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mother - Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri - hisfather having been an Egyptian, he
would not have been entitled to pitch his tent among the tribe ofDaniel.
Hebrew tradition further states, that this had been the cause of the quarrel, when the
blasphemer"went out among the children of Israel; and this son of the Israelitish
woman and a man of Israelstrove together in the camp." Finally, it adds, that the claim
to dwell among the Danites having beendecided by Moses against him, the man
"blasphemed the Name (of Jehovah), and cursed."Whatever truth, if any, there be in
this tradition, the crime itself was most serious. If even cursingone's parents was
visited with death, what punishment could be too severe upon one who had"reviled"
Jehovah, and "cursed!" But just because the case was so solemn, Moses did not
rashlyadjudicate in it (comp. the corresponding delay in Numbers 15:34)
"They put him inward to determine about them (i.e. about blasphemers), according to
the mouth (orcommand) of Jehovah." Then by Divine direction the blasphemer was
taken without the camp;those who had heard his blasphemy laid "their hands upon his
head," as it were to put away theblasphemy from themselves, and lay it on the head of
the guilty (comp. Deuteronomy 21:6); and thewhole congregation shared in the
judgment by stoning him.
But the general law which decreed the punishment of death upon blasphemy
(Leviticus 24:16) wasto apply to native Israelites as well as to the stranger, as indeed
all crimes that carried retributivepunishment -specially those against the life or the
person - were to be equally visited, whether theoffender were a Jew or a foreigner.
This is the object of the repetition of these laws in thatconnection. (Leviticus 24:17-
22) For Jehovah was not a national deity, like the gods of the heathen;nor were Israel's
privileges those of exceptional favor in case of offenses; but Jehovah was the
HolyOne of Israel, and holiness became His house for ever.
(^)