CRITICAL NOTES.—
Exodus 22:8-9. Judges.] See Critical Note on Exodus 21:6.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
THE SANCTITY OF HUMAN TRUSTS.—Exodus 22:7-13
This paragraph recognises the sanctity of trust reposed on the principles—
1. of neighbourliness;
2. of trade.
I. If a man entrusted property, Exodus 22:7, “money or stuff,” which it was impossible or inconvenient to keep himself, to his neighbour, the trustee was responsible for its safety.
1. If it was stolen and the thief discovered, of course the thief was punished.
2. But if the thief escaped, the holder, either as negligent or guilty, was fined double its value. From Exodus 22:9, however, it would appear that the judges had some discretion in the matter.
II. In the case of any beast, lent presumably for the purposes of trade, being hurt or lost.
1. If upon oath the borrower declared his innocence and proved his carefulness, that was deemed sufficient.
2. But if stolen, as careless, he had to make restitution.
3. Or if slain by wild beasts, and the carcase were produced, then, as his courage and vigilance were not at fault, he was released from responsibility.
III. But the responsibility must be submitted to judicial examination and decision, Exodus 22:9. Thus guarding on the one hand recklessness, and on the other unreasonable exactions.
Application.—“Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil,” not only the law of Moses, but “the law of Christ.”
i. On the one hand—
(1.) Be neighbourly (Luke 6:30, &c.).
(2.) Take the same care of the matters in which you have obliged your neighbours, as you do of your own. If he has entrusted his goods to you, protect them. If his secrets, do not divulge them. If his liberty or character, through previous service of yours, do not threaten them. If the guardianship of his defenceless children, do not neglect them. ii. On the other hand, if your neighbour has obliged you—
(1.) Do not impose on his good nature.
(2.) Don’t suspect that, if your interests have been damaged because it was his interest to damage them, he has done so.
(3.) In ordinary cases, unless you have good reason for the contrary, take his word.
(4.) Don’t make him suffer for circumstances over which he had no control. The whole subject it full of interest to masters and servants, employers and employed.—J. W. Burn.
ILLUSTRATIONS
BY
REV. WILLIAM ADAMSON
Divine Enactments! Exodus 22:1-31.
(1) There is a world of difference between a stained glass window and a kaleidoscope. Their relative values are very different, and so is their structure. The pieces of variegated glass are flung anyhow, for the prism to arrange; whereas, those employed in the window are all arranged to give a beautiful, effective, and abiding impression. These separate enactments are not strung together haphazard. On the contrary, they are chords divinely arranged to produce harmony in the world, and give forth strains of Divine adoration in their observance.
(2) If one side of a tree grows, and the other does not, the tree acquires a crooked form. It may be fruitful, but it cannot be beautiful. God would have humanities and nationalities, theocracies and individualities, both rich in the beauties of holiness and the fruits of righteousness. The unequal growth of the Christian graces is undesirable; hence the numerous Divine precautions to make them alike fair, fragrant, and fruitful.
“Stern lawgiving! yet thou dost wear
The Godhead’s most benignant grace;
Flowers laugh before thee on their beds;
And fragrance in thy footing treads;
Thou dost preserve the stars from wrong.”
—Wordsworth.
Honesty! Exodus 22:9.
(1) Entrusted! A writer in the “Sunday at Home,” alluding to the honesty of the Malays in the Dutch Indies, says that his business required frequent absences, during which he left his house in their care. Before setting out, he gave the key of his bureau to the mandoor, and told him to take care of the money it contained. He says he never found a single farthing amissing—that sometimes returning late, the servant would be found sleeping close to the bureau for its greater security—and that during all the time he passed in the island, he had no occasion to complain of the theft of any article.
(2) Lost! Not far from St. Petersburgh lived a poor woman, whose only livelihood arose from the visits of a few shipmasters on their way to the capital. One of these left behind a sealed bag of money; which the woman put away in her cupboard till it should be claimed. Years rolled on; and though often in great want, the bag of gold still remained sacredly intact. Seven years afterwards, some shipmasters were again staying at her house, when one of them remarked that he would never forget the town they were then visiting, for he had years before lost a sealed bag of 700 roubles. The poor woman overhearing the remark, said, “Would you know it by the seal?” The shipmaster pointed to a seal hanging by his watch-chain; and the bag was at once produced and restored to its rightful owner.
“An honest man is still an unmoved rock,
Washed whiter, but not shaken with the shock.”
—Davenport.
Trust-Restitution! Exodus 22:9.
(1) Recently & lady went to parison on a visit, entrusting her house and furniture to a friend, on whose honesty she relied. Unfortunately the confidence was misplaced; and during her absence, articles of considerable value were removed. On her return, the discovery was made, and the person guilty of so contemptible a breach of trust arraigned. The judge ordered him to restore all the objects of vertu which he had purloined, and to suffer a term of imprisonment for his breach of trust.
(2) A poor widow entrusted the title-deeds of some properly, left by her husband, to a solicitor, in whom she had confidence. Her trust was, however, grossly abused, as he retained the deeds on the plea of some false debt due by the husband. After long and persistent endeavours to obtain recovery of the documents, but in vain, the defrauded widow was advised to apply to the Lord Chancellor. On inquiry, the judge decided that the dishonest lawyer must either deliver up the title-deeds and make restitution for their retention, or be struck off the roll of solicitors.
“Justice has her laws,
That will not brook infringement; in all time,
All circumstances, all state, in every clime,
She holds aloft the same avenging sword.”
—Percival.
Conscience-Restitution! Exodus 22:12. Gray mentions that as a gentleman in London entered his house, he found a well-dressed female sitting on the stairs. She asked pardon for the liberty she had taken, saying that she had taken refuge for a few minutes in his house from a mad dog. On hearing her story, he gave her some refreshment before she left. In the evening, his wife missed her gold watch—it having been purloined by the forenoon visitor. Fifteen years afterwards, the watch was returned, with a note from the. thief. It stated that the Gospel had recently changed her heart, and that in consequence she desired to return the watch to its rightful owner.
“Conscience! It is a dangerous thing.
It made me once
Restore a purse of gold.”
—Shakespeare.