[435] Gen. 9 : 3-6.
[436] “A man might not use another’s life for the support of his physical life” (Westcott’s Epistles of St. John, p. 34).
[437] See Acts 15 : 2-29; also 21 : 18-25.
[438] Those, indeed, who would put the dictum of the Church of Rome above the explicit commands of the Bible, can claim that that Church has affirmed the mere temporary nature of this obligation, which the Bible makes perpetual. But apart from this, there seems to be no show of justification for the abrogation, or the suspension, of the command.
[439] James 2 : 23.
[440] Isaiah 41 : 8.
[441] 2 Chron. 20 : 7.
[442] The only instance in which it might seem that there was an exception to this statement, is Exodus 33 : 11, where it is said, “The Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend.” But here the Hebrew word is re’a (רֵעַ) with the idea of “a companion,” or “a neighbor”; while the word applied to Abraham is ohebh (אֹהֵב), “a loving one.”
[443] See [Appendix], infra, p. 322.
[444] Gen. 17 : 2.