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Exodus 23:6
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4 a“If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall surely bring it back to him again.  
5 aIf you see the donkey of one who hates you lying under its burden, and you would refrain from helping it, you shall surely help him with it.  
6 a“You shall not pervert the judgment of your poor in his dispute.  
7 aKeep yourself far from a false matter; bdo not kill the innocent and righteous. For cI will not justify the wicked.  
8 And ayou bshall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the discerning and perverts the words of the righteous.  
9 “Also you shall not oppress a1 stranger, for you know the heart of a stranger, because you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

The Law of Sabbaths

10 a“Six years you shall sow your land and gather in its produce,  
11 but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave, the beasts of the field may eat. In like manner you shall do with your vineyard and your1 olive grove.
12 aSix days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest, that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female servant and the stranger may be refreshed.  
13 “And in all that I have said to you, abe circumspect and bmake no mention of the name of other gods, nor let it be heard from your mouth.  

Three Annual Feasts

14 a“Three times you shall keep a feast to Me in the year:  
Commentaries:
Barnes' Notes
<< Exodus 23:5   Exodus 23:7 >>


Exodus 23:6-9

Four precepts evidently addressed to those in authority as judges:

(a) To do justice to the poor. Comparing Exodus 23:6 with Exodus 23:3, it was the part of the judge to defend the poor against the oppression of the rich, and the part of the witness to take care lest his feelings of natural pity should tempt him to falsify evidence.

(b) To be cautious of inflicting capital punishment on one whose guilt was not clearly proved. A doubtful case was rather to be left to God Himself, who would "not justify the wicked," nor suffer him to go unpunished though he might be acquitted by an earthly tribunal. Exodus 23:7.

(c) To take no bribe or present which might in any way pervert judgment Exodus 23:8; compare Numbers 16:15; I Samuel 12:3; Acts 26:26.

(d) To vindicate the rights of the stranger Exodus 23:9 - rather, the foreigner. (Exodus 20:10 note.) This verse is a repetition of Exodus 22:21, but the precept is there addressed to the people at large, while it is here addressed to the judges in reference to their official duties. The caution was perpetually necessary. Compare Ezekiel 22:7; Malachi 3:5. The word rendered "heart" is more strictly "soul," and would be better represented here by feelings.


 
<< Exodus 23:5   Exodus 23:7 >>

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