The Fifth Book of Moses, called Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy 21
Chapter XXI · Vol. I, pp. 512–514
1 The expiation of an uncertain murder. 10 The usage of a captive taken to wife. 15 The first-born is not to be disinherited upon private affection. 18 A stubborn son is to be stoned to death. 22 The malefactor must not hang all night on a tree.
1 IF onea be found slain in the bland which the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it be not known who hath slain him;1
b ch. 4.1.
1 This follows very properly after the law he had delivered about making war; because then the bodies of dead men were most frequently found; about which the wisest lawgivers took the greatest care that inquisition should be made how and by whom they were slain. This appears by Plato, who, in his ninth book, De Legibus, hath a law something like to this, though far short of the solemnity that is here required to be used.—Patrick.
2 Then cthy elders and thy judges shall come forth,2 and they shall measure unto the cities which are round about him that is slain:
c ch. 16.18. Ro. 13.3,4.
2 The institution of the coroner's inquest in British legislation is the nearest approach in modern times to this ancient and divine ordinance. This ordinance answers all the ends of the inquest, and with circumstances of more search and solemnity—while the religious aspect and management of the whole process gives evidence of an appointment from God, and not from man.—C.
3 And it shall be, that the city which is next unto the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take an dheifer, which hath not been wrought with, and which hath not drawn in the yoke;
4 And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer unto a erough valley, which is neither eared nor sown, and shall strike off the heifer's neck there in the valley:
e Ro. 2.8,9; 3.19; 8.3. Is. 53.2-10. Phi. 2.6,7. 1 Pe. 2.24; 3.18. Ga. 3.13; 4.4.
5 And the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come near; (for them the LORD thy God fhath chosen to minister unto him, and to bless in the name of the LORD;) and gby their word3 shall every controversy and every stroke be tried.
6 And all the elders of that city, that are next unto the slain man, shall hwash their hands over the heifer that is beheaded in the valley:
h Ps. 26.6; 19.12. Mat. 27.24,25.
7 And they shall answer and say, iOur hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it.
8 Be merciful, O LORD, unto thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, and klay not innocent blood unto4 thy people of Israel's charge. And the blood shall be forgiven them.
k Ju. 9.24. Ps. 51.14. Jonah 1.14.
4 Heb. in the midst.
9 So shalt thou put away the guilt of innocent blood from among you, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the LORD.
10 When thou goest forth to war against lthine enemies, and the LORD thy God hath delivered them into thine hands, and thou hast taken them captive,
l ch. 20.10-16. Nu. 31.18.
11 And seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a mdesire unto her, that thou wouldest have her to thy wife;
m Ge. 34.8; 29.18,20. Ju. 14.2,3.
12 Then thou shalt bring her home to thine house; and she shall nshave her head, and 5pare her nails;
n 1 Co. 11.6. Ep. 4.22. Ro. 13.13,14.
5 Or, suffer to grow. Heb. make, or dress.
13 And she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thine house, and obewail her father and her mother a full month: and after that thou shalt go in unto her, and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife.6
o Ps. 45.10. Lu. 14.26. Mat. 10.37.
6 This law forms a national barrier against military licentiousness, while it provides a home and a protector for the fair and defenceless captive. The words 'she shall shave her head,' 'she shall put off the raiment of her captivity,' evidently imply that the marriage was not an act of coercion, but of choice—C.
14 And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her, then thou pshalt let her go whither she will; but thou shalt not sell her at all for money, thou shalt not make merchandise7 of her, because thou hast humbled her.
p Ex. 21.26,27. ch. 22.13,19; 24.17. Eze. 22.10.
7 If, after treating her as his wife, and she lost his favour, and he would not continue her as his wife, he was not permitted to keep her as a slave, or to sell her, but must give her liberty, and make provision for her.—I.
15 If a man qhave two wives,8 one beloved, and another hated, and they have born him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the first-born son be her's that was hated:
q Ge. 4.19; 29.27,28,31. 1 Sa. 1.4,5. ch. 17.17. It is here supposed, not allowed, that a man should have two wives.
8 This may, and I think ought, to be translated, 'If a man have had two wives.' It does not sanction bigamy. It refers to the case of a man who was twice married, and for some reason entertained a deeper affection for one of his wives than for the other; and consequently desired to favour the first-born of her who had been most beloved.—P.
16 Then it shall be, when he rmaketh his sons to inherit that which he hath, that he may not make the son of the beloved first-born before the son of the hated, which is indeed the first-born:
17 But he sshall acknowledge the son of the hated for the first-born, by giving him a double portion of all that9 he hath: for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the first-born is his.1
s 1 Ch. 5.1,2. Ge. 49.3; 25.5,6,33.
9 Heb. that is found with him.
1 The right of primogeniture existed from the earliest ages, and is here formally sanctioned by an express enactment of the divine law. But the amount given to the first-born is restricted to a double portion.—P.
18 If a man thave a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them;
19 Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out uunto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place;
20 And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; xhe is a glutton, and a drunkard.
x Pr.23.20. Lu.21.34. 1 Co.6.9,10.
21 And yall the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so zshalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.
22 And if a man have committed a sin worthya of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou bhang him on a tree,
a ch.19.6. 1 Sa.26.16.
Notes
[Ver. 18. A stubborn and rebellious son. This provides for an extreme case of filial rebellion; for nothing but an extreme case could ever induce both a father and mother deliberately to accuse and witness against their own child. The sentence of death against drunkenness and gluttony, ver. 20, 21, may, to the modern inventors of fine and imprisonment, appear unreasonably, or even inhumanly, severe. But, let it be remembered, the sentence could not be inflicted, unless in the scarcely supposable case in which a father and mother were the hapless accusers; and then let it be remembered, that this was the sentence of him 'who knew what was in man,' and who never applied the judgment of severity till the remedies of mercy had been found unavailing; and whose judgments of severity were, in the end, the most merciful to the individual whom they sought to intimidate and deter from sin; and to society, whom they relieved from a nuisance, an infection, and a curse. O! that drunkards and gluttons would read first this sentence, and then sentences ten thousand times more awful, 1 Co. 6. 10 and Phi. 3. 19. C.]
Reflections.—Murder ought by all means to be rendered as horrible and detested as possible: and every mean should be used to discover and bring murderers to condign punishment, and to avoid being partakers with other men in their sins; but, at the same time, no selfish affection ought to be regarded either in the giving or executing justice. However secretly sin be committed, God will discover and punish it at last: and if we cannot put away sin from our land, let us labour to pray it away.—Converts from idolatry ought not too rashly to be admitted into close connection with us: and before we take a partner for life, it is of infinite moment that we agree in religion.—Sudden passions ought to be restrained, till grace be given, and time taken for reflection: and we should labour to wean our affections from that which we inordinately love.—Kindness ought to be shown to such as God has mercifully reduced to misery and trouble; and indulgence be allowed to sorrows which flow from natural affection.—Our engagements ought never to be rashly formed, lest our honour or conscience be afterwards wounded by them; and such as have been anyways wronged by us are entitled to all possible satisfaction. But surely still greater regard ought to be shown to human souls, and care taken to prevent men's everlasting infamy and woe. But in these figures let me behold Jesus, the seed of the woman, brought down to our world, and slain by the rulers of Israel as a sacrifice for our awful crimes!—Jesus reserving a bride for himself, a glorious church of the Gentiles, and betrothing her to himself for ever in loving-kindness and in mercies!—Jesus, with whom there is no respect of persons, redeeming us from the curse of the law, and by our faith in sacrifice removing the iniquity of the land in one day!