Exodus 23:5

23:5 If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen under its load, you must not ignore him, but be sure to help him with it.


tn The line reads “you will cease to forsake him” – refrain from leaving your enemy without help.

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).

sn See H. B. Huffmon, “Exodus 23:4-5: A Comparative Study,” A Light Unto My Path, 271-78.