Exodus 22

Chap. XXII. Ver. 1—31. Various judicial laws.—Of these laws a few only require explanation or remark. Verses 2 and 3 mark the difference of burglary and common robbery. A thief shall restore four or five fold, as the case may be; if his blood be shed, it shall be required; but if he be found “breaking up,” or into the premises in the night, or before sunrise, and blood be shed in repelling him, it is burglary, and his blood shall not be required. The laws respecting the kind treatment of strangers, and with regard to taking a pledge of the poor, certainly claim our admiration. The outer garment worn by the Israelites (which the Arabians call a hyke) not only covered their shoulders in the day, but formed the whole of their bedding at night.

The precept, ver. 28. “Thou shalt not revile the gods,” &c. is differently understood. Certainly it cannot refer to the idols of the heathen, which they were always to hold in execration. Generally, the two members of the verse are considered parallel, and the term Elohim, here rendered gods, is understood to mean judges, as in (Exodus 21:6). and ver. 8. of this. But some here understand it in its highest sense, as referring to the great Supreme. “Thou shalt not revile (or hate) God, or curse the ruler of thy people;” making the whole parallel in sense to the exhortation of St. Peter, “Fear God, and honour the king.” ((1 Peter 2:17).) The consecration of the first-born to God had been before ordained, ((Exodus 13:2, 12).) and probably also the first-fruits of the harvest and the vintage; but it is here subjoined, that they must not be delayed beyond the eighth day, the day on which circumcision was performed; and the object in all these precepts was, that they might be “a holy people unto the Lord.” The heathen, though ignorant of the true origin of this rite, devoted to their gods the first-fruits both of their harvest and vintage. Thus Pliny says, that the Romans never tasted either their new corn or wine, till the priests had offered the first-fruits to the gods. So Horace—

“Whate’er your garden yields,
The choicest honours of your cultur’d fields,
To him be sacrificed.”

The apostle James considers believers as being sons of God, and “a kind of first-fruits of his creatures;” and St.

John speaks of “‘the redeemed among men” as “the first-fruits unto God and to the Lamb.” ((James 1:18). (Revelation 14:4).)

Notes on the verses

CuHapP. XXII. Ver. 1. Shall restore, &c.—There is a smaller compensation required in other things, (ver. 9.) and also a disproportion between an ox and a sheep. The reason of the former is, as Maimonides explains it, because money, goods, &c. are better guarded in houses and cities, than cattle in a field; which consequently can be more easily stolen. The reason of the latter seems to be, as it is explained by Bp. Patrick, that an ox was of greater value, and more useful for purposes of husbandry. This is more equitable than the constitutions of Plato, which required all thefts to be punished alike by paying double.—Bagster. Ver. 6. If fire break out.—Before the autumnal rains, it is customary to burn up the dry herbage; which, if great care is not taken, is very liable to set fire to the corn.—Harmer. Ver.

8. The judges.—Hebrew, Elohim, which is used for judges in the preceding chapter, (ver. 6.) and frequently. See the Exposition of ver. 28. Ver. 13. Bring it for witness.—(Or, rather, “Let him bring,” aid hatteraiphah, a testimony or evidence of the thing torn, such as the horns, hoofs &c. This is still the law in some countries among graziers: if an animal entrusted to a person be lost, and the keeper asserts that it was devoured by dogs, &c. the law obliges him to produce the horns and hoofs, because on these the owner’s mark is generally found. If these can be produced, the keeper is acquitted. A similar law is found in the Code of Gentoo Laws, which obliges a cowherd to bring the head, tail, fore-foot, or some such convincing proof of an animal which has died of a distemper, in order to be acquitted.

—See Deut. xxii. Ver. 16. If a man entice a maid.—That is, seduce her. 28, 29, Ver. 18. Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.—For the laws against witchcraft, see (Deuteronomy 18:10). 2 Ver. 27. Wherein shall he sleep?—Niebuhr describes the hyke, or outward garment of a poor Arab, as forming his bedding also. “With the cloth which he wears on his shoulders, he covers his whole body, and sleeps quite happy and contented.” —Orient. Lit. No. 206, Ver. 30. Likewise (in the same manner) shalt thou do with thine oxen.—But oxen have no calves. For oxen, the Vulgate reads boves, and the LXX. moschon, both meaning cattle. Shalt not follow a multitude, &c.—See the