Exodus 23:22
in Exodus 23But 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.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But if thou shalt indeed hearken unto his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries.
KJV
But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries.
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This verse in Exodus 23
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
But if you will listen carefully to his voice
on Exodus 23:22-23
The promise for obeying that voice is stated as war: “I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes”. Six nations are named here, where Genesis 15:19 to 15:21 listed ten to Abram.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
But, if thou shall indeed obey his voice,....
Thus is God pleased to twist his interests and friendships with his people's. It is promised that they should have a comfortable settlement in the land of Canaan, which they hoped now (though it proved otherwise) within a few months to be in the possession of,
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way--The communication of these laws, made to Moses and by him rehearsed to the people, was concluded by the addition of many animating promises, intermingled with several solemn warnings that lapses into sin and idolatry would not be tolerated or passed with impunity.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The rendering in the margin is better. Cf. Deu 20:4.
The words behind it
15 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 | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | except | H518 → | 1069 times |
| שָׁמֹ֤עַ | shamoa' | carefully <to listen> | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| תִּשְׁמַע֙ | tishma' | you will listen | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| בְּקֹל֔וֹ | bekolo | to voice his | H6963 → | 506 times |
| וְעָשִׂ֕יתָ | veasita | and you will do | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| כֹּ֖ל | kol | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | that | H834 → | 5497 times |
| אֲדַבֵּ֑ר | ʾadaber | I will say | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| וְאָֽיַבְתִּי֙ | veayavti | and I will be an enemy to | H340 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אֹ֣יְבֶ֔יךָ | ʾoyeveikha | enemies your | H341 → | 282 times |
| וְצַרְתִּ֖י | vetzarti | and I will be a foe to | H6696 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| צֹרְרֶֽיךָ׃ | tzorereikha | opposers your | H6887 → |
כִּ֣יthat
kiH3588 →4482 times
אִם־except
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
שָׁמֹ֤עַcarefully <to listen>
shamoa'H8085 →1159 times
תִּשְׁמַע֙you will listen
tishma'H8085 →1159 times
בְּקֹל֔וֹto voice his
bekoloH6963 →506 times
וְעָשִׂ֕יתָand you will do
veasitaH6213 →2628 times
כֹּ֖לall
kolH3605 →5413 times
אֲשֶׁ֣רthat
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
אֲדַבֵּ֑רI will say
ʾadaberH1696 →1141 times
וְאָֽיַבְתִּי֙and I will be an enemy to
veayavtiH340 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
אֹ֣יְבֶ֔יךָenemies your
ʾoyeveikhaH341 →282 times
וְצַרְתִּ֖יand I will be a foe to
vetzartiH6696 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
צֹרְרֶֽיךָ׃opposers your
tzorereikhaH6887 →
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
Genesis 12:3I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you; and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you.”
it leads to
- Genesis 27:29
May peoples serve you and nations bow down to you. May you be the master of your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Galatians 3:8
The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and foretold the gospel to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.”
- Genesis 22:18
And through your offspring all nations of the earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
- Acts 3:25–26
And you are sons of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers when He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all the families of the earth will be blessed.’
- Numbers 24:9
He crouches, he lies down like a lion; like a lioness, who dares to rouse him? Blessed are those who bless you and cursed are those who curse you.”
- Genesis 27:29
Through
Zechariah 2:8For this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “After His Glory has sent Me against the nations that have plundered you—for whoever touches you touches the apple of His eye—
it leads to
- Psalms 17:8
Keep me as the apple of Your eye; hide me in the shadow of Your wings
- Deuteronomy 32:10
He found him in a desert land, in a barren, howling wilderness; He surrounded him, He instructed him, He guarded him as the apple of His eye.
- Psalms 17:8
Through
Numbers 24:9He crouches, he lies down like a lion; like a lioness, who dares to rouse him? Blessed are those who bless you and cursed are those who curse you.”
it leads to
- Genesis 12:3
I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you; and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you.”
- Genesis 12:3
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Exodus
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.