Exodus 23:1-9

Exodus 23:1-1 Samuel : R. Justice.— Form and substance also separate this group from the Judgments and ally it with the Words of Yahweh in the Covenant Book. Circulating groundless reports ( Exodus 23:1 a), conspiring with “ him that is in the wrong” ( cf. Exodus 2:13) to be a malicious witness ( Exodus 23:1 b) , siding with the strongest in action or witness-bearing ( Exodus 23:2), and partiality in judgment ( Exodus 23:3) are condemned. Read in Exodus 23:3 , for “ poor,” “ great” : partiality for the poor needed no prohibition. The injunctions about a straying or fallen beast of an enemy ( Exodus 23:4 f., render Exodus 23:5 as mg.) breathe a generous spirit: they are here out of place, and were perhaps a marginal illustration to Exodus 23:9 . Justice must be administered fairly and strictly, and bribes must be rejected, and not Buffered to “ pervert the cause of the righteous” ( Exodus 23:8). In Exodus 23:7 b it is better to read with LXX “ and thou shalt not acquit the guilty.” The alien, like the poor, is to have justice ( Exodus 23:9 a, Exodus 23:9 b being a gloss). We see the true democratic ideal of law and justice emerging in this paragraph, and also the obstacles before it: the man with money, or a large family ( cf. Psalms 127:3-Deuteronomy :), or many friends had a tremendous advantage; he has not lost it all yet.