Page 113 - Pentateuch

The fifth commandment expands the honor of parents to the honor of other authorities (16:18-18:22).
These include judges, courts, the king, priests, and prophets. Instructions are given for a thorough
investigation of the worship of other gods and occult practices. The authorities have a responsibility to
protect the nation from such.

The sixth commandment about homicide is discussed in 19:1-21:23. Many of the connections are obvious.
Cities of refuge help distinguish between murder and accidental death (19:1-13). Instructions about
witnesses could be placed in a section on lying, but in 19:15-21, these laws are also important in murder
cases. War is distinguished from murder in 20:1-20. Discerning who might have some responsibility for an
unsolved murder is in 21:1-9. The issue of a woman taken captive in war (21:10-14), a rebellious son (21:18-
21), and the body of an executed person (21:22-23) all clearly have to do with death. If we have been
paying attention and working through this book with care, we are struck by the many ways a person could
be sentenced to death. We are pressed with the impossibility of it all. Would our body one day hang on a
tree? This is the design of Deuteronomy. We are to come to a keen realization of our need for someone to
hang on a tree for us, for someone to become a curse for us (Gal. 3:13).

The next small section is puzzling (22:1-12).
It seems to be a hodgepodge of laws stuck
together with little thought. It contains laws
about animals in trouble (22:1-4), cross-
dressing (22:5), birds (22:6-7), building
construction (22:8), planting (22:9), plowing
(22:10), different materials woven together
into clothing (22:11), and tassels on the
bottom of garments (22:12). We scratch our
heads in bewilderment. Yet throughout the
section, there are repeated references to a
“mantle” or “cloak” (vv. 3, 5, 11, 12).
Fig. 80: tassels
Perhaps these laws could be reshuffled and
placed in different categories: theft,
adultery, and keeping the Sabbath. Yet placed here, together, they remind us of the all-
encompassing nature of the law. Something as small and insignificant as a cloak can have big
spiritual consequences. Mixing two different kinds of material, for example, was reserved for the
priests and the tabernacle (26:1; 39:29). Is the prohibition in Deut. 22:11, similar to an average
person taking the place of a priest? 132 If we apply the significance of a cloak to every item in life, we
are additionally pressed with the demands of the law.

The seventh commandment on adultery (22:13-23:19) deals with the accusation of sexual immorality, rape,
and marrying a close relative. Many verses are given to this topic elsewhere (Deut. 27; Lev. 18; etc.) Odds-
and-ends about relationships are mentioned but not developed: sexual inability, children of mixed
marriages, mixed marriages, and general camp uncleanness.

The eighth commandment on theft (23:15-24:7) deals with financial oppression, a prostitute's earnings,
paying vows, vineyards, the potential theft involved in marriage vows, proper security for a debt, and
selling a person.

The ninth commandment discusses lying (24:8-25:4) and covers following a priest’s instructions, taking a
cloak as a pledge, the cry of a poor worker, other people who give pledges, and harvesting.

132 Hamilton, Exodus, 468
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