My wife, Patti, and I like to exercise our minds at lunchtime by doing a brainteaser workout. We usually use the Daily Crossword Puzzle at merriam-webster.com. The site also lists a Word of the Day to challenge our word power. Last week one of the words was “mulct,” something I had never heard of nor come across before. Looks like a good word to remember if you ever play Scrabble.
Mulct derives from the Latin word mulcta, which means to impose a fine for an infraction. So mulct can be used in a legal sense, “the court mulcted the defendant for punitive damages.” Mulct has also acquired a more personal usage and has come to mean to defraud someone.
That got me wondering if the Bible used a word like mulct anywhere. What I discovered is that Jesus said to a man one day, “You know the commandments: Do not murder; Do not commit adultery; Do not steal; Do not bear false witness; Do not defraud (mulct).” (Mark 10:19) I think I remember the common wording of the Ten Commandments, and I don’t recall anything about defrauding as one of the major items. So I checked Exodus chapter 20, and yes, nothing about mulcting.
I did a check throughout the Bible and did discover a few verses that imply mulcting. Leviticus 19:35 records: “You shall do no wrong in judgment, in measure of length or weight or quantity.” In other words, be honest in your dealings with others. Do not defraud! “Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you,” writes James in chapter five. If you make a deal with someone, do not mulct! But no specific commandment, “Do not mulct.” So why did Jesus mix it in with the Big Ten? Maybe just to get us to look a little deeper into the point of the commandments and the seriousness of defrauding.
It is important to remember that the Bible is not meant to be a set of rules to follow. Nor are the sacred writings only a guide for moral living. For many Christians, the Bible is a revealing from the Divine to begin to grasp the concepts of life on this planet. The commandments, or laws of God, expose the problematic issues people have in this world. In other words, something is not right, and here’s part of the problem. The Bible principally reveals a solution to the difficulties of life especially in our ability to get along with one another. The key is found in God’s actions through Jesus the Christ.
The point of the commandments and laws of God in the Bible is that not one of us is perfect. We all have our own sins and issues, be it in one or many areas. Remembering that fact can enable us to get along a little better with others. Recalling that truth can help us chart out a healthier path for the future with one another.
Do not mulct! Defrauding is breaking many of the Big Ten all at once. There are issues of stealing, coveting, dishonouring authority, to name a few. To defraud is to take advantage of and harm our neighbour. To mulct is certainly not to love your neighbour as yourself. Jesus had a valid point, to consider mulcting, as an addendum to the Big Ten, when reflecting on the actions of our lives and how we get along with other.
Admitting to our own imperfections, the mulcting in each of our own lives, is a start to better living with one another, something we need in this day and age. Let us strive to be honest with others. Let us keep our deals and our words with one another. Consider Jesus’ additional comment to the Big Ten; Do not mulct. And remember the word next time you play Scrabble.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
