The Skeptics Annotated Bible (195 page)

(24.17-21) Be kind to widows, orphans, fatherless children and strangers. Share whatever you have with them.

17
Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger, nor of the fatherless; nor take a widow’s raiment to pledge:

18 But thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt, and the LORD thy God redeemed thee thence: therefore I command thee to do this thing.

19
When thou cuttest down thine harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow
: that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hands.

(24.19)
“When thou cuttest down thine harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.”

20
When thou beatest thine olive tree, thou shalt not go over the boughs again: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.

(24.20)
“When thou beatest thine olive tree, thou shalt not go over the boughs again: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.”

21
When thou gatherest the grapes of thy vineyard, thou shalt not glean it afterward: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.

(24.21)
“When thou gatherest the grapes of thy vineyard, thou shalt not glean it afterward: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.”

22 And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt: therefore I command thee to do this thing.

(25.1-3) Legal disputes are settled by a judge who determines guilt or innocence. No lawyers or jury are needed. Those found guilty will be beaten with a maximum of 40 stripes.

25
If there be a controversy between men
, and they come unto judgment, that the judges may judge them; then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked.

2 And it shall be,
if the wicked man be worthy to be beaten
, that
the judge shall cause him to lie down, and to be beaten
before his face, according to his fault, by a certain number.

(25.1-2)
“If there be a controversy between men … if the wicked man be worthy to be beaten … the judge shall cause him to lie down, and to be beaten.”

3
Forty stripes he may give him
, and not exceed: lest, if he should exceed, and beat him above these with many stripes, then thy brother should seem vile unto thee.

(25.3)
“Forty stripes he may give him.”

4
Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn.

(25.4)
”Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn.”
Let the animal eat while it works.

(25.5-10) If a man dies before his wife has a child, then the widow must marry her husband’s brother—whether she likes him or not, and whether she wants to or not. If the he refuses to “go in unto” his dead brother’s wife, the she must loosen his shoe and spit in his face.

5
If brethren dwell together, and one of them die, and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not marry without unto a stranger: her husband’s brother shall go in unto her, and take her to him to wife, and perform the duty of an husband’s brother unto her.

(25.5)
“If brethren dwell together, and one of them die, and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not marry without unto a stranger: her husband’s brother shall go in unto her, and take her to him to wife, and perform the duty of an husband’s brother unto her.”

6 And it shall be, that the firstborn which she beareth shall succeed in the name of his brother which is dead, that his name be not put out of Israel.

7
And if the man like not to take his brother’s wife, then let his brother’s wife go up to the gate unto the elders, and say, My husband’s brother refuseth to raise up unto his brother a name in Israel, he will not perform the duty of my husband’s brother.

(25.7)
“And if the man like not to take his brother’s wife, then let his brother’s wife go up to the gate unto the elders, and say, My husband’s brother refuseth to raise up unto his brother a name in Israel, he will not perform the duty of my husband’s brother.”

8 Then the elders of his city shall call him, and speak unto him: and if he stand to it, and say, I like not to take her;

9
Then shall his brother’s wife
come unto him in the presence of the elders, and
loose his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face
, and shall answer and say, So shall it be done unto that man that will not build up his brother’s house.

(25.9)
“Then shall his brother’s wife … loose his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face.”

10
And his name shall be called in Israel, The house of him that hath his shoe loosed.

(25.10)
“And his name shall be called in Israel, The house of him that hath his shoe loosed.”

(25.11-12) If two men fight and the wife of one grabs the “secrets” of the other, “then thou shalt cut off her hand” and “thine eye shall not pity her.”