If the temptntion wns in privo.t., o.nd so rendered by "nno-orlly men." Most com- ]mown only to thyself. ~only it is treated° os a proper name. But Ver. 8.-l'ity, spa.re, ooncee.I. The o.ccu- In all plo.<·es the proper m,,anin"' of the mulntion of terms serves to make the injunc- word might be retained. The Hebrews tion more solemn and impressive. describ~d an object, of which any quality was Ver. 11.-'I'he penalty publicly inflicted, predomma_ntly characteristic, as the son of and therefore generally known, would have that quality. Are gone out from among a deterrent effect on the community, eo as you; have gone forth from the midst of to prevent the recurrence of such evil. you, i.e. have risen np nmong yourselves. Vere. 12-18.-A third co.se supposed is Withdraw. The verb here is the same as that of the inhnbitants of e. city being that rendered by " thrust," in .ers. 5 aud seduced by wicked men into idolatry. In 10. It conveys the idea of drawino- away with some degree of force, not mele easy this case inquiry was to be made as to the e~duction, but impubion by strong persua- fact; and if it was found to be so, the sion. inhabitants of that city were to be put to Vers. 14, 15.-After due inquiry, if it the sword, o.11 their property was to be was found _that such e. thing had really burnt, and the city itself reduced to a heap; been done m any of their .cities, the ex- treme penalty was to be inflicted on the so should the anger of the Lord be averted city and all its inhabitants-all were to be from Israel, and he would do them good. destroyed. Smite . . . with the edge of the Ver. 12.-Hear in une of thy cities. The swor~; literally, with the mouth of the sword, Hebrew phrase," to hear in" ( 1 VI?~) has as b1tmg and devouring like a ravenous sometimes the meaning of to overhear, as in beast-a phrase for utter destruction. Gen. xxvii. 5; I Sam. xvii. 28; Job. xv. 8; Ver.16.-All the spoil thereof every whit,for sometimes it means simply to hear, as in the Lord thy God; rather, a11 the spoil [booty] 2 Sam. xix. 36 [35]; in Job x.xvi. 14, it has thc1·eof as a whole nfferinq unto Jehovah thy the force of to bear of or concerning, though God; it was to be wholly devoted to God, some think this questionable. This latter and as such to be consumed by fire. "It is npparently the meaning here: If thou was a destruction, and not properly an offer- hear concerning any of thy cities, etc. ing. Hence the anthor selects neither ;-,~1i7 Saying. This introduces whe.t is heard. nor nl!ialn but S•S:i whole whole offeri~~ Ver. 13.-Men, the children of llelial; the sons of worthlessness, utterly worthless per- (eh. x;;iii. 10; • L~v. vi. is [22]), which sons. Beli ya'al (a compound of ';,.::i, not, word, in the law concerning ott'erin" is no nnd ',p,, to ascend, to have worth, to "profit) technical designation of any pe.rticul~ kind of offering. The rendering omnino is un- means primarily tho.t which is low, hence tenable" (Knobel). The city was to be worthlessness, naughtiness, wickedness. In me.de e. ruin, never to be rebuilt; and thus eh. xv. 9, llelio,1 is rendered in the Author- was to be treated the same as a heathen, ized Version as an adjective, "wicked," and idolatrous city might be (cf. Numb. x.xi. 3), also in Neh. i. ll. In Ps. xviii 4, it is
HOMILETICS. V4!rs. 1-18.-Temptations to depart from God to be resisted at all costs. In the preceding chapter we had directions with regard to the worship of the true God. Here Israel is told what to do in case of temptation arising to worship false gods. The chapter in its entirety deals with this one topic. From it we might open up two main homiletic themes: (1) the treatment of error; (2) the test of truth. The second, how- ever, we reserve till we come to eh. xviii. 21. 'rhe first, therefore, only, we deal with now. In doing this we must remember that Moses is not only the expounder of religious duty, but also of a judicial polity. He is not only the prophet, but the legislator. Israel's constitution as a nation was that of a Theocratic Church-State. It is supposed, in this chapter, that temptations to depart from God may come (1) from a professed prophet or wonder-worker, or (2) they may arise from the nearest relativo or bosom friend, or (3) they may come from a town or city. In either case, the infection is to be" stamped out" at once. .Any enticement to idolatry, corne whence it may, is not to be tolerated for a moment. The wonder-worker is to be put to death; the friend is to be slain; the city is to be destroyed. .All this may seem harsh. Perhaps it is not so harsh as it seems. There may be occasions when severity ill the greatest kind- uess, and when tolerance would be the greatest unkindness. In the early Christian. 230 '!'HE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY. [cu. xm. 1-18.