CHAPTER XXII.

1 of theft. 5 Of damage. 7 Of trespasses. 14 Of borrowing. 16 Of fornication. 18 Of witchcraft. 19 Of bestiality. 20 Of idolatry. 21 Of strangers, widows, and fatherless. 25 Of usury. 26 Of pledges. 28 Of reverence to magistrates. 29 Of the firstfruits.

If a man shall steal an ox, or a 'sheep, and kill it, or sell it; he shall restore five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep.

2 If a thief be found breaking up, and be smitten that he die, there shall no blood be shed for him.

3 If the sun be risen upon him, there shall be blood shed for him; for he should make full restitution; if he have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.

4 If the theft be certainly found in his hand alive, whether it be ox, or ass, or sheep; he shall restore double.

5 ¶ If a man shall cause a field or vineyard to be eaten, and shall put in his beast, and shall feed in another man's field; of the best of his own field, and of the best of his own vineyard, shall he make restitution.

6 If fire break out, and catch in thorns, so that the stacks of corn, or the standing corn, or the field, be consumed therewith; he that kindled the fire shall surely make restitution.

7 ¶ If a man shall deliver unto his neighbour money or stuff to keep, and it be stolen out of the man's house; if the thief be found, let him pay double.

8 If the thief be not found, then the master of the house shall be brought unto the judges, to see whether he have put his hand unto his neighbour's goods.

9 For all manner of trespass, whether it be for ox, for ass, for sheep, for raiment, or for any manner of lost thing, which another challengeth to be his, the cause of both parties shall come before the judges; and whom the judges shall condemn, he shall pay double unto his neighbour.

10 If a man deliver unto his neighbour an ass, or an ox, or a sheep, or any beast, to keep; and it die, or be hurt, or driven away, no man seeing it:

11 Then shall an oath of the LORD be between them both, that he hath not put his hand unto his neighbour's goods; and the owner of it shall accept thereof, and he shall not make it good.

12 And if it be stolen from him, he shall make restitution unto the owner thereof.

1 Or, goat.

13 If it be torn in pieces, then let him bring it for witness, and he shall not make good that which was torn.

14 And if a man borrow ought of his neighbour, and it be hurt, or die, the owner thereof being not with it, he shall surely make it good.

15 But if the owner thereof be with it, he shall not make it good: if it be an hired thing, it came for his hire.

16 ¶ And if a man entice a maid that is not betrothed, and lie with her, he shall surely endow her to be his wife.

17 If her father utterly refuse to give her unto him, he shall 'pay money according to the dowry of virgins.

18 ¶ Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. 19 Whosoever lieth with a beast shall surely be put to death.

20 T'He that sacrificeth unto any god, save unto the LORD only, he shall be utterly destroyed.

21 Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.

22 "Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child.

23 If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry; 24 And my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.

25 ¶ If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury.

26 T If thou at all take thy neighbour's raiment to pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him by that the sun goeth down:

27 For that is his covering only, it is his raiment for his skin: wherein shall he sleep? and it shall come to pass, when he crieth unto me, that I will hear; for I am gracious.

28¶Thou shalt not revile the "gods, nor curse the ruler of thy people.

29 Thou shalt not delay to offer 1the first of thy ripe fruits, and of thy liquors: "the firstborn of thy sons shalt thou give unto me.

30 Likewise shalt thou do with thine oxen, and with thy sheep: seven days it shall be with his dam; on the eighth day thou shalt give it me.

31 ¶ And ye shall be holy men unto me: "neither shall ye eat any flesh that is torn of beasts in the field; ye shall cast it to the dogs.

7 Levit. 19. 33.

12 Heb. thy fulness.

6 Deut. 13. 13, 14, 15. 1 Macc. 2. 24. 10 Acts 23. 5. 11 Or, judges. 15 Levit. 22. 8. Ezek. 44. 31.

Verse 6. If fire break out, and catch in thorns, so that the stacks of corn, or the standing corn, or the field, be consumed therewith,' etc.-This doubtless alludes to the common practice in the East of setting fire to the dry herbage, before the commencement of the autumnal rains, under the very correct impression that this operation is favourable to the next crop. The herbage is so perfectly dry by the long summer droughts, that the fire when kindled often spreads to a great extent, and cannot be checked while it finds any aliment. The operation is attended with great danger, and requires to be performed with a careful reference to the direction in which the wind blows, and to local circumstances, that nothing valuable may be consumed in the course given to the destructive element. Such a fire, kindled accidentally or wilfully, is sometimes attended with most calamitous consequences, destroying trees, shrubs, and standing crops, and placing in considerable danger persons who happen to be abroad. Such accidents sometimes happen through the carelessness of travellers in neglecting, when they leave their stations, to extinguish the fires they have used during the night. The dry herbage towards the end of summer is so very combustible, that a slight cause is sufficient to set it in a blaze. The writer of this note can himself recollect, that when, one chilly night, he assisted in kindling a fire, for warmth, on the western bank of the Tigris, so much alarm was exhibited by the Arabs lest the flames should catch the tamarisks and other shrubs and bushes which skirt the river, that the party was induced to forego the enjoyment which the fire afforded. He has often witnessed such fires, and the appearance which they present, particularly at night, was always very striking. The height of the flame depends upon the thickness and strength of its aliment; and its immediate activity, upon the force of the wind. When there is little or no wind, the fire has no other food than the common herbage of the desert or steppe; the flame seldom exceeds three feet in height, and advances slowly and steadily like a vast tide of fire, backed by the smoke of the smouldering embers, and casting a strong light for a considerable height into the air, sometimes also throwing up a taller mass of flame, when it meets with clumps of bushes, or shrubs, which afford more substantial aliment. This taller mass lingers behind to complete its work, after the general body of flame has continued its destructive and conquering march. A high wind throws the flames forward with great fury, while, if the ground happens to be thickly set with clumps of bushes, the tall columns of flame which start up in the advancing fiery tide, give increased intensity to the grand and appalling effect of one of the most remarkable scenes which it falls to the lot of a traveller to witness. In the steppes of southern Russia the writer has passed over tracts of ground, the surface of which had, for fifty miles or more, been swept and blackened by the flames.

27. It is his raiment for his skin: wherein shall he sleep?'-This passage, which describes a poor man as sleeping at night in his outer garment, exhibits one of the many unchanging customs of the East. The Orientals generally, of whatever rank, do not undress at night. They merely throw off their outer and looser robes, unwind their turbans and vast waist-cloth, sleeping in their caps, shirt, drawers, waistcoat, and gown. The poorer people very often do not sleep at all in what we should call a bed. The details of their management of course depend much on the particular costume of their country; but, speaking generally, a poor man is quite content to make his cloak and waist-cloth serve for a bed, lying on one of the two and covering himself with the other, or else making the cloak or the girdle alone serve all his purposes. A mat, rug, or piece of carpet is all he desires to render his bed more luxurious. These observations particularly apply to the Bedouin Arabs, although true also of other Asiatics. The custom is not, indeed, peculiar to Asia; for, while travelling in Russia, we have often, on passing through towns and villages, at night or early in

the morning, seen great numbers of men lying about on the ground wrapped up in their sheep-skin cloaks. The poor desert Arab, whose dress is little more than a shirt and a woollen mantle, is content to use the latter for his bed and bed-clothes when he has nothing better. Drawing it over his head-for an Arab always covers his head whether he sleeps by day or night-and gathering up his feet, he sleeps with as much apparent ease and comfort as on a down-bed, his tough frame seeming quite unconscious of the hardness of the ground and the asperities of its surface. There is no people of the East whose costume seems to have remained with so little alteration from the most ancient times as that of the inhabitants of the Arabian deserts; or which is so susceptible of being, in most cases, identified with the dress worn by the ancient Jews. We should therefore, perhaps, not be much mistaken in considering the garment of the text as nearly resembling the simple woollen mantle of the present Arabs. It is nearly square, reaching from the shoulders to the calf of the leg, or even to the ancles, and is about as wide as long. A square sack-having in front a slit from top to bottom, a hole at the top for the neck, and a slit on each side for the arms-would give a good idea of this shapeless but useful article of dress. Garments of the kind indicated are of various qualities and texture. Some are very light and fine, with embroidery in silk, silver or gold, on the breast and between the shoulders; but the

common sort are coarse and heavy, commonly with alternate stripes a foot wide, of blue and white, or brown and white, but frequently all black or brown. This robe, called an abba, is commonly worn loosely on the shoulders, as the Irish peasantry wear their great coats; but when active exertion is required, it is either thrown aside, or

is drawn close around the body and fastened by a girdle, the arms being then necessarily thrust through the armholes. This article of dress is certainly as indispensable to a poor Arab, as the garment of the text could be to a poor Jew, or to an Egyptian or Syrian peasant.

CHAPTER XXIII.

1 Of slander and false witness. 3, 6 Of justice. 4 Of charitableness. 10 Of the year of rest. 12 Of the sabbath. 13 Of idolatry. 14 Of the three feasts. 18 Of the blood and the fat of the sacrifice. 20 An angel is promised, with a blessing, if they obey him.

THOU shalt not 'raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.

2 Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou 'speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment: 3 Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause.

4 If thou meet thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again.

5 If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him.

6 Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause.

for

7 Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not I will not justify the wicked.

8 ¶ And thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous.

9 Also thou shalt not oppress a stranger: for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.

10 T And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the fruits thereof:

11 But the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie still; that the poor of thy people may eat and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, and with thy 'oliveyard.

12 Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy

1 Or, receive. him;

handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.

13 And in all things that I have said unto you be circumspect and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth.

11

14 Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year.

15

:

Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: 13and none shall appear before me empty :)

16 And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in thy field and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.

17 Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the LORD God.

18 Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the fat of my "sacrifice remain until the morning.

19 The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.

20 ¶ "Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.

21 Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him.

22 But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries.

19

16.

23 For mine Angel shall go before thee, and 20bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them off.

24 Thou shalt not bow down to their gods,

8 Levit. 25. 3.

nor serve them, nor do after their works: "but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images.

25 And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.

26 There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy land: the number of thy days I will fulfil.

27 I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their 23backs unto thee.

28 And "I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee.

29 I will not drive them out from before

25 Chap. 34. 15. Deut. 7. 2.

Verse 14. Three times shalt thou keep a feast unto me in the year. These three feasts were Passover, the feast of Pentecost, and the feast of Tabernacles, each of which continned for a week These were the Great Festivals' of the Jews. Every male was then obliged to repair to the place more pre-eminently consecrated to the worship of Jehovah -at first to the tabernacle, and afterwards to the temple at Jerusalem. The women, although not required to go, frequently attended at the Passover, but seldom at the other feasts. We read of Samuel's mother going with her husband, and our Saviour's mother in after-times did the same. The design of this concourse was apparently to unite the Hebrews among themselves, and to counteract the tendency to separation, which the division into distinctly marked tribes was calculated to produce. On those occasions, notwithstanding their petty differences, they must have been led to feel that they were indeed brethren and fellow-citizens; and that this was really the case, appears from the fact, that after the separation of the tribes into two kingdoms, the founder of the new kingdom (Jeroboam) became so alarmed on viewing the probable moral effect of the continued resort of his subjects to Jerusalem, the capital of the elder kingdom, that he set up golden calves in Dan and Bethel with the principal view, it would seem, of inducing the people to hold their annual meetings at places within his own dominions (1 Kings xii. 25-33). It is also not unlikely that these meetings of different tribes, three times a year in the same place, tended very much to promote internal commerce among the Jews, enabling the different tribes to interchange their several commodities with each other, by which these frequent journeys would be rather a profit than an expense to them. Such a procedure was at least obvious, and is at this day exemplified in the case of the Mohammedan pilgrims to Mecca.

Some objections have been made with reference to these frequent concourses of all the male inhabitants in one place. The first is the unreasonableness of leaving their families and homes unprotected, and exposed to the incursions of the hostile people on their borders. The answer is, that they were not unprotected. They had the very best protection. It was expressly promised by God that 'no man should desire their land' during their absence (ch. xxxiv. 24); that is, that their homes should be secure from any hostile invasion. And, in fact, their enemies never did avail themselves of the apparent advantages

which such occasions seemed to offer; and long experience of the efficacy of the Divine Protection ultimately taught the Jews to repair to the appointed place, without the least apprehension for the safety of their homes.

The other objection is, how such vast multitudes could find provisions and accommodation in the town where they congregated. The best answer will be found by a reference to the existing practice of the Mohammedans who annually repair to Mecca. The account is derived from our countryman Pitt, who was there towards the end of the seventeenth century; but the statement, in its general features, is equally applicable at present. After describing Mecca as a mean and inconsiderable town, he observes that four caravans arrive there every year, with great numbers of people in each. The Mohammedans say that not fewer than 70,000 persons meet at Mecca on such occasions; and although he did not think the number when he was there, so large as this, it was still very great. Now the question recurs, how this vast multitude could find food and accommodation at so small and poor a place as Mecca? The following, from our author, is a sufficient answer :-' As for house-room, the inhabitants do straiten themselves very much, in order at this time to make their market. As for such as come last after the town is filled, they pitch their tents without the town, and there abide until they remove towards home. As for provision, they all bring sufficient with them, except it be of flesh, which they may have at Mecca; but all other provisions, as butter, honey, oil, olives, rice, biscuit, etc., they bring with them as much as will last through the wilderness, forward and backward, as well as the time they stay at Mecca; and so for their camels they bring store of provender, etc., with them.' Ali Bey confirms this account. He says, indeed, that the pilgrims often bring to Mecca rather more food than they are likely to need, and when there, they compute how much they shall want during their stay and on their return, and, reserving that, sell the remainder to great advantage. He adds, ‘Every hadgi (pilgrim) carries his provisions, water, bedding, etc., with him, and usually three or four diet together, and sometimes discharge a poor man's expenses the whole journey for his attendance upon them.'

17. Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord God.'-That is, they should three times a year-at the Passover, Pentecost, and Feast of Tabernacles, repair to the place of the tabernacle (afterwards the

Temple) to render their personal homage to the Divine King, the symbols of whose presence abode there; and to form the habit of obedience, and cultivate the feeling of dependance upon Him. All experience teaches that such habits and sentiments are best maintained by personal attendance upon a superior. This must be added to the considerations stated in the preceding note. Examples are not wanting in which human kings have required the same kind of personal attendance from at least certain classes of their subjects at particular seasons of the year, generally at religious festivals. In our own country ancient custom

required the great men of the land to pay their attendance on the king at the three great festivals of Christmas, Easter, and Whitsuntide, as well to honour his person and adorn his court, as to consult about the affairs of the kingdom. At these times the kings were wont to appear unarmed, and with all the insignia of majesty, till the time of Henry II., who, in the year 1158, keeping his Christmas then at Worcester, took the crown off his head, and laid it upon the altar; after which the crown was no more worn on such occasions. (See Hody's English Councils, 57, 140.)

CHAPTER XXIV.

1 Moses is called up into the mountain. 3 The people promise obedience. 4 Moses buildeth an altar, and twelve pillars. 6 He sprinkleth the blood of the covenant. 9 The glory of God appeareth. 14 Aaron and Hur have the charge of the people. 15 Moses goeth into the mountain, where he continueth forty days and forty nights.

AND he said unto Moses, Come up unto the LORD, thou, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship ye afar off.

2 And Moses alone shall come near the LORD: but they shall not come nigh; neither shall the people go up with him.

3 And Moses came and told the people ¶ all the words of the LORD, and all the judgments and all the people answered with one voice, and said, 'All the words which the LORD hath said will we do.

4 ¶ And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel.

5 And he sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the LORD.

6 And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basons; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar.

7 And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people and they said, "All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient.

8 Ánd Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood

of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these words.

9 Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel:

10 And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness.

11 And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink.

12 Come

up

And the LORD said unto Moses,

to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them.

13 And Moses rose up, and his minister Joshua and Moses went up into the mount of God.

14 And he said unto the elders, Tarry ye here for us, until we come again unto you: and, behold, Aaron and Hur are with you: if any man have any matters to do, let him come unto them.

15 ¶ And Moses went up into the mount, and a cloud covered the mount.

16 And the glory of the LORD abode upon mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days: and the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud.

17 And the sight of the glory of the LORD was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel.

18 And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount: and 'Moses was in the mount forty days and forty. nights.

Verse 10. 'Sapphire' “Q, sappir. The Greek and Latin names are obviously derived from the Hebrew, σárpeipos, sapphirus. Next after the diamond it is the most vaJuable of the gems, exceeding all others in lustre and hard

ness.

The oriental sapphire is of a sky-blue, or fine azure colour, whence the prophets described the throne of God as being of the colour of sapphire (Ezek. i. 26, and x. 2). Pliny says, that in his time the best sapphires came from Media.