Outrages by Soldiers
Professor Isaac H. Hall. Luke 3:14 And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said to them, Do violence to no man… The soldiers, so necessary as a class in all such civil constitutions as those of the East, receive advice of which the Zabtiehs, or Turkish soldier-police, of today stand in great need; especially in provinces more remote from the capital. The outrages they commit, in violence done to men and women; and the false accusations which they bring to ruin them, would scarcely be believed here; and indeed they are mostly too shocking to relate. The writer remembers a case which occurred in Cyprus while he was there, where the Zabtieh had been too brutal and fiendish in his behaviour in the house of a newly-married couple. But not daring to resist him openly, the wife had managed to cajole him into drinking heavily, and when drunk the husband stabbed him to the heart. The soldierpoliceman is an object of dread in every country village. His coming can scarcely be looked upon as anything but a calamity. In many cases — always, indeed, in actual service — it would be hard fare for him to be content with his wages, or rations. But the people with whom they are quartered, or whom they come to "protect," would doubtless be glad to give peaceably out of their deep poverty enough to support the soldiers, if they might thus be relieved of their violence and false accusations. (Professor Isaac H. Hall.) Parallel Verses KJV: And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages. WEB: Soldiers also asked him, saying, "What about us? What must we do?" He said to them, "Extort from no one by violence, neither accuse anyone wrongfully. Be content with your wages."