Exposition of the Laws of Moses, Exegesis 8 · Chapter 21
CHAPTER XXI. Of one who killed in ſuddaine paſſion.
2 SAM. 14. And thy hand maid had two ſonnes, and they two ſtroue together in the field, and there was none to part them, but the one ſmote the other and ſlew him.
THere is a difference betwixt thoſe things which wee doe in ſuddaine paſſion,Difference betwixt things done in paſſion, and deliberately. and thoſe things which are done deliberately: thoſe things which children, mad men, and beaſts doe, they are not ſaid to be done deliberately, they come not from the will, which is principium agendi; poſſunt laedere, ſed non injuriâ afficere.
Violenti…. Coactum. Non ſpontaneum. Voluntarium.Againe, there is a difference betwixt violentum, coactum, non ſpontaneum, & voluntarium. Violentum is that, which by outward force a man is conſtrained to doe, and here the will giveth no conſent at all: as when they drew the Martyrs before their Idols, and put incenſe in their hands. Coactum is that, when there is ſome externall violence uſed to enforce and compell a man to doe ſuch a thing, againſt which he ſtandeth out and reſiſteth for a time, but yet in the end he yeeldeth for feare: as Origen did to Idolatrie. But non ſpontaneum is this, when it is partly with the will, and partly againſt the will; Chriſt ſayd unto Peter, Ioh. 21.18. they ſhall carry thee whither thou wouldeſt not, meaning what death he ſhould dye; It was partly with Peters will, and partly againſt his will, that he went to martyrdome. Voluntarium, is that when the will giveth full conſent to doe a thing.
When a man killeth his neighbour in ſuddaine paſſion he is not violently drawne to this ſinne; neither is he compelled to this ſinne; prima principia concupiſcible et iraſcibile, ſunt interna homini, and cannot be compelled: and in this ſenſe he who killeth in ſuddaine paſſion, is ſayd to doe it willingly; but if we will reſpect the will as it is obnubilated with the perturbation of anger for the time, he did it not willingly, but non ſpontè. which is a midſt betwixt ſpontè and invitê. Peter ſayd to Chriſt, Lord I will lay downe my life for thy ſake, Iohn 13.3. no doubt hee had an intention to dye with him when he ſpake theſe words; but they ſhall carrie thee whither thou wouldest not, here he was not willing to dye; ſo that he was partly willing, and partly not willing, hee was not altogether willing, nor it was not altogether againſt his will, but it was partly with his will, and partly againſt his will.
We doe a thing Spontè, we doe a thing invitè, Spontè. Invitè. Non invitè.and we doe a thing non invitè. We doe a thing Spontè, when we are altogether willing to it; we doe a thing invitè, when it is partly with our will, and partly againſt our will; we doe a thing non invitè, quando procedit ex ignorantia comitante, Simile.as when Mutius Scaevola killed another in ſtead of Porcenna, and when it was told him that he had miſſed the King, and killed another, he was ſory that he had not killed the King; this action was neither done Spontè, nor invitè, but non invitè; but when a man killeth in ſuddaine paſſion, and after that his paſſions and perturbations are ſetled, he is ſory that he hath done ſuch a thing, and is grieved that primus impetus non est in ſua poteſtate, then he doth it invitè.
There is a twofold concupiſcence,Concupiſcentia Antecedent. Conſequent. an antecedent concupiſcence, and a conſequent concupiſcence; the antecedent concupiſcence is that, when the paſſion preventeth the will, and moveth it; but the conſequent concupiſcence is that, when the will willingly worketh, and ſtirreth up the paſſion, that it may execute the ſinne more readily; when paſſion preventeth the will, then it extenuateth the ſinne, but when the will ſtirreth up the paſſion, then it augmenteth the ſinne.
Againe,Agere Ex ira. Iratus. we muſt make a difference betwixt theſe two, to doe a thing ex ira, and to doe a thing iratus; when a man doth a thing ex irâ, anger is onelyonly the cauſe of it, and it repenteth him of it afterward that he hath done it; but when he doth a thing iratus, it doth not proceed principally from his anger, but from ſome other bad diſpoſition, and hardly ſuch a man repenteth him of his fact.
Laſtly,Eligere. Praeligere. there is a difference betwixt eligere and praeeligere; eligere is to follow ſenſe and appetite, but praeeligere is to follow reaſon: When a man killeth in ſuddaine paſſion,Anger followeth the complexion of the bodie. it is electio non praelectio: This ſinne of anger commeth commonly of the complexion of the body, nam ex iracundis naſcuntur irati; the Philoſopher ſaith, a certaine man being challenged for beating of his father, gaue this anſwere; My father beat his father, and pointing to his ſonne with his finger, he ſaid, this my ſonne will beat me alſo; theſe hereditary evils are hardly cured.
The woman of Tekoah when one of her ſonnes killed the other, ſhe begged of the King to remember the law of the Lord, that her other ſonne might be ſaved in the Citie of Refuge, which the King granted unto her willingly, 2 Sam. 14. becauſe he killed him in ſuddaine paſſion.