Exposition of the Moral Law, Book 2 · Commandment 9 · Exercitation 2
EXERCITAT. II. Againſt falſe witneſſes. Commandement IX.
Deut. 19.18. If the witneſſe be a falſe witneſſe that teſtifies falſely againſt his brother, then ſhall he doe unto him as he thought to have done to his brother.
A falſe witneſſe is the ſecond perſon,A falſe witneſſe is next to the Iudge who doth corrupt judgement. who corrupteth the judgement, and maketh the Iudge to pronounce a falſe ſentence. Firſt, let us conſider the neceſſity of theſe witneſſes; Secondly, what witneſſes; Thirdly, how many witneſſes the Lord would have for the tryall of a cauſe; and fourthly, when they ſhould ſpeake and teſtifie.
Firſt, for the neceſſity of theſe witneſſes: If God ſate in every judicatorie as hee ſate in the firſt iudicatory, when hee iudged Adam and Eva, then there needed no witneſſes, for all things are naked before him, but becauſe God hath withdrawne himſelf, and hath ſubſtitute Iudges in his place who know not all things; therefore hee hath appointed witneſſes to give evidence to the Iudges.
Secondly,What manner of witnes ſhould be admitted. what ſort of men thoſe witneſſes ſhould be; they ſhould be firſt, men of knowledge; and ſecondly faithfull witneſſes; and thirdly, they ſhould agree in their teſtimonies. Firſt, for their knowledge; they muſt heare and ſee. 1. Ioh. 1.3. That which wee have ſeene and heard, declare we unto you. Witneſſes can have no knowledge but by hearing and ſeeing; but Chriſt ſhall not iudge after the ſight of his eyes, neither reprove prove after the hearing of his eares. Eſay. 11.3. and Salomon ſaith, that A falſe witneſſe ſhall periſh, but he that heareth, ſpeaketh conſtantly. Prov. 21.28. In the Talmud the tryall of the witneſſes is ſet downe, how they tryed them by ſeaven demands: Firſt, qua ſeptimana Iubilaei factum eſt; in what weeke of the Iubile did this fall out? Secondly, qua hebdomade annali, in what weeke of the yeare? Thirdly, quali ſeptem inter ſingulos Iubilaeos interfluente, that is, in which of the Sevenths in the Iubile did this fall out? Fourthly, quo die menſis, what day of the monethmonth? Fiftly, what day of the weeke? Sixtly, at what houre? and Seventhly, in what place did ſuch a thing fall out.
Secondly, the witneſſes ſhould bee faithfull. Revel. 3.14. Theſe things ſaith the Amen, the faithfull and true witneſſe. Prov. 14.5. A faithfull witneſſe will not flie; If he bee a true witneſſe indeed,Multa dicuntur in Scripturis juxta opinionem eſtimantium illo tempore. Ioh. 8.28. non introierunt in pratorium nò ipſi contaminarentur, id eſt, ut ipſi exiſtmabant. S… Ier. 28.1. Hananiah dicitur propheta, cum tamen Pſeudopropheta. or reputed to bee a true witneſſe, he may be admitted. Eſay. 8.2. Vrijah is called a faithfull witneſſe, who was in effect an idolater; yet becauſe he was reputed to be a faithfull man among the people; therefore he is called a faithfull witneſſe. The nearer that men approach to the Lord, their greater care ſhould be to ſpeak the truth. Rom. 9.1. I ſay the truth in Chriſt, I lie not. So it is the greateſt ſinne to lie to the Holy Ghoſt. Act. 4.3. It is a greater ſinne for a Preacher to be a falſe witneſſe, then for another witneſſe in a civill court; becauſe he draweth neare to God. 1. Cor. 15.14. If Chriſt be not riſen, then is our preaching in vaine, and wee are found falſe witneſſes of God. So to wreſt the word foreign. 2. Pet. 3.16. It is a ſpeech borrowed from thoſe, who put a man upon the rack, and make him ſpeake that which hee never thought. So unstable ſoules when they wreſt the Scriptures to draw out a ſenſe out of them which they never meant. It is a greater ſinne to witneſſe a falſhood in iudgement, then out of judgement, becauſe they draw nearer to the Lord, ſuch were thoſe falſe witneſſes, who teſtified againſt Chriſt, and wreſted his words. Chriſt ſaid not, deſtruam, as they alleaged; neither, Dei templum; neither, poſſum illud redintegrare, but onelyonly this, Deſtroy this temple, and in three dayes it ſhall be built up againe. Ioh. 2. So that one word being changed, the ſenſe may be perverted, Prov. 17.9. Hee that repeateth a matter, ſeparateth friends; that is, hee that repeateth a matter changing ſomthing in it, or not keeping the words, interpret them maliciouſly, theſe were not admitted to be witneſſes; ſome propter culpam, as the infamous: ſecondly, for defect of judgement, as fooles and children: thirdly, propter affectum, as friends and enemies: fourthly, for their condition, and eſtate, as the poore and ſervants: fiftly, for their ſexe, as women: ſixtly, for their calling, as uſurers and publicans: and the Iewes added ſeventhly dove-ſellers, as infamous, becauſe they taught doves miphriche jonin, they taught the doves to flie,foreign and to carry their meſſages, which was a divination which they uſed when Satan was the carrier, therefore they hated dove-ſellers, and admitted them not as wineſſes.
Thirdly, witneſſes muſt not onelyonly be men of knowledge and faithfull, but they muſt agree in witneſſing, and jumpe together in their teſtimonies; otherwiſe their teſtimonies do not prove: they ſhould be non ſolum teſtes, ſed conteſtes, and theſe three agree in one, 1. Ioh. 5.7. Marke ſaith, that the teſtimonies of thoſe who teſtified againſt Chriſt were not foreign, they agreed not together, and thus much for the conditions required in the witneſſes.
Now followeth the third thing to be conſidered in the witneſſes, and it is the number:The number of witneſſes required in Iudge… mentm…n…. At the mouth of two witneſſes, or at the mouth of three witneſſes ſhall the matter be eſtabliſhed, Deut. 19.16. In the great point of our ſalvation the Lord uſeth three witneſſes in heaven, and three in earth to confirme our redemption: the three in heaven, are, The Father, the Word, and the holy Ghoſt, 1. Ioh. 5.7. And ſo the three in earth are, The Spirit, the Water, and the Blood, and theſe three agree in one. So in the cenſures and admonitions of the Church, there muſt be two or three witneſſes. 2, Cor. 13.1. This is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witneſſes ſhall every word be eſtabliſhed.
In civill judicatories ſome make this exception, one witneſſe may ſuffice, if the matter queſtioned be to no mans hurt. A man is called in queſtion whether hee be baptized or not: or whether hee bee married or not: one honeſt witneſſe may ſerve to prove this, becauſe it tendeth to no mans hurt.
Queſt. Whether may the accuſer be a witneſſe or not?
Anſw. God in judgement, is both the Iudge, the Accuſer, and the witneſſe. Secondly, when hee appointed theſe judicatories, the witneſſes were both accuſers and witneſſes, Deut. 17.6. and Dan. 13. but afterward the Iudge, the accuſer, and the witneſſes were all diſtinguiſhed; when it is ſaid, Ioh. 8.10. Woman, where are thoſe trine accuſers? the witneſſes ſhould have accuſed the woman, but they being convict in their owne conſcience, went out one by one.
What time the witneſſes are to beare witneſſe. foreignLaſtly, the witneſſes are bound to teſtifie when they are required by the Iudge, and if the matter require they are bound to teſtifie, albeit the Iudge aske them not: therefore guana, reſpondere, with the Hebrewe, ſignifieth as well to anſwer to the matter, as to the Iudge, and ſo Chriſt is ſaid to anſwer when no man asked him: So 1. Sam. 11.17. To anſwer is to anſwer according to ones deſire, Eccleſ. 10.19. Money anſwereth to all things, That is, to every mans deſire: to anſwer then is to ſpeake when time and cauſe requireth. When a cauſe requireth, a witneſſe is bound to anſwer to deliver the innocent, Prov. 24.11. and A true witneſſe delivereth ſoules, Prov. 14.25. They knew mee from the beginning, if they would teſtifie, Act. 26.5.
Becauſe the chiefe part of judgement dependeth upon the witneſſes,The witneſſes were to do ſundry things againſt the guilty. therefore under the law the witneſſes did ſundry things in the execution of the guilty. Firſt they layd their hands upon him, to ſignifie that they devolved all the guilt upon his owne head, and that hee did die for his owne fault, hence is that phraſe, His miſchiefe ſhall returne upon his owne head. Pſal. 7.16. therefore a mans condemnation is expreſſed by laying on hands upon his head, Heb. 10.29. Of how much ſorer puniſhment ſuppoſe ye ſhall he be thought worthy: in the Syriacke it is expreſſed by laying on the hands upon the head; hee alludeth to the cuſtome under the law, where the witneſſes laid their hands upon the head of him who was to be ſtoned, Levit. 24.15. and the Greekes ſay foreign, and the Latines ſay, Quod illorum capiti ſit.
The ſecond thing which the witneſſes did under the law, they ſtoned the guilty man; and before they ſtoned him, they laid aſide their upper garments, that they might be the more fit to throw ſtones at him, Act. 7.58. They caſt him out of the city and ſtoned him, and the witneſſes laid downe their cloathes at a young mans feet, whoſe name was Saul, and after the witneſſes threw ſtones at him. Laſtly the people ſtoned him, to ſignifie that the guiltineſſe of that perſon might not defile the land: and alſo for their deteſtation of the crime.
Miniſters have a ſpeciall priviledge in judgement, 1. Tim. 5.19. Againſt an Elder receive not an accuſation, but before two or three witneſſes; that is, they muſt be teſtes aſsiſtentes, before any accuſation be intended againſt them: againſt another, an accuſation may be intended, if the accuſer will binde himſelfe to follow the accuſation of him whom he accuſed: but a miniſter hath a greater priviledge, that it muſt be knowne before hand, whether there be two or three witneſſes, to prove this accuſation againſt him, before ever his name be called in queſtion. The reaſon why the Lord would have them ready to teſtifie,Why the Lord would have preſent witneſſes, when the Miniſters or Elders are accuſed. was this; the Lord hath a great care and reſpect to his Goſpell, and hath put this treaſure in earthly veſſels; firſt, hee will have no man to touch them, or do them any harme, Pſalm. 105.15. Secondly, hee will have maintenance given to them, that they may be incouraged in the law of the Lord, 2. Chron. 21.4. Thirdly, hee hath a great care of their credit and good name, for if the accuſation were not followed preſently, then the Elder all this time lay under the ſlander, and the accuſer was, the conquerer; David ſpeaking of God, Pſalm. 51.4. ſaith, That thou maiſt be juſtified when thou ſpeakeſt, A difference betwixt theſe, to overcome in judgement, and to be cleare.and be cleare when thou judgeſt, that is, when thou art judged and called in queſtion by men, but Paul citing the place, Rom. 3.4. That thou maiſt overcome when thou art judged; why doth hee put overcome, for pure or cleare? becauſe none overcometh in judgement but hee that is pure or cleare, now all the while that the Elder lyeth under the ſlander hee is judged impure, and the accuſer overcometh. But when the matter is put to a tryall, the Elder is found cleare and pure, and overcometh, and the accuſer is overcome and blotted. Here wee ſee the neceſſity of preſent witneſſes, that the Elders good name lie not under ſuch a blot, and that hee make not the Goſpell to be evill ſpoken of, as the ſonnes of Eli did; who made the ſacrifices to be abhorred.
And there is great neceſſity why the Lord ſhould have ſuch a care of the miniſter, for it hath beene ſtill the policy of the devill to blot their good name. See it in the example of Narciſſus biſhop of Ieruſalem, and Athanaſius, and ſundry others.
The conſectaries that follow upon this, are firſt, that Conſect. 1 preachers ſhould preſerve their good name as the apple of their eye.
Secondly, that Magiſtrates ſhould be more unwilling Conſect. 2 to call them in queſtion then others.
Thirdly, that God will not exempt his Elders from Conſect. 3 tryall, as the Pope would his Clergie.
The concluſion of this is,Concluſion. all evidence dependeth upon the witneſſes in judgement, therefore the witneſſes ſhould be moſt carefull to teſtifie the truth; they ſtand before the Lord, Deut. 19.17.The witneſſes ſtand in the Lords preſence. Teſtes ſiſtent ſe coram Iehovah, if they teſtifie an untruth, they lie in the preſence of God; ſo they teſtifie againſt the innocent parties, and they are the cauſe of their death; ſuch were the falſe witneſſes who teſtified againſt Naboth, 1. King. 21.13. and Doeg againſt David and Ahimelech the Prieſt. 1. Sam. 22.9. and ſuch was Ziba againſt Mephiboſeth, 2. Sam. 16.3. and Vriah againſt Ieremie, Ierem. 27.17. the witneſſes againſt Chriſt, Matt. 26.61. and they who witneſſed againſt Steven, Act. 6.13.