This
alone, at least, of all the books of the Pentateuch, gives so
imperious an expression to the restriction of the sacrificial
worship to the one chosen place; here only does the demand make
itself so felt in its aggressive novelty and dominate the whole
tendency of the law-maker. The old material which he makes use
of is invariably shaped with a view to this, and on all hands he
follows the rule out to its logical consequences. To make its
fulfilment possible, he changes former arrangements, permitting
what had been forbidden, and prohibiting what had been allowed;
in almost every case this motive lies at the foundation of all his
other innovations. This is seen, for example, when he permits
slaying without sacrificing, and that too anywhere; when, in order
not to abolish the right of asylum (Exodus xxi.13, 14; 1Kings ii.
28) along with the altars, he appoints special cities of refuge for
the innocent who are pursued by the avenger of blood; when he
provides for the priests of the suppressed sanctuaries,
recommending the provincials to take them along with them on their
sacrificial pilgrimages, and giving them the right to officiate in
the temple at Jerusalem just like the hereditarily permanent
clergy there.
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