XXII. Deuteronomy 22:1. LOST PROPERTY. (1) GO ASTRAY. — Literally, _being driven away,_ as by wild beasts (Jeremiah 1:17), or by robbers. It is not simply straying. “I will seek that which was lost and bring again that which _was driven away_” (Ezekiel 34:16), and so in many other passages. THOU... [ Continue Reading ]
THE WOMAN SHALL NOT WEAR... — One of the things of which we may well say with St. Paul, “Doth not nature itself teach you?”... [ Continue Reading ]
IF A BIRD’S NEST. — On this precept there is a remarkable comment in the Talmud (_Kiddushin,_ p. 39, _b_). “Rabbi Akiba says, You will not find a single duty prescribed in the Law with a promise of reward attached to it, which has not also the resurrection of the dead hanging thereby. In the command... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN THOU BUILDEST A NEW HOUSE. — Obviously the Law refers to houses with flat roofs, upon which it was customary to walk (1 Samuel 9:25; 2 Samuel 11:2).... [ Continue Reading ]
DEFILED — or _sanctified._ Different crops become “common” at different times. The year’s corn was freed by the wave-sheaf and wave-loaves. The trees not for five years. The rule about the ox and the ass may rest partly on the ground of humanity, the step and the pull of the two creatures being so v... [ Continue Reading ]
(9-11) These precepts appear also in Leviticus 19:19, more briefly.... [ Continue Reading ]
A GARMENT... OF WOOLLEN AND LINEN TOGETHER. — In Ezekiel 44:17, the priests are altogether forbidden the use of woollen garments during their ministry. “The _fine linen_ is the righteousness of saints” (Revelation 19:8), literally, _their requirements._ That is what they need. But it is said of the... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU SHALT MAKE THEE FRINGES. — See Numbers 16:32 for the origin of this requirement. We may call this fringe (or κράςπεδον_,_ Greek) on the four sides of the square shawl or mantle, a mourning for the _one man who was executed for sabbath breaking in the wilderness,_ as well as a reminder to Israel... [ Continue Reading ]
Deuteronomy 22:13. LAWS OF CONJUGAL FIDELITY. (13-21) VIRGINITY. — The law in these verses will be best appreciated by considering its _effects._ The maidens in Israel would be compelled to guard their maidenliness and innocence, as they valued their lives. Jealousy and caprice on the part of the hu... [ Continue Reading ]
Deuteronomy 22:23. PURITY OF THE BETROTHED. (24) HIS NEIGHBOUR’S WIFE. — It is evident from the language of this precept that a betrothed virgin in Israel is regarded as _a wife._ The man who humbles her “hath humbled _his neighbour’s wife.”_ This illustrates the language of Matthew 1 Joseph, when... [ Continue Reading ]
Deuteronomy 22:28. — SEDUCTION. See Exodus 22:16. The sin of seduction before marriage is punished by a heavy fine. We have recently amended our own laws in the direction of this very precept. But the fact that marriage was made compulsory in these cases makes the Law stricter still. It seems, howe... [ Continue Reading ]