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The Pulpit Commentary
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 22:8
The perils of inadvertence. Thoughtlessness is the parent of much mischief. To reach a state of security and bliss, there must be life in our every part—in intellect, foresight, prudence. I. MAN IS EXPOSED TO MANY NATUR…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 22:8-12
Linsey-woolseys. The different directions here given may be reduced to one idea, that of genuineness. The houses were to be substantial edifices, not endangering the lives of others by defective buildings or deficient b…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 22:8
Risks to human life to be minimized. It is well known that "the roofs of the Israelitish houses were fiat, as they mostly are in the East;" the inhabitants often walked upon them. Hence it is easy to see that a danger m…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 22:9-11
(Cf. Le Deuteronomy 19:19.) God has made distinctions in nature, and these are not to be confounded by the mixing of things distinct. The ox and the ass were chiefly used in husbandry; but, as they were of different siz…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 22:9-12
Directions in minor matters. What was, in primitive days, matter for direct revelation from God, is now ascertained by scientific observation. Herein we learn that revelation and science spring from one origin and subse…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 22:11
A garment of diverse sorts; sha‛atnez, a kind of cloth in which threads of linen and threads of woollen were interwoven. The meaning of the word is uncertain. The LXX. render by κίβδηλος, "spurious, bad;" Aquila, by ἀ…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 22:12
(Cf. Numbers 15:38.) Fringes; properly, tassels. The tunic of the Hebrews appears to have been divided at the bottom in front, and back, so that four corners or wings ( כַּנְפוֹת) were made, to each of which a tassel wa…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 22:13-21
Slander, unchastity, and fraud. No blame can lie against the Scriptures because they legislate on such detestable matters. The blame must lie at the door of depraved humanity, which perpetrates such deeds and makes Divi…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 22:13-29
The laws in this section have the design of fostering purity and fidelity in the relation of the sexes, and also of protecting the female against the malice of sated lust and the violence of brutal lust.
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 22:13-30
Chastity. The Mosaic Law is strict and stern in its requirement of purity in all that pertains to the marriage relation. Its strictness, however, is united with a fine sense of justice, and its shield is, as usual, exte…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 22:13-30
Expedients to secure purity. We have here various wise expedients to control the licentiousness of the people, and secure, so far as possible, social purity. I. DEFAMATION OF CHARACTER WAS SEVERELY PUNISHED. A husband c…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 22:22-30
Various penalties for unchastity. Purity in domestic life is at the root of national prosperity. I. THE NEGLECT OF VIRTUE'S SAFEGUARDS IS GUILT. (Deuteronomy 22:24.) If a sentinel recklessly leave open a portal in the b…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 22:22-29
Four cases are here distinguished. 1. That of a married woman who has been unfaithful; in this case both the woman and her paramour are, when detected, to be put to death (Deuteronomy 22:22). 2. That of a virgin betroth…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 22:30
To these is appended a general prohibition of incestuous connections, the first provision in the earlier law being cited as a sort of index to the whole (Le Deuteronomy 18:7, etc.). HOMILETICS
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 23:1
Mutilation was performed by the two methods here specified—crushing and excision. The exclusion of persons who had suffered this from the congregation, i.e. from the covenant fellowship of Israel, the πολιτεία τοῦ ισρ…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 23:1-6
Loss of sacred privilege a grievous penalty. In such passages as this, very much more is intended than is expressed. We have to read between the lines, for only they who lived in those days of Jewish life could comprehe…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 23:1-25
EXPOSITION CIVIL RIGHTS. WHO MAY AND WHO MAY NOT ENTER INTO THE CONGREGATION. UNCLEANNESS IN THE CAMP TO BE AVOIDED. RECEPTION OF FUGITIVE SLAVES. LICENTIOUS PERSONS TO BE REMOVED, AND GIFTS THE PRICE OF IMPURITY TO BE…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 23:1-8
Five classes of persons are here excluded from the congregation of the Lord.
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 23:1-8
Stern safeguards sometimes needed. It was no small part of the education of the Hebrew people at once to stamp as disreputable the practices of bodily mutilation which were common enough among heathen nations. The honor…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 23:1-8
The excluded from the congregation. Certain principles underlie these exclusions which it is worth our while to note. It will be seen that, though bars of this kind are done away in Christ, there was a fitness, under th…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 23:1-8
The congregation of the Lord jealously guarded. There has been considerable controversy about what the term" entering into the congregation of the Lord signifies. It cannot be the Old Testament equivalent for our "commu…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 23:2
A bastard; one born of a harlot; so the Hebrew word ( מָמְזֶר), which occurs only here and in Zechariah 9:6, is said to mean; LXX; ἐκ πόρνης: Vulgate, de scorto natus; the Talmud and the rabbins represent the word as…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 23:3
As Ammon and Moab had met the Israelites with hostility, and had brought Balaam to curse them, a curse had thereby been brought upon themselves, and they also were to be forever excluded from the congregation of Israel.
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 23:5
The curse turned into a blessing. No enchantment, no curse of evil men, can prevail against the people of God. Contrariwise, God will turn the curse into a Messing. In Malachi, on the other hand, he threatens to "curse…