Commentary on the Pentateuch, Commentary 2 · Chapter 21
CHAP. XXI. Ver. 1. Now theſe are the judgments] i. e.
THe Judicial Laws, fitly annexed to the Decalogue, whereof the Civil Magiſtrate is the Lord-keeper. It was written upon the ſword of Charls the Great, Decem praeceptorum cuſtos Carolus.
Ver. 2. In the ſeventh year] No longer might they ſerv, becauſ they were God's ſervants. Lev. 25.25. whoſe privilege ſee Iſa. 65.13, 14. Chriſt's free-men.1 Cor. 2.27.
Ver. 3. If hee com in by himſelf] without a ſecond-ſelf, a yoke-fellow, ſtanding on even-ground with himſelf, though drawing on the left ſide.
Ver. 4. Have given him a wife] viz. One of his Heathen hand-maids, whom to part with was no great puniſhment, becauſ an unlawful couple.
Ver. 5. I love my maſter] A little better then hee in Plautus that ſaid, Ego non ſervio libenter; herus meus me non habet libenter, tamen utitur me ut lippis oculis.
Ver. 6. And ſhee ſhall ſerv him] Beeing foreign, as Ariſtotle hath it, the maſter's inſtrument, underling, and wholly his. Hee doth his own and not his maſter's will, that doth no more then himſelf will: this is a holiedaie ſervant as they ſaie.
Ver. 7. Shee ſhall not go out] But upon better terms. Hee that was to come in the ſhape of a ſervant, …il. 2.ſee what care hee take's of poor ſervant's welfare. Lawyers ſeldom ſpeak but for great men, or when they may have great gifts. Chriſt is not of that humor.
Ver. 8. Hee hath dealt deceitfully with her] By not anſwering her expectation. This God tolerated for the hardneſs of their hearts, but approved not.
Ver. 9. After the manner of daughters] Not put her off (as they ſaie they do their daughters in Hungarie) without a portion, onelyonly with a new coat at their wedding: much leſs, ſet her to ſale as the Thracians did their young brides; Quae non moribus nubebant ſed praemiis.Solin. cap. 15.
Ver. 10. Her dutie of marriage] See 1 Cor. 7. with the Note there.
Ver. 11. And if hee do not anie of theſe three] Picus eſt imago ingrati mariti, Me anththon.quia ſub autumnum ejicit conjugem nè cogatur per hyemem nutrire: postea ſub vernum tempus eam ad ſe blandè revocat, ac in conſortium recipit.
Ver. 12. Shall bee ſurely put to death] See the Note on Gen. 9.6.
Ver. 13. But God deliver him] Who is the Lord of our lives, and to whom wee have frequently forfeited them; ſo that it is his merciemercy that wee are not conſumed. Lam. 3. That wee are not cut off from the land of the living.
Ver. 14. Thou ſhalt take him, &c. A man that doth violence to the blood of anie perſon ſhall flee to the pit, let none ſtaie him. Pro. 28.17. Where the word Adam rendered Man hath in the original a little d: to ſhew that a murtherer is not worthie to bee called a man; hee is to bee drawn from the Altar to the ſlaughter.
Ver. 15. Hee that ſmiteth] By the law of God, of Nature, and of Nations, ſuch a man ſhould die. And herein, I think our laws are defective: albeit, I am not of Caroloſtadius his minde, who (if Melanchthon miſreport him not) held, that theſe Judicial Laws ſet down by Moſes ſhould bee ſtill of force (and theſe onelyonly) in Chriſtian Common-wealths, and all other Civil and Municipal Laws aboliſhed.
Ver. 16. Hee that ſtealeth a man] A kin to theſe are they that ſteal other men's books, and father them; ſetting them out in their own names. Diagoras was ſo ſerved by a Plagiarie, which when hee ſaw, and that the thief was not preſently ſtruck with a thunder-bolt, hee out of ſtomach turned Atheïſt. Thus of late Fabricius ſtole Tremelius his Syriack Tranſlation. Villavincentius ſtole Hyperius his Treatiſ De ratione ſtudii Theologici. And Poſſevinus ſtole Dr. James his Cyprianus redivivus.
Ver. 17. And hee that curſeth] See the Note on Verſ 15. and on Mat. 15.4.
Ver. 18. If men ſtrive together] This is counted man-hood, when indeed it is dog-hood rather: Heathens condemned it, Immane verbum eſt ultio. Seneca Qui ulciſcitu…, excuſatiùs peccat. Sen.and yet Navarrus a Popiſh Calviſt, Caedem rectè admitti putat, ut alapa vitetur, & ad honorem recuperandum.
Ver. 20. Hee ſhall bee ſurely puniſhed] At the diſcretion of the Magiſtrate, who is the revenger to execute wrath upon him that doth evil. Rom. 13.4.
Ver. 21. For hee is his monie] And therefore hee hath power over his fleſh. Col. 3.22. Yet hide not thine eies from thine own fleſh, ſaith the Prophet.Iſa. 58.7.
Ver. 22. And no miſchief follow] i. e. No life bee loſt. There is a time then, when the embryo is not alive; therefore the ſoul is not begotten, but infuſed after a time by God. Infundendo creatur, & creando infunditur, ſaith Aug. who at firſt doubted, till overcom by Hierom's arguments.Auguſtin.
Ver. 24. Eie for eie] How the Phariſees had wreſted that Text, See the Note on Mat. 5.39. This kinde of law (in uſe among Heathens alſo) Ariſtotle call's foreign, and was given againſt private revenge.
Ver. 28. Then the ox ſhall bee ſurely ſtoned] God requiring man's blood even of beaſts. Gen. 9.5. See the Note there.
Ver. 29. Hee hath killed a man, &c.] Since the fall, all creatures are armed againſt us; as that ſword which Hector gave Ajax; which ſo long as hee uſed againſt men (his enemies) ſerved for help and defence: but after hee began to abuſe it to the hurt of hurtleſs beaſts, it turned into his own bowels.
Ver. 32. Thirtie ſhekels] This ſame was that goodly price, that our Lord Chriſt was valued at by the vile Jews. Zach. 11.12, 13. Mat. 26.15.
Ver. 33. And an ox or an aſs] Wee can hardly open the deep pit of God's bottomleſs, boundleſs merciemercy, but ſom ſillie beaſt will bee falling thereinto; ſtumbling at the Word, beeing diſobedient, whereunto alſo they were appointed. 1 Pet. 2.8.
Ver. 36. Ox for ox] Theſe where thoſe right judgments, true laws, good ſtatutes, &c. Neh. 9.13.