992 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And all the elders of that city that are next unto the slain man,.... The whole court of judicature belonging to it, all the magistracy of it; even though there were an hundred of them, Maimonides (x) says: shall wash their hands over the heifer that is beheaded in the valley: in token of their innocence, and this they did not only for themselves,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And they shall answer and say,.... The elders of the city, at the time of the washing of their hands: our hands have not shed this blood; have been no ways concerned in it, nor accessory to it: the Targum of Jonathan is, "it is manifest before the Lord that he did not come into our hands, nor did we dismiss him, that has shed this blood;'' which...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Be merciful, O Lord, to thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed,.... Out of Egyptian bondage, and claimed as his own; and therefore it is requested he would be favourable to them, and show them mercy, and not punish them for a sin they were entirely ignorant of, though done by some one among them, whom as yet they could not discover. The words...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
So shalt thou put away the guilt of innocent blood from among you,.... Which otherwise, the person not being found out, and brought to just punishment for it, would devolve upon the whole. Aben Ezra interprets it the punishment of innocent blood, which, by the above method being taken, would not be inflicted on them: when thou shalt do that which...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies,.... This refers to an arbitrary war, as Jarchi remarks, which they entered into of themselves, of choice, or through being provoked to it by their enemies; and not a war commanded by the Lord, as that against the seven nations of Canaan, and against Amalek; since there were to be no captives in...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And seest among the captives a beautiful woman,.... Whether a virgin, wife, or widow, according to the Jewish writers, even though another man's wife; so Jarchi (c), and Maimonides (d); the marriages of Gentiles being reckoned by the Jews no marriages: and hast a desire unto her; being captivated with her beauty; some understand this of the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then thou shalt bring her home to thine house,.... In order to make her his wife, after some things were done here directed to; for this is not to be understood of his taking her home with a view to defile her, as Maimonides (e) interprets it; who observes, that when a man's lust so rages that he cannot subdue it, yet he ought not publicly to...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her,.... Her beautiful garments, and gay apparel, in which she was taken captive; and which tended to stir up the stronger affection for her, and greater desire after her; and therefore, as some think, were ordered to be removed, to abate the ardour of love to her. Jarchi observes, that the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her;.... Either some time after marriage: then thou shalt let her go whither she will; by a bill of divorce, as the Targum of Jonathan, who understands it in this sense, and as the connection of the words seems to require; or else before marriage, at the month's end, or any time before, that if his...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
If a man have two wives,.... Which is supposed, but not approved of, though permitted because of the hardness of men's hearts; for it was not so from the beginning, when only one man and one woman were created, and joined together in marriage; but as it was connived at, and become customary, a law is made to prevent confusion, and preserve order...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then it shall be, when he maketh his sons to inherit that which he hath,.... By a will in writing, or byword of mouth, or by a deed of gift, actually bestowing his goods upon them, and dividing among them what he is for the present possessed of; see Lu 15:12, that he may not make the son of the beloved firstborn before the son of the hated, [which...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn,.... Own him and declare him to be so, both by his will and the division of goods by him; or he shall "separate" him, as Onkelos; distinguish him from all his other sons, and make known to all, as the Targum of Jonathan, that he is his firstborn: by giving him a double portion of all...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son,.... It is observed (w) that this law quickly follows, and is subjoined to that which relates to the marriage of a woman taken captive, because often from such marriages wicked and refractory children have sprung, and which they exemplify in the case of Absalom, whose mother they say David took in war...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him,.... With their own hands, or cause him to be apprehended by others, in which they were to agree, and which the Jews gather from hence; "if (say they (y)) the father is willing (to bring him to justice), and the mother not willing, if his father is not willing and the mother is willing, he is...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And they shall say unto the elders of his city,.... In open court, what follows, at the same time, according to the Targum of Jonathan, acknowledging their own sins, for which such a calamity had befallen them, saying, "we have transgressed the decree of the word of the Lord, because is born unto us a son that is stubborn, c.'' see John 9:2 this...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die,.... The populace; that is, after his trial is finished, and he is condemned to die; and he was not stoned until the three first judges were there (by whom he was admonished, and ordered to be beaten), as it it said, "this is our son", this is he that was beaten before you (f);...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death,.... This before mentioned, or any other that deserves death, any kind of death, as strangling, killing with the sword, burning and stoning, to which the Jews restrain it here: and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him, on a tree; is condemned to stoning, and after that they hang him, as the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
His body shall not remain all night upon the tree,.... Which is to be understood of any and everyone that was hanged, and not of the rebellious son only; of whom Josephus (l) says, that he was to be stoned by the multitude without the city, and having remained a whole day for a spectacle unto all, was to be buried at night; and indeed such a...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO Deuteronomy 22 In this chapter are various laws, concerning care of a neighbour's cattle gone astray or in distress, and of anything lost by him, Deuteronomy 22:1, forbidding one sex to wear the apparel, of another, Deuteronomy 22:5 and the taking away of the dam with the young found in a bird's nest, Deuteronomy 22:6, ordering...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Thou shall not see thy brother's ox or his sheep go astray,.... Or "driven away" (r); frightened and starved away from the herd or from the flock by a wolf or dog; and the ox and sheep are put for every other creature a man has, as camels, asses, c. which last sort is after mentioned and a brother means not one in the natural relation of kindred...