Exodus 23:2-6

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.

Deuteronomy 16:19

16:19 You must not pervert justice or show favor. Do not take a bribe, for bribes blind the eyes of the wise and distort ¹⁰  the words of the righteous. ¹¹ 

Deuteronomy 16:2

16:2 You must sacrifice the Passover animal ¹²  (from the flock or the herd) to the Lord your God in the place where he ¹³  chooses to locate his name.

Deuteronomy 19:7

19:7 Therefore, I am commanding you to set apart for yourselves three cities.

[23:2]  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).

[23:2]  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.

[23:2]  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].”

[23:3]  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).

[23:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “meet” (so KJV, ASV, NASB).

[23:4]  ⁶ tn The construction uses the imperfect tense (taken here as an obligatory imperfect) and the infinitive absolute for emphasis.

[23:5]  ⁷ tn The line reads “you will cease to forsake him” – refrain from leaving your enemy without help.

[23:5]  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).

[23:5]  ⁹ sn See H. B. Huffmon, “Exodus 23:4-5: A Comparative Study,” A Light Unto My Path, 271-78.

[16:19]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “twist, overturn”; NRSV “subverts the cause.”

[16:19]  ¹¹ tn Or “innocent”; NRSV “those who are in the right”; NLT “the godly.”

[16:2]  ¹² tn Heb “sacrifice the Passover” (so NASB). The word “animal” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[16:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in the previous verse.