Chapter III: Divisions of the Forensic Laws, § 38.
CHAPTER III: DIVISIONS OF THE FORENSIC LAWS
§ 38. Chemnitz proposes the following division of the forensic laws.5 (1) Some laws order the household society, such as laws about servants, spouses, parents, and children.
(2) Some laws order the political society among citizens, such as laws concerning magistrates, the order of judges, transactions, the difference of jurisdictions, the distribution of inheritances, punishments. These were capital punishment, punishments of loss [of property], retaliation in kind, punishments of shame (such as “the house of him who had his sandal pulled off ” [Deut. 25:10]), the punishments of scourging, servitude, and exile (and yet they would not be sent out of the Promised Land, lest they fall into idolatry).
(3) Some laws speak about foreign matters, such as the laws of military service, immigrants, etc.
This division is quite clear and obvious; nevertheless because the primary purpose of the forensic laws was the preservation of external discipline according to every commandment of the Decalogue and the establishing of the Jewish political state, it seems most suitable to follow the order of the commandments of the Decalogue in enumerating the forensic laws. There are some who reduce the forensic laws to three main headings altogether: persons, property, and actions, because every law is said to fit into those. (See [Corpus Iuris Civilis,] § Omne autem 14, Instit., De iure nat.)