The Pulpit Commentary — Deuteronomy — Section 377

e.nd if she hath departed out of hie house, and of holy wedlock (ae by the former he showed he.th gone and become another man's; and his hatred of unjust divorcee) when, to en- if the latter husband hate 1,er, ancl writo hor conrage the newly married B"ainst the B bill of divorcement, o.nd give it in her cumbrances which tha.t est1>te bri";,"eth with hand, nnd send her out of his house; or if it, a.nd to settle their love ea.eh to "other, he the lntter husband who took her to be his exempted those men from all wara, cares, wife, die: her former husband, who sent her a.nd expenses, that they might the more nwoy, mo.y not toke her ago.in to be his comfortably provide fol' their own estate•· wife," etc. (Ainsworth). Ver. 1.-Beoe.uee he ha.th found some un• Vers. 6-14.-Variou.s prohibitions. olea.nneee in her; litero.lly, a thing OT matter Ver. 6.-No man shall take the nether or of nakedness, i.e. some shameful thing, some- the upper millstone to pledge ; rather, the thing disgraceful; LXX., IJ.ux71µ.ov Trpii-yµ.a: handmill and the upper millslone (literally, Vulge.te, "e.lique.m fceditatem." In the Tar- the rider) shall not be taken (literally, one gum of Onkelos, the expression is explained shall not lake) in pledge. Neither the mill by D/(')!l n:i•;::,v.; "a.liquid fcerlite.tis" (London itself nor the upper millstone, the removal Polyglot);" iniquitas rei alicujus"(Bu.xtorf); of which would render the mill useless, was "the transgression of e. [Divine] word" to be taken. The upper millstone is still (Levi). On this the school of Hille! among called the rider by the Arabs (Hebrew the rabbins put the interpretation that e. man rechebh, A,;ro.bic rekkab). For he ta.keth a might divorce his wife for auy unbecoming- man's life to pledge; or/or (thereby) life itself ness (Mishna, 'Gittin,' ix. 10), or indeed for is pledged; if a man were depri rntl of that by e.ny cause, e.s the Pharisees in our Lord's which food for the sustaining of life could be day taught (Matt. xix. 3). The school of prepared, his life itself would be imperilled Shammai, on the ot\ier hand, taught that (cf. Job. xxii. 6; Prov. xxii. 27; Amos ii. 8). only for something disgraceful, such a.a Ver. 1.-..Against man-stealing: repetition, adultery, could a wife be divorced ( Lightfoot, with expansion, of the law in Bxod. xxi. 16. 'Hor. Heh. et Talm.,' on Matt. v. 31, Opp., Vers. 8, 9.-The law concerning the tom. ii. 290). Adultery, however, cannot leprosy is in Lev. xiii., xiv. By this law be supposed here because that was punish- the priests are directed how to proceed with o.ble with death. A bill of divorcement; those afflicted with leprosy ; and here the literally, a writing of excision; the man and people are counselled by Moses to follow woman having by marriage become one flesh, the directions of the priests in this case, the divorce of the woman we.a a cutting of however painful it might be for them to her off from the one whole. Lightfoot has submit to the restrictions that would be given (loc, cit.) different forms of letters of thereby imposed upon them, remembering divorce in use among the Jews (see also who.t the Lord did to Miriam the sister of Maimonides, • De Divortiis,' eh. iv. § 12). Moses, how even she was separated from the Ver. 4.-The woman was held to be .camp by the express command of God until defilctl by her second marriage, and thus by she was healed (Numb. rii. HJ. Michaelis, implication, the marrying of a woman who Keil, and others, following the Vulgate had been divorced was pronounced immoral, (" Observa diligenter ne incurras plagam os is by our Lord explicitly asserted (Matt. leprre sed facies qurecunque docuerint to v. 32). The prohibition of e. return of the sa.cerdotes "), understand this passa.ge as wife to her fir:;t husbo.nd, as well as the inculcating obedience to the priests, lest necessity of e. formal bill of divorcement leprosy should be incurred as a punishment being given to the woman before she could for disobedience. But it is improbable that be sent awo.y, could not foil to be checks on o. general counsel to submit to thtl priests the licence of divorce, e.s doubtless they should be introduced among the special were intended to be. counsels here given ; and besi,les, t.he Ver. 5.-A man newly married wo.s to be formula. ;i ii;iif;:, means," Take heed to your- exempt from going to war, and was not to self in respect of'' (of. 2 Sam. u. 10; Jer. have 1Lny public burdens imposed on him for xvii. 21), rather than "Beware of," or" Be o. yeo.r after his me.nio.ge. Cha.rged with any on your guard against." business; literally, there shall not pass upo11 Vers. J0-13.-lf one had to take a. pledge him for any mattei·; i.e. there shall not be from another, he was not to go into the laid on him anything in respect of nny house of the latter and ta.ke what he thought business. This is expla.ined by what follows. fit; he must stand without, aud a.How the Free shall he be for his house for one yea.r; debtor to bring to him who.I he saw meet to i.e. no public burden shall be laid on him, offer. He might stand outside e.nd summon that he may be free to devote himself entirely the debtor to produce his pledge, but he to his household relations, and be able to was not insolently to enter the house o.ntl cheer and glacluon his wife (comp. eh. xx. 7). lay hands on any pa.rt of the owner's pro- " :Uy thi@ law God s)lowecl how he t1pp~ovecl pe~ty. To stancl outside c1Dd call is still  THE BOOK OF DEU'l'EHONOMY. [en. XXIV, 1-22,