Deuteronomy 19:14 ¶ Thou
shalt not remove thy neighbour’s landmark, which they of old time have set in
thine inheritance, which thou shalt inherit in the land that the LORD thy God
giveth thee to possess it. 15 One
witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in
any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of
three witnesses, shall the matter be established. 16 If a false witness rise up against any man to
testify against him that which is wrong; 17 Then both the men, between whom the
controversy is, shall stand before the LORD, before the priests and the
judges, which shall be in those days; 18
And the judges shall make diligent inquisition: and, behold, if
the witness be a false witness, and hath testified falsely
against his brother; 19 Then shall ye do
unto him, as he had thought to have done unto his brother: so shalt thou put
the evil away from among you. 20 And
those which remain shall hear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more
any such evil among you. 21 And thine
eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life, eye for eye,
tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
Here we have civil law outlined in that for there to be an
inheritance of land, as is the case with all cultures that value private
property, there must be sure boundaries. This was the way the Israelite could
make sure that his inheritance in land was clear and secure. This will be
stated again later by way of a summary.
Deuteronomy 27:17 Cursed be
he that removeth his neighbour’s landmark. And all the people shall say, Amen.
Next, apparently God would not have accepted our concept of one
criminal “turning state’s evidence” against a comrade in crime. One witness was
not enough to accuse a person of wrongdoing.
Deuteronomy 17:6 At the
mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be
put to death; but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death.
Numbers 35:30 Whoso killeth
any person, the murderer shall be put to death by the mouth of witnesses: but
one witness shall not testify against any person to cause him to die.
What follows is a rule I wish were applied to prosecutors today
who withhold evidence or get someone convicted they know is innocent or have no
proof is guilty. If you are a false witness than what you thought to have done
to the person you lied about should be done to you. That would straighten out
some of our current criminal “injustice” system for sure.
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