Deuteronomy 19:20
Then the rest of the people will hear and be afraid, and they will never again do anything so evil among you.
Sermons
The Law of RetaliationR.M. Edgar Deuteronomy 19:14-21
Bulwark Against PerjuryD. Davies Deuteronomy 19:15-21
False WitnessJ. Orr Deuteronomy 19:16-21














God's brand is here placed upon the crime of false witness. It was to be severely punished. Every one is interested in the suppression of such a crime-the parties whose interests are involved, society at large, the Church, the magistracy, God himself, of one of whose commandments (the ninth) it is the daring violation. The rules here apply primarily to false witness given in courts of justice, but the principles involved may be extended to all forms of the sin.

I. FALSE WITNESS IS IN GOD'S SIGHT A GREAT EVIL.

1. It indicates great malevolence.

2. It is grievously unjust and injurious to the person wrongfully accused.

3. It is certain to be taken up and industriously propagated.

A calumny is never wholly wiped out. There are always found some evil-speaking persons disposed to believe and repeat it. It affixes a mark on the injured party which remains on him through life.

II. FALSE WITNESS ASSUMES MANY FORMS. It is not confined to law courts, but pervades private life, and appears in the way in which partisans deal with public men and public events. Persons of a malicious and envious disposition, given to detraction, can scarcely avoid it - indeed, live in the element of it. Forms of this vice:

1. Deliberate invention and circulation of falsehoods.

2. Innuendo, or suggestio falsi.

3. Suppression of essential circumstances - suppressio veri.

4. The distortion or deceitful coloring of actual facts.

A lie is never so successful as when it can attach itself to a grain of truth -

"A lie that is all a lie may be met and fought with outright;
But a lie that is part of a truth is a harder matter to fight."

III. THE FALSE WITNESS BORNE BY ONE AGAINST ANOTHER WILL BE EXPOSED AT GOD'S JUDGMENT SEAT. The two parties - he who was accused of bearing false witness and he who alleged himself to be injured by it - were required to appear before the Lord, and to submit their cause to the priests and judges, who acted as his deputies (ver. 17). It was their part to make diligent inquisition, and, if the crime was proved, to award punishment (vers. 18, 19). The punishment was to be on the principle of the lex talionis (vers. 19-21). So, at Christ's judgment seat, the person who has long lain under an undeserved stigma through the false witness of another may depend on being cleared from wrong, and the wrong-doer will be punished (Colossians 3:25). Meanwhile, it is the duty of every one to see to the punishment of this crime, not only in cases of actual perjury, But in every form of it, and not only by legal penalties, but - which is the only means that can reach every case - by the emphatic reprobation of society, and, where that is possible, by Church censures. - J.O.

Thou shalt not remove thy neighbour's landmark.
Stones indicating boundaries might easily be removed. Ditches could be secretly levelled. This would materially affect property, and be a great evil in land where territory was distributed by lot. Removal would be —

I. TO DISREGARD ANCIENT CUSTOM. "They of old have set," with care and justice. "Custom is held as law." Fixed law and fixed boundaries should he respected. But many scorn ancient landmarks as relics of bygone days. Impatient of restraint, they seek wider range of thought and action, indulge in novelties, and cry, Down with temples, and away with creeds and the Bible!

II. TO VIOLATE THE LAW OF GOD. Heathen nations held every landmark as sacred. God, as the proprietor of all the earth, set bounds for Israel, allotted their lands which they held in trust, and bound them in terms imposed by His will (Deuteronomy 27:17). Hence removal of landmarks is violation of His command, and direct insult to His authority.

III. TO DEFRAUD OUR NEIGHBOUR. Landmarks were witnesses of the rights of each man. Removal was selfish and unjust invasion of property. To enlarge your own estate at the expense of your neighbour's is theft. Each one should know his own, and not defraud another by concealment, forgery, or robbery. "Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob him" (Leviticus 19:13; Mark 10:19; 1 Thessalonians 4:6).

IV. TO EXPOSE TO A DREADFUL CURSE. The execration of men is something, but who can bear the curse of God? The field of the fatherless is under Almighty protection. The poor may seem helpless, but special warning is given against their oppression. "Remove not the old landmark, and enter not into the fields of the fatherless" (by acts of violence or removal of boundaries), "for their Redeemer is mighty to vindicate outraged innocence" (Proverbs 23:10, 11). This in after times was the great affront of national provocation (Hosea 5:10).

(J. Wolfendale.).

People
Moses
Places
Beth-baal-peor
Topics
Add, Afraid, Commit, Evil, Fear, Full, Hearing, Henceforth, Midst, Rest
Outline
1. The cities of refuge
4. The privilege thereof for the manslayer
14. The landmark is not to be removed
15. At least two witnesses are required
16. the punishment of a false witness

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Deuteronomy 19:20

     8754   fear

Deuteronomy 19:15-21

     5201   accusation
     5383   lawsuits
     6206   offence

Deuteronomy 19:16-21

     5358   judges

Deuteronomy 19:18-21

     5495   revenge, and retaliation

Library
The Cities of Refuge
'The Lord also spake unto Joshua, saying, 2. Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Appoint out for you cities of refuge, whereof I spake unto you by the hand of Moses: 3. That the slayer that killeth any person unawares and unwittingly may flee thither: and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood. 4. And when he that doth flee unto one of those cities shall stand at the entering of the gate of the city, and shall declare his cause in the ears of the elders of that city, they shall
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Messianic Claims Met by Attempt to Stone Jesus.
(Jerusalem. October, a.d. 29.) ^D John VIII. 12-59. ^d 12 Again therefore Jesus spake unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life. [The metaphor of light was common, and signified knowledge and life; darkness is opposed to light, being the symbol of ignorance and death.] 13 The Pharisees therefore said unto him, Thou bearest witness of thyself; thy witness is not true. [They perhaps recalled the words of Jesus
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Doctrine of Non-Resistance to Evil by Force Has Been Professed by a Minority of Men from the Very Foundation of Christianity. Of the Book "What
CHAPTER I. THE DOCTRINE OF NON-RESISTANCE TO EVIL BY FORCE HAS BEEN PROFESSED BY A MINORITY OF MEN FROM THE VERY FOUNDATION OF CHRISTIANITY. Of the Book "What I Believe"--The Correspondence Evoked by it-- Letters from Quakers--Garrison's Declaration--Adin Ballou, his Works, his Catechism--Helchitsky's "Net of Faith"--The Attitude of the World to Works Elucidating Christ's Teaching--Dymond's Book "On War"--Musser's "Non-resistance Asserted"--Attitude of the Government in 1818 to Men who Refused to
Leo Tolstoy—The Kingdom of God is within you

What the Ruler's Discrimination Should be Between Correction and Connivance, Between Fervour and Gentleness.
It should be known too that the vices of subjects ought sometimes to be prudently connived at, but indicated in that they are connived at; that things, even though openly known, ought sometimes to be seasonably tolerated, but sometimes, though hidden, be closely investigated; that they ought sometimes to be gently reproved, but sometimes vehemently censured. For, indeed, some things, as we have said, ought to be prudently connived at, but indicated in that they are connived at, so that, when the
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

Travelling in Palestine --Roads, Inns, Hospitality, Custom-House Officers, Taxation, Publicans
It was the very busiest road in Palestine, on which the publican Levi Matthew sat at the receipt of "custom," when our Lord called him to the fellowship of the Gospel, and he then made that great feast to which he invited his fellow-publicans, that they also might see and hear Him in Whom he had found life and peace (Luke 5:29). For, it was the only truly international road of all those which passed through Palestine; indeed, it formed one of the great highways of the world's commerce. At the time
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life

The Ninth Commandment
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.' Exod 20: 16. THE tongue which at first was made to be an organ of God's praise, is now become an instrument of unrighteousness. This commandment binds the tongue to its good behaviour. God has set two natural fences to keep in the tongue, the teeth and lips; and this commandment is a third fence set about it, that it should not break forth into evil. It has a prohibitory and a mandatory part: the first is set down in plain words, the other
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

Deuteronomy
Owing to the comparatively loose nature of the connection between consecutive passages in the legislative section, it is difficult to present an adequate summary of the book of Deuteronomy. In the first section, i.-iv. 40, Moses, after reviewing the recent history of the people, and showing how it reveals Jehovah's love for Israel, earnestly urges upon them the duty of keeping His laws, reminding them of His spirituality and absoluteness. Then follows the appointment, iv. 41-43--here irrelevant (cf.
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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