Fair Punishment and the Working Ox
Study note
Moses describes fair punishment in legal disputes. Beatings must not exceed forty lashes to preserve human dignity. Even a working ox must be allowed to eat while it works, showing God's concern for fair treatment of all creatures.
1 When two people have a dispute and go to court, the judges must decide the case. They must declare the innocent person not guilty and the guilty person guilty. If there be a controversy between men, and they come unto judgment, that the judges may judge them; then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked.
2 If the guilty person deserves a physical punishment, the judge will have them lie down and receive lashes in the judge's presence. The number of lashes must fit the crime. And it shall be, if the wicked man be worthy to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down, and to be beaten before his face, according to his fault, by a certain number.
3 They can receive up to forty lashes but no more. Going beyond that would publicly humiliate a fellow Israelite. Forty stripes he may give him, and not exceed: lest, if he should exceed, and beat him above these with many stripes, then thy brother should seem vile unto thee.
4 Do not tie shut the mouth of an ox while it is working to separate grain. Let it eat. Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn.
The Duty of a Brother-in-Law
Study note
If a married man dies without children, his brother must marry the widow to carry on the dead man's name. If the brother refuses, a public ceremony of shame is performed. This law protected widows and preserved family lines in Israel.
5 If brothers share a home and one of them dies without a son, his widow must not marry an outsider. Her husband's brother must marry her. He must do what a brother-in-law is supposed to do. If brethren dwell together, and one of them die, and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not marry without unto a stranger: her husband's brother shall go in unto her, and take her to him to wife, and perform the duty of an husband's brother unto her.
6 The first son she has will carry on the dead brother's name, so his legacy is not erased from Israel. And it shall be, that the firstborn which she beareth shall succeed in the name of his brother which is dead, that his name be not put out of Israel.
7 But if the brother-in-law refuses to marry the widow, she should go to the elders at the town gate and explain, 'My brother-in-law will not do his duty. He refuses to keep his brother's name alive in Israel.' And if the man like not to take his brother's wife, then let his brother's wife go up to the gate unto the elders, and say, My husband's brother refuseth to raise up unto his brother a name in Israel, he will not perform the duty of my husband's brother.
8 The town elders will summon him and talk to him. If he still insists, 'I will not marry her,' Then the elders of his city shall call him, and speak unto him: and if he stand to it, and say, I like not to take her;
9 The widow will walk up to him in front of the elders. She will pull his sandal off his foot and spit in his face. Then she will announce, 'This is what happens to any man who will not carry on his brother's family.' Then shall his brother's wife come unto him in the presence of the elders, and loose his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face, and shall answer and say, So shall it be done unto that man that will not build up his brother's house.
10 From then on, his family line in Israel will be called 'The Family of the Pulled-Off Sandal.' And his name shall be called in Israel, The house of him that hath his shoe loosed.
Honest Weights and Measures
Study note
Moses gives additional laws about personal conduct and business honesty. Using dishonest weights and measures to cheat others is an abomination to the Lord. Honesty in business dealings is essential for the people of God.
11 If two men get into a fight and the wife of one of them tries to help her husband by grabbing the other man's private parts, When men strive together one with another, and the wife of the one draweth near for to deliver her husband out of the hand of him that smiteth him, and putteth forth her hand, and taketh him by the secrets:
12 cut off her hand. Do not feel sorry for her. Then thou shalt cut off her hand, thine eye shall not pity her.
13 Do not carry two different sets of weights around -- one heavier and one lighter -- to cheat people. Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, a great and a small.
14 Do not keep two different measuring containers at home -- one bigger and one smaller. Thou shalt not have in thine house divers measures, a great and a small.
15 Always use weights and measures that are honest and exact. Then you will enjoy a long life in the land the Lord your God is giving you. But thou shalt have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure shalt thou have: that thy days may be lengthened in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
16 Anyone who cheats with dishonest weights and measures is revolting to the Lord your God. For all that do such things, and all that do unrighteously, are an abomination unto the LORD thy God.
Remember the Amalekites
Study note
Israel must remember how the Amalekites attacked their weakest and most vulnerable people during the journey from Egypt. God commands that when Israel is settled and at peace, they must erase the memory of Amalek.
17 Never forget what the Amalekites did to you on your journey from Egypt. Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way, when ye were come forth out of Egypt;
18 They ambushed you on the road and picked off all the exhausted, weak stragglers lagging behind your group. They had no respect for God. How he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, even all that were feeble behind thee, when thou wast faint and weary; and he feared not God.
19 So once the Lord your God has given you peace from your enemies in the land he is giving you, wipe out the memory of the Amalekites completely. Make sure you do not forget. Therefore it shall be, when the LORD thy God hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round about, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it, that thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; thou shalt not forget it.