Exodus 23:4-9

23:4 “If you encounter ¹  your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering off, you must by all means return ²  it to him. 23:5 If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen under its load, you must not ignore him, ³  but be sure to help ⁴  him with it. ⁵ 

23:6 “You must not turn away justice for your poor people in their lawsuits. 23:7 Keep your distance ⁶  from a false charge ⁷  – do not kill the innocent and the righteous, ⁸  for I will not justify the wicked. ⁹ 

23:8 “You must not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see ¹⁰  and subverts the words of the righteous.

23:9 “You must not oppress ¹¹  a foreigner, since you know the life ¹²  of a foreigner, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

[23:4]  ¹ tn Heb “meet” (so KJV, ASV, NASB).

[23:4]  ² tn The construction uses the imperfect tense (taken here as an obligatory imperfect) and the infinitive absolute for emphasis.

[23:5]  ³ tn The line reads “you will cease to forsake him” – refrain from leaving your enemy without help.

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

[23:7]  ⁵ tn Or “stay away from,” or “have nothing to do with.”

[23:7]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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]  ⁷ tn Heb “blinds the open-eyed.”

[23:9]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “soul, life” – “you know what it feels like.”