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The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 21:10
If he take him another wife—i.e; If he marry her himself, and then take another, even a legitimate, wife—her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage shall he not diminish—she shall retain during her life all the pri…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 21:11
If he do not these three unto her. Not the "three" points of the latter part of Exodus 21:10; but one of the three courses laid down in Exodus 21:8, Exodus 21:9, and Exodus 21:10. She shall go out free—i.e; she shall no…
Matthew Henry on Exodus 21:12-21
God, who by his providence gives and maintains life, by his law protects it. A wilful murderer shall be taken even from God's altar. But God provided cities of refuge to protect those whose unhappiness it was, and not t…
Matthew Henry on Exodus 21:12-21
Here is, I. A law concerning murder. He had lately said, Thou shalt not kill; here he provides, 1. For the punishing of wilful murder (Exodus 21:12): He that smiteth a man, whether upon a sudden passion or in malice pre…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 21:12-17
Capital offences. As we look through the penalties specified for wrong-doing in chaps, 21; 22; we notice that they are divisible into two great classes. Some offences are punished by death, and others by some sort of co…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 21:12-14
Homicide. Exodus 21:12 reiterates the Sixth Commandment, and adds to it a temporal penalty—"he shall surely be put to death." The substance of this law had already been given to Noah in the words, "Whoso sheddeth man' s…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 21:12-18
Murder and related capital offences. It is characteristic of the law of Moses that its first care, in the practical ordering of the Hebrew theocracy, is for the rights of the slave. These are dealt with in the opening p…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 21:13
God deliver him into his hand. This does not seem to mean more than, "if he chance upon him without seeking him." God' s providence does in fact bring about the meetings which men call accidental. I will appoint thee a…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 21:14
Presumptuously. Or "proudly," "arrogantly." Thou shalt take him from mine altar. See the comment on Exodus 21:12.
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 21:15
He that smiteth his father, etc. To "smite" here is simply to "strike"—to offer the indignity of a blow—not to kill, which had already been made capital (Exodus 21:12), not in the case of parents only, but in every case…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 21:15-17
Other capital offences. The unsystematic character of the arrangement in this chapter is remarkably shown by this interruption of the consideration of different sorts of homicide, in order to introduce offences of quite…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 21:15-17
Injuries to parents. The command to honour father and mother (Exodus 20:12), which is enough for the conscience, and which, if obeyed, would render all further laws upon the subject unnecessary, is here reinforced by tw…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 21:16
The crime of man-stealing. To steal the purse of a man is a trivial crime; to filch his good name is a serious one; but the worst robbery of all is to steal his person. Civilised, refined, polished, intellectual men, ha…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 21:16
He that stealeth a man. Kidnapping, or stealing men to make them slaves, was a very early and very wide-spread crime. Joseph' s brothers must be regarded as having committed it (Genesis 37:28); and there are many traces…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 21:17
He that curseth his father, etc. Blasphemy against God, and imprecations upon parents, were the only two sins of the tongue which the law expressly required to be punished with death (Le Exodus 24:16). In later times an…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 21:18
If men strive together. If there is a quarrel and a personal encounter. In our own law this would reduce this offence, if death ensued, to manslaughter. With a stone, or with his fist. The use of either would show absen…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 21:18-36
Bodily injuries. The laws in this section may be thus classified:— I. INJURIES BY MAN. 1. Strivers (Exodus 21:18, Exodus 21:19). The man who injured another in strife was required to pay for the loss of his time, and to…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 21:19
If he rise again and walk upon his staff. If he recovered sufficiently to leave his bed, and get about with a stick to lean on, his hurt was not to be brought up against the injurer, though he died soon afterwards. Comp…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 21:20
The servant dying under chastisement. This law has frequently been seized on as a blot on the Mosaic legislation—as inculcating the odious doctrine which lies at the root of modern slave-systems, viz. that the slave is…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 21:20
If a man smite his servant, or his maid. "Maids" would commonly be chastised by their mistress, or by an upper servant acting under the mistress' s authority. "A man" here means "any one." With a rod. The rods wherewith…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 21:21
If he continue a day or two—i.e; "If the slave does not die till a day or two afterwards." Compare the provision in Exodus 21:19, with respect to persons who were not slaves. No special callousness to the sufferings of…
Matthew Henry on Exodus 21:22-36
The cases here mentioned give rules of justice then, and still in use, for deciding similar matters. We are taught by these laws, that we must be very careful to do no wrong, either directly or indirectly. If we have do…
Matthew Henry on Exodus 21:22-36
Observe here, I. The particular care which the law took of women with child, that no hurt should be done them which might occasion their mis-carrying. The law of nature obliges us to be very tender in that case, lest th…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 21:22-25
Assault producing miscarriage. Retaliation. Women in all countries are apt to interfere in the quarrels of men, and run the risk of suffering injuries which proceed from accident rather than design, one such injury bein…