though it be but an inch if he doe it by force it is rapine and if he remove it in secret it is theft And if in the land of Israel hee remove the marke he transgresseth against two prohibitions against stealth or rapine and against Thou shalt not remove the limit Maimony treat of Theft ch 7. sect 11. Vers. 15. not rise up or not stand not be stablished as the word is Englished in the end of this verse and so the Greeke translateth shall not abide or continue The Hebrewes say They determine not any sentence of matters by the mouth of one witnesse neither money matters nor matters of life and death Deut. 19. 15. In two places the Law maketh one witnesse faithfull for the suspected wife that shee shall not drinke of the bitter waters Num. 5. and for the heifer that it shall not have the neck cut off Deut. 21. Maimony treat of Witnesses c. 5. s. 1 2. at the mouth The Chaldee expoundeth it at the word From hence the lewes gather that by law they may not receive witnesse either in money matters or in matters of life and death but from the mouth of the witnesses Deut. 19. 15. from their mouth and not from a writing of their hand But by the words of the Scribes they determine money matters by witnesse that is in a bill although the witnesses be not alive c. Maim treat of Witnesses c. 3. s. 4. a word or a thing a matter The Greeke translateth every word and so the Apostles alleage this place Matt. 18. 16. 2 Cor. 13. 1. which sheweth that this as many other like Scriptures are to be taken in the largest sense see Deut. 27. 26. be stablished or be confirmed stand as firme and true So our Saviour saith It is written in your law that the testimony of two men is true Iohn 8. 17. Vers. 16. unrighteous so the Greeke translateth the Hebrew phrase witnesse of unrighteousnesse or of violent wrong of injuriousnesse the Chaldee translateth false witnesse So in Exod. 23. 1. to testifie Hebr. to answer which is a generall word for all speaking or testifying as the Chaldee exponndeth it to testifie so in v. 18. See Exod. 20. 16. revolt or apostasie a falling or turning away from the Lord as Deut. 13. 5. The Greeke translateth it impiety Vers. 17. both the men or the two men that is the accuser and the accused So that one witnesse may cause a matter to be inquired into though no sentence may be given upon the testimony of one v. 15. and ch 17. v. 6. before Iehovah before his Arke or Sanctuary in the place which he shall chuse see Deut. 17. 8. 1 King 8. 31. before the priests the Greeke version addeth and before the Priests and before the Iudges See Deut. 17. 9. Vers. 18. make diligent inquisition or inquire well which the Greeke translateth acriboos that is exactly exquisitely or perfectly as Act. 23. 20. false the Greeke translateth this as before unrighteous or unjust testified Hebr. answered as in vers 16. Vers. 19. thought or presumed presumptuously devised and enterprised the Greeke translateth maliciously thought Of the originall word Zamam thought the Hebrewes call the false witnesse Zomem the thinker or presumer and say Who so witnesseth falsly and it bee knowne by witnesses that hee hath witnessed falsly this man is called gned Zomem the false witnesse and it is commanded to doe unto him as he would have done by his testimony unto his neighbour If they have testified falsly of a transgression for which men are guilty of stoning to death they are all to be stoned if of burning they are to be burnt and so for other deaths And if they testifie of crimes worthy beating every one of them is to bee beaten c. If they testifie of things for which money is to be paid they pay the money among them according to the number of witnesses every one shall give the portion that concerneth him c. This is meant of witnesses that are found false but two companies that contradict one another and so there is no testimony they doe not punish the one of them because it is not knowne which company speaketh falsly And what is the difference betweene contradiction and falshood Contradiction is in the testimony it selfe the one saying this thing was and the other saying this thing was not Falshood or forgery is for the testifiers themselves when the false witnesses cannot know whether the thing was done or not As witnesses that come and say We saw this man kill a person or be borrowed a pound of such a man such a day in such a place and after they have thus witnessed and are searched into there come two other and say On this day and in this place wee were with you and with these all the day and there never was such a thing this man killed him not or this man borrowed not of that man loe this is contradiction and all the like But if they say unto them as for us we know not whether this man killed that man on such a day in Ierusalem as you say or no but wee testifie that you your selves were with us on the same day in Babylon loe these are false witnesses or forgers and must be killed or make satisfaction for as much as the witnesses which make them forgers have no respect at all unto the testimony it selfe whether it be truth or falshood And if the first witnesses were an hundred persons there come two prove them forgers saying we testifie that you hundred all of you were with us such a day in such a place 〈◊〉 these are punished by the mouth of those two for two are as an hundred and an hundred as two And so in two companies of witnesses that contradict one another they goe not after the greatest number Maimony treat of Witnesses chap. 18. sect 1 2 3. As for witnesses that contradict one another such as are after found faulty though they be not put to death for testifying against a mans life yet are they chastised at the Iudges discretion Maimony ibidem sect 6. the evill that is as the Chaldee saith the evill doer See before on Deut. 17. 7. and 13. 11. Vers. 20. the residue that is all other shall heare and feare Therefore the Hebrewes say Proclamation was made concerning these forgers or false witnesses the Iudges wrote and sent into every citie that such and such men witnessed so and so and were found false and we killed them or they were beaten before us or we set such a fine or mulct upon them Maimony treat of Witnesses chap. 18. sect 17. Vers. 21. not spare or not pittie of this the Hebrewes hold that all hurts may be bought out with money except life for life thereof there may be no ransome Num. 35. 31. See the Annotations on Exod. 21. 25. soule or life to wit shall goe for life See Lev. 24. 17. 20. CHAP. XX. 1
fathers leave in a company that are all vaine and vile persons That a sonne onely not a daughter is to be put to death by this Law and hee not a little one or a childe who is not within the rule or compasse of the commandements not a man that is growne up and is in his owne power So that hee must be at least above twelve yeeres of age And if he be married three moneths and his wife be knowne to be with childe they free him also from this Law because it is said a sonne and not a father Moreover that the father and mother must bring this rebellious sonne first to the court of three Iudges and there complaine of his disobedience bringing with them two witnesses of his stealth and gluttony whereupon he is there beaten as others are for the like crime and this is that chastening in v. 18. If he fall againe to stealth and riot his father and mother bring him againe before the Magistrates with the witnesses and he is condemned to death But if before sentence is passed on him his father and mother doe relent in pitie towards him hee is let goe If he flee away before sentence is gone out against him and be afterward taken when hee is in mans state which they also judge by the haire on his face hee is not put to death but if hee scape away after sentence of condemnation he is stoned to death whensoever hee is taken If his father be willing to bring him to the Magistrate and the mother not or the mother willing and the father not he is not to be judged as a rebellious sonne If either parent have lost their hand or be lame or dumbe or blinde or deafe the sonne passeth not under this condemnation for it is said they must lay hold on him and bring him and must say this our sonne c. hee obeieth not our voice c. These and the like cautions are noted by Maimony in treat of Rebels chap. 7. and in the Bab. Thalmud in Sanhedrin ch 8. but they have not all of them found ground from the Scripture Howbeit if any sonne be by any of these exceptions saved that he die not as a rebellious sonne yet is he under all other punishments which the Magistrates inflict on other riotours and like malefactors the gate of his place that is the gate of the place where he dwelt at which gate the Magistrates used to sit Deut. 22. 15. and 25. 7. So the Chaldee here translateth the gate of the judgement-hall of his place Vers. 20. a glutton or riotour devourer in Hebrew Zolel which hath the signification of vilenesse Ier. 15. 19. The Chaldee addeth a glutton or riotous eater of flesh and a riotous drinker of wine which words seeme also to be understood in the Hebrew and are so expressed in Prov. 23. 20. Be not amongst riotous drinkers of wine amongst riotous eaters of flesh for the riotous drinker and the riotous eater or glutton shall come to poverty Where in the latter sentence the words flesh and wine are omitted as here they are in Moses And to these two flesh and wine the Hebrewes do restraine this law as before is noted but oft times such things are named for an instance and doe imply all other of like sort Vers. 21. and he shall die or that he die The sinnes of riot and drunkennesse were not by Moses Law punishable by death this therefore was in respect of his disobedience to his parents which greatly aggravated his sinne and for which hee was to die when other drunkards scaped with lighter punishment Hereupon Solomon uttered his parable He that keepeth the Law is a wise son but he that is a companion of gluttons shameth his father Prov. 28. 7. all Israel shall heare The like is spoken of the death of some other notorious malefactors as Deut. 13. 11. and 17. 13. and 19. 30. So in this case the Hebrewes say The rebellious sonne must be proclaimed and they publish by writings unto all Israel In such a Court wee stoned such an one because hee was a stubborne and rebellious sonne Maimony treat of Rebels chap. 7. sect 13. Vers. 22. worthy of death Hebr. of the judgement of death which the Chaldee well expoundeth desert of judgement to be killed and thou hang him The Hebrewes understand not this of putting him to death by hanging but of hanging a man up after hee was stoned to death which was done for more detestation of some hainous malefactors Their words are We are commanded to hang the blasphemer and the Idolater and a man is hanged but not a woman After they are stoned to death they fasten a peace of timber in the earth and out of it there commeth a peece of wood then they tie both his hands one to another and hang him neere unto the setting of the Sun and let him downe out of hand and if he abide all night it is a transgression Deut. 21. 23. And we are commanded to burie all that are killed by the Iudges the same day that they are killed They may not be hanged on a tree that groweth on the ground but on that which hath beene plucked up that there may not need any cutting of it downe for the tree that he is hanged on is to be buried with him that there be no evill memoriall of him for men to say this is the tree wheron such a man was hanged And so the stone wherewith the stoned is killed and the sword wherewith a man is put to death and the napkin wherwith he is strangled they all are buried Maimony in Sanhedrin ch 15. sect 6. c. In the Scripture we have examples of Rechab and Baanah who for murdering Ishbosheth were by Davids commandement slaine their hands and feet cut off and they hanged up 2 Sam. 4. 12. where their hanging seemeth to be after their death and so in others as Ios. 10. 26. which might also be the case of the King of Ai Ies. 8. 29. of those Idolaters in Num. 25. 4. And the Scripture sheweth a double punishment for some hainous sinnes as in Achans family who were burned with fire after they were stoned Ios. 7. 25. Among the Romans afterward they hanged or fastned them to the tree alive and such was the death of our Lord Christ who bare our 〈…〉 es in his owne bodie on the tree 1 Pet. 2. 24. Luke 23. 33 39. Vers. 23. burying in Greeke with buriall thou shall burie him that is in any wise burie him This was also sulfilled in our Saviours body which was buried the same day that he was hanged on tree Ioh. 19. 31 38 42. he that is hanged to wit on tree as Gal. 3. 13. This speech as many other of like sort is generall therefore the Greeke translateth every one that is hanged on tree and that interpretation the Apostle alleageth in Gal. 3. 13. the curse that is cursed as the A postle expoundeth it
to time and afterwards they circumcise him By which words is meant if he have an ague or like sicknesse but if hee have sore eyes or the like they circumcise him so soone as they are whole If a child be found on the 8 day to be very pale coloured they circumcise him not till the blood come againe into his countenance like the countenance of children that are in health Likewise if hee be very red they circumcise him not till his blood be sunk down into him and his countenance come againe like other children for this is a sicknesse and men must be admonished well of these things If a woman circumcise her first sonne and he die through fervency of the circumcision which decayed his strength Also she circumciseth her second child and he dye through the fervency of the circumcision whether shee have this child by her first husband or by a second loe her third child shall not bee circumcised in the time thereof but they defer it till he wexe great and his strength be made firme They circumcise none but children that are without sicknesse for perill of life putteth away all And it is possible to circumcise after the time but unpossible to restore the life of any one of Israel for ever Maimony treat of Circumcis ch 1. S. 16. 17. 18. your flesh that is the secret part or member of generation for so the word flesh here and in other places in speciall meaneth Ezek. 16. 26. and 23. 20. Lev. 15. 2. God set not the signe of his covenant on the lips eares or other parts of man which yet the Scripture calleth also uncircumcised Exod. 6. 30. Ier. 6. 10. but on the privy member to teach the regeneration of nature even of the whole man who is borne in sin Psal. 51. 7. and the derivation of his covenant to the seed of the faithful who are thereby holy Ezr. 9. 2. 1 Cor. 7. 14. and to signifie that the true circumcision is inward and secret Rom. 2. 28. 29. This which in the eyes of man seemeth a thing unprofitable foolish and ignominious doth God chuse to make a signe of the covenant of his grace in Christ who is also himselfe a scandall and foolishnesse to the world but the foolishnesse of God is wiser then the wisedome of men 1 Cor. 1. 23. 25. And that member of the body which man thought to be lesse honourable on it God put on more abundant honour as 1 Cor. 12. 23. that it should beare the marke of the heavenly covenant Vers. 14. that soule that is as the Chaldee expoundeth it that man see Gen. 12. 5. cut off The Greeke and Chaldee translate it destroyed and consumed This word is used before in Gen. 9. 11. and after often in the law Exod. 12. 15. 19. and 31. 14. Lev. 7. 20. 21. 25. 27 c. It is sometime spoken of God cutting off men by death for their sinnes Lev. 17. 10. and 20. 3. 5. 6. and so the Hebrewes understand it here and in all other like places that for willing transgression in secret God will cut them off by untimely death and if there be witnesses of it the Magistrate is to punish or kill them but for ignorant transgression they were to bring the appointed sacrifices Vnder this also eternall damnation is implyed Maimony in treat of Repentance chap. 8. S. 1. speaking of eternall death saith And this is the Cutting off written of in the Law as it is said in Num. 15. 31. that soule shall bee cut-off he shall be cut off Which we have heard expounded thus cut off in this world and cut off in the world to come Of this sanction here they say If the father or master doe transgresse and circumcise not they break a commandement but are not guilty of cutting-off for cutting-off belongs but to the uncircumcised person him-selfe Maimony treat of Circumcis c. 1. S. 1. Howbeit Moses the father had almost beene killed for not circumcising his sonne Exod. 4. 24. c. broken or made frustrate broken downe this word is opposed to the former stablishing or making firm in vers 7. The Hebrewes have a canon who so breaketh the covenant of Abraham our father and leaveth his superfluous-foreskin or gathereth it over again although he have in him the law and good workes hee hath no portion in the world to come Maimony treat of Circumcis chap. 3. S. 8. Which rule is true according to the Apostles interpretation applying circumcision to the heart spirit and faith in Christ Rom. 2. 29. and 4. 11. Col. 2. 11. Vers. 15. Sarah in Greeke Sarrha The letter j changed into h signified the multiplication of her children as before in Abrams name vers 5. And the Greeke having no h at the end of words doubleth therefore the letter r with an aspiration Sarrha and so the Apostles also write it Rom. 9. 9. 1 Pet. 3. 6. Sarai the Chaldean name is made Hebrew Sarah which is by interpretation a Princesse The Apostle calleth her a Freewoman and maketh her a figure of the new Testament and heavenly Ierusalem Gal. 4. 22. 24. 26. and the example of Abraham and Sarah thus called blessed and increased is set forth for their children the Church to consider and comfort themselves withall Esay 51. 1. 2. 3. Vers. 16. shall be to nations that is shall become nations and bee a mother of them both in the flesh and in the Lord. For all godly women are called her children 1 Pet. 3. 6. and Ierusalem her answerable type is the mother of us all Galat. 4. 26. Psal. 87. 5. 6. Vers. 17. laughed that is as the Chaldee translateth it rejoyced and so the word after importeth Gen. 21. 6. though sometime it implyeth also a doubting as in Gen. 18. 12. 13. but the praise of Abrahams faith who was not weake nor staggering but gave glory to God Rom. 4. 19. 20. seemeth to free him from this imputation Thargum Ierusalemy expoundeth it he marvelled Of this word laughed in Hebrew jsaak the child promised was called Isaak in whom Abraham saw the day of Christ and rejoyced old Hebr. sonne of 100 yeeres that is going in his hundred yeere So Sarah was daughter of ninety yeeres See Gen. 5. 32. At these yeeres both their bodies were now dead unapt for generation Rom. 4. 19. Heb. 11. 12. Vers. 19. shall beare or beareth speaking as of a thing present for God calleth the things which bee not as though they were Rom. 4. 17. Isaak Heb. Iitschak the same word used before in vers 17. and signifieth laughing or joy for besides his father and mother all that heare have occasion to laugh and rejoice for his birth Gen. 21. 6. in whom both Christ the joy of the whole earth was represented and all the children of promise Iohn 8. 56. Rom. 9. 7. 8. Gal. 4. 28. seed the Greeke version addeth to be a God to him and to his seed as before in verse 7. Vers. 20. heard the Chaldee
if the owner thereofbe with it the meaning is if he be with it in the time of borrowing it c. and there is no need that he be with it in the time when it is broken or dieth If he be not w th it in the time wheÌ„ it is borrowed though he be with it in the time when it is broken or dieth the borrower is bound to pay for it Raâ—bam or Maimony in his comment on Thalmud Bab. in Baba metsignah chap. 8. it came the Gr. translateth it shall be to him or his for his hire And so though the thing miscarry he paieth but the hire onely Vers. 16. entice or perswade so that she consent unto the encicer And herein this differeth from the Law in Deuteronomie 22. 28. 29. which was for such as consented not The Hebrewes say Shee that is lien with in the field it is certainely presumed that she was forced unlesse witnesse testifie that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with in the citie it is presumed 〈◊〉 she was 〈◊〉 because shee 〈◊〉 unlesse witnesse 〈◊〉 that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that the man drâ—w a 〈◊〉 and saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if thou crie out I will kill her Maimony in Nagharah be 〈…〉 chap. 1. Sect. â—â— not betrothed for to lie with a betrothed maid was death Deut. 22. 24. 25. Vers. 17. weigh that 〈◊〉 pay money The summe is shewed in Deuteronomie 22. 29. to be fiftie shekels of silver The Hebrew Doctors say this mulct was not onely if her father refused but if the maid also or if the inticer himselfe would not marie her they compelled him not but hee gave the mulct and went his way If he maried her then he paid not this mulct but gave her a writing as other maids had Maimony in Nagyarah chap. 1. Sect. 3. Vers. 18. a witch or sorceresse whereof see the notes on Exodus 7. 11. He speaketh of the woman because witchcraft is most in use among that kind but implieth also the man-witch or sorcerer who is likewise named in Deuteronomie 18. 10. Therefore the Greeke translateth it here plurally Witches The Hebrewes observe Whosoever is guilty of death the Iudges that doe not put him to death they breake an affirmative precept but transgresse not against a prohibitive saving of the Witch for if they put not him to death they transgresse a prohibition as it is said Thou shalt not suffer a Witch to live Maimony in Sanhedrin chap. 14. Sect. 3. Vers. 19. put to dye Gr. ye shall kill him with death Elsewhere it is commanded that the beast bee killed also Leviticus 20. 15. 16. for this sinne is Confusion Lev. â—8 23. Vers. 20. sacrificeth to the gods that is as the Chaldee expounds it to the idols of the peoples and Moses explaineth it either the Sunne or the Moone or any of the host of heaven c. Deut. 17. 2. 3. And by sacrifice he implieth also worship and service as is expressed in Deuteronomie 17. 3. utterly destroyed or anathematized that is destroyed as execrable and cursed be put to death without mercie as the Hebrew Cherem implieth and Paul useth such a phrase in Hebrewes 10. 28. The Greeke here translateth it destroied the Chaldee by Onkelos saith killed and the Thargum called Ionathans addeth shall bee killed with the sword and his goods consumed which interpretation he gathereth from the Law in Deuteronomie 13. 15. 16. 17. where the word Cherem is also used But others gather from Deut. 17. 2. 5. that hee was to be stoned which is most agreeable Howbeit this is to be understood of a witting and willing idolater according to Numb 25. 27. 30. and so the Hebrew canons say Whosoever serveth idols willingly and presumptuously he is guilty of cutting off to wit by the hand of God and if there be witnesses that have seene him he is stoned to death and if he have served them ignorantly he is to bring the 〈◊〉 offring appointed therefore Maimony treat of Idolatry c. 2. S. 1. except 〈◊〉 understand except he sacrifice unto Iehovah Vers. 21. vex or make a spoile and prey Coppresse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and violence a word usually applied to the rich 〈◊〉 mightie that vexe and spoilâ— the poore fatherlesse and stranger whom God loveth and commandeth us to love even as our selves Deut. 10. 18. 19. Levit. 29. 33. 34. Zach. 7. 10. Ier. 22. 3. Ezek. 46. 18. In particular this word is used for vexing or oppressing in buying and selling Leviticus 25. 14. 17. The Hebrew Doctors expound this here to meane vexing of the stranger with words of reproach and the oppressing next spoken of to be meant of his goods or riches Maimony in treat of Merchandise chap. 14. Sect. 15. Of this oppressing see the notes on Levit. 25. Vers. 23. afflicting afflict that is in any measure or any manner of way afflict It seemeth also to bee an imperfect speech implying I will afflict thee See the like in Luke 13. 9. surely if or and if so the Greeke translateth it here and in 1 Sam. 2. 21. Also the Hebrew Ci Surely or For and Vau And are put one for another 2 Sam. 22. 28. with Psal. 18. 28. Esa. 39. 1. with 2 King 20. 12. Vers. 25. money Hebr. silver by it is meant also gold or brasse or meat or rayment or any other thing as is explained Levit. 25. 36. 37. Deut. 23. 19. And we are elsewhere commanded to lend Deut. 15. 7. 8. Luke 6. 35. my people this putteth a difference betweene Gods people and strangers infidels unto whom they might lend upon usury Deut 23. 20. as an exacting creditor as a lender that is urgent to have his owne againe or to have a pawne for the same so the word is sundry times used in this sense 2 King 4. 1. Psalme 109. 11. Nehem. 5. 7. 10. 11. Deut. 24. 10. so the law elsewhere forbiddeth exacting of debts upon our poore brethren Deut. 15. 2. 3. and so the Greeke here translateth thou shalt not be urgent upon him Also the Hebrew Doctors gather from hence thus who so exacteth payment of a poore man and knoweth that he hath not ought to pay him with hee transgresseth against this prohibition Thou shalt not be to him as an exacting creditor Maimony treat of the Lender and borrower chap. 1. Sect. 2. biting-usurie usury is called biting for that it biteth and consumeth a man and his substance and is therfore here and elsewhere absolutely forbidden Gods people Deuteronomie 23. 19. Levit. 25. 35. 36 Proverbs 28. 8. Ezek. 18. 8. Of this the Iewes have these canons set downe by Maimony in his fore-named treatise chapter 4. 5. and 6. Usurie and increase are both one thing Leviticus 25. 37. Deuteronomie 23. 19. And why is the name of it called Neshek biting usurie because it Noshek biteth for it nippeth thy neighbour and eateth his flesh As it is unlawfull to lend so it is unlawfull to borrow upon usurie for it is written in Deuteronomie 23. 19. Thou shalt
is the man that doth this and the sonne of man that layeth hold on it that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it Maimony treat of the Sabbath chap. 30. Sect. 15. Vers. 14. that soule the Chaldee translateth that man shall be destroied This cutting off the Iewes understand to be untimely death by the hand of God when a man so violateth Gods Law as there are no witnesses whereby men should punish him See Gen. 17. 14. And of the Sabbath thus they write that for doing worke therein if a man doe it willingly and presumptuously he is guilty of cutting-off to perish by the hand of God and if there bee witnesses that see him he is to be stoned to death as was performed in Num. 15. 35. 36. and if he doe it of ignorance or errour he is bound to bring the sin offring appointed for the same according to the Law in Numb â—5 27. 30. Maimony in treat of the Sabbath chap. 1. Among the heathen Romanes their Flamins or Priests might see no work done on their holy daies but by a cryer gave men warning to the contrary and who so obeyed not was 〈…〉 ulcted and gave a beast for a sacrifice Albeit they might doe things whereof dammage would follow if they were omitted as to pull an oxe out of a ditch to underset an house ready to fall c. Macrob Saturn booke 1. chap. 16. Vers. 15. of Sabbathisme that is of cessation and rest See Exod. 16. 23. The Greeke translateth it a rest holy to the Lord. Vers. 16. to observe Hebrew to doe see the notes on Exod. 34. 22. Vers. 17. me the Chaldee translateth Betweene my Word and the sonnes of Israel that Word is Christ by whom the Sabbath is truely sanctified to his Church Hebrewes 4. From this Scripture the Hebrewes gather that onely Israel was charged with the sabbath day and not the nations of the world Talmud in Betsah chap. Iom tob So from Exod. 16. 29. Yet thus also they say It is unlawfull to speake to an Infidel to doe any worke for us on the Sabbath day although he be not charged to keepe the Sabbath and although he be spoken to before the Sabbath Maimony treat of the Sabbath chap. 6. Sect. 1. Howbeit this opinion of theirs seemeth not agreeable to Gods will for the Sabbath was to be kept before the Law was given at mount Sinai Exod. 16. 23. even from the Creation Gen. 2. 2. 3. therefore it was given to all the world was refreshed the Greeke and Chaldee doe translate hee ceased and rested This is spoken of God after the manner of men who are refreshed by rest from their workes Of such manner speeches see what is noted on Genesis 6. 6. Vers. 18. of stone that so the record of them might remaine for ever Iob 19. 24. These Tables were the worke of God even as the writing was the writing of God Exod. 32. 16. and these being broken in peeces Exod. 32. 19 two other tables of stone like them were hewed out by Moses but written againe by the Lord Exod. 34. 1. 4. After this Christ by the Spirit of God writeth his Law not in Tables of stone but in fleshly Tables of the hearâ— 2 Cor. 3. 3. and these fleshly tables are also the work of God as he saith I will take the stonie heart out of their bodies and I will give them an heart of flesh Ezek. 11. 19. The Minde and the Heart are the spirituall tables Heb. 8. 10. in the one such things are written as men should know and beleeve in the other such as should be done or omitted The first Tables which God made signified the stonic hearts which all men have by nature now corrupted in which notwithstanding God hath left his Law written so that they doe by nature the things of the Law and shew the worke of the Law written in their hearts Rom. 2. 14. 15. though still they continue hard and stonie and their sinfull nature is not changed The second tables of stone signified the heart of the Iewes hewed and polished by Moses and his legall ministerie in whose heart God also wrote his Law wherein they rested and made their boast of God and knew his will and had the information of knowledge and of the truth in the Law Rom. 1. 17. 18. 20. Howbeit their heart continued stonie and unchanged so that they which taught others taught not themselves neither could they stedfastly looke on Moses face nor see the end of that which iâ— abolished but their mindes were blinded and even to this day a veile is laid upon their heart Rom. 2. 21. 2 Cor. 3. 7. 13. 14. 15. The third which are tables of flesh is the worke of Christ by his Spirit giving us new hearts and writing his Lawes in them 2 Cor. 3. 3. Ezek. 36. 26. Heb. 8. 10. These things both of the weakenesse of Moses ministerie and of the grace of Christ the ancient Hebrew Doctors acknowledged as in their glosse upon Song 1. 1. Let him kisse me c. there mentioning that request of the people in Exod. 20. 19. Speake thou with us c. they say Moses taught them the Law and whatsoever they learned they forgat againe Then they came unto Moses and said O that God would shew him-selfe againe and kisse us with the kisses of his mouth that his doctrine might be fastened in our hearts Moses said unto them This cannot be done now but it shall be in the dayes of Christ as it is written Ier. 31. 33. I will put my Law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts Midrash Cant. 1. 1. finger which signifieth Gods Spirit as I with the finger of God cast our divels Luk. 11. 20. which is expounded the Spirit of God in Matth. 12. 28. That which was written was according unto all the words which the Lord spake with Israel in the mount out of the midst of fire Exod. 20. Deut. 9. 10. CHAP. XXXII 1 The people in the absence of Moses cause Aaron to make a Calfe 6 They sacrifice thereunto 7 God certifieth Moses of their sinne 10 and his purpose to consume them therefore 11 Moses intreateth for the people 14 The Lord repenteth concerning the evill against them 15 Moses commeth down with the Tables 19 and upon sight of their sinne hee breaketh them 20 He destroyeth the Calfe 22 Aarons excuse for himselfe 25 Moses causeth the Idolaters to be slaine 28 The Levites are the executioners 31 Moses prayeth that either the sinne of Israel be forgiven or himselfe to be blotted out of the Booke of God 34 God spareth the people for the present but after plagueth them AND the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mountaine and the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron and said unto him Rise-up make gods for us which may goe before us because this Moses the man which brought us up out of the land of Egypt we know not what is become of
any beast to lye downe thereto thou shalt even kill the woman the beast they shal surely be put to death their bloods shall be upon them And the man that taketh his sister his fathers daughter or his mothers daughter and seeth her nakednes and shee see his nakednesse it is impietie and they shal be cut off in the eyes of the sonnes of their people he hath uncovered his sisters nakednes he shall beare his iniquity And the man that lyeth with a woman having-her sicknes and uncovereth her nakednes discovereth bee fountaine and she uncovereth the fountaine of her bloods even both of them shall be cut-off from among their people And thou shalt not uncover the nakednes of thy mothers sister or of thy fathers sister for he discouereth his neere-kinne they shall beare their iniquity And the man that lyeth with his aunt hee hath uncovered his uncles nakednes they shall beare their sinne they shall dye childles And the man that taketh his brothers wife it is uncleannes he hath uncovered his brothers nakednes they shall bee childles And ye shall keepe all my statutes and all my judgments and doe them that the land spue you not out which I bring you thither to dwell therein And ye shall not walke in the statutes of the nation which I send out from before you for all these things have they done and I am yrked with them And I have said unto you you shall inherit their land and I will give it unto you to inherit it a land that floweth with milke and honey I am Iehovah your God which have separated you from the peoples And yee shall separate betweene the cleane beast and the uncleane and betweene the uncleane fowle and the cleane and yee shall not make your soules abominable by beast or by fowle or by any thing that creepeth on the ground which I have separated unto you for uncleane And ye shall be holy unto me for I Iehovah am holy and have separated you from the peoples to be mine And man or woman when there is in them a familiar-spirit or that is a wizard they shall surely be put to death they shall stone them with stones their bloods shall be upon them Annotations EVery man or Any man whosoever Hebr. man 〈◊〉 as Levit. 17. 3. Targum Ionathan explaineth it yong man or old man the Greeke hath If any Here God appointeth punishments for the transgression of such Lawes as were given in the two former chapters that sojourneth or that is a stranger in Greeke proselytes of his seed that is any of his children Molech an Idoll to which the heathens offred their children whereof see Lev. 18. 21. he shall surely be put to death or he shal be put to dye the death Heb. dying he shall be made to dye So after in verse 9. 10. 11. 12. c. the people of the land the Chaldee expounds it the people of the house of Israel stone him his sinne being proved before the Iudges by witnesses the hands of the witnesses were first to be upon him and afterward the hands of all the people Deut. 17. 6. 7. Foure manner of deaths were in Israel for malefactors Stoning Burning Killing with the sword and Strangling And the Hebrewes reckon eighteen euil doers which were to be stoned that was the sorest death sundry of them are mentioned in this chapter of all the rest see the notes on Exodus 21. 12. The manner of stoning is said to be thus when the malefactor came within foure cubits of the place of execution they stript him out of his clothes but covered his nakednesse before and a woman was not stoned naked but in one linnen garment The place of stoning was high unto which the malefactor with his witnesses went up his hands being tyed One of the witnesses stroke him behinde upon his loynes if that kild him not the other witnesses threw a great stone upon his heart if hee dyed not with it all Israel threw stones upon him Talmud Bab. in Sanhedrin chap. 6. and Maimony in Sanhedrin chapter 15. section 1. Vers. 3. And I will set Heb. will give that is will oppose and set firmly for which in verse 5. Moses useth the word set This is meant if the sinne were not knowne or could not be proved by witnesses sufficiently before men that God himselfe would cut off the sinner which the Chaldee and Greeke doe interpret destroy or make to perish So Chazkuni expoundeth it I will set my face when he transgresseth without witnesses and evident-proofe The Hebrewes reckon sixe and thirtie which for their sins are threatned by the law to be cut off and they are these 1. Hee that lyeth with his mother 2. or with his fathers wife 3. or with his daughter-in-law 4. or with mankinde 5. or with a beast 6. and the woman that lyeth downe to a beast 7. hee that lyeth with a woman and her daughter 8. or with another mans wife 9. or with his sister 10. or with his fathers sister 11. or with his mothers sister 12 or with his wives sister 13. or with the wife of his fathers brother 14. or with the wife of his mothers brother 15. or with a woman that hath her sicknesse 16. The blasphemer 17. the Idol-server 18. he that giveth of his seed to Molech 19. hee that followeth him that hath a familiar spirit 20. hee that prophaneth the Sabbath 21. the uncleane person that eateth the holy thing 22. the uncleane person that commeth into the Sanctuarie 23. Hee that eateth fat 24. or blood 25. or that eateth that which remaineth of the sacrifices when it is a polluted thing 26. or that eateth uncleane meats 27. Hee that slayeth sacrifices without the sanctuarie 28. be that offreth them without 29. He that eateth Leaven at the Passeover 30. he that eateth any thing on Atonement day 31. or that worketh on that day 32. Hethat maketh an Oile like the holy oile of the Sanctuary 33. or maketh anincense like the holy incense 34. or that anointeth mans flesh with the holy oile of the Sanctuary 35. He that observeth not the Passeover 36. or that observeth not the Law of circumcision For these they are guilty to be cut off if they transgresse presumptuously if ignoraÌ„tly they must bring a sin-offring c. Thalmad Bab. in Châ—â— it huâ—â— chap. 1. All these are expressed in Moses Law and yet hee that gathered these in the Thalmud as Maimony in his Annotations upon the same place observeth reckoneth but the generals and leaveth the particulars For where he saith He that lyeth with a woman and her daughter he implieth also a woman with her sonne so a woman and her sons daughter a woman and her daughters daughter and his mother and his mothers mother and his fathers mother and his daughter and his sons daughter and his daughters daughter And under the name of the Idolserver is implied hee that poureth out a drink-offring or that burneth incense or
feast daies they might doe such worke as pertained to the dressing 〈◊〉 meat and drink Exod. 12. 16. but â—n the Sabbâ—â—â— and day of Atonement they might not doe any such Ex. 16. 23. Lev. 16. 29. See after on v. 7. The Hebrewes say The ceasing from work on the seveâ—e day is commanded Exod. 34. 21. and who so doth 〈◊〉 therein disanulleth a commandement and trans 〈…〉 seth against a prohibition Exod. 20. 10. And if 〈…〉 work willingly presumptuously he is guilty of 〈◊〉 off and if there be witnesses and proofe of it he is to â—â—stoned And if he doe it ignorantly hee is bound to bring the Sin-offring appointed of God Lev. 4. Maiâ—â—â—â— 1. treat of the Sabbath c. 1. s. 1. to Iâ—hovah â—o his honour and service not to any work w 〈…〉 pleasure of our owne Esay 58. 13. Therefore also moe sacrifices were to be offeâ—ed on the Sabbath then on other daies Num. 28. 3. 9. 10. The Chaâ—dee translateth before the Lord. your dwellings the other feasts were especially to bee kept before the Sanctuarie of the Lord whither all the men of Israel were to assemble Ex. 23. 14. 17. Deut. 16. 〈◊〉 6. 16. but the Sabbaths were to be sanctified in all places where they dwelt in the Synagogue 〈…〉 in every citie Act. 15. 21. V. 4. convocations of holinesse the Gr. translateth Feasts to the Lord called holy that is holy by calling orproclamation Hereupon the Hebr. say As we are commanded in honour the Sabbath and delight 〈◊〉 so all good dayes that is festivities as it is 〈◊〉 in Esay 58. 13. THE HOLIE day OF THE LORD HONOVRABLE and of all good d 〈…〉 is said a CONVOCATION OF HOLINES Maimony tom 1. in Iem toâ— ch 6. sect 16. V. 5. first moneth called Abib and Nisan which was made the first upon their comming out of Egypt see Exod. 12 2. and 13. 3. 4. So in Taâ—gâ—m lonathan it is here said In the moneth of N 〈…〉 〈◊〉 the 14. day c. the two evenings that is in the afternoone as is opened on Exod. 72. 6. So all the forenoone of the fourteenth day of Abib the day wherein they killed the Paschal lambes was 〈…〉 full to worke in at noone they left off and begâ—â— their rest The Hebrew canons say It is 〈…〉 full to doe worke on the evenings of the festivall days from the time of the evening sacrifice and 〈◊〉 even as on the evenings of the Sabbaths And 〈◊〉 so doth worke in them shall never see a signe of 〈◊〉 sing And he is to be reâ—â—ked â—nd mâ—â—e to 〈◊〉 by force though he is not for it to bee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 excommunicated except in the evening 〈…〉 over after mid-day for who so dâ—th work 〈…〉 ter mid-day is to bee scoâ—rged or excomm 〈…〉 â—ith the Niâ—dâ—i if he be not scourged For the fourteenth day of Nisan or Aâ—iâ— is not like the other e 〈…〉 of festivall dayes because in it are the feast and the killing of the sacrifice In the 14 of Nisan it is 〈◊〉 unlawfull to doe worke save after the midst of the day and forward for that is the time of killing the sacrifice Mâ—imâ—ny in Iom tob chap. 8. sect 17. 18. the Passeover Targum Ionathan explaineth it the time of killing the Passeover to the name of the Lord. The Passeover was a yeerely feast in remembrance of their deliverance out of Egypt when God passed over the houses of Israel and killed not their first borne see Exod. 12. It figured our redemption by Christ who is our Passeover or Paschal lambe sacrificed for us in remembrance wherof we are commanded also spiritually to keepe the feast with the unlevened-cakes of sincerity and truth 1 Cor. 5. 7. 8. Vers. 6. of unlevened-cakes a feast adjoyned to the Passeover Exod. 12. 15. and 13. 6. the rites hereof are opened there the sacrifices peculiar to this feast are set downe in Num. 28. 19. 25. The signification was to teach us holinesse of life from the time of our redemption unto the end of our dayes which seven dayes mystically figured as is shewed on Exod. 12. 15. Chazkuni on Levit. 23. saith The evening of the first good day and that might is called the Passeover according as they imploy themselves about the oblation which is called the Passeover But the residue of the feast from the first night and forwâ—rd is called the feast of unlevened cakes Verse 7. servile worke Hebr. worke of service or of seâ—vilenesse or laborious as ploughing sowing weaving or any the like but worke about meat or drinke which they should use the same day might be done Exod. 12. 16. And the like law was for all other festivall dayes vers 8. 21. 25. 35. 36. save on atonement day verse 28. then no worke might be done So besides the Sabbath which was every seventh day there were seven holy dayes in the yeere in sixe whereof they might doe no servile worke and in the seventh no worke at all Those sixe were the first and the seventh of the feast of unlevened cakes the day of Pentecost or of first fruits verse 17. 21. the first day of the seventh moneth which was the feast of Blowing trumpets verse 24. 25. and the first and eight day of the feast of Boothes verse 35. 36. The seventh was Atonement or expiation day wherein they might doe no worke at all verse 28. Ofthese the Hebrewes give these rules The sixe dayes wherein the Scripture forbiddeth worke which are the first and seventh of the Passâ—over the first and eight of the feast of Boâ—thes the day of the feast of Weekes or Pentecost and the first day of the seventh moneth are called good dayes and the kesting is alike in them all for it is unlawfull to doe 〈◊〉 servile worke in them save the worke which is needfull about food Exod. 12. 16. Who so resteth from servile worke in them observeth a commandement and who so doth in any of them worke which is not necessary for food as if he build up or pull downe or weave or the like he breaketh a commandement and transgresseth against this prohibition YE SHALL NOT DOE Aâ—â— SERVILE WORKE and if he doe and there be witnesses and evident proofe hee is by the law to be beaten But for working on the Sabbath hee is to be stoned to death Num. 15. 32. 35. All worke needfull about meat is lawfull as killing of beasts and baking of bread and kneading of dough and the like But such workes as may be done in the evening of a feast day they doe not on the feast day as they may not reape nor thresh nor winow nor grinde the corne or the like For all these and such like may be done on the evening of the feast and there is thereby no corruption or minishing of the tast But they knead and bake and kill and boile or rost on the feast day because if they doe these on the evening there is thereby corruption or
law extendeth to all even the mean est Hee that hurteth his owne Hebrew servant is bound to pay all five things before mentioned save for his resting He that hurteth his neighbours Canaanitish or heathenish servant payeth to his master all the five things He that hurts his neighbours Hebrew servant is bound to pay all five c. He that burieth another mans wife payeth for her resting and for her healing to her husband and for the paine to her selfe and for the shame and for the dammage if it be to be seene as if it be on her face necke or hand a third part is payd to her selfe and two thirds to her husband if the dammage bee on a secret place a third part is payd to the husband and two thirds to the wife If an husband hurt his owne wife he is bound to pay unto her out of hand all the dammage and all the shame and the paine and all is hers her husband hath no fruit thereof And if she will she may give the price to another And her husband is to heale her as all sicke persons are wont to be healed It is unlawfull for a man to hurt either himselfe or his neighbour and not he that hurteth-only but whosoever smiteth a righteous man of Israel either small or great man or woman by way of strife bear â—â—sgresseth against a prohibition for it is said in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 3. he shall not adde or exceed to smite him if the law forbiddeth to adde in smiting of a sinner much more it forbiddeth to smite a just man Though he doe but lift up his hand against his neighbor it is unlawfull and whosoever lifteth up his hand against his neighbour though he 〈…〉 ite him not he is a wicked man Maimony in Chobel c chap. 4. sect 10. c. and chap. 〈◊〉 1. 2. Vers. 21. that smiteth the Chaldee translateth that killeth a beast but it extendeth further even to the-hurting or mayming of his neighbours beast and consequently any other of his goods according to the Law Exod. 22. 5. 6. So the Hebrewes expound this law saying Hee that doth d 〈◊〉 age to his neighbours goods is bound to recompence the whole dammage whether hee doe it of ignorance or against his will iâ— is as if he did it presumptuously as if he fall from the top of an house or stumble 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and falleth on a vessell and breaketh it he 〈◊〉 〈…〉 d to pay the whole dammage as it is written AND HEE THAT SMITETH A BEAST 〈…〉 LL RECOMPENCE or PAY FOR IT the 〈◊〉 〈…〉 e putteth no difference whether hee doe it 〈◊〉 〈…〉 y or presumptuously And whether he kill his neighbours beast or break his vessels or rent his clothes or cut downe his plants there is one law for all But this is to be understood if it be within the power or liberties of him that suffreth the dammage for if it be within the liberties of him that doth the dammage he is not bound to recompence unlesse he doe the dammage presumptuously but if he doe it of ignorance or being forced he is discharged Likewise if they be both of them within their liberties or both of them out of their liberties and the one dâ—th dammage against his will to his neighbours goods he is discharged Hee that th 〈…〉 steth his neighbours beast into the water or it is fallen in and hee will not suffer it to come up out of the water till it dye there he is bound to recompence it and so in all like cases Who-soever is the cause of doing dammage to his neighbours goods hee is bound to recompence the whole dammage with the best of his substance as others that doe dammages Although he doth not this dammage himselfe at last forasmuch as he was the cause thereof at first he is bound to pay Maimony in Chobel c. ch 6. sect 1. 2. 3. 12. and ch 7 sect 7. smiteth a man that is killeth him as vers 17. so the Chaldee translateth it killeth and the Greeke addeth hee that smiteth a man and he dye shal be put to death Vers. 22. One judgement that is one manner of law and punishment shall ye have or shall be to you as well the stranger or as the stranger the proselyte so shall the homeborne be Vers. 23. and stoned him the Greeke addeth and all the congregation stoned him as vers 14. Of the manner of stoning which they used afterward in Israel it is recorded in Thalmud Bab. in Sanhedrin ch 6. and by Maimony in Sanhedrin chap. 15. that when they came within foure cubits of the place of execution they st 〈…〉 t him that was to be stoned out of his clothes and covered his naked-shame before him and a woman was not stoned naked but in one linnen garment The place of stoning was high w 〈…〉 er he and the witnesses went up and his hands were tyed and one of the witnesses stroke him behinde on the loynes if he dyed not with that blow there was a great stone so much as two men could beare which the witnesses cast upâ— his 〈…〉 art if with that he dyed not al Israel threw stones upon him as it is written The hand of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death and afterward the hand of all the people De 〈…〉 17. 7. CHAP. XXV 1 God commandeth that every seventh year should be a Sabbath and a yeere of rest to the Land of Canaan 4. in which it might neither be tilled nor reaped 6 and the fruits that grew of their owne accord that yeere were to be common for all 8 The law for the Iubilee in the fiftieth yeere for libertie to the inhabitants of the land returning to their families and possessions and rest unto the land 14. Oppression may not be in selling of Possessions 18 A blessing of obedience 23 The manner of selling and redeeming lands 29 of houses in walled cities 31 and of houses in villages 32 Of the houses and suburbs of the Levites and the redemption of them 35 Compassion of the poore 39 The poore Hebrewes might not be sold for bondmen 43 nor ruled ever with rigour 44 Bondmen were to bee of the heathen 47 The redemption of Hebrew servants out of strangers hands 54 Their freedome at the Iubilee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ANd Iehovah spake unto Moses in mount Sinai saying Speake unto the sonnes of Israel and say unto them When yee come into the land which I give unto you then shall the land rest a sabbath unto Iehovah Six yeers thou shalt sow thy field and six yeeres thou shalt prune thy vineyard and shalt gather the revenue thereof And in the seventh yeere shall bee a Sabbath of sabbatisme unto the land a Sabbath for Iehovah thou shalt not sow thy field nor prune thy vineyard That which groweth-of-it-owne-accord of thy harvest thou shalt not reape and the grapes of thy separation thou shalt not gather it shall be unto the
before Iehovah R. Menachem â—rom former authours speaketh of these phrases here used unto the LORD and before the LORD that it is meant of him and his Iudgment hall wherby iâ— appeareth that the mysterie of the Trinitie in thâ— Godhead was of old beleeved by the Iewes though how they oppugne the same For there was no Court or Iudgement hall in Israel lesse than of three Iudges and being by them here and in other places applied unto God and in case of sacrifice and expiation of sinne which they did hold peculiar unto God alone it sheweth that they once acknowledged a Trinity of persons in the God-head to whom sacrifices for the sinnes of men were offered Verse 26. and the stranger the beleeving gentile as the Greeke translateth and the proselyte that commeth unto you Thus the Lord sheweth himselfe to be the God of the Gentiles also Rom. 3. 29. Vers. 27. if one soule or any soule that is any person the Chaldee expoundeth it one man So in Lev. 4. 27. through ignorance in Greeke unwillingly This also by the Hebrewes as Sol. Iarchi here is expounded of the sinne of idolatrie of her first yeare Hebr. daughter of her yeare in Greeke a yeareling see the notes on Exod. 12. 5. In Levit. 4. 32. he might also bring an ewe-lamb for his sinne which may likewise be understood here But Sol. Iarchi saith For other transgressions a particular man bringeth an ewe-lamb or a she-goat but for this of idolatrie a she-goat is appointed Verse 29. one law shall be to you that is yee shall have one law the Greeke translateth one law shall be among them or for them that doth or that committeth to wit the sinne through ignorance in Greeke whosoever doth unwillingly Thus the Law promiseth grace in Christ in that it appointeth sacrifices and priests that can have compassion on the ignorant and on them that erre Heb. 5. 2. In this faith David prayeth unto God Ignorances or Unadvised errours who doth understand cleanse thou me from secret sins Ps. 19. 13. Vers. 30. the soule in Chaldee the man with an high hand that is boldly proudly and presumptuously as the Greeke translateth with the hand of pride and Targum Ionathan with pr 〈…〉 or presumption This phrase when it is spoken of good workes meaneth boldnesse courage and magnanimitie in heart and cariage as Israel went out of Egypt with an high hand Num. 33. 3. Exod. 14. 8. but here of evill it meaneth pride and presumption shewing it selfe openly and boldly which Onkelos in Chaldee expoundeth with an uncovered head as being not ashamed of the deed for when men were ashamed they used to cover their heads Ier 14. 4. Of like sort is the high arme in Iob 38. 15. where the Greeke also expoundeth it the arme of the proud and the high or lofty eyes Psal. 18. 28. and 131. 1. reproacheth or blasphemeth which the Greeke and Chaldee translate provoketh to anger It meaneth a reproaching with words as in 2 King 19. 6. 22. and is applied here unto deeds as also in Ezek. 20. 27. yet in this your fathers have reproached or blasphemed me in that they have trespassed a trespasse against me So a presumptuous sinner is counted as a blasphemer of God and hath no sacrifice for his sin but is to be cut off And this word Christ hath respect unto in Luke 12. 10. unto him that blasphemeth against the holy Ghost it shall not bee forgiven that soule in Chaldee that man cut 〈◊〉 in Greeke and Chaldee destroyed which phrase the Apostle useth in Act. 3. 23. shal be destroyed from among the people That word meaneth destruction by the hand of God as in 1 Cor. 10. 10. Heb. 11. 28. So the Hebrew Doctors understand the cutting off mentioned in the Law of Moses which sometime is so explained as in Lev. 17. 10. God saith I will cut him off from among his people But if there were witnesses of the fact the Magistrates punished them either by death or beating see the notes on Deut. 25. 2. Vers. 31. despised the word or contemned 〈◊〉 it at nought as vile dishonoured it Hereupon is that proverbe He that despiseth the word shall be destroyed but he that feareth the commandement shall be rewarded Prov. 13. 13. broken or disanulled frustrated made void it is opposed unto stablishing or confirming This word Christ useth in Mark 7. 9. Full well yee frustrate the commandement of God Vsually it is applied to the breaking of the covenant of God as in Ger. 17. 14. Levit. 15. 44. and often in the Prophets sometime of the Law and commandements Psal. 119. 126. Ezr. 9. 14. Heb. 10. 28. shall utterly be cut off or shall be cut off with cutting off the doubling of the word is for more certainty and speed and as the Hebrew Doctors gather from it in this world and in the world to come See the annotations on Gen. 17. 14. So R. Menachem here saith Although we finde Apostates from God to live more than 50. yeares and that they are not cut off from the 〈◊〉 of this world yet know that their deserts hang upâ—â— them in this world and vengeance shall be taken 〈◊〉 them abundantly in the world to come 〈◊〉 quitie or the iniquitie of it of the soule that is of the person shall be upon it or in it or with 〈◊〉 By iniquitie understanding punishment for iniquitie as in Gen. 19. 15. and as Sinne is for the punishment of sin Lev. 22. 9. Or we may take iniquitie properly as Sol. Iarchi expoundeth it when iniquitie is in him that he repenteth not R. MenacheÌ„ here alleageth an exposition of the ancients that soule shall be cut off and the iniquitie thereof with it as if he should say the iniquity shall cleave unto it after it is cut off to be punished for ever according to that in Esai 66. 24. Their worme shall not die which Ionathan the Chaldee paraphrast expoundeth Their soule shall not die And our Doctors have said It shall be cut off in this world it shal be cut off from the world to come So the Chaldee on Moses which goeth under the name of Ionathan paraphraseth that man shall be destroyed in the world that is to come and shall give account of his sinne at the great day of judgement Verse 32. were in the wildernesse For so saith Chazkuni it was decreed concerning them that they should not come into the land of Canaan In the former commandements of the drinke-offerings and Cake it was written When ye be come into the land c. to teach that they were not to practise them save in the land but the Sabbath was to be kept both within the land and without though it were in the wildernesse and therefore it is written concerning it IN THE WILDERNESSE Verse 34. in ward that is in prison So they dealt with the blasphemer in Lev. 24. 12. it was not declared in Greeke they had not judged or determined Wherefore was it
that every one that smiteth a soule by errour may flee thither And if he smite him with an instrument of iron and he die he is a man-slayer the man-slayer shall be surely put to death And if he smite him with a stone of the hand wherewith he may die and he die he is a man-slayer the man-slayer shal be surely put to death Or if hee smite him with an instrument of wood of the hand wherwith he may die and he die he is a man-slayer the man-slayer shall be surely put to death The aveÌ„ger of the bloud he shal put to death the man-slayer when he meeteth him he shal put him to death And if he thrust him of hatred or have cast upon him by laying of wait and he die Or in enmity smite him with his hand and he die the smiter shall be surely put to death he is a man-slayer the avenger of the bloud shall put to death the man-slayer when he meeteth him But if he thrust him suddenly without enmity or have cast upon him any instrument without laying of wait Or with any stone wherewith he may die without seeing him and hee hath caused it to fall upon him and he die and he was not his enemie nor a seeker of his evill Then the Congregation shall judge betweene the smiter and the avenger of the bloud according to these judgements And the Congregation shall deliver the man-slayer out of the hand of the avenger of the bloud and the Congregation shall restore him unto the citie of his refuge whither hee was fled and hee shall abide in it untill the death of the great Priest which was anointed with the oyle of holinesse And if the man-slayer going shall goe forth out of the border of the citie of his refuge whither hee was fled And the avenger of the bloud finde him without the border of the citie of his refuge and the avenger of the bloud shall slay the man-slayer no bloud shal be unto him Because he should have abidden in the citie of his refuge untill the death of the great Priest and after the death of the great Priest the man-slayer shall returne into the land of his possession And these things shall be unto you for a statute of judgement through-out your generations in all your dwellings Every one that smiteth a soule by the mouth of witnesses the man-slayer shall be slaine but one witnesse shall not answer against a soule to die And ye shall take no ransome for the soule of the man-slayer which is guilty of death but he shall be surely put to death Neither shall yee take ransome for him that is fled unto the citie of his refuge to returne to dwel in the land until the death of the Priest And ye shall not pollute the land wherein yee are for bloud it polluteth the land and for the land there shal be no expiation for the bloud that is shed therein but by the bloud of him that shed it And thou shalt not defile the land which ye inhabit in within which I doe dwell for I Iehovah dwel among the sonnes of Israel Annotations THat they give or and let them give unto the Levites The Lord having given order in Chap. 34. for dividing the land unto Israel commandeth here a portion to bee given out of all their possessions unto him which he bestoweth on his Ministers the Levites for a part of their livelihood The equitie of which law both for honouring the Lord with our substance Prov. 3. 9. and for maintaining his Ministers Gal. 6. 6. is perpetuall Therefore speaking of the Church under the Gospell according to these legall figures hee saith When yee shall divide by lot the land for inheritance yee shall offer an oblation unto the LORD an holy portion of the land c. The holy portion of the land shal be for the Priests the Ministers of the Sanctuary which shall come neere to minister unto the LORD c. Ezek. 45. 1 4 5. and 48. 9 10 13. suburbs to the cities or as the Greeke translateth the suburbs of the cities which suburbs are called in Hebrew Migrash that is a place cast out as lying without the walls of the citie in Chaldee Râ—vâ—ch that is a Space in Greeke Proásteia as lying before the citie and in vers 3. Aphorismata as being separated from the citie and in vers 5. homora confines or limits Vers. 3. their goods or their substance their gathered goods see the notes on Gen. 12. 5. it is a generall word and sometime implieth cattell also as 2 Chron. 31. 3. and 32. 29. and 35. 7. beasts in Hebrew Chajah which is a generall name for living things but here translated in Greeke foure-footed beasts And from hence the Hebrews gather that they gave the Levites a place of buriall to every citie without these bounds or suburbs for they buried not their dead in the suburbs of their cities because it is said AND FOR ALL THEIR LIVING THINGS they gave it for the living and not for buriall Maimony Treat of Release and Iubilee chap. 13. sect 3. That they used in Israel to bury their dead without the cities appeareth by Luke 7. 11 12. Vers. 4. a thousand cubits The Greeke saith two thousand cubits as it is in the verse following where the Lord speaketh of two thousand cubits so the thousand cubits here mentioned some thinke to be meant of holy measure double so much as the common measure and that the latter doe expound the former The Hebrewes explaine it thus The suburbs of the cities are expressed in the Law to be three thousand cubits on every side from the wall of the citie and outward Num. 35. 4 5. The first thousand are the suburbs and the two thousand which they measured without the suburbs were for fields and vineyards Maim Treat of the Release and Iubilee chap. 13. sect 2. Vers. 5. without the citie by the citie the Hebrewes understand here the citie with the suburbs that is the thousand cubits forementioned which were for their cattell and these two thousand moe for fields and vineyards as is before noted East side or East quarter in Chaldee East winde See the notes on Numb 34. 3. Sea side that is the West side as the Chaldee saith the West winde Moses useth to call the West the Sea as is noted on Gen. 12. 8. So in Numb 34. 6. Vers. 6. of refuge that citie is called in Hebrew Miklat of gathering because the man-slayer was there gathered and detained in Greeke Phugadâ—nterion a place of flight and exile in Chaldee Shezabuth of deliverance and preservation The six cities appointed for refuge were these Bezer of the Reubenites country Ramoth in Gilead of the Gadites and Golan in Basan of the Manassites these three Moses separated Deut. 4. 41 43. the other three appointed by Ioshua were Kedesh in Galilee in mount Naphtali Shechem in mount Ephraim and Kirjath-arba which is Hebron in the mount of Iudah Ios. 20. 7. the
of the avenger of bloud Deut. 19. 12. Wherefore the Chaldee in stead of meeteth him saith When he shall be condemned unto him by judgement So in vers 21. Vers. 20. of hatred which is inveterate anger and inward grudge differing from enmitie or open hostility spoken of in v. 21. He that hateth dissembleth with his lips and layeth up deceit within him Prov. 26. 24. The Hebrewes say He that hateth if he kill by errour or unadvisedly he is not kept in the citie of refuge as it is said And he was not his enemy Numb 35. 23. c. And who is he that hateth hee that for enmities sake speaketh not unto him for three dayes space Maim Treat of Murder chap. 6. sect 10. cast upon him to wit any instrument as is expressed in vers 22. and so the Greeke explaineth it here by laying of wait with intent and purpose of evill when occasion is offered so Saul laid wait or hunted for Davids soule 1 Sam. 24. 11. the Iewes for Christ Luke 11. 54. and for Pauls life Act. 23. 21. Vers. 21. enmity or hostility ill will open and professed Vers. 22. suddenly or unawares and as it were by chance Vers. 23. with any stone that is have smitten him with any stone as in vers 17. wherewith he may die in Chaldee which is sufficient that he may die therewith See the notes on vers 18. Vers. 25. of the great Priest a figure of Christ called the great Priest over the house of God Hebr. 10. 21. and the great High-Priest that is passed into the heavens Hebr. 4. 14. who is the Mediator of the new Testament that by meanes of death for the redemption of the transgressions under the first Testament they which are called might receive the promise of the eternall inheritance Heb. 9. 15. As the high Priests whiles they lived by their service and sacrificing made atonement for the sinnes of the people especially one day in the yeare Levit. 16. wherein they figured the worke of Christ for us so at the high Priests death by releasing such as were exiled for unwitting murder there was a shadow of redemption in Israel Vers. 26. going shall goe forth that is shall at any time upon any occasion goe forth So he was not only exiled from his owne citie but confined as a prisoner within the limits of the citie of refuge The Hebrewes say Hee might never goe out of the citie of his refuge no not though it were for a thing commanded as to worship at the solemne feasts or the like or for to beare witnesse whether it were in money matters or to testifie in case of life and death c. Maim Treat of Murder chap. 7. sect 8. Vers. 27. without the border so not the citie onely but the borders and limits of the territories thereof were his refuge Every citie of refuge the borders thereof are a refuge as well as it c. and if the avenger of bloud kill him there he is to be killed for him Notwithstanding though the border be a refuge yet the man-slayer may not dwell in it for it is said in vers 25. AND HE SHALL ABIDE IN IT in it the citie and not in the border of it Maim ibid. chap. 8. sect 11. no bloud shall be unto him that is the avenger shall have no bloud imputed to him or as the Greeke translateth it hee shall not bee guiltie to wit of bloud-shed Vers. 28. into the land of his possession into his owne citie or village that part of the land which he possessed It is holden by the Hebrewes that although by the high Priests death atonement was made for him yet he never returned to the princely state or dignitie that hee had in the citie but was debased from his greatnesse all dis dayes because that great scandall came by his hand Maimon ibid. chap. 7. sect 14. Moreover they say A man-sâ—ayer upon whom sentence is past that he shall be exiâ—ed if he die before he go into exile they carry his bones thither And a man-slayer that dieth in the citie of his refuge they bury him there and when the high Priest dieth they carry the man-slayers bones from thence unto the sepulchres of his fathers Ibid. sect 3. Vers. 30. Every one that smiteth a soule that is who so killeth a person to wit him that is a murderer by the mouth that is by the testimony of witnesses which after is explained of two witnesses or three witnesses Deut. 17. 6. and 19. 15. See the Annotations there not answer that is not testifie as the Greeke and Chaldee translate it meaning to have the sentence of death confirmed against him See Deut. 19. 15. to die that is to cause him to die or that he should die See the notes on Gen. 6. 19. Vers. 31. the soule of the man-slayer that is the life of the murderer to redeeme him from death The Iudges are warned that they take no ransome of the murderer and though he could give all the wealâ—h that is in the world and though the avenger of bloud should be willing to free him for the soule of him that is killed is not the possession of the avenger of bloud but the possession of the holy blessed God Maimon Treat of Murder ch 1. sect 4. guiltie of death Hebr. which is wicked to die that is as the Greeke and Chaldee explaine it guilty or condemned to die According to this phrase David saith When he shall be judged let him goe forth wicked that is condemned Psal. 109. 7. Vers. 32. for him that is fled Hebr. to flee which is explained by Iarchi and others for him that is fled in the land in the land of his possession as in vers 28. Vers. 33. polluteth or impiously staineth foulely deformeth the land This word which Moses here useth of murder and the Prophets after apply unto spirituall whoredome or idolatrie Ierem. 3. 2 9. and â—dolatrous bloud-shed Psal. 106. 38. sheweth the hainousnesse of this sinne that defileth not only him that doth it but the whole land if it be not avenged Hereupon the Hebrewes say Thou hast not any thing concerning which the Law giveth such a charge as for shedding of bloud as it is said in Numb 35. 33. And ye shall not pollute the land c. Maimony Treat of Murder chap. 1. sect 4. the bloud of him that shed it if it were wilfull murder or by the death of the high Priest if it were unwilling man-slaughter Hereupon it is said A man that doth violence to the bloud of any person shall flie to the pit let no man stay him Prov. 28. 17. Vers. 34. I doe dwell the land of Israel was the LORDS land Hos. 9. 3. and by his dwelling there among his people was sanctified and called the holy land Zach. 2. 12. and though he dwelt most specially in his Sanctuary there which afterward was in Ierusalem Psal. 74. 2. and 1 35. 21. yet the whole land was sanctified by
unto men Num. 12. 6. Ier. 23. 25. 28. By a Prophet he seemeth to denote the principall sort such as saw visions by a dreamer the inferiour sort that saw things more obscurely he give either by word and promise or by action or gesture as 1 King 13. 3. and 22. 11. Mat. 12. 39 40. wonder any miraculous or supernaturall thing as Iannes and Iambres in appearance turned water into bloud Exod. 7. 22. Vers. 2. or the wonder Hebr. and the wonder these are said to come when they are effected or fulfilled so Ier. 28. 9. Deut. 18. 22. saying that is and he say as saying in 1 Chron. 13. 12. is expounded and said in 2 Sam. 6. 9. so in 2 King 22. 9. compared with 2 Chron. 34. 16. after other gods the Greeke explaineth it and serve other gods which the Chaldee calleth idols of the peoples Thus the religion given of God by the hand of Moses was established against all opposition that after might arise upon what pretence soever And so the saith taught by Christ and his Apostles was confirmed against the future signes and lying wonders of Antichrist 2 Thess. 2. 9. 10. The Hebrews say If there stand up a prophet and hee doth great signes and wonders and seeketh to denie or make false the prophesie of Moses wee may not hearken unto him but wee know certainly that those signes are by enchantment and sorcery For the prophesie of Moses was not by signes c. but with out eies we saw and with our eares we heard as he did heare c. Therefore the Law saith If the signe or wonder come to passe thou shalt not hearken to the words of that Prophet Deut. 13. for loe hee commeth unto thee with signe and wonder to make that false which thou hast seene with thine eies And for as much as we beleeve not in a wonder but because of the commandement which Moses commanded us how should wee receive this signe which commeth to make the prophesie of Moses false which we saw and heard Maimony tom in Iesude hatorah chap. 8. sect 3. See also the annotations on Exod. 19. 9. Vers. 3. that dreamer or the dreamer of that dreame and so the Greeke translateth it God tempteth or proveth See the notes on Gen. 22. 1. But there God himselfe immediately tempted Abraham here mediatly and that by evill meanes which he of his grace and wisdome ordereth and disposeth for good to his people as also the Apostle saith There must be also heresies among you that they which are approved may bee made manifest among you 1 Cor. 11. 19. Vers. 4. After Iehovah the Chaldee saith after the feare of the Lord your God Here the Lord and his commandements are opposed to all other so that after Iehovah meaneth after him onely as our Saviour expoundeth a like speech Mat. 4. 10. from Deut. 6. Vers. 5. spoken revolt or apostasie that is spoken words to cause thee to revolt or turne away as the Greeke translateth to make thee to erre from the Lord. This judgment of the false Prophet as all other weighty matters none but the high councell of 71 Elders might judge of as the Hebrewes say Talmud Bab. in Sanhedrin c. 1. and Maimony in Sanhedrin c. 5. See the annotations on Num. 11. 30. the evill both person and worke as the Chaldee translateth the evill doer the Greeke the evill thing but in Deut. 17. 7. the Greeke translateth the evill one which Paul approveth using the same words in 1 Cor. 5. 13. Vers. 6. thy brother by nature or in the same faith and Church but the Greeke addeth thy brother on thy fathers side or on thy mothers son of thy mother such are dearest brethren as the example of Ioseph and Benjamin sheweth Gen. 43. 34. and 45. 12 14. daughter Love and affection descendeth from parents to children as it were by inheritance and the daughter for in firmity of sex is most spared and pittied but may not so bee in this case of thy bosome the Greeke saith which is in thy bosome as thine owne soule most deâ—rely loved put therefore in the last place for a friend sticketh closer than a brother Prov. 18. 24. And as man and wife are one flesh Matt. 19. 6. so friends here are as one soule intice with motions reasons exhortations the Greeke translateth exhort the Chaldee counsell The Hebrewes write Hee that entiseth any one of Israel whether man or woman he is to be stoned although neither the 〈◊〉 nor the intised hath worshipped the idoll yet he dâ—â—th for teaching to worship it Whether the intiser bee private man or Prophet bee the intised one singular person man or woman or a few persons they are to die by stoning Hee that intiseth the multitude of a citie he is a thruster away and is not called an intiser Maimony treat of Idolatry chap. 5. sect 1 2. See after in vers 13. other gods in Chaldee Idols of the peoples so in vers 7. Vers. 7. unto the other end that is all the world over Hereby God condemneth all the feigned religions thorowout the earth as being gone astray from him and having made himselfe and his word knowne unto Israel would have them therein to rest their faith without declining to novelties Wee know that we are of God and the whole world lieth in wickednesse 1 Ioh. 5. 19. Vers. 8. not consent or not affect have any liking or will unto him From which word the Hebrews gather that it is unlawfull for the intised to love the intiser Maimony treat of Idolatry chap. 5. sect 4. If he were drawne away by him so that hee said Goe we and let us serve them although they had not as yet served both of them were to be stoned the intiser and the intised Ibidem sect 5. eye spare to wit from vengeance See this phrase in Gen. 45. 20. Deut. 7. 16. pitie or use gentlenesse and indulgence as Gen. 19. 16. conceale him but bewray and use all meanes to bring him to his punishment Therefore the Hebrews thinke that the intised person was to take witnesses to see if he would intise before them if hee would not then they say it is commanded to lay privy wait for him and they lay wait for none that are guilty of death by the Law but for this man And thus they doe it The intised bringeth two men and sets them in a darke place so that they may see the intiser and heare his words but he may not see them Then he saith to the intiser Say what is it that you said c. When he hath spoken the intised answereth How shall wee leave our God which is in heaven and goe and serve stockes and stones If he convert hereby or hold his peace hee is free But if hee say unto him thus are we bound to doe and thus it be seemeth us then they that stood there aloofe bring him to the judgment Hall and they stone him Maimony treat of Idolatry chap. 5.
sect 3. Vers. 9. shalt kill him by shewing the thing to the Magistrate who hath power to kill him therfore the Greeke translateth Shewing thou shalt shew concerning him thine hand this is spoken to the accuser or first witnesse who must cast the first stone at him Deut. 17. 7. Of the manner of stoning used in Israel see the notes on Levit. 24. 23. Vers. 10. to thrust thee away from Iehovah in Chaldee to make thee to erre from the feare of the Lord that is to goe astray from his true worship â—â—d service as feare in Esay 29. 13. is expounded worship in Matt. 15. 9. of servants in Greeke and Chaldee of servitude or bondage Vers. 11. shall doe no more Hebr. shall not adde to doe as this evill word that is any such evill thing as this is For punishment of transgressours is a meane to restraine others from wickednesse and to make them wise Prov. 21. 11. On the contrary Because sentence against an evill worke is not executed speedily therefore the heart of the sonnes of men is fully set in them to doe evill Eccles. 8. 11. See the like in Deut. 17. 13. The Hebrewes gather from the words All Israel shall heare c. that a cryer was to proclaime before him unto all the cause of his death and they note foure sorts of evill doers before whom such proclamation was made The rebellious Elder Deut. 17. 13. the presumptuous false witnesse Deut. 19. 19 20. the intiser to Idolatry here spoken of and the stubborne rebellious sonne Deut. 21. 18 21. Maimony tom 4. treat of Rebels c. 3. s. 8. Vers. 12. If thou shalt heare say in one or When thou shalt heare of one that is of any one of thy cities This is one of the most severe lawes wherein God sheweth his jealousie and indignation against idolaters to the utter rooting out not onely of their persons but or their posterity goods and citie it selfe for ever of thy cities of the cities of Israel which were Gods people against whom onely this law is given if they should bee drawne to idolatry and not against those that were without So of spirituall judgment it is said Doe not yee judge them that are within But them that are without God judgeth 1 Cor. 5. 12 13. Vers. 13. sonnes of Belial that is wicked or mischievous persons which the Chaldee interpreteth sonnes of wickednesse Belial in Hebrew Beliijagnal is by interpretation without profit or without yoake that is lawlesse rebellious and wicked and this name is given unto Satan or Antichrist opposed unto Christ in 2 Cor. 6. 15. and to bee sonnes of Belial is to be addicted or given over unto wickednesse as in 1 Sam. 2. 12. Iudg. 19. 22. 1. King 21. 10. The like is of a daughter of Belial 1 Sam. 1. 16. and man of Belial 1 Sam. 25. 25. and sometime the wicked are simply called Belial as in 2 Sam. 23. 6. Nahum 1. 15. and as it is here applyed to persons so is it also to wicked things words or thoughts as in Deut. 15. 9. out from the middest of thee or from among you speaking to Israel from whom such wicked persons might in all ages goe forth as they did also from the Christian Churches as it is said They went out from us but they were not of us 1 Ioh. 2. 19. And this their going out argueth likewise their stubborne and presumptuous carriage in their evill which they did not in secret but as proclaiming warre against the Lord. have thrust away or have driven have withdrawne to wit out of the way as was expressed in vers 5. the Chaldee expoundeth it have caused to erre or goe astray and it noteth the force and efficacie or such seducers as Ieroboam is said to have driven Israel from following the Lord 2 King 17. 21. See before on Deut. 4. 19. the inhâ—bâ—tants This is spoken generally and indefinitely if all the inhabitants were seduced there is no doubt but the judgment following was to be executed the Hebrews also thinke if the greater part of the citie were drawn away they all that were seduced were to dye and the citie to bee destroyed but if the lesser part onely were withdrawne then they were killed but the citie it selfe was to be let stand as is further shewed in the annotations following other gods in Chaldee the idols of the peoples so here were two evills the forsaking of the true God whom they had knowne and the following of other gods whom they had not knowne Of these the Lord saith by his Prophet Bee astonished O yee heavens at this and be horribly afraid he yee very desolate saith the LORD for my people have committed two evills they have forsaken me the fountaine of living waters they have hewed them out cesternes broken cesternes that can hold no water Ier. 2. 12 13. Vers. 14. Then shalt thou enquire hee speaketh to Israel and therein chiefly to the Rulers whom it most concerned to try out this case and by these three enquire search aske that well or diligently he teacheth them what care should be had for finding out the truth that this severe judgment came not upon any without their due demerit The Hebrewes say They judge not a citie thrust away but in the judgment hall of 71 Magistrates it is said in Deut. 17. 5. Thou shalt bring forth that man or that woman unto thy gates and shalt stone them c. Particular persons are killed by the Iudges that are in every citie but the multitude are not killed save by the great Synedrion The great Court doe send and enquire and search till they know evidently that all the citie or the most of it is thrust away and turned to idolatry Afterward they send two learned men to admonish and to convert them If they convert and shew repentance it is well but if they persist in their folly the Synedrion doe command all Israel to goe up against them to warre and they doe besiege them and wage warre against them untill the citie be broken up When it is broken up forthwith they set for them many courts of judgment and doe judge them whosoever hath two witnesses come against him that hee served an Idoll after they have dispatched him they put him apart If all the Idolaters be found the lesser number they stone them to death and the rest of the citie is delivered If they be found the greater number they carry them up to the high Court and give sentence there against them Maim treat of Idolat c. 4. s. 3. 6. Vers. 15. smite the inhabitants the Greeke saith kill all the inhabitants with the slaughter of the sword which is to bee understood if they bee all found guilty as they say They kill with the sword all that have served the Idoll and smite every soule men women and children if all the citie bee thrust away If the Idolaters be found the greater number they smite all the little ones and women
acknowledge faces that is be partiall respecting one more than another see Lev. 19. 15. Deut. 1. 17. Prov. 24. 23. take a gift or a bribe this is repeated from Exod. 23. 8. see the Annotations there Vers. 20. Iustice justice that is all manner justice and nothing but justice exactly carefully and continually shalt thou follow the Greeke translateth Iustly that which is just shalt thou follow The doubling of the word is for more vehemency see Deut. 2. 27. and when a word is trebled it is most vehement as in Ezek. 21. 27. Esay 6. 3. Vers. 21. not plant thee or not plant unto thee or for thy selfe see the like phrase in Exod. 20. 4. a grove called in Hebrew Asherah of Felicity or happinesse a blessed grove such the heathens used for the service of their gods as is noted on Exod. 34. 13. but the Lord would not have such neere his altar in his service notwithstanding the Israelites corrupted themselves herewith sundry times as Iudg. 3. 7. and 6. 25. 1 King 14. 23. and 16. 33. 2 King 21. 3. 7. and there were prophets of the groves 1 King 18. 19. For this sin God threatned to root up Israel out of the good land which he gave to their fathers 1 King 14. 15. The Hebrewes say He that planteth a tree neere unto the Altar or in any part of the Court-yard whether it be barren tree or tree that beareth food although he doe it for to adorne the Sanctuary and beautifie it he is to be beaten Deut. 16. 21. Because this was the manner of Idolaters they planted trees by the altars side that the people might assemble there Maimony treat of Idolatrie ch 6. s. 9. Vers. 22. set thee up a pillar or set up for thy selfe a statue or standing image whereof see the annotations on Lev. 26. 1. CHAP. XVII 1 The things sacrificed to the Lord must be unblemished 2 Idolaters are to be stoned to death being convicted by witnesses 8 Hard controversies are to be determined by the Law which the Priests and Iudges shewed which were in the place that the Lord should chuse 12 The contemner of that determination must die 14 The election and dutie of a King THou shalt not sacrifice unto Iehovah thy God Oxe or Lambe wherein is blemish any evill thing for that is an abomination to Iehovah thy God If there be found in the midst of thee in any of thy gates which Iehovah thy God giveth unto thee man or woman that hath done evill in the eyes of Iehovah thy God in transgressing his covenant And hath gone and served other gods and bowed himselfe downe unto them either to the Sunne or to the Moone or to any of the host of the heavens which I have not commanded And it be told thee and thou hast heard of it and hast inquired diligently and behold it be a truth and the thing certaine that this abomination is done in Israel Then thou shalt bring forth that man or that woman which have done this evill thing unto thy gates the man or the woman and shalt stone them with stones and they shall die At the mouth of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall he that is to die be put to death he shall not be put to death at the mouth of one witnesse The hand of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death and afterward the hand of all the people and thou shalt put away the evill from the midst of thee If a matter be too hard for thee in judgment betweene bloud and bloud betweene plea plea and betweene stroke and stroke matters of controversies within thy gates then thou shalt arise and goe up unto the place which Iehovah thy God shall chuse And thou shalt come unto the Priests the Levites and unto the Iudge that shall be in those dayes and thou shalt inquire and they shall shew unto thee the word of judgement And thou shalt doe according to the word which they shall shew unto thee they of that place which Iehovah shall chuse and thou shalt observe to doe according to all that they informe thee According to the Law which they shall teach thee and according to the judgement which they shall say unto thee thou shalt doe thou shalt not decline from the word which they shall shew unto thee to the right hand or to the left And the man that will doe presumptuously not to hearken unto the Priest that standeth to minister there before Iehovah thy God or unto the Iudge even that man shall die and thou shalt put away the evill from Israel And all the people shall heare and feare and not doe presumptuously any more When thou art come into the land which Iehovah thy God giveth unto thee and shalt possesse it and dwell therein shalt say I will set over me a King as all the nations that are round about me Setting thou shalt set over thee a King whom Iehovah thy God shall chuse from among thy brethren shalt thou set over thee a King thou maist not set over thee a man that is a forrainer which is not thy brother But he shall not multiply horses to himselfe nor cause the people to returne to Egypt to the end to multiply horses for Iehovah hath said unto you yee shall not adde to returne this way any more Neither shall hee multiply wives to himselfe that his heart turne not away neither shall he greatly multiply to himselfe silver and gold And it shall be when hee sitteth upon the throne of his kingdome that hee shall write for him-selfe the Copie of this Law in a Booke out of that which is before the Priests the Levites And it shal be with him he shal reade therein all the daies of his life that he may learn to feare Iehovah his God to keepe all the words of this Law and these Statutes to doe them That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren and that hee turne not aside from the commandement to the right hand or to the left to the end that he may prolong his daies in his kingdome hee and his sonnes in the midst of Israel Annotations NOt sacrifice in Greek not offer which is more generall and so the Law also saith in Lev. 22. 20. see the annotations there Oxe or Lambe these are the greatest and the least sacrifices under which two all other are comprehended The Oxe is not to be understood of a gelded beast which wee usually call an Oxe for so it became blemished and unfit for sacrifice but of a Bull as the originall properly signifieth And the Lambe in Hebrew Seâ— implyeth the Kid also as Exod. 12. 3 5. blemish in Hebrew Mum of which the Chaldee Muma and Greeke Momos are derived Whereupon Christ is called the Lambe amomos that is without blemish 1 Pet. 1. 19. It meaneth any superfluity want or deformity in any part as is more largely shewed on Lev. 22. 22. 24. And it
Senate of Iudges which were of the chiefe or heads of the fathers of Israel 2 Chron. 19. 8. as they who here are called Priests are in v. 12. called the Priest and in 1 Chr. 4. 42. many captaines are in the Hebrew called an Head And as among the Priests one was chiefe so among the Iudges one was Prince or Ruler 2 Chro. 19. 11. The Hebrew records say When any doubt arose in any case to any one of Israel he asked of the Iudgement hall or Synedrion that was in his citie if they knew they told it him if not then he that enquired together with the Synedrion or with the messengers thereof went up to Ierusalem enquired of the Synedrion that was in the mountaine of the Temple if they knew they 〈◊〉 him if not then they all came to the Synedrion that was at the dvore of the Court-yard of the Temple if they knew they told it them and if not they all came to the Chamber of hewen stone to the great Synedrion and enquired c. Maim tom 4. treat of Rebells c. 1. s. 4. Of the threâ— Synedrions in Ierusalem see the Annotations on Num. 11. 16. that shall be in those dayes From hence the Hebrewes gather that if the high Synedrion had judged and determined of a matter as 〈◊〉 right in their eyes after them another Synedrom rose up which upon reasons seeming good unto them disanulled the former sentence then it was disanulled and judgement passed according as seemed good unto these latter Thou art not bound say they to walk save after the Synedrion or Iudges that are in thy generation the time wherin thou livest Maim in Rebels c. 2. s. 1. the word of judgement that is the matter or sentence of judgement which was to be according to the Law of God vers 11. as it is said of the Priests And in controversie they shall stand in judgement and they shall judge it according to my judgements Ezek. 44. 24. Whereupon it was also said unto the Iudges Yee shall warne them that they trespasse not against the Lord and so wrath come upon you and upon your brethren 2 Chron. 19. 10. Vers. 10. according to the word or according to the sentence of the word Hebr. the mouth of the word so in v. 11. all that they informe thee or all that they teach thee to wâ—t agreeable to Gods Law as before is shewed from Ezek. 44. 24. And in this sense Christ said to the people of the Scribes and Pharisees sitting in Moses seat All whatsoever they bid you observe that observe and doe Matth. 23. 2 3. which he meaneth not of their owne traditions but of their doctrine according to Moses for when they taught for doctrines the commandements of men hee both reproved them himselfe and willed his Disciples to let them alone as blinde leaders of the blinde Matth. 15. 1 2 14 and charged them to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadduces that is their doctrine Matt. 16. 6 12. Here therefore the Hebrew Doctors have stumbled at the Law whiles from this Scripture they would establish not onely the written Law of God but the Law by word of mouth or by tradition the foundation whereof they make the high Synedrion which was in Ierusalem from whose judgement they held it not lawfull to decline Maimony in Rebels c. 1. Vers. 11. According to the Law or According to the mouth that is the sentence doctrine or commandement of the Law not decline from the word or not turne aside from The commandement to doc the prohibition not to decline joyned together in this Law doe shew the weight thereof the naming of the Law Iudgement Word which the Priests and Iudges should teach sheweth the rule of right judgement to be given of God in his Law Ios. 1. 7. Deut. 5. 32 33. Ezek. 44. 24. from which when the Priests departed the Lord made them contemptible and base before all the people Mal. 2. 7 8 9. Vers. 12. the man that will doe presumptuously or in presumption proudly as the Greeke translateth in pride the Chaldee in wickednesse It is opposed unto ignorance and errour Exod. 21. 13 14. By the man here here to be meant either private person or inferiour Iudge that proudly disobeyed the sentence of the highest Councell but the Hebrewes referre it chiefly to the Rebellious Elder or Iudge and whereas they brought their owne traditions or law by word of mouth within the compasse of the Law to be taught as is noted on vers 10. they except the Sadduces which had beene from their youth trained up in their fathers opinions and never received the traditions of the Pharisees that such were not to dye by this Law for not obeying the doctrine which the high Court taught by tradition as also from this word will doe they teach that the rebellious Elder was not guilty of death for holding in judgment contrary to the decree of the high Synedrion or for teaching others so to hold unlesse hee teach them to do the thing or doe it himselfe Yet though he were free from death the Magistrates might beat him or otherwise punish him Maim in Rebel c. 3. s. 1. c. the Priest that is the Priests as in v. 9. for by their mouth every controversie and every stroke was to bee tried Deut. 21. 5. standeth to minister so in Ezek. 44. 24. in controversie they shall stand in judgment see the notes on Deut. 10. 8. there before Iehovah or there unto Iehovah as in Deut. 21. 5. the Greeke translateth in the name of the Lord. or unto the Iudge that is the Iudges as is noted on v. 9. And by this disjunctive or the Iudges are distinguished from the Priests forementioned shall die the manner of his death the Hebrewes say was strangling and they that put him to death were the chiefe Iudges When witnesses come and testifie that he hath done according to his teaching or that hee hath taught others to doe it they determine his sentence of death in the judgment hall that is in his Citie and take him and carrie him up from thence to Ierusalem And they put him not to death in the Iudgment hall that is in his citie c. but carrie him up to the high Synedrion in Ierusalem and keepe him untill the feast and strangle him at the feast as it is said and all the people shall heare and feare c. Maimony in Rebels o. 3. s. 8. See also the notes on Deut. 13. 11. the evill the evill doer as the Childee explaineth it agreeable also to the Greeke see Deut. 13. 5. Vers. 14. and shalt say that is if thou shalt say I will set over mee a King Thus God who had set Iudges over his people permitteth them also to have a king if they saw it so meet and would and should doe this thing after an holy and orderly manner But when they sought it amisse it displeased the
the Chaldee translateth both Tsitsith and Geddim by the word Cruspedin which is borrowed of the Greeke Craspeda which name the holy Ghost giveth to these Fringes in Matt. 23. 5. where Christ blameth the Pharisees hypocrisie for making their phylacteries broad and craspeda the fringes of their garments large The making of these by the Iewes is shewed on Num. 15. 38. c. Here Moses having repeated the mysteries concerning the Church in vers 9. of the ministerie in vers 10. and of the doctrine in vers 11. addeth to them this law of the fringes which were signes annexed to the word and visible tokens for them to looke upon and remember all the commandements of the Lord and doe them and be holy unto their God Num. 15. 39 40. See more in the Annotations on that place Vers. 13. take a wife that is marrie her for the taking is after the betrothing or espousalls Matt. 1. 18. 20. And before mariage the betrothed persons might not come together as the equitie of this Law following sheweth So by the Hebrewes The spouse is to be restrained from her husband by the doctrine of the Scribes all the while she is in her fathers house and he that lieth with his spouse in his father in lawes house is to bee chastised with stripes Maimony in treat of Wives chap. 10. sect 1. After in the same place he sheweth the manner of mariage among them that it was to be with blessings or thanksgivings unto God in an assembly of ten men at the least and with a dowrâ—e bill which the Scrivener wrote and the bridegroome paid for whereby he endowed his spouse if shee were a virgin with two hundred dinars that is fiftie shekels and if she had beene maried before with 100. dinars that is 25. shekels and this was called the root or principall of the dowrie the dowrie might not be lesse but more so much as he would though it were to a talent of gold After the dowrie bill was confirmed by witnesses the bridegroome went with his spouse into the privie chamber or closet such as is mentioned in Ioel 2. 16. and this was the consummation of the mariage And who so maried a virgin was to rejoyce with her seven dayes as Gen. 29. 27. Iudg. 14. 10. 12. and with a widow three dayes not doing any worke those dayes but eating drinking and reioycing goe in into the chamber Iudg. 15. 1. and by consequence lie with her The Greeke translateth dwell or house together with her which word the Apostle useth 1 Pet. 3. 7. hate her which ought not to be towards any least of all towards his wife whom hee ought to love as his owne bodie for no man ever yet hated his owne flesh Ephes. 5. 28 29. Vers. 14. lay against her or put upon her occasions of speech or of words that is of evill words or pretenses of words that is pretended words or pretended matters So the Greeke translateth pretended words they are such as have a colour and shew of truth to excuse and hide his hatred as long prayers were a pretense for the covetousnesse of the Pharisees Matt. 23. 14. But pretense and truth are opposed in Phil. 1. 18 So here and vers 20. bring forth whether before the parents and friends or unto the Magistrates accusing her before them Some thinke this latter to be meant and as the Hebrewes describe it when he commeth unto the Court and saith I maried this damosell and I found her not to have virginitie and when I inquired into the matter it was made known to me that shee had played the whore under me after I was betrothed to her and these are my witnesses that for played the whore before them And the Iudges shal heare the words of the witnesses and examine their testimony if the thing be found true she is to be stoned Maim tom 2. in Nagnarah bethulah ch 3. sect 6. But by the order of the text the former seemeth as probable to have virginitie Hebr. I found not to her virginities The Greeke thus and comming unto her I found not her virginitie Vers. 15. the father to whom the injurie extended if she were falsly defamed or if shee had played the whore vers 21. and to whom the defense of the daughter did most fitly appertaine of the damosell The word Nagnarah damosell is properly a maid mariageable which of the Hebrewes is reckoned after twelve yeares of age before that age she is called a little one or childe and after also if she have not signes that she is mariageable such as are mentioned in Ezek. 16. 7. After those signes she is called Nagnarah adamosell till six moneths compleat and no longer from that day and forward she is called Bogereth Maimony treat of Wives chap. 2. sect 1. 3. Both these Nagnarah the damosell and Bogereth are subject to the punishment here appointed if they be not found virgins Maimony in Nagn bethâ—â—ah chap. 3. sect 7. the virginitie that is the signes of her virginitie in the cloth vers 17. and witnesses also as the Hebrewes say that they are so the Elders in Greeke the senate that is the Magistrates This was the Senate of 23. Iudges for they were to put her to death if she were guilde v. 21. They judge not this judgement but in the Court of three and twentie because there is in the judgement of him that bringeth forth an evill name the judgment of life death for if the thing be found as he saith then she is killed But he that forcâ—th a maid Deut. 22. 28. and he that intiseth her Exod. 22. 16. they judge of them at all times in the Court of three Maimony in Nagnarah bethulah chap. 3. sect 3. the gate the Chaldee addeth the gate of the judgement hall of the place Vers. 17. occasions or pretenses in Greeke pretended words or matters as vers 14 〈◊〉 this is that is these are the proofes or the signes as vers 15. Hebr. these are the virginities the cloth wherein the signes were to be seene Vers. 18. the man the husband of the damosell that is found to have accused his wife falsly chastise him in the Chaldee beat him which was the next punishment unto death The Hebrewes say If the father bring witnesses which doe disprove the witnesses which the husband brought and it be found that they have witnessed a falshood then they are stoned to death according to the law in Deut. 19. 18 19. and he the husband is beaten amersed in an hundred shekels And of this it is said in v. 17. THESE are MY DAVGHTERS VIRGINITIES these are the witnesses that disprove her husbands witnesses If her husband againe bring other witnesses which doe disprove her fathers witnesses then the damosell and her fathers witnesses are stoned vers 20. 21. Maim in Nagn bethulah chap. 3. sect 6. Vers. 19. amerse or mulct fine him hundred shekels the word shekels is added both in the Greeke and Chaldee versions and
him it is said in Lev. 19. 13. it shall not abide all night with thee untill the morning he that is hired for a night it is due all the day and of him it is said In his day thou shalt give his hire Deut. 24. 15. And he that is hired for houres of the day it is due all the day if for houres of the night it is 〈◊〉 all the night He that is hired for a week or for a moneth or for a yeere or for seven if the terme goe out by day it is due all that day if it goe out by night it is due all that night Maimony ibidem chap. 11. sect 2. lifteth up his soule that is hopeth for and desireth it for the maintenance of his life So the Greeke here translateth hee hath hope and in Ier. 22. 27. and 44. 14. the lifting up of the soule signifieth a desire and the soule is often put for the life Hereupon the Hebrewes say Whosoever with-holdeth the hirelings wage is as if hee tooke away his soule or life from him for it is written unto it hee lifteth up his soule and he transgresseth against foure prohibitions and one commandement against Thou shalt not fraudulently oppresse and against Thou shalt not rob and against The hirelings worke or wage shall not abide all night with thee and against The sunne shall not goe downe upon it and In his day thou shalt give his hire Maimony treat of Hiring ch 11. sect 2. a sinne that is a great iniquity which God will punish for though he cry not yet is it a sinne but the cry of the poore hasteth Gods judgement as on the contrary the blessing of the poore procureth a good reward from the Lord vers 13. According to this phrase it is said The wicked thought of foolishnesse that is of the foole is sinne Prov. 24. 9. that is damnable and to be punished of God So in Iam. 4. 17. Ioh. 15. 22 24. and 9. 41. And in 1 King 1. 21. I and my sonne Solomon shall be sinners that is punished as malefactors Accordingly God threatneth to come neere to them in judgment and to bee a swift witnesse against those that fraudulently oppresse the hireling in his wages Mal. 3. 5. Vers. 16. for the children Hebr. for the sonnes This law concerneth the Magistrates who should not kill the children for the parents or parents for the children no not in case of treason as K. Amaziah slew his servants which had slaine the king his father but the sonnes of them that slew him he put not to death according to this law of Moses 2 Kin. 14. 5 6. 2 Chron. 25. 4. And God himselfe professeth so to deale saying The sonne shall not beare the iniquity that is the punishment of the father neither shall the father beare the iniquity of the sonne c. the wickednesse of the wicked shall bee upon him Ezek. 18. 20. The Chaldee Paraphrast here translateth by the mouth of the sons and so after by the mouth of the fathers meaning that they should not die by their testimony And so the Hebrewes gather from this Law saying Neere kinsfolke are not fit to be witnesses by the Law as it is written The fathers shall not be put to death for the sonnes c. Wee have beene taught that in this generall prohibition is comprised that the fathers be not put to death by the 〈…〉 th of the sonnes nor the sonnes by the mouth of the fathers and the same right is for other neere a kin Maimony tom 4. treat of witnesses c. 13. s. 1. But the first interpretation is most proper and certaine not be put to death so it is also alleaged in 2 Kin. 14. 6. but in 2 Chron. 25. 4. it is they shall not die The one openeth the other and to die is often used for to be put to death as Num. 35. 12. 30. Deut. 17. 1â— and 18. 20. and 22. 22. 25. in his sin and for his sinne for so the Hebrew in often noteth the cause see Deut. 9. 4. Vers. 17. not wrest or not pervent decline or turne a side This is forbidden in all judgment generally Exod. 23. 2. Deut. 16. 19. specially concerning the posre Exod. 23. 6. more specially here concerning the stranger and fatherlesse against such as thus wrest judgment the Lord will come neere to judgment and be a swift witnesse against them Mal. 3. 5. The Hebrewes say Whosoever wresteth the judgment of any one of Israel transgresseth against one prohibition viz. Yee shall not doe unrighteousnesse in judgment Levit. 19. 15. And if it bee of a stranger hee transgresseth against two prohibitions Deut. 24. 17. and if it be of the fatherlesse hee transgresseth against three prohibitions Deut. 24. 17. Maimony in Sanhedrin chap. 20. sect 12. nor of the fatherlesse the word nor or and is supplied also by the Greeke version and so is often to be understood as two three Eunuchs 2 King 9. 32. for two or three so to morrow the third day for or the third day 1 Sam. 20. 12. Like a Crane a Swallow that is or a Swallow Esay 38. 14. and sundry the like The holy Ghost sometime supplieth the defect as is noted on Exod. 22. 30. In the Greeke here is added and of the widow so in Deut. 27. 19. Cursed be hee that wresteth the judgment of the stranger fatherlesse and widow and all the people shall say Amen garment of the widow or any other thing of hers that she hath need of the garment is named but for an instance as in Iob 24. 3. there is mentioned the widows oxâ— The Hebrews have this generall canon A widow whether she bee poore or rich they may take no pawne of her neither at the time when they lend unto her nor at any other time neither by the commandement of the Synedrion Deut. 24. 17. and if any take her pledge they force him to restore it If the pawne be lost or burnt before he restore it he is to be beaten Maimony treat of the Lender and Borrower chap. 3. sect 1. Vers. 19. reapest thine harvest This is an addition to the Law in Lev. 19. 9. there a corner of the field and the gleanings were commanded to be left for the poore and here the forgotten sheafe These three were due to the poore out of every corne-field in Israel And the Hebrewes say this law of the forgotten sheafe extended also to the vineyard and other fruit trees where whatsoever was forgotten might not bee taken againe by the owner see the Annotations on Levit. 19. 10. hast forgot This the Hebrewes understand as spoken both to the owner and to his labourers that it is not a forgotten sheafe till all have forgotten it But so as that â—hey all be in the field for if the owner bee in the citie and speaketh of the sheafe in the field which hee thinketh his workmen will forget and they doe forget it this notwithstanding his remembrance of it
unto thee For hee is an abomination to Iehovah thy God whosoever doth these things whosoever doth unrighteousnesse Remember that which Amalek did unto thee by the way when ye were come forth out of Egypt How hee met thee by the way and smote the hind most of thee all that were feeble behind thee and thou wast faint and weary and hee feared not God Therefore it shall be when Iehovah thy God hath given rest unto thee from all thine enemies round about in the land which Iehovah thy God giveth unto thee for an inheritance to possesse it thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under the heavens thou shalt not forget it Annotations A â—oâ—tâ—oversie a plea or strife in Greeke a contradiction and they or that they the Iudges may judge them And this Law concerneth all Courts the highest of 71 Iudges the Court of twenty three and the Court of three the lowest of which judged inferiour causes and money matters and had authority to beat malefactors but not to put to death justifie that is pronounce just so absolve or acquit in judgment condemne for wicked or pronounce wicked and so tendemne in judgment as the Greeke translateth it condemne This is contrary to the former and so the Apostle opposeth them saying It is God that justifieth who is hee that condemneth Rom. 8. 33. 34. This law is perpetuall the transgression whereof is a great sinne for Hee that justifieth the wicked and he that condemneth the just even they both are an abomination to the LORD Prov. 17. 15. Vers. 2. worthy to be beaten Hebr. a son of beating which the Greeke translateth worthy of stripes and the Chaldee a sonne guilty of or worthy to bee beaten So the sonne or childe of hell Matt. 23. 15. is one worthy of hell fire the son of death in 1 Sam. 20. 31. is one that was worthy of death and therefore should be killed and in the Gospell If the sonne of peace bee there in the house Luk. 10. 6. which another Evangelist explaineth thus If the house be worthy Matt. 10. 13. Now who they were that deserved beating are by the Hebrewes shewed thus Hee that transgresseth against a prohibition whereby the contrary commandement to be done is broken off and they warned him of it and said unto him Doe not this thing for if thou doest it and keepest not that which is commanded concerning it thou shalt be beaten and he transgresseth and keepeth not the commandement loe he is to be beaten Maimony in Sanhedrin chap. 16. sect 4. More particularly Thâ—se are to be beaten whosoever transgresseth against a prohibition for which he deserveth to be cut off but is not to bee put to death by the Synedrion as he that eateth fat or bloud or leven at the Passeover Likewise whosoever transgresseth against a prohibition for which they are guilty of death by the band of God as hee that eateth of fruits before the first-fruits tithes c. be paid and a Priest that is uncleane and eateth of the heave-offering which is cleane Likewise who so transgresseth against a prohibition wherein there is an act or worke as hee that boyleth a Kid in his mothers milke which the Hebrewes understand of eating flesh with milke or that weareth Linsey-woolsey But a prohibition wherein is no act as to walke as a tale-bearer to revenge or beare grudge or receive a false report c. for such he is not beaten nor for any other wherein there is an act some few excepted Every prohibition for which they are to be put to death by the Magistrate as adulterie working on the Sabbath c. they are not beaten therefore So every prohibition for which they are to make satisfaction as robbery theft c. they are not beaten for it And every prohibition whereby the contrary commandement is broken off as Thou shalt not take the dam with the young Deut. 22. 6. Thou shalt not wholly rid the corner of thy field Levit. 19. 9. c. they are not beaten for it unlesse they keepe not the commanded thing concerning them that is unlesse they omit the letting of the dam goe Deut. 22. 7. and the leaving of the corner for the poore Levit. 19. 10. And for a prohibition implied in the generals they are not beaten but all other prohibitions which are in the Law they are to bee beaten for doing them What is that prohibition comprised in the generals It is one prohibition which generally compriseth many things as yee shall not eat with the bloud Levit. 19. 26. And so when it is said Doe not such a thing and such a thing forasmuch as there is not a particular prohibition set before every one of them he is not to be beaten for every one of them unlesse they bee divided in other prohibitions or said by word of mouth that they are divided As where it is said Eat not of it raw or sodden Exodus 12. 9. hee is not beaten for eating of it raw and sodden twice but once Of the first-fruits hee saith Yee shall not eat bread and parched corne and greene eares Levit. 23. 14. a man for eating these three is to bee beaten thrice by word of mouth wee have beene taught that these are divided or severall It is said in Deut. 18. 10. Let there not bee found in thee any that maketh his sonne or his daughter to passe thorow the fire a diviner of divinations an observer of times although all these things be comprehended generally in one prohibition yet are they divided in other prohibitions as in Levit. 19. 26. ye shall not observe fortunes and yee shall not observe times to teach that every one of these is a prohibition by it selfe severall and so all other of like sort Maimony in Sanhedrin ch 18. sect 1 2 3. Finally they say All prohibitions for which cutting off is due but not death by the Magistrate for which men are to be beaten are one and twenty All for which death is due by the hand of God which are prohibitions wherein an act is for which men are to be beaten are eighteene All prohibitions in the Law for which there is neither cutting off due nor death by the Magistrate for which men are to be beaten are an hundred sixtie and eight So there are found in all which are to be beaten 207. Maimony ibidem chap. 19. All which are there particularly related but would be too long here to repeat the Iudge that is the Iudges as the Greeke translateth for one Iudge sate not alone to judge controversies Neither was any man to be beaten without witnesses of his crime No man is to bee beaten but by witnesses and evidence and they are to examine the witnesses by inquiry and diligent search even as they do in judgments of life and death Maimony in Sanhedrin chap. 16. sect 4. cause him to lie downe or to be laid downe and bound fast the manner is said to bee thus both his hands
this song for you and teach it the sonnes of Israel put it in their mouthes that this song may be a witnesse for mee against the sonnes of Israel For I will bring them into the land which I sware unto their fathers that floweth with milke and honey and they shall eat and be filled and be fat and they will turne unto other gods and serve them and despightfully provoke me and breake my covenant And it shall be when many evils and distresses have found them that this song shall answer before them for a witnesse for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouth of their seed for I know their imagination which they doe this day before I have brought them in unto the land which I sware And Moses wrought this song in that day and taught it the sonnes of Israel And he charged Ioshua the sonne of Nun and said Be strong and couragious for thou shalt bring in the sonnes of Israel unto the land which I sware unto them and I will be with thee And it was when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this Law in a booke untill they were finished That Moses commanded the Levites which bare the Arke of the covenant of Iehovah saying Take this booke of the Law and put it in the side of the Arke of the covenant of Iehovah your God that it may be there for a witnesse against thee For I know thy rebellion and thy stiffe necke Behold while I am yet alive with you this day yee have beene rebellious against Iehovah and how much more after my death Gather together unto mee all the Elders of your Tribes and your Officers that I may speake in their eares these words and call the heavens and the earth to witnesse against them For I know that after my death corrupting yee will corrupt your selves and will turne aside from the way which I have commanded you and evill will befall you in the latter daies because yee will doe evill in the eyes of Iehovah to provoke him to anger through the worke of your hands And Moses spake in the eares of all the Church of Israel the words of this song untill they were ended Annotations 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Here beginneth the two and fiftieth Section or Lecture of the Law See the notes on Gen. 6. 9. And here Moses setteth the state of Israel in order before his death OLd Hebr. sonne of an hundred and twenty yeeres of which phrase see Gen. 5. 32. So long while Noe preached to the world building the Arke Gen. 6. 3 14. 1 Pet. 3. 19 20. Of these 120. yeeres Moses lived 40. in Pharaohs court in Egypt Acts 7. 20 23. forty in the land of Madian Acts 7. 29 30. Exod. 7. 7. and 40. yeeres he governed Israel I can no more goe out that is no more administer in my office see the Annotations on Num. 27. 17. This inability of Moses was not so much for his age for his eye was not dim nor his naturall moisture fled Deut. 34. 7. as for the ordinance of God next mentioned and Iehovah or for Iehovah hath said as is shewed in Num. 20. 12. Deut. 3. 25 26. And is often in stead of For as is noted on Gen. 12. 19. Or it may be taken as another reason why Moses might no longer governe them Vers. 3. Ioshua in Greeke Iesus who was substitute in Moses place Num. 27. 16 17 18. c. A figure of our Lord Iesus who by grace and truth bringeth us into Gods eternall rest after the ending of Moses Law Iohn 1. 17. Rom. 10. 4. Thus the people are comforted in respect of their sorrow for Moses death by promise of the Lords presence among them and Ioshuahs succeeding government under him Vers. 4. of the Amorite that is of the Amorites as the Greeke translateth by whose destruction before mentioned in Numb 21. 23. c. Deut. 2. and 3. Israel is encouraged against their other enemies the land that is the people of the land Vers. 5. commanded you which was to root them out and let none remaine Deut. 20. 16 17. Vers. 6. Be ye strong or Be confirmed Hold fast to wit your faith in God in Greeke Quit you like men which word Paul useth in 1 Cor. 16. 13. So after in vers 7. couragious or be hardy strong valiant in heart and carriage This word is applied to the heart in Psal. 27. 14. and armes in Prov. 31. 17. and signifieth an increase and stedfastnesse Prov. 24. 5. Ruth 1. 18. The like exhortation is often used as Ios. 10. 25. 1 Chron. 22. 13. 2 Chron. 32. 7. hee it is in Chaldee his Word it is So in vers 8. faile thee or let thee goe leave thee to thy selfe but will hold thee fast So vers 8. and Ios. 1. 5. Heb. 13. 5. Vers. 7. strong and couragious or confirmed and strong as vers 6. Iosua being to beare the charge and toile of the people hath the same exhortation and promise in particular that was before unto all and it was in the eyes of all lest any after Moses death should deny his authority A like speech Davide made to Salomon 1 Chron. 28. 20. Vers. 8. he will be with thee the Chaldee paraphraseth his Word will be thy helpe Vers. 9. this Law in Greeke all the words of this Law in a booke which bare the Arke they had the chiefe charge to looke to the Arke and other holy things and though the Levites bare it as appeareth by Num. 3. 31. and 4. 15. and 10. 21. yet sometime the Priests themselves also bare it as when they passed over Iordan Ios. 3. 6 17. when they compassed Iericho Ios. 6. 12. So after in v. 25. Moses spake to the Levites the Elders the Magistrates as the Priests by teaching so the Elders by governing are to look that the Law of the Lord be observed Mal. 2. 7. Hos. 4. 6. Mich. 3. 1. 2 Chron. 19. 6 8 9 10. Vers. 10. of seven yeeres that is of every seventh yeere which was a yeere of release Deu. 15. 1. the solemnity or the set time as the Greeke and Chaldee translate it the time release of debts Deut. 15. 1 2 c. that being freed from worldly cares they might apply their mindes to Gods Law A figure of the yeere of grace and remission of our debts by Christ whereupon wee should give our selves to holinesse Luke 4. 18 19 21. Rom. 6. 10 11 12 13. Boothes or Tabernacles whereof see Lev. 23. Vers. 11. which he shall chuse to set his Arke and Tabernacle and so to place his name there Deut. 16. 2. thou shalt reade speaking to Israel generally and it was performed in speciall by the chiefest of them either the high Priest as Ezra the chiefe of them that returned from Babylon read it Nehem. 8. 1 2 3 c. or as the Hebrewes say the King himselfe when they had a King used to reade For this Commandement was to Ioshua