Latest Commentaries

Moses instructs the Israelites on how to deal with a stubborn and rebellious son who continuously disobeys his parents.

Moses instructs the Israelite husband who has two wives to give a double portion of his inheritance to the firstborn son, even if his mother is less favored than the other

In this section, Moses specified the rules concerning the marriage of an Israelite man to a woman captured in battle

Moses deals with the issue of murder when the killer is unknown

Moses asks owners of fields and orchards to leave a portion of their harvest for the alien, the orphan, and the widow.

Moses warns Israel against perverting the justice due to the alien and the orphan, and forbids taking a widow’s garment in pledge.

Moses forbade the Israelites from punishing one family member for the actions of another member of the family. Each person had agency to choose, and this agency was to be respected.

Moses warns the Israelites against oppressing a hired servant who is poor and needy by withholding his wages. Such an act can cause the poor man to cry out to God against his employer.

Moses elevates a law that promotes loving and caring for neighbors. He forbids a lender to enter his borrower’s house to take his pledge. He must remain outside as the borrower chooses the item he wants to pledge. If the borrower is poor and offers his cloak as collateral, the lender needs to return it to him every evening until the loan is repaid.

The first topic related to the section generally flavored by the ninth commandment is concerned with leprosy. Moses encourages the Israelites to listen to the instructions of the Levitical priests regarding skin diseases (including leprosy). He illustrates the issue by referring to the case of Miriam, Moses’s sister.

Moses warns the Israelites against kidnapping their countrymen. Anyone who kidnaps his brother shall die in order to purge the evil from among the Israelite community.

Moses told the Israelites that they could not take a handmill or an upper millstone as collateral for a loan.

Moses proclaimed that every newly married man was exempt from going to war for one full year in order to establish his home and give happiness to his wife.

Moses discusses the issue of marriage, divorce, and remarriage in ancient Israel. The first three verses present the problem and the last verse provides the correct action.

God continues to forbid practices that are not in His people’s best interest. Rather, God promotes His ways which lead to harmony with God and others.

God outlines a list of incestuous sexual sins and forbids His people to engage in them as was common in the lands of Egypt and Canaan. The phrase "uncover one’s nakedness" means to engage in sexual intimacy with a person (including but not limited to intercourse). Uncovering the nakedness of one’s spouse within the covenant of marriage produces oneness. However, having forbidden sexual relations is usually in order to exploit another for personal sexual gratification, and is forbidden. Here it is forbidden particularly within families.

God’s law presents to us an ideal way to live in harmony with God and our fellow humans by defining what is right and wrong. As our creator, God knows this better than any human. In pronouncing His ways, He is making clear the path to our ultimate best interest.

God tells the Israelites through Moses that His ways are in their best interest. The ways of the Egyptians and the Canaanites, which are the ways of their sinful flesh, are not in their best interest. Those ways lead to death while His ways lead to life and peace.

The LORD promises to restore Israel along with her fortunes. He will reverse all the curses that fall on her and sow her for Himself in the land.

The LORD describes His judgment on Israel because she goes after other gods. Since Israel credits the fertility gods such as Baal for providing for her needs, the Suzerain God declares that He will prevent her from all means of access to cause her to return to Him.