Read & Study the Bible Online - Bible Portal
William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Exodus 23:1-19

CHAPTER XXIII.THE LESSER LAW (continued).Exodus 23:1-19.The twenty-third chapter begins with a series of commands bearing upon the course of justice; but among these there is interjected very curiously a command to bring back the stray ox or ass of an enemy, and to help under a burden the over-weighted ass of him that hateth thee, even "if thou wouldest forbear to help him." It is just possible that the lawgiver, urging justice in the bearing of testimony, interrupts himself to speak of a very... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Exodus 23:1-33

6THE LESSER LAW.Exodus 20:18 - Exodus 23:33.With the close of the Decalogue and its universal obligations, we approach a brief code of laws, purely Hebrew, but of the deepest moral interest, confessed by hostile criticism to bear every mark of a remote antiquity, and distinctly severed from what precedes and follows by a marked difference in the circumstances.This is evidently the book of the Covenant to which the nation gave its formal assent (Exodus 24:7), and is therefore the germ and the... read more

Arno Clemens Gaebelein

Arno Gaebelein's Annotated Bible - Exodus 23:1-33

CHAPTER 23 Further Judgments and Directions 1. Concerning unrighteous dealings of various kinds (Exodus 23:1-9 ) 2. Concerning the seventh year (Exodus 23:10-13 ) 3. Concerning the three feasts (Exodus 23:14-19 ) 4. Promises concerning the possession of the land (Exodus 23:20-33 ) We call attention to the words concerning the seventh year. The seventh day was the day of rest. The seventh year was to give the land rest; it was to rest and lie still. Besides this there was the jubilee... read more

John Calvin

Geneva Study Bible - Exodus 23:16

23:16 And the {h} feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the {i} feast of ingathering, [which is] in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.(h) Which is Whit Sunday, in token that the law was given 50 days after they departed from Egypt.(i) This is the feast of tabernacles, signifying that they lived for 40 years in the tents or the tabernacles in the wilderness. read more

L.M. Grant

L. M. Grant's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 23:1-33

INSISTENCE ON HONESTY (vs.1-9) Consistently with the language of law, the question of honesty is looked at from a negative viewpoint, that is, emphasizing what one should not do. How easily one may circulate a false report without realizing it is false because he did not carefully check its source. May the Lord keep us from this. To circulate this is bad, and also to associate with others who do so. Both of these are seen in verse 1. Again, a crowd may be carried away by an evil report. We... read more

James Gray

James Gray's Concise Bible Commentary - Exodus 23:1-33

THE CIVIL CODE The ten commandments constitute the moral law, a perfect rule of duty for all men and everywhere. But the “judgments” (Exodus 21:1 ) that follow are an application of those commandments to Israel in the peculiar circumstances of their history at that time and when they should inhabit Canaan. The ten commandments, let us say, represent the constitution of the United States, and the judgments the legislative enactments based thereon by Congress. The three chapters now entered... read more

Joseph Parker

The People's Bible by Joseph Parker - Exodus 23:1-33

Negative Commandments Exodus 22-23 We cannot read the book of Exodus without being struck by the number of things which we are not to do. These detailed and emphatic prohibitions we may regard under the name of negative commandments. We are not left to ourselves in any instance to determine a case of doubt; from beginning to end the Divine voice is clear, and direct, and final in its tone. These negative commandments are interesting upon every ground; but perhaps especially so as revealing... read more

Robert Hawker

Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary - Exodus 23:14-17

Those seasons were - in the spring, summer, and autumn, namely, the feast of the Passover, that of Pentecost, and that of Tabernacles. It is worthy observation, that in after ages, under the gospel state, the Lord Jesus was crucified on the one; namely, the Passover, which that solemn service typified: and the Holy Ghost descended during the commemoration of the other; namely, the feast of Pentecost, which confirmed also that great ordinance of God. See Matthew 26:2 ; Acts 2:1-2 . read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 23:10-19

10-19 Every seventh year the land was to rest. They must not plough or sow it; what the earth produced of itself, should be eaten, and not laid up. This law seems to have been intended to teach dependence on Providence, and God's faithfulness in sending the larger increase while they kept his appointments. It was also typical of the heavenly rest, when all earthly labours, cares, and interests shall cease for ever. All respect to the gods of the heathen is strictly forbidden. Since idolatry was... read more

Paul E. Kretzmann

The Popular Commentary by Paul E. Kretzmann - Exodus 23:10-19

The Holy Periods and Feasts v. 10. And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the fruits thereof, whatever it yields under careful cultivation; v. 11. but the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie still, let it remain unused, make no attempt to cultivate it, that the poor of thy people may eat, namely, that produced by the land without cultivation, the so-called volunteer grain; and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. This fallowing of the land would... read more

Group of Brands