66 "33. The fruit of thy land and all thy labours shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up: and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed always: "34. So that thou shalt be mad for the sight of thy eyes which thou shalt see. "35. The Lord shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore botch that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head. "36. The Lord shall bring thee, and thy king which thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, and there shalt thou serve ( ve abadta, and shall slave yourselves to) other gods, wood and stone: "37. And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a by-word, among all nations whither the Lord shall lead thee. "38. Thou shalt carry much seed out unto the field, and shalt gather but little in: for the locust shall consume it. "39. Thou shalt plant vineyards and dress them, but shalt neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes: for the worms shall eat them. "40. Thou shalt have olive-trees throughout, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil: for thine olive shall cast his fruit. "41. Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but thou shalt not enjoy them, for they shall go into captivity.” (Into captivity is translated from bashshebi; the prefix preposition in, into, &c. here makes bash. The root is shebi. The translation is correct, but the idea extends to such a possession of the captive as includes the idea of a right of property. The same word is used when dumb beasts are taken as spoil in war; thus, Amos iv. 10, DDD shebi susekem, I have taken your horses, i. e. I have captured your horses,—the right of property in the horses is changed. The idea in the text is, they shall go into slavery.) "42. All thy trees and fruit of thy land shall the locust con sume. "43. The stranger that is within thee shall get up above thee very high; and thou shalt come down very low. "44. He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him: he shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail. "45. Moreover, all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed: because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee. "46. And they shall be upon thee for a sign, and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever." (For a sign is oth, a mark, sign, &c. It may be noted that this word is used in Gen. iv. 15: "And the Lord set a mark Cain," in oth, mark, sign, &c.) upon "47. Because thou servedst not the Lord thy God with joyfulness and with gladness of heart for the abundance of all things. "48. Therefore shalt thou serve (y be a slave to) thine enemies which the Lord shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee. "49. The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth, a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand; “50. A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor show favour to the young: "51. And he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy land, until thou be destroyed: which also shall not leave thee either corn, wine, or oil, or the increase of thy kine, or flocks of thy sheep, until he have destroyed thee. “52. And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustedst, throughout all thy land: and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land which the Lord thy God hath given thee. “53. And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters which the Lord thy God hath given thee, in the siege and in the straitness wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee: "54. So that the man that is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children which he shall leave. "55. So that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat: because he hath nothing left him in the siege, and in the straitness wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee in all thy gates. “56. The tender and delicate woman among you, which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter, "57. And toward her young one that cometh out from between her feet, and toward her children which she shall bear for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly in the siege and straitness wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates. "58. If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name THE LORD THY GOD. "59. Then the Lord will make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore sicknesses and of long continuance. "60. Moreover, he will bring upon thee all the diseases of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of, and they shall cleave unto thee. "61. Also every sickness, and every plague which is not written. in the book of this law, them will the Lord bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed. “62. And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because thou wouldest not obey the voice of the Lord thy God. “63. And it shall come to pass, that as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it. "64. And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people from the one end of the earth even to the other, and thou shalt serve (♫y, be slave to) other gods which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone. "65. And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the Lord shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind. "66. And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life: "67. In the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even! and at even shalt thou say, Would God it were morning! for the fear of thy heart wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see. "68. And the Lord shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I spake unto thee. Thou shalt see it no more again: and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bond-men and bond-women, and no man shall buy you." Ye shall be sold, i. e. be exposed to sale, or expose yourselves to sale, as the word D hith maccartem may be rendered; they were vagrants, and wished to become slaves that they might be provided with the necessaries of life." Clarke's Commentary. The markets were overstocked with them, says Josephus: * * * "They were sold with their wives and children at the lowest price, there being many to be sold, and few purchasers." Hegesippus also says "There were many captives offered for sale, but few buyers, because the Romans disdained to take the Jews for slaves, and there were not Jews remaining to redeem their countrymen." "When Jerusalem was taken by Titus, of the captives who were sent into Egypt, those under seventeen were sold; but so little care was taken of them, that 11,000 of them perished for want.” Bishop Newton. St. Jerome says-"After their last overthrow by Adrian, many thousands of them were sold, and those who could not be sold were transported into Egypt, and perished by shipwreck and famine, or were massacred by the inhabitants." A similar condition happened to the Jews in Spain, when, under the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, they were driven out of that kingdom, concerning which, Abarbinel, a Jewish writer says"Three hundred thousand, young and old, women and children, (of whom he was one,) not knowing where to go, left on foot in one day some became a prey, some perished by famine, some by pestilence, some committed themselves to the sea, but were sold for slaves when they came to any coast; many were drowned and burned in the ships which were set on fire. In short, all suffered the punishment of God the Avenger. Benson, in his Commentary, says "How these instances may affect others, I know not, but for myself I must acknowledge, they not only convince, but astonish me beyond expression. They are truly, as Moses foretold they would be, a sign and a wonder for ever.” * * * Scott says "Numbers of captives were sent by sea into Egypt, (as well as into other countries,) and sold for slaves at a vile price, and for the meanest offices; and many thousands were left to perish from want; for the multitude was so great that purchasers could not be found for them all at any price. To such wretchedness is every one exposed, who lives in disobedience to God's commands. * None will suffer any misery above his deserts: but, indeed, we are all exposed to this woful curse, for breaking the law of God." * * Henry says "I have heard of a wicked man, who, on reading these threatenings, was so enraged that he tore the leaf out of his Bible." Upon a review of all this evidence, to what conclusion is the mind inclined? Are there no circumstances under which man may become a slave-" property, in the sight of God and justice?" Dr. Channing says, vol. ii. page 28-" Such a being (man) was plainly made to obey a law within himself. This is the essence of a moral being. He possesses, as part of his nature, and the most essential part, a cause of duty, which he is to reverence and follow." This is in accordance with his idea of conscience-" the Divine monitor within us." But we are forced to differ from Dr. Channing. To obey the law of God, not some creature of man's, or our own judgment, is the creed we inculcate; and we further teach that "such a being was plainly made" "to reverence and follow" the law of God, not his own opinion or the feelings of his own heart. If this doctrine is not true in theology, can it be so in regard to slavery, or any thing else? Page 29, he says-"Every thing else may be owned in the universe; but a moral, rational being cannot be property. Suns and stars may be owned, but not the lowest spirit. Touch any thing but this. Lay not your hand upon God's rational offspring. The whole spiritual world cries out, FORBEAR!" We do not quote this as an argument. If his postulate be true concerning the "law within himself," he needs no argument; his opinion is enough: his feeling, his "sense of duty" governs the matter. But, while his disciples "reverence and follow" their "sense of duty," by obeying a law within themselves, and, according to their conscience, "own the sun and stars," may not those who believe the Bible to be the word of God, who "reverence and follow" it, as their " sense of duty," and obey it as a law within themselves, according to their conscience, own slaves? But Dr. Channing continues-"The highest intelligences recognise their own nature, their own rights, in the humblest human being. By that priceless, immortal spirit which dwells in him, by that likeness of God which he wears, tread him not in the dust, confound him not with the brute." And he then gravely adds"We have thus seen that a human being cannot rightfully be held and used as property. No legislation, not that of all countries or |