The Fifth Book of Moses, called Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy 19
Chapter XIX · Vol. I, pp. 509–511
1 The cities of refuge. 4 The privilege thereof for the man-slayer. 14 The landmark is not to be removed. 15 Two witnesses at the least to prove a fact. 16 The punishment of a false witness.
1 WHEN the LORD thy God ahath cut off the nations, whose land the LORD thy God giveth thee, and thou succeedest1 them, and dwellest in their cities, and in their houses;
a ch. 6.10,19; 7.1,2; 17.14. Nu. 15.2.
1 Heb. inheritest or possessest.
2 Thoub shalt separate three cities for thee in the midst of thy land,2 which the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it.
b Ex. 21.13. Nu. 35.10,11. Jos. 20.2. ch. 4.41-43.
2 These three cities were to be selected 'in the midst of the land,' and were thus distinguished from the former three (Nu. 35. 14) selected on the east of Jordan. To the believer they are a striking emblem of the refuge on this side death, and the refuge provided beyond it in eternity.—C.
3 Thou shalt prepare thee a way,3 and divide the coasts of thy land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee to inherit, into three parts, that cevery slayer may flee thither.
3 The way to them was to be kept always clear, and marked with directive signs.
c ver. 4. Nu. 35.15,20. Ex. 21.13. Jos. 20.3,5. ch. 4.42. He. 6.18. 1 Ti. 1.13. Jn. 6.37. Mat. 11.28.
4 And this is the case of the slayer which shall flee thither, that he may live: Whoso killeth his neighbour ignorantly, whom he hated not in time past;4
4 Heb. from yesterday the third day.
5 As when a man goeth into the wood with his neighbour to hew wood, and his hand fetcheth a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree, and the head5 slippeth from the 6helve, and lighteth7 upon his neighbour, that he die; dhe shall flee unto one of those cities, and live:
5 Heb. iron.
6 Heb. wood.
7 Heb. findeth.
d Nu. 35.25. Jos. 20.2-6. Jn. 10.27-29. 1 Ti. 1.13. Is. 45.17,22.
6 Lest the eavenger of the blood pursue the slayer, while his heart is hot, and overtake him, because the way is long, and slay him;8 whereas he was fnot worthy of death, inasmuch as he hated him not in time past.9
e Nu. 35.12. Jos. 20.5. Ga. 3.10,13. He. 2.3.
8 Heb. smite him in life.
f ch. 21.22. Je. 26.11,16. Lu. 24.20. 1 Ti. 1.13.
9 Heb. from yesterday the third day.
7 Wherefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt separate three cities for thee.
8 And if the LORD thy God genlarge thy coast, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, and give thee all the land which he promised to give unto thy fathers:
g ch. 12.20; 11.24,25. Ge. 15.18-21; 28.14. Ex. 23.31.
9 Ifh thou shalt keep all these commandments to do them, which I command thee this day, to love the LORD thy God, and to walk ever in his ways; then shalt thou add1 three cities more for thee, besides these three:2
h ch. 12.32; 6.25; 10.12. Mi. 6.8. Lu. 1.6.
1 Whether these last three were ever added, is uncertain.
2 The Israelites did not keep all God's commandments. They did not love God; on the contrary, they were guilty of repeated and gross acts of rebellion. Consequently 'all the land promised' to Abraham (Ge. 15. 18) was not given to them. The portion allotted to the tribes—from Dan to Beersheba—was only a fragment of the 'Land of Promise,' which extended from the Nile to the Euphrates. It does not appear, therefore, that the three additional cities of refuge were ever required.—P.
10 Thati innocent blood be not shed in thy land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and so blood be upon thee.
i ver. 6. Ex. 21.13. Jos. 20.3-6.
11 But kif any man hate his neighbour, and lie in wait for him, and rise up against him, and smite him3 mortally that he die, and fleeth into one of these cities;
k Nu. 35.16-21,30-32. Ex. 21.12,14,23. Ge. 9.6. ver. 13; ch. 27.24.
3 Heb. in life.
12 Then the elders of his city shall send land fetch him thence, and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die.
13 Thinem eye shall not pity him; but thou shalt put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with thee.
m Ge. 9.6. Ex. 21.12,14,23. Le. 24.17,20. Nu. 35.30-34. Ro. 13.4. Mat. 26.52. Re. 13.10. ver. 11.
14 Thoun shalt not remove thy neighbour's land-mark,4 which they of old time have set in thine inheritance, which thou shalt inherit in the land that the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it.
4 In a country where walls, hedges, and other such fences were, and still are, entirely unknown, except around gardens and orchards, and sometimes vineyards, the preservation of landmarks was a matter of no slight importance. A law forbidding their removal, and admission of their antiquity, intimate that they must have been generally stones, and of no great size. Covetousness is one of the first general forms of sin—for it was a constituent of the original transgression—and, covetousness of land, more than covetousness of money, or any other specific form of this sin, has been the enemy of private peace, and the scourge of kingdoms. God, accordingly, prohibits this sin, by sanctioning the prescriptive usages of antiquity, and asserting his own original gift of the land to Abraham and his descendants.—C.
15 Oneo witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.
o Nu. 35.30. ch. 17.6. Mat. 18.16. Jn. 8.17. 2 Co. 13.1. He. 10.28. 1 Ti. 5.19.
16 If a false witness rise up against any man, to testify against him that which is wrong;5
A.M. 2553. B.C. 1451.
5 Or, falling away.
17 Then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand pbefore the LORD,6 before the priests and the judges which shall be in those days:
p ch. 17.8,9. Ps. 82.1,2. 2 Ch. 19.6.
6 Suits at law frequently originate from dishonesty, from covetousness, or from a contentious and revengeful spirit. But such is the obscurity of rights, and the uncertainty of evidence, that they may originate where both parties are honest, disinterested, and peaceable. The only case in which a Christian may go to law in defence of his rights is when he can 'stand before the Lord,' and refer to his examination and decision both the justice of his cause and the purity of his motives.—C.
18 And the judges shall qmake diligent inquisition: and, behold, if the witness be a false witness,7 and hath testified falsely against his brother;
q ch. 13.14; 17.4. 1 Ki. 8.31,32. 2 Ch. 19.6,7.
7 On few points is modern jurisprudence more defective, and by consequence more injurious to the cause of truth and justice, than in the case of false witness or perjury—in fact so difficult, so problematical, if not impossible, is conviction, that a false witness is seldom prosecuted in a European Christian court of law. The Mosaic jurisprudence proceeded on a different principle, and pointed its judgment, not against constructive malice, but against simple intentional falsehood, and required no second prosecution, but proceeded at once to convict upon the review of the evidence on record. Note, Christian legislators have yet much to learn from Moses in whose inspired laws, eternal moral principle, and not temporary expediency, constitutes the rule of procedure and decision.—C.
19 Thenr shall ye do unto him as he had thought to have done unto his brother: so shalt thou put the evil away from among you.
r Pr. 19.5,9. Da. 6.24. Ex. 21.24,25. Mat. 7.2. ver. 21; ch. 13.5; 18.20; 17.7; 21.21; 24.7. Je. 14.15. Zec. 13.3.
20 And those which remain shall shear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil among you.
s ch. 13.11; 17.13; 22.21,22,24; 21.21. Pr. 21.11; 19.25. 1 Ti. 5.20.
Notes
Reflections.—While in these cities of refuge I again view a crucified Redeemer, as my near and all-sufficient protection, and his ministers as assisting and directing me in my flight to it, plain and open is my way to it, and my warrant to enter. Yet so great is our ignorance, our unconcern, our unbelief, that we need many and repeated descriptions of him, and encouragements to flee to him; and God graciously affords them in his word. Happy are they who embrace the promise! But desperate is their case who sin presumptuously, and refuse this great salvation! Nay, how criminal, in God's sight, must wilful murder be, when nothing less than the blood of the offender can be admitted as the punishment of it! Everything that marks out and ascertains men's property should be exactly preserved, that so disputes and unjust evasions may be prevented: and witnesses should be examined in the courts of judicature with accuracy and care, that none may suffer unjustly through false witnessing, and none that dare to bear false witness may escape condign punishment.