of thy strangers that are in thy Land within thy gates No difference was to be made between a Natural Jew and a Proselyte of the Gate according to the general Law XIX Levit 34. For such oppression might tempt them to do very wicked things for instance expose or kill their Children when they were not able to maintain them after the manner of the Heathen who were frequently guilty of this and thought it no Crime when their Poverty constrained them to it See Petrus Petitus Lib. III. Miscell Observ Cap. XVII where he produces many proofs of it both out of Greek and Roman Authors Verse 15 Ver. 15. At his day thou shalt give him his hire Which was due to him either by Contract or by natural Equity and whether he had agreed to serve him for a Day or a Month or a Year At the time when his Wages was due it was to be punctually paid unless he were willing to have it remain in his hands For this was not an Act of Mercy but of Justice to pay an Hireling his Wages Neither shall the Sun go down upon it for he is poor This shows he speaks particularly of one that served for a days Wages and could not forbear the payment of it because he was so poor as not to be able to provide himself and family Necessaries without it And setteth his heart upon it Eagerly expects it as the Support of his Life So the Vulgar translates it with it he supports his Soul that is his Life Lest he cry unto the LORD Make grievous Complaints to him who made both Rich and Poor And it be sin unto thee God will hear his Cry and severely punish thee See V James 4. Ver. 16. The father shall not be put to death for the Verse 16 children neither shall the children be put to death for the father every man shall be put to death for his own sin This is a Rule of Common Reason which was anciently expressed in this vulgar saying Noxa Caput sequitur And is excellently expressed by Dion Chrysostom 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let every Man be the Author of his own Misfortune Which Amaziah King of Judah thought extended to the Children of Traitors unto whom he allowed the benefit of this Law as we read in so many words 2 Kings XIV 6. 2 Chron. XXV 4. And not only Philo but Dionys Hallicarnassaeus condemns the Custom of those Nations who put to death the Children of Tyrants or Traitors See Grotius Lib. II. de Jure Belli Pacis Cap. XXI Sect. XIII XIV where he observes that God indeed threatens to visit the sins of the Fathers upon the Children but in this Case Jure dominij non poenae utitur he uses the Right of Dominion not of Punishment Verse 17 Ver. 17. Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger nor of the fatherless Nor of the Widow who is joyned with them v. 19. For such Persons commonly had none to stand by them and plead their Cause and therefore the Judges were to take the greater Care to see them have Justice done XXII Exod. 21. XXIII 9. Nor take the widows raiment to pledge Which is to be understood of one that is poor as appears from v. 12. See XXII Exod. 21 26 27. Verse 18 Ver. 18. But thou shalt remember that thou wast a bond-man in Egypt and the LORD redeemed thee thence therefore I command thee to do this thing The remembrance of their own miserable Condition in Egypt till God took pity upon them was to work Compassion in them towards others in the like forlorn Estate otherwise they did not remember them as they ought This is often urged as a Reason for showing Mercy to Strangers and such like helpless Persons particularly in XIX Levit. 33 34. and in this Book X. 19 20. XV. 15. Ver. 19. When thou cuttest down thine harvest in thy field and hast forgot a sheaf in the field thou shalt not go back again to fetch it There are many merciful Laws about the Poor See XIX Levit. 9 10. XXIII 22. They are all put together by Mr. Selden Lib. VI. de Jure Nat. Gent. Cap. VI. where the Exposition the Talmudists give of this Law seems to me to be so strict that it could do little good For they say a Sheaf was not taken to be forgotten unless not only the Owner of the Field but all the Labourers forgot it and if none of them remembred it yet if any Man that passed by that way came and gave them notice of it it was not lookt upon as left by forgetfulness Yet they are so kind as to extend this Law not only to Sheaves of Corn left in the Field but to Bunches of Grapes and other Fruit which was left behind in their Vineyards or Orchards And it seems no unreasonable Interpretation of this Law that if an Owner of a Field or his Workmen called to mind before they were gone quite out of the Field that a Sheaf was left in such a place they might go back and fetch it but not if they did not remember it till they came into the City They that would see more Cases about this matter may look into Maimonides de Donis Pauperum translated by Dr. H. Prideaux Cap. V. and his very learned Annotations upon it Josephus seems to me to have interpreted this Law most charitably Lib. IV. Archaeolog Cap. VIII where he saith they were not only not to go back to fetch what they had forgot but to leave on purpose Corn and Grapes and Olives c. for the benefit of the Poor It shall be for the stranger for the fatherless and for the Widow Who are commonly put together as proper Objects of Charity and are as Mr. Selden speaks a kind of Paraphrase upon the word Poor That the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thy hand Make their Land still very fruitful which was a reward of their Charity Ver. 20. When thou beatest thine Olive-tree As Verse 20 they were wont to do in those Countries with Sticks to bring down the Olives Thou shalt not go over the boughs again Not search the Boughs after they are beaten whether any be left It shall be for the stranger c. Who might go into the Olive-yards after the Owner had carried out his Fruit and gather what they found still remaining on the Trees Verse 21 Ver. 21. When thou gatherest the grapes of thy Vineyard thou shalt not glean it afterwards By making a new gathering after the first But if the poor themselves left any behind after the usual time allowed for the gathering such Fruits or Corn as were left for them it was lawful for the Owner to take it himself and he was not bound either to pay the Poor the price of it or to leave it for the Beasts and the Birds For the command is say the Jewish Doctors who nicely scan these things that it shall be for the Poor and
Country And another Law punished this Ingratitude with Death See J. Meursius in his Themis Attica Lib. I. Cap. 2 3. where he shews That by Parents they understood not only Father and Mother but Grand-father and Grand-mother nay 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. Great Grand-mother and Great Grand-father if they were yet alive as Isaeus tells us Orat. VII And the Ground of all these Laws was a Sence they had as Aeschines tells us That Men ought to honour their Parents as they did the Gods 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 See Sam. Petitus in Leges Atticas Lib. III. Tit. 3. Whence Hierocles calls Parents 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Earthly Gods And Philo upon the Decalogue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Visible Gods who imitate him that is unbegotten by giving Life And accordingly next to the Precepts concerning the Worship of God Moses here places immediately the Duty owing unto Parents That thy Days may be prolonged and that it may go well with thee c. These last Words are added to what God spake XX Exod. 12. as an Explication of the foregoing Whereby they are excited to Obedience by the Promise not only of a long Life but of an happy I say Obedience for that 's included in Honour as the Apostle explains it III Coloss 20. Children obey your Parents in all things Where God that is hath not commanded the contrary and where it is not inconsistent with the Publick Good which is alway to be preferred ever before the Duty that is owing to Natural Parents Insomuch that common Reason taught the Heathen that for the Good of the Society the Son is to lay aside the Reverence he should pay to his Father and the Father to pay it unto the Son that is when he is in Publick Office Thus the famous Fabius Cunctator commended his Son for making him light off from his Horse when he met him in his Consulship as Plutarch tells us And see A. Gellius L. XI Noct. Attic. Cap. I. Lib. XIII Cap. ult Lib. XIV in the beginning Ver. 17. Thou shalt not kill If a Man killed another involuntarily he was banished by the Laws of Athens from his Country for a Year But if he kill'd Verse 17 another 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Demosthenes speaks out of forethought and designedly he was put to Death See Sam. Petitus Lib. VII in Leges Atticas Tit. 1. p. 508 512. Yea so detestable was this Sin accounted that even 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Liveless Things such as Wood or Stone or Iron wherewith a Man was killed Draco ordered to be thrown out of their Coasts Ib. p. 523. Ver. 18. Thou shalt not commit Adultery This Verse 18 Crime was also punished with Death by the Laws of Draco Solon indeed left it to the Liberty of the Husband who caught another Man in Bed with his Wife either to kill him if he pleased or to let him redeem his Life with a Sum of Money But if after this he lived with his Wife he was infamous as Demosthenes tells us who saith she might not come publickly into their Temples If she did any Man might treat her as he pleased only not kill her So that she was so odious as to be thrown 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Both out of the House of her Husband and out of Holy Places of the City Nor might she go abroad with any Ornaments 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the Law of Solon If she did any Body might take them away from her and tear her Clothes in pieces and beat her only not maim her in any part of her Body See the same Petitus Lib. VI. Tit. 4. Ver. 19. Neither shalt thou steal The Laws of Verse 19 Draco punished all Theft with Death Which Solon thought too severe and therefore chang'd that Punishment into making Satisfaction by restoring double yet still making it Death if any Man stole above such a Value or took any thing out of the Publick Baths and such-like places tho' of never so little Value See in the same Author Lib. VII Tit. 5. Verse 20 Ver. 20. Neither shalt thou bear false Witness against thy Neighbour There was an Action at Athens lay both against false Witnesses and him that produced them Who had a Fine set upon them and were made infamous And if they were found thrice in the same Fault 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Both they themselves and all their Posterity were made infamous As Andocides speaks See Ib. page 559. Verse 21 Ver. 21. Neither shalt thou desire thy Neighbour's Wife neither shalt thou covet thy Neighbour's House c. It is observed by some that an exact Order is observed in the delivery of these Precepts For first he places such Offences as are consummate and then those that are but begun and not perfected And in the former he proceeds from those that are most heinous unto those that are less grievous For those Offences are the greatest which disturb the Publick Order and consequently do mischief unto a great many Such are those that are committed against Governors and Rulers who are comprehended under the Name of Parents by whose Authority Humane Society is preserved And then among those which are against particular Persons those are the greatest which touch a Man's Life Next those that wrong his Family the Foundation of which is Matrimony Then those that wrong him in his Goods either directly by Stealth or more craftily by bearing False-witness Then in the last place those Sins are mentioned which are not consummate being gone no further than desire which in Exodus XX. 17. are expressed by one and the same word but here by two which we translate desire and covet Between which I know no difference unless they express higher and lower degrees of the same Sin The contrary to which is contentedness with our Portion and thankfulness to God for it which will not let us covet any thing belonging to another Man with his loss and damage Ver. 22. These Words the LORD spake unto all the Verse 22 Assembly in the Mount out of the midst of the Fire of the Clouds and of the thick Darkness XIX Exod. 16. XX. 18. This confutes the foolish Fancy of the Jewish Doctors that the People heard only the first Words of God I am the LORD thy c. thou shalt have no other Gods but me i. e. They heard him declare his Existence and his Unity but all the rest were reported to them by Moses Nothing can be more contrary to what he here saith that all these Words that is the Ten Words before mentioned were spoken to their whole Assembly See More Nevochim P. II. Cap. XXXIII With a great Voice That is so loud that it might be heard by the whole Camp And he added no more All the rest of the Commandments which follow in the XXI XXII and XXIII of Exodus were delivered to Moses alone and by him to the People according to their own desire XX Exod. 19. XXI 1.
more Reverence for them than to Accuse them of any Crime whatsoever As if a greater regard was to be had to them than to God himself The true Reason is because there was no need to name them for if their Piety to God was to overcome their Love to all those Relations before-mentioned it could not be supposed that Respect to Parents was to come into competition with it Intice thee secretly In the foregoing Verses he speaks of an open Seducer and here of a secret one There of one that came with Authority and here of one of the ordinary People Saying Let us go and serve other gods The Jews think this is meant of one who invited others to Idolatry but did not press them with Reasons as in the former Case Which is not likely for all Men pretend some Reason or other for such a great Alteration as that to a new Religion Which thou hast not known thou nor thy Fathers This aggravates the Crime to entice them to forsake God who was known to have done such Wonders for their Fathers and was so good to them and go to serve gods with whom they had no Acquaintance Ver. 7. Namely of the gods of the People which are round about you nigh unto thee or far off from thee Wheresoever they were for several Nations had several Verse 7 gods whether in the neighbouring Countries or in remote Parts it made no difference at all if they were strange gods From one end of the Earth even unto the other end of the Earth The Enticer might possibly suggest the Universality of the Worship to which he invited him as an Argument to embrace it Verse 8 Ver. 8. Thou shalt not consent unto him As many words as there are in this Verse the Jews think there are so many Precepts The first of which is this Not to be led by Affection and kindness to yield unto his Motion So they interpret these words Thou shalt not love him Nor hearken unto him I do not see how this differs from the former but they interpret it That they ought to hate him as well as his Motion So Maimonides in his Book of the Worship of the Planets Cap. V. Sect. 6 7. Neither shall thine eye pity him This they fancy signifies that if he were in danger of death they should not help him but let him perish Neither shalt thou spare When he was brought before the Judge they were not to intercede for him nor say any thing in his favour nor assist him to defend himself Neither shalt thou conceal him Dissemble any thing that might make against him And no doubt God intended by all these words to signifie that he ought to be lookt upon as his greatest Enemy upon whom therefore they were to have no Mercy but to prosecute him unto death as guilty of the highest Treason against the Divine Majesty Ver. 9. But thou shalt surely kill him Not privately as he inticed others but by a Legal Process against him in a Court of Judgment And that not Verse 9 the highest but in the Court of XXIII who might proceed against him as Mr. Selden observes Lib. III. de Synedr Cap. VI. The only difficulty was how to prove him Guilty who inticed another secretly as the Text saith and not before Witnesses To which the Jews answer That he who was inticed was to dispose some Persons as secretly near to the place of their next meeting who might hear all he said and testifie it in Court Thy hand shall be first upon him to put him to death He was to be stoned to Death and the Accuser was to throw the first Stone at him together with the Witnesses XVII 7. For it would have weakned the Credit of his Accusation if he had not been the foremost in the Execution See XVII 7. And afterwards the hand of all the People Who were to assist in the Execution of this Sentence The first words of this Verse which we translate Thou shalt surely kill him the Vulgar Latin translates Thou shalt forthwith kill him And so the Jews understand the Hebrew Phrase Killing thou shalt kill him i. e. immediately have him before the Court of Judgment As the LXX understood it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 informing thou shalt inform against him that is without delay And accordingly the Jews add that after he was Condemned he was immediately also put to death Whereas in other Crimes the Execution was respited after the Sentence was pronounced for a Day and a Night that the Man might have time to clear his Innocence if he were able by any new Proofs Such Severity was but needful among a People prone to Idolatry and incompassed on all sides with idolatrous Nations Verse 10 Ver. 10. And thou shalt stone him with stones that he die But if upon Admonition he desisted from his Enticement and repented of what he had said to his Neighbour and resolved himself not to worship other gods he was not bound to inform against him Because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the LORD thy God which brought thee out of the Land of Egypt c. See v. 5. The very attempt of this was Criminal though he did not prevail in his Seducement Verse 11 Ver. 11. And all Israel shall hear and fear and shall do no more any such wickedness as this among you The end of this Severity was to preserve the Body of the People from the Contagion of Idolatry Nothing being more apt to deter Men from Crimes than such exemplary Punishments of them So Callimachus in his Hymn to Ceres Vers 23. makes this the design of the Punishment she inflicted on Erysichthon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that others might shun the like Transgression Verse 12 Ver. 12. And if thou shalt hear say in one of thy Cities which the LORD thy God hath given thee to dwell in saying If the Infection was spread into a City or a considerable part of it there was still more danger and greater Severity was to be used to prevent the whole Country about it from being drawn away from their Allegiance to the Divine Majesty And therefore upon such an Information as follows in the next Verse which is here meant by thou shalt hear say given to the great Sanhedrim they were to do as is directed v. 14. Ver. 13. Certain Men the Children of Belial So Verse 13 the most profligate Wretches are called in Scripture XIX Judges 22. 1 Sam. I. 16. X. 27. XXV 17 25. signifying lawless Persons who had no regard either to God or Men. Are gone out from among you Left the Worship of God at the Tabernacle For it doth not signifie their forsaking the City in which they continued to seduce Men from their Religion but forsaking their Communion in Divine Service By which many have well observed that place in St. John may be interpreted 1 Epist. St. John II. 19. And have withdrawn the Inhabitants of their City The Hebrew word which here we
their own hands to apprehend him and bring him before the Court though it seems reasonable enough that both Father and Mother should agree in the Complaint against him and desire Officers might be sent to lay hold of him In which one cannot well suppose that they would consent to have such a Punishment as follows inflicted upon him unless he were intolerable And bring him unto the Elders of his City Who were to examine the proofs and accordingly to pass Sentence upon him Concerning these Elders see v. 3 4. And unto the gate of his place Where the Court of Judgment was wont to sit See XVI 18. The Paternal Power among the ancient Romans was so great that they might put their Children to death as they did their Slaves without any Process before a Magistrate And this some have taken to be a Natural Right and imagined God would not have commanded Abraham to kill his Son but that it was a part of his inherent Power However this be they were not thought fit to be long intrusted with it for God here orders by Moses that it should be committed to the publick Judges as the most disinterested Persons Ver. 20. And they shall say unto the Elders of his City Verse 20 This seems to intimate the Authority of Parents was still so preserved that their Testimony alone was sufficient to convict a rebellious Son without any further proof The Hebrew Doctors indeed are of another mind as I shall show in the Explication of what follows This our Son is stubborn and rebellious he will not obey our voice This is to be understood say they of a Son that was no less then Thirteen years old and a day and so might be presumed to know his Duty and to be capable of being governed by Counsel and good Advice And this is reasonable enough But what they say concerning the time when he became his own Man is monstrously absurd See Selden Lib. II. de Synedr Cap. XIII p. 559 560. What they say of a Daughter not to be comprehended under this Law may be admitted because she was not capable to do so much Mischief in a Family as a rebellious Son He is a glutton and a drunkard These Sins are no where made capital by the Law of Moses but when they were accompanied with rebellious Disobedience to Parents Who were to bring Witnesses as the Hebrew Doctors say that this Son had stoln some of their Goods and sold them that he might spend the Money in these Vices under which others are comprehended which usually attend them And that he had done this after he had been admonished and chastised so that he was not to be punished as this Law at last prescribes till he was grown incorrigible For they say the Court was first to order him to be whipt and not to proceed further till upon a new Complaint it was proved that he had run into the same riotous Courses since that punishment Then upon this second Testimony as they call it the Court gave Sentence against him that he should be stoned to death unless the Parents before the Sentence was pronounced said they gave him their Pardon There are a great many little Niceties about the quantity of Meat and Wine that he eat and drank and other Matters with which I do not think fit to trouble the Reader Verse 21 Ver. 21. And all the Men of his City shall stone him with stones that he die This is such a severe Sentence that it inclines me to think the Parents lookt upon such a Son as so debaucht that he would not only spend all their Estate if he had it but was inclined to kill them that he might get it into his own hands For the Sentence of Death is denounced elsewhere against one that struck his Father or Mother XXI Exod. 15. or that cursed them v. 17. It is not said indeed he should be stoned but put to death which they interpret of strangling this punishment of stoning being appointed for Idolaters and Blasphemers of God Next to whom Parents are to be reverenced being in God's place with respect to their Children See upon the fifth Commandment And therefore other Nations were very severe in their punishment of such Children as are here described and particularly the Romans after the power was taken from Parents to sell them or put them to death and the Censure of them committed to the Magistrates See Hen. Stephen in his Fontes Rivi Juris Civilis p. 18. And among the Athenians Lysias saith in his Oration against Agoratus he that beats his Parents or did not maintain them and provide an habitation for them when they were in want 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 deserved to be put to death The Law indeed did not inflict that punishment but only said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 let him be infamous That is as they expound it he might not come into the Publick Assemblies nor enter into their Temples nor wear a Crown in their Publick Festivals and if any such Persons presumed so to do they were brought before the Magistrates who set a Fine upon their Heads and committed them to Prison till they paid it See Sam. Petitus in his Commentary upon the Attick Laws Lib. II. Tit. IV. p. 163. No wonder therefore Moses ordained this punishment when a Son was come to such a degree of profligate wickedness that he indeavoured to undo his Parents Which some States have thought fit to follow in these latter Ages For David Chytraeus saith he himself saw an Example of this Severity at Zurich in the year One thousand five hundred and fifty where a disobedient Son was beheaded who had cursed his Mother and beaten her So shalt thou put evil away from among you and all Israel shall hear and fear See concerning this before upon XIX 20. Verse 22 Ver. 22. If a man have committed a sin worthy of death and he be put to death There were several sorts of Capital Punishments viz. Strangling Burning Cutting off by the Sword and Stoning Now the Hebrew Doctors limit this unto such Offenders as were stoned of which Punishment he speaks in the foregoing Verse But there being Eighteen sorts of Offenders who were to be Sentenced to this Death they put a further limitation upon these words their Tradition being as they tell us the Sin worthy of death or Stoning is only Idolatry or Blasphemy So we read in the Sanhedrim Cap. VI. Sect. IV. All that were stoned were also hanged according to the opinion of R. Eliezer but the wise Men say none were hanged but the Idolater and Blasphemer And they add there that only Men not Women were thus used for which I can see no reason but their sticking to the meer Letter of these words as if the word Man did not comprehend both senses But if we examine the Scripture we shall find this not to be true that no Men were hanged but they that were stoned for the King of Ai
was hanged VIII Josh 29. and five Kings more X. 26. and they were not hanged because they were Blasphemers or Idolaters for then all the rest of the Canaanites should have been so treated but because they were such Enemies of God as had rebelliously withstood the gracious Summons of Surrender And there are other Examples also which confute this as the two Traitors that murdered Isbosheth 2 Sam. IV. 12. and the five Sons of Saul 2 Sam. XXI 9. It is more probable therefore that all those whom the Judges thought to be such great Offenders that it was fit to make them very publick Examples were hanged up after they had suffered the punishment of Death to which they were sentenced This seems to be denoted in the word Chatta which signifies sometimes a very great Crime as appears from XII Hosea 8. where he speaks of iniquity which is sin Not as if all iniquity were not sin but some acts of iniquity were not so heinous as to be called by that name And thou hang him After he had been put to death as appears by the foregoing words which speak of his being put to death before this Suspension Which shows that this Punishment was not the same with the Roman Crucifixion as Baronius Sigonius Lipsius and others have mistaken for they hanged Men alive upon the Gibbet whereby they expired before they were taken down But this was only hanging up their Bodies after they were dead and exposing them to open shame for a time On a Tree On a piece of Timber saith the Sanhedrim struck into the Ground out of which came a Beam whereunto his Hands were tied as they tell us in the place before-mentioned And so Schickard in his Mischpat Hammelech Cap. IV. Theor XIV So that his Body hung in such a posture as crucified Men did Ver. 23. His body shall not remain all night upon the Tree but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day This is excellently interpreted by Josephus Lib. IV. Archaeol Verse 23 Cap. VIII 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Having remained the whole day a Spectacle unto all he was to be buried at night for as soon as the Sun went down the Body also was taken down Examples of which we have in the Book of Joshua VIII 29. X. 26 27. In which he is far more sincere then their Rabbins who say the Law was satisfied if they hanged up the Body just before the setting of the Sun and presently after took it down again Which Exposition seems to have been contrived in favour of their Country-men for only Israelites they confess were to be thus exposed not Proselytes of the Gate as Mr. Selden observes Lib. II. de Jure Nat. Gent. c. Cap. XII For he that is hanged is accursed of God The Jews interpret this Clause as if the meaning were he was hanged because he blasphemed God So Onkelos himself and the Samaritan Versions with those of the Spanish and Mauritanian Jews as Selden observes L. II. de Synedr Cap. XIII N. IV. And Hottinger in his Smegma Orientale p. 96 97. But though this be a common Opinion among the Hebrew Doctors yet the LXX have taken the sense right 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cursed of God is every one that is hanged on a Tree And so S. Paul III Galat. with very little difference For they observed what those Doctors did not that Moses doth not here give a reason why the Man was hanged up but why he was to be taken down from the Gallows Now what Consequence is there in this Let him be taken down and buried because he cursed God Every one sees that though the word cursed should be taken in an active sense this is not a right interpretation of these words For though it had been good sense to have said Let him be hanged because he cursed God yet not let him be taken down for that reason Now such Persons are said here to be accursed of God not because they were hanged up but because of their Sin which deserved they should be thus exposed So S. Hierom upon III Galatians Non ideo maledictus quia pendet sed ideo pendet quia maledictus He was not accursed because he was hanged but he was therefore hanged because he was accursed Hanging up being a Token that the Man had committed a horrid Crime whereby he had incurred the high displeasure of Almighty God So that every one who saw him hang on that fashion were to think with themselves This Man was under the Curse of God because of his Sin And unless he had undergone this Curse he could not have been buried and put into the Condition of other Men. But when he had undergone it for his Sin then it had been a sin in the People not to have taken him down or prolonged his Suspension longer than God imposed this Curse upon him And the Land had been defiled if after this Suffering which God had appointed they had not buried him To this purpose Abarbinel who refutes several other accounts of this matter particularly that of Sol. Jarchi who thinks he was not to hang longer than till the Evening because it would have been a dishonour to the Soveraign of the World after whose Image Man was made This is followed by many and even by Grotius himself who gives no other reason of it in his Book de Jure Belli Pacis Lib. II. Cap. XIX Sect. IV. But this is a reason as Abarbinel notes why he should not have been hanged up at all It may be also usefully noted further that they say in the Tract called Sanhedrim that not only the Malefactor but all the Instruments of Punishment were to be buried at the going down of the Sun Even the Tree it self upon which he was hanged was to be buried that no memory of so foul a thing might be left in the World nor any might say Behold this was the Tree upon which such a one was hang'd That the Land be not defiled which the LORD thy God giveth thee By the stench of the Body after it putrified as the same Abarbinel expounds it who observes that the dead Body of no Creature corrupts and stinks sooner than that of a Man which is exceeding offensive to the living For which cause saith he the Book Siphre determines not only that all Malefactors should be buried as soon as the Law here orders that they might not imitate the manners of the Egyptians and Philistims and such like People who let Bodies rot in the Air after they were hanged up but that every Man should bury his dead the same day they died or be deemed to have transgressed a Negative Precept Which may pass for a very good natural reason of it but there is something more in it respecting a Legal Pollution under which their whole Country lay as long as an accursed thing hung openly among them just as all that entred into the Tent where a dead Body lay and all that
Josh 33. Which could not have been unless it were placed between the two Mountains whereon they stood upon both sides from the top to the bottom With a loud voice That every one that stood on the side or top of the Mountains might hear what they said the Priests being placed so in several parts of the Valley that their voice might reach them all For which end they were advanced perhaps upon a Pulpit as Ezra afterwards was VIII Nehem. 4. and a signal likewise given when they should say Amen Ver. 15. Cursed be he that maketh any graven or molten Verse 15 image The People upon the Mountains being to bless as well as curse the Mischna in the Title Sota Cap. VII Sect. V. rightly explains this that first the Priests turning their Faces towards Mount Gerizim proclaimed with a loud voice Blessed be the man that maketh not any graven c. Unto which all the People that stood there answered Amen And then turning their Faces towards Mount Ebal they said these words Cursed be the man that maketh c. to which they that stood there made the same answer See also the Hierusalem Targum which paraphrases these words in the same manner An abomination unto the LORD Which is odious and far to be removed from the Presence of the LORD as the same Targum interprets it The work of the hands of the Crafts-man A meer device of Men and therefore not to have Divine Worship given to it of any sort And putteth it in a secret place Though he was not a publick declared Worshipper of Images yet if he did it privately in some Closet of his own House or in any other secret place to conceal his wickedness though he escaped the punishment of the Law which sentenced open Idolaters to death yet he could not escape the vengeance of God And all the people The forenamed Mischna and Targum say That the People on both Mountains answered Amen both to the Blessings and to the Cursings which doth not agree with what goes before v. 12 13. Shall answer and say Amen Express their consent to it For the word Amen as the Talmudists say in Schebuoth hath sometimes the force of an Oath sometimes only declares consent and approbation and sometimes is used for the confirmation of any thing An Example of the first they think there is in V Numb 22. and they alledge this place for an Example of the second and for the third XXVIII Jerem. 6. Verse 16 Ver. 16. Cursed be he that setteth light by his father and mother It is observed by Interpreters that as the Precept of honouring Parents stands next to the Commandment concerning the Honour that is due to God XX Exod. 12. so the Curse pronounced against those who dishonoured them is here placed next to the Curse against Worshippers of Images And as Idolaters were to be put to death so were those that cursed their Parents XXI Exod. 17. XX Levit. 9. And I may add from the foregoing words that though they did it ever so secretly they lay under this Curse And all the people shall say Amen But before this Curse was pronounced they had said Amen to the Blessing opposite to it blessed is he that setteth not lightly by his Father and Mother as was observed on the foregoing Verse And the same is to be noted concerning the following Curses which were preceded with a Blessing till they were all ended Ver. 17. Cursed be he that removeth his neighbour's Verse 17 Land-mark c. Against which there is an express Precept in the foregoing part of this Book XIX 14. And Pellicanus well observes that by this particular Instance of God's displeasure against Injustice they were deterred from all Incroachments upon their Neighbours Possessions Ver. 18. Cursed be he that maketh the blind to wander Verse 18 out of the way By giving him wrong directions or misleading him See XIX Levit. 14. Some apply this to giving pernitious Advice to simple People which is certainly worse than misguiding of the blind because it leads Men into sin as well as into danger Ver. 19. Cursed be he that perverteth the judgment of Verse 19 the stranger fatherless and widow These three I observed before XXIV 19. are commonly put together as a paraphrase upon the word poor whose Cause God himself undertakes to plead X. 18. and see XII Exod. 21 22. And therefore all good Law-givers have taken special care of them particularly of Orphans concerning whom Plato ordains that the Conservators of the Laws should be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 instead of their natural Parents and look after them so well that they should not fare the worse for wanting their Fathers See Lib. VIII de Legibus fol. 926 c. Edit Serrani Verse 20 Ver. 20. Cursed be he that lieth with his father's wife See XXII 30. and XVIII Levit. 8. Verse 21 Ver. 21. Cursed be he who lieth with any manner of beast c. XXII Exod. 19. and XVIII Levit. 23. This some of the Jewish Doctors out of an unaccountable pride apply to the Vulgar sort of their own Nation whom they call the People of the Earth as if they were no better than Beasts with whom they were not to marry Verse 22 Ver. 22. Cursed be he that lyeth with his sister the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother c. This hath been explained also XVIII Levit. 9. Verse 23 Ver. 23. Cursed be he that lyeth with his mother-in-law c. See XVIII Levit. 17. and XX. 14. Verse 24 Ver. 24. Cursed be he that smiteth his neighbour secretly c. Though it be but with his Tongue whereby he wounds the same of an absent Person But the word smite is often used for killing XXI Exod. 12. XXIV Levit. 17. Of which if a Man was guilty though he committed the Murder so secretly that he could not be put to death by the Sentence of the Judges yet he lay under this heavy Sentence of God Verse 25 Ver. 25. Cursed be he that taketh a reward to slay an innocent person c. This seems to have respect to the Judges who for Money not only gave wrong Judgment in other Causes but condemned those that were not guilty to death See XXIII Exod. 7 8. and in this Book X. 17. XVI 19. Ver. 26. Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them The word we here translate confirm is more plainly translated perform in 1 Sam. XV. 11. And so it certainly signifies here the performing Verse 26 of what God commands being a kind of Establishment of the Law as Disobedience is a Subversion of it and as far as lyes in the Offenders power an abolishing it and taking it away Therefore the Apostle exactly translates the sense of these words III Galat. 10. Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things c. where the Apostle adds the word all as the LXX and the Samaritan did even in St.