| Deuteronomy 13:15
| Thou shalt forthwith kill the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, and shalt destroy it, and all things that are in it, even the cattle:
| Even the cattle. Nothing at all must be spared. Yet the Rabbins and some who argue that penal laws must be restrained as much as possible, exempt the women, and boys under thirteen years of age, and understand this law only of the central cities, ver. 13. If the city was seduced by one man, or by women, or by people of a different tribe, the culprit was only to be stoned, and the Sanhedrim had to take cognizance of the whole affair. If many cities joined in the idolatry, or if any of them were cities of refuge, etc., they were not included. (Selden, Syned. 3:5.; Grotius) --- But these limitations seem visibly to contradict the law. The goods of the innocent were involved in the common ruin, that they might learn to make all possible resistance to the introduction of so abominable a crime; and those of the guilty were destroyed wherever they were found. (Calmet) --- But the persons of those who fled away, to shew their disapprobation, and denounce the attempt of their brethren, (Haydock) would no doubt be saved. (Calmet) --- If they continued among them, their indolence or connivance deserved punishment. (Haydock) --- Grotius (Jur. 2:15) maintains, that the magistrate is authorized by the law of nature to punish those who deny the existence of God or his Providence, as these errors strike at the root of all society. --- [Ver. 16.] For the Lord, as a victim of expiation, and to manifest your zeal for the honour of the only true God. --- No more. Septuagint, "it shall be uninhabited." The Rabbins are so exact, as to entertain a doubt whether the place might even be used as a garden. (Calmet)
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