The cities of refuge. Wilful murder, and false witnesses must be punished.
Certaine cities of refuge must be assigned for casual manslaughter. 11. wilful murther punished by death without remission, 15. so it be conuinced by two or three witnesses. 16. False witnesses punished with the paine, which the crime obiected deserueth.
1When the Lord thy God hath destroyed the nations, whose land he will deliver to thee, and thou shalt possess it, and shalt dwell in the cities and houses thereof:Allorché il Signore Dio tuo avrà annichilate le genti, delle quali la terra darà egli a te, e quando tu ne sarai in possesso, e abiterai in quelle città, e in quelle case:VVHEN our Lord thy God hath destroyed the nations, whose land he wil deliuer to thee, and thou doest possesse it, and dwellest in the cities and houses therof:Cum disperdiderit Dominus Deus tuus gentes, quarum tibi traditurus est terram, et possederis eam, habitaverisque in urbibus ejus et in ædibus: 2Thou shalt separate to thee three cities in the midst of the land, which the Lord will give thee in possession,Separerai tre città nel mezzo del paese, di cui il Signore Dio tuo daratti il dominio,three cities shalt thou separate to thee in the middes of the Land, which our Lord thy God wil geue thee in possession,tres civitates separabis tibi in medio terræ, quam Dominus Deus tuus dabit tibi in possessionem, 3Paving diligently the way: and thou shalt divide the whole province of thy land equally into three parts: that he who is forced to flee for manslaughter, may have near at hand whither to escape.E appianerai diligentemente le strade, e in tre parti dividerai tutto il continente della tua terra, affinché colui che è fuggiasco per ragion d'omicidio, abbia vicino un luogo, dove potere scampare.preparing diligently the way: and thou shalt diuide the whole prouince of thy Land equally into three partes: that he which for murder is a fugitiue, may haue neere at hand, whither to escape.sternens diligenter viam: et in tres æqualiter partes totam terræ tuæ provinciam divides: ut habeat e vicino qui propter homicidium profugus est, quo possit evadere. 4This shall be the law of the slayer that fleeth, whose life is to be saved: He that killeth his neighbor ignorantly, and who is proved to have had no hatred against him yesterday and the day before:Questa sarà la legge riguardo all'omicida, che prende la fuga, di cui dee salvarsi la vita: Se uno ha ferito il suo prossimo per accidente, e non si prova, che ieri, o ieri l'altro avesse odio alcuno contro di quello,This shal be the law of the murderer that fleeth, whose life is to be saued: He that striketh his neighbour vnwitting, and that is proued yesterday and the day before to haue had no hatred against him:Hæc erit lex homicidæ fugientis, cujus vita servanda est: qui percusserit proximum suum nesciens, et qui heri et nudiustertius nullum contra eum odium habuisse comprobatur:
5But to have gone with him to the wood to hew wood, and in cutting down the tree the axe slipped out of his hand, and the iron slipping from the handle struck his friend, and killed him: he shall flee to one of the cities aforesaid, and live:Ma che era andato con lui semplicemente nel bosco a tagliar delle legna, e nel tagliarle gli era fuggita di mano la scure, e il ferro uscito del manico avea percosso e ucciso il suo amico: questi si rifuggirà in una delle sopraddette città, e sarà salvo;but to haue gone with him simply vnto the wood to cutte wood, and in cutting the wood of axe slipped out of his hand, and the yron falling from the handle strooke his freind, and killed him: he shal flee to one of the cities aforesaid, and liue:sed abiisse cum eo simpliciter in silvam ad ligna cædenda, et in succisione lignorum securis fugerit manu, ferrumque lapsum de manubrio amicum ejus percusserit, et occiderit: hic ad unam supradictarum urbium confugiet, et vivet: 6Lest perhaps the next kinsman of him whose blood was shed, pushed on by his grief should pursue, and apprehend him, if the way be too long, and take away the life of him who is not guilty of death, because he is proved to have had no hatred before against him that was slain.Affinché per disgrazia un parente di quello, il sangue di cui è stato sparso, stimolato dal dolore non gli tenga dietro, e gli metta le mani addosso, ove il viaggio fosse lungo, e uccida colui che non è reo di morte: atteso che non si prova, che avesse prima alcun odio contro l'ucciso.lest perhaps the next kinseman of him, whose bloud was shed, pricked with sorow, pursew, and apprehend him if the way be too long, and stricke his life, that is not guiltie of death, because he is proued to haue had no hatred before, against him that was slaine.ne forsitan proximus ejus, cujus effusus est sanguis, dolore stimulatus, persequatur, et apprehendat eum si longior via fuerit, et percutiat animam ejus, qui non est reus mortis: quia nullum contra eum, qui occisus est, odium prius habuisse monstratur. 7Therefore I command thee, that thou separate three cities at equal distance one from another.Per questo io ti comando di porre queste tre città in pari distanza tra loro.Therfore I command thee, that thou separat three cities of equal distance one from an other.Idcirco præcipio tibi, ut tres civitates æqualis inter se spatii dividas. 8And when the Lord thy God shall have enlarged thy borders, as he swore to thy fathers, and shall give thee all the land that he promised them,Quando poi il Signore Dio tuo abbia ampliati i tuoi confini, conforme giurò ai padri tuoi, e ti avrà data tutta la terra, che ad essi promise,And when our Lord thy God shal haue dilated thy borders, as he sware to thy fathers, and shal geue thee al the Land, that he promised them, (Cum autem dilataverit Dominus Deus tuus terminos tuos, sicut juravit patribus tuis, et dederit tibi cunctam terram, quam eis pollicitus est 9(Yet so, if thou keep his commandments, and do the things which I command thee this day, that thou love the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways at all times) thou shalt add to thee other three cities, and shalt double the number of the three cities aforesaid:(Se però osserverai i suoi comandamenti, e farai quello che io oggi ti prescrivo, che ami il Signore Dio tuo, e nelle vie di lui cammini in ogni tempo), aggiungerai a queste tre altre città, e raddoppierai il numero delle prime:yet so, if thou keepe his commandementes, and do the thinges which I command thee this day, that thou loue our Lord thy God, and walke in his wayes at al time) thou shalt adde to thee other three cities, and shalt duble the number of the three cities aforesaid:(si tamen custodieris mandata ejus, et feceris, quæ hodie præcipio tibi, ut diligas Dominum Deum tuum, et ambules in viis ejus omni tempore), addes tibi tres alias civitates, et supradictarum trium urbium numerum duplicabis:
10That innocent blood may not be shed in the midst of the land which the Lord thy God will give thee to possess, lest thou be guilty of blood.Affinché non si sparga il sangue innocente in seno alla terra, di cui il Signore Dio tuo daratti il possesso, affinché tu non sia reo di effusione di sangue.that innocent bloud be not shed in the middes of the Land, which our Lord thy God wil geue thee to possesse, lest thou be guiltie of bloud.ut non effundatur sanguis innoxius in medio terræ, quam Dominus Deus tuus dabit tibi possidendam, ne sis sanguinis reus. 11But if any man hating his neighbour, lie in wait for his life, and rise and strike him, and he die, and he flee to one of the cities aforesaid,Ma se uno portando odio al suo prossimo tenderà insidie alla vita di lui, e andandogli contro lo ferirà, onde quegli si muoia, ed egli siasi rifuggito in una delle sopraddette città,But if any man hating his neighbour, lie in wayte for his life, and rise and strike him, and he die, and he flee to one of the cities aforesaid,Si quis autem, odio habens proximum suum, insidiatus fuerit vitæ ejus, surgensque percusserit illum, et mortuus fuerit, fugeritque ad unam de supradictis urbibus, 12The ancients of his city shall send, and take him out of the place of refuge, and shall deliver him into the hand of the kinsman of him whose blood was shed, and he shall die.I seniori della patria di lui manderanno a pigliarlo nel luogo, dove si è rifuggito, e lo daranno nelle mani del parente di colui del quale fu sparso il sangue, ed egli sarà messo a morte.the ancientes of his citie shal send, acd take him out of the place of refuge, and shal deliuer him into the hand of the kinseman of him, whose bloud was shed, and he shal die.mittent seniores civitatis illius, et arripient eum de loco effugii, tradentque in manu proximi, cujus sanguis effusus est, et morietur. 13Thou shalt not pity him, and thou shalt take away the guilt of innocent blood out of Israel, that it may be well with thee.Non avrai compassione di lui, e torrai da Israele il reato dell'effusione del sangue innocente, affinché tu sii prosperato.Thou shalt not pitie him, and thou shalt take away the guiltie bloud out of Israel, that it may be wel with thee.Non miseraberis ejus, et auferes innoxium sanguinem de Israël, ut bene sit tibi. 14Thou shalt not take nor remove thy neighbour’s landmark, which thy predecessors have set in thy possession, which the Lord thy God will give thee in the land that thou shalt receive to possess.Non ismoverai, e non trasporterai i termini del tuo prossimo piantati da quelli che ebbero per l'avanti le possessioni, che il Signore Dio tuo darà a te nella terra, di cui ti farà padrone.Thou shalt not take, and transferre thy neighbours boundes, which thy predecessours did sette in thy possession, which our Lord thy God wil geue thee in the Land, that thou shalt receiue to possesse.Non assumes, et transferes terminos proximi tui, quos fixerunt priores in possessione tua, quam Dominus Deus tuus dabit tibi in terra quam acceperis possidendam.
15One witness shall not rise up against any man, whatsoever the sin or wickedness be: but in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall stand.Non sarà sufficiente un sol testimonio contro chicchessia, qualunque siasi il peccato, e la scelleraggine: ma tutto si deciderà sul deposto di due, o di tre testimoni.One witnesse shal not stand against any man, whatsoeuer sinne, or wickednesse it be: but in the mouth of two or three witnesses shal euerie word stand.Non stabit testis unus contra aliquem, quidquid illud peccati, et facinoris fuerit: sed in ore duorum aut trium testium stabit omne verbum. 16If a lying witness stand against a man, accusing him of transgression,Se un falso testimonio si presenta per accusare un uomo di prevaricazione,If a lying witnesse stand against a man, accusing him of preuarication,Si steterit testis mendax contra hominem, accusans eum prævaricationis, 17Both of them, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before the Lord in the sight of the priests and the judges that shall be in those days.Si presenteranno ambedue questi contendenti dinanzi al Signore in presenza de' sacerdoti, e de' giudici, che saranno in quel tempo:both of them, whose the cause is, shal stand before our Lord in the sight of the priestes and the iudges that shal be in those daies.stabunt ambo, quorum causa est, ante Dominum in conspectu sacerdotum et judicum qui fuerint in diebus illis. 18And when after most diligent inquisition, they shall find that the false witness hath told a lie against his brother:E quando questi dopo diligentissimo esame trovino, che il testimone falso ha detto bugia contro del suo fratello,And when searching most diligently, they shal finde that the false witnes hath said a lie against his brother:Cumque diligentissime perscrutantes, invenerint falsum testem dixisse contra fratrem suum mendacium, 19They shall render to him as he meant to do to his brother, and thou shalt take away the evil out of the midst of thee:Faranno a lui quello che egli ha avuto intenzione di fare al suo fratello, e torrai l'iniquità di mezzo a te:they shal render to him as he meant to doe to his brother, and thou shalt take away the euil out of the middes of thee:reddent ei sicut fratri suo facere cogitavit, et auferes malum de medio tui: 20That others hearing may fear, and may not dare to do such things.Affinché ciò udendo tutti gli altri ne abbian timore, e non abbian mai ardimento di far cosa tale.that others hearing may haue feare, and may not be bold to doe such things.ut audientes ceteri timorem habeant, et nequaquam talia audeant facere.
21Thou shalt not pity him, but shalt require life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.Non avrai compassione di colui, ma farai ch'egli paghi vita per vita, occhio per occhio, dente per dente, mano per mano, gamba per gamba.Thou shalt not pitie him, but life for life, eie for eie, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foote for foote shalt thou exacte.Non misereberis ejus, sed animam pro anima, oculum pro oculo, dentem pro dente, manum pro manu, pedem pro pede exiges.
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Year of the World 2553.
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Haydock
Cities. These were Hebron, Sichem, and Cades, on the west side of the Jordan, Josue 20:7. Those on the east were already appointed, Deuteronomy 4:41. Three others might also have been added, (ver. 8.; Calmet) in case the Hebrews had gotten full possession of the countries as far as the Euphrates. (Haydock)
Calmet
The cities of refuge were not above forty-five miles distant from each other, in the land of Chanaan. Those in Galaad were not so far off, as the territory was smaller. (Calmet)
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Way, and keeping all in good repair, with guide-posts at the crossroads, on which Oleaster says moklot, "escape," was written. See Numbers xxxv.
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Calmet
Grief. The law granted so much to the sudden passion of a relation, who met the man slayer out of the cities of refuge, as not to punish him if he gave way to the dictates of vengeance, how unjust soever. (Calmet)
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Calmet
At equal, etc. This addition is not in Hebrew (Calmet) or the Septuagint, (Haydock) but is conformable to the regulation given, ver. 3. (Calmet)
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Haydock
And when. Septuagint, "but if." This condition was never fulfilled at all times; (ver. 9,) and therefore the Israelites could blame only themselves, if the promises which God had made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, (Genesis xv., xxvi., xxviii., and xxxv.,) were not realized. (Haydock)
Haydock
Though the country was conquered under David and Solomon, the Israelites did not drive out the former inhabitants, (Calmet) nor did they keep possession for any long time. (Haydock)
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Haydock
His city. Strict enquiry was made into the circumstances attending the manslaughter, Numbers 35:12. If the refugee was proved guilty, he was delivered up to the next relation of the deceased to be put to death. (Haydock)
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Calmet
Innocent. Many Latin copies have "guilty blood," noxium. By putting the offender to death, Israel was expiated from the blood which had been shed unjustly. (Calmet)
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Calmet
Landmarks, either which divided the tribes, or the inheritance of individuals. The former were strictly kept up till after the captivity. Those who removed the latter were to be scourged for theft, and again for disobeying this law. (Selden, Jur. 6:3.) Josephus ([Antiquities?] 4:8,) understands that encroachments on the territories of others, which give rise to many wars, are hereby prohibited. (Calmet)
Ovid
So are likewise innovations in religion. The Romans had a superstitious veneration for these landmarks, which they adored under the name of the god Terminus, (Haydock) crowning them with flowers, and offering cakes and sacrifices to them. Spargitur et coeso communis Terminus agno. (Ovid, Fast.)
They punished the crime of removing them either with death, banishment, or a fine.
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Maimonides
One would suffice to make an enquiry into the affair, and to oblige the person accused, in pecuniary matters, to take an oath that he owed nothing. (Maimonides)
Haydock
Stand. This expression was become proverbial, to denote the certainty of a thing, Matthew 18:16., and 2 Corinthians 13:1. Two witnesses cannot so easily carry on a cheat, (Calmet) as was seen in the case of Susanna. [Daniel xiii.] (Haydock)
Calmet
The law is satisfied with moral certainty. (Calmet)
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Calmet
Transgression against the law, by apostacy or by idolatry, (Junius) or by any other grievous crime. The person accused might, in this case, be examined, but he could not be condemned unless another witness appeared. Demosthenes (contra Aristocrat.) informs us how (Calmet) the Athenians (Haydock) required the witness in criminal matters, to swear on the flesh of a wild boar, ram, and bull, that he spoke the truth, and to utter horrible imprecations against himself and family, if he did otherwise. (Calmet)
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Menochius
Lord, in the tabernacle. (Menochius)
Calmet
Judges. Hence it appears evidently that the priests were to pass sentence in all difficult questions, as well in those which regarded individuals, as in those which attacked the worship of God; since the false accuser is to lose his life or limb, according as he had attempted to injure his neighbour; (ver. 21,) and the Lord ratifies their sentence. (Calmet)
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Grotius
Things. This is the design of penal laws, to render justice to the innocent, and to prevent the spreading of a contagious evil, by cutting off the hopes of impunity. (Grotius, Jur. 2:10. 9.)
"I would cause the criminal's throat to be cut, says Seneca, (de Ira ii.) with the same countenance and mind as I kill serpents and venomous animals."
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Worthington
Pity. This regarded the judge, who must act with impartiality. (Worthington)
Lyranus
The law admits of no mitigation, but inflicts the same punishment on the calumniating witness, as he intended should fall upon his brother. (Lyranus; etc.)
Calmet
Some Rabbins (apud Fag.) pretend that this was executed with rigour, only when the innocent had sustained some real injury. See Exodus 21:24. (Calmet)
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The way to the cities of refuge were paued, and markes set for direction, that he which fled might not erre in his way.
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This was sayd to the whole people who must not intreate for the murderers pardon: but the kinsmen of him that was slaine, might remitte the punishment.
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This pertained to the Iudge: who without partialitie must do iustice.
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Pope St Gregory I the Great † AD 604 The Book of Pastoral Rule 2.10
… lest haply the next of kin to him whose blood has been shed, while his heart is hot, pursue him, and overtake him, and smite him mortally (
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St Dionysius of Alexandria † AD 265 Containing Epistles, or Fragments of Epistles 7
… For it is written, “Thou shalt not remove thy neighbour’s landmark, which thy fathers have placed.”
Eusebius of Caesarea † AD 339 The Church History of Eusebius 7.7.5
… To overturn their counsels and throw them into strife and contention, I cannot endure. For it is said, ‘Thou shalt not remove thy neighbor’s landmark, which thy fathers have set.’”
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Tertullian † AD 220 The Prescription Against Heretics 22
… Of what could He have meant those to be ignorant, to whom He even exhibited His own glory with Moses and Elias, and the Father’s voice moreover, from heaven? Not as if He thus disapproved of all the rest, but because “by three witnesses must every word be established.”
Tertullian † AD 220 The Five Books Against Marcion 4.22
… and that Christ accordingly was not to be regarded as belonging to any other than the Creator, whose entire dispensation he, in fact, here described. He selects from His disciples three witnesses of the impending vision and voice. And this is just the way of the Creator. “In the mouth of three witnesses,” says He, “shall every word be established.”
Tertullian † AD 220 On Baptism 6
… For if “in the mouth of three witnesses every word shall stand:”
St Basil the Great † AD 379 De Spiritu Sancto 29
… If, as in a Court of Law, we were at a loss for documentary evidence, but were able to bring before you a large number of witnesses, would you not give your vote for our acquittal? I think so; for “at the mouth of two or three witnesses shall the matter be established.”
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 4.12
… Well then, He truly rose, and after He had risen was seen again of the disciples: and twelve disciples were witnesses of His Resurrection, who bare witness not in pleasing words, but contended even unto torture and death for the truth of the Resurrection. What then, shall every word be established at the mouth of two of three witnesses
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on 1 Timothy 15
And because many judgments are formed upon suspicion, there ought, he says, to be witnesses, and men to convict the offender according to the ancient law. “At the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every matter be established. Against an elder receive not an accusation.” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Reply to Faustus the Manichæan 16.13
… So it is written: "In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established."
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 36.10
… I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me.” He expounded the law to them also, if they were not unthankful. For it is a great question, my brethren, and to me it certainly appears to have been ordained in a mystery, where God said, “In the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall stand.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 113.3
… It was openly, because many heard Him; and again it was not openly, because they did not understand Him. And even what He spake to His disciples apart, He certainly spake not in secret. For who speaketh in secret, that speaketh before so many persons; as it is written, “At the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established:”
Theodoret of Cyrus † AD 458 The Ecclesiastical History of Theodoret 1.20
… Eustathius, conscious of his innocence, asked her whether she could bring forward any witness to prove what she had advanced. She replied that she could not: yet these equitable judges admitted her to oath, although it is said in the law, that “ at the mouth of two or three witnesses shall the matter be established
Pope St Leo I the Great † AD 461 Sermons 51
For Moses and Elias, that is the Law and the Prophets, appeared talking with the Lord ; that in the presence of those five men might most truly be fulfilled what was said: “In two or three witnesses stands every word
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St John Chrysostom † AD 407 To Those Who Had Not Attended the Assembly 6
… yet he preferred exposing himself to danger by letting go the man who had wronged him, to providing for his own security by laying violent hands upon his foe. What could equal then the great and generous spirit of this man, who, when the law commanded eye to be plucked out for eye, and tooth for tooth, and retaliation on equal terms,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Answer to the Letters of Petilian, the Donatist 2.92
… This is not the report that your furious bands won for you by wandering everywhere throughout the whole of Africa with dreadful wickedness. I would fain have it that men should make a bargain with you, that, in accordance with the old law, you should seek but "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,"
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5. BUT HE WENT WITH HIM SIMPLY INTO THE FOREST. -- Tropologically St. Gregory, book X of the Morals, chapter IX: "We go into the forest with a friend," he says, "whenever we turn with any neighbor to consider our beloved things: and we simply cut down wood, when we cut away the vices of the delinquent with pious intention. But the axe flees from the hand, when the rebuke drags itself into harshness more than is necessary. The iron flies from the handle, when a harsher word comes forth from the correction, and striking the friend kills him, because the word uttered with contumely kills the hearer from the spirit of charity. This man must necessarily flee to three cities, because if converted to the laments of penance under hope, faith and charity he is hidden, he is not held guilty of the perpetrated homicide."
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6. LEST PERCHANCE HIS NEIGHBOR, namely the kinsman of the slain, who in Hebrew is called goel, that is, the redeemer, because the right of redeeming the inheritance, if it had been sold, belonged to the nearer kinsman. AND STRIKE THE SOUL, namely the life: it is a metonymy; thus "soul" is taken below in chapter XXII, verse 26, and chapter XXIV, verse 6, and Acts XX, 24: "I do not make my soul (life) more precious than myself."
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13. THOU SHALT TAKE AWAY THE INNOCENT BLOOD, that is, thou shalt remove the shedding of innocent blood, namely by killing the shedder. Whence the Chaldean translator renders it, thou shalt take away him that sheds the blood of the innocent from Israel. There is therefore here a double metonymy; the first, by which blood is put for the shedding of blood; the second, by which shedding is put for the homicide.
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14. THOU SHALT NOT TAKE UP, AND TRANSFER THE BOUNDARIES OF THY NEIGHBOR. -- "Boundaries," namely of fields, so that thou mayest add something from the possession of another to thine own.
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15. IN THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES SHALL STAND (that is, shall be confirmed) EVERY WORD, every accusation, every saying, every matter.
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18 and 19. AND WHEN, etc., THEY SHALL FIND A FALSE WITNESS, etc., THEY SHALL RENDER TO HIM AS HE MEANT TO DO TO HIS BROTHER. -- The penalty of retaliation is here decreed for the false witness: for it is fitting that what punishment someone unjustly wished to inflict upon another by false testimony, he himself should justly suffer. Thus the two elders falsely accusing Susanna of adultery, convicted of falsehood, were buried under stones, Daniel XIII. Hear what the Fathers of the Eighth Ecumenical Council held in Constantinople in the year of the Lord 869, against Leo the Consul and Theodore Protospatharius, who at the instigation of Photius and the Emperor Michael had given false testimony against the Blessed Ignatius the Patriarch, decreed: "We define," they say, "and promulgate that these should have seven years of penance (thus is called Ecclesiastical penalty and censure): that they be outside the church for two years, and for another two years hear the divine Scriptures within the church up to the catechumens; yet in no way communicate, but abstain from meat and wine for four years, except on the Lord's days and the Lord's festivals: and for another three years stand with the faithful, and merit divine communion on the Lord's solemnities alone with alms, prayers and fastings, so that on three days of the week, namely the second, fourth and sixth feria, they abstain from meat and wine."
Examples of Divine Punishment of False Witnesses Gregory, Bishop of Agrigentum, was falsely accused by Sabinus and Crescentius before a Roman Synod of one hundred and fifty Fathers, of fornication with a girl named Eudocia, with one hundred and ten witnesses brought forward. He recited aloud the psalm: "Unjust witnesses have risen up against me; and iniquity hath lied to itself. They rewarded me evil for good." When this was granted, immediately great darkness arose: and some of those present appeared black in both cheeks, others in one cheek. But Sabinus and Crescentius had their lips infected with a black color, which could never afterwards be washed away. Thus the Life of St. Gregory of Agrigentum, which is found in Surius, on the 23rd of November. Furthermore, that false witnesses are infamous by the law itself, Gratian teaches, cause 3, question V, from Pope Eusebius, epistle 3 to the Bishops of Tuscany, in these words: "We have established with all the Bishops who are with us, that murderers, malefactors, thieves, sacrilegists, robbers, adulterers, those guilty of incest, poisoners, suspects, criminals, perjurers, and those who have committed rape, or have given false testimony, or who have resorted to soothsayers and diviners, and the like of them, should not be admitted to accusation or to testimony, because they are infamous, and are justly rejected, because their voice is deadly." Constantine the Great Emperor had Fausta as his wife. She, captivated by love of Crispus her stepson, when she had often provoked him to lust, and he refused, she reported him to her husband, claiming that he had wished to do violence to her. Constantine gave credence to her, and therefore killed his son Crispus. But after some years, the matter being discovered, he inflicted capital punishment upon his wife; thus Eutropius relates, book X of the Roman History. Eusebius relates, book VI of the History, chapter XII, that three witnesses falsely accused Narcissus, Bishop of Jerusalem, of an infamous crime; and the first swore, if this crime of his were true, that God would destroy him by fire; the second, that he would be afflicted with leprosy; the third, that he would be deprived of his eyes. God heard as avenger; for the first, his house being seized by fire at night, was consumed with all his household by avenging flames. The second, afflicted with leprosy from head to feet, was consumed. The third, seeing these things and repenting and confessing his crime, wept for it with such tears, that he was deprived of his eyes.
God Refutes False Witnesses Through the Dead Moreover, God not infrequently refutes false witnesses among the living through the dead. Hear the examples. Stanislaus of Poland, Bishop of Cracow, gravely offended Boleslaw, King of Poland, because he had publicly accused him of notorious lust. Wherefore the king, in a solemn assembly of the realm, caused Stanislaus to be summoned to judgment before him through calumny, as if he had occupied a village which he had purchased in the name of the Church. Since he could neither prove this by documents, and witnesses feared to speak the truth, the Bishop pledged that he would bring Peter, the seller of the village, who had died three years before, to judgment within three days. The condition being accepted with laughter, the man of God devoted the entire three days to fasting and prayer. On the very day of the pledge, therefore, immediately after the sacrifice of the Mass had been offered, he commanded Peter to rise from the sepulcher, who straightway, restored to life, followed the Bishop going to the royal tribunal, and there, with the king and others struck with amazement, gave testimony concerning the field sold by him and the price duly paid to him by the Bishop, and again fell asleep in the Lord: thus Longinus has it, and from him Surius, on May 8, in the Life of St. Stanislaus. Blessed Aia, wife of Hidulph, Count of Hainault, as the History of Hainault relates, lib. XI, cap. IV, bestowed her inheritances or domains upon the Church of Mons, which were afterwards claimed back as if by right of kinship by her relatives; but the said Church, when harassed by litigation, summoned St. Aia herself, though deceased, as a witness with many prayers: and she appearing responded that she held her donation as valid; whence peacefully whatever had been given remained given. When Blessed Augustine was still dwelling in Milan, he relates that this worthy of remembrance happened, among other things, lib. De Cura pro mortuis, cap. XI: "For certain," he says, "when we were in Milan, we heard that, when a debt was being demanded from someone, a bond of the deceased father being produced, which had already been paid by the father without the son's knowledge, the man began to be grievously saddened, and to marvel that his father, when dying, had not told him what he owed, although he had also made a will. Then to him, being very anxious, his same father appeared in a dream, and indicated where the instrument had been deposited, by which that bond had been cancelled. When this was found and shown, not only did the son repel the calumny of the false debt, but also received the paternal document which the father had not received, when the money had been paid to him by the father. Thus this soul is thought to have taken care for the son, and to have come to him sleeping, so that, teaching him what he was ignorant of, it might free him from great trouble." Let us also add to this a similar deed concerning Spyridon, Bishop of Cyprus. He had a daughter named Irene, who, having served him well, died a virgin. After her death, someone came saying he had entrusted a deposit to her. The father was ignorant of the matter. Search was made throughout the whole house, nowhere was what was sought found. Yet he who had entrusted it persisted, and pressed with weeping and tears: he also testified that he would bring ruin upon his own life, unless he received what had been entrusted. The old man, moved by his tears, hastened to his daughter's sepulcher, and called upon her by name. Then she from the sepulcher: "What do you wish," she said, "father?" "The deposit," he said, "where have you placed it?" Then she, pointing out the place: "There," she said, "you will find it buried." Returning to the house, he delivered the thing, as his daughter had answered from the sepulcher, to him who was demanding it. You see here how much God is the patron of truth and true testimony. Macarius, an Egyptian monk, disciple of St. Anthony, when someone had fled to his cave, seeking aid, because the magistrate was pursuing him as guilty of a beating then committed (he himself, however, affirmed he was innocent), the reverence for his name repressed the violence of the magistrates; and because suspicion alone, not witnesses, pressed the man, so that the truth might be made plain, he brought it about that he who had been killed spoke from the tomb, all who were present hearing; who, since he affirmed that the beating had nothing to do with him to whom the crime was then being attributed, the magistrate absolved the man whom he was pursuing, on the authority of Macarius; when the magistrate desired to know the author of the beating, he asked Macarius to interrogate him: he replied that it sufficed for him to have freed the innocent. Thus it is related in the Lives of the Fathers, lib. II, cap. XXXVII. God accomplished the same thing through infants. Gregory of Tours relates, in book II of the History of the Franks, chapter 1, that St. Brixius, Bishop of Tours, falsely accused of fornication, adjured an infant recently born from her before the people, so that it would say whether he was its father. To which the infant replied: You are not my father; but when the people asked him to inquire of it who then was the father, Brixius responded: "This is not my concern; I was diligent in what pertained to me: if anything is available to you, seek it through yourselves." And when the people attributed this to magic, he carried fire with his garment unharmed all the way to the tomb of St. Martin, saying: "Just as you see my garment unharmed by fire, so also is my body unpolluted by the touch of the woman." A similar miracle happened to Bishop Brooni, who was a disciple of St. Patrick, in the year of Christ 521; but there the infant moreover revealed the father, as is found in the Life of St. Brigid of Scotland, February 1. In the Life of St. Anthony of Padua, who lived in the year of the Lord 1232, it is narrated that he, while dwelling in Padua, was transported by an angel to Lisbon: for there his father was falsely accused of having killed a boy. Wherefore he himself questioned the slain boy whether his father had killed him; and the boy, rising up, replied that he was not aware of his father's guilt in this murder: and so the father was absolved. In a similar manner an infant purged Daniel the Abbot, falsely accused of adultery, as Sophronius relates in the Spiritual Meadow, chapter 114.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
19:1
… private execution" (A. Vaccari, La S. Bibbia, I, Rome 1942, on Num. 35:18 ff.; trans. and note on p. 431). Three cities of refuge in Cisjordan offered to involuntary homicide the possibility of escaping the unreasonable vengeance of the avenger of blood (Deut. 19:1 ff.; cf. Josh. 20:1 ff.).
applications of the law are narrated: for the region east of the Jordan the cities of Bosor (v.) in Reuben, Ramoth Gilead in Gad and Golan in Manasseh were designated (Deut. 4:41-43). Moses then recalled the obligation to choose three other cities in the part west of the Jordan (ibid. 19:1-14), adding new practical cases for the application of the law: the cities chosen on this side of the Jordan were Kedesh in Naphtali, Shechem in Ephraim and Hebron in Judah (Josh. 20:1-9).
19:7
… 8, especially vv. 6-9, 18 and I Sam. 10, 25, according to which the "statute of the kingdom" was written by Samuel); Ex. 16, 35 (which, if it is by Moses, was added at the end of his life); Num. 32, 41-42; Gen. 36, 31-43 (cf. v. 31); Deut. 4, 41 ff.; 19, 7; elements of Deut. 14 and 26; etc.
19:9
(cf. Lev. 20:1-5; Deut. 12:31; 19:9 ff.). …
19:19
In Lev. 24:19-20, in a series of penal prescriptions, it is similarly said: "Whoever mistreats his neighbor, let the same treatment be done to him: wound for wound, eye for eye, tooth for tooth: whatever he has done to others, let it be done to him." Deut. 19:19-21 prescribes to the judges: "You shall do to him (the false accuser) what he plotted to do to his brother. …
19:21
Among the Hebrews, widowhood was a state of desolation and entailed particular prohibitions (cf. Gen. 38, 14, 19; Judg. 10, 2; 16, 9; II Sam. 20, 3; Lev. 21, 14). Thus the widow is a being who commends herself by her very condition to pity (cf. Ex. 22, 22; Deut. 24, 17; 19, 21; 14, 29; 26, 12-13; 16, 11, 14; 10, 18; 27, 19; 22, 24); very often, having no close relatives to defend her, she is at the mercy of the violent (cf. Job 22, 9; 34, 3, 21; Ps. …
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · Vulgata Clementina · original Douay-Rheims (Douay 1609-10), transcription by EEBO-TCP (CC0) · La Sacra Bibbia, tradotta dalla Volgata da Antonio Martini (1769-1781) (LaParola (laparola.net), Martini OSIS text, Public domain (LaParola's electronic edition marks it 'Dominio pubblico')). Public domain.