Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
Exodus 22:18-24
Sundry Regulations (Exodus 22:18 to Exodus 23:9).
The regulations that follow are mainly apodictic, direct commands made specifically by God requiring total obedience. As such they are not paralleled in the law codes.
Regulations Concerning Unacceptable Conduct - Three Deadly Sins And Two Calls For Compassion (Exodus 22:18).
The opening ‘and' in Exodus 22:21 may suggest that Exodus 22:18 are connected with it. If this be so we may have an interesting chiasmus:
a A sorceress not to live (Exodus 22:18).
b A beast not to be lain with (Exodus 22:19).
c Other gods not to be sacrificed to (Exodus 22:20).
b A resident alien not to be wronged (Exodus 22:21).
a A widow and fatherless child not to be afflicted (Exodus 22:22).
In ‘a' the sorceress is in contrast with the godly widow. The sorceress is powerful and is out to cause harm, an must therefore be put to death. The widow is helpless and harmless and must therefore not be harmed in any way. In ‘b' the contrast of the beast with an alien is interesting, reflecting the fact that men often saw ‘foreigners' as sub-human. The Egyptians despised all who could not speak Egyptian, and saw them as inferior beings. But while sexual association with a beast was punishable by death, association with a resident alien was acceptable. He/she was not to be harmed in any way. Love is not to be shown to a or b (or indeed c), whereas love is to be shown to the parallel b and a. If this be so there is a contrast of what is to be avoided and what is to be cared for.
Three Deadly Sins (Exodus 22:18).
These three sins represent contact with alien spheres which are so unseemly that they warrant the death penalty; dealings with sorcery (the occult, the world above man), sexual relations with beasts (the world below man) and sacrificing to false gods (the world of demons). All involved moving into spheres outside man's jurisdiction. Those who involve themselves with such things are to be put to death. They take man from his proper sphere.
“You shall not allow a sorceress to live.”
This refers most specifically to one who weaves charms and spells, in other words to what we tend to think of as white witchcraft, although witches can be more virulent. Using enchantments and practising divination by omens was considered to be on a parallel with the eating of blood which was strictly forbidden (Leviticus 19:26).
The use of magic which sought to control higher occult powers for personal purposes was widespread in the ancient world, both in Egypt and especially in Babylon and Assyria. Nineveh was described as ‘the mistress of sorceries' (Nahum 3:4, compare Isaiah 47:12). The code of Hammurapi and Assyrian law both prescribe the death penalty for it where used harmfully. It was also widespread among the Canaanites, and Jezebel was looked on as a sorceress (2 Kings 9:22). Examples of what is condemned are given in Deuteronomy 18:9. The condemnation includes not only witches but spiritualist mediums, tarot cards, ouija boards, planchettes etc. because these are ways of seeking to consult ‘familiar spirits' (Deuteronomy 18:11 and compare Leviticus 19:31; Leviticus 20:6). The word ‘wizard' is always paralleled with those who have familiar spirits.
The fact that reference is to a sorceress demonstrates that the practise, in Israel's experience, was more widespread among women, but see Leviticus 20:27. Consider Ezekiel 13:18 for examples. The penalty was death. Such things were (and are) not to be treated lightly. The severity of the sentence suggests that such activity has an unusual virulency and is not just superstition. It is positively evil, and takes men and women into spheres which are harmful to them.
“Whoever lies with a beast shall surely be put to death.”
Such bestiality was common in the ancient world, and generally abhorred. It was practised among the Canaanites (Leviticus 18:23). Hittite law prescribes the death penalty except where a horse or mule was concerned (horses were highly regarded among the Hittites). It is absolutely forbidden by God and the death penalty follows. It is the opposite of reaching into the occult. It is diminishing men and women to being but beasts, and denying the image of God in man.
“A beast.” Generally used of domestic animals but it includes all animals of every kind.
“He who sacrifices to any God, save to Yahweh only, shall be utterly destroyed.”
Sacrificing to any god or goddess is absolutely forbidden on pain of death. Yahweh alone is to receive worship. ‘Utterly destroyed.' The word means ‘devoted', that is, handed over to God and doomed to destruction. Contact with such ‘gods' was seen by Moses as being involvement with demons (Deuteronomy 32:17).
These are three things on which there is a total ban, the practise of magic and seeking guidance from the spirit world, bestiality, and the worship of idols, for they take man outside his true sphere into spheres which are God-forsaken.
Regulations Concerning The Unprotected (Exodus 22:21).
These regulation are in contrast with the first three. Here the emphasis is positive, because resident aliens and widows were not to be seen as like sorceresses, indulgers in bestiality and idolaters. This may include the veiled warning against a racism that saw in a resident alien all that was bad, or the assumption that old widows who lived by themselves were sorceresses or witches.
“And a stranger you will not wrong, nor shall you oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.”
Israel are to show love and concern for ‘strangers', that is resident aliens, remembering how they had once been the same. It was all too easy to see the stranger as a threat or a menace in some way, or even as the equivalent of ‘beasts'. But Israelites must beware how they behave towards them, for unless such do misbehave they are watched over by God. They are not to be seen as outside Israel's sphere, and despised because of their not being in the covenant, and thus to be rejected and ill-treated. For they may even opt to come within the covenant. We too should have a concern for those who are from foreign parts, remembering that they may feel lost and lonely.
There is constant reference in the Pentateuch to the fact that Israelites should learn from their own miserable and heartrending experience to show concern for others, for they too had been ‘strangers', had been bondmen, had had to work on unceasingly (Exodus 23:9; Leviticus 19:34; Deuteronomy 5:15 related to Exodus 20:8; Deuteronomy 10:19; Deuteronomy 15:15 related to Exodus 21:2). We too, as they, should learn from our experiences to have concern for others.
“You shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child. If you afflict them in any way, and they cry at all to me, I will surely hear their cry and my anger will grow hot and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall be widows and your children fatherless.”
Those who have no protector can look to God for their protection. The widow and the fatherless child have none to watch over them. They are therefore God's special concern. It was all too easy to see them as under punishment from God because of their misfortune, and therefore as those for whom none need be concerned. But it was not to be so. Those who harm them in any way will suffer God's anger and the result will be that they will be slain, leaving their own wives as widows and their own children as fatherless. God is applying here the judgment of like for like (the lex talionis).
“I will kill you with the sword.” This injunction is remarkable in that those who disobey it are warned of God's direct intervention. Like the law against coveting it cannot always be dealt with in court and so will be dealt with by the great Judge Himself. The warning is that God will then withhold His own protecting hand. The group or nation that ignores its needy will receive what it deserves. ‘Kill with the sword' involves brigands or invading forces and therefore God's direct action by bringing violence against them.
God's concern for widows and orphans and ‘strangers' and those who are defenceless comes out again and again throughout the Bible (Deuteronomy 10:18; Deuteronomy 14:29; Deuteronomy 24:17; Deuteronomy 24:19; Deuteronomy 26:12; Deuteronomy 27:19; Psalms 68:5; Psalms 146:9; Proverbs 15:25; Isaiah 1:17; Isaiah 10:2; Jeremiah 7:6; Zechariah 7:10; Malachi 3:5; James 1:27). It reminds us that God sees how we behave towards the weaker members of society.