(ii) The Laws affecting the Israelite in his civil capacity may be arranged in three groups, according as they regarded the sanctity of (1) Life, (2) Character, and (3) Property.
(1) Life. The Laws protecting the life and person include those against (a) premeditated murder, and (b) unintentional manslaughter.
(a) Premeditated murder. The wilful shedder of man’s blood met with no compassion from the Mosaic Code. The original law at Sinai (Ex. xxi. 12–14) and the subsequent repetition of it (Deut. xix. 11–13) made death the inevitable penalty of murder, even as it had been in the days of Noah (Gen. ix. 6). The murderer was regarded as accursed; for him the horns of the altar were to be no refuge; he was to be dragged from them by force to suffer his doom, nor could rank or wealth exempt him from it, for it was expressly provided that on no pretext whatever should any ransom be taken (Num. xxxv. 31, 32). Nor was his person only regarded as accursed, but so long as he remained undiscovered, even the land was looked upon as polluted. If no efforts could detect the murderer, the elders of the nearest town were to take a heifer, and bring it down to a rough valley, neither eared nor sown, and there strike off its head. They were then to wash their hands over it, and in the presence of the Levites pronounce the following words; Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it. Be merciful, O Lord, unto Thy people, whom Thou hast redeemed, and lay not innocent blood to Thy people of Israel’s charge. Thus atonement was to be made (Deut. xxi. 1–9).
(b) Unintentional homicide. Prior to the Mosaic age, the duty of avenging blood devolved upon the next of kin, who was called the Goel or Avenger, and together with his office inherited the property of the deceased. Sometimes a whole family took upon them this duty (2 Sam. xiv. 7). Amongst the other nations, as the Arab tribes of the present day, “any bloodshed whatever, whether wilful or accidental, laid the homicide open to the duteous revenge of the relatives andfamily of the slain person, who again in their turn were then similarly watched and hunted by the opposite party, until a family war of extermination had legally settled itself from generation to generation, without the least prospect of a peaceful termination.” It was the aim of the Mosaic Law, without abolishing this long established custom, to mitigate its evils as far as possible. Accordingly it was directed that, on the arrival of the people in the Promised Land, six Cities of Refuge should be set apart, to which the homicide might fly, if not overtaken by the Avenger. Of these, three were to be on either side of the Jordan, almost equally remote from each other, and the roads leading to them were to be kept in a state of perfect repair (Ex. xxi. 13; Num. xxxv. 11; Deut. xix. 3). They were to be chosen out of the priestly and Levitical cities, as likely to be inhabited by the most intelligent portion of the community. On reaching one of them, the case of the homicide was to be examined by the elders; if they pronounced him guilty he was to be delivered up to the Avenger; if innocent, an abode was to be provided him in the city, where he was to remain till the death of the high-priest, but if found at any time by the Avenger beyond the limit of protection, 2000 cubits, he was liable to be put to death. On the demise of the high-priest he might return to the city of his possession (Num. xxxv. 25, 28)[108].
(2) The sacredness of a man’s character was enforcedby the commandment in the Decalogue forbidding false witness, and by laws prohibiting calumny, hatred, partiality in judgment for rich or poor (Ex. xxiii. 1–3; Lev. xix. 16–18). No exact penalty was enforced, but it was enjoined that in case of false witness the parties should be brought before the priests and judges, and if after diligent inquisition the charge was established, then should be done unto the slanderer as he had thought to have done unto his brother, that so the evil might be put away (Deut. xix. 19–21).
(3) Property was carefully guarded in the Mosaic Law, which forbade not only stealing, the act, but coveting, the intention.
(a) Direct theft was punished by restitution. If the stolen goods were found in the hands of the thief, he was to restore twofold; if before his detection he had applied them to his own use, he was to restore five oxen for an ox, four sheep for a sheep (Comp. 2 Sam. xii. 6); but a still heavier fine was exacted if he had not only sold, but killed and injured. If unable to pay the fine, he was to be sold into slavery to a Hebrew master, and serve him till he could pay (Ex. xxii. 1–4). A night-thief might be resisted even to death (Ex. xxii. 2). Man-stealing or kidnapping was a capital offence (Ex. xxi. 16). The crime of removing a neighbour’s landmark was severely reprobated (Deut. xix. 14; xxvii. 17).
(b) Indirect injury through carelessness or other causes. This included injury done to property entrusted to another for safe keeping. If it was stolen and the thief detected, he was to repay double; if he could not be found, the trustee, on being declared guilty of negligence by the judges, was to restore twofold. Compensation was also exacted, where property was injured through a pit being left open, through cattle straying amongst other cattle or trespassing on another’s land,or through fire spreading to standing corn (Ex. xxi. 33–36; xxii. 5, 6). Straying or suffering beasts, even if the property of an enemy, were to be brought back or relieved (Ex. xxiii. 4, 5).
Land. All land was to be regarded as belonging to God, and the holders as His tenants. At the conquest of Palestine each tribe was to have its allotment, and each family its portion, and these were to remain for ever inalienable (Num. xxvii. 1–11; xxxvi.; comp. 1 Kings xxi. 3; 2 Kings ix. 25, 26). All sold land, therefore, was to return to its original owners at the Jubilee, but might be redeemed by the owner or his representative at any period before then (Lev. xxv. 13–16, 23–28).
Laws of debt. An Israelite who had fallen into debt from any cause, might (i) sell himself as a slave to one of his own nation, with the right of resuming his freedom after six years, and at the Jubilee recovering his inheritance, (ii) claim a timely loan (Deut. xv. 1–11), but no usury might be taken from an Israelite (Ex. xxii. 25–27; Deut. xxiii. 19, 20). Thus pledges would become frequent, but they might not be cruelly or ruinously exacted. The handmill, a necessity in every family, might not be pledged (Deut. xxiv. 6); the cloak must be restored before nightfall when it became essential (Ex. xxii. 26, 27; Deut. xxiv. 12, 13); the lender was not to go into the house of his debtor to claim his pledge, or seize any article he chose; he was to stand abroad, and the pledge was to be brought out to him (Deut. xxiv. 10, 11).