q For thy preſent uſe, or whileſt thou art in the Wilderneſs: This he commanded, part}y that they might eaſily and readily ere& an Altar upon all occaſions, which it might be hard for them ro do there of better Materials;partiy to mind tzem how much more God regar-= ded the inward Holineis,than the ourward pomp of their Devotions; partly becauſe God would mike a conſpicuous diff: rence between them and Idolaters, who uſed much cet and curiofity about their Altars; partly that the Alrars might, after they left them, fall down and mouider away,and not remain as !aſting Monuments,which might be afterward abuſed to Idolatry by any perſons that came this ther; partly becauſe they were u::certain of their ſtay any where, except at Sina, and therefore muſt raiſe fuch Altars as they could ſuddenly do. But this Command only concerned their Wilderneſs ſtate ; for there were better and more durable Altarsin the Taber- . nacle and Temple. r Therefore there is no need of building any ſtately Altarina certain place, as if my Preſence were fixed there, ¬ to be enjoyed elſewhere sOr,cauſe my name to be remembred by you 7.e. Not in every place which you ſhall invent, bur in all ſuch places as ] ſhall appoint for the Remembrance or Celebration of my Name, or for the Service of my Majeſty, wiether ir be in the Wilderneſs, ad in divers parts thereof, or 1a the Tabernacle and Temple.
25 And* if thou wilt make me an altar of ſtone r, *Deurt;u7; thou ſhale not + build of hewenſtone «: for if thou lift i
up thy tool upon it, thou haſt polluted it x, £ no £ Wach in thoſe rocky parts might b2 as ealie for them to make,zs ,, 14 4.
one of earth. « Which would require boich cune, and colt, andart; ip pun
The reaſons of this Preceprt ate 18 part the ſame witl the former, ing;
wer: 24: x By thy diſobedience to my expreſs command now given; ©"
And howſoever they think to gratify me by this curivury, I thalinot
look upon it as alacred taing, by whici che Sac: inces cifzied og ar
ſhall be ſan&ified, bur as a prophane thing which will detile chem, 3
So little doth God -value or approve the inventions of men in his
worſhip, how coloutable ſaever they be,
& \'Y y ”
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"Levi:
- #7 5b 3
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26 Neither ſhalt thou go up by ſteps x unto mine © | tac
A
Heb:ſay 5ng ſbal US.
'to beſold. Of which ſee Exed: 22: 3: 2 Kings 4: 1. Matth. 18. 25:
y
car, that thy nakedneſs be not diſcovered thereon =.
y He ſeems to mean the ſteps of Ladders,or others of the ſame na- ture, which could ſuddenly be made,and were proper for their pre- ſent condition, where there was danger of the following inconvent- ence.For «fterwards God appainted an Altar ten cubits high, 2 Chron 4: x. Though ſome conceive they went not up to that by ſteps, but by an inſenſible aſcenr upon the ground raiſed by degrees for that purpoſe. Bur if the Prieſts did go up to it by ſteps, God pro- vided againſt the _— here mentioned, by preſcribing linen Breeches to themin that ſervice. « For theſe linen Breeches were not yet appointed, and the manner then and there was for men to wear long Coats or Gowns like women. God wonld remove all ap- pearance or occaſion of immodeſty, eſpecially in ſacred perſons and —_ ; and the rather, to ſhew his deteſtation of that impudence and filthineſs which was very uſual in ſome of the Solemnities and Worſhips of the Heathen.
CH AP. XXL
Law conterning bond-men or ſlaves, I=-==5. Servants bored through the ear, 6. Ordinances for bend-women, 7---10. Of mwrtherers, 12. Of them that curſe their parents, 17. Of ſtrikers, 18, 19. Of them that hurt a woman with child, 22, 25. Of 4 maſter of a family that firikes out 8x eye or tooth of his man 0r maia-ſervant, 26, 27. Of a puſhing ox, 29. Of them that hurt thiir neighbour's ox by digging # pit, 33, Of
one ox killing another, 35, 36+ ; O W theſe are the Judgments #4, which thou ſhalt
* ſet before them:
a Or, the judicial Lews, by which thou and the Judges before mentioned ſhall govern thy ſelf and the people in civil and criminal Cauſes,
2 * If thou buy an Hebrew ſervanc b, ſix years he ſhall ſerre : and in the ſeventh year c he ſhall ge out free for nothing.
b Of which prattice ſee Fer, 34: 14. This was allowed in tvvo caſes : 1. when a man for his crimes was condemned by the Judges
—
2. when a man preſſed by great poverty,ſold himſelf or his Chidren: OF which ſee Lev: 25: 39, 409. e Which is to be numbred, either 1+ from the laſt Sabbatical year, or year of releaſe, which came eve- ry ſeventh year; and the ſenſe of the 7 prog is, not that he ſhall al- ways ſerveſix full years, but that he ſhall never ſerve longer, an1 that his ſervice ſhall laſt only till that year comes. Oc heler 2.from the beginning of his ſervice; for 1. It were a very impreper ſpeech to ſay he ſball ſerve fix years, of one who poſſibly entred into bis ſer- vice but a month before the year of releaſe. 2. In the Law of the Sabbatical year there is no mention of the releaſe of Servants,as there is of other things, Lev:257Deut: 15:andin the year of Jubilee, when Ser- vants are to be releaſed, it is expreſled ſo, as Lev: 25: 54, 55.
3 If hecamein t by himſelf 4, he ſhall go out by himſelf : if he were married, then his wife ſhall go out
with him: - 4 (i.e. ) With his own perſon enly, not with a Wife, as the op- poſite branch ſheweth. : ] : 4 If his maſter have given him a wife, and (he have born him ſons and daughters, the wife and her children
ſhall be her mafters e, and he (hall go out by himſelff.
4 That being a true rule,and approved both by Scripture and by Heathen Authors, that the birth follows the belly, Gen. 21: 10: Gal, 4:24: 25, and he that owns the tree hath righe to all its fruit. Nuef. How was this ſeparation of man and wife agreeable with the firſt inſtirution of Marriage, by which that Bend is made indiſſolu- ble? Auſw. 1. That Bond was not neceſfarily diffolved by this Law, both becauſe the ſeparation was at the man's cheice, who mighr have ſtayed there,if he fo pleaſed ; and becauſe the diſtinQi- on of their Habitations might conſiſt with the right and uſe of Ma- | trimony, which the Maſter alſo would probably permit for his own advantage. Af. 2 God might here, as well as in the caſe of Di- vorces, diſpenſe with his own Laws and Inſtitutions, eſpecially in
this caſe, where he might deſign this for a puniſhment to the man foasj