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Scriptural Text [& Editorial]
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Commentary & Explanation
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Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
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CHAPTER 19
Cities of refuge appointed for cases of manslaughter—Murderers shall
be put to death—Two or three witnesses required in court
cases—False witnesses punished.
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1 WHEN the LORD thy God
hath cut off the nations, whose land the LORD thy God giveth thee, and
athou succeedest them, and dwellest in their cities, and in
their houses;
2 Thou shalt aseparate three
bcities for thee in the midst of thy land, which the LORD
thy God giveth thee to possess it.
3 Thou shalt prepare thee aa way,
and divide the bcoasts of thy land, which the LORD thy God
giveth thee to inherit, into three parts, that every slayer may
cflee thither.
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4 ¶ And this is the case of the slayer, which
shall flee thither, that he may live: Whoso killeth his neighbour
aignorantly, whom he hated not in time past;
5 As when a man goeth into the wood with his neighbour to hew wood, and his hand fetcheth a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree, and the head slippeth from the helve, and lighteth upon his neighbour, that he die; he shall flee unto one of those cities, and live:
6 Lest the aavenger of the blood
pursue the slayer, while his heart is hot, and overtake him, because the way
is long, and slay him; whereas he was not worthy of death, inasmuch as
he hated him not in time past.
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7 Wherefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt separate three cities for thee.
8 And if the LORD thy God enlarge thy
acoast, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, and give thee
all the land which he promised to give unto thy fathers;
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
awalk ever in his ways; then shalt thou add three cities
more for thee, beside these three:
10 That innocent blood be not shed in thy land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and so blood be upon thee.
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11 ¶ But if any man hate his
aneighbour, and blie in wait for him, and
rise up against him, and smite him mortally that he die, and fleeth into one
of these cities:
12 Then the elders of his city shall send and fetch him thence, and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die.
13 Thine eye shall not pity him, but thou shalt
aput away the bguilt of
innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with thee.
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14 ¶ Thou shalt not remove thy neighbour's
alandmark, which they of old time have set in thine
inheritance, which thou shalt inherit in the land that the LORD thy God
giveth thee to possess it.
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15 ¶ One awitness 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 bwitnesses, or at the mouth of
three witnesses, shall the matter be established.
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16 ¶ If a afalse witness rise up
against any man to testify against him that which is wrong;
17 Then both the men, between whom the
acontroversy is, shall stand before the LORD, before
the priests and the judges, which shall be in those days;
18 And the ajudges shall make
diligent inquisition: and, behold, if the witness be a false
witness, and hath testified falsely against his brother;
19 Then shall ye ado unto him, as
he had thought to have done unto his
brothera: so shalt thou put the
evil away from among you.
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19a do unto him, as he had thought to have
done unto his brother The penalty for bearing a false witness was
of no small consequence. It is essential for a court system to assure that
the witnesses of the court are truthful. It may seem a hard penalty to
punish the 'liar' with that punishment of a murderer, but in the case of
bearing a false witness against another, if the intent was to have the other
so convicted of murder wrongly, and thus the other were to be put to death
due to that false witness, then it is just that he who intended death upon his
brother falsely ought to be so punished himself. Many more would certainly be
much more careful about their testimony witnesses if this were the law today.
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20 And those which remain shall hear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil among you.
21 And thine eye shall not pity; but life
shall go for life, aeye for eye, tooth for tooth,
hand for hand, foot for foot.
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