Deuteronomy 19:1-21
1 When the LORD thy God hath cut off the nations, whose land the LORD thy God giveth thee, and thou succeedesta them, and dwellest in their cities, and in their houses;
2 Thou shalt separate three cities for thee in the midst of thy land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it.
3 Thou shalt prepare thee a way, and divide the coasts of thy land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee to inherit, into three parts, that every slayer may flee thither.
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;
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 headb slippeth from the helve, and lighteth upon his neighbour, that he die; he shall flee unto one of those cities, and live:
6 Lest the avenger of the blood pursue the slayer, while his heart is hot, and overtake him, because the way is long, and slayc him; whereas he was not worthy of death, inasmuch as he hated him not in time past.
7 Wherefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt separate three cities for thee.
8 And if the LORD thy God enlarge thy coast, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, and give thee all the land which he promised to give unto thy fathers;
9 If 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 add three cities more for thee, beside these three:
10 That innocent blood be not shed in thy land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and so blood be upon thee.
11 But if any man hate his neighbour, and lie in wait for him, and rise up against him, and smite him mortallyd that he die, and fleeth into one of these cities:
12 Then the elders of his city shall send and fetch him thence, and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die.
13 Thine eye shall not pity him, but thou shalt put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with thee.
14 Thou shalt not remove thy neighbour's landmark, 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.
15 One 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.
16 If a false witness rise up against any man to testify against him that which is wrong;
17 Then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before the LORD, before the priests and the judges, which shall be in those days;
18 And the judges shall make diligent inquisition: and, behold, if the witness be a false witness, and hath testified falsely against his brother;
19 Then 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.
20 And those which remain shall hear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil among you.
21 And thine eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
Deuteronomy 19:14. Thou shalt not remove thy neighbour's landmark. This prohibition was salutary in preserving the public peace; it also extended to the removal of the boundaries between the tribes, as fixed by Joshua; and Josephus adds, the boundaries of the neighbouring nations. Ah, how many are the boundaries which the divine legislator was obliged to fix against the avarice and covetousness of man.
Deuteronomy 19:15. One witness, who is clear and pure, ought to be sufficient. But such is the party wickedness of men, and such their malice, that in cases of life and death, it is safer to require two witnesses.
Deuteronomy 19:19. Then shall ye do unto him as he had thought to have done to his brother. This is called a just judgment. Our courts abound with false- swearing, because we allow the perjured to escape punishment: yet they sometimes get exposed in the court.
REFLECTIONS.
In addition to what is said in Numbers 35. respecting the manslayer, it is worthy of remark, that however innocent he might be of wilful murder, his exile was a punishment which tended to make all men cautious of fighting with their neighbours, and very much awed the passions of brutish and vulgar men.
In the prohibition of mitigating the punishment of the murderer, we see the greatness of his crime, which is to be abhorred and detested by all persons who desire to love God, and all his creatures. Nevertheless the kings of Israel exercised the power of pardoning on some occasions. David forgiving the widow's son of Tekoah, was obliged at the same time to pardon Absalom his son. In the last case the royal clemency was awfully abused; and there are few cases indeed in which it can be exercised with safety to national justice.