Exodus 23:4
in Exodus 23If you encounter your enemy’s stray ox or donkey, you must return it to him.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
If thou meet thine enemy’s ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again.
KJV
If thou meet thine enemy’s ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again.
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This verse in Exodus 23
Commentary
6 notes on this verseIf thou meet thine enemy’s ox - going astray - From the humane and heavenly maxim in this and the following verse, our blessed Lord has formed the following precept: “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you;” Mat 5:44. A precept so plain, wise, benevolent, and useful, can receive no other comment than that which its influence on the heart of a kind and merciful man produces in his life.
This site's exposition
thou shalt surely bring it back to him again
on Exodus 23:4-5
The cases are a straying ox and an ass collapsed under its load, and the owner is named as thine enemy and as him that hateth thee. Deuteronomy 22:1 and 22:4 give the same two cases with thy brother standing where the enemy stands here, so this is the harder version of a law Israel already had. What is required is labour, since the man has to lift the burden alongside someone who hates him. Jesus works the same ground at Matthew 5:44, and Paul at Romans 12:20 quotes Proverbs 25:21.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
A reputation for nobility follows the refusal to remember ills and leads to the cessation of hostility. From this we become disposed to concord, and concord leads to happiness. If you catch anyone you regard as a traditional enemy acting stupidly and irrationally out of desire or temper, turn him toward good behavior.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
17 Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord G OD . 18 Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the fat of my sacrifice remain until the morning.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:95%@v17-18
If thou meet thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
So far was the spirit of the law from encouraging personal revenge that it would not allow a man to neglect an opportunity of saving his enemy from loss. Exo 23:5 The sense appears to be: “If thou see the ass of thine enemy lying down under his burden, thou shalt forbear to pass by him; thou shalt help him in loosening the girths of the ass.”
The words behind it
10 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֣י | ki | if | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| תִפְגַּ֞ע | tifga' | you will meet | H6293 → | 46 times |
| שׁ֧וֹר | shor | [the] ox of | H7794 → | 79 times |
| אֹֽיִבְךָ֛ | ʾoyivkha | enemy your | H341 → | 282 times |
| א֥וֹ | ʾo | or | H176 → | 321 times |
| חֲמֹר֖וֹ | chamoro | donkey his | H2543 → | 96 times |
| תֹּעֶ֑ה | toeh | wandering off | H8582 → | |
| הָשֵׁ֥ב | hashev | certainly <to return> | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| תְּשִׁיבֶ֖נּוּ | teshivenu | you will return it | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| לֽוֹ׃ ס | lo | to <the> him |
כִּ֣יif
kiH3588 →4482 times
תִפְגַּ֞עyou will meet
tifga'H6293 →46 times
שׁ֧וֹר[the] ox of
shorH7794 →79 times
אֹֽיִבְךָ֛enemy your
ʾoyivkhaH341 →282 times
א֥וֹor
ʾoH176 →321 times
חֲמֹר֖וֹdonkey his
chamoroH2543 →96 times
תֹּעֶ֑הwandering off
toehH8582 →
הָשֵׁ֥בcertainly <to return>
hashevH7725 →1056 times
תְּשִׁיבֶ֖נּוּyou will return it
teshivenuH7725 →1056 times
לֽוֹ׃ סto <the> him
lo
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
Matthew 5:44But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
it leads to
- 1 Peter 3:9
Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Romans 12:14
Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse.
- Luke 6:27–28
But to those of you who will listen, I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
- Romans 12:20–21
On the contrary, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink. For in so doing, you will heap burning coals on his head.”
- Proverbs 25:21–22
If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.
- 1 Peter 3:9
Through
1 Thessalonians 5:15Make sure that no one repays evil for evil. Always pursue what is good for one another and for all people.
it leads to
- Galatians 6:10
Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to the family of faith.
- Leviticus 19:18
Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against any of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.
- 3 John 1:11
Beloved, 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.
- Galatians 6:10
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Exodus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata Book 2; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.