A Treatise on Those Special Laws Which Are Contained Under and Have Reference to the Eighth and Ninth, and Tenth Commandments

 I. (1) I have in my previous treatises spoken of the laws relating to adultery and murder, and to all the subordinate offences which come under those

 II. (7) If any one being insanely carried away by a desire for the property of others attempts to steal it, and not being able easily to carry it off

 III. (11) Now other thefts are to be atoned for by a payment of double the value of the thing stolen but if any one steals an ox or a sheep, the law

 IV. (13) A kidnapper also is a thief but he is, moreover, a thief who steals the very most excellent thing that exists upon the earth. Now, in the ca

 V. (20) In the field also, as some one of the old writers has said, lawsuits arise since covetousness and a desire for the possessions of others

 VI. (26) And not only do those men do damage who devour the property of others with their flocks and herds, but so also do those who inconsiderately a

 VII. (30) A deposit is the most sacred of all those things which relate to the associations of men with regard to property, inasmuch as it depends upo

 VIII. (41) This is the ninth of the ten commandments, being the fourth in number of those in the second table but one which is calculated to bestow t

 IX. (55) The law thinks that all those who adhere to the sacred constitution, established by Moses, ought to be free from all unreasonable passions, a

 X. (59) In the first place the law enjoins the judge not to listen to vain Reports.[Ex 23:1.] Why is this? The law says, My good man, let thy ears be

 XI. (62) The second commandment given to a judge is not to receive gifts [Ex 23:8.] for gifts, says the law, blind the eyes that see, and pervert jus

 XII. (70) The third commandment given to a judge is to investigate the transactions themselves, in preference to showing any regard to the parties to

 XIII. (72) And in addition to what has already been said, there is another most admirable precept given which enjoins the judge not to show pity upon

 XIV. (79) Every passion is open to and deserving of blame, inasmuch as every immoderate and violent impulse, and every irrational and unnatural emotio

 XV. (84) So great and so excessive an evil is covetous desire or rather, if I am to speak the plain truth concerning it, it is the source of all evil

 XVI. (95) And the most holy Moses appears to me to have had a regard to all these circumstances, and on that account to have commanded that men should

 XVII. (100) Moreover, Moses has not granted an unlimited possession and use of all other animals to those who partake in his sacred constitution, but

 XVIII. (105) The animals which are clean and lawful to be used as food are ten in number the heifer, the lamb, the goat, the stag, the antelope, the

 XIX. (109) For this reason all animals with solid hoofs, and all with many toes are spoken of by implication as unclean the one because, being so, th

 XX. (110) Having laid down these definitions with respect to land animals, he proceeds to describe what aquatic creatures are clean and lawful to be u

 XXI. (113) And adhering to the same general idea the lawgiver asserts that those reptiles which have no feet, and which crawl onwards, dragging themse

 XXII. (116) Having, therefore, in his ordinances already gone through all the different kinds of land animals and of those who live in the water, and

 XXIII. (119) Moreover, Moses Commands[Le 5:2.] that no man shall take of any dead carcass, or of any body which has been torn by wild beasts partly b

 XXIV. For the essence of the soul of man is the breath of God, especially if we follow the account of Moses, who, in his history of the creation of th

 XXV. (132) This may be sufficient to say, being in fact all that I am able to advance, about the laws which bear on appetite and desire by way of fill

 XXVI. (136) One portion of justice, and that not an unimportant one, relates to courts of justice and to the judge, which indeed I have mentioned befo

 XXVII. (143) The lawgiver also gives this most admirable injunction, that one must not add anything to, or take anything away from the law, but that i

 XXVIII. (149) There is also this commandment ordained which is of great common utility, that, Thou shalt not move thy neighbours' landmarks which the

 XXIX. (151) Some persons have contended that all magistracies ought to have the officers appointed to them by lot which however is a mode of proceedi

 XXX. (157) The all-wise Moses seeing this by the power of his own soul, makes no mention of any authority being assigned by lot, but he has chosen to

 XXXI. (158) And Moses gives also two reasons, on account of which it is not proper for strangers to be elected to situations of authority in the firs

 XXXII. (160) And from the first day on which any one enters upon his office, he orders that he shall write out a copy of the book of the Law[De 17:18.

 XXXIII. (170) And it becomes a man who has been thought worthy of the supreme and greatest authority to appoint successors who may govern with him and

 XXXIV. (176) We have here mentioned one example of what we before alluded to. We must now add an instance of the second kind. I said that the causes o

 XXXV. (183) The law also forbids, by a most just and reasonable prohibition, the man who has undertaken the care and government of the common interest

 XXXVI. (188) Therefore it is right for good rulers of a nation to imitate him in these points, if they have any anxiety to attain to a similitude to G

 XXXVII. (193) Again, merchants and pedlars, and people in the market, and all those who deal in things necessary for life, [Le 19:36.] and who in cons

 XXXVIII. (197) Also this commandment is given with exceeding propriety, [Le 19:14.] which forbids anyone from blaspheming and speaking ill, especially

 XXXIX. (203) After this the lawgiver proceeds to connect with these commandments a somewhat similar harmony or series of injunctions commanding breed

 XL. (208) The commandment which came in the middle of the three injunctions about pairs, was that one was not to sow a vineyard so as to make it bear

 XLI. (219) These, then, are the laws which he appoints to be observed by each individual. But there are other commandments of a more general nature of

 XLII. (230) We have now enumerated the matters which belong to justice but as for justice itself, what poet or orator could celebrate it, in worthy t

VII. (30) A deposit is the most sacred of all those things which relate to the associations of men with regard to property, inasmuch as it depends upon the good faith alone of the man who has received it. For loans are proved by contracts and writings, and things which, independent of loans, are openly used, have all the persons who see them for witnesses. (31) But this is not the case with deposits, but the owner by himself gives them privily to the man who receives them by himself, looking carefully round the place, and not even taking a slave with him for the purpose of carrying the thing to be deposited, even though he be ever so affectionate to his master; for each of the two parties appears to be anxious to avoid discovery; the one depositing the thing in order to receive it again, and the other being desirous not to be known to have received it. But we ought by all means to look upon the invisible God as an unseen third party to every concealed action, whom it is natural to make as a witness for both parties; the receiver calling him to witness that he will restore the deposit when it is demanded back from him, and the other making him to see that he receives it back at the proper time. (32) Let, then, the man who commits this great wickedness and denies his deposit not be ignorant that he has deceived him who committed it to him of his hope, and that he is concealing a wicked disposition under specious language, and that he is hypocritically pretending a bastard sort of faith while in reality faithless, showing that all his pledges are worthless and all his oaths disregarded, so that he neglects all human and all divine obligations; and that he is denying two deposits at once; firstly, the deposit of him who entrusted his property to his care; and secondly, that of that most unerring and infallible witness who sees all the actions of all men, and hears all the words of all men, whether they are willing that he should do so or not. (33) But if the man who has received a deposit as a sacred thing thinks that he ought to keep it without fraud, duly honouring truth and good faith, but yet others who are always plotting against their neighbours' property, such as cutpurses or housebreakers, break in treacherously and steal the deposit so entrusted, then he shall pay as a penalty double the value of what has been stolen by the thieves. (34) And if they are not taken, then the man who received the deposit shall go of his own accord before the divine tribunal, and stretching out his hands to heaven shall swear by his own life that he himself had no hand in the theft from any desire to appropriate what had been deposited with him, and that he did not voluntarily give it up to any one else; and that, moreover, he is not making a false statement of a robbery which has never taken Place.[Ex 22:7.] For it would be absurd to punish a man who has done no wrong, or for a man who had taken refuge in the assistance of a friend when he was being injured by others, now to become the cause of injury to that friend. (35) And deposits consist not only of inanimate things but also of animals: the danger of which last is twofold; first, that while they share in common with inanimate things in being liable to be stolen, and also one which is distinct and peculiar to themselves, that they are liable to die. We have hitherto been speaking only of the first kind of deposit, but we must now also explain the law about the second. (36) If now any cattle which have been entrusted as a deposit die, then he who has received the deposit shall send for him who committed it to him, and show him the matter, protecting himself from any evil suspicion; but if the depositor be absent, then it is not proper to send for any one else, whose notice perhaps the depositor might have been desirous to escape; but when the depositor returns home, his friend shall swear to him that he has not been concealing any unjust appropriation of the animals by a false statement of their death. (37) And if any one receives anything not as a deposit, but because he has borrowed it to use, whether it is a vessel or an animal; then if he be robbed of it, whichever it may be, or if the animal die, while the man who lent it is living with the borrower, the borrower shall not be liable, as the owner himself can be brought as a witness that there is no false pretence in the business; but if the lender be not with him at the time, he shall pay the value. (38) Why so? because it is possible that the man who used the animal when the owner was not present may have either worn him out by continual labour so as to kill him, or may have worn out the vessel, from not taking any care of the property of another of which he ought to have been careful, and to have put it away, and not to have given thieves an easy opportunity of stealing it. (39) But as our lawgiver was acute beyond all other men at discerning the consequences of actions, he proceeds to enact a series of prohibitions, one after another, preserving a due connection between them, and taking care that his later commandments shall be consistent with his earlier cones. And with this harmonious connection of what was to be said by him, he tells us that he was divinely inspired by the person of God speaking to him in this manner:--

"Ye shall not steal.

"Ye shall not speak falsely, and bring false accusations against your neighbour.

"And ye shall not swear by my name to compass an unjust end, and ye shall not profane my Name."[Le 19:11.]

(40) These injunctions are given with great beauty and very instructively; for the thief being convicted by his own conscience denies and speaks falsely, fearing the punishment which would ensue upon his confession. And he who denies an action seeks to attach the imputation to some one else, bringing a false accusation appear probable; and every false accuser is at once a perjured man, thinking but little of piety, since he has not just proofs; on which account he has recourse to what is called the inartificial mode of proof, that by oaths, thinking that by the invocation of God he shall produce belief among those who hear him. But let such an one know that he is ungodly and impious, inasmuch as he is defiling that which by nature is undefiled, the good and holy name of God.

THOU SHALT NOT BEAR FALSE Witness(5)[Ex 20:16.]