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Deuteronomy 25

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1 When there be strife between men, and they present themselves to the judgment, and they judge them; then they shall justify the just, and judge as wicked the wicked.

2 And it shall be, if the wicked man be worthy* to be smitten, then the judge shall cause him to fall down, and cause him to be smitten before him, as is enough for his wickedness, by a certain number.

3 With forty he may smite him, he shall not add; lest he should add to smite him above these, with many blows, and thy brother would be·​·vile to thine eyes.

4 Thou shalt not muzzle the ox in his threshing.

5 If brothers dwell together, and one of them die, and have no child, the wife of the dead man shall not marry a stranger outside for a husband; her husband’s·​·brother shall come·​·in to her, and take her to him for a wife, and perform the duty of her husband’s·​·brother.

6 And it shall be, that the firstborn to whom she gives·​·birth shall be secured in the name of his brother who is dead, that his name shall not be wiped·​·off from Israel.

7 And if the man delight not to take his brother’s·​·wife, then his brother’s·​·wife shall go·​·up to the gate to the elders, and say, My husband’s·​·brother refuses to secure for his brother a name in Israel, he is· not ·willing to perform the duty of my husband’s·​·brother.

8 And the elders of his city shall call him, and speak to him; and if he stand, and say, I delight not to take her;

9 then shall his brother’s·​·wife approach him in the eyes of the elders, and set·​·free his shoe from on his foot, and spit in his face, and shall answer and say, So shall it be done to the man who will not build the house of his brother.

10 And his name shall be called in Israel, The house of him that has his shoe set·​·free.

11 When men quarrel together, a man and his brother, and the wife of the one come·​·near to rescue her man from the hand of him who smites him, and put·​·forth her hand, and hold· him ·firmly by what is shameful;

12 then thou shalt clip·​·off her hand, thine eye shall not spare.

13 Thou shalt not have in thy pouch two different stones*, a great and a small.

14 There shalt not be for thee in thy house an ephah and an ephah, a great and a small.

15 A whole and just stone shall be for thee, a whole and just ephah shall be for thee, so·​·that thy days may be prolonged on the ground which Jehovah thy God gives to thee.

16 For all that do such things, and all that do a perversity, are an abomination to Jehovah thy God.

17 Remember what Amalek did to thee in the way, when you went·​·out from Egypt;

18 that he happened upon thee in the way, and smote the hindmost* in thee, all the feeble after thee; and thou wast faint and toiling, and he was not fearful of God.

19 And it shall be, when Jehovah thy God has given thee rest from all thine enemies all around, in the land which Jehovah thy God gives thee for an inheritance to possess her, that thou shalt wipe·​·away the remembrance of Amalek from under the heavens; thou shalt not forget.

   


Thanks to the Kempton Project for the permission to use this New Church translation of the Word.

Komentář

 

Much

  
You do so much for me, thank you

Intellectual things -- ideas, knowledge, facts, even insight and understanding -- are more separate and free-standing than emotional things, and it's easier to imagine numbering them as individual things. Our loves and affections tend to be more amorphous -- they can certainly be powerful, but would be harder to measure. Using words like “much,” “many,” myriad” and “multitude” to describe a collection of things gives the sense that there is an exact number, even if we don't know what it is and don't want to bother trying to count. These words, then, are used in the Bible in reference to intellectual things -- our thoughts, knowledge and concepts. Words that indicate largeness without the idea of number -- “great” is a common one -- generally refer to loves, affections and the desire for good. Here's one way to think about this: Say you want to take some food to a friend who just had a baby. That's a desire for good (assuming you're doing it from genuinely good motives). To actually do it, though, takes dozens of thoughts, ideas, facts and knowledges. What does she like to eat? What do you have to cook? What do you cook well? Can you keep it hot getting to her house? Is it nutritious? Does she have any allergies? So one good desire can bring a multitude of ideas into play.