Exodus 21:12

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Exodus 21:12-21

Here is, I. A law concerning murder. He had lately said, Thou shalt not kill; here he provides, 1. For the punishing of wilful murder (Exod. 21:12): He that smiteth a man, whether upon a sudden passion or in malice prepense, so that he die, the government must take care that the murderer be put to death, according to that ancient law (Gen. 9:6), Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed. God, who by his providence gives and maintains life, thus by his law protects it; so that... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 21:12

He that smiteth a man, so that he die ,.... The Targum of Jonathan is, that smites a man or daughter of Israel with the sword; but there is no need to restrain the words either to persons of any certain nation, nor to any instrument with which a person may be smitten as to die: but any human person, man, woman, or child, of whatsoever nation, and they smitten with anything whatever, that issues in their death: shall surely be put to death ; by the order of the civil magistrate, and by... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 21:12

Verse 12 12.He that smiteth a man, so that he die. This passage, as I have said, more clearly explains the details, and first makes a distinction between voluntary and accidental homicide; for, if a stone or an axe (Deuteronomy 19:5.) may have slipped from a man unintentionally, and struck anybody, He would not have it accounted a capital crime. And for this purpose the cities of refuge were given, of which brief mention is here made, and whose rights will be presently more fully spoken of, and... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 21:2-12

Hebrew bond-service. The laws relating to this subject are to be found, in addition to those in the present chapter, in Exodus 12:43-45 ; Exodus 22:3 ; Le Exodus 25:39 -55; Exodus 26:13 ; Deuteronomy 12:12 , Deuteronomy 12:18 ; Deuteronomy 15:15-19 ; Deuteronomy 16:11 , Deuteronomy 16:14 ; Deuteronomy 21:10-15 ; Deuteronomy 23:15 ; Deuteronomy 24:7 . An impartial examination of these laws will show how fallacious must be every argument attempted to be deduced from... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 21:2-35

The slave laws. Slave laws belong to all communities, and not to some only, slavery being really a universal and not a partial institution. In the most civilised communities of modern Europe, there are two large classes of slaves—lunatics and criminals. The law openly condemns these last to penal servitude, which may be for life; and this "servitude," as Lord Chief Justice Coleridge has repeatedly pointed out, is simply a form of slavery. Ancient communities differed from modern— 1 .... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 21:12-14

Homicide . Exodus 21:12 reiterates the Sixth Commandment, and adds to it a temporal penalty—"he shall surely be put to death." The substance of this law had already been given to Noah in the words, "Whoso sheddeth man' s blood, by man shall his blood be shed " ( Genesis 9:6 ). Real murder, with deliberate intent, was under no circumstances to be pardoned. The murderer was even to be torn from the altar, if he took refuge there, and relentlessly punished ( Exodus 21:14 ). See the case... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 21:12-17

Capital offences. As we look through the penalties specified for wrong-doing in chaps, 21; 22; we notice that they are divisible into two great classes. Some offences are punished by death, and others by some sort of compensation for the injury done. The graduated terms of imprisonment with which we are familiar, were not of course possible to the Israelites, and if possible, perhaps would not have seemed desirable. We notice that in this chapter five capital offences are specified; there... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 21:12-18

Murder and related capital offences. It is characteristic of the law of Moses that its first care, in the practical ordering of the Hebrew theocracy, is for the rights of the slave. These are dealt with in the opening paragraphs. The next laws relate to murder, to man-stealing, and to smiting and cursing of parents. I. MURDER ( Exodus 21:12-15 ). The same spirit of justice which attaches severe penalties to proved crimes, leads to the drawing of a sound line of distinction between... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Exodus 21:12

The case of murder of a free man and of a bondman. See Exodus 21:20 note. The law was afterward expressly declared to relate also to foreigners, Leviticus 24:17, Leviticus 24:21-22; compare the marginal references. read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Exodus 21:12-13

Exodus 21:12-13. He that smiteth a man Knowingly and wilfully, as appears from the next verse; shall be surely put to death Neither the friends of the person slain nor the magistrate shall give him a pardon, or accept a ransom for him, Numbers 35:31. If God deliver him into his hand As the Scriptures teach us to acknowledge God in every thing that falls out, so when a man is killed by what we call accident, without any intention of the agent, he is said to have been delivered into his... read more

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