Seder 157: Psalm 64---Confidence in God's Measure-for-Measure Justice

 The psalmist in Psalm 64, presumably David, prays for God's protection from dangerous enemies (vv 1-2).  He then goes on to describe the enemies, who hatch plots against the blameless and wait to ambush them (vv 3-4).  They imagine that their plans are foolproof and there is no one to hold them accountable (vv 5-6).  

God, however, has other ideas.  He causes their plot to backfire, so that they suffer the fate that they had planned for their victims (vv 7-8).  As a result, fear of God increases and the righteous rejoice at God's great works (vv 9-10).  

In the midrash on Psalm 64, the sages suggest that God had revealed in advance to David what would happen to the prophet Daniel in the future.  Like the wicked described in Psalm 64, the officials of King Darius ambush Daniel with an ingenious plot, so that Daniel is thrown into a den of lions.  The lions, however, do not touch Daniel; instread, they devour the evil officials and their families (Daniel 6).  Daniel 6 does indeed provide a nice example of the scenario laid out in the Psalm.  

Seder 149: Deuteronomy 19---Cities of Refuge, Deterring False Witnesses

Much of Deuteronomy 19-21 is related to the commandment, "Thou shalt not murder."  In Deuteronomy 19:1-13, Moses returns to the subject of manslaughter cases and the establishment of cities of refuge , to which someone who had inadvertently taken a life could flee, pending a trial.  The goal here is to limit the shedding of innocent blood and the resulting defilement of the land.    

Initially there would be six cities of refuge, three on each side of the Jordan River.  One new detail Moses mentions here is the fact that additional cities would be added in the event that Israel prospered in the land and had the opportunity to expand its territory (vv 8-10).  

Deuteronomy 19:15-21 repeats the requirement of multiple witnesses in a criminal case, and adds that when a false witness is exposed, that false witness should be given the punishment that he wanted the defendant to receive.  

There are biblical examples of the measure-for-measure punishment of those responsible for false witness.  When Ahab and Jezebel orchestrate the death of Naboth (1 Ki 21), they both were punished for it (1 Ki 22:34-38; 2 Ki 9:30-37).  Daniel's accusers in Daniel 6 and the evil Haman (Esther 7:9-10) are two further examples.