XXII.
and ftrayed away from the herd or from the flock by a wolf or dog; and the ox and fheep are put for every other creature a man has, as camels, affes, &c. which laft fort is after mentioned; and a bro- y. 5. and the taking away of the dam with the young found in a bird’s neft, ¥. 6, 7. battlements to be made in a new houfe, ¥. 8. hibiting mixtures in fowing, ploughing, and in garments, ¥. 9, 10, 11. requiring fringes on the quarters of a garment, ¥. 12. fining a man that flanders his wife, upon producing the tokens of her virginity, ¥. 13—19. but if thefe cannot be ced, then orders are given that fhe be put to death,
¥. 20o—21. then follow other laws, punifhing with death the adulterer and adulterefs, and onethat hath -ravifhed a betrothed damfel, ¥. 2227. amercing; a perfon that lies with a virgin not betrothed fhe confenting, and obliging him to marry her, and ther means not one in the natural relation of kinordering dred only, for it is f{uppofed in the next verfe, that pro-jhe might not only be ata diftance, but unknown; nor by religion only, or one of the commonwealth fourjor church of the Fews, for what is enjoined is a piece of hamanity the Jaw of nature requires and direéts unto, and is even to be done to enemies, produ- Exod. xxiii. 4. and bide thyfelf from them; make as if he did not fee them, and fo be entirely negligent of them, and take no care and fhew no concern about them, but let them go on wandering from the herd and flock from whence they were andjdriven, and to which they cannot find the way of themfelves: thou halt in any cafe bring them again not fuffering him to divorce her, ¥. 28—29.
and| to thy brother; to his herd or flock, or to his houfe, another againft a man’s lying ‘with his father’s and deliver them into his own hands, or to the y. 1. Thou foalt not fee thy brother’s ox or bis fheep go aftray, &c.] Or driven away," frighted) &c.] but at fome confiderable diftance; fo that he can- care of his fervants.; y. 2. And if thy brother be not nigh unto thee, ’ Does not live in the fame neighbourhood, not foon and eafily be informed of his cattle, or they be fent to him: or if thou know him not; the owner of them, what is his name, or where he lives: then thou fhalt bring it into thine houfe; not into his dwelling-houfe, but fome out-houfe, barn or ftable: and it foall be with thee, remain in his cuftody, and be taken care of by him; and, as the Targum of Fonathan fays, “ be fed and nourifhed by him;” for, according to the Fewi/h canon *, whatfoever could work and eat, that fhould work and eat, and whatfoever did not work and eat, was to be fold; for which there was a fet time, as the commentators fay‘, for large cattle, as oxen, 12 months; for leffer cattle, as fheep, goats, &c, 3 months; here it is fixed, until thy brother Seek after it; though in the mean while the finder was to make ufe of means, whereby the owner might be informed of it; for whatfoever was loft, in which were marks and figns by which enquiries might be made, were to be proclaimed"; (and it} is afked) how long a man was obliged to proclaim? until it was known to his neighbours; fome fay (he muft proclaim it) at three feafts, and feven days after the laft feaft, fo that he may go home three days, and return three days, and proclaim one day; if (the owner) tells what is loft, does not tell the marks or figns, he may not give it him; and a deceiver, though he tells the fign’s, he may not give it him, as it is faid, until thy orother feek after it; until thou enquireft of thy ther whether he is a deceiver or no: and elfewhere it is faid”, formerly if a man loft any thing, and gave the figns or marks of it, he took it; but after deceivers increafed, it was ordered to be faid to him, bring witneffes that thou art not a and take it; and in the fame place it is obferved, that there was at Yerufalem a ftone, called Eben Toim, the ftone of ftrays, and whoever had loft or found any thing, repaired thither, and gave the figns and marks of it, and took it: and thou /balt veftore it to him again, he having made it fully to appear to be his, and having defrayed all expences in advertifing and keeping it; but if no owner appeared to claim it, or not ‘to fatisfaétion, the finder was to keep it as his own; but otherwife he was by all means to reftore it, or as in y. 1. zz reforing thou foalt reftore them*, that is reftore them; and continually wherever it fo happens: the Fewifh canonis’, ‘* if he reftores it, and afterwards it ftrays away, and he reftores it again and it ftrays away, even though four or five tirhes, he is bound to reftore it; as it is faid, ix refforing thou foalt reftore them” Maimonides fays +, that even an hundred times he is bound to reftore them,
¥. 3. In like manner fhalt thou do with his afs, &c.] As with his ox or fheep when aftray, and found, keep it until it is owned, and then reftore it; this is exprefsly mentioned in Exod. xxiii. 4. and fo foalt thou do with his raiment; if that is loft and found, it muft be reftored to the owner, he defcribing it; a garment is particularly mentioned, it is faid*, becaufe in every garment there is a mark or fign by which the owners can enquire about it; for it is made by the hands of men, and does not come from any thing common: and with all loft thing of thy brother's, which be hath and thou haft found, foalt thou do likewife; comprehends every thing that is loft, that is properly fo; it is afked, «* What is a loft thing? if a” man finds an ox or a cow feeding in the way, this is not a loft thing; an afs whofe inftruments are inverted, and a cow running among the vineyards, this is a loft thing:” thou mayeft not hide thy- /e/f; from feeing it and taking care of it, in order to reftore it to the right owner; or diflemble a fight of it, and pretend he never faw it, and fo entirely neglect it. In fome inftances the Jews allow they were not obliged totake any notice or care of it, as, ‘‘ if a man find a cow in a cow-houfe, (which is not fhut) he is not obliged (to take care of it); if in a public place, he is obliged; if it is in a burying-ground he mayn’t defile himfelf for it *.”
y. 4. Thou fbalt not fee thy brother's ox or bis a/s fall down by the way, &c.| And lye under his burden, not being able to rife with it of himfelf, nor with all the affiftance about it, without further help: and hide thyfelf from them, cover thine eyes, or turn them another way, and make as if thou didft not fee them in diftrefs: thou fhalt furely help him to lift them up again; that is, help the brother and owner. of it, the ox and afs; affift butjhim in getting them up again, and lay on their burden, and faften them aright, which either were rolled off by the fall, or were obliged to be taken off in order to raife them up; and if this was to bro-jbe done for an enemy, then much more for a brother, as is required, Exod. xxiii. 5. fee the note there; or Uifting up, thou fhalt lift them up with dim4; that is, moft certainly do it, and lift with all his ftrength, and as often as there is ocdeceiver, jcafion; if they fell down again after raifed up, help is ftill to be continued, even as Maimonides ¢ fays, though it was an hundred times.
y. 5. The woman fhall not wear that which persaineth unto a man, &c.| It being very unfeemly and impudent, and contrary to the modefty of her fex; or there fhall not be upon her any iu/trument of a man‘, any utenfil of his which he makes ufe of in his trade and bufinefs; as if fhe was employed in it, when her bufinefs was not to do the work of men, but to take care of her houfe and family; and fo this law may be oppofed to the cuftoms of certainly jthe Egyptians, as is thought, from whom the Jraelites were lately come; whofe women, as Herodotus ® relates, ufed to trade and merchandize abroad, whilft the men kept at home; and the word alfo fignifies armour", as Oxkelos renders it; and fo here forbids women putting on a military habit and going with men to war, as was ufual with the eaftern women; and fo Matmonides* illuftrates it, by putting a mitre or an helmet on her head, and cloathing herfelf with a coat of mail; and in like manner Fo/epbus “ explains it, ** take heed, efpecially in war, that a woman do not make ufe of the habit of a man, or a man that of a woman”; nor is he to be found fault with fo much as he is by a learned writer’, fince he does not reftrain it wholly to war, though he thinks it may have a fpecial regard to that; for no doubr the law refpects the times of peace as well as war, in neither of which fuch a practice fhould obtain: lof,! but the Targum of Fonathan very wrongly limits it this’ to the wearing fringed garments, and to phylaéte- ties, which belonged to men: neither fhall a man put on a woman's garment; which would betray effeminacy and foftnefs unbecoming men, and would lead the way to: many impurities, by giving an opportunity of mixing with women, and fo to commit fornication and adultery with them; to prevent which and to preferve chaftity this law feems to be made; and fince in nature a difference of {exes is made, it is proper and neceffary that this fhould be known by difference of drefs, or otherwife many evils might follow; and of) the neft is not ufed but of a fowl, and it is not ufed but of what is not prepared; what is that which is not prepared? fuch as geefe and hens, whofe neft is in an orchard; but if their neft is in the houfe, and fo. doves kept at home, a man is free from letting (the dam) go”; that is, he is not obliged to let it go; and this is to be underftood of clean birds only; fo the Targum of Jonathan, “* the nefts of clean birds”; agreeable to the fame canons and the explanation of them ", «* an unclean bird is free from letting go; fo an unclean bird this precept is agreeable to the law and light of that firs upon the eggs of a clean bird, alfo a clean nature: it is oblerved by an heathen. writer ™, that there is a two-fold diftribution of the law, the one written, the other not written; what we ufe in civil things is written, what is from nature and ufe is unwritten, as to walk naked in the market, or to put on a woman’s garment: and change of the cloaths of fexes was ufed among the heathens by way of punifhment, as of the foldiers that de. nett is a word of a | fitting upon the young ferted, and of adulterefies "; fo abominable was it accounted: indeed it may be Jawful in fome cafes, where life is in danger, to efcape that, and provided chattity is prelerved: for all that do fo are an abomination to the Lord thy God; which is a reafon fufficient why fuch a practice fhould not be ufed, Some from this claufe have been led to conclude, that refpect is had to fome cuftoms of this kind ufed in idolatrous worthip, garment coloured when he ftood before the ftar of Venus, and likewife that a woman fhould put on a coat of mail and warlike armour, when the ftood before the ftar of Mars; which he takes to be one reafon of this law, though befides that he gives another, becaufe hereby concupifcence would be excited, and an occafion for whoredom given: that there was fome fuch cuftoms among the heathens may be confirmed from Macrobius?, and Servius *, as has been obferved by Grotius;, the former of which relates, that Philochorus afirmed, that Venus is the moon, and that men facrificed to her in womens garments, and women in mens; and for this reafon, becaufe fhe was thought to be both male and female; and the latter fays, there was an image of Venus in Cyprus with a woman’s body and garment, and with the {cepter and diftinction of.a man, to whom the men facrificed in womens garments, and women in mens garments; and, as the above learned commentator obferves, there were many colonies of the Phenicians in Cyprus, from whom this cuftom might come; and to prevent it obtaining among the J/reelites in any degree, who were now coming into their country, it is thought this law was made; for the prieits of the Afyrian Venus made ufe of womens apparel", and in the feafts of Bacchus men difguifed themfelves like women ‘.; ¥. 6. If a bird’s neft chance to be before thee in any tree, or on the ground, &c.] Which are the ufual places in which birds build their nefts; and this, as archi oblerves, excepts fuch nefts that are prepared, that is, that are purpofely made for fowls kept at home; and with which agrees the Fewi/h canon, which fays‘, ‘‘ the letting go (the damout bird that fits upon the eggs of an unclean bird, are freefrom letting go, ” or perfons are not obliged to let fuch go: whether they be young ones or C2255 that are in the neft; and the Fewifh canon is ~, * if there is but one young one, or one egg, a man is obliged to let go the dam, as it is faid a net: a arge fenfe: and the dam or upon eggs, thou shalt not take the dam with the young, according to the above canon; ’‘* if fhe is flying at the time her wings reach the neft, a man is bound to Jet her ZO 5 but if her wings touch not the neft, he is free from letting her go—if the young ones are capable of flying, or the eggs rotten, he is free from letting her go, as it is faid, and the dam fitting, 8c. as the young are alive, fo the eggs muft be firm and which are always abo-|found, rotten ones are minable to the Lord. So Maimonides ° obferves, that in a book of the Zadzans, called Tomtom, it is commanded, that a man fhould wear a woman’s excepted; and as eggs have need of their dam, dam;
the dam is not to be taken with fo the young have need of their thofe (therefore) that can fly are excepted:” her young upon any account; yea it is faid *, not even to cleanfe a leper; and whoever does take her is to be beaten: this law was made partly to preferve the fpecies of birds, and prevent the decreafe of them; for a dam let go might breed again, and to this purpofe are the verfes -afcribed to Phocylides *, which contain the fubftance of this law, and this reafon of it; and partly, as Maimonides obferves*, that the dam might not be afflicted at the fight of the fpoil of her young; for this law does not prohibit the taking of her in any other place but in her neft, nor after her young are taken, but not together; and, as the fame writer remarks, if the law would have fuch care taken of beafts and birds, that they might be freed from forrow and diftrefs, how much more of man? Wherefore the intention of this law is to teach humanity, compaffion and pity in men to one another, and to forbid cruelty, covetoufnels, and fuch like VICES; as alfo to inftruct in the doétrine of providence, which has a refpect to birds; and our Lord may be thought to have this law in view, Luke xii. 6. ¥. 7. But thou fhalt in any wife let the dam £0, and take the young to thee, &c.} Or in letting go, let go, or in fending, fend away*; that is willingly, certainly, entirely, frequently, always; fo the Fewif) canons *, ‘if any one lets her go, and fhe returns, even four or five times, he is obliged to let her go, as it is faid, in detting go, let go 3” nay, Maimonides {ays, even a thoufand times; the canon proceeds, ** if any one fays, Lo, I take the dam and let go the young, he is obliged to let her gO;
if he takes the young, and returns them again to ‘the neft, and after that returns the dam to them, ihe is free from letting her go:” that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayeft prolong thy days 3 the Zargum of Fonathan is, ‘* that it may be well vers feeds, 8cc.] As wheat and barley between the — with thee in this world, and thou mayeft prolong thy days in the world. to come:” the fame blefiing that is promifed to oblervers of the fifth, command, which is one of the weightier matters of the law, is made tothis; which the Fews fay ¥ is but as the value of a farthing, or of little account in comparifon of others; wherefore, as Fagius rightly obferves *, God, in beftowing fuch rewards, has regard not to the works of men, but to his: own grace and kindnefs; for what merit can there be in letting go or preferving the life of a little bird?
¥. 8. When thou buildet a new houfe, &c.]) Which is to be underftood of a houfe to dwell in, not of a granary, barn, or ftable, or fuch like, and every houfe that is not four cubits fquare, as Maimonides obferves ¥: then thou fhalt make a battlement for thy roof; in the Talmud” it is alked, What is the meaning of, or why is it faid, thy roof? to except fynagogues and fchools; the glofs upon which is, Synagogues, &c. don’t belong to any fingle perfon, and befides are no dwelling-place. A battlement, as Farchi detcribes it, was a fence round the roof; or, as more fully defcribed by Kimchi", it was an edifice made for a roof round about it, ten hands high, or more, that a perfon might mot fall ftom it; fo Ben Melech from him. The reafon of this law was, becaufe the roofs of houfes in thofe countries were flat, on which they ufed to walk for diverfion and recreation, or retire for devotion, meditation, prayer, and focial converfation; fuch they were in the times of the Canaanites, Fofb. ii. 6. and in the times of Seu/ and David, 1 Sam. ix. 25..2 Sam. xi. 2. and xvi. 21. and in the times of the new teitament; fee the notes on Matt. x. 27. and xxiv. 17. Mark ii. 4. Adis x. g. and fo in later times, and to this day. Rauwolff?, a traveller in thofe parts, relates, that at Tripoli in Phenicia, ** they have low houfes, ill built, and flat at the top, as they are generally in the eaft, for they cover their houfes with a flat roof or floor, fo that you may walk about as far as the houfes go, and the neighbours walk over the tops of their houfes to vifit one another; and fometimes in the fummer they fleep on the top of them.” Now to prevent falling from thence, and mifchief thereby, fuch’a battlement as before defcribed was ordered: that thou bring not blood upon thy boufe; be not the occafion of blood being fhed, or contract guilt of blood through negligence of fuch a provifion the law direéts to; the guilt of man-flaughter, or of fthedding innocent blood in thy houfe, as the Targums of Fonathan and Ferufalem; hence the Talmudifts* extend this to other things, and by this law alfo they fuppofe men are bound to guard againft all dangers in any other way; as if a man hada well or pit of water in his court-yard, he ought either to put a cover over it, or to make a fence roundit as high as this battlement *: if any man fall from thence; that is, if a man walking on the roof of an houfe, fhould make a flip or a falfe ftep, and {tumble and reel, and fo be falling, and fall from thence; which might have been prevented, even his falling from thence or to the ground, if fuch a battlement had been made.
¥. 9. Thou foalt not fow thy vineyards with dis rows of the vines; and this is to be underftood only of divers forts of corn, and of divers forts of herbs, but not of trees; hence we read of a figtree in a vineyard, Luke xili.6. fee the note there: and this only refpects what is fown with defign, and not what is cafual, as the Yews interpret it * 5 “if a man pafies through a vineyard, and feeds fall from him, or they are carried out along with dung, or with water; or when a man is fowing, and a {torm of wind carries it behind him, (@. e. to a vineyard behind him) it is lawful”; that is, it may be let grow, and the fruit of it enjoyed; the fame here is faid of the vineyard, as of the field in Lev. xix, ig. fee the note there: deft the fruit of thy feed which thou haft fown, and the fruit of thy vineyard be defiled; that is, left not only the increafe of thefe divers feeds fown, but alfo the increafe of thé vines among which they are fown, become unlawful, and unfit for ufe, and fo a lofs of all be fuftained: the Targum of Fonathan is, ** left it be condemned to burning;” or, thou art obliged to burn it; for, according to the Fewi/ canons’, the mixtures of a vineyard, or the divers feeds of it, eta the increafe thereof, were to be burnt; and the commentators of the Mi/nab * frequently ex- 'plain this phrafe by eff it be burnt. v.10. Thou fhailt not plow with an ox and an afs together, &c.| They might be ufed feparately, but not together; nor was it uncommon in fome countries for afles to be employed in plowing as well as oxen. Pliny» makes mention of fome fruitful land in Africa, which when it was dry weather could not be plowed by oxen, but after fhowers of rain might be plowed by a mean little als; fo Leo Africanus '{ays, the Africans only ule horfes and affes in plowing. The reafon why they were not to be put together, was either (as fome think) eft the law fhould be brcken which forbids the gendering of cattle with a divers kind, Lev. xix. 19. but Aben Ezra thinks the reafon is, becaufe the ftrength of an afs is not equal to the {trength of anox; and therefore he fuppofes this law is made from the mercy and commiferation of God extended to all his creatures; though perhaps the better reafon is, becaufe the one was a clean creature, and the other an unclean, and this inftance. is put for all others; and with-which agree cattle, wild beafts with wild beafts, unclean with unclean, clean with clean, (. ¢. thefé may be put together); but unclean with clean, and clean with unclean, are forbidden to plow with, to draw with, or to be led together *.” The myftery of this is, that godly and ungodly perfons are not to be yoked together in religious fellowfhip,s fee 2 Cor. vi. 14.
¥. 11. Thou foalt not wear a garment of divers forts, &c.| The ews fay nothing is forbidden un- as it is faid, thou fhalt not wear fheatnez, a thin that is-carded, fpun, and wove!; which 4Ainjworth tranflates Linfie woolfe, and is explained by what follows: as of woollen and linen together; of which fee the note. on Lev. xix. 19. wh epbus » obferves, this was granted to the priefts ' b only the Fewifh canons, which run thus, “ cattle with ~ der the name of forts, but what is fpun and wove,
Ch.xxii. v.r2—17. DEUTERONOMY
only to wear fuch garments, Bochart" affirms.
it to be falfe’; but that great man is miftaken; the blue, purple, and {carlet, in the priefts garments, were no other than died wool; and itis a fentiment in general received by the Yews, that the priefts wore no other but woollen and linen in their fervice; fee the note on the above place; otherwife this law is fo ftri€tly obferved, as not to few a woollen garment with linen thread, and fo on the contrary °.
a different word is here ufed from that in Numb. xv. 38. yet the fame things are intended, and Onkelos tranflates both by one and the fame word, and whichis no other than a corruption of the Greek word ufed in Matt. xxiii. 5. Though there have been fome whom ben Ezra takes notice of, who fuppofed that this is a law by itfelf, and tobe obferved in the night, as that in Numb. xv. 38. was in the day; but thefe he warmly oppofes, and calls them liars: upon the four quarters of thy vefture, wherewith thou covereft thyfelf; upon the four fkirts of the uppermott vefture called Talith; fee the note on Numb, xv. 38.
y. 13. If any man take a wife, and go in unto her, and hate ber;\ That is, marries a-wife, and cohabits with her as man and wife, and after fome time diflikes her, and is defirous of parting with her, and therefore takes the following wicked method to obtain it: this is to be underftood of a virgin taken to wife, as the Targumof Fonathan explainsit; and what follows confirms it.
¥.14. And give occafions of {peech againft her, &c.] Among her neighbours, who by his behaviour towards her, and by what he fays of her, will be Jed in all company and converfation to traduce her character, and {peak of her asa very bad woman: and bring up an evil name upon ber; take away her good name, and give her a bad one; defameher, and make her appear feandalous and reproachful to all that know her: though the ¥ews. underftand this not of private flander, butof bringing an action againft her ina public court of judicature, the fubftance of which follows: and fay, J took this woman, and when I came to her, I found her not a maid; the fenfe is, that he had married her, and when he came to cohabit with her as man and wife, it appeared to him that fhe was vitiated, and not a pure virgin. This is the charge in court againft her, the action laid by him; fo archi obferves, a man might not fay this but before a magiftrate, inacourt of judicature, which is thus reprefented by Maimonides”; *“ a man comes ‘to the fanbedrim, and fays, this young woman J married, and [ did not find her virginities; and when I enquired into the matter, it appeared to me that fhe had played the whore under me, after I had betrothed her; and thefe are my witneffes, that fhe played the whore before them.” ¥. 15. Then fhall the father and the mother of the damfel take, &c.|) Power from the court, according to the Targum of Fonathan, having leave and in her parents pofleffion, and kept by them asa witnefs of her purity, fhould there ever be any occafion for it: and which were to be brought unto the elders of the city in the gate; which fat in’ the gate of the city to try caufes: the Z. argum of Fonathan calls it the gate of the fanhedrim, or court of judicature; and, according to Maimonides 4, thiscourt was the court of twenty-three Judges; for this was a capital crime accufed of, a caule relating to life and death, which could not be heard and tried in a leffer court.
¥.16. And the damfel’s father fhall fay unto the elders, 8ec.| Not her mother; hence we learn, fays Yarcht, that a woman has not power, (or is notallowed) to {peak before men; that is, in public s fee 1 Cor. xiv. 34. and it was moft proper for a father to appear in court for her, and defend her; and if fhe had no parents living, then thofe that brought her up, her guardians, that had the education of her, and placing her out in marriage, were to undertake her caufe, or, as Fofepbis * fays, thofe that were next akin to her; or, as Aben Ezra, one appointed by the court: J gave my daughter unto this man to’wife, and, by the Fewr/h canons *, aman might give his daughterin marriage, but a woman might not: and he hateth ber; has taken a diflike to her, and wants to be rid of her, and therefore has brought this infamous action againft her.
¥. 17. And lo, he hath given occafion of fpeech againft her, &c.}] In the neighbourhood where they dwell; has been the caufe of perfons peaking reproachfully of her, as one of ill fame: faying, I found not thy daughter a maid; fo that it fees he faid this not only to his neighbours, and before a court of judicature, but to the parents of the damfel: and yet thefe are the tokens of my daughter's virginity; which were brought with him, and produced in open court: and they phall fpread the cloth before the elders of the city; that they might have ocular proof and evidence of the truth of what he faid, by having fpread before them the theet ftained with the blood of her virginity upon her hufband’s firft conerefs with her. It feems that the mother, as well as the father, were prefent and concerned in this action; for it is faid, they foall Jpread; and though the mother might not fpeak, fhe was the proper perfon to bring this cloth, and fpread it; and indeed it was particularly in her care and keeping; for we are told‘, that two perfons called [393w ty the friends of the bride and bridegroom, went firft into their bed-chamber, and thoroughly examined the bed, whether there was any thing relating to the fign of virginity, by which one might impofe upon another; and they ftood all night keeping watch with creat joy and chearfulnefs, as if they had been the guards ‘of a king and queen; (to whichis thought the allufion isin Yobn iti. 29.) their bufinefs was, when the bridegroom and bride came out, to rufh in immediately, and examine all things again; and knowing and owning the former linen fheetsin which they had licenfe granted them to do what follows, thefe lain, took them and delivered them to the mo- were to, and would concern themfelves in fuch an affair, partly for the credit and reputation of their child, and partly for their own honour, who were in danger, as Zarchi obferves, of coming into contempt for their ill education of her: and bring forth the tokens of the damfel’s virginity; the theet fhe lay in when fhe firft bedded with her hufband, ther. Nor need fpreading fuch a cloth before the court be thought unlikely becaufe of the indecency of it, when it is obferved that perfons and things much more filthy came under the cognizance and examination of the priefts, as leprous, menftruous, and profluvious perfons, and their refpeétive dif orders; nor is it at all improbable, that there fhould be fych evident tokens as are faid to be given, when it is obferved, efpecially of the Fewi/b women, at what a tender age they were marriageable, and were frequently married, namely, when twelve years and one day old. And the Africans, as we are told", have a cuftom with them fimilar to this at a wedding, ‘* a feaft is prepared, and a certain woman waits without, until the bride is lain with; and then a linen cloth, ftained with blood, is reached out to her, which the carries in her hands, and fhews to the guefts, crying out svith a loud voice that this was a virgin hitherto uncorrupt; then fhe, with other women, are {plendidly received, firft by the parents of the bride: groom, and then of the bride; but if the does not appear to be a virgin, fhe is returned to her parents under the difgrace of all, and the marriage made null and void.” Indeed there are fome Fewifh writers, that interpret this cloth in a parabolical and allegorical fenfe, and uhderftand by it witnefles that would make the cafe as clear and plain as the fpreading out a cloth or garment. They fuppofe that before the damfel was lain with, e was examined by feveral matrens, who declating herto be a virgin, gave it under their hands in writing to her parents, which they were capable of producing in court when there was occafion for it; fo Farchi fays, this is a parable; the meaning jis, they made things as clear and as plain as a new cloths with which agrees the Talmud” he feems to have taken it from, where on thefe words, and they hall
{pread the cloth, this remark is made; but the literal fenfe feems bett.
y. 18. And the elders of that city fhail take the man, and chaftife bim;| Not with words, but blows. Farchi interprets it of beating, and fo does the Talmud *, and both the Zargums of Onkelos and Fonathan render it, ‘* fhall beat him;” that is, with the beating or fcourging of forty {tripes, fave one.
y.19. And they foall amerce him in an hundred fhekels of filver, &c.] Which was about twelve pounds of our money; this was double the dowry he would have been obliged to have given her, if tery, and is the fame with that in Lev. xx. 10. © he had put her away; which he might have done the hufband of the damfel Iaid to her charge, that. fhe was no virgin when married to him, and fhe had committed whoredom, of which there was plain proof: and the tokens of virginity be not found for the damfel,; by her parents, or thofe who had the care of her; or no fufficient reafon could be affigned for the want of them, through any familydefect, or any diforder of her own; which, as Maimonides * {ays, the judges were to enquire into,
¥. 21. Then they fhall bring out the damfel to the door of her father’s boufe, &c.| For his greater difgrace, and asa fort or punifhment for his neglect of her education, not taking care to inftruét her, and bring her up in a better manner: and the men of her city foail fione her with ftones that fhe die, which was the*death this fort of adulterefiés were put to; others was by ftrangling, and the daughter of a prieft was to be burnt; fee Lev, xx. 10, and xxi. g. which fhews that this fin was committed by her after her efpoufals, as Jarchi and Aben Ezra note; or otherwife it would have been only fimple fornication, which was not punifhable with death; decaufe foe hath wrought folly in Ifrael; a fin, asall fin is folly, and elpecially any notorious one, as this was; and which is aggravated by its being done in J/rael, among a people profeffing the true religion, and whom God had chofen and feparated from all others to be a holy people to himfelf: to play the whore in her father’s bouje; where fhe continued after her efpoufals, until fhe was taken to the houfe of her hufband, to confummate the marriage; and between the one and the other was this fin committed, and which is another reafon for her execution at the door of her father’s houfe: /o halt thou put evil away from among you; deter others from it by fuch an example, and remove the guilt of it from them, which otherwife would lie upon them, if punifhment was not infli€ted; the Targum of Jonathan interprets it of the putting away of her that did the evil.
y¥.22. If a man be found hing with a woman married to an hufband, &c.\ This law refpeéts adul- then they foall both of them die, with the ftrang- with lefs trouble, and with a greater certainty of ling of a napkin, as the ZYargum of Fonathan, being rid of her; but being willing to fave that expence, took this wicked method to accufe her falfly; and therefore is mulcted double that fum: and give them unto the father of the damfel, as a fort
_ of fatisfaction or reparation for the fcandal brought upon him and his family; if the damfel was fatherlefs, Maimonides’ fays, fhe was to have them herfelf: decaufe he hath brought up an evil name upon a virgin in Ifrael, detamed her among her neighbours and acquaintance, or brought a falfe accufation againft her in court; alledging fhe was not a virgin when he married her, when fhe was one, which was a very great injury to her character: and foe foall be his wife, he may not put her away all his days; and fo he was difappointed in his view of getting rid of her, and obliged to retain her as his wife, though hated, and was not fuffered to divorce her as longas he lived; which was permitted and connived atin other men, and which he might have done before, without bringing fuch a charge againtt her; all which muft be very mortifying to him, as to be whipped, to pay a fine, keep his wife, and not allowed ever to divorce her.
y. 20. But if this thing be true, &c.] Which which is the death fuch perfons were put to; and is always meant when death is fimply {poken of, and it is not {pecified what death; fee the note on the above place both the man that lay with the woman, and the woman; they were both to die, and to die the fame death: /o halt thou put away evil from Ijrael; fuch that do it, as the above Targum; fee the note on the preceding verfe. ~1
¥. 23. If a dam/él that is a virgin be betrathed unto an bufband, &c.| But not married, not as yet brought home to her hufband’s houfe, and the marriage confummated; for the Yews diftinguith between being betrothed or efpoufed, and married; and generally there was fome time between the one and the other. And a wife was obtained in this way by three things; by money, which was the moft ufual, and by writing, which was to be done before witneffes, and with her confent; and by copulation, which, though valid, was not fo much approved of *. There is a whole treatife in the Mifnab, called Kiddujhin, or Efpoufals, which largely treats of this matter: and a man her in the city, and lie with ber, with her confent, as might be prefumed by her not crying out, when, "had had fhe, fhe might have been heard, being in aj city; and her being there alfo makes againft her, fince being betrothed to a man, fhe ought to have abode in her father’s houfe till Ker hufband_ fetched her home, and not to have gadded abroad in the city, where fhe was expofed to temptation.
¥.24. Then ye foall bring them both out unto the gate of the city, 8c.| Where. the fact was.commit- other place: and the betrothed dam/fel cried as it might be concluded..from the above circumftance fhe did, and as fhe herfelf declared, and which he could not gainfay, or however difprove: and there was none to fave her; to help her againft him, and deliver her out of his-hands.
¥. 28: If a man find a. damfel that is a Virgins which is not betrothed; &c.| That is, meets with ted; the Zarguim of Jonathan is, ‘ tothe gate ofjone in a- field, which is not efpoufed.to a man;
the court of judicature, which is in that. city:” and ye foall flone them with frones that they die aman that lay with a married woman, he and: fhe were to be ftrangled; but this fort of adulterers and adulterefles were to be ftoned, and ’tis thought thatof this fort was the woman {poken of in Fohn Vill. 3, 4,5 the damfel becaufe foe cried not being in the city, and the man. becaufe be hath humbled his neighbour's wife; as fhe was by efpoufal, by contract, by promife, and fo was guilty of adultery, which was punifhable with death: /o thou shalt put away evil from among you; fee ¥. 21, 22.
¥.25, But if a man find a betrothed damfel in the Jield, &c.] Alone, and where fhe might cry out, and none hear, nor were any to help her: and @ man force her, and lie with ber; or take faft and ftrong and the man is fuppofed,to. be an unmarried man, as appears by what follows: and lay hold on bers and lie with ber, the yielding to it; and to is not expreflive of a rape, asin ¥.25. where a different word from this is there ufed; which fignifies taking {trong hold of her, and ravifhing her by force; yetthis, though owing to his firft violent feizure of her, and fo different from what was obtained by enticing words, profeffions,of love, and promifes of marriage, and the like, as in Exod. xxii. 16, 17. but not without her confent: and they be found; in the field together, and in the fact 5 or however there are witnefles of it, or they themfelvyes have confeffed it, and perhaps betrayed by her pregnancy..
¥.29. Then the man that lay with her fhall give
bold on ber®; fo that fhe is not able'to get out his hands, and make her efcape, he being ftronger than fhe, and fo commits a rape upon her: then the man only that lay with ber foall die; he being guilty of adultery, in lying with a woman efpoufed another man, but not fhe, becaufe fhe confented of junto the damfel’s father 50 thekels of fiver, &c.] For the abufe of his daughter; and befides this was obliged to give her her dowry alfo, as Philo 4 fays, which is commonly faid to be 50 more: and to!fhe fhall be bis wife; if her father and the agreed to it; and in fuch a cafe, the man was not at his li- not to it. ¥.26. But unto the damfel thou foalt do nothing, &c.] Neither amerce her, nor beat her, and much Jefs punifh her with death: shere is in the dam/el no fin worthy of death; becaufe what was done to her was done without her will and confent, and was what fhe was forced to fubmit unto; but the Zargum of Fonathan adds, that the man to whom fhe was betrothed might difmifs her from himfelf by a bill of divorce: for as when a man rifeth againft his neighbcur, and flayeth him, even fo is this matter; as when a man comes unawares upon another, and Jays hold on him, and kills him, being ftronger than he, and none to help; fo is the cafe of a woman laid hold on by a man in a field, and ravifhed by him, where no help could be had; and depriving a woman of her chaftity, is like taking away a man’s life; from this paflage Maimonides « concludes, that impurities, incefts, and adulteries, are equal to murder, to capital cafes relating to life and death. ¥.27. For be found ber in the field, &c.] Which is a circumftance in her favour, from which it might be prefumed, that fhe was forced, and did not confent; for had the fin been committed by agreement, they would doubtlefs have betook themfelves to an- berty to refufe, be fhe what fhe would, agreeable or not, handfome or ugly; he muft, as the Jews exprefs it, drink out of his pot, or marry her, if fhe is lame, or blind, or full of ulcers *: decaufe he hath humbled ber, be may not put her away all bis days; to all the other parts of his punifhment; paying a fine of fifty fhekels to the damfel’s father, a dowry of the fame fum to her, obligation to marry her whether he likes her or no, this is added, thathe is not allowed to divorce her as long as he lives; which was permitted to other men, and this was wifely ordered to preferve chattity.
¥. 30. A man foall not take his father’s wifes &c.] Not marry her, whether his own mother, or a {tep-mother; or even, as Aven Ezra thinks, any one that was deflowered by his father. ‘archi interprets it of his father’s brother’s wife, which he was obliged to marry by virtue of the law in Deus. xxv. 5. nor difcover his father’s fkirt, or lie with her his father had thrown his fkirt over, or married; and which being the firft, is mentioned here as a fample to all the reft forbidden Lev. xviii. 7; or, as bifhop Patrick exprefles it, is a fort memorandum to make them careful to. obferve all the other laws refpecting inceftuous marriages and copulations there delivered.