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. 23:7 Keep your distance 10 from a false charge 11 – do not kill the innocent and the righteous, 12 for I will not justify the wicked. 13
23:8 “You must not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see 14 and subverts the words of the righteous.
23:9 “You must not oppress 15 a foreigner, since you know the life 16 of a foreigner, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
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.
10 tn Or “stay away from,” or “have nothing to do with.”
11 tn Heb “a false matter,” this expression in this context would have to be a case in law that was false or that could only be won by falsehood.
12 tn The two clauses probably should be related: the getting involved in the false charge could lead to the death of an innocent person (so, e.g., Naboth in 1 Kgs 21:10-13).
13 sn God will not declare right the one who is in the wrong. Society should also be consistent, but it cannot see the intents and motives, as God can.
14 tn Heb “blinds the open-eyed.”
15 tn The verb means “to crush.” S. R. Driver notes that in this context this would probably mean with an unfair judgment in the courts (Exodus, 239).
16 tn Heb “soul, life” – “you know what it feels like.”