; wealth possessed and used in the spirit of stewardship, and a vigorous habit of Christian liberality finds a constant vent for the acquisitions of Christian industry.
II. Having described what a Christian should be in commerce briefly show Why he should be it. All considerations by which religion and morality are commended and enforced are applicable here. The course pointed out is right in itself, what we owe to God and connected with eternal destiny. It is necessary to inherit the kingdom of heaven. It is presented to us in the example of Christ, whom all disciples should imitate. In one word, Christianity requires it; all its precepts, principles, blessings, and prospects require it. But addnce some particular considerations.
1. Commerce is a most important part of life. It enters largely into our engagements. It is in some form or other the greatest part of the life of multitudes. Could a man be a Christian and yet not be a Christian in his dealings with his fellow-men? Is it possible to retain the spirit of the gospel and yet not bring it into business? The power of religion must be best displayed here. The truest test of a man’s spirituality is in his secular life. It is often said, “A man is really what he is relatively.” I would add a man is spiritually what he is secularly.
2. Commerce is a most influential part of our life. It is part of life with which men have most to do and of which they can best judge. It is the world-side of our religion. Ungodly men cannot see us believe and always hear us pray, but they behold our behaviour towards others. Though ignorant of doctrinal theology, and strangers to true spirituality, they are no bad critics of moral conduct. What then is our influence, if we be not holy in business? What use saying, “I know the truth,” if it can be replied, “You do a lie?” What an agency in the conversion of the world would be a blameless secular life throughout the Church! It would be belter than an army of ten thousand missionaries.
3. Commercial holiness is imperatively required by the character and temper of the times. It is a commercial country and age in which we live, and commercial sinfulness is a prevailing feature. It is the duty of the Christian to adapt his example and display the virtue most wanted. Never more necessary for saints to “condemn the world” by secular integrity, to give a noble example for it to follow, and to bring a spirit from above to bear on its pursuits. (A. J. Morris.)
THE DOOM OF AMALEK.—Deu_25:17-19
“Whilst the Israelites were to make love the guiding principle of their conduct in their dealings with a neighbour, and even with strangers and foes, this love was not to degenerate into weakness or indifference towards open ungodliness. To impress this truth upon the people, Moses concludes the discourse on the law by reminding them of the crafty enmity manifested toward them by Amalek on their march out of Egypt, and with the command to root out the Amalekites” (cf. Exo_17:9-16).—Keil.
I. Amalek’s sin against Israel. “How he met thee by the way,” stealthily and fierce encounter, in a most difficult and risky place, “in Rephidim” (cf. Exo_17:8).
1. This attack was unprovoked. No occasion was furnished for it. Israel had not the remotest intention to injure the persons or seize the territory of Amalek. But they were jealous at the prosperity of Israel, as descendants of Esau entertained a grudge against them, and longed to injure them.
2. This attack was cowardly. It was a mean, dastardly, insidious surprise, not in front, but in the rear, on “the hindmost”—not on the strong and vigorous, but on “the feeble,” “the faint and weary.” We have a kind of reverence for the brave, but cowards are objects of scorn and contempt.
3. This attack was cruel. Upon stragglers, upon a host tired in the march, almost unarmed and unable to resist. “The tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.”
4. This attack was presumptuous “He feared not God.” A defiance against God of whom they had heard, and whose mighty acts in Egypt and the Red Sea had defended his people. It was an insult, “a lifting up of the hand upon the throne of God” (Marg. Exo_17:16). “The fear of God” alone can restrain from evil. When this is cast off, there will be no “regard for men.”
II. Amalek’s sin remembered by God. “Remember what Amalek did.” A record was kept “in the book” (Exo_17:14), and this conduct was never forgotten.
1. Sin is never overlooked. Silence may be kept at the time of commission. God may appear to connive, to wink at times of ignorance and sin (Act_17:30), but they are not overlooked. If no direct interposition, men must not excuse, take courage, and cry God hath forgotten. God’s patience is no proof that He thinks lightly of sin. Sentence is gone forth; Edom’s doom was predicted, but warning is given, time for repentance afforded before execution.
2. Sin is kept in remembrance. A book of record is found somewhere. An impress is left upon nature, upon the human mind, and upon moral conduct. Wickedness is read in the pangs of conscience, the power of evil habits, and the moral forces of the universe. God prepares ministers of vengeance, and in due time the judgment will come.
III. Amalek’s sin punished by God. Injustice and cruelty towards God’s people will not pass unavenged. Joshua had punished them, but a more terrible doom awaited them.
1. Punishment long delayed. For some wise reason the honour of Jehovah was not vindicated at the time. The base attack was repelled, but the territory was not invaded—the final judgment was delayed. This was inflicted partly by Saul and David (1Sa_14:48; 1Sa_27:8; 1Sa_30:17; 2Sa_8:12), finally and completely under Hezekiah (1Ch_4:43). Judgment may linger, but it is “laid up in store.”
2. Punishment by those who have suffered. God’s people themselves, when fixed in privileges and possession, must inflict it. Power and position are not given for selfish enjoyment. We must be ready for warfare as well as for service. No pity, no pride must prevent us from executing God’s will upon our enemies. “Remember,” “thou shalt not forget it.”
3. Punishment most severe. “Thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven” (Exo_17:14). Fearful doom! But Scripture, Providence and human history confirm the law—“He shall have judgment without mercy, that hath showed no mercy.”
HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Deu_25:11-12. Shameful insult. No excuse in the plea to help her husband. “Modesty is the hedge of chastity, and therefore ought to be very carefully preserved and kept up by both sexes.”
Deu_25:13-16. “Customs of trade.” Often—
(1) sinful,
(2) corrupting, and
(3) dangerous. “Shall I count them pure with the wicked balances, and with the bag of deceitful weights?” (Mic_6:11).
Deu_25:17-19. Amalek.
1. Ungodly principles lead to wicked conduct. “Amalek feared not God.”
2. Wicked conduct is not allowed to go unpunished in the providence of God.
3. This punishment when inflicted is full of suggestion—(a) delayed to prove the patience of God towards his enemies. (b) severe, to avenge His people, and teach the doctrine of retribution. “The portion of wicked men is to be “forgotten in the city where they had so done” (Ecc_8:10). Their memory dies with them; or if it be preserved, it stinks in keeping, and remains as a curse and perpetual disgrace” (Trapp). It is not always consistent with the purposes of the Divine economy to vindicate the honour of Jehovah by any general punishment at the time. But if no further notice had been taken, this contemptuous defiance of the power and majesty of God would have appeared to escape with impunity, a circumstance which might have degraded the Deity in the estimation of Israel, who judged of His power as all other nations then judged of their guardian gods, by His rigour and promptitude in defending His people and punishing their enemies. He would not suffer Amalek to pass finally unpunished, but would authorise and employ them to inflict judgment, thus impressing His people themselves with the Salutary conviction that where the majesty of Jehovah was insulted, present delay of punishment affords no presumption of final impunity.—(Graves on Pent.)
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 25
Deu_25:1-4. Judgment. No obligation to justice does force a man to be cruel, or to use the sharpest sentence. A just man does justice to every man and every thing; and then, if he be also wise, he knows there is a debt of mercy and compassion due to the infirmities of man’s nature; and that is to be paid; and he that, is cruel and ungentle to a sinning person, and does the worst to him, dies in his debt and is unjust.—Jeremy Taylor.
Deu_25:13-16. Trade. What signifies. a man’s trade? A man of honest trade can make himself respectable if he will (George III.). To be honest as this world goes is to be one picked out of ten thousand.—Shakespeare.
Deu_25:17-19. Not forget. Most just it is that he who breweth mischief should have the first draught of it himself.—(Jemmat). For inquisition shall be made into the counsels of the ungodly, and the sound of his words shall come unto the Lord for the manifestation of his wicked deeds (Wis_1:7-9). Mercy to him that shows it is the rule by which heaven moves in pardoning guilty man; and he that shows none, being ripe in years, and conscious of the outrage ne commits, shall seek it and not find it in his turn.—Cowper.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow1909 · Public DomainOn v1Ordinances regarding the Infliction of Stripes, the Baising of…
Ordinances regarding the Infliction of Stripes, the Baising of Seed to a Brother, Modesty, and Fair Dealing
3. And not exceed] In order to keep within the limit it was usual to inflict thirty-nine stripes: see 2Co_11:24. The milder beating was with a rod. A severer form of this punishment was scourging, inflicted with a whip of thongs into which pieces of iron were inserted. In the time of our Lord beating was inflicted in the synagogue upon ecclesiastical offenders: see on Mat_10:17; Act_26:11.. While the culprit was being beaten the words in Deu_28:58-59; Psa_78:38 were read.
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4. In threshing, the sheaves were spread out upon a hard beaten piece of ground (the threshing floor), and over them a pair of oxen dragged a wooden sledge or harrow about 5 ft. square, upon which the driver stood to add weight to it. In 1Co_9:9-14
1Ti_5:17-18; St. Paul applies this precept to the duty of supporting those who preach the gospel: see on Exo_23:4, Exo_23:5.
5-10. Marriage of a brother's widow. Among the Jews it was regarded as a great calamity that the family line should become extinct. If a man died childless, his name perished and his property passed to the families of his brothers. To obviate this was the purpose of this law of the levirate marriage (Lat. levir = a husband's brother). The duty of marrying a brother's widow was not enforced, but the refusal to do so was regarded as disgraceful. Failing a brother the duty devolved upon the nearest male relative. See on Lev_18:16, and see Rth_2:20; Rth_3:9-13; Ruth 4.
9. The loosing of the shoe and handing it over signified an act of transfer or renunciation. In this case it was a mark of discredit: cp. Rth_2:7, Rth_2:8. A Bedouin formula of divorce is 'She was my slipper and I have cast her off.'
13-16. Ancient weights were pieces of stone or metal which the merchant kept in a bag. An unscrupulous merchant might have two sets of weights in his bag, a heavier for buying and a lighter for selling: see Mic_6:11; Pro_16:11, and cp. Lev_19:35, Lev_19:36.
17-19. See Exo_17:8-16, and for the fulfilment of the injunction 1Sa_14:48; 1 Samuel 15, 1Sa_27:8, 1Sa_27:9.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein1922 · Public DomainOn v121. Various Laws and Responsibilities
21. Various Laws and Responsibilities
CHAPTER 25
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1. Corporal punishment (Deu 25:1-3)
2. Thou shalt not muzzle the ox (Deu 25:4)
3. The brother-in-law’s marriage (Deu 25:5-10)
4. Concerning a sinful freedom (Deu 25:11-12)
5. Concerning divers weights and measures (Deu 25:13-16)
6. Concerning the conquest of Amalek (Deu 25:17-19)
Corporal punishment is mentioned in the first paragraph of this chapter. But this also was tempered with mercy. Not more than forty stripes were to be administered in the presence of the judge. The rabbinical instructions put the limit at thirty-nine--”forty save one.” Five times our blessed apostle Paul was punished in this manner, for we read, “Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes, save one” (2Co 11:24).
In comparison with the cruel beatings and tortures so universally found among the Gentile races the law concerning corporal punishment appears very merciful. The chastisement was not to be severer than it could be endured. It speaks typically also of the chastisement His people have to undergo.
The ox was not to be muzzled when he treaded out the corn.
“Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also? For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? Or saith He it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope” (1Co 9:7-10).
“For the Scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, the laborer is worthy of his reward” (1Ti 5:18). These are most blessed comments on this verse, which otherwise would be rather obscure. The toiling ox is the type of the servant and his ministry. And this has its rewards.
The commandment given by Moses, that a surviving brother is to marry his brother’s widow is seen in its working in the story of Ruth and the kinsman-redeemer. The law itself was founded upon an old traditional custom, which we find already in Gen 38:8-11. Moses here recognized this custom was not to be considered compulsory.2
And Amalek was to be remembered, Amalek, who feared not God. When Israel had rest in the land and all the other enemies were conquered, then the remembrance of Amalek was to be completely blotted out. As we saw from our annotations in Exodus Amalek typifies the flesh, while Egypt is the type of the world. The complete perishing of Amalek is seen in Balaam’s parables. When the sceptre rises out of Israel (the second coming of Christ), when He comes that shall have dominion, then Amalek shall perish forever (Num 24:20). When we are indeed in the land and possess our inheritance, when all our enemies are gone, then the remembrance of Amalek, the old flesh, will be blotted out forever.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann1924 · Public DomainOn v1Of Bodily Punishments
Of Bodily Punishments
v. 1. If there be a controversy between men, some matter of litigation, and they come unto judgment, bring the matter before the proper officers, that the judges may judge them, then they, the judges, shall justify the righteous and condemn the wicked, declare the latter to be guilty before the law, Exo 22:8; Exo 23:7.
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v. 2. And it shall be if the wicked man, he whom the judges have found to be in the wrong, be worthy to be beaten, literally, "if a son of stripes the guilty one," that the judge shall cause him to lie down, and to be beaten before his face, while he personally witnessed the punishment, according to his fault, by a certain number, in proportion to the severity of his transgression.
v. 3. Forty stripes he may give him, and not exceed, this precept later resulting in the limit’s being placed at thirty-nine, for there was danger of miscounting, and the Jews, especially after the return from the exile, were anything if not literal, 2Co 11:24; lest, if he should exceed and beat him above these with many stripes, then thy brother should seem vile unto thee, lowered beneath the dignity of a man and a member of God’s people. The punishment by whipping was in use also in Egypt, where the culprit was laid flat on the ground, his hands and feet held firmly, and the punishment administered on the back in the presence of the judge.
v. 4. Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn. The usual form of threshing in the Orient is that on a threshing-floor out in the open, where the grain was spread out and oxen driven back and forth across the floor to loosen the grain from the hulls by stepping upon the ears. The humane measure of keeping the animals unmuzzled at that time gave them an opportunity to pick up food whenever they became hungry. It seems that this precept was soon understood in the proverbial sense, in which it is also applied by St. Paul, in his admonition to provide properly for the pastors and teachers, 1Co 9:9; 1Ti 5:18.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv1, 3, 4General Information:
General Information:
Moses continues speaking to the people of Israel.
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If the guilty man deserves to be beaten
This can be stated in active form. AT: "If the judge orders them to beat the guilty man" (See: Active or Passive)
be beaten in his presence
This can be stated in active form. AT: "he will watch them beat him" (See: Active or Passive)
with the ordered number of blows, as was his crime
"the number of times he has ordered because of the bad deed he did"
Tyndale Open Study Notes2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv3–425:3 At a flogging, the maximum number of strikes…
25:3 At a flogging, the maximum number of strikes allowed was forty lashes. Fewer could be applied depending on the case (25:2). As people created in the image of God, even wrongdoers were entitled to mercy and respect. In later Judaism, thirty-nine lashes were given (see 2 Cor 11:24 and note).
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv1–3 Whether there be a plaintiff or none, the magistrates…
Whether there be a plaintiff or none, the magistrates ought to try our faults, and punish according to the crime.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv1–4 Deu 25:1 If there be a controversy between men,…
Deu 25:1 If there be a controversy between men, and they come unto judgment, that [the judges] may judge them; then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked.
Ver. 1. If there be a controversy.] Among the Mohammedans there are very few law suits, and the reason is given, Quod temere litigantes publice flagellis caeduntur, because they that sue others without just cause are whipped publicly. Once it was counted ominous to commence actions and follow suits. Of our common barristers we may well say, as the historian doth of mathematicians, Genus hominum quod in rep. nostra et vetabitur semper et retinebitur. {a}
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{a} Caesar. Com. Tac., lib. i. cap. 7.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv1–4 A controversy about criminal matters, as it follows. They…
A controversy about criminal matters, as it follows. They shall justify, i.e. acquit him from guilt and false accusations, and free him from punishment.
Condemn the wicked; declare him guilty, and pass sentence of condemnation to suitable punishments upon him.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v1 Here is, I. A direction to the judges in…
Here is, I. A direction to the judges in scourging malefactors, Deu 25:1-3. 1. It is here supposed that, if a man be charged with a crime, the accuser and the accused (Actor and Reus) should be brought face to face before the judges, that the controversy may be determined. 2. If a man were accused of a crime, and the proof fell short, so that the charge could not be made out against him by the evidence, then he was to be acquitted: "Thou shalt justify the righteous," that is, "him that appears to the court to be so." If the accusation be proved, then the conviction of the accused is a justification of the accuser, as righteous in the prosecution. 3. If the accused were found guilty, judgment must be given against him: "Thou shalt condemn the wicked;" for to justify the wicked is as much an abomination to the Lord as it is to condemn the righteous, Pro 17:15. 4. If the crime were not made capital by the law, then the criminal must be beaten. A great many precepts we have met with which have not any particular penalty annexed to them, the violation of most of which, according to the constant practice of the Jews, was punished by scourging, from which no person's rank or quality did exempt him if he were a delinquent, but with this proviso, that he should never be upbraided with it, nor should it be looked upon as leaving any mark of infamy or disgrace upon him. The directions here given for the scourging of criminals are, (1.) That it be done solemnly; not tumultuously through the streets, but in open court before the judge's face, and with so much deliberation as that the stripes might be numbered. The Jews say that while execution was in doing the chief justice of the court read with a loud voice Deu 28:58, Deu 28:59, and Deu 29:9, and concluded with those words (Psa 78:38), But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity. Thus it was made a sort of religious act, and so much the more likely to reform the offender himself and to be a warning to others. (2.) That it be done in proportion to the crime, according to his fault, that some crimes might appear, as they are, more heinous than others, the criminal being beaten with many stripes, to which perhaps there is an allusion, Luk 12:47, Luk 12:48. (3.) That how great soever the crime were the number of stripes should never exceed forty, Deu 25:3. Forty save one was the common usage, as appears, Co2 11:24. It seems, they always gave Paul as many stripes as ever they gave to any malefactor whatsoever. They abated one for fear of having miscounted (though one of the judges was appointed to number the stripes), or because they would never go to the utmost rigour, or because the execution was usually done with a whip of three lashes, so that thirteen stripes (each one being counted for three) made up thirty-nine, but one more by that reckoning would have been forty-two. The reason given for this is, lest thy brother should seem vile unto thee. He must still be looked upon as a brother (Th2 3:15), and his reputation as such was preserved by this merciful limitation of his punishment. It saves him from seeming vile to his brethren, when God himself by his law takes this care of him. Men must not be treated as dogs; nor must those seem vile in our sight to whom, for aught we know, God may yet give grace to make them precious in his sight.
II. A charge to husbandmen not to hinder their cattle from eating when they were working, if meat were within their reach, Deu 25:4. This instance of the beast that trod out the corn (to which there is an allusion in that of the prophet, Hos 10:11) is put for all similar instances. That which makes this law very remarkable above its fellows (and which countenances the like application of other such laws) is that it is twice quoted in the New Testament to show that it is the duty of the people to give their ministers a comfortable maintenance, Co1 9:9, Co1 9:10, and Ti1 5:17, Ti1 5:18. It teaches us in the letter of it to make much of the brute-creatures that serve us, and to allow them not only the necessary supports for their life, but the advantages of their labour; and thus we must learn not only to be just, but kind, to all that are employed for our good, not only to maintain but to encourage them, especially those that labour among us in the word and doctrine, and so are employed for the good of our better part.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv1–4 If there be a controversy between men,.... Between two…
If there be a controversy between men,.... Between two or more:
and they come unto judgment; into a court of judicature, bring their cause thither:
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that the judges may judge them; who were never less than three; the great sanhedrim at Jerusalem consisted of seventy one, the lesser court was of twenty three, and the least of all three only:
then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked: acquit the one, whose cause is good, and condemn the other to punishment, who is guilty of a crime, and as that deserves; which is to do righteous judgment; the contrary to this is an abomination to the Lord, Pro 17:15.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv1–4 Stripes not to exceed forty, ver. 1-3. The ox…
Stripes not to exceed forty, ver. 1-3. The ox not to be muzzled, ver. 4. Of marrying the brother's widow, ver. 5-10. Of an immodest woman, ver. 11, 12. Of just weights and measures, ver. 13-16. Amalek to be destroyed, ver. 17-19.
Justify - Acquit him from guilt and false accusations, and free him from punishment.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv1–4 Punishment by whipping not to exceed forty stripes, 1-3.
CHAPTER XXV
Punishment by whipping not to exceed forty stripes, 1-3.
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The ox that treads out the corn is not to be muzzled, 4.
The ordinance concerning marrying the wife of that brother who
has died childless, 5-10.
Of the woman who acts indecently in succouring her husband,
11, 12.
Of false weights and measures, 13-16.
Amalek is to be destroyed, 17-19.
NOTES ON CHAP. XXV
Verse 1. They shall justify the righteous] This is a very important passage, and is a key to several others. The word צדק tsadak is used here precisely in the same sense in which St. Paul sometimes uses the corresponding word δικαιοω, not to justify or make just, but to acquit, declare innocent, to remit punishment, or give reasons why such a one should not be punished; so here the magistrates הצדיקו hitsdiku, shall acquit, the righteous-declare him innocent, because he is found to be righteous and not wicked: so the Septuagint: και δικαιωσουσιν τον δικαιον they shall make righteous the righteous-declare him free from blame, not liable to punishment, acquitted; using the same word with St. Paul when he speaks of a sinner's justification, i. e., his acquittance from blame and punishment, because of the death of Christ in his stead.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv1–4 Deu 25:1. If there be a controversy between men…
Deu 25:1. If there be a controversy between men — Having made provision for the security of private right in some such remarkable cases as might be sufficient standards whereby to regulate all others, and having fixed punishments to the breach of the most capital laws, Moses now comes to such criminal matters as deserved only corporal penalties, and directs the inferior courts to be just and impartial in their proceedings upon all such complaints. They shall justify the righteous — Acquit him from guilt and false accusations, and free him from punishment. Condemn the wicked — Declare him guilty, and pass sentence of condemnation upon him to suitable punishment.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 4 Render it:
Render it:
(1) If there be a controversy between men, and they come to judgment, and the judges judge them, and justify the righteous and condemn the wicked (compare the marginal reference. and Exo 23:7; Pro 17:15);
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(2) then it shall be, etc.
Deu 25:2
Scourging is named as a penalty in Lev 19:20. The beating here spoken of would be on the back with a rod or stick (compare Pro 10:13; Pro 19:29; Pro 26:3).
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv2–4 Down, tying him to a low pillar; (Menochius) (Grotius)…
Down, tying him to a low pillar; (Menochius) (Grotius) though many assert, that the criminal was forced to lie prostrate on the ground, as the Jews still do, in Germany, when they undergo this punishment. (Buxtorf, Syn. 20.) The Jews do not commonly give above 39 strokes, and double the number is inflicted on the back, from what fall upon the breast.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On v4 Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth…
Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn--In Judea, as in modern Syria and Egypt, the larger grains were beaten out by the feet of oxen, which, yoked together, day after day trod round the wide open spaces which form the threshing-floors. The animals were allowed freely to pick up a mouthful, when they chose to do so: a wise as well as humane regulation, introduced by the law of Moses (compare Co1 9:9; Ti1 5:17-18).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv1–4 LAWS WITH REGARD TO CORPORAL PUNISHMENT, Deu_25:1-3.
LAWS WITH REGARD TO CORPORAL PUNISHMENT, Deu_25:1-3.
1. A controversy — In disputes between two men the court was to give the decision in favour of the one who was in the right. The guilty one was to be punished with stripes, which were to be in proportion to his guilt.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv1–4 1. controversy] litigation.
1. controversy] litigation.
and shall have declared righteous him who is in the right and declared guilty him who is guilty] The vbs. and adjs. are to be taken in a legal sense: see above on Deu_9:5.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On v1 Deu_25:1-3. HUMANITY IN PUNISHMENTS.
XXV.
Deu_25:1-3. HUMANITY IN PUNISHMENTS.
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(1) They shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked.—“I will not justify the wicked” (Exo_23:7). “He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the Lord” (Pro_17:15). It should be noticed that justify is here used forensically, not meaning to make righteous, but to treat as righteous. Those who object to this sense in St. Paul’s Epistles, will find it hard to put any other sense upon the word in the rest of Holy Scripture.
(2) If the wicked man be worthy to be beaten.—Literally, a son of beating, or of Haccôth, according to the Hebrew. The treatise called Maccôth, in the Talmud, describes the infliction of the punishment in later times, when “of the Jews five times” St. Paul “received forty stripes save one.” The details have been described by Canon Farrar in an appendix to his Life of St. Paul.
Shall cause him to lie down.—The Talmud interprets the position as not sitting nor standing, nor exactly lying, but with the body inclined.
Before his face.—This is interpreted as on the front of his body. The thirty-nine stripes were given thirteen on one shoulder, thirteen on the other, and thirteen on the breast.
(3) Forty stripes.—The Talmud says that they considered first what a man could bear, and flogged him according to their estimate. In some cases, if the whole punishment could not be administered at once, it was divided. It is contemplated as possibly fatal, however.
Lest . . . thy brother should seem vile unto thee.—The punishment was not considered to be any degradation, after it had been inflicted. It was inflicted in the synagogue, and the law was read mean while from Deu_28:58-59, with one or two other passages.
(4) Thou shalt not muzzle the ox.—We have a comment on these words from St. Paul in two places (1Co_9:9, and 1Ti_5:18). It is not only written for the sake of the oxen, but to prove that the “labourer is worthy of his hire;” “they that preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. H. Mackintosh 1880 · Public Domain On v1 Deuteronomy 22 - 25
Deuteronomy 22 - 25
The portion of our book on which we now enter, though not calling for elaborate exposition, yet teaches us two very important practical lessons In the first place, many of the institutions and ordinances here set forth prove and illustrate, in a most striking way, the terrible depravity of the human heart. They show us, with unmistakable distinctness, what man is capable of doing, if left to himself. We must ever remember, as we read some of the paragraphs of this section of Deuteronomy, that God the Holy Ghost has indicted them. We, in our fancied wisdom, may feel disposed to ask why such passages were ever penned? Can it be possible that they are actually inspired by the Holy Ghost? and of what possible value can they be to us? If they were written for our learning, then what are we to learn from them?
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Our reply to all these questions is, at once, simple and direct; and it is this, the very passages which we might least expect to and on the page of inspiration teach us, in their own peculiar way, the moral material of which we are made, and the moral depths into which we are capable of plunging. And is not this of great moment? Is it not well to have a faithful mirror held up before our eyes in which we may see every moral trait, feature and lineament perfectly reflected? Unquestionably. We hear a great deal about the dignity of human nature, and very many find it exceedingly hard to admit that they are really capable of committing some of the sins prohibited in the section before us, and in other portions of the divine Volume. But we may rest assured that when God commands us not to commit this or that particular sin, we are verily capable of committing it. This is beyond all question. Divine wisdom would never erect a dam if there was not a current to be resisted. There would be no necessity to tell an angel not to steal; but man has theft in his nature, and hence the command applies to him. And just so in reference to every other prohibited thing; the prohibition proves the tendency - proves it beyond all question. We must either admit this or imply the positive blasphemy that God has spoken in vain.
But then it may be said; and is said by many, that while some very terrible samples of fallen humanity are capable of committing some of the abominable sins prohibited in scripture, yet all are not so. This is a most thorough mistake. Hear what the Holy Ghost says, in the seventeenth chapter of the prophet Jeremiah. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked." Whose heart is he speaking of? Is it the heart of some atrocious criminal, or of some untutored savage? Nay; it is the human heart, the heart of the writer and of the reader of these lines.
Hear also what our Lord Jesus Christ says on this subject. "Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies." Out of what heart? Is it the heart of some hideously depraved and abominable wretch wholly unfit to appear in decent society? Nay; it is out of the human heart the heart of the writer and of the reader of these lines.
Let us never forget this; it is a wholesome truth for every one of us. We all need to bear in mind that if God were to withdraw His sustaining grace, for one moment, there is no depth of iniquity into which we are not capable of plunging; indeed, we may add - and we do it with deep thankfulness it is His own gracious hand that preserves us, each moment, from becoming a complete wreck, in every way, physically, mentally, morally, spiritually, and in our circumstances. May we keep this ever in the remembrance of the thoughts of our hearts, so that we may walk humbly and watchfully, and lean upon that arm which alone can sustain and preserve us!
But, we have said, there is another valuable lesson furnished by this section of our book which now lies open before us. It teaches us, in a manner peculiar to itself, the marvellous way in which God provided for everything connected with His people. Nothing escaped His gracious notice; nothing was too trivial for His tender care. No mother could be more careful of the habits and manners of her little child, than the Almighty Creator and moral Governor of the universe was of the most minute details connected with the daily history of His people. By day and by night, waking and sleeping at home and abroad, He looked after them. Their clothing, their food, their manners and ways toward one another, how they were to build their houses, how they were to plough and sow their ground, how they were to carry themselves in the deepest privacy of their personal life - all was attended to and provided for in a manner that fills us with wonder, love and praise. We may here see, in a most striking way, that there is nothing too small for our God to take notice of when His people are concerned. He takes a loving, tender, fatherly interest in their most minute concerns. We are amazed to find the Most High God, the Creator of the ends of the earth, the Sustainer of the vast universe, condescending to legislate about the matter of a bird’s nest; and yet why should we be amazed when we know that it is just the same to Him to provide for a sparrow as to feed a thousand millions of people daily?
But there was one grand fact which was ever to be kept prominently before each member of the congregation of Israel, namely, the divine presence in their midst. This fact was to govern their most private habits, and give character to all their ways. "The Lord thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up, thine enemies before thee; therefore shall thy camp be holy; that he see no unclean thing in thee, and turn away from thee." (Deut. 23: 14.)
What a precious privilege to have Jehovah walking in their midst! What a motive for purity of conduct, and refined delicacy in their persons and domestic habits! If He was in their midst to secure victory over their enemies, He was also there to demand holiness of life. They were never, for one moment, to forget the august Person who walked up and down in their midst. Would the thought of this be irksome to any? Only to such as did not love holiness, purity and moral order. Every true Israelite would delight in the thought of having One dwelling in their midst who could not endure ought that was unholy, unseemly or impure.
The Christian reader will be at no loss to seize the moral force and application of this holy principle. It is our privilege to have God the Spirit dwelling in us, individually and collectively. Thus we read, in 1 Corinthians 6: 19, "What! know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?" This is individual. Each believer is a temple of the Holy Ghost, and this most glorious and precious truth is the ground of the exhortation given in Ephesians 4: 30, "Grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption."
How very important to keep this ever in the remembrance of the thoughts of our hearts! What a mighty moral motive for the diligent cultivation of purity of heart, and holiness of life! When tempted to indulge in any wrong current of thought or feeling, any unworthy manner of speech, any unseemly line of conduct, what a powerful corrective would be found in the realisation of the blessed fact that the Holy Spirit dwells in our body as in His temple! If only we could keep this ever before us it would preserve us from many a wandering thought, many an unguarded and foolish utterance, many an unbecoming act.
But, not only does the Holy Spirit dwell in each individual believer, He also dwells in the church collectively. "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" (1 Cor. 3: 16.) It is upon this fact that the apostle grounds his exhortation in 1 Thess 5: 19 "Quench not the Spirit." How divinely perfect is scripture! How blessedly it hangs together! The Holy Ghost dwells in us individually; hence we are not to grieve Him. He dwells in the assembly, hence we are not to quench Him, but give Him His right place, and allow full scope for His blessed operations. May these great practical truths find a deep place in our hearts, and exerts more powerful influence over our ways both in private life and in the public assembly!
We shall now proceed to quote a few passages from the section of our book which now lies open before us strikingly illustrative of the wisdom, goodness, tenderness, holiness and righteousness which marked all the dealings of God with His people of old. Take, for example, the very opening paragraph. "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. 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. 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. 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" (Deut. 22: 1-4)
Here the two lessons of which we have spoken are, very distinctly, presented. What a deeply humbling picture of the human heart have we in that one sentence, "Thou mayest not hide thyself!" We are capable of the base and detestable selfishness of hiding ourselves from our brother’s claims upon our sympathy and succour - of shirking the holy duty of looking after his interests - of pretending not to see his real need of our aid. Such is man! Such is the writer!
But oh! how blessedly the character of our God shines out in this passage! The brother’s ox, or his sheep, or his ass was not - to use a modern phrase - to be thrust into pound, for trespass; it was to be brought home, cared for, and restored, safe and sound, to the owner without charge for damage. And so with the raiment. How lovely is all this! How it breathes upon us the very air of the divine presence, the fragrant atmosphere of divine goodness, tenderness and thoughtful love! What a high and holy privilege for any people to have their conduct governed and their character formed by such exquisite statutes and judgements!
Again, take the following passage so beautifully illustrative of divine thoughtfulness: "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." The Lord would have His people thoughtful and considerate of others; and hence, in building their houses, they were not merely to think of themselves, and their convenience, but also of others and their safety.
Cannot Christians learn something from this? How prone we are to think only of ourselves, our own interests, our own comfort and convenience! How rarely it happens that, in the building or furnishing of our houses, we bestow a thought upon other people! We build and furnish for ourselves; alas! self is too much our object and motive spring in all our undertakings; nor can it be otherwise unless the heart be kept under the governing power of those motives and objects which belong to Christianity. We must live in the pure and heavenly atmosphere of the new creation, in order to get above and beyond the base selfishness which characterizes fallen humanity. Every unconverted man woman and child on the face of the earth is governed simply by self, in some shape or another. Self is the centre, the object, the motive-spring of every action.
True, some are more amiable, more affectionate, more benevolent, more unselfish, more disinterested, more agreeable than others; but it is utterly impossible that "the natural man" can be governed by spiritual motives, or an earthly man be animated by heavenly objects. Alas! We have to confess, with shame and sorrow, that we who profess to be heavenly and spiritual are so prone to live for ourselves, to seek our own things, to maintain our own interests, to consult our own ease and convenience. We are all alive and on the alert when self, in any shape or form, is concerned.
All this is most sad and deeply humbling. It really ought not to be, and it would not be if we were looking more simply and earnestly to Christ as our great Exemplar and model in all things. Earnest and constant occupation of heart with Christ is the true secret of all practical Christianity. It is not rules and regulations that will ever make us Christ-like in our spirit, manner and ways. We must drink into His spirit, walk in His footsteps, dwell more profoundly upon His moral glories, and then we shall, of blessed necessity, be conformed to His image. "We all with open face beholding as in a glass [or mirror katoptrizomenoi.] the glory, are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the, Spirit of the Lord." (2 Cor. 3.)
We must now ask the reader to turn, for a moment, to the following very important practical instructions - full of suggestive power for all Christian workers "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." (Deut. 22: 9.)
What a weighty principle is here! Do we really understand it? Do we see its true spiritual application? It is to be feared there is a terrible amount of "mingled seed" used in the so-called spiritual husbandry of the present day. How much of "philosophy and vain deceit.," how much of "science falsely so called," how much of "the rudiments of the world" do we find mixed up in the teaching and preaching throughout the length and breadth of the professing church! How little of the pure, unadulterated seed of the word of God, the "incorruptible seed" of the precious gospel of Christ, is scattered broadcast over the field of Christendom, in this our day! How few, comparatively, are content to confine themselves within the covers of the Bible for the material of their ministry! Those who are, by the grace of God faithful enough to do so, are looked upon as men of one idea, men of the old school, narrow and behind the times.
Well, we can only say, with a full and glowing heart, God bless the men of one idea, men of the precious old school of apostolic preaching! Most heartily do we congratulate them on their blessed narrowness, and their being behind these dark and infidel times. We are fully aware of what we expose ourselves to in thus writing; but this does not move us. We are persuaded that every true servant of Christ must be a man of one idea, and that idea is Christ; he must belong to the very oldest school, the school of Christ; he must be as narrow as the truth of God; and he must, with stern decision, refuse to move one hair’s breadth in the direction of this infidel age. We cannot shake off the conviction that the effort on the part of the preachers and teachers of Christendom to keep abreast of the literature of the day must, to a very large extent, account for the rapid advance of rationalism and infidelity. They have got away from the holy scriptures, and sought to adorn their ministry by the resources of philosophy, science and literature. They have catered more for the intellect than for the heart and conscience. The pure and precious doctrines of holy scripture, the sincere milk of the word, the gospel of the grace of God and of the glory of Christ, were found insufficient to attract and keep together large congregations. As Israel of old despised the manna, got tired of it, and pronounced it light food, so the professing church grew weary of the pure doctrines of that glorious Christianity unfolded in the pages of the New Testament, and sighed for something to gratify the intellect, and feed the imagination. The doctrines of the cross, in which the blessed apostle gloried, have lost their charm for the professing church, and any who would be faithful enough to adhere and confine themselves in their ministry to those doctrines might abandon all thought of popularity.
But let all the true and faithful ministers of Christ, all true workers in His vineyard apply their hearts to the spiritual principle set forth in Deuteronomy 22: 9; let them, with unflinching decision, refuse to make use of "divers seeds" in their spiritual husbandry; let them confine themselves in their ministry to "the form of sound words," and ever seek "rightly to divide the word of truth," that so: they may not be ashamed of their work, but receive a full reward in that day when every man’s work shall be tried of what sort it is. We may depend upon it, the word of God - the pure seed - is the only proper material for the spiritual workman to use. We do not despise learning; far from it, we consider it most valuable in its right place. The facts of science, too, and the resources of sound philosophy may all be turned to profitable account in unfolding and illustrating the truth of holy scripture. We find the blessed Master Himself and His inspired apostles making use of the facts of history and of nature in their public teaching; and who in his sober senses, would think of calling in question the value and importance of a competent knowledge of the original languages of Hebrew and Greek, in the private study and public exposition of the word of God?
But admitting all this, as we most fully do, it leaves wholly untouched the great practical principle before us-a principle to which all the Lord’s people and His servants are bound to adhere, namely, that the Holy Ghost is the only power, and holy scripture the only material for all true ministry in the gospel and the church of God. If this were more fully understood and faithfully acted upon, we should witness a very different condition of things throughout the length and breadth of the vineyard of Christ.
Here, however, we must close this section. We have elsewhere sought to handle the subject of "The Unequal Yoke," and shall not therefore dwell upon it here.* The Israelite was not to plow with an ox and an ass together; neither was he to wear a, garment of divers sorts, as of woollen and linen. The spiritual application of both these things is as simple as it is important. The Christian is not to link himself with an unbeliever, for any object whatsoever, be it domestic, religious, philanthropic, or commercial, neither must he allow himself to be governed by mixed principles. His character must be formed and his conduct ruled by the pure and lofty principles of the word of God. Thus may it be with all who profess and call themselves Christians.
{*See a pamphlet entitled, "The Unequal Yoke."}
C. H. Mackintosh, Notes on the Pentateuch — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv1, 4 Vers. 1-3. The first and second verses should be…
LAWS RELATING TO CORPORAL PUNISHMENT, LEVIRATE MARRIAGES, AND WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.
Vers. 1-3. The first and second verses should be read as one sentence, of which the protasis is in ver. 1 and the apodosis in ver. 2, thus: If there be a strife between men, and they come to judgment, and they ( i.e. the judges) give judgment on them, and justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked, then it shall be, if the wicked deserve to be beaten (literally, be the son of blows), that the judge, etc. It is assumed that the judges shall pronounce just judgment, and apportion to the guilty party his due punishment; and then it is prescribed how that is to be inflicted. In the presence of the judge the man was to be cast down, and the adjudged number of blows were to be given him, not, however, exceeding forty, lest the man should be rendered contemptible in the eyes of the people, as if he were a mere slave or brute. This punishment was usually inflicted with a stick (Exo_21:10; 2Sa_7:14, etc.) as is still the case among the Arabs and Egyptians; sometimes also with thorns; (Jud_1:8:7, 16) sometimes with whips and scorpions, i.e. scourges of cord or leather armed with sharp points or hard knots. (1Ki_12:11, 1Ki_12:14) Though the culprit was laid on the ground, it does not appear that the bastinado was used among the Jews as it is now among the Arabs; the back and shoulders were the parts of the body on which the blows fell. (Pro_10:13 Pro_19:29 Pro_26:3; Isa_1:6) According to his fault, by a certain number; literally, according to the requirement of his crime in number; i.e. according as his crime deserved. The number was fixed at forty, probably because of the symbolical significance of that number as a measure of completeness. The rabbins fixed the number at thirty-nine, apparently in order that the danger of exceeding the number prescribed by the Law should be diminished; (cf. 2Co_11:24) but another reason is assigned by Maimonides, viz. that, as the instrument of punishment was a scourge with three tails, each stroke counted for three, and thus they could not give forty, but only thirty-nine, unless they exceeded the forty (Maimon., "In Sanhedrin," 17:2).
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Vers. 1-3. Humanity to be respected in judicial inflictions.
This passage is an interesting illustration of the restraints which the Law of Moses puts on the Hebrews, as to the semi-barbarous customs of other nations. It is well known that punishment by bastinado was common among the ancient Egyptians. It would be not unnaturally adopted by the Hebrews. There are here three matters to be noticed.
1. Here is a principle to be recognized (ver. 1).
2. The punishment
1. is to be inflicted in the presence of the judge, and
2. is not to exceed forty stripes.
3. The reason given is very impressive, "lest thy brother should seem vile unto thee," i.e. lest he should be so excessively punished as to be afterwards unfit for service, and lest he should be the common butt of any one who chose to dishonor him. Human nature is to be respected, even in carrying out legal sentences on crime. Trapp says, "The Turks, when cruelly lashed, are compelled to return to the judge that commanded it, to kiss his hand, to give him thanks, and to pay the officer that whipped them!
I The sight of a human being coming under the sentence of criminal law is matter for intense sadness.
II The punishment to be inflicted on him should be such in matter and degree as to assert right principle, but not such as needlessly to dishonor him. For
III Humanity, in spite of crime, has dignity about it still. Sin and the sinner are not inseparable. God can kill one and save the other!
IV With a view to a criminal"s salvation, whatever of honor remains in his nature should be carefully guarded and tenderly appealed to.
HOMILIES BY J. ORR. Vers. 1-3. The bastinado.
Professor W. R. Smith ("Old Testament," p. 376) regards this law of stripes as indicating a late date for Deuteronomy. He argues from the customs of the free Bedouins. But it is perilous to reason from the customs of the Bedouins to the punishments in vogue among a people who had lived some centuries in Egypt, where, as is well-known, the bastinado was in constant use. The sculptures at Beni-Hassan represent the very scene here described. We learn
I THAT IT IS THE FUNCTION OF CIVIL MAGISTRATES TO PUNISH CRIME. (Vers. 1, 2.) They bear the sword for this purpose. (Rom_14:4; 1Pe_2:14) The modern humanitarian spirit tends to exalt the reformatory and preventive ends of punishment, at the expense of the retributive. That every effort should be put forth for the reformation of the criminal which the case admits of, we cordially allow. But the danger is, in these matters, that sentiment degenerate into sentimentalism. Crime deserves punishment, and on that ground alone, were there no other, ought to receive it. No theory can be satisfactory which loses sight of retribution, and makes reformation and prevention the all in all.
II THAT PENALTIES OUGHT TO BE SUFFICIENTLY SEVERE. (Ver. 2.) To be effective in early stages of civilization, penalties must be severe, prompt, and specific enough to be vividly conceived (cf. H. Spencer"s "Essays:" "Prison Ethics"). The progress of society admits of the substitution of punishments appealing to a higher class of sensibilities. But even these ought adequately to express the measure of the criminal"s desert. If Mr. Spencer were right, the slightest restraint compatible with the safety of the community, combined with compulsory self-support, would be punishment sufficient for the greatest crimes. The sense of justice in mankind rejects such ideas. Carlyle"s teaching in "Model Prisons" is healthier than this.
III THAT PENALTIES OUGHT TO BE MEASURED. (Ver. 3.) It is difficult to believe that in our own country, at the beginning of this century, the theft of five shillings from the person was a crime punishable by death. Yet the statute-book bristled with enactments, of which, unhappily, this was not the worst. Such outrageous disproportion between crime and punishment must have robbed the law"s sentences of most of their moral effect. Anomalies exist still, which it would be to any statesman"s credit to endeavor to remove.
IV THAT PENALTIES SHOULD NOT BE UNDULY DEGRADING, (Vet, 3.) Lest "thy brother should seem vile unto thee." The effect of excessive severity is to harden, degrade, dehumanize. It often drives the criminal to desperation. As a victim of the older criminal code expressed it, "A man"s heart is taken from him, and there is given to him the heart of a beast." The tendency in modern feeling is toward the abolition of corporal punishments entirely, as degrading alike to him who administers them, and to those by whom they are endured.
Observe:
1. The profound idea on which the law rested. The body, part of human nature, and sharing its dignity as made in God"s image.
2. The best laws may be unjustly and cruelly administered. J.O. (2Co_11:24, 2Co_11:25)
HOMILIES BY D. DAVIES Vers. 1-3. Earthly magistracy an argument for the heavenly.
It is not conceivable that God should have taken such pains, through Moses, to secure pure administration of justice in earthly courts, unless he had established a like court of judicature in heaven. So far as the will of God is embodied in the judicial procedure on earth, it is copied from the pattern of heavenly things.
I A JUDICIAL COURT IS CREATED FOR THE DISCRIMINATION OF HUMAN CHARACTER. The purpose of all examination and testimony is to separate the evil from the good to bring to light the righteousness and the wickedness of men. Justice delights more in vindicating and commending the righteous than in censuring and condemning the wicked. Justice found a nobler occupation in marshalling Mordecai through the city, and proclaiming his innocence, than in erecting the gallows for the execution of Haman. Human judges, however, can discern only what is palpable and conspicuous. They have not an organ of insight delicate enough to detect the lesser excellences and blemishes; nor can they penetrate into the interior nature of man. These institutions are only the shadows of heavenly things. But every man stands before the tribunal of a higher Judge, where not only actions, but motives, intentions, and feelings, are examined and weighed. Here, without the possibility of mistake, the righteous are justified, the wicked are condemned. Discrimination is perfect: separation will be complete.
II A JUDICIAL COURT IS ORDAINED FOR THE PUNISHMENT OF EVIL DEEDS.
1. The true punishment is measured by the scale of demerit. It is enjoined to be "according to his fault." In God"s sagacious judgment, every degree of blameworthiness is noted. Nothing appertaining to moral conduct is beneath the notice of God"s eye. We value far too little moral qualities. As we grow like God, we shall gain in that penetrative power which discerns the beauty of goodness and the blackness of iniquity.
2. Punishment is a loss of manliness. "The judge shall cause him to lie down." His dignity shall be prostrate. Sin robs us of manliness, but the loss does not come into public view until punishment follows. To be righteous throughout is to be a man.
3. Punishment is to be public. The culprit is "to be beaten before the judge"s face." This publicity is part of the penalty. It is summary to be inflicted at once. And publicity is also a safeguard against cruelty and against excess. So God invites public recognition and public approval of his doings. The ransomed universe shall unite in the testimony, "Just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.
III A JUDICIAL COURT REVEALS THE VALUE OF A HUMAN LIFE. The penalties were to be moderate, "lest thy brother should seem vile unto thee." The first ends of punishment are the reformation and improvement of the offender. If it is possible to teach the culprit the value of himself, and inspire him with a hatred of sin, we have done him unspeakable good. We do not spend so much in cutting and polishing a common stone as we do a ruby or a sapphire. Let our treatment of men be as if we esteemed them the jewels of God. D.
HOMILIES BY R.M. EDGAR Vers. 1-3. Corporal punishment.
We have here directions given for the punishment of criminals. As the Hebrews had no gaol system, a properly graduated corporal punishment supplied most effectively its place. Moses here directs the judges to look carefully into the case, and to assign a certain number of stripes, which are never to exceed forty, the chastisement being given in the presence of the judge. Thus the largest measure of equity was introduced into their penal system.
I RETRIBUTION OF SOME KIND IS CONSONANT WITH OUR IDEAS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. To be allowed to sin with impunity would be, we all feel, an immoral regulation under any government, and especially immoral under a theocracy. Punishment for sin is demanded by the human conscience. All quarrel with retribution as such argues a want of conscientiousness.
II BUT RETRIBUTION SHOULD BE PROPORTIONAL TO SIN. This is what the law before us secured. The stripes were to be few or many, according to the crime, but never to exceed forty. The judgment was to be righteous and equitable all through.
III WE LOOK INSTINCTIVELY FOR THE SAME EQUITY UNDER THE GOVERNMENT OF GOD. And this is exactly what we have. And here let us observe
1. Sin is not allowed to go unpunished under Gods government. It has been very confidently asserted that, if people are penitent, no atonement is needed to secure pardon. But, supposing penitence a possible experience apart from the spectacle of a pierced and atoning Savior, (Zec_12:10) should we not have "sin with impunity" under the reputedly just government of God? Those who glibly talk of penitence being all that is required, have formed no broad or consistent notion of the necessities of government. Now, the Divine arrangement has been to lay the "stripes" we deserve upon his willing Son. "With his stripes we are healed". (Isa_53:5) The sin is punished in the person of a sinless and mostwilling Substitute, and the demands of justice met. We may be sure that, as the Father presided at the punishment, no more was laid on Jesus than the demands of simple justice and the exigencies of the government required. And
2. Unpardoned because impenitent sinners shall have their punishment graduated according to the strictest justice. It has been asserted that punishment without end would be excessive for the sins of a short life on earth. But it is forgotten that "everlasting punishment" is the shadow simply of "everlasting sin." The latter, alas! is possible through the freedom of the creature; and as sin continues, so must punishment. At the same time, the graduation of punishment in the other world will be as accurate and as careful as the corporal punishment under the Law of Moses. In fact, it is this idea of stripes our Lord employs to express the truth. "And that servant which knew his lord"s will, and made not ready, nor did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes; but he that knew not, and did things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. And to whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be required; and to whom they commit much, of him will they ask the more". (Luk_12:47, Luk_12:48, Revised Version) It is thus clearly seen that the utmost care will be taken to graduate the penalties in the hereafter, so that no one shall have the least ground of complaint. The vulgar revolt against the everlasting punishment revealed in Scripture is due to the idea that the criminals are thrown pellmell together and punished in the lump. With far greater care, however, shall each impenitent one have his penalties meted out to him than prisoners have under the most conscientious judges.
IV INSTEAD OF BANDYING ABOUT ARGUMENTS IN FAVOR OF RELIEF UNDER PUNISHMENT, IT WOULD BE KINDER FOR CONTROVERSIALISTS TO INDUCE MEN THROUGH FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST TO ACCEPT OF PARDON AND SO ESCAPE PENALTY. The spectacle at present is a sad one. Writers are pursuing the phantom of remission of sins and of punishment in the other life, as a new gospel for sinners, instead of urging their fellows to flee at once to Jesus, the only Refuge. This much is certain, "Him that cometh unto me," says Christ, "I will in no wise cast out." Upon such a promise any soul may repose. But the uncertainty of speculation is proverbial, and can never be the sheet-anchor of any sane soul. Let men come to Jesus, and the question of punishment, so far as they are concerned, is settled forever. Punishment gives way to pardon; while at the same time, it is felt that the sin has not gone unpunished. R.M.E.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v1 Critical Notes.—Corporal punishment. Controv., dispute arising from inflicted injury.…
Critical Notes.—Corporal punishment. Controv., dispute arising from inflicted injury. Justify pronounce just, Exo_23:7; Pro_17:15.
Deu_25:2. Lie down. “Precisely the same as the Egyptian bastinado, which was applied to the bared back of the culprit, who was stretched flat on the ground, his hands and feet being held by attendants” (Jam). The law of Moses introduced two restrictions, the infliction of punishment In presence of the judge and the limit to 40 stripes. If a criminal deserved severer punishment he was executed.
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Deu_25:5. Ox In other kinds of labour oxen were muzzled. The spiritual sense is applied, 1Co_9:9; 1Ti_5:18; Hos_10:11.
Deu_25:5-10. Law of Levirate Marriages. This usage existed before the law of Moses (Gen_38:8-11) and seems to have originated in patriarchal times, for preserving the name and honour of the eldest son—the chieftain of the family. The Mosaic law rendered the custom obligatory (Mat_22:25) on younger brothers, or the nearest kinsman, to marry the widow (Rth_4:4), by associating the natural desire of perpetuating of a brother’s name with the preservation of property in the Hebrew families and tribes (Num_33:54; Num_36:9). If a younger brother declined to comply with law, the widow brought her claim before the authorities in public assembly (the gate of the city); she was ordered to loose the thong of his shoe (Deu_25:9) a sign of degradation—following up that act by spitting, not in his face, but in his presence before him on the ground (Jam.)
Deu_25:11-12. Severe penalty imposed upon a shameless woman, who wilfully should endanger or take away the power of offspring from a man, Exo_21:22.
Deu_25:13-16. Weights and measures. Divers. lit., “a stone and a stone”—one just and one false, or a light and heavy one. Weights consisted of stones; facility in procuring them tempted to fraud. Measures, lit., “an ephah and an ephah,” the common or standard measure in Israel. Lengthened. cf. Deu_4:26; Deu_5:16. Unrighteously. Moses sums up all the breaches of the law. (Keil.)
Deu_25:17-19. Doom of Amalek. Did, met, thee, i.e., stealthily and in hostile encounter; not found in Exo_17:14. The Jews had not only to manifest love and kindness, but often to inflict punishment upon God’s enemies. They were executors of Divine judgment upon Amalek and others; cf. 1Sa_15:3; 1Sa_15:32-33.
PUNISHMENT OF THE GUILTY.—Deu_25:1-3
God took special care for the administration of justice. The guilty must be punished, and the innocent defended. It is the duty of earthly tribunals to govern in equity.
I. Punishment incurred. There must not be mere report or accusation. The accused and accuser must be brought face to face, the dispute decided before the authorities, and the criminal be found “worthy to be beaten.” The wicked cannot sin with impunity. Punishment was demanded under the theocracy. Conscience predicts retribution and human magistrates are appointed to administer it. In doing so they are types of the eternal judge.
II. Punishment inflicted. We have special directors given to make the penal system just and effective.
1. By the authority of the judge. Not by some private heartless official wishing for revenge. Magistrates bear the sword, (Rom_14:4; 1Pe_2:14; 1Pe_2:21).
2. In publicity. “Before his face.” This would be itself a part of punishment and a check to cruelty and excesss.
3. According to desert. “According to his fault.” There must be discrimination and rectitude. To justify the wicked and condemn the just would reverse the order of justice, and become “an abomination to the Lord” (Pro_17:15).
4. In measured degree. “Forty stripes he may give and not exceed,” Deu_5:3. Stripes, few or many, according to guilt, but never to exceed forty. Punishment should ever be measured according to strictest justice. Our penal code has been disgraced by cruel administration, and punishment has often been excessive, outrageous, and beyond moral desert. “They shall judge it according to my judgments.”
5. With scrupulous fear. Lest “thy brother should seem vile unto thee.” Excessive punishment degrades humanity, dishonours law, and hardens the criminal. He must be corrected, reformed, and treated with humanity. “Count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.”
THE RIGHTS OF LABOUR.—Deu_25:4
The command not to put a muzzle upon the ox, is no doubt proverbial in its nature, and even in the context before us is not intended to apply merely literally to an ox employed in threshing, but to be understood, in the general sense in which the Apostle Paul uses it in (1Co_9:9, and 1Ti_5:18), viz.: that a labourer was not to be deprived of his wages. Keil.
I. Rights enforced by common usage. The use of oxen in treading out corn unmuzzled still prevails among Arabs and eastern nations. If God takes “care for oxen,” we must treat them kindly. The ox is not a mere animal, but a labourer, contributing to the sustenance and help of man.
II. Rights enforced by special enactment. This was a wonderful provision in the law of Moses. Nothing was too trivial connected with men or brutes. God defends the rights of every creature, and teaches us to recognise the nobility of labour in the smallest law.
III. Rights enforced by Divine law. This is a general principle, extending to the plougher and the sower. Toilers of hand and brain are not mere drones, but essential to the well-being of society. In all departments “the labourer is worthy of his hire.” The highest authority applies the law to ministerial support (Luk_10:1). “If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things?” (Tim. Deu_5:18).
HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Deu_25:3. Exceed. Abuse of power in excessive punishment. Power given for edification not destruction (2Co_13:10). “There is an honour due to all men (1Pe_2:17), and though we must hate the sin, yet not the sinner,” Trapp. The reason assigned by the legislator in this statute for restricting the number of stripes is very remarkable. It is not simply a motive of compassion for a sufferer—it is a respect for human nature, the rights of which are preserved even in a criminal. To inflict upon a man an excessive and degrading punishment is to outrage the feelings of those who witness it, and to pour contempt upon humanity itself. This humane character of the Mosaic legislation is deserving of special notice. How rigorous soever it may be in some respects, it upholds the dignity of man’s nature, and does not permit even a guilty offender to “seem vile unto others.”—Jamieson.
Deu_25:4. Not muzzle the ox. Though enacted in a particular case, it teaches the humane lesson that animals, while engaged in the service of man, are entitled to his indulgence and kindness. Paul quotes this law (1Co_9:9; 1Ti_5:18), and shows that God did not appoint it for the sake of oxen alone, but that every labourer is worthy of his hire, and hence declares the obligation of men to exercise justice in properly rewarding those who labour for their advantage, especially those who labour for the good of their souls. The application, so far from weakening, seems to confirm its obligation and reference to that point, inasmuch as it displays to us that, in the eye of God, the same principles of equity are expected to prevail amongst all His creatures, and that they are not to be confined to our dealings with men.—Jamieson.
THE LAW OF LEVIRATE MARRIAGE.—Deu_25:5-10
This law is not peculiar to the Jews, but is found in all essential respects the same among various Oriental nations, ancient and modern, and exists at present among the South African tribes, the Arabians, the Druses, and the tribes of the Caucasus (Speak. Com.)
I. The duty imposed. The obligation was onerous and recognised as one of affection for the memory of the deceased. It devolved upon the neighbouring kinsman—“brethren that dwell together,” not “a stranger.” Affection is needful in married life. This cannot be forced. Love leads to duty and self-sacrifice.
II. The design of the obligation. (a) To prevent alienation of property; (b) To raise up seed. To be without issue was considered a great calamity (Gen_16:4); a successor and heir a great blessing; (c) To perpetuate a name, “that his name be not put out of Israel.” Parents are anxious to maintain the honour and preserve the name of the family. Loss of inheritance, alienation of the rights of the firstborn, are a disgrace. God’s favour is better than fame which “is the shade of immortality, and in itself a shadow.”
Unblemished let me live, or die unknown,
Oh! grant me honest fame, or grant me none.—Pope.
III. The reproach of neglecting the obligation. It was not so binding as to permit no escape. If the brother preferred to submit to reproach. “If the man like not,” he might refuse (Deu_25:7). Then the thong of his shoe was loosed, he was stripped of power and degraded as a slave. Spitting in the face or in his presence, was the strongest expression of insult and contempt. The man was not worthy to take his brother’s place, was scornfully rejected by the woman herself, and his name became a bye word in Israel. “The house of him that hath his shoe loosed.”
TRADE MORALITY.—Deu_25:13-16
The language of Scripture on this point demands the serious attention of all engaged in trade. Principles of life are given in minute detail and enforced by special sanctions.
I. God requires honesty in trade. Not only in courts of law, but in commercial life, in the market place, and in the shop, justice must be done. There must be no different weights and measures; one for buying and another for selling; one light and another heavy. This was the iniquitous system of Jews. Accurate inspection may restrain gross deceit with us. But trickery and close dealing, evasion of legal rights, and deviation from honest trading are too prevalent. Advantage is taken of ignorance. Impositions, double-dealings and hard bargains are struck with cleverness and self-satisfaction (Pro_20:14). Christian professors and Christian churches have need of warning and care. “That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter” (1Th_4:6).
II. Honesty in trade is enforced by special sanctions. That which is the standard of measure, the rule of justice must of itself be just. If not there will be fraud and deceit.
1. Justice will gain temporal advantage. “That thy days may be lengthened in the land” (Deu_25:15). Might prolonged life and made it happy. As a matter of self-interest, “Honesty is the best policy.” It will enrich spiritual experience, promote social morality and preserve national life.
2. Justice will secure God’s approval. We must act as under his eye and seek “a conscience void of offence towards God and man.” Equity and not “customs of the trade” must be our law. “A false balance is abomination to the Lord; but a just weight (a perfect stone) is his delight” (Pro_11:1).
3. Injustice will expose to God’s curse. “All that do unrighteously are abomination unto the Lord.” Man may excuse convenient lies, commend trickery for its wisdom (Luk_16:1-8) and cry “business is business,” but such trading is hateful to God, will bring shame and curse upon those who practise it. “Divers weights (a stone and a stone) and divers measures (an ephah and ephah), both of them are alike abomination to the Lord” (Pro_20:10).
THE CHRISTIAN IN COMMERCE
The greatest difficulties in the way of a Christian commercial life, arise out of the practices which prevail. Enforce right conduct, you are met by an appeal to general sanction, and a reference to the consequences which would follow from its adoption, in ridicule and condemnation, in loss and suffering. Thus the Christian tradesman must shape his principles in the way of reform and opposition—
I. Endeavour to point out what Christianity requires of a man in his dealings in business with his fellow-men.
1. Christianity requires the most rigid adherence to the principles of moral integrity in commerce. Truth is one of these, which lies at the basis of all intercourse, and without which society would be impossible. All positive misrepresentations, all arts by which one thing is passed off for another, all false appearances given to things, and all deficient scales and measures, are condemned. Honesty is another Christian virtue in commerce. In giving everyone his due, in meeting all equitable claims. For a man to refuse to pay his debts is dishonest. “Owe no man anything.” A debt is a debt until it be paid or forgiven. Bankruptcy is not payment. No earthly tribunal can exempt from the claims of eternal justice, and an honest debtor will deem nothing his while creditors are unsatisfied in fact or feeling. It is a grand saying of De Foe, “The obligations of an honest man can never die.”
2. Christianity requires the exercise of love and kindness in commerce. A man may be just, and yet a monster of inhumanity. The Christian spirit of love should not be confined to some departments of human life and excluded from others. It is designed to create a higher morality than that of the world, it will dictate much which law cannot take cognizance of, and preserve for the wretched practice of exclusive dealing, of punishing a man for his politics or religion by withholding custom and thus making commerce the instrument of bigotry and exclusiveness.
3. Christianity requires that a man should preserve his soul in peace and patience in commerce. Commerce implies contact with others. It compels intercourse with men of powerful passions, different dispositions and opposite principles. Hence we are sorely tried, exposed to innumerable disappointments, vexations and annoyances. We may be deceived by those we trusted, and injured by those we benefited. All this must be endured in meekness, and the heart must be kept calm and unruffled, seek no revenge, but cherish the spirit of love
4. Christianity requires that commerce should be consecrated and elevated by the spirit of holiness. There is a hardening and corrupting tendency in commercial pursuits. Constant calculation of profit and loss, incessant contemplation of pecuniary interests are apt to contract and debase the soul. The man who gives himself wholly to gain becomes earthly, sensual and devilish. All spiritual generous sensibilities and aspirations are destroyed. He becomes less malleable than the coin with which he deals. But Christianity teaches that commerce is a means, not an end; “that a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of things which he possesses;” that we may be yet having all things, and rich, yet having nothing. Commerce will be really noble and raised from the dust, when the higher faculties are cultivated with secular pursuits; wealth possessed and used in the spirit of stewardship, and a vigorous habit of Christian liberality finds a constant vent for the acquisitions of Christian industry.
II. Having described what a Christian should be in commerce briefly show Why he should be it. All considerations by which religion and morality are commended and enforced are applicable here. The course pointed out is right in itself, what we owe to God and connected with eternal destiny. It is necessary to inherit the kingdom of heaven. It is presented to us in the example of Christ, whom all disciples should imitate. In one word, Christianity requires it; all its precepts, principles, blessings, and prospects require it. But addnce some particular considerations.
1. Commerce is a most important part of life. It enters largely into our engagements. It is in some form or other the greatest part of the life of multitudes. Could a man be a Christian and yet not be a Christian in his dealings with his fellow-men? Is it possible to retain the spirit of the gospel and yet not bring it into business? The power of religion must be best displayed here. The truest test of a man’s spirituality is in his secular life. It is often said, “A man is really what he is relatively.” I would add a man is spiritually what he is secularly.
2. Commerce is a most influential part of our life. It is part of life with which men have most to do and of which they can best judge. It is the world-side of our religion. Ungodly men cannot see us believe and always hear us pray, but they behold our behaviour towards others. Though ignorant of doctrinal theology, and strangers to true spirituality, they are no bad critics of moral conduct. What then is our influence, if we be not holy in business? What use saying, “I know the truth,” if it can be replied, “You do a lie?” What an agency in the conversion of the world would be a blameless secular life throughout the Church! It would be belter than an army of ten thousand missionaries.
3. Commercial holiness is imperatively required by the character and temper of the times. It is a commercial country and age in which we live, and commercial sinfulness is a prevailing feature. It is the duty of the Christian to adapt his example and display the virtue most wanted. Never more necessary for saints to “condemn the world” by secular integrity, to give a noble example for it to follow, and to bring a spirit from above to bear on its pursuits. (A. J. Morris.)
THE DOOM OF AMALEK.—Deu_25:17-19
“Whilst the Israelites were to make love the guiding principle of their conduct in their dealings with a neighbour, and even with strangers and foes, this love was not to degenerate into weakness or indifference towards open ungodliness. To impress this truth upon the people, Moses concludes the discourse on the law by reminding them of the crafty enmity manifested toward them by Amalek on their march out of Egypt, and with the command to root out the Amalekites” (cf. Exo_17:9-16).—Keil.
I. Amalek’s sin against Israel. “How he met thee by the way,” stealthily and fierce encounter, in a most difficult and risky place, “in Rephidim” (cf. Exo_17:8).
1. This attack was unprovoked. No occasion was furnished for it. Israel had not the remotest intention to injure the persons or seize the territory of Amalek. But they were jealous at the prosperity of Israel, as descendants of Esau entertained a grudge against them, and longed to injure them.
2. This attack was cowardly. It was a mean, dastardly, insidious surprise, not in front, but in the rear, on “the hindmost”—not on the strong and vigorous, but on “the feeble,” “the faint and weary.” We have a kind of reverence for the brave, but cowards are objects of scorn and contempt.
3. This attack was cruel. Upon stragglers, upon a host tired in the march, almost unarmed and unable to resist. “The tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.”
4. This attack was presumptuous “He feared not God.” A defiance against God of whom they had heard, and whose mighty acts in Egypt and the Red Sea had defended his people. It was an insult, “a lifting up of the hand upon the throne of God” (Marg. Exo_17:16). “The fear of God” alone can restrain from evil. When this is cast off, there will be no “regard for men.”
II. Amalek’s sin remembered by God. “Remember what Amalek did.” A record was kept “in the book” (Exo_17:14), and this conduct was never forgotten.
1. Sin is never overlooked. Silence may be kept at the time of commission. God may appear to connive, to wink at times of ignorance and sin (Act_17:30), but they are not overlooked. If no direct interposition, men must not excuse, take courage, and cry God hath forgotten. God’s patience is no proof that He thinks lightly of sin. Sentence is gone forth; Edom’s doom was predicted, but warning is given, time for repentance afforded before execution.
2. Sin is kept in remembrance. A book of record is found somewhere. An impress is left upon nature, upon the human mind, and upon moral conduct. Wickedness is read in the pangs of conscience, the power of evil habits, and the moral forces of the universe. God prepares ministers of vengeance, and in due time the judgment will come.
III. Amalek’s sin punished by God. Injustice and cruelty towards God’s people will not pass unavenged. Joshua had punished them, but a more terrible doom awaited them.
1. Punishment long delayed. For some wise reason the honour of Jehovah was not vindicated at the time. The base attack was repelled, but the territory was not invaded—the final judgment was delayed. This was inflicted partly by Saul and David (1Sa_14:48; 1Sa_27:8; 1Sa_30:17; 2Sa_8:12), finally and completely under Hezekiah (1Ch_4:43). Judgment may linger, but it is “laid up in store.”
2. Punishment by those who have suffered. God’s people themselves, when fixed in privileges and possession, must inflict it. Power and position are not given for selfish enjoyment. We must be ready for warfare as well as for service. No pity, no pride must prevent us from executing God’s will upon our enemies. “Remember,” “thou shalt not forget it.”
3. Punishment most severe. “Thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven” (Exo_17:14). Fearful doom! But Scripture, Providence and human history confirm the law—“He shall have judgment without mercy, that hath showed no mercy.”
HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Deu_25:11-12. Shameful insult. No excuse in the plea to help her husband. “Modesty is the hedge of chastity, and therefore ought to be very carefully preserved and kept up by both sexes.”
Deu_25:13-16. “Customs of trade.” Often—
(1) sinful,
(2) corrupting, and
(3) dangerous. “Shall I count them pure with the wicked balances, and with the bag of deceitful weights?” (Mic_6:11).
Deu_25:17-19. Amalek.
1. Ungodly principles lead to wicked conduct. “Amalek feared not God.”
2. Wicked conduct is not allowed to go unpunished in the providence of God.
3. This punishment when inflicted is full of suggestion—(a) delayed to prove the patience of God towards his enemies. (b) severe, to avenge His people, and teach the doctrine of retribution. “The portion of wicked men is to be “forgotten in the city where they had so done” (Ecc_8:10). Their memory dies with them; or if it be preserved, it stinks in keeping, and remains as a curse and perpetual disgrace” (Trapp). It is not always consistent with the purposes of the Divine economy to vindicate the honour of Jehovah by any general punishment at the time. But if no further notice had been taken, this contemptuous defiance of the power and majesty of God would have appeared to escape with impunity, a circumstance which might have degraded the Deity in the estimation of Israel, who judged of His power as all other nations then judged of their guardian gods, by His rigour and promptitude in defending His people and punishing their enemies. He would not suffer Amalek to pass finally unpunished, but would authorise and employ them to inflict judgment, thus impressing His people themselves with the Salutary conviction that where the majesty of Jehovah was insulted, present delay of punishment affords no presumption of final impunity.—(Graves on Pent.)
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 25
Deu_25:1-4. Judgment. No obligation to justice does force a man to be cruel, or to use the sharpest sentence. A just man does justice to every man and every thing; and then, if he be also wise, he knows there is a debt of mercy and compassion due to the infirmities of man’s nature; and that is to be paid; and he that, is cruel and ungentle to a sinning person, and does the worst to him, dies in his debt and is unjust.—Jeremy Taylor.
Deu_25:13-16. Trade. What signifies. a man’s trade? A man of honest trade can make himself respectable if he will (George III.). To be honest as this world goes is to be one picked out of ten thousand.—Shakespeare.
Deu_25:17-19. Not forget. Most just it is that he who breweth mischief should have the first draught of it himself.—(Jemmat). For inquisition shall be made into the counsels of the ungodly, and the sound of his words shall come unto the Lord for the manifestation of his wicked deeds (Wis_1:7-9). Mercy to him that shows it is the rule by which heaven moves in pardoning guilty man; and he that shows none, being ripe in years, and conscious of the outrage ne commits, shall seek it and not find it in his turn.—Cowper.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 Ordinances regarding the Infliction of Stripes, the Baising of…
Ordinances regarding the Infliction of Stripes, the Baising of Seed to a Brother, Modesty, and Fair Dealing
3. And not exceed] In order to keep within the limit it was usual to inflict thirty-nine stripes: see 2Co_11:24. The milder beating was with a rod. A severer form of this punishment was scourging, inflicted with a whip of thongs into which pieces of iron were inserted. In the time of our Lord beating was inflicted in the synagogue upon ecclesiastical offenders: see on Mat_10:17; Act_26:11.. While the culprit was being beaten the words in Deu_28:58-59; Psa_78:38 were read.
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4. In threshing, the sheaves were spread out upon a hard beaten piece of ground (the threshing floor), and over them a pair of oxen dragged a wooden sledge or harrow about 5 ft. square, upon which the driver stood to add weight to it. In 1Co_9:9-14
1Ti_5:17-18; St. Paul applies this precept to the duty of supporting those who preach the gospel: see on Exo_23:4, Exo_23:5.
5-10. Marriage of a brother's widow. Among the Jews it was regarded as a great calamity that the family line should become extinct. If a man died childless, his name perished and his property passed to the families of his brothers. To obviate this was the purpose of this law of the levirate marriage (Lat. levir = a husband's brother). The duty of marrying a brother's widow was not enforced, but the refusal to do so was regarded as disgraceful. Failing a brother the duty devolved upon the nearest male relative. See on Lev_18:16, and see Rth_2:20; Rth_3:9-13; Ruth 4.
9. The loosing of the shoe and handing it over signified an act of transfer or renunciation. In this case it was a mark of discredit: cp. Rth_2:7, Rth_2:8. A Bedouin formula of divorce is 'She was my slipper and I have cast her off.'
13-16. Ancient weights were pieces of stone or metal which the merchant kept in a bag. An unscrupulous merchant might have two sets of weights in his bag, a heavier for buying and a lighter for selling: see Mic_6:11; Pro_16:11, and cp. Lev_19:35, Lev_19:36.
17-19. See Exo_17:8-16, and for the fulfilment of the injunction 1Sa_14:48; 1 Samuel 15, 1Sa_27:8, 1Sa_27:9.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v1 21. Various Laws and Responsibilities
21. Various Laws and Responsibilities
CHAPTER 25
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1. Corporal punishment (Deu 25:1-3)
2. Thou shalt not muzzle the ox (Deu 25:4)
3. The brother-in-law’s marriage (Deu 25:5-10)
4. Concerning a sinful freedom (Deu 25:11-12)
5. Concerning divers weights and measures (Deu 25:13-16)
6. Concerning the conquest of Amalek (Deu 25:17-19)
Corporal punishment is mentioned in the first paragraph of this chapter. But this also was tempered with mercy. Not more than forty stripes were to be administered in the presence of the judge. The rabbinical instructions put the limit at thirty-nine--”forty save one.” Five times our blessed apostle Paul was punished in this manner, for we read, “Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes, save one” (2Co 11:24).
In comparison with the cruel beatings and tortures so universally found among the Gentile races the law concerning corporal punishment appears very merciful. The chastisement was not to be severer than it could be endured. It speaks typically also of the chastisement His people have to undergo.
The ox was not to be muzzled when he treaded out the corn.
“Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also? For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? Or saith He it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope” (1Co 9:7-10).
“For the Scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, the laborer is worthy of his reward” (1Ti 5:18). These are most blessed comments on this verse, which otherwise would be rather obscure. The toiling ox is the type of the servant and his ministry. And this has its rewards.
The commandment given by Moses, that a surviving brother is to marry his brother’s widow is seen in its working in the story of Ruth and the kinsman-redeemer. The law itself was founded upon an old traditional custom, which we find already in Gen 38:8-11. Moses here recognized this custom was not to be considered compulsory.2
And Amalek was to be remembered, Amalek, who feared not God. When Israel had rest in the land and all the other enemies were conquered, then the remembrance of Amalek was to be completely blotted out. As we saw from our annotations in Exodus Amalek typifies the flesh, while Egypt is the type of the world. The complete perishing of Amalek is seen in Balaam’s parables. When the sceptre rises out of Israel (the second coming of Christ), when He comes that shall have dominion, then Amalek shall perish forever (Num 24:20). When we are indeed in the land and possess our inheritance, when all our enemies are gone, then the remembrance of Amalek, the old flesh, will be blotted out forever.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v1 Of Bodily Punishments
Of Bodily Punishments
v. 1. If there be a controversy between men, some matter of litigation, and they come unto judgment, bring the matter before the proper officers, that the judges may judge them, then they, the judges, shall justify the righteous and condemn the wicked, declare the latter to be guilty before the law, Exo 22:8; Exo 23:7.
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v. 2. And it shall be if the wicked man, he whom the judges have found to be in the wrong, be worthy to be beaten, literally, "if a son of stripes the guilty one," that the judge shall cause him to lie down, and to be beaten before his face, while he personally witnessed the punishment, according to his fault, by a certain number, in proportion to the severity of his transgression.
v. 3. Forty stripes he may give him, and not exceed, this precept later resulting in the limit’s being placed at thirty-nine, for there was danger of miscounting, and the Jews, especially after the return from the exile, were anything if not literal, 2Co 11:24; lest, if he should exceed and beat him above these with many stripes, then thy brother should seem vile unto thee, lowered beneath the dignity of a man and a member of God’s people. The punishment by whipping was in use also in Egypt, where the culprit was laid flat on the ground, his hands and feet held firmly, and the punishment administered on the back in the presence of the judge.
v. 4. Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn. The usual form of threshing in the Orient is that on a threshing-floor out in the open, where the grain was spread out and oxen driven back and forth across the floor to loosen the grain from the hulls by stepping upon the ears. The humane measure of keeping the animals unmuzzled at that time gave them an opportunity to pick up food whenever they became hungry. It seems that this precept was soon understood in the proverbial sense, in which it is also applied by St. Paul, in his admonition to provide properly for the pastors and teachers, 1Co 9:9; 1Ti 5:18.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 3, 4 General Information:
General Information:
Moses continues speaking to the people of Israel.
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If the guilty man deserves to be beaten
This can be stated in active form. AT: "If the judge orders them to beat the guilty man" (See: Active or Passive)
be beaten in his presence
This can be stated in active form. AT: "he will watch them beat him" (See: Active or Passive)
with the ordered number of blows, as was his crime
"the number of times he has ordered because of the bad deed he did"
translationWords
court
judge
acquit
righteous
condemn
evil
guilt
crime
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv3–4 25:3 At a flogging, the maximum number of strikes…
25:3 At a flogging, the maximum number of strikes allowed was forty lashes. Fewer could be applied depending on the case (25:2). As people created in the image of God, even wrongdoers were entitled to mercy and respect. In later Judaism, thirty-nine lashes were given (see 2 Cor 11:24 and note).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.