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Home / Bible Commentaries / Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures: Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical/ Deuteronomy
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures: Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical
Deuteronomy Deuteronomy 26
The perfection of Israel
Deuteronomy 23:1 to Deuteronomy 26:19
The Commonwealth of Jehovah
( Deuteronomy 23:1-8)
1He that is wounded in the stones, or hath his privy member cut off [one through bruising injured or emasculated] shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord 2 A bastard shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord; even to his tenth generation3[member] shall he not enter into the congregation of the Lord. An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the Lord for ever: 4Because they met you not with bread and with water in the way, when ye came forth out of Egypt; and because they , the Moabite] hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor of Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse thee 5 Nevertheless the Lord thy God would not hearken unto Balaam: but the Lord thy God turned the curse into a blessing unto thee, because the Lord thy God loved thee 6 Thou shalt not seek their peace, nor their prosperity [welfare, margin: good] all thy days for eDeut Deuteronomy 23:7 Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite, for he is thy brother: thou shalt not abhor an 8 Egyptian, because [for] thou wast a stranger in his land. The children [sons] that are begotten of them shall enter into the congregation of the Lord in their third generation.
After the close of this exposition, application and completion of the decalogue, there is indicated now a delineation of Israel in the most varied aspects, especially as the Kahal Jehovah from the beginning to the close of the section. Deuteronomy 23:1. Wounded, sq, through crushing, (the pressing and rubbing of the testicles) designates the eunuch as the crushed όθλαδίας, (Septuagint). Cut off, the urethra, the completely castrated. The refusal to admit them into the communion of the covenant is explained by the congregation of the Lord, the community consecrated to Him. If of animals, Leviticus 22:24, how much more of men! Comp. Leviticus 22:18 sq. Israel is a priestly ( Leviticus 21:17 sq.) community. Comp. Exodus 20:22. Only the unmutilated image of God as in its creation can come before Jehovah, the Elohim, and the people who should be permanent must possess the fitting organs of generation ( Numbers 16:3; Numbers 20:4); comp. Isaiah 56:3 sq.—[They could not be admitted to the full privileges of the congregation of Jehovah; but they were received as proselytes, Acts 8:27; and the prophets show that this ban was to be removed when the reason for this restriction should be done away by the fuller presence and work of the Holy Spirit.—A. G.]—There was somewhere ever human guilt in the circumstances. So also with the מַמְזֵד, Deuteronomy 23:3 (only elsewhere in Zechariah 9:6). Meier: 1) a foreigner, 2) heterogeneous, i.e., bastard; Knobel (Keil) in the sense of corruption, foulness, filth, one stained in his conception and birth; Delitzsch: equivalent with mongrel; others: as contracted from מוּם and זָר, or from זָר מֵעָם Sept. and Vulg, as the child of fornication, which neither agrees with the connection here nor with the rest of the Old Testament; rather as the Syriac: the conception of adultery; still better: the child born of incest [so Keil, Wogue, the Bib. Com, and the Rabbins.—A. G.], ( Genesis 19:30 sq.), whence the religious and political application to the mingling of the Israelites and heathen may be more fully comprehended. Comp. Isaiah 56:3; John 8:41. (The Jew Salvador designates Jesus as a mamser)—To the tenth generation, the number10 denoting the perfect, absolute exclusion from Israel, as also, Deuteronomy 23:3, the addition forever. If the ground in Deuteronomy 23:1 is found in the human deed upon the body, so now in the immorality through the human will. With the physical, the moral, there is now connected, Deuteronomy 23:3, the religio-political, with respect to the theocratically forever-excluded Ammonites and Moabites ( Lamentations 1:10). Deuteronomy 23:4. The reason: the still freshly remembered hostility restrained only by fear on their side, as on the side of Israel by the respect enjoined upon them Deuteronomy 2:19 sq.; 9 sq. (4sq.; 29). In violation of every custom of hospitality (even in savage tribes, Isaiah 21:13 sq.), not to speak of the natural affection of kindred, they did not meet Israel with the necessaries of life. This is the point which is made against both. As the Moabites only dwelt in Ar (chap2), so now the transaction with Balaam on the part of Moab in which the intense hostility against Israel appears, is viewed as common with both. Comp. upon Numbers 22, [See Smith'sBib. Dic. Art. Ammon.—A. G.] As the singular, שׂכר, is used of Moab, represented by its king, so also Israel is spoken of in the singular, thee. Person against person, God Himself must intervene, Deuteronomy 23:5; there is no failure in the will of Moab. The designed cursing of Israel, as the highest degree of hostility, God turns to blessing, and uses the service of the prophet in doing it. It is only the necessary line of Israel's conduct, therefore, which, Deuteronomy 23:6 announces, since according to the promise of God resting upon Israel, Genesis 12:3, which Balaam himself must repeat, Numbers 24:9, this could not cease at the present stand-point of this growing (werdens) and wrestling soldier of God. Comp. still Ezra 9:12. Matthew 5:44; Luke 6:28; Romans 12:14, are possible first in Christ, in whom David reaches perfection in Solomon. It is not "malicious zeal" (Knobel), or even national hatred or revenge, which is spoken of here, comp. Deuteronomy 2:9, and also the immediately following direction. Comp. further Jeremiah 29:7; Nehemiah 13:1 sq. (In reference to Ruth, the Talmud limits the exclusion to males.) Comp. also 2 Samuel10. for personal exceptions.—[Bib. Com.: "Such a law would certainly never have suggested itself to the mind of a writer after the time of David, whose great-grandmother was a Moabitess."—A. G.]
Deuteronomy 23:7. תעב, the expression for the technical theocratic abhorrence, e.g. Deuteronomy 22:5. In the case of Edom the tie of brotherhood should prevail, notwithstanding all its acts of hostility; in Egypt, the hospitality they had received, although they had been oppressed by Pharaoh. Comp. Doct. and Eth6, upon Deuteronomy 1:6 to Deuteronomy 4:40, Hengstenberg, Moses and Egypt. "In a statement springing from a view of the living relations, the contrasts or opposition which actual life every where presents are suffered to appear; in a mythical statement they would be carefully obliterated." Such motives as are here urged were only near and of force at the time of Moses. Deuteronomy 23:8 concerns the great-grandsons of those who had united with Israel by circumcision, or who had settled among them. Others: the grandchildren.
1. Circumcision, not concision, or the entire excision. Philippians 3:2 sq.
2. "How great the contrast between Jehovah and the heathen gods, in whose service the very mutilation in this respect availed as a peculiar consecration and holiness." Baumgarten.
3. The moral blamelessness of the Lord's people, and its sacred nobility of birth.
4. Ammon and Moab as they are one in their origin, so throughout in their relation to Israel. Leaving out of view their incestuous origin, with which they are not charged, they were still, as to their origin, much farther removed from Israel than Edom. Their opposition to Israel is not in their origin, but rather out of their origin, as it asserts itself immediately in the disposition, in conscious enmity. In Edom the injustice done to their tribe-father may humanly be regarded as an excuse. Still more love may hope for a solution of the conflict between natural revengefulness and the divine choice. The fear of Edom before the divine in Israel need not strengthen itself into hatred. In any case Israel must hold its privileges open to Edom, which is directly forbidden with reference to Moab and Ammon through their conscious enmity; they are by demonic reflection what Amalek was by demonic passion. As to what is warlike, Ammon gave the tone to the boastful and tragico-comical Moab. Its hostility to the Lord's people continues to the end. Lust and cruelty characterize its religion. Comp. Schultz, p 164 sq.
5. ["God shows here that He regards nations as having a corporate existence, and deals with them according to their national acts. Egypt was to be kindly dealt with for its past favors to Israel. Former kindnesses were to be remembered, and past injuries to be forgotten." Wordsworth—A. G.]
Deuteronomy 23:2. Richter: "Ideally no one can attain to heavenly citizenship who is not born of God in the true way," John 3. Deuteronomy 23:3. Reichel: "The Moabites hated the priestly kingdom of God as such, and would have it cursed throughout. On the other hand, they were not so ignorant as the other heathen, but sinned against their better knowledge. Whoever wishes good to such enemies, he helps to condemn and persecute the people of God," 2 John 1:10. Deuteronomy 23:4. Richter: "Thus many a one still draws down upon himself the anger of God. Balaam, Balak, have their places in the Apocalypse." Deuteronomy 23:5. Osiander: "God's love, not ours, is the cause of all blessedness." Deuteronomy 23:6. Schultz: "It is opposition to godlessness, indeed to enmity to God, which is not removed even by Romans 12:18, which is here fundamentally regarded." Deuteronomy 23:7. The import of kinship. Theodoret: "He will teach us never to forget former kindnesses." Osiander: "Early kindnesses should avail with us above later injuries." Schultz: "Notwithstanding all hostility, we should recognize the good in our opponents." Deuteronomy 23:8. Starke: "In the Old Testament even the door of grace stood open to the heathen; the partition wall is done away in Christ, Ephesians 2:12-14." Berl. Bib.: "This also has its spiritual significance for the congregation of believers in the New Testament, Ephesians 5:27. Hence all must be put away who are unfruitful in good, who are of no use to their brother in bodily or spiritual things, all rough worldly men," etc.
Israel in Camp
Deuteronomy 23:9-14
9When the host goeth forth against [upon] thine enemies, then keep thee from every wicked thing 10 If there be among you any man that is not clean by reason of uncleanness that chanceth him by night [clean from accident by], then shall Hebrews 11go abroad out of [beyond] the camp, he shall not come within the camp: But [And] it shall be, when evening[FN1] cometh on, he shall wash himself with water: and when the sun is down, he shall come into the camp again. 12Thou shalt have a place [room—literally hand] also without the camp, whither thou shalt go forth abroad: 13And thou shalt have a paddle upon thy weapon[FN2] [beside thy weapon]; and it shall be when thou wilt ease thyself[FN3] abroad, thou shalt dig therewith, and shalt turn back, and cover that which cometh from thee: 14For the Lord thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee; therefore shall thy camp [and thy camp shall] be holy: that he see no[FN4] [and he shall not see] unclean thing in thee, and turn away from thee.
The civil sanctity of Israel has its corresponding manifestation, and indeed first of all in the field, Deuteronomy 23:9, upon the march to war. It must then be Song of Solomon, more than in Numbers 5:2 sq, since they then stand opposed to the heathen, and indeed in their noblest manhood (chap20). דבר רע, comp. Deuteronomy 17:1, here defilement, Deuteronomy 23:10, as explained Leviticus 15:16 sq. ( 1 Samuel 20:26). No further specification, because sufficiently clear from the earlier law-giving. Deuteronomy 23:11. ( Genesis 24:63.) At sunset he might come into the camp. Deuteronomy 23:12 respects not only cleanliness, but stands as a representative of purity in every sense. "Not everywhere, and still less in the camp." Knobel. Deuteronomy 23:13. יָתֵד, the fixed, stable, hence the wooden nail, the tent-peg, but also to fix fast; hence the thrusting, penetrating instrument. אָזֵן, furniture, war-weapon or utensil. Deuteronomy 23:14. The presence of Jehovah is the reason for the sanctity, and therefore for the sanctification of the camp, Deuteronomy 20:1; Deuteronomy 20:4; Deuteronomy 1:8 ( 2 Corinthians 6:16).—Unclean (nakedness, from ערה) of a thing, i.e. any nakedness, which could not exist without destroying or injuring the reverence for Jehovah.
Deuteronomy 23:9. Times of war are usually times of girdled, straitened life. Randglosse: "That you may not be censurable, and so lose the victory, as a punishment, as at the time of Eli and Saul." Piscator: "How can we contend successfully with our enemies? When the soldiers put away evil from themselves." [Bib. Com.: "The ordinary rules of religion and morality were relaxed in times of war among other nations; but Israel must then shun every wicked thing." Wordsworth: "The Lord of battles walks in the midst of camps; the soldier's life should be a holy and religious one. Our unholiness makes our enemies powerful against us."—A. G.]
Deuteronomy 23:10. Starke: "Soldiers should cultivate assiduously every virtue, especially that of purity." Deuteronomy 23:11. Starke: "Without real purity and holiness no one can enter the heavenly camp, Ephesians 5:5." Deuteronomy 23:12-13. Schultz: "Since heedlessness, indeed rudeness with respect to the community, manifests itself in these trifling and most external things, as well as in those which are greater, the ordinance is of great importance even now, although the conduct in the physical region may not now be regarded as a preparatory exercise with respect to moral conduct." Deuteronomy 23:14. Starke: "He who is not ashamed before men, disgraces himself before God." Berl. Bib.: "We have here a sensible representation of the militant Church of God." Piscator: "The Christian Church is a holy camp of the eternal sons of God wherein God dwells, and nothing disgraceful should be seen." [Wordsworth: "The Lord Christ dwelleth and walketh in the midst of us, and preaches to us all: 'Be ye holy, for I am holy,' Revelation 1:13."—A. G.]
FN#1 - Deuteronomy 23:11. Marg.: turning toward, literally at the turning of the evening.—A. G.].
FN#2 - Deuteronomy 23:13. Sept. and Vulg.: upon thy girdle. Heb.: sharp-pointed utensil. Some MSS. have the plural: among thy utensils. So Gesenius.—A. G.].
FN#3 - Deuteronomy 23:13. Marg. literally: thou sittest down or in thy sitting down.—A. G.].
FN#4 - Deuteronomy 23:14. Schroeder as the Marg.: nakedness of a thing.—A. G.].
Israel at Home
Chaps. Deuteronomy 23:15 to Deuteronomy 25:19
15Thou shalt not deliver[FN5] unto his master the servant which is escaped from his master unto thee: 16He shall dwell with thee, even among you in that place which he shall choose in one of thy gates where it liketh [good for him, so margin] him best: thou shalt not oppress him 17 There shall be no whore[FN6] [consecrated, devoted one] of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel 18 Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore, or the price of a dog into the house of the Lord thy God for any vow: for even both these are abomination unto the Lord thy God 19 Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother [lay upon thy brother]: usury[FN7] of money, usury of victuals, usury of anything that is lent [accustomed to be lent] upon usury: 20Unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon usury; but unto thy brother thou shalt not lend upon usury: that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all that thou settest thine hand to in the land whither thou goest to possess it 21 When thou shalt vow a vow unto the Lord thy God, thou shalt not slack to pay it: for the Lord thy God will surely require it of thee; and it would be [and it is] sin in thee 22 But if thou shalt forbear to vow, it shall be no sin in thee 23 That which is gone out of thy lips thou shalt keep and perform; even a free-will offering [freely, voluntarily] according as thou hast vowed unto the Lord thy God, which thou hast promised with thy mouth 24 When thou comest into thy neighbor's vineyard, then thou mayest eat grapes thy fill at thine own pleasure [as thy desire (soul) is]; but thou shalt not put any in thy vessel 25 When thou comest into the standing-corn of thy neighbor, then thou mayest pluck the ears with thine hand: but thou shalt not move a sickle unto thy neighbor's standing-corn.
Deuteronomy 24:1 to Deuteronomy 22:1 When [If] a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that [if] she find no favor in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness [nakedness of a thing] in her: then let him write her a bill of 2 divorcement,[FN8] and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house. And when 3 she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man's wife. And if the latter husband hate her, and write her a bill of divorcement [a separating writing], and giveth it in her hand, and sendeth her out of his house; or if the latter husband die, which took her to be his wife; 4Her former husband which sent her away, may not take her again [return to take her] to be his wife, after that she is defiled; for that is abomination before the Lord: and thou shalt not cause the land to sin [make it sinful] which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance 5 When a man hath taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war, neither shall he be charged with any business[FN9]: but he shall be free at home one year, and shall cheer up his wife which he hath taken 6 No man shall take the nether [the hand-mill] or the upper[FN10] mill-stone to pledge: for he taketh a man's life to pledge 7 If a man be found stealing any of his [a soul (person) of his] brethren of the children of Israel, and maketh merchandise of him [constrain him violently] or selleth him; then that thief shall die; and thou shalt put evil away from among you 8 Take heed in the plague of leprosy, that thou observe diligently, and do according to all that [as] the priests the Levites shall teach you: as I commanded them, so ye shall observe to do 9 Remember what the Lord thy God did unto Miriam by the way, after that ye were come [in your coming] forth out of Egypt 10 When thou dost lend[FN11] thy brother anything, thou shalt not go into his house to fetch[FN12] his pledge: 11Thou shalt stand abroad, and the man to whom thou dost lend shall bring out the pledge abroad unto thee: 12And if the man be poor [a bound, oppressed man], thou shalt not sleep with his pledge: 13In any case thou shalt deliver him the pledge again when the sun goeth down, that he may sleep in his own raiment [over-cloak, mantle], and bless thee; and it shall be righteousness unto thee before the Lord thy God 14 Thou shalt not oppress an hired servant that is poor and needy, whether he be of thy brethren, or of thy strangers that are in thy land within thy gates: 15At his day thou shalt give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down upon it, for he is poor, and setteth his heart upon it [lifteth his soul unto it]: lest he cry [and he shall not cry] against thee unto the Lord, and it be sin unto thee 16 The fathers shall not be put to death for [with, on account of] the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for [in] his own sin 17 Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger, nor of the fatherless, nor take a widow's raiment to pledge: 18But thou shalt remember that [And remember, for] thou wast a bond-man in Egypt, and the Lord thy God redeemed thee thence: therefore I command thee to do this thing [word]. When thou cuttest down thine harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, 19thou shalt not go again to fetch it: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow: that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hands 20 When thou beatest thine olive-tree, thou shalt not go over the boughs again[FN13] [search the boughs after thee]: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow 21 When thou gatherest [cuttest off] the grapes of thy vineyard, thou shalt not glean it afterward [after this]: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow 22 And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bond-man in the land of Egypt: therefore I command thee to do this thing.
Deuteronomy 25:1 to Deuteronomy 19:1 If there be a controversy between men, and they come [near (hither)] unto judgment, that [and] the judges may [omit may] judge them; 2then [and] they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked. Ana [Then] it shall be, if the wicked man be worthy to be beaten [a son of stripes], that the judge shall cause him to lie down, and to be beaten before his face, according to his fault [what his fault requires] by a certain number 3 Forty stripes he may give him, and not exceed: lest if he should exceed, and beat him above these with many stripes, then thy brother should seem vile unto thee 4 Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out [lit. and marg.: in his threshing] the corn. 5If brethren dwell together, and one of them die and have no child [son], the wife of the dead shall not marry without unto a stranger: her husband's[FN14] brother shall go in unto her, and take her to him to wife, and perform the duty of an husband's brother unto her 6 And it shall be, that the first-born which she beareth, shall succeed in the name of his brother which is dead, that his name be not put out of Israel 7 And if the man like not to take his brother's[FN15] wife, then let his brother's wife go up to the gate unto the elders, and say, My husband's brother refuseth to raise up unto his brother a name in Israel, he will not perform the duty of my husband's 8 brother. Then [And] the elders of his city shall[om. shall] call him, and speak unto him: and if [om. if] he stand to it, and say, I like not to take her, 9Then shall his brother's wife come unto him in the presence of the elders, and loose his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face, and shall answer [reply], and say, So shall it be done unto that man that will not build up his brother's house 10 And his name shall be called in Israel, The house of him that hath his shoe loosed [the bare-footed]. 11When men strive together one with another [together a man and his brother], and the wife of the one draweth near for to deliver her husband out of the hand of him that smiteth him, and putteth forth her hand, and taketh him by the secrets: 12Then thou shalt cut off her hand, thine eye shall not pity her. 13Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights [stone and a stone. So the marg.], a great and a small: 14Thou shalt not have in thine house divers measures [an ephah and an ephah, marg.], 15a great and a small: But thou shalt have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just[FN16] measure shalt thou have; that thy days may be 16 lengthened in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. For all [every one] that do such things, and all [every one] that do unrighteously, are an abomination unto the Lord thy God 17 Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way, 18when ye were come forth out of Egypt; How he [who] met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, even all that were feeble behind thee, when thou wast faint and weary: and he feared not God. Therefore [And] it shall be, when the Lord thy God hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round about, in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it, that thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; 19thou shalt not forget it.
1. Deuteronomy 23:15-18. The previous directions for war, offer the point of union here, since in the time of war servants might easily escape from the enemy. It occurs, however, when Israel was abroad in the field; but now he is at home, Deuteronomy 23:16; hence there is a return so far to Deuteronomy 23:1-8, as ( Deuteronomy 23:15) the dwelling of a heathen servant might be hazardous as to the sacred character of the people of God. But the escaped (who will rescue himself) to Israel desires the very same thing which Israel himself had experienced at the hand of God ( Deuteronomy 23:15, נצל); without considering, that the individual ownership, the right of possession, even according to Egyptian ideas, "ceases when that of the whole people comes to an end." (Schultz). If Jehovah delivers the enemy before Israel, Israel should not deliver any one, even a slave, into hostile, and at the same time arbitrary power. סגר Hiphil delivered to be shut up, in order to be held more securely, perhaps even at first to be cruelly punished. Deuteronomy 23:16. But even in Israel itself such a fugitive should not be made to feel his position by oppression, fraud, defamation, etc., ( Exodus 22:21; Leviticus 19:33), but should be permitted to do as he likes, as a fellow-dweller in the good land of Jehovah. Comp. upon Deuteronomy 1:16; Deuteronomy 10:18 sq.; Deuteronomy 14:29 ( Deuteronomy 14:21). "No active efforts for the conversion of the heathen were enjoined." Baumgarten. Such a reception of one escaping from the heathen meets however, Deuteronomy 23:17, immediately its limitations. This consecrated (prostitute) belonged to the Phœnician, Syrian goddess of love (Astarte, Mylitta). Prostitution might awaken in Israel a like religious service with that existing of old in Canaan ( Genesis 38:21) so that the designation (Kedeshah) becomes an honorable title for a prostitute, ( Leviticus 19:29). There were Sodomites also, Leviticus 18:22; Job 36:14 ( 1 Kings 14:24; 2 Kings 23:7). Still less should they deliver to Jehovah ( Deuteronomy 23:18) the gift or hire. זונה from זנה to depart from the true form of the sexual life, marriage; to digress, to commit excesses. Such gifts were a reward for religious iniquity, a present in which the God of Israel was treated as a lust idol. The special gift was a kid of the goats, Genesis 38:17 sq, but also money, hence the price of a dog, not the money received for a dog sold, but the reward of gain of Kadesh (κίναιδος) a Sodomite, one who endured, "what one dog suffers from another." Knobel. Used here figuratively, because it had grown into a terminus technicus ( Revelation 22:15; Revelation 21:8). Upon house of the Lord. Comp. Intro, § 4, I:23. For any vow, as Phænician lewdness, dedicated especially these fruits of the body to idols. Even both these, the gift and the giver.
2. Deuteronomy 23:19-20. The discourse passes from God to our neighbor, as in Deuteronomy 23:20, at the close, back again to God, in a genuine deuteronomic way, showing the profound understanding of the law, of the connection between the two tables. Deuteronomy 23:19. נֶשֶׁךְ (from נשׁך to bite) literally something biting, oppressive, the Hiphil is not to give interest, but to take, as Exodus 22:25; Leviticus 25:36 sq.; for if the taking was forbidden, the obligation not to give is of course evident, especially since only the necessity of a brother could bring him to borrow, in the simple relations of Israel, and unselfish love should have arranged for this. We are not to think here of the speculations of trade. Deuteronomy 23:20. Comp. Deuteronomy 15:3; Deuteronomy 15:6; Deuteronomy 14:21; for the rest Deuteronomy 12:7. The stranger is perhaps one passing through Israel for purposes of trade, not one (גר) remaining or dwelling for a time among Israel. The Phœnicians, Arabians certainly, took interest from Israel. [The permission to take usury (interest) from the stranger carries with it of course the principal. And it is probable that the loaning of money at fair and easy rates, to aid or accommodate a brother, is not here prohibited. And even if prohibited here, it is only for the special cases, and in the peculiar circumstances of the ancient people of God.—A. G.].
3. Deuteronomy 23:21-23. נדר, kindred with נזר to set apart, in Niphal: to abstain from anything, to consecrate oneself to anything, hence נדר a devoted thing. The fulfilling must follow. Comp. Deuteronomy 15:9. If sin, then of course the demand with penalty. On the other hand the vow, even when near at hand, and customary, may be discontinued. For it Isaiah, Deuteronomy 23:23, voluntary, or a free-will offering; but the freedom before it is uttered, makes the obligation still stronger afterwards. שׁמר as always to preserve. נְדָבָה voluntariness, here without the בְּ ( Hosea 14:5), merely voluntary, from נָדַב to move, to give freely, intrans. movable, to be willing, generous, אשר generally what was vowed, especially the utterance, or vow. Comp. moreover Leviticus 27; Numbers 6:30.
4. Deuteronomy 23:24-25. The freedom over against God (with respect to that belonging to Him) leads now again to a corresponding freedom in regard to the property of our neighbor: the more comprehensible as Jehovah is the literal and permanent owner of the promised land. These verses relate to the thirsting and hungry, the former standing first here as the deepest and most painful necessity. The needy one therefore is not the laborer, but rather the traveller, the passer by. It is expressly forbidden that any one should make out of this freedom a means of support. The literal poverty in Israel is not in view here. Comp. further Deuteronomy 12:15; Deuteronomy 12:20 sq.; Deuteronomy 14:26. Fill thy desire. שׂבע, full, be satisfied, satisfaction. Accusative of the closer limitation. Deuteronomy 23:25. Comp. upon Deuteronomy 16:9. מְלִילָה the ears as standing out. [Ges.: as cut off], ( Matthew 12:1; Luke 6:1). Usually roasted, Leviticus 23:14. Thus take no store along with them.
5. Deuteronomy 24:1-5. This chapter leads us into the home of the Israelite, into his domestic life. Deuteronomy 24:1-4. Of divorce. Deuteronomy 24:1. Comp. Deuteronomy 22:13; Deuteronomy 21:13. To marry a wife, according to this, is to take property into possession, hence to become her lord. The divorce was thus as a mater of fact supposed, and indeed in the case which Moses, in this view of the wife, must leave as it is—when in the closer and daily intercourse of life she was not pleasing to the husband—and thus entirely as in subjection to him who had power over her. Her not finding favor with him must truly rest upon a previous finding on his side with regard to her, and through this has its ground and motives. While the latter finding is always put into the husband's hands alone, it must still be something that is nakedness (uncleanness) and not might be nakedness ( Deuteronomy 23:14). Thus a physical or moral occasion for divorce. The school of Hillel at the time of Christ interpreted it as κατὰ πᾶσαν αἰταἰαν ( Matthew 19:3), i.e., any thing which may not be pleasing to the husband—purely subjective. The stricter school of Schammai confined it to some immodesty, shamelessness, lewdness, adultery. But this latter was a capital crime. Knobel holds correctly, no doubt, to some physical defect. Upon the writing see Hengstenb. Auth. I:460. In connection with the supposed spread of the art of writing among Israel, this divorce does not appear to have been directly made more difficult by the סֵפֶר (letter, writing) of divorcement, although this may have been the case when "the learned priest or Levite must be brought, who would seek to reconcile the husband." Herxheimer. Such a form of divorce, gave only into the hand of the divorced wife that which would show, that she was legitimately dismissed, and so free, both generally and before other men, and over against her husband hitherto ( Deuteronomy 24:4). Deuteronomy 24:2. Is a description of her freedom. Deuteronomy 24:3. In direct continuance of the preceding, Deuteronomy 24:1-2, this verse now utters more fully the case, which is literally in view here. Comp. Deuteronomy 21:15; Deuteronomy 22:13. A decided hatred alternates with what is said, Deuteronomy 24:1, which as to the rest is repeated, except that the case of a wife freed again by the event of death is further supposed here. The apodosis now follows with the condition or limitation of the divorce. [See textual notes. The sentence should be read as one, Deuteronomy 24:1-4. The pointing in the original makes it clear that Moses does not institute or command divorce. The pointing in our version implies that he does so. He is merely prescribing limitations or regulations to a prevailing custom, which was not in accordance with the institution of marriage, and was only permitted there in this limited sense, and under these restrictions, "for the hardness of their hearts." At the same time all these directions tend evidently to prevent any hasty or passionate rupture of the marriage bond, and to guard the interests of the wife as the party most needing protection. For while it seems probable that the wife might initiate the divorce, it was very seldom done.—A. G.]. It is worthy of notice, that the original husband is designated בעל, while the second is always called merely אִישּׁ But although the idea of marriage according to its institution ( Genesis 2:23 sq.) may not be brought out in this connection, yet still the prohibition, this legal impossibility to take her again, would serve without doubt to check, a hasty divorce, the degradation of the woman, and especially the bestializing of the sexual relation of man and wife. Reconciliation is possible, indeed may be silently read between the lines (comp. 2 Samuel 3:14), but not the taking her again to wife, after that (אַהֲרֵי referring to the אִיש־אחר, Deuteronomy 24:2), she is defiled. Hothpaal: Suffered herself to be defiled. Polluta est alius concubitu. J. H. Michaelis. [Thus it is clear even in these verses. As the Bib. Com. remarks "that divorce whilst tolerated for the time contravenes the order of nature and of God. The divorced woman who marries again is defiled." This of course is subject to the interpretation of our Lord, who Himself makes divorce valid, and the innocent party free, on the ground of adultery. Our Lord's teaching on this subject is found in Matthew 5:31-32; Matthew 19:3-9; Luke 16:18; and Mark 10:2-12. It seems to be clear that we are here taught that while marriage is an indissoluble compact between one man and one woman, which cannot be dissolved at the mere arbitrary will of either party, or indeed of both parties, it may be dissolved by the sin of fornication on the part of either. If a man puts away his wife for any other cause, he commits adultery; if upon this ground he is not guilty of any offence. Where divorce takes place upon this ground there is no sin, even if the man marries again. He is free; as the bond has been annulled by the sin of the other party, and so vice versa.—A. G.]. See Leviticus 18:20; Numbers 5:13 sq, of adultery. Man and wife are one flesh, Genesis 2:24. To become the same with a third party is not barely a levitical ( Leviticus 15:18) but a moral desecration of the marriage union. So fundamentally and essentially, Matthew 5:32; Matthew 19:9. As the second marriage of the divorced was defilement, so here remarriage with her first husband is abomination before (in the face of) Jehovah; expressively said in every case as Deuteronomy 7:25; Deuteronomy 12:31; Deuteronomy 22:5. Comp. further Leviticus 18:25; Jeremiah 3:1. sq.
Deuteronomy 24:5. The newly formed marriage. A new wife, in distinction from the old, just forbidden him, from whom he had divorced himself; a first or a second wife, perhaps even a divorced or a widow. צָבָא a concentration of the soldierly or warlike manhood, Deuteronomy 20:7. While the betrothed must present himself, and then be dismissed, the newly-married is naturally not first marched out for a like release. To the previous prohibition limiting and making more difficult the marriage separation, now we have a positive relaxation in the interest of the marriage union, showing at the same time liberal indulgence to the fresh marriage band. עבר על to break in upon, to pass over any one. Job 13:13. Here generally no public burden. לכל as in Deuteronomy 23:18. At home, for the good of his just established domestic life. And cheer up his wife instead of causing her sorrow through the exposure of his life, or burdening her with care of any kind.
6. [Wordsworth: "St. Paul transcribes 1 Corinthians 5:13, the words of the Sept. here, and thus teaches us to apply these Levitical laws to spiritual things."—A. G.].
7. Deuteronomy 24:8-9. The case, when an Israelite must leave his home, is: in the נֶגַע—time (upon the skin as from a blow) of צָרַעַת (from צָרַע to break forth) i.e., of the eruption, thus at the first appearance; as more precisely explained, Leviticus 13. sq. Schultz and Keil understand the בְ needlessly as if: take heed because (of the cost) of the plague of leprosy (as a punishment, i.e., do nothing to incur it). Luther, as the Vulg, takes בְ for מִן, from before. They should exactly and strictly observe (שׁמר) hold fast, what Moses had commanded the priests and Levites (Intro, § 4, I:22). They thus direct only ( Deuteronomy 17:10) according to the law, when they in case of the leprosy remove any one from his home and separate him from the people ( Leviticus 13:45-46). The strictness of the admonition is followed by an equally stringent command to obedience, and this, Deuteronomy 24:9, is enforced by a reference to Miriam, Numbers 12:10 sq. In the case of Miriam the leprosy was the punishment for her rebellion against Moses; but it is not the leprosy, but what Jehovah had done to her ( Numbers 12:14), her separation beyond the camp, which is here in view. The onward march of the people was at that time restrained by her course, Numbers 12:15. Neither the rank nor the person could be regarded.
810–13. For the rest, the home of a fellow-Israelite must be respected. [The directions here given are to guard the poor and unfortunate from oppression. Their homes could not be violated. The creditor must stand without and wait for the pledge to be brought. But the right to the pledge is recognized. It must be brought. And doubtless the law or custom would regulate what pledge was sufficient. Within these limits the creditor would have the right to judge.—A. G.].
9. [The three-fold repetition, 19, 20, 21, of these classes who were thus partly provided for, is calculated surely to impress the care and tenderness of God over the poor, and the humanity of the laws of Moses.—A. G.]
10. Chap25, Deuteronomy 25:1-3. To the wretched, not habitually, but for the time, in the ideal connection of this paragraph with the foregoing, belongs also the case of one exposed to punishment. But Deuteronomy 25:1 brings out first of all the prevailing righteousness for Israel. The poor or wretched even in this reference could only be treated righteously. Comp. Exodus 23:7. צדק, to be firm, straight. Opposed to רָשַׁע, to separate, to turn aside. Whoever in any given case is righteous, the opponent is unrighteous, i.e. guilty, not however in the moral sense, but sensu forensi. Deuteronomy 25:2. לְפָנָיו, i.e. before the Judges, who should observe the number and the kind of stripes, and perhaps also limit the dishonor in the case, through such a form of proceeding. Bovet, who regards the tabernacle "as the tent of justice standing in the centre of the people," before which "the Lord of Israel cites His people," describes the mode in which justice is pronounced and executed in Egypt to-day; the whole scene now aptly illustrating that which we may suppose to have occurred here. כדי (comp. Deuteronomy 15:8), according to the measure, with reference to the number, i.e. as many as the crime demands according to the jus talionis, Deuteronomy 25:3. Forty, i.e. 4 × 10. thus according to all the world, on all sides, a perfect measure. ("From Genesis 7:12 it is the full measure of the development of judgment." Keil.)—Not exceed, i.e., not more than forty. Anxious not to overstep this extreme limit, the later Jews fixed the number of stripes at thirty-nine ( 2 Corinthians 11:24).—[And yet they did not hesitate to use the whip or scourge, instead of the stick or rod.—A. G.]—Any excess over these would be too many stripes—not so much in reference to what a man can endure, as with respect to its spiritual, humane side or aspect. In such a case there would be no limit to the arbitrary will; the sufferer, as to why he was still punished, would not be under the law, but barely under the rod; he would not be even under the protection of the law. Moreover, he would suffer loss in the eyes of his brethren, if it was not retribution nor even dishonor, but the stripes merely which were in view here. וְנִקְלָה, from קָלָה, to rub open, sweep away [Ges.: roast], e.g. by fire, hence light, to make small, despicable, so that it is not necessary to render the Niphal with Meier to be ruined.—[Bib. Com.: "The son of Israel was not to be lashed like a slave at the mercy of another. The judge was to see that the law was not over-passed."—A. G.]
11. Deuteronomy 25:4. The treatment of a man as a brute, if we can think of such in an unlimited scourging, gives occasion for the mention of the brutes even, according to righteousness, Deuteronomy 25:4. If his wages are to be given to the hired laborer daily, so also the laboring animal should be permitted to eat of the grain which it treads out, or over which it draws the threshing-cart (Winer, Lex. I., p276). Comp. upon this the present usage in the East; Hengst, Moses and Egypt ( 1 Corinthians 9:9; 1 Timothy 5:18). Such a reference to animals makes the reference to the dead brother in the following paragraph to appear more appropriate.—[Wordsworth dwells upon the use which the Apostle makes of this passage, "not only as showing that the Levitical law has a spiritual sense, in which it is still binding upon all, but as giving us the key by which we may unlock the casket and take out of its treasures." But this opens wide the door to a very loose and fanciful exposition. It would need great sobriety and judgment to keep at all within bounds on the principle here stated. We cannot safely argue from what the apostle did, and justify ourselves in a like course. And the Apostle seems to use the words rather as illustrative of the truth he was teaching than as assigning to them a figurative and spiritual sense.—A. G.]
12. Deuteronomy 25:5-10. The Levirate marriages. It is not the dead brother alone, but the widow also, who with him claims special notice here. In the following primitive institution there is no allusion to the "taking possession of the landed property", Knobel, and hence, Deuteronomy 25:5, the dwelling together cannot be placed as a condition to the obligation, with Knobel, Keil [Bib. Com.], but only brings to bear from the beginning, the actual position, the local nearness of the brother-in-law as giving rise to it. It was customary to dwell together, if not in the same house, yet upon the same paternal inheritance. וּבֵן אֵין־לֹו, according to Jewish tradition, without child or grandchild, Matthew 22:24; Mark 12:19; Luke 20:28. That a son was alluded to here, and expressly in Deuteronomy 25:6, is only natural. But if the dead left behind him even a daughter, it was, according to Numbers 27:4; Numbers 36:8, sufficient. The widow was not free to marry any one belonging to a family beyond the tribe or kindred ( Numbers 36:3). Comp. Genesis 19:31. יָבָם, literally, allied, related by marriage, levir (δαήρ), in the Jewish interpretation: the own brother on the father's side, if unmarried? יָבַם, Piel, act the part of the brother-in-law. Deuteronomy 25:6. Shall succeed [Schroeder: stand up], not to the name of his own father, but to that of his dead uncle, and so be registered in the genealogical table, i.e. as is self-evident, be enrolled as his heir. Others hold that he should not only thus perpetuate the name of the dead, but that he should be literally named after him. But comp. Ruth 4:10; Ruth 4:17, for the refutation of this view.—וְלֹא־יִמָּחֶה, from מחה, to wipe off, namely, from the genealogical tables. As e.g. Ohad ( Genesis 46:10; Exodus 6:15; comp. with Numbers 26:12; 1 Chronicles 4:24). Thus also it was not so much the marriage of the widow which was in question, as much more the preservation in this way of the name, and therewith the person of the dead. But while the law makes valid this custom, coming down from the time of the patriarchs ( Genesis 38:8), it is still only in its prevalent form a custom, and therefore without constraint. It leaves the inclination free, permits the refusal. Deuteronomy 25:7 delivers it from pure arbitrariness, regulates its expression (comp. Deuteronomy 21:19; Numbers 16:12-14), in the way of notice, accusation, public hearing and treatment by the magistrate, Deuteronomy 25:8, at which the marriage of the brother-in-law, as also the loss to his own inheritance ( Ruth 4:6), and even the perpetuation of his own name ( Genesis 38:9), may find public utterance, and ordains, in case the disinclination continues, no strictly legal punishment, but permits a temporary disgrace through the act of the sister-in-law, Deuteronomy 25:9, and a permanent disgrace in the community, Deuteronomy 25:10, both of which, however, could be maintained with the custom itself, or grow feeble, if they did not fall away with it.—In the presence of the elders, i.e. publicly, and because he must submit to what follows. The loosing of the shoe from his foot by the sister-in-law—in distinction from Ruth 4:7-8, in which case it was not the own natural brother, and in which also the redemption of the inheritance was especially in view, and thus the kinsman himself could loose his own shoe—divested the unwilling brother-in-law of his rights with respect to the widow. Hupfeld: Psalm 60:8 says correctly, it was the symbol of renunciation. The reproach put upon her is compensated by the spitting in his face ( Leviticus 15:8; Numbers 12:14; Job 30:10); she now contemns him on her side. The Talmud weakens it into: spit before him on the ground. Upon ענה, comp. upon Deuteronomy 21:7; Deuteronomy 19:16, and also Genesis 16:2; Genesis 30:3; Ruth 4:11. The founding and establishment of the family! Hence the reproachful title extends even to his house, and thus the occurrence becomes a lasting remembrance and reproach. But still not as Knobel, Keil, "a bare-footed abject," since it is not as bare-footed, as without possessions, that he is infamous, but as one from whom his sister-in-law has loosed his shoe.
Deuteronomy 25:11-12, limit the interference of a woman permitted in the above custom (comp. קרב with נגשׁ, Deuteronomy 25:9); upon the other side, morality required such a limitation. Freedom, but not shamelessness, especially in regard to what the sister-in-law had precisely claimed (comp. Exodus 21:22). The attack was, moreover, dangerous to life. Hence the severe and strict penalty which the Rabbins change into a penalty corresponding to the worth of the hand. Comp. Deuteronomy 19:21; Deuteronomy 7:16.—["It is of course to be understood that the act was wilful, and that the penalty was inflicted by the sentence of the Judges. This is the only mutilation prescribed by the law of Moses, unless we accept the retaliation prescribed as a punishment for the infliction on another of bodily injuries, Leviticus 24:19 sq." Bib. Com.—A. G.]
13. Deuteronomy 25:13-19. How Israel should proceed according to righteousness in trade, Deuteronomy 25:13-16, and in their intercourse with others, Deuteronomy 25:17-19. Deuteronomy 25:13. בְּכִיסְךָ. As they usually had a purse at the girdle for this purpose, Micah 6:11. The repetition: stone and stone [divers weights], ( Deuteronomy 25:14 : Ephah and Ephah [divers measures]), as is immediately explained, designates the diverse, the two kinds of weights, the large used in the purchase, and the small in selling ( Psalm 12:2; Amos 8:5). As with the weights, so it should be also with the grain-measures (from אָפָה, to collect, gather, hold, whence: vessel). As in the purse, so in the house, i.e. neither to use, nor even to have. Deuteronomy 25:15. שָׁלֵם is unhurt, complete, whole, both all together, and each one by itself, must be just. For it concerns righteousness. Comp. Leviticus 19:36. The promise the same as in Deuteronomy 5:16 at the close of the first table. The more solemn conclusion follows in Deuteronomy 25:16; comp. Deuteronomy 28:12; Deuteronomy 22:5. The injunction passes from the particular trade, to every transaction of the kind generally. עָוֶל, to contract, distort, Arabia: to overstep the right measure. With this Deuteronomy 25:17 joins the exception, which is still however only according to the righteousness of God, and thus also forms the conclusion to this whole section. The case befel the Israelites on the way. Comp. Exodus 17:8 sq. Deuteronomy 25:18 gives the closer description of the iniquitous conduct of Amalek from the recollection of an eye-witness, who had experienced it. זָנַב, to extend, to swerve, in the Piel: to bend aside, injure, destroy the tail, the rear. This inhumanity shows already that there is no fear of God with Amalek. Comp. on the other hand Exodus 15:14; Exodus 18:1. Deuteronomy 25:19. Comp. Deuteronomy 12:10; Exodus 17:14; Deuteronomy 9:7. The execution follows in 1 Samuel15.
1. Israel itself "rescued from bondage," realizes in Deuteronomy 23:15-16, "a command to humanity" (Knobel), but a humanity which appears to be stamped with the highest ideas of human nature. As according to its original destination, it was "to be a blessing to all the families of the earth," so it is in Christ the asylum of enslaved humanity.
2. From the Old Testament stand-point, "the conversion of the Gentiles rests in the depths of hope and desire." Baumgarten.
3. The element of lust in the heathen religions still in Mohammedanism. The dangerous character of religious fanaticism in this aspect. The sobriety of the religion of Israel.
4. Interest must be distinguished from usury; but also the persons, whether it is the poor borrowing from necessity, or others borrowing for gain.
5. Compare L. Wiese, upon the Vow in the evangelical sense, Berlin, 1861. Mosheim [Ethics VI., p177) distinguishes: either to omit things which otherwise could be done innocently, or to perform something which (or binding to some kind and manner of observance) the law does not require. The purpose: gratitude, desire to devote ourselves to God, zeal in sanctification. Vows should be maturely considered beforehand. Ben. Pictet, Morale Chret. I. Book III, Chap16.: The vow is a solemn promise to God to do some special thing in His service, and to His honor. Thus not as to the general life, as in baptism and in prayer.
6. When Moses comes to speak of divorce, the bill of divorcement is a ספר כריתת, a record literally of the cleaving apart, cutting away, namely, one from the other, of those who together were one flesh. Thus throughout according to the idea of marriage, which is its ethical spirit and end. The writing of divorcement is likewise also something more than the mere utterance or declaration of the husband; thou art dismissed, repudiated, as occurs among other Oriental nations. It is here treated especially in the interest of the ideality of marriage, see the Exegetical Notes. "The law-giver," Knobel remarks, "appears to have regarded divorce unfavorably ( Deuteronomy 23:4), and therein to have agreed with the prophets, Malachi 2:16." Israel is therein considered in its perfection, although the ordinance of Moses must imply the hardness of their hearts, as is truly the case (comp. Lange, Matthew 5 and Matthew 19). The negative character of the divine law has, in like manner as its pre supposition, what we are ever prone, to in our evil nature. Israel according to its nature separates the kind of his wives, but that he does so in opposition to the nature of true marriage, that appears manifoldly; and therewith "the rays of the full divine truth and revelation break through the dark veil, under which the actual life of Israel is permitted provisional room and scope." Baumgarten.
7. As a militant church Israel must not however interfere with or prevent the inward peace and joy, Deuteronomy 24:5.
8. "Generally in the last discourses of Moses love is presented clearly as the innermost spirit of the law" (Baumgarten). A parallel: the last discourse of Jesus in the gospel by John.
9. How has the Mosaic law-giving obviated from the very first the violent measures which in Greece and Rome, from time to time, were found necessary to correct the hard and intolerable relations of the poor debtor!
10. "When Moses, who so strongly, and before all things, urges purity and holiness of heart, does not hesitate to consider the somewhat hard treatment of an animal ( Deuteronomy 25:4) in the midst of the most important laws, he stands at the divine central point of the world, from which straight lines lead to all creatures." (Baumgarten).
11. The Levirate marriage has indeed no connection with the general human "needs and desires of immortality" (Keil), although a similar custom is found among the Mongolians, Circassians, Druses, Abyssinians, and others. This necessity was not indeed distinctly felt by Israel, (hence the Sadduceean pretence, Matthew 22:24 sq.), but it is truly from Abraham on entirely included in the promise, as Christ asserts, Matthew 22, and indeed the promise of this life, for the Word must become flesh. Thus the custom lying at the basis of the legal regulation is an old and honored one in the chosen family. Indeed the main line of the tribe of Judah, the peculiar line of promise, Matthew 1:3 sq, springs from that forced or surreptitious marriage of Thamar ( Genesis 38). Leyrer, Herz. Encycl., VIII:358. Compare beside the Levirate marriage of Ruth. In Israel all is directed with reference to the name and the house, and not so much generally "to a continuous life in posterity" (Schultz). Hence beyond the law, and even those more distant than the brother are allowed to act. The Goel appears as the husband's brother, Ruth 4. Hence even against the law ( Leviticus 18:16), incest [Blutschande] is blood-honor; love as the fulfilling of the law. [It should be rather, that in this case and for the ends in view, to preserve the name, the house, the ordinary rules as to inter-marriage were set aside. Such a marriage was not incest.—A. G.].
12. For Amalek comp. Doct. and Eth. upon i6 sq6. What was said as to Israel at home, closes significantly with a recollection of the Edomite Amalek; for thus it is said that a man's enemies will be those of his own house, and that Israel as the people of Jehovah must remain in the camp. Israel's perfection is not merely secured through the promise in the future, but in the way of duty made dependent upon its development in obedience.
Deuteronomy 23:15-16. The letter of Paul to Philemon. Deuteronomy 23:18. Luther: "Thus all gains by sin are unacceptable to God; He will be honored with reverence. Berl. Bib.: "Even everything devoted in some measure to the Lord, on account of currish quarrels and bitterness among each other is also an abomination to the Lord." Deuteronomy 23:19-20. Osiander: "If we decline a gain to please God He will in turn restore it to us in another place and way." Deuteronomy 23:21-23. God loves a free-will service. Promises create obligation, and our acts should correspond with our words. Deuteronomy 23:24-25. Wurth. Bib.: "God gives the blessing upon our fields not for ourselves alone, but for our neighbors also." Berl. Bib.: See the community of goods! It is all yours. But if thou takest for thyself unreasonably, with a false freedom, it applies not to thee.
[Wordsworth: "Here was God's love made manifest. He invites the people generally of spiritual adultery to return to him."—A. G.]. Deuteronomy 24:5. Osiander: "Woe to those who forbid to marry, 1 Timothy 4:3." Berl. Bib.: "God spares young Christians heavy tests, and gives them some sweet foretastes of knowledge and consolation." Deuteronomy 24:7. Starke: "Judas took his own life, Acts 1:18." Berl. Bib.: "The slave trade." Osiander: "We should learn prudence from the loss of others, rather than by our own misfortune." Berl. Bib.: "That the whole lump may not be leavened. 1 Corinthians 5:2; 1 Corinthians 5:6; 1 Corinthians 5:13." [Wordsworth: Deuteronomy 24:13. He who injures the poor does violence to God.—A. G.]. Deuteronomy 24:15. Baumgarten: "Thus was the master put in the place of his laborers. But such feeling is possible only through love, which alone knows how to feel for others, to feel as they feel." Comp. James 5:4. Osiander: "He is a thief in the sight of God." Deuteronomy 24:16. Baumgarten: "If only strict righteousness rules then no child of Adam can hope for salvation or life; thus this iron link of the natural connection must be broken, which occurs only through divine grace. ( Jeremiah 31:29-30; Ezekiel 18:20)." Deuteronomy 24:17 sq. Strangers, fatherless, widows; these three classes are here four times recommended. Deuteronomy 24:19. The forgotten sheaf the sheaf of the Lord. In this point they should not have a good remembrance, but a good conscience. Osiander: "Pious generosity brings no loss." Deuteronomy 24:22. Lange: "God reveals the grounds of His will, to convince us so much more fully of its reasonableness; thus man should not require a blind obedience.
Deuteronomy 25:1. Richter: "An image of the righteousness of God, 1 Kings 8:32." Berl. Bib.: "The judicial office, a characteristic of God, is often made to be a characteristic of the devil." Starke: "One may thus come before the judgment with a good conscience in case of need." Deuteronomy 25:2, Herxheimer: "Every one was equal before the law in Israel." Schultz: "This punishment fails in the modern idea of dignity, but not with respect to the knowledge of that worth or dignity, even in the body, grounded in the inward relation to Jehovah. The divine law requires that when a man has put off his own worth the delusive appearance of it shall be taken away also. Corporeal punishment, because of the moral earnestness and sense of truth." Deuteronomy 25:3. The offender still a man. Schultz: "The guilt of the individual should bring to mind the guilt of all. The number forty characterizes the humiliation, the temptation, and the wandering as ordained by divine power. Comp. Genesis 7:12; the forty years in the wilderness; Deuteronomy 9:9; Deuteronomy 9:18; Leviticus 12:1 sq.; Jonah 3:4; Ezekiel 4:6; 1 Kings 19:8; Matthew 4:2. Comp. Bahr II:490." Deuteronomy 25:5 sq. Baumgarten: "In the duty of mutual love and aid, the external communion first reaches its real truth and significance." The levirate marriage has ceased among the Jews. Wurtb. Bib.: "Blood relatives should truly receive the widows and fatherless left behind, and aid them in word and deed." Deuteronomy 25:9-10. Berl. Bib.: "Each family should be preserved by this law, that we may better recognize the Messiah, who should be born from the entirely humbled or sunken family of David." Deuteronomy 25:11 sq. Starke: "Every immodest touch is sin." Deuteronomy 25:13 sq. Schultz: "The most customary and daily transactions are the most important; where there is the most sin there will be the most sighs. Mammon is always a mammon of unrighteousness." ["It is noteworthy that John the Baptist puts the like duties in the fore-front of his preaching, Luke 3:12 sq.; and that the prophets, Ezekiel 45:10-12; Amos 8:8; Micah 6:10-11, and the Psalm, insist upon these duties;" Bib. Com.—A. G.]. Richter: "1Thess. Deuteronomy 4:6. The curse of God is the righteous penalty for such secret sins. Israel must have just balances as God in His sanctuary." Berl. Bib.: "Not two kinds of words in thy mouth." Baumgarten: "These manifold directions of love and indulgence, end in this sharp point, that love and indulgence may never blunt in Israel the sense for the opposition to all evil." Schultz: "As the development of the world cannot end but in the dualism of heaven and hell, so neither the development of the law, without this dualism of love and hatred."
FN#5 - Deuteronomy 23:15. Literally: Thou shalt not shut.—A. G.].
FN#6 - Deuteronomy 23:17. Margin: Sodomites. Literally: sanctified, or a holy one. Words expressive of consecration were applied by the heathen to designate those sunken in peculiar sins.—A. G.].
FN#7 - Deuteronomy 23:19. The Hebrew word is expressive from the root, to bite, as if any interest was biting or oppressive.—A. G.].
FN#8 - Deuteronomy 24:1. Literally: and he shall give unto her a roll, writing, of cutting off. The accents in the original do not justify the colon in this verse; and the construction requires that the periods at the end of Deuteronomy 23:1-2 should be removed.— A. G.].
FN#9 - Deuteronomy 24:5. Margin: more literally: not any thing shall paes upon him.—A. G.].
FN#10 - Deuteronomy 24:6. Hebrew: the chariot or rider.—A. G.].
FN#11 - Deuteronomy 24:10. Margin: lend the loan of anything.—A. G.].
FN#12 - Deuteronomy 24:10. To pledge his pledge. Schroeder: that he may pledge his pledge.—A. G.].
FN#13 - Deuteronomy 24:20. Margin: Thou shalt not bough it after thee.—A. G.].
FN#14 - Deuteronomy 25:5. The margin: next kinsman is not so literal as the text. It is rather an interpretation than a reading.—A. G.].
FN#15 - Deuteronomy 25:7. The text is to be preferred to the margin.—A. G.].
FN#16 - Deuteronomy 25:15. Literally: a full stone and righteousness shall be to thee, a fall ephah and righteousness shall be to thee. So Schroeder.—A. G.].
These files are a derivative of an electronic edition available at BibleSupport.com. Public Domain.
Lange, Johann Peter. "Commentary on Deuteronomy 23:4". "Commentary on the Holy Scriptures: Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical". https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/lcc/deuteronomy-23.html. 1857-84.


text:
Il gewog di Dzomo è uno degli undici raggruppamenti di villaggi del distretto di Punakha, nella regione Centrale, in Bhutan.

Note

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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It is because of this that I want to come up with another list of people to just cold call. What should I put in on list source or whatever website to get a good list of people to call? I want to have a deal on the table of a title company by the beginning of February but need the money from a deal absolutely no later than April.
When you say cold calling advice, do you mean how to field potential calls that are coming in or are you actually cold calling? What was the criteria for your list? Are you mailing to the actual vacant properties or are you finding their updated mailing address, skip-tracing them and trying to locate numbers?
Also, I do not want to discourage you but 40 post cards is absolutely nothing. It is my opinion that you should be sending out no less than 300 letters a week for a mailing campaign unless you have a very targeted list.
Not nearly enough contacts... when we did pre foreclosure work like this when it was legal.. we knocked on every NOD in the 2 million metro with a team of 2 man and women.. even with that amount of man power this led to one to 2 deals a month.. the chance you will get one deal in 40 is remote at best and waste of time most likely.
And if we were of the mind to try to flip them to investors we would have gotten maybe one deal a year.. you need actual cash to make this work.. the people are to squirrely to do the normal wholesale process.
Keep in mind that anyone in CA that has an NOD has gotten no less than 100 letters sent to them by the time you drop yours off. all of them saying the same.. thing canned pitchs guru's teach.. by the time they read about 20 of them they realize folks coming to the door or sending letters are NOT out to help them because they were broke or in foreclosure like they were.. they are out to rip their equity..
the ONLY way we made a business of it was to snag these within 2 to 3 days before the actual sale.. when they had no choice and reality of losing the home was real.. and to do that we needed to be able to write checks and take title sub too with out the help of title companies.. its a very advanced strategy that requires a boat load of capital to make any money at.
on top of all of this are you familiar with the laws in CA about working with pre foreclosures if you are not you better get up to speed you can't just HELP these poor people out.. same in Or and WA.. there are very strict rules regarding this work.
Also keep in mind many good realtors work these list as well.. so your up against professionals who will list and sell for top dollar not a wholesaler trying to rip equity.
If you mail out post cards once expect a call that will not happen. Some send different cards, call and door knock. This agent I know well seems to have got correct phone # after spending 20 hours a week every week engaging with potential home sellers he gets one listing every 2-3 months. He told me he gets an appointment every two to three weeks with no show often. He is full time short sale specialist bilingual. His conversion rate is less than 40% after getting offers. He covers several No CA counties and business is NOT good.
Most who in pre-foreclosure stage gets many solicitation letters also. They immediately go to trash can. When you door knock they slam the door at you telling they have a lawyer handling. Most is referral from attorneys as the thought of file bankruptcy can mess up your purchase.
My best advice to anyone getting into the business is to knock on doors. Pick a good area and for 4 hours on Saturday and 4 hours on Sunday knock on doors. Within the first 30 minutes you will know more than most about the entire neighborhood. The cost is almost nothing and it will improve your skills for closing. The best part ? You will have zero competition.
What group of people do you suggest I target if not pre-foreclosures?
You mean just knock on random doors or a targeted list?
code violations... vacant homes.. boarded homes... burnt out landlords ... real property tax defaults..
I'm located in Ohio and I'm doing something similar with Tax foreclosure. I came up with the idea after getting tired of going to the packed auction with investors practically paying close to market value ( shaking my head) due to a competitive auction, so I decided to get the list as soon as it comes out and hand write the owners usually a month before the auction date. This has successfully worked for me with only 2 acquisitions within this year.... but I had great returns after my flip because of which the properties I brought I got for just the backed taxes and the owners had 100% equity. I don't have a lot of capital to do these aggressive deals but I'm in a affordable market so it has worked out for me. I wish to improve on this strategy and one of my challenges has been to find a title company that can close sooner than 2 weeks because I have missed out on dozens of deals from owners that waited until the last week before the auction to contact me as their last hope.
Any suggestions or tips on how I can improve on this strategy with no team and limited resources?
@Jay Hinrichs Wasn't expecting a "can't" I'm more of a optimist with a "where's there's a will there's a way" type of attitude, so I was kind of hoping for a creative response but none the less I appreciate you responding! With all due respect I'm hoping that you're wrong though lol, and that there's some way I can close deals sooner without having the capital to own a title company myself. I'll accept it as a challenge that I have to just get more creative and not rely on my own resources but use the resources of other investors that's more experienced by possibly sharing a part of these deals.... thanks again for your response and inspiring me to think outside my box!
@Paul Parker you missed the point entirely.... you don't need to own a title company or go through a title company to transfer title in any state city county in America that's what makes America great its all open to the public.. so that's your challenge learn how to do this on your own.. its relatively easy once U figure it out. especially with those that have free and clear assets.
some states require the tax's to be current to record your docs ( state of Washington). but not sure in Ohio.
@Jay Hinrichs oh ok thanks for clarifying that for me!!! I really appreciate it! I'm feeling inspired to be more creative and to also do more research! Thanks again for taking the time out to respond to my inquiry!
Yes Cody Evans ... pick a good area based on resale and traffic and start knocking !!!
How do you find an area with high traffic and resale?
I am cold calling but many people never answer their phones. Is there a best time to call people such as at night versus the morning or 12 noon? Also how many times do you call the same person? I was reading that some people call 12 times.
@Cody Evans People don't answer their phones pretty frequently. Hell, I don't answer my phone half the time even if I know the person calling. If the idea is to contact them directly, try a couple calls with voicemails - if that fails try e-mails and text messages scheduled. You can even build the message overtime.
If people are motivated by what you're selling, they will respond. If they aren't, they will tell you to get lost and stop bothering them. That's sales in general, real estate or otherwise, really.
How far apart should I schedule these emails/texts? I was thinking send another in 3 days and if no response wait like 2 months and contact again. I know I wouldn't want a salesman doing that to me every few days but I also know contacting old leads is a part of sales.
@Cody Evans I agree with others, time to pound the pavement...knock doors. You will beat out 95% of your competitors. It's definitely an art to knock and talk.
This is great to here. Good to know other people agree because I will use that as another option. Any suggestions or sources to look into on an approach to knocking on doors that increases % of success?
@Cody Evans Greetings Cody! Sounds like you are highly motivated and want to succeed in this business as a wholesaler. @Andrew Michael brings up a ton of great points, 40 post cards will not provide with great results just because the odds of getting a deal with such a small pool are not in your favor. The targeted list filters he has provide are also I great place to start. After you find a decent number of leads (500+) I would skip trace for numbers and then cold call or send them a direct text message. The bests times to cold call are around 10am-12pm and 5pm-7pm. 12 times to call someone might be a bit excessive but it can't hurt to space out the points of contacts and continue to leave voicemails. I would plan on calling them twice a week and leaving voicemails if they do not answer.
Old post but I would find out the door knocking laws in your area. Some locations prohibit this and you can get in trouble.
@Cody Evans First of all you have to be someone able to build rapport almost instantly and need a good elevator pitch, but it has to be 100% natural. Very simple and to the point. Don't dress or talk like a salesman. Ask questions and just let them talk and you listen.
Ring their doorbell and step back down to the bottom of the steps, it makes them feel way more comfortable when they open the door.


text:
Q: JSONDecodeError - request.body returns empty string Django I am trying to access some JSON data from my views.py page but it seems i'm sending empty strings?
My JS code
document.querySelector('#compose-form').onsubmit = () => {

    const recipients = document.querySelector('#compose-recipients').value
    const subject = document.querySelector('#compose-subject').value
    const body = document.querySelector('#compose-body').value

    fetch('/emails', {
      method: 'POST',
      body: JSON.stringify({
        recipients: String(recipients),
        subject: String(subject),
        body: String(body)
      })
    })

    .then(response => response.json())
    .then(result => {

      load_mailbox('sent');
      console.log(result);
    });

    return false;
  };

What i was trying to replicate:
fetch('/emails', {
  method: 'POST',
  body: JSON.stringify({
      recipients: 'baz@example.com',
      subject: 'Meeting time',
      body: 'How about we meet tomorrow at 3pm?'
  })
})
.then(response => response.json())
.then(result => {
    // Print result
    console.log(result);
});

recipient, subject, and body are expected to be strings, given that i am grabbing mine from a form and have them in a variable i thought to convert them to strings
**Template  **
<form id="compose-form" action="{% url 'compose' %}" method="POST">

                From: <input disabled class="form-control" value="{{ request.user.email }}">

                To: <input id="compose-recipients" class="form-control">

                <input class="form-control" id="compose-subject" placeholder="Subject">

            <textarea class="form-control" id="compose-body" placeholder="Body"></textarea>
            <input type="submit" class="btn btn-primary" id="compose-submit"/>
        </form>

URL
path("emails/", views.compose, name="compose"),

Views.py
    data_unicode = request.body.decode('utf-8')
    data = json.loads(data_unicode)

when i debug this is what i get:

(return) body: b' '

data_unicode: ' '

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Marriage is a legally sanctioned contractual agreement between a man and a woman. In legal terms, marriage is defined as a legal status that results from a contract made in due form of law according to which a man and woman who have the capability to get into such an agreement, mutually promise to live with each other during their joint lives as husband and wife.
In the U.S., marriage is regulated by the states. Traditionally, the partners bonded by the institution of marriage rarely separated over marital issues as compared to now where we see so many couples parting ways over minor marital disputes. It is one of the reasons the concept of a prenuptial agreement has now come into being. In the case of a divorce without a prenuptial agreement, the property gets divided equitably between the two partners, based on the Equitable Distribution Law.
A prenuptial agreement is a written agreement between two people entering marriage setting out the terms regarding the ownership of their respective assets, in case the marriage fails. A prenuptial agreement usually discusses the division and ownership of property, division and ownership of debts, inheritance of property and spousal support.
In the U.S., there are five main elements that are required for valid prenuptial agreement. First, the agreement should be in writing. Second, it must be executed voluntarily. Thirdly, it should be a full and/or fair disclosure at the time of execution. The agreement cannot be unconscionable and finally it must be executed by both the parties before a notary public.
Depending on the state in which the couple lives, there is a difference between what is considered as separate and marital property. In some states, a prenuptial agreement can state that in case of a divorce each partner will relinquish his or her rights to any inheritance or major gift given to the other spouse before or during the marriage.
In U.S, prenuptial agreements are recognized, but not always enforced. It is up to the partners entering marriage to decide whether they want a prenuptial agreement done or not.


text:
Homepage » Birmingham Divorce Lawyer » Imprisonment as Grounds for Divorce
Imprisonment as Grounds for Divorce in Alabama
The United States Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that over two million adults were incarcerated in US federal and state prisons in 2013. When a spouse is imprisoned in the state of Alabama, the relationship between a married couple can be substantially affected and unfortunately, sometimes divorce occurs. The state of Alabama specifically lists imprisonment as one ground for an at-fault divorce. An at-fault divorce occurs when one spouse is able to claim that some type of conduct by the other spouse was directly responsible for the dissolution of the marriage.
For individuals who are interested in claiming imprisonment as grounds for divorce in Birmingham, it often helps to consult about the matter with a knowledgeable attorney who can discuss the various available options and the likely impact that a spouse's imprisonment will have on other issues like custody and the division of marital property. While divorce is certainly a complicated and difficult issue, individuals who are potentially considering divorce due to imprisonment frequently benefit from understanding the various issues that come into play in such a situation.
Relevant Alabama Divorce Law
Alabama's law concerning imprisonment as the grounds for an at-fault divorce is very specific as to when imprisonment can occur: (1) the imprisonment in question can occur in Alabama or any other state, (2) the spouse must have been in prison for at least two years, and (3) the spouse's sentence must be for seven years or longer. If these requirements are not all met then an individual cannot claim imprisonment as the grounds for a divorce in Alabama.
In many ways, imprisonment is an easier ground than some of the other available options for at-fault divorces in Alabama. For one reason, the evidence required to demonstrate that a former spouse is in prison and satisfies the listed requirements is easier than other at-fault grounds. It is also significantly easier for spouses to locate a spouse, whereas in other situations it might not be nearly as easy to determine a former spouse's location.
How Imprisonment Can Affect Child Custody Support
Spouses who are in prison might still be ordered to pay child support. In some situation, the spouse might need to use outside resources to pay this amount. Other times, the state of Alabama may take any wages that an individual earns while in prison to pay support. An additional scenario is that a court might divide marital property in such a way to account for the fact that a spouse is in prison and unable to provide support.
Individuals who are in prison will be unable to be granted physical custody of any children, although this situation might change once the individual is released from prison. If the court decides that visiting a parent is in the best interest of a divorced couple's children then children might be permitted to visit the other parent in prison.
Contact An Experienced Birmingham Divorce Attorney
If your marriage has been affected by imprisonment and divorce is a potential option, it can help to discuss matters with an experienced Birmingham divorce attorney at Alabama Divorce & Family Lawyers, LLC who has helped clients in similar situations and knows how to expertly handle the variety of issues that might arise.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


For many, unemployment is one of the bumps in the road that must be overcome in mortality. Each person is affected differently by the loss of a job, but for all, it presents some level of discomfort and fear.
I hit a rough patch 2 years ago where I was about to lose my job and the uncertainty led to 3 months of pretty severe depression. The "lay in my bed as soon as I got home, don't eat anything, nor sleep for 3 months" depression.
The fear of not being able to provide for all of the needs of my six children, combined with the emotional abuse I received at work, and the lack of sleep for months led me to feel there was no hope. I literally wanted to die. It was a very bad situation.
Again, not all who become unemployed go through the same process. Someone with $50,000 in the bank is probably not going to lose a ton of sleep over losing a job. Every situation is different.
I did however, learn some principles during that time which will benefit any person in this situation. These four reminders will help to keep proper perspective and lead to hope for good things to come. They did that for me.
When you are in the midst of unemployment and uncertainty, there are lots of things to worry about. There are mouths to feed, responsibilities to maintain, bills to pay, and it can be crushing. This video below from D. Todd Christofferson was one of the most powerful things I'd ever heard and completely changed the way I looked at my trial.
His counsel is to take things one day at a time, and don't look to far ahead. "Give us this day our daily bread." It is a short clip but it is a must watch.
I spent three months on my knees, and often I would fall over on my side, begging for relief. Begging for help – any help, to get me out of my horrible situation. God never once came to me. I felt abandoned, that is, until I realized that when God sent someone to my aid, it was as if He were there Himself.
This story from Robyn so beautifully illustrates that God answers our prayers through the people all around us. Friends, family, ward members, and even strangers are employed by the Lord to answer our needs.
Every now and then something would come up, a prospective job, an interview, someone who said they could help – there was always something that kept me going.
Turns out most of those things failed.
I was frustrated and wanted to give up. So many times things were so close to getting better only to have my plan fall through.
Looking back, all of those failures and disappointments were for a short time the only sources of hope that kept me going. And a lot of the job interviews that had me so hopeful at one point in time, in retrospect it is such a blessing that I didn't end up at those companies.
Just keep riding those waves of hope even when they come crashing down – because eventually you will reach the shore.
For me, this was the one thing I couldn't believe, but it was the one thing I had to believe if I wanted to stay alive. For some reason, due to my unique circumstances which included lack of sleep and a lack of appetite, my battle with unemployment took a deep emotional toll which made it almost impossible to have hope.
The only thing that kept me going was this quote on the wall from Jeffrey R. Holland, "It's going to get better." It seemed impossible at the time, and I didn't believe it, but I had to – and guess what? He was right. Things got better.
Wherever you are in your unemployment journey, I assure you that remembering these principles in your time of need will give you hope and strength to make it through today. Remember these principles, and call on them often to carry you through the dark times ahead. Also, if you need someone to talk to, send me a message. I'm here to help.
Thanks Ben! Tender mercy today. Love you brother.


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text:
Scott Butler is an actor from London, England. Scott won the 2011 "Best Actor - Award of Excellence" at the Canada International Film Festival and for his stage debut, the 2009 "Best Actor" at the Pacific Coast Theatre Company. Many of the projects Scott worked on went on to receive awards, including his comedic role as Jack the Ripper on the series Hollywood Hell (2011) which won a Regional Emmy in 2011 and Serene (2010) which was nominated for a Regional Emmy in that same year.
In his short 10 years in the industry, he continues to build a prolific body of work in film and TV, including the role of "Oliver" in the critically acclaimed AMC series Lodge 49 (2018). He also had roles in the Lionsgate release Wiener Dog Internationals (2015), starring alongside Morgan Fairchild, Bryan Batt and Jason London, the Warner Bros release 16-Love (2012), starring Lindsey Shaw and Chandler Massey and one of the lead roles in Holy Terror (2017) with Lisa London, Kristine DeBell and Mel Novak.
Over the years Scott has studied at many acting schools in various disciplines, including the Aaron Speiser Acting Studio, the William Alderson Acting Studio and the prestigious voice acting studio Kalmenson & Kalmenson in Burbank. Scott has over a dozen new projects lined up for 2019 and beyond including the role of "Virgil Robinson" in Straight on Till Morning, working alongside Maria Olsen (Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010) and American Horror Story (2011)), a role in Attack of the Unknown, starring Tara Reid and Richard Grieco and as the narrator of Gregory Hatanaka's new film Darling Nikki (2019), starring James Duval and Jamie Bernadette.
Headshot01
THEATRICAL REELS
COMEDY REEL
VOICE OVER REEL
"Lodge 49"
"Attack Of The Unknown"
"Wiener Dog Internationals"
Lionsgate Release
"Manhunt"
"Serial Killer"
"Hotel Secrets & Legends"
"Deathday"
"Choke"
"Holy Terror"
"Moirai"
"16-Love"
Warner Bros Release
"Pain"
"The Hacker"
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