Exodus 20:1--23:33

The Decalogue

20:1 ¹ God spoke all these words: ² 

20:2 “I, ³  the Lord, am your God, ⁴  who brought you ⁵  from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery. ⁶ 

20:3 “You shall have no ⁷  other gods before me. ⁸ 

20:4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image ⁹  or any likeness ¹⁰  of anything ¹¹  that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water below. ¹²  20:5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, ¹³  for I, the Lord, your God, am a jealous ¹⁴  God, responding to ¹⁵  the transgression of fathers by dealing with children to the third and fourth generations ¹⁶  of those who reject me, ¹⁷  20:6 and showing covenant faithfulness ¹⁸  to a thousand generations ¹⁹  of those who love me and keep my commandments.

20:7 “You shall not take ²⁰  the name of the Lord your God in vain, ²¹  for the Lord will not hold guiltless ²²  anyone who takes his name in vain.

20:8 “Remember ²³  the Sabbath ²⁴  day to set it apart as holy. ²⁵  20:9 For six days ²⁶  you may labor ²⁷  and do all your work, ²⁸  20:10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; on it ²⁹  you shall not do any work, you, ³⁰  or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your cattle, or the resident foreigner who is in your gates. ³¹  20:11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, and he rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.

20:12 “Honor ³²  your father and your mother, that you may live a long time ³³  in the land ³⁴  the Lord your God is giving to you.

20:13 “You shall not murder. ³⁵ 

20:14 “You shall not commit adultery. ³⁶ 

20:15 “You shall not steal. ³⁷ 

20:16 “You shall not give ³⁸  false testimony ³⁹  against your neighbor.

20:17 “You shall not covet ⁴⁰  your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that belongs to your neighbor.” ⁴¹ 

20:18 All the people were seeing ⁴²  the thundering and the lightning, and heard ⁴³  the sound of the horn, and saw ⁴⁴  the mountain smoking – and when ⁴⁵  the people saw it they trembled with fear ⁴⁶  and kept their distance. ⁴⁷  20:19 They said to Moses, “You speak ⁴⁸  to us and we will listen, but do not let God speak with us, lest we die.” 20:20 Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, ⁴⁹  that the fear of him ⁵⁰  may be before you so that you do not ⁵¹  sin.” 20:21 The people kept ⁵²  their distance, but Moses drew near the thick darkness ⁵³  where God was. ⁵⁴ 

The Altar

20:22 ⁵⁵ The Lord said ⁵⁶  to Moses: “Thus you will tell the Israelites: ‘You yourselves have seen that I have spoken with you from heaven. 20:23 You must not make gods of silver alongside me, ⁵⁷  nor make gods of gold for yourselves. ⁵⁸ 

20:24 ‘You must make for me an altar made of earth, ⁵⁹  and you will sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, ⁶⁰  your sheep and your cattle. In every place ⁶¹  where I cause my name to be honored ⁶²  I will come to you and I will bless you. 20:25 If you make me an altar of stone, you must not build it ⁶³  of stones shaped with tools, ⁶⁴  for if you use your tool on it you have defiled it. ⁶⁵  20:26 And you must not go up by steps to my altar, so that your nakedness is not exposed.’ ⁶⁶ 

The Decisions

21:1 ⁶⁷ “These are the decisions that you will set before them:

Hebrew Servants

21:2 ⁶⁸ “If you buy ⁶⁹  a Hebrew servant, ⁷⁰  he is to serve you for six years, but in the seventh year he will go out free ⁷¹  without paying anything. ⁷²  21:3 If he came ⁷³  in by himself ⁷⁴  he will go out by himself; if he had ⁷⁵  a wife when he came in, then his wife will go out with him. 21:4 If his master gave ⁷⁶  him a wife, and she bore sons or daughters, the wife and the children will belong to her master, and he will go out by himself. 21:5 But if the servant should declare, ⁷⁷  ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out ⁷⁸  free,’ 21:6 then his master must bring him to the judges, ⁷⁹  and he will bring him to the door or the doorposts, and his master will pierce his ear with an awl, and he shall serve him forever. ⁸⁰ 

21:7 “If a man sells his daughter ⁸¹  as a female servant, ⁸²  she will not go out as the male servants do. 21:8 If she does not please ⁸³  her master, who has designated her ⁸⁴  for himself, then he must let her be redeemed. ⁸⁵  He has no right ⁸⁶  to sell her to a foreign nation, because he has dealt deceitfully ⁸⁷  with her. 21:9 If he designated her for his son, then he will deal with her according to the customary rights ⁸⁸  of daughters. 21:10 If he takes another wife, ⁸⁹  he must not diminish the first one’s food, ⁹⁰  her clothing, or her marital rights. ⁹¹  21:11 If he does not provide her with these three things, then she will go out free, without paying money. ⁹² 

Personal Injuries

21:12 ⁹³ “Whoever strikes someone ⁹⁴  so that he dies ⁹⁵  must surely be put to death. ⁹⁶  21:13 But if he does not do it with premeditation, ⁹⁷  but it happens by accident, ⁹⁸  then I will appoint for you a place where he may flee. 21:14 But if a man willfully attacks his neighbor to kill him cunningly, ⁹⁹  you will take him even from my altar that he may die.

21:15 “Whoever strikes ¹⁰⁰  his father or his mother must surely be put to death.

21:16 “Whoever kidnaps someone ¹⁰¹  and sells him, ¹⁰²  or is caught still holding him, ¹⁰³  must surely be put to death.

21:17 “Whoever treats his father or his mother disgracefully ¹⁰⁴  must surely be put to death.

21:18 “If men fight, and one strikes his neighbor with a stone or with his fist and he does not die, but must remain in bed, ¹⁰⁵  21:19 and then ¹⁰⁶  if he gets up and walks about ¹⁰⁷  outside on his staff, then the one who struck him is innocent, except he must pay ¹⁰⁸  for the injured person’s ¹⁰⁹  loss of time ¹¹⁰  and see to it that he is fully healed.

21:20 “If a man strikes his male servant or his female servant with a staff so that he or she ¹¹¹  dies as a result of the blow, ¹¹²  he will surely be punished. ¹¹³  21:21 However, if the injured servant ¹¹⁴  survives one or two days, the owner ¹¹⁵  will not be punished, for he has suffered the loss. ¹¹⁶ 

21:22 “If men fight and hit a pregnant woman and her child is born prematurely, ¹¹⁷  but there is no serious injury, he will surely be punished in accordance with what the woman’s husband demands of him, and he will pay what the court decides. ¹¹⁸  21:23 But if there is serious injury, then you will give a life for a life, 21:24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 21:25 burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise. ¹¹⁹ 

21:26 “If a man strikes the eye of his male servant or his female servant so that he destroys it, ¹²⁰  he will let the servant ¹²¹  go free ¹²²  as compensation for the eye. 21:27 If he knocks out the tooth of his male servant or his female servant, he will let the servant ¹²³  go free as compensation for the tooth.

Laws about Animals

21:28 ¹²⁴ “If an ox ¹²⁵  gores a man or a woman so that either dies, ¹²⁶  then the ox must surely ¹²⁷  be stoned and its flesh must not be eaten, but the owner of the ox will be acquitted. 21:29 But if the ox had the habit of goring, and its owner was warned, ¹²⁸  and he did not take the necessary precautions, ¹²⁹  and then it killed a man or a woman, the ox must be stoned and the man must be put to death. 21:30 If a ransom is set for him, ¹³⁰  then he must pay the redemption for his life according to whatever amount was set for him. 21:31 If the ox ¹³¹  gores a son or a daughter, the owner ¹³²  will be dealt with according to this rule. ¹³³  21:32 If the ox gores a male servant or a female servant, the owner ¹³⁴  must pay thirty shekels of silver, ¹³⁵  and the ox must be stoned. ¹³⁶ 

21:33 “If a man opens a pit or if a man digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it, 21:34 the owner of the pit must repay ¹³⁷  the loss. He must give money ¹³⁸  to its owner, and the dead animal ¹³⁹  will become his. 21:35 If the ox of one man injures the ox of his neighbor so that it dies, then they will sell the live ox and divide its proceeds, ¹⁴⁰  and they will also divide the dead ox. ¹⁴¹  21:36 Or if it is known that the ox had the habit of goring, and its owner did not take the necessary precautions, he must surely pay ¹⁴²  ox for ox, and the dead animal will become his. ¹⁴³ 

Laws about Property

22:1 ¹⁴⁴ (21:37) ¹⁴⁵  “If a man steals an ox or a sheep and kills it or sells it, he must pay back ¹⁴⁶  five head of cattle for the ox, and four sheep for the one sheep. ¹⁴⁷ 

22:2 “If a thief is caught ¹⁴⁸  breaking in ¹⁴⁹  and is struck so that he dies, there will be no blood guilt for him. ¹⁵⁰  22:3 If the sun has risen on him, then there is blood guilt for him. A thief ¹⁵¹  must surely make full restitution; if he has nothing, then he will be sold for his theft. 22:4 If the stolen item should in fact be found ¹⁵²  alive in his possession, ¹⁵³  whether it be an ox or a donkey or a sheep, he must pay back double. ¹⁵⁴ 

22:5 “If a man grazes ¹⁵⁵  his livestock ¹⁵⁶  in a field or a vineyard, and he lets the livestock loose and they graze in the field of another man, he must make restitution from the best of his own field and the best of his own vineyard.

22:6 “If a fire breaks out and spreads ¹⁵⁷  to thorn bushes, ¹⁵⁸  so that stacked grain or standing grain or the whole field is consumed, the one who started ¹⁵⁹  the fire must surely make restitution.

22:7 “If a man gives his neighbor money or articles ¹⁶⁰  for safekeeping, ¹⁶¹  and it is stolen from the man’s house, if the thief is caught, ¹⁶²  he must repay double. 22:8 If the thief is not caught, ¹⁶³  then the owner of the house will be brought before the judges ¹⁶⁴  to see ¹⁶⁵  whether he has laid ¹⁶⁶  his hand on his neighbor’s goods. 22:9 In all cases of illegal possessions, ¹⁶⁷  whether for an ox, a donkey, a sheep, a garment, or any kind of lost item, about which someone says ‘This belongs to me,’ ¹⁶⁸  the matter of the two of them will come before the judges, ¹⁶⁹  and the one whom ¹⁷⁰  the judges declare guilty ¹⁷¹  must repay double to his neighbor. 22:10 If a man gives his neighbor a donkey or an ox or a sheep or any beast to keep, and it dies or is hurt ¹⁷²  or is carried away ¹⁷³  without anyone seeing it, ¹⁷⁴  22:11 then there will be an oath to the Lord ¹⁷⁵  between the two of them, that he has not laid his hand on his neighbor’s goods, and its owner will accept this, and he will not have to pay. 22:12 But if it was stolen ¹⁷⁶  from him, ¹⁷⁷  he will pay its owner. 22:13 If it is torn in pieces, then he will bring it for evidence, ¹⁷⁸  and he will not have to pay for what was torn.

22:14 “If a man borrows an animal ¹⁷⁹  from his neighbor, and it is hurt or dies when its owner was not with it, the man who borrowed it ¹⁸⁰  will surely pay. 22:15 If its owner was with it, he will not have to pay; if it was hired, what was paid for the hire covers it. ¹⁸¹ 

Moral and Ceremonial Laws

22:16 ¹⁸² “If a man seduces a virgin ¹⁸³  who is not engaged ¹⁸⁴  and has sexual relations with her, he must surely endow ¹⁸⁵  her to be his wife. 22:17 If her father refuses to give her to him, he must pay money for the bride price of virgins.

22:18 “You must not allow a sorceress to live. ¹⁸⁶ 

22:19 “Whoever has sexual relations ¹⁸⁷  with a beast must surely be put to death.

22:20 “Whoever sacrifices to a god other than the Lord ¹⁸⁸  alone must be utterly destroyed. ¹⁸⁹ 

22:21 “You must not wrong ¹⁹⁰  a foreigner ¹⁹¹  nor oppress him, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

22:22 “You must not afflict ¹⁹²  any widow or orphan. 22:23 If you afflict them ¹⁹³  in any way ¹⁹⁴  and they cry to me, I will surely hear ¹⁹⁵  their cry, 22:24 and my anger will burn and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives will be widows and your children will be fatherless. ¹⁹⁶ 

22:25 “If you lend money to any of ¹⁹⁷  my people who are needy among you, do not be like a moneylender ¹⁹⁸  to him; do not charge ¹⁹⁹  him interest. ²⁰⁰  22:26 If you do take ²⁰¹  the garment of your neighbor in pledge, you must return it to him by the time the sun goes down, ²⁰²  22:27 for it is his only covering – it is his garment for his body. ²⁰³  What else can he sleep in? ²⁰⁴  And ²⁰⁵  when he cries out to me, I will hear, for I am gracious.

22:28 “You must not blaspheme ²⁰⁶  God ²⁰⁷  or curse the ruler of your people.

22:29 “Do not hold back offerings from your granaries or your vats. ²⁰⁸  You must give me the firstborn of your sons. 22:30 You must also do this for your oxen and for your sheep; seven days they may remain with their mothers, but give them to me on the eighth day.

22:31 “You will be holy ²⁰⁹  people to me; you must not eat any meat torn by animals in the field. ²¹⁰  You must throw it to the dogs.

Justice

23:1 ²¹¹ “You must not give ²¹²  a false report. ²¹³  Do not make common cause ²¹⁴  with the wicked ²¹⁵  to be a malicious ²¹⁶  witness.

23:2 “You must not follow a crowd ²¹⁷  in doing evil things; ²¹⁸  in a lawsuit you must not offer testimony that agrees with a crowd so as to pervert justice, ²¹⁹  23:3 and you must not show partiality ²²⁰  to a poor man in his lawsuit.

23:4 “If you encounter ²²¹  your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering off, you must by all means return ²²²  it to him. 23:5 If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen under its load, you must not ignore him, ²²³  but be sure to help ²²⁴  him with it. ²²⁵ 

23:6 “You must not turn away justice for your poor people in their lawsuits. 23:7 Keep your distance ²²⁶  from a false charge ²²⁷  – do not kill the innocent and the righteous, ²²⁸  for I will not justify the wicked. ²²⁹ 

23:8 “You must not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see ²³⁰  and subverts the words of the righteous.

23:9 “You must not oppress ²³¹  a foreigner, since you know the life ²³²  of a foreigner, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

Sabbaths and Feasts

23:10 ²³³ “For six years ²³⁴  you are to sow your land and gather in its produce. 23:11 But in the seventh year ²³⁵  you must let it lie fallow and leave it alone so that the poor of your people may eat, and what they leave any animal in the field ²³⁶  may eat; you must do likewise with your vineyard and your olive grove. 23:12 For six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you must cease, in order that your ox and your donkey may rest and that your female servant’s son and any hired help ²³⁷  may refresh themselves. ²³⁸ 

23:13 “Pay attention to do ²³⁹  everything I have told you, and do not even mention ²⁴⁰  the names of other gods – do not let them be heard on your lips. ²⁴¹ 

23:14 “Three times ²⁴²  in the year you must make a pilgrim feast ²⁴³  to me. 23:15 You are to observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread; seven days ²⁴⁴  you must eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you, at the appointed time of the month of Abib, for at that time ²⁴⁵  you came out of Egypt. No one may appear before ²⁴⁶  me empty-handed.

23:16 “You are also to observe ²⁴⁷  the Feast of Harvest, the firstfruits of your labors that you have sown in the field, and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year ²⁴⁸  when you have gathered in ²⁴⁹  your harvest ²⁵⁰  out of the field. 23:17 At ²⁵¹  three times in the year all your males will appear before the Lord God. ²⁵² 

23:18 “You must not offer ²⁵³  the blood of my sacrifice with bread containing yeast; the fat of my festal sacrifice must not remain until morning. ²⁵⁴  23:19 The first of the firstfruits of your soil you must bring to the house of the Lord your God.

“You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk. ²⁵⁵ 

The Angel of the Presence

23:20 ²⁵⁶ “I am going to send ²⁵⁷  an angel ²⁵⁸  before you to protect you as you journey ²⁵⁹  and to bring you into the place that I have prepared. ²⁶⁰  23:21 Take heed because of him, and obey his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgressions, for my name ²⁶¹  is in him. 23:22 But if you diligently obey him ²⁶²  and do all that I command, then I will be an enemy to your enemies, and I will be an adversary to your adversaries. 23:23 For my angel will go before you and bring you to the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I will destroy them completely. ²⁶³ 

23:24 “You must not bow down to their gods; you must not serve them or do according to their practices. Instead you must completely overthrow them and smash their standing stones ²⁶⁴  to pieces. ²⁶⁵  23:25 You must serve ²⁶⁶  the Lord your God, and he ²⁶⁷  will bless your bread and your water, ²⁶⁸  and I will remove sickness from your midst. 23:26 No woman will miscarry her young ²⁶⁹  or be barren in your land. I will fulfill ²⁷⁰  the number of your days.

23:27 “I will send my terror ²⁷¹  before you, and I will destroy ²⁷²  all the people whom you encounter; I will make all your enemies turn their backs ²⁷³  to you. 23:28 I will send ²⁷⁴  hornets before you that will drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite before you. 23:29 I will not drive them out before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the wild animals ²⁷⁵  multiply against you. 23:30 Little by little ²⁷⁶  I will drive them out before you, until you become fruitful and inherit the land. 23:31 I will set ²⁷⁷  your boundaries from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the River, ²⁷⁸  for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will drive them out before you.

23:32 “You must make no covenant with them or with their gods. 23:33 They must not live in your land, lest they make you sin against me, for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare ²⁷⁹  to you.”

[20:1]  ¹ sn This chapter is the heart of the Law of Israel, and as such is well known throughout the world. There is so much literature on it that it is almost impossible to say anything briefly and do justice to the subject. But the exposition of the book must point out that this is the charter of the new nation of Israel. These ten commands (words) form the preamble; they will be followed by the decisions (judgments). And then in chap. 24 the covenant will be inaugurated. So when Israel entered into covenant with God, they entered into a theocracy by expressing their willingness to submit to his authority. The Law was the binding constitution for the nation of Israel under Yahweh their God. It was specifically given to them at a certain time and in a certain place. The Law legislated how Israel was to live in order to be blessed by God and used by him as a kingdom of priests. In the process of legislating their conduct and their ritual for worship, the Law revealed God. It revealed the holiness of Yahweh as the standard for all worship and service, and in revealing that it revealed or uncovered sin. But what the Law condemned, the Law (Leviticus) also made provision for in the laws of the sacrifice and the feasts intended for atonement. The NT teaches that the Law was good, and perfect, and holy. But it also teaches that Christ was the end (goal) of the Law, that it ultimately led to him. It was a pedagogue, Paul said, to bring people to Christ. And when the fulfillment of the promise came in him, believers were not to go back under the Law. What this means for Christians is that what the Law of Israel revealed about God and his will is timeless and still authoritative over faith and conduct, but what the Law regulated for Israel in their existence as the people of God has been done away with in Christ. The Ten Commandments reveal the essence of the Law; the ten for the most part are reiterated in the NT because they reflect the holy and righteous nature of God. The NT often raises them to a higher standard, to guard the spirit of the Law as well as the letter.

[20:1]  ² sn The Bible makes it clear that the Law was the revelation of God at Mount Sinai. And yet study has shown that the law code’s form follows the literary pattern of covenant codes in the Late Bronze Age, notably the Hittite codes. The point of such codes is that all the covenant stipulations are appropriate because of the wonderful things that the sovereign has done for the people. God, in using a well-known literary form, was both drawing on the people’s knowledge of such to impress their duties on them, as well as putting new wine into old wineskins. The whole nature of God’s code was on a much higher level. For this general structure, see M. G. Kline, Treaty of the Great King. For the Ten Commandments specifically, see J. J. Stamm and M. E. Andrew, The Ten Commandments in Recent Research (SBT). See also some of the general articles: M. Barrett, “God’s Moral Standard: An Examination of the Decalogue,” BV 12 (1978): 34-40; C. J. H. Wright, “The Israelite Household and the Decalogue: The Social Background and Significance of Some Commandments,” TynBul 30 (1979): 101-24; J. D. Levenson, “The Theologies of Commandment in Biblical Israel,” HTR 73 (1980): 17-33; M. B. Cohen and D. B. Friedman, “The Dual Accentuation of the Ten Commandments,” Masoretic Studies 1 (1974): 7-190; D. Skinner, “Some Major Themes of Exodus,” Mid-America Theological Journal 1 (1977): 31-42; M. Tate, “The Legal Traditions of the Book of Exodus,” RevExp 74 (1977): 483-509; E. C. Smith, “The Ten Commandments in Today’s Permissive Society: A Principleist Approach,” SwJT 20 (1977): 42-58; and D. W. Buck, “Exodus 20:1-17,” Lutheran Theological Journal 16 (1982): 65-75.

[20:2]  ³ sn The revelation of Yahweh here begins with the personal pronoun. “I” – a person, a living personality, not an object or a mere thought. This enabled him to address “you” – Israel, and all his people, making the binding stipulations for them to conform to his will (B. Jacob, Exodus, 544).

[20:2]  ⁴ tn Most English translations have “I am Yahweh your God.” But the preceding chapters have again and again demonstrated how he made himself known to them. Now, the emphasis is on “I am your God” – and what that would mean in their lives.

[20:2]  ⁵ tn The suffix on the verb is second masculine singular. It is this person that will be used throughout the commandments for the whole nation. God addresses them all as his people, but he addresses them individually for their obedience. The masculine form is not, thereby, intended to exclude women.

[20:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “the house of slaves” meaning “the land of slavery.”

[20:3]  ⁷ tn The possession is expressed here by the use of the lamed (ל) preposition and the verb “to be”: לֹא־יִהְיֶה לְךָ (lo’ yihyeh lÿkha, “there will not be to you”). The negative with the imperfect expresses the emphatic prohibition; it is best reflected with “you will not” and has the strongest expectation of obedience (see GKC 317 §107.o). As an additional way of looking at this line, U. Cassuto suggests that the verb is in the singular in order to say that they could not have even one other god, and the word “gods” is plural to include any gods (Exodus, 241).

[20:3]  ⁸ tn The expression עַל־פָּנָי (’al-panay) has several possible interpretations. S. R. Driver suggests “in front of me,” meaning obliging me to behold them, and also giving a prominence above me (Exodus, 193-94). W. F. Albright rendered it “You shall not prefer other gods to me” (From the Stone Age to Christianity, 297, n. 29). B. Jacob (Exodus, 546) illustrates it with marriage: the wife could belong to only one man while every other man was “another man.” They continued to exist but were not available to her. The point is clear from the Law, regardless of the specific way the prepositional phrase is rendered. God demands absolute allegiance, to the exclusion of all other deities. The preposition may imply some antagonism, for false gods would be opposed to Yahweh. U. Cassuto adds that God was in effect saying that anytime Israel turned to a false god they had to know that the Lord was there – it is always in his presence, or before him (Exodus, 241).

[20:4]  ⁹ tn A פֶּסֶל (pesel) is an image that was carved out of wood or stone. The Law was concerned with a statue that would be made for the purpose of worship, an idol to be venerated, and not any ordinary statue.

[20:4]  ¹⁰ tn The word תְּמוּנָה (tÿmunah) refers to the mental pattern from which the פֶּסֶל (pesel) is constructed; it is a real or imagined resemblance. If this is to stand as a second object to the verb, then the verb itself takes a slightly different nuance here. It would convey “you shall not make an image, neither shall you conceive a form” for worship (B. Jacob, Exodus, 547). Some simply make the second word qualify the first: “you shall not make an idol in the form of…” (NIV).

[20:4]  ¹¹ tn Here the phrase “of anything” has been supplied.

[20:4]  ¹² tn Heb “under the earth” (so KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV).

[20:5]  ¹³ tn The combination of these two verbs customarily refers to the worship of pagan deities (e.g., Deut 17:3: 30:17; Jer 8:2; see J. J. Stamm and M. E. Andrew, The Ten Commandments in Recent Research [SBT], 86). The first verb is לאֹ־תִשְׁתַּחֲוֶה (lo’ tishtakhaveh), now to be classified as a hishtaphel imperfect from חָוָה (khavah; BDB 1005 s.v. שׁחה), “to cause oneself to be low to the ground.” It is used of the true worship of God as well. The second verb is וְלֹא תָעָבְדֵם (vÿlo’ to’ovdem). The two could be taken as a hendiadys: “you will not prostrate yourself to serve them.” In an interesting side comment U. Cassuto (Exodus, 242) offers an explanation of the spelling of the second verb: he suggests that it was spelled with the qamets khatuf vowel to show contempt for pagan worship, as if their conduct does not even warrant a correct spelling of the word “serve.” Gesenius says that the forms like this are anomalous, but he wonders if they were pointed as if the verb was a Hophal with the meaning “you shall not allow yourself to be brought to worship them” (GKC 161 §60.b). But this is unlikely.

[20:5]  ¹⁴ sn The word “jealous” is the same word often translated “zeal” or “zealous.” The word describes a passionate intensity to protect or defend something that is jeopardized. The word can also have the sense of “envy,” but in that case the object is out of bounds. God’s zeal or jealousy is to protect his people or his institutions or his honor. Yahweh’s honor is bound up with the life of his people.

[20:5]  ¹⁵ tn Verses 5 and 6 are very concise, and the word פָּקַד (paqad) is difficult to translate. Often rendered “visiting,” it might here be rendered “dealing with” in a negative sense or “punishing,” but it describes positive attention in 13:19. When used of God, it essentially means that God intervenes in the lives of people for blessing or for cursing. Some would simply translate the participle here as “punishing” the children for the sins of the fathers (cf. Lev 18:25; Isa 26:21; Jer 29:32; 36:31; Hos 1:4; Amos 3:2). That is workable, but may not say enough. The verse may indicate that those who hate Yahweh and do not keep his commandments will repeat the sins their fathers committed and suffer for them. Deut 24:16 says that individuals will die for their own sins and not their father’s sins (see also Deut 7:10 and Ezek 18). It may have more to do with patterns of sin being repeated from generation to generation; if the sin and the guilt were not fully developed in the one generation, then left unchecked they would develop and continue in the next. But it may also indicate that the effects of the sins of the fathers will be experienced in the following generations, especially in the case of Israel as a national entity (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 243). God is showing here that his ethical character is displayed in how he deals with sin and righteousness, all of which he describes as giving strong motivation for loyalty to him and for avoiding idolatry. There is a justice at work in the dealings of God that is not present in the pagan world.

[20:5]  ¹⁶ tn The Hebrew word for “generations” is not found in v. 5 or 6. The numbers are short for a longer expression, which is understood as part of the description of the children already mentioned (see Deut 7:9, where “generation” [דּוֹר, dor] is present and more necessary, since “children” have not been mentioned).

[20:5]  ¹⁷ tn This is an important qualification to the principle. The word rendered “reject” is often translated “hate” and carries with it the idea of defiantly rejecting and opposing God and his word. Such people are doomed to carry on the sins of their ancestors and bear guilt with them.

[20:6]  ¹⁸ tn Literally “doing loyal love” (עֹשֶׂה חֶסֶד, ’oseh khesed). The noun refers to God’s covenant loyalty, his faithful love to those who belong to him. These are members of the covenant, recipients of grace, the people of God, whom God will preserve and protect from evil and its effects.

[20:6]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “to thousands” or “to thousandth.” After “tenth,” Hebrew uses cardinal numbers for ordinals also. This statement is the antithesis of the preceding line. The “thousands” or “thousandth [generation]” are those who love Yahweh and keep his commands. These are descendants from the righteous, and even associates with them, who benefit from the mercy that God extends to his people. S. R. Driver (Exodus, 195) says that this passage teaches that God’s mercy transcends his wrath; in his providence the beneficial consequences of a life of goodness extend indefinitely further than the retribution that is the penalty for persisting in sin. To say that God’s loyal love extends to thousands of generations or the thousandth generation is parallel to saying that it endures forever (Ps. 118). See also Exod 34:7; Deut 5:10; 7:9; Ps 18:51; Jer 32:18.

[20:7]  ²⁰ tn Or “use” (NCV, TEV); NIV, CEV, NLT “misuse”; NRSV “make wrongful use of.”

[20:7]  ²¹ tn שָׁוְא (shav’, “vain”) describes “unreality.” The command prohibits use of the name for any idle, frivolous, or insincere purpose (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 196). This would include perjury, pagan incantations, or idle talk. The name is to be treated with reverence and respect because it is the name of the holy God.

[20:7]  ²² tn Or “leave unpunished.”

[20:8]  ²³ tn The text uses the infinitive absolute זָכוֹר (zakhor) for the commandment for the Sabbath day, which is the sign of the Sinaitic Covenant. The infinitive absolute functions in place of the emphatic imperative here (see GKC 346 §113.bb); the absolute stresses the basic verbal idea of the root – remembering. The verb includes the mental activity of recalling and pondering as well as the consequent actions for such remembering.

[20:8]  ²⁴ tn The word “Sabbath” is clearly connected to the verb שָׁבַת (shavat, “to cease, desist, rest”). There are all kinds of theories as to the origin of the day, most notably in the Babylonian world, but the differences are striking in so far as the pagan world had these days filled with magic. Nevertheless, the pagan world does bear witness to a tradition of a regular day set aside for special sacrifices. See, for example, H. W. Wolff, “The Day of Rest in the Old Testament,” LTQ 7 (1972): 65-76; H. Routtenberg, “The Laws of Sabbath: Biblical Sources,” Dor le Dor 6 (1977): 41-43, 99-101, 153-55, 204-6; G. Robinson, “The Idea of Rest in the OT and the Search for the Basic Character of Sabbath,” ZAW 92 (1980): 32-42; and M. Tsevat, “The Basic Meaning of the Biblical Sabbath,” ZAW 84 (1972): 447-59.

[20:8]  ²⁵ tn The Piel infinitive construct provides the purpose of remembering the Sabbath day – to set it apart, to make it distinct from the other days. Verses 9 and 10 explain in part how this was to be done. To set this day apart as holy taught Israel the difference between the holy and the profane, that there was something higher than daily life. If an Israelite bent down to the ground laboring all week, the Sabbath called his attention to the heavens, to pattern life after the Creator (B. Jacob, Exodus, 569-70).

[20:9]  ²⁶ tn The text has simply “six days,” but this is an adverbial accusative of time, answering how long they were to work (GKC 374 §118.k).

[20:9]  ²⁷ tn The imperfect tense has traditionally been rendered as a commandment, “you will labor.” But the point of this commandment is the prohibition of work on the seventh day. The permission nuance of the imperfect works well here.

[20:9]  ²⁸ tn This is the occupation, or business of the work week.

[20:10]  ²⁹ tn The phrase “on it” has been supplied for clarity.

[20:10]  ³⁰ sn The wife is omitted in the list, not that she was considered unimportant, nor that she was excluded from the rest, but rather in reflecting her high status. She was not man’s servant, not lesser than the man, but included with the man as an equal before God. The “you” of the commandments is addressed to the Israelites individually, male and female, just as God in the Garden of Eden held both the man and the woman responsible for their individual sins (see B. Jacob, Exodus, 567-68).

[20:10]  ³¹ sn The Sabbath day was the sign of the Sinaitic Covenant. It required Israel to cease from ordinary labors and devote the day to God. It required Israel to enter into the life of God, to share his Sabbath. It gave them a chance to recall the work of the Creator. But in the NT the apostolic teaching for the Church does not make one day holier than another, but calls for the entire life to be sanctified to God. This teaching is an application of the meaning of entering into the Sabbath of God. The book of Hebrews declares that those who believe in Christ cease from their works and enter into his Sabbath rest. For a Christian keeping Saturday holy is not a requirement from the NT; it may be a good and valuable thing to have a day of rest and refreshment, but it is not a binding law for the Church. The principle of setting aside time to worship and serve the Lord has been carried forward, but the strict regulations have not.

[20:12]  ³² tn The verb כַּבֵּד (kabbed) is a Piel imperative; it calls for people to give their parents the respect and honor that is appropriate for them. It could be paraphrased to say, give them the weight of authority that they deserve. Next to God, parents were to be highly valued, cared for, and respected.

[20:12]  ³³ tn Heb “that your days may be long.”

[20:12]  ³⁴ sn The promise here is national rather than individual, although it is certainly true that the blessing of life was promised for anyone who was obedient to God’s commands (Deut 4:1, 8:1, etc.). But as W. C. Kaiser (“Exodus,” EBC 2:424) summarizes, the land that was promised was the land of Canaan, and the duration of Israel in the land was to be based on morality and the fear of God as expressed in the home (Deut 4:26, 33, 40; 32:46-47). The captivity was in part caused by a breakdown in this area (Ezek 22:7, 15). Malachi would announce at the end of his book that Elijah would come at the end of the age to turn the hearts of the children and the parents toward each other again.

[20:13]  ³⁵ tn The verb רָצַח (ratsakh) refers to the premeditated or accidental taking of the life of another human being; it includes any unauthorized killing (it is used for the punishment of a murderer, but that would not be included in the prohibition). This commandment teaches the sanctity of all human life. See J. H. Yoder, “Exodus 20,13: ‘Thou Shalt Not Kill’,” Int 34 (1980): 394-99; and A. Phillips, “Another Look at Murder,” JJS 28 (1977): 105-26.

[20:14]  ³⁶ sn This is a sin against the marriage of a fellow citizen – it destroys the home. The Law distinguished between adultery (which had a death penalty) and sexual contact with a young woman (which carried a monetary fine and usually marriage if the father was willing). So it distinguished fornication and adultery. Both were sins, but the significance of each was different. In the ancient world this sin is often referred to as “the great sin.”

[20:15]  ³⁷ sn This law protected the property of the Israelite citizen. See D. Little, “Exodus 20,15: ‘Thou Shalt Not Steal’,” Int 34 (1980): 399-405.

[20:16]  ³⁸ tn Heb “answer” as in a court of law.

[20:16]  ³⁹ tn The expression עֵד שָׁקֶר (’ed shaqer) means “a lying witness” (B. S. Childs, Exodus [OTL], 388). In this verse the noun is an adverbial accusative, “you will not answer as a lying witness.” The prohibition is against perjury. While the precise reference would be to legal proceedings, the law probably had a broader application to lying about other people in general (see Lev 5:1; Hos 4:2).

[20:17]  ⁴⁰ tn The verb חָמַד (khamad) focuses not on an external act but on an internal mental activity behind the act, the motivation for it. The word can be used in a very good sense (Ps 19:10; 68:16), but it has a bad connotation in contexts where the object desired is off limits. This command is aimed at curtailing the greedy desire for something belonging to a neighbor, a desire that leads to the taking of it or the attempt to take it. It was used in the story of the Garden of Eden for the tree that was desired.

[20:17]  ⁴¹ sn See further G. Wittenburg, “The Tenth Commandment in the Old Testament,” Journal for Theology in South Africa 21 (1978): 3-17: and E. W. Nicholson, “The Decalogue as the Direct Address of God,” VT 27 (1977): 422-33.

[20:18]  ⁴² tn The participle is used here for durative action in the past time (GKC 359 §116.o).

[20:18]  ⁴³ tn The verb “to see” (רָאָה, ra’ah) refers to seeing with all the senses, or perceiving. W. C. Kaiser suggests that this is an example of the figure of speech called zeugma because the verb “saw” yokes together two objects, one that suits the verb and the other that does not. So, the verb “heard” is inserted here to clarify (“Exodus,” EBC 2:427).

[20:18]  ⁴⁴ tn The verb “saw” is supplied here because it is expected in English (see the previous note on “heard”).

[20:18]  ⁴⁵ tn The preterite with vav (ו) consecutive is here subordinated as a temporal clause to the following clause, which receives the prominence.

[20:18]  ⁴⁶ tn The meaning of נוּעַ (nua’) is “to shake, sway to and fro” in fear. Compare Isa 7:2 – “and his heart shook…as the trees of the forest shake with the wind.”

[20:18]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “and they stood from/at a distance.”

[20:19]  ⁴⁸ tn The verb is a Piel imperative. In this context it has more of the sense of a request than a command. The independent personal pronoun “you” emphasizes the subject and forms the contrast with God’s speaking.

[20:20]  ⁴⁹ tn נַסּוֹת (nassot) is the Piel infinitive construct; it forms the purpose of God’s coming with all the accompanying phenomena. The verb can mean “to try, test, prove.” The sense of “prove” fits this context best because the terrifying phenomena were intended to put the fear of God in their hearts so that they would obey. In other words, God was inspiring them to obey, not simply testing to see if they would.

[20:20]  ⁵⁰ tn The suffix on the noun is an objective genitive, referring to the fear that the people would have of God (GKC 439 §135.m).

[20:20]  ⁵¹ tn The negative form לְבִלְתִּי (lÿvilti) is used here with the imperfect tense (see for other examples GKC 483 §152.x). This gives the imperfect the nuance of a final imperfect: that you might not sin. Others: to keep you from sin.

[20:21]  ⁵² tn Heb “and they stood”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[20:21]  ⁵³ sn The word עֲרָפֶל (’arafel) is used in poetry in Ps 18:9 and 1 Kgs 8:12; and it is used in Deut 4:11, 5:22 [19].

[20:21]  ⁵⁴ sn It will not be hard to expound the passage on the Ten Commandments once their place in scripture has been determined. They, for the most part, are reiterated in the NT, in one way or another, usually with a much higher standard that requires attention to the spirit of the laws. Thus, these laws reveal God’s standard of righteousness by revealing sin. No wonder the Israelites were afraid when they saw the manifestation of God and heard his laws. When the whole covenant is considered, preamble and all, then it becomes clear that the motivation for obeying the commands is the person and the work of the covenant God – the one who redeemed his people. Obedience then becomes a response of devotion and adoration to the Redeemer who set them free. It becomes loyal service, not enslavement to laws. The point could be worded this way: God requires that his covenant people, whom he has redeemed, and to whom he has revealed himself, give their absolute allegiance and obedience to him. This means they will worship and serve him and safeguard the well-being of each other.

[20:22]  ⁵⁵ sn Based on the revelation of the holy sovereign God, this pericope instructs Israel on the form of proper worship of such a God. It focuses on the altar, the centerpiece of worship. The point of the section is this: those who worship this holy God must preserve holiness in the way they worship – they worship where he permits, in the manner he prescribes, and with the blessings he promises. This paragraph is said to open the Book of the Covenant, which specifically rules on matters of life and worship.

[20:22]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “and Yahweh said.”

[20:23]  ⁵⁷ tn The direct object of the verb must be “gods of silver.” The prepositional phrase modifies the whole verse to say that these gods would then be alongside the one true God.

[20:23]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “neither will you make for you gods of gold.”

[20:24]  ⁵⁹ sn The instructions here call for the altar to be made of natural things, not things manufactured or shaped by man. The altar was either to be made of clumps of earth or natural, unhewn rocks.

[20:24]  ⁶⁰ sn The “burnt offering” is the offering prescribed in Lev 1. Everything of this animal went up in smoke as a sweet aroma to God. It signified complete surrender by the worshiper who brought the animal, and complete acceptance by God, thereby making atonement. The “peace offering” is legislated in Lev 3 and 7. This was a communal meal offering to celebrate being at peace with God. It was made usually for thanksgiving, for payment of vows, or as a freewill offering.

[20:24]  ⁶¹ tn Gesenius lists this as one of the few places where the noun in construct seems to be indefinite in spite of the fact that the genitive has the article. He says בְּכָל־הַמָּקוֹם (bÿkhol-hammaqom) means “in all the place, sc. of the sanctuary, and is a dogmatic correction of “in every place” (כָּל־מָקוֹם, kol-maqom). See GKC 412 §127.e.

[20:24]  ⁶² tn The verb is זָכַר (zakhar, “to remember”), but in the Hiphil especially it can mean more than remember or cause to remember (remind) – it has the sense of praise or honor. B. S. Childs says it has a denominative meaning, “to proclaim” (Exodus [OTL], 447). The point of the verse is that God will give Israel reason for praising and honoring him, and in every place that occurs he will make his presence known by blessing them.

[20:25]  ⁶³ tn Heb “them” referring to the stones.

[20:25]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “of hewn stones.” Gesenius classifies this as an adverbial accusative – “you shall not build them (the stones of the altar) as hewn stones.” The remoter accusative is in apposition to the nearer (GKC 372 §117.kk).

[20:25]  ⁶⁵ tn The verb is a preterite with vav (ו) consecutive. It forms the apodosis in a conditional clause: “if you lift up your tool on it…you have defiled it.”

[20:26]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “uncovered” (so ASV, NAB).

[21:1]  ⁶⁷ sn There follows now a series of rulings called “the decisions” or “the judgments” (הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים, hammishpatim). A precept is stated, and then various cases in which the law is applicable are examined. These rulings are all in harmony with the Decalogue that has just been given and can be grouped into three categories: civil or criminal laws, religious or cultic laws, and moral or humanitarian laws. The civil and criminal laws make up most of chap. 21; the next two chapters mix the other kinds of laws. Among the many studies of this section of the book are F. C. Fensham, “The Role of the Lord in the Legal Sections of the Covenant Code,” VT 26 (1976): 262-74; S. Paul, “Unrecognized Biblical Legal Idioms in Light of Comparative Akkadian Expressions,” RB 86 (1979): 231-39; M. Galston, “The Purpose of the Law According to Maimonides,” JQR 69 (1978): 27-51.

[21:2]  ⁶⁸ sn See H. L. Elleson, “The Hebrew Slave: A Study in Early Israelite Society,” EvQ 45 (1973): 30-35; N. P. Lemche, “The Manumission of Slaves – The Fallow Year – The Sabbatical Year – The Jobel Year,” VT 26 (1976): 38-59, and “The ‘Hebrew Slave,’ Comments on the Slave Law – Ex. 21:2-11,” VT 25 (1975): 129-44.

[21:2]  ⁶⁹ tn The verbs in both the conditional clause and the following ruling are imperfect tense: “If you buy…then he will serve.” The second imperfect tense (the ruling) could be taken either as a specific future or an obligatory imperfect. Gesenius explains how the verb works in the conditional clauses here (see GKC 497 §159.bb).

[21:2]  ⁷⁰ sn The interpretation of “Hebrew” in this verse is uncertain: (l) a gentilic ending, (2) a fellow Israelite, (3) or a class of mercenaries of the population (see W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:431). It seems likely that the term describes someone born a Hebrew, as opposed to a foreigner (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 210). The literature on this includes: M. P. Gray, “The Habiru-Hebrew Problem,” HUCA 29 (1958): 135-202.

[21:2]  ⁷¹ sn The word חָפְשִׁי (khofshi) means “free.” It is possible that there is some connection between this word and a technical term used in other cultures for a social class of emancipated slaves who were freemen again (see I. Mendelsohn, “New Light on the Hupsu,” BASOR 139 [1955]: 9-11).

[21:2]  ⁷² tn The adverb חִנָּם (hinnam) means “gratis, free”; it is related to the verb “to be gracious, show favor” and the noun “grace.”

[21:3]  ⁷³ tn The tense is imperfect, but in the conditional clause it clearly refers to action that is anterior to the action in the next clause. Heb “if he comes in single, he goes out single,” that is, “if he came in single, he will go out single.”

[21:3]  ⁷⁴ tn Heb “with his back” meaning “alone.”

[21:3]  ⁷⁵ tn The phrase says, “if he was the possessor of a wife”; the noun בַּעַל (ba’al) can mean “possessor” or “husband.” If there was a wife, she shared his fortunes or his servitude; if he entered with her, she would accompany him when he left.

[21:4]  ⁷⁶ sn The slave would not have the right or the means to acquire a wife. Thus, the idea of the master’s “giving” him a wife is clear – the master would have to pay the bride price and make the provision. In this case, the wife and the children are actually the possession of the master unless the slave were to pay the bride price – but he is a slave because he got into debt. The law assumes that the master was better able to provide for this woman than the freed slave and that it was most important to keep the children with the mother.

[21:5]  ⁷⁷ tn The imperfect with the infinitive absolute means that the declaration is unambiguous, that the servant will clearly affirm that he wants to stay with the master. Gesenius says that in a case like this the infinitive emphasizes the importance of the condition on which some consequence depends (GKC 342-43 §113.o).

[21:5]  ⁷⁸ tn Or taken as a desiderative imperfect, it would say, “I do not want to go out free.”

[21:6]  ⁷⁹ tn The word is הָאֱלֹהִים (ha’elohim). S. R. Driver (Exodus, 211) says the phrase means “to God,” namely the nearest sanctuary in order that the oath and the ritual might be made solemn, although he does say that it would be done by human judges. That the reference is to Yahweh God is the view also of F. C. Fensham, “New Light on Exodus 21:7 and 22:7 from the Laws of Eshnunna,” JBL 78 (1959): 160-61. Cf. also ASV, NAB, NASB, NCV, NRSV, NLT. Others have made a stronger case that it refers to judges who acted on behalf of God; see C. Gordon, “אלהים in its Reputed Meaning of Rulers, Judges,” JBL 54 (1935): 134-44; and A. E. Draffkorn, “Ilani/Elohim,” JBL 76 (1957): 216-24; cf. KJV, NIV.

[21:6]  ⁸⁰ tn Or “till his life’s end” (as in the idiom: “serve him for good”).

[21:7]  ⁸¹ sn This paragraph is troubling to modern readers, but given the way that marriages were contracted and the way people lived in the ancient world, it was a good provision for people who might want to find a better life for their daughter. On the subject in general for this chapter, see W. M. Swartley, Slavery, Sabbath, War, and Women, 31-64.

[21:7]  ⁸² tn The word אָמָה (’amah) refers to a female servant who would eventually become a concubine or wife; the sale price included the amount for the service as well as the bride price (see B. Jacob, Exodus, 621). The arrangement recognized her honor as an Israelite woman, one who could be a wife, even though she entered the household in service. The marriage was not automatic, as the conditions show, but her treatment was safeguarded come what may. The law was a way, then, for a poor man to provide a better life for a daughter.

[21:8]  ⁸³ tn Heb “and if unpleasant (רָעָה, ra’ah) in the eyes of her master.”

[21:8]  ⁸⁴ tn The verb יָעַד (ya’ad) does not mean “betroth, espouse” as some of the earlier translations had it, but “to designate.” When he bought the girl, he designated her for himself, giving her and her family certain expectations.

[21:8]  ⁸⁵ tn The verb is a Hiphil perfect with vav (ו) consecutive from פָדָה (padah, “to redeem”). Here in the apodosis the form is equivalent to an imperfect: “let someone redeem her” – perhaps her father if he can, or another. U. Cassuto says it can also mean she can redeem herself and dissolve the relationship (Exodus, 268).

[21:8]  ⁸⁶ tn Heb “he has no authority/power,” for the verb means “rule, have dominion.”

[21:8]  ⁸⁷ sn The deceit is in not making her his wife or concubine as the arrangement had stipulated.

[21:9]  ⁸⁸ tn Or “after the manner of” (KJV, ASV); NRSV “shall deal with her as with a daughter.”

[21:10]  ⁸⁹ tn “wife” has been supplied.

[21:10]  ⁹⁰ 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]  ⁹¹ 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]  ⁹² 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]  ⁹³ sn The underlying point of this section remains vital today: The people of God must treat all human life as sacred.

[21:12]  ⁹⁴ 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]  ⁹⁵ 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]  ⁹⁶ sn See A. Phillips, “Another Look at Murder,” JJS 28 (1977): 105-26.

[21:13]  ⁹⁷ tn Heb “if he does not lie in wait” (NASB similar).

[21:13]  ⁹⁸ tn Heb “and God brought into his hand.” The death is unintended, its circumstances outside human control.

[21:14]  ⁹⁹ tn The word עָרְמָה (’ormah) is problematic. It could mean with prior intent, which would be connected with the word in Prov 8:5, 12 which means “understanding” (or “prudence” – fully aware of the way things are). It could be connected also to an Arabic word for “enemy” which would indicate this was done with malice or evil intentions (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 270). The use here seems parallel to the one in Josh 9:4, an instance involving intentionality and clever deception.

[21:15]  ¹⁰⁰ sn This is the same construction that was used in v. 12, but here there is no mention of the parents’ death. This attack, then, does not lead to their death – if he killed one of them then v. 12 would be the law. S. R. Driver says that the severity of the penalty was in accord with the high view of parents (Exodus, 216).

[21:16]  ¹⁰¹ tn Heb “a stealer of a man,” thus “anyone stealing a man.”

[21:16]  ¹⁰² sn The implication is that it would be an Israelite citizen who was kidnapped and sold to a foreign tribe or country (like Joseph). There was always a market for slaves. The crime would be in forcibly taking the individual away from his home and religion and putting him into bondage or death.

[21:16]  ¹⁰³ tn Literally “and he is found in his hand” (KJV and ASV both similar), being not yet sold.

[21:17]  ¹⁰⁴ tn The form is a Piel participle from קָלַל (qalal), meaning in Qal “be light,” in Piel “treat lightly, curse, revile, declare contemptible, treat shamefully.” (See its use in Lev 19:14; Josh 24:9; Judg 9:26-28; 1 Sam 3:13; 17:43; 2 Sam 16:5-13; Prov 30:10-11; Eccl 7:21-22; 10:20.) It is opposite of “honor” (כָּבֵד, kaved; Qal “be heavy”; Piel “honor,” as in 20:12) and of “bless.” This verse then could refer to any act contrary to the commandment to honor the parents. B. Jacob (Exodus, 640) cites parallels in Sumerian where people were severely punished for publicly disowning their parents. “21:15, 17 taken together evoke the picture of parents who, physically and verbally, are forcibly turned out of the house (cf. Prov. 19:26)” (C. Houtman, Exodus, 3:148).

[21:18]  ¹⁰⁵ tn Heb “falls to bed.”

[21:19]  ¹⁰⁶ tn “and then” has been supplied.

[21:19]  ¹⁰⁷ 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]  ¹⁰⁸ tn The imperfect tense carries a nuance of obligatory imperfect because this is binding on the one who hit him.

[21:19]  ¹⁰⁹ tn Heb “his”; the referent (the injured person) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:19]  ¹¹⁰ 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.

[21:20]  ¹¹¹ tn Heb “so that he”; the words “or she” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[21:20]  ¹¹² tn Heb “under his hand.”

[21:20]  ¹¹³ tn Heb “will be avenged” (how is not specified).

[21:21]  ¹¹⁴ tn Heb “if he”; the referent (the servant struck and injured in the previous verse) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:21]  ¹¹⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the owner of the injured servant) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[21:21]  ¹¹⁶ tn This last clause is a free paraphrase of the Hebrew, “for he is his money” (so KJV, ASV); NASB “his property.” It seems that if the slave survives a couple of days, it is probable that the master was punishing him and not intending to kill him. If he then dies, there is no penalty other than that the owner loses the slave who is his property – he suffers the loss.

[21:22]  ¹¹⁷ tn This line has occasioned a good deal of discussion. It may indicate that the child was killed, as in a miscarriage; or it may mean that there was a premature birth. The latter view is taken here because of the way the whole section is written: (1) “her children come out” reflects a birth and not the loss of children, (2) there is no serious damage, and (3) payment is to be set for any remuneration. The word אָסוֹן (’ason) is translated “serious damage.” The word was taken in Mekilta to mean “death.” U. Cassuto says the point of the phrase is that neither the woman or the children that are born die (Exodus, 275). But see among the literature on this: M. G. Kline, “Lex Talionis and the Human Fetus,” JETS 20 (1977): 193-201; W. House, “Miscarriage or Premature Birth: Additional Thoughts on Exodus 21:22-25,” WTJ 41 (1978): 108-23; S. E. Loewenstamm, “Exodus XXI 22-25,” VT 27 (1977): 352-60.

[21:22]  ¹¹⁸ tn The word בִּפְלִלִים (biflilim) means “with arbitrators.” The point then seems to be that the amount of remuneration for damages that was fixed by the husband had to be approved by the courts. S. R. Driver mentions an alternative to this unusual reading presented by Budde, reading בנפלים as “untimely birth” (Exodus, 219). See also E. A. Speiser, “The Stem PLL in Hebrew,” JBL 82 (1963): 301-6.

[21:25]  ¹¹⁹ sn The text now introduces the Lex Talionis with cases that were not likely to have applied to the situation of the pregnant woman. See K. Luke, “Eye for Eye, Tooth for Tooth,” Indian Theological Studies 16 (1979): 326-43.

[21:26]  ¹²⁰ tn The form וְשִׁחֲתָהּ (vÿshikhatah) is the Piel perfect with the vav (ל) consecutive, rendered “and destroys it.” The verb is a strong one, meaning “to ruin, completely destroy.”

[21:26]  ¹²¹ tn Heb “him”; the referent (the male or female servant) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:26]  ¹²² sn Interestingly, the verb used here for “let him go” is the same verb throughout the first part of the book for “release” of the Israelites from slavery. Here, an Israelite will have to release the injured slave.

[21:27]  ¹²³ tn Heb “him”; the referent (the male or female servant) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:28]  ¹²⁴ sn The point that this section of the laws makes is that one must ensure the safety of others by controlling the circumstances.

[21:28]  ¹²⁵ tn Traditionally “ox,” but “bull” would also be suitable. The term may refer to one of any variety of large cattle.

[21:28]  ¹²⁶ tn Heb “and he dies”; KJV “that they die”; NAB, NASB “to death.”

[21:28]  ¹²⁷ tn The text uses סָקוֹל יִסָּקֵל (saqol yissaqel), a Qal infinitive absolute with a Niphal imperfect. The infinitive intensifies the imperfect, which here has an obligatory nuance or is a future of instruction.

[21:29]  ¹²⁸ tn The Hophal perfect has the idea of “attested, testified against.”

[21:29]  ¹²⁹ tn Heb “he was not keeping it” or perhaps guarding or watching it (referring to the ox).

[21:30]  ¹³⁰ sn The family of the victim would set the amount for the ransom of the man guilty of criminal neglect. This practice was common in the ancient world, rare in Israel. If the family allowed the substitute price, then the man would be able to redeem his life.

[21:31]  ¹³¹ tn Heb “it”; the referent (the ox) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:31]  ¹³² tn Heb “he”; the referent (the owner) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:31]  ¹³³ tn Heb “according to this judgment it shall be done to him.”

[21:32]  ¹³⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the owner) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:32]  ¹³⁵ sn A shekel was a unit for measure by means of a scale. Both the weight and the value of a shekel of silver are hard to determine. “Though there is no certainty, the shekel is said to weigh about 11,5 grams” (C. Houtman, Exodus, 3:181). Over four hundred years earlier, Joseph was sold into Egypt for 20 shekels. The free Israelite citizen was worth about 50 shekels (Lev 27:3f.).

[21:32]  ¹³⁶ sn See further B. S. Jackson, “The Goring Ox Again [Ex. 21,28-36],” JJP 18 (1974): 55-94.

[21:34]  ¹³⁷ tn The verb is a Piel imperfect from שָׁלַם (shalam); it has the idea of making payment in full, making recompense, repaying. These imperfects could be given a future tense translation as imperfects of instruction, but in the property cases an obligatory imperfect fits better – this is what he is bound or obliged to do – what he must do.

[21:34]  ¹³⁸ tn Heb “silver.”

[21:34]  ¹³⁹ tn Here the term “animal” has been supplied.

[21:35]  ¹⁴⁰ tn Literally “its silver” or “silver for it.”

[21:35]  ¹⁴¹ tn Heb “divide the dead.” The noun “ox” has been supplied.

[21:36]  ¹⁴² tn The construction now uses the same Piel imperfect (v. 34) but adds the infinitive absolute to it for emphasis.

[21:36]  ¹⁴³ sn The point of this section (21:28-36) seems to be that one must ensure the safety of others by controlling one’s property and possessions. This section pertained to neglect with animals, but the message would have applied to similar situations. The people of God were to take heed to ensure the well-being of others, and if there was a problem, it had to be made right.

[22:1]  ¹⁴⁴ sn The next section of laws concerns property rights. These laws protected property from thieves and oppressors, but also set limits to retribution. The message could be: God’s laws demand that the guilty make restitution for their crimes against property and that the innocent be exonerated.

[22:1]  ¹⁴⁵ sn Beginning with 22:1, the verse numbers through 22:31 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 22:1 ET = 21:37 HT, 22:2 ET = 22:1 HT, etc., through 22:31 ET = 22:30 HT. Thus in the English Bible ch. 22 has 31 verses, while in the Hebrew Bible it has 30 verses, with the one extra verse attached to ch. 21 in the Hebrew Bible.

[22:1]  ¹⁴⁶ tn The imperfect tense here has the nuance of obligatory imperfect – he must pay back.

[22:1]  ¹⁴⁷ tn בָּקַר (baqar) and צֹאן (tso’n) are the categories to which the ox and the sheep belonged, so that the criminal had some latitude in paying back animals.

[22:2]  ¹⁴⁸ tn Heb “found” (so KJV, ASV, NRSV).

[22:2]  ¹⁴⁹ tn The word בַּמַּחְתֶּרֶת (bammakhteret) means “digging through” the walls of a house (usually made of mud bricks). The verb is used only a few times and has the meaning of dig in (as into houses) or row hard (as in Jonah 1:13).

[22:2]  ¹⁵⁰ tn The text has “there is not to him bloods.” When the word “blood” is put in the plural, it refers to bloodshed, or the price of blood that is shed, i.e., blood guiltiness.

[22:3]  ¹⁵¹ tn The words “a thief” have been added for clarification. S. R. Driver (Exodus, 224) thinks that these lines are out of order, since some of them deal with killing the thief and then others with the thief making restitution, but rearranging the clauses is not a necessary way to bring clarity to the paragraph. The idea here would be that any thief caught alive would pay restitution.

[22:4]  ¹⁵² tn The construction uses a Niphal infinitive absolute and a Niphal imperfect: if it should indeed be found. Gesenius says that in such conditional clauses the infinitive absolute has less emphasis, but instead emphasizes the condition on which some consequence depends (see GKC 342-43 §113.o).

[22:4]  ¹⁵³ tn Heb “in his hand.”

[22:4]  ¹⁵⁴ sn He must pay back one for what he took, and then one for the penalty – his loss as he was inflicting a loss on someone else.

[22:5]  ¹⁵⁵ tn The verb בָּעַר (ba’ar, “graze”) as a denominative from the word “livestock” is not well attested. So some have suggested that with slight changes this verse could be read: “If a man cause a field or a vineyard to be burnt, and let the burning spread, and it burnt in another man’s field” (see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 225).

[22:5]  ¹⁵⁶ tn The phrase “his livestock” is supplied from the next clause.

[22:6]  ¹⁵⁷ tn Heb “if a fire goes out and finds”; NLT “if a fire gets out of control.”

[22:6]  ¹⁵⁸ sn Thorn bushes were used for hedges between fields, but thorn bushes also burned easily, making the fire spread rapidly.

[22:6]  ¹⁵⁹ tn This is a Hiphil participle of the verb “to burn, kindle” used substantivally. This is the one who caused the fire, whether by accident or not.

[22:7]  ¹⁶⁰ tn The word usually means “vessels” but can have the sense of household goods and articles. It could be anything from jewels and ornaments to weapons or pottery.

[22:7]  ¹⁶¹ tn Heb “to keep.” Here “safekeeping,” that is, to keep something secure on behalf of a third party, is intended.

[22:7]  ¹⁶² tn Heb “found.”

[22:8]  ¹⁶³ tn Heb “found.”

[22:8]  ¹⁶⁴ tn Here again the word used is “the gods,” meaning the judges who made the assessments and decisions. In addition to other works, see J. R. Vannoy, “The Use of the Word ha’elohim in Exodus 21:6 and 22:7,8,” The Law and the Prophets, 225-41.

[22:8]  ¹⁶⁵ tn The phrase “to see” has been supplied.

[22:8]  ¹⁶⁶ tn The line says “if he has not stretched out his hand.” This could be the oath formula, but the construction here would be unusual, or it could be taken as “whether” (see W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:438). U. Cassuto (Exodus, 286) does not think the wording can possibly fit an oath; nevertheless, an oath would be involved before God (as he takes it instead of “judges”) – if the man swore, his word would be accepted, but if he would not swear, he would be guilty.

[22:9]  ¹⁶⁷ tn Heb “concerning every kind [thing] of trespass.”

[22:9]  ¹⁶⁸ tn The text simply has “this is it” (הוּא זֶה, hu’ zeh).

[22:9]  ¹⁶⁹ tn Again, or “God.”

[22:9]  ¹⁷⁰ tn This kind of clause Gesenius calls an independent relative clause – it does not depend on a governing substantive but itself expresses a substantival idea (GKC 445-46 §138.e).

[22:9]  ¹⁷¹ tn The verb means “to be guilty” in Qal; in Hiphil it would have a declarative sense, because a causative sense would not possibly fit.

[22:10]  ¹⁷² tn The form is a Niphal participle from the verb “to break” – “is broken,” which means harmed, maimed, or hurt in any way.

[22:10]  ¹⁷³ tn This verb is frequently used with the meaning “to take captive.” The idea here then is that raiders or robbers have carried off the animal.

[22:10]  ¹⁷⁴ tn Heb “there is no one seeing.”

[22:11]  ¹⁷⁵ tn The construct relationship שְׁבֻעַת יְהוָה (shÿvu’at yÿhvah, “the oath of Yahweh”) would require a genitive of indirect object, “an oath [to] Yahweh.” U. Cassuto suggests that it means “an oath by Yahweh” (Exodus, 287). The person to whom the animal was entrusted would take a solemn oath to Yahweh that he did not appropriate the animal for himself, and then his word would be accepted.

[22:12]  ¹⁷⁶ tn Both with this verb “stolen” and in the next clauses with “torn in pieces,” the text uses the infinitive absolute construction with less than normal emphasis; as Gesenius says, in conditional clauses, an infinitive absolute stresses the importance of the condition on which some consequence depends (GKC 342-43 §113.o).

[22:12]  ¹⁷⁷ sn The point is that the man should have taken better care of the animal.

[22:13]  ¹⁷⁸ tn The word עֵד (’ed) actually means “witness,” but the dead animal that is returned is a silent witness, i.e., evidence. The word is an adverbial accusative.

[22:14]  ¹⁷⁹ tn Heb “if a man asks [an animal] from his neighbor” (see also Exod 12:36). The ruling here implies an animal is borrowed, and if harm comes to it when the owner is not with it, the borrower is liable. The word “animal” is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[22:14]  ¹⁸⁰ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the man who borrowed the animal) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:15]  ¹⁸¹ tn Literally “it came with/for its hire,” this expression implies that the owner who hired it out and was present was prepared to take the risk, so there would be no compensation.

[22:16]  ¹⁸² sn The second half of the chapter records various laws of purity and justice. Any of them could be treated in an expository way, but in the present array they offer a survey of God’s righteous standards: Maintain the sanctity of marriage (16-17); maintain the purity of religious institutions (18-20), maintain the rights of human beings (21-28), maintain the rights of Yahweh (29-31).

[22:16]  ¹⁸³ tn This is the word בְּתוּלָה (bÿtulah); it describes a young woman who is not married or a young woman engaged to be married; in any case, she is presumed to be a virgin.

[22:16]  ¹⁸⁴ tn Or “pledged” for marriage.

[22:16]  ¹⁸⁵ tn The verb מָהַר (mahar) means “pay the marriage price,” and the related noun is the bride price. B. Jacob says this was a proposal gift and not a purchase price (Exodus, 700). This is the price paid to her parents, which allowed for provision should there be a divorce. The amount was usually agreed on by the two families, but the price was higher for a pure bride from a noble family. Here, the one who seduces her must pay it, regardless of whether he marries her or not.

[22:18]  ¹⁸⁶ sn There still were many who wished to follow pagan beliefs and consort with the dead (see Deut 18:10-11). The sorceress was someone who dealt with drugs or herbs for occult purposes.

[22:19]  ¹⁸⁷ tn Heb “lies with.”

[22:20]  ¹⁸⁸ tn Heb “not to Yahweh.”

[22:20]  ¹⁸⁹ tn The verb חָרַם (kharam) means “to be devoted” to God or “to be banned.” The idea is that it would be God’s to do with as he liked. What was put under the ban was for God alone, either for his service or for his judgment. But it was out of human control. Here the verb is saying that the person will be utterly destroyed.

[22:21]  ¹⁹⁰ tn Or “oppress.”

[22:21]  ¹⁹¹ tn Or “alien,” both here and in 23:9. This individual is a resident foreigner; he lives in the land but, aside from provisions such as this, might easily be without legal rights.

[22:22]  ¹⁹² tn The verb “afflict” is a Piel imperfect from עָנָה (’anah); it has a wide range of meanings: “afflict, oppress, humiliate, rape.” These victims are at the mercy of the judges, businessmen, or villains. The righteous king and the righteous people will not mistreat them (see Isa 1:17; Job 31:16, 17, 21).

[22:23]  ¹⁹³ tn The accusative here is the masculine singular pronoun, which leads S. R. Driver to conclude that this line is out of place, even though the masculine singular can be used in places like this (Exodus, 232). U. Cassuto says its use is to refer to certain classes (Exodus, 292).

[22:23]  ¹⁹⁴ tn Here again and with “cry” the infinitive absolute functions with a diminished emphasis (GKC 342-43 §113.o).

[22:23]  ¹⁹⁵ tn Here is the normal use of the infinitive absolute with the imperfect tense to emphasize the verb: “I will surely hear,” implying, “I will surely respond.”

[22:24]  ¹⁹⁶ sn The punishment will follow the form of talionic justice, an eye for an eye, in which the punishment matches the crime. God will use invading armies (“sword” is a metonymy of adjunct here) to destroy them, making their wives widows and their children orphans.

[22:25]  ¹⁹⁷ tn “any of” has been supplied.

[22:25]  ¹⁹⁸ sn The moneylender will be demanding and exacting. In Ps 109:11 and 2 Kgs 4:1 the word is rendered as “extortioner.”

[22:25]  ¹⁹⁹ tn Heb “set.”

[22:25]  ²⁰⁰ sn In ancient times money was lent primarily for poverty and not for commercial ventures (H. Gamoran, “The Biblical Law against Loans on Interest,” JNES 30 [1971]: 127-34). The lending to the poor was essentially a charity, and so not to be an opportunity to make money from another person’s misfortune. The word נֶשֶׁךְ (neshekh) may be derived from a verb that means “to bite,” and so the idea of usury or interest was that of putting out one’s money with a bite in it (See S. Stein, “The Laws on Interest in the Old Testament,” JTS 4 [1953]: 161-70; and E. Neufeld, “The Prohibition against Loans at Interest in the Old Testament,” HUCA 26 [1955]: 355-412).

[22:26]  ²⁰¹ tn The construction again uses the infinitive absolute with the verb in the conditional clause to stress the condition.

[22:26]  ²⁰² tn The clause uses the preposition, the infinitive construct, and the noun that is the subjective genitive – “at the going in of the sun.”

[22:27]  ²⁰³ tn Heb “his skin.”

[22:27]  ²⁰⁴ tn Literally the text reads, “In what can he lie down?” The cloak would be used for a covering at night to use when sleeping. The garment, then, was the property that could not be taken and not given back – it was the last possession. The modern idiom of “the shirt off his back” gets at the point being made here.

[22:27]  ²⁰⁵ tn Heb “and it will be.”

[22:28]  ²⁰⁶ tn The two verbs in this verse are synonyms: קָלַל (qalal) means “to treat lightly, curse,” and אָרַר (’arar) means “to curse.”

[22:28]  ²⁰⁷ tn The word אֱלֹהִים (’elohim) is “gods” or “God.” If taken as the simple plural, it could refer to the human judges, as it has in the section of laws; this would match the parallelism in the verse. If it was taken to refer to God, then the idea of cursing God would be more along the line of blasphemy. B. Jacob says that the word refers to functioning judges, and that would indirectly mean God, for they represented the religious authority, and the prince the civil authority (Exodus, 708).

[22:29]  ²⁰⁸ tn The expressions are unusual. U. Cassuto renders them: “from the fullness of your harvest and from the outflow of your presses” (Exodus, 294). He adds the Hittite parallel material to show that the people were to bring the offerings on time and not let them overlap, because the firstfruits had to be eaten first by the priest.

[22:31]  ²⁰⁹ sn The use of this word here has to do with the laws of the sanctuary and not some advanced view of holiness. The ritual holiness at the sanctuary would prohibit eating anything torn to pieces.

[22:31]  ²¹⁰ tn Or “by wild animals.”

[23:1]  ²¹¹ 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]  ²¹² 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]  ²¹³ tn Or “a groundless report” (see Exod 20:7 for the word שָׁוְא, shav’).

[23:1]  ²¹⁴ tn Heb “do not put your hand” (cf. KJV, ASV); NASB “join your hand.”

[23:1]  ²¹⁵ 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]  ²¹⁶ 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]  ²¹⁷ 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]  ²¹⁸ 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]  ²¹⁹ 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]  ²²⁰ 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]  ²²¹ tn Heb “meet” (so KJV, ASV, NASB).

[23:4]  ²²² tn The construction uses the imperfect tense (taken here as an obligatory imperfect) and the infinitive absolute for emphasis.

[23:5]  ²²³ tn The line reads “you will cease to forsake him” – refrain from leaving your enemy without help.

[23:5]  ²²⁴ 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]  ²²⁵ sn See H. B. Huffmon, “Exodus 23:4-5: A Comparative Study,” A Light Unto My Path, 271-78.

[23:7]  ²²⁶ tn Or “stay away from,” or “have nothing to do with.”

[23:7]  ²²⁷ 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]  ²²⁸ 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]  ²²⁹ 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]  ²³⁰ tn Heb “blinds the open-eyed.”

[23:9]  ²³¹ 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]  ²³² tn Heb “soul, life” – “you know what it feels like.”

[23:10]  ²³³ sn This section concerns religious duties of the people of God as they worship by giving thanks to God for their blessings. The principles here are: God requires his people to allow the poor to share in their bounty (10-11); God requires his people to provide times of rest and refreshment for those who labor for them (12); God requires allegiance to himself (13); God requires his people to come before him in gratitude and share their bounty (14-17); God requires that his people safeguard proper worship forms (18-19).

[23:10]  ²³⁴ tn Heb “and six years”; this is an adverbial accusative telling how long they can work their land. The following references to years and days in vv. 10-12 function similarly.

[23:11]  ²³⁵ tn Heb “and the seventh year”; an adverbial accusative with a disjunctive vav (ו).

[23:11]  ²³⁶ tn Heb “living thing/creature/beast of the field.” A general term for animals, usually wild animals, including predators (cf. v. 29; Gen 2:19-20; Lev 26:22; Deut 7:22; 1 Sam 17:46; Job 5:22-23; Ezek 29:5; 34:5).

[23:12]  ²³⁷ tn Heb “alien,” or “resident foreigner.” Such an individual would have traveled out of need and depended on the goodwill of the people around him. The rendering “hired help” assumes that the foreigner is mentioned in this context because he is working for an Israelite and will benefit from the Sabbath rest, along with his employer.

[23:12]  ²³⁸ tn The verb is וְיִּנָּפֵשׁ (vÿyyinnafesh); it is related to the word usually translated “soul” or “life.”

[23:13]  ²³⁹ tn The phrase “to do” is added; in Hebrew word order the line says, “In all that I have said to you you will watch yourselves.” The verb for paying attention is a Niphal imperfect with an imperatival force.

[23:13]  ²⁴⁰ tn Or “honor,” Hiphil of זָכַר (zakhar). See also Exod 20:25; Josh 23:7; Isa 26:13.

[23:13]  ²⁴¹ tn Heb “mouth.”

[23:14]  ²⁴² tn The expression rendered “three times” is really “three feet,” or “three foot-beats.” The expression occurs only a few times in the Law. The expressing is an adverbial accusative.

[23:14]  ²⁴³ tn This is the word תָּחֹג (takhog) from the root חָגַג (khagag); it describes a feast that was accompanied by a pilgrimage. It was first used by Moses in his appeal that Israel go three days into the desert to hold such a feast.

[23:15]  ²⁴⁴ tn This is an adverbial accusative of time.

[23:15]  ²⁴⁵ tn Heb “in it.”

[23:15]  ²⁴⁶ tn The verb is a Niphal imperfect; the nuance of permission works well here – no one is permitted to appear before God empty (Heb “and they will not appear before me empty”).

[23:16]  ²⁴⁷ tn The words “you are also to observe” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[23:16]  ²⁴⁸ tn An infinitive construct with a preposition and a pronominal suffix is used to make a temporal clause: “in the going in of the year.” The word “year” is the subjective genitive, the subject of the clause.

[23:16]  ²⁴⁹ tn An infinitive construct with a preposition and a pronominal suffix is used to make a temporal clause: “in the ingathering of you.”

[23:16]  ²⁵⁰ tn Heb “gathered in your labors.” This is a metonymy of cause put for the effect. “Labors” are not gathered in, but what the labors produced – the harvest.

[23:17]  ²⁵¹ tn Adverbial accusative of time: “three times” becomes “at three times.”

[23:17]  ²⁵² tn Here the divine Name reads in Hebrew הָאָדֹן יְהוָה (ha’adon yÿhvah), which if rendered according to the traditional scheme of “Lord” for “Yahweh” would result in “Lord Lord.” A number of English versions therefore render this phrase “Lord God,” and that convention has been followed here.

[23:18]  ²⁵³ tn The verb is תִּזְבַּח (tizbbakh), an imperfect tense from the same root as the genitive that qualifies the accusative “blood”: “you will not sacrifice the blood of my sacrifice.” The verb means “to slaughter”; since one cannot slaughter blood, a more general translation is required here. But if the genitive is explained as “my blood-sacrifice” (a genitive of specification; like “the evil of your doings” in Isa 1:16), then a translation of sacrifice would work (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 304).

[23:18]  ²⁵⁴ sn See N. Snaith, “Exodus 23:18 and 34:25,” JTS 20 (1969): 533-34; see also M. Haran, “The Passover Sacrifice,” Studies in the Religion of Ancient Israel (VTSup), 86-116.

[23:19]  ²⁵⁵ sn On this verse, see C. M. Carmichael, “On Separating Life and Death: An Explanation of Some Biblical Laws,” HTR 69 (1976): 1-7; J. Milgrom, “You Shall Not Boil a Kid in Its Mother’s Milk,” BRev 1 (1985): 48-55; R. J. Ratner and B. Zuckerman, “In Rereading the ‘Kid in Milk’ Inscriptions,” BRev 1 (1985): 56-58; and M. Haran, “Seething a Kid in Its Mother’s Milk,” JJS 30 (1979): 23-35. Here and at 34:26, where this command is repeated, it ends a series of instructions about procedures for worship.

[23:20]  ²⁵⁶ sn This passage has some of the most interesting and perplexing expressions and constructions in the book. It is largely promise, but it is part of the Law and so demands compliance by faith. Its points are: God promises to send his angel to prepare the way before his obedient servants (20-23); God promises blessing for his loyal servants (24-33). So in the section one learns that God promises his protection (victory) and blessing (through his angel) for his obedient and loyal worshipers.

[23:20]  ²⁵⁷ tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) with the active participle indicates imminent future, something God is about to do.

[23:20]  ²⁵⁸ sn The word is מַלְאָךְ (mal’akh, “messenger, angel”). This angel is to be treated with the same fear and respect as Yahweh, for Yahweh will be speaking in him. U. Cassuto (Exodus, 305-6) says that the words of the first clause do not imply a being distinct from God, for in the ancient world the line of demarcation between the sender and the sent is liable easily to be blurred. He then shows how the “Angel of Yahweh” in Genesis is Yahweh. He concludes that the words here mean “I will guide you.” Christian commentators tend to identify the Angel of Yahweh as the second person of the Trinity (W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:446). However, in addition to being a preincarnate appearance, the word could refer to Yahweh – some manifestation of Yahweh himself.

[23:20]  ²⁵⁹ tn Heb “protect you in the way.”

[23:20]  ²⁶⁰ tn The form is the Hiphil perfect of the verb כּוּן (kun, “to establish, prepare”).

[23:21]  ²⁶¹ sn This means “the manifestation of my being” is in him (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 247). Driver quotes McNeile as saying, “The ‘angel’ is Jehovah Himself ‘in a temporary descent to visibility for a special purpose.’” Others take the “name” to represent Yahweh’s “power” (NCV) or “authority” (NAB, CEV).

[23:22]  ²⁶² tn The infinitive absolute here does not add as great an emphasis as normal, but emphasizes the condition that is being set forth (see GKC 342-43 §113.o).

[23:23]  ²⁶³ tn Heb “will cut them off” (so KJV, ASV).

[23:24]  ²⁶⁴ tn The Hebrew is מַצֵּבֹתֵיהֶם (matsevotehem, “their standing stones”); these long stones were erected to represent the abode of the numen or deity. They were usually set up near the altar or the high place. To destroy these would be to destroy the centers of Canaanite worship in the land.

[23:24]  ²⁶⁵ tn Both verbs are joined with their infinitive absolutes to provide the strongest sense to these instructions. The images of the false gods in Canaan were to be completely and utterly destroyed. This could not be said any more strongly.

[23:25]  ²⁶⁶ tn The perfect tense, masculine plural, with vav (ו) consecutive is in sequence with the preceding: do not bow down to them, but serve Yahweh. It is then the equivalent of an imperfect of instruction or injunction.

[23:25]  ²⁶⁷ tn The LXX reads “and I will bless” to make the verb conform with the speaker, Yahweh.

[23:25]  ²⁶⁸ sn On this unusual clause B. Jacob says that it is the reversal of the curse in Genesis, because the “bread and water” represent the field work and ground suitability for abundant blessing of provisions (Exodus, 734).

[23:26]  ²⁶⁹ tn Or “abort”; Heb “cast.”

[23:26]  ²⁷⁰ sn No one will die prematurely; this applies to the individual or the nation. The plan of God to bless was extensive, if only the people would obey.

[23:27]  ²⁷¹ tn The word for “terror” is אֵימָתִי (’emati); the word has the thought of “panic” or “dread.” God would make the nations panic as they heard of the exploits and knew the Israelites were drawing near. U. Cassuto thinks the reference to “hornets” in v. 28 may be a reference to this fear, an unreasoning dread, rather than to another insect invasion (Exodus, 308). Others suggest it is symbolic of an invading army or a country like Egypt or literal insects (see E. Neufeld, “Insects as Warfare Agents in the Ancient Near East,” Or 49 [1980]: 30-57).

[23:27]  ²⁷² tn Heb “kill.”

[23:27]  ²⁷³ tn The text has “and I will give all your enemies to you [as] a back.” The verb of making takes two accusatives, the second being the adverbial accusative of product (see GKC 371-72 §117.ii, n. 1).

[23:28]  ²⁷⁴ tn Heb “and I will send.”

[23:29]  ²⁷⁵ tn Heb “the beast of the field.”

[23:30]  ²⁷⁶ tn The repetition expresses an exceptional or super-fine quality (see GKC 396 §123.e).

[23:31]  ²⁷⁷ tn The form is a perfect tense with vav consecutive.

[23:31]  ²⁷⁸ tn In the Hebrew Bible “the River” usually refers to the Euphrates (cf. NASB, NCV, NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT). There is some thought that it refers to a river Nahr el Kebir between Lebanon and Syria. See further W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:447; and G. W. Buchanan, The Consequences of the Covenant (NovTSup), 91-100.

[23:33]  ²⁷⁹ tn The idea of the “snare” is to lure them to judgment; God is apparently warning about contact with the Canaanites, either in worship or in business. They were very syncretistic, and so it would be dangerous to settle among them.