23:2 “You must not follow a crowd 1 in doing evil things; 2 in a lawsuit you must not offer testimony that agrees with a crowd so as to pervert justice, 3 23:3 and you must not show partiality 4 to a poor man in his lawsuit.
23:4 “If you encounter 5 your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering off, you must by all means return 6 it to him. 23:5 If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen under its load, you must not ignore him, 7 but be sure to help 8 him with it. 9
23:6 “You must not turn away justice for your poor people in their lawsuits.
1 tn The word רָבִּים (rabbim), here rendered “crowd,” is also used infrequently to refer to the “mighty,” people of importance in society (Job 35:9; cf. Lev 19:15).
2 tn For any individual to join a group that is bent on acting wickedly would be a violation of the Law and would incur personal responsibility.
3 tn Heb “you will not answer in a lawsuit to turn after the crowd to turn.” The form translated “agrees with” (Heb “to turn after”) is a Qal infinitive construct from נָטָה (natah); the same root is used at the end of the verse but as a Hiphil infinitive construct, “to pervert [justice].”
4 tn The point here is one of false sympathy and honor, the bad sense of the word הָדַר (hadar; see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 237).
5 tn Heb “meet” (so KJV, ASV, NASB).
6 tn The construction uses the imperfect tense (taken here as an obligatory imperfect) and the infinitive absolute for emphasis.
7 tn The line reads “you will cease to forsake him” – refrain from leaving your enemy without help.
8 tn The law is emphatic here as well, using the infinitive absolute and the imperfect of instruction (or possibly obligation). There is also a wordplay here: two words עָזַב (’azav) are used, one meaning “forsake” and the other possibly meaning “arrange” based on Arabic and Ugaritic evidence (see U. Cassuto, Exodus, 297-98).
9 sn See H. B. Huffmon, “Exodus 23:4-5: A Comparative Study,” A Light Unto My Path, 271-78.