Laws of the fecond table: or, concerning the Jewish government, with the customs relating to it. 'HESE we fhall mention in the fame order as they are THESE in the decalogue; and begin with those which relate to parents, whether in a political or natural fense. The patriarchal government being become impracticable, by reafon of its being branched out into fo many families, whom GOD neverthelefs defigned to live as one, under one head, one religion, and one body of civil laws; and the precepts of Noah, or rather the laws of nature, being, perhaps, partly forgot, and partly corrupted, during their Egyptian thraldom; GOD was pleased to prevent all murmurings and oppofition, which fuch a change might caufe in fo untractable a people, by declaring, that himfelf would be their King, and appoint proper vicegerents from time to time, under whom the heads of families fhould govern and adminifter juftice to thofe under them, in exact conformity to his laws. Mofes was declared the first vicegerent, and accordingly it is faid, that he gave a law, or rather a body of laws, and an inheritance, unto the congregation of Jacob, and was king in, or over, fe longer efteemed as fuch; infomuch that they believed this kind of new converts to receive a new foul after baptifm (1). Well might therefore our Saviour wonder, that Nicodemus, who was a mafter in Ifrael, fhould hefitate at his difcourfe concerning a new birth (2). We find several other regulations concerning the prerogatives of these profelytes in the Talmud, and other Jewish writings, which we fhall not dwell upon; but fhall only take notice of a flagrant one, namely, that their admission did so totally cancel all former ties, either of blood or alliance, that even parents and their children might intermarry withour committing incest. And might it not be on this accourt that CHRIST condemns the fcribes and pharifees for compaffing sea and land to make a profelyte, and leaving him ten times more a child of hell than themselves (3)? for in what other fenfe they could be made worfe than that proud hypocritical fect, is hardly poffible to guess. (1) Vide Seld. ubi fup. & de F. N. & G. & Jac. Alting. difput. de profelyt. R. Mof. Kotz. R. Mof. Egypt. illur biath perek. Serrar. tribaref lib. ii, c. 2. Druf. de trib. fect. Fag. in Exod. xxii. 21, al in Deut. xxiii. 1. Vide & præc. neg. 113. & feqq. Leo de Moden. pt. v. c. 3. fub voc. Profelyte, & al (2) Jobn iii. 3, & feqq. Matth. xxiii. 15. I 4 Calm (3) Vide four un fburun, that is, over Ifrael (M), when the heads of the people and the tribes of Ifrael were gathered together; that is, as we understand the original, when the divided power of the heads of tribes and families centred in one head. To him fucceeded Joshua, the judges, and lastly the kings, but still by God's appointment (N). i Deut. xxxiii. 4 & 5. (M) The word jeburun is derived from jashar, to be righteous; which name is given them, not fo much for their righteousness, as for that of their progenitors, Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob; or more likely, perhaps, on account of thofe righteous laws which GOD himself had dictated unto them. (N) Nothing evinces more the reasonableness, or rather neceffity, of this change of government, than their conftant backflidings into all manner of idolatry and wickednefs at every interregnum, when their inferior rulers became fo remifs, that as often as we read that there was no judge among them, so often we find, that every one did that which was right in his own eyes, or that they did evil in the fight of GOD (4): but, as every defection brought its punifhment with it, they at length grew weary of their frequent captivities. But, inftead of having recourfe to GOD by repentance, they bethought themselves of that expedient of having a king, who fhould be always ready at hand to defend them; and GOD, having condefcended to their defire, appointed Saul to be their mo (4) Vide Judg. ii. 11, & feqq. xxi, 25. AND narch; and the Jewish commonwealth took then the name of a kingdom. This may be the reason why God, whom their ingratitude could not provoke to forfake them, though he refented this their imprudent defire of being governed by a king like other nations, gave them fo few laws to enforce their obedience to him, whilft he made fome coercive ones to restrain him from oppreffing them. The univerfal paffiveness of thofe nations, whom they wanted to imitate, as well as their own, whenever they were kept with a rigid hand, made the former unneceffary; and, on the other hand, the exceffive power, which was then lodged in the regal dignity, made it extremely dangerous, unless limited by wholsome restrictions. need not a more lively instance of this early defpotic power of kings, and of the people's base fubmiffion to it, than the horrid flaughter which Saul, their firft king, made of eighty-five guiltlefs priefts, and of all the innocent inhabitants of Nob, even to their very fucking children, and all their cattle (5): and, if this had not been likewife the cafe of other nations, Samuel could not have (5) 1 Sam. xxii. 18, 19. We AND what is very remarkable with refpect to the latter is, that we find nothing in the whole body of the Mofaic laws, to enforce an obedience to them, except the command, Honour thy father and thy mother m; which alluded moft likely to the patriarchal government; and an exprefs prohibition against curfing the rulers of the people"; whereas there are feveral very exprefs ones, to restrain them from abufing their power, and oppreffing their fubjects. Of this nature are those which exclude all strangers from being raised to that dignity, that forbid a king of Ifrael to multiply horfes, wives (O), riches, to marry ftrange women, and the like P; that oblige him to write a copy of God's law, to read and meditate upon, and to n Ibid. xxii. 28. • Deut. m Exod, xx. 12, & alib. xvii. 14, 15. P Ibid. ver. 16, 17. given fo pathetic a lift of the hardships they were to expect under an absolute monarchy. Maimon tells us, out of the laft part of the Mishna, that Mofes gave the Ifraelites three exprefs commands; namely, 1. To chufe them a king: 2. To deftroy Amalek: and, 3. To build a temple, after they were poffeffed of the land of Canaan. The fame we find likewife injoined in the 114th, 115th, and 116th affirmative precepts of their oral law, according to which that rabbi obferves, that they chofe Saul for their king before they declared war against the Amalekites. But, if this had been the cafe, there could have been no room for GOD's refenting, and Samuel's reproving them fo feverely for it. Maimon doth indeed endeavour to wave this objection, by pretending, that what difpleafed GOD was their coming in a tumultuous and difrefpectful manner to Samuel, and ask (6) Vide 1 Sam. viii. pass prac. neg. 222, & feqq, ing a king, not in obedience to the divine command, but out of a defire of being like their neighbours; but this is neither agreeable to the text (6), nor to Jofephus, who imputes this defire of a kingly government to the intolerable corruption which had crept into all the courts of justice, through the bafenefs and avarice of Samuel's two fons, whom he appointed to officiate for him in his old age (7). (O) What the Jews underftand by multiplying wives, is, that he fhall not have above eighteen at a time, that is, two more than David had, who, they fay, is recorded to have had but fixteen; and, by multiplying horfes, they underftand, having more than ferved him and his retinue (8): but we fhall fhew, that, if there was any fuch oral law, Solomon' made very light of it in either cafe, even from the first year of his reign. govern himself by it, without deviating from it to the right or left; that injoin him to make choice of perfons of wisdom and integrity to be judges over the people, and fuch-like. So that they had no other enforcement for the people's obedience and loyalty, than their free promise and oath to them; whilst they were tied to their juft and equitable government, not only by their oath, but by the most strict and severe injunctions and threatnings from God. HOWEVER, as they looked upon themselves as accountable to GoD only for the breach of these laws, fo no kings were reftrained by them, but fuch as feared him : as for the reft, it is plain from their hiftory, that they made no scruple of tranfgreffing them in inftances of the highest nature; and that their power was fo great, that none dared to controul them, or even reprove them, except fuch prophets as were commiffioned by GOD for fo doing. Their being anointed, at leaft in the beginning (P), by fome celebrated prophets, and appointed fovereigns of a nation, which the Scripture ftiles a royal priesthood, gave them a full power, not only in matters ¶ Deut. xvii. 18, & feqq. vide & præc. negat. 221, & feqq. Deut. xvi. 18, & feqq. vide & præc. affirm. 96, & feqq. • Exod. xix. 6, & alib. (P) The Talmudifts tell us, that the immediate heir of a king, who had been anointed, was himself proclaimed king, without unction, efpecially in the family of David; and that the ceremony was only ufed when a younger fon was preferred to the eldeft, as in the cafe of Solomon (9). One thing is certain, that the cuftom of confecrating any thing to GOD, by this profufion of oil, is very antient, as appears from the inftance of Jacob's anointing the pillar of Bethel (10). How much earlier it began, and how (9) 1 Kings i. pall. introduced, is impoffible to guefs; but it is plain, that it became in ufe, during the whole Mofaic difpenfation, in the dedication both of men and things to the immediate service of GOD. Of the first kind, were the kings, priefts, and prophets; and, of the fecond, all the facred utenfils of the tabernacle: all which are fuppofed, not without good grounds, to have been typical of CHRIST, who is emphatically called the Meffiah, or Anointed, and of the fpiritual unction, under the gofpel. (10) Gen. xxviii. 18, & feqq. purely ap Purely civil and military, but in ecclefiaftical alfo (Q): and what profound refpect was paid to the regal dignity, appears both from the fubmiffive language with which they were addreffed, and the humble manner of proaching them; infomuch that even queens and prophets did proftrate themselves with their faces to the ground before them, as Nathan and Bathsheba did to David"; though there is no doubt, but his fon Solomon raised the grandeur of the throne to a much greater height (R). Laws t Vide int. al. 1 Sam. xxv. 23, & feqq. & ver. 40, & feqq. 2 Sam. xiv. paff. xxiv. 3, & alib. 1 Kings i. 16, 23. (Q) This is, indeed, denied by very many divines, who think, that they never exercised any authority in the latter, as kings of Ifrael, but as prophets, and infpired perfons, such as were David and Solomon. But the contrary doth plainly appear from the reformations and regulations which Hezekiah, Jebofhaphat, Jofiah, and others made, who were neither prophets, nor infpired perfons. We have already taken notice, that they had power to confult the oracle of urim; and, indeed, they were commanded fo to do upon all emergencies, as well as the grand council or fanhedrin, over which they prefided, whenever they pleased to affift at it (10). Thus we find, that David, after he had been anointed king, even in Saul's time, did confult the divine oracle concerning the fuccefs of his undertaking (11). They had likewise an absolute power of life and death; and though, according to the law (10) Maim. balak Bafnag. ubi fup. (14) Maim. ubi fup. u of Mofes, no man was to be capitally punished, till he had been convicted before proper judges, and upon the evidence of at least two or three witneffes; yet we meet with frequent inftances of perfons being put to death by the fole will of the prince. The fame may be prefumed to have been, with refpect to property, by the inftances of Mephibofbeth and his fervant Ziba (12), and others of the like nature. From that of Naboth (13) we may like. wife conclude, that, in some cafes, the eftates of perfons condemned devolved to the king: but, from the laws lately mentioned against oppreffing the fubjects, it appears rather to have been a tyrannical ufurpation, than a command, or even permiffion, from GOD. (R) The Jews affirm, that even the high-prieft was obliged to ftand before the king; whereas the latter only stood before the high-prieft, when he was confulting GOD by urim (14). |