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Deuteronomy Chapter
Nineteen
Deuteronomy 19
Chapter Contents
The cities of refuge, The man-slayer, The murderer.
(1-13) Landmarks not to be removed. (14) The punishment of false witnesses.
(15-21)
Commentary on Deuteronomy 19:1-13
(Read Deuteronomy 19:1-13)
Here is the law settled between the blood of the
murdered, and the blood of the murderer; provision is made, that the cities of
refuge should be a protection, so that a man should not die for that as a
crime, which was not his willing act. In Christ, the Lord our Righteousness,
refuge is provided for those who by faith flee unto him. But there is no refuge
in Jesus Christ for presumptuous sinners, who go on still in their trespasses.
Those who flee to Christ from their sins, shall be safe in him, but not those
who expect to be sheltered by him in their sins.
Commentary on Deuteronomy 19:14
(Read Deuteronomy 19:14)
Direction is given to fix landmarks in Canaan. It is the
will of God that every one should know his own; and that means should be used
to hinder the doing and suffering of wrong. This, without doubt, is a moral
precept, and still binding. Let every man be content with his own lot, and be
just to his neighbours in all things.
Commentary on Deuteronomy 19:15-21
(Read Deuteronomy 19:15-21)
Sentence should never be passed upon the testimony of one
witness alone. A false witness should suffer the same punishment which he
sought to have inflicted upon the person he accused. Nor could any law be more
just. Let all Christians not only be cautious in bearing witness in public, but
be careful not to join in private slanders; and let all whose consciences
accuse them of crime, without delay flee for refuge to the hope set before them
in Jesus Christ.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Deuteronomy》
Deuteronomy 19
Verse 2
[2] Thou shalt separate three cities for thee in the midst
of thy land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it.
In the midst of the land — Namely, beyond
Jordan, as there were three already appointed on this side Jordan: In the midst
of the several parts of their land, to which they might speedily flee from all
the parts of the land.
Verse 3
[3] Thou shalt prepare thee a way, and divide the coasts of
thy land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee to inherit, into three parts, that
every slayer may flee thither.
Prepare thee a way — Distinguish it by
evident marks, and make it plain and convenient, to prevent mistakes and
delays.
Verse 8
[8] And if the LORD thy God enlarge thy coast, as he hath
sworn unto thy fathers, and give thee all the land which he promised to give
unto thy fathers;
Enlarge thy coast — As far as Euphrates.
Verse 9
[9] If thou shalt keep all these commandments to do them,
which I command thee this day, to love the LORD thy God, and to walk ever in
his ways; then shalt thou add three cities more for thee, beside these three:
If thou shalt keep all these commandments — But the Jewish
writers themselves own, that the condition not being performed, the promise of
enlarging their coast was not fulfilled, so that there was no need for three
more cities of refuge. Yet the holy, blessed God, say they, did not command it
in vain, for in the day's of Messiah the Prince, they shall be added. They
expect it in the letter: but we know, it has in Christ its spiritual
accomplishment. For the borders of the Gospel - Israel are inlarged according
to the promise: and in the Lord our righteousness, refuge is provided for all
that by faith fly to him.
Verse 15
[15] One witness shall not rise up against a man for any
iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two
witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.
Rise — Or be established, accepted, owned as sufficient: it
is the same word which in the end of the verse is rendered, be established.
Verse 16
[16] If a false witness rise up against any man to testify
against him that which is wrong;
A safe witness — A single witness, though he speak
truth, is not to be accepted for the condemnation of another man, but if he be
convicted of false witness, this is sufficient for his own condemnation.
Verse 21
[21] And thine eye shall not pity; but life shall go for
life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
Eye for eye — What punishment the law allotted
to the accused, if he had been convicted, the same shall the false accuser
bear.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Deuteronomy》
19 Chapter 19
Verses 1-13
That every slayer may flee thither.
Cities of refuge
I. There are many,
besides the murderer of Uriah, who have need to cry with him, “deliver me from
blood guiltiness, O God.”
1. And, first, since a preacher must address his own conscience, as
well as those of the hearers, I cannot forget the fearful applicability which
this charge of blood guiltiness may have to Christian ministers. If ministers
neglect to warn the wicked, if they keep back from the people any part of the
counsel of God, either doctrinal or practical, and do not declare it; if they
omit in their teaching either “repentance towards God,” which is the beginning
of the Gospel, or “faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ,” which is the body and
substance of it--blood lieth at their door, the angel of Divine vengeance is
abroad in pursuit of them: blood for blood, life for life, this is His legal
requirement; His eye shall not pity, neither shall it spare; the manslayer’s
life--not the life of his body, but the life of the soul--is justly forfeit,
unless, indeed, there be, under the economy of grace, some spiritual city of
refuge appointed for him, into which he may flee and be safe.
2. Consider, then, I pray you, that subtle, undefinable thing,
conveyed in a single remark, or in a single glance, or even sometimes in a
single gesture, called influence. Consider how it propagates itself, and runs
along like beacon fires--how alarmingly contagious and infectious its nature
is.
3. But the influence which all people professing religion exercise on
society at large, and claim to exercise, is too important to go without some
remark.
II. The sinner’s
spiritual refuge, I need not tell you, is Jesus Christ, who represents also the
merciful elders and the anointed high priest; and the road by which we flee to
Christ spiritually is the road of faith.
1. First, he must fly to Christ, as if for his life, as a man flies
from a falling house or a beleaguered town--as righteous Lot was directed to
flee from the cities of the plain.
2. As impediments were removed out of the manslayer’s way, and the
road was made as easy and obvious to him as possible, so it is a very simple
thing to believe in Christ, and thus to flee to our spiritual City of
Refuge--so much so, that its extreme simplicity sometimes puzzles us, and makes
us look with distrust upon faith, as if so very obvious a thing could not be
the appointed way of coming to God.
3. When the merciful Elder, Jesus Christ, comes to the gate of the
city of refuge, what have we to plead with Him? We have nothing to plead but
our own sin and misery, and the Divine covenant which was ratified by His
blood--the Divine assurance that He is able to save to the uttermost those who
come unto God by Him. We must insist upon our right to receive a “strong
consolation” for our troubled conscience, even because we have in God’s
appointed way “Cried for a refuge to lay hold on the hope set before us” in
Him. And surely the merciful Elder will receive and comfort us, and give us a
place that we may dwell with Him.
4. Again, the manslayer was to abide in the city of his refuge--and
so must we abide in ours, if we would be safe. The justice of God may arrest us
the moment we are out of Christ.
III. Such, then, are
some of the points of analogy between the Jewish city of refuge and its New
Testament Antitype. There are two points of glorious contrast.
1. The city of refuge was permanently available only to such
manslayers as had acted without any evil intent. Not so our City of Refuge!
Christ is able to save to the uttermost.
2. The manslayer was to remain in the city until the high priest
died. But our High Priest never dies. “He ever liveth to make intercession for
us.”
IV. Do we wish to
know whether we are abiding in this City of Refuge, under the wing of the
merciful Elder, under the auspices of the Great High Priest? There is only one
safe test of this, and it is very easily applied. “He that saith he abideth in
Him ought himself also so to walk even as He walked”; and again, “Whosoever
abideth in Him, sinneth not”; and again, “He that keepeth His commandments
dwelleth in Him.” As the evidence of our being in Christ at all is our bearing
fruit, so the evidence of our abiding in Him is our bearing much fruit; “He
that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit.” And the
fruit is this: “love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
meekness, temperance, against which there is no law.” (Dean Goulburn.)
Deliver him into the hand
of the avenger.
No refuge for a man hater
The universe was not constituted to give security to murderers:
there is no shelter for a man hater. He may get into a city of refuge, but he
is to be dragged out of it: the evil-doer may make a profession of religion,
but his cloak, though of velvet and gold braided, must be torn from his
shoulders. The universe has no lodgment for the man of malicious heart and
murderous spirit; the city of refuge in Israel was not built for him; he has no
right in it; to pity him is to despise the law; to pity the murderer is to
forget the murdered. The eyes of justice are fixed upon both points in the
case. It is an evil sentiment that spares the wrong-doer and forgets the
wrong-endurer, the sufferer of wrong. There is one place appointed for the
murderer. Who is the murderer? Not the shedder of blood:--whoso hateth his
brother without a cause is a murderer. This is the great law, not of Israel
only, but of the Church of Christ in all ages. Beware of malice! It does not
always begin in its broadest form, or leap at once in all its intensity into
human action: it begins in little frets and spites and jealousies; it starts
out of a root of criticism, of fault finding, and investigations into
consistency; it may begin as a clever action, showing the spirit of judgment,
and proving itself to be equal to the analysis of the most hidden motive; but
it grows; disappointed, it begins to justify itself; foiled in its attempts to
succeed, it retires that it may increase the supposed evidence that is at
command; then it returns to the onslaught; it grows by what it feeds on; at
last, philanthropy--love of man--dies, and misanthropy--hatred of man--takes its
place. Then is the soul a murderer; and, thank God, there is no city of refuge
for the murderer of life, of hope, of love, of trust!--open the door and thrust
ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness!--the sun will not spare a beam
to bless the murderer. Christ is not a refuge in the sense of a criminal being
able to outrun justice. The picture in Israel was the picture of a man fleeing
for refuge and an avenger fleeing after him; and if the avenger were swifter of
foot, the man slayer might be killed outside the city. There is no such picture
in Christianity. In Christ we do not outrun justice: justice itself, by a
mystery we can neither understand nor explain, has been satisfied by Christ. (J.
Parker, D. D.)
Verse 14
Thou shalt not remove thy neighbour’s landmark.
Ancient landmarks removed
Stones indicating boundaries might easily be removed. Ditches
could be secretly levelled. This would materially affect property, and be a
great evil in land where territory was distributed by lot. Removal would be--
I. To disregard
ancient custom. “They of old have set,” with care and justice. “Custom is held
as law.” Fixed law and fixed boundaries should he respected. But many scorn
ancient landmarks as relics of bygone days. Impatient of restraint, they seek
wider range of thought and action, indulge in novelties, and cry, Down with
temples, and away with creeds and the Bible!
II. To violate the
law of God. Heathen nations held every landmark as sacred. God, as the
proprietor of all the earth, set bounds for Israel, allotted their lands which
they held in trust, and bound them in terms imposed by His will (Deuteronomy 27:17). Hence removal of
landmarks is violation of His command, and direct insult to His authority.
III. To defraud our
neighbour. Landmarks were witnesses of the rights of each man. Removal was
selfish and unjust invasion of property. To enlarge your own estate at the
expense of your neighbour’s is theft. Each one should know his own, and not
defraud another by concealment, forgery, or robbery. “Thou shalt not defraud
thy neighbour, neither rob him” (Leviticus 19:13; Mark 10:19; 1 Thessalonians 4:6).
IV. To expose to a
dreadful curse. The execration of men is something, but who can bear the curse
of God? The field of the fatherless is under Almighty protection. The poor may
seem helpless, but special warning is given against their oppression. “Remove
not the old landmark, and enter not into the fields of the fatherless” (by acts
of violence or removal of boundaries), “for their Redeemer is mighty to
vindicate outraged innocence” (Proverbs 23:10-11). This in after times
was the great affront of national provocation (Hosea 5:10). (J. Wolfendale.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》