Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 22:18
Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.
18. Magic and divination were practised extensively in the ancient world, as indeed they are still among uncivilised peoples and among the uneducated even in civilised countries: we have particularly abundant information respecting the practice of them in Assyria (see briefly the writer’s Daniel, in the Camb. Bible, p. 13 ff., more fully Jastrow, Relig. of Bab. and Ass. (1898), pp. 352 406). As inconsistent with the spirit the religion of Jehovah, as fostering superstition, and as associated commonly with heathen beliefs, they are condemned repeatedly in the OT.: see Lev 19:31; Lev 20:6; Lev 20:27 (all H), and esp. Deu 18:10-11, locus classicus on the subject, where eight types are enumerated (see the writer’s note ad loc.); and often in the prophets. See further on the subject, with numerous illustrations of the methods of magic practised different parts of the world, O. C. Whitehouse’s articles Magic, Soothsayer, Sorcery, in DB. a sorceress
The law is one which, as the reader need hardly be reminded, has often been wofully misapplied, and led to the committal of great cruelties: witches were often burnt in the middle ages; and they were executed in England as late as 1716. The right feeling that sorcery is debasing and superstitious finds expression in a law which is no doubt not out of harmony with the severe punishments common in the East, even to modern times, and even, we may add, in mediaeval Europe: but the law belongs to the older dispensation, and does not breathe the spirit of Christ (Luk 9:55). The rise of a historical sense, and the recognition that the revelation contained in the OT. was progressive and that the laws given to Israel are not, simply as such, binding upon Christian nations, have taught men that an injunction such as this can have no place in a Christian law-book.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live – See the marginal references. and Lev 20:27. The witch is here named to represent the class. This is the earliest denunciation of witchcraft in the law. In every form of witchcraft there is an appeal to a power not acting in subordination to the divine law. From all such notions and tendencies true worship is designed to deliver us. The practice of witchcraft was therefore an act of rebellion against Yahweh, and, as such, was a capital crime. The passages bearing on the subject in the Prophets, as well as those in the law, carry a lesson for all ages. Isa 8:19; Isa 19:3; Isa 44:25; Isa 47:12-13; Mic 5:12, etc.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Exo 22:18
Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.
Spiritualism-modern witchcraft
The Bible regards witchcraft–
1. As a stern and diabolical reality (Lev 20:27; Deu 18:9).
2. As unlawful trafficking with the unseen world (Lev 19:31; Isa 8:19, For the living to the dead, i.e., on behalf the living to the dead).
3. As sometimes trickery and imposture (Isa 8:19), that peep and mutter (probably ventriloquise. See art. Pythoness, Smiths Dic. Bible).
4. As filthy defilement (Lev 19:31).
5. As deserving death (Lev 20:6. cf. text).
6. As one of the crimes for which the Canaanites were destroyed.
7. As inconsistent with a trust in God (Isa 8:19).
8. As frustrated by God (Isa 44:25).
9. As a power from which the godly have nothing to fear, for there is no solitary prayer in the whole Bible to be protected from its enchantments, and no thanksgiving for deliverance from them. In this country we only meet with it now in the form of spiritualism, and as such–
I. It is dangerous.
1. Because it destroys all faith in the person and providence of God, and hence imperils the hopes, aspirations, and safety of the soul.
2. Because it tends to debase mans moral standards, and to obliterate the fact of sin.
3. Because its direct aim is to subvert Christianity, and to abolish the Word of God.
4. Because it comes before the imagination and the affections with plausible appeals.
II. It shuns the light.
1. Its performances, like the old witchcraft, take place in the dark, and under circumstances the force of which requires the exertions of the strongest will. On the contrary, the grand facts of both Old and New Testaments were not done in a corner, but in the light of day.
2. It is chary of the open exhibition of its credentials to the critic and the unbeliever; this privilege is reserved for those who first believe in the magician and in his powers. The miracles and other credentials of the Bible–court scrutiny–were mainly for the conviction of those who disbelieved.
3. And why does it shun the light? For the old reason (Joh 3:19-21).
III. It is unlawful..
1. Because expressly forbidden in the Word of God. Christ and His apostles meet the spirits not in darkened cabinets but with open exorcism.
2. Because of its avowed mission to pry into and traffic with the unrevealed matters of the spirit-world. God has emphatically set His face against this (Deu 29:29).
3. Because it is another gospel (Gal 1:8).
IV. It is partly gross imposture.
1. Spiritual realities are solemn and imposing, and worthy in every way of the high source from which they emanate. When God communicated to the prophets and apostles we do not hear that it was on dancing tables, illegible inscriptions on slates, or through books made luminous by phosphoric oil. We do not hear of angels or spirits, whether in Old Testament or New, pulling mens hair, scattering sweetmeats, rapping on walls, hurling bed pillows, appearing in regimentals, or handling hot coals.
2. Spiritual realities in the Bible were never discovered to be small tricks.
3. Spiritual realities in the Bible have never been explained by natural phenomena as have much of the legerdemain of modem magic.
V. It is uniformly useless.
1. For harm (Isa 8:19), when there is a firm trust in God.
2. For good (Luk 16:27-31), when there is no such trust. (J. W. Burn.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 18. Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.] If there had been no witches, such a law as this had never been made. The existence of the law, given under the direction of the Spirit of God, proves the existence of the thing. It has been doubted whether mecash-shephah, which we translate witch, really means a person who practised divination or sorcery by spiritual or infernal agency. Whether the persons thus denominated only pretended to have an art which had no existence, or whether they really possessed the power commonly attributed to them, are questions which it would be improper to discuss at length in a work of this kind; but that witches, wizards, those who dealt with familiar spirits, c., are represented in the sacred writings as actually possessing a power to evoke the dead, to perform, supernatural operations, and to discover hidden or secret things by spells, charms, incantations, c., is evident to every unprejudiced reader of the Bible. Of Manasseh it is said: He caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times [, veonen, he used divination by clouds] and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, [ vechishsheph,] and dealt with a familiar spirit, [ veasah ob, performed a variety of operations by means of what was afterwards called the , the spirit of Python,] and with wizards, [ yiddeoni, the wise or knowing ones] and he wrought much evil in the sight of the Lord 2Ch 33:6. It is very likely that the Hebrew cashaph, and the Arabic [Arabic] cashafa, had originally the same meaning, to uncover, to remove a veil, to manifest, reveal, make bare or naked; and [Arabic] mecashefat is used to signify commerce with God. See Wilmet and Giggeius. The mecashshephah or witch, therefore, was probably a person who professed to reveal hidden mysteries, by commerce with God, or the invisible world.
From the severity of this law against witches, c., we may see in what light these were viewed by Divine justice. They were seducers of the people from their allegiance to God, on whose judgment alone they should depend and by impiously prying into futurity, assumed an attribute of God, the foretelling of future events, which implied in itself the grossest blasphemy, and tended to corrupt the minds of the people, by leading them away from God and the revelation he had made of himself. Many of the Israelites had, no doubt, learned these curious arts from their long residence with the Egyptians; and so much were the Israelites attached to them, that we find such arts in repute among them, and various practices of this kind prevailed through the whole of the Jewish history, notwithstanding the offence was capital, and in all cases punished with death.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
i.e. Any person that is in league with the devil, and by his help either doth any mischief, or discovers and practices things above the reach of other men or women. Of which see Exo 7:11; Lev 20:27; Deu 18:10; 1Sa 28:9. The word is of the feminine gender, partly because women are most prone to these devilish arts, and most frequently guilty of them; and partly to intimate that no pity should be showed to such offenders, though they were of the weaker sex.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Thou shall not suffer a witch to live. Such that had familiar spirits, and conversed with them, and by means thereof got knowledge of many things relating to persons, at least pretending they did; and who did or seemed to do many strange and surprising feats, as even to raise the spirits of departed persons, to converse with them and gain knowledge by them, though in reality they did not, and could not do such things, but used some juggling tricks to deceive the people, and in which they might be assisted by evil spirits; as appears from the case of the witch of Endor, who was surprised at the appearance of Samuel, it being out of the ordinary course of her art and practice really to bring up the spirit of a man deceased, whatever pretensions might be made to it; however, such being deceivers of the people, and leading them into unwarrantable practices, and off of a dependence on God and his providence, and from seeking to him, and asking counsel of him, they are by this law condemned to death, such an one was not to be suffered to live; not that it was lawful for anybody to kill her, or that any private person might or must do it that knew her, or took her to be a witch; but she was to be had before a court of judicature and tried there, and, if found guilty, to be put to death by the civil magistrate: so Jarchi’s note is,
“but she shall die by the house of judgment;”
or the sanhedrim; for these words are spoken to Moses the chief judge, and to those that were under him, and succeeded him and them; though the Targum of Jonathan prefaces them thus:
“and my people, the children of Israel, thou shalt not, c.”
and though only a witch is mentioned, or this is only expressed in the feminine gender, because a multitude of this sort of people were found among women, as Ben Melech observes, and so Aben Ezra yet wizards, or men that dealt with familiar spirits, are included; and it may be reasonably concluded from hence, that if women, who generally have more mercy and compassion shown them, yet were not suffered to live when found criminal in this way, then much less men: and this law is thought by some to follow upon the other, concerning enticing and lying with a virgin not betrothed; because such sort of persons were made use of to entice and decoy maids to gratify the lusts of men.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The laws which follow, from Exo 22:18 onwards, differ both in form and subject-matter from the determinations of right which we have been studying hitherto: in form, through the omission of the with which the others were almost invariably introduced; in subject-matter, inasmuch as they make demands upon Israel on the ground of its election to be the holy nation of Jehovah, which go beyond the sphere of natural right, not only prohibiting every inversion of the natural order of things, but requiring the manifestation of love to the infirm and needy out of regard to Jehovah. The transition from the former series to the present one is made by the command in Exo 22:18, “ Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live; ” witchcraft being, on the one hand, “the vilest way of injuring a neighbour in his property, or even in his body and life” ( Ranke), whilst, on the other hand, employment of powers of darkness for the purpose of injuring a neighbour was a practical denial of the divine vocation of Israel, as well as of Jehovah the Holy One of Israel. The witch is mentioned instead of the wizard, “not because witchcraft was not to be punished in the case of men, but because the female sex was more addicted to this crime” ( Calovius). (shalt not suffer to live) is chosen instead of the ordinary (shall surely die), which is used in Lev 20:27 of wizards also, not “because the lawgiver intended that the Hebrew witch should be put to death in any case, and the foreigner only if she would not go when she was banished” ( Knobel), but because every Hebrew witch was not to be put to death, but regard was to be had to the fact that witchcraft is often nothing but jugglery, and only those witches were to be put to death who would not give up their witchcraft when it was forbidden. Witchcraft is followed in Exo 22:19 by the unnatural crime of lying with a beast; and this is also threatened with the punishment of death (see Lev 18:23, and Lev 20:15-16).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Verse 18:
Witchcraft was (and is today) a league with Satanic, demon powers who are in rebellion against God. Those who practice witchcraft reject the authority of God and renounce Jesus Christ and His Word. Any dabbling with the occult is a capital crime, in God’s law. This includes wizards, astrologers, spirit mediums, clairvoyants, etc., Le 19:31; De 18:9-14.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
18. Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. In these passages the punishment of those is appointed who should in any respect violate the worship of God. We have lately seen how severely God avenged apostasy from the faith; but now He touches upon certain particular points when religion is not professedly forsaken, but some corruption is introduced, whereby its purity is affected. The first passage denounces capital punishment upon witches; by which name Moses means enchantresses, or sorceresses, who devote themselves to magic arts, either to injure persons by their fascinations, or to seek revelations from the devil; such as she was whom Saul consulted, although she might be called by a different name (65) Since such illusions carry with them a wicked renunciation of God, no wonder that He would have them punished with death. But since this pestilent crime would be no more tolerable in a man than a woman, it has been probably supposed that the law was directed against women, because their sex is more disposed to superstition. Certainly the same enactment is made respecting males in Deu 18:1, (66) only the punishment is not there denounced, but God merely prohibits any of the people from being an enchanter or a witch. Now it is clear that all the kinds which are there recited, are here included under one; so that God would condemn to capital punishment all augurs, and magicians, and consulters with familiar spirits, and necromancers and followers of magic arts, as well as enchanters. And this will appear more plainly from the second and third passages, in which God declares that He “will set. His face against all, that shall turn after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards,” so as to cut them off from His people; and then commands that they should be destroyed by stoning. Wherefore, since it is not just that men should escape with impunity, when the infirmity of women is not spared, nor that dissimilar sentences should be pronounced in similar cases, the same punishment which was decreed against witches and enchantresses, is now extended to either sex, and to all magical superstitions. In the words also “that turneth to go a whoring,” the atrocity of the crime is again expressed, the similitude being taken from immodest women, who seek with wandering glances for the indulgence of their lust. Moses, therefore, signifies that, as soon as we begin to cast our eyes this way and that, and do not keep them fixed on God alone so as to be content with Him, that sacred union (67) is violated wherein He has bound us to Himself.
(65) It is said of the woman, (1Sa 18:7,) that “she had a familiar spirit,” ( אוב See vol. 1, p. 428; the word here used is מכשפה from כשף , praestigiis uti. — Taylor’s Concordance.
(66) See ante, vol. 1, p. 426, on Deu 18:10.
(67) “ Le mariage spirituel.”— Fr.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
WITCHCRAFT.Exo. 22:18
The term is here used to represent the whole class of wizards, necromancers, and diviners with which the world has been infested from a very early date, and is in one form or another infested still, who, when not gross impostors, appeal to a power not in subordination to Divine law, and are therefore guilty of, and punished for high treason against the government of God. The Bible regards it
1. As a stern and diabolical reality (Lev. 20:27; Deu. 18:9).
2. As unlawful trafficking with the unseen world (Lev. 19:31; Isa. 8:19, For the living to the dead, i.e., on behalf of the living to the dead.)
3. As sometimes trickery and imposture (Isa. 8:19), that peep and mutter (probably ventriloquise. See art. Pythoness, Smiths Dic. Bible).
4. As filthy defilement (Lev. 19:31).
5. As deserving death (Lev. 20:6. cf. text).
6. As one of the crimes for which the Canaanites were destroyed.
7. As inconsistent with a trust in God (Isa. 8:19).
8. As frustrated by God (Isa. 44:25).
9. As a power from which the godly have nothing to fear, for there is no solitary prayer in the whole Bible to be protected from its enchantments, and no thanksgiving for deliverance from them.
The belief in witchcraft has prevailed in all ages, and been sanctioned by some of the most eminent men. Amongst the heathen, Pythagoras, Plutarch, Pompey, Crassus, Csar, were all under its spell. The progress of modern civilsation has not destroyed this upas blight, for it counts its devotees by the thousand to-day. But whether it comes in the form of astrology with its stargazing, palmistry with its hand-reading, or spiritualism with its media and trances and dark seances, it is the same foul abomination reprobated by the Word of God. In this country we only now meet with it in the latter form, and as such
I. It is dangerous.
1. Because it destroys, all faith in the person and providence of God, and hence imperils the hopes, aspirations, and safety of the soul.
2. Because it tends to debase mans moral standards, and to obliterate the fact of sin.
3. Because its direct aim is to subvert Christianity, and to abolish the Word of God.
4. Because it comes before the imagination and the affections with plausible appeals.
II. It shuns the light.
1. Its performances, like the old witchcraft, take place in the dark, and under circumstances the force of which requires the exertions of the strongest will. On the contrary, the grand facts of both Old and New Testaments were not done in a corner, but in the light of day.
2. It is chary of the open exhibition of its credentials to the critic and the unbeliever; this privilege is reserved for those who first believe in the magician and in his powers. The miracles and other credentials of the Biblecourt scrutinywere mainly for the convictions of those who disbelieved.
3. And why does it shun the light? For the old reason (Joh. 3:19-21).
III. It is unlawful.
1. Because expressly forbidden in the Word of God. Christ and His apostles meet the spirits not in darkened cabinets but with open exorcism.
2. Because of its avowed mission to pry into and traffic with the unrevealed matters of the spirit-world. God has emphatically set His face against this (Deu. 29:29).
3. Because it is another gospel (Gal. 1:8).
IV. It is partly gross imposture.
1. Spiritual realities are solemn and imposing, and worthy in every way of the high source from which they emanate, When God communicated to the prophets and apostles we do not hear that it was on dancing tables, illegible inscriptions on slates, or through books made luminous by phosphoric oil. We do not hear of angels or spirits, whether in Old Testament or New, pulling mens hair, scattering sweetmeats, rapping on walls, hurling bed pillows, appearing in regimentals, or handling hot coals.
2. Spiritual realities in the Bible were never discovered to be small tricks. They were never found to be men and women ventriloquising, speaking through tubes, using electric batteries, or stuffed gloves; nor were the spirits, when suddenly embraced, found sufficiently substantial to be armed with fists and nails.
3. Spiritual realities in the Bible have never been explained by natural phenomena as have much of the legerdemain of modern magic.
V. It is uniformly useless.
1. For harm (Isa. 8:19), when there is a firm trust in God.
2. For good (Luk. 16:27-31), when there is no such trust.
Application.i. It is at the Churchs peril that she ignores what is condemned in the Word of God, and what threatens the well-being of the world. ii. Or fails to expose, check, and destroy what threatens to be the most gigantic superstition of modern times (1Jn. 4:1).J. W. Burn.
GODS EXCLUSIVE RIGHT TO MANS DEVOTION.Exo. 22:20
We remark
I. That this claim is founded on right. It is not an arbitrary fiat, but a reasonable demand. By creation, providence, and grace, all belongs to God. God, therefore, asks us but to sacrifice His own.
II. That no other power has the right to make this claim. The whole Bible goes upon the fact that an idol is nothing in the world. Sacrifice to them, therefore, can be but the outcome of superstition, and must end in disappointment.
III. That this claim involves self-denial. God demanded the best of the flocks and herds. He now demands our best faculties in their fullest vigour (Rom. 12:1).
IV. That this claim is very widely disregarded. Man robs God (Mal. 3:8), and still sacrifices to idols. We set up pride, vanity, ambition, selfishness, pleasure, friendship, and desecrate the holiest qualities of our nature by offering them to other than the living God.
V. That the recognition of this claim can alone secure our highest well-being.
1. The literal punishment of death passed away with the theocracy, but the spirit of it lives on through the ages. As God is the only source of spiritual life, and the sacrifice of ourselves to Him through Christ the only means of securing that life, spiritual death is a penalty of neglect. But, 2, by rendering to God that which belongs to Him, body, spirit, soul, possessions, friendships, by contact with Him and separation to Him, they are enriched, elevated, sanctified, and glorified. Observe
i. That Gods claims can never be fulfilled without Gods help. ii. That idolatry, the disregard and contempt of those claims (as Jewish history testifies), was uniformly the result of neglecting to procure that help. iii. That that help God is able, willing, and anxious to afford Little children, keep yourselves from idols.
J. W. Burn.
INTERNATIONAL RIGHTS.Exo. 22:21
Strictly interpreted, this passage bears on duties to foreigners dwelling in the country, and supplies a motive for it; they themselves had been foreigners; and is another practical application of the golden rule. But its principle may be enlarged, so as to compass the rights of nations to justice, humanity, and peace in their relations to one another.
I. The rights of foreigners as individuals. Here is a word, 3000 years old, of special force in many cases (thank God, not in all) to us Englishmen. We are surrounded by men from all nations under heaven. We should not oppress them
1. By reminding them that they are not at home; but, on the contrary, endeavour by a generous hospitality to make them feel at home.
2. By noticing their peculiarities and criticising or exaggerating them; but, on the contrary, try to conform as far as possible to them, so as to make them less conspicuous.
3. By taking advantage of their imperfect acquaintance with our language and manners in trade, law, debate; but rather assist them with all the means at our disposal.
4. Because
(1.) artificial boundaries should not separate between men of the same blood, the same wants, the same feelings.
(2.) We may be (some of us have been) placed in the same position as regards homelessness, peculiarities, and imperfections.
II. The right of foreigners as nations.
1. If weak to protection, if strong to equal privileges of freedom, courtesy, and laws.
2. To be regarded irrespective of our mere interests, which are not the measure of right and wrong all over the world.
3. Because we have had to claim, and still do claim, the same for ourselves.
Learni. Not to let our insular position generate an insular feeling. ii. To act upon principles of honour and humanity. iii. To follow peace with all men.
GODS CARE FOR THE WIDOW AND FATHERLESS.Exo. 22:22-24
The widow and the orphan were Gods special care, and their oppression was one of those crimes the punishment of which God reserved to Himself. This is one of those instances which reveal the large and comprehensive and spiritual character of the Mosaic law. Gods people were not tied down, as is often supposed, to a fixed and literal obedience to a number of fixed and literal enactments. Much (as in the case before us) was left to their common sense and humanity.
1. No legal provision was made for the widow except
(1.) The duty of her eldest son or nearest relative.
(2.) Her right to a share in the triennial third tithe (Deu. 14:29; Deu. 26:12).
(3.) Her right to gleanings (Deu. 24:19) and religious feasts (Deu. 16:11-14).
(4.) Her exemption from the necessity of giving her garments to pledge.
But
2. Her rights were everywhere recognised and
(1) (Deu. 27:19; Isa. 1:17; Jer. 7:6; Jer. 22:3; Zec. 7:10,) threw her upon that charity which is above rubrics.
(2.) (Psa. 94:6; Isa. 10:2; Eze. 22:7; Mat. 3:5; Mat. 23:14) Any neglect of or cruelty to them was most severely condemned.
3. The New Testament declares pure religion and undefiled to be (Jas. 1:27). Our text declares
I. That widows and orphans have claims upon our regard.
1. They have claims upon our sympathy. Their stay, comfort, defence is gone. What state can be more sorrowful or helpless!
2. They have claims upon our protection and help. Our resources are only held in stewardship for Gods purposes, and to what better purpose could they be applied, both as regards its intrinsic merits and the Divine will concerning it.
II. That widows and orphans have special privileges.
1. God has legislated for them. Not in the dry and hard manner in which penal and ceremonial codes are obliged to be enacted, but in a way which throws them on the broad and better principles of humanity and love.
2. God stands in a peculiar relation to them (Psa. 68:5). In the absence of their natural guardians He takes them under His wing.
3. God is always ready to help them; to hear their cry (Exo. 22:23; Jer. 49:11).
III. That any oppression of the widow and fatherless will be rigorously punished, Exo. 22:24.
1. The oppressor is left to the righteous judgment of God, who will surely avenge His own (Luk. 18:7.)
2. The oppressor is left to the terrible retribution of a hard and cruel heart, which inflicts as much punishment on the subject as on the object.
3. The oppressor is left to the certain contempt and execration of his fellowmen.
Husbands and fathers, learn
i. To provide for the wants of those whom you may leave behind to mourn your loss.
1. Make diligent use of your time, and save all you can for them.
2. Your life is uncertain. insure it.
3. We dont know what a day or an hour may bring forth, have all your affairs in order, so as not to add perplexity to trouble already too heavy to be borne. It is afflicting them, not to do so. (See 1Ti. 5:8.)
ii. Then, having made a proper use of means, leave them with calm faith in the power and goodness of their Father in heaven.
iii. Help the widow and the orphan, as your wife may be left a widow and your children fatherless.J. W. Burn.
ILLUSTRATIONS
BY
REV. WILLIAM ADAMSON
Divine Enactments! Exo. 22:1-31.
(1) There is a world of difference between a stained glass window and a kaleidoscope. Their relative values are very different, and so is their structure. The pieces of variegated glass are flung anyhow, for the prism to arrange; whereas, those employed in the window are all arranged to give a beautiful, effective, and abiding impression. These separate enactments are not strung together haphazard. On the contrary, they are chords divinely arranged to produce harmony in the world, and give forth strains of Divine adoration in their observance.
(2) If one side of a tree grows, and the other does not, the tree acquires a crooked form. It may be fruitful, but it cannot be beautiful. God would have humanities and nationalities, theocracies and individualities, both rich in the beauties of holiness and the fruits of righteousness. The unequal growth of the Christian graces is undesirable; hence the numerous Divine precautions to make them alike fair, fragrant, and fruitful.
Stern lawgiving! yet thou dost wear
The Godheads most benignant grace;
Flowers laugh before thee on their beds;
And fragrance in thy footing treads;
Thou dost preserve the stars from wrong.
Wordsworth.
Idol-Sacrifices! Exo. 22:20. Idolaters and their sacrifices, says Dr. Chapin! You cannot find any more grossany more cruelon the broad earth, than within a miles area of the pulpit. Dark minds, from which God is obscured! Deluded souls, whose fetish is the dice box, or the bottle! Apathetic spirits, steeped in sensual abominationunmoved by a moral ripplesoaking in the swamp of animal vitality! These are your modern Daphne and Delphian idolaters. False gods, more hideous, more awful than Moloch or Baalworshipped with shrieksworshipped with curses; with the hearthstone for the blood-stained altar, the drunken husband for the immolating priest, and women and children for the sacrificial victims! These are your modern idol-holocausts. This verse may not be applicable to Christianised England in its literality; but the moral vein lies hidden beneath the literal surface. In its moral aspect it is Englands obligation of a truth.
Turn thee from these, or dare not to inquire
Of Him whose name is jealous, lest in wrath
He hears and answers thine unblest desire;
Far better we should cross His lightnings path,
Than be according to our idols heard,
And God should take us at our own vain word.
Keble.
Idolaters Doom! Exo. 22:20. A philosopher, states the Hebrew Talmud, once remarked to Gamaliel: Instead of uttering threats against the worshippers of idols, why does not God rather turn His wrath against the idols themselves? The wise Rabbi replied by a story. A prince had an insolent and rebellious son, who, among other insults to his father, had the audacity to bestow his fathers name upon his dog. His father was full of wrath; but against whom? To this inquiry, the philosopher made reply, The son, doubtless; but if God were to send all these idols into destruction, there would no longer be any danger of idolatry in the world. The pious Hebrew at once retorted: The barbarians deify the rivers and waters, the stars and suns. Would you then have God, on account of the folly of some of His creatures, plunge creation in ruin? If any one steals seed, and afterwards sows it in the ground, does it remain fruitless on accouut of its having been stolen? Hence the doom of death upon the Jewish idolater.
If I have sought to live
But in one light, and made a mortal eye
The lonely star of my idolatry,
Thou that art LOVE, oh pity and forgive.
Hemans.
Strangers Rights! Exo. 22:21. A certain shepherd had a flock which he led daily to pasture, and which he brought home each evening to the fold. It came to pass on a time that a stag voluntarily joined, and became the inseparable companion of the flock. When they went to the pasture it went thither; when they returned to the fold, it returned with them. The shepherd greatly loved the stag, and often charged his servants that nothing should be wanting to its welfare. But the servants, astonished at the injunction, inquired of their master his reason. This poor animal, accustomed to the wilderness, has left its natural freedom of roaming, and joined itself fearlessly to us! Should not we, therefore, be kind to it, and not vex or oppress it? God loves the stranger in giving him food and raiment; and He enjoins similar consideration on the part of the Jews. He requires still more of Christians in this respect. There is a premise: Be careful to entertain strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
And He will leave the ninety-nine that range
In pleasant pastures where the grass grows sweet,
And seek us till He sets our wandering feet
Where tempting herbage springs and cooling waters meet.
Mason.
Strangers! Exo. 22:21. Upon the higher Alps, the snow is sometimes piled so high, and so evenly balanced, that a crack of a whip or the shout of a voice may give sufficient vibrations to the air as to bring down the whole mass upon the travellers below. So in our moral world, there are souls just hovering over the abyss of ruin. A word, or even a look, from us, may cause them to plunge down into depths from which there is no return. On the other hand, a helping hand stretched out to them in the moment of peril may lead them into the safe, sure way of peace. To vex the stranger, or afflict the alien, may lead to the overthrow of all the life of hope in him; whereas kindness may induce him to give heed to those truths of Scripture, which have led in your case to the practise of the Christian virtues. Many a stranger has been alienated from the gospel by the cruelties and oppressions of its professors. Better those
Who lead the blind old giant by the hand
From out the pathless desert where he gropes,
And set him onward in his darksome way.
Lowell.
Widow Woes! Exo. 22:22. The Jewish law required a mans brother to marry his widow. In numerous countries, notably India, widows are devoted to great privations from the time their husbands die. At the Isthmus of Darien, when a widow dies, such of her children as cannot from tender age provide for their own subsistence, are buried in the same grave with her. It was one of the most heinous of Pharisaic offences, which drew down the stern malediction of Jesus upon them, that they vexed and afflicted the widows in Israel. One of the most touching of His parables is based upon the wrong-doing of a poor widows adversary, and the indifference of the judge towards her importunate plea. It is remarkable that the Lord in Exo. 22:22 alludes to the crying of the widow as ever to be heeded by Him. He may bear long with them. There may be a long, and from our view-point inexplicable delay; but let not the oppressed widow despair. He will avenge herHis widowed and oppressed Church. When the cry rises, broken and stifled, but eager, as uttered by one enduring dread wrong, God in heaven hears it well pleased.
You take my house, when you do take the Prop
That doth sustain my house; you take my life,
When you do take the means whereby I live.
Shakespeare.
Orphan Oppression! Exo. 22:24. Other offences are punished by the medium of human justice; but God is His own avenger of this heinous wrong. Years ago, a rural parish clerk was left in charge of an orphan relative of his wife. He appropriated the monies, and abused the boy. Forced by persistent cruelties to flee away from home, he reached Australia, where God raised up friends He prospered in life, and became a landowner. His dishonest and tyrant guardian, none the richer for his fraudulent gains, yielded to evil counsellorstook part in a local crime, and was tried and transported to the Australian convict settlement. Here, he made his escape with a fellow convict, and both took refuge in a cave. They quarrelled over the fire, as to which should have possession of certain stolen articles, and in the dispute their gunpowder flask fell into the flames. It instantly exploded in the face of the convicted tyrant, depriving him of eyesight; while his comrade, seizing the things in dispute, left his blind companion in the cave. AS he was shrieking piteously for help, some horsemen passed by; and overhearing his agonising screams, they alighted from their horses and entered the cavern. The leader was the defrauded orphan, who, having nobly struggled to position and honour, now knelt by his oppressor, whose system was so shattered by the shock, that he died a few minutes afterwards.
Though the mills of God grind slowly,
Yet they grind exceeding small;
Though with patience He stands waiting,
With exactness grinds He all.
Longfellow.
Orphan Obligations! Exo. 22:22-24. Orphans should be grateful to their benefactors. God Himself will reward them. A poor widow took an orphan left by a next door neighbour, into her own family. For years she struggled on with the humble proceeds of mangling in the court, until illness came. The orphan youth obtained a place in the city, which enabled him to find necessaries for the widow and her children, most of whom were younger than himself. His leisure hours were spent in ministering to the wants of his benefactress, and instructing her children. As he grew up, his honesty and shrewdness won him a post of confidence and competence in his firm; enabling him to advance the temporal welfare of his adopted brothers and sisters. All of them were placed in good situations. In course of time the orphan became the junior, then the head partner of his firm. He purchased a rural estate; and in one of the prettiest of the cottages he placed the poor widow; poor no longer, but enriched with a handsome annuity for life. Here she lived happy and honoured; dying at last in the arms of him whom she had received as a penniless child, and whom she had rescued from the fate of a youthful London Arab.
Kind hearts are more than coronets,
And simple faith than Norman blood.
Tennyson.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(18) Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.The word translated witch in this passage is the feminine singular of that rendered by sorcerers in Exo. 7:11, and means a mutterer of charms. The use of the feminine form can only be accounted for by supposing that, practically, witchcraft was at the time mainly professed by females. Whether witches had actual help from evil spirits, or only professed to work magical effects by their aid, the sin against God was the same. Jehovah was renounced, and a power other than His invoked and upheld. Witchcraft was as much rebellion against God as idolatry or blasphemy, and deserved the same punishment.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
18. Not suffer a witch to live Those who practised the magical arts were regarded as usurping the realm of Deity, and, by some mysterious league with wicked spirits, opposing themselves to the fundamental principles of true religion . Hence they were, in logical accord with the Israelitish faith, to be treated as capital offenders . Comp . Lev 19:26; Lev 19:31; Lev 20:27; Deu 18:10-11.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Sundry Regulations ( Exo 22:18 to Exo 23:9 ).
The regulations that follow are mainly apodictic, direct commands made specifically by God requiring total obedience. As such they are not paralleled in the law codes.
Regulations Concerning Unacceptable Conduct – Three Deadly Sins And Two Calls For Compassion ( Exo 22:18-24 ).
The opening ‘and’ in Exo 22:21 may suggest that Exo 22:18-20 are connected with it. If this be so we may have an interesting chiasmus:
a A sorceress not to live (Exo 22:18).
b A beast not to be lain with (Exo 22:19).
c Other gods not to be sacrificed to (Exo 22:20).
b A resident alien not to be wronged (Exo 22:21).
a A widow and fatherless child not to be afflicted (Exo 22:22-24).
In ‘a’ the sorceress is in contrast with the godly widow. The sorceress is powerful and is out to cause harm, an must therefore be put to death. The widow is helpless and harmless and must therefore not be harmed in any way. In ‘b’ the contrast of the beast with an alien is interesting, reflecting the fact that men often saw ‘foreigners’ as sub-human. The Egyptians despised all who could not speak Egyptian, and saw them as inferior beings. But while sexual association with a beast was punishable by death, association with a resident alien was acceptable. He/she was not to be harmed in any way. Love is not to be shown to a or b (or indeed c), whereas love is to be shown to the parallel b and a. If this be so there is a contrast of what is to be avoided and what is to be cared for.
Three Deadly Sins ( Exo 22:18-20 ).
These three sins represent contact with alien spheres which are so unseemly that they warrant the death penalty; dealings with sorcery (the occult, the world above man), sexual relations with beasts (the world below man) and sacrificing to false gods (the world of demons). All involved moving into spheres outside man’s jurisdiction. Those who involve themselves with such things are to be put to death. They take man from his proper sphere.
Exo 22:18
“You shall not allow a sorceress to live.”
This refers most specifically to one who weaves charms and spells, in other words to what we tend to think of as white witchcraft, although witches can be more virulent. Using enchantments and practising divination by omens was considered to be on a parallel with the eating of blood which was strictly forbidden (Lev 19:26).
The use of magic which sought to control higher occult powers for personal purposes was widespread in the ancient world, both in Egypt and especially in Babylon and Assyria. Nineveh was described as ‘the mistress of sorceries’ (Nah 3:4, compare Isa 47:12-13). The code of Hammurapi and Assyrian law both prescribe the death penalty for it where used harmfully. It was also widespread among the Canaanites, and Jezebel was looked on as a sorceress (2Ki 9:22). Examples of what is condemned are given in Deu 18:9-12. The condemnation includes not only witches but spiritualist mediums, tarot cards, ouija boards, planchettes etc. because these are ways of seeking to consult ‘familiar spirits’ (Deu 18:11 and compare Lev 19:31; Lev 20:6). The word ‘wizard’ is always paralleled with those who have familiar spirits.
The fact that reference is to a sorceress demonstrates that the practise, in Israel’s experience, was more widespread among women, but see Lev 20:27. Consider Eze 13:18-23 for examples. The penalty was death. Such things were (and are) not to be treated lightly. The severity of the sentence suggests that such activity has an unusual virulency and is not just superstition. It is positively evil, and takes men and women into spheres which are harmful to them.
Exo 22:19
“Whoever lies with a beast shall surely be put to death.”
Such bestiality was common in the ancient world, and generally abhorred. It was practised among the Canaanites (Lev 18:23-25). Hittite law prescribes the death penalty except where a horse or mule was concerned (horses were highly regarded among the Hittites). It is absolutely forbidden by God and the death penalty follows. It is the opposite of reaching into the occult. It is diminishing men and women to being but beasts, and denying the image of God in man.
“A beast.” Generally used of domestic animals but it includes all animals of every kind.
Exo 22:20
“He who sacrifices to any God, save to Yahweh only, shall be utterly destroyed.”
Sacrificing to any god or goddess is absolutely forbidden on pain of death. Yahweh alone is to receive worship. ‘Utterly destroyed.’ The word means ‘devoted’, that is, handed over to God and doomed to destruction. Contact with such ‘gods’ was seen by Moses as being involvement with demons (Deu 32:17).
These are three things on which there is a total ban, the practise of magic and seeking guidance from the spirit world, bestiality, and the worship of idols, for they take man outside his true sphere into spheres which are God-forsaken.
Regulations Concerning The Unprotected ( Exo 22:21-24 ).
These regulation are in contrast with the first three. Here the emphasis is positive, because resident aliens and widows were not to be seen as like sorceresses, indulgers in bestiality and idolaters. This may include the veiled warning against a racism that saw in a resident alien all that was bad, or the assumption that old widows who lived by themselves were sorceresses or witches.
Exo 22:21
“And a stranger you will not wrong, nor shall you oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.”
Israel are to show love and concern for ‘strangers’, that is resident aliens, remembering how they had once been the same. It was all too easy to see the stranger as a threat or a menace in some way, or even as the equivalent of ‘beasts’. But Israelites must beware how they behave towards them, for unless such do misbehave they are watched over by God. They are not to be seen as outside Israel’s sphere, and despised because of their not being in the covenant, and thus to be rejected and ill-treated. For they may even opt to come within the covenant. We too should have a concern for those who are from foreign parts, remembering that they may feel lost and lonely.
There is constant reference in the Pentateuch to the fact that Israelites should learn from their own miserable and heartrending experience to show concern for others, for they too had been ‘strangers’, had been bondmen, had had to work on unceasingly (Exo 23:9; Lev 19:34; Deu 5:15 related to Exo 20:8-11; Deu 10:19; Deu 15:15 related to Exo 21:2-11). We too, as they, should learn from our experiences to have concern for others.
Exo 22:22-24
“You shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child. If you afflict them in any way, and they cry at all to me, I will surely hear their cry and my anger will grow hot and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall be widows and your children fatherless.”
Those who have no protector can look to God for their protection. The widow and the fatherless child have none to watch over them. They are therefore God’s special concern. It was all too easy to see them as under punishment from God because of their misfortune, and therefore as those for whom none need be concerned. But it was not to be so. Those who harm them in any way will suffer God’s anger and the result will be that they will be slain, leaving their own wives as widows and their own children as fatherless. God is applying here the judgment of like for like (the lex talionis).
“I will kill you with the sword.” This injunction is remarkable in that those who disobey it are warned of God’s direct intervention. Like the law against coveting it cannot always be dealt with in court and so will be dealt with by the great Judge Himself. The warning is that God will then withhold His own protecting hand. The group or nation that ignores its needy will receive what it deserves. ‘Kill with the sword’ involves brigands or invading forces and therefore God’s direct action by bringing violence against them.
God’s concern for widows and orphans and ‘strangers’ and those who are defenceless comes out again and again throughout the Bible (Deu 10:18; Deu 14:29; Deu 24:17; Deu 24:19-21; Deu 26:12-13; Deu 27:19; Psa 68:5; Psa 146:9; Pro 15:25; Isa 1:17; Isa 10:2; Jer 7:6; Zec 7:10; Mal 3:5; Jas 1:27). It reminds us that God sees how we behave towards the weaker members of society.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Exo 22:18. Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live What is here translated witch, is rendered sorcerer, ch. Exo 7:11 where see an account of the word. In various passages of the law, some of which are pointed out in the margin of our Bibles, inchantment, magic, and sorcery, with all their abominable and idolatrous rites, are forbidden: the reason of which, as well as of the severe prohibition in this place, is the connexion of such sort of persons with demons and evil spirits, and their consequent perversion. Jablonski Pantheon Egypt. lib. 2: cap. 7.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Lev_19:31; Lev_20:6; Lev_20:27 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Exo 22:18 Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.
Ver. 18. A witch. ] An enchantress, sorceress, whose help was sometimes sought in enticing young maids to folly. a The wizzard also is here meant, but the woman witch mentioned; both because women are more inclinable to that sin; and also because the weaker sex is not to be spared for this fault. b
a Vatab.
b Junius.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
witch or spiritist. Medium to or from, from root to mutter, as to some demon. Compare Lev 19:26, Lev 19:31; Lev 20:27. Deu 18:9-14. This enactment shows the reality of intercourse with evil spirits (angels) and demons.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Lev 19:26, Lev 19:31, Lev 20:6, Lev 20:27, Deu 18:10, Deu 18:11, 1Sa 28:3, 1Sa 28:9, Isa 19:3, Act 8:9-11, Act 16:16-19, Act 19:19, Gal 5:20, Rev 22:15
Reciprocal: 1Sa 15:23 – witchcraft 1Ch 10:13 – a familiar Isa 2:6 – and are Act 13:6 – certain
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Exo 22:18. Witchcraft not only gives that honour to the devil which is due to God alone, but bids defiance to the divine providence, wages war with Gods government, puts his work into the devils hand, expecting him to do good and evil. By our law, consulting, covenanting with, invocating, or employing any evil spirit to any intent whatever, and exercising any enchantment, charm, or sorcery, whereby hurt shall be done to any person, is made felony, without benefit of clergy; also pretending to tell where goods lost or stolen may be found, is an iniquity punishable by the judge, and the second offence with death.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Exo 22:18-31 E. Various Ordinances.From this point up to Exo 23:9 we have to do with miscellaneous laws, differing in the main both in form and substance from the Judgments, and therefore here regarded as belonging to the Book of the Covenant. But they may have come independently of either code. The death penalty for a sorceress (Exo 22:18) sounds unduly severe, and this law may be taken as a classical instance of the progressive nature of revelation. Conditions change, and conscience gains light: hence Hebrew laws must not, it is at last perceived, bind Christian men, unless ratified afresh by the conscience. For lack of this perception witches were executed up to Exo 17:16. But it is proper to note the tremendous power of magic in the ancient world and among heathen races to-day (cf. the eight types in Deu 18:10 f.), and its deadly nature as a negation of true religion. Magic proudly claims, by non-moral means, to master the powers of the unseen world: religion humbly seeks, through prayer, sacrifice, and service, to win effective fellowship with an unseen person (p. 174). And the modern application is, Thou shalt not suffer the magical idea or temper to live in the worship or institutions of religion. Unnatural forms of vice were rife in Canaan, and were made capital offences (Exo 22:19, cf. H and D). Sacrifice to another god, as involving treason to the nation and its Divine Lord, was (Exo 22:20) to be visited with the ban (i.e. devotion to Yahweh, the jealous God, by destruction, see pp. 99, 114). Consideration for the stranger or resident alien, to whom custom gave no legal status, as well as for the widow and orphan (Exo 22:21-24), is a marked feature in the Hebrew laws: the clauses with plural ye are added notes. Legislators and prophets were perpetually alert to protect the weak against corrupt judges and the power of the purse generally. Here is one of the notes of a living religion. So, too, in times when commercial loans were unknown, and the only loans were of the nature of charity, it was natural that interest (usury in its old sense) should be prohibited (Exo 22:25, see p. 112, Deu 23:19 f., Lev 25:36 f.*). But usury, in its present meaning of excessive interest, is still condemned by the spirit of this law. Loans on pledge were allowed, but a pledged mantle must be returned for use at night (Exo 22:26 f., cf. Deu 24:6; Deu 24:10-13; Deu 23:19 f.). Special bedclothes are still strange to the poor of Palestine. In Exo 22:28-31 we have a group more closely connected with religion. Irreverence (cf. Lev 24:15 H) and disrespect to rulers are condemned (Exo 22:28). Firstfruits, firstborn, and firstlings were all due to God (Exo 22:29 ff., see pp. 99, 102). Firstfruits are concisely specified (Exo 22:29) as the full share (i.e. from the threshing-floor) and the tear-like trickling (i.e. from the winepress). It is not said here (Exo 22:29 b) how the offering of firstborn boys was to be made (cf. Exo 13:12 f.* J), but the obvious analogy of the firstlings (Exo 22:30, give me, as Exo 22:29 b) suggests that the form at least of the law goes back to the time when children were actually sacrificed (cf. Genesis 22*). In all three cases we have the survival of a primitive belief that life is sacred, and that the first, fresh products of fertilising power are specially fit for sacramental and sacrificial use (Num 3:11-13*). It is a symbolical recognition of the need to consecrate the beginnings of enterprise, if real blessing is to follow. Observe that the sacrifice on the eighth day could only be at some near local shrine, not, as in D, at the central sanctuary; and that E says nothing of unclean animals like the ass, unless LXX rightly adds and thine ass (see Exo 13:13 a J). This group closes with a law against eating any flesh that is torn of beasts in the field (Exo 22:31), no doubt because the blood could not be properly drained from it (Gen 9:4*). The reason given, that they were to be holy men (Exo 22:13 a), illustrates the process by which the word holy (i.e. devoted to or associated with Gods life and being) was first practised upon the outward (what is ritually holy) and then applied to the moral and spiritual realm.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
God prohibited three more practices each of which brought the death penalty. All involve idolatry.
In the ancient world, people made a distinction between black magic and white magic. The former sought to harm someone, and the latter did not. The Hammurabi Code prohibited the former only, [Note: Code of Hamurabi, section 2.] but the Torah outlawed both without distinction. Magic constituted an attempt to override God’s will. Probably Moses mentioned only the sorceress (Exo 22:18) because women were particularly active in the practice of magic. Probably the law would have dealt with a sorcerer the same way. [Note: See Roy B. Zuck, "The Practice of Witchcraft in the Scriptures," Bibliotheca Sacra 128:512 (October-December 1971):352-60.]
Having intercourse with animals (bestiality, Exo 22:19) was something the Canaanites and Mesopotamians attributed to their gods and which they practiced in worshipping those gods. Whereas some law codes imposed the death penalty for having intercourse with certain animals, the Torah prohibited this practice completely.
The third ordinance (Exo 22:20) prohibited offering any sacrifice to idols.