Shall stone him, &c.— Compare Deuteronomy 7:2; Deuteronomy 7:26. Who, upon the face of these laws, could ever attempt to support so absurd a notion, as that idolatry was tolerated among the Jews? Yet such is the hypothesis of the admirable Voltaire! Bishop Warburton upon this law observes, that there were two cases in which the offender, here described, might escape punishment: first, when the crime could not be legally proved; or, secondly, when the magistrate was remiss in punishing. The divine lawgiver obviates both; and declares, that the infanticide shall suffer death by God's own hand in an extraordinary manner. The supplial of the first defect is in these words, and I will set my face, &c. Leviticus 20:3. The supplial of the second is in these; and if the people of the land, &c. Leviticus 20:4.

Continues after advertising
Continues after advertising