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Matthew Henry

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 21:16

And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him ,.... One of the children of Israel, as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan, and so the Septuagint version: but though this law was given to the Israelites primarily, yet was made for men stealers in general, as the apostle observes, who plainly has reference to it, 1 Timothy 1:9 , or if he be found in his hand ; before the selling of him, as Jarchi notes, since he stole him in order to sell him, he was guilty of death, as follows: he... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 21:16

He that stealeth a man - By this law every man-stealer, and every receiver of the stolen person, should lose his life; no matter whether the latter stole the man himself, or gave money to a slave captain or negro-dealer to steal him for him. 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 21:12-17

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

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 21:15-17

Other capital offences . The unsystematic character of the arrangement in this chapter is remarkably shown by this interruption of the consideration of different sorts of homicide, in order to introduce offences of quite a different character, and those not very closely allied to each other— e.g. , 1 . Striking a parent; 2 . Kidnapping; 3 . Cursing a parent . read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 21:15-17

Injuries to parents. The command to honour father and mother ( Exodus 20:12 ), which is enough for the conscience, and which, if obeyed, would render all further laws upon the subject unnecessary, is here reinforced by two important enactments, intended to restrain those who do not scruple to disobey mere moral laws. The penalty of death is affixed to two crimes: 1 . Smiting a parent; 2 . Cursing a parent. I. SMITING A PARENT . When it is considered that our parents... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 21:16

He that stealeth a man . Kidnapping, or stealing men to make them slaves, was a very early and very wide-spread crime. Joseph' s brothers must be regarded as having committed it ( Genesis 37:28 ); and there are many traces of it in the remains of antiquity. Most kidnapping was of foreigners; and this was a practice of which the laws of states took no cognizance, though a certain disrepute may have attached to it. But the kidnapping of a fellow-country-man was generally punished with... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 21:16

The crime of man-stealing. To steal the purse of a man is a trivial crime; to filch his good name is a serious one; but the worst robbery of all is to steal his person. Civilised, refined, polished, intellectual men, happy in the enjoyment of freedom, wealth, honour, domestic happiness, have gone to sleep in comfort, peace, and fancied security, to wake up in the grip of lawless man-stealers, who have bound them and carried them into a hopeless captivity, far from any relative or friend,... read more

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