(4.) By another peculiar provision of the Mosaic statutes, the witnesses in certain cases must be first to execute the penalty (Deut. 17: 7, and 13: 9, and Acts 7: 58, and John 8: 7). This provision was doubtless morally wholesome. IX. _Punishments._ A few points not already brought to view deserve a brief notice. 1. _Fines._――Some were fixed by statute. The highest known to the law (one hundred shekels of silver) was laid on the man who falsely accused his wife of previous unchastity (Deut. 22: 19). Another case among violations of the seventh commandment appears (Deut. 22: 28, 29).――――In the case of an ox goring some one fatally, the penalty of death upon his owner might be commuted to a fine at the discretion of the judges (Ex. 21: 28–31)――a wise provision because the real culpability of his owner must vary with circumstances. In another case (Ex. 21: 22), the suffering party and the judge fixed the amount of the fine. 2. The sin and the trespass offerings sustained a slight relation to fines, since the party bore the cost of the animal sacrificed――a young bullock, a kid of goats, etc. These laws may be seen in Lev. 4 and 5 and in Num. 15: 27–29. They pertain to sins of ignorance and of remissness; never to presumptuous sins. In addition to the cost of the sacrifice the penalty included a public confession of the offense, and was well adapted to make a good moral impression. The special cases which come under this general head of sin and trespass offerings were――――(1.) Unintentional transgressions of the Levitical law.――――(2.) The rash oath, ill-considered and not conscientiously kept (Lev. 5: 4).――――(3.) Perjury in a witness;――not however the case of false swearing to condemn the innocent, which was punished by retaliation; but the offense of _not_ testifying what he knew when put under oath (Lev. 5: 1).――――(4.) Debts due to the sanctuary――a failure to pay tithes; the penalty being, one-fifth added to the original amount and all paid, coupled with the trespass offering (Lev. 5: 14–16).――――(5.) Denying any thing given in trust, or retaining another man’s lost property which he may have found, and similar offenses, coupled with false swearing (Lev. 6: 1–7); the penalty being, to restore with one-fifth added and to make his trespass offering.――――(6.) Adultery with a slave. The penalty――a sin-offering and the punishment of death commuted to stripes. * * * * *