“You shall not allow a sorceress to live.
Parallel Translations
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“You shall not allow a sorceress to live.
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Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.
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(22-17) Thou shalt not suffer a sorceress to live.
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Contradictions (2)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (13)
Passages linked to Exodus 22:18 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Leviticus 20:27 “ ‘A man or a woman that is a medium or is a wizard shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones. Their blood shall be upon themselves.’ ”
- Deuteronomy 18:10-11 There shall not be found with you anyone who makes his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who tells fortunes, or an enchanter, or a sorcerer, or a charmer, or someone who consults with a familiar spirit, or a wizard, or a necromancer.
- 1 Samuel 28:3 Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had mourned for him, and buried him in Ramah, even in his own city. Saul had sent away those who had familiar spirits and the wizards out of the land.
- Leviticus 20:6 “ ‘The person that turns to those who are mediums and wizards, to play the prostitute after them, I will even set my face against that person, and will cut him off from among his people.
- Leviticus 19:31 “ ‘Don’t turn to those who are mediums, nor to the wizards. Don’t seek them out, to be defiled by them. I am Yahweh your God.
- Revelation 22:15 Outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
- Leviticus 19:26 “ ‘You shall not eat any meat with the blood still in it. You shall not use enchantments, nor practice sorcery.
- Isaiah 19:3 The spirit of Egypt will fail within it. I will destroy its counsel. They will seek the idols, the charmers, those who have familiar spirits, and the wizards.
- Galatians 5:20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, strife, jealousies, outbursts of anger, rivalries, divisions, heresies,
- 1 Samuel 28:9 The woman said to him, “Behold, you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off those who have familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land. Why then do you lay a snare for my life, to cause me to die?”
- Acts 8:9-11 But there was a certain man, Simon by name, who used to practice sorcery in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, making himself out to be some great one, to whom they all listened, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is that great power of God.” They listened to him, because for a long time he had amazed them with his sorceries.
- Acts 19:19 Many of those who practiced magical arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. They counted their price, and found it to be fifty thousand pieces of silver.
- Acts 16:16-19 As we were going to prayer, a certain girl having a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much gain by fortune telling. Following Paul and us, she cried out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us a way of salvation!” She was doing this for many days. But Paul, becoming greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” It came out that very hour. But when her masters saw that the hope of their gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas, and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (16 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Exo 22:18 Thou shalt not suffer a witch to…
Exo 22:18 Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.
Ver. 18. A witch.] An enchantress, sorceress, whose help was sometimes sought in enticing young maids to folly. {a} The wizzard also is here meant, but the woman witch mentioned; both because women are more inclinable to that sin; and also because the weaker sex is not to be spared for this fault. {b}
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{a} Vatab.
{b} Junius.
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 i.e. Any person that is in league with the…
i.e. Any person that is in league with the devil, and by his help either doth any mischief, or discovers and practices things above the reach of other men or women. Of which see Exo 7:11; Lev 20:27; Deu 18:10; 1Sa 28:9. The word is of the feminine gender, partly because women are most prone to these devilish arts, and most frequently guilty of them; and partly to intimate that no pity should be showed to such offenders, though they were of the weaker sex.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Thou shall not suffer a witch to live. Such…
Thou shall not suffer a witch to live. Such that had familiar spirits, and conversed with them, and by means thereof got knowledge of many things relating to persons, at least pretending they did; and who did or seemed to do many strange and surprising feats, as even to raise the spirits of departed persons, to converse with them and gain knowledge by them, though in reality they did not, and could not do such things, but used some juggling tricks to deceive the people, and in which they might be assisted by evil spirits; as appears from the case of the witch of Endor, who was surprised at the appearance of Samuel, it being out of the ordinary course of her art and practice really to bring up the spirit of a man deceased, whatever pretensions might be made to it; however, such being deceivers of the people, and leading them into unwarrantable practices, and off of a dependence on God and his providence, and from seeking to him, and asking counsel of him, they are by this law condemned to death, such an one was not to be suffered to live; not that it was lawful for anybody to kill her, or that any private person might or must do it that knew her, or took her to be a witch; but she was to be had before a court of judicature and tried there, and, if found guilty, to be put to death by the civil magistrate: so Jarchi's note is,"but she shall die by the house of judgment;''or the sanhedrim; for these words are spoken to Moses the chief judge, and to those that were under him, and succeeded him and them; though the Targum of Jonathan prefaces them thus:"and my people, the children of Israel, thou shalt not, &c.''and though only a witch is mentioned, or this is only expressed in the feminine gender, because a multitude of this sort of people were found among women, as Ben Melech observes, and so Aben Ezra; yet wizards, or men that dealt with familiar spirits, are included; and it may be reasonably concluded from hence, that if women, who generally have more mercy and compassion shown them, yet were not suffered to live when found criminal in this way, then much less men: and this law is thought by some to follow upon the other, concerning enticing and lying with a virgin not betrothed; because such sort of persons were made use of to entice and decoy maids to gratify the lusts of men.
Thou shall not suffer a witch to live. Such that had familiar spirits, and conversed with them, and by means thereof got knowledge of many things relating to persons, at least pretending they did; and who did or seemed to do many strange and surprising feats, as even to raise the spirits of departed persons, to converse with them and gain knowledge by them, though in reality they did not, and could not do such things, but used some juggling tricks to deceive the people, and in which they might be assisted by evil spirits; as appears from the case of the witch of Endor, who was surprised at the appearance of Samuel, it being out of the ordinary course of her art and practice really to bring up the spirit of a man deceased, whatever pretensions might be made to it; however, such being deceivers of the people, and leading them into unwarrantable practices, and off of a dependence on God and his providence, and from seeking to him, and asking counsel of him, they are by this law condemned to death, such an one was not to be suffered to live; not that it was lawful for anybody to kill her, or that any private person might or must do it that knew her, or took her to be a witch; but she was to be had before a court of judicature and tried there, and, if found guilty, to be put to death by the civil magistrate: so Jarchi's note is,"but she shall die by the house of judgment;''or the sanhedrim; for these words are spoken to Moses the chief judge, and to those that were under him, and succeeded him and them; though the Targum of Jonathan prefaces them thus:"and my people, the children of Israel, thou shalt not, &c.''and though only a witch is mentioned, or this is only expressed in the feminine gender, because a multitude of this sort of people were found among women, as Ben Melech observes, and so Aben Ezra; yet wizards, or men that dealt with familiar spirits, are included; and it may be reasonably concluded from hence, that if women, who generally have more mercy and compassion shown them, yet were not suffered to live when found criminal in this way, then much less men: and this law is thought by some to follow upon the other, concerning enticing and lying with a virgin not betrothed; because such sort of persons were made use of to entice and decoy maids to gratify the lusts of men.
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Exodus 22:19
exo 22:19
exo 22:19
exo 22:19In like manner as a man and woman, by carnal copulation; this is a crime so detestable and abominable, so shocking and dishonourable to human nature, that one would think it could never be committed by any of the human species, and that there was no occasion for making a law against it; but, such is the depravity and corruption of mankind, that divine wisdom saw it necessary, and, to deter from it, made it death, as follows; such an one
shall surely be put to death; no mercy shown him, no pardon or respite given him by the civil magistrate: according to the Targum of Jonathan, the death of such a person was by stoning, for it paraphrases the words,"he shall be killed with the casting of stones.''
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 Witchcraft not only gives that honour to the devil…
Witchcraft not only gives that honour to the devil which is due to God alone, but bids defiance to the divine providence, wages war with God's government, puts his work into the devil's hand expecting him to do good and evil. By our law, consulting, covenanting with, invocating or employing any evil spirit to any intent whatever, and exercising any enchantment, charm, or sorcery, whereby hurt shall be done to any person, is made felony, without benefit of clergy; also pretending to tell where goods lost or stolen may be found, is an iniquity punishable by the judge, and the second offense with death. This was the case in former times. But we are wiser than our fore-fathers. We believe, no witch ever did live! At least, not for these thousand years.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 18. Thou shalt not suffer a witch to…
Verse 18. Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.] If there had been no witches, such a law as this had never been made. The existence of the law, given under the direction of the Spirit of God, proves the existence of the thing. It has been doubted whether מכשפה mecash-shephah, which we translate witch, really means a person who practised divination or sorcery by spiritual or infernal agency. Whether the persons thus denominated only pretended to have an art which had no existence, or whether they really possessed the power commonly attributed to them, are questions which it would be improper to discuss at length in a work of this kind; but that witches, wizards, those who dealt with familiar spirits, c., are represented in the sacred writings as actually possessing a power to evoke the dead, to perform, supernatural operations, and to discover hidden or secret things by spells, charms, incantations, c., is evident to every unprejudiced reader of the Bible. Of Manasseh it is said: He caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times [ועונן, veonen, he used divination by clouds] and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, [וכשף vechishsheph,] and dealt with a familiar spirit, [ועשה אוב veasah ob, performed a variety of operations by means of what was afterwards called the πνευμα πυθωνος, the spirit of Python,] and with wizards, [ידעוני yiddeoni, the wise or knowing ones] and he wrought much evil in the sight of the Lord 2Ch 33:6. It is very likely that the Hebrew כשף cashaph, and the Arabic [Arabic] cashafa, had originally the same meaning, to uncover, to remove a veil, to manifest, reveal, make bare or naked; and [Arabic] mecashefat is used to signify commerce with God. See Wilmet and Giggeius. The mecashshephah or witch, therefore, was probably a person who professed to reveal hidden mysteries, by commerce with God, or the invisible world.
From the severity of this law against witches, c., we may see in what light these were viewed by Divine justice. They were seducers of the people from their allegiance to God, on whose judgment alone they should depend and by impiously prying into futurity, assumed an attribute of God, the foretelling of future events, which implied in itself the grossest blasphemy, and tended to corrupt the minds of the people, by leading them away from God and the revelation he had made of himself. Many of the Israelites had, no doubt, learned these curious arts from their long residence with the Egyptians; and so much were the Israelites attached to them, that we find such arts in repute among them, and various practices of this kind prevailed through the whole of the Jewish history, notwithstanding the offence was capital, and in all cases punished with death.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Exo 22:18. Witchcraft not only gives that honour to…
Exo 22:18. Witchcraft not only gives that honour to the devil which is due to God alone, but bids defiance to the divine providence, wages war with God’s government, puts his work into the devil’s hand, expecting him to do good and evil. By our law, consulting, covenanting with, invocating, or employing any evil spirit to any intent whatever, and exercising any enchantment, charm, or sorcery, whereby hurt shall be done to any person, is made felony, without benefit of clergy; also pretending to tell where goods lost or stolen may be found, is an iniquity punishable by the judge, and the second offence with death.
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 Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live -…
Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live - See the marginal references. and Lev 20:27. The witch is here named to represent the class. This is the earliest denunciation of witchcraft in the law. In every form of witchcraft there is an appeal to a power not acting in subordination to the divine law. From all such notions and tendencies true worship is designed to deliver us. The practice of witchcraft was therefore an act of rebellion against Yahweh, and, as such, was a capital crime. The passages bearing on the subject in the Prophets, as well as those in the law, carry a lesson for all ages. Isa 8:19; Isa 19:3; Isa 44:25; Isa 47:12-13; Mic 5:12, etc.
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 Wizards. Hebrew, "a witch." Women are more given to…
Wizards. Hebrew, "a witch." Women are more given to such delusions, which imply an apostacy from God to serve the devil, and disturb the republic.
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).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 18. Not suffer a witch to live — Those…
18. Not suffer a witch to live — Those who practised the magical arts were regarded as usurping the realm of Deity, and, by some mysterious league with wicked spirits, opposing themselves to the fundamental principles of true religion. Hence they were, in logical accord with the Israelitish faith, to be treated as capital offenders. Comp. Lev_19:26; Lev_19:31; Lev_20:27; Deu_18:10-11.
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 18. Magic and divination were practised extensively in the…
18. Magic and divination were practised extensively in the ancient world, as indeed they are still among uncivilised peoples and among the uneducated even in civilised countries: we have particularly abundant information respecting the practice of them in Assyria (see briefly the writer’s Daniel, in the Camb. Bible, p. 13 ff., more fully Jastrow, Relig. of Bab. and Ass. (1898), pp. 352–406). As inconsistent with the spirit the religion of Jehovah, as fostering superstition, and as associated commonly with heathen beliefs, they are condemned repeatedly in the OT.: see Lev_19:31; Lev_20:6; Lev_20:27 (all H), and esp. Deu_18:10-11, locus classicus on the subject, where eight types are enumerated (see the writer’s note ad loc.); and often in the prophets. See further on the subject, with numerous illustrations of the methods of magic practised different parts of the world, O. C. Whitehouse’s articles Magic, Soothsayer, Sorcery, in DB.
a sorceress] The fem. (only here) of the word rendered sorcerer in Deu_18:10, Mal_3:5, 2Ch_33:6, Dan_2:2†: cf. Jer_27:9; and sorceries in 2Ki_9:22, Mic_5:11, Nah_3:4, Isa_47:9; Isa_47:12†. Mic_5:11 seems to shew that the ‘sorceries’ were something material, such as drugs, herbs, &c., used superstitiously for the purpose of producing magical effects. Sorcery was resorted to for all kinds of purposes, to heal diseases, to ward off disasters, to bring misfortune upon a neighbour, to inspire a woman with love, &c.; it was often supposed to operate by the power obtained through incantations or other spells over spirits (the Arab. jinn).
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The law is one which, as the reader need hardly be reminded, has often been wofully misapplied, and led to the committal of great cruelties: witches were often burnt in the middle ages; and they were executed in England as late as 1716. The right feeling that sorcery is debasing and superstitious finds expression in a law which is no doubt not out of harmony with the severe punishments common in the East, even to modern times,—and even, we may add, in mediaeval Europe: but the law belongs to the older dispensation, and does not breathe the spirit of Christ (Luk_9:55). The rise of a historical sense, and the recognition that the revelation contained in the OT. was progressive and that the laws given to Israel are not, simply as such, binding upon Christian nations, have taught men that an injunction such as this can have no place in a Christian law-book.
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 (18) Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.—The…
(18) Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.—The word translated “witch” in this passage is the feminine singular of that rendered by “sorcerers” in Exo_7:11, and means “a mutterer of charms.” The use of the feminine form can only be accounted for by supposing that, practically, witchcraft was at the time mainly professed by females. Whether “witches” had actual help from evil spirits, or only professed to work magical effects by their aid, the sin against God was the same. Jehovah was renounced, and a power other than His invoked and upheld. Witchcraft was as much rebellion against God as idolatry or blasphemy, and deserved the same punishment.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Law against witchcraft. Witchcraft was professedly a league with…
Law against witchcraft. Witchcraft was professedly a league with powers in rebellion against God. How far it was delusion, how far imposture, how far a real conspiracy with the powers of evil, cannot now be known. Let the most rationalistic view be taken, and still there was in the practice an absolute renunciation of religion, and of the authority of Jehovah. Wizards (Lev_19:31) and witches were, therefore, under the Jewish theocracy, like idolaters and blasphemers, to be put to death.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.
Exo_22:18
Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.
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Spiritualism-modern witchcraft
The Bible regards witchcraft--
1. As a stern and diabolical reality (Lev_20:27; Deu_18:9).
2. As unlawful trafficking with the unseen world (Lev_19:31; Isa_8:19, For the living to the dead, i.e., on behalf the living to the dead).
3. As sometimes trickery and imposture (Isa_8:19), that peep and mutter (probably ventriloquise. See art. Pythoness, Smiths Dic. Bible).
4. As filthy defilement (Lev_19:31).
5. As deserving death (Lev_20:6. cf. text).
6. As one of the crimes for which the Canaanites were destroyed.
7. As inconsistent with a trust in God (Isa_8:19).
8. As frustrated by God (Isa_44:25).
9. As a power from which the godly have nothing to fear, for there is no solitary prayer in the whole Bible to be protected from its enchantments, and no thanksgiving for deliverance from them. In this country we only meet with it now in the form of spiritualism, and as such--
I. It is dangerous.
1. Because it destroys all faith in the person and providence of God, and hence imperils the hopes, aspirations, and safety of the soul.
2. Because it tends to debase mans moral standards, and to obliterate the fact of sin.
3. Because its direct aim is to subvert Christianity, and to abolish the Word of God.
4. Because it comes before the imagination and the affections with plausible appeals.
II. It shuns the light.
1. Its performances, like the old witchcraft, take place in the dark, and under circumstances the force of which requires the exertions of the strongest will. On the contrary, the grand facts of both Old and New Testaments were not done in a corner, but in the light of day.
2. It is chary of the open exhibition of its credentials to the critic and the unbeliever; this privilege is reserved for those who first believe in the magician and in his powers. The miracles and other credentials of the Bible--court scrutiny--were mainly for the conviction of those who disbelieved.
3. And why does it shun the light? For the old reason (Joh_3:19-21).
III. It is unlawful..
1. Because expressly forbidden in the Word of God. Christ and His apostles meet the spirits not in darkened cabinets but with open exorcism.
2. Because of its avowed mission to pry into and traffic with the unrevealed matters of the spirit-world. God has emphatically set His face against this (Deu_29:29).
3. Because it is another gospel (Gal_1:8).
IV. It is partly gross imposture.
1. Spiritual realities are solemn and imposing, and worthy in every way of the high source from which they emanate. When God communicated to the prophets and apostles we do not hear that it was on dancing tables, illegible inscriptions on slates, or through books made luminous by phosphoric oil. We do not hear of angels or spirits, whether in Old Testament or New, pulling mens hair, scattering sweetmeats, rapping on walls, hurling bed pillows, appearing in regimentals, or handling hot coals.
2. Spiritual realities in the Bible were never discovered to be small tricks.
3. Spiritual realities in the Bible have never been explained by natural phenomena as have much of the legerdemain of modem magic.
V. It is uniformly useless.
1. For harm (Isa_8:19), when there is a firm trust in God.
2. For good (Luk_16:27-31), when there is no such trust. (J. W. Burn.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain The term is here used to represent the whole…
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
WITCHCRAFT.—Exo_22:18
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The term is here used to represent the whole class of wizards, necromancers, and diviners with which the world has been infested from a very early date, and is in one form or another infested still, who, when not gross impostors, appeal to a power not in subordination to Divine law, and are therefore guilty of, and punished for high treason against the government of God. The Bible regards it—
1. As a stern and diabolical reality (Lev_20:27; Deu_18:9).
2. As unlawful trafficking with the unseen world (Lev_19:31; Isa_8:19, “For the living to the dead,” i.e., on behalf of the living to the dead.)
3. As sometimes trickery and imposture (Isa_8:19), “that peep and mutter” (probably ventriloquise. See art. Pythoness, Smith’s Dic. Bible).
4. As filthy defilement (Lev_19:31).
5. As deserving death (Lev_20:6. cf. text).
6. As one of the crimes for which the Canaanites were destroyed.
7. As inconsistent with a trust in God (Isa_8:19).
8. As frustrated by God (Isa_44:25).
9. As a power from which the godly have nothing to fear, for there is no solitary prayer in the whole Bible to be protected from its enchantments, and no thanksgiving for deliverance from them.
The belief in witchcraft has prevailed in all ages, and been sanctioned by some of the most eminent men. Amongst the heathen, Pythagoras, Plutarch, Pompey, Crassus, Cæsar, were all under its spell. The progress of modern civilsation has not destroyed this upas blight, for it counts its devotees by the thousand to-day. But whether it comes in the form of astrology with its stargazing, palmistry with its hand-reading, or spiritualism with its media and trances and dark seances, it is the same foul abomination reprobated by the Word of God. In this country we only now meet with it in the latter form, and as such—
I. It is dangerous.
1. Because it destroys, all faith in the person and providence of God, and hence imperils the hopes, aspirations, and safety of the soul.
2. Because it tends to debase man’s moral standards, and to obliterate the fact of sin.
3. Because its direct aim is to subvert Christianity, and to abolish the Word of God.
4. Because it comes before the imagination and the affections with plausible appeals.
II. It shuns the light.
1. Its performances, like the old witchcraft, take place in the dark, and under circumstances the force of which requires the exertions of the strongest will. On the contrary, the grand facts of both Old and New Testaments were “not done in a corner,” but in the light of day.
2. It is chary of the open exhibition of its credentials to the critic and the unbeliever; this privilege is reserved for those who first believe in the magician and in his powers. The miracles and other credentials of the Bible—court scrutiny—were mainly for the convictions of those who disbelieved.
3. And why does it shun the light? For the old reason (Joh_3:19-21).
III. It is unlawful.
1. Because expressly forbidden in the Word of God. Christ and His apostles meet the spirits not in darkened cabinets but with open exorcism.
2. Because of its avowed mission to pry into and traffic with the unrevealed matters of the spirit-world. God has emphatically set His face against this (Deu_29:29).
3. Because it is “another gospel” (Gal_1:8).
IV. It is partly gross imposture.
1. Spiritual realities are solemn and imposing, and worthy in every way of the high source from which they emanate, When God communicated to the prophets and apostles we do not hear that it was on dancing tables, illegible inscriptions on slates, or through books made luminous by phosphoric oil. We do not hear of angels or spirits, whether in Old Testament or New, pulling men’s hair, scattering sweetmeats, rapping on walls, hurling bed pillows, appearing in regimentals, or handling hot coals.
2. Spiritual realities in the Bible were never discovered to be small tricks. They were never found to be men and women ventriloquising, speaking through tubes, using electric batteries, or stuffed gloves; nor were the spirits, when suddenly embraced, found sufficiently substantial to be armed with fists and nails.
3. Spiritual realities in the Bible have never been explained by natural phenomena as have much of the legerdemain of modern magic.
V. It is uniformly useless.
1. For harm (Isa_8:19), when there is a firm trust in God.
2. For good (Luk_16:27-31), when there is no such trust.
Application.—i. It is at the Church’s peril that she ignores what is condemned in the Word of God, and what threatens the well-being of the world. ii. Or fails to expose, check, and destroy what threatens to be the most gigantic superstition of modern times (1Jn_4:1).—J. W. Burn.
GOD’S EXCLUSIVE RIGHT TO MAN’S DEVOTION.—Exo_22:20
We remark—
I. That this claim is founded on right. It is not an arbitrary fiat, but a reasonable demand. By creation, providence, and grace, all belongs to God. God, therefore, asks us but to sacrifice His own.
II. That no other power has the right to make this claim. The whole Bible goes upon the fact that “an idol is nothing in the world.” Sacrifice to them, therefore, can be but the outcome of superstition, and must end in disappointment.
III. That this claim involves self-denial. God demanded the best of the flocks and herds. He now demands our best faculties in their fullest vigour (Rom_12:1).
IV. That this claim is very widely disregarded. Man “robs” God (Mal_3:8), and still sacrifices to idols. We set up pride, vanity, ambition, selfishness, pleasure, friendship, and desecrate the holiest qualities of our nature by offering them to other than the living God.
V. That the recognition of this claim can alone secure our highest well-being.
1. The literal punishment of death passed away with the theocracy, but the spirit of it lives on through the ages. As God is the only source of spiritual life, and the sacrifice of ourselves to Him through Christ the only means of securing that life, spiritual death is a penalty of neglect. But, 2, by rendering to God that which belongs to Him, body, spirit, soul, possessions, friendships, by contact with Him and separation to Him, they are enriched, elevated, sanctified, and glorified. Observe—
i. That God’s claims can never be fulfilled without God’s help. ii. That idolatry, the disregard and contempt of those claims (as Jewish history testifies), was uniformly the result of neglecting to procure that help. iii. That that help God is able, willing, and anxious to afford “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.”
—J. W. Burn.
INTERNATIONAL RIGHTS.—Exo_22:21
Strictly interpreted, this passage bears on duties to foreigners dwelling in the country, and supplies a motive for it; they themselves had been foreigners; and is another practical application of the “golden rule.” But its principle may be enlarged, so as to compass the rights of nations to justice, humanity, and peace in their relations to one another.
I. The rights of foreigners as individuals. Here is a word, 3000 years old, of special force in many cases (thank God, not in all) to us Englishmen. We are surrounded by men from all nations under heaven. We should not oppress them—
1. By reminding them that they are not at home; but, on the contrary, endeavour by a generous hospitality to make them feel at home.
2. By noticing their peculiarities and criticising or exaggerating them; but, on the contrary, try to conform as far as possible to them, so as to make them less conspicuous.
3. By taking advantage of their imperfect acquaintance with our language and manners in trade, law, debate; but rather assist them with all the means at our disposal.
4. Because
(1.) artificial boundaries should not separate between men of the same blood, the same wants, the same feelings.
(2.) We may be (some of us have been) placed in the same position as regards homelessness, peculiarities, and imperfections.
II. The right of foreigners as nations.—
1. If weak to protection, if strong to equal privileges of freedom, courtesy, and laws.
2. To be regarded irrespective of our mere interests, which are not “the measure of right and wrong all over the world.”
3. Because we have had to claim, and still do claim, the same for ourselves.
Learn—i. Not to let our insular position generate an insular feeling. ii. To act upon principles of honour and humanity. iii. To follow peace with all men.
GOD’S CARE FOR THE WIDOW AND FATHERLESS.—Exo_22:22-24
The widow and the orphan were God’s special care, and their oppression was one of those crimes the punishment of which God reserved to Himself. This is one of those instances which reveal the large and comprehensive and spiritual character of the Mosaic law. God’s people were not tied down, as is often supposed, to a fixed and literal obedience to a number of fixed and literal enactments. Much (as in the case before us) was left to their common sense and humanity.
1. No legal provision was made for the widow except
(1.) The duty of her eldest son or nearest relative.
(2.) Her right to a share in the triennial third tithe (Deu_14:29; Deu_26:12).
(3.) Her right to gleanings (Deu_24:19) and religious feasts (Deu_16:11-14).
(4.) Her exemption from the necessity of giving her garments to pledge.
But
2. Her rights were everywhere recognised and
(1) (Deu_27:19; Isa_1:17; Jer_7:6; Jer_22:3; Zec_7:10,) threw her upon that charity which is above rubrics.
(2.) (Psa_94:6; Isa_10:2; Eze_22:7; Mat_3:5; Mat_23:14) Any neglect of or cruelty to them was most severely condemned.
3. The New Testament declares “pure religion and undefiled” to be (Jas_1:27). Our text declares—
I. That widows and orphans have claims upon our regard.
1. They have claims upon our sympathy. Their stay, comfort, defence is gone. What state can be more sorrowful or helpless!
2. They have claims upon our protection and help. Our resources are only held in stewardship for God’s purposes, and to what better purpose could they be applied, both as regards its intrinsic merits and the Divine will concerning it.
II. That widows and orphans have special privileges.
1. God has legislated for them. Not in the dry and hard manner in which penal and ceremonial codes are obliged to be enacted, but in a way which throws them on the broad and better principles of humanity and love.
2. God stands in a peculiar relation to them (Psa_68:5). In the absence of their natural guardians He takes them under His wing.
3. God is always ready to help them; to hear their cry (Exo_22:23; Jer_49:11).
III. That any oppression of the widow and fatherless will be rigorously punished, Exo_22:24.
1. The oppressor is left to the righteous judgment of God, who will surely avenge His own (Luk_18:7.)
2. The oppressor is left to the terrible retribution of a hard and cruel heart, which inflicts as much punishment on the subject as on the object.
3. The oppressor is left to the certain contempt and execration of his fellowmen.
Husbands and fathers, learn—
i. To provide for the wants of those whom you may leave behind to mourn your loss.
1. Make diligent use of your time, and save all you can for them.
2. Your life is uncertain. insure it.
3. We don’t know what a day or an hour may bring forth, have all your affairs in order, so as not to add perplexity to trouble already too heavy to be borne. It is “afflicting them,” not to do so. (See 1Ti_5:8.)
ii. Then, having made a proper use of means, leave them with calm faith in the power and goodness of their “Father in heaven.”
iii. Help the widow and the orphan, as your wife may be left a widow and your children fatherless.—J. W. Burn.
ILLUSTRATIONS
BY
REV. WILLIAM ADAMSON
Divine Enactments! Exo_22:1-31.
(1) There is a world of difference between a stained glass window and a kaleidoscope. Their relative values are very different, and so is their structure. The pieces of variegated glass are flung anyhow, for the prism to arrange; whereas, those employed in the window are all arranged to give a beautiful, effective, and abiding impression. These separate enactments are not strung together haphazard. On the contrary, they are chords divinely arranged to produce harmony in the world, and give forth strains of Divine adoration in their observance.
(2) If one side of a tree grows, and the other does not, the tree acquires a crooked form. It may be fruitful, but it cannot be beautiful. God would have humanities and nationalities, theocracies and individualities, both rich in the beauties of holiness and the fruits of righteousness. The unequal growth of the Christian graces is undesirable; hence the numerous Divine precautions to make them alike fair, fragrant, and fruitful.
“Stern lawgiving! yet thou dost wear
The Godhead’s most benignant grace;
Flowers laugh before thee on their beds;
And fragrance in thy footing treads;
Thou dost preserve the stars from wrong.”
—Wordsworth.
Idol-Sacrifices! Exo_22:20. Idolaters and their sacrifices, says Dr. Chapin! You cannot find any more gross—any more cruel—on the broad earth, than within a mile’s area of the pulpit. Dark minds, from which God is obscured! Deluded souls, whose fetish is the dice box, or the bottle! Apathetic spirits, steeped in sensual abomination—unmoved by a moral ripple—soaking in the swamp of animal vitality! These are your modern Daphne and Delphian idolaters. False gods, more hideous, more awful than Moloch or Baal—worshipped with shrieks—worshipped with curses; with the hearthstone for the blood-stained altar, the drunken husband for the immolating priest, and women and children for the sacrificial victims! These are your modern idol-holocausts. This verse may not be applicable to Christianised England in its literality; but the moral vein lies hidden beneath the literal surface. In its moral aspect it is England’s obligation of a truth.
“Turn thee from these, or dare not to inquire
Of Him whose name is jealous, lest in wrath
He hears and answers thine unblest desire;
Far better we should cross His lightning’s path,
Than be according to our idols heard,
And God should take us at our own vain word.”
—Keble.
Idolater’s Doom! Exo_22:20. A philosopher, states the Hebrew Talmud, once remarked to Gamaliel: “Instead of uttering threats against the worshippers of idols, why does not God rather turn His wrath against the idols themselves?” The wise Rabbi replied by a story. A prince had an insolent and rebellious son, who, among other insults to his father, had the audacity to bestow his father’s name upon his dog. His father was full of wrath; but against whom? To this inquiry, the philosopher made reply, “The son, doubtless; but if God were to send all these idols into destruction, there would no longer be any danger of idolatry in the world.” The pious Hebrew at once retorted: “The barbarians deify the rivers and waters, the stars and suns. Would you then have God, on account of the folly of some of His creatures, plunge creation in ruin? If any one steals seed, and afterwards sows it in the ground, does it remain fruitless on accouut of its having been stolen?” Hence the doom of death upon the Jewish idolater.
“If I have sought to live
But in one light, and made a mortal eye
The lonely star of my idolatry,
Thou that art LOVE, oh pity and forgive.”
—Hemans.
Strangers’ Rights! Exo_22:21. A certain shepherd had a flock which he led daily to pasture, and which he brought home each evening to the fold. It came to pass on a time that a stag voluntarily joined, and became the inseparable companion of the flock. When they went to the pasture it went thither; when they returned to the fold, it returned with them. The shepherd greatly loved the stag, and often charged his servants that nothing should be wanting to its welfare. But the servants, astonished at the injunction, inquired of their master his reason. “This poor animal, accustomed to the wilderness, has left its natural freedom of roaming, and joined itself fearlessly to us! Should not we, therefore, be kind to it, and not vex or oppress it?” God loves the stranger in giving him food and raiment; and He enjoins similar consideration on the part of the Jews. He requires still more of Christians in this respect. There is a premise: “Be careful to entertain strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”
“And He will leave the ninety-nine that range
In pleasant pastures where the grass grows sweet,
And seek us till He sets our wandering feet
Where tempting herbage springs and cooling waters meet.”
—Mason.
Strangers! Exo_22:21. Upon the higher Alps, the snow is sometimes piled so high, and so evenly balanced, that a crack of a whip or the shout of a voice may give sufficient vibrations to the air as to bring down the whole mass upon the travellers below. So in our moral world, there are souls just hovering over the abyss of ruin. A word, or even a look, from us, may cause them to plunge down into depths from which there is no return. On the other hand, a helping hand stretched out to them in the moment of peril may lead them into the safe, sure way of peace. To vex the stranger, or afflict the alien, may lead to the overthrow of all the life of hope in him; whereas kindness may induce him to give heed to those truths of Scripture, which have led in your case to the practise of the Christian virtues. Many a stranger has been alienated from the gospel by the cruelties and oppressions of its professors. Better those—
“Who lead the blind old giant by the hand
From out the pathless desert where he gropes,
And set him onward in his darksome way.”
—Lowell.
Widow Woes! Exo_22:22. The Jewish law required a man’s brother to marry his widow. In numerous countries, notably India, widows are devoted to great privations from the time their husbands die. At the Isthmus of Darien, when a widow dies, such of her children as cannot from tender age provide for their own subsistence, are buried in the same grave with her. It was one of the most heinous of Pharisaic offences, which drew down the stern malediction of Jesus upon them, that they vexed and afflicted the widows in Israel. One of the most touching of His parables is based upon the wrong-doing of a poor widow’s adversary, and the indifference of the judge towards her importunate plea. It is remarkable that the Lord in Exo_22:22 alludes to the “crying of the widow” as ever to be heeded by Him. He may bear long with them. There may be a long, and from our view-point inexplicable delay; but let not the oppressed widow despair. He will avenge her—His widowed and oppressed Church. When the cry rises, broken and stifled, but eager, as uttered by one enduring dread wrong, God in heaven hears it well pleased.
“You take my house, when you do take the Prop
That doth sustain my house; you take my life,
When you do take the means whereby I live.”
—Shakespeare.
Orphan Oppression! Exo_22:24. Other offences are punished by the medium of human justice; but God is His own avenger of this heinous wrong. Years ago, a rural parish clerk was left in charge of an orphan relative of his wife. He appropriated the monies, and abused the boy. Forced by persistent cruelties to flee away from home, he reached Australia, where God raised up friends He prospered in life, and became a landowner. His dishonest and tyrant guardian, none the richer for his fraudulent gains, yielded to evil counsellors—took part in a local crime, and was tried and transported to the Australian convict settlement. Here, he made his escape with a fellow convict, and both took refuge in a cave. They quarrelled over the fire, as to which should have possession of certain stolen articles, and in the dispute their gunpowder flask fell into the flames. It instantly exploded in the face of the convicted tyrant, depriving him of eyesight; while his comrade, seizing the things in dispute, left his blind companion in the cave. AS he was shrieking piteously for help, some horsemen passed by; and overhearing his agonising screams, they alighted from their horses and entered the cavern. The leader was the “defrauded orphan,” who, having nobly struggled to position and honour, now knelt by his oppressor, whose system was so shattered by the shock, that he died a few minutes afterwards.
“Though the mills of God grind slowly,
Yet they grind exceeding small;
Though with patience He stands waiting,
With exactness grinds He all.”
—Longfellow.
Orphan Obligations! Exo_22:22-24. Orphans should be grateful to their benefactors. God Himself will reward them. A poor widow took an orphan left by a next door neighbour, into her own family. For years she struggled on with the humble proceeds of mangling in the court, until illness came. The orphan youth obtained a place in the city, which enabled him to find necessaries for the widow and her children, most of whom were younger than himself. His leisure hours were spent in ministering to the wants of his benefactress, and instructing her children. As he grew up, his honesty and shrewdness won him a post of confidence and competence in his firm; enabling him to advance the temporal welfare of his adopted brothers and sisters. All of them were placed in good situations. In course of time the orphan became the junior, then the head partner of his firm. He purchased a rural estate; and in one of the prettiest of the cottages he placed the poor widow; poor no longer, but enriched with a handsome annuity for life. Here she lived happy and honoured; dying at last in the arms of him whom she had received as a penniless child, and whom she had rescued from the fate of a youthful London Arab.
“Kind hearts are more than coronets,
And simple faith than Norman blood.”
—Tennyson.
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.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Whoever sleeps with a beast must surely be put…
Whoever sleeps with a beast must surely be put to death
Here "sleeps with a beast" is a euphemism that means someone has sex with an animal. This can be stated in active form. AT: "You must certainly kill anyone who has sex with an animal" (See: Euphemism and Active or Passive)
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translationWords
sorcerer
had relations with
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 22:18 The practices of a sorceress represented the pagan…
22:18 The practices of a sorceress represented the pagan worldview from which God was delivering his people. That worldview was utterly incompatible with the biblical one (see 20:3; 23:13).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.