Exposition of the Whole Bible

(\,RDERS are here given to reftrain certain per- O fons from entering into the congregation of the Lord, ¥. 1—8. and to take care that there be no unclean perfon in the camp, or any indecent thing done in it, ¥. 9g—r4. to protect fugitive fetvants, and not deliver them up to their mafters, ¥. 15, 16. not to fuffer a filthy perfon to be among, them, of any filthy thing to be brought into the houfe of God for a vow, ¥.17, 18. then - follow fome laws againft ufury, and for the payment of vows, ¥. 19—23. and the chapter is concluded with fome directions how to behave in a neighbour’s vineyard, or ftanding corn, y¥. 24, iy. 1+ He that is wounded in the ftones, 8ec.| In any of them, not accidentally, but purpofely; which are crufhed and bruifed by the hands of men, with a defign to make him unfit for generation, orto make an eunuch of him: or that bath his privy member cut off; by himfelf or another, and is a thorough eunuch by the hands of men; for of fuch eunuchs that are made by men, and not born fo, the law {peaks; fo Maimonides in-

NO MY. _ Ch. xxi.y.1—gs verfe, and from the tong camille being an lute and perfect one; yet according to the Yea their writers there were ways and means by which pofterity became legitimate; fo they fay, baftards may be purified (or legitimated) how? if one marries a fervant maid, the child is a feryant, who if he becomes free, (his) fon isafree man’.

y. 3. An Ammonite or Moabite fhall not enter into the congregation of the Lord, &c.| ‘Or marry an

not enter into the congregation of the Lord; whichis to be underftood not of the fanctuary of the Lord, ot of being refufed admittance into the church of Lord”; for the Fews reftrain this to men,”

God, and to join in religious rites, and partake of facred ordinances, which all J/raelites, and ‘ftrangers that were profelytes, had a right unto; fuch might bring their offerings, keep the paffover, &c. Exod. xii.” 48, 49. Lev. xxii. 18. Numb. ix. 14.

Jonathan, “the male Ammonites and-Moabites are not fit to take a wife of the congregation “of the

Beibute it is, as Aben Ezra obferves, an Ammonife, not an

Ammonitefs, 2 Moabite, not a Moabiteft;” they allow that females of thofe nations might be*married’ to Jraelites, that is, provided they were profélyteffes, as Ruth was™: even to their OPES and xv. 14, 15. nor of the commonwealth of J/-| rael, as-if unfit to be members of civil fociety; it ball they not enter into the congregation of the Lord. /or ever; that is, not only to the tenth generation, cannot be thought that fuch defects fhould abridge them of their civil rights and privileges ¢ but by the congtegation is to -be underftood ‘the elders, judges, “and’‘reprefentatives of the people, that met together in fome one place to execute judgment; fee Numb. xxxv. 12, 24, 25. Pf. 1xxxii. 1, into which fuch perfons were not to be admitted’; either becaufe difgraceful and difhonourable, or becaufe of the influence fuch defects have on their minds, they thereby becoming effeminate, irrefolute, and wanting courage, ‘as well as in’ oppofition to the cuftoms and ufages of the heathens, with whom it was common to admit fuch perfons to civil offices; hence the word eunuch is fometimes ufed for an officer, Gen. xxxvii. 36. and elfewhere; the Fews ® reftrain this law to marriage, but unneceffarily.

¥.2. A baftard fhall not enter into the congregation of the Lord, &c.] That is born of whoredom, as the Targum of onathan; and for the fake of avoiding whoredom and deterring from it was this law made, ‘according te Maimonides *, that adulterers might fee, as he obferves,-that they affe& their whole family with an irreparable ftain, fhould they commit fuch an infamous action; tho’

the ‘ews commonly interpret it of one that is- barn of any of thofe inceftuous copulations forbidden in Lev. xviii. which they gather from this following upon, and ‘being near unto one of thofe incefts mentioned in the laft verfe of the preceding chapter *; and it is a rule with them *, that perfons born of fuch copulations were reckoned _baftards; now fuch an one, according to Farchi, might not marry an Jraelitif woman, or rather might not be admitted into the affembly of elders, or bear any ‘public office. Fephthab may feem to be an objection to this, who was the fon of an harlot, Fudg. xi. 1. which might be owing to the.

badnefs of the times, the laws of God being negleéled, or to the providence of God fo ordering it, who is not bound by his own laws, thoughy men are; nor was he the fon of a common harlot, nor ‘of an inceftuous perfon, but of his father’s concubine; befides fome think fuch only are intended who were born of ftrangers and not J/raelites: even unto bis tenth generation, fhall be not enter into the congregation of the Lord; which feems as if he might at the eleventh; but it is generally inter- but for ever; and this law was underftood as in force in Nehemiah’s time, which was more than ten generations from the making of it; though now as thefe nations are no more a diftinét people, they fuppofe it is no longer binding". ¥. 4. Becaufe they met you not with bread ond with water, &c.| “Lo fupply them therewith, either as a gift, which was a piece of humanity to {trangers and travellers, or rather to fell unto them, for on no other terms did the Jraelites defire their bread and their water: in the way when ye came forth out of Egypt; not as foon as they came forth from thence, for it was near forty years after; but it was while they were in the way from thence, ‘as they were journeying to the land of Canaan, and fo were travellers, and fhould have had kindnefs fhewn them as fuch; for though they needed not, bread and water, God providing both for them, yet this does not excufe the inhumanity of thefe people: the words are to be underftood by way of diftribution; this charge here only belongs to the Ammonites, for it appears that the Moabites did give thém bread and water for money, ch. if. 28, 29. as what follows belongs peculiarly to the Moabites and not the Ammonites: and becaufe they bired againft thee Balaam the fon of Pethor of Mefopotamia, to curfe thee, this the Moabites did in conjunction with the Midianites, but the Ammonites had no concern in it; fee Numb. xxii. 7. it was not therefore becaufe the Moadites and Ammonites were born in inceft that they were forbidden entrance into the congregation of the Lord; which might have been thought to have been the reafon of it, thefe inftances following upon the former, had not thefe. reafons been affigned. — ae ¥. 5. Neverthelefs the Lord thy God would not bearken unto Balaam, &c.} To his folicitations, and the methods he took to prevail on the Lord to fuffer him to curfe /rael, which he gladly would have done for the fake of Balak’s reward: but the Lord thy'God ‘turned the curfe into a bleffing unto thee; in the very mouth of Balaam, as the Targum of Fonathan; tor when he opened his mouth and Balak expected he would have curfed J/rael, and he tended it, could he have been permitted, the I c over-ruled his tongue, and put fuch words into his mouth, that inftead of curfing J/rae/, he blefie him; fee Numb. xxiii. 1. becaufe the Lord th preted never, as is gathered from the following | oved thee; and therefore would not fuffer nen be kaa for whom’ the Lord loves they ate [to meet the enémy and fight him: then keep thee bleffed, and fhall be fo in time and to eternity. y. 6, Thou fbalt not feek their peace nor their pro- Jperity all thy days for ever.) Not that they were to from every wicked thing; the Targum of Fonathan adds by way of explanation, “ from ftrange worfhip, uncovering of nakednefg, and from fhedding retain malice towards them, or indulge a fpirit of innocent blood”; that is, from idolatry, unclean- revenge, or not do them any good offices in a priyate way, which is contrary to the law of love; nor does this contradict any offices of kindnefs and friendfhip that might be performed in a perfonal way; fo we find that David’ had a kindnefs for Hanun the Ammonite, and fhewed it, though ill rewarded for it, yet is not blamed for doing it; 2 Sam. x. 2. for thefe words refpeft not perfons in a private capacity, but the people of J/rae/ as a body politic, who, as fuch, were not to carry on trade and commerce with thofe people, nor intermarry with them, nor make leagues and enter into alliances with them; the reafon of which was, becaufe being very near neighbours to them, had there not been fuch a law, as a wall of partition between them, they might have become very familiar, and fo have learnt their evil ways and cuftoms, which this was defigned to prevent: the Yews reftrain° this to overtures and proclamations of peace, which they were not to make with thefe nations, as they were direéted to do when they went out to war with others, ch. xx. 10. ”*

¥. 7. Thou foalt not abbor an Edomite, &c.] Or an Idumean, the defcendants of E/au, whofe name was Edom, Gen. xxv. 30. the Targum of Fonathan adds, “‘ that comes to be made a profelyte”; he was not to be rejected with abhorrence, becaufe of the old grudge between Facob and Efau, and which was become national in their pofterity: for be is thy brother, the I/raelites and the Edomites were neareft a-kin to each other of all the nations; for Facob and Efau were own brothers by father’s and mother’s fide, yea were twin-brothers; the relation was very near: thou fhalt not abhor an Egyptian; that. comes to be made a profelyte alfo, as the fame Targum, though the J/raelites were fo ill ufed by them, their lives made bitter with hard bondage, and their male infants flain by them, and they for a long time refufed their liberty to depart: Jecaufe thou waft a stranger in bis land, and at firft received many favours and kindneffes from them, being fupported and fupplied with provifions during'a long famine; and had~one of the richeft and moft fruitful parts of the country affigned them to dwell in; and old favours were o not to be forgotten, though they had been followed with great unkindnefs and cruelty.

yx. 8. The children that are begotten of them, &c.

Of fuch as became profelytes: /hall enter into the congregation of the Lord, in their third generation; not in the third generation from the time that this Jaw was made, but from the time that any of them fhould embrace the true religion; their fons were the fecond generation, and their grandchildren the third; and juch might be admitted into the congregation, and be reckoned as of them, both in their nefs of every fort, and murder; and all other wickedneffes ought to be abftained from at all times by all perfons, but efpecially by foldiers in fuch a circumtftance, juft going to battle; fince fin committed weakens natural courage, as it loads the confcience with guilt; and fince victory and fuccefs; which depend upon the bleffing of God on arms, cannot be reafonably expected, where vices of all forts are indulged and abound; and efpecially feeing fuch are about to expofe their lives to the utmoft danger, and know not but that in a few hours they muft exchange this life for another, and appear before God the judge of all, againft whom they fin; and yet how little are thefe things thought of by fuch in common! it was the wifdom of the Few legiflature, which was of God, to inculcate fuch things into the minds of their foldiers.

¥. 10. If there be among you any man that is not clean, &c.} Any unclean perfon in the army, that was even ceremonially unclean in any of the inftances the law makes fo, one of which put for the reft is mentioned: by reafon of uncleannefs that chanceth him by night; through pollution by a nocturnal flux, as the Septuagint verfion, or a gonorhea, an involuntary one, occafioned by impure thoughts and imaginations in dreams; the fame cafe as in Lev. xv. 16. then fhall he go abroad out of the camp; out of the army, left others fhould be defiled by fuch; they not having houfes to retire to, and chambers to keep themfelves in feparate from others, as when at home: be jhall not come within the camp; that is, not till he has done what is prefcribed him in the next verfe, Farchi fays he might not come into the camp of the Levites, and much lefs into the camp of God.

¥. 11. But it foall be when evening cometh on, &c.] When the day declines and it is near funfetting: he hall wafh himfelf with water, dip himfelf all over in water, not only wafh his garments but his flefh: and when the fun is down he Joall come into the camp again; and take his place and rank in the army. Now if all this was _neceffary on account of ceremonial uncleannefs, which as much as poflible was to be avoided, how much more careful were they to be of moral uncleannefs, as fornication, adultery, and all forts of debauchery and lewdnefs? and yet nothing more frequent among thofe that are of the military order; it would be well if there was no occafion for the reproach Maimonides 4 cafts upon the camps of the heathens, among whom, no doubt, he means chriftians, if not principally; when he obferves that thefe orders were given, that this might be deeply fixed in the mind of every one, that their camp ought to be holy as the fanctuary of God, and not like the camps of the Gentiles, in civil and church-ftate, and be capable of ferving which abound corruptions of all kinds, tranfgref- even offices among them, and of marriage with them, as the Zargum of Fonathan, which fome of the Yews interpret of males only, for females, according to them, might be married immediately as foon as made profelytes, in which way they account for the lawfulnefs of Solomon’s marriage of thou /halt go forth fions, rapines, thefts and other fins.

¥. 12. Thou fhalt have alfo a place without the camp, &c.|_ A place prepared, as the Zargums of Onkelos and Fonathan, provided on purpofe for the ufe hereafter fuggefted; fo Ben Melech: whither abroad; to do the neceflities of nature, which they were to do without the camp,

¥. 9. When the hoft goeth forth againft thine ene mies, cc.) An army of foldiers march in order not in any place they thought fit and moft convenient, but what was appointed for that purpofe.

Lae And thou foalt have a paddle upon thy| fervant which is efcaped from bis mafter ‘unto thee weapon,.&c.} A nail or fpike, fome kind of inftrument to make a hole in the ground with, which ‘was faftened to the fword upon their loins; which was to be inftead of a fpade or mattock to dig with: and it fhall be when thou halt éafe thyfelf abroad, without the camp, in the place appointed for that ule, whenever nature required {lich an action to be performed; shou fhalt dig therewith, with the paddle, an hole in the earth: The E/ fenes ufed, according to Fo/epbus, to make it a foot deep with a fpade or mattock, and to every one that was newly admitted among them, a little pick: ax was given for that purpofe': and fhalt turn back; having eafed nature: and cover that which cometh from thee, their dung, with the earth they dug out of the hole they made. This law was ‘made to preferve modefty and decency becoming men, and not act like brute beafts, as well as cleanlinefs in the camp and the health of themfelves and their fellow-foldiers; and that they might not be offenfive to the fmell, as well as pernicious to the health of one another; and efpeciaily for a reafon that follows in the next verfe; fo Maimonides* fays the intention of this law is efpecially cleanlinefs, ‘and to avoid naftinefs, filthinefs, and impurities of every kind, that men might not be ike the brute animals.

y. 14. For the Lord thy God walketh in the midft of thy camp, &c.] In the tabernacle, which moved when the hoft marched after the camps of Judah and Reuben, and before thofe of Ephraim and Dan, in the midft of them: this was the pofition of it whilft in the wildernefs, and afterwards when they came into'the land of Canaan, and went to war with their enemies, the ark fomeétimes went with them, the fymbol of the divine prefence; and here it is made a reafon why they fhould avoid all uncleannefs, fince the holy God, or that token of his prefence, was in the midft of them: ¢o deliver thee, and give up thine enemies before thee, to fave them from falling into the hands of their enemies, and to deliver their enemies into their hands, which depended not upon their numbers, ftrength and fkill, but on the prefence, providence, and power of God with them; wherefore, as the above writer' obferves by thefe actions (of purity and cleanlinefs) God meant to confirm the faith of thofe that engaged in war, that the divine majefty dwelt among them; for which reafon fuch orders were ftrictly to be obferved by them: sherefore fhall thy camp be boly,; both in a moral and ceremonial fenfe: that be fee no unclean thing in thee; whether natural, moral or ceremonial; the word here ufed fignifies fuch nakednefs as is forbidden to be uncovered, Lev. xviii. Hence Maimonides * applies it to whoredom; for he fays, ‘* by this phrafe God meant to deter and dehort from whoredom, which is too ufual and common among foldiers, as long

-ag they are abfent from their own houfes; that therefore we may be delivered and abftain from thofe impure works, God has commanded fuch things to be done, which may bring to our remembrance that his glory dwels in the midft: of us”: and turn away from thee, and fo they fall into the hands of their enemies, and become an: eafy prey t6 them, their God having forfaken them, and that'this might not'be their cafe, eare fhould be taken not to offend him, and caufe him: to depart from them.

¥. 15. Thou foalt not deliver unto his mafter, the

That is, one that has been ufed ill by a cruel “J tyrannical mafter, and was in danger of his ‘fe with him, or -of being lamed by him, and there-” fore obliged to make his efcape from him on that account; fuch an one when he fell into the hands of an J/raelite was not to be taken and bound, an fent back to his mafter again, but was to be retained till his mafter’s anger fubfided,; or however until inquiry could be made into the caufe of the difference between him and his mafter, and matters be made up between them to mutual fatisfaction; or if it appeared’that the flight of the fervant was juft, and it was not fafe for him to return to his mafter, then he was to be uled as hereafter directed; for it cannot be thought that this law was made to encourage and protect every idle, difobedient and fugitive fervant, which ‘would be very finful and unjuft; the Zewyh writers generally underftand it of the fervants of idolaters fleeing for the fake of religion; Owkelos renders it, ‘a fervant of the people”, of heathen people; the Targum of Jonathan is, ‘* thou fhalt not deli-. ver a ftranger (2. e. a profelyte of righteoufhefs, as Maimonides” calls this fervant) into the hands’ of thofe that worthip idols, but he fhall be delivered by you, that he may be under the fhadow of my Sdekinah, becaufe that he fled from the worfhip of his idol.”? _ Farchi makes mention of another fenfe; that it may be underftood of ‘* a Canaanitifh fervant of an J/raelite that flees (from his mafter) without the land, where he was not obliged to go with him, and ferve him againft his will; but I fuppofe a profelyte is meant’; and much more then will this hold good of an Hebrew fervant in fuch circumftances. ben Ezra interprets this of © a fervant not an J/raelite, who in time of war flees from his mafter not an J/raelite alfo, unto the camp of J/rael, and that for the glory of the divine name which is called upon J/rae/; fuch an one, though a fervant, might not be delivered t his mafter. +. trek Citas y. 16. He fhall dwell in thee, even among you, &c.] This feems to confirm the fenfe of it, being a ftranger, a profelyte-fervant that is here fpoken of, fince the law provides for his dwelling among the J/raelites: in that place he fhall chufe, in one of thy gates where it liketh bim bet; he was not to be detained by the perfon that took him up in his own houfe, or be obliged to dwell in any certain place under a reftraint, but he might take up his abode in any of the cities of J/rael, which would be moft for his good, profit and advantage: thou foalt not opprefs him; by words, as the Targum of Fonathan adds, ‘‘ calling him a fugitive fervant, or by any opprobrious name.”, y. 17. There foall be no whore of the daughters of Tfrael, &c.] The word for whore is Kedefhab, which properly fignifies an oly one; and here, by an Antipbrafis, an unholy, an impure perfon, one that is defiled by man; fee the note on Gen. XXXViii. 18. archi interprets the word, one that makes. herfelf common, that is fanctified, or fet apart; that is, one that feparates herfelf for fick Gevice and proftitutes herfelf to every one that paffes-by but fome underftand this not of common harlots i the ftreets, but of facred whores, or confecrated to heathen deities,, as fur re W to Venus. Strabo * tells us, that the temple of nus at Corinth was fo rich, that more t thoufand of thofe facred harlots were k inen and women had devoted to that goddefs; free’’: a whore and a dogare fitly put together, be- and fo a multitude of the fame fort were at Comana, which he calls little Corinth ¥; now thefe of all harlots being the moft abominable, are forbidden to be among the daughters of J/rael: nor a fodomite of the fons of Lrael,; by the fame rule that Kedefoah is rendered a whore in the preceding claufe, Kadefh fhould be rendered an whoremonger here, as in the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin verfions; though Aven Ezra interprets it paffively, one that is lain with, and Farchi one that is prepared to lye with a male, that profticutes his body in this unnatural way; and it looks as if there were fuch fort of perions facred to idols, fince we read of the houfes of the Sodomites, which were by, or rather in the houfe of the Lord, 2 Kings xxiii. 7.

y. 18. Thou fhalt not bring the hire of a whore, &c ] Which was given to her as a reward for the ufe of her body: or the price of a dog; not of the firft-born of a dog, the price for the redemption of it, as fome; nor for the loan of a hunting dog, or a fhepherd’s dog for breed, as Fo/epbus= interprets caufe both are libidinous, impure and impudent; perhaps the vilenefs and bafenefs of the creature is chiefly regarded in this law, to keep up the credit and veneration of facrifices as facred things; and it may be in reference to the worthip of this creature, as by the Egyptians; who are faid to worfhip a dog, their god Audis, the image of which had a dog’s head on it; or to it’s being offered in facrifice to idols, as it was by others; the Colophonians {acrificed the whelps of dogs to their goddefs Enodius, as others did to Enyalius or Mars®: for even both thefe are an abomination to the Lord thy God, both the hire of the whore and the price of the dog, when brought as a facrifice to him; the one being a breach of the moral law, and the other tending to bring into contempt the facrifices of the ceremonial law, if not a favouring idolatry, than which nothing is more abominable to God, who cannot endure any thing evil, bafe and impure.

¥. 19. Thou fhalt not leid upon ufury to thy brother, &c.] One of the fame nation and religion, this law. Adardinel underftands it figuratively, of and who is in poor and neceffitous circumftances, a fodomite comparable to a dog, for his uncleannefs and impudence; fee Rev. xxii. 15. and the price of fuch an one, the gain he got by the proftitution of his body to unnatural lufts; and fo as the hire of a whore anfwers to one in the preceding verfe, the price of a dog to a fodomite here; and in this he is followed by fome, nor is it a fenfe to be defpifed; though the Yews * underftand it literally of a dog, and of the exchange of another creature with that; fo Onkelos renders it, ‘* the exchange of a dog:” now neither of thefe might a man bring into the boufe of the Lord thy God for any vow, that is, when a man vowed to offer any {facrifice to the Lord, it was not to be any thing that was given to a whore as her hire; as for inftance, as Farchi, if he gave her for her hire a lamb, it was not fit to be offered; which agtees with the Fewifh» canons, “ what is the hire of a whore? if one fays to a whore, take this lamb for thy hire, though 100, they are all forbidden; and fo if one and wants either food for himfelf and family, or money to carry on his hufbandry, till fuch times as the fruits of his ground will bring him in a fufficiency for his {upport; and the payment of what he borrows, and which is to be lent him without any intereft: as the Jews were chiefly employed in hufbandry, and not merchandize, they had but little occafion to borrow, and when they did could not afford to pay intereft, as perfons con cerned in merchandize, whofe gains are great, are able to do; and it is but reafonable that fuch perfons fhould; but that the J/raelites, when poor and in diftrefs, might not be bowed down under their burdens, this law is made for their relief: ufury of money, ufury of vidtuals, ufury of any thing that is lent upon ufury, this takes in all forts of ufury, whether what is lent be money or food, or any thing elfe, no intereft was to be taken for its fee the notes on Lev. xxv. 36, 37.

¥. 20, Unto a firanger thou mayeft lend upon u- fays to his neighbour, Lo this lamb is thine, that thine handmaid may lye with my fervant, R2bdi fays it is not the hire of a whore, but the wife men fay it is. — If he gives her money, lo this is free; wines, oils.and fine flour, and the like, that are offered on the altar are forbidden; (but the commentators fay*, wheat, olives and grapes, out of which fine flour, oil, and wine are made, are free) he gives her confecrated things, Jo thefe are free, birds, they are forbidden”. Now this law feems to be made in oppofition to the cuftoms and practices of the Phanicians and Canaanites, whofe land the Ifraclites were going to inhabit; whofe women, as we are told *, ufed to proftitute themfelves in the temples of their idols, and dedicate there the hire of their bodies to their gods, thinking thereby to appeafe their deities and obtain good things for ‘themfelves; and the like did the Babylonians and Afprians, fee the note on Mic. i. 7. fo it is afked *, *¢ What is the price of a dog? if a man fays to his neighbour, take this lamb for that dog; fo if two partners divide, one takes ten (lambs) and the other nine and a dog; what is in lieu of the dog is forbidden, but thofe that are taken with him are /wy, &c.] To any Gentile, though fome Fewifh writers except the Edomites and T/bmaelites, as being brethren, and reéftrain it to the feven nations of Canaan, but it feems to defign one that was not an J/raelite, of a profelyte of tighteoufnefs, and ef-, pecially to regard fuch that traded and merchandized, as the Gentiles very much did, and efpeciiffally their neighbours the Phenicians; and of fuch it was lawful to take intereft, as it was but reafonable, when they gained much by the money they lent them, and as it is but reafonable fhould be the cafe among Chriftians in fuch circumftances; this is to be regarded not as a precept, but as a permiffion: but unio thy brother thou fhalt not lend upon afury, which is repeated, that it might be taken notice of, and carefully obferved: that the Lord thy God may bléfs thee in all that thou fetteft thine band unto, in the land whither thou goef to poffe/s it; for, their charity, humanity, and the kind ufage of their poor brethren in diftrefs, would not’pafs unnoticed by the Lord; but he would make the land they tilled fruitful, and their vineyards and olive-yards to produce abundance, and their flocks and their herds to increafe eee.

which, would be a fufficient and over-recompence for all that they had freely lent unto their brethren, without taking any ufury of them.

‘y. 21. When thou foalt vow a vow unto the Lord yard, &c.]

thy God, &c.) Which muft be of things in a man’s power to perform, and of what are lawful to be done, and according to the mind and will of God revealed in his word, and agreeable to the manner of worfhip prefcribed by him; as that he will offer fuch a facrifice, a free-will offering to him, and the like, befides what he was bound to do, or give fuch and fuch things for the repair of the fanctuary, or for the relief of the poor; fee the note on Numb. xxx.2. This lawis thought by Aben Ezra to be repeated on the mention of the hire of a whore, &c. being forbidden to be brought for a vow, ¥. 18. thou fhalt not flack to pay it; or delay the payment of it, but do it immediately; fince zeal and affeftion might abate, and there might not be hereafter an ability to perform, or gifts of the houfe of the fanétuary, and alms to the poor. ¥. 24. When thou comeft into thy neighbour’s vine- To take a walk in it for recreation, and to fee how the vines flourifh, and what fort of fruit and what quantity of it they bear; being invited thither by the owner, or occafionally paffing that way ftept in, and even it may be on purpote to tafte the fruits of the vine and quench thirft and fatisfy appetite: then thou mayeft eat grapes thy ll, at thine own pleafure, as many as they would, till nature was fatisfied: but thou shalt not put any in thy veffel; to carry away, to beeaten by them or theirs at another time and place; they were to put none into their pockets er into their bafkets, as the Targum of Fonathan, or whatfoever vefiel they might have with them in the vineyard. Yarché fays, the fcripture fpeaks of a workman, and only at the time of gathering the grapes, when he was putting into his mafter’s veffels, and might not death might come and prevent it; the Targum of put any into his own, and carry away; fo the Few-

Fonathan adds, at the three feafts, that is, of the paflover, pentecoft and tabernacles; and the Fewi/o wrivers » fay, that no man tranfgreffes this precept refpecting the delay of paying a vow, until i/o writers* generally interpret it of a workman only, and of his eating thofe things in which he works, and not of fuch as pafs by the way; fo the Targums: and there are many traditions in the the three feafts have pafled: the Lord thy God will Mifnab * concerning this affair; as that by this law

Surely require it of thee, exact the payment of it, and expect it, infift upon the performance of ‘it, and punifh for neglect: and it would be fin in thee, euilt of fin would be contracted and punifhment inflicted; Alen Ezra interprets it of the latter.

y. 22. But if thou fhalt forbear to vow, &c.] That a man might do, though there was ability; it was expected indeed that men fhould vow and bring freewill-offerings in proportion to their ability; whether they were of the greater fort, of the herd and flock, or of fowls, or even of fine a workman might eat whilft in his work, as the ox may whilft it is treading out the corn, and when his work is perfect; and that he may eat of what he is employed about, only if he is at work upon figs, he may not eat of grapes; and if on grapes, he may not eat of figs, nor might he eat more than his hire came to; and that he might make a covenant for his fon and daughter, fervant and handmaid adult (that -they fhall take money and not eat) and for his wife, becaufe they are endowed with knowledge; but not for his fon and flour, thefe were acceptable to the Lord: but if daughter, fervant and maid-fervant minors, be- they were not vowed and brought, 7 hall be no fin in thee, no charge of guilt be brought or punifhment laid; it fhould not be reckoned a crime, nor be punifhable in any refpect, and efpecially where there was a willing mind and no ability; otherwife negligence, niggardlinefs, and caufe they are not: but Fo/epbus ', their countryman, better interprets this law, who fays,. that travellers, or thofe that pafled by the way, were not forbidden tafting ripe fruits, and even were permitted to fill themfelves with them as if their own, whether they were of the country or ftran- ingratitude are not well-pleafing in the fight of gers.

y¥. 23. That which is gone out of thy lips, thou foalt keep and perform, &c.] Which were in their power to perform and lawful to do; and this is obferved to make them watchful and cautious, and not be rafh in making vows, fince when once they were made, an exact and rigid performance of them was expected; fee Eccl. v. 4, 5. even a freewill- offering, according as thou haft vowed unto the Lord thy God, which thou haft promifed with thy mouth; be it what it will, as to the matter of it, it was to be paid, and in the manner as it was vowed and promifed. Aven Ezra obferves, that every vow is a freewill-offering, but not every freewill-offering a vow; the Targum of Fonathan enumerates the feveral things to be performed, fin-offerings, trefspafs-offerings, burnt-offerings and oblations of holy things, and drink-offerings, and

¥. 25. When thou comeft into the ftanding-corn of thy neighbour, &c.| Paflett through it to’ goto fome other place, the road lying through it, as it often does through ftanding-corn; fo Chrift and his difciples are faid to go through the corn, Mag#. xii. 1. but archi fays, this f{cripture fpeaks of a workman alfo, and fo the Targum of Fonathan, ** when thou goeft in to take thine hire according to work in thy neighbour’s ftanding-corn;” but the other fenfe is beft, and is confirmed and illuftrated by the-inftance given, as.well as beft agrees with what follows: then thou mayeft pluck the ears with thine band; the ears of wheat, and rub them, to fepa-