Difference between revisions of "Law"

<p> The whole history of the Jews is a riddle if Moses' narrative is not authentic. If it is authentic, he was inspired to give the law, because he asserts God's immediate commission. Its recognized inspiration alone can account for the Israelites' acquiescence in a burdensome ritual, and for their intense attachment to the Scriptures which condemn them as a stiffnecked people. A small, isolated people, no way distinguished for science or art, possessed the most spiritual religion the world has ever seen: this cannot have been of themselves, it must be of God. No Israelite writer hints at the possibility of fraud. The consentient belief of the rival kingdoms northern Israel and Judah, the agreement in all essential parts between the Samaritan Pentateuch and the Pentateuch of the Jews who excommunicated the [[Samaritans]] as schismatics, accords with the divine origination of the Mosaic law. Even Israel's frequent apostasies magnify the divine power and wisdom which by such seemingly inadequate instruments effected His purpose of preserving true religion and morality, when all the philosophic and celebrated nations sank deeper and deeper into idolatry and profligacy. </p> <p> Had Egypt with its learning and wisdom, Greece with its philosophy and refinement, or Rome with its political sagacity, been the medium of revelation, its origination would be attributed to man's intellect. As it is, the Mosaic law derived little of its influence from men of mere human genius, and it was actually opposed to the sensual and idolatrous inclinations of the mass of the people. Nothing short of its origin being divine, and its continuance effected by divine interposition, can account for the fact that it was only in their prosperity the law was neglected; when adversity awakened them to reflection they always cried unto God and returned to His law, and invariably found deliverance (Graves, Pent. ii. 3, section 2). Unlike the surrounding nations, the Jews have their history almost solely in the written word. </p> <p> No museum possesses sculptured figures of Jewish antiquities such as are brought from Egypt, Nineveh, Babylon, Persepolis, Greece, and Rome. The basis of Israel's polity was the Decalogue, the compendium of the moral law which therefore was proclaimed first, then the other religions and civil ordinances. The end of Israel's call by the holy God was that they should be "a holy nation" (&nbsp;Leviticus 19:2), a meadiatorial kingdom between God and the nations, witnessing for Him to them (&nbsp;Isaiah 43:10-12), and between them and Him, performing those sacrificial ordinances through the divinely constituted Aaronic priests, which were to prefigure the one coming Sacrifice, through whom all the Gentile nations were to be blessed. Thus, Israel was to be "a kingdom of priests," each subject a priest (though their exercise of the sacrificial functions was delegated to one family as their representative), and God was at once civil and spiritual king; therefore all the theocratic ordinances of the Sinaitic legislation were designed to minister toward holiness, which is His supreme law. </p> <p> Hence, the religious ordinances had a civil and judicial sanction annexed and the civil enactments had a religious bearing. Both had a typical and spiritual aspect also, in relation to the kingdom of God yet to come. While minute details are of temporary and local application their fundamental principle is eternal, the promotion of God's glory and man's good. It is because of this principle pervading more or less all the ordinances, civil and ceremonial alike, that it is not always easy to draw a line between them. Even the moral law is not severed from but intimately bound up with both. The moral precepts are eternally obligatory, because based on God's own unchangeable character, which is reflected in the enlightened conscience; their positive enactment is only to clear away the mist which sin has spread over even the conscience. </p> <p> The positive precepts are obligatory only because of enactment, and so long as the divine Legislator appointed them to remain in force. This is illustrated in &nbsp;Hosea 6:6, "I desired mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings." God did desire "sacrifices" (for He instituted them), but moral obedience more: for this is the end for which positive ordinances, as sacrifices, were instituted; i.e., sacrifices and positive ordinances, as the sabbath, were to be observed, but not made the plea for setting aside the moral duties, justice, love, truth, obedience, which are eternally obligatory. Compare &nbsp;1 Samuel 15:22; &nbsp;Psalms 50:8-9; &nbsp;Psalms 51:16-17; &nbsp;Isaiah 1:11-12; &nbsp;Micah 6:6-8; &nbsp;Matthew 23:23; &nbsp;Matthew 9:13; &nbsp;Matthew 12:7. [[Torah]] ("law") means strictly a directory. Authoritative enactment is implied. </p> <p> The elements of the law already existed, but scattered and much obscured amidst incongruous usages which men's passions had created. The law "was added because of the transgressions" of it, i.e., not to remove all transgressions, for the law rather stimulates the corrupt heart to disobedience (&nbsp;Romans 7:13), but to bring them out into clearer view (&nbsp;Galatians 3:19; &nbsp;Romans 3:20 end, &nbsp;Romans 4:15; &nbsp;Romans 5:13; &nbsp;Romans 7:7-9), to make men more conscious of their sins as being transgressions of the law, so to make them feel need and longing for the promised Saviour (&nbsp;Galatians 3:17-24), "the law was our "schoolmaster" ( '''''Paidagoogos''''' , rather guardian-servant leading us to school), to bring us to Christ." The law is closely connected with the promise to Abraham, "in thy seed shall all families of the earth be blessed" (&nbsp;Genesis 12:3). </p> <p> It witnessed to the evil in all men, from which the promised Seed should deliver men, and its provisions on the other hand were the chief fence by which Israel was kept separate from surrounding pagandom, the repository of divine revelation for the future good of the world, when the fullness of the time should come. The giving of the law marked the transition of Israel from nonage to full national life. The law formally sanctioned, and grouped together, many of the fragmentary ordinances of God which existed before. The sabbath, marriage, sacrifices (Genesis 2; [[Genesis]] 4; &nbsp;Exodus 16:23-29), distinction of clean and unclean (&nbsp;Genesis 7:2), the shedding of blood for blood (&nbsp;Genesis 9:6), circumcision (Genesis 17), the penalty for fornication, and the [[Levirate]] usage (a brother being bound to marry and raise up seed by a deceased brother's widow, &nbsp;Genesis 38:8; &nbsp;Genesis 38:24) were some of the patriarchal customs which were adopted with modifications by the Mosaic code. In some cases, as divorce, it corrected rather than sanctioned objectionable existing usages, suffering their existence at all only because of the hardness of their hearts (&nbsp;Matthew 19:7-8). </p> <p> So in the case of a disobedient son (&nbsp;Deuteronomy 21:18-21), severe as is the penalty, it is an improvement upon existing custom, substituting a judicial appeal to the community for arbitrary parental power of life and death. The Levirate law limited rather than approved of existing custom. The law of the avenger of involuntarily-shed blood (&nbsp;Deuteronomy 19:1-13; Numbers 35) mercifully restrained the usage which was too universally recognized to admit of any but gradual abolition. It withdrew the involuntary homicide from before the eyes of the incensed relatives of the deceased. No satisfaction was allowed for murder; the murderer had no asylum, but could be dragged from the altar (&nbsp;Exodus 21:14; &nbsp;1 Kings 2:28-34). The comparative smallness of that portion of the Sinaitic law which concerns the political constitution harmonizes with the alleged time of its promulgation, when as yet the form of government was not permanently settled. </p> <p> The existing patriarchal authorities in the family and tribe are recognized, while the priests and [[Levites]] are appointed to take wholly the sacred functions and in part also the judicial ones. The contingency of a kingly government is provided for in general directions (&nbsp;Deuteronomy 17:14-20). The outline of the law is given in Exodus 20-23; the outline of the ceremonial law is given in Exodus 25-31. The Decalogue (a term first found in [[Clement]] of Alexandria's Pedag. iii. 12) is the heart of the whole, and therefore was laid up in the ark of the covenant beneath the "mercy-seat" or "propitiatory" ( '''''Hilasteerion''''' ), intimating that it is only as covered over by divine atoning mercy that the law could be the center of the (&nbsp;Romans 3:25-26) covenant of God with us. The law is the reflection of the holy character of the God of the covenant, the embodiment of the inner spirit of the Mosaic code. "The ten commandments" (Hebrew words, &nbsp;Exodus 34:28) are frequently called "the testimony," namely, of Jehovah against all who should transgress (&nbsp;Deuteronomy 31:26-27). </p> <p> By the law came "the knowledge of sin" (&nbsp;Romans 3:20; &nbsp;Romans 7:7). [[Conscience]] (without the law) caused only a vague discomfort to the sinner. But the law of the Decalogue, when expressed definitely, convicted of sin and was therefore "a ministration of condemnation" and "of death written and engraven on stones" (&nbsp;2 Corinthians 3:7; &nbsp;2 Corinthians 3:9). Its preeminence is marked by its being the first part revealed; not like the rest of the code through Moses, but by Jehovah Himself, with attendant angels (&nbsp;Deuteronomy 33:2; &nbsp;Acts 7:53; &nbsp;Galatians 3:19; &nbsp;Hebrews 2:2); written by God's finger, and on stone tables to mark its permanence. The number ten expresses completeness, perfection (&nbsp;Psalms 19:7; &nbsp;Exodus 27:12 &nbsp;1 Kings 7:27; &nbsp;Matthew 25:1). They were "the tables of the covenant," and the ark, because containing them, was called "the ark of the covenant" (&nbsp;Deuteronomy 4:13; &nbsp;Joshua 3:11). The record in &nbsp;Deuteronomy 5:6-21 is a slight variation of &nbsp;Exodus 20:2-17. </p> <p> The fourth commandment begins with "keep" instead of "remember," the reason for its observance in Deuteronomy is Israel's deliverance from Egypt instead of God's resting from creation. Deuteronomy is an inspired free repetition of the original in Exodus, suited to Moses' purpose of exhortation; hence he refers to the original, in the fifth commandment adding "as the Lord thy God commanded thee." "And" is inserted as suited to the narrative style which Deuteronomy combines with the legislative. "Desire" is substituted for "covet" in the tenth. None but Moses himself would have ventured to alter an iota of what Moses had ascribed to God in Exodus. The special reason for the fourth, applying to the Israelites, does not interfere with the earlier and more universal reason in Exodus, but is an additional motive for their observing the ordinance already resting on the worldwide basis. Coveting the house in Exodus precedes, but in Deuteronomy succeeds, coveting the wife; evidently all kinds of coveting are comprised in the one tenth commandment. </p> <p> As the seventh and eighth forbid acts of adultery and theft, so the tenth forbids the desire and so seals the inner spirituality of all the commandments of the second table. The claims of God stand first. The love of God is the true spring of the love of our fellow men. [[Josephus]] (contra [[Apion]] ii. 17) says: "Moses did not (as other legislators) make religion part of virtue, but all other virtues parts of religion." The order of the ten indicates the divine hand; God's being, unity, exclusive deity, "have no other gods before My face" (&nbsp;Hebrews 4:13); His worship as a Spirit without idol symbol; His name; His day; His earthly representatives, parents, to be honoured; then regard for one's neighbour's life; for his second self, his wife; his property; character; bridling the desires, the fence of duty to one's neighbour and one's self. As deed is fenced by the sixth, seventh, and eighth, so speech by the ninth, and the heart by the tenth. It begins with God, ends with the heart. The fourth and fifth have a positive form, the rest negative. </p> <p> It is a witness against man's sin, rather than a giver of holiness. [[Philo]] and Josephus (Ant. 3:6, section 5) comprise the first five in the first table, the last five in the second. Augustine, to bring out the Trinity, made our first and second one, and divided our tenth into coveting the wife and coveting the rest; thus, three in the first table, seven in the second. But the command to have only one God is quite distinct from the prohibition to worship Him by an image, and coveting the wife and the other objects falls under one category of unlawful desire. Love to God is expressly taught in the second commandment, "mercy to thousands in them that love Me and keep My commandments." The five and five division is the best. Five implies imperfection; our duty to God being imperfect if divorced from duty to our neighbour. Five and ten predominate in the proportions of the tabernacle. [[Piety]] toward the earthly father is closely joined to piety towards the heavenly (&nbsp;Hebrews 12:9; &nbsp;1 Timothy 5:4; &nbsp;Mark 7:11). [[Special]] sanctions are attached to the second, third, fourth, and fifth commandments. </p> <p> Paul (&nbsp;Romans 13:8; &nbsp;Romans 13:9) makes the second table, or duty to our neighbour, comprise the sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth, but not the fifth commandment. [[Spiritual]] Jews penetrated beneath the surface, and so found in the law peace and purity viewed in connection with the promised [[Redeemer]] (&nbsp;Psalms 1:2; &nbsp;Psalms 1:19; &nbsp;Psalms 1:119; &nbsp;Psalms 1:15; &nbsp;Psalms 1:24; &nbsp;Isaiah 1:10-18; &nbsp;Romans 2:28-29). As (1) the Decalogue gave the moral tone to all the rest of the law, so (2) the ceremonial part taught symbolically purity, as required by all true subjects of the kingdom of God. It declared the touch of the dead defiling, to remind men that sin's wages is death. It distinguished clean from unclean foods, to teach men to choose moral good and reject evil. The sacrificial part (3) taught the hope of propitiation, and thus represented the original covenant of promise, and pointed on to Messiah, through whom the sense of guilt, awakened by the moral law which only condemns men through their own inability to keep it, is taken away, and peace with God is realized. </p> <p> Two particulars are noticeable: (1) Moses does not inculcate as sanctions of his laws the rewards and punish. merits of a future life; (2) he does use as a sanction God's declaration that He visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of them that fear Him, and shows mercy unto thousands (to the thousandth generation) of them that love Him and keep His commandments" (&nbsp;Exodus 20:5-6). The only way we can account for the omission of a future sanction, which all other ancient lawgivers deemed indispensable (Warburton, Div. Legation), is the fact established on independent proofs, namely, that Israel's government was administered by an extraordinary providence, distributing reward and punishment according to obedience or disobedience severally. </p> <p> But while not sanctioning his law by future rewards or punishments, Moses shows both that he believed in them himself, and sets forth such proofs of them as would suggest themselves to every thoughtful and devout Israelite, though less clearly than they were revealed subsequently under David, Solomon, and the prophets, when they became matter of general belief. Christ shows that in the very title, "the God of Abraham," etc., in the Pentateuch the promise of the resurrection is by implication contained (&nbsp;Matthew 22:31-32). (See [[Resurrection]] .) Scripture (&nbsp;Hebrews 4:2; &nbsp;Galatians 3:8) affirms the gospel was preached unto [[Abraham]] and to Israel in the wilderness, as well as unto us. The Sinai law in its sacrifices was the bud, the gospel was the flower and the ripened fruit. The law was the gospel in miniature, which Jesus the Sun of righteousness expanded. </p> <p> So David (Psalm 32; &nbsp;Romans 4:6). On the hope of a future life being held by those under the law see &nbsp;Numbers 23:10; &nbsp;Psalms 16:8-11; &nbsp;Psalms 17:15; &nbsp;Psalms 21:4; &nbsp;Psalms 73:24; &nbsp;Psalms 49:14-15; &nbsp;Isaiah 26:19; &nbsp;Isaiah 25:8; &nbsp;Isaiah 57:1-2; &nbsp;Daniel 7:9-10; &nbsp;Daniel 7:13-14; &nbsp;Daniel 12:2. The sense of &nbsp;Psalms 139:24 is "see if there be any way of "idolatry" ( '''''Otseb''''' , as in &nbsp;Isaiah 48:5; the Hebrew also means pain which is the sure issue of idolatry) in me, and lead me in the way everlasting" promised to David and his seed in [[Messiah]] (compare &nbsp;1 John 5:21; &nbsp;Proverbs 8:35; &nbsp;Proverbs 12:28; &nbsp;Proverbs 14:32; &nbsp;Proverbs 21:16; &nbsp;Proverbs 24:11; &nbsp;Ecclesiastes 8:11-12; &nbsp;Ecclesiastes 11:9; &nbsp;Ecclesiastes 12:7; &nbsp;Ecclesiastes 12:13-14; &nbsp;2 Kings 2:11-12; &nbsp;2 Kings 13:21; Ezekiel 37; &nbsp;Hosea 13:14; &nbsp;Hosea 6:2; &nbsp;Joel 2:32; &nbsp;Job 19:23-27). </p> <p> Life in man is in &nbsp;Genesis 1:26-27; &nbsp;Genesis 2:7, distinguished from life in brutes: "Jehovah ''''''Εlohim''''' breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul"; "God created man in His own image." It is not immateriality which distinguishes man's life from the brutes' life, for the vital principle is immaterial in the brute as in man; it can only be the continuance of life after death of the body, conscience, spirit, and sense of moral responsibility, as well as power of abstract reasoning. &nbsp;Acts 24:14-15; &nbsp;Acts 24:25 shows the prevalent belief in Paul's day as to the resurrection and judgment to come. Christ asserts that by searching the Old Testament scriptures eternal life and the promise of Messiah was to be found (&nbsp;John 5:39). The barrenness of [[Judea]] has been made an objection by Voltaire against Scripture truth, which represents it as "flowing with milk and honey." </p> <p> But the very barrenness is the accomplishment of Scripture prophecies, and powerfully confirms the Old Testament The structure of the Mosaic history confirms the reality of the miracles on which the truth of the extraordinary providence rests. Common events are joined with the miraculous so closely that the acknowledged history of this singular people would become unaccountable, unless the (See [[Miracles]] with which it is inseparably joined be admitted. The miracles could not have been credited by the contemporary generation, nor introduced subsequently into the national records and the national religion, if they had not been real and divine. The Jewish ritual and the singular constitution of the tribe of [[Levi]] commemorated them perpetually, and rested on their truth. The political constitution and civil laws presuppose an extraordinary providence limiting the legislative and executive authorities. So also the distribution and tenure of land, the sabbatic and [[Jubilee]] years, the three great feasts requiring all males to meet at the central sanctuary thrice each year. </p> <p> Present, rather than invisible and future, sanctions were best fitted at that time to establish the superiority of the true God before Israel and heathendom. The low intellectual and moral state of most Israelites incapacitated them from rising above the desires of the present world to look forward to future retributions, which their spiritual dullness would make them feel doubtful of, until first a present special providence visibly proved His claim on their faith and obedience, and prepared them to believe that the same divine justice which had heretofore visibly governed the youth of Israel's existence would in a future state reward or punish according to men's deserts, when the present extraordinary providence should be withdrawn. Moreover, national obedience or transgression could as such be recompensed only by temporal prosperity or adversity (for nations have their existence only in the present time). Therefore, the Divine King of the theocracy dispensed with these by an immediate and visible execution, which only partially appears in His present more invisible, though not less real, government of all nations. </p> <p> Offenses against the state and individuals were punished, as also offenses against God its head. In Israel's history a visible specimen was given of what is true in all ages and nations, though less immediately seen now when our calling is to believe and wait, that "righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people" (&nbsp;Proverbs 14:34). The distraction of clean and unclean animals relates to sacrifices. Some animals by filthy, wild, and noxious natures suggest the presence of evil in nature, and therefore give the feeling of unfitness for being offered as symbols of atonement or thanksgiving before the holy God. Others, tame, docile, useful to man, of the flock and herd, seem suitable for offering, as sheep, goats, cows, doves, and the like. Those that both chew the cud and divide the hoof men generally have taken for food by a common instinct. So fish with fins and scales, but not shellfish as less digestible; insects leaping upon the earth, raised above the crawling slimy brood. Other animals, etc., as swine, dogs, etc., offered by idolaters, are called "abominations." </p> <p> The aim of the distinction was ethical, to symbolize separation from moral defilement, and to teach to the true Israel self cleansing from all pollution of flesh and spirit (&nbsp;2 Corinthians 7:1). The lesson in Acts 10 is that whereas God granted sanctification of spirit to the Gentiles, as He had to Cornelius, the outward symbol of separation between them and the Jews, namely, the distinction of clean and unclean meats, was needless (&nbsp;Matthew 15:11; &nbsp;1 Timothy 4:4; &nbsp;Romans 14:17). So the impurity contracted by childbirth (Leviticus 12; 15), requiring the mother's purification, points to the taint of birth sin (&nbsp;Psalms 51:5). The uncleanness after a female birth lasted 66 days, after a male 33, to mark the fall as coming through the woman first (&nbsp;1 Timothy 2:14-15). In the penal code idolatry is the capital crime, treason against the Head of the state and its fundamental constitution. One was bound not to spare the dearest relative, if guilty of tempting to it; any city apostatizing to it was to be destroyed with its spoil and inhabitants (&nbsp;Deuteronomy 13:6). </p> <p> Human sacrifices burnt to [[Moloch]] were especially marked for judgment on all who took part in them (&nbsp;Leviticus 20:1-5). The wizard, witch, and their consulters violated the allegiance due to Jehovah, who alone reveals His will to His people (&nbsp;Numbers 9:7-8; &nbsp;Numbers 27:21; &nbsp;Joshua 9:14; &nbsp;Judges 1:1; &nbsp;2 Samuel 5:23) and controls future events, and were therefore to die (&nbsp;1 Chronicles 10:13; &nbsp;Leviticus 20:27). So the blasphemer, presumptuous sabbath breaker, and false prophet (&nbsp;Leviticus 24:11-16; &nbsp;Numbers 15:30-36; &nbsp;Deuteronomy 17:12; &nbsp;Deuteronomy 18:20). So the violator of the command to rest from work on the day of atonement (&nbsp;Leviticus 23:29; &nbsp;Leviticus 23:30), of the [[Passover]] (&nbsp;Exodus 12:15; &nbsp;Exodus 12:19); the willful defiler of the sanctuary (&nbsp;Numbers 19:13; &nbsp;Leviticus 22:3); the perpetrator of unnatural crimes (Numbers 18; Numbers 20). </p> <p> The prohibitions of rounding the hair and beard, of wearing a garment of wool and linen mixed, of sowing a field with divers seeds, of women using men's garments (besides tending to preserve feminine modesty and purity), were directed against existing idolatrous usages in the worship of [[Baal]] and Ashteroth (&nbsp;Numbers 19:19; &nbsp;Numbers 19:27; &nbsp;Deuteronomy 22:5). The ordeal by the water of jealousy depended on an extraordinary providence (&nbsp;Numbers 5:11). It could injure the guilty only by miracle, the innocent not at all; whereas in the ordeals of the Middle Ages the innocent could scarcely escape but by miracle. Prohibitions such as human tribunals could hardly take cognizance of were sanctioned by penalties which God undertook to execute. He as Sovereign reserved exclusively to Himself the right of legislation. Sins of impurity, next to idolatry, were punished with peculiar severity (Leviticus 18; the adulterer and adulteress, &nbsp;Leviticus 20:10; &nbsp;Deuteronomy 22:22-30; &nbsp;Deuteronomy 27:20-26). </p> <p> Mildness and exact equity pervaded the code so far as was compatible with the state of the people and the age. [[Interest]] or "usury" was not to be taken from an Israelite, and only in strict equity from the foreigner. The poor should be relieved liberally (&nbsp;Deuteronomy 15:7-11). The hired labourer's wages were to be paid at once (&nbsp;Deuteronomy 24:14-15). [[Intrusion]] into a neighbour's house to recover a loan was forbidden, not to hurt his feelings. The pledged raiment was to be restored, so as not to leave him without a coverlet at night (&nbsp;Deuteronomy 24:10-13). </p> <p> Other characteristic precepts of the law are: reverence to the old; tenderness toward those having bodily infirmity (&nbsp;Deuteronomy 24:19-21); gleanings to be left for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow (&nbsp;Leviticus 19:14-32); faithfulness in rebuking a neighbour's sin; the dispersion of the Levites, the ministers of religion, forming a sacred He among all the tribes; studied opposition to all the usages of idolaters, as the pagan historian Tacitus notices: "all we hold sacred are with them profane: they offer the ram in contempt of [[Ammon]] ... and an ox, which the Egyptians worship as [[Apis]] (Hist. 5:4); the Jews deem those profane who form any images of the gods ... the Divinity they conceive as one, and only to be understood by the mind; with images they would not honour Caesars or flatter kings." Personal violence was punished retributively in kind, "life for life, eye for eye, tooth for a tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot." The false witness had to suffer what he thought to inflict on another (&nbsp;Deuteronomy 19:16-21; &nbsp;Exodus 21:24; &nbsp;Leviticus 24:18-21). </p> <p> This did not sanction individual retaliation, but it was to regulate the magistrate's award of damages, namely, the worth in money of the bodily power lost by the injured person. It was to protect the community, not to regulate the believer, who when he penetrated beneath the letter into the spirit of the law, which the gospel afterward brought to light, felt constrained to love his enemy and not do to him the injury the latter had done or intended to do. Our Lord quoted the form of the law (&nbsp;Matthew 5:38) in order to contrast the pharisaic view, which looked only to the letter, with the true view which looks to the spirit. A striking feature of the penal code, in which it was superior to most codes, was that no crime against mere property incurred death. [[Bond]] service until the sabbatic year was the extreme penalty; restitution and fine were the ordinary penalty. The slave's life was guarded as carefully as the master's. If the master caused even the loss of a tooth the servant was to be set free. The chastity of female slaves was strictly protected. </p> <p> No Jew could be kept in bondage more than seven years, and then was to be sent away with liberal gifts (&nbsp;Exodus 21:7-26; &nbsp;Deuteronomy 15:13-15). In fact Israelite bond service was only a going into service for a term of years, that the creditor might reap the benefit. The creditor could not imprison nor scourge so as to injure the bond debtor, but in Rome the creditor could imprison and even kill him according to the old law. Men stealers were to be put to death. What a contrast to the cruel oppression of slaves in other nations, the Spartans butchering the helots, the Romans torturing their slaves for trifles and goading them to servile rebellions which cost some of Horne's bravest blood, and enacting that where a master was murdered all the slaves in the house, or within hearing of it, should be killed! In Israel the public peace was never threatened by such a cause. [[Trials]] were public, in the city gates. The judges, the elders, and Levitical ministers and officers, as our jurors, were taken from the people. No torture before conviction, no cruelty after it, was permitted. </p> <p> Forty stripes were the extreme limit of bodily punishment (&nbsp;Deuteronomy 25:3). [[Capital]] convictions could only be by the agreeing testimony of two witnesses (&nbsp;Deuteronomy 17:6). The even distribution of lands, the non-alienation of them from the family and tribe (Numbers 27; Numbers 36), admirably guarded against those agrarian disturbances and intestine discords which in other states and in all ages have flowed from an uneven distribution and an uncertain tenure of property. Love to God, love to one's neighbour and even to enemies, benevolence to strangers, the poor, the fatherless and widows, repentance and restitution for injuries, sincere worship of the heart and obedience of the life required to accompany outward ceremonial worship, all these are characteristics of the law, such as never originated from the nation itself, long enslaved, and not remarkable for high intellectual and moral capacity, and such as did not then exist in the code of any other nation. The Originator can have only been, as Scripture says, God Himself. </p> <p> Besides, whatever doubts may be raised respecting the inspiration or authorship, the fact remains and is indisputable, that it was given and was in force ages before [[Lycurgus]] or [[Minos]] or other noted legislators lived, and that it has retained its influence upon legislation from the time of its promulgation until now, the British and all other codes of civilized nations being based upon it. This is one of those facts which neither evolution, nor revolution, can overthrow. The letter and outward ordinances were the casket, the spirit as brought out by the gospel was the jewel. The sacrifices gave present relief to awakened consciences by the hope of forgiveness through God's mercy, resting on the promise of the Redeemer. </p> <p> The law could not give life, that was reserved for the gospel (&nbsp;Galatians 3:21-22; &nbsp;Galatians 4:6). Spiritual Jews, as David, when convicted by the law of failure in obedience, fell back on the earlier covenant of promise, the covenant of grace, as distinguished from the law the covenant of works (which required perfect obedience as the condition of life, and cursed all who disobeyed in the least point: &nbsp;Galatians 3:6-18; &nbsp;Leviticus 18:5), and by the Spirit cried for a clean heart (&nbsp;Psalms 51:10-11). So they could love the law, not as an outward yoke, but as the law of God's will cherished in the heart (&nbsp;Psalms 37:31), such as it was in Him who should come (&nbsp;Psalms 40:8). In most Jews, because of the nonconformity between their inward state and the law's requirements as a rule from without, its tendency was "to gender to bondage" (&nbsp;Galatians 2:4; &nbsp;Galatians 4:3; &nbsp;Galatians 4:9; &nbsp;Galatians 4:24-25; &nbsp;Galatians 5:1). [[Inclination]] rebelled against it. </p> <p> They either burst its bond for open paganism; or, as in post captivity times, scrupulously held the letter, but had none of its spirit, "love, the fulfilling of the law" (&nbsp;Romans 13:8-10; &nbsp;Leviticus 19:18; &nbsp;1 Timothy 1:5; &nbsp;Galatians 5:14; &nbsp;Matthew 7:12; &nbsp;Matthew 22:37-40; &nbsp;James 2:8). Hence, the prophets looked on to gospel times when God would write the law by His Spirit in the heart (&nbsp;Jeremiah 31:31-33; &nbsp;Jeremiah 31:39; &nbsp;Ezekiel 36:26-27; &nbsp;Ezekiel 11:19-20). In one respect the law continues, in another it is superseded (&nbsp;Matthew 5:17-18). In its antitypical realization in Jesus, it is all being fulfilled or has been so. In its spirit, "holy, just, and good," it is of everlasting obligation as it reflects the mind of God. In its Old Testament form it gives place to its fully developed perfection in the New Testament The temporary and successional Aaronic priesthood gives place to the abiding and intransmissible [[Melchizedek]] priesthood of Jesus, the sacrificial types, to the one antitypical sacrifice, never to be repeated (Hebrew 5; Hebrew 7; Hebrew 8; Hebrew 9; Hebrew 10). </p> <p> So believers, insofar as they are under the gospel law of Christ (&nbsp;Galatians 6:2), which is the law of love in the heart, are no longer under the law, as an outward letter ordinance. Through Christ's death they are dead to the law, as a law of condemnation, and have the Spirit enabling them to "serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter" (&nbsp;Romans 2:29; &nbsp;Romans 7:1-6; &nbsp;2 Corinthians 3:6). "Christ is the end of the law for righteousness (both justification and sanctification) to every one that believeth" &nbsp;Romans 10:4; &nbsp;Romans 8:1-3). He gave not so much new laws of morality as new motives for observing the old law. As a covenant of works, and a provisional mode of discipline, and a typical representation of atonement, the law is no more. As the revelation of God's righteousness it is everlasting. Free from the letter, the believer fulfills the spirit and end of the law, conformity to God's will. Moses, in foretelling the rise of the "Prophet like unto himself" and God's rejection of all who should reject Him (&nbsp;Deuteronomy 18:15, etc.), by the Spirit intimates that the law was to give place to the gospel of Jesus. </p> <p> Moses anticipates also by the Spirit the evils which actually befell them, their being besieged, their captivity, dispersion, and restoration (Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 32). The words in &nbsp;Deuteronomy 34:10-12 (compare &nbsp;Numbers 12:1-8) prove that no other prophet or succession of prophets can exhaustively fulfill the prophecy. Both Peter and [[Stephen]] authoritatively decide that Messiah is "the Prophet" (&nbsp;Acts 3:22; &nbsp;Acts 7:37). The gospel attracted and detached from the Jewish nation almost every pure and pious soul, sifting the chaff from the wheat. The destruction of the temple with which Judaism and the ceremonial law were inseparably connected was God's explicit setting of them aside. The danger to the church from [[Judaizing]] Christians, which was among its first trials (Acts 11; 15; &nbsp;Galatians 3:5), was thereby diminished, and "the fall of the Jews is the riches of the world" in this as in other respects (&nbsp;Romans 11:12). </p>

<p> The word ‘law’ is used in many ways in the Bible. It may be used of commandments or instructions in general, whether given by God, civil administrators, teachers or parents (&nbsp;Genesis 26:5; &nbsp;Exodus 18:20; &nbsp;Proverbs 3:1; &nbsp;Proverbs 6:20; see also [[Government]] ). Frequently it is used of the written Word of God (&nbsp;Psalms 119:18-20; &nbsp;Psalms 119:57-61), sometimes applying to the Old Testament as a whole and sometimes to part of the Old Testament, such as the five books of Moses (&nbsp;Matthew 5:17; &nbsp;Luke 24:44; &nbsp;John 1:45; &nbsp;John 15:25; see [[Pentateuch]] ). Occasionally it means a principle of operation (&nbsp;Romans 7:21; &nbsp;Romans 7:23; &nbsp;Romans 8:2). The most common usage of the term, however, concerns the law of God given to Israel through Moses at Mt Sinai (&nbsp;Exodus 24:12; &nbsp;Deuteronomy 4:44; &nbsp;Ezra 7:6; &nbsp;John 1:17; &nbsp;Galatians 3:17; &nbsp;Galatians 3:19). This meaning of ‘law’ is the chief concern of the present article. </p> <p> '''God’s covenant with Israel''' </p> <p> In his grace God made a covenant with Abraham to make his descendants into a great nation and to give them Canaan as their national homeland (&nbsp;Genesis 17:1-8). Over the next four hundred years God directed the affairs of Abraham’s descendants so that their numbers increased and they became a distinct people. They were then ready to be formally established as a nation and to receive the land God had promised them. At Mt Sinai God confirmed the covenant made previously with Abraham, this time making it with Abraham’s descendants, the nation Israel (&nbsp;Exodus 24:7-8; see [[Covenant]] ). </p> <p> God had chosen Israel to be his people, saved them from slavery in Egypt, and taken them into a close relationship with himself, all in fulfilment of his covenant promise made to Abraham. Everything arose out of the sovereign grace of God (&nbsp;Exodus 2:24; &nbsp;Exodus 3:16; &nbsp;Exodus 6:6-8). But if the people were to enjoy the blessings of that covenant, they had to respond to God’s grace in faithful obedience. The people understood this and promised to be obedient to all God’s commands (&nbsp;Exodus 24:7-8). </p> <p> The law that God gave to the people of Israel at Sinai laid down his requirements for them. Through obedience to that law the people would enjoy the life God intended for them in the covenant relationship (&nbsp;Leviticus 18:5; cf. &nbsp;Romans 7:10; &nbsp;Romans 10:5; &nbsp;Galatians 3:12). The ten commandments were the principles by which the nation was to live, and formed the basis on which all Israel’s other laws were built (&nbsp;Exodus 20:1-17). </p> <p> '''Characteristics of Israelite law''' </p> <p> No part of the lives of the Israelites was outside the demands of the covenant. The law applied to the whole of their lives and made no distinction between moral, religious and civil laws. Laws may have been in the form of absolute demands that allowed no exceptions (e.g. ‘You shall not steal’; &nbsp;Exodus 20:15), or in the form of guidelines concerning what to do when various situations arose (e.g. ‘If a person borrows anything and it is hurt or dies . . .’; &nbsp;Exodus 22:14), but the two kinds were equally binding. </p> <p> Israel’s law-code was suited to the customs of the time and was designed to administer justice within the established culture. Unlike some ancient law-codes, it did not favour the upper classes, but guaranteed a fair hearing for all. It protected the rights of people who were disadvantaged or defenceless, such as orphans, widows, foreigners, slaves and the poor (&nbsp;Exodus 22:22; &nbsp;Exodus 23:6; &nbsp;Exodus 23:9; &nbsp;Exodus 23:12). The penalties it laid down were not brutal or excessive, as in some nations, but were always in proportion to the crime committed (&nbsp;Exodus 21:23-24). </p> <p> '''Jesus’ attitude to the law''' </p> <p> The covenant made with Israel at Sinai and the law that belonged to that covenant were not intended to be permanent. They were part of the preparation for the coming of Jesus Christ, through whom God would make a new and eternal covenant (&nbsp;Galatians 3:19; &nbsp;Galatians 3:24; &nbsp;Hebrews 9:15). </p> <p> Jesus was born under the law (&nbsp;Galatians 4:4) and was brought up according to the law (&nbsp;Luke 2:21-24; &nbsp;Luke 2:42). He obeyed the law (&nbsp;Matthew 17:27; &nbsp;John 2:13) and he commanded others to obey the law (&nbsp;Matthew 8:4; &nbsp;Matthew 23:1-3; &nbsp;Matthew 23:23). Jesus did not oppose the law, though he certainly did oppose the false interpretations of the law that the Jewish leaders of his time taught. He upheld and fulfilled the law by demonstrating its true meaning (&nbsp;Matthew 5:17-19; &nbsp;Matthew 5:21; &nbsp;Matthew 5:27; &nbsp;Matthew 5:31; &nbsp;Matthew 5:33; &nbsp;Matthew 5:38; &nbsp;Matthew 5:43). </p> <p> Frequently Jesus pointed out that the law was good and holy and that God gave it for people’s benefit (&nbsp;Matthew 22:36-40; &nbsp;Luke 10:25-28; cf. &nbsp;Romans 7:12; &nbsp;Romans 7:14). By contrast the Jewish leaders used the law to oppress people, adding their own traditions and forcing people to obey them. In so doing they forgot, or even opposed, the purpose for which God gave the law (&nbsp;Matthew 23:4; &nbsp;Mark 7:1-9; see [[Tradition]] ). Jesus knew that the law, as a set of regulations, was part of a system that was about to pass away (&nbsp;Matthew 9:16-17; cf. &nbsp;Hebrews 8:13). His death and resurrection would mark the end of the old covenant and the beginning of the new (&nbsp;Hebrews 9:15). </p> <p> Under the new covenant people still have to respond to God’s covenant grace with obedience, but the expression of that obedience has changed. Instead of being bound by a set of rules, they have inner spiritual power to do God’s will. Instead of having to offer sacrifices repeatedly, they have their sins taken away once and for all. Instead of having to approach God through priests, they have direct fellowship with God (&nbsp;Jeremiah 31:31-34; &nbsp;Hebrews 8:8-13; &nbsp;Hebrews 10:1-4; &nbsp;Hebrews 10:16-18). </p> <p> '''Salvation apart from the law''' </p> <p> People have never received forgiveness of sins through keeping the law. Under the old covenant, as under the new, they were saved only through faith in the sovereign God who, in his grace, forgave them and accepted them. Abraham, David and Paul lived respectively before, during and after the period when the old covenant and its law-code operated in Israel, but all three alike were saved by faith (&nbsp;Genesis 15:6; &nbsp;Romans 3:28; &nbsp;Romans 4:1-16; &nbsp;Romans 4:22; &nbsp;Galatians 3:17-18; &nbsp;Ephesians 2:8; &nbsp;1 Timothy 1:14-16). [[Salvation]] depended upon God’s promise, not upon human effort. It was a gracious gift received by faith, not a reward for keeping the law (&nbsp;Galatians 3:18; &nbsp;Galatians 3:21-22; see [[Promise]] ). </p> <p> [[Contrary]] to popular Jewish opinion, the law was not given as a means of salvation (&nbsp;Romans 9:31-32). It was given to show the standard of behaviour God required from his covenant people. As a set of official regulations, it was given solely to the nation Israel and was in force for the period from Moses to Christ. But as an expression of the character and will of God, it operated on principles that are relevant to people of all nations and all eras. It expressed in a legal code for one nation the principles that are applicable to people in general (&nbsp;Romans 2:12-16; &nbsp;Romans 13:8-10). Through the law given to Israel, God showed the righteous standards that his holiness demanded. </p> <p> At the same time the law showed the extent of people’s sinfulness, for their behaviour repeatedly fell short of the law’s standards. The law therefore showed up human sin; but when sinners acknowledged their sin and turned in faith to God, God in his grace forgave them (&nbsp;Romans 3:19-20; &nbsp;Romans 3:31; &nbsp;Romans 5:20; &nbsp;Romans 7:7; &nbsp;Galatians 3:11; &nbsp;Galatians 3:19). (Concerning the rituals of the law for the cleansing of sin see [[Sacrifice]] .) </p> <p> Those who broke the law were under the curse and condemnation of the law (&nbsp;Deuteronomy 27:26; &nbsp;Galatians 3:10). Jesus Christ, however, lived a perfect life according to the law, and then died to bear the law’s curse. By his death he broke its power to condemn those who take refuge in him. [[Believers]] in Jesus are freed from the law’s curse. They have their sins forgiven and are put right with God (&nbsp;Romans 7:6; &nbsp;Romans 8:1-3; &nbsp;Romans 10:4; &nbsp;Galatians 3:13; &nbsp;Ephesians 2:15; &nbsp;Colossians 2:14). </p> <p> Jesus Christ is the true fulfilment of the law. The law prepared the way for him and pointed to him. Before his coming, the people of Israel, being under the law, were like children under the control of a guardian. With his coming, the law had fulfilled its purpose; the guardian was no longer necessary. Believers in Jesus are not children under a guardian, but full-grown mature children of God (&nbsp;Galatians 3:23-26; &nbsp;Galatians 4:4-5; cf. &nbsp;Romans 10:4; see [[Adoption]] ). </p> <p> '''Christian life apart from the law''' </p> <p> It was some time before Jewish Christians in the early church understood clearly that the law was no longer binding upon them. They still went to the temple at the set hours of prayer and possibly kept the Jewish festivals (&nbsp;Acts 2:1; &nbsp;Acts 2:46; &nbsp;Acts 3:1). Stephen seems to have been the first Christian to see clearly that Christianity was not part of the Jewish system and was not bound by the Jewish law (&nbsp;Acts 6:13-14). Then Peter had a vision through which he learnt that Jewish food laws no longer applied. He was harshly criticized by certain Jews in the Jerusalem church when they found he had been eating freely with the Gentiles (&nbsp;Acts 10:15; &nbsp;Acts 11:2-3). </p> <p> These Jews later tried to force Gentile converts to keep the law of Moses (&nbsp;Acts 15:1), and argued so cleverly that Peter tended to follow them, until Paul corrected him (&nbsp;Galatians 2:11-16). When some of the leading Christians met at Jerusalem to discuss the matter, they agreed that Gentiles were not to be put under the law of Moses (&nbsp;Acts 15:19). It was now becoming clear, and Paul’s teaching soon made it very clear, that there was no difference between Jews and Gentiles concerning requirements for salvation and Christian living. People were saved by faith alone, not by the law, and they lived their Christian lives by faith alone, not by the law (&nbsp;Romans 3:21-31; &nbsp;Galatians 3:28). </p> <p> When he met opposition to his teaching, Paul pointed out the impossibility of being saved through keeping the law (&nbsp;Romans 9:30-32; &nbsp;Galatians 2:16; &nbsp;Galatians 5:4; &nbsp;Philippians 3:9). An equal impossibility was to grow in maturity and holiness through keeping the law, or even selected parts of it (&nbsp;Galatians 3:2-5; &nbsp;Galatians 5:1-3; &nbsp;James 2:10-11). </p> <p> The actions of Paul in occasionally observing Jewish laws were not for the purpose of pursuing personal holiness. They were for the purpose of gaining him acceptance among Jewish opponents whom he wanted to win for Christ. Such actions were purely voluntary on Paul’s part (&nbsp;1 Corinthians 9:19-23; cf. &nbsp;Acts 15:19-21; &nbsp;Acts 16:3; &nbsp;Acts 21:20-26). If people tried to force Paul to keep the law, he would not yield to them under any circumstances (&nbsp;Galatians 2:3-5). </p> <p> Paul explained the uselessness of trying to grow in holiness through placing oneself under the law. He pointed out that the more the law forbids a thing, the more the sinful human heart wants to do it (&nbsp;Romans 7:7-11). This does not mean that there is anything wrong with the law. On the contrary, the law is holy, just and good. The fault lies rather with sinful human nature (&nbsp;Romans 7:12-14; see [[Flesh]] ). </p> <p> '''Free but not lawless''' </p> <p> Although the law aims at righteous behaviour, people cannot produce righteous behaviour by keeping the law. They can produce it only by claiming true Christian liberty and living by the inner spiritual power of the Holy Spirit (&nbsp;Romans 6:14; &nbsp;Romans 8:3-4; &nbsp;Galatians 5:13-23; see [[Freedom; Holy Spirit]] ) But the same Holy Spirit who empowers inwardly has given clear guidelines for behaviour in the written Word. It is not surprising, then, to find that those guidelines contain quotations from the law of Moses to indicate the sort of character and conduct that a holy God requires (&nbsp;Matthew 22:36-40; &nbsp;Romans 7:12; &nbsp;Romans 13:8-10; &nbsp;Ephesians 6:2; &nbsp;Hebrews 8:10; &nbsp;James 2:8-12). </p> <p> Christians are not under law but under grace. Yet they are not lawless (&nbsp;Romans 6:15). They have been freed from the bondage of the law and are now bound to Christ (&nbsp;Romans 7:1-4). The law of Christ is a law of liberty, one that Christians obey not because they are forced to but because they want to. The controlling force in their lives is not a written code but a living person (&nbsp;1 Corinthians 9:21; &nbsp;Galatians 6:2; &nbsp;James 1:25; &nbsp;James 2:12). </p> <p> As Jesus demonstrated his love for the Father by keeping the Father’s commandments, so those who truly love Jesus will keep his commandments (&nbsp;John 14:15; &nbsp;John 14:21; &nbsp;John 15:10; &nbsp;1 John 2:3-4; &nbsp;1 John 2:7; &nbsp;1 John 5:3). And in so doing they will practise love, which itself is the fulfilment of the law (&nbsp;John 13:34; &nbsp;Romans 13:8-10; &nbsp;Galatians 5:14; &nbsp;1 John 5:2-3). </p>

<div> '''A — 1: '''''Νόμος''''' ''' (Strong'S #3551 — Noun Masculine — nomos — nom'-os ) </div> <p> akin to nemo, "to divide out, distribute," primarily meant "that which is assigned;" hence, "usage, custom," and then, "law, law as prescribed by custom, or by statute;" the word ethos, "custom," was retained for unwritten "law," while nomos became the established name for "law" as decreed by a state and set up as the standard for the administration of justice. </p> &nbsp;Romans 2:12,13&nbsp;Romans 2:14&nbsp;Romans 3:27&nbsp;Romans 4:15&nbsp; Romans 5:13&nbsp;Romans 7:1&nbsp; Galatians 5:23&nbsp;Galatians 5:18&nbsp;Romans 7:21,23&nbsp; Matthew 5:18&nbsp;John 1:17&nbsp;Romans 2:15,18,20,26,27&nbsp;3:19&nbsp;4:15&nbsp;7:4,7,14,16,22&nbsp;8:3,4,7&nbsp;Galatians 3:10,12,19,21,24&nbsp;5:3&nbsp;Ephesians 2:15&nbsp;Philippians 3:6&nbsp;1 Timothy 1:8&nbsp;Hebrews 7:19&nbsp;James 2:9&nbsp;Romans 2:14&nbsp; 1 Corinthians 9:20&nbsp;Galatians 2:16,19,21&nbsp;3:2,5,10&nbsp; Philippians 3:5,9&nbsp;Hebrews 7:16&nbsp;9:19&nbsp;James 2:11&nbsp;4:11&nbsp;Galatians 2:16&nbsp;Matthew 5:17&nbsp;12:5&nbsp;Luke 16:16&nbsp;24:44&nbsp;John 1:45&nbsp;Romans 3:21&nbsp;Galatians 3:10&nbsp;John 10:34&nbsp;15:25&nbsp;John 12:34&nbsp;Romans 3:19&nbsp; 1 Corinthians 14:21&nbsp;Galatians 6:2&nbsp;John 13:14,15&nbsp;15:4&nbsp;Matthew 20:28&nbsp;John 13:1&nbsp;Matthew 5:18&nbsp;Matthew 5:21-48&nbsp;Romans 3:27&nbsp;Romans 7:23&nbsp;Romans 7:23&nbsp;Romans 8:2&nbsp;James 1:25&nbsp;2:12&nbsp;1 Corinthians 9:21&nbsp;Psalm 119:32,45,97&nbsp;2 Corinthians 3:17&nbsp;James 2:8&nbsp;Matthew 22:34-40&nbsp;Romans 13:8&nbsp;Galatians 5:14&nbsp;Romans 8:2&nbsp;John 6:63&nbsp;Romans 9:31&nbsp;Galatians 3:21&nbsp;Hebrews 7:16&nbsp;Hebrews 7:19&nbsp;Hebrews 8:6&nbsp;Galatians 5:3&nbsp;Galatians 5:14&nbsp;Romans 8:3Justification.&nbsp; Acts 19:38[[Court]]&nbsp;Luke 5:17&nbsp;Acts 5:34&nbsp;1 Timothy 1:7Doctor. <div> '''A — 2: '''''Νομοθεσία''''' ''' (Strong'S #3548 — Noun [[Feminine]] — nomothesia — nom-oth-es-ee'-ah ) </div> <p> denotes "legislation, lawgiving" (No. 1, and tithemi, "to place, to put"), &nbsp;Romans 9:4 , "(the) giving of the law." Cp. B, No. 1. </p> <div> '''B — 1: '''''Νομοθετέω''''' ''' (Strong'S #3549 — Verb — nomotheteo — nom-oth-et-eh'-o ) </div> <p> (a) used intransitively, signifies "to make laws" (cp. A, No. 2, above); in the Passive Voice, "to be furnished with laws," &nbsp;Hebrews 7:11 , "received the law," lit., "was furnished with (the) law;" (b) used transitively, it signifies "to ordain by law, to enact;" in the Passive Voice, &nbsp;Hebrews 8:6 . See Enact. </p> <div> '''B — 2: '''''Κρίνω''''' ''' (Strong'S #2919 — Verb — krino — kree'-no ) </div> <p> "to esteem, judge," etc., signifies "to go to law," and is so used in the Middle Voice in &nbsp;Matthew 5:40 , RV, "go to law" (AV, "sue ... at the law"); &nbsp;1 Corinthians 6:1,6 . See Esteem. </p> &nbsp;1 Corinthians 6:7 <div> '''B — 3: '''''Παρανομέω''''' ''' (Strong'S #3891 — Verb — paranomeo — par-an-om-eh'-o ) </div> <p> "to transgress law" (para, "contrary to," and nomos), is used in the present participle in &nbsp;Acts 23:3 , and translated "contrary to the law," lit., "transgressing the law." </p> <div> '''C — 1: '''''Νομικός''''' ''' (Strong'S #3544 — Adjective — nomikos — nom-ik-os' ) </div> <p> denotes "relating to law;" in &nbsp;Titus 3:9 it is translated "about the law," describing "fightings" (AV, "strivings"); see Lawyer. </p> <div> '''C — 2: '''''Ἔννομος''''' ''' (Strong'S #1772 — Adjective — ennomos — en'-nom-os ) </div> <p> (a) "lawful, legal," lit., "in law" (en, "in," and nomos), or, strictly, "what is within the range of law," is translated "lawful" in &nbsp;Acts 19:39 , AV (RV, "regular"), of the legal tribunals in Ephesus; (b) "under law" (RV), in relation to Christ, &nbsp;1 Corinthians 9:21 , where it is contrasted with anomos (see No. 3 below); the word as used by the Apostle suggests not merely the condition of being under "law," but the intimacy of a relation established in the loyalty of a will devoted to his Master. See Lawful. </p> <div> '''C — 3: '''''Ἄνομος''''' ''' (Strong'S #459 — Adjective — anomos — an'-om-os ) </div> <p> signifies "without law" (a, negative) and has this meaning in &nbsp;1 Corinthians 9:21 (four times). See [[Lawless]] , [[Transgressor]] , [[Unlawful]] , Wicked. </p> <div> '''D — 1: '''''Ἀνόμως''''' ''' (Strong'S #460 — Adverb — anomos — an-om'-oce ) </div> <p> "without law" (the adverbial form of C, No. 3), is used in &nbsp;Romans 2:12 (twice), where "(have sinned) without law" means in the absence of some specifically revealed "law," like the "law" of Sinai; "(shall perish) without law" predicates that the absence of such a "law" will not prevent their doom; the "law" of conscience is not in view here. The succeeding phrase "under law" is lit., "in law," not the same as the adjective ennomos (C, No. 2), but two distinct words. </p>

<p> A rule of action; a precept or command coming from a superior authority, which an inferior is bound to obey. The manner in which God governs rational creatures is by a law, as the rule of their obedience to him, and which is what we call God's moral government of the world. He gave a law to angels, which some of them kept, and have been confirmed in a state of obedience to it; but which others broke, and thereby plunged themselves into destruction and misery. He gave, also, a law to Adam, and which was in the form of a covenant, and in which Adam stood as a covenant head to all his posterity, &nbsp;Romans 5:1-21 : &nbsp; Genesis 2:1-25 : But our first parents soon violated that law, and fell from a state of innocence to a state of sin and misery, &nbsp; Hosea 6:7 . &nbsp;Genesis 3:1-24 : </p> <p> See FALL. Positive laws, are precepts which are not founded upon any reasons known to those to whom they are given. Thus in the state of innocence God gave the law of the Sabbath; or abstinence from the fruit of the tree of knowledge, &c. Law of nature is the will of God relating to human actions, grounded in the moral differences of things, and, because discoverable by natural light, obligatory upon all mankind, &nbsp;Romans 1:20; &nbsp;Romans 2:14-15 . This law is coeval with the human race, binding all over the globe, and at all times; yet, through the corruption of reason, it is insufficient to lead us to happiness, and utterly unable to acquaint us how sin is to be forgiven, without the assistance of revelation. Ceremonial law is that which prescribed the rites of worship used under the Old Testament. </p> <p> These rites were typical of Christ, and were obligatory only till Christ had finished his work, and began to erect his Gospel church, &nbsp;Hebrews 7:9; &nbsp;Hebrews 7:11 . &nbsp;Hebrews 10:1 . &nbsp;Ephesians 2:16 . &nbsp;Colossians 2:14 . &nbsp;Galatians 5:2-3 . Judicial law was that which directed the policy of the Jewish nation, as under the peculiar dominion of God as their [[Supreme]] magistrate, and never, except in things relative to moral equity, was binding on any but the Hebrew nation. Moral law is that declaration of God's will which directs and binds all men, in every age and place, to their whole duty to him. It was most solemnly proclaimed by God himself at Sinai, to confirm the original law of nature, and correct men's mistakes concerning the demands of it. It is denominated perfect, &nbsp;Psalms 19:7 . perpetual, &nbsp;Matthew 5:17-18 . holy, &nbsp;Romans 7:12 . good, &nbsp;Romans 7:12 . spiritual, &nbsp;Romans 7:1-25 . exceeding broad, &nbsp;Psalms 119:96 . Some deny that it is a rule of conduct to believers under the Gospel dispensation; but it is easy to see the futility of such an idea; for as a transcript of the mind of God, it must be the criterion of moral good and evil. It is also given for that very purpose, that we may see our duty, and abstain from every thing derogatory to the divine glory. It affords us grand ideas of the holiness and purity of God: without attention to it, we can have no knowledge of sin. </p> <p> Christ himself came not to destroy, but to fulfil it; and though we cannot do as he did, yet we are commanded to follow his example. Love to God is the end of the moral law, as well as the end of the Gospel. By the law, also, we are led to see the nature of holiness, and our own depravity, and learn to be humbled under a sense of our imperfection. We are not under it, however, as a covenant of works, &nbsp;Galatians 3:13 . or as a source of terror, &nbsp;Romans 8:1 . although we must abide by it, together with the whole preceptive word of God, as the rule of our conduct, &nbsp;Romans 3:31 Laws, directive, are laws without any punishment annexed to them. Laws, penal, such as have some penalty to enforce them. All the laws of God are and cannot but be penal, because every breach of his law is sin, and meritorious of punishment. Law of honour is a system of rules constructed by people of fashion, and calculated to facilitate their intercourse with one another, and for no other purpose. Consequently nothing is adverted to by the law of honour but what tends to incommode this intercourse. Hence this law only prescribes and regulates the duties betwixt equals, omitting such as relate to the Supreme Being, as well as those which we owe to our inferiors. In fact, this law of honour, in most instances, is favourable to the licentious indulgence of the natural passions. </p> <p> Thus it allows of fornication, adultery, drunkenness, prodigality, duelling, and of revenge in the extreme, and lays no stress upon the virtues opposite to these. Laws, remedial, a fancied law, which some believe in, who hold that God, in mercy to mankind, has abolished that rigorous constitution or law that they were under originally, and instead of it has introduced a more mild constitution, and put us under a new law, which requires no more than imperfect sincere obedience, in compliance with our poor, infirm, impotent circumstances since the fall. I call this a fancied law, because it exists no where except in the imagination of those who hold it. </p> <p> See [[Neonomians]] and [[Justification]] Laws of nations, are those rules which by a tacit consent are agreed upon among all communities, at least among those who are reckoned the polite and humanized part of mankind. Gill's Body of Div. vol. 1: p. 454, oct. 425, vol. 3: ditto; Paley's Mor. Phil. vol. 1: p. 2; Cumberland's Law of Nature; Grove's Mor. Phil. vol. 2: p. 117. Booth's Death of Legal Hope; Inglish and Burder's [[Pieces]] on the Moral Law; Watts's Works, vol. 1: ser. 49. 8vo. edition, and vol. 2: p. 443. &c. Scott's Essays. </p>

<p> '''A. Noun. ''' </p> <p> <em> Tôrâh </em> ( '''''תֹּרָה''''' , Strong'S #8451), “law; direction; instruction.” This noun occurs 220 times in the Hebrew Old Testament. </p> <p> In the wisdom literature, where the noun does not appear with a definite article, <em> tôrâh </em> signifies primarily “direction, teaching, instruction”: “The law of the wise is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death” (Prov. 13:14), and “Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart” (Job 22:22). The “instruction” of the sages of Israel, who were charged with the education of the young, was intended to cultivate in the young a fear of the Lord so that they might live in accordance with God’s expectations. The sage was a father to his pupils: “Whoso keepeth the law is a wise son: but he that is a companion of riotous men shameth his father” (Prov. 28:7; cf. 3:1; 4:2; 7:2). The natural father might also instruct his son in wise living, even as a Godfearing woman was an example of kind “instruction”: “She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness” (Prov. 31:26). </p> <p> The “instruction” given by God to Moses and the Israelites became known as “the law” or “the direction” ( <em> ha- </em> <em> tôrâh </em> ), and quite frequently as “the Law of the Lord”: “Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord” (Ps. 119:1), or “the Law of God”: “Also day by day, from the first day unto the last day, [Ezra] read in the book of the law of God” (Neh. 8:18), and also as “the Law of [given through] Moses”: “Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in [[Horeb]] for all Israel …” (Mal. 4:4). The word can refer to the whole of the “law”: “For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children” (Ps. 78:5), or to particulars: “And this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel …” (Deut. 4:44). </p> <p> God had communicated the “law” that Israel might observe and live: “And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?” (Deut. 4:8). The king was instructed to have a copy of the “law” prepared for him at his coronation (Deut. 17:18). The priests were charged with the study and teaching of, as well as the jurisprudence based upon, the “law” (Jer. 18:18). Because of rampant apostasy the last days of Judah were times when there were no teaching priests (2 Chron. 15:3); in fact, in Josiah’s days the “law” (whether the whole Torah, or a book or a part) was recovered: “And [[Hilkiah]] … said to [[Shaphan]] the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord” (2 Chron. 34:15). </p> <p> The prophets called Israel to repeat by returning to the <em> tôrâh </em> (“instruction”) of God (Isa. 1:10). Jeremiah prophesied concerning God’s new dealing with His people in terms of the New Covenant, in which God’s law is to be internalized, God’s people would willingly obey Him: “But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Jer. 31:33). The last prophet of the Old Testament reminded the priests of their obligations (Mal. 2) and challenged God’s people to remember the “law” of Moses in preparation for the coming Messiah (Mal. 4:4). </p> <p> The [[Septuagint]] gives the following translations: <em> nomos </em> (“law; rule”); <em> nomimos </em> (“conformable to law; lawful”); <em> entole </em> (“command[ment]; order”); and <em> prostagma </em> (“order; commandment; injunction”). </p> <p> '''B. Verb.''' </p> <p> <em> Yârâh </em> ( '''''יָרָא''''' , Strong'S #3384), “to throw, cast, direct, teach, instruct.” The noun <em> yârâh </em> is derived from this root. The meaning “to cast” appears in Gen. 31:51: “And [[Laban]] said to Jacob, Behold this heap, and behold this pillar, which I have cast betwixt me and thee.” <em> Yârâh </em> means “to teach” in 1 Sam. 12:23: “… but I will teach you the good and the right way.” </p>

<p> The subject of 'law' is not restricted in scripture to the law given by Moses. God gave a commandment (or law) to Adam, which made Adam's subsequent sin to be transgression. Where there is no law there is no transgression (&nbsp;Romans 4:15 ), though there may be sin, as there was from Adam to Moses: "until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed [or put to account] when there is no law." &nbsp;Romans 5:13 . This doubtless signifies that specific acts were not put to account as a question of God's governmental dealings, when there was no law forbidding them. Men sinned, and death reigned, though they "had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression" (&nbsp;Romans 5:14 ), for no definite law had been given to them. The nations that had not the law were however a law unto themselves, having some sense of good and evil, and their conscience bore witness accordingly. It is not a true definition of sin, to say that it is "the transgression of the law," as in the A.V. of &nbsp;1 John 3:4 . The passage should read "Sin is lawlessness:" that is, man doing his own will, defiant of restraint, and regardless of his Creator and of his neighbour. </p> <p> 'Law' may be considered as a <i> principle </i> in contrast to 'grace,' in which sense it occurs in the N.T., the word 'law' being often without the article (though the law of Moses may at times be alluded to in the same way). In this sense it raises the question of what <i> man </i> is for God, and hence involves works. "The <i> doers </i> of [the] law shall be justified," &nbsp;Romans 2:13; but if, on the other hand, salvation be "by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace." &nbsp;Romans 11:6 . The conclusion is that "by the deeds of [the] law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight." None can be saved on that principle. In opposition to it "the righteousness of God without [the] law is manifested." The believer is "justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." &nbsp;Romans 3:20-24 . 'Law' a principle stands also in scripture in contrast to 'faith.' "The just shall live by faith: and the law is not of faith; but the man that doeth them shall live in them." &nbsp;Galatians 3:11 . </p> <p> The word 'law' is also used for a fixed and unvarying principle such as 'a law of nature:' thus we read of the 'law of faith,' 'law of sin,' 'law of righteousness,' 'law of the Spirit of life,' etc.; cf. &nbsp;Romans 7:21 . </p> <p> The term 'law' is occasionally used in the N.T. as a designation of other parts of the O.T. besides the Pentateuch. The Lord said, "Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods ?" when the quotation was from the Psalms. &nbsp;John 10:34 : similarly &nbsp;1 Corinthians 14:21 . </p> <p> The LAW OF [[Liberty]] &nbsp;James 1:25; &nbsp;James 2:12 , implies that, the nature being congruous, the things enjoined, instead of being a burden, are a pleasure. Doing the commandments of the Lord is the fruit of the divine nature: they are therefore both law and liberty. </p>

<li> Moral positive laws are commanded by God because they are right. <div> <p> '''Copyright Statement''' These dictionary topics are from M.G. Easton [[M.A., DD]]  Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Third Edition, published by [[Thomas]] Nelson, 1897. Public Domain. </p> <p> '''Bibliography Information''' Easton, Matthew George. Entry for 'Law'. Easton's Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ebd/l/law.html. 1897. </p> </div> </li>

<p> is usually defined as a rule of action; it is more properly a precept or command coming from a superior authority, which an inferior is bound to obey. Such laws emanate from the king or legislative body of a nation. Such enactments of "the powers that be" are recognized in Scripture as resting upon the ultimate authority of the divine [[Lawgiver]] (&nbsp;Romans 13:1). We propose in this article to discuss only the various distinctions or applications of the term, in an ethical sense, reserving for a separate place the consideration of the Mosaic law, in its various aspects, ceremonial, moral, and civil. </p> <p> '''I.''' ''Classification Of Laws As To Their Interior Nature.'' '''''—''''' </p> <p> '''1.''' ''"Penal Laws"'' are such as have some penalty to enforce them. All the laws of God are and cannot but be penal, because every breach of his law is sin, and meritorious of punishment. </p> <p> '''2.''' ''"Directing Laws"'' are prescriptions or maxims without any punishment annexed to them. </p> <p> '''3.''' ''"Positive Laws"'' are precepts which are not founded upon any reasons known to those to whom they are given. Thus, in the state of innocence, God gave the law of the Sabbath; of abstinence from the fruit of the tree of knowledge, etc. In childhood most of the parental commands are necessarily of this nature, owing to the incapacity of the child to understand the grounds of their inculcation. </p> <p> '''II.''' ''Certain Special Uses Of The Term. '''''—''''' '' </p> <p> '''1.''' " ''Law Of Honor"'' is a system of rules constructed by people of fashion, and calculated to facilitate their intercourse with one another, and for no other purpose. Consequently nothing is adverted to by the law of honor but what tends to incommode this intercourse. Hence this law only prescribes and regulates the duties betwixt equals, omitting such as relate to the Supreme Being, as well as those which we owe to our inferiors, and in most instances is favorable to the licentious indulgence of the natural passions. Thus it allows of fornication, adultery, drunkenness, prodigality, duelling, and of revenge in the extreme, and lays no stress upon the virtues opposite to these. </p> <p> '''2.''' " ''Laws Of Nations"'' are those rules which, by a tacit consent, are agreed upon among all communities, at least among those who are reckoned the polite and humanized part of mankind. </p> <p> '''3.''' ''"Laws Of Natures."'' '''''—''''' "The word law is sometimes also employed in order to express not only the moral connection between free agents of an inferior, and others of a superior power, but also in order to express the ''Nexus Causalis,'' the connection between cause and effect in inanimate nature. However, the expression ''Law Of Nature, Lex Naturae,'' is improper and figurative. The term law implies, in its strict sense, ''Spontaneity,'' or the power of deciding between right and wrong, and of choosing between good and evil, as well on the part of the lawgiver as on the part of those who have to regulate their conduct according to his dictates" (Kitto, s.v.). Moreover, the powers of nature, which these laws are conceived as representing, are nothing in reality but the power of God exerted in these directions. Hence these laws may at any time be suspended by God when the higher interests of his spiritual kingdom require. Viewed in this light, miracles not only become possible, but even probable for the furtherance of the divine economy of salvation. (See Bushell, Nature and the Supernatural.) (See Miracle). </p> <p> '''III.''' ''Forms Of The Divine Law.'' '''''—''''' The manner in which God governs rational creatures is by a law, as the rule of their obedience to him, and this is what we call God's moral government of the world. At their very creation he placed all intelligences under such a system. Thus he gave a law to angels, which some of them have kept, and have been confirmed in a state of obedience to it; but which others broke, and thereby plunged themselves into destruction and misery. In like manner he also gave a law to Adam, which was in the form of a covenant, and in which Adam stood as a covenant head to all his posterity (Romans 5). But our first parents soon violated that law, and fell from a state of innocence to a state of sin and misery (&nbsp;Hosea 6:7). (See [[Fall]]). </p> <p> '''1.''' The ''"Law Of Nature"'' is the will of God relating to human actions, grounded in the moral difference of things, and, because discoverable by natural light, obligatory upon all mankind (&nbsp;Romans 1:20; &nbsp;Romans 2:14-15). This law is coeval with the human race, binding all over the globe, and at all times; yet, through the corruption of reason, it is insufficient to lead us to happiness, and utterly unable to acquaint us how sin is to be forgiven, without the assistance of revelation. This law is that generally designated by the term ''Conscience,'' which is in strictness a capacity of being affected by the moral relations of actions; in other words, merely a [[Sense]] of ''Right And Wrong.'' It is the judgment which intellectually determines the moral quality of an act, and this always by a comparison with some assumed standard. With those who have a revelation, this, of course, is the test; with others, education, tradition, or caprice. Hence the importance of a trained conscience, not only for the purpose of cultivating its susceptibility to a high degree of sensitiveness and authority, but also in order to correct the judgment and furnish it a just basis of decision. A perverted or misled conscience is scarcely less disastrous than a hard or blind one. History is full of the miseries and mischiefs occasioned by a misguided moral sense. </p> <p> '''2.''' ''"Ceremonial Law"'' is that which prescribes the rites of worship under the Old Testament. These rites were typical of Christ, and were obligatory only till Christ had finished his work, and began to erect his Gospel Church (&nbsp;Hebrews 7:9; &nbsp;Hebrews 7:11; &nbsp;Hebrews 10:1; &nbsp;Ephesians 2:16; &nbsp;Colossians 2:14; &nbsp;Galatians 5:2-3). </p> <p> '''3.''' ''"Judaicia Law"'' was that which directed the policy of the Jewish nation, under the peculiar dominion of God as their supreme magistrate, and never, except in things relating to moral equity, was binding on any but the Hebrew nation. </p> <p> '''4.''' ''"Moral Law"'' is that declaration of God's will which directs and binds all men, in every age and place, to their whole duty to him. It was most solemnly proclaimed by God himself at Sinai, to confirm the original law of nature, and correct men's mistakes concerning the demands of it. It is denominated perfect (&nbsp;Psalms 19:7), perpetual (&nbsp;Matthew 5:17-18), holy (&nbsp;Romans 7:12), good (&nbsp;Romans 7:12), spiritual (&nbsp;Romans 7:14), exceeding broad (&nbsp;Psalms 119:96). Some deny that it is a rule of conduct to believers under the Gospel dispensation; but it is easy to see the futility of such an idea; for, as a transcript of the mind of God, it must be the criterion of moral good and evil. It is also given for that very purpose, that we may see our duty, and abstain from everything derogatory to the divine glory. It affords us grand ideas of the holiness and purity of God; without attention to it, we can have no knowledge of sin. Christ himself came, not to destroy, but to fulfill it; and though we cannot do as he did, yet we are commanded to follow his example. Love to God is the end of the moral law as well as the end of the Gospel. By the law, also, we are led to see the nature of holiness and our own depravity, and learn to be humbled under a sense of our imperfection. We are not under it, however, as a covenant of works (&nbsp;Galatians 3:13), or as a source of terror (&nbsp;Romans 8:1), although we must abide by it, together with the whole perceptive word of God, as the rule of our conduct (&nbsp;Romans 3:31; Romans 7). (See [[Law Of Moses]]). </p> <p> '''IV.''' ''Scriptural Uses Of The Law.'' '''''—''''' The word "law" ''(תּוֹרָה'' , torah', '''''Νόμος''''' ) is properly used, in Scripture as elsewhere, to express a definite commandment laid down by any recognized authority. The commandment may be general or (as in &nbsp;Leviticus 6:9; &nbsp;Leviticus 6:14, etc., "the law of the burnt- offering," etc.) particular in its bearing, the authority either human or divine. It is extended to prescriptions respecting sanitary or purificatory arrangements ("the law of her that has been in childbed," or of those that have had the leprosy, &nbsp;Leviticus 14:2), or even to an architectural design ("the law of the house," &nbsp;Ezekiel 43:12): so in &nbsp;Romans 6:2, "the law of the husband" is his authority over his wife. But when the word is used with the article, and without any words of limitation, it refers to the expressed will of God, and, in nine cases out of ten, to the Mosaic law, or to the Pentateuch, of which it forms the chief portion. </p> <p> The Hebrew word (derived from the root '''''יָרָה''''' , ''Yarah','' "to point out," and so "to direct and lead") lays more stress on its moral authority, as teaching the truth, and guiding in the right way; the Greek '''''Νόμος''''' (from '''''Νέμω''''' , "to assign or appoint,") on its constraining power, as imposed and enforced by a recognized authority. But in either case it is a commandment proceeding from without, and distinguished from the free action of its subjects, although not necessarily opposed thereto. </p> <p> The sense of the word, however, extends its scope, and assumes a more abstract character in the writings of the apostle Paul '''''Νόμος''''' , when used by him with the article, still refers in general to the law of Moses; but when used without the article, so as to embrace any manifestation of " law," it includes all powers which act on the will of man by compulsion, or by the pressure of external motives, whether their commands be or be not expressed in definite forms. This is seen in the constant opposition of '''''Ἔργα''''' '''''Νόμου''''' ("works done under the constraint of law") to faith, or "works of faith," that is, works done freely by the internal influence of faith. A still more remarkable use of the word is found in &nbsp;Romans 7:23, where the power of evil over the will, arising from the corruption of man, is spoken of as a "law of sin," that is, an unnatural tyranny proceeing from an evil power without. The same apostle even uses the term "law" to denote the Christian dispensation in contrast with that of Moses (&nbsp;James 1:25; &nbsp;James 2:12; &nbsp;James 4:11; comp. &nbsp;Romans 10:4; &nbsp;Hebrews 7:12; &nbsp;Hebrews 10:1); also for the laws or precepts established by the Gospel (&nbsp;Romans 13:8; &nbsp;Romans 13:10; &nbsp;Galatians 6:2; &nbsp;Galatians 5:23). </p> <p> The occasional use of the word "law" (as in &nbsp;Romans 3:27, "law of faith;" in &nbsp;Romans 7:23, "law of my mind" [ '''''Τοῦ''''' '''''Νόος''''' ]; in &nbsp;Romans 8:2, "law of the spirit of life;" and in &nbsp;James 1:25; &nbsp;James 2:12, "a perfect law, the law of liberty") to denote an ''Internal'' principle of action does not really militate against the general rule. For in each case it will be seen that such principle is spoken of in contrast with some formal law, and the word "law" is consequently applied to it "improperly," in order to mark this opposition, the qualifying words which follow guarding against any danger of misapprehension of its real character. </p> <p> It should also be noticed that the title "the law" is occasionally used loosely to refer to the whole of the Old Testament (as in &nbsp;John 10:34, referring to &nbsp;Psalms 82:6; in &nbsp;John 15:25, referring to &nbsp;Psalms 35:19; and in &nbsp;1 Corinthians 14:21, referring to &nbsp;Isaiah 28:11-12). This usage is probably due, not only to desire of brevity and to the natural prominence of the Pentateuch, but also to the predominance in the older covenant (when considered separately from the new, for which it was the preparation) of an external and legal character. '''''—''''' Smith, s.v. </p> <p> It should be noted, however, that '''''Νόμος''''' very often stands, even when without the article, for the Mosaic law, the term in that sense being so well known as not to be liable to be misunderstood. (See Greek Article). </p>