| Show THE CIVIL LAW OF MOSES no subject of antiquity furnishes more interesting features to the student than the laws given to the children of israel through moses they were wem framed for a people who were under the direct care of god and for the purpose of educating that race and in a certain degree the whole world to that state of morality and intelligence necessary preparatory to the acceptance of the principles of the succeeding dla the laws of moses were the he needful p preliminaries of the laws of the gospel it has sometimes been stated that those ancient laws cannot be of divine origin because some of their provisions are contrary to what in our age is considered the standard of perfection this assertion is based upon an erroneous view of their aim they were not given as a last or finished lesson of morality and intelligence to mankind on the contrary the lawgiver clearly states that another prophet should be raised up whom the people should obey thereby intimating that those initiatory laws lav would be perfected by another inspired Berv servant antof of god when a child oom corn to learn it cannot receive the same mine kind of instructions nor the same rules as it can angwill and will receive when it reaches a more advanced age but the first rudiments of instructions are as es to advancement as are those which follow the laws of moses mosea must be considered in this light when god led israel out ot of bondage he had a people disposed to idolatry he had bad to teach them his own perfections and dudu induce ce them to worship him with pure hearts and reverence they had to learn that they were his people by covenant with their fathers and that they should consequently love him and love each other keeping themselves free from the contamination of surrounding peoples they were to be taught to implicitly trust in him as well as to render him that obedience without which citizenship in the kingdom of heaven cannot lie he obtained aej an for all these purposes theMo the mosaic sale law is perfect it proves the infinite wisdom of its originator bemuse because its various provisions are perfectly adapted to the obtaining of the object in view we still see the effects of these laws iu in the lie hebrew race of today who worships god with more reverence reverence than an orthodox jew who does not even dare to pronounce the name of the almighty for fear of profaning it who has kept himself more free from idolatry than u tin the jew and where among the nations cau can we find more true brotherhood tha than n among the of israel A code of laws so ancient and that hint has bas lind had the power of giving giving to a nation such marked characteristics is worthy of more than common attention in this mi ati I 1 s articles article we propose to give silk an out outline lille of the mosaic minate law in its three divisions division civil law criminal liw nud aud cere moncal law the statutes s which deal wil with the relations lAtI of man with m mm tu are fillod civil law family relations neighborly an all I 1 national actions are to bo be considered u under this head accordingly we will first give an outline of the laws relating to marriage one ot of the most prominent provisions inthe mosaic law is tile oni prohibiting hi the people from intermarriage with the surrounding gentile nations the passage forbidding it reads and when the lord thy hy god shall deliver them the gentiles before ahalt smite them and utterly destroy them thou shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy unto them neither thou make marriages mami ages with them thy daughter thou not give ivo allta his bin son nor his hig daughter shall thou take unto thy son on por for thou art rt a hoi v people unto the lord thy god the thy god has chosen thee ta to be a special people unto himself above all people that are re upon tile the laco face of the earth dout doot 7 2 6 among the surrounding nation sand also among amon 9 the egyptians incest was common but the mosaic law prohibits the marriage of any near of kin the following are specified spec ined in the prohibition j A fattier father mot mother hoir fat fathers herPs wire wife sister a daughter of thy father daughter of thy mother thy sons laughter or thy daughters daughter thy fathers cifes daughter fathers sister moth mothers erya sister fathers brother and his wife daughter in law and brothers wife to this is also added prohibition from froin marrying a woman ancher aad her daughter her sons daughter and her daigh daigh daughter jai ig ahter ijes IS 6 17 comons however were permitted to marry according to tile the following even as the lord commanded moe ro 0 o did the he daugh daughters term of for tirzah and houlah and mileah anti and noah the daughters daughter of wore were married to their fathers brothers sons sona numb 36 10 11 II 11 A special provision is made for girls having baving property it if a man died without a son SOD his bis inheritance in the country passed to his daughters and these were then restricted to marry someone of their own tribe and 3 if possible of their own family this provision was to prevent the possibility of the property passing from one tribe to another what hail had originally been given to a tribe should remain there here none was allowed late wealth by impoverishing others N numb u mah 36 5 56 6 under certain circumstances a man was allowed to give his wife a bill of divor divorce celland and send her out of his house wife had liberty to take another husband but if she again be divorced or became a widow the first huband could not marry her agist beut deut 2414 A pett peculiar liar provision is 18 made for a widow who had no children daf if brethren dwell together and one of th thorn die and have no child the wife of thom the e dead shall not marry a i stranger ht trai ranger iger her husbands brother shall ahall fake ake her to wife 0 and it shall bo be that the firstborn first born shall succeed in the name of his brother which is lead dead that his hia name be not put out of isrl israel dent 26 25 5 10 should the man refuse to comply with this law the woman was wa to bring him before the elders anti and if he still refused she was to loose his shoe from off his ejot and spit in his face the greatest insult that could be offered ered to an oriental A man thus treated was defamed forever in israel A high priest could not dot marry any but a virgin for the crown of the anno inting oil of his god is upon jilin hin I 1 am the lorg lord and be shall take lake a wife in her widow or a divorced woman or pr profane orane or an harlot these shall he nos no take but he be abali take a virgin of his own people to wife lev 21 12 14 these awesome are some of the principal laws relating to marriage those referring to property may now be briefly outlined the mosaic law recognizes slaves an property and there are numerous provia pr visions iong relating to them bothem two kinds of slaves slave hebrews who hal come into bondage poverty and aad gentiles captured in war or bought the duration of the time of bondage was different A hebrew could not be held more than seven years when thon thou buy a hebrew serva servant nt six years he shall I 1 serve and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing if he came in by himself he shall go out by himself if he be were married then his wife shall RO go out with him if his master have given him a wife and she have born him sons son or daugh daughters tem the wife and her children shall be her masters and he shall go eo out by himself ex 21 2124 24 2 4 A nobber provision is that 1 when thou out free irom from thee thou not let him go 0 away empty thou shall furnish him fa liberally out of thy flock and out of th thy floor and out of thy wine wine prom press of that with the lord thy god hath blessed thew the thou ahalt give unto him dent should a slave at the end of the he sixth 8 year refuse to receive his hie liberty libee he be was to be in i a bondage for the remainder of his hia life the ceremony by which this was to be made known was as follows having avowed that it was waa from lite his own free will his ear was bored through with an awl by hia master in the presence of the judge after this there was no more year of jubilee for him ex A hebrew who through poverty had become the slave of a stranger could be redeemed at any time and could not be hold held any longer than to the year of jubilee which occur occurred mC every fiftieth year then should boti both he be and his bit wife and children be re leased lev 2554 2564 the proper slaves were those ou of heathen origin both thy th bond dinou and thy bond maids mbroh which thou shall halt have shall be b of the heathen that are round about you of thorn them shall ye buy bond men and bond maids they shall lie be your bond men for ever lev 25 44 46 a but slave owners were almost corn com polled to treat their slaves whether of hebrew or gentile origin with kind new ness for the slaves were by law empowered to escape at any time if they were oppressed the following Is a most remarkable provision thou not deliver unto his mas ter the servant which is escaped from his hia master unto thee he shall dwell wita thee oven even among you in that place which he be shall chioso in one of thy gates where it leketh him best thou shall not oppress him dout dent 23 2315 15 16 for the protection of this class clam it was further ordained that a man who struck it a slave dead should be punished pu and if an ox gored him the owner of the animal was to be fined 30 shekena something like 14 and the animal be put to death ex 21 32 if a slave were struck by his hia master in uch tuch a way that be injured his eye or knockel knock ei out a tooth he was waa instants 1 ly coset to set the slave alave ati at liberty berty ex 21 an aa 27 1 A girl who had bad been soll soli had not the privilege of being redeemed at th year of jubilee but there were other ways in which she could be besstak set at liberty at any time ti me she might be re deemed by anyone of her own but could not be sold to co a gentile I 1 ifa her owner refused to lot let her bertem be r deemed he was wa to liberate her will without money by marriage she ahe could cou id also als 0 if adopted in the family and any faith fa le on the part of her master gr his sons entitled her to her liberty EN betl 11 Z |
