Deuteronomy 15 - Introduction
_THE SEVENTH YEAR IS APPOINTED A YEAR OF RELEASE FOR THE POOR. FIRSTLINGS OF ANIMALS ARE TO BE DEDICATED TO THE LORD._ _Before Christ 1451._... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE SEVENTH YEAR IS APPOINTED A YEAR OF RELEASE FOR THE POOR. FIRSTLINGS OF ANIMALS ARE TO BE DEDICATED TO THE LORD._ _Before Christ 1451._... [ Continue Reading ]
_VER._ 2. _EVERY CREDITOR THAT LENDETH—SHALL RELEASE_— This cannot well be meant of money lent to those who were well able to pay; for nothing could have been more absurd than to have extinguished debts whereby the borrower was enriched: but it must be meant of money lent to an Israelite who was in... [ Continue Reading ]
_VER._ 3. _OF A FOREIGNER THOU MAYEST EXACT IT AGAIN_— Of an alien, that is, one who was neither a native Israelite, nor proselyted to the Jewish religion, but a mere Gentile: for this was one of the privileges of the Jewish community, and not one of the common rights of mankind; and therefore it is... [ Continue Reading ]
_VER._ 4, 5. _SAVE WHEN,_ &C.— Houbigant follows the marginal reading of our Bibles, joining the first clause of the 4th verse to the end of the 3rd, as explanatory, he observes, of the law: as if it had been said, "Thou shalt not exact thy debt from thy brother; for this reason, that there may not... [ Continue Reading ]
_VER._ 9. _AND THINE EYE BE EVIL AGAINST THY POOR BROTHER_— The _eye,_ say the Jews, is the index of the mind: so _an evil eye,_ when _giving_ is spoken of, signifies a covetous and hard-hearted disposition. Proverbs 23:6. Matthew 20:15 and, on the contrary, _a bountiful eye_ is a sign of a generous... [ Continue Reading ]
_VER._ 11. _FOR THE POOR SHALL NEVER CEASE OUT OF THE LAND_— i.e. There shall be always some indigent persons among you who shall stand in need of your charitable relief. The Jerusalem Targum understands this, as if there should have been no poor among them, had they been obedient to God's precepts.... [ Continue Reading ]
_VER._ 18. _FOR HE HATH BEEN WORTH A DOUBLE-HIRED SERVANT TO THEE_— A slave might well be thought worth a double-hired servant, because he was bought for a little, served for nothing, and more labour is commonly exacted from such a one, than from a hired servant. See Calmet.... [ Continue Reading ]
_VER._ 19. _THOU SHALT DO NO WORK WITH THE FIRSTLING OF THY BULLOCK,_ &C.— This would be better rendered, _with the firstling of thy herd._ Beside the firstling males, which were given to the priests, there were firstling females, which were first offered as peace-offerings to God, and then, after t... [ Continue Reading ]