_A.M. 2514. B.C. 1490._ Various precepts to be holy, Leviticus 19:1; Leviticus 19:2. To honour parents and sabbaths, Leviticus 19:3. To shun idolatry, Leviticus 19:4. Duty to eat their peace-offering, Leviticus 19:5. To leave gleanings for the poor, Leviticus 19:9; Leviticus 19:10. Not to steal, li... [ Continue Reading ]
_Ye shall be holy_ Separated from all the forementioned defilements, and entirely consecrated to God, and obedient to all his laws. _I am holy_ Both in my essence, and in all my laws, which are holy, and just, and good.... [ Continue Reading ]
_His mother_ The mother is put first, partly because the practice of this duty begins there, mothers, by perpetual converse, being sooner known to their children than their fathers; and partly because this duty is commonly neglected to the mother, upon whom children have not so much dependance as th... [ Continue Reading ]
_Turn ye not unto idols_ Hebrew, אלילם, _Elilim, No gods_, or _nothings_, as the word signifies, and as idols are called, (1 Corinthians 8:4,) many of them having no being but in the fancy of their worshippers, and all of them having no virtue or power to do good or evil, Isaiah 41:23.... [ Continue Reading ]
_At your own will_ Or, _According to your own pleasure_, what you think fit; for though this sacrifice, in general, was required, it was left to their choice to determine the particulars. But the original word may be rendered, _For favour to you;_ that is, _in order to procure you the divine favour;... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou shalt not gather the gleanings of thy harvest_ They were not to be exact in carrying all off, but were to leave some part to be gleaned and reaped by their poor neighbours, whether Israelites or Gentiles. _And thou shall not glean thy vineyard_ When they had cut off the great bunches, they wer... [ Continue Reading ]
_Ye shall not swear falsely_ This is added to show how one sin draws on another, and that when men will lie for their own advantage, they will easily be induced to perjury. _Profane the name_ By any unholy use of it. So it is an additional precept, thou shall not abuse my holy name by swearing eithe... [ Continue Reading ]
_Before the blind_ To make them fall. Under these two particulars are manifestly forbidden all injuries done to such as are unable to right or defend themselves; of whom God here takes the more care, because they are not able to secure themselves. _Fear thy God_ Who both can and will avenge them.... [ Continue Reading ]
_The poor_ So as, through pity to him, to give an unrighteous sentence.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Stand against the blood_ In judgment, as a false accuser, or false witness, for accusers and witnesses use to stand, while the judges sit, in courts of judicature.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou shalt not hate_ As thou dost, in effect, if thou dost not rebuke him. _Thy brother_ The same as _thy neighbour;_ that is, every man. If thy brother hath done wrong, thou shalt neither divulge it to others, nor hate him, and smother that hatred by sullen silence; nor flatter him therein, but sh... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thy neighbour_ Every man, as plainly appears, 1st, By comparing this place with Leviticus 19:34, where this law is applied to strangers. 2d, Because the word _neighbour_ is explained by _another man, Leviticus 20:10_; Romans 13:8. _As thyself_ With the same sincerity, though not equality of affecti... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender_ This was prohibited, partly to restrain the curiosity and boldness of men, who might attempt to amend or change the works of God; partly that by the restraint here laid, even upon brute creatures, men might be taught to abhor all unnatural lusts; partly to teac... [ Continue Reading ]
_She shall be scourged_ Hebrew, _There shall be a scourging_, which probably may belong to both of them; for, 1st, Both were guilty; 2d, It follows, _they shall not be punished with death_, which may seem to imply that they were to be punished by some other common and considerable punishment, which... [ Continue Reading ]
_As uncircumcised_ That is, as unclean, not to be eaten, but cast away, because the fruit then was less wholesome, and because hereby men were taught to bridle their appetites; a lesson of great use and absolute necessity in a holy life.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Holy_ Consecrated to the Lord, as the first-fruits and tithes were, and therefore given to the priests and Levites, Numbers 18:12, 13; Deuteronomy 18:4; yet so that part of them were communicated to the poor widows, and fatherless, and strangers, see Deuteronomy 14:28; to bless the Lord, by whose... [ Continue Reading ]
_That it may yield the increase_ That God may be pleased to give his blessing, which alone could make them fruitful.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Any thing with the blood_ Any flesh out of which the blood is not first poured. _Neither shall ye use enchantments_ It was unpardonable in them, to whom _were committed the oracles of God_, to ask counsel of the devil. And yet worse in Christians, to whom the Son of God is manifested, to _destroy t... [ Continue Reading ]
_The corners of your heads_ That is, your temples; ye shall not cut off the hair of your heads round about your temples. This the Gentiles did, either for the worship of their idols, to whom young men used to consecrate their hair, being cut off from their heads, as Homer, Plutarch, and many others... [ Continue Reading ]
_Cuttings in your flesh_ Which the Gentiles commonly did, both in the worship of their idols and in their solemn mournings, Jeremiah 16:6.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Do not prostitute_ As the Gentiles frequently did for the honour of some of their idols, to whom women were consecrated, and publicly prostituted.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Wizards_ Them that have entered into covenant with the devil, by whose help they foretel many things to come, and acquaint men with secret things; see Leviticus 20:27; Deuteronomy 18:11; 1Sa 28:3; 1 Samuel 28:7; 1 Samuel 28:9; 2 Kings 21:6.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Rise up_ To do them reverence when they pass by, for which end they were obliged, as the Jews say, presently to sit down again when they were past, that it might be manifest they arose out of respect to them. _Fear thy God_ This respect is due to such, if not for themselves, yet for God's sake, who... [ Continue Reading ]
_Vex him_ Either with opprobrious expressions, or grievous exactions.... [ Continue Reading ]
_As one born among you_ Either, 1st, As to the matters of common right, so it reached to all strangers. Or, 2d, As to church privileges, so concerned only those who were proselytes. _Ye were strangers_ And therefore are sensible of the fears, distresses, and miseries of such; which call for your pit... [ Continue Reading ]
_In mete-yard_ In the measuring of lands, or dry things, as cloth, riband. _In measure_ In the measuring liquid or such dry things as are only contiguous, as corn or wine.... [ Continue Reading ]
_A just ephah and a just hin_ These two measures are named as most common, the former for dry, the latter for moist things, but under them he manifestly comprehends all other measures.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Therefore_ Because my blessings and deliverances are not indulgences to sin, but greater obligations to all duties to God and men.... [ Continue Reading ]