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IllTHE  CALVIN TRANSLATION SOCIETY,INSTITUTED IN  MAT M.DCCC.XLIII.FOE THE PUBLICATION OP TEANSLATIONS OF THE WOEKS   OF JOHN CALVIN.COMMENTARIESTHE FOUR LAST BOOKS OF MOSESARRANGEDIN THE FORM OF A HARMONYBY JOHN CAIYINTRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL LATIN, AND COMPARED WITH THE FRENCH EDITION ;  WITH ANNOTATIONS, ETC.BY THE REV. CHARLES WILLIAM BINGHAM, M.A.RECTOR OP  MELCOMBE-HOR8ET,  DORSET,  AND FORMERLY  FELLOW  OP NEW  COLLEGE,  OXFORDVOLUME   THIRDurn urnBAKER BOOK HOUSEGrand Rapids, Michigan 49516Calvin's Commentaries22-Volume Set ISBN: 0-8010-2440-4Originally printed for theCalvin Translation SocietyEdinburgh, ScotlandReprinted 1993 byBaker Book House CompanyP.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287Printed in the United States of AmericaTHE FOUR LAST BOOKS OF MOSESARRANGED IN  THE  FOKM  OFA HARMONY, WITH COMMENTARIES.THE SECOND TABLE OF THE LAW: THE FIRST COMMANDMENT OF WHICH IS THE FIFTH OF THE LAW.Cf)e jftftj) Cmrnnattimtent.EXODUS, CHAPTER XX.12. Honour thy father and thy 12. Honora patrem tuum et ma-mother ; that thy days may be long   trem tuam, ut prorogentur dies upon the land which the Lord thy   tui super terrain quam Jehova Deus God giveth thee.                              tuus dat tibi.ITS REPETITION FROM DEUTERONOMY V.16. Honour thy father and thy 16. Honora patrem tuum et ma-mother, as the Lord thy God hath   trem tuam, quemadmodum prsecepit commanded thee; that thy days may   tibi Jehova, Deus tuus: ut proro-be prolonged, and that it may go   gentur dies tui et ut bene sit tibi well with thee, in the land which   super terrain quam Jehova Deus the Lord thy God giveth thee.           tuus dat tibi.I am not ignorant that the Tables of the Law are usually divided in a different manner j1 for those, who make only one of the first two Commandments, are obliged finally to mangle1 See Becon's Catechism, part iii., (Parker Society's edition,) p. 60, et seq. See also Bullinger's Decades, (Parker Society,) vol. i. p. 212; and Hooper's Early Writings, (Parker Society,) pages 349-351; and Calvin's Institutes, lib. ii. cap. 8, з 12. It appears that this error may be traced to Augustine, (Quaest. in Exod. 71, and Ep. ad. Jan. 119,) who, without omitting the Second Commandment, divided the precepts of the First Table into three, on the supposition that their number was allusive to the Trinity. He, however, contradicts himself elsewhere, (Qusest. Vet. et Novi Test., lib. i. 7;) but Peter Lomb._ adopts his erroneous division, and separates the Tenth Commandment into two parts. (Lib. iii., Distinct. 37 and 40.)6                calvin's harmony of the four       exod. xx. 12.the last. Thus the prohibition of God to covet either our neighbour's wife or his house, is foolishly separated into two parts, whereas it is quite clear that only one thing is treated of, as we gather from the words of Paul, who quotes them as a single Commandment. (Rom. vii. 7.) There is, however, no need of a lengthened discussion here, since the fact itself explains how one error has grown out of another; for, when they had improperly hidden the Second Commandment under the First, and consequently did not find the right number, they were forced to divide into two parts what was one and indivisible. A frivolous reason is assigned by Augustine why they comprised the First Table in three commandments, viz., that believers might learn to worship God in the Trinity, and thus to adore one God in three persons. By inconsiderately trifling with such subtleties, they have exposed God's law to the mockeries of the ungodly. Jose-phus1 indeed rightly enumerates the Commandments themselves in their proper order, but improperly attributes five Commandments to each Table ; as if God had had regard to arithmetic rather than to instruct His people separately in the duties of charity, after having laid down for them the rules of piety. For up to this point the rule of rightly serving God has been delivered, i.e., the First Table embraces a summary of piety ; and now the Law will begin to shew how men ought to live with each other, otherwise one Table would have been enough, nor would God have divided His Law without a purpose. But whereas piety2 and justice comprise the perfect rule for the direction of our lives, it was necessary to distinguish these two parts, that the people might understand the object of the Law, of which we shall again speak hereafter.Exod. xx. 12. Honour thy father. Although charity (as being " the bond of perfectness," Col. iii. 14) contains the╗ See Jewish Antiq., book iii. chap. v. з 5. In sect. 8 it is added: " When he had said this he shewed them two tables, with the ten commandments engraven upon them, five upon each table; and the writing was by the hand of God."2 " La piete que nous devons a Dieu, et l'equite que nous devons a nos prochains;" the piety which we owe to God, and the equity which we owe to our neighbours.ЧFr.OTH COMMANDMENT.      LAST BOOKS OF THE PENTATEUCH.               7sum of the Second Table, still, mutual obligation does not prevent either parents or others, who are in authority, from retaining their proper position. Nay, human society cannot be maintained in its integrity, unless children modestly submit themselves to their parents, and unless those, who are set over others by God's ordinance, are even reverently honoured. But inasmuch as the reverence which children pay to their parents is accounted a sort of piety, some have therefore foolishly placed this precept in the First Table. Nor are they supported in this by Paul, though he does not enumerate this Commandment, where he collects the sum of the Second Table, (Rom. xiii. 9 ;) for he does this designedly, because he is there expressly teaching that obedience is to be paid to the authority of kings and magistrates. Christ, however, puts an end to the whole controversy, where, among the precepts of the Second Table, He enumerates this, that children should honour their parents. (Matt, xix. 19.)The name of the mothers is expressly introduced, lest their sex .should render them contemptible to their male children.It will be now well to ascertain what is the force of the word "honour," not as to its grammatical meaning, (for "QD, cabad, is nothing else but to pay due honour to God, and to men who are in authority,) but as to its essential signification. Surely, since God would not have His servants comply with external ceremonies only, it cannot be doubted but that all the duties of piety towards parents are here comprised, to which children are laid under obligation by natural reason itself; and these may be reduced to three heads, i.e., that they should regard them with reverence ; that they should obediently comply with their commands, and allow themselves to be governed by them ; and that they should endeavour to repay what they owe to them, and thus heartily devote to them themselves and their services. Since, therefore, the name of Father is a sacred one, and is transferred to men by the peculiar goodness of God, the dishonouring of parents redounds to the dishonour of God Himself, nor can any one despise his father without being8                calvin's habmony op the four       exod. xx. 12.guilty of an offence against God, (sacrilegium.) If any should object that there are many ungodly and wicked fathers whom their children cannot regard with honour without destroying the distinction between good and evil, the reply is easy, that the perpetual law of nature is not subverted by the sins of men ; and therefore, however unworthy of honour a father may be, that he still retains, inasmuch as he is a father, his right over his children, provided it does not in anywise derogate from the judgment of God ; for it is too absurd to think of absolving under any pretext the sins which are condemned by His Law ; nay, it would be a base profanation to misuse the name of father for the covering of sins. In condemning, therefore, the vices of a father, a truly pious son will subscribe to God's Law ; and still, whatsoever he may be, will acknowledge that he is to be honoured, as being the father given him by God.Obedience comes next, which is also circumscribed by certain limits. Paul is a faithful interpreter of this Commandment, where he bids " children obey their parents." (Eph. vi. 1 ; Col. iii. 20.) Honour, therefore, comprises subjection ; so that he who shakes off the yoke of his father, and does not allow himself to be governed by his authority, is justly said to despise his father ; and it will more clearly appear from other passages, that those who are not obedient to their parents are deemed to despise them. Still, the power of a father is so limited as that God, on whom all relationships depend, should have the rule over fathers as well as children ; for parents govern their children only under the supreme authority of God. Paul, therefore, does not simply exhort children to obey their parents, but adds the restriction, " in the Lord;" whereby he indicates that, if a father enjoins anything unrighteous, obedience is freely to be denied him. Immoderate strictness, moroseness, and even cruelty must be borne, so long as a mortal man, by wickedly demanding what is not lawful, does not endeavour to rob God of His right. In a word, the Law so subjects children to their parents, as that God's right may, remain uninfringed. An objection here arises in the shape of this question: It may sometimes happen that a son may holdOTH COMMANDMENT.      LAST BOOKS OF THE PENTATEUCH.             9the office of a magistrate, but that the father may be a private person, and that thus the son cannot discharge his private duty without violating public order. The point is easily solved : that all things may be so tempered by their mutual moderation as that, whilst the father submits himself to the government of his son,1 yet he may not be at all defrauded of his honour, and that the son, although his superior in power, may still modestly reverence his father.The third head of honour is, that children should take care of their parents, and be ready and diligent in all their duties towards them. This kind of piety the Greeks call avrmekap-<yla,2 because storks supply food to their parents when they are feeble and worn out with old age, and are thus our instructors in gratitude. Hence the barbarity of those is all the more base and detestable, who either grudge or neglect1  There is a delightful illustration of this point, which will occur to many, related in Move's Life of Sir Thomas More, ch. vi. з 5,Ч"Now^it was a comfortable thing for anie man to beholde how two great roomes of Westminster-hall were taken up, one with the sonne, the other with the father, which hath as yet never bene heard of before or since, the sonne to be Lord Chancellor, and the father, Sir John More, to be one of the ancientest Judges of the King's Bench, if not the eldest of all; for now he was neare 90 yeare old.    Yea, what a gratefull spectacle was it, to see the sonne aske the father's blessing everie day upon his knees, before he sat in his own seate, a thing expressing rare humilitie, exemplar obedience, and submissive pietie."2  " Let us consider what is meant by the Gentiles' anwiXx^yth, which is to requite one good turn with another; and especially to nourish and cherish them, by whom thou thyself in thy youth wast brought up and tendered.    There is among the Gentiles a law extant, worthy to be called the mistress of piety, whereby it is enacted that the children shbuld either nourish their parents or else lie fast fettered in prison.    This law many men do carelessly neglect, which the stork alone, among all living creatures, doth keep most precisely.   For other creatures do hard, and scarcely know or look upon their parents, if peradventure they need their aid to nourish them; whereas the stork doth mutually nourish  tLem, being stricken in age, and bear them on her shoulders, when for feebleness they cannot fly."ЧBullinger's Second Decade, Serm. v., Parker Society's edit., vol. i. p. 272.    See also Hooper's Early Writings, Parker Society's edit., p.  359.     "Follow the nature of the cicone, that in her youth nourisheth the old days of her parents."ЧPlin., lib. x. cap. 23, Nat. Hist.The Fr. concludes the sentence thus: " et ainsi nous sont comme mais-tresses pour nous apprendre a recognoistre le bien que nous avons receu de ceux qui nous ont mis au monde et elevez;" and so are, as it were, our mistresses to teach us to repay the benefits of those who have brought us into the world and reared us.10              calvin's harmony of the four        exod. xx. 12.to relieve the poverty of their parents, and to aid their necessities.Now, although the parental name ought, by its own sweetness, sufficiently to attract children to ready submission, still a promise is added as a stimulus, in order that they may more cheerfully bestir themselves to pay the honour which is enjoined upon them. Paul, therefore, that children may be more willing to obey their parents, reminds us that this " is the first commandment with promise," (Eph. vi. 2 ;) for although a promise is annexed to the Second Commandment, yet it is not a special one, as we perceive this to be. The reward, that the days of children who have behaved themselves piously to their parents shall be prolonged, aptly corresponds with the observance of the commandment, since in this manner God gives us a proof of His favour in this life, when we have been grateful to those to whom we are indebted for it; whilst it is by no means just that they should greatly prolong their life who despise those progenitors by whom they have been brought into it. Here the question arises, since this earthly life is exposed to so many cares, and pains, and troubles, how can God account its prolongation to be a blessing ? But whereas all cares spring from the curse of God, it is manifest that they are accidental ; and thus, if life be regarded in itself, it does not cease to be a proof of God's favour. Besides, all this multitude of miseries does not destroy the chief blessing of life, viz., that men are created and preserved unto the hope of a happy immortality ; for God now manifests Himself to them as a Father, that hereafter they may enjoy His eternal inheritance. The knowledge of this, like a lighted lamp, causes God's grace to 3hine forth in the midst of darkness. Whence it follows, that those had not tasted the main thing in life,1 who have said that the best thing was not to be1 This famous sentiment of antiquity is found in the Elegies of Theognis, some 500 years B.C.,ЧIltzvT&iv [tiv fib tpdvcci'Pvvra S' otrats ^Ki^a, vvXas didaat irigt.fxiKai x$7tr&ai vo\X.9lv yrti ivafttjffoifiivov----425-428.It is also reported by Plutarch, in his n^x/tv^nnxis v^s aлxa.╗╗hv, byOTH COMMANDMENT.     LAST BOOKS OF THE PENTATEUCH.            11born, and the next best thing to be cut off as soon as possible; whereas God rather so exercises men by various afflictions, as that it should be good for them nevertheless to be created in His image, and to be accounted His children. A clearer explanation also is added in Deuteronomy, not only that they should live, but that it may go well with them; so that not only is length of life promised them, but other accessories also. And in fact, many who have been ungrateful and unkind to their parents only prolong their life as a punishment, whilst the reward of their inhuman conduct is repaid them by their children and descendants. But inasmuch as long life is not vouchsafed to all who have discharged the duties of piety towards their parents, it must be remembered that, with respect to temporal rewards, an infallible law is by no means laid down ; and still, where God works variously and unequally, His promises are not made void, because a better compensation is secured in heaven for believers, who have been deprived on earth of transitory blessings. Truly experience in all ages has shewn that God has not in vain promised long life to all who have faithfully discharged the duties of true piety towards their parents. Still, from the principle already stated, it is to be understood that this Commandment extends further than the words imply; and this we infer from the following sound argument, viz., that otherwise God's Law would be imperfect, and would not instruct us in the perfect rule of a just and holy life.The natural sense itself dictates to us that we should obey rulers. If servants obey not their masters, the society of the human race is subverted altogether. It is not, therefore, the least essential part of righteousness1 that the peoplewhom, as well as by Cicero, it is called the reply of Silenus to Midas,Ч " Affertur etiam de Sileno fabella qusedam: qui cum a Mida captus esset, hoc ei muneris pro sua missione dedisse scribitur: docuisse regem, non nasci homini longe optimum esse; proximum autem, quamprimum mori." ЧTusc. Qucest. i. 48. "Ex quo intelligi licet, non nasci longe optimum esse, nee in hos scopulos incidere vitse; proximum autem, si natus sis, quamprimum mori, et tanquam ex incendio effugere fortunse. Sileni qua; fertur fabula, etc."ЧConsolatio. Lactantius refers to the latter passage, De falsa sapientia, з 19.    " Hinc nata est inepta ilia sententia, etc."1 " Pars justicire non postrema."Чhat. " Une partie de la justice, qui nous devons tous garder;" a part of righteousness which we ought all to observe.ЧFr.12                calvin's harmony of the four        lev. xix. 3.should willingly submit themselves to the command of magistrates, and that servants should obey their masters ; and, consequently, it would be very absurd if it were omitted in the Law of God. In this commandment, then, as in the others, God by synecdoche embraces, under a specific rule, a general principle, viz., that lawful commands should obtain due reverence from us. But that all things should not be distinctly expressed, first of all brevity itself readily accounts for; and, besides, another reason is to be noticed, i.e., that God designedly used a homely style in addressing a rude people, because He saw its expediency. If He had said generally, that all superiors were to be obeyed, since pride is natural to all, it would not have been easy to incline the greater part of men to pay submission to a few. Nay, since subjection is naturally disagreeable, many would have kicked against it. God, therefore, propounds a specific kind of subjection, which it would have been gross barbarism to refuse, that thus, their ferocity being gradually subdued, He might accustom men to bear the yoke. Hence the exhortations are derived, that people should " honour the king ;" that " every soul should be subject unto the higher powers;" that " servants should obey their masters, even the froward and morose." (Prov. xxiv. 21; 1 Pet. ii. 13; Rom. xiii. 1 ; Eph. vi. 5 ; 1 Pet. ii. 14, 18.) ^position of tfje CommanOntent.LEVITICUS, CHAPTER XIX.3. Ye shall fear every man his 3. Unusquisque patrem suum et mother and his father.                       matrem suam timeat.Since this passage unquestionably relates to the explanation of the Fifth Commandment, it confirms what I have before shewn, that the honour which God-commands to be paid to parents, does not consist in reverence only, but also embraces obedience. For the reverence which He now prescribes will render children submissive and compliant. Now, then, we more clearly understand how parents are to5TH COMMANDMENT.      LAST BOOKS OF THE PENTATEUCH.           13be honoured, when God exhorts their children to beware of offending them ; for this is, in a word, the true manifestation of filial piety, calmly to bear the yoke of subjection, and to prove by acts a sincere desire to obey. of tijc jFtftlj ConmtattBtittttt.EXODUS, CHAPTER XXI.15. And he that smiteth his father       15. Qui percusserit patrem suumor his mother shall be surely put to   aut matrem, morte moriatur. death.17. And he that curseth his father       17. Qui maledixerit patri suo velor his mother shall surely be put to   matri suae, morte moriatur. death.Lev. xx. 9. For every one that       9. Qui maledixerit patri suo autcurseth his father or his mother shall   matri su╗   morte moriatur:   quibe surely put to death: he hath   patri suo et matri sure maledixit,cursed his father or his mother; his   sanguis ejus super eum. blood shall be upon him.The commandment is now sanctioned by the denunciation of capital punishment for its violation, yet not so as to comprehend all who have in any respect sinned against their parents, but sufficient to shew that the rights of parents are sacred, and not to be violated without the greatest criminality. We know that parricides,1 as being the most detestable of all men, were formerly sewn up in a leathern sack and cast into the water; but God proceeds further, when He commands all those to be exterminated who have laid violent hands on their parents,2 or addressed them in abusive language. For to smite does not only mean to kill, but refers to any violence, although no wound may have been inflicted. If, then, any one had struck his father or mother with his fist, or with a stick, the punishment of such an act of madness was the same as for murder. And, assuredly, it is an abominable and monstrous thing for a son not to1 By the Roman law parricides were sewn up in a leathern sack with a dog, a cock, a viper, and a monkey, and cast into the sea, or the nearest river.ЧVide Cicero pro Rose. Amer., ii. 25, 26.* "Oeux qui auront outrage pere ou mere, soit de faict, soit de parole;" those who shall have outraged father or mother either by act or word.ЧFr.14                 CALVIN'S HARMONY OF THE FOUR           DECT. XXI. 18.hesitate to assault those from whom he has received his life ; nor can it be but that impunity accorded to so foul a crime must straightway produce cruel barbarism. The second law avenges not only violence done to parents, but also abusive words, which soon proceed to grosser insults and atrocious contempt. Still, if any one should have lightly let drop some slight reproach, as is often the case in a quarrel, this severe punishment was not to be inflicted upon such an inconsiderate piece of impertinence: and the word 77p, kalal, from which the participle used by Moses is derived, not only means to reproach, but also to curse, as well as to esteem lightly, and to despise. Whilst, therefore, not every insult, whereby the reverence due to parents was violated, received the punishment of death, still God would have that impious pride, which would subvert the first principles of nature, held in abhorrence. But, inasmuch as it might seem hard that a word,1 however unworthy of a dutiful son, should be the cause of death; this objection is met, by what is added by God in Leviticus, " his blood shall be upon him, because he hath cursed his father or mother :" as if He would put a stop to what men might otherwise presume to allege in mitigation of the severity of the punishment.DEUTERONOMY, CHAPTER XXI.18.  If a man have a stubborn and       18. Quum  quis habuerit filium rebellious son, which will not obey   perversum et rebellem, non obedi-the voice of his father, or the voice   enteni voci patris sui et matris sure, of his mother, and that, when they   et castigaverint ilium, nee paruerit have chastened him, will not hearken   illis:unto them;19.  Then shall his father and his       19. Turn apprehendent eum pater mother lay hold on him, and bring   eius et mater eius, educentque ad him out unto the elders of his city,    seniores urbis sure et portam loci and unto the gate of his place:          sui:20.  And they shall say unto the       20. Dicentque senioribus  urbis, elders of his city, This our son is   Pilius iste  noster perversus et re-stubborn and rebellious, he will not    bellis est, non obediens voci nostrre, obey our voice; he is a glutton and   epulo est ac comessator.a drunkard.21.  And all the men of his city       21. Tune lapidabunt eum omnes1 " Une injure verbale;" a verbal injury.ЧFr.5TH COMMANDMENT.     LAST BOOKS OF THE PENTATEUCH.              10shall stone him with stones, that lie   homines urbis suee lapidibus, et mo-die : so shalt thou put evil away   rietur: atque ita auferes malum e from among you; and all Israel   medio tui, uuiYersusque Israel au-shall hear, and fear.                         diet, et timebit.18. If a man have a stubborn. What God had previously adverted to in two clauses, He now embraces in a general law, for it cannot be doubted but that by rebellious children all are designated who are abusive or insulting to their father and mother. For if it be a capital crime to be disobedient to parents, much more is it to strike, or beat them, and to assail them with reproachful words. In sum, Moses declares that those are deserving of death who are of such a stubborn and intractable disposition as to reject the authority of their father and mother, and to hold them in contempt. Whence also we infer what it is to honour our father and mother, for the punishment is only denounced for the transgression of the Commandment. When, therefore, the law delivers over to death all who contumaciously rebel against the discipline of their parents, it follows that they have refused them their due honour. An admirable means, however, of moderating the severity of the law is introduced, when God requires the case to be decided on the evidence of the father and mother; and commands that it should be publicly heard, so that none may be condemned at the will of private individuals. By the Roman law the power of life and death over his children1 was given to the father, because it was not probable that fathers would be carried away by such senseless inhumanity as to deal cruelly with their own bowels; but, since sometimes fathers are found who are not unlike wild beasts, and examples shew us that many, blinded by hate or avarice, have not spared their own children, this concession of the Roman law is justly to be repudiated. I allow, indeed, that those who desired to inflict punishment on their children called their friends into council; but,1 " A father among the Romans had the power of life and death over his children. He could not only expose them when infants, but, even when his children were grown up, he might imprison, scourge, send them bound to work in the country, and also put them to death by any punishment he pleased, if they deserved it. Sail. Cat., 39.; Liv., ii. 41; viii. 7 ; Dionys., viii. 79."ЧAdam's Rom. Antiq.16                   CALVIN'S HARMONY OF THE FOUR           DEDT.XXI.18.whereas, the walls of a private dwelling conceal many disgraceful things, God imposed a much better restraint on parents when He did not suffer them to go further than to lay the information and to give their testimony. For, although He would have credit given to their testimony, still, when the children were brought to the tribunal of the judges, a legal trial undoubtedly ensued ; and this form of proceeding is prescribed, viz., that the father and mother should bring their son and make their complaint before the judges of his incorrigible stubbornness. It is true that the sentence is immediately subjoined ; yet we must infer, nevertheless, that the judges pronounced it before the criminal was stoned, else it would have been ridiculous that they should sit there like cyphers. The very mention of a trial, therefore, implies that the son was heard in his defence, so as to clear himself of the crime, if he was not guilty of it: for, suppose the moroseness of the father and mother were notorious ; or that the father accused the son by the instigation of a stepmother; or that any unworthy spite were discovered ; or that the father and mother had conspired to destroy their son in a fit of passion: the defence of the cause is, therefore, implied in the adverb then,1 for it would have been more than absurd that the son should be condemned without being heard. Especially, when he was to be stoned by the whole people, it was necessary that he should be first convicted; and on this ground he was brought forth publicly, that he might be allowed to plead his cause. But although those were condemned who were addicted to other vices also, yet Moses expressly mentions gluttons and drunkards, to shew that, although no capital crime were alleged, still, dissolute profligacy was sufficient, if the son could not be corrected by his parents ; for it is plain that those are in a desperate state who have so cast away submissiveness and shame as to receive no profit from the admonitions of their parents. From the end of the verse we gather what was the twofold object of the punishmentЧ that the earth should be purged of the sins whereby it was1 The particle 1 sometimes has this force, but is here translated in A. V. and.5th commandment,    last books of the pentatettoh.         ] 7in a manner, polluted, and that the death of him who had transgressed might be an example to all.EXODUS, CHAPTER XXII.28. Thou shalt not revile the gods,       28. Diis non detrahes, etprincipinor curse the ruler of thy people.       populi tui non maledices.Lev. xix. 32. Thou shalt rise up       32. Ante canitiem assurge, et ho-before the hoary head, and honour   nora faciem senis, metueque Deumthe face of the old man, and fear   tuum: ego Jehova. thy God : I am the Lord.Dbijt. xvi. 18. Judges and offi-        18. Judices et prsefectos consti-cers shalt thou make thee in all   tues tibi intra omnes portas tuasthy gates, which the Lord thy God   quas Jehova Deus tuus dabit tibigivetb thee, throughout thy tribes:    per tribus tuas, qui judicent popu-and they shall judge the people with   lum judicio justitiaB, hoc est recto, just judgment.Deut. xx.  9. And it  shall be,       9. Quum finem fecerint prscfectiwhen the officers have made an end   militares loquendi ad populum, con-of speaking unto the people, that   stituentprincipesturmarumincapitethey shall make  captains of the   populi. armies to lead the people.Exod. xxii. 28. Thou shalt not revile the gods. These four passages confirm what I have said, that in the Fifth Commandment are comprised by synecdoche all superiors in authority. For it was not the design of God to add to the Two Tables, as if something better and more perfect had afterwards come into His mind; which it is sinful to suppose. He was therefore content with the rule once laid down, although He afterwards spoke in a more explanatory manner. But the precepts here given would be unconnected with the Law, if they were not an adjunct, and therefore a part, of the Fifth Commandment.First of all, He commands that we should think and speak reverently of judges, and others, who exercise the office of magistrate: nor is it to be questioned.that, in the ordinary idiom of the Hebrew language, He repeats the same thing twice over ; and consequently that the same persons are called "gods," and "rulers of the people." The name of God is, figuratively indeed, but most reasonably, applied to magistrates, upon whom, as the ministers of His authority, He has inscribed a mark of His glory.   For, as we have seen18                 calvin's harmony of the four     lev. xix. 32.that honour is due to fathers, because God has associated them with Himself in the possession of the name, so also here His own dignity is claimed for judges, in order that the people may reverence them, because they are God's representatives, as His lieutenants, and vicars. And so Christ, the surest expositor, explains it, when He quotes the passage from Psalm lxxxii. 6, " I have said, Ye are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High," (John x. 34,) viz., " that they are called gods, unto whom the word of God came," which is to be understood not of the general instruction addressed to all God's children, but of the special command to rule.It is a signal exaltation of magistrates, that God should not only count them in the place of parents, but present them to us dignified by His own name; whence also it clearly appears that they are not to be obeyed only from fear of punishment, " but also for conscience sake," (Rom. xiii. 5,) and to be reverently honoured, lest God should be despised in them. If any should object, that it would be wrong to praise the vices of those whom we perceive to abuse their power; the answer is easy, that although judges are to be borne with even if they be not the best,1 still that the ho n o u r   w i t h   а%w h i c h   t h e y   a r e   i n v e s t e d ,   i s   n o t   a   c o v e r i n g   f o r   v i c e .   N o r   d o e s   G o d   c o m m a n d   u s   t o   a p p l a u d   t h e i r   f a u l t s ,   b u t   t h a t   t h e   p e o p l e   s h o u l d   r a t h e r   d e p l o r e   t h e m   i n   s i l e n t   s o r r o w ,   t h a n   r a i s e   d i s t u r b a n c e s   i n   a   l i c e n t i o u s   a n d   s e d i t i o u s   s p i r i t ,   a n d   s o   s u b v e r t   political government.Lev. xix. 32. Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head. God teaches us that some sparks of His majesty shine forth in old men, whereby they approach to the honour of parents. It is not my purpose to gather quotations from profane authors in reference to the honour due to the old; let it suffice that what God here commands is dictated by nature itself. This appeared at Athens,2 when an old man had come into the theatre, and found no place among his fellow-citizens ; but, when at length he was admitted with honour1  " Encore qu'ils ne sont pas tels qu'ils devroyent;" even though they be not what they should.ЧFr.2  Cicero, de Senectute, xviii; and Val. Max., lib. iv. 5.OTH COMMANDMENT.      LAST BOOKS OF THE PENTATEUCH.            19by the Spartan ambassador, (because old age is greatly reverenced among the Lacedemonians,) applause was raised on all sides; and then the Lacedemonian exclaimed, that " the Athenians knew what was right, but would not do it." It was surely manifested by this universal consent of the people that it is a natural law in the hearts of all to reverence and honour old men. Many old men, indeed, either by their levity, or lewdness, or sloth, subvert their own dignity ; yet, although grey hairs may not always be accompanied by courteous wisdom, still, in itself, age is venerable, according to God's command.Deut. xvi. 18. Judges and officers shalt thou make. I have placed this passage among the Supplements of the Fifth Commandment, for, if it pleases God that judges should be appointed for ruling the people, it follows that their laws and edicts should be obeyed ; and thus the parental authority extends also to them. But, in order that the people may more readily submit themselves to judges, God reminds them that the human race could not otherwise be preserved. Public utility, therefore, renders the authority of magistrates pleasant and agreeable, though it would else be hateful. But, although it be not conceded to all to elect their judges, because God honoured His chosen people with this prerogative, still he here recommends in general a regular government, since He signifies that human society cannot hold together unless the lawful rulers have authority to execute justice. Whether, then, magistrates are appointed by the suffrages of the people, or imposed in any other way, let us learn that they are the necessary ministers of God, to confine all men under the yoke of the laws. The latter passage, which I have annexed from Deuteronomy vii., refers to the same thing, viz., that even in war discipline is necessary, lest all things should be thrown into confusion. Now, if it pleases God that certain superior officers should have the command, it follows that they must be obeyed; for it would be ridiculous to appoint governors, if it were lawful to despise them with impunity. When, therefore, God sets military commanders over the people, He enforces the duty of humble submission.20                  calvin's harmony of the four    exod. xx. IS.Cj)e CommantmtentEXODUS, CHAPTER XX.13. Thou shalt not kill.                     13. Non occides.THE REPETITION OF THE SAME COMMANDMENT. Deut. v. 17. Thou shalt not kill.        17. Non occides.The sum of this Commandment is, that we should not unjustly do violence to any one. In order, however, that God may the better restrain us from all injury of others, He propounds one particular form of it, from which men's natural sense is abhorrent; for we all detest murder, so as to recoil from those whose hands are polluted with blood, as if they carried contagion with them. Undoubtedly God would have the remains of His image, which still shine forth in men, to continue in some estimation, so that all might feel that every homicide is an offence against Him, (sacrilegium.) He does not, indeed, here express the reason, whereby He elsewhere deters men from murder, i.e., by asserting that thus His image is violated, (Gen. ix. 6;) yet, however precisely and authoritatively He may speak as a Legislator, He would still have us consider, what might natural]}' occur to everybody's mind, such as the statement of Isaiah, (Iviii. 7,) that man is our " own flesh." In order, then, that believers may more diligently beware of inflicting injuries, He condemns a crime, which all spontaneously confess to be insufferable. It will, however, more clearly appear hereafter, that under the word kill is included by synecdoche all violence, smiting, and aggression. Besides, another principle is also to be remembered, that in negative precepts, as they are called, the opposite affirmation is also to be understood ; else it would not be by any means consistent, that a person would satisfy God's Law by merely abstaining from doing injury to others. Suppose, for example, that one of a cowardly disposition, and not daring to assail even a child,6TH COMMANDMENT.      LAST BOOKS OF THE PENTATEFCH.            21should not move a finger to injure his neighbours, would he therefore have discharged the duties of humanity as regards the Sixth Commandment ? Nay, natural common sense demands more than that we should abstain from wrongdoing. And, not to say more on this point, it will plainly appear from the summary of the Second Table, that God not only forbids us to be murderers, but also prescribes that every one should study faithfully to defend the life of his neighbour, and practically to declare that it is dear to him ; for in that summary no mere negative phrase is used, but the words expressly set forth that our neighbours are to be loved. It is unquestionable, then, that of those whom God there commands to be loved, He here commends the lives to our care. There are, consequently, two parts in the Commandment,Чfirst, that we should not vex, or oppress, or be at enmity with any; and, secondly, that we should not only live at peace with men, without exciting quarrels, but also should aid, as far as we can, the miserable who are unjustly oppressed, and should endeavour to resist the wicked, lest they should injure men as they list. Christ, therefore, in expounding the genuine sense of the Law, not only pronounces those transgressors who have committed murder, but also that " he shall be in danger of the judgment who is angry with his brother without a cause; and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council; but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell-fire." (Matt. v. 22.) For He does not there, as some have ignorantly supposed, frame a new law, as if to cast blame upon His Father; but shews the folly and perversity of those interpreters of the Law who only insist on the external appearance, and husk of things, as is vulgarly said; since the doctrine of God must rather be estimated from a due consideration of His nature. Before earthly judges, if a man have carried a weapon for the purpose of killing a man, he is found guilty of violence; and God, who is a spiritual Lawgiver, goes even further. With Him, therefore, anger is accounted murder; yea, inasmuch as He pierces even to the most secret feelings, He holds even concealed hatred to be murder ; for so we must understand22                   calvin's haemony of the four    lev. xix. ] 7.John's words, " Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer," (1 John iii. 15 ;) i.e., hatred conceived in the heart is sufficient for his condemnation, although it may not openly appear. й^position of Hjc йommantunent.LEVITICUS, CHAPTER XIX.17. Thou shalt not hate thy 17. Ne oderis fratrem tuum in brother in thine heart.                      corde tuo.I doubt not but that this part of the verse should be taken separately, nor do I approve of the introduction of the adversative particle bat, by which translators1 connect it with what follows. We know that we are not always to trust to the division of verses; and, since it is clear that whatever precepts we meet with in the writings of Moses for the regulation of our lives depend on the Decalogue, this sentence sufficiently proves that murder was foi-bidden, not only in order that none should slay his brother by his hand, or by a weapon, but also that he should not indulge in wrong-doing, by cherishing in himself hatred and ill-will. Hence the statement of Paul is confirmed, that " the Law is spiritual/' (Rom. vii. 14;) and their folly is refuted who pretend that Mose3 was an earthly lawgiver to the Jews, like Lycurgus or Solon, since he thus penetrates even to the secret affections. It is also probable that John derived from this passage his saying, " He that hateth his brother is a murderer," (1 John iii. 15;) for the word heart is here used emphatically ; since, although no outward signs of hatred may appear, yet the internal feeling is accounted murder before God.1 So in V. " Non oderis fratrem tuum in corde tuo, sed publice argue eum," &c.6TH COMMANDMENT.      LAST BOOKS OF THE PENTATEUCH.             23LEVITICUS, CHAPTER XIX.18. Thou shalt not avenge, nor       18. Ne ulciscaris te, neque servesbear any grudge against the children   odium contra filios populi tui: sedof thy people ; but thou shalt love   diliges proxiraum tuura sicut teip-thy neighbour as thyself: I am the   sum: ego Jehova. Lord.Hence it clearly appears that God had a further object than that men should not kill each other, for He not only restrains their hands, but requires their hearts to be pure from all hatred. For, since the desire of vengeance is the fountain and cause of enmities, it follows that under the word kill is condensed whatever is opposed to brotherly love. And this is confirmed by the antithesis, that none should hate his brother, but rather love him as himself. We need, then, seek for no other expositor of the Commandment but God Himself, who pronounces those to be guilty of murder who are affected with any malevolence, and not only those who, when offended, desire to return evil for evil, but those who do not sincerely love their neighbours, even when with justice they deem them to be their enemies. Wherefore, in order that God may absolve us from spiritual murder, let us learn to purify our hearts from all desire of vengeance, and, laying aside hatred, to cultivate fraternal affection with all men.Although the latter part of the verse embraces the sum of the whole Second Table, yet, because love is contrasted with vengeance, I have not thought fit to separate things which are so properly connected with each other, especially when one depends on the other. The precept is indeed only given with reference to the children of Abraham, because the crime of vengeance would be more atrocious between those who were bound together by fraternal rights ; yet it is not to be doubted but that God generally condemns the vice. In the schools1 this sentence was grossly corrupted; for, since1 Fr., "Les Theologiens de la Papaute." O. refers elsewhere to this scholastic maxim: " Nor is the argument worth a straw. That the thing regulated must always be inferior to the rule. The Lord did not make self-love the rule, as if love towards others was subordinate to it; but whereas, through natural pravity, the feeling of love usually rests on ourselves, He24              calvin's harmony of the four        lev. xix. 14.the rule (as they say) is superior to what is regulated by it, they have invented a preposterous precept, that every one should love himself first, and then his neighbours ; of which subject I will treat more fully elsewhere. The word *)tD3, natar, meaning to guard, when used without any addition, is equivalent to bearing an injury in mind ; as we also say-in French : " garder une injure."^LEVITICUS, CHAPTER XIX.14. Thou shalt not curse the deaf,       14. Surdo non maledices, et co-nor put a stumblingblock before the   ram cseco non pones offendiculum,blind, but shalt fear thy God: I am   sed timebis a Deo tuo: ego Jehova. the Lord.Since the Law comprehends under the word murder, all the wrongs whereby men are unjustly injured, that cruelty was especially to be condemned by which those wretched persons are afflicted, whose calamity ought rather to conciliate our compassion. For, if any particle of humanity exists in us, when we meet a blind man we shall be solicitous lest he should stumble or fall, and, if he goes astray, we shall stretch out our hands to him and try to bring him back into the way; we shall also spare the deaf, for to insult them is no less absurd or barbarous than to assail stones with reproaches. It is, therefore, gross brutality to increase the ills of those whom our natural sense impels us to relieve, and who are already troubled more than enough. Let us, then, learn from these words, that the weaker people are, the more secure ought they to be from all oppression or injury, and that, when we attack the defenceless, the crime of cruelty is greatly aggravated, whilst any insult against the calamitous is altogether intolerable to God.shews that it ought to diffuse itself in another directionЧthat is, should be prepared to do good to our neighbour with no less alacrity, ardour, and solicitude, than to ourselves."ЧInst., book ii., viii., з 54. " Again, when Moses commanded us to love our neighbours as ourselves, he did not intend to put the love of ourselves in the first place, so that a man may first love himself and then love his neighbours: as the sophists of the Sorbonne are wont to cavil, that the rule must always go before what it regulates."Ч Harm, of the Evangelists, (0. Society's Trans.,) vol. iii. p. 59.i Addition in Fr., " Et pourtant il faut suppleer ou injure ou rancune;" and, therefore, injury or grudge must be supplied.6TH COMMANDMENT.      LAST BOOKS OF THE PENTATEUCH.25 Grotttonfal Swjpjtenmrts of tfje CoinmanSinent.DEUTERONOMY, CHAPTER XXI.1.  If one be found slain in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it be not known who hath slain him;2.  Then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth,  and they  shall measure unto the cities which are round about him that is slain.3.  And it shall be, that the city which is next unto the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take an heifer, which hath not been wrought with, and which hath not drawn in the yoke;4.  And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer unto a rough valley, which is neither eared nor sown, and shall strike off the heifer's neck there in the valley:5.  And the priests, the  sons of Levi, shall come near; (for them the Lord thy God hath chosen to minister unto him, and to bless in the name of the Lord;) and by their word  shall every controversy and every stroke be tried.6.  And all the elders of that city, that are next unto the slain man, shall  wash their   hands   over  the heifer that is beheaded in the valley:7.  And they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it.8.  Be merciful, O Lord, unto thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, and lay not innocent blood unto thy people of Israel's charge. And the blood shall be forgiven them.9.  So shalt thou put away the guilt of innocent blood from among you, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the Lord,1.   Quum inventura fuerit cadaver hominis occisi in terra quam Jehova Deus tuus dabit tibi ut pos-sideas earn, prostratum in agro, nee cognitum   fuerit   quis   percusserit eum:2.  Tune egredientur seniores tui, et judices tui, et metientur usque ad civitates quse sunt in circuitibus cadaveris hominis illius occisi.3. Et seniores urbis, propinquioris urbis illi  cadaveri occiso,  capient vitulam de armento qua nemo usus fuerit, et quse non traxerit jugum.4.  Et adducent seniores ejus urbis vitulam ad   vallem   asperam, qua; nunquam fuerit arata, neque semi-nata, et prsscident cervicem vitulse illic in valle.5.   Et   accedent  sacerdotes  fllii Levi (eos enim elegit Jehova Deus tuus ut ministrent ipsi, et ad bene-dicendum  in  nomine Jehovae: et juxta quorum sermonem erit omnis lis atque omnis plaga.)6.  Et omnes seniores ejus urbis ubi accesserint ad cadaver hominis occisi, lavabunt manus suas super vitulam percussam in valle.7.  Et testificabuntur, ac dicent, Manus nostree non effuderunt san-guinem istum, neque oculi nostri viderunt.8.   Expia populum tuum Israel quern redemisti Jehova, et ne imputes sanguinem innocentem in me-Sio populi tui Israel: et expiabitur ab eis sanguis.9.  Tu autem auferes sanguinem innocentem e medio tui, quum feceris quod rectum est in oculis Jehovse.26                   calvin's haemony of the four     deut.xxi. 1.1. If one he found slain in the land. This Supplement is of a mixed character, relating partly to the civil, and partly to the criminal law. We are informed by it how precious to God is the life of man ; for, if a murder had been committed by some unknown person, He requires an expiation to be made, whereby the neighbouring cities should purge themselves from the pollution of the crime. Whence it appears that the earth is so polluted by human blood, that those who encourage murder by impunity, implicate themselves in the guilt. The question here is as'to a secret crime, the guilt of which attaches to the neighbouring cities, until, by the institution of a diligent inquiry, they can testify that the author is not discovered; how much less excusable, then, will they be, if they allow a murderer to escape with impunity ? The rite prescribed is, that the elders of the nearest city should take a heifer which had not drawn in a yoke, and bring it into a stony and barren valley, cut off its neck with the assistance of the priests, wash their hands, and bear witness that their hands as well as their eyes are pure, as not being cognizant of the criminal. God chose a heifer that had not borne a yoke, in order that the satisfaction made by innocent blood might be represented in a more lively manner; whilst it was to be killed in a desert place, that the pollution might be removed from the cultivated lands. For, if the blood of the heifer had been shed in the middle of the market-place of the city, or in any inhabited spot, the familiarity with the sight of blood would have hardened their minds in inhumanity. For the purpose, therefore, of awakening horror, it was drawn out into a solitary and uncultivated spot, that they might be thus accustomed to detest cruelty. But although, properly speaking, this was not a sacrifice which could be offered nowhere except in the sanctuary, still it nearly approached to the nature of a sacrifice, because the Levites were in attendance, and a solemn deprecation was made ; nevertheless, they were not only employed as ministers of the altar, but also as judges, for their office is expressed in the words, that they were " chosen to minister to God, to bless the people, and to pronounce sentence as to every stroke."6TH COMMANDMENT.      LAST BOOKS OF THE PENTATEUCH.           276. And all the elders of that city. The washing of their hands had the effect of stirring them up the more, so that they should not inconsiderately protest in that solemn rite that they were pure and guiltless ; for it was just as if they had presented the corpse of the dead man before God, and had stood themselves opposite to it to purge away the crime. At the same time, also, they ask for pardon, because it might have been through their carelessness that the man was smitten; and again, since, by the sacrilege of Achan alone the whole people were contaminated, it was to be feared lest the vengeance of God should extend more widely on account of the offence committed. And thus they were again taught how greatly God abominates murders, when the people pray that they may be pardoned for the crime of another, as if, by the very looking upon it, they had contracted guilt. God at length declares that He will not impute it to them, when they have duly performed this rite of expiation ; not because the heifer was the price of satisfaction to propitiate God, but because in this way they humbly reconciled themselves to Him, and shut the door against murders for the time to come. On this account it is saidЧ" Thou shalt put away the blood from among you ;" for if the murder be passed over without observation, there remains a blot upon the people, and the earth itself, in a manner, stinks before God.DEUTERONOMY, CHAPTER XII.15.  Notwithstanding thou mayest       15.  Pro omni desiderio  animre kill and eat flesh in all thy gates,   tuse   mactabis,  et  comedes carnes whatsoever thy soul lusteth  after,   secundum   benedictionem   Jehovse according to the blessing   of  the   Dei  tui,  quam  dederit  tibi  intra Lord thy God which he hath given   omnes portas tuas :   immundus et thee: the unclean and the clean may   mundus comedet eas, sicut capream eat thereof, as of the roe-buck, and   et cervum.as of the hart.16.   Only ye shall not eat  the       16. Tantummodo sanguinem non blood; ye shall pour it upon  the   comedetis, super terram effundetis earth as water.                                 ilium instar aquse.20. When the Lord thy God shall       20.   Quum    dilataverit   Jehovaenlarge thy border, as he hath pro-    Deus tuus terminum tuum, quem-mised thee, and thou shalt say, 1   admodum    loquutus   est   tibi,   etwill   eat flesh,  (because thy  soul   dixeris,   Comedam   carnem,   quodlongeth to eat flesh,) thou mayest   concupiscat anima tua vesci carni-28CALVIN S HARMONY OF THE FOUR1)EUT. XIT.eat flesh, whatsoever thy soul lust-eth after.21.  If the place which the Lord thy God hath chosen to put hia name there be too far from thee, then thou shalt kill of thy herd, and of thy flock, which the Lord hath given thee, as I have commanded thee, and  thou  shalt  eat  in  thy gates whatsoever thy soul lusteth after.22.  Even as the roe-buck and the hart is eaten, so thou shalt eat them; the unclean and the clean shall eat of them alike.23.  Only be sure that thou eat not the blood: for the blood is the life; and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh.24.   Thou shalt not eat it; thou shalt pour it upon the earth as water.25.  Thou shalt not eat it; that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the Lord.Lev. xvii. 10. And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood; I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people.11.  For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you upon  the altar,  to  make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.12.   Therefore I said unto  the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood,  neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood.13.  And whatsoever man there be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, which hunteth  and  catcheth  any beast or fowl that may be eaten; he shall even pour out the blood thereof, and cover it with dust.14.  For it is the life of all flesh ;bus : juxta omne desiderium animce tuse comedes carnes.21.   Quum longinquus a te fuerit locus   quern  elegerit Jehova Deus tuus ut ponat nomen suum ibi, mac-tabis de bobus tuis et de pecudibus tuis quas dederit Jehova tibi: quem-admodum prsecepi tibi, et vesceris in portis tuis secundum omne desiderium animse tuse.22.   Certe quemadmodum come-ditur caprea et cervus, sic comedes illas: immundus pariter et mundus vescentur illis.23.   Tantum   roborare   ut   non comedas sanguinem : quia sanguis est anima, et non comedes animam una cum came.24.   Non comedes ilium, sed in terrain effundes ilium instar aquse.25.  Non vesceris illo, ut bene sit tibi, et flliis tuis post te, quum fe-ceris  quod   rectum  est   in   oculis Jehovre.10. Q.uicunque e domo Israel, et e peregrinis qui peregrinantur in medio eorum, comederit ullum san-guinem, ponam faciem meam in animam quse comederit sanguinem, et excidam earn e medio populi sui.11.  Quia anima carnis in sanguine est:   ego autem dedi   ilium vobis super altare ad expiandum animas vestras, quia   sanguis animam ex-piabit.12.  Ideo dixi flliis Israel, Nulla anima ex vobis comedet sanguinem, et   peregrinus   qui pregrinatur  in medio vestri non comedet sanguinem.13.  Et quicunque e filiis Israel, et e peregrinis qui  peregrinantur in medio eorum, venatus fuerit ve-nationem bestise vel avis quse come-ditur, effundet  sanguinem  ejus et cooperiet pulvere.14.  Quia anima cujusque carnis,6lU COMMANDMENT.     LAST BOOKS OF THE PENTATEUCH.            29the blood of it is for the life thereof:    sanguis ejus est in anima: dixiquetherefore I said unto the children of   flliis Israel, Sanguinem cujuscunqueIsrael, Ye shall eat the blood of no   carnis non comedetis, quia animamanner of flesh: for the life of all   cujusque carnis est  sanguis ejus:flesh is the blood thereof; whosoever   quicunque   comederit   ilium, exci-eateth it shall be cut off.                   detur.Lev. vii. 26. Moreover, ye shall       26. Nullum sanguinem comedetiseat no manner of blood, whether it be   in   cunctis   habitationibus  vestris,of fowl or of beast, in any of your   tarn de avibus quam dejumentis. dwellings.27. Whatsoever soul it be that       27. Oinnis anima quas comederiteateth any manner of blood, even   ullum sanguinem, excidetur animathat soul shall be cut off from his   ilia e populis suis. people.Lev. xix. 26. Ye shall not eat 26. Non comedetis cum san-any thing with the blood.                  guine.Deut. xii. 15. Notwithstanding thou mayest kill. What precedes I have introduced in its proper place, viz., that they should not kill the sacrifices anywhere but in the sanctuary, of which there was only one in Judea. Here the permission to eat meat is given, provided that they do not offer the animals to God, but eat of them as of wild beasts. By way of example, two kinds are mentioned, the roe-buck and the hart, of which no offering was made. They are, therefore, freely allowed to eat meat wheresoever they pleased, with this exception, that they should not taste the blood ; for, although this was observed by their forefathers before the giving of the Law, God ratifies it anew when He would gather a peculiar people to Himself. We know that immediately after the deluge, Noah and his posterity were commanded to abstain from blood ; but, inasmuch as the greater part of mankind soon degenerated, it is probable that all nations neglected God's command, and permitted to themselves a universal license on this point; and it is even questionable whether this observance, which was everywhere fallen into desuetude, prevailed among the family of Shem. Certainly it may be conjectured from the renewed promulgation of the law, that it was altogether obsolete ; at any rate, God would have His chosen people distinguished by this mark of sejiaration from heathen nations.The reason of the prohibition which is now mentioned30                calvin's harmony or the four      deut.xii. 23.had already been declared,1 viz., because the blood is the seat of life. But although it was allowable to kill an animal for food, yet, was it a useful restraint to prevent inhumanity, that they should not touch the blood ; for if they abstained from the blood of beasts, much more necessary was it to spare human blood. After God, therefore, has forbidden blood to be eaten, He immediately proceeds to speak of men themselves : " Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man."2 (Gen. ix. 4-6.) Hence I have deemed it appropriate to annex all the passages in which God commands the people to abstain from blood, to the Sixth Commandment. In itself, indeed, the eating of blood was a thing of no great importance : since, therefore, God so often inculcates a point of so little weight, it may be inferred that the law has some further object. To this may be added the severity of the punishment, for surely it was not a crime worthy of death to taste the blood of some little bird ; and hence, also, it is manifested that the prohibition had another meaning, viz., that cruelty might be abhorred. And the words of Moses shew that the eating of blood is not forbidden because it infected man with its uncleanness, but that they might account the life of man to be precious ; for it is said, " the blood is the life," which, in the opinion of Augustine,3 is equivalent to its being " the sign of life;" but Moses rather means that animal life is contained in the blood. "Wherefore, blood, which represents the life, was not interdicted vvithout reason, nor was it only sinful to eat the blood by itself, but also together with the flesh, as is expressly declared both in Deuteronomy and in the last passage from Leviticus.23. Only be* sure that thou eat not. It is not without cause that he earnestly exhorts them to inflexible firmness, because it was both a matter trifling in appearance, and its observa-1 See on Lev. iii. 17, vol. ii. p. 335, whence, however, he refers to Gen. ix. 4.    C. Society's edition, vol. i. p. 293.3  Lat. " Qui efi'uderit sanguinera hominis in homine;" he who shall have shed the blood of man in man__Vide C. in loco.8 Qusest. in Leviticum, lvii. з 2. " Illud appellatur anima, quod sig-nificat animam."ЧEdit. Benedict, torn. iii. p. i. pag. 516.4  Lett., "Roborare."    Margin, A. V., " Heb., Be strong."6tH COMMANDMENT.       LAST BOOKS OF THE PENTATEUCH,           31tion troublesome, whilst it was easy to decline from it on account of the universal example of the Gentiles. For if they considered within themselves that it contributed not to holiness that they should not touch blood, hence a snare to indulgence might easily have arisen.Lev. xvii. 10. And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel. God here not only condemns to death whosoever shall have polluted themselves by eating of blood, but declares that He will Himself take vengeance on them, though they may escape from the hands of the judges ; for He not only prescribes to the judges what it is right for them to do, but asserts for Himself the office of inflicting the punishment. Nor, if we consider the intention of the Law, is there anything to surprise us in this; for although it be not consistent that the blood of a brute should be compensated for by the death of a man, still we must remember that this mode of instruction1 was necessary for a rude people, lest they should speedily lapse into barbarism. But, lest they should complain that no use remained for the blood, He reminds them that since it was given for atonement, they would be very ungrateful if they were not content with so great a blessing; and surely, since it was the price they were to pay for appeasing God, this was an employment of it far to be preferred to food. If, then, they desired to exchange into ordinary food the blood, which was destined to the altar for the reconciliation of God, Moses indirectly reproves their-ingratitude; for when God took away the right of eating it, He left them something better, which should have abundantly satisfied them. But we have elsewhere2 seen in what manner blood atones for souls, i.e., in a sacramental manner, upon which it must be observed that what properly belongs to Christ is thus transferred by metonomy to figures and symbols, yet in such a way that the similitude should neither be empty nor inefficacious ; for in so far as the fathers apprehended Christ in the external sacrifices, atonement was truly exhibited in them. In this passage also, I do not understand  " the strangers" to be all such visitors as may1  " Hanc piedagogiatn."ЧLat.    " Ceste doctrine puerile."ЧFr.2  See on Exod. xii. 21, ante vol. i. p. 221.32                calvin's harmony of the four     lkv. xvii. 10.have journeyed amongst them on matters of business, but those who had devoted themselves to the worship of God; for many foreigners, abandoning their superstitions, were circumcised, and it behoved that such as these should be expressly laid under the bonds of the Law, lest, if it had not referred to them, they should have withdrawn themselves from obeying it. This point must, therefore, be briefly adverted to, lest we should suppose that heathen sojourners were prohibited from the eating of blood, whereas they were allowed to buy for food1 even flesh that had been torn by beasts.Since, however, the Patriarchs before the Law had abstained from blood, and its prohibition had no reference to the First Table or the legal service, hence it came to pass that when the Apostles abrogated the ceremonial law, they did not dare to allow immediately the free eating of blood, lest great scandal should arise from this new and unwonted thing. (Acts xv. 20.) Wherefore, lest so trifling a matter should cause deadly schisms in the Churches, they commanded the Gentiles not to eat of blood; adding as the reason, that those who were accustomed to read the writings of Moses, would be disturbed at this innovation ; yet this was only observed for a short period, as we gather from Paul.2 It was, not without superstition and misplaced zeal, retained by some even to the days of Tertullian.1 See on Deut. xiv. 21, ante vol. ii. p. 69.a There is no reference here in the Latin, but the Fr. is, " comme il se peut recueillir par ce que Sainct Paul en escrit aux Corinthiens;" as may be gathered from what St. Paul writes respecting it to the Corinthians. In C.'s Commentary on the Acts, xv. 28, he says, " We know that this law was foredone by Paul, so soon as the tumult and contention was once ended, when he teacheth that nothing is unclean, (Rom. xiv. 14,) and when he granteth liberty to eat all manner of meats, yea, even such as were sacrificed to idols. (1 Cor. x. 25.)"ЧC. Society's edit., vol. ii. p. 79. Tertullian, Apol., cap. 9, speaks as follows; "Erubescat error vester Christianis, qui ne animalium quidem sanguinem in epulis esculentas habemus, qui propterea quoque suffocatis et morticinis abstinemus, ne quo modo sanguine contaminemur, vel intra viscera sepulto." See Bingham, book xvii. ch. v. sec. xx. " But on the other hand, because it was the custom of the Catholic Church, almost to the time of St. Austin, to abstain from eating of blood, in compliance with the rule given by the Apostles to the Gentile converts; therefore, by the most ancient laws of the Church, all clergymen were obliged to abstain from it under pain of degradation.    This is evident from the Apostolical Canons, and those of6th COMMANDMENT.      LAST BOOKS  O F   T H E   P E N T A T E U C H .  O T j c   p o l i t i c a l   S u p p l e m e n t s   o f   t i j e   S t e t i j   м o л t m a n D m e n t .  L E V I T I C U S ,   C H A P T E R   X X I Y .  1 7 .     A n d   h e   t h a t   k i l l e t h   a n y   m a n   s h a l l   s u r e l y   b e   p u t   t o   d e a t h .  1 9 .     A n d   i f   a   m a n   c a u s e   a   b l e m i s h   i n   h i s   n e i g h b o u r ;   a s   h e   h a t h   d o n e ,   s o   s h a l l   i t   b e   d o n e   t o   him;20.   Breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth:  as  he  hath caused a blemish in a man, so shall it be done to him again.21.  And he that killeth a beast, he shall restore it; and he that killeth a man, he shall be put to death.22.  Ye shall have one manner of law, as well for the stranger, as for one of your own country: for I am the Lord your God.Exod. xxi. 12. He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death.13.  And if a man lie not in wait, but God deliver him into his hand; then I will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee.14.  But if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbour, to slay him with guile; thou shalt take him from mine altar, that he may die.18.  And if men strive together, and one smite another with a stone, or with his fist, and he die not, but keepeth Ms bed;19.  If he rise again, and walk abroad upon his staff, then shall he that smote him be quit:   only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall cause him to be thoroughly healed.20.  And if a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and17.  Qui percusserit animam ho-minis, morte moriatur.19.   Vir qui intulerit maculam proximo suo, secundum quod fecit sic fiat ei.20.  Fracturam pro fractura, ocu-lum pro oculo, dentem pro dente : sicut intulerit maculam hominis, sic inferetur ei.21.  Qui percusserit animal reddet illud: qui vero percusserit hominem, moriatur.22.   Judicium umim erit vobis, sicut peregrinus sic et indigena erit: quia ego Jehova Deus vester.12.    Qui  percusserit   virum ad mortem, morte moriatur.13.  At qui non insidiatus fuerit ei, sed tradiderit ilium Deus in manus ejus, tune dabo  locum  ad  quern fugiet.14.  Sin vero insultando se extu-lerit quispiam in proximum suum, ut occidat eum malitiose, ab altari meo tolles eum ut moriatur.18.  Quod si rixati fuerint aliqui, et percusserit alter proximum suum lapide vel pugno, nee mortuus fuerit, sed jacuerit in lecto:19.  Si surrexerit, et ambulaverit foris super baculum suum, tune in-nocens erit   qui  percussit, tantum cessationem ejus pensabit: et me-dendo medicandum curabit20.  Quum percusserit  quispiam servum suum vel ancillam suam ba-Gangra, and the second Council of Orleans, and the Council of Trullo. But as this was looked upon by some only as a temporary injunction, so it appears from St. Austin that it was of no force in the African Church. (Contra Faust., lib. xxxii. c. xiii.) He that would see more about it may consult Curcellseus, who has written a large dissertation upon the subject."calvin's haemony of the four    lev. xxiv. 17.he die under his hand; he shall be surely punished.21.  Notwithstanding, if he continue a day or two, he shall not be punished: for he лs his money.22.  If men  strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow:  he  shall  be   surely punished, according as the woman's husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine.23.  And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life,24.  Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,25.  Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.26.  And if a man smite the eye of his servant, or the eye of his maid, that it perish; he shall let him go free for his eye's sake.27.  And if he smite out his manservant's   tooth, or   his maid-servant's tooth; he shall let him go free for his tooth's sake.28.  If an ox gore a man or a woman, that they die: then the ox shall be surely stoned, and his flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be quit.29.  But if the ox were wont to push with his horn in time past, and it hath been testified to his owner, and he hath not kept him in, but that he hath killed a man or a woman ; the ox shall be stoned, and his owner also shall be put to death.30.  If there be laid on him a sum of money, then he shall give, for the ransom of his life, whatsoever is laid upon him.31.  Whether he have gored a son, or have gored a daughter, according to this judgment shall it be done unto him.32.  If the ox shall push a manservant, or maid-servant; he shall give unto their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.culo, et mortuus fuerit sub manu ejus, vindicando vindicabitur.21.  Veruntamen si per diem vel duos dies steterit, non vindicabitur, quia pecunia ejus est.22.   Quum autem rixati fuerint viri, et percusserint mulierem prseg-nantem ut egrediatur foetus ejus, nee tamen sequatur mors, puniendo punietur quemadmodum imposuerit ei maritus mulieris, et solvet apud judices.23.   Quod si mors fuerit, tune dabis animam pro anima,24.  Oculum pro oculo, dentem pro dente, manum pro manu, pedem pro pede,25.   Adustionem pro adustione, vulnus  pro  vulnere,  livorem   pro livore.26.  Quum autem percusserit quis-piam oculum servi sui, vel oculum ancillse   sure,   et   corruperit   eum, liberum dimittet eum pro oculo ejus.27.  Quod si dentem servi sui, vel dentem   ancillse   suse   excusserit : liberum dimittet eum pro dente ejus.28.  Si cornu petierit bos virum aut mulierem ut moriatur, lapidando lapidabitur  bop, neque  comedetur caro ejus: dominus autem bovis erit innocens.29.   Quod si bos cornupeta fuerit ab heri et nudiustertius, et contes-tatio facta fuerit domino ejus, nee custodierit  eum,  occidendo  autem occiderit virum vel mulierem, bos lapidabitur, et dominus quoque ejus morietur.30.  Si pretium redemptionis im-positum fuerit ei,  tune dabit re-demptionem anima;   SU8B  quantum impositum fuerit ei.31.   Sive filium   cornu  petierit, sive filiam, secundum judicium hoc net ei.32.  Si servum bos cornu petierit, vel ancillam, argenti triginta siclos dabit domino ejus, et bos ille lapidabitur.Lev. xxiv. 17. And he that killeth any man.    We now6TH COMMANDMENT.      LAST BOOKS OF THE PENTATEUCH.            35proceed to the confirmation of the Sixth Commandment afforded by the Judicial Law; and first, the punishment of death is awarded to murderers. To "smite the life"1 is equivalent to wounding mortally, so that death ensues, as Moses more clearly explains himself in Exodus. But although he speaks briefly, like a legislator, there is no doubt but that he would have those whom he adjudges to die put to death by the sentence of the judges ; the manner of executing the punishment we shall see in its proper place. Now although God did not carry out to absolute perfection the laws which He enacted, yet in their principle He desired that a clear and unreserved approval of His Commandments should appear. And this was the reason why I commenced with this passage, because it directly corresponds with the Sixth Commandment.219. And if a man cause a blemish in his neighbour. He now also subjects to punishment those who shall have mutilated the body of their neighbour by blows ; and this was necessary, because otherwise every very great villain, who might be accomplished in the art of inflicting injury, would have broken his brother's leg or arm, and then would not only have laughed at the poor man himself, but also at God and His Law. If, therefore, a person had injured a member of another, the law of retaliation is enacted, which has also been in use among other nations.3    But God thus1  See margin of A. V.2  Lot., "quia prsecepto respondet quasi л╗r;Vf╗pлj."s " This is the earliest account we have of the Lex Talionis, or law of like for like, which afterwards prevailed among the Greeks and Romans. Among the latter it constituted a part of the Twelve Tables, so famous in antiquity; but the punishment was afterwards changed to a pecuniary fine, to be levied at the discretion of the Prfetor. It prevails less or more in most civilized countries, and is fully acted upon in the Canon Law in reference to all calumniators : " Calumniator, si in accusatione defecerit, talionem recipiat." Nothing, however, of this kind was left to private revenge; the magistrate awarded the punishment when the fact was proved. Otherwise the Lex Talionis would have utterly destroyed the peace of society, and have sowed the seeds of hatred, revenge, and all un-charitableness."ЧAdam Clarke on Exod. xxi. 24.The enactment of the Twelve Tables to this effect appears from Pestus to have been the following: " Si membrum rupsit, (ruperit,) ni cum eo pacit, (paciscetur,) talio est;" presenting a singular coincidence with the Mosaic provision. See Aul, Gell., lib. xx. c. 1, where the words are given somewhat differently, as in C.'s text.    The objection of Favorinus is that36                calvin's harmony of the four     exod.xxi. 12.distinctly prescribes when and how the injury was to be retaliated, that the law might not be open at all to the foolish cavils with which Favorinus attacks the law of the Twelve Tables in Gellius. And certainly the words of the Decemvirs were too obscure, "Si membrum fregeris meum, eoopacto talio est." (If you have broken my limb; without agreement made, there must be retaliation.) But God does not command an eye to be plucked out for an eye, or a tooth for a tooth, till He has set forth that this was only to be the case if any one had knowingly and wilfully inflicted the injury ; thus, He does not bring to justice accidental blows, but only a premeditated crime. It is vain to object that the members of different persons can hardly be broken with exact equality, for the intention of God was none other than that, being alarmed by the severity of the punishment, men should abstain from injuring others ; and therefore these two things were connected together, If one killeth a man, let him die, and if one hath taken away a part of life, let him suffer a similar privation. And the same is the tendency of the distinction, that the loss of an animal may be repaid, but that if a man be killed, there could be no just compensation made by money.22. Ye shall have one manner of law. That the people of Israel, with their usual arrogance, might not suppose the race of Abraham only to be privileged, the Law is extended also to foreigners ; and thus God shews that the whole body of the human race are under His care, so that He would not have those that are farthest off exposed to the licentious violence of the ungodly. In other points He provided special privileges for His elect people; but here, because He created all men without exception after His own image, He takes them under His care and protection, so that none might injure them with impunity.Exod. xxi. 12. He that smiteth a man, so that he die. This passage, as I have said, more clearly explains the de-it was impossible to be kept; for if the like were inflicted for the like, as one wound for another, they must take care that the like wound in every respect should be made, neither longer nor deeper; if it were, then a new retaliation must arise, and so ad infinitum.6TH COMMANDMENT.     LAST BOOKS OF THE PENTATEUCH.            37tails, and first makes a distinction between voluntary and accidental homicide; for, if a stone or an axe1 may have slipped from a man unintentionally, and struck anybody, He would not have it accounted a capital crime. And for this purpose the cities of refuge were given, of which brief mention is here made, and whose rights will be presently more fully spoken of, and where also the mode of distinguishing between design and ignorance will be laid down. But it must be remarked, that Moses declares that accidental homicide, as it is commonly called, does not happen by chance or accident, but according to the will of God, as if He himself led out the person, who is killed, to death. By whatever kind of death, therefore, men are taken away, it is certain that we live or die only at His pleasure ; and surely, if not even a sparrow can fall to the ground except by His will, (Matt. x. 29,) it would be very absurd that men created in His image should be abandoned to the blind impulses of fortune. Wherefore it must be concluded, as Scripture elsewhere teaches, that the term of each man's life is appointed,2 with which another passage corresponds, " Thou turnest man to destruction, and sayest, Return, ye children of men." (Ps. xc. 3.) It is true, indeed, that whatever has no apparent cause or necessity seems to us to be fortuitous ; and thus, whatever, according to nature, might happen otherwise we call accidents, (contingentia;) yet in the meantime it must be remembered, that what might else incline either way is governed by God's secret counsel, so that nothing is done without His arrangement and decree. In this way we do not suppose a^ fate3 such as the Stoics invented; for it is a different thing to say that things which of themselves incline to various and doubtful events, are directed by the hand of God whithersoever He will, and to say that necessity governs them in accordance with the perpetual complication of causes,4 and that this happens with God's con-i Deut. xix. 5.3 No reference is here given, but it is probably to Job xiv. 5,Ч" Thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass."3  л Une necessity fatale."Ч Fr.4  " Une necessite confuse selon des causes entortillees;" a confused necessity according to complicated causes.ЧFr.38                 calvin's harmony of the fouk,   exod. xxi. 14.nivance ; nay, nothing can be more opposite than that God should be drawn and carried away by a fatal motive power, or that He tempers all things as He sees fit.There is no reason to follow the Jews here in philosophizing more deeply, that none are delivered to death but those in whom God finds cause for it. It is indeed certain, that with God there always exists the best reason for His acts; but it is wrong to elicit from thence that those who by His guidance meet with death must be guilty of some offence. Nor even if God should take away an innocent man, would it be lawful to murmur against Him ; as if His justice were nought, because it is concealed from us, and indeed incomprehensible.] 4. But if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbour. He expresses the same thing in different ways ; for although there is a wide difference between slaying a man presumptuously1 and with guile, yet Moses applies them both to a wilful murder ; for by guile he means a wicked disposition to injure, and by the word presumptuous he designates a violent assault, when a man in hate wantonly falls upon another. And surely truculence, and violence, and all cruelty is presumptuous, (superba;) for unless a man despised his brother, he would not assail him as an enemy.Lest by overlooking murders they should defile the land, God commands that murderers should be torn away even from His altar, whereby He signifies that they are as unworthy of divine as of human aid. For1, although the sanctity of the altar might afford an asylum for the protection of those who had transgressed through imprudence, or .error, yet it would have been wrong that impunity for crimes should have been derived from hence; because the sanctuary would have been thus converted into a den of thieves, and religion would have been subjected to gross profanation. Wherefore, although criminals embracing the altar should implore God's aid, the Law commands them to be torn away from thence to punishment, because it would have been disgraceful to abuse God's sacred name as affording license for sin. Hence it appears how great was the folly of old in supposing that1 " Superbire, et insidiari longe differunt."ЧLat. " Ruer sur quelqu'un par fierte et malice, et I'aguetter."ЧFr.6th commandment,    last books or the pentateuch.         39churches were honoured when they were made asylums for the encouragement of evil deeds. This, indeed, was derived from the ordinary custom of the heathen ; but it was a foolish imitation thus to mix up God with idols in a spurious worship ; although in this respect the Gentiles served their idols more purely and virtuously than the Christians1 served God; for they refused the right of asylum to the sacrilegious and impure, so that the temple of the Samothracians was no secure hiding-place even to Perseus,2 the king of Macedon. Livy records the following words, as having been spoken by a heathen,Ч" Since, at the commencement of all our sacrifices, those whose hands are not pure are enjoined to retire, will ye suffer your sanctuaries to be contaminated by the blood-stained person of a robber V Let us, then, be ashamed of polluting our temples under the pretext of reverence for them.18. And if men strive together. The punishment here enacted for wounds and blows is so slight, that it might have served as a provocative to the mischievousness of the ill-disposed. Since the Law of the Twelve Tables only inflicted a fine of twenty-five asses upon a man who had beaten another unjustly, there was a certain Lucius Veratius,3 who, in mere wanton sport, did not hesitate to box the ears of any one he met, and then to command one of his slaves to pay the amount of the fine, so that it was at length thought better that the law should fall into desuetude, than to suffer it to be thus ridiculously abused. The same thing might easily happen among the Jews, since a person, who had so beaten his neighbour as that he should lie in bed, only had to pay what the unhappy man had expended on his cure. For who would not willingly enjoy the pleasure of knocking down his enemies on this condition, of providing for their subsistence whilst they lay in bed ? But we must remember the declaration of Christ, that on account of the perverse nature of the Jews, many things were allowed them " because1  " Ceux qui se glorifioyent du titre de Chrestiente;" those who prided themselves in the name of Christians.ЧFr.2  See Livy, lib. xlv. 5.    The words quoted are from an address of a certain L. Atilius to the popular assembly of Samothracia.8 Aul. Gellius. Noct. Attic, xx. 1.40                calvin's harmony of the tour    exod. xxi. 20,of the hardness of their hearts," (Matt. xix. 8, and Mark x, 5,) amongst which this indulgent provision is to be reckoned. Still God seems to have dealt more leniently with the man who had struck the blow, that He might also chastise the other, who, though of inferior strength, had rashly engaged in the conflict; for both were to be alike punished for the violence unjustly inflicted. Equal lenity seems, therefore, to have been shewn to both, since compensation is only made to the person struck for his private loss.1 But the fact, that God did not carry out the political laws to their perfection, shews that by this leniency He wished to reprove the people's perverseness, which could not even bear to obey so mild a law. Whenever, therefore, God seems to pardon too easily, and with too much clemency, let us recollect that He designedly deviated from the more perfect rule, because He had to do with an intractable people.20. And if a man smite his servant. Although in civil matters there was a wide distinction between slaves and free-men, still, that God may shew how dear and precious men's lives are to Him, He has no respect to persons with regard to murder; but avenges the death of a slave and a free-man in the same way, if he should die immediately of his wound. Indeed, it was a proof of gross barbarism amongst the Romans and other nations, to give to masters the power of life and death; for men are bound together by a more sacred tie, than that it should be permitted to a master to kill with impunity his wretched slave; nor are some men so set over others, as that they should exercise tyranny, or robbery, neither does reason permit that any private individual should usurp to himself the power of the sword. But, although unjust cruelty was not prohibited, as it should have been, by the laws of Rome, yet they2 confessed that slaves should be used like hired servants. The exception, which immediately follows, does not seem very consistent, for, if1 " Ainsi il semble bien que tous deux ont este supportez quant au delict public, quand il n'y a que le dommage particulier qui soit recompense;" thus it plainly appears that both were set free, as regarded the public offence, since it was only the private injury for which compensation was made.ЧFr.a "lies gens prudens;" their wise men.ЧFr.6TH COMMANDMENT.     LAST BOOKS OF THE PENTATEUCH.            41the slave should die after some time, the penalty of murder is remitted; whereas it would often be preferable to die at once of a single wound, than to perish by a lingering illness; and it might happen that the slave should be so bruised and maimed by blows, as to die some time afterwards. In this case, the cruelty of the master would be surely greater than if he had committed the murder under the impulse of burning anger: wherefore the enactment appears to be a very unjust one. But it must be remarked, that the murder of those slaves, who had been obliged to take to their bed from their wounds, was not unpunished. Whence we gather, that it was not allowable for cruel and truculent masters to wound their slaves severely ; and this is what the words expressly imply, for the smiter is only exempted from punishment when he shall have so restrained himself as that the marks of his cruelty should not appear. For that the slaves should " stand for one or two days,"] is equivalent to saying, that they were perfect and sound in all their members; but if a wound had been inflicted, or there was any mutilation, the smiter was guilty of murder. None, therefore, is absolved but he who only meant to chastise his slave; and where no injury appears, it is probable that there was no intention to kill him. "Whilst, then, this law prohibits bloodthirsty assaults, it by no means gives greater license to murder. The reason, which is added, must be restricted to the private loss; because a murderer would never be absolved on the pretext that he had purchased his slave with money, since the life of a man cannot be so estimated.22. If men strive, and hurt a woman. This passage at first sight is ambiguous, for if the word death2 only applies to the pregnant woman, it would not have been a capital crime to put an end to the foetus, which would be a great absurdity; for the foetus, though enclosed in the womb of its1 A. V.," continue for a day or two." Ainsworth, in loco: " Heb., stand, which the Greek translateth live."a It will be seen that the word |1DS? in the text is translated by C, nwrs; in A. V., mischief. " The Chaldee expounds it, (says Ainsworth,) no death; but it implieth less also than death, as the words following manifest. The Greek refers it to the child; translating, if it be not figured, (ilu*mr/iirn,') i.e., have not the shape and proportion."42                 calvin's harmony of the four   bxod. xxi. 22.mother, is already a human being, (homo,) and it is almost a monstrous crime to rob it of the life which it has not yet begun to enjoy. If it seems more horrible to kill a man in his own house than in a field, because a man's house is his place of most secure refuge, it ought surely to be deemed more atrocious to destroy a foetus in the womb before it has come to light. On these grounds I am led to conclude, without hesitation, that the words, " if death should follow," must be applied to the foetus as well as to the mother. Besides, it would be by no means reasonable that a father should sell for a set sum the life of his son or daughter. Wherefore this, in my opinion, is the meaning of the law, that it would be a crime punishable with death, not only when the mother died from the effects of the abortion, but also if the infant should be killed; whether it should die from the wound abortively, or soon after its birth. But, since it could not fail but that premature confinement would weaken both the mother and her offspring, the husband is allowed to demand before the judges a money-payment, at their discretion, in compensation for his loss ; for although God's command is only that the money should be paid before the judges,1 still He thus appoints them to settle the amount as arbitrators, if the husband should chance to be too exorbitant. "We plainly perceive, by the repetition of the lex talionis, that a just proportion is to be observed, and that the amount of punishment is to be equally regulated, whether as to a tooth, or an eye, or life itself, so that the compensation should correspond with the injury done; and therefore (what is first said of the life2) is correctly applied also to the several parts, so that he who has plucked out his brother's eye, or cut off his hand, or broken his leg, should lose his own eye, or hand, or leg. In fine, for the purpose of preventing all violence, a compensation is to be paid in proportion to the injury. But although God commands punishment to be inflicted on the guilty, still, if a man be injured, he ought not to seek for vengeance; for God does not con-1 The word determine is added by our translators.    Ainsworth's literal rendering is, " and he shall give by the judges." л Added from Fr.6TH COMMANDMENT.     LAST BOOKS OF THE PENTATEUCH.            43tradict Himself, who so often exhorts His children not only to endure injuries patiently, but even to overcome evil with good. The murderer is to be punished, or he who has maimed a member of his brother; but it is not therefore lawful, if you have unjustly suffered violence, to indulge in wrath or hatred, so as to render evil for evil. Since this error was rife among the Jews, our Lord refutes it, and teaches that the punishment, which is publicly awarded to the wrong-doer, is not subservient to every man's private passion, so that he who is offended should make haste to retaliate. (Matt. v. 38.) Nor indeed are these words addressed to them in order to inflame or excite the desire of vengeance, but all violence is restrained by the fear of punishment.26. And if a man smite the eye. Since, in the sight of God, there is neither slave nor free-man, it is clear that he sins as greatly who smites a slave, as if he had struck a free-man. Still, a distinction is made as regards the civil law and human justice, especially if any one have inflicted a wound on his own slave. For here a tooth for a tooth, or an eye for an eye, is not required, but the superiority, which he has improperly abused, is taken from the master; and in compensation for the injury, liberty, which is almost half their life, is given to the male or female slave. Thus, in consideration that it was his slave, the master is treated more leniently, when the severity of the punishment is thus mitigated; whilst, in compensation for his dislocation or fracture, the slave receives what is more advantageous to him, viz., that, being set free, he should not be exposed to another's cruelty.28. If an ox gore a man. Moses now descends even to the brute animals, so that, if they injured any one, by their punishment men may be more and more deterred from shedding blood. If, therefore, a goring ox have killed a man, he commands that it should be stoned, and that its carcase should be thrown away as abominable. Though censorious persons mock at this law, as if it were childish to punish a wretched animal, in which there is no criminality, their insolence requires but a brief refutation. For, since oxen were created for man's good, so we need not wonder that their44                 calvin's harmony of the four    exod.xxi.31.death, as well as their life, should be made to contribute to the public advantage.    If, then, an ox that had tilled a man should be kept, men would undoubtedly grow hardened in cruelty by beholding it; and to eat its flesh, would be almost the same thing as eating the flesh of man.    The cruelty of men, therefore, could not better be restrained, so that they should hold the murder of each other in abhorrence, than by thus avenging a man's death.   In the second place, God proceeds further, condemning the master of the ox himself to death, if he had been previously admonished to beware; for such a warning takes away the pretext of ignorance ; nor should the punishment seem to be severe for gross neglect, because to give free outlet to dangerous beasts is equivalent to compassing men's death.    He who knowingly and wilfully exposes the life of his brother to peril, is justly accounted his murderer.    The exception which is finally added, at first sight contains a kind of contradiction, because it was forbidden by the Law to compound with a murderer for money.    But inasmuch as a delinquency (delictum) differs from a crime, although it was unlawful to covenant with murderers for the remission of their punishment, still the judges were permitted on their hearing of the case, to mitigate it, if a man were excused by his unconsciousness or inadvertency.   This, then, is a special exception, which permits the judges to distinguish between the nature of offences ; viz., that, if they discovered a man not to be worthy of death, they should still punish his negligence by a pecuniary fine. 31.  Whether he have gored a son.  I know not whether they are correct who refer this to age, as if any young persons of either sex were meant by the words son and daughter; but I do not reject this opinion.    Still Moses seems to extend the law, as if, in case a butting ox had killed its owner's son, the father himself should be subject to the punishment, for not having taken more care of his children.    It might, however, be doubted, whether it would be just to condemn to death a father already weighed down by the loss of his child ; still it affords a useful example, that parents should not escape with impunity, if their sons or daughters should die by their fault.6TH COMMANDMENT.      LAST BOOKS OF THE PENTATEUCH.            4532. If the ox shall push a man-servant. It is not unreasonable that the punishment for the death of a slave should now be set at less than for that of a free-man. As regarded the crime of voluntary murder, there was no distinction between slaves and masters ; but in a case of mischance (delicto) the severity might in some degree be mitigated; especially when the stoning of the ox sufficiently availed for bringing murder into detestation. God, therefore, shewed admirable moderation in condemning the negligence of the master to be punished by the payment of thirty shekels ; whilst He proposed the ox as an example, and reminded all by its death, how very precious in His sight is human blood.DEUTERONOMY, CHAPTER XVII.6. At the mouth of two witnesses,       6. In ore duorum vel trium testi-or three witnesses, shall he that is   um interficietur qui moriturus est,worthy of death be put to death;   non interficietur in ore unius tes-but at the mouth of one witness he   tis. shall not be put to death.Deht. xix. 15. One witness shall       15. Non stabit testis unus contranot rise up against a man for any   quenquam   in   quacunque   iniqui-iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin   tate, et in quocunque peccato quodthat he sinneth: at the mouth of   peccaverit: in ore duorum testiumtwo witnesses, or at the mouth of   vel in ore trium testium stabit ver-three witnesses, shall the matter be   bum. established.As His severity in exacting punishment, where murder has been unquestionably committed, shews how highly God rates the life of men, so the qualification, which we find here, declares, that he takes equal care for the preservation of innocent blood. For, since too great credulity would often impel the judges to condemn the guiltless, He here applies a remedy to this evil, forbidding that the crime should be punished unless proved by sure testimony. Although He has naturally inscribed this law upon every heart, yet He would have it written down, that its observance amongst the Israelites might be more sacred; for nothing is more dangerous than to expose men's lives to the tongue of a single individual; but, where the consent of two or three is carefully weighed, any lurking falsehood is for the most part detected.46                   calvin's harmony of the four   deut.xxiv.7.Lest, therefore, any one should be rashly condemned, and so innocence should be oppressed by any light conjectures, or insufficient accusations, or unjust prejudices, God here interferes, and does not allow any to be harshly dealt with, unless duly convicted.DEUTERONOMY, CHAPTER XXII.8. When thou buildest a new      8. Si sedificaveris domum no-house, then thou shalt make a bat-   vara, fades tabulatum per circuitum tlement for thy roof, that thou bring   in tecto tuo: nee pones sanguinem not blood upon thine house, if any   in domo tua, si quispiam ceciderit man fall from thence.                      ex eo.This precept also has reference to the preservation of human life. We know that the roofs of the Jewish houses were flat, so that they might freely walk upon them. If there were no railings round them, a fall would have been fatal; and every house would have often been a house of mourning. God, therefore, commands the edge to be fortified with battlements, or railings, or other inclosure, and accompanies the injunction with a severe denunciation; for He declares that the houses would be defiled with blood, if any one should fall from an uninclosed roof. Now, if guilt were thus contracted by mere incautiousness, it hence appears how greatly He abominates deliberate cruelty ; and, if it behoved everybody to be thus solicitous as to the lives of their brethren, it shew3 how criminal it is to injure them purposely and in enmity.DEUTERONOMY, CHAPTER XXIV.7. If a man be found stealing any of his       7. Si quis furatus fue-brethren of the children of Israel, and mak-   rit   animam   e   fratribuseth merchandise of him, or selleth him; then   suis e flliis Israel, et ven-that thief shall die: and thou shalt put evil   diderit: morieturvirille,etaway from among you.                                    auferes malum e medio tui.The same punishment is here deservedly denounced against man-stealers as against murderers ; for, so wretched was the condition of slaves, that liberty was more than half of life ; and hence to deprive a man of such a great blessing, was almost to destroy him.   Besides, it is not man-stealing only6th COMMANDMENT.     LAST BOOKS OF THE PENTATEUCH.            47which is here condemned, but the accompanying evils of cruelty and fraud, i.e., if he, who had stolen a man, had likewise sold him. Now, such a sale could hardly be made among the people themselves, without the crime being immediately detected ; and nothing could be more hateful than that God's children should be alienated from the Church, and delivered over to heathen nations.DEUTERONOMY, CHAPTER XXL22.   And if a man have commit-       22. Quum fuerit in aliquo pec-ted a sin worthy of death, and he be   catum ad judicium mortis, et inter-to be put to death, and thou hang   nciendus fuerit, et suspenderis ilium him on a tree;                                 in ligno :23.  His body shall not remain all       23. Non pernoctabit cadaver ejus night upon the tree, but thou shalt in   in ligno, sed sepeliendo sepelies eo-any wise bury Mm that day; (for he   dem die:   quia maledictio est Dei that is hanged is accursed of God ;)    qui suspenditur, et non contamina-that thy land be not defiled, which   bis terrain tuam quam Jehova Deus the Lord thy God giveth thee for   tuus dat tibi in heereditatem.an inheritance.The object of this precept was to banish inhumanity and barbarism from the chosen people, and also to impress upon them horror even of a just execution. And surely the body of a man suspended on a cross is a sad and hideous spectacle ; for the rights of sepulture are ordained for man, both as a pledge and symbol of the resurrection, and also to spare the eyes of the living, lest they should be defiled by the sight of so horrible a thing. Moses does not here speak generally, but only of those malefactors who are unworthy of the honour of burial; yet the public good is regarded in the burial even of such as these, lest men should grow accustomed to cruelty, and thus become more ready to commit murder. Moreover, that they may take more careful heed in this matter, he declares that the land would be defiled, if the corpse should be left hanging on the cross, since such inhumanity pollutes and disgraces the land. And this was more intolerable in Judea, which God had given as an inheritance to his elect people, that he might be there worshipped reverentially, and purely, every profanation being excluded. The man so hanged is called1 " the curse of 1 See margin, A. V.48                   calvin's harmony of the four   deut. xxv. 1.God," because this kind of punishment is detestable in itself. God, indeed, does not forbid criminals to be crucified, or hanged on a gallows, but rather gives His sanction to this mode of punishment; He only, by His own example, exhorts the Israelites to abhor all atrocity. Although, therefore, He does not disapprove of the punishment, He still says that He abominates those that are hanged on a tree, that the scandal may be immediately removed ; nor does He call them accursed, as if their salvation was to be despaired of, but because the hanging was a mark of His curse. This passage Paul applies to Christ, to teach' us that He was made Kardpa (a curse) for us, that He might deliver us from the curse of the Law. (Gal. iii. 13.) For, since all are guilty of transgression, and thus the whole race of mankind is implicated in the curse, there was no other mode of deliverance, except that Christ should substitute Himself in our place. Nor was God unmindful of His sentence, when He suffered His only-begotten Son to be crucified. Hence it follows that He submitted Himself to our condition, in orderJ that we might receive God's blessing; since He was " made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." (2 Cor. v. 21.)DEUTERONOMY, CHAPTER XXV.1.  If there be a controversy be-        1. Si fuerit lis inter aliquos, et tween men,  and  they come   unto    accesserint ad judicium, et judica-judgment, that the judges may judge   verint eos: justificaverintque justum, them; then they shall justify the   et impium condemnaverint: righteous, and condemn the wicked.2.  And it shall be, if the wicked       2. Si quidem csedendus fuerit im-man be worthy to be beaten, that   pius, tune prosternet eum judex, et the judge shall cause him to lie down,   csedere    jubebit    ilium   coram    se and to be beaten before his face,   secundum iniquitatem ejus ad nu-aecording to his fault, by a certain   merum.number.3.  Forty stripes he may give him,        3. Quadraginta plagis casdere ju-and not exceed: lest, if he should   bebit ilium, non addet: ne forte si exceed, and beat him above these   addat csedere eum ultra plagis mul-with many stripes, then thy brother   tis, vilescat frater   tuus  in  oculis should seem vile unto thee.                tuis.Inasmuch as moderation and humanity are here enjoined, it6th commandment,   last books of the pentatettch.         49is a Supplement of the Sixth Commandment. The sum is, that, if any one is judicially condemned to be beaten with stripes, the chastisement should not be excessive. The question, however, is as to a punishment, which by lawyers is called a moderate correction,1 and which ought to be such, as that the body torn by the whip should not be maimed or disfigured. Since, therefore, God has so far spared the guilty, as to repress even just severity, much more would He have regard paid to innocent blood ; and since He prohibits the judge from using too great rigour, much less will He tolerate the violence of a private individual, if he shall employ it against his brother. But it was necessary that zeal should be thus restrained, because judges, in other respects not unjust, are often as severe against lesser offences (delicta) as against crimes. An equal measure of punishment is not indeed prescribed, as if all were to be beaten alike ; it is only prohibited that the judges should order more than forty stripes in all to be inflicted for an offence. Thus the culprits were beaten deliberately, and not in such an indiscriminate manner as when it was not requisite to count the stripes; besides, they were not so injured for the future as to be deprived of the use of any of their limbs. With the same intent God would have the judges themselves to be present, that by their authority they may prevent any excess : and the reason is added, lest " thy brother should seem vile unto thee," because he had been beaten immoderately. This may be explained in two ways, either, lest his body should be disfigured by the blows, and so he should be rendered unsightly; or, lest, being stained for ever with ignominy and disgrace, he should be discouraged in mind; for we know how grievous and bitter it is to be mocked and insulted. A third sense,2 which some prefer, is too far-fetched, viz., lest he should die like some vile and contemptible beast; for God only provides that the wretched man should be improved by his chastisement, and not that he should grow callous from his infamy. As the Jews were always ostentatious of their zeal in trifling matters, they invented a childish1   " Ce que les jurisconsultes appellent une reprimandemoyenne."ЧFr. * This exposition is attributed to Vatablus in Poole's Synopsis.50               calvin's harmony of the four   detjt. xxiv. 16.precaution, in order that they might more strictly observe this law ; for they were scrupulous in not proceeding to the fortieth stripe, but, by deducting one, they sought after an empty reputation for clemency, as if they were wiser than God Himself, and superior to Him in kindness. Into such folly do men fall, when they dare out of their own heads to invent anything in opposition to God's word! This superstition already prevailed in Paul's time, as we gather from his words, where he reports that " five times he received forty stripes save one."    (2 Cor. xi. 24.)DEUTERONOMY, CHAPTER XXIV.16. The fathers shall not be put        16. Non interficientur patres proto  death for the children, neither   filiis, neque filii  interficientur proshall the children be put to death   patribus :   quisque  in peccato suofor the fathers: every man shall be   morietur. put to death for his own sin.Here also God manifests how great is His regard for human life, so that blood should not be shed indiscriminately, when he forbids that children should be involved in the punishment of their parents. Nor was this Law by any means supererogatory, because on account of one man's crime his whole race was often severely dealt with. It is not without cause, therefore, that God interposes for the protection of the innocent, and does not allow the punishment to travel further than where the crime exists. And surely our natural common sense dictates that it is an act of barbarous madness to put children to death out of hatred to their father. If any should object, what we have already seen, that God avenges "unto the third and fourth generation," the reply is easy, that He is a law unto Himself, and that He does not rush by a blind impulse to the exercise of vengeance, so as to confound the innocent with the reprobate, but that He so visits the iniquity of the fathers upon their children, as to temper extreme severity with the greatest equity. Moreover, He has not so bound Himself by an inflexible rule as not to be free, if it so pleases Him, to depart from the Law; as,6TH COMMANDMENT.      LAST BOOKS OF THE PENTATEUCH.51for example, He commanded the whole race of Canaan to be rooted out, because the land would not be purged except by the extermination of their defilements ; and, since they were all reprobate, the children, no less than their fathers, were doomed to just destruction. Nay, we read that, after Saul's death, his guilt was expiated by the death of his children, (2 Sam. xxi.;) still, by this special exception, the Supreme Lawgiver did not abrogate what He had commanded; but would have His own admirable wisdom acquiesced in, which is the fountain from whence all laws proceed.DEUTERONOMY, CHAPTER XX.10.  When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it.11.  And it shall be, if itmakethee answer of peace, and open unto thee, then it shall be, that all the people that is found therein shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee.12.  And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it:13.  And when the Lord thy God hath delivered it into thine hands, thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword:14. But the women, and the little ones, and the cattle, and all that is in the city, even all the spoil thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself:  and thou shalt'eat the spoil of thine enemies, which the Lord thy God hath given thee.15.  Thus shalt thou do unto all the cities which are very far off from thee, which are not of the cities of these nations.16.  But of the cities of these people, which the Lord thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breath-eth.17. But thou shalt utterly destroy them; namely, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the10.  Quum accesseris ad urbem ut expugnes illam,  clamabis  ad  earn pacem.11.  Et erit, si pacem respondent tibi, et aperuit tibi, universus popu-lus qui fuerit repertus in ea, erunt tibi tributarii, servientque tibi.12.  Si vero  pacem  non  fecerit tecum, sed  faciat tecum prselium, obsederisque earn;13.  Et dederit earn Jehova Deus tuus in manu tua:   tune percuties omnem masculum ejus acie gladii.14.  Tantum mulieres, et parvulos, et animalia, et quicquid  fuerit in urbe, omnia spolia ejus prsedaberis tibi: comedesque spolia inimicorum tuorum,  quos  dederit  tibi Jehova Deus tuus.15.   Sic facies omnibus  urbibus longinquis a te valde, quse non sunt de urbibus gentium istarum.16. Tantum de urbibus populorum istorum quos Jehova Deus tuus dat tibi in hsereditatem, non vivificabis ullam animam :17.    Sed   perdendo   perdes   eos, Hitthseum,    Amorrhseum,    Chana-naeum et Perisseum, Hivseum, et Je-52                      calvin's harmony of the four    deut. xx. 10.Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Je-   busseum,  quemadmodum   prrecepitbusites, as the Lord thy God hath   tibi Jehova Deus tuus: commanded thee:18. That they teach you not to do       18. Ne doceant vos facere secun-after all their abominations, which   dum abominationes suas quas faciuntthey have done unto their gods; so   diis suis:  et peccetis in Jehovamshould ye sin against the Lord your   Deum vestrum. God.10. When thou goest forth to war. He now teaches that, even in lawful wars, cruelty is to be repressed, and bloodshed to be abstained from as much as possible. He therefore commands that, when they shall have come to take a city, they should first of all exhort its inhabitants to obtain peace by capitulating; and if they should do so, to keep them alive, and to be content with imposing a tribute on them. This principle of equity was naturally implanted in all nations; hence heralds took their rise,1 nor did they commence a just war without a solemn proclamation. Besides, inasmuch as the word hostis (an enemy) formerly signified a foreigner (peregrinum,) the Romans mitigated by its mildness the sadness of the reality. On this ground they deemed that faith was to be kept with an enemy ; and that sentiment of Cicero is worthy of praise, " that wars must not be undertaken except that we may live in unmolested peace."But if God would have His people mindful of humanity in the very midst of the din of arms, we may hence infer now greatly displeasing to Him is human bloodshed. Even those whom He has armed with His authority, He would still have disposed to clemency, and He represses their ardour, lest they should stain with blood the swords given them by His per-1 " Feciales."ЧLat. " Les herauts d'armes."ЧFr. " The Romans never carried on any war without solemnly proclaiming it. This was done by a set of priests called Feciales. When the Romans thought themselves injured by any nation, they sent one or more of these Feciales to demand redress, {ad res repetundas,') Liv. iv. 30, xxxviii. 45. Varro, L.L. iv. 15. Dionys. ii. 72; and, if it was not immediately given, thirty-three days were granted to consider the matter, after which war might be justly declared. Then the Feciales again went to their confines, and having thrown a bloody spear into them, formally declared war against that nation, Liv. i. 32."ЧAdam's Rom. Antiq.The references in the two following sentences are to Cicero, de Off. i. 12, and 11, and 13.6th commandment,   last books of the pentatjsuch.         53mission. How, then, shall it be lawful for a private person to assume the sword for the purpose of killing his brother ? We now understand the object of the instructions here given, and how appropriately they are connected with the Sixth Commandment.12. And if he will make no peace. The permission here given seems to confer too great a license; for, since heathen writers1 command even the conquered to be spared, and enjoin that those should be admitted to mercy who lay down their arms, and cast themselves on the good faith of the General, although the battering-ram may have actually made a breach in the wall, how does God, the Father of mercies, give His sanction to indiscriminate bloodshed ? It has already been stated, that more was conceded to the Jews on account of their hardness of heart, than was justly lawful for them. Unquestionably, by the law of charity, even armed men should be spared, if, casting away the sword, they crave for mercy; at any rate it was not lawful to kill any but those who were taken in arms, and sword in hand. This permission, therefore, to slaughter, which is extended to all the males, is far distant from perfections But, although in their ferocity the Jews would have hardly suffered the perfection of equity to be prescribed to them, still God would at least restrain their excessive violence from proceeding to the extremity of cruelty. The question is as to cities taken by force, where it sometimes happens that there is no distinction of sex or age regarded; this inhumanity is here mitigated, since they might not kill either women or children.15. Thus shalt thou do unto all the cities. An exception is introduced, that the Jews should not apply the common laws of war to the Canaanitish nations, with respect to whose extermination the sentence had passed.3 For God had not only armed the Jews to carry on war with them, but had appointed1 " Bt cum iis, quos vi deviceris, consulendum est; turn ii, qui, armis positis, ad imperatorum fidem confugient, quamvis murum aries percus-serit, recipiendi sunt."ЧCie. de Off. i. 11.3 Addition in Fr., "et equite qui doit estre en tous enfans de Dieu;" and from the equity which ought to be in all God's children.' Addition in Fr., " et l'execution commise aux enfans d'Israel;" and its execution committed to the children of Israel.54               calvin's harmony of the four   detjt. xxiii. 15.them to be the ministers and executioners of His vengeance. We have elsewhere explained that there were just causes why He would have their race and memory radically destroyed ; especially since He had borne with them for four hundred years, whilst in their wicked obstinacy they had not ceased to grow worse and worse, from whence their desperate impiety was manifest. What had been said before is here, however, repeated, i.e., that since that land was consecrated to God's service, its inhabitants were to be exterminated, who could do nothing but contaminate it; and therefore this would be profitable for the Israelites, lest by their wiles they should be attracted to false superstitions.DEUTERONOMY, CHAPTER XXIII.15.  Thou shalt not deliver unto       15. Non  trades servum domino his   master   the  servant which  is   suo, qui se ad te eripuerit a domino escaped from his master unto thee :    suo.16.  He shall dwell with thee, even       16. Tecum habitabit in medio tui, among you, in that place which he   in loco quern elegerit in una urbium shall choose in one of thy gates,   tuarum   prout placuerit, nee vim where it liketh him best: thou shalt   inferes ei.not oppress him.Although this Law has a tendency to humanity and kindness, it still does not appear to be altogether just. Since many masters oppressed their slaves with tyrannical arrogance, their wickedness rendered it necessary to afford some alleviation to the poor creatures. Thus slaves were permitted to take refuge in temples, and at Rome at the statues of the Caesars, so that if they proved themselves to have been treated with injustice and inhumanity, they might, when their case was proved, be transferred by sale to merciful masters. This, indeed, was endurable, but the refuge which is here granted to slaves defrauds their masters of their just right; since, without their case being heard, they have liberty given them to reside in the land of Canaan; thus, too, the law of nations is violated, since the land is opened to every fugitive. Besides, since runaway slaves are generally wicked and criminal, whatever place may be their6TH COMMANDMENT.     LAST BOOKS OF THE PENTATEUCH.            55asylum, it will be filled with many sources of infection. I know not whether there is sufficient foundation for the opinion of some who think that the slaves were exempted by privilege from their former servitude,1 in order that they might give themselves up to God's service, and that thus true religion might be propagated. It certainly does not seem consistent that filth and refuse of every sort should be received into the Church, because, in the end, it would have been filled with all kinds of corruptions; and besides, it was by no means decorous that whatever crime had been elsewhere committed should be sheltered under God's name. For, suppose a thief, or an adulterer, or a murderer, should leave his master, and seek for an asylum in the Holy Land, what else would it have been to receive and protect such guests, but to overthrow law and justice, and to set up a state of foul barbarism ? I think, therefore, that more is to be understood than the words express, viz., that, if it should be found that the slaves had not fled in consequence of their own evil doings, but on account of the excessive cruelty of their masters, the people should not drive them away, which would have been tantamount to giving them up to butchery. And, in fact, it may be inferred that judicial proceedings were to be instituted, because a choice is given as to the city in which they prefer to dwell.Religion, indeed, stood them in some stead, because those who sought a place and home in the land of Canaan, were obliged to dedicate themselves to God, and to be initiated in His worship; still, God would never have allowed His name to be profaned by the reception of wicked persons without discrimination. Wherefore, as I briefly stated before, God inculcates humanity upon His people, lest, by the extradition of fugitive slaves, they should be accessary to the cruelty of others; because their masters would have been their executioners; and, since He forbids the people from ill-treating them, He implies, by these words, that He only1 л The Chaldee addeth, a servant of the peoples, i.e., of the Gentiles, who for the religion of God cotneth from his master to the Church of Israel. This servant that fleeth to the land (of Israel) he is a righteous stranger, (that is, a proselyte come unto the faith and covenant of God,) saith Maimony."ЧAinsworth in loco.56                       CALVIN'S HARMONY OF THE FOUR     DETJT. XXII. 6.so far provides for the safety of these wretched beings, as to allow them to defend their innocence in a court of justice; wherefore I have thought fit to place this law amongst the Supplements of the Sixth Commandment.DEUTERONOMY, CHAPTER XXII.6.  If a bird's nest chance to be       6.  Quum occurrerit   tibi   nidus before thee in the way in any tree,   avium in via in quavis arbore, aut or on the ground, whether they be   super terrain ubi pulli vel ova, et young ones or eggs, and the dam    mater cubet super pullos aut super sitting upon the young, or upon the   ova:   non   accipies   matrem   cum eggs, thou shalt not take the dam   filiis:with the young:7. But thou shalt in any wise let the       7. Sed dimittendo dimittes madam go, and take the young to thee;   trem, pullos  autem capies tibi, ut that it may be well with thee, and   bene sit tibi et producas dies.that thou mayest prolong thy days.Since by this precept God instructed His people in the law of kindness, it is a Supplement to the Sixth Commandment. Regard was had, indeed, to the preservation of the breed ; but, besides, when birds are sitting, as being very lean, it is certain that they are not wholesome food; still there is no question but that it was God's intention to accustom His people to study humanity. For, if there be one drop of compassion in us, it will never enter into our minds to kill an unhappy little bird, which so burns either with the desire of offspring, or with love towards its little ones, as to be heedless of its life, and to prefer endangering itself to the desertion of its eggs, or its brood. Wherefore, it is not to be doubted but that, in this elementary lesson, God prohibited His people from savageness and cruelty.EXODUS, CHAPTER XXIII.5. If thou  see the ass of him       6. Si videris asinum inimici tuithat hateth thee lying under his   decumbentem sub onere suo, et ces-burden, and wouldest forbear to help   saveris ab auxiliando ei, auxiliandohim; thou shalt surely help with   auxiliaberis cum eo. him.Deut. xxii.   4.  Thou shalt not       4. Non videbis asinum fratris tuisee thy brother's ass or his ox fall   aut boves ejus jacentes in via, et ab-down by the way, and hide thyself   scondes te ab eis: erigendo erigesfrom them; thou shalt surely help   cum eo. him to lift them up again.6THCOMMANDMENT.     LAST BOOKS OF THE PENTATEUCH.             57By this law also, God exhorts His people to exercise the duties of humanity towards brute animals, in order that they may be the more disposed, to assist their brethren; for we must bear in memory what Paul teaches, where God commands oxen to be kindly treated, viz., that He does not care so much for them in this, as for mankind. (1 Cor. ix. 9.) God prescribes elsewhere, that if any should see the ox or ass of his brother, or even of his enemy, going astray, lie should catch it, and restore it to its master, (Deut. xxii. ]-3, and Exod. xxiii. 4 ;) but here He had another intention, i.e., that believers should testify their forgiveness of their enemies, by being merciful to their animals. If it had been simply said, that our enemies were to be helped, and that we must contend with them by acts of kindness, to overcome their ill-will