Exodus 23:1-7

Justice

23:1 ¹ “You must not give ²  a false report. ³  Do not make common cause ⁴  with the wicked ⁵  to be a malicious ⁶  witness.

23:2 “You must not follow a crowd ⁷  in doing evil things; ⁸  in a lawsuit you must not offer testimony that agrees with a crowd so as to pervert justice, ⁹  23:3 and you must not show partiality ¹⁰  to a poor man in his lawsuit.

23:4 “If you encounter ¹¹  your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering off, you must by all means return ¹²  it to him. 23:5 If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen under its load, you must not ignore him, ¹³  but be sure to help ¹⁴  him with it. ¹⁵ 

23:6 “You must not turn away justice for your poor people in their lawsuits. 23:7 Keep your distance ¹⁶  from a false charge ¹⁷  – do not kill the innocent and the righteous, ¹⁸  for I will not justify the wicked. ¹⁹ 

Exodus 23:1

Justice

23:1 ²⁰ “You must not give ²¹  a false report. ²²  Do not make common cause ²³  with the wicked ²⁴  to be a malicious ²⁵  witness.

Exodus 21:10-13

21:10 If he takes another wife, ²⁶  he must not diminish the first one’s food, ²⁷  her clothing, or her marital rights. ²⁸  21:11 If he does not provide her with these three things, then she will go out free, without paying money. ²⁹ 

Personal Injuries

21:12 ³⁰ “Whoever strikes someone ³¹  so that he dies ³²  must surely be put to death. ³³  21:13 But if he does not do it with premeditation, ³⁴  but it happens by accident, ³⁵  then I will appoint for you a place where he may flee.

Psalms 27:12

27:12 Do not turn me over to my enemies, ³⁶ 

for false witnesses who want to destroy me testify against me. ³⁷ 

Psalms 35:11

35:11 Violent men perjure themselves, ³⁸ 

and falsely accuse me. ³⁹ 

Mark 14:55-59

14:55 The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death, but they did not find anything. 14:56 Many gave false testimony against him, but their testimony did not agree. 14:57 Some stood up and gave this false testimony against him: ⁴⁰  14:58 “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with hands and in three days build another not made with hands.’” 14:59 Yet even on this point their testimony did not agree.

Acts 6:13

6:13 They brought forward false witnesses who said, “This man does not stop saying things against this holy place ⁴¹  and the law. ⁴² 

[23:1]  ¹ sn People who claim to worship and serve the righteous judge of the universe must preserve equity and justice in their dealings with others. These verses teach that God’s people must be honest witnesses (1-3); God’s people must be righteous even with enemies (4-5); and God’s people must be fair in dispensing justice (6-9).

[23:1]  ² tn Heb “take up, lift, carry” (נָשָׂא, nasa’). This verb was also used in the prohibition against taking “the name of Yahweh in vain.” Sometimes the object of this verb is physical, as in Jonah 1:12 and 15. Used in this prohibition involving speech, it covers both originating and repeating a lie.

[23:1]  ³ tn Or “a groundless report” (see Exod 20:7 for the word שָׁוְא, shav’).

[23:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “do not put your hand” (cf. KJV, ASV); NASB “join your hand.”

[23:1]  ⁵ tn The word “wicked” (רָשָׁע, rasha’) refers to the guilty criminal, the person who is doing something wrong. In the religious setting it describes the person who is not a member of the covenant and may be involved in all kinds of sin, even though there is the appearance of moral and spiritual stability.

[23:1]  ⁶ tn The word חָמָס (khamas) often means “violence” in the sense of social injustices done to other people, usually the poor and needy. A “malicious” witness would do great harm to others. See J. W. McKay, “Exodus 23:1-43, 6-8: A Decalogue for Administration of Justice in the City Gate,” VT 21 (1971): 311-25.

[23:2]  ⁷ 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).

[23:2]  ⁸ 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.

[23:2]  ⁹ 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].”

[23:3]  ¹⁰ 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).

[23:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “meet” (so KJV, ASV, NASB).

[23:4]  ¹² tn The construction uses the imperfect tense (taken here as an obligatory imperfect) and the infinitive absolute for emphasis.

[23:5]  ¹³ tn The line reads “you will cease to forsake him” – refrain from leaving your enemy without help.

[23:5]  ¹⁴ 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).

[23:5]  ¹⁵ sn See H. B. Huffmon, “Exodus 23:4-5: A Comparative Study,” A Light Unto My Path, 271-78.

[23:7]  ¹⁶ tn Or “stay away from,” or “have nothing to do with.”

[23:7]  ¹⁷ 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.

[23:7]  ¹⁸ 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).

[23:7]  ¹⁹ 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.

[23:1]  ²⁰ sn People who claim to worship and serve the righteous judge of the universe must preserve equity and justice in their dealings with others. These verses teach that God’s people must be honest witnesses (1-3); God’s people must be righteous even with enemies (4-5); and God’s people must be fair in dispensing justice (6-9).

[23:1]  ²¹ tn Heb “take up, lift, carry” (נָשָׂא, nasa’). This verb was also used in the prohibition against taking “the name of Yahweh in vain.” Sometimes the object of this verb is physical, as in Jonah 1:12 and 15. Used in this prohibition involving speech, it covers both originating and repeating a lie.

[23:1]  ²² tn Or “a groundless report” (see Exod 20:7 for the word שָׁוְא, shav’).

[23:1]  ²³ tn Heb “do not put your hand” (cf. KJV, ASV); NASB “join your hand.”

[23:1]  ²⁴ tn The word “wicked” (רָשָׁע, rasha’) refers to the guilty criminal, the person who is doing something wrong. In the religious setting it describes the person who is not a member of the covenant and may be involved in all kinds of sin, even though there is the appearance of moral and spiritual stability.

[23:1]  ²⁵ tn The word חָמָס (khamas) often means “violence” in the sense of social injustices done to other people, usually the poor and needy. A “malicious” witness would do great harm to others. See J. W. McKay, “Exodus 23:1-43, 6-8: A Decalogue for Administration of Justice in the City Gate,” VT 21 (1971): 311-25.

[21:10]  ²⁶ tn “wife” has been supplied.

[21:10]  ²⁷ tn The translation of “food” does not quite do justice to the Hebrew word. It is “flesh.” The issue here is that the family she was to marry into is wealthy, they ate meat. She was not just to be given the basic food the ordinary people ate, but the fine foods that this family ate.

[21:10]  ²⁸ sn See S. Paul, “Exodus 21:10, A Threefold Maintenance Clause,” JNES 28 (1969): 48-53. Paul suggests that the third element listed is not marital rights but ointments since Sumerian and Akkadian texts list food, clothing, and oil as the necessities of life. The translation of “marital rights” is far from certain, since the word occurs only here. The point is that the woman was to be cared for with all that was required for a woman in that situation.

[21:11]  ²⁹ sn The lessons of slavery and service are designed to bring justice to existing customs in antiquity. The message is: Those in slavery for one reason or another should have the hope of freedom and the choice of service (vv. 2-6). For the rulings on the daughter, the message could be: Women, who were often at the mercy of their husbands or masters, must not be trapped in an unfortunate situation, but be treated well by their masters or husbands (vv. 7-11). God is preventing people who have power over others from abusing it.

[21:12]  ³⁰ sn The underlying point of this section remains vital today: The people of God must treat all human life as sacred.

[21:12]  ³¹ tn The construction uses a Hiphil participle in construct with the noun for “man” (or person as is understood in a law for the nation): “the one striking [of] a man.” This is a casus pendens (independent nominative absolute); it indicates the condition or action that involves further consequence (GKC 361 §116.w).

[21:12]  ³² tn The Hebrew word וָמֵת (vamet) is a Qal perfect with vav consecutive; it means “and he dies” and not “and killed him” (which require another stem). Gesenius notes that this form after a participle is the equivalent of a sentence representing a contingent action (GKC 333 §112.n). The word shows the result of the action in the opening participle. It is therefore a case of murder or manslaughter.

[21:12]  ³³ sn See A. Phillips, “Another Look at Murder,” JJS 28 (1977): 105-26.

[21:13]  ³⁴ tn Heb “if he does not lie in wait” (NASB similar).

[21:13]  ³⁵ tn Heb “and God brought into his hand.” The death is unintended, its circumstances outside human control.

[27:12]  ³⁶ tn Heb “do not give me over to the desire of my enemies.”

[27:12]  ³⁷ tn Heb “for they have risen up against me, lying witnesses and a testifier of violence.” The form יָפֵחַ (yafeakh) is traditionally understood as a verb meaning “snort, breathe out”: “for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty” (KJV; cf. BDB 422 s.v.). A better option is to take the form as a noun meaning “a witness” (or “testifier”). See Prov 6:19; 12:17; 14:5, 25; 19:5, 9, and Hab 2:3.

[35:11]  ³⁸ tn Heb “witnesses of violence rise up.”

[35:11]  ³⁹ tn Heb “[that] which I do not know they ask me.”

[14:57]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “Some standing up gave false testimony against him, saying.”

[6:13]  ⁴¹ sn This holy place is a reference to the temple.

[6:13]  ⁴² sn The law refers to the law of Moses. It elaborates the nature of the blasphemy in v. 11. To speak against God’s law in Torah was to blaspheme God (Deut 28:15-19). On the Jewish view of false witnesses, see Exod 19:16-18; 20:16; m. Sanhedrin 3.6; 5.1-5. Stephen’s speech in Acts 7 may indicate why the temple was mentioned.