Deuteronomy 25:1-3. Against Excessive Punishment by Beating. When
after a regular trial one of the two parties to a case is formally
declared guilty, then, if he deserves beating, the judge shall have
this administered in his presence, the strokes shall be numbered
according to the gravity of the cr... [ Continue Reading ]
_controversy_ LITIGATION.
AND SHALL HAVE DECLARED RIGHTEOUS HIM WHO IS IN THE RIGHT AND DECLARED
GUILTY HIM WHO IS GUILTY] The vbs. and adjs. are to be taken in a
legal sense: see above on Deuteronomy 9:5.... [ Continue Reading ]
Deuteronomy 24:5 to Deuteronomy 25:4. Thirteen Laws of Equity and
Humanity
Besides the humane temper common to most of them, and a few cue-words,
there are no apparent reasons for their being grouped or for the order
in which they occur. They have various openings, mostly conditional,
otherwise neg... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN _it shall be, if the_ GUILTY _man be worthy to be beaten_ Lit.
_a son of strokes_.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Forty stripes_ By later law the number was fixed at -forty less one"
(_Mishna_," Makkoth," Deuteronomy 3:10 ff., cp. 2 Corinthians 11:24,
Josephus, IV. _Antt_. viii. 21, 23) they were now inflicted with a
lash. Ḫammurabi decrees in one case -sixty blows of an ox-hide
scourge" (§ 202).
_thy brother... [ Continue Reading ]
Against Muzzling the Labouring Ox. Peculiar to D; a clear
The present writer has never seen them muzzled. -In all W. Asia it is
the universal custom to allow the oxen or other animals thus employed
freely to eat of the crop" (Van Lennep, _op. cit._81). -I have seen
them muzzled, though this is rare... [ Continue Reading ]
_brethren_ of the same mother. In the Sg. passages, as we have seen,
_brother_is fellow-Israelite.
_dwell together_ On the same estate (cp. Genesis 13:6; Genesis 36:7);
this limitation is striking.
_son_ LXX _seed_, followed by Jos. IV. _Antt._viii. 23, and in Matthew
22:24; Mark 12:19; Luke 20:28... [ Continue Reading ]
Of Levirate Marriage
If, of brothers dwelling together, one die childless, his widow shall
not marry beyond the family, her husband's brother shall marry her,
and their firstborn be the dead man's heir and continue his name in
Israel (Deuteronomy 25:5 f.). But if the husband's brother decline
this... [ Continue Reading ]
_firstborn_ SON] So Sam, (as in Deuteronomy 21:15) in conformity with
Deuteronomy 25:5. LXX, τὸ παιδίον, still adapts the law to
that of P.
_succeed in the name_, etc.] Lit. _stand up, take position, place or
rank_on the name of the dead.
_that his name be not blotted_, etc.] See Deuteronomy 9:14;... [ Continue Reading ]
_shall go up to the gate_ Ruth 4:1, only here, in D; so also the terms
_like not_and _refuseth_(see introd. note).
_elders_ Deuteronomy 21:19; Deuteronomy 22:15. See on Deuteronomy
16:18.... [ Continue Reading ]
This _v_. really continues the protasis of the cond. sentence which
starts in Deuteronomy 25:7; the apodosis begins with Deuteronomy 25:9.... [ Continue Reading ]
_come unto_ The same vb. in Deuteronomy 20:2; Deuteronomy 21:5, of the
formal approach Of priests.
AND STRIP HIS SANDAL _from off his foot_ -As one occupied land by
treading on it, the shoe became the symbol of taking possession
(Psalms 60:8; Psalms 108:9); when a man renounced property to another,... [ Continue Reading ]
_his name shall be called in Israel_ Ruth 4:14.
_the_ FAMILY _of him_ WHOSE SANDAL WAS STRIPPED OFF.... [ Continue Reading ]
Of Reckless Assault
The woman who, even to help her husband, grasps the secrets of
another Israelite wrestling with him shall have her hand cut off.
Peculiar to D, and in the Sg. address with _brother_as in other Sg.
passages; but with an opening, and an accumulation of conditions
similar to those... [ Continue Reading ]
_divers weights_ Lit. _stone and stone_. Most ancient weights
discovered in Palestine are of stone; for specimens see _PEFQ_, 1892,
114; 1894, 215 ff.
Royal standards were fixed for them as early as David's time (2 Samuel
14:26). With this and the next _v_. cp. H, Leviticus 19:35: _Thou
shalt do no... [ Continue Reading ]
Against Divers Weights and Measures
Israel shall not use these greater (for purchases) and smaller (for
sales) for he who does so is an abomination to Jehovah (Deuteronomy
25:13 f., Deuteronomy 25:16). Interpolated (for it breaks the
connection between Deuteronomy 25:13 f. and Deuteronomy 25:16) is... [ Continue Reading ]
_divers measures_ Lit. _an ephah and an ephah_; the ephah = 8.005
gallons.... [ Continue Reading ]
_A perfect and just weight_ Lit. _A whole stone and of the norm_. Both
adj. _shelemah_and noun _ṣedeḳ_are used here in their original and
physical meaning. H, Leviticus 19:36: _balances, stones, ephah_and
_hînof the norm_.
_that thy days_, etc.] Deuteronomy 5:16. See on Deuteronomy 4:26.
_Giveth_,... [ Continue Reading ]
EVERYONE THAT DOETH THESE THINGS, etc.] Exactly as in Deuteronomy
18:12; Deuteronomy 22:5. On _abomination_, see Deuteronomy 7:25; here
the ethical (not ritual) meaning is clear.
EVERY ONE THAT DOETH INJUSTICE] Heb. _-awel_(perhaps lit.
_delinquency_). Not elsewhere in D (but in the Song, Deuterono... [ Continue Reading ]
_Remember_, etc.] The construction, even to the change from Sg. to
Pl., is the same as in Deuteronomy 24:9, _q.v._For other historical
statements introd. by _remember_, see Deuteronomy 5:15; Deuteronomy
7:18; Deuteronomy 9:7; Deuteronomy 15:15; Deuteronomy 16:12.
_as ye came forth_ LXX, Vulg. _thou... [ Continue Reading ]
On -Amaleḳ
Israel, remembering -Amaleḳ"s impious treatment of their derelicts
on the way from Egypt, must, when they rest from their enemies in the
land, exterminate -Amaleḳ. In the Sg. address (except for an
accidental Pl. in Deuteronomy 25:17) and partly in D's phrasing; but
also with phrases fro... [ Continue Reading ]
_how he met thee by the way_ better, FELL ON _thee_. Cp. 1 Samuel
15:2: _how he set himself against him_(Israel) _in the way_.
_and smote the hindmost of thee_ Lit. _docked the tail of thee_;
elsewhere only in Joshua 10:19 (E?).
_all that_ HAD BROKEN DOWN IN THY REAR] The vb. is not found
elsewher... [ Continue Reading ]
_hath given thee rest_ See on Deuteronomy 12:9 f.
_in the land which_, etc.] Deuteronomy 4:21.
_thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek_, etc.] E, Exodus
17:14: _I will utterly blot out_, etc. God's will is now Israel's
duty.
_thou shalt not forget_ Deuteronomy 9:7.... [ Continue Reading ]