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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>Exodus 22 Pulpit Commentary</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/5001com.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 4800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 4800px)" href="/4801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1550px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1550px)" href="/1551.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1250px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1250px)" href="/1251.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1050px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1050px)" href="/1051.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 900px), only screen and (max-device-width: 900px)" href="/901.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 800px)" href="/801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 575px), only screen and (max-device-width: 575px)" href="/501.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-height: 450px), only screen and (max-device-height: 450px)" href="/h451.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /><script type="application/javascript" src="https://scripts.webcontentassessor.com/scripts/8a2459b64f9cac8122fc7f2eac4409c8555fac9383016db59c4c26e3d5b8b157"></script><script src='https://qd.admetricspro.com/js/biblehub/biblehub-layout-loader-revcatch.js'></script><script id='HyDgbd_1s' src='https://prebidads.revcatch.com/ads.js' type='text/javascript' async></script><script>(function(w,d,b,s,i){var cts=d.createElement(s);cts.async=true;cts.id='catchscript'; cts.dataset.appid=i;cts.src='https://app.protectsubrev.com/catch_rp.js?cb='+Math.random(); document.head.appendChild(cts); }) (window,document,'head','script','rc-anksrH');</script></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/exodus/22.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="//biblehu.com/bmcom/exodus/22-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">Pulpit Commentary</a> > Exodus 22</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../exodus/21.htm" title="Exodus 21">◄</a> Exodus 22 <a href="../exodus/23.htm" title="Exodus 23">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Pulpit Commentary</div><div class="chap"><div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/22-1.htm">Exodus 22:1</a></div><div class="verse">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.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 1.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">If a man shall steal an ox</span>. The principal property possessed by the Israelites in the wilderness was their cattle; whence this occurs to the legislator as the thing most likely to be stolen. It required more boldness in a thief to carry off an ox than a sheep or goat; and so the crime was visited with a heavier penalty. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/22-2.htm">Exodus 22:2</a></div><div class="verse">If a thief be found breaking up, and be smitten that he die, <i>there shall</i> no blood <i>be shed</i> for him.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 2.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">If a thief be found breaking up</span>. Rather, "Breaking in" - <span class="accented">i.e.</span>, making forcible entry into a house. The ordinary mode of "breaking in" seems to have been by a breach in the wall. Hence the word here used, which is derived from <span class="accented">khathar</span>, "to dig." <span class="cmt_word">There shall no blood be shed for him</span>. Rather, "the blood-feud shall not lie upon him" - <span class="accented">i.e.</span>, the avenger of blood shall not be entitled to proceed against his slayer. The principle here laid down has had the sanction of Solon, of the Roman law, and of the law of England. It rests upon the probability that those who break into a house by night bare a murderous intent, or at least have the design, if occasion arise, to commit murder. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/22-3.htm">Exodus 22:3</a></div><div class="verse">If the sun be risen upon him, <i>there shall be</i> blood <i>shed</i> for him; <i>for</i> he should make full restitution; if he have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 3.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">If the sun be risen upon him</span>. If the entry is attempted after daybreak. In this case it is charitably assumed that the thief does not contemplate murder. <span class="cmt_word">There shall be blood shed for him</span>. Or, "the blood-feud shall hold good in his case" - <span class="accented">i.e.</span>, his slayer shall be liable to be put to death by the next of kin. <span class="cmt_word">For he should make full restitution</span>. Rather, "He shall make full restitution." The punishment of the housebreaker, who enters a house by day, shall be like that of other thieves - to restore <span class="accented">double</span>. <span class="cmt_word">If he have nothing</span>. Rather, "if he have not enough" - <span class="accented">i.e.</span>, if he cannot make the restitution required, <span class="cmt_word">then he shall be sold for his theft.</span> It is somewhat fanciful to suppose, that this punishment aimed at enforcing labour on those who preferred stealing to working for their own living (Kalisch). Probably the idea was simply the compensation of the injured party, who no doubt received the proceeds of the man's sale. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/22-4.htm">Exodus 22:4</a></div><div class="verse">If the theft be certainly found in his hand alive, whether it be ox, or ass, or sheep; he shall restore double.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 4.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">If the theft be certainly found in his hand</span>. If he be caught in flagrante delicto, with the thing stolen in his possession, "whether it be ox, or ass, or small cattle," he shall restore double. The law of theft in the Mosaic legislation is altogether of a mild character, as compared with the Roman, or even with the English law, until the present century. Double restitution was a sort of "retaliation" - it involved a man losing the exact amount which he had expected to gain <span class="p"><br /><br /></span> CHAPTER 22:2-6 </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/22-5.htm">Exodus 22:5</a></div><div class="verse">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.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verses 5, 6.</span> - LAW OF TRESPASS. - Next to theft, and not much behind it, is the wanton damage of what belongs to another - as when a person injures his neighbour's crops, either by turning beasts into his field, or by causing a conflagration in it. To turn beasts in was the more determinedly malicious act, and therefore the damage done was to be compensated by making over to the injured party a like quantity of produce out of the <span class="accented">best</span> that a man was possessed of; whereas simple restitution, was sufficient when fire had spread accidentally from a man's own land to his neighbour's. We may conclude that if the trespass of the cattle were accidental, simple restitution sufficed; and if the fire were kindled of <span class="cmt_word">set</span> purpose, the heavier rate of penalty was exacted. <span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 5.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">If a man shall cause a field or vineyard to be eaten</span>. - Rather "to be eaten <span class="accented">of</span>," or "to be browsed upon." <span class="cmt_word">And shall feed</span>. - Rather, "and <span class="accented">it</span> shall feed." <span class="cmt_word">Of the best</span>, etc. - This means that, without reference to the quality of the crop damaged, the injurer should forfeit an equal amount of his own best produce. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/22-6.htm">Exodus 22:6</a></div><div class="verse">If fire break out, and catch in thorns, so that the stacks of corn, or the standing corn, or the field, be consumed <i>therewith</i>; he that kindled the fire shall surely make restitution.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 6.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">If fire break out</span>. - It is usual in the East (as in England) to burn the weeds on a farm at certain seasons of the year. When this is done, there is always a danger, in the dry parched-up Eastern lands, of the fire spreading, and carotid watch has to be kept. If this watch were neglected, a neighbour's sheaves or standing corn might be seriously damaged or even destroyed. The law punished such carelessness, by requiring the man who had kindled the fire to make restitution. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span> CHAPTER 22:7-13 </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/22-7.htm">Exodus 22:7</a></div><div class="verse">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.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verses 7-13.</span> - LAW OF DEPOSITS. - Deposition of property in the hands of a friend, to keep and guard, was a marked feature in the life of primitive societies, where investments were difficult, and bankers unknown. Persons about to travel, especially merchants, were wont to make such a disposition of the greater part of their movable property, which required some one to guard it in their absence. Refusals to return such deposits were rare; since ancient morality regarded such refusal as a crime of deep dye (Herod. 7:86). Sometimes, however, they took place; and at Athens there was a special form of action which might be brought in such cases called <span class="greek">παρακαταθήκης δίκη</span>. The penalty, if a man were east in the suit, was simple restitution, which is less satisfactory than the Mosaic enactment - "He shall pay double" (ver. 9). <span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 7.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Stuff</span>. - Literally "vessels" - but the word is used in a very wide sense, of almost any inanimate movables. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/22-8.htm">Exodus 22:8</a></div><div class="verse">If the thief be not found, then the master of the house shall be brought unto the judges, <i>to see</i> whether he have put his hand unto his neighbour's goods.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 8.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">If the thief be not found</span>. - It is not clear what was to be done in this case. Kalisch supposes that it came under the law of the oath (ver. 10), and that if the man entrusted with the deposit swore that he had not embezzled it, he was let go free. But as stolen cattle were to be compensated for to the owner (ver. 12), it would seem to be more consistent that stolen money or chattels should also have been made good. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/22-9.htm">Exodus 22:9</a></div><div class="verse">For all manner of trespass, <i>whether it be</i> for ox, for ass, for sheep, for raiment, <i>or</i> for any manner of lost thing, which <i>another</i> challengeth to be his, the cause of both parties shall come before the judges; <i>and</i> whom the judges shall condemn, he shall pay double unto his neighbour.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 9.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">For all manner of trespass</span>. - It has been supposed that this refers to "every case of <span class="accented">theft</span>;" but Kalisch is probably right in restricting it to cases where a person was accused of having embezzled property committed to his care. He was in that case to appear before the judges (<a href="/exodus/18-23.htm">Exodus 18:23</a>), together with his accuser, and to clear himself if he could. When he failed to do so, and was "condemned," he was bound to restore double<span class="cmt_word">. Which another challenges to be his</span>. - Rather, "which a man challenges to be the very thing" (that he deposited). The case is supposed of the depositor being able to point out that the person to whom he entrusted the deposit has it still in his keeping. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/22-10.htm">Exodus 22:10</a></div><div class="verse">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 <i>it</i>:</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verses 10, 11.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">If a man deliver unto his neighbour an ass or an ox</span>, etc. - The deposit of cattle is unheard of in classical antiquity; but it might well be the usage of a pastoral race (<a href="/genesis/47-3.htm">Genesis 47:3</a>). The parallelism of the verse with verse 6 indicates that a deposit of the same kind is intended. <span class="cmt_word">If it die, or be hurt, or driven away</span>. - The deposited beast might "die" naturally; or "he hurt" by a wild beast or a fall; or be "driven away "by thieves, without anyone seeing what had happened. In that case, if the man to whom the animal was entrusted would swear that he was no party to its disappearance, the owner had to put up with the loss. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/22-11.htm">Exodus 22:11</a></div><div class="verse"><i>Then</i> 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 <i>thereof</i>, and he shall not make <i>it</i> good.</div><div class="comm"></div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/22-12.htm">Exodus 22:12</a></div><div class="verse">And if it be stolen from him, he shall make restitution unto the owner thereof.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 12.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">If it be stolen</span>. - If, however, the case was not an ambiguous one, but certainly known to he one of theft, restitution had to be made, since it was supposed that with proper care the theft might have been prevented. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/22-13.htm">Exodus 22:13</a></div><div class="verse">If it be torn in pieces, <i>then</i> let him bring it <i>for</i> witness, <i>and</i> he shall not make good that which was torn.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 13.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">If it be torn in pieces</span>. - If again there was evidence that the creature had been killed by a wild beast, this evidence had to be produced, before the owner or the judges, for the trustee to be exonerated from blame. A similar proviso is found in the laws of the Gentoos (Rosenmuller, <span class="accented">Orient</span>. vol. 1. p. 148). <span class="p"><br /><br /></span> CHAPTER 22:14, 15 </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/22-14.htm">Exodus 22:14</a></div><div class="verse">And if a man borrow <i>ought</i> of his neighbour, and it be hurt, or die, the owner thereof <i>being</i> not with it, he shall surely make <i>it</i> good.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verses 14, 15</span> LAW OF BORROWING. - The act of borrowing is connected with that of depositing, since in both cases, the property of one man is committed to the hands of another; only, in the one case, it is at the instance and for the benefit of the man into whose hands the property passes; in the other case, it is at the instance and for the benefit of the other party. This difference causes a difference of obligation. The borrower, having borrowed solely for his own advantage, must take all the risks, and in any case return the thing borrowed, or its value, unless the owner was still, in some sort, in charge of his own property. Things hired are not, however, to be regarded as borrowed. If harm come to them, the owner must suffer the loss. <span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 14.</span> <span class="cmt_word">And it be hurt or die</span>. - The thing borrowed might be animate or inanimate; either might be "hurt;" the former might not only be hurt, but "die." Whatever the damage, and whatever the cause, unless in the single rare case of the owner being in charge, the law required the borrower to make good the loss to the owner. This law must have acted as a considerable check upon borrowing. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/22-15.htm">Exodus 22:15</a></div><div class="verse"><i>But</i> if the owner thereof <i>be</i> with it, he shall not make <i>it</i> good: if it <i>be</i> an hired <i>thing</i>, it came for his hire.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 15.</span> <span class="cmt_word">If the owner thereof be with it.</span> - By "with it," we must understand, not merely present, but in charge of it, or at any rate so near it that he might have prevented the damage, had prevention been possible. <span class="cmt_word">If it be an hired thing</span>. - If anything were paid for the use of the thing, then it was not borrowed, but hired; and the owner was considered to have counted in the risk of loss or damage in fixing the amount of the hire. He was entitled therefore to no compensation Our own law does not rule this absolutely, but takes into consideration the proportion of the sum paid for hire to the value of the thing hired, and the general tacit understanding. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span> CHAPTER 22:16-31 </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/22-16.htm">Exodus 22:16</a></div><div class="verse">And if a man entice a maid that is not betrothed, and lie with her, he shall surely endow her to be his wife.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 16.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">If a man entice</span>. Rather "seduce." <span class="cmt_word">He shall surely endow her to be his wife</span>. In the East a man commonly pays money, or money's worth, to the parents in order to obtain a wife. The seducer was to comply with this custom, and make over to the damsel's father the sum of fifty shekels of silver (<a href="/deuteronomy/22-29.htm">Deuteronomy 22:29</a>), for his sanction of the marriage. If the father consented, he was compelled to marry the girl, and he was forbidden to repudiate her afterwards (<span class="accented">ibid.</span>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/22-17.htm">Exodus 22:17</a></div><div class="verse">If her father utterly refuse to give her unto him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 17.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">If her father utterly refuse</span>, etc. There might be such a disparity between the parties, or such an ineligibility of the man for a son-in-law, that the father might refuse to reestablish his daughter's status by the alliance. In that case the offender was to pay such a sum as would form a handsome dowry for the injured female, and enable her to enter with proper dignity the house of whatever man might be selected for her husband. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/22-18.htm">Exodus 22:18</a></div><div class="verse">Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 18.</span> - <span class="accented">Law against witchcraft</span>. Witchcraft was professedly a league with powers in rebellion against God. How far it was delusion, how far imposture, how far a real conspiracy with the powers of evil, cannot now be known. Let the most rationalistic view be taken, and still there was in the practice an absolute renunciation of religion, and of the authority of Jehovah. Wizards (<a href="/leviticus/19-31.htm">Leviticus 19:31</a>) and witches were, therefore, under the Jewish theocracy, like idolaters and blasphemers, to be put to death. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/22-19.htm">Exodus 22:19</a></div><div class="verse">Whosoever lieth with a beast shall surely be put to death.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 19.</span> - <span class="accented">Law against unnatural crime</span>. The abomination here mentioned is said to have prevailed in Egypt, and even to have formed part of the Egyptian religion (Herod. 2:46; Strab. 17. p. 802; Clem. A1. Cohort. ad Gentes, p. 9; etc.). Though regarded by the Greeks and Romans as disgusting and contemptible, it does not seem to have been made a crime by any of their legislators. It was, however, condemned by the Gentoo laws and by the laws of Menu (11:17). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/22-20.htm">Exodus 22:20</a></div><div class="verse">He that sacrificeth unto <i>any</i> god, save unto the LORD only, he shall be utterly destroyed.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 20.</span> - Law against sacrificing to false gods. Sacrifice was the chief act of worship; and to sacrifice to a false god was to renounce the true God. Under a theocracy this was rebellion, and rightly punished with temporal death. In ordinary states it would be no civil offence, and would be left to the final judgment of the Almighty. <span class="cmt_word">Utterly destroyed</span>. Literally, "devoted;" but with the meaning of "devoted to destruction." </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/22-21.htm">Exodus 22:21</a></div><div class="verse">Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 21.</span> - <span class="accented">Law against oppression of foreigners</span>. It may be doubted whether such a law as this was ever made in any other country. Foreigners are generally looked upon as "fair game," whom the natives of a country may ridicule and annoy at their pleasure. Native politeness gives them an exceptional position in France; but elsewhere it is the general rule to "vex" them. The Mosaic legislation protested strongly against this practice (<a href="/exodus/23-9.htm">Exodus 23:9</a>; <a href="/leviticus/19-33.htm">Leviticus 19:33</a>), and even required the Israelites to "love the stranger who dwelt with them as <span class="accented">themselves"</span> (<a href="/leviticus/19-34.htm">Leviticus 19:34</a>). <span class="cmt_word">For ye were strangers</span>. Compare <a href="/leviticus/19-34.htm">Leviticus 19:34</a>, and <a href="/deuteronomy/10-19.htm">Deuteronomy 10:19</a>. In <a href="/exodus/23-9.htm">Exodus 23:9</a> the addition is made - "For ye know the heart of a stranger" - ye know; <span class="accented">i.e.</span>, the feelings which strangers have when they are vexed and oppressed - ye know this by your own sad experience, and should therefore have a tenderness for strangers. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/22-22.htm">Exodus 22:22</a></div><div class="verse">Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verses 22-24.</span> - <span class="accented">Law against oppressing widows and orphans</span>. With the stranger are naturally placed the widow and orphan; like him, weak and defenceless; like him, special objects of God's care. The negative precept here given was followed up by numerous positive enactments in favour of the widow and the orphan, which much ameliorated their sad lot. (See <a href="/exodus/23-11.htm">Exodus 23:11</a>; <a href="/leviticus/19-9.htm">Leviticus 19:9, 10</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/14-29.htm">Deuteronomy 14:29</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/16-11.htm">Deuteronomy 16:11, 14</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/24-19.htm">Deuteronomy 24:19-21</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/26-12.htm">Deuteronomy 26:12, 13</a>.) On the whole, these laws appear to have been fairly well observed by the Israelites; but there were times when, in spite of them, poor widows suffered much oppression. (See <a href="/psalms/94-6.htm">Psalm 94:6</a>; <a href="/isaiah/1-23.htm">Isaiah 1:23</a>; <a href="/isaiah/10-2.htm">Isaiah 10:2</a>; <a href="/jeremiah/7-3.htm">Jeremiah 7:3-6</a>; <a href="/jeremiah/22-3.htm">Jeremiah 22:3</a>; <a href="/zechariah/7-10.htm">Zechariah 7:10</a>; <a href="/malachi/3-5.htm">Malachi 3:5</a>; <a href="/matthew/23-14.htm">Matthew 23:14</a>.) The prophets denounce this backsliding in the strongest terms. <span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 22.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Ye shall not afflict</span>. The word translated "afflict" is of wide signification. including ill-usage of all kinds. "Oppress," and even "vex," are stronger terms. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/22-23.htm">Exodus 22:23</a></div><div class="verse">If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry;</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 23.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">And they cry at all unto me</span> Rather, "<span class="accented">Surely</span>, if they cry unto me." Compare <a href="/genesis/31-42.htm">Genesis 31:42</a>. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/22-24.htm">Exodus 22:24</a></div><div class="verse">And my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 24.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">I will kill you with the sword</span>. It was, in large measure, on account of the neglect of this precept, that the capture of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, and destruction of its inhabitants, was allowed to take place (<a href="/jeremiah/22-3.htm">Jeremiah 22:3-5</a>). <span class="cmt_word">Your wives shall be widows</span>, etc. A <span class="accented">quasi</span>-retaliation. They shall be exposed to the same sort of ill-usage as you have dealt out to other widows. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/22-25.htm">Exodus 22:25</a></div><div class="verse">If thou lend money to <i>any of</i> my people <i>that is</i> poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verses 25-27.</span> - <span class="accented">The law of lending money and borrowing</span>. It is peculiar to the Jewish law to forbid the lending of money at interest by citizen to citizen. In the present passage, and in some others (<a href="/leviticus/25-35.htm">Leviticus 25:35</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/15-7.htm">Deuteronomy 15:7</a>), it might seem that interest was only forbidden in the case of a loan to one who was poor; but the general execration of usury (<a href="/job/24-9.htm">Job 24:9</a>; <a href="/proverbs/28-8.htm">Proverbs 28:8</a>; <a href="/ezekiel/18-13.htm">Ezekiel 18:13</a>; <a href="/ezekiel/22-12.htm">Ezekiel 22:12</a>), and the description of the righteous man as "he that hath not given his money upon usury" (<a href="/psalms/15-5.htm">Psalm 15:5</a>; <a href="/ezekiel/18-8.htm">Ezekiel 18:8</a>), seem rather to imply that the practice, so far as Israelites were concerned, was forbidden altogether. On the other hand, it was distinctly declared (<a href="/deuteronomy/23-20.htm">Deuteronomy 23:20</a>) that interest might be taken from strangers. There does not seem to have been any rate of interest which was regarded as excessive, and "usurious," in the modern sense. In Scripture usury means simply interest. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/22-26.htm">Exodus 22:26</a></div><div class="verse">If thou at all take thy neighbour's raiment to pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him by that the sun goeth down:</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 26.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">If thou take at all thy neighbour's raiment to pledge</span>. Lending upon pledge, the business of our modern pawnbrokers, was not forbidden by the Jewish law; only certain articles of primary necessity were forbidden to be taken, as the handmill for grinding flour, or either of its mill-stones (<a href="/deuteronomy/24-6.htm">Deuteronomy 24:6</a>). Borrowing upon pledge was practised largely in the time of Nehemiah, and led to very ill results. See Nehemiah ch. 5. <span class="cmt_word">Thou shalt deliver it unto him by that the sun goeth down</span>. The reason is given in the next verse. As it could not have been worth while to take the pledge at all, if it was immediately to have been given back for good, we must suppose a practice of depositing the garment during the day, and being allowed to have it out at night. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/22-27.htm">Exodus 22:27</a></div><div class="verse">For that <i>is</i> his covering only, it <i>is</i> 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 <i>am</i> gracious.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 27.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Wherein shall he sleep?</span> The outer garment worn by the ancient Hebrews was like that of the modern Bedouins - a sort of large woollen shawl or blanket, in which they enveloped the greater part of their persons. It serves the Bedouins, to the present time, as robe by day, and as coverlet by night. <span class="cmt_word">When he crieth unto me</span>. Compare ver. 23. If the law is broken, and the man cry unto the Lord, he will hear, and avenge him. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/22-28.htm">Exodus 22:28</a></div><div class="verse">Thou shalt not revile the gods, nor curse the ruler of thy people.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 28.</span>- <span class="accented">Law against reviling God, or rulers</span>. It has been proposed to render Elohim here either <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="Text_Heading">1.</span> "God;" or <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="Text_Heading">2.</span> "The gods;" or <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="Text_Heading">3</div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/22-29.htm">Exodus 22:29</a></div><div class="verse">Thou shalt not delay <i>to offer</i> the first of thy ripe fruits, and of thy liquors: the firstborn of thy sons shalt thou give unto me.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verses 29, 30.</span> - <span class="accented">Law concerning first-fruits</span>. God required as first-fruits from his people, <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="Text_Heading">1.</span> The first-born of their children; <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="Text_Heading">2.</span> The firstborn of all their cattle; and <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="Text_Heading">3.</span> The first of all the produce of their lands, <span class="p"><br /><br /></span>whether wet or dry; wine, oil, grain of all kinds, and fruits. The first-born of their children were to be redeemed by a money payment (<a href="/exodus/13-13.htm">Exodus 13:13</a>; <a href="/numbers/3-46.htm">Numbers 3:46-48</a>); but the rest was to be offered in sacrifice. The phrase, "thou shalt not <span class="accented">delay</span>," implies that there would be reluctance to comply with this obligation, and that the offering would be continually put off. In Nehemiah's time the entire custom had at one period fallen into disuse. (<a href="/nehemiah/10-35.htm">Nehemiah 10:35, 36</a>.) <span class="cmt_word">The first of thy ripe fruits</span>. Literally, "thy fulness." The paraphrase of the A. V. no doubt gives the true meaning. <span class="cmt_word">The first-born of</span> <span class="cmt_word">thy sons,</span> Compare above, <a href="/exodus/13-2.htm">Exodus 13:2, 12</a>. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/22-30.htm">Exodus 22:30</a></div><div class="verse">Likewise shalt thou do with thine oxen, <i>and</i> with thy sheep: seven days it shall be with his dam; on the eighth day thou shalt give it me.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 30.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Seven days it shall be with its dam</span>. See <a href="/leviticus/22-27.htm">Leviticus 22:27</a>. The main object is that the darn may have during that time the natural relief derivable from suckling its off-spring. <span class="cmt_word">On the eighth day thou shalt give it me</span>. Some analogy may be traced between this proviso and the law of circumcision. Birth was viewed as an unclean process, and nothing was fit for presentation to God excepting after an interval. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/22-31.htm">Exodus 22:31</a></div><div class="verse">And ye shall be holy men unto me: neither shall ye eat <i>any</i> flesh <i>that is</i> torn of beasts in the field; ye shall cast it to the dogs.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 31.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">And ye shall be holy men unto me</span>. Ye shall not be as other men, but "an holy nation, a peculiar people;" and therefore your separateness shall be marked by all manner of laws and regulations with respect to meats and drinks, designed to keep you free from every uncleanness. One such law then follows - <span class="accented">Law against eating the flesh of an animal killed by another</span>. The blood of such an animal would not be properly drained from it. Some would remain in the tissues, and thence the antrum would be unclean; again, the carnivorous beast which "tore" it would also be unclean, and by contact would impart of its uncleanness to the other. <span class="cmt_word">Ye shall cast it</span> <span class="cmt_word">to the dogs,</span> is probably not intended to exclude the giving or selling of it to an Mien, if one were at hand, according to the permission accorded in <a href="/deuteronomy/14-21.htm">Deuteronomy 14:21</a>; but points simply to the mode whereby the flesh was to be got rid of, if aliens were not at hand, or if they declined to eat the animals. Dogs were so unclean that they might be fed on anything. Their chief use was to be scavengers (<a href="/2_kings/9-35.htm">2 Kings 9:35, 36</a>). <span class="p"><br /><br /></span> <span class="p"><br /><br /></span> </div></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">The Pulpit Commentary, Electronic Database. 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