23:6 “You must not turn away justice for your poor people in their lawsuits. 23:7 Keep your distance 1 from a false charge 2 – do not kill the innocent and the righteous, 3 for I will not justify the wicked. 4
23:8 “You must not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see 5 and subverts the words of the righteous.
23:9 “You must not oppress 6 a foreigner, since you know the life 7 of a foreigner, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
1 tn Or “stay away from,” or “have nothing to do with.”
2 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.
3 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).
4 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.
5 tn Heb “blinds the open-eyed.”
6 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).
7 tn Heb “soul, life” – “you know what it feels like.”