Chap. 31. An ExF-;ition upon the lleoke of Jo a. `'eri. I I. 405 to that heinous crime ofbearing falle witneffe( Dour. 19. i8,19.) AP" xa6ó;n,s If the witnes be a falfe witnes, and loath teffifted falfely ageing hie teJ arrnr brother, Then !ball ye doe unto him as he thought to have done unto fins. hie brother ; That is, as he mifchievoufly plotted to doe againit his brother. The Rabbins put this title upon a falfe witneffe, be- caufe he is full ofthoughts how to carry a bufineffe wrongfully againft his brother. Thus the Prophet Ezekiel feenaes to apply it Ezek. 22 9.) where making a Catalogueof 7errsfalems fins, he put this inamong the greateft ofthem ; In tbee are men that carry tales (thae is, falle tales, and to beare falle witnes) toflied blood, and in thee they eate upon the mountaines, in the midfl of thee they commit lerodnes. 'Tis thisword, Zimmah, which the Septua- gint render, Vnholy things; As if the Lord had fayd , Thou that art a holy people-to sne by profefàìon, and fhouldeft be holy in thy converfatián,thou doeft lewd filthy andunholy things. They careupon the mountaincs,there's lewdnesspinft the firft Table; They beare falfe witnes,there's lewdnes againft the fecond Table. So then the force of this word in all formes implyeth a fludied and contrived evil], and that is whatfoever it is,, An heinous crime.. Hence note, Firft. There are degrees of fin. Allare not ofthe fame fire, weight, or meafure. Men differ not more in nature, then their iniquitiesdoe ; every fault is not a crime, and every crime is not an heinous crime. There is much finfulneffe in every fin, yet there is not a like finfulneffe. When the people of/featcommittedIdolatry, Mofes returned unto the Lord andfayd,Ob this people have finned a greatlimn and have made themGods ofgold ( Elrod. 3 z. 3 I. ) There is no fin little in it felfe,yet fosne finscompared with others are eminently Great, andeven little fins will be charged upon them asGreat ones,who. encourage themfelves, or take liberty to doe them, becaufe they thinke them little. Secondly , From the reafon why this word is elcprefled an heinous crime, Obferve. ?bore are heinousfins whichare committedadvifedy, or with deliberation.. When
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