The Pulpit Commentary — Deuteronomy — Section 114

Ver. 19.-The eiglith commandment. The rtli_qion of the hrmd. There i.~ m11ch lo be ~!\id in favour of tho proposition that utility is the foundation of virtue; an,! provided thl\t tho sentence bo well cleared up and guarded from abuse, and provided also that the word" t1tility" be lifled up to its highest, and spread over its broadeRt significance, tbo maxim is less objectionable than it would otherwise appear. While it, however, bas been and will be discugsed in the philosopher's class-room, for ages, we may Rnfely go so for 11s to say, "That is right which renders the highest service to mankir,d, and by its having this tendency, we know it to be right." Now, among serviceable institu- tions is that of property, which, as men are constituted, is a necessity of social weal. If rightness consists in recognizing the rights of each, the necessity of property comes out of the equali1y of nalural rights. If a man is alone in the world, he may call it all his own. If there is a brother man with him, they must divide it between them. Apart from the institution of property, one incentive to labour would be gor:e. \Vho would be likely to toil day by day for that from which he would obtain nought when the work was over? Now, it is the social law of the institution of property, Divine yet natural, yea, natural because Divine, the existence of which is here assumed, and tbe recognition of which is here enjoined: in the barest and most elementary form, it is true, yet in the very form best according with the circumstances under which it was given; in a negative form, too, like the other commands, but yet with a positive intent. Perhaps there is no one of the commandments which is more extensively commented on, and repeated in so many forms in the Old Testament, nor one the violation of which ls so variously prohibited. Our simplest mode of treating it homiletically seems to be to point out in turn the negative prohibition, and the positive duty which is to be set over against it. I. LET us INDICATE THE NUMEROUS FORMS INTO WHICH THIS PRECEPT IS Tmtow::-r IN ScRIPTURE. If :we regard the spirit of it, and read it by the light of Old Testament teaching, we shall find it set in great variety of ways. 1. It forbids our depriving any man of any right whatever (Lam. iii. 35, 36). 2. It is forbidden to gain an undne advantage at another's expense (Exod. xxiii. 3, 6, 8, 9; Lev. xix. 15; eh. xvi. 19, 20). 3. It is forbidden to accumulate wealth by unlawful practices (Prov. x. 2; xv. 6 ). 4. It is forbidden to take long credit (Prov. iii. 28; Lev. xix. 13 ). 5. It is forbidden to oppress a poor man in his cause (Exod. xxii. 26, 27; eh. xv. 7, 10-13, 17, 18; Prov. xxii. 22, 23; Micah ii. 1-3; iii. 1-4). 6. It is forbidden to pay insufficient wages (eh. xxv. 4; xxiv. 14, 15). 7. To lend money in any oppressive or exacting form (Exod. xxii. 25; Lev. xxv. 35-38 ; eh. xxiii. 19 ). "The name 'usurer '-neshec- which is derived from biting, sounded badly, since no one chose to be likened to a. hungry dog, who fed himself by biting others" (Calvin). 8. To take advantage of the stranger, the widow, and the fatherless (Exod. xxii. 21-24; eh. x. 17-19; Lev. xix. 33, 34). 9. Unfair trading (Lev. xix. 35, 36; eh. xxv. 13-16; Prov. xi. 1; :x:vi. 11; xx. 10, 23 ; Micah vi. 10-12). 10. Imperilling another's property (Exod. xxi. 33-36). 11. Life-long slavery (Exod. xxi. 2; eh. xv. 12-18). 12. Connivance at wrong (Prov. xxix. 24). 13. Respect of persons (Exod. xxiii. 1-3). 14. Revengeful mischief even in war-time (eh. xx. 19, 20). 15. Removing a neighbour's landmark: (eh. xix. 14). 16. Withholding from the service of God (Mai. iii. 8, 9). Whenever we withhold what is due to God, or keep hack what we owe to man,-if the master is unjust to his servant, or the servant wastes the time or the goods of his master; if a man is guilty of trickery in trade, by adulteration of goods, or scant weight, or short measure; if a man is in any way deprived of his own right or freedom; if we take undue advnn~age of any one for our own benefit, we are guilty of breaking the co:i,- mand "Thon shalt not steal." IT. LET US INDIOATE THE PRECEPTIVE WORDS WHICH ARE SET OVER AG.UNST THESE PROHIDITIVE ONES. In the fuller teachin"' of Moses there was not wanting an ii_i<lication cf nn opposite duty, the cultivation of which would make a breach ?f the eighth commnndment altogether out of the question. The people were to a1ru at cherishing a kindlv fcelin"0 for each other, and instead of wishing to enrich themselves at another's expense, they were to seek to enrich others, and to find their joy in he! p- ing the needy (Exod. xxiii. 4; Lev. xxv. 35; eh. xv. 7-10; xxii. 1-3; xxiii. 19; xxiv. 19). While in Proverbs, the contrast between sloth aud industry is said to be ono n~ark of difference between the righteous and the wicked. 102 THE BOOK OF DEU'l'EH01{0:MY. [en, v. 1-33,