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| 1 And these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them. |
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| 2 If thou buy a Hebrew bondman, six years shall he serve; and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing. |
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| 3 If he came in alone, he shall go out alone: if he had a wife, then his wife shall go out with him. |
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| 4 If his master have given him a wife, and she have borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out alone. |
And her children – The mother's nature, rights, privileges and liberties attached to the child. E105; R777:5
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| 5 But if the bondman shall say distinctly, I love my master, my wife, and my children, I will not go free; |
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| 6 then his master shall bring him before the judges, and shall bring him to the door, or to the door-post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl; and he shall be his bondman for ever. |
Unto the Judges – Elohim, rulers, mighty ones. A name applied to Jehovah as well as to men. E68; R1410:3; SM497:2
For ever – "Forever" ceased at the cross. It means, until a proper end has been reached. R1453:6
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| 7 And if a man shall sell his daughter as a handmaid, she shall not go out as the bondmen go out. |
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| 8 If she is unacceptable in the eyes of her master, who had taken her for himself, then shall he let her be ransomed: to sell her unto a foreign people he hath no power, after having dealt unfaithfully with her. |
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| 9 And if he have appointed her unto his son, he shall deal with her after the law of daughters. |
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| 10 If he take himself another, her food, her clothing, and her conjugal rights he shall not diminish. |
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| 11 And if he do not these three things unto her, then shall she go out free without money. |
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| 12 He that striketh a man, so that he die, shall certainly be put to death. |
Be surely put to death – A just retribution for the sin. R5645:4
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| 13 But if he have not lain in wait, and God have delivered him into his hand, I will appoint thee a place to which he shall flee. |
Whither he shall flee – Arriving at the city of refuge, the culprit was not free, but must stand trial before the elders of the city. R3092:5
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| 14 But if a man act wantonly toward his neighbour, and slay him with guile, thou shalt take him from mine altar, that he may die. |
With guile – Inquiry was made as to whether he had lain in wait, hunted for his victim, smote him in secret, for maliciousness, guile, prior enmity and hatred. (Deut. 19:4, 6, 11; Deut 27:24; Num. 35 R3092:5
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| 15 And he that striketh his father, or his mother, shall certainly be put to death. |
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| 16 And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall certainly be put to death. |
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| 17 And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall certainly be put to death. |
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| 18 And if men dispute, and one strike the other with a stone, or with the fist, and he die not, but take to his bed, |
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| 19 --if he rise, and walk abroad upon his staff, then shall he that struck him be guiltless; only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall cause him to be thoroughly healed. |
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| 20 And if a man strike his bondman or his handmaid with a staff, and he die under his hand, he shall certainly be avenged. |
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| 21 Only, if he continue to live a day or two days, he shall not be avenged; for he is his money. |
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| 22 And if men strive together, and strike a woman with child, so that she be delivered, and no mischief happen, he shall in any case be fined, according as the woman's husband shall impose on him, and shall give it as the judges estimate. |
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| 23 But if mischief happen, then thou shalt give life for life, |
Life for life – This was the basis of justice on which God was operating. R4426:1, R1917:1
God arranged that only one man should have the opportunity to fall and be sentenced to death; thus only one man would be required as a Redeemer of all humanity. R5429:6
A perfect human life having been condemned to death, it required a perfect human life to redeem it. Jesus "tasted death for every man." (Heb. 2:9) R4964:4, R1917:4; OV151:5
An illustration of the word "ransom." Q562:6
If a thousand perfect men had sinned, it would have required a thousand perfect men to redeem them. R5429:6; SM661:1
The blood (death) of bulls and of goats could never take away sin; likewise the death of angels or archangels could never take away sin (redeem man). R3174:5, R4426:2, R5429:6
The Philistines had caused the loss of many lives in Israel. Thus it was in full accord with divine instruction that they and other occupants of Canaan be utterly destroyed. R5663:5
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| 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, |
Eye for eye – This line of strict justice the Lord inculcated in the Law given to Israel to assist them in understanding the great principle of Justice underlying divine conduct. OV21:4; Q798:4
Strong characters may wish to correct that which is wrong, but it is not the time now to judge and discipline the world. R5644:5
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| 25 branding for branding, wound for wound, stripe for stripe. |
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| 26 And if a man strike the eye of his bondman or the eye of his handmaid, and it be marred, he shall let him go for his eye. |
For his eye's sake – The common Law was no respecter of persons. There was no special legislation for the priesthood. A52
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| 27 And if he knock out his bondman's tooth or his handmaid's tooth, he shall let him go free for his tooth. |
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| 28 And if an ox gore a man or a woman, so that they die, then the ox shall certainly be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be guiltless.
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| 29 But if the ox have gored heretofore, and it have been testified to its owner, and he have not kept it in, and it kill a man or a woman, --the ox shall be stoned, and its owner also shall be put to death. |
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| 30 If there be imposed on him a satisfaction, then he shall give the ransom of his life, according to what is imposed on him. |
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| 31 Whether it gore a son or gore a daughter, according to this judgment shall it be done to him. |
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| 32 If the ox gore a bondman or a handmaid, he shall give to their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned. |
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| 33 --And if a man open a pit, or if a man dig a pit, and do not cover it, and an ox or an ass fall into it, |
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| 34 the owner of the pit shall make it good, shall give money to the owner of them; and the dead ox shall be his. |
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| 35 --And if one man's ox gore his neighbour's ox, and it die, then they shall sell the live ox, and divide the money thereof, and divide the dead also. |
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| 36 Or if it be known that the ox have gored heretofore, and its owner have not kept him in, he shall in any case restore ox for ox; and the dead shall be his. |
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