7 h Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for k I will not justify the wicked. hver. 1. Lev. 19. 11. Luke 3. 14. Eph. 4. 25. i Deut. 27. 25. Ps. 94. 21. Prov. 17. 15, 26. Jer. 7. 6. Matt. 27. 4. k ch. 34. 7. Rom. 1. 18. thy poor neighbor (Deut. 27. 19), in whose cause thou shalt not pervert, but shalt strictly exercise, justice. Though there were cases in which there was danger lest compassion should unduly bias the course of equity in favor of a poor man, yet the instances would be far more numerous in which the magistrate would be tempted to neglect or pervert his cause, either to oblige a rich opponent, or to save trouble, or because he had not money to pay the requisite expenses. But the expression, 'thy poor,' is supposed to be a counteractive to all such temptations: Remember they are thy poor, bone of thy bone, thy poor neighbors, thy poor brethren, and cast in providence as a special charge upon thy justice and charity.' . 6 7. Keep thee far from a false matter, &c. This law seems intended as a kind of security for the due observance of the preceding. If they would guard against perversions of judgment, they must dread the thoughts of aiding or abetting a bad cause; they must have nothing to do with it; they must keep themselves at the greatest possible distance from it. And why? Because if they wilfully or incautiously hearkened to false testimony, or decided wrong in a case of life and death, they would be deemed the murderers of the innocent and the righteous. Indeed it may be said that God interprets as slaying the innocent and righteous that conduct which tends to such an issue. If then they would not slay with their own hands those who looked to them for justice, let them 'keep far from a false matter;' for it might terminate in such 8 ¶ And I thou shalt take no gift; for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the right eous. Deut. 16. 19. 1 Sam. 8. 3. & 12. 3. 2 Chron. 19. 7. Ps. 26. 10. Prov. 15. 27. & 17. 8, 23. & 29. 4. Isai. 1. 23. & 5. 23. & 33. 15. Ezek. 22. 12. Amos 5. 12. Acts 24. 26. an issue as they dreamt not of, and the righteous God will not leave such wickedness to go unpunished. 'I will not justify the wicked ;' i. e. I will condemn him that unjustly condemns others. 'Cursed be he that perverteth the judg ment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow. And all the people shall say, Amen.' Deut. 27. 19. Law respecting Bribery. 8. Thou shalt take no gift, &c. The precepts we are now considering still have respect to the duties of those who are appointed guardians of justice. They are instructions to magistrates in the conduct of judicial cases. They were to keep themselves studiously free from every thing that would tend to warp or bias their judgment, or in any way mar the rectitude of their decisions. Gifts from a party to a judge are absolutely prohibited, even though not given on the condition of his pronouncing a favor. able verdict. For as human nature is constituted, gifts tend exceedingly to blind the understanding and to pervert the decisions of those who take them, and who would otherwise be disposed to follow equity in their sentences. The conduct of Sir Matthew Hale, when viewed by the light of this statute, is preeminently praiseworthy. Upon one of his circuits as judge, he refused to try the cause of a gentleman who had sent him the customary present of venison, until he had paid for it. He would not run the risque of suffering his feelings as a man to influence his decisions as a judge. It is worthy of note in this connexion, that in Deut. 27. 25, we find the connexion between the taking of 9 ¶ Also m thou shalt not oppress a stranger: for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. 10 And " six years thou shalt sow m ch. 22. 21. Deut. 10. 19. & 24. 14, 17. & 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 27. 19. Ps. 94. 6. Ezek. 22. 7. Mal. 3. 5. thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, n Lev. 25. 3, 4. and with thy oliveyard. ular application of the general precept, ch. 22. 21, introduced in this connexion in order to put the judges on their guard against the influence of prejudice in deciding causes in which foreigners were concerned. They were to be sure not to oppress them; for from their own experience of hardships and injustice in Egypt, they knew how strangers felt on such occasions.¶ Ye know the heart of a stranger. Heb. nephesh, the soul; the sentiments, the feelings. Knowing the griefs and afflictions of strangers, ye can the more easily put your souls into their soul's stead. Our trials and sorrows in this world go but little way towards accomplishing their true object if they do not train us to a deep sympathy with those who are called to drink of the same bitter cup. gifts and the murder of the innocent very distinctly recognized: 'Cursed be he that taketh reward to slay an innocent person.' This is an expressive commentary upon the tendency and effects of yielding to solicitations that come in the form of tempting bribes. On the contrary, how rich and emphatic the promises to those who keep themselves aloof from these abominations, Is. 33. 15, 16, 'He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hear ing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil; he shall dwell on high; his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.'-¶ The wise. Heb. p pikhim, the open-eyed, the seeing. The case of Samuel's sons, 1 Sam. 8. 1-3, affords an humiliating il- 10, 11. Six years thou shalt sow thy lustration of the effect ascribed to the land, &c. We have here one of the conduct which is here condemned: 'And most remarkable ordinances of the Jewit came to pass, when Samuel was old, ish code. As every seventh day was to he made his sons judges over Israel. be a Sabbath, so every seventh year was And his sons walked not in his ways, but to be a Sabbatical Year, and hence in turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, the repetition of this law, Lev. 25. 4, it and perverted judgment.' In view of is called 'a Sabbath of Sabbatism to the all this the wise man says, Prov. 17. 23, land, a Sabbath to Jehovah.' During 'A wicked man taketh a gift out of the that year the corn-fields were neither bosom to pervert the ways of judg- sown nor reaped. The vines were unment.'¶ Perverteth the words of pruned, and there were no grapes gatherthe righteous. That is, the sentence ed. Whatever grew spontaneously beof those who are ordinarily accounted | longed alike to all, instead of being the righteous, and who but for the corrupt- property of any individual; and the corrupt-property ing influence of bribes would be right- poor, the bondman, the day-laborer, the stranger, the cattle that ranged the fields, and the very game, then left undisturbed, could assert an equal right to eous. 9. Thou shalt not oppress a stranger. This verse is little more than a partic Law respecting the Sabbatical Year. it. In short, during this year, the whole | giving on this score, it was at once of Palestine continued a perfect common (Lev. 25. 1-8), and in order to render this law the more sacred, it was not only termed 'the year of the Sabbath,' its sabbatism or resting being declared holy to the Lord, but even the vines, as if under a vow, were called 'Nazarites' to which a knife must not be applied. Comp. Lev. 25. 5, with Num. 6. 5. confuted by the express assurance of As to the reasons of an ordinance so remarkable, although we may perhaps admit that some regard was had to the physical benefits accruing to the soil from a periodical respite from culture for one year in seven, yet we cannot doubt that they were mostly of a moral nature, adapted and designed to promote the general ends of the economy to which the enactment belonged. As the Sabbath of the seventh year had the same reference as that of the seventh day to the creation of the world, it went to cherish all those pious and adoring sentiments which were awakened by the stated recurrence of the weekly day of rest. This septennial | ly upon what tenure they held their possabbatism reminded the Israelites not only of what they in common with the whole world, owed to the great and glorious Creator of the universe, but of their more especial obligations to him as their covenant God, who had made them the peculiar object of his care; and who was pleased miraculously to overrule the laws of nature in their behalf. It is scarcely possible to conceive of any more effectual mode of teaching them the duty of a continual simplehearted reliance upon a kind and bountiful providence, than by the command to let the whole land lie fallow for one entire year, and to trust for subsistence to the provisions of that power which made the earth, and which could easily make the produce of the sixth year sufficient for the wants of the seventh or even the eighth. Were they ever tempted to cherish the slightest doubt or mis sessions. They would be forced to acknowledge God as the lord of the soil, and themselves as liege-subjects of the great Proprietor, upon whose bounty their well-being continually hung. Intimately connected with this was the lesson of humanity which they were hereby taught to the poor, the enslaved, the stranger, and the cattle. The appointment of the Sabbatical Year was a striking demonstration that all classes and conditions of men, and even the beasts of the field, were mercifully cared for by the Universal Father; and what violence must they do to every kindly sentiment, if they could evince a contrary spirit? Once in every seven years they might freely suspend all the labors of agriculture, and yet rest in perfect security of an ample supply for their wants; and what could more directly tend to work the conviction upon their 12 • Six days thou shalt do thy | ass may rest, and the son of thy work, and on the seventh day thou handmaid, and the stranger, may shalt rest that thine ox and thine be refreshed. • ch. 20. 8, 9. Deut. 5. 13. Luke 13. 14. minds that heaven had appointed them a higher destiny than to be always drudging in earthly toils; that nothing would be lost by the prescribed intermission; and that if God could, as we may say, afford to be thus munificent to them, they were bound to act on the like noble, liberal, and generous principles to their fellow-creatures? Another ordinance connected with the Sabbatical Year deserves our attention. On this year, during the feast of tabernacles, when all Israel came to appear before God the Law was to be 'read in their hearing, that they might learn, and fear the Lord their God, and observe to do all the words of this law; and that their children which had not known any thing, might hear and learn to fear the Lord their God.' Deut. 31. 10-13. Thus once in every seven years the congregated nation had an opportunity to be instructed in the contents of the Law given by Moses; and to render this ceremony more impressive, it is traditionally held that in after times the king in person was the reader. The season was the most eligible that could have been chosen. During this year the minds of the people were less occupied with worldly concerns than usual. They had neither to sow nor to reap. They were therefore peculiarly accessible to all the good influences connected with such an observance, and were prepared to look upon it as a striking type of heaven where all earthly labors, cares, and interests shall cease for ever. Such was the institution of the Sabbatical Year, and such its effects in creating a sense of dependence in God, charity to man, and humanity to brutes. It was admirably adapted to be a test of the faith and obedience of the chosen people, and yet we are unhappily obliged to record the fact, that they did not stand the test. Not only is there no express mention of the actual observance of the law in the historical books of the Old Testament, but in 2 Chron. 36. 21, that neglect of it is spoken of as one of the procuring causes of the seventy years captivity to which they were subjected, during which the land was to enjoy the number of Sabbaths of which it had been defrauded by the rebellion and unbelief of its inhabitants. In other words, the years of their captivity were to correspond with the number of the neglected Sabbatical years; and as those were seventy, it would carry us back about 500 years to the close of Samuel's administration, when the observance began to go into disuse. Thus blindly and madly does depraved man war against his own interest in neglecting the salutary appointments of Heaven! Law respecting the Sabbath day. 12. Six days thou shalt do thy work, &c. A repetition of the law of the fourth commandment concerning the weekly sabbath. The reason of its insertion in this connexion has divided the opinions of commentators. Some suppose it to be mainly with a view to its civil ends, viz. the rest and relaxation of servants and beasts, whereas in the fourth commandment, it is enjoined chiefly as a branch of worship, as a part of that spiritual service which is rendered directly to God. Others again, and we think with greater probability, suppose the design to be to guard against an erroneous inference, that might be drawn from the preceding ordinance. As the sabbatical year was a year of cessation from the ordinary labors of other years, so they might pos 13 And in all things that I have said unto you, p be circumspect: p Deut. 4. 9. Josh. 22.5. Ps. 39. 1. Eph. 5. 15. 1 Tim. 4. 16. sibly take up the impression, that the ordinary observances of the Sabbath day were also to be suspended during that year; that it was, as it were, laid open in common with the other days of the week. But this would be a groundless | and pernicious inference, and therefore the law of the Sabbath is expressly repeated, and the people reminded that the observance of that day was of perpetual and paramount obligation, and not in the slightest degree annulled by the occurrence of the Sabbatical Year. For though they might not during that year be engaged in the ordinary labors of agriculture, and the day might not be so emphatically a day of rest to them as usual, yet even during that time there were various minor occupations and cares which were to be regularly suspended as every seventh day returned.- ¶ May be refreshed. Heb. a most tender and beneficent concern for the brute creation subjected to the uses of man. How different from the light in which they are practically regarded by multitudes of civilized and nominally Christian men! How many thousands of patient drudging cattle and noble horses, have no sabbath! They cannot remonstrate when called from their quiet stalls on the sabbath, and put to their exhausting week-day toils, but the barbarous privation of their authorized rest speaks loudly in the ears of their merciful Creator, and their meek endurance reaches one heart in the universe that is not insensible to the appeal. That heart has a hand to execute judgment adequate to the wrong done to a portion of his creatures which have a capacity to suffer, but none to complain. Law enjoining caution against Idolatry. yinnaphesh, may be re-spirited, or new-souled, from nephesh, soul; 13. In all things-be circumspect. i. e. may have a complete renewal both Heb, Tan tish-shameru, keep yourof bodily and spiritual health. Gr. selves. It is a strict injunction of uniavausn, the same expression with that versal heedfulness in respect to every occurring Acts 3. 19, 'Repent ye, there- one of the divine precepts, but with fore, and be converted, that your sins more especial reference to those promay be blotted out when the times of hibiting idolatry in any of its forms; refreshing (avavšews, re-souling) shall for to this sin Omniscience foresaw come from the presence of the Lord.' that they would be preeminently disThe very frequent repetition of the law posed and tempted.¶ Make no menrespecting the sabbath shows conclu- tion, &c. Heb. 13 lo tazkiru, sively that the sanctification of that ye shall not cause to be remembered. day was of great consequence in the They were to endeavor to blot out the sight of God, and that he had a special remembrance of the gods of the heaeye therein to its benign bearing physic- then, and for this end their names were ally both upon the welfare of man and not to be heard from their mouths ; `or beast. With this institution before us, if mentioned at all, it must be only in a we can no more ask the question, 'Doth way of detestation. The Chal. terms God care for oxen?" So far from dis- these other gods 'idols of the peoples ;' regarding their well being, we find re- and God, by the prophet Zech. 13. 2, peated provisions in his law breathing says, 'In that day I will cut off the | |