Today we are talking about someone who steals a bought servant and sells him. Anyone found with that person is deserving of death. If anyone curses his mother of father needs to be put to death. Then there is an expansion to injuries when men fight and fair rules regarding their recovery if injured in a fight. Finally, rules regarding these bought servants (who are free after 6 years of service under God's law), how if the master strikes a servant and he or she dies, the servant will be avenged. These are the commandments covered in our reading today.
These are pretty clear and could be counted as 4 more commandments. I do not want to dwell on the topic of purchasing people, even if they are freed after six years. I do see the Almighty laying out how to judge and resolve problems when one man injures another man. The part I like is that the injured is to be compensated for his lost time during his recovery. That sounds a lot like some of our first world laws today.
With that, our General /topical commandments count goes up to 22.
And our Strict /detailed list is at 39 commandments.
Hebrew scholars have been counting the laws provided by the creator for centuries. I am pretty sure that my count will be off. But you and I are giving it the old college try.
Whoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found in possession of him, shall be put to death.
"Whoever curses his father or his mother shall be put to death.
"When men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist and the man does not die but takes to his bed, then if the man rises again and walks outdoors with his staff, he who struck him shall be clear; only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall have him thoroughly healed.
"When a man strikes his slave, male or female, with a rod and the slave dies under his hand, he shall be avenged. But if the slave survives a day or two, he is not to be avenged, for the slave is his money.
Next week, the topic is abortion...
If you are just starting, my lessons are all here starting at Alef, adding vowels (the dots and lines) as we go. I explain the meaning of each letter and its numerical value. Just go to my blog and scroll to the bottom or click here.
Click here to obtain the book we are using. It is a free download or browser usable.
