Matthew Henry Commentary Deuteronomy 25
Matthew Henry Commentary
Deuteronomy 25
Matthew Henry Commentary
Deuteronomy 25
"If there be a controversy between men, and they come unto judgment, and [the judges] judge them; then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked; 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 wickedness, by number. Forty stripes he may give him, he shall not exceed; lest, if he should exceed, and beat him above these with many stripes, then thy brother should seem vile unto thee." — Deuteronomy 25:1-3 (ASV)
Every punishment should be with solemnity, so that those who see it may be filled with dread, and be warned not to offend in a similar manner. And though the criminals must be shamed as well as subjected to pain, for their warning and disgrace, yet care should be taken that they do not appear entirely vile. Happy are those who are chastened by the Lord to humble them, so that they are not condemned with the world to destruction.
"Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out [the grain]." — Deuteronomy 25:4 (ASV)
This is a charge to farmers. It teaches us to care well for the animals that serve us. But we must learn not only to be just, but kind to all who are employed for the good of our better part, our souls (1 Corinthians 9:9).
"If brethren dwell together, and one of them die, and have no son, the wife of the dead shall not be married 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 a husband`s brother unto her. And it shall be, that the first-born that she beareth shall succeed in the name of his brother that is dead, that his name be not blotted out of Israel. And if the man like not to take his brother`s wife, then his brother`s wife shall 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 a husband`s brother unto me. Then the elders of his city shall call him, and speak unto him: and if he stand, and say, I like not to take her; 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 she shall answer and say, So shall it be done unto the man that doth not build up his brother`s house. And his name shall be called in Israel, The house of him that hath his shoe loosed. When men strive together one with another, and the wife of the one draweth near to deliver her husband out of the hand of him that smiteth him, and putteth forth her hand, and taketh him by the secrets; then thou shalt cut off her hand, thine eye shall have no pity." — Deuteronomy 25:5-12 (ASV)
The custom here regulated seems to have been in the Jewish law in order to keep inheritances distinct; now it is unlawful.
"Thou shalt not have in thy bag diverse weights, a great and a small. Thou shalt not have in thy house diverse measures, a great and a small. A perfect and just weight shalt thou have; a perfect and just measure shalt thou have: that thy days may be long in the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee. For all that do such things, [even] all that do unrighteously, are an abomination unto Jehovah thy God." — Deuteronomy 25:13-16 (ASV)
Dishonest gain always brings a curse on people's property, families, and souls. Happy those who judge themselves, repent of and forsake their sins, and put away evil things, that they may not be condemned by the Lord.
"Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way as ye came forth out of Egypt; how he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, all that were feeble behind thee, when thou wast faint and weary; and he feared not God. Therefore it shall be, when Jehovah thy God hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round about, in the land which Jehovah 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." — Deuteronomy 25:17-19 (ASV)
Let every persecutor and injurer of God's people take warning from the case of the Amalekites. The longer it is before judgement comes, the more dreadful will it be at last. Amalek may remind us of the foes of our souls. May we be enabled to slay all our lusts, all the corruptions both within and without, all the powers of darkness and of the world, which oppose our way to the blessed Saviour.
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