Exodus 23:7

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 

Exodus 23:1

Justice

23:1 ⁵ “You must not give ⁶  a false report. ⁷  Do not make common cause ⁸  with the wicked ⁹  to be a malicious ¹⁰  witness.

Exodus 21:19

21:19 and then ¹¹  if he gets up and walks about ¹²  outside on his staff, then the one who struck him is innocent, except he must pay ¹³  for the injured person’s ¹⁴  loss of time ¹⁵  and see to it that he is fully healed.

Proverbs 17:15

17:15 The one who acquits the guilty and the one who condemns the innocent ¹⁶  –

both of them are an abomination to the Lord. ¹⁷ 

Jeremiah 26:15

26:15 But you should take careful note of this: If you put me to death, you will bring on yourselves and this city and those who live in it the guilt of murdering an innocent man. For the Lord has sent me to speak all this where you can hear it. That is the truth!” ¹⁸ 

Ezekiel 22:6

22:6 “‘See how each of the princes of Israel living within you has used his authority to shed blood. ¹⁹ 

Ezekiel 22:12

22:12 They take bribes within you to shed blood. You engage in usury and charge interest; ²⁰  you extort money from your neighbors. You have forgotten me, ²¹  declares the sovereign Lord. ²² 

Ezekiel 22:27

22:27 Her officials are like wolves in her midst rending their prey – shedding blood and destroying lives – so they can get dishonest profit.

Matthew 23:32-36

23:32 Fill up then the measure of your ancestors! 23:33 You snakes, you offspring of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? ²³ 

23:34 “For this reason I ²⁴  am sending you prophets and wise men and experts in the law, ²⁵  some of whom you will kill and crucify, ²⁶  and some you will flog ²⁷  in your synagogues ²⁸  and pursue from town to town, 23:35 so that on you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, ²⁹  whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 23:36 I tell you the truth, ³⁰  this generation will be held responsible for all these things! ³¹ 

Acts 7:52

7:52 Which of the prophets did your ancestors ³²  not persecute? ³³  They ³⁴  killed those who foretold long ago the coming of the Righteous One, ³⁵  whose betrayers and murderers you have now become! ³⁶ 

Acts 7:58-60

7:58 When ³⁷  they had driven him out of the city, they began to stone him, ³⁸  and the witnesses laid their cloaks ³⁹  at the feet of a young man named Saul. 7:59 They ⁴⁰  continued to stone Stephen while he prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” 7:60 Then he fell ⁴¹  to his knees and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” ⁴²  When ⁴³  he had said this, he died. ⁴⁴ 

James 5:6

5:6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous person, although he does not resist you. ⁴⁵ 

Revelation 17:6

17:6 I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of those who testified to Jesus. ⁴⁶  I ⁴⁷  was greatly astounded ⁴⁸  when I saw her.

[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.

[23:1]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Or “a groundless report” (see Exod 20:7 for the word שָׁוְא, shav’).

[23:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “do not put your hand” (cf. KJV, ASV); NASB “join your hand.”

[23:1]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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.

[21:19]  ¹¹ tn “and then” has been supplied.

[21:19]  ¹² tn The verb is a Hitpael perfect with vav (ו) consecutive; it follows the sequence of the imperfect before it – “if he gets up and walks about.” This is proof of recovery.

[21:19]  ¹³ tn The imperfect tense carries a nuance of obligatory imperfect because this is binding on the one who hit him.

[21:19]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “his”; the referent (the injured person) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:19]  ¹⁵ tn The word appears to be the infinitive from the verb “to sit” with a meaning of “his sitting down”; some suggest it is from the verb “to rest” with a meaning “cease.” In either case the point in the context must mean compensation is due for the time he was down.

[17:15]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “an abomination of the Lord.”

[26:15]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “For in truth the Lord has sent me to you to speak in your ears all these words/things.”

[22:6]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Look! The princes of Israel, each according to his arm, were in you in order to shed blood.”

[22:12]  ²⁰ tn Heb “usury and interest you take.” See 18:13, 17. This kind of economic exploitation violated the law given in Lev 25:36.

[22:12]  ²¹ sn Forgetting the Lord is also addressed in Deut 6:12; 8:11, 14; Jer 3:21; 13:25; Ezek 23:35; Hos 2:15; 8:14; 13:6.

[22:12]  ²² tn The second person verb forms are feminine singular in Hebrew, indicating that the personified city is addressed here as representing its citizens.

[23:33]  ²³ tn Grk “the judgment of Gehenna.”

[23:34]  ²⁴ tn Grk “behold I am sending.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[23:34]  ²⁵ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:34]  ²⁶ sn See the note on crucified in 20:19.

[23:34]  ²⁷ tn BDAG 620 s.v. μαστιγόω 1.a states, “of flogging as a punishment decreed by the synagogue (Dt 25:2f; s. the Mishna Tractate Sanhedrin-Makkoth, edited w. notes by SKrauss ’33) w. acc. of pers. Mt 10:17; 23:34.”

[23:34]  ²⁸ sn See the note on synagogues in 4:23.

[23:35]  ²⁹ sn Spelling of this name (Βαραχίου, Baraciou) varies among the English versions: “Barachiah” (RSV, NRSV); “Berechiah” (NASB); “Berachiah” (NIV).

[23:36]  ³⁰ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[23:36]  ³¹ tn Grk “all these things will come on this generation.”

[7:52]  ³² tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[7:52]  ³³ sn Which…persecute. The rhetorical question suggests they persecuted them all.

[7:52]  ³⁴ tn Grk “And they.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[7:52]  ³⁵ sn The Righteous One is a reference to Jesus Christ.

[7:52]  ³⁶ sn Whose betrayers and murderers you have now become. The harsh critique has OT precedent (1 Kgs 19:10-14; Neh 9:26; 2 Chr 36:16).

[7:58]  ³⁷ tn Grk “And when.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences, καί (kai) has not been translated here; a new sentence is begun instead.

[7:58]  ³⁸ sn They began to stone him. The irony of the scene is that the people do exactly what the speech complains about in v. 52.

[7:58]  ³⁹ tn Or “outer garments.”

[7:59]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “And they.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences, καί (kai) has not been translated here; a new sentence is begun instead.

[7:60]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “Then falling to his knees he cried out.” The participle θείς (qeis) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[7:60]  ⁴² sn The remarks Lord Jesus, receive my spirit and Lord, do not hold this sin against them recall statements Jesus made on the cross (Luke 23:34, 46).

[7:60]  ⁴³ tn Grk “And when.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences, καί (kai) has not been translated here; a new sentence is begun instead.

[7:60]  ⁴⁴ tn The verb κοιμάω (koimaw) literally means “sleep,” but it is often used in the Bible as a euphemism for the death of a believer.

[5:6]  ⁴⁵ tn Literally a series of verbs without connectives, “you have condemned, you have murdered…he does not resist.”

[17:6]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “of the witnesses to Jesus.” Here the genitive ᾿Ιησοῦ (Ihsou) is taken as an objective genitive; Jesus is the object of their testimony.

[17:6]  ⁴⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[17:6]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “I marveled a great marvel” (an idiom for great astonishment).