1Jestliže si muž vezme ženu, bude jejím manželem, ale pak se stane, že nenalezne milost v jeho očích, protože u ní našel nějakou hanebnost, napíše jí rozlukový lístek, dá jí ho a propustí ji ze svého domu. 2Odejde z jeho domu, půjde a bude patřit jinému muži. 3Když ji ten poslední muž začne nenávidět, napíše jí rozlukový lístek, dá jí ho a propustí ji ze svého domu, anebo jestliže ten poslední muž, který si ji vzal za ženu, zemře, 4její první manžel, který ji propustil, si ji nesmí znovu vzít, aby byla jeho ženou, poté, co byla poskvrněna. Byla by to ohavnost před Hospodinem. Neuvaluj hřích na zemi, kterou ti Hospodin, tvůj Bůh, dává do dědictví. 5Jestliže se muž nově ožení, ať netáhne s armádou a není mu vůbec nic uloženo. Na jeden rok ať je volný pro svůj dům a dělá radost své ženě, kterou si vzal. 6Nikdo ať nebere do zástavy ruční mlýnek ani vrchní mlýnský kámen, neboť by vzal do zástavy život. 7Jestliže bude někdo dopaden, že ukradl někoho ze svých bratří, ze synů Izraele, krutě s ním zacházel nebo ho prodal, takový zloděj ať zemře. Tak vyhlaď zlo ze svého středu. 8Při ráně malomocenství se měj na pozoru, abys pečlivě zachovával a plnil všechno, co vás budou lévijští kněží učit. Jak jsem jim přikázal, tak to zachovávejte a plňte. 9Pamatuj na to, co Hospodin, tvůj Bůh, učinil Mirjamě po cestě, když jste vyšli z Egypta. 10Když půjčuješ svému bližnímu na dluh, nevcházej do jeho domu, abys vzal zástavu. 11Stůj venku a muž, kterému půjčuješ, ať ti přinese zástavu ven. 12Ale jestliže je to chudý člověk, nechoď spát s jeho zástavou. 13Jistě mu zástavu po západu slunce vrať, aby ulehl ve svém plášti a žehnal ti. A tobě to bude před Hospodinem, tvým Bohem, počteno za spravedlnost. 14Neutlačuj najatého dělníka, chudého a nuzného ze svých bratří ani příchozího, který je ve tvé zemi, ve tvých branách. 15V týž den mu dej jeho mzdu, ať nad ní nezapadne slunce, protože je chudý a pozvedá k ní svou duši. Ať nevolá proti tobě k Hospodinu a nedopadne na tebe trest za hřích. 16Ať nejsou usmrceni otcové za syny a synové ať nejsou usmrceni za otce. Každý ať je usmrcen za svůj hřích. 17Nepřevracej právo příchozího a sirotka, neber do zástavy oděv vdovy. 18Pamatuj, že jsi byl otrokem v Egyptě a Hospodin, tvůj Bůh, tě odtamtud vykoupil. Proto ti přikazuji, abys toto plnil. 19Když budeš sklízet svou žeň na poli a zapomeneš na poli snop, nevracej se, abys ho vzal. Bude patřit příchozímu, sirotkovi a vdově, aby ti Hospodin, tvůj Bůh, požehnal při všem díle tvých rukou. 20Když budeš srážet svou olivu, neprohlížej po sobě větve. To bude patřit příchozímu, sirotkovi a vdově. 21Když budeš sbírat víno ze své vinice, nepaběrkuj po sobě. To bude patřit příchozímu, sirotkovi a vdově. 22Pamatuj, že jsi byl otrokem v egyptské zemi. Proto ti přikazuji, abys plnil toto slovo.
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary 1 This is that permission which the Pharisees erroneously referred to as a precept,
Matt 19:7,
Moses commanded to give a writing of divorcement. It was not so; our Saviour told them that he only suffered it because of the hardness of their hearts, lest, if they had not had liberty to divorce their wives, they should have ruled them with rigour, and it may be, have been the death of them. It is probable that divorces were in use before (they are taken for granted,
Lev 21:14), and Moses thought it needful here to give some rules concerning them. 1. That a man might not divorce his wife unless he
found some uncleanness in her, Deut 24:1. It was not sufficient to say that he did not like her, or that he liked another better, but he must show cause for his dislike; something that made her disagreeable and unpleasant to him, though it might not make her so to another. This uncleanness must mean something less than adultery; for, for that, she was to die; and less than the suspicion of it, for in that case he might give her the waters of jealousy; but it means either a light carriage, or a cross froward disposition, or some loathsome sore or disease; nay, some of the Jewish writers suppose that an offensive breath might be a just ground for divorce. Whatever is meant by it, doubtless it was something considerable; so that their modern doctors erred who allowed divorce for every cause, though ever so trivial,
Matt 19:3. 2. That it must be done, not by word of mouth, for that might be spoken hastily, but by writing, and that put in due form, and solemnly declared, before witnesses, to be his own act and deed, which was a work of time, and left room for consideration, that it might not be done rashly. 3. That the husband must give it into the hand of his wife, and send her away, which some think obliged him to endow her and make provision for her, according to her quality and such as might help to marry her again; and good reason he should do this, since the cause of quarrel was not her fault, but her infelicity. 4. That being divorced it was lawful for her to marry another husband,
Deut 24:2. The divorce had dissolved the bond of marriage as effectually as death could dissolve it; so that she was as free to marry again as if her first husband had been naturally dead. 5. That if her second husband died, or divorced her, then still she might marry a third, but her first husband should never take her again (
Deut 24:3,
Deut 24:4), which he might have done if she had not married another; for by that act of her own she had perfectly renounced him for ever, and, as to him was looked upon as defiled, though not as to another person. The Jewish writers say that this was to prevent a most vile and wicked practice which the Egyptians had of changing wives; or perhaps it was intended to prevent men's rashness in putting away their wives; for the wife that was divorced would be apt, in revenge, to marry another immediately, and perhaps the husband that divorced her, how much soever he though to better himself by another choice, would find the next worse, and something in her more disagreeable, so that he would wish for his first wife again. No (says this law) you shall not have her, you should have kept her when you had her. Note, It is best to be content with such things as we have, since changes made by discontent often prove for the worse. The uneasiness we know is commonly better, though we are apt to think it worse, than that which we do not know. By the strictness of this law God illustrates the riches of his grace in his willingness to be reconciled to his people that had gone a whoring from him.
Jer 3:1,
Thou hast played the harlot with many lovers, yet return again to me. For his thoughts and ways are above ours.
5 Here is, I. Provision made for the preservation and confirmation of love between new-married people,
Deut 24:5. This fitly follows upon the laws concerning divorce, which would be prevented if their affection to each other were well settled at first. If the husband were much abroad from his wife the first year, his love to her would be in danger of cooling, and of being drawn aside to others whom he would meet with abroad; therefore his service to his country in war, embassies, or other public business that would call him from home, shall be dispensed with,
that he may cheer up the wife that he has taken. Note, 1. It is of great consequence that love be kept up between husband and wife, and that every thing be very carefully avoided which might make them strange one to another, especially at first; for in that relation, where there is not the love that should be, there is an inlet ready to abundance of guilt and grief. 2. One of the duties of that relation is to cheer up one another under the cares and crosses that happen, as helpers of each other's joy; for a cheerful heart does good like a medicine.
II. A law against man-stealing,
Deut 24:7. It was not death by the law of Moses to steal cattle or goods; but to steal a child, or a weak and simple man, or one that a man had in his power, and to make merchandize of him, this was a capital crime, and could not be expiated, as other thefts, by restitution - so much is
a man better than a sheep, Matt 12:12. It was a very heinous offence, for, 1. It was robbing the public of one of its members. 2. It was taking away a man's liberty, the liberty of a free-born Israelite, which was next in value to his life. 3. It was driving a man out from the inheritance of the land, to the privileges of which he was entitled, and bidding him go serve other gods, as David complains against Saul,
1Sam 26:19.
III. A memorandum concerning the leprosy,
Deut 24:8,
Deut 24:9. 1. The laws concerning it must be carefully observed. The laws concerning it we had,
Lev 13:14. They are here said to be commanded to the
priests and Levites, and therefore are not repeated in a discourse to the people; but the people are here charged, in case of leprosy, to apply to the priest according to the law, and to abide by his judgment, so far as it agreed with the law and the plain matter of fact. The plague of leprosy being usually a particular mark of God's displeasure for sin, he in whom the signs of it did appear ought not to conceal it, nor cut out the signs of it, nor apply to the physician for relief; but he must go to the priest, and follow his directions. Thus those that feel their consciences under guilt and wrath must not cover it, nor endeavour to shake off their convictions, but by repentance, and prayer, and humble confession, take the appointed way to peace and pardon. 2. The particular case of Miriam, who was smitten with leprosy for quarrelling with Moses, must not be forgotten. It was an explication of the law concerning the leprosy. Remember that, and, (1.) Take heed of sinning after the similitude of her transgression, by despising dominions and speaking evil of dignities, lest you thereby bring upon yourselves the same judgment. (2.) If any of you be smitten with a leprosy, expect not that the law should be dispensed with, nor think it hard to be shut out of the camp and so made a spectacle; there is no remedy: Miriam herself, though a prophetess and the sister of Moses, was not exempted, but was forced to submit to this severe discipline when she was under this divine rebuke. Thus David, Hezekiah, Peter, and other great men, when they had sinned, humbled themselves, and took to themselves shame and grief; let us not expect to be reconciled upon easier terms.
IV. Some necessary orders given about pledges for the security of money lent. They are not forbidden to take such securities as would save the lender from loss, and oblige the borrower to be honest; but, 1. They must not take the millstone for a pledge (
Deut 24:6), for with that they ground the corn that was to be bread for their families, or, if it were a public mill, with it the miller got his livelihood; and so it forbids the taking of any thing for a pledge by the want of which a man was in danger of being undone. Consonant to this is the ancient common law of England, which provides that no man be distrained of the utensils or instruments of his trade or profession, as the axe of a carpenter, or the books of a scholar, or beasts belonging to the plough, as long as there are other beasts of which distress may be made (
Coke, 1 Inst. fol. 47). This teaches us to consult the comfort and subsistence of others as much as our own advantage. That creditor who cares not though his debtor and his family starve, nor is at all concerned what become of them, so he may but get his money or secure it, goes contrary, not only to the law of Christ, but even to the law of Moses too. 2. They must not go into the borrower's house to fetch the pledge, but must stand without, and he must bring it,
Deut 24:10,
Deut 24:11.
The borrower (says Solomon)
is servant to the lender; therefore lest the lender should abuse the advantage he has against him, and improve it for his own interest, it is provided that he shall take not what he pleases, but what the borrower can best spare. A man's house is his castle, even the poor man's house is so, and is here taken under the protection of the law. 3. That a poor man's bed-clothes should never be taken for a pledge,
Deut 24:12,
Deut 24:13. This we had before,
Exod 22:26,
Exod 22:27. If they were taken in the morning, they must be brought back again at night, which is in effect to say that they must not be taken at all. Let the poor debtor sleep in his own raiment, and bless thee, that is, pray for thee, and praise God for thy kindness to him. Note, Poor debtors ought to be sensible (more sensible than commonly they are) of the goodness of those creditors that do not take all the advantage of the law against them, and to repay their kindnesses by their prayers for them, when they are not in a capacity to repay it in any other way. Nay, thou shalt not only have the prayers and good wishes of thy poor brother, but
it shall be righteousness to thee before the Lord thy God, that is, It shall be accepted and rewarded as an act of mercy to thy brother and obedience to thy God, and an evidence of thy sincere conformity to the law. Though it may be looked upon by men as an act of weakness to deliver up the securities thou hast for thy debt, yet it shall be looked upon by thy God as an act of goodness, which shall in no wise lose its reward.
14 Here, I. Masters are commanded to be just to their poor servants,
Deut 24:14,
Deut 24:15. 1. They must not oppress them, by overloading them with work, by giving them undue and unreasonable rebukes, or by withholding from them proper maintenance. A servant, though a stranger to the commonwealth of Israel, must not be abused: For
thou wast a bondman in the land where thou wast a stranger (
Deut 24:18), and thou knowest what a grievous thing it is to be oppressed by a task-master, and therefore, in tenderness to those that are servants and strangers, and in gratitude to that God who set thee at liberty and settled thee in a country of thy own,
thou shalt not oppress a servant. Let not masters be tyrants to their servants, for their Master is in heaven. See
Job 31:13. 2. They must be faithful and punctual in paying them their wages:
At his day thou shalt give him his hire, not only pay it in time, without further delay. As soon as he had done his day's work, if he desire it, let him have his day's wages, as those labourers (
Matt 20:8)
when evening had come. he that works by day-wages is supposed to live from hand to mouth, and cannot have tomorrow's bread for his family till be is paid for this day's labour. If the wages be withheld, (1.) It will be grief to the servant, for, poor man, he
sets his heart upon it,. or, as the word is, he
lifts up his soul to it, he is earnestly desirous of it, as the reward of his work (
Job 7:2), and depends upon it as the gift of God's providence for the maintenance of his family. A compassionate master, though it should be somewhat inconvenient to himself, would not disappoint the expectation of a poor servant that was so fond to think of receiving his wages. But that is not the worst. (2.) It will be guilt to the master. The injured servant will cry against thee to the Lord; since he has no one else to appeal to, he will lodge his appeal in the court of heaven, and it will be sin to thee. Or, if he do not complain, the cause will speak for itself, the
hire of the labourers which is kept back by fraud will itself
cry, James 5:4. It is a greater sin than most people think it is, and will be found so in the great day, to put hardships upon poor servants, labourers, and workmen, that we employ. God will do them right if men do not.
II. Magistrates and judges are commanded to be just in their administrations. 1. In those which we call
pleas of the crown a standing rule is here given, that
the fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the children for the fathers, Deut 24:16. If the children make themselves obnoxious to the law, let them suffer for it, but let not the parents suffer either for them or with them; it is grief enough to them to see their children suffer: if the parents be guilty, let them die for their own sin; but though God, the sovereign Lord of life, sometimes visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, especially the sin of idolatry, and when he deals with nations in their national capacity, yet he does not allow men to do so. Accordingly, we find Amaziah sparing the children, even when the fathers were put to death for killing the king,
2Kgs 14:6. It was in an extraordinary case, and no doubt by special direction from heaven, that Saul's sons were put to death for his offence, and they died rather as sacrifices than as malefactors,
2Sam 21:9,
2Sam 21:14. 2. In common pleas between party and party, great care must be taken that none whose cause was just should fare the worse for their weakness, nor for their being destitute of friends, as strangers, fatherless, and widows (
Deut 24:17):
Thou shalt not pervert their judgment, nor force them to give their very raiment for a pledge, by defrauding them of their right. Judges must be advocates for those that cannot speak for themselves and have no friends to speak for them.
III. The rich are commanded to be kind and charitable to the poor. Many ways they are ordered to be so by the law of Moses. The particular instance of charity here prescribed is that they should not be greedy in gathering in their corn, and grapes, and olives, so as to be afraid of leaving any behind them, but be willing to overlook some, and let the poor have the gleanings, v. 19-22. 1. Say not, 'It is all my own, and why should not I have it?' But learn a generous contempt of property in small matters. One sheaf or two forgotten will make thee never the poorer at the year's end, and it will do somebody good, if thou have it not. 2. Say not, '
What I give I will give, and know whom I give it to, why should I leave it to be gathered by I know not whom, that will never thank me.' But trust God's providence with the disposal of thy charity, perhaps that will direct it to the most necessitous. Or, Thou mayest reasonably think it will come to the hands of the most industrious, that are forward to seek and gather that which this law provides for them. 3. Say not, 'What should the poor do with grapes and olives? It is enough for them to have bread and water;' for, since they have the same senses that the rich have, why should not they have some little share of the delights of sense? Boaz ordered handfuls of corn to be left on purpose for Ruth, and God blessed him. All that is left is not lost.
