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Exodus Chapter
Twenty-three
New King James Version
(NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO
EXODUS 23
This chapter contains
several laws, chiefly judicial, relating to the civil polity of Israel, as
concerning witness borne and judgment made of cases in courts of judicature,
without any respect to poor or rich, and without the influence of a bribe, Exodus 23:1,
concerning doing good to an enemy in case any of his cattle go astray, or fall
under their burden, Exodus 23:4, and of
the oppression of a stranger, Exodus 23:9, and
then follow others concerning the sabbath of the seventh year, and of the
seventh day, with a caution against the use of the names of idols, Exodus 23:10, next
are laws concerning the appearance of all their males at the three feasts, Exodus 23:14, and
concerning the slaying of the sacrifice of the passover, and bringing the first
of the firstfruits of the land, Exodus 23:18 and
then a promise is made of sending an angel to them to bring them into the land
of Canaan, where they should carefully avoid all idolatry, and show a just
indignation against it, and serve the Lord, and then it would be well with
them, Exodus 23:20, and
particularly it is promised, that the Lord would send his fear, and his
hornets, before them, to destroy the inhabitants of the land, and drive out the
rest by little and little, until they should possess the utmost borders of it,
which are fixed, Exodus 23:27, and
the chapter is concluded with a direction not to make a covenant with these
people, or their gods, nor suffer them to dwell among them, lest they should be
a snare unto them, Exodus 23:32.
Exodus 23:1 “You
shall not circulate a false report. Do not put your hand with the wicked to be
an unrighteous witness.
YLT 1`Thou dost not lift up a vain report; thou
dost not put thy hand with a wicked man to be a violent witness.
Thou shalt not
raise a false report,.... Of a neighbour, or of any man whatever, either secretly by
private slanders, whispers, backbiting and tale bearing, by innuendos,
detracting from his good name and credit, suggesting things false and wicked
concerning him; or publicly in a court of judicature, bringing a false
accusation, laying a false charge, and bearing a false testimony against him:
or "thou shall not receive a false report"F16לא תשא "non suscipies",
V. L. Pegninus, Vatablus, Drusius, Fagius. ; if there were not so many, that
say, Report, and we will report it, that are ready to receive every ill thing
of their neighbours, there would not be so many that would raise such ill things
of them; everything of this kind should be discountenanced, and especially by
judges in courts of judicature, who are chiefly spoken to and of in the
context; these should not easily admit every charge and accusation brought; nor
bear, or endure a false report, as the word also signifies, but discourage, and
even punish it:
put not thine
hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness; which is not
a gesture used in swearing, such as with us, of putting the hand upon a book,
which did not obtain so early; nor is there any instance of this kind in
Scripture; the gesture used in swearing was either putting the hand under the
thigh, which yet is questionable, or lifting of it up to heaven; but here it is
expressive of confederacy, of joining hand in hand to carry on a prosecution in
an unrighteous way, by bearing false testimony against another; and such were
to be guarded against, and not admitted to give evidence in a cause, even a man
that is known to be a wicked man, or to have been an unrighteous witness
before; on the one hand, a man should be careful of joining with him in a
testimony that is unrighteous; and, on the other hand, judges should take care
not to suffer such to be witnesses. The Jews sayF17Maimon. &
Bartenora in Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 3. sect. 3. , that everyone that is condemned
to be scourged, or has been scourged for some crime committed, is reckoned a
wicked man, and he is not to be admitted a witness, nor his testimony taken.
Exodus 23:2 2 You
shall not follow a crowd to do evil; nor shall you testify in a dispute so as
to turn aside after many to pervert justice.
YLT 2`Thou art not after many to evil, nor dost
thou testify concerning a strife, to turn aside after many to cause [others] to
turn aside;
Thou shalt not
follow a multitude to do evil,.... The Targums of Jerusalem and Jonathan
add, but to do good. As in private life, the examples of the many, who are
generally the most wicked, are not to be followed, though they too often are;
examples, and especially of the multitude, having great influence, and
therefore to be guarded against; so in public courts of judicature, where there
are many judges upon the bench, if one of them is sensible that the greater
part go wrong in their judgment of a case, he ought not to follow them, or be
influenced by them, but go according to the dictates of his own conscience, and
the evidence of things as they appear to him, and neither agree to justify the
wicked, nor condemn the righteous:
neither shall
thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment; or "thou
shalt not answer"F18ולא תענה "neque respondeas", Tigurine version;
"non respondebis", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus, Drusius. ; either in
pleading in a cause, and taking the side of it the majority is on, and for that
reason, though it is a manifest perversion of justice; or by giving a vote on
that side, and on that account, whereby a wrong judgment passes; and this vote
given either according to the number of witnesses, which ought not always to be
the rule of judgment; for it is not the number of witnesses, but the nature,
evidence, and circumstances of their testimony, that are to be regarded: Jarchi
says, in judgments of life and death, they go after the mouth of one witness to
absolve, and after the mouth of two to condemn: or according to the number of
judges on the bench, and their superiority in years and knowledge; and so some
render the word, "after the great ones"F19אחרי רבים "post
potentiores", Junius & Tremellius; "post magnos", Lyra,
Cartwright. ; for a judge is not to be influenced by names or numbers in giving
his vote, but to judge according to the truth of things, as they appear to him:
hence the Jews say, that the younger or puisne judges used to be asked their
judgment first, that they might not be influenced by others superior to them;
and a like method is taken with us in the trial of a peer, the younger lords
always giving their opinion first: as to the number of votes by which a cause
was carried in court, it is saidF20Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 1. sect. 6. ,
not as the decline to good, is the decline to evil; the decline to good, i.e.
to absolution, is by the sentence of one (a majority of one); the decline to
evil, i.e. to condemnation, is by the mouth or sentence of two, a majority of
two.
Exodus 23:3 3 You
shall not show partiality to a poor man in his dispute.
YLT 3and a poor man thou dost not honour in his
strife.
Neither shalt
thou countenance a poor man in his cause. Because he is a poor man,
and for that reason endeavour to carry his cause for him, right or wrong, from
a foolish pity to him as a poor man, and from an affectation of gaining the
applause of people on that account; or "thou shalt not honour" or
"adorn" a poor manF21לא תהדר "non honorabis", Pagninus, Vatablus,
Drusius, Cartwright; "non decorabis", Montanus; "ne ornes",
Tigurine version; "ne honorato", Junius & Tremellius; "ne
ornato", Piscator. , by a set speech in favour of his cause, though wrong,
dressed up in the best manner, and set off with all the colourings of art, to
make it appear in the most plausible manner; the law is against respect of
persons, as not the person of the rich, so neither is the person of the poor to
be accepted, but the justice of their cause is to be regarded; so the Targum of
Jonathan,"the poor that is guilty in his judgment or cause, his face (or
person) thou shalt not accept to have pity on him, for no person is to be
accepted in judgment.'
Exodus 23:4 4 “If
you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall surely bring it
back to him again.
YLT 4`When thou meetest thine enemy's ox or his
ass going astray, thou dost certainly turn it back to him;
If thou meet
thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray,.... Or any other beast,
as the Samaritan version adds; for these are only mentioned for instances, as
being more common, and creatures subject to go astray; now when such as these
are met going astray, so as to be in danger of being lost to the owner, though
he is an enemy; or as the Targum of Jonathan,"whom thou hatest because of
a sin, which thou alone knowest in him;'yet this was not so far to prejudice
the finder of his beasts against him, as to be careless about them, to suffer
them to go on without acquainting him with them, or returning them to him, as
follows:
thou shalt
surely bring it back to him again; whether it be an ox, or
an ass, or any other beast, the law is very strong and binding upon the finder
to return it to his neighbour, though an enemy, and bring it either to his
field or to his farm.
Exodus 23:5 5 If
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.
YLT 5when thou seest the ass of him who is hating
thee crouching under its burden, then thou hast ceased from leaving [it] to it
-- thou dost certainly leave [it] with him.
If thou see the
ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden,.... Fallen
down, and such a burden upon him that he cannot rise up again, but lies under
it, and the owner of it is not able of himself to raise it up again:
and wouldst
forbear to help him; show an inclination to pass on without giving him any assistance
to get up his beast again; or "wouldst thou forbear to help him?"F23וחדלת מעזב "num desines
sublevare eum?" some in Vatablus; "cessabis auxitiari ei?"
Drusius; "desines auxiliari ei?" Pagninus. as Jarchi, and others,
read with an interrogation, could it be in thine heart to forbear helping him?
couldest thou go on, and take no notice of him and his case, and not join him
in endeavouring to get up his beast again, that he may proceed its his journey?
canst thou be so cruel and hardhearted, though he is thine enemy? but if thou
art, know this:
thou shalt
surely help with him; to get up his ass again: hence the Jewish canon runs thusF24Misn.
Bava Metzia, c. 2. sect. 10. ,"if an ass is unloaded and loaded four or
five times, a man is bound, i.e. to help, as it is said, "in helping thou
shalt help"; if he (the owner) goes away, and sets himself down, seeing
the command is upon thee, if it is thy will and pleasure to unload, unload, he
is free; for it is said, with him; if he is an old man, or sick, he is bound,
the command of the law is to unload, but not to load.'The words may be
rendered, "in leaving thou shalt leave with him"F25"Deserendo
deseres cum eo", Montanus; so Ainsworth. ; either leave or forsake thine
enmity to help him, as Onkelos; or leave thy business, thou art about, to lend
him an hand to raise up his beast again.
Exodus 23:6 6 “You
shall not pervert the judgment of your poor in his dispute.
YLT 6`Thou dost not turn aside the judgment of thy
needy one in his strife;
Thou shalt not
wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause. As the poor man was not
to be favoured when his cause was bad through an affected pity for him as a
poor man, so his judgment was not to be wrested or perverted, when his cause
was good, because of his poverty; which is too often the case, through the
power of rich men, and the prevalence of their gifts and bribes, and to curry
favour with them: the phrase, "thy poor", is very emphatic, and
intended to engage judges to regard them, as being of the same flesh and blood
with them, of the same nation and religion; and who were particularly committed
to their care and protection under God, who is the Judge and protector of the
poor, of the widow and the fatherless.
Exodus 23:7 7 Keep
yourself far from a false matter; do not kill the innocent and righteous. For I
will not justify the wicked.
YLT 7from a false matter thou dost keep far off,
and an innocent and righteous man thou dost not slay; for I do not justify a
wicked man.
Keep thee far
from a false matter,.... Or "word"F26מדבר
שקר "a verbo mendacii", Pagninus, Montanus,
Vatablus, Drusius, Junius & Tremellius, Tigurine version, Fagius. ; from
receiving a false testimony, or taking the false or wrong side of a cause, or
engaging in a bad one; keep aloof off from it, as much at a distance from it as
possible:
and the
innocent and the righteous slay thou not; that is, do not condemn
them to death, nor join with the majority in their condemnation, if they appear
to be innocent and righteous; nor give orders, or join in giving orders to the
executioner to put such to death. The Targum of Jonathan is,"he that goes
righteous out of the house of thy judgment (out of the sanhedrim, to which he
belonged), and they find out his sin (afterwards), and he that goes out guilty,
and they (afterwards) find out his righteousness, do not slay:"
for I will not
justify the wicked: the wicked judge in pronouncing an unjust sentence on innocent
and righteous men, or if they absolve wicked men, at the same time they put to
death the innocent and righteous, God will not justify those wicked men cleared
by them, but will, in his own time and way, sooner or later, inflict the
deserved punishment on them: this is not contrary to Romans 4:5 for
though God justifies the ungodly, he does not justify ungodliness in them, or
them in ungodliness, but from it, and that by the imputation of the
righteousness of his Son.
Exodus 23:8 8 And
you shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the discerning and perverts the
words of the righteous.
YLT 8`And a bribe thou dost not take; for the
bribe bindeth the open-[eyed], and perverteth the words of the righteous.
And thou shalt
take no gift,.... Of the persons whose cause is to be tried in a court of
judicature before judges; neither of those on the one side nor on the other,
neither before the trial nor after, neither by words, by a promise, nor by
facts, by actually receiving money; and not even to judge truly, as Jarchi
observes, neither to clear the innocent nor to condemn the guilty: a gift was
not to be taken on any consideration whatever:
for the gift
blindeth the wise; or the "seeing"F1פקחים
"videntes", Pagninus, Vatablus, Cartwright; "apertos",
Montanus, Drusius. ; the open ones, who used to have both their eyes and their
ears open, and attentive to the cause before them; and yet a gift so blinds
them, by casting such a mist before them, that they are inattentive to the true
merits of the cause, and their affections and judgments are to be carried away
in favour of those that have bribed them, as to pass a wrong sentence:
and perverteth
the words of the righteous; either the sentences of righteous judges,
as they ought to be, but a gift perverts their judgment, and they give a wrong
decree; or the causes of the righteous that are brought before those are
perverted by giving the cause to their adversaries, who are wicked men.
Exodus 23:9 9 “Also
you shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the heart of a stranger, because
you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
YLT 9`And a sojourner thou dost not oppress, and
ye -- ye have known the soul of the sojourner, for sojourners ye have been in
the land of Egypt.
Also thou shall
not oppress a stranger,.... As these were not to be vexed and oppressed in a private
manner and by private men, see Exodus 22:21 so
neither in a public manner, and in a public court of judicature, or by judges
on the bench when their cause was before them, by not doing them justice,
showing a partiality to those of their own nation against a stranger; whereas a
stranger ought to have equal justice done him as a native, and the utmost care
should be taken that he has no injury done him, and the rather because he is a
stranger:
for ye know the
heart of a stranger; the fears he is possessed of, the inward distress of his soul,
the anxiety of his mind, the tenderness of his heart, the workings of his
passions, his grief and sorrow, and dejection of spirit: the Targum of Jonathan
is,""the groaning of the soul of a stranger": this the
Israelitish judges knew, having had a very late experience of it:"
seeing ye were
strangers in the land of Egypt; where they had been vexed and oppressed,
brought into hard bondage, and groaned under it; and therefore it might be
reasonably thought and expected that they would have a heart sympathizing with
strangers, and use them well, and especially see that justice was done them,
and no injury or oppression of any kind.
Exodus 23:10 10 “Six
years you shall sow your land and gather in its produce,
YLT 10`And six years thou dost sow thy land, and
hast gathered its increase;
And six years
thou shall sow thy land, The land of Canaan, given to their ancestors and to them, and
which they were now going to inherit; and when they came into it they were to
plant it with vines and olives; or rather, these being ready planted, they were
to prune and dress them; and they were to till their land, and plough it, and
sow it with various sorts of grain, for six years running, from the time of
their possession of it:
and shall
gather in the fruits thereof; corn and wine, and oil, into their own
garners, treasuries, and cellars, as their own property, to dispose of as they
pleased for their own use and profit.
Exodus 23:11 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 your olive grove.
YLT 11and the seventh thou dost release it, and
hast left it, and the needy of thy people have eaten, and their leaving doth
the beast of the field eat; so dost thou to thy vineyard -- to thine
olive-yard.
But the seventh
year thou shall let it rest, and lie still,.... From tillage, and
make its fruits common, as the Targum of Jonathan; the note of Jarchi is,
"let it rest", from perfect tillage, as ploughing and sowing;
"and lie still", from dunging and harrowing, or weeding: this law was
intended to show that God was the original proprietor and owner of this land,
and that the Israelites held it under him; and to teach them to depend upon and
trust in his providence; as well as that there might be both rest for the land,
and so it became more fruitful afterwards, having by this rest renewed its
vigour, and also for servants and cattle; and that the poor might have an equal
share in the fruits of the earth, and appear to be joint lords of it with
others under God, as it follows:
that the poor
of thy people may eat: that which grows up of itself, of which there were great
quantities; for the sixth year bringing forth for three years, a great deal of
seed fell, which grew up again; and especially, as through plenty they were not
so careful to gather it all up; and besides this, there were the fruits of
trees, of vines, olives, &c. which brought forth their fruit in course as
usual, and which were all this year common to poor and rich; so that the former
had an equal propriety and share with the latter:
and what they
leave, the beasts of the field shall eat; signifying that there
should be such plenty that there would be enough for all, and to spare; that
there would be much left, and which should be the portion of the beasts of the
field, and who would also be sufficiently provided for by the produce the earth
brought forth of itself, as herbage, &c. and the fruits the poor left:
in like manner
thou shall deal with thy vineyard, and with thy oliveyard; that is,
these were not to be pruned, nor the grapes and olives gathered, but were to be
in common with all: a larger account is given of this law in Leviticus 25:2.
Exodus 23:12 12 Six
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.
YLT 12`Six days thou dost do thy work, and on the
seventh day thou dost rest, so that thine ox and thine ass doth rest, and the
son of thine handmaid and the sojourner is refreshed;
Six days thou
shalt do thy work,.... That is, they might do what work they would on the six days
of the week:
and on the
seventh day thou shall rest; from all the work and labour done on other
days, and give up themselves to religious exercises:
that thine ox
and thine ass may rest; and so every other beast, as horses, camels, &c.
and the son of
thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed; the former, the Targum
of Jonathan, and so Jarchi, interprets, of one uncircumcised, and the latter,
of a proselyte of the gate: this law is here repeated, partly to show that it
is of the same kind with the former, namely, ceremonial and temporary; and
partly, as Jarchi observes, lest it should be said, since all, the year is
called the sabbath, there was no need to observe the weekly sabbath.
Exodus 23:13 13 “And
in all that I have said to you, be circumspect and make no mention of the name
of other gods, nor let it be heard from your mouth.
YLT 13and in all that which I have said unto you ye
do take heed; and the name of other gods ye do not mention; it is not heard on
thy mouth.
And in all things
that I have said unto you, be circumspect,.... Or observe them, be
careful to keep them punctually and constantly, even all that are delivered in
this and the preceding chapters:
and make no
mention of the name of other gods; neither call upon them,
nor swear by them, nor make vows to them; and, as little as possible, ever
utter their names, and never with pleasure and delight, and showing any honour
of them, and reverence to them, but with the utmost detestation and abhorrence:
neither let it
be heard out of thy mouth; not any of their names; the same thing in
different words, the more to inculcate and impress the thing upon the mind, and
to show with what vehemence and earnestness this is pressed.
Exodus 23:14 14 “Three
times you shall keep a feast to Me in the year:
YLT 14`Three times thou dost keep a feast to Me in
a year;
Three times
thou shall keep a feast unto me in the year. The feast of the passover,
on the fourteenth of the month Nisan or March; and the feast of weeks or
pentecost fifty days after that; and the feast of tabernacles on the fifteenth
day of Tisri or September.
Exodus 23:15 15 You
shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread (you shall eat unleavened bread seven
days, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month of Abib, for in it
you came out of Egypt; none shall appear before Me empty);
YLT 15the Feast of Unleavened things thou dost
keep; seven days thou dost eat unleavened things, as I have commanded thee, at
the time appointed [in] the month of Abib; for in it thou hast come forth out
of Egypt, and ye do not appear [in] My presence empty;
Thou shalt keep
the feast of unleavened bread,.... Which began on the fourteenth of the
month Abib or Nisan, and lasted seven days, during which time no leavened bread
was to be eaten by the Israelites, or to be in their houses, of which see the
notes on:See Gill on Exodus 12:15, Exodus 12:18, Exodus 12:19, Exodus 12:10, Exodus 13:6, Exodus 13:7.
thou shall eat
unleavened bread, seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the
month Abib; from the fourteenth of the month to the twenty first:
for in it thou
camest out of Egypt; in such haste that there was no time to leaven the dough in the
troughs; in commemoration of which this law was given, and this feast was kept:
and none shall
appear before me empty; at this feast and the two following ones; for, besides the
offerings and sacrifices appointed, at the feast of passover was brought a
sheaf of the first fruits of the barley harvest; and at the feast of pentecost
the two wave loaves or cakes of the first fruits of the wheat harvest; and at
the feast of tabernacles they appeared with palm tree branches, and boughs of
goodly trees, and poured out water fetched from Siloam, before the Lord: but to
this appearance the Jewish doctorsF2Bartenora in Misn. Peah, c. 1.
sect. 1. say,"there was no measure fixed; for everyone, if he would, might
go up and appear, and go away: according to another interpretation, for the
burnt offering of appearance, and the peace offerings of the Chagigah, which a
man is bound to bring, as it is written, "ye shall not appear empty";
there is no measure from the law, as it is written, "a man according to
the gift of his hand", Deuteronomy 16:17,
but the wise men fix a measure; to the burnt offering a meah of silver, to the
Chagigah two pieces of silver:'some understand this, not of their bringing
anything with them to appear before the Lord with, but of what they should be
blessed with there; even with the presence of God, and communion with him, and
with the blessings of his grace and goodness; so that however they came, they
should not remain, nor go away empty, and so have no cause to repent their appearance
before him; but the former sense seems best.
Exodus 23:16 16 and
the Feast of Harvest, the firstfruits of your labors which you have sown in the
field; and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you have
gathered in the fruit of your labors from the field.
YLT 16and the Feast of Harvest, the first fruits of
thy works which thou sowest in the field; and the Feast of the In-Gathering, in
the outgoing of the year, in thy gathering thy works out of the field.
And the feast
of harvest,.... This is the second feast, the feast of wheat harvest,
between which and barley harvest were fifty days; or between the firstfruits of
the one and the first fruits of the other were seven weeks, as Aben Ezra
observes, and was sometimes called the feast of weeks; at which feast were to
be brought:
the first
fruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field; the two wave
loaves or cakes, made of the first new wheat, which was the effect of their
labour in tilling the field, and sowing it with wheat, and reaping it:
and the feast
of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered
in thy labours out of the field; this is the third feast in the year to be
kept, and was kept at the close of the year, at the revolution of it, when a
new year began that is, according to the old account, which made Tisri the
month in which this feast was kept, the first month of the year; whereas,
according to the new count, it was the seventh month from the month Abib, now
made the first of the months upon the Israelites coming out of Egypt in that
month: this is the same feast with the feast of tabernacles, but here called
the feast of ingathering, because at this time of the year all the fruits of
the earth were gathered in; the corn, and wine, and oil, and all other fruits,
on account of which there was great rejoicing, as there ought to be.
Exodus 23:17 17 “Three
times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord God.[a]
YLT 17`Three times in a year do all thy males
appear before the face of the Lord Jehovah.
Three times in
the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord thy God. In the city of
Jerusalem, when they were come into the land of Canaan, and the temple was
there built: here they were to show themselves before the Lord as being his,
and devoted to his service; concerning which the Misnic doctors have the
following canonF3Misn. Chagigah, c. 1. sect. 1. ,"all are bound
to appear except a man deaf and dumb, a fool, a little one, one of neither sex,
or of both sexes, women, servants not free, the lame, the blind, the sick, an
old man, and he that cannot go on his feet.'
Exodus 23:18 18 “You
shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread; nor shall the
fat of My sacrifice remain until morning.
YLT 18`Thou dost not sacrifice on a fermented thing
the blood of My sacrifice, and the fat of My festival doth not remain till
morning;
Thou shall not
offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread,.... This
belongs to the feast of the passover; for, as all the Jewish writers agree,
this sacrifice is the sacrifice of the passover, as it is sometimes called, see
Exodus 12:27 now
when the paschal lamb was killed, and its blood shed, and its flesh eaten,
there was to be no leaven along with it; it was to be eaten with unleavened bread,
and there was to be no leaven in their houses at this time; nay, it was not to
be slain until all was removed: this was the first thing the Jews did, as soon
as the fourteenth day was come, to search for leaven, remove and burn it; and
this sense of the law is confirmed by the Targum of Jonathan, which
is,"not a man shall slay, while there is leaven in your houses, the
sacrifice of my passover;'and to the same purpose is the note of Jarchi:
neither shall
the fat of my sacrifice remain until the morning; and indeed no part of
the passover lamb was to remain until the morning, what did was to be burnt
with fire, Exodus 12:10 the
Targum of Jonathan is,"neither shall there remain without the altar the
fat of the sacrifice of my passover until the morning, nor of the flesh which
ye ate in the evening;'and so Jarchi interprets it of its not remaining without
the altar.
Exodus 23:19 19 The
first of the firstfruits of your land you shall bring into the house of the Lord your God. You
shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.
YLT 19the beginning of the first-fruits of thy
ground thou dost bring into the house of Jehovah thy God; thou dost not boil a
kid in its mother's milk.
The first of
the first fruits of thy land,.... Both of the barley and wheat harvest,
and of the wine and oil; yea, Jarchi says, the seventh year was obliged to
first fruits; and JosephusF4Antiqu. l. 3. c. 15. sect. 3. relates,
that the Jews were so tenacious of this law, that even in the famine in the
time of Claudius Caesar, the first fruits were brought to the temple, and were
not meddled with:
thou shall
bring into the house of the Lord thy God; to the tabernacle,
during the standing of that, and the temple when that was built; which were the
perquisites of the priests who officiated in the house and service of God: so
Pliny saysF5Nat. Hist. l. 18. c. 2. of the ancient Romans, that they
tasted not of the new fruits or wines before the first fruits were offered to
the priests, which seems to have been borrowed from hence:
thou shalt not
seethe a kid in his mother's milk: and so a calf, or a lambF6Vid.
T. Bab. Cholin. fol. 114. 1. , as Jarchi interprets it; which some understand
of slaying a young kid and its dam together, and so is a law against cruelty,
like that law of not taking the dam with the young, on finding a bird's nest, Deuteronomy 22:6
others, of killing, dressing, and eating a kid, while it sucks the milk of its
mother, before it is eight days old, and so a law against luxury; but the Jews
generally understand it of boiling, or eating the flesh of any creature and
milk togetherF7Tikkune Zohar, Correct. 14. fol. 26. 1. : so the
Targum of Onkelos paraphrases it,"ye shall not eat flesh with milk;'and
the Targum of Jonathan is,"ye shall neither boil nor eat the flesh and the
milk mixed together:'hence, according to the rules they give, the flesh of any
beast, or of a fowl, is not to be set upon a table on which cheese is (being
made of milk), lest they should be eaten together; nor may cheese be eaten
after flesh until some considerable time, and then, if there is any flesh
sticks between a man's teeth, he must remove it, and wash and cleanse his
mouth; nor may cheese be eaten on a table cloth on which meat is, nor be cut
with a knife that flesh is cut withF8Schulchan Aruch, par. 2. Yore
Deah, Hilchot Bashar Bechaleb, c. 88. sect. 1. & 89. sect. 1. 4. : so
careful are they of breaking this law, as they understand it: but the words
are, doubtless, to be taken literally, of not boiling a kid in its mother's
milk; and is thought by many to refer to some custom of this kind, either among
the Israelites, which they had somewhere learnt, or among the idolatrous
Heathens, and therefore cautioned against; Maimonides and Abarbinel both
suppose it was an idolatrous rite, but are not able to produce an instance of
it out of any writer of theirs or others: but Dr. Cudworth has produced a
passage out of a Karaite authorF9Apud Gregory's Notes & Observ.
c. 19. p. 97, 98. , who affirms,"it was a custom of the Heathens at the
ingathering of their fruits to take a kid and seethe it in the milk of the dam,
and then, in a magical way, go about and besprinkle all their trees, fields,
gardens, and orchards, thinking by this means they should make them fructify,
and bring forth fruit again more abundantly the next year:'and the Targum of
Jonathan on Exodus 34:26 seems
to have respect to this, where, having paraphrased the words as here quoted
above, adds,"lest I should destroy the fruit of your trees with the unripe
grape, the shoots and leaves together:'and if this may be depended upon, the
law comes in here very aptly, after the feast of ingathering, and the bringing
in the first fruits of the land into the Lord's house.
Exodus 23:20 20 “Behold,
I send an Angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the
place which I have prepared.
YLT 20`Lo, I am sending a messenger before thee to
keep thee in the way, and to bring thee in unto the place which I have
prepared;
Behold, I send
an angel before thee,.... Not a created angel, but the uncreated one, the Angel of
God's presence, that was with the Israelites at Sinai, and in the wilderness;
who saved, redeemed, bore, and carried them all the days of old, whom they
rebelled against and tempted in the wilderness; as appears by all the
characters after given of him, which by no means agree with a created angel:
Aben Ezra observes, that some say this is the book of the law, because it is
said, "my name is in him", or "in the midst of it"; others
say, the ark of the covenant; but he says this angel is Michael; and if indeed
by Michael is intended the uncreated angel, as he always is in Scripture, he is
right: Jarchi remarks, that their Rabbins say, this is Metatron, whose name is
as the name of his master; Metatron, by gematry, is Shaddai, which signifies
almighty or all-sufficient, and is an epithet of the divine Being; and Metatron
seems to be a corruption of the word "mediator": some of the ancient
Jewish writers sayF11In Zohar in Gen. fol. 124. 4. , this is the
Angel that is the Redeemer of the world, and the keeper of the children of men:
and Philo the JewF12"De migratione" Abraham, p. 415.
applies the word unto the divine Logos, and says,"he (God) uses the divine
Word as the guide of the way; for the oracle is, "behold, I send my
Angel", &c.'which agrees with what follows:
to keep thee in
the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared; to preserve
the Israelites in their journey through the wilderness, from all their enemies
that should set upon them, and to bring them safe at last to the land of
Canaan, which he had appointed for them, and promised to them, and had prepared
both in his purpose and gift for them, and would make way for their settlement
in it by driving out the nations before them.
Exodus 23:21 21 Beware of Him and obey His
voice; do not provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgressions; for My
name is in Him.
YLT 21be watchful because of his presence, and
hearken to his voice, rebel not against him, for he beareth not with your
transgression, for My name [is] in his heart;
Beware of him,.... Of his
face or countenance; observe his looks towards you in a providential way,
whether frowning or smiling; observe his directions and instructions, laws and
commands:
and obey his
voice; hearken to what he says, and cheerfully, readily, and punctually
do as he orders:
provoke him not; by unbelief,
by murmurings and complaints, by unbecoming words and actions, by transgressing
his commands, and acting contrary to his will:
for he will not
pardon your transgressions: or suffer them to pass unchastised and
uncorrected, but will, as he did, take vengeance on their inventions, and on
them because of them, though he forgave their iniquities; for that he was such
an Angel as could forgive sin, which none but God can do, is evident; because
it would be absurd to say he will not pardon, if he could not pardon their
transgressions, see Matthew 9:6,
for my name is
in him; the Father is in the Son, and the Son in the Father; the nature
and perfections of God are in the Word and Son of God, and so his name Jehovah,
which is peculiar to him; Christ is Jehovah our righteousness: or "though
my name is in him"F13כי שמי "quamvis nomen menum", Drusius. ; as Abendana
and others, his name the Lord God, gracious and merciful, pardoning iniquity,
transgression and sin, as afterwards proclaimed in him; and yet,
notwithstanding this, he would not clear the guilty, or suffer the Israelites
to go unpunished, if they offended him: the Targum of Onkelos is,"or in my
name is his word,'he is my ambassador and speaks in my name.
Exodus 23:22 22 But
if you indeed obey His voice and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy
to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.
YLT 22for, if thou diligently hearken to his voice,
and hast done all that which I speak, then I have been at enmity with thine
enemies, and have distressed those distressing thee.
But, if thou
shall indeed obey his voice,.... Or "hearkening hearken",F14שמוע תשמע "audiendo
audieris", Pagninus, Montanus, Drusius, Piscator. to it attentively,
listen to it, and diligently and constantly observe and obey in whatever he
shall direct and order:
and do all that
I speak; by him; or whatsoever he had spoke, or was about to speak; for
as yet all the laws and statutes were not delivered, especially those of the
ceremonial kind:
then I will be
an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries; which they
should either meet with in their passage through the wilderness, or when they
came into the land of Canaan; signifying hereby that he would protect them from
them, subdue them under them, and give them victory over them, as that they
should be utterly destroyed, and so way made for their possession of their
land, as in the following words.
Exodus 23:23 23 For
My Angel will go before you and bring you in to the Amorites and the Hittites
and the Perizzites and the Canaanites and the Hivites and the Jebusites; and I
will cut them off.
YLT 23`For My messenger goeth before thee, and hath
brought thee in unto the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the
Canaanite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, and I have cut them off.
For mine Angel
shall go before thee,.... The same as before described:
and bring thee in
unto the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Canaanite, and
the Hivite, and the Jebusite; six nations are only mentioned, though
there were seven; the Girgashites are omitted, though added in the Septuagint
version; and this omission of them might be, either because they were swallowed
up by one or other of the other nations, particularly the Amorites, who were
the most powerful; or rather, having mentioned the most and chiefest, the Lord
was not careful, as Aben Ezra observes, to take notice of the least:
and I will cut
them off; from being a nation, either of them; for though there were some
of them left, and dwelt about in the land, yet not as a kingdom and nation of
themselves, as they had been, but became tributary to the Israelites.
Exodus 23:24 24 You
shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their
works; but you shall utterly overthrow them and completely break down their sacred
pillars.
YLT 24`Thou dost not bow thyself to their gods, nor
serve them, nor do according to their doings, but dost utterly devote them, and
thoroughly break their standing pillars.
Thou shalt not
bow down to their gods,.... In a way of honour to them, doing them reverence, expressing
thereby an high esteem of them, trust in them, and expectation of good things
from them:
nor serve them: in any kind
of service in which they usually are served by their votaries; as by offering
sacrifice, incense, libations, &c. or by praying to them or praising of
them, or in whatsoever way they are served by idolaters:
nor do after
their works; the works of the worshippers of idols; all those wicked works in
general done by them, which should not be imitated; and those particularly
relating to the service and worship of their deities:
but thou shalt
overthrow them; the heathen gods; utterly destroy them, and break them to
pieces, or demolish their temples, the idolatrous houses built for them, and their
altars; for the word has the signification, of demolishing buildings, and
razing up the very foundations of them:
and quite break
down their images; or, "in breaking break down"F15שבר תשבר "confringendo
confringes", Pagninus, Montanus, Drusius, "perfringendo
perfringito", Piscator. ; utterly and entirely break them down, break them
to shivers, all their statues of gold or silver, brass, wood, or stone, or of
whatsoever materials they were made; none were to be spared, nor any remains of
them to be seen, that they might not prove a snare to any to worship them; and
hereby they were to express their detestation of idolatry, and their strict and
close adherence to the true God, and the worship of him as follows.
Exodus 23:25 25 “So
you shall serve the Lord
your God, and He will bless your bread and your water. And I will take sickness
away from the midst of you.
YLT 25`And ye have served Jehovah your God, and He
hath blessed thy bread and thy water, and I have turned aside sickness from
thine heart;
And ye shall
serve the Lord your God,.... And him only, who had brought them out of Egypt, and done so
many great and good things for them at the Red sea, and now in the wilderness;
by which he appeared to be the true Jehovah, the one and only living God, and
to be their God in covenant, who had promised them much, and had performed it;
and therefore was in a special and peculiar manner their God, and they were
under the highest obligations to serve and worship him in the way and manner he
directed them to:
and he shall
bless thy bread and thy water; and make them nourishing and refreshing to
them, and preserve them thereby in health, as well as prosper and succeed them,
and increase their worldly substance:
and I will take
sickness away from the midst of thee; the stroke of
bitterness, or the bitter stroke, as the Targum of Jonathan, any grievous
disease, which is bitter and distressing; signifying that there should be none
among them, but that they should be healthful, and free from distempers and
diseases.
Exodus 23:26 26 No
one shall suffer miscarriage or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the
number of your days.
YLT 26there is not a miscarrying and barren one in
thy land; the number of thy days I fulfil:
There shall
nothing cast their young, nor be barren in the land,.... There
shall be no abortions or miscarriages, nor sterility or barrenness, either
among the Israelites, or their cattle of every kind, so that there should be a
great increase, both of men and beasts:
the number of
thy days I will fulfil; which was fixed for each of them, in his eternal purposes and
decrees; or what, according to the temperament of their bodies and the course
of nature, which, humanly speaking, it might be supposed they would arrive
unto; or generally the common term of human life, which, in the days of Moses,
was threescore years and ten, or fourscore, see Job 14:5, it may be
considered whether any respect is had to the time of their continuance in the
land of Canaan, the term of which was fixed in the divine mind, or the fulness
of time in which the Messiah was to come.
Exodus 23:27 27 “I
will send My fear before you, I will cause confusion among all the people to
whom you come, and will make all your enemies turn their backs to you.
YLT 27My terror I send before thee, and I have put
to death all the people among whom thou comest, and I have given the neck of
all thine enemies unto thee.
And I will send
my fear before thee,.... What should cause fear among the nations of the land of
Canaan; either the hornets mentioned in the next verse as the explanative of
this; or the fame of his mighty works, which he had done for Israel in Egypt,
at the Red sea, and in the wilderness; which struck the inhabitants of Canaan
with such a panic, that they were ready to faint and melt away, and lost all
courage, Joshua 2:9.
and will
destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come; that is, the greatest
part of them:
and I will make
all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee; flee away, not being
able to face them and stand a battle, or, however, not stand it long, but run
and make their escape: "or I will give thee the neck of them"F16נתתי־ערף "et dabo-cervicem", Pagninus, Montanus;
"exponam tibi cervicem", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator;
"ponam ad te cervicem", Drusius. ; cause them to submit, to lay down
their necks and be trampled upon; an expression denoting their subjection, and
an entire conquest of them, see Psalm 18:39.
Exodus 23:28 28 And
I will send hornets before you, which shall drive out the Hivite, the
Canaanite, and the Hittite from before you.
YLT 28`And I have sent the hornet before thee, and
it hath cast out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee;
And I will send
hornets before thee,.... Which may be interpreted either figuratively, and so may
signify the same as fear before which should fall on the Canaanites upon
hearing the Israelites were coming; the stings of their consciences for their
sins, terrors of mind, dreading the wrath of the God of Israel, of whom they
had heard, and terrible apprehensions of ruin and destruction from the
Israelites: Aben Ezra interprets it of some disease of the body, which weakens
it, as the leprosy, from the signification of the word, which has some affinity
with that used for the leprosy; and so the Arabic version understands it of a
disease: or rather, the words are to be taken literally, for hornets, which are
a sort of wasps, whose stings are very penetrating and venomous; nor is it any
strange or unheard of thing for people to be drove out of their countries by
small animals, as mice, flies, bees, &c. and particularly AelianusF17Hist.
Animal. l. 11. c. 28. relates, that the Phaselites were drove out of their
country by wasps: and BochartF18Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 4. c. 13. Colossians 541. has shown that those people were of a
Phoenician original, and inhabited the mountains of Solymi; and that this
happened to them about the times of Joshua, and so may probably be the very
Canaanites here mentioned, as follow: the wasps, in Aristophanes's comedy which
bears that name, are introduced speaking of themselves, and say, no creature
when provoked is more angry and troublesome than we areF19Aristoph.
Vespae, p. 510. :
which shall
drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee; which three
are mentioned instead of the rest, or because they were more especially
infested and distressed with the hornets, and drove out of their land by means
of them.
Exodus 23:29 29 I
will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become
desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you.
YLT 29I cast them not out from before thee in one
year, lest the land be a desolation, and the beast of the field hath multiplied
against thee;
I will not
drive them out from before thee in one year,.... This is observed
before hand, lest the Israelites should be discouraged, and fear they should
never be rid of them; and it was so ordered in Providence for the following
reason:
lest the land
become desolate; there being not a sufficient number of Israelites to replace in
their stead, to repeople the land, and to cultivate it; and yet their number
was very large, being, when they came out of Egypt, as is generally computed,
about two millions and a half, besides the mixed multitude of Egyptians and
others, and during their forty years in the wilderness must be greatly
increased:
and the beast
of the field multiply against thee; there being so much
waste ground for them to prowl about in, they would so increase as to make head
against them, and be too many for them; or, however, it would be difficult to
keep them under control: the Targum of Jonathan adds,"when they shall come
to eat their carcasses (the carcasses of the Canaanites slain in war), and may
hurt thee.'
Exodus 23:30 30 Little
by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased, and
you inherit the land.
YLT 30little [by] little I cast them out from
before thee, till thou art fruitful, and hast inherited the land.
By little and
little I will drive them out from before thee,.... Not the beasts of
the field, but the inhabitants of Canaan, who were left partly to keep up the
cities and towns, that they might not fall to ruin, and to till the land, that
it might not be desolate; and partly to be trials and exercises to the people
of Israel, and to prove whether they would serve the Lord or not. Just as the
corruptions of human nature remain with the people of God when converted, for
the trial and exercise of their graces, and that they may have their dependence
not on themselves, but on the grace of God to keep them in his ways, and to
preserve them safe to eternal glory; and by completing the work of grace, which
is gradually done, they might be made meet for it:
until thou be
increased, and inherit the land; for as their enemies were driven out
gradually, by little and little, so they multiplied gradually, until at length
they became a sufficient number to fill all the cities and towns in all the
nations of Canaan, and take an entire possession of it, as their inheritance
given unto them by God.
Exodus 23:31 31 And I will set your bounds
from the Red Sea to the sea, Philistia, and from the desert to the River.[b] For I will
deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them
out before you.
YLT 31`And I have set thy border from the Red Sea,
even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness unto the River:
for I give into your hand the inhabitants of the land, and thou hast cast them
out from before thee;
And I will set
thy bounds,.... The bounds of the land of Canaan, which in process of time
it should reach unto, though not at once, not until the times of David and
Solomon, 2 Samuel 8:1 which
bounds were as follow:
from the Red
sea even unto the sea of the Philistines: the Red sea was the
boundary eastward, as the sea of the Philistines, or the Mediterranean sea, was
the boundary westward:
and from the
desert unto the river; the desert of Shur or Arabia, towards Egypt, was the boundary
southward, as the river Euphrates was the boundary northward, and is the river
here meant, as the Targum of Jonathan expresses it; and so Jarchi interprets
it, and generally others:
for I will
deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; the greater
part upon their entrance into it, and settlement in it, and the rest
afterwards:
and thou shalt
drive them out before thee; not all at once, but by degrees, as before
observed.
Exodus 23:32 32 You
shall make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.
YLT 32thou dost not make a covenant with them, and
with their gods;
Thou shalt make
no covenant with them,.... A covenant of peace, a league, a confederacy, so as to take
them to be their allies and friends; but they were always to consider them as
their enemies, until they had made an utter end of them; though the Gibeonites
by craft and guile obtained a league of them; but the methods they took to get
it show they had some knowledge of this law, that the Israelites might not, or
at least would not, make any league or covenant with the inhabitants of the
land of Canaan. This may be also extended to marriage covenants, which they
were forbid to make with them; which yet they did, and proved a snare to them,
for this brought them to makes a covenant with their gods, and serve them,
which is here also forbidden:
nor with their
gods; making vows unto them, promising to serve them, if they would do
such and such things for them.
Exodus 23:33 33 They
shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against Me. For if
you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”
YLT 33they do not dwell in thy land, lest they
cause thee to sin against Me when thou servest their gods, when it becometh a
snare to thee.'
They shall not
dwell in thy land,.... The land of Canaan, given by God for an inheritance, and now
would be in the possession of the Israelites; and therefore were not to suffer
the old inhabitants to dwell with them in it, at least no longer than they
could help it; they were to do all they could to root them out:
lest they make
thee sin against me; by their ill examples and persuasions, drawing them into
idolatry, than which there is no greater sin against God, it being not only
contrary to his law, his mind, and will, but directly against his nature,
being, perfections, and glory:
for if thou
serve their gods, or "for thou wilt serve"F20כי תעבד "quia servies",
Malvenda. ; this would be the consequence of their dwelling in the land, they
would draw the Israelites into the worship of their idols, to which they were
naturally prone; and should they commit idolatry:
it will surely
be a snare unto thee: idolatry would be the cause of their ruin and destruction, they
would be snared by it, as fishes in a net, or birds and beasts by traps and
gins; or "for it will be a snare"F21כי
יהיה "quia erit", Pagninus, Montanus,
Drusius. , that is, the Canaanites dwelling among them would be a snare to draw
them into their idolatry, and go into ruin.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New
King James Version (NKJV)
a.
Exodus 23:17
Hebrew YHWH, usually translated Lord
b.
Exodus 23:31
Hebrew Nahar, the Euphrates