14
Soldiers also asked him, saying, “What about us? What must we do?” He said to them, “Extort from no one by violence, neither accuse anyone wrongfully. Be content with your wages.”
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ExplanationCommentary
Verse 14. The Baptist knew that such as engage in war, are not murderers, but ministers of the law; not avengers of injuries, but defenders of the public weal. Had he thought otherwise, he would have said: “cast away your arms, abandon the service, never strike, maim, or destroy any one:” these are not the things which are blameable in the military, but their cruelty, their revenge, their implacable dispositions, and lust of power. Saint Augustine, l. 22. cont. Faust.
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