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Deuteronomy 17:8 -

A matter too hard for thee ; literally, too marvelous ; something extraordinary, and which could not be decided by the ordinary rules of the judicature. Between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke ; i . e . in cases where blood had been shed and death had ensued, either accidentally or from murderous intent (cf. Exodus 21:13 , etc.; Numbers 35:9 , etc.); in cases of disputed rights and claims (cf. 2 Chronicles 19:10 ); and in cases where corporeal injury had been suffered, whether in strife or from assault ( Exodus 21:18 , etc.); and, in general, wherever matters of controversy —disputes as to what was lawful and right, might arise in their towns and villages. In all such cases recourse was to be had to the court at the sanctuary—"to the priests the Levites," i . e . the priests who were of the tribe of Levi, and to the judge presiding there—the lay judge associated with the high priest as president. It is not intended by this that an appeal was to lie from the lower court to the higher, or that the parties in a suit might carry it at once to the supreme judge; the meaning rather is that, when the ordinary judges found a ease too difficult for them to deal with, they were themselves to transmit it to the supreme court for decision.

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