Exoduschapter 23

A.Justice Without Favor or False Reportvv. 1-9

1 “You shall not spread a false report. Do not join the wicked by being a malicious witness. 2 You shall not follow the crowd in wrongdoing. When you testify in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd. 3 And do not show favoritism to a poor man in his lawsuit. 4 If you encounter your enemy’s stray ox or donkey, you must return it to him. 5 If you see the donkey of one who hates you fallen under its load, do not leave it there; you must help him with it. 6 You shall not deny justice to the poor in their lawsuits. 7 Stay far away from a false accusation. Do not kill the innocent or the just, for I will not acquit the guilty. 8 Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the righteous. 9 Do not oppress a foreign resident, since you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners; for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

B.The Seventh Year and Seventh Dayvv. 10-13

10 For six years you are to sow your land and gather its produce, 11 but in the seventh year you must let it rest and lie fallow, so that the poor among your people may eat from the field and the wild animals may consume what they leave. Do the same with your vineyard and olive grove. 12 For six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you must cease, so that your ox and your donkey may rest and the son of your maidservant may be refreshed, as well as the foreign resident. 13 Pay close attention to everything I have said to you. You must not invoke the names of other gods; they must not be heard on your lips.

C.Three Feasts Every Yearvv. 14-19

14 Three times a year you are to celebrate a feast to Me. 15 You are to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread as I commanded you: At the appointed time in the month of Abib you are to eat unleavened bread for seven days, because that was the month you came out of Egypt. No one may appear before Me empty-handed. 16 You are also to keep the Feast of Harvest with the firstfruits of the produce from what you sow in the field. And keep the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather your produce from the field. 17 Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord GOD. 18 You must not offer the blood of My sacrifices with anything leavened, nor may the fat of My feast remain until morning. 19 Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God. You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.

D.An Angel Sent Before Youvv. 20-33

20 Behold, I am sending an angel before you to protect you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. 21 Pay attention to him and listen to his voice; do not defy him, for he will not forgive rebellion, since My Name is in him. 22 But if you will listen carefully to his voice and do everything I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes. 23 For My angel will go before you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites, and Jebusites, and I will annihilate them. 24 You must not bow down to their gods or serve them or follow their practices. Instead, you are to demolish them and smash their sacred stones to pieces. 25 So you shall serve the LORD your God, and He will bless your bread and your water. And I will take away sickness from among you. 26 No woman in your land will miscarry or be barren; I will fulfill the number of your days. 27 I will send My terror ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn and run. 28 I will send the hornet before you to drive the Hivites and Canaanites and Hittites out of your way. 29 I will not drive them out before you in a single year; otherwise the land would become desolate and wild animals would multiply against you. 30 Little by little I will drive them out ahead of you, until you become fruitful and possess the land. 31 And I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the Euphrates. For I will deliver the inhabitants into your hand, and you will drive them out before you. 32 You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods. 33 They must not remain in your land, lest they cause you to sin against Me. For if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”

Commentary on this chapter: read the Exposition

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Chapter summary

Continuation of the covenant code.

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Continuation of the covenant code. A just witness; not following a multitude to do evil; helping an enemy's ass laden under its burden. The Sabbath year; the Sabbath day. For the servant and the stranger to rest. The three feasts: unleavened bread, harvest, and ingathering. All males to appear before the LORD thrice yearly. ‘Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.’ Then the promise of an Angel whose Name is in him, going before Israel to drive out the Canaanite nations. ‘Thou shalt not bow down to their gods … but thou shalt utterly overthrow them.’ Henry notes how covenant faithfulness guarantees the land's blessing.

Drawn from Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory, Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary, John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and John Calvin, Commentaries.

Context

Law · Moses — Exodus overview

A. 1–9 Justice Without Favor or False Report
B. 10–13 The Seventh Year and Seventh Day
C. 14–19 Three Feasts Every Year
D. 20–33 An Angel Sent Before You

Top cross-references8 chapters ▾

Exodus 348 verses
- Exodus 34:12Be careful not to make a treaty with the inhabitants of the land you are entering, lest they become a snare in your midst.
- Exodus 34:15Do not make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you, and you will eat their sacrifices.
- Exodus 34:20You must redeem the firstborn of a donkey with a lamb; but if you do not redeem it, you are to break its neck. You must redeem all the firstborn of your sons. No one shall appear before Me empty-handed.
- Exodus 34:21Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even in the seasons of plowing and harvesting, you must rest.
- Exodus 34:22And you are to celebrate the Feast of Weeks with the firstfruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the turn of the year.
- Exodus 34:23Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord GOD, the God of Israel.
- Read Exodus 34: 2 more there →
Deuteronomy 76 verses
- Deuteronomy 7:2and when the LORD your God has delivered them over to you to defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy.
- Deuteronomy 7:14You will be blessed above all peoples; among you there will be no barren man or woman or livestock.
- Deuteronomy 7:15And the LORD will remove from you all sickness. He will not lay upon you any of the terrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but He will inflict them on all who hate you.
- Deuteronomy 7:16You must destroy all the peoples the LORD your God will deliver to you. Do not look on them with pity. Do not worship their gods, for that will be a snare to you.
- Deuteronomy 7:20Moreover, the LORD your God will send the hornet against them until even the survivors hiding from you have perished.
- Deuteronomy 7:22The LORD your God will drive out these nations before you little by little. You will not be enabled to eliminate them all at once, or the wild animals would multiply around you.
- Read Deuteronomy 7 →
Deuteronomy 163 verses
- Deuteronomy 16:9You are to count off seven weeks from the time you first put the sickle to the standing grain.
- Deuteronomy 16:16Three times a year all your men are to appear before the LORD your God in the place He will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles. No one should appear before the LORD empty-handed.
- Deuteronomy 16:19Do not deny justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous.
- Read Deuteronomy 16 →
Exodus 233 verses
- Exodus 23:1“You shall not spread a false report. Do not join the wicked by being a malicious witness.
- Exodus 23:2You shall not follow the crowd in wrongdoing. When you testify in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd.
- Exodus 23:20Behold, I am sending an angel before you to protect you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.
- Read Exodus 23 →

4 more chapters this one speaks with

Proverbs 12 verses
- Proverbs 1:10My son, if sinners entice you, do not yield to them.
- Proverbs 1:15my son, do not walk the road with them or set foot upon their path.
- Read Proverbs 1 →
Deuteronomy 222 verses
- Deuteronomy 22:1If you see your brother’s ox or sheep straying, you must not ignore it; be sure to return it to your brother.
- Deuteronomy 22:4If you see your brother’s donkey or ox fallen on the road, you must not ignore it; you must help him lift it up.
- Read Deuteronomy 22 →
Deuteronomy 272 verses
- Deuteronomy 27:19‘Cursed is he who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’
- Deuteronomy 27:25‘Cursed is he who accepts a bribe to kill an innocent person.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’
- Read Deuteronomy 27 →
Isaiah 52 verses
- Isaiah 5:13Therefore My people will go into exile for their lack of understanding; their dignitaries are starving and their masses are parched with thirst.
- Isaiah 5:23who acquit the guilty for a bribe and deprive the innocent of justice.
- Read Isaiah 5 →

Cross-references from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and OpenBible.info.