Exodus 23:6-9

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.

Proverbs 17:15

17:15 The one who acquits the guilty and the one who condemns the innocent ⁸  –

both of them are an abomination to the Lord. ⁹ 

Proverbs 24:24

24:24 The one who says to the guilty, ¹⁰  “You are innocent,” ¹¹ 

peoples will curse him, and nations will denounce ¹²  him.

Proverbs 31:4-5

31:4 It is not for kings, ¹³  O Lemuel,

it is not for kings to drink wine, ¹⁴ 

or for rulers to crave strong drink, ¹⁵ 

31:5 lest they drink and forget what is decreed,

and remove ¹⁶  from all the poor ¹⁷  their legal rights. ¹⁸ 

[23:7]  ¹ tn Or “stay away from,” or “have nothing to do with.”

[23:7]  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.

[23:7]  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).

[23:7]  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.

[23:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “blinds the open-eyed.”

[23:9]  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).

[23:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “soul, life” – “you know what it feels like.”

[17:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “he who justifies the wicked and and he who condemns the righteous” (so NASB). The first colon uses two Hiphil participles, מַצְדִּיק (matsdiq) and מַרְשִׁיעַ (marshia’). The first means “to declare righteous” (a declarative Hiphil), and the second means “to make wicked [or, guilty]” or “to condemn” (i.e., “to declare guilty”). To declare someone righteous who is a guilty criminal, or to condemn someone who is innocent, are both abominations for the Righteous Judge of the whole earth.

[17:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “an abomination of the Lord.”

[24:24]  ¹⁰ tn The word means “wicked; guilty” or “criminal”; the contrast could be “wicked – righteous” (cf. KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB) or “innocent – guilty” (cf. NIV, TEV, CEV). Since this line follows the statement about showing partiality in judgment, it involves a forensic setting. Thus the statement describes one who calls a guilty person innocent or acquitted.

[24:24]  ¹¹ tn Or “righteous”; the same Hebrew word may be translated either “innocent” or “righteous” depending on the context.

[24:24]  ¹² tn The verb means “to be indignant.” It can be used within the range of “have indignation,” meaning “loathe” or “abhor,” or express indignation, meaning “denounce” or “curse.” In this passage, in collocation with the previous term “curse,” the latter is intended (cf. NAB, NIV, NLT).

[31:4]  ¹³ tn Heb “[It is] not for kings.”

[31:4]  ¹⁴ sn This second warning for kings concerns the use of alcohol. If this passage is meant to prohibit any use of alcohol by kings, it would be unheard of in any ancient royal court. What is probably meant is an excessive and unwarranted use of alcohol, or a troubling need for it, so that the meaning is “to drink wine in excess” (cf. NLT “to guzzle wine”; CEV “should not get drunk”). The danger, of course, would be that excessive use of alcohol would cloud the mind and deprive a king of true administrative ability and justice.

[31:4]  ¹⁵ tn The MT has אֵו (’ev), a Kethib/Qere reading. The Kethib is אוֹ (’o) but the Qere is אֵי (’ey). Some follow the Qere and take the word as a shortened form of וַֹיֵּה, “where?” This would mean the ruler would be always asking for drink (cf. ASV). Others reconstruct to אַוֵּה (’avveh, “to desire; to crave”). In either case, the verse would be saying that a king is not to be wanting/seeking alcohol.

[31:5]  ¹⁶ tn The verb means “change,” perhaps expressed in reversing decisions or removing rights.

[31:5]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “all the children of poverty.” This expression refers to the poor by nature. Cf. KJV, NASB, NRSV “the afflicted”; NIV “oppressed.”

[31:5]  ¹⁸ sn The word is דִּין (din, “judgment”; so KJV). In this passage it refers to the cause or the plea for justice, i.e., the “legal rights.”