MOSAIC LAW, the code of laws delivered to the Israelites by Moses. This is the most remarkable system of jurisprudence ever given to the world, as well as the most ancient of which we have any distinct record. It was delivered, not to a settled nation, but to a people on their way to a settlement at that time inhabited by numerous and powerful clans, from whom, and from all other nations whatsoever, it was one of the main objects of the law to separate and distinguish them; and when they had reached the promised land, it was, with scarcely any alteration, found equally adapted to the people after they had subjugated the hostile bands by which they were surrounded, and were living in victorious peace amidst the trade and bustle, the pomp and magnificence, of a great monarchy. Nor is this all. Its decalogue, or ten commandments, has been adopted by the most enlightened nations as the moral law of human nature. These precepts, too, were not promulgated at different times according as circumstances seemed to dictate, like the Koran of a later age, but were given at once, along with the other principles of the system; which exhibits a unity of character and a singleness of purpose peculiar to itself. It must be added, that throughout the whole code there evidently appears an end and object, which, like the vital fluid meandering in our veins, imparts to the system all its freshness, life, and vigour, and which being withdrawn or accomplished, the body is left in the weakness and stillness of death.

The Mosaic or Jewish law is generally said to be comprehended in these three particulars; namely, the decalogue, or ten commandments, the judicial law, and the ordinances of divine service, or the ceremonial law. But it was certainly not so considered by the Jews themselves, nor by their lawgiver. The basis upon which the whole law rested was historical. It was this: That God had chosen the progenitor of the nation from amongst his idolatrous kinsmen, to impart to him and his posterity a knowledge of the true God, and establish them in the land to which the nation was now advancing, to be there governed by this law. The very first words of the decalogue are, “I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; thou shalt have no other Gods before me.” And, with the eye of faith, the believing Jew could look forward to the distant future, and anticipate the time when there should “come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch grow out of his roots,”—
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when a new seed should arise to serve Jehovah, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life; and in the still remoter future see a heavenly Canaan, wherein “the ransomed of the Lord” should be found gathered out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation, and God should be all in all.

The Hebrew community, as it existed in the time of Moses, was placed under a theocracy, in the strictest sense of that term. The fundamental principle of their law was the recognition and obeying of God as the only true God, and in particular as their sovereign; the law issued from his mouth; and the whole Jewish judges, magistrates, and officers, were merely his deputies, to announce to the people, or execute upon them, the divine promises and threatenings, with a certainty like that of the laws of nature, of which, indeed, the laws of the Hebrew commonwealth might reasonably enough be regarded as but a part.

The principal copy of the law was committed to the custody of the priests and elders,^[1. Deut. xxxi. 9. ] that is to say, the joint care of the civil and ecclesiastical powers; it was appointed to be publicly read and expounded to the people at stated solemnities, “when all Israel was assembled together ;”^[2. Ibid. xxxi. 10-14. ] parents were commanded to teach and impress it upon their families and households;^[3. Ibid. vi. 6-9; xi. 18-22. ] and it came to be customary also to read and expound it every Sabbath-day in the synagogues.^[4. Acts, XV. 21. ]

The great principles of the Mosaic code are piety and mercy, love to God,^[5. Deut. vi. 5. ] and love to man;^[6. Levit, xix. 18. ] and all the precepts of the law are either deductions from these two first principles, or ordinances explanatory of how their end was to be attained. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.^[7. Matth, xxii. 40. ]

Let us now consider the several parts of the law. And, first,

The Decalogue, or Ten Commandments —By these^[8. Exod. XX. 1-18. ] it was enjoined on the people, 1. That there is no other God but the Lord God, that brought them out of the land of Egypt: 2. That no image or likeness of any creature whatever is to be made, as the divine likeness, or for divine worship; implying the entire separation of the Deity from all created beings, and his exclusive right to their worship and adoration: 3. That the name of God is not to be taken in vain, that is to say, either lightly, or to a falsehood; implying the divine omniscience and power: 4. That the seventh day is to be observed as a day of rest for all persons and for all cattle within the Jewish territory, to restore them after their previous toils, and, at the same time, to keepalive in the world a sense of the creation of all things, and their great Creator: 5. That parents are to be honoured: 6. That the life of man is not to be attacked: 7. That the relation of husband and wife is not to be disturbed: 8. That the property of others is not to be violated: 9. That false testimony is not to be borne: and, 10. That covetousness, and all risings of envy, are to be avoided and repressed.

The Judicial or Civil Law was next delivered to the nation; and here the first object which attracted the notice of the great lawgiver was the Hebrew slave, upon whom was immediately conferred the boon of an everlasting Sabbath. “If thou buy a Hebrew servant, six years shall he serve, and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.”^[9. Ibid. xxi. 2. ] The practice of slavery existed before the law, and persons might become slaves, first, by captivity or subjugation in war;^[10. Deut. XX. 10, et seq. ] secondly, by purchase,^[11. π Exod. xxi. 2-7; Deut. xv. 12. ] the chief occasions of which were debt^[12. Levit. XXV. 39; 2d Kings iv. 1; Matth, xviii, 25. ] and theft;^[13. Exod. xxii. 3. ] and, thirdly, by accession of issue to the owner of a slave mother.^[14. Ibid. xxi. 4. ] But, under the Mosaic law, slavery was divested, we may say, of all its horrors; for the slave was entitled to be treated at once as a sentient, a rational, and an immortal creature. He enjoyed the common benefit of the Sabbath^[15. Ibid. XX. 10; Deut. v. 14. ] and other great national festivals;^[16. Deut. xii. 17, 18; xvi. 11. ] if a Hebrew, he was to be treated like a hired servant, that is to say, without rigour;^[17. Levit. XXV. 39, et seq. ] personal maltreatment operated his release;^[18. Exod. xxi. 26, 27. ] and, in all cases, a master was indictable for killing his slave, if the latter died under his hand.^[19. Ibid. xxi. 20, 21. ] The escape of a slave even operated his release, those to whom he ran being forbidden to deliver him up again.^[20. Deut, xxiii. 15, 16. ] We have seen also, in the case of a purchased Hebrew slave, that the service properly continued six years, and no more; in the seventh year he behoved to be liberally furnished “from the flock, the floor, and the wine-press,” and set free, alone if he came alone, with his wife if he came married. But if his wife was given him by his master, she and her children remained the master’s.^[21. Exod. xxi. 2-5; Deut. xv. 12, et seq. ] A purchased Hebrew female does not appear to have had the benefit of the seventh year; but there was a peculiarity in the case of her being betrothed to her master, for then he could not sell her to a foreign nation;^[22. Exod. xxi. 7, 8. ] and where a female slave was betrothed to the master’s son, she became, as it were, a daughter in the house, and if the engagement was not completed by marriage, she was entitled to her freedom.^[23. Ibid. xxi. 9. ] There was but one case of perpetual bondage. It was when a slave, having married a female given him by his master, or having become attached to his master’s home, preferred remaining in his house rather than accepting the freedom of the year of release. In that case the man was taken before a magistrate, and had his ear bored in token of perpetual service.^[24. Ibid. xxi. 5, 6. ] But this was plainly a sacrifice to the best feelings of our nature; and it furnished the royal psaloust, and him of whom David was a type, with an affecting emblem of devotion to the divine will.^[25. Psalm xl. 6; Hebr. x. 5. ]

The learned Selden remarks three modes of contracting marriage amongst the Jews, viz. argento seu nummulo dato, pactionis libello, and coitu. ^[26. Selden, Ux. Hebr. lib. ii. c. i. ] w Under this last mode is to be ranked seduction of an unbetrothed female, which operated as a marriage,^[27. Exod. xxii. 16, 17. ] without liberty of divorce.^[28. Deut. xxii. 28, 29. ] There were two other compulsory marriages. The one was where, a man having died leaving a widow without issue, his brother was obliged to take the place of the deceased;^[29. Ibid. XXV. 5, et seq. ] and the other was where daughters, who were co∙heiresses, were obliged to marry within their tribe, that the inheritance might not be severed from it. The reason of the other regulation, which indeed existed before the law,^[30. Gen. xxxviii. 8. ] was to maintain the line of the deceased; and both sorts were wisely adapted for a people out of whom the Messiah was to arise. The power of a husband was great; he could disallow or annul his wife’s vows; he could bring her at any time before the priest for trial by the waters of jealousy;^[31. Numb. V. 11, et seq. ] and he appears to have had an arbitrary [7:15:566]power of divorce,^[32. Deut, xxiv. 1. ] this last being,^[33. That is to say, if we take the passage in the sense contended for by some of the rabbis, and which seems to have been the commonly received interpretation; but others of the rabbis held it allowed divorce not for any cause but for unchastity only. ] we have the highest authority for saying, a concession to the habits and circumstances of the people.

The same power of disallowing vows was possessed by parents,^[34. Numb. XXX. 2, et seq. ] whose authority in general was, like that of a husband, very great indeed. A father might sell his daughter as a slave;^[35. Exod. xxi. 7∙ ] and we find, that as Abraham before the law was about to offer up his son in sacrifice, so Jephtha under the law actually offered up his daughter. A father seems also to have had power to dispose of his daughters in marriage;^[36. Ibid. xxii. 17; Deut. xxii. 16. ] and all injuries done to a daughter living in her father’s house were repaired to the father. Reverence to parents was indeed a peculiar characteristic of the Mosaic law. They were the sovereigns of their family, its priest, and its prophet, which last office they particularly filled when they stored the minds of their household with the knowledge of their national history and law, which, whilst it taught them their filial duty, taught them also their relation to the Great Parent of all. A first-born son had some peculiar privileges over the other children of the family; as dedication to God,^[37. Ibid. xxii. 29. ] and a double portion of his father’s goods as inheritance.^[38. Deut. xxi. 17. ]

The principle of the law of inheritance was early stated; but its several steps were not brought out till forty years after the promulgation of the law, in the case of the daughters of Zelophehad. The course of descent was this. The estate passed first to the children of the deceased, preferring sons to daughters, and allowing the first-born son a double portion of his father’s goods. On failure of children, the estate fell to the brothers of the deceased, next to his father’s brothers, and, lastly, to the nearest kinsman of the family.

In the case of deposit, if the thing deposited, money or goods, was stolen, and the thief was not discovered, all that was required of the depositary was, to swear that he had not acted wrongfully in the matter; except in the case of cattle, when he was bound to make restitution, or show that the animal had been torn in pieces by wild beasts.^[39. Exod. xxii. 8. ]

A hired thing, hurt or dying in the hand of the hirer, needed not be made good; the hire stood for it.^[40. Ibid. xxii. 15. ]

In the case of loan, if the thing borrowed was hurt or died, the owner being present, the borrower was not bound to make it good; but otherwise, if the owner was absent.^[41. Ibid. xxii. 14, 15. ] The case of a money loan was peculiar; interest might be taken from foreigners, but not between Jews.^[42. Ibid. xxii. 25. ] The general policy of the Hebrew code was to preserve moderation of means in individuals, and a general equality throughout the nation; and this seems to have been the particular policy of the Hebrew law of interest. For by the regulation disallowing interest, coupled with the regulation, to be immediately noticed, that debts were released at the Sabbatical year, the loan of money was made difficult of attainment, and so the spirit of speculation, no less than the contracting of debt, was prevented.

The same principle, no doubt, pervaded the law of pledge, so that pledges were in fact only nominal. Raiment might be taken in pledge, but, like all pledges from the poor,^[43. ’- Deut, xxiv. 12, 13. ] it required to be returned before night.^[44. Exod. xxii. 26. ] The goods of a widow could not be taken in pledge at all;^[45. Deut, xxiv. 12, i7. ] nor the upper or nether millstone,^[46. Ibid, xxiv. 6. ] by which we are probably to understand any implement whatever of trade or handicraft. In such a state of society we cannot wonder at the absence of all provision in regard to suretyship.

Various provisions were made in the law for the regaining of rights which had been conveyed away. All lands and houses were sold with a power of redemption; every fiftieth year was a year of jubilee for the restoration of lands other than common burghal tenements,^[47. Levit. XXV. 30, 32, 33. ] and the discharge of all incumbrances;^[48. Ibid. XXV. 10, 13, et seq. ] and every seventh year was a year of release from all debts and personal services.^[49. Exod. xxi. 2, et seq.; Deut. xv. 1, 2, 12. ] It was also a Sabbatical year, or year of rest to the land, wherein the land was neither sown nor reaped, but its natural produce was common to all. The reason of these agrarian laws we have in Leviticus, xxv. 23: “The land shall not be sold for ever, for it is mine, saith the Lord; and ye are strangers and sojourners with me.”

The benevolent sentiments were anxiously and impressively inculcated.^[50. Ibid, xxiii. 4, et seq.; Deut. xxii. l,et seq. ] Mercy, indeed, was, as we have seen, one of the first principles of the law; and in the appointment of the Sabbath the Jew was continually reminded of the divine compassion towards even the beasts of the field, who had thus secured to them a weekly intermission from their labours. Mercy was to be shown to every Jew, as to “a brother,” and whether he were a friend or a foe; and all oppression was forbidden towards strangers, for, says the divine lawgiver, “ye were strangers in the land of Egypt, and know the heart of a stranger ;”^[51. Ibid. xxii. 21. ] and towards the widow and fatherless, for “if thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.”^[52. Ibid. xxii. 22. ]

The Mosaic punishments were not very various. Recompense was sometimes enjoined, by restitution, by compensation, and by fines. The principle of retaliation was frequent, “eye for eye, tooth for tooth, and beast for beast;” but the most common award was death, “to cut off the offender from among the people,” and preserve the community from the moral contagion of his example. Striking, cursing, or continuing obstinately disobedient to a parent, was punished in this way;^[53. Ibid. xxi. 15, 17; Deut. xxi. 18. ] as were also man-stealing, with intent to sell or reduce to slavery,^[54. Ibid. xxi. 16. ] murder,^[55. Ibid. xxi. 12. ] blasphemy,^[56. Levit∙ xxiv. 10, et seq. ] idolatry and false worship,^[57. Exod. xxii. 20; Deut-xvii. 2. ] sabbath breaking,^[58. Exod. XXXV. 2; and see Numb. xv. 36. ] witchcraft and sorcery,^[59. Ibid. xxii. 18; Levit, xx. 27∙ ] sodomy and bestiality,^[60. Ibid. xxii. 19; Levit, xx. 13, et seq. ] incest,^[61. Levit, xviii. 29, xx. 14. ] adultery,^[62. Ibid. xxi. 10; Deut. xxii. 22. ] fornication,^[63. Deut xxii. 20, 21. ] and lewdness,^[64. Levit. XX. 17. ] all of which crimes were punished with death. Nor was there any provision in the law for the pardon of offenders, or any power lodged any where for that purpose. The law was imperative and inexorable, excepting only in the case of casual homicide, for which six cities of refuge were provided throughout the land, that the manslayer might flee thither and be safe.^[65. Exod. xxi. 13, 14; Numb, xxxv. 6, et seq.; Deut-xix. 1, et seq∙ ]

The last branch of the code is the Ceremonial Law, or ordinances of divine service. The situation of the Jews in relation to the Deity was singular. They were, in apre-eminent[7:15:567] sense, “a peculiar people, above all the nations of the earth ;’^[66. See 2 Chron. vi. 32; Psal. Ixxix. 12; Isa. xxxv. 8; Amos, vii. 17; Zech. ii. 12. ] n and as the nation and the land of Israel were denominated holy, so other nations were called polluted and unclean, ^[67. Exod. xxii. 31. ] “aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise.” But though this was the case nationally considered, there were certain things which defiled a Jew, and rendered him unclean. The first notice which we have of this is in the judicial law, where it is said, “ye shall be a holy people unto me; neither shall ye eat any flesh torn of beasts in the field; ye shall cast it to the dogs.”^[68. Deut. xiv. ] But the several occasions of defilement are stated at large in that branch of the code which we are now considering;^[69. Levit, xi.-xv. ] where we find that leprosy in the person, in garments, or in-a house, rendered these respectively unclean, and that, amongst other things, certain animals, beasts, fishes, fowls, and reptiles, were unclean. The defilement contracted was sometimes but temporary, and ceased with the morning’s ablution; at other times it could be removed only in the way prescribed by the law.

There were also certain persons, places, and times, which were accounted peculiarly holy. The holy place par excellence was the tabernacle, the outer court of which occupied a space of one hundred cubits in length by fifty in breadth, or about one hundred and eighty feet by ninety. The only entrance to this court was from the east by a hanging rail of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine-twined linen. Here, under the open sky, stood a laver of brass for the priests to wash in, and the altar of burnt-offering. Into this court every clean Hebrew or proselyte of the covenant might enter with his offerings. At the west end of this court stood a close tent about fifty-four feet in length by eighteen in breadth, which was properly called the tabernacle, and divided into two apartments. The first, which St Paul calls the first tabernacle, was about thirty-six feet in length, and contained the shew-bread, the candlestick of pure gold, &c.; and into this, which was denominated the holy place, only the priests durst enter or look. Beyond this apartment was another about eighteen feet square, called the second tabernacle, most holy place, or Holy of Holies, which was separated from the first tabernacle by a veil of embroidered linen hung upon pillars of wood overlaid with gold. Here stood the ark of the covenant. It was made of wood overlaid with gold, and contained the book of the testimony. Upon the ark, and of like dimensions with it, was the mercy-seat, of pure gold, with a cherub of beaten gold on either side, stretching its wings over the mercyseat, the face of the cherubim being towards each other. It was from above the mercy-seat, and between the cherubim, that God met and communed with Moses and the high priest; none else was permitted to enter the sacred precincts, and even the high priest could only do so once a year, and this not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the errors of the people.

The priesthood was in the family of Aaron. The priests served at the altar, prepared the victims, and offered the sacrifices; they kept up the fire upon the altar of burnt-offerings, and in the lamps of the golden candlesticks; they kneaded, baked, and offered the shew-bread; they publicly blessed the people, and were consulted by them as the interpreters of the law, and judges of controversies; and, in time of war, they carried the ark and sounded the trumpets. Their garments, which were specially prescribed in the law, were a tiara, a girdle, a linen tunic, and linen drawers. The high priest had a plate or crown of gold an his tiara, with the inscription, “Holiness to the Lord.” He had also the square breastplate of judgment, with its twelve stones containing the names of the twelve tribes, and the Urim and Thummim fixed in the breastplate; the ephod having on the shoulders two onyx stones, whereon were also engraved the names of the children of Israel; the blue robe of the ephod with golden bells hung to the skirt to sound when the high priest walked in and out from the holy place; and, lastly, the high priest’s coat.

The Levites, who were consecrated to God, instead of the first-born of the nation, were assigned to the priests, to wait upon them, to serve the tabernacle, to carry it, to encamp round it, and to minister in relation to it. They were divided into three classes, from the three sons of Levi, Gershon, Kohatk, and Merari, each of which had its own particular charge. The charge of one class was the tabernacle, and its coverings and hangings; that of another was the boards of the tabernacle, its bars, pillars, and sockets; and that of the third was to bear “the most holy things,” that is to say, the sanctuary or most holy place, and all the vessels and articles appertaining to it. But these were not to be touched by them; they were to be taken down and put up by the priests, and simply carried under cover by the bearers, and this upon their shoulders; whereas the other two classes of the Levites had, the one two waggons and four oxen, and the other four waggons and eight oxen, for their service.

And as the Levites were appointed to assist the priests, so Moses was allowed seventy elders of Israel “to bear the burden of the people with him.”

The holy Festivals were the weekly Sabbath and the three great annual feasts, namely, 1. the Passover and feast of Unleavened Bread; 2. the feast of Wecks, or of the first fruits of the ground; and, 3. the feast of Tabernacles, or the gathering in of the corn and wine. The Passover was observed on the fourteenth day of the first month of the Jewish year, which began in March; and the feast of Unleavened Bread lasted the seven following days. The feast of Wecks was a moveable feast. The feast of Tabernacles was in the seventh month, or in our September. On the first day of the month, which was observed as a Sabbath, the trumpets were sounded, whence that day was called the feast of Trumpets. The tenth day, which was likewise Sabbatical, was the great day of Atonement, when every one was required to afflict his soul; and on the fifteenth day the feast of Tabernacles began, and lasted seven days. It was on the great day of Atonement also that the Jubilee was proclaimed every fiftieth year, and then every one returned to his family and possessions, and the land lay fallow for a year. All these feasts and times were specially ordered in the law; and the matter and manner of the sacrifices and offerings then to be made were therein also specially prescribed. There were other sacred seasons, such as the times of new moons; and every day the Temple was open for worship, and sacrifices and offerings were made every morning and evening.

Besides the stated sacrifices and offerings, free-will offerings were allowed; and to meet particular vows, persons were valued in the law according to their sex and age; but it was specially provided that no devoted thing should be redeemed,—“every devoted thing is most holy unto the Lord.”

A few words may now be added on the history of this remarkable code. It was promulgated before the Israelites began their journey to Canaan; and they had not proceeded far on their way thither when the authority of Moses was signally vindicated, particularly on two occasions; first, when Miriam the sister of Moses was struck with leprosy for envying and speaking against Moses; and next, when Korah, grandson of Kohath, whose function was to carry “the most holy things,” ambitious of a higher charge, [7:15:568]headed a great company, who would have put down all subordination and rank, on the pretence that “all the congregation were holy, every one of them.”^[70. Numb. xvi. 3. ] But Moses, after remonstrating with them on their rebellion, invoked on them the divine vengeance, in consequence of which they all perished. In the time of Joshua, the successor of Moses in the captaincy of Israel, the people were settled in the promised land. From Joshua’s death they had no regular succession of leaders down to the time of Samuel, when they sought a king, and obtained one, first in the person of Saul, and then of David; in whose reign, that is to say, nearly five hundred years after the departure out of Egypt, a permanent Temple was erected at Jerusalem, instead of the former Tabernacle. In their internal arrangements the Temple and Tabernacle were alike, the house of God at Moriah consisting, like the Mosaic Tabernacle, of a porch or court, the temple or sanctuary, and the most holy place, or place of the oracle; but the change of the Tabernacle, which was ambulatory, to a fixed and permanent temple, occasioned the alteration on the Mosaic code to which we alluded in the beginning of this article. There was now no need for the Levites in their capacity of bearers of the tabernacle. King David, therefore, distributed the priests and the Levites into new classes, and appointed treasurers, singers, porters, and other officers. His son Solomon, also, ordered for the temple an immense molten sea, and caldrons for water for the sacrifices; and for himself a throne of ivory overlaid with gold. This was the First Temple; for, at the captivity of the last remaining tribes, it was finally destroyed; and, upon the return of the Jews under Cyrus and Darius, a new temple on the same site was erected, of which it was predicted that its glory should exceed the glory of the former. This was accomplished in the appearance there of the Messiah, the king and priest of a spiritual Israel, who has abolished the distinction between Jew and Gentile, and, having offered up himself as a sacrifice for sin, is gone into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for his people, till they also be introduced into the same presence as “kings and priests.” (u. u. u.)

Mosaic, or Mosaic Work, an assemblage of little pieces of glass, marble, precious stones, and other substances, of various colours, cut square, and cemented on a ground of stucco, in such a manner as to imitate the colours and gradations of painting. The critics are divided as to the origin and reason of the name. Some derive it from mosaicum, a corruption of musaicum, as that is of musicum. Scaliger derives it from the Greek μουσα, and imagines that the name was given to this sort of works, as being very fine and ingenious. Nibricensis is of opinion that it was so called because ex illis picturis ornabatur musea.