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Exodus 23:2

in Exodus 23

You shall not follow the crowd in wrongdoing. When you testify in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to turn aside after a multitude to wrest justice:

KJV

Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment:

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This verse in Exodus 23

Commentary

4 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil - Be singular. Singularity, if in the right, can never be criminal. So completely disgraceful is the way of sin, that if there were not a multitude walking in that way, who help to keep each other in countenance, every solitary sinner would be obliged to hide his head.

This site's exposition

Thou shalt not raise a false report

on Exodus 23:1-3

The chapter opens inside a courtroom, and the first three rules guard one thing, which is truthful testimony under pressure. Verse 2 forbids following a multitude to do evil, so the pressure named is the weight of numbers rather than the persuasion of a wicked man. Verse 3 refuses partiality toward a poor man and verse 6 refuses it against him, which closes the door from both sides. The Babylonian Talmud takes the clause after many from verse 2 as the ground for a court following its own majority, at tractate Bava Metzia 59b.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil,.... The Targums of Jerusalem and Jonathan add, but to do good.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

We must enquire what we ought to do, not what the majority do; because we must be judged by our Master, not by our fellow-servants, and it is too great a compliment to be willing to go to hell for company. (2.) They must not pervert judgment, no, not in favour of a poor man,

The words behind it

13 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • לֹֽא־not

    lo'-H3808 →5168 times

  • תִהְיֶ֥הyou must be

    tihyehH1961 →3559 times

  • אַחֲרֵֽי־after

    ʾacharei-H310 →715 times

  • רַבִּ֖יםmany [people]

    rabimH7227 →454 times

  • לְרָעֹ֑תto wicked deeds

    leraotH7451 →662 times

  • וְלֹא־and not

    velo'-H3808 →5168 times

  • תַעֲנֶ֣הyou must testify

    taanehH6030 →331 times

  • עַל־on

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • רִ֗בa case at law

    rivH7379 →61 times

  • לִנְטֹ֛תby turning aside

    lintotH5186 →214 times

  • אַחֲרֵ֥יafter

    ʾachareiH310 →715 times

  • רַבִּ֖יםmany [people]

    rabimH7227 →454 times

  • לְהַטֹּֽת׃to thrust aside

    lehatotH5186 →214 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

18 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Romans 12:2Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.63 works3 John 1:11Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.12 worksProverbs 1:10–11My son, if sinners entice you, do not yield to them.11 worksProverbs 1:15my son, do not walk the road with them or set foot upon their path.10 worksDeuteronomy 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.8 worksLuke 23:23–24But they were insistent, demanding with loud voices for Jesus to be crucified. And their clamor prevailed.7 works
The other 12 cross-references, with their words ▾
Job 31:34because I greatly feared the crowds and the contempt of the clans terrified me, so that I kept silent and would not go outside—6 worksMatthew 27:24–26When Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but that instead a riot was breaking out, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “You bear the responsibility.”6 worksProverbs 11:21Be assured that the wicked will not go unpunished, but the offspring of the righteous will escape.6 worksLuke 23:24So Pilate sentenced that their demand be met.6 worksDeuteronomy 1:17Show no partiality in judging; hear both small and great alike. Do not be intimidated by anyone, for judgment belongs to God. And bring to me any case too difficult for you, and I will hear it.”5 worksExodus 23:6–7You shall not deny justice to the poor in their lawsuits.5 works1 Kings 19:10“I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of Hosts,” he replied, “but the Israelites have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I am the only one left, and they are seeking my life as well.”5 worksGenesis 19:4Before they had gone to bed, all the men of the city of Sodom, both young and old, surrounded the house.5 worksDeuteronomy 27:19‘Cursed is he who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’5 worksLuke 23:51who had not consented to their decision or action. He was from the Judean town of Arimathea, and was waiting for the kingdom of God.4 worksProverbs 4:14Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evildoers.4 worksNumbers 14:1–10Then the whole congregation lifted up their voices and cried out, and that night the people wept.4 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Proverbs 1:15

    my son, do not walk the road with them or set foot upon their path.

    it leads to

    • Psalms 119:101

      I have kept my feet from every evil path, that I may keep Your word.

    • Psalms 1:1

      Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or set foot on the path of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers.

    • Proverbs 4:14–15

      Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evildoers.

    • Proverbs 4:27

      Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your feet away from evil.

    • Psalms 26:4–5

      I do not sit with deceitful men, nor keep company with hypocrites.

  • Through

    Job 31:34

    because I greatly feared the crowds and the contempt of the clans terrified me, so that I kept silent and would not go outside—

    it leads to

    • Proverbs 29:25

      The fear of man is a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is set securely on high.

    • Proverbs 24:11–12

      Rescue those being led away to death, and restrain those stumbling toward the slaughter.

    • Esther 4:11

      “All the royal officials and the people of the king’s provinces know that one law applies to every man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned—that he be…

Where this verse is studied

On this page

Studies1

About Exodus

The Giving of the Law on Mount Sinai, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Giving of the Law on Mount Sinai, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Exodus: the study guide →Read Exodus 23 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Exodus 23 →