Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set. Remove not the ancient landmark - Do not take the advantage, in ploughing or breaking up a field contiguous to that of thy neighbor, to set the dividing stones farther into his field that thou mayest enlarge thy own. Take not what is not thy own in any case. Let all ancient divisions, and the usages connected with them, be held sacred. Bring in no new dogmas, nor rites, nor ceremonies, into religion, or the worship of God, that are not clearly laid down in the sacred writings. "Stand in the way; and see, and ask for the old paths, which is the good way, and walk therein; and ye shall find rest for your souls;" Jeremiah 6:16. But if any Church have lost sight of the genuine doctrines of the Gospel, calling them back to these is not removing the ancient landmarks, as some have falsely asserted. God gave a law against removing the ancient landmarks, by which the inheritances of tribes and families were distinguished. See Deuteronomy 19:14, from which these words of Solomon appear to be taken.
Even among the heathens the landmark was sacred; so sacred that they made a deity of it. Terminus signifies the stone or post that served as a landmark. And Terminus was reputed a god, and had offerings made to him. Hence Ovid: -
Tu quoque sacrorum, Termine, finis eras.
Fast. lib. i., ver. 50.
Nox ubi transierit, solito celebratur honore,Separat indicio qui Deus arva suo.
Termine, sive lapis, sive es defossus in agroStipes, ab antiquis sic quoque Numen habes.
Te duo diversa domini pro parte coronant;Binaque serta tibi, binaque liba ferunt -
Conveniunt, celebrantque dapes vicinia simplex;Et cantant laudes, Termine sancte, tuas.
Tu populos, urbesque, et regna ingentia finis:Omnis erit, sine te, litigiosus ager.
Fast. lib. ii., ver. 639.
Here we find the owners of both fields bringing each his garland and libation to the honor of this god. They sung its praises, put on its top a chaplet of flowers, poured out the libation before it; and the inhabitants of the country held a festival in its honor. It was, in short, celebrated as the preserver of the bounds and territorial rights of tribes, cities, and whole kingdoms; and without its testimony and evidence, every field would have been a subject of litigation.