Exodus 20:22

THE BOOK OF THE COVENANT. (22-26) In the remainder of Exodus 20, and in the three chapters which follow, we have a series of laws delivered by God to Moses, immediately after the delivery of the Decalogue, which constituted the second stage of the revelation, and stood midway between the first great enunciation of abstract principles in the Ten Commandments and the ultimate minute and complicated elaboration of rules to meet all cases which fills the three Books of Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. This intermediate revelation appears to have been at once committed to writing, and in its written shape was known as “the Book of the Covenant “ (Exodus 24:7), and regarded with special veneration. “The Book of the Covenant” is wanting in system and arrangement, but is not wholly unsystematic. It commences with some laws concerning the worship of God (Exodus 20:22-26), proceeds from the Divine to the human, and treats in its second section (Exodus 21:1-32) of “the rights of persons,” then concerns itself with “the rights of property” (Exodus 21:33 to Exodus 22:15), and, finally, winds up with “miscellaneous laws” (Exodus 22:16 to Exodus 23:19), partly on things Divine, partly on things human—the things Divine being reserved to the last, so that the end of the legislation is in close harmony with the beginning.

Altogether, the enactments contained in the short space of three chapters are some seventy; and the “Book of the Covenant” is thus no mere tentative sketch; but a very wonderful condensation of the essence of all the more important matters which Moses afterwards put forth by Divine inspiration in the long space of nearly forty years. LAWS CONCERNING RELIGION. (22) Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven.—It was important to identify the giver of the Book of the Covenant with the deliverer of the Ten Commandments, and accordingly this was done in the opening words of the Book.

Ye have seen, i.e. heard, as Exodus 20:18 . He may use the word seen here, to intimate that this was all they could see of God, to wit, his voice and speech, and that they saw no image of him, as is expressed in a parallel place, and therefore should make no resemblances of him, as it here follows. From heaven, i.e. from the lower heaven, to wit, the air, or the clouds, which were over the top of mount Sinai, Deu 4:36 Nehemiah 9:13 ; and so the word heaven is oft understood, as Genesis 1:20 Job 35:11 Psalm 79:2 . And so this place may be reconciled with Hebrews 12:25 , where this is said to be spoken upon earth.

Nothing could be more appropriate as the commencement of the book of the covenant than these regulations for public worship. The rules for the building of altars must have been old and accepted, and are not inconsistent with the directions for the construction of the altar of the court of the tabernacle, Exodus 27:1-8 (compare Joshua 22:26-28 ).

Verses 22-26. - THE BOOK OF THE COVENANT, (chap. 20. ver. 22, to chap. 22. ver. 23). The Decalogue is followed by a series of laws, civil, social, and religious, which occupy the remainder of ch. 20. and the whole of the three following chapters (ch. 21, 22. and 23.). It appears from ch. 24. that these laws, received by Moses on Sinai, immediately after the delivery of the ten commandments, were at once committed to writing and collected into a book, which was known as "the Book of the Covenant" ( Exodus 24:7 ), and was regarded as a specially sacred volume. The document, as it has come down to us, "cannot be regarded as a strictly systematic whole" (Canon Cook): yet still, it is not wholly unsystematic,but aims in some degree at an orderly arrangement. First and foremost are placed the laws which concern the worship of God, which are two in number: - 1. Against idols; 2. Concerning altars ( Exodus 20:23-26 ). Then follow the laws respecting what our legal writers call "the rights of persons" - which occupy thirty-two verses of ch. 21. and fall under some twenty different heads, beginning with the rights of slaves, and terminating with the compensation to be made for injuries to the person caused by cattle. The third section is upon "the rights of property," and extends from Exodus 21:33 , to Exodus 22:15 , including some ten or twelve enactments.

After this we can only say that the laws are mixed, some being concerned with Divine things (as ch. 22:20, 29, 30; and ch. 23. 10-19): others with human, and these last being of various kinds, all, however, more or less "connected with the civil organization of the state" (Kalisch). In the fourth section the enactments seem to fall under about twenty-five heads. The result is that the "Book of the Covenant" contains, in little more than three chapters, about seventy distinct laws. Verse 22. - Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven . The book opened with this reminder, which at once recalled its author and declared its authority. "I, who give these laws, am the same who spake the ten commandments amid the thunders of Sinai. Reverence the laws accordingly." Exodus 20:22

22 . Thus thou shalt say ] Cf. Exodus 19:3 . from heaven ] As their position in the Heb. shews, these are the emphatic words in the sentence: their intention is to shew that the Israelites’ God is exalted far above the earth, and that consequently ( v. 23) no material gods are to be venerated by them. Cf. Deuteronomy 4:36 . 22–26 . The collection opens with directions respecting the manner which God is to be worshipped (other directions about religious observances follow in Exodus 22:20 ; Exodus 22:29-31 , Exodus 23:10-19 ). Chapters Exodus 20:22 to Exodus 23:33 The Book of the Covenant The ‘Book of the Covenant’ (see Exodus 24:7 in explanation of the name) is the oldest piece of Hebrew legislation that we possess. The laws contained in it are spoken of in Exodus 24:3 as consisting of two elements, the words (or commands) and the judgements : the judgements (see on Exodus 21:1 ) are the provisions relating to civil and criminal law, prescribing what is to be done when particular cases arise, and comprised in Exodus 21:2 to Exodus 22:17 ; the words are positive injunctions of moral, religious, and ceremonial law, introduced mostly by Thou shalt or shalt not , and comprised in Exodus 20:23-26 , Exodus 22:18 to Exodus 23:19 : Exodus 23:20-33 is a hortatory epilogue, consisting chiefly of promises intended to suggest motives for the observance of the preceding laws.

The laws themselves were doubtless taken by E from some already existing source: the ‘judgements’ in Exodus 21:2 to Exodus 22:17 seem to have undergone no alteration of form: but the ‘words’ which follow can hardly be in their original order; moral, religious, and ceremonial injunctions being intermingled sometimes singly, sometimes in groups (see the following summary), without any apparent system (notice also Exodus 23:4 f., evidently interrupting the connexion between vv. 1–3 and 6–8); and in parts (as Exodus 22:21-22; Exo 22:24 , Exodus 23:9 b, Exodus 23:23-25 a, Exodus 23:31-33 : see the notes) slight parenetic additions have probably been made by the compiler of J E. The laws themselves may be grouped as follows: i. Enactments relating to civil and criminal law: 1. Rights of Hebrew slaves (male and female), Exodus 21:2-11 . 2. Capital offences, viz. murder (in distinction from manslaughter), striking or cursing a parent, and man-stealing, Exodus 21:12-17 . 3. Penalties for bodily injuries, caused ( a ) by human beings, Exodus 21:18-27 , ( b ) by animals (a vicious ox, for instance), or neglect of reason able precautions (as leaving a pit open), Exodus 21:28-36 . 4. Theft of ox or sheep, and burglary, Exodus 22:1-4 . 5. Compensation for damage done by straying cattle [but see note], or fire spreading accidentally to another man’s field, Exodus 22:5-6 . 6. Compensation for loss or injury in various cases of deposit or loan, Exodus 22:7-15 . 7.