Exposition of the Whole Bible

rate the grain from the hufk or beard, and eat it, as did the difciples of Chrift, Zuke vi. 1. to fatisfy hunger: but thou halt not move a fickle unto thy neighbours flanding-corn; to cut it down and carry any of it off, which would have been an unjuft thing.

EAHIS chapter contains various laws concerning divorces, ¥. 1—4. the difcharge of a new-married man from war and bufinefs, y. 5. about taking pledges, ¥. 6, 10—13. man-ftealing, ¥. 7. the plague of leprofy, y. 8, 9. and giving fervants their hire in due time, ¥. 14, 15. concerning doing juftice in capital cafes, and towards the ftranger, fatherlefs, and widow, y. 16, 17, 18. and of charity to the poor, in allowing them the forgotten fheaf, and the gleanings of their olive-yards and vineyards, ¥. 19—22.

yy. 1. When aman hath taken a wife and married her, &c.] That is, when a man has made choice of a woman for his wife, and has obtained her confent, and the confent of her parents; and has not only betrothed her, but taken het home, and confummated the marriage: and it come to pafs that foe find no favour in bis eyes; is not agreeable to him, he takes no delight in her perfon; nor pleafure in her company and converfation; but, on the contrary, his affections are alienated from her, and he can’t bear the fight of her: decaufe he hath found fome uncleannefs in ber; fomething that he difliked, and was difagreeable to him, and which made their continuance together in the marriageftate very uncomfortable; which led him on to be very ill-natured, fevere, and cruel to her; fo that her life was expofed to danger, or at leaft become very uneafy; in which cafe a divorce was permitted, both for the hardnefs of the man’s heart, and in favour of the woman, that fhe might be freed from fuch rigorous ufage. This word uncleanne/s does not fignify adultery, or any of the uncleannefles forbidden in Zev. xviii. becaufe that was punifhable with death, when it could be proved; and where there was only a fufpicion of it, the hufband might make ufe of the bitter water; though the houfe of Shammai feem to take it in this-fente; for they fay a man might not divorce his wife unlefs he found in her fome unclean thing, fomething difhoneft and wicked, and which they ground upin his eyes; and fo the fews ° generally underftand it, and fo they did in the time of Chri/t, Matt. xix. 7- whereas it was no more than a permiffion, for reafons before given. A man might not difmifs his wife by word of mouth; which might be done haftily; in a paffion, of which he might foon repent 5 but by writing, which was to be drawn up inform; and; as the Zargum of Jonathan, before the fanhedrim, in a court of judicature, which required time, during which he might think more of it, and either recede from his purpofe before the cafe was finifhed, or do it upon mature deliberation, and a firm refolution. The Jews fay ” many things of the witneffés before whom it was to be written and fealed, and at what time, and upon what, and with what it was to be written, and who were proper perfons to write it or not, in a treatife of theirs called Gittin, or divorces. In the Hebrew text this bill is called’a dill of cutting off 9; becaufe the marriage was refcindedy and man and wife were cut off and feparated from one another for ever; of the form of fuch a bill, fee the note on Matt. v. 31. and give it in her hand; which was to be done before witneffes, and which is one’ of the ten things requifite to a divorce '; though it made no difference whether it was delivered by himfelf, or by a meffenger; or whether to her, or to her deputy, appointed by her before witneffes 5 or whether it was put into her hand, or in her bofom, fo be it that fhe was but poffefled of it; with which agrees the Fewi/h canon, ‘* if he cafts a bill to his wife; and fhe is within the houfe, or within the court, fhe is divorced;—if he cafts it into her bofom, or into her work-bafket, fhe is divorced *?’: ond fend her out of his houfe; which was'a vifible token and public declaration of her divorce; befides, were fhe to be continued in his houfe afterwards, it would give fufpicion of cohabitation, which after a divorce was not lawful.

¥.2. And when fhe is departed out of his boufe, &c.] With her bill of divorce, by which departure out of his houfe it is notified to all: on thefe words; but the houfe of Aidlell fay, if the burnt his food, or fpoiled it by over-falting, over-roafting it; and Akiba fays, even if he found he may go and be another man’s wife, it was permitted her or)to marry another man, the being by her divorce freed from the law of her former hufband; and another woman more beautiful than her, or more agreeable to him. But neither his fenfe, nor that of the houfe of Shammai, are approvedof by the Fews in general, but that of the houfe of Hil ell=, and they fuppofe a man might divorce his wife for any ill qualities of mind in her, or for anyill or impudent behaviour of hers; as if her hufband faw her go abroad with her head uncovered, and {pinning in the ftreets, and fo fhewing her naked arms to men; or having her garments flit on both fides; or wafhing in a bath with men, or where men ufe to wath, and talking with every man, and joking with young men; or her voice is fonorous and noify; orany difeafe of body, as the leprofy, and the like; or any blemifhes, as warts, are upon her; or any difagréeable fmell, that might arife from any parts of the body, from fweat, or a ftinking breath": then let him write her a bill of di- who indeed in exprefs words contained in the divorce, gave her leave fo todo; which ran thus, ** thou art in thine own hand, and haft power over thyfelf to go and marry any other man whom thou pleafeft; and let no man hinder thee in my name, from this day forward and forever; and lo, thou art free to any man;” fee the note on Matt. v:

¥. 3. And if the latter hufband hate her, &c.] Or lefs loves her than another woman, and fhe is difliked by him as fhe was by her former hufband: and write her a billof divorcement, and giveth it into her hand, and Jendeth her out of bis houfe; as he had by this law a permiffion, in like manner as her former hufband had; fee the note ony. 1. or if ber latter bufband die, which took her to be bis wife; and fhe furvives him; as fhe is then by death loofed from the law of an hufband, fhe may law- vorcement; Farchi fays, this is a command upon fully marry another man, but not her former huf- him to divorce her, becaufe fhe finds not favour band, as follows.

y¥. 4. Her former hufband which fent her away may not take ber again to be bis wife, &c.| Though ever fo defirous of it, and having heartily repented that he had put her away: this is the punithment of his ficklenefs and inconftancy, and was ordered to make men cautious how they put away their wives; fince when they had fo done, and they had been married to another, they could not enjoy them again even on the death of the fecond hufband; yea, though fhe was only efpoufed to him, and he had never lain with her, as Ben Melech obferves, it was forbidden the former hufband to marry her; though if fhe had only played the whore, according to the fame writer, and others *, fhe might return to him: after that fhe is defiled; not by whoredom, for in that cafe fhe was not forbidden, as it is interpreted, but by her being married to another man; when fhe was defiled, not by him, or with refpec&t to him, nor with regard to any other man, whom fhe might lawfully marry after the deceafe of her latter hufband; but with refpect to her firft hufband, being by her divorce from him, and by her marriage to another, entirely alienated and feparated from him, and fo prohibited to him; and thus R. Fo/epb Kimchi interprets this defilement of prohibition, things prohibited being reckoned unclean, or not lawful to be ufed: for that is abomination before the Lord; for aman to take his wife again, after fhe had been divorced by him, and married to another man, and yet, fuch is the grace and goodnels of God to his backfliding people, that he receives them when they return unto him their firft hufband, and forfake other lovers, Jer. iii. 1. Hof. ii. 7, 19. and thou fhalt not caufe the land to fin which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance; fince if this was allowed, that men might put away their wives, and take them again at pleafure, and change them as often as they thought fit; no order could be obferved, and the utmoit confufion in families introduced, and lewdnefs encouraged, and which would fubject the land and the inhabitants of it to many evils and calamities, as the juft punifhment thereof.

y. 5. When a man bath taken a new wife, 8c.) A wife he has lately married, new to him, though a widow, as Farchi obferves; but the Targum of Jonathan fays a virgin; however this is oppofed to his old wife, and divorced; for this, as Farchi and Ben Melech fay, excepts the return of ‘a divorced wife, who can’t be faid to be a new one: be hall wot go out to war; this is to be underftood of a man that had not only betrothed, but married a wife; aman that had betrothed a wife, and not married her, who went out to war, might return if he would, ch. xx. 7. but one that had married a wife was not to go out to war: wither fhall ve charged with any bufinefs 5 as betrothed ones were; they, though they had a liberty of returning, yet they were to provide food and drink for the army, and to prepare or mend the highways, as Farchi obferves; but thefe were not obliged to fuch things, nor even to keep watch on the walls of thecity, or to pay taxes, as Maimonides » writes: but he shall be free at home one year; not only from all tributes and taxes, and every thing relative to the affairs of war, but from public offices and employments, which might occafion abfence from home. archi remarks, that his houfe or home comprehends his vineyard; and fo he thinks that this refpects his houfe and-his vineyard, that if he had built a houfe and dedicated it, or planted a vineyard and made it common, yet was not to remove from his houfe becaufe of the neceffities of war: and fall chear up his wife which be bath taken; or rejoice witn his wife which he hath taken, and folace themfelves with love; and thereby not-only endear himfelf to her, but fettle his affections on her, and be fo confirmed in conjugal love, that hereafter no jealoufies may arife, or any eaufe of divorce, which this law feems to be made to guard againft. So it is faid*, that Alexander after the battle at Granicus fent home to Macedonia his néw- married foldiers, to winter with their wives, and return at {pring; which his mafter Ariffotle had taught him, and.as he was taught by a Few.

¥.6. No man fhalt take the nether or the upper

Mill-ftone to pledge, &c.| The firft word being of the dual number takes in both ftones, wherefore Vatablus renders the words, “* ye fhall not take for a pledge both the mill-ftones, nor indeed the uppermoft;” which is the leaft; fo far fhould they be from taking both, that they were not allowed to take the uppermoft, which was the fhorteft, meaneft, and lighteft; and indeed if any one of them was taken, the other became ufelefs, fo that neither was to be taken: for he taketh a man’s life to pledge, or with which his life is fupported, and the life of his family; for if he has corn to fupply them with, yet if his mill or mill-ftones are pawned, he can’t grind his corn, and fo he and his family muftftarve: and in thofe times and countries they did, as the 4rabs doto this day, as Dr. Shaw * relates, ‘* moft families grind their wheat ahd barley at home, having two portable mill-ftones for that purpofe; the uppermoft whereof is turned round by a fmall handle of wood or iron, thatis placed in the rim;” and thefe mill-ftones being portable, might be the more eafily taken for pledges, which is here forbidden for the above reafon; and this takes in any other thing whatever, on which a man’s living depends, or by which he gets his bread «. y. 7. If a man be found ftealing any of bis brethren of the children of Ijrael, 8cc.| Whether erown up or little, male or female, an J/raelite or a pro~ felyte, or a freed fervant; all, as Maimonides fays, are included in this general word drethren; thourh Aben Ezra obferves, that it is added of the cbildren of Irael, for explanation, fince an Edomite is called a brother. Now, aman mutt be found cOfimitting this fact, that is, it muft plainly appear, there mutt be full proof of it by witnefles, as fa” chi explains this word: and maketh merchandizé of him; or rather, ufes him as a fervant, and efploys him in any fervice to the leaft profit and advantage by him, even to the value of a farthing:; yea, if he does but lean upon him, and he fixpports him, though he is an old man that is ftolens this is ferving a man’s felf by him, as Maimonides®, which is what is forbidden as diftin€& from felling: him as follows: or /elleth bim; to others; and both thefe, according to the above-writer®, ufing. him for fervice, and felling him, are neceffary to make him guilty of death; not the one without the other; but reading them disjunétively, as we do, gives the better fenfe of the words: that thief foall die; by ftrangling with a napkin, as the Targum of Fonathan, and fo Maimonides * fays, his death is by ftrangling: and thou foalt put evil away from among you; both him that dees evil, as the Targum of ‘fonathan, and the guilt of it by inflicting due punifhment for it; and fo deter from fuch practices, and prevent evil coming upon the body of the people, fhould fuch a fin be connived at; fee Exod. xxi. 16.

y¥.8. Lake heed in the plague of leprofy, &c.] Whether in the bodies of men, or in houtes, orin garments, notto hide and conceal it; or, as Farchi, weaken the figns of it, or cut out the bright fpot; fo the Targum of Fonathan: that thou obferve diligently, and do according to all the priefts, the Levites, feall teach you; according to the laws and rules given in fuch cafes, whether they order to fhut up perfons, houfes, or clothes, or pronounce unclean or clean; in all things they were to do as they directed, which appeared to be agreeable to the faid rules; for the judgment, management, and ordering of thefe things, belonged to the priefts; of which fee Lev. xiii. and xiv. as I commanded them, fo foall ye obferve to do; which fhews that they were not to comply with their orders, and conform to them, any farther than they agreed with the commands of God, and the inftructions he had given them in the places referred to.

¥. 9. Remember what the Lord thy God did unto Miriam, &c.] Whe was ftricken with leprofy for {peaking againft Mo/es, and was fhut up feven days; and they arereminded of this inftance, part~ ly to warn them againft entertaining evil fufpicions, and furmifes of perfons in power and authority, and fpeaking evil of them; and partly to expect that punifhment would certainly be inflicted on them, fhould they be guilty of the fame crime; nor fhould they think it hard, either to be mitten with leprofy, or to be fhut up for it; fince Miriam, a prophetefs, andthe fitter of Mo/es,. was fo ufed; and that when dy the way, after that ye were come out of Egypt; when upon their journey, and were retarded in it, and obliged to ftay at leaft feven days before they could proceed on in it; fee Numd. xii. 14, 15, 16.

y. 10. When thou doft lend thy brother any thing, &c.] Any fum of money he ftands in need of, or demandeft adebt of him, as Farchi; money he is indebted to thee, which is the fenfe of the eptuagint verfion; and he is not able to pay it, but offers fomething in pawn till hecan pay it: thou fhalt not go into his boufe to fetch his pledge; which would be an exercife of too much power and authority, to go into a neighbour’s houfe, and take what was liked; and befides, as no doubt he would take the beft, fo he might take that which the poor man made it a rule that it thould be of a middling fort, between both, left it fhould bea difcouragement and hindrance to lend upon pledges '.

M.12. And if the man be poor, &c.] Which may be thought to be the cafe of every one that gives pledges for a debt he owes, or a fum of money he borrows; yet there might bea difference: fome might be fo very deftitute of goods and raiment in their houfes, that whatever they parted with was diftrefling to them, and they could not well do without it: thou fhalt not fleep with bis pledge; nor keep it a night; but deliver it to him, before he went to bed, and laid himfelf down to fleep.

¥.13. In any cafe thou fhalt deliver him the pledge again, when the fun goeth down, &c.| If it was a night-covering, as Farchi remarks; but if it was his day-clothes, he was to return it inthe morning, when the’ fun arofe; and this was to be done every day, which muft occafion a great deal ot trouble, and the pledge of little ufe; fo that. it feems as though they might as well be without it as have it, and lend freely;.-but the Jews fay that there was an advantage by it; for it is faid in an- {wer to fuch aqueftion, ‘* of what profit is the pledge? by this means the debt is not releafed on the feventh year, (when all other debts were releafed, ch. xv. 1, 2.) nor could the borrower difpofe of his goods to his children, but payment was made from the pledge after his death ™:” now this delivery of the pledge at fun-fetting was ordered, that be may fleep in his own raiment; have his nightcovering to fleep in, his pillow, and bolfter, and bedding to lie on, and bed-clothes to cover him 3; and indeed the clothes they wore were made in fuck form, as would ferve for covering to fleep in at night, as well as to wear in theéday; and fuch is the clothing of the Arabs now, which they call hykes. ‘* The ufual fize of them (Dr. Shaw fays*) is fix yards long, and five or fix feet broad, ferving the Arab tor a compleat drefs in the day; and as they fleep in their raiment, it ferves likewife for his bed and covering by night:” and blefs thee; for ufing him fo mercifully and kindly, as to return him his pledge, which is fo neceflary to his comfortable repofe in the night; and not only will he praife him, and fpeak well of him for it, and give him thanks; but wil! pray to God to blefs him in foul, body, and eftate, for fuch kindnefs fhewn him: and it fhall be righteoufnefs unto thee before the Lord thy God; not his juftifying righteoufnels before God, for by the deeds of the law fhall no flefh living be juftified in his fight;, but it fhall could not fpare: and indeed, according to the Yewifo canons *, he could not take any pledge at all, but with the knowledge, and by the leave, of the fanhedrimy or court of judicature.

the beft; fo, on the other hand, the borrower or debtor would be apt to bring the worft, what was of the leaft value and ule; wherefore the Hews be owned and approved of, as a good and righteous aétion, and anfwerable to the intention of this law, which is, that mercy fhould be fhewn to perfons in diftrefs; in which fenfe the word righteou/- s is fometimes ufed, even for a merciful ac tion, Pf. cxii. 9. Dan. iv. 27. fo alms is: called dixcssown righteoufnefs, Matt. vi. 1. in fome copies.

y. 11. Thou foalt fiand abroad, &c.} Without|ne doors, in the ftreet, as the Targum of Fonathan, whilft the borrower or debtor looks out, and brings forth what he can beft fpare as a pledge: and the man to whom thou doft lend, foall bring out the pledge abroad unto thee, now as, on the one hand, if the lender or creditor had been allowed to go in and take what he pleafed for a pledge;

y.14. Thou fhalt not opprefs an hired fervant, &c.] That is hired by the day, as appears by the following verfe; though the law may include fuch he would ¢chufejas are hired by the week, or month, or year;~ neither of whom are to be opprefled by any means, and chiefly by detaining their wages; fothe Jeru/alen Targum explains the phrafe, ‘* ye fhall not ae by force the hire of the hited fervant;? nor by fraud, asin Yam. v. 4. that is poor and needy;,and focan’t bear the leaft oppreffion of this kind, nor to his wages detained from him any time, and much lefs wholly to be defrauded of them: whether he be of thy brethren, an Iraclite, and fo a brother both by nation and religion:

this both of profelytes of righteoufnefs, and of profelytes of the gate; which latter are plainly de- {cribed by this claufe, and the former mutt be included; for if profelytes of the gate are not to be opprefied, much lefs profelytes of righteoufnels, who were in all refpeéts as J/raclites, the fame was to them both. arebi fays, the phrafe ix thy Jand isintended to comprehend the hire of beafts, and of veflels; and thefe in the Mifnabeare faid to be comprehended in this precept, as well as the hire of Yonathan gives both; ‘* fathers fhall not be putto death, neither by theteftimony, nor for the fins havejof the children; and children fhall not be put to death, neither by the teftimony, nor for the fins” of fathers; butevery man fhall be put to death for his own fin by proper witnefies.”” ae or of thy firangers that) Y. 17. Thou foalt not pervert the judgment of the Farchi interprets ftranger, nor of the fatherlefs, &c.] Who are unable to defend themielves, and have but few, ifany to take their part; and therefore particular care fhould be taken by judges and civil magiftrates to do them juftice, or God will require it of them nor take a widow's raiment to pledge, nor any thing. lawjelfe, as her ox or cow, Yob xxiv. 3. according to the Fewifo canons*, of a widow, whether fhe is poor or rich, a pledge is not taken; the reafon given for which is, that it would raife an ill fufpicion, and caufe an evil report of her among are in thy land, within thy gates;

man. her neighbours‘; and which is fuggefted by the y. 15, At bis day thou foalt give him bis bire, &c.] At the clofe of the day, when his work is done, the hire agreed for muft bepaid him; and, by the fame rule, all fuch that were hired by the week, month, or year, were to have their wages paid them at the day their time wasup: mneitber foall the fun go down upon it, it was to be paid-before fun-fetting, or at it; fee Lev. xix. 13. for be is poor, and fetteth bis heart upon it; being poor, he can’t wait any longer for the payment of it; _ his perfonal and family wants are fuch as require immediate payment; and befides, he has been eagerly expecting it, and earneftly defiring it, that he may fatisfy the craving neceffities of himfelf and family; and therefore it would be a great baulk and difappointment to him to have his wages detained: def be cry againft thee to the Lord; having none to apply unto but him, whovis the patron of the poor and needy, not being able to help himfelf, nor having intereft in any to interpofé‘on his behalf; and his cry, and the cry of his hire too, enter into the ears of the Lord of hofts, and is regarded by him, Jam. v. 4. and it be fin unto thee, be imputed to him, the guilt charged on him, and punifhment inflicted for its y. 19.

© 9. §. 13. * Maimon. & Bartenora in ib.; Targum of Fonathan, * neither fhall any of you take for a pledge the raiment of a widow, left wicked neighbours fhould arife, and bring an evil /report upon her, when ye return the pledge unto her.”” But no doubt a poor widow is meant, and the defign of the law is mercy to her, and that fhe might not be diftrefied by taking that from her fhe needed. pe.

¥.18. But thou shalt remember that thou waft a Jond-man in Egypt, &c.] The remembrance of which may caufe fympathy with perfons in diftrefs; ’ particularly the ftranger, the fatherlefs, and the widow: and the Lord thy God redeemed thee thence 5 the Targum of Fonathan, “ the Word of the Lord thy God;” which, as it was an act of great kindnefs and mercy in God tothem, taught them, and laid them under obligation to fhew favour to their fellow creatures in diftrefs: therefore I command thee to do this thing; not to pervert the judg- |ment of the ftranger and fatherlefs, nor take a widow’s raiment for a pledge; and it may be carried farther into the context, and refpect the laws about \the pledge of the poor man, and giving the hired fervant his wages in due time. ' When thou cutteft down thine harveft in thy field, &c.] Whether barley-harveft or wheatharveft, when either of them are ripe for cutting, mowing, or reaping, and are cutting-down: aad \haft forgot a fheaf in the field, Farchi fays, the phrafe i the field is ‘ufed to include ftanding corn,. fome of which is forgotten in cutting down, and fo is fubject to this law as well as a thea; and’a fheaf claimed by this name is one that is forgotten both by the workman and the owner; if by the one and not by the other, it could not be fo called. Thecanon runs thus', ‘* a fheaf which the workmen forget, and not the owner, of the owner forgets, and not the workmen, before which the poor {tand, or is covered with ftraw or ftubble, is nota ~ forgotten fheaf.” ‘And about this they have various other rules; “* a fheaf that is prime (of a field), or to an heap (of fheaves), or oxen, or toinftruments, and left, the houfe of fi it is not to be reckoned a forgotten fheaf; houfe of Hillel] fay’ it is;—two fheaves a ed forgotten, three ate not; a fheaf if” there are two feahs (about a peck anda h they leave'it, it is not reckoned forgotten alt not go again to fetch it, which fapp membrance of it, or fome intelligence ab when at home, and after the field has been cle Shebuot, Cas SN ““* '« Bartenora in ib. _'M * Mifn, Peah, c. 5. §. 7. + Mifn. ibs c. Oe yr. 16. The fathers hall not be put to death for the children, &c.| By the civil magiftrates, for fins committed by them of a capital nature, and which are worthy of death: neither fhall the children be _ put to death for the fathers, for fins committed by them that deferve it: every man Jhall be put to death for bis own fin; which is but juft and reafonable; fee Ezek. xviii. 4. which is no contradiétion to Exod. xx. 5. that refpeéts what God himfelf would do, this what J/rael, or the civil magiftrates in it fhoulddo; this is a command on J/rael, as Aben Ezra obferves; that the declaration of the Sovereign Being, who is not bound by any law. » Yarchi interprets thefe words differently, as that the one fhould not be put to death by the teftimony of the other; and it isa rule with the Yews, “that an oath of witnefs is taken of men, and not of women; of thofe that are not akin, and not of thofe that are nearly related?;” on which one of the commentators obferves 1, that fueh that are near akin are not fit to bear teltimony, becaufe it is written, she fathers. foall not be put to death for the children; that is, for the teftimony of the children. archi indeed mentions the other fenfe, for the iniquity of the children, which has been given, and is undoubtedly the-true fenfe of the text. The Targum of ° Bava Metzia, c. 9. §. 12. P Mia.

Ch. xxv. 1-3. DEUTERONOMY 99 and all carried in but this fheaf,; then the owner might not go nor fend to fetch it: the beginnings of the rows, they fay, fhew when a fheaf is forgotten, or not; particularly the adverfe fheaf, or that over-againtt it, fhews it”; fo archi: it be for the firanger; or profelyte; the profelyte of righteoufniels; of this there is no doubt, but it feems to be for the profelyte of the gate alfo: for the fatherlefs and for the widow; which of them foever fhould firft find it: that the Lord thy God may ble[s thee in all the work of thine bands, in the culture of their ground the next year, and give ~ them large and fruitful crops; they either purpofely wheat-harveft, about the latter end of Fine, or beginning of Fuly, for they were more forward in thofe hot countries: thou fhalt not glean it afterwards; go over the vines a fecond time, to pick off halljevery berry or bunch that efcaped them at firft gathering: it /hall be for the ftranger, for the father- /e/s, and the widow; as the forgotten fheaf, and the olive-berries left; thefe are all fuppofed to be poor perfons, otherwife no doubt there were ftrangers, and fatherlefs perfons, and widows, in good circumftances; who, as they needed not, fo neither would give themfelves the trouble, but think it beneath them to go into fields, olive-yards, and leaving the fheaf for the poor, or however fuffer them to take it unmolefted when found by them. The Targum of ‘fonathan is, that the word of the Lord thy God may blefs thee, &c.

¥.20. When thou beateft thine olive-tree, &c.] With fticks and ftaves, to get off the olives when ripe: thou foalt not go over the boughs again; to beat off fome few that may remain; they were not nicely to examine the boughs over again, whether there were any left or no: it /hall be for the ftranger, for the fatherlefs, and the widow, who might come into their olive-yards after the trees had been beaten, and gather what were left..

vy. 21. When thougathereft the grapes of thy vineyard, &c.| Which was done much about the fame time that the olives were gathered, and both after

EVERAL laws are contained in this chapter, as concerning beating fuch whofe crimes required it, ¥. 1, 2, 3. of not muzzling the ox in treading out the corn, ¥. 4. of marrying a deceafed brother’s wife, when there was no iffue, and of the difgrace of fuch that refuled it, ¥. 5—10. of the punifhment of an immodeft woman, y. 11, 12. and againft bad weights and meafures, ¥. 13—16. and for the utter deftruction of -Amalek, y.1. If there be a controverfy between men, &c.] Between two or more: and they come unto judgment; into acourt of judicature, bring their caufe

- thither: hat the judges may judge them; who vineyards, to gather what was left by the owners. Thefe laws were made in favour of the poor, that mercy and kindnefs might be fhewed to them, and that they might have a tafte of all the fruits of the - earth.

¥. 22. And thou foalt remember that thou waft a bondman in the land of Egypt, &c.). When they would have been glad to have enjoyed the like favours, as {mall as they might feem to be, even to glean in their fields, vineyards, and olive-yards: therefore I command thee to do this thing, to fuffer the poor to take the forgotten fheaf, and to come into their olive-yards and vineyards, and gather what olives and grapes remained after the firft beating of the one, and the in-gathering of the other.

of death by the hand of heaven $ and they are 18; and all negative precepts of the law broken, for which there is neither cutting off, nor death by a court of judicature, for thefe men are to be beaten, and they are 168; and all that are to be beaten are found to be: 207: that the judge fhall caufe him to lie down; which feems to be on the floor of the court, fince it was to be done immediately, and in the prefence of the judge; and the Yews gather * from hence, that he was to be beaten neither ftanding, nor fitting, but bowed; that is, ye fhall command or order him to lie down, or to fall upon the ground with his face towards it: aad to be beaten before bis face, in the prefence of the judge, that the fentence might be properly executed, nei- were never lefs than three; the great fawbedrim at Ferufalem confitted of 71, the lefler court was of 23, and the leaft of all three only:

ther exceeded nor diminifhed; and indeed all the judges were to be prefent, efpecially the bench of then they shall) three; for whilft he was beating, the chief of the judges read the paffage in Deut. xxviii. 58. and he that was next to him counted the ftrokes, and the and third at every blow faid fmite*: of the manner judg-jof beating or fcourging, fee the note on Matt, x. 17. according to bis fault, by a certain number; as was more or lefs heinous, more or fewer ftripes were to be laid on him; as ten or twenty, fewer or more, according to the nature of his offence, as Aven Ezra obferves, only he might not add above forty; though he fays there are fome who fay that according to his fault the and who they were ftripes are larger or leffer, but all of them in num- jufify the righteous, and condemn the wicked; acquit the one, whofe caufe is good, and adjudge the) other to punifhment, who is guilty of a crime, as that deferves; which is to do righteous ment; the contrary to this is an abomination to the Lord, Prov. xvii. 15. his crime and wickednefs y. 2. And it foall be if the wicked man be worthy tobe beaten, &c.| There were four kinds of death criminals were put to by the Fews, ftoning, ftrangling, burning, and flaying with the fword, and fuch crimes as did not fubjeét to thefe, were punifh- éd with beating or fcourging;

that were worthy to be beaten, is at large fet forth ber forty.; in the Mifnic treatife called Maccoth*, or fripes,| ¥. 3. Forty firipes he may give him and not exceed, which are too) many to be tranferibed.. Maimo- &c.] And that this number might not be exceeded, nides{ays.’, thatall negative precepts in the law, it is ordered by the Yewyh canons, that only 39 for the breach of which men are guilty of cutting fhould be given; for it is afked *, “ With how many vof, but not of death by the fanhedrim, are to be ftripes do they beat him? with forty, fave one, as - beaten. They are in all 21 5 and foall deferving it is faid in number forty; that is, in the ese L; which