enrth a residuum of poverty is still to be looked for. (1) There are diversities of talent.,. '!'here will always bo those whose abilities only fit them for the humblest positions in society. And these mo.y be left friendless, or health may fail them, or they may livo to old nge, o.nd become dependent. (2) There are vicissitudes of fortune. These come to the most fortunate of men, reducing them oftentimes to great straits. And it is too much to expect that, oven under millennial conditions,:the causes of such vicissitudes will altogether cease to operate. 2. That while poverty lasts, it is our d11ty to help to bear its burden. Poverty, in a state of society such as we anticipate as the goal of history, need never be the painful thing it is now. 'With loving hearts, and hands ready to help, its sting will be taken away.-J. 0. Vers. 12-19.-Bond-men. No argument in favour of modern slave-holding can be drawn from Hebrew bond-service. 'l'he Hebrew bondmen, unlike modern slaves, were Incorporated as part of the nation; had legal rights; took part in the religious feasts; If mutilated or injured, thereby obtained their freedom. On the sabbatic year the Hebrew bondman regained his freedom, going out, not simply free, but loaded with presents. We learn- I. 'l'HE NATURAL RIGHT OF MAN TO HIS FREEDOM. (Vers. 12, 13.) Freedom is man's birthright. It cannot be bartered. He must not be robbed of it by violence. If from temporary causes the use of it is lost, the right itself i8 not destroyed. So the Jews were taught by the return of every Hebrew to his freedom in the seventh year. It is a primary and unalienable right of man, which here, like underlying rock, juts to the surface. II. THE RIGHT OF SERVANTS TO EQUITABLE AND GENEROUS TREATME~T. (Vers. 13-16.) Bondmen were not to be regarded as mere "hands," still less as chattels. They were to be kindly treated, and dismissed with presents. It is a principle of equity which comes to light in ver. 18. We may apply it to modern times by saying that if servants are worth more to us than their wages, it is but fair that they should partici- pate in profits. The principle is already being recognized, and has in it the germ of the solution of many difficult problems in political economy. III. THAT LOVE IS THE TRUE RECONCILER OF SERVICE AND FREEDOM. (V ers. 1 i, 18.) It made the service no service-no real bond-service. Compare Jacob's service for Rachel (Gen. xxix, 20). Were the law of love to rule more than it does in the? relations of servants and masters, of employers and employed, it would greatly sweeten trade, commerce, manufactures, anu domestic life. There are doubtless faults on the side of servants as well as of masters-but how seldom is any earnest attempt made to break down feelings of antagonism, and to_bring in healthier relations! The law of Christ is the true cure for strikes, lock-outs, combinations, etc. Apply to the service of God in Christ. Law here, but also love, and through the love freedom in obedience. The highest freedom is in obedience to the law of holiness.-J. 0.
Vers. 19-23.-The firstlings. The solution of the apparent discrepancy between this passage and Numb. xviii. 18 seems to lie in the custom of inviting the worship- pers to share in the feasts provided by their offerings. View the sanctification of the firstlings as symbolical. 1. Of God's claim on the first and choicest of what we have for his own service. (1) Of our property. (2) Of our affections. (3) Of our powers of body and mind. 2. Of God's right to redeemed life. The firstlings were redeemed by God for himself on the memorable night of the deliverance from Egypt (E:1od. xiii. 12). God claims redeemed life as peculiarly his own (Isa. xliii. 1-4; 1 Cor. vi. 20). 3. Of God's right to young life. A symbol of early consecration. 4. Of happy fellowship with God. The fellowship was a fruit of the dedication of the best.-J. O. Vers. 1-6.-The year of forgiveness. We have here what we may call the "poor law" of Palestine. The poor were to be regarded as "brethren," they were to be treated as neighbours, as members of the one society. Money was to be lent them to give them a start in life (vers. 7-11), and if they were unable to repay it by the seventh or sabbatic year, they were to be forgiven the debt, "to the end that there be no poor amona you" (ver. 4; margin). Usury was thus discouraged between brethren. Loans were to"be acts of generosity, and the idea was distinctly to be kept in view that 2G4 THE BOOR OF DEUTEHO~OMY, [en. xv. 1-28.