master shall bore his ear through on the door-post with an awl, and he shall serve him for ever, Exod. xxi. 2-6. and ver. 26, 27.

Note, This word, for ever, signifies till the year of jubilee; for all servants or slaves who were Hebrews were then to have their freedom, and to return to their own lands and possessions in their own tribe. See Lev. xxv. 39-42. And this is the best way of reconciling Exod. xxi. with Lev. xxv. where one text saith, "the servant shall go out free in the seventh year," and another "in the year of jubilee," and the third saith," he shall serve for ever." 8 Q. What special laws had they relating to their food?

A. That they should eat no blood, nor the fat of the kidneys, nor any thing that died of itself, or was torn by wild beasts, nor any of the beasts, or birds, or fishes, which were pronounced to be unclean, Lev. xi. and xvii. Deut. xiv. 21. And therefore they would not eat with heathens, lest they should taste unclean food.

9 Q. What were some of the laws relating to their clothing?

A. A man must not wear the raiment of women, nor a woman the raiment of men: they must wear no mixed garment made of woollen and linen; and they were required to make fringes in the borders of their garments, and put upon the fringe of the borders a ribbon of blue, that they might look upon it, and remember to do the commandments of the Lord, Numb. xv. 38, 39. Deut xxii. 5, 11, 12.

Note, In our Saviour's time they wrote sentences of the law on parchment, and put them on their foreheads and their garments: these were called phylacteries, Matt. xxiii. 5.

10 Q. What are some of their special laws about houses and lands?

A. That every seventh year the land should rest from ploughing and sowing; and God promised to give them food enough in the sixth for the three

years. And every fiftieth year, which is the year of jubilee, all houses and lands that were sold should return to their former possessors, except houses in walled towns, Lev. xxv. 2-17, 20, 21, 30, &c.

Note, Every seventh year, in which the fields were not to be tilled, was called a sabbath or sabbatical year; and after seven sabbatical years, that is, forty-nine years, was the year of jubilee in the fiftieth. Though some have supposed the jubilee to be the forty-ninth year itself, so that two sabbatical years might not come together; for in the jubilee it is plain, there was to be no ploughing, nor sowing, nor reaping, nor vintage, Lev. XXV. 11.

11 Q. What were some special Jewish laws about corn and husbandry?

A. They were forbid to plough with an ox and an ass together; to sow their fields with seeds of different kinds; or to make clean riddance of their harvests, either of the fields or of the trees, for the gleanings were to be left for the poor, Deut. xxii. 9-11. Lev. xix. 9, 10, 19. And any travellers might eat their fill of grapes or corn in a field or vineyard, but might carry none away, Deut. xxiii. 24, 25.

12 Q. What were some of their peculiar laws about money, goods, and cattle?

A. They might lend money upon usury to a stranger, but not to an Israelite. A thief should restore double for whatsoever thing he had stolen; but if he stole cattle, and killed or sold them, he must pay five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep, Deut. xxiii. 19, 20. Exod. xxii. 1-9. But if he had nothing to pay, the thief should be sold for his theft, ver. 3.

13 Q. What special laws related to beasts and birds? A. They were forbid to muzzle the mouth of an ox that trod out the corn, that so he might eat some while he was treading it: nor when they took a bird's nest in the field with eggs or young ones, were they permitted to take the dam with them, Deut. xxv. 4. and xxii. 6, 7.

14 Q. What laws were given them about the firstborn?

A. The first-born of man and beasts were devoted or given to God, as well as the first-fruits of the trees and of the field, Exod. xxii. 29, 30. Numb. xviii. 12, 13.

Note, The first-born of men were redeemed by the Levites ; the first-born of beasts were to be sacrificed, or some way put to death, if not redeemed, Exod. xiii. 2, 12, 13, 15. Numb. iii. 41.

15 Q. What were the laws about the maintenance of the priests.

A. The priests were to be maintained by the firstborn of all cattle, and the first-fruits of oil, and wine, and corn, and they had a share in various sacrifices, namely, the heave-offerings, the wave-breast, and the right shoulder, &c. Numb. xviii. 8—19.

Note, Heave-offerings were to be moved upwards and downwards, towards heaven and earth. Wave-offerings were to be shaken to and fro, or moved towards the four

quarters of the heaven. All this is supposed to signify an offering of them to God, as universal Lord of all parts of the creation, and who dwells every where.

16 Q. What were the laws about the Levites' maintenance?

A. They were maintained by the tenth or tithe of fruits and corn, which God appointed for them, Numb. xviii. 21, 24. And they had some cities, and their suburbs, given them out of every tribe, Josh. xxi. 17 Q. What were some of their special laws about the bodies and the lives of men?

A. He that killed, or stole and sold, a man, must die for it, Exod. xxi. 12, 16. And in all cases of real injury or mischief, life was to pay for life, an eye for an eye, a hand for a hand, or a foot for a foot, Lev. xxiv. 17-20. And this was the penalty of a false witness, who intended to bring any mischief whatsoever on another, Deut. xix. 18, &c.; for the same was to be executed on the false witness.

18 Q. Was there no pardon for him that killed another?

A. If he did it wilfully, there was no pardon: but if it was done by chance, there were six cities of refuge in the land of Canaan appointed, to which the manslayer might fly and be safe. But he was bound to dwell there till the death of the high priest, Numb. xxxv. 11-33.

19 Q. Was the law the same for the servant or slave, and for the freeman, in case of maiming and of murder?

A. Not entirely the same; for in some cases of maiming or killing a slave, the offender was not punished to the same degree as if the injured person had been a freeman, Exod. xxi. 20, 26.

20 Q. What were some of the usual punishments of criminals appointed in the Jewish law?

A. A fine of money or cattle to be paid, a cutting off from the people or congregation, scourging or beating, at most with forty stripes, the loss of a limb, or the loss of life, Exod. xxi. 19, 22, 36. Lev. xix. 20, xxiv. 17-20.

21 Q. What is the meaning of being "cut off from the people," or the "congregation?"

A. In some greater crime, such as presumptuous rebellion against the laws of God, wilful sabbathbreaking, &c. it may signify capital punishment or death by the hands of the magistrate, Numb. xv. 30, 31. Exod. xxxi. 14. In some cases it may intend a being devoted to some judgment by the immediate hand of God, Lev. xvii. 10. and xx. 5, 6. But in some lesser crimes, perhaps, it may signify no more than to be excommunicated, or shut out of the congregation of Israel, and the privileges thereof; as for eating leavened bread at the time of the passover, Exod. xii. 15, or for a man's going unto the holy things with his uncleanness upon him, Lev. xxii. 3, where it is expressed, that "that soul shall be cut off from the presence of God." But this question hath

some difficulties in it, and learned men differ about the sense of these words, being cut off.

22 Q. If the Jews were permitted to give forty stripes, how came Paul five times to receive but forty stripes, save one, from the Jews, who so much hated him? 2 Cor. xi. 24.

A. Because they pretended to be very scrupulous in observing the law exactly, and therefore they never inflicted more than thirty-nine stripes, lest they should happen to mistake in the tale while they were iuflicting forty, and thus transgress the law.

23 Q. What were their most common ways of putting criminals to death?

A. By hanging them on a tree, or by stoning them with stones, Numb. xxv. 4. Deut. xxi. 23. xiii. 9, 10. Numb. xv. 35.

24 Q. How many witnesses were necessary to condemn a criminal to death?

A. At the mouth of two or three witnesses shall he that is worthy of death be put to death, but not at the mouth of one witness, Deut. xvii. 6, 7.

25 Q. What was the design of God in giving them so many peculiar laws about their civil or political affairs?

A. (1.) To let them know that God was their King as well as their God, and to keep them distinct and separate from the rest of the nations, as his own people and kingdom.

(2.) Many of these laws were in themselves excellently suited to the advantage of that people, dwelling in that country, and under those circumstances.

(3.) Some of these laws had a moral or spiritual meaning in them, which might partly be known at that time, and which was further discovered afterwards.

26 Q. What instances can you give of moral lessons taught by these political laws?

22

A. "Thou shalt not take the dam with the young,' Deut. xxii. 6, 7, is to teach men mildness and compassion. "Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treads