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1. When forty years were completed, within thirty days, Moses
gathered the congregation together near Jordan, where the city
Abila now stands, a place full of palm-trees; and all the people
being come together, he spake thus to them: -
2. "O you Israelites and fellow soldiers, who have been partners
with me in this long and uneasy journey; since it is now the will
of God, and the course of old age, at a hundred and twenty,
requires it that I should depart out of this life; and since God
has forbidden me to be a patron or an assistant to you in what
remains to be done beyond Jordan; I thought it reasonable not to
leave off my endeavors even now for your happiness, but to do my
utmost to procure for you the eternal enjoyment of good things,
and a memorial for myself, when you shall be in the fruition of
great plenty and prosperity. Come, therefore, let me suggest to
you by what means you may he happy, and may leave an eternal
prosperous possession thereof to your children after you, and
then let me thus go out of the world; and I cannot but deserve to
be believed by you, both on account of the great things I have
already done for you, and because, when souls are about to leave
the body, they speak with the sincerest freedom. O children of
Israel! there is but one source of happiness for all mankind, the
favor of God for he alone is able to give good things to
those that deserve them, and to deprive those of them that sin
against him; towards whom, if you behave yourselves according to
his will, and according to what I, who well understand his mind,
do exhort you to, you will both be esteemed blessed, and will be
admired by all men; and will never come into misfortunes, nor
cease to be happy: you will then preserve the possession of the
good things you already have, and will quickly obtain those that
you are at present in want of, - only do you be obedient to those
whom God would have you to follow. Nor do you prefer any other
constitution of government before the laws now given you; neither
do you disregard that way of Divine worship which you now have,
nor change it for any other form: and if you do this, you will be
the most courageous of all men, in undergoing the fatigues of
war, and will not be easily conquered by any of your enemies; for
while God is present with you to assist you, it is to be expected
that you will be able to despise the opposition of all mankind;
and great rewards of virtue are proposed for you, if you preserve
that virtue through your whole lives. Virtue itself is indeed the
principal and the first reward, and after that it bestows
abundance of others; so that your exercise of virtue towards
other men will make your own lives happy, and render you more
glorious than foreigners can be, and procure you an undisputed
reputation with posterity. These blessings you will be able to
obtain, in case you hearken to and observe those laws which, by
Divine revelation, I have ordained for you; that is, in case you
withal meditate upon the wisdom that is in them. I am going from
you myself, rejoicing in the good things you enjoy; and I
recommend you to the wise conduct of your law, to the becoming
order of your polity, and to the virtues of your commanders, who
will take care of what is for your advantage. And that God, who
has been till now your Leader, and by whose goodwill I have
myself been useful to you, will not put a period now to his
providence over you, but as long as you desire to have him your
Protector in your pursuits after virtue, so long will you enjoy
his care over you. Your high priest also Eleazar, as well as
Joshua, with the senate, and chief of your tribes, will go before
you, and suggest the best advices to you; by following which
advices you will continue to be happy: to whom do you give ear
without reluctance, as sensible that all such as know well how to
be governed, will also know how to govern, if they be promoted to
that authority themselves. And do not you esteem liberty to
consist in opposing such directions as your governors think fit
to give you for your practice, - as at present indeed you place
your liberty in nothing else but abusing your benefactors; which
error if you can avoid for the time to come, your affairs will be
in a better condition than they have hitherto been. Nor do you
ever indulge such a degree of passion in these matters, as you
have oftentimes done when you have been very angry at me; for you
know that I have been oftener in danger of death from you than
from our enemies. What I now put you in mind of, is not done in
order to reproach you; for I do not think it proper, now I am
going out of the world, to bring this to your remembrance, in
order to leave you offended at me, since, at the time when I
underwent those hardships from you, I was not angry at you; but I
do it in order to make you wiser hereafter, and to teach you that
this will be for your security; I mean, that you never be
injurious to those that preside over you, even when you are
become rich, as you will he to a great degree when you have
passed over Jordan, and are in possession of the land of Canaan.
Since, when you shall have once proceeded so far by your wealth,
as to a contempt and disregard of virtue, you will also forfeit
the favor of God; and when you have made him your enemy, you will
be beaten in war, and will have the land which you possess taken
away again from you by your enemies, and this with great
reproaches upon your conduct. You will be scattered over the
whole world, and will, as slaves, entirely fill both sea and
land; and when once you have had the experience of what I now
say, you will repent, and remember the laws you have broken, when
it is too late. Whence I would advise you, if you intend to
preserve these laws, to leave none of your enemies alive when you
have conquered them, but to look upon it as for your advantage to
destroy them all, lest, if you permit them to live, you taste of
their manners, and thereby corrupt your own proper institutions.
I also do further exhort you, to overthrow their altars, and
their groves, and whatsoever temples they have among them, and to
burn all such, their nation, and their very memory with fire; for
by this means alone the safety of your own happy constitution can
be firmly secured to you. And in order to prevent your ignorance
of virtue, and the degeneracy of your nature into vice, I have
also ordained you laws, by Divine suggestion, and a form of
government, which are so good, that if you regularly observe
them, you will be esteemed of all men the most happy."
3. When he had spoken thus, he gave them the laws and the
constitution of government written in a book. Upon which the
people fell into tears, and appeared already touched with the
sense that they should have a great want of their conductor,
because they remembered what a number of dangers he had passed
through, and what care he had taken of their preservation: they
desponded about what would come upon them after he was dead, and
thought they should never have another governor like him; and
feared that God would then take less care of them when Moses was
gone, who used to intercede for them. They also repented of what
they had said to him in the wilderness when they were angry, and
were in grief on those accounts, insomuch that the whole body of
the people fell into tears with such bitterness, that it was past
the power of words to comfort them in their affliction. However,
Moses gave them some consolation; and by calling them off the
thought how worthy he was of their weeping for him, he exhorted
them to keep to that form of government he had given them; and
then the congregation was dissolved at that time.
4. Accordingly, I shall now first describe this form of
government which was agreeable to the dignity and virtue of
Moses; and shall thereby inform those that read these
Antiquities, what our original settlements were, and shall then
proceed to the remaining histories. Now those settlements are all
still in writing, as he left them; and we shall add nothing by
way of ornament, nor any thing besides what Moses left us; only
we shall so far innovate, as to digest the several kinds of laws
into a regular system; for they were by him left in writing as
they were accidentally scattered in their delivery, and as he
upon inquiry had learned them of God. On which account I have
thought it necessary to premise this observation beforehand, lest
any of my own countrymen should blame me, as having been guilty
of an offense herein. Now part of our constitution will include
the laws that belong to our political state. As for those laws
which Moses left concerning our common conversation and
intercourse one with another, I have reserved that for a
discourse concerning our manner of life, and the occasions of
those laws; which I propose to myself, with God's assistance, to
write, after I have finished the work I am now upon.
5. When you have possessed yourselves of the land of Canaan, and
have leisure to enjoy the good things of it, and when you have
afterward determined to build cities, if you will do what is
pleasing to God, you will have a secure state of happiness. Let
there be then one city of the land of Canaan, and this situate in
the most agreeable place for its goodness, and very eminent in
itself, and let it be that which God shall choose for himself by
prophetic revelation. Let there also be one temple therein, and
one altar, not reared of hewn stones, but of such as you gather
together at random; which stones, when they are whited over with
mortar, will have a handsome appearance, and be beautiful to the
sight. Let the ascent to it be not by steps but by an
acclivity of raised earth. And let there be neither an altar nor
a temple in any other city; for God is but one, and the nation of
the Hebrews is but one.
6. He that blasphemeth God, let him be stoned; and let him hang
upon a tree all that day, and then let him be buried in an
ignominious and obscure manner.
7. Let those that live as remote as the bounds of the land which
the Hebrews shall possess, come to that city where the temple
shall be, and this three times in a year, that they may give
thanks to God for his former benefits, and may entreat him for
those they shall want hereafter; and let them, by this means,
maintain a friendly correspondence with one another by such
meetings and feastings together, for it is a good thing for those
that are of the same stock, and under the same institution of
laws, not to be unacquainted with each other; which acquaintance
will be maintained by thus conversing together, and by seeing and
talking with one another, and so renewing the memorials of this
union; for if they do not thus converse together continually,
they will appear like mere strangers to one another.
8. Let there be taken out of your fruits a tenth, besides that
which you have allotted to give to the priests and Levites. This
you may indeed sell in the country, but it is to be used in those
feasts and sacrifices that are to be celebrated in the holy city;
for it is fit that you should enjoy those fruits of the earth
which God gives you to possess, so as may be to the honor of the
donor.
9. You are not to offer sacrifices out of the hire of a woman who
is a harlot for the Deity is not pleased with any thing that
arises from such abuses of nature; of which sort none can be
worse than this prostitution of the body. In like manner no one
may take the price of the covering of a bitch, either of one that
is used in hunting, or in keeping of sheep, and thence sacrifice
to God.
10. Let no one blaspheme those gods which other cities esteem
such; nor may any one steal what belongs to strange temples,
nor take away the gifts that are dedicated to any god.
11. Let not any one of you wear a garment made of woolen and
linen, for that is appointed to be for the priests alone.
12. When the multitude are assembled together unto the holy city
for sacrificing every seventh year, at the feast of tabernacles,
let the high priest stand upon a high desk, whence he may be
heard, and let him read the laws to all the people; and let
neither the women nor the children be hindered from hearing, no,
nor the servants neither; for it is a good thing that those laws
should be engraven in their souls, and preserved in their
memories, that so it may not be possible to blot them out; for by
this means they will not be guilty of sin, when they cannot plead
ignorance of what the laws have enjoined them. The laws also will
have a greater authority among them, as foretelling what they
will suffer if they break them; and imprinting in their souls by
this hearing what they command them to do, that so there may
always be within their minds that intention of the laws which
they have despised and broken, and have thereby been the causes
of their own mischief. Let the children also learn the laws, as
the first thing they are taught, which will be the best thing
they can be taught, and will be the cause of their future
felicity.
13. Let every one commemorate before God the benefits which he
bestowed upon them at their deliverance out of the land of Egypt,
and this twice every day, both when the day begins and when the
hour of sleep comes on, gratitude being in its own nature a just
thing, and serving not only by way of return for past, but also
by way of invitation of future favors. They are also to inscribe
the principal blessings they have received from God upon their
doors, and show the same remembrance of them upon their arms; as
also they are to bear on their forehead and their arm those
wonders which declare the power of God, and his good-will towards
them, that God's readiness to bless them may appear every where
conspicuous about them.
14. Let there be seven men to judge in every city, and these
such as have been before most zealous in the exercise of virtue
and righteousness. Let every judge have two officers allotted him
out of the tribe of Levi. Let those that are chosen to judge in
the several cities be had in great honor; and let none be
permitted to revile any others when these are present, nor to
carry themselves in an insolent manner to them; it being natural
that reverence towards those in high offices among men should
procure men's fear and reverence towards God. Let those that
judge be permitted to determine according as they think to be
right, unless any one can show that they have taken bribes, to
the perversion of justice, or can allege any other accusation
against them, whereby it may appear that they have passed an
unjust sentence; for it is not fit that causes should be openly
determined out of regard to gain, or to the dignity of the
suitors, but that the judges should esteem what is right before
all other things, otherwise God will by that means be despised,
and esteemed inferior to those, the dread of whose power has
occasioned the unjust sentence; for justice is the power of God.
He therefore that gratifies those in great dignity, supposes them
more potent than God himself. But if these judges be unable to
give a just sentence about the causes that come before them,
(which case is not unfrequent in human affairs,) let them send
the cause undetermined to the holy city, and there let the high
priest, the prophet, and the sanhedrim, determine as it shall
seem good to them.
15. But let not a single witness be credited, but three, or two
at the least, and those such whose testimony is confirmed by
their good lives. But let not the testimony of women be admitted,
on account of the levity and boldness of their sex Nor let
servants be admitted to give testimony, on account of the
ignobility of their soul; since it is probable that they may not
speak truth, either out of hope of gain, or fear of punishment.
But if any one be believed to have borne false witness, let him,
when he is convicted, suffer all the very same punishments which
he against whom he bore witness was to have suffered.
16. If a murder be committed in any place, and he that did it be
not found, nor is there any suspicion upon one as if he had hated
the man, and so had killed him, let there be a very diligent
inquiry made after the man, and rewards proposed to any one who
will discover him; but if still no information can be procured,
let the magistrates and senate of those cities that lie near the
place in which the murder was committed, assemble together, and
measure the distance from the place where the dead body lies;
then let the magistrates of the nearest city thereto purchase a
heifer, and bring it to a valley, and to a place therein where
there is no land ploughed or trees planted, and let them cut the
sinews of the heifer; then the priests and Levites, and the
senate of that city, shall take water and wash their hands over
the head of the heifer; and they shall openly declare that their
hands are innocent of this murder, and that they have neither
done it themselves, nor been assisting to any that did it. They
shall also beseech God to be merciful to them, that no such
horrid act may any more be done in that land.
17. Aristocracy, and the way of living under it, is the best
constitution: and may you never have any inclination to any other
form of government; and may you always love that form, and have
the laws for your governors, and govern all your actions
according to them; for you need no supreme governor but God. But
if you shall desire a king, let him be one of your own nation;
let him be always careful of justice and other virtues
perpetually; let him submit to the laws, and esteem God's
commands to be his highest wisdom; but let him do nothing without
the high priest and the votes of the senators: let him not have a
great number of wives, nor pursue after abundance of riches, nor
a multitude of horses, whereby he may grow too proud to submit to
the laws. And if he affect any such things, let him be
restrained, lest he become so potent that his state be
inconsistent with your welfare.
18. Let it not be esteemed lawful to remove boundaries, neither
our own, nor of those with whom we are at peace. Have a care you
do not take those landmarks away which are, as it were, a divine
and unshaken limitation of rights made by God himself, to last
for ever; since this going beyond limits, and gaining ground upon
others, is the occasion of wars and seditions; for those that
remove boundaries are not far off an attempt to subvert the laws.
19. He that plants a piece of land, the trees of which produce
fruits before the fourth year, is not to bring thence any
first-fruits to God, nor is he to make use of that fruit himself,
for it is not produced in its proper season; for when nature has
a force put upon her at an unseasonable time, the fruit is not
proper for God, nor for the master's use; but let the owner
gather all that is grown on the fourth car, for then it is in its
proper season. And let him that has gathered it carry it to the
holy city, and spend that, together with the tithe of his other
fruits, in feasting with his friends, with the orphans, and the
widows. But on the fifth year the fruit is his own, and he may
use it as he pleases.
20. You are not to sow with seed a piece of land which is planted
with vines, for it is enough that it supply nourishment to that
plant, and be not harassed by ploughing also. You are to plough
your land with oxen, and not to oblige other animals to come
under the same yoke with them; but to till your land with those
beasts that are of the same kind with each other. The seeds are
also to be pure, and without mixture, and not to be compounded of
two or three sorts, since nature does not rejoice in the union of
things that are not in their own nature alike; nor are you to
permit beasts of different kinds to gender together, for there is
reason to fear that this unnatural abuse may extend from beasts
of different kinds to men, though it takes its first rise from
evil practices about such smaller things. Nor is any thing to be
allowed, by imitation whereof any degree of subversion may creep
into the constitution. Nor do the laws neglect small matters, but
provide that even those may be managed after an unblamable
manner.
21. Let not those that reap, and gather in the corn that is
reaped, gather in the gleanings also; but let them rather leave
some handfuls for those that are in want of the necessaries of
life, that it may be a support and a supply to them, in order to
their subsistence. In like manner when they gather their grapes,
let them leave some smaller bunches for the poor, and let them
pass over some of the fruits of the olive-trees, when they gather
them, and leave them to be partaken of by those that have none of
their own; for the advantage arising from the exact collection of
all, will not be so considerable to the owners as will arise from
the gratitude of the poor. And God will provide that the land
shall more willingly produce what shall be for the nourishment of
its fruits, in case you do not merely take care of your own
advantage, but have regard to the support of others also. Nor are
you to muzzle the mouths of the oxen when they tread the ears of
corn in the thrashing-floor; for it is not just to restrain our
fellow-laboring animals, and those that work in order to its
production, of this fruit of their labors. Nor are you to
prohibit those that pass by at the time when your fruits are ripe
to touch them, but to give them leave to fill themselves full of
what you have; and this whether they be of your own country or
strangers, - as being glad of the opportunity of giving them some
part of your fruits when they are ripe; but let it not be
esteemed lawful for them to carry any away. Nor let those that
gather the grapes, and carry them to the wine-presses, restrain
those whom they meet from eating of them; for it is unjust, out
of envy, to hinder those that desire it, to partake of the good
things that come into the world according to God's will, and this
while the season is at the height, and is hastening away as it
pleases God. Nay, if some, out of bashfulness, are unwilling to
touch these fruits, let them be encouraged to take of them (I
mean, those that are Israelites) as if they were themselves the
owners and lords, on account of the kindred there is between
them. Nay, let them desire men that come from other countries, to
partake of these tokens of friendship which God has given in
their proper season; for that is not to be deemed as idly spent,
which any one out of kindness communicates to another, since God
bestows plenty of good things on men, not only for themselves to
reap the advantage, but also to give to others in a way of
generosity; and he is desirous, by this means, to make known to
others his peculiar kindness to the people of Israel, and how
freely he communicates happiness to them, while they abundantly
communicate out of their great superfluities to even these
foreigners also. But for him that acts contrary to this law, let
him be beaten with forty stripes save one by the public
executioner; let him undergo this punishment, which is a most
ignominious one for a free-man, and this because he was such a
slave to gain as to lay a blot upon his dignity; for it is proper
for you who have had the experience of the afflictions in Egypt,
and of those in the wilderness, to make provision for those that
are in the like circumstances; and while you have now obtained
plenty yourselves, through the mercy and providence of God, to
distribute of the same plenty, by the like sympathy, to such as
stand in need of it.
22. Besides those two tithes, which I have already said you are
to pay every year, the one for the Levites, the other for the
festivals, you are to bring every third year a third tithe to be
distributed to those that want; to women also that are
widows, and to children that are orphans. But as to the ripe
fruits, let them carry that which is ripe first of all into the
temple; and when they have blessed God for that land which bare
them, and which he had given them for a possession, when they
have also offered those sacrifices which the law has commanded
them to bring, let them give the first-fruits to the priests. But
when any one hath done this, and hath brought the tithe of all
that he hath, together with those first-fruits that are for the
Levites, and for the festivals, and when he is about to go home,
let him stand before the holy house, and return thanks to God,
that he hath delivered them from the injurious treatment they had
in Egypt, and hath given them a good land, and a large, and lets
them enjoy the fruits thereof; and when he hath openly testified
that he hath fully paid the tithes [and other dues] according to
the laws of Moses, let him entreat God that he will be ever
merciful and gracious to him, and continue so to be to all the
Hebrews, both by preserving the good things which he hath already
given them, and by adding what it is still in his power to bestow
upon them.
23. Let the Hebrews marry, at the age fit for it, virgins that
are free, and born of good parents. And he that does not marry a
virgin, let him not corrupt another man's wife, and marry her,
nor grieve her former husband. Nor let free men marry slaves,
although their affections should strongly bias any of them so to
do; for it is decent, and for the dignity of the persons
themselves, to govern those their affections. And further, no one
ought to marry a harlot, whose matrimonial oblations, arising
from the prostitution of her body, God will not receive; for by
these means the dispositions of the children will be liberal and
virtuous; I mean, when they are not born of base parents, and of
the lustful conjunction of such as marry women that are not free.
If any one has been espoused to a woman as to a virgin, and does
not afterward find her so to be, let him bring his action, and
accuse her, and let him make use of such indications to
prove his accusation as he is furnished withal; and let the
father or the brother of the damsel, or some one that is after
them nearest of kin to her, defend her If the damsel obtain a
sentence in her favor, that she had not been guilty, let her live
with her husband that accused her; and let him not have any
further power at all to put her away, unless she give him very
great occasions of suspicion, and such as can be no way
contradicted. But for him that brings an accusation and calumny
against his wife in an impudent and rash manner, let him be
punished by receiving forty stripes save one, and let him pay
fifty shekels to her father: but if the damsel be convicted, as
having been corrupted, and is one of the common people, let her
be stoned, because she did not preserve her virginity till she
were lawfully married; but if she were the daughter of a priest,
let her be burnt alive. If any one has two wives, and if he
greatly respect and be kind to one of them, either out of his
affection to her, or for her beauty, or for some other reason,
while the other is of less esteem with him; and if the son of her
that is beloved be the younger by birth than another born of the
other wife, but endeavors to obtain the right of primogeniture
from his father's kindness to his mother, and would thereby
obtain a double portion of his father's substance, for that
double portion is what I have allotted him in the laws, - let not
this be permitted; for it is unjust that he who is the elder by
birth should be deprived of what is due to him, on the father's
disposition of his estate, because his mother was not equally
regarded by him. He that hath corrupted a damsel espoused to
another man, in case he had her consent, let both him and her be
put to death, for they are both equally guilty; the man, because
he persuaded the woman willingly to submit to a most impure
action, and to prefer it to lawful wedlock; the woman, because
she was persuaded to yield herself to be corrupted, either for
pleasure or for gain. However, if a man light on a woman when she
is alone, and forces her, where nobody was present to come to her
assistance, let him only be put to death. Let him that hath
corrupted a virgin not yet espoused marry her; but if the father
of the damsel be not willing that she should be his wife, let him
pay fifty shekels as the price of her prostitution. He that
desires to be divorced from his wife for any cause
whatsoever, (and many such causes happen among men,) let him in
writing give assurance that he will never use her as his wife any
more; for by this means she may be at liberty to marry another
husband, although before this bill of divorce be given, she is
not to be permitted so to do: but if she be misused by him also,
or if, when he is dead, her first husband would marry her again,
it shall not be lawful for her to return to him. If a woman's
husband die, and leave her without children, let his brother
marry her, and let him call the son that is born to him by his
brother's name, and educate him as the heir of his inheritance,
for this procedure will be for the benefit of the public, because
thereby families will not fail, and the estate will continue
among the kindred; and this will be for the solace of wives under
their affliction, that they are to be married to the next
relation of their former husbands. But if the brother will not
marry her, let the woman come before the senate, and protest
openly that this brother will not admit her for his wife, but
will injure the memory of his deceased brother, while she is
willing to continue in the family, and to hear him children. And
when the senate have inquired of him for what reason it is that
he is averse to this marriage, whether he gives a bad or a good
reason, the matter must come to this issue, That the woman shall
loose the sandals of the brother, and shall spit in his face, and
say, He deserves this reproachful treatment from her, as having
injured the memory of the deceased. And then let him go away out
of the senate, and bear this reproach upon him all his life long;
and let her marry to whom she pleases, of such as seek her in
marriage. But now, if any man take captive, either a virgin, or
one that hath been married, and has a mind to marry her, let
him not be allowed to bring her to bed to him, or to live with
her as his wife, before she hath her head shaven, and hath put on
her mourning habit, and lamented her relations and friends that
were slain in the battle, that by this means she may give vent to
her sorrow for them, and after that may betake herself to
feasting and matrimony; for it is good for him that takes a
woman, in order to have children by her, to be complaisant to her
inclinations, and not merely to pursue his own pleasure, while he
hath no regard to what is agreeable to her. But when thirty days
are past, as the time of mourning, for so many are sufficient to
prudent persons for lamenting the dearest friends, then let them
proceed to the marriage; but in case when he hath satisfied his
lust, he be too proud to retain her for his wife, let him not
have it in his power to make her a slave, but let her go away
whither she pleases, and have that privilege of a free woman.
24. As to those young men that despise their parents, and do not
pay them honor, but offer them affronts, either because they are
ashamed of them or think themselves wiser than they, - in the
first place, let their parents admonish them in words, (for they
are by nature of authority sufficient for becoming their judges,)
and let them say thus to them: - That they cohabited together,
not for the sake of pleasure, nor for the augmentation of their
riches, by joining both their stocks together, but that they
might have children to take care of them in their old age, and
might by them have what they then should want. And say further to
him, "That when thou wast born, we took thee up with gladness,
and gave God the greatest thanks for thee, and brought time up
with great care, and spared for nothing that appeared useful for
thy preservation, and for thy instruction in what was most
excellent. And now, since it is reasonable to forgive the sins of
those that are young, let it suffice thee to have given so many
indications Of thy contempt of us; reform thyself, and act more
wisely for the time to come; considering that God is displeased
with those that are insolent towards their parents, because he is
himself the Father of the whole race of mankind, and seems to
bear part of that dishonor which falls upon those that have the
same name, when they do not meet with dire returns from their
children. And on such the law inflicts inexorable punishment; of
which punishment mayst thou never have the experience." Now if
the insolence of young men be thus cured, let them escape the
reproach which their former errors deserved; for by this means
the lawgiver will appear to be good, and parents happy, while
they never behold either a son or a daughter brought to
punishment. But if it happen that these words and instructions,
conveyed by them in order to reclaim the man, appear to be
useless, then the offender renders the laws implacable enemies to
the insolence he has offered his parents; let him therefore be
brought forth by these very parents out of the city, with a
multitude following him, and there let him be stoned; and when he
has continued there for one whole day, that all the people may
see him, let him be buried in the night. And thus it is that we
bury all whom the laws condemn to die, upon any account
whatsoever. Let our enemies that fall in battle be also buried;
nor let any one dead body lie above the ground, or suffer a
punishment beyond what justice requires.
25. Let no one lend to any one of the Hebrews upon usury, neither
usury of what is eaten or what is drunken, for it is not just to
make advantage of the misfortunes of one of thy own countrymen;
but when thou hast been assistant to his necessities, think it
thy gain if thou obtainest their gratitude to thee; and withal
that reward which will come to thee from God, for thy humanity
towards him.
26. Those who have borrowed either silver or any sort of fruits,
whether dry or wet, (I mean this, when the Jewish affairs shall,
by the blessing of God, be to their own mind,) let the borrowers
bring them again, and restore them with pleasure to those who
lent them, laying them up, as it were, in their own treasuries,
and justly expecting to receive them thence, if they shall want
them again. But if they be without shame, and do not restore it,
let not the lender go to the borrower's house, and take a pledge
himself, before judgment be given concerning it; but let him
require the pledge, and let the debtor bring it of himself,
without the least opposition to him that comes upon him under the
protection of the law. And if he that gave the pledge be rich,
let the creditor retain it till what he lent be paid him again;
but if he be poor, let him that takes it return it before the
going down of the sun, especially if the pledge be a garment,
that the debtor may have it for a covering in his sleep, God
himself naturally showing mercy to the poor. It is also not
lawful to take a millstone, nor any utensil thereto belonging,
for a pledge, that the debtor, may not be deprived of instruments
to get their food withal, and lest they be undone by their
necessity.
27. Let death be the punishment for stealing a man; but he that
hath purloined gold or silver, let him pay double. If any one
kill a man that is stealing something out of his house, let him
be esteemed guiltless, although the man were only breaking in at
the wall. Let him that hath stolen cattle pay fourfold what is
lost, excepting the case of an ox, for which let the thief pay
fivefold. Let him that is so poor that he cannot pay what mulet
is laid upon him, be his servant to whom he was adjudged to pay
it.
28. If any one be sold to one of his own nation, let him serve
him six years, and on the seventh let him go free. But if he have
a son by a woman servant in his purchaser's house, and if, on
account of his good-will to his master, and his natural affection
to his wife and children, he will be his servant still, let him
be set free only at the coming of the year of jubilee, which is
the fiftieth year, and let him then take away with him his
children and wife, and let them be free also.
29. If any one find gold or silver on the road, let him inquire
after him that lost it, and make proclamation of the place where
he found it, and then restore it to him again, as not thinking it
right to make his own profit by the loss of another. And the same
rule is to be observed in cattle found to have wandered away into
a lonely place. If the owner be not presently discovered, let him
that is the finder keep it with himself, and appeal to God that
he has not purloined what belongs to another.
30. It is not lawful to pass by any beast that is in distress,
when in a storm it is fallen down in the mire, but to endeavor to
preserve it, as having a sympathy with it in its pain.
31. It is also a duty to show the roads to those who do not know
them, and not to esteem it a matter for sport, when we hinder
others' advantages, by setting them in a wrong way.
32. In like manner, let no one revile a person blind or dumb.
33. If men strive together, and there be no instrument of iron,
let him that is smitten be avenged immediately, by inflicting the
same punishment on him that smote him: but if when he is carried
home he lie sick many days, and then die, let him that smote him
not escape punishment; but if he that is smitten escape death,
and yet be at great expense for his cure, the smiter shall pay
for all that has been expended during the time of his sickness,
and for all that he has paid the physician. He that kicks a woman
with child, so that the woman miscarry, let him pay a fine
in money, as the judges shall determine, as having diminished the
multitude by the destruction of what was in her womb; and let
money also be given the woman's husband by him that kicked her;
but if she die of the stroke, let him also be put to death, the
law judging it equitable that life should go for life.
34. Let no one of the Israelites keep any poison that may
cause death, or any other harm; but if he be caught with it, let
him be put to death, and suffer the very same mischief that he
would have brought upon them for whom the poison was prepared.
35. He that maimeth any one, let him undergo the like himself,
and be deprived of the same member of which he hath deprived the
other, unless he that is maimed will accept of money instead of
it for the law makes the sufferer the judge of the value of
what he hath suffered, and permits him to estimate it, unless he
will be more severe.
36. Let him that is the owner of an ox which pusheth with his
horn, kill him: but if he pushes and gores any one in the
thrashing-floor, let him be put to death by stoning, and let him
not be thought fit for food: but if his owner be convicted as
having known what his nature was, and hath not kept him up, let
him also be put to death, as being the occasion of the ox's
having killed a man. But if the ox have killed a man-servant, or
a maid-servant, let him be stoned; and let the owner of the ox
pay thirty shekels to the master of him that was slain; but
if it be an ox that is thus smitten and killed, let both the
oxen, that which smote the other and that which was killed, be
sold, and let the owners of them divide their price between them.
37. Let those that dig a well or a pit be careful to lay planks
over them, and so keep them shut up, not in order to hinder any
persons from drawing water, but that there may be no danger of
falling into them. But if any one's beast fall into such a well
or pit thus digged, and not shut up, and perish, let the owner
pay its price to the owner of the beast. Let there be a
battlement round the tops of your houses instead of a wall, that
may prevent any persons from rolling down and perishing.
38. Let him that has received any thing in trust for another,
take care to keep it as a sacred and divine thing; and let no one
invent any contrivance whereby to deprive him that hath intrusted
it with him of the same, and this whether he be a man or a woman;
no, not although he or she were to gain an immense sum of gold,
and this where he cannot be convicted of it by any body; for it
is fit that a man's own conscience, which knows what he hath,
should in all cases oblige him to do well. Let this conscience be
his witness, and make him always act so as may procure him
commendation from others; but let him chiefly have regard to God,
from whom no wicked man can lie concealed: but if he in whom the
trust was reposed, without any deceit of his own, lose what he
was intrusted withal, let him come before the seven judges, and
swear by God that nothing hath been lost willingly, or with a
wicked intention, and that he hath not made use of any part
thereof, and so let him depart without blame; but if he hath made
use of the least part of what was committed to him, and it be
lost, let him be condemned to repay all that he had received.
After the same manner as in these trusts it is to be, if any one
defraud those that undergo bodily labor for him. And let it be
always remembered, that we are not to defraud a poor man of his
wages, as being sensible that God has allotted these wages to him
instead of land and other possessions; nay, this payment is not
at all to be delayed, but to be made that very day, since God is
not willing to deprive the laborer of the immediate use of what
he hath labored for.
39. You are not to punish children for the faults of their
parents, but on account of their own virtue rather to vouchsafe
them commiseration, because they were born of wicked parents,
than hatred, because they were born of bad ones. Nor indeed ought
we to impute the sin of children to their fathers, while young
persons indulge themselves in many practices different from what
they have been instructed in, and this by their proud refusal of
such instruction.
40. Let those that have made themselves eunuchs be had in
detestation; and do you avoid any conversation with them who have
deprived themselves of their manhood, and of that fruit of
generation which God has given to men for the increase of their
kind: let such be driven away, as if they had killed their
children, since they beforehand have lost what should procure
them; for evident it is, that while their soul is become
effeminate, they have withal transfused that effeminacy to their
body also. In like manner do you treat all that is of a monstrous
nature when it is looked on; nor is it lawful to geld men or any
other animals.
41. Let this be the constitution of your political laws in time
of peace, and God will be so merciful as to preserve this
excellent settlement free from disturbance: and may that time
never come which may innovate any thing, and change it for the
contrary. But since it must needs happen that mankind fall into
troubles and dangers, either undesignedly or intentionally, come
let us make a few constitutions concerning them, that so being
apprised beforehand what ought to be done, you may have salutary
counsels ready when you want them, and may not then be obliged to
go to seek what is to be done, and so be unprovided, and fall
into dangerous circumstances. May you be a laborious people, and
exercise your souls in virtuous actions, and thereby possess and
inherit the land without wars; while neither any foreigners make
war upon it, and so afflict you, nor any internal sedition seize
upon it, whereby you may do things that are contrary to your
fathers, and so lose the laws which they have established. And
may you continue in the observation of those laws which God hath
approved of, and hath delivered to you. Let all sort of warlike
operations, whether they befall you now in your own time, or
hereafter in the times of your posterity, be done out of your own
borders: but when you are about to go to war, send embassages and
heralds to those who are your voluntary enemies, for it is a
right thing to make use of words to them before you come to your
weapons of war; and assure them thereby, that although you have a
numerous army, with horses and weapons, and, above these, a God
merciful to you, and ready to assist you, you do however desire
them not to compel you to fight against them, nor to take from
them what they have, which will indeed be our gain, but what they
will have no reason to wish we should take to ourselves. And if
they hearken to you, it will be proper for you to keep peace with
them; but if they trust in their own strength, as superior to
yours, and will not do you justice, lead your army against them,
making use of God as your supreme Commander, but ordaining for a
lieutenant under him one that is of the greatest courage among
you; for these different commanders, besides their being an
obstacle to actions that are to be done on the sudden, are a
disadvantage to those that make use of them. Lead an army pure,
and of chosen men, composed of all such as have extraordinary
strength of body and hardiness of soul; but do you send away the
timorous part, lest they run away in the time of action, and so
afford an advantage to your enemies. Do you also give leave to
those that have lately built them houses, and have not yet lived
in them a year's time; and to those that have planted them
vineyards, and have not yet been partakers of their fruits, - to
continue in their own country; as well as those also who have
betrothed, or lately married them wives, lest they have such an
affection for these things that they he too sparing of their
lives, and, by reserving themselves for these enjoyments, they
become voluntary cowards, on account of their wives.
42. When you have pitched your camp, take care that you do
nothing that is cruel. And when you are engaged in a siege; and
want timber for the making of warlike engines, do not you render
the land naked by cutting down trees that bear fruit, but spare
them, as considering that they were made for the benefit of men;
and that if they could speak, they would have a just plea against
you, because, though they are not occasions of the war, they are
unjustly treated, and suffer in it, and would, if they were able,
remove themselves into another land. When you have beaten your
enemies in battle, slay those that have fought against you; but
preserve the others alive, that they may pay you tribute,
excepting the nation of the Canaanites; for as to that people,
you must entirely destroy them.
43, Take care, especially in your battles, that no woman use the
habit of a man, nor man the garment of a woman.
44. This was the form of political government which was left us
by Moses. Moreover, he had already delivered laws in writing
in the fortieth year [after they came out of Egypt], concerning
which we will discourse in another book. But now on the following
days (for he called them to assemble continually) he delivered
blessings to them, and curses upon those that should not live
according to the laws, but should transgress the duties that were
determined for them to observe. After this, he read to them a
poetic song, which was composed in hexameter verse, and left it
to them in the holy book: it contained a prediction of what was
to come to pass afterward; agreeably whereto all things have
happened all along, and do still happen to us; and wherein he has
not at all deviated from the truth. Accordingly, he delivered
these books to the priest, with the ark; into which he also
put the ten commandments, written on two tables. He delivered to
them the tabernacle also, and exhorted the people, that when they
had conquered the land, and were settled in it, they should not
forget the injuries of the Amalekites, but make war against them,
and inflict punishment upon them for what mischief they did them
when they were in the wilderness; and that when they had got
possession of the land of the Canaanites, and when they had
destroyed the whole multitude of its inhabitants, as they ought
to do, they should erect an altar that should face the rising
sun, not far from the city of Shechem, between the two mountains,
that of Gerizzim, situate on the right hand, and that called
Ebal, on the left; and that the army should be so divided, that
six tribes should stand upon each of the two mountains, and with
them the Levites and the priests. And that first, those that were
upon Mount Gerizzim should pray for the best blessings upon those
who were diligent about the worship of God, and the observation
of his laws, and who did not reject what Moses had said to them;
while the other wished them all manner of happiness also; and
when these last put up the like prayers, the former praised them.
After this, curses were denounced upon those that should
transgress those laws, they ,answering one another alternately,
by way of confirmation of what had been said. Moses also wrote
their blessings and their curses, that they might learn them so
thoroughly, that they might never be forgotten by length of time.
And when he was ready to die, he wrote these blessings and curses
upon the altar, on each side of it; where he says also the people
stood, and then sacrificed and offered burnt-offerings, though
after that day they never offered upon it any other sacrifice,
for it was not lawful so to do. These are the constitutions of
Moses; and the Hebrew nation still live according to them.
45. On the next day, Moses called the people together, with the
women and children, to a congregation, so as the very slaves were
present also, that they might engage themselves to the
observation of these laws by oath; and that, duly considering the
meaning of God in them, they might not, either for favor of their
kindred, or out of fear of any one, or indeed for any motive
whatsoever, think any thing ought to be preferred to these laws,
and so might transgress them. That in case any one of their own
blood, or any city, should attempt to confound or dissolve their
constitution of government, they should take vengeance upon them,
both all in general, and each person in particular; and when they
had conquered them, should overturn their city to the very
foundations, and, if possible, should not leave the least
footsteps of such madness: but that if they were not able to take
such vengeance, they should still demonstrate that what was done
was contrary to their wills. So the multitude bound themselves by
oath so to do.
46. Moses taught them also by what means their sacrifices might
be the most acceptable to God; and how they should go forth to
war, making use of the stones (in the high priest's breastplate)
for their direction, as I have before signified. Joshua also
prophesied while Moses was present. And when Moses had
recapitulated whatsoever he had done for the preservation of the
people, both in their wars and in peace, and had composed them a
body of laws, and procured them an excellent form of government,
he foretold, as God had declared to him "That if they
transgressed that institution for the worship of God, they should
experience the following miseries: - Their land should be full of
weapons of war from their enemies, and their cities should be
overthrown, and their temple should be burnt that they should be
sold for slaves, to such men as would have no pity on them in
their afflictions; that they would then repent, when that
repentance would no way profit them under their sufferings.
"Yet," said he, "will that God who founded your nation, restore
your cities to your citizens, with their temple also; and you
shall lose these advantages not once only, but often."
47. Now when Moses had encouraged Joshua to lead out the army
against the Canaanites, by telling him that God would assist him
in all his undertakings, and had blessed the whole multitude, he
said, "Since I am going to my forefathers, and God has determined
that this should be the day of my departure to them, I return him
thanks while I am still alive and present with you, for that
providence he hath exercised over you, which hath not only
delivered us from the miseries we lay under, but hath bestowed a
state of prosperity upon us; as also, that he hath assisted me in
the pains I took, and in all the contrivances I had in my care
about you, in order to better your condition, and hath on all
occasions showed himself favorable to us; or rather he it was who
first conducted our affairs, and brought them to a happy
conclusion, by making use of me as a vicarious general under him,
and as a minister in those matters wherein he was willing to do
you good: on which account I think it proper to bless that Divine
Power which will take care of you for the time to come, and this
in order to repay that debt which I owe him, and to leave behind
me a memorial that we are obliged to worship and honor him, and
to keep those laws which are the most excellent gift of all those
he hath already bestowed upon us, or which, if he continue
favorable to us, he will bestow upon us hereafter. Certainly a
human legislator is a terrible enemy when his laws are affronted,
and are made to no purpose. And may you never experience that
displeasure of God which will be the consequence of the neglect
of these his laws, which he, who is your Creator, hath given
you."
48. When Moses had spoken thus at the end of his life, and had
foretold what would befall to every one of their tribes
afterward, with the addition of a blessing to them, the multitude
fell into tears, insomuch that even the women, by beating their
breasts, made manifest the deep concern they had when he was
about to die. The children also lamented still more, as not able
to contain their grief; and thereby declared, that even at their
age they were sensible of his virtue and mighty deeds; and truly
there seemed to be a strife betwixt the young and the old who
should most grieve for him. The old grieved because they knew
what a careful protector they were to be deprived of, and so
lamented their future state; but the young grieved, not only for
that, but also because it so happened that they were to be left
by him before they had well tasted of his virtue. Now one may
make a guess at the excess of this sorrow and lamentation of the
multitude, from what happened to the legislator himself; for
although he was always persuaded that he ought not to be cast
down at the approach of death, since the undergoing it was
agreeable to the will of God and the law of nature, yet what the
people did so overbore him, that he wept himself. Now as he went
thence to the place where he was to vanish out of their sight,
they all followed after him weeping; but Moses beckoned with his
hand to those that were remote from him, and bade them stay
behind in quiet, while he exhorted those that were near to him
that they would not render his departure so lamentable. Whereupon
they thought they ought to grant him that favor, to let him
depart according as he himself desired; so they restrained
themselves, though weeping still towards one another. All those
who accompanied him were the senate, and Eleazar the high priest,
and Joshua their commander. Now as soon as they were come to the
mountain called Abarim, (which is a very high mountain, situate
over against Jericho, and one that affords, to such as are upon
it, a prospect of the greatest part of the excellent land of
Canaan,) he dismissed the senate; and as he was going to embrace
Eleazar and Joshua, and was still discoursing with them, a cloud
stood over him on the sudden, and he disappeared in a certain
valley, although he wrote in the holy books that he died, which
was done out of fear, lest they should venture to say that,
because of his extraordinary virtue, he went to God.
49. Now Moses lived in all one hundred and twenty years; a third
part of which time, abating one month, he was the people's ruler;
and he died on the last month of the year, which is called by the
Macedonians Dystrus, but by us Adar, on the first day of the
month. He was one that exceeded all men that ever were in
understanding, and made the best use of what that understanding
suggested to him. He had a very graceful way of speaking and
addressing himself to the multitude; and as to his other
qualifications, he had such a full command of his passions, as if
he hardly had any such in his soul, and only knew them by their
names, as rather perceiving them in other men than in himself. He
was also such a general of an army as is seldom seen, as well as
such a prophet as was never known, and this to such a degree,
that whatsoever he pronounced, you would think you heard the
voice of God himself. So the people mourned for him thirty days:
nor did ever any grief so deeply affect the Hebrews as did this
upon the death of Moses: nor were those that had experienced his
conduct the only persons that desired him, but those also that
perused the laws he left behind him had a strong desire after
him, and by them gathered the extraordinary virtue he was master
of. And this shall suffice for the declaration of the manner of
the death of Moses.
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