ness of thy daughter in law: she is thy son's wife; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness. 16 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother's wife: it is thy brother's nakedness.

17 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter, neither shalt thou take her son's daughter, or her daughter's daughter, to uncover her nakedness; for they are her near kinswomen: it is

wickedness.

18 Neither shalt thou take a wife to her sister, to vex her, to uncover her nakedness, beside the other in her life time.

19 'Also thou shalt not approach unto a woman to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is put apart for her uncleanness.

20 Moreover, thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbour's wife, to defile thyself

with her.

21 And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to "Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.

22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.

23 Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any

7 Chap. 20. 21. 8 Or, one wife to another. 9 Chap. 20. 18.

woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto : it is confusion.

24 Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you :

25 And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants.

26 Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations; neither any of your own nation, nor any stranger that sojourneth among you :

27 (For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled;)

28 That the land spue not you out also, when ye defile it, as it spued out the nations that were before you.

29 For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the souls that commit them shall be cut off from among their people.

30 Therefore shall ye keep mine ordinance, that ye commit not any one of these abominable customs, which were committed before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein: I am the LORD your God.

10 Chap. 20. 2. 2 Kings 23. 10. 11 Called, Acts 7. 43, Moloch. 12 Chap. 20. 15.

Verse 2. "After the doings of the land of Egypt....and....the land of Canaan.....shall ye not do."-The strong abhorrence with which the infamous practices of the Egyptians and Canaanites are mentioned, and which are described as forming a primary cause of the expulsion of the latter people from the land which their abominations had defiled, is justified by all the accounts of the East which ancient secular histories have transmitted to us. Many of the interdicted enormities recited in the text were in the surrounding nations practised without shame, and even sanctioned by law. Independently of their own revolting character, and the degraded state of public morals which resulted from them, the practices which this chapter specifies were either alleged to be sanctioned by the example of the gods they worshipped, or were else practised as parts of the worship and service rendered to them. The worst of them were performed in honour of the gods, at their festivals and in their temples. Thus, in every way, were they most abhorrent to Him "who is of purer eyes than to behold evil." Hab. i.13.

The just and wise regulations which this chapter contains, forbidding the marriages of near relations, form the basis of the laws on this subject now in operation in most Christian states; for it has justly been conceived that what God so abhorred in the practice of the Canaanites could not, under any circumstances, be proper or lawful. The modifications which these laws have received, in the process of adoption by Christian states, have rather tended to increase than diminish the number of prohibitions. The reasoning on which the additional interdictions have been founded is, by a consequential inference, that these relationships are equally near with some which are forbidden, and that they are therefore to be understood as included in the latter.

CHAPTER XIX.

A repetition of sundry laws.

AND the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2 Speak unto all the congregation of the
children of Israel, and say unto them, 'Ye
shall be holy for I the LORD your God am
holy.

3 Ye shall fear every man his mother, and his father, and keep my sabbaths: I am the LORD your God.

4 Turn ye not unto idols, nor make to yourselves molten gods: I am the LORD your God.

5 And if ye offer a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the LORD, ye shall offer it at your own will. 6 It shall be eaten the same day ye offer it, and on the morrow: and if ought remain until the third day, it shall be burnt in the fire.

1 Chap. 11. 44, and 20.7.

7 And if it be eaten at all on the third

Pet. 1. 16.

20 And whosoever lieth carnally with a woman, that is a bondmaid, 1 betrothed to an husband, and not at all redeemed, nor Chap. 23. 22. 8 Exod. 20. 7. Deut. 5. 11. Matt. 5. 34. Jam. 5. 12. Deut. 27. 18. 7 Exod. 23. 3. Deut. 1. 17, and 16. 19. Prov. 24, 23. Jam. 2. 9. 10 Or, that thou bear not sin for him. 11 Matt. 5. 43, and 22. 39. Rom. 13. 9. 13 Heb. reproached by, or for man. 14 Or, they. 15 Heb. there shall be a scourging. 19 Heb. profane. 20 Exod. 22. 21.

35 ¶ Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in meteyard, in weight, or in

measure.

36 23Just balances, just "weights, a just ephah, and a just hin, shall ye have: I am

the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt.

37 Therefore shall ye observe all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do

them: I am the LORD.

23 Prov. 11. 1, and 16. 11, and 20. 10. 24 Heb. stones.

Verse 14. "Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumblingblock before the blind."-Does not this law seem to imply that the Israelites, or perhaps the people generally of those early times, were much in the habit of extracting a malicious sport from the bodily defects and deprivations of others? This seems very probable; and perhaps it may have arisen from a disposition which appears to have prevailed in those early times, when diseases and deformities seem to have been comparatively rare, to regard such calamities less as misfortunes than as evidences of the Divine indignation against some hidden crime, either in the sufferer himself or in his parents. The existence of the injunction intimates the prevalence of the offence it was designed to remove. So the Hindoos have, as Mr. Roberts informs us, a saying (if not a law),-" Abuse not the deaf, make not a hole before the blind, nor exasperate the dumb." Yet this very people take great pleasure in the malicious and heartless practices which their common saying reprobates. Europe has no law or saying on the subject; and the silence of the law and the popular voice is an eloquent and beautiful testimony of reliance in the right feelings of commiseration and kindness with which all but barbarians and savages have learned to regard those who walk in affliction. We are persuaded that most people would now turn with loathing and indignation from any represented or written fiction, the interest or mirth of which turned upon the awkward situations into which a blind or deaf person might be led by the mischievous. Indeed we are persuaded that-thanks to the humanizing influences of Christianity, and of civilization, its handmaid-those who walk through life in darkness or silence do generally experience, from all classes of a Christian and civilized community, a degree of indulgence for their errors and mistakes, of exemption from insult and contumely, of assistance under difficulty, and of general sympathy and kindness, which no one who enjoys the full physical benefits of existence can ever hope to obtain.

19. "Not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind.”—This interdiction was probably intended for the purpose that no example might exist of the unnatural commixtures which were among the "abominations" of the ancient Oriental nations. Some, however, think that this and the other similar interdictions were only typical, and intended to teach the Israelites that they were not to intermingle with other nations. It does not appear, however, that this law was so understood by the Hebrews as to preclude them from the use of animals thus produced, but only from taking measures to produce them. Mules are frequently mentioned as being used for riding, at least after the time of David; and, if otherwise understood, an Israelite who kept his herds in the wilderness must often have felt perplexed by the doubt whether his sheep-dog might not have littered him a half-fox or wolf (see Michaelis, vol. iii. p. 365; and Calmet, art. "Mule"). As, however, mules do not appear to have been in common use till about the time of David, it would seem as if the earlier Israelites did understand that their law prohibited the use of mixed breeds.

"Not sow thy field with mingled seed."-It is perhaps scarcely necessary to observe that this law implies no prohibition against dividing a field into small parcels, in each of which a different kind of seed might be sown; but merely against sowing two different kinds at once to one and the same spot; barley, for instance, along with wheat. The object of this law has been variously understood. Michaelis thinks that its design was to secure the best qualities of agricultural produce by providing for such a careful separation of seed that the higher qualities should not be deteriorated by being mixed with the inferior. Whether his view be right or not, he certainly succeeds in showing the injury which arises from the want of such attention to the securing of a clean crop. He instances Hanover, which is most advantageously situated for agriculture, but which yet, from neglect on this point, was, in his time, in a worse condition than some other German countries less favourably circumstanced. He mentions a scarcity in England—he does not say when, but we infer it was that which occasioned such general tumults in 1766 and 1767-when some other German corn-growing states found there an advantageous market for their superabundant grain; but no merchant would purchase the superfluous store of Hanoverian produce, because it was so unclean as to be unfit for exportation. Mr. Roberts, in his very valuable Oriental Illustrations,' has offered another reason, which does not seem less probable than this. He observes, that large fields are seen in India sown with two kinds of seeds; that is, mixed and sown together. One kind requires much water, the other but little; so that, whether there be a scarcity or abundance of rain, the farmer is sure of his crop. Sometimes also a doubt is entertained as to what kind of produce the land is best adapted, and then recourse is had to this plan. From these, or at least the first of these facts, Mr. Roberts is disposed to infer that the object of the prohibition to the Israelites "may have been to induce them fully to trust in the providence of God, and not to make provision for a dry or wet season by sowing their fields with mingled seed." Boothroyd simply thinks that the law was to prevent the land from being over-cropped. Finally, Professor Paxton seems disposed to follow Maimonides, who finds a reason for this precept in the idolatrous customs of the ancient Zabii, who not only sowed different seeds, and grafted trees of different kinds upon each other, in certain aspects of the planets, and with certain fumigations, but also used abominable practices at the moment of incision: and he doubts not that God forbade the people to sow with mingled seeds, that he might root out the detestable idolatries and unnatural lusts which abounded in those times. We do not know on what authority it is stated that flagellation was the punishment of transgressing this command. A very appropriate penalty seems to be mentioned in the parallel text (Deut. xii. 9), where the word rendered "defiled" equally means "consecrated;" that is to say, that the produce of a field thus improperly sown would be forfeited to God, and therefore belong to the priests-a penalty well calculated to secure attention to the injunction.

"Neither shall a garment mingled of linen and woollen come upon thee." -Josephus assigns as a reason, that clothing of this sort was allowed only to the priests, and was therefore forbidden to the common people. Josephus, being himself a priest, is a good authority for what the priests wore in later times; but there is nothing in the sacred text itself to countenance the opinion that any of the priestly garments were of linsey-woolsey in the time of Moses. In this state of the case, perhaps the opinion of Maimonides may be thought worthy of attention. That generally valuable authority thinks that the law was principally intended as a preservative from idolatry; for the heathen priests of those times wore such mixed garments of woollen and linen, in the superstitious hope of having the beneficial influence of some lucky conjunction of the planets or stars, to bring down a blessing upon their sheep and their flax.

23. "Three years...it shall not be eaten of."-" The œconomical object of this law is very striking. Every gardener 302

will teach us not to let fruit-trees bear in their earliest years, but to pluck off the blossoms; and for this reason, that they will thus thrive the better, and bear more abundantly afterwards. Now, if we may not taste the fruit the first three years, we shall be the more disposed to pinch off the blossoms; and the son will learn to do this from his father. The very expression, to regard them as uncircumcised, suggests the propriety of pinching them off; I do not say cutting them off, because it is generally the hand, and not a knife, that is employed in this operation." Michaelis, Commentaries,' iii. 367-8. Although, however, the use of the fruit was only interdicted for three years, the produce did not become available to the proprietor till the fifth year, the first-fruits, that is those of that year, being in this, as in other instances, one of the dues from which the priests derived their subsistence.

28. " Nor print any marks upon you.”—This is understood to forbid the practice of tattooing, that is, by means of colours rubbed over minute punctures made in the skin, to impress certain figures and characters on different parts of the body, and which in general remain indelible throughout life. The figures thus impressed on the arms and breasts of our sailors will serve in some degree to indicate the sort of ornament intended. It is well known to be common among savages and barbarians in almost all climates and countries-the aboriginal inhabitants of our own country not excepted, who, from having their naked bodies profusely ornamented, apparently in this style, were described by the Romans as painted savages. It seems in England to be more commonly regarded as a custom of savage islanders than as any thing more. Yet it is also an Oriental custom ; and that too among people whose proximity to the Hebrews affords a reason for the interdiction. The Bedouin Arabs, and those inhabitants of towns who are in any way allied to them, are scarcely less fond of such decorations than any islanders of the Pacific Ocean. This is particularly the case among the females, who in general have their legs and arms, their front from the neck to the waist, and even their chins, noses, lips, and other prominent parts of the face disfigured with blue stains in the form of flowers, circles, bands, stars, and various fanciful figures. They have no figures of living objects, such being forbidden by their religion; neither do they associate any superstitions with them, so far as we were able to ascertain. They probably did both before the Mohammedan era, as their descendants in the island of Malta do at present. The men there generally go about without their jackets, and with their shirt sleeves tucked up above their elbows, and we scarcely recollect ever to have seen an arm thus bare which was not covered with religious emblems and figures of the Virgin, or of some saint under whose immediate protection the person thus marked conceived himself to be. Thus also, persons who visit the holy sepulchre and other sacred places in Palestine, have commonly a mark impressed upon the arm in testimony of their meritorious pilgrimage. The Hindoos also puncture upon their persons representations of birds, trees, and the gods they serve. Among them the representations are sometimes of a highly offensive description. All Hindoos have a black spot, or some other mark, upon their foreheads.-It was probably the perversion of such figures to superstitious purposes, or being worn in honour of some idol, which occasioned them to be interdicted in the text before us-if such tattooing is really that which is here intended. As the marks are indelible, we of course, in taking this view, consider that a permanent fashion rather than a temporary mourning usage is here prohibited.

CHAPTER XX.

1 of him that giveth of his seed to Molech. 4 Of him that favoureth such an one. 6 Of going to wizards. 7 Of sanctification. 9 Of him that curseth his parents. 10 Of adultery. 11, 14, 17, 19 Of incest. 13 Of sodomy. 15 Of bestiality. 18 Of uncleanness. 22 Obedience is required with holiness. 27 Wizards must be put to death. AND the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

2 Again, thou shalt say to the children of Israel, Whosoever he be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, that giveth any of his seed unto Molech; he shall surely be put to death: the people of the land shall stone him with

stones.

3 And I will set my face against that man, and will cut him off from among his people; because he hath given of his seed unto Molech, to defile my sanctuary, and to profane my holy name.

4 And if the people of the land do any ways hide their eyes from the man, when he giveth of his seed unto Molech, and kill him

not:

5 Then I will set my face against that man, and against his family, and will cut him off, and all that go a whoring after him, to commit whoredom with Molech, from among their people.

6 And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even_set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people.

7¶Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the LORD your God.

8 And ye shall keep my statutes, and do them: I am the LORD which sanctify you.

9 For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death: he hath cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him.

10 ¶ And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.

11 And the man that lieth with his father's wife hath uncovered his father's nakedness: both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

12 And if a man lie with his daughter in law, both of them shall surely be put to death: they have wrought confusion; their blood shall be upon them.

13 If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be

1 Chap. 18. 21. Chap. 11. 44, and 19. 2. 1 Pet. 1. 16. 8 Exod. 21. 17. Prov. 20. 20. Matth. 15. 4. * Deut. 22. 22. John 8. 4, 5. 5 Chap. 18. 8. 6 Chap. 18. 22,

put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

14 And if a man take a wife and her mother, it is wickedness: they shall be burnt with fire, both he and they; that there be no wickedness among you.

15 And if a man lie with a beast, he shall surely be put to death: and ye shall slay the beast.

16 And if a woman approach unto any beast, and lie down thereto, thou shalt kill the woman, and the beast: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

17 And if a man shall take his sister, his father's daughter, or his mother's daughter, and see her nakedness, and she see his nakedness; it is a wicked thing; and they shall be cut off in the sight of their people: he hath uncovered his sister's nakedness; he shall bear his iniquity.

18 'And if a man shall lie with a woman having her sickness, and shall uncover her nakedness; he hath "discovered her fountain, and she hath uncovered the fountain of her blood and both of them shall be cut off from among their people.

19 And thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother's sister, nor of thy father's sister: for he uncovereth his near kin they shall bear their iniquity.

ness they shall bear their sin; they shall die childless.

21 And if a man shall take his brother's wife, it is "an unclean thing: he hath uncovered his brother's nakedness; they shall be childless.

22 ¶ Ye shall therefore keep all my "statutes, and all my judgments, and do them: that the land, whither I bring you to dwell therein, "spue you not out.

23 And ye shall not walk in the manners of the nation, which I cast out before you: for they committed all these things, and 14therefore I abhorred them.

24 But I have said unto you, Ye shall inherit their land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land that floweth with milk and honey: I am the LORD your God, which have separated you from other people.

ye

25 Ye shall therefore put difference between clean beasts and unclean, and between unclean fowls and clean: and shall not make your souls abominable by beast, or by fowl, or by any manner of living thing that "creepeth on the ground, which I have separated from you as unclean.

26 And ye shall be holy unto me: "for I the LORD am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine. 27 18A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them.

20 And if a man shall lie with his uncle's wife, he hath uncovered his uncle's naked7 Chap. 18. 23. 9 Chap. 18. 19. 10 Heb. made naked. 11 Heb. a separation. 12 Chap. 18. 26. 13 Chap. 19. 25. 14 Deut. 9. 5. Deut. 14. 4. 16 Or, moveth. 17 Verse 7. Chap. 19. 2. 1 Pet. 1. 16. 18 Deut. 18. 11. 1 Sam. 28. 7.

8 Chap. 18. 9. 15 Chap. 11. 2.

Verse 10. "The adulterer and adulteress shall surely be put to death.”—The law of Moses is by no means peculiar in the award of capital punishment to a breach of the matrimonial contract. We see indeed from the instance of Thamar (Gen. xxxviii.) that the present law was in operation among the forefathers of the Hebrews long before it thus received the Divine sanction. Those who are disposed to consider the law exceedingly severe will do well to consult the vindication of it which Michaelis gives in Art. cclx. of his Commentaries.' His leading, but by no means his only, argument is, that in the point of view in which the crime is usually regarded by Orientals, and was regarded by the Hebrews, no punishment short of death would have been effectual in preventing the introduction and prevalence of a practice of self-avengement by assassination.

Michaelis, in a subsequent article, examines the Mohammedan law on the subject, and we observe, with surprise, that he does not find any other punishment than stripes. It is true that the Koran' is not very distinct on the subject; but the traditions also should have been examined-the decisions in which are regarded as of equal authority with the Koran.' We have looked into the Mischat-ul-Masabih,' and find the law of adultery perfectly clear. It there appears that Mohammed was at all times reluctant to adjudicate on cases of adultery; but whenever he did so, he in all instances directed the woman to be stoned: and the man also if he were married, but if single he was punished with eighty stripes. Accordingly, we find that adultery is at this day almost invariably punished with death in Mohammedan countries. The crime is seldom made a matter of judicial inquiry and conviction, but the injured person avenges himself with his own hand. A woman almost never escapes. Among the Bedouin Arabs and the Eelauts of Persia, her paternal family is considered more dishonoured by her conduct than her husband; and hence she usually receives her death from the hand of her father or brother, although her husband, or even her son, may inflict it. The Eelauts exact the penalty of death rather more inexorably than the Bedouins, who sometimes, when the guilty parties succeed in eloping to another camp or tribe, are prevailed upon to forego their claim for blood, in consideration of certain payments, which are generally so heavy as to be ruinous to the seducer.

The punishment of death for this crime is not confined to the Mohammedan countries, but generally prevails throughout Asia. In India, the Gentoo law on this subject is very complicated, and very minute in its distinctions. The punishments are very various and graduated according to the caste of the guilty parties-fine, confiscation, infamy, mutilation, and death, are among the number. The capital punishment, generally by burning, is seldom resorted to except when the man is of an inferior caste to the woman.

In the present text the capital punishment is denounced without its form being mentioned; and the Rabbins say that in all such cases the punishment was that of strangling, as the mildest sort of death. Their authority however