¹sn People who claim to worship and serve the righteous judge of the universe must preserve equity and justice in their dealings with others. These verses teach that God’s people must be honest witnesses (1-3); God’s people must be righteous even with enemies (4-5); and God’s people must be fair in dispensing justice (6-9).
²tn Heb “take up, lift, carry” (acn* [nasa’]). This verb was also used in the prohibition against taking “the name of Yahweh in vain.” Sometimes the object of this verb is physical, as in Jonah 1:12 and 15. Used in this prohibition involving speech, it covers both originating and repeating a lie.
³tn Or “a groundless report” (see Exod 20:7 for the word aw+v* [saw’]).
⁴tn i.e., “make common cause.”
⁵tn The “wicked” (uv*r* [rasa’]) is a word that refers to the guilty criminal, the person who is doing something wrong. In the religious setting it describes the person who is not a member of the covenant and may be involved in all kinds of sin, even though there is the appearance of moral and spiritual stability.
⁶tn sm*j* (hamas) often means “violence” in the sense of social injustices done to other people, usually the poor and needy. A “malicious” witness would do great harm to others. See J. W. McKay, “Exodus 23:1-43, 6-8: A Decalogue for Administration of Justice in the City Gate,” VT 21 (1971): 311-25.
⁷tn syBr (rabbim), here rendered “crowd,” is also used infrequently to refer to the “mighty,” people of importance in society (Job 35:9; cf. Lev 19:15).
⁸tn For any individual to join a group that is bent on acting wickedly would be a violation of the Law and would incur personal responsibility.
⁹tn Heb “you will not answer in a lawsuit to turn after the crowd to turn.” The form translated “agrees with” (Heb “to turn after”) is the Qal infinitive construct from hfn (nata); the same root is used at the end of the verse but as a Hiphil infinitive construct, “to pervert [justice].”
¹⁰tn The point here is one of false sympathy and honor, the bad sense of the word rdh* (hadar) (see Driver, 237).
¹¹tn Heb “meet.”
¹²tn The construction uses the imperfect tense (taken here as an obligatory imperfect) and the infinitive absolute for emphasis.
¹³tn The line reads “you will cease to forsake him”—refrain from leaving your enemy without help.
¹⁴tn The law is emphatic here as well, using the infinitive absolute and the imperfect of instruction (or possibly obligation). There is also a wordplay here: two words bzu (‘azab) are used, one meaning “forsake” and the other possibly meaning “arrange” based on Arabic and Ugaritic evidence (see Cassuto, 297,8). Driver simply entertains an old suggestion to change the second word to rzu (‘azar).
¹⁵sn See H. B. Huffmon, “Exodus 23:4-5: A Comparative Study,” in A Light Unto My Path: Studies in Honor of J. M. Myers (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1974), 271-78.
¹⁶tn Or “stay away from,” or: “have nothing to do with.”
¹⁷tn Heb “a false matter,” this expression in this context would have to be a case in law that was false, or that could only be won by falsehood.
¹⁸tn The two clauses probably should be related: the getting involved in the false charge could lead to the death of an innocent person (so, e.g., Naboth in 1 Kgs 21:10-13).
¹⁹sn God will not declare right the one who is in the wrong. Society should also be consistent, but it cannot see the intents and motives, as God can.
²⁰tn Heb “blinds the open-eyed.”
²¹tn The verb means “to crush.” Driver notes that in this context this would probably mean with an unfair judgment in the courts (p. 239).
²²tn Heb “soul, life”— “you know what it feels like.”
²³sn This section concerns religious duties of the people of God as they worship by giving thanks to God for their blessings. The principles here are: God requires that his people allow the poor to share in their bounty (10,11); God requires that his people provide times of rest and refreshment for those who labor for them (12); God requires allegiance to himself (13); God requires his people to come before him in gratitude and share their bounty (14-17); God requires that his people safeguard proper worship forms (18,19).
²⁴tn Heb “and six years”; this is an adverbial accusative telling how long they can work their land. The following references to years and days in verses 10-12 function similarly.
²⁵tn Heb “and the seventh year”; an adverbial accusative with a disjunctive vav.
²⁶tn Heb “living thing/creature/beast of the field.” A general term for animals, usually wild animals, including predators (cf. v. 29; Gen 2:19-20; Lev 26:22; Deut 7:22; 1 Sam 17:46; Job 5:22-23; Ezek 29:5; 34:5).
²⁷tn Heb “the sojourner,” or “the resident foreigner.” Such an individual would have traveled out of need and would have depended on the goodwill of the people around him. The rendering “hired help” assumes that the resident alien is mentioned in this context because he is working for an Israelite and will benefit from the Sabbath rest, along with his employer.
²⁸tn The verb is vp@N*Y]w+ (w^eyinnapes); it is related to the word usually translated “soul” or “life.”
²⁹tn The phrase “to do” is added; in Hebrew word order the line says, “In all that I have said to you you will watch yourselves.” The verb for paying attention is a Niphal imperfect with an imperatival force.
³⁰tn Or “honor,” Hiphil of rkz (zakar).
³¹tn Heb “mouth.”
sn To mention the name of a deity would be to admit of that deity’s existence, and so the pious would try to avoid their names (see also Ps 16:4 where David affirms his loyalty to God in the same way).
³²tn The expression rendered “three times” is really “three feet,” or “three foot-beats.” The expression occurs only a few times in the Law. The expressing is an adverbial accusative.
³³tn This is the word gj)T* (tahog) from the root ggj (hagag); it describes a feast that was accompanied by a pilgrimage. It was first used by Moses in his appeal that Israel go three days into the desert to hold such a feast.
³⁴tn This is an adverbial accusative of time.
³⁵tn Heb “in it.”
³⁶tn The verb is a Niphal imperfect; the nuance of permission works well here—no one is permitted to appear before God empty (Heb “and they will not appear before me empty”).
³⁷tn The words “you are also to observe” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
³⁸tn The text uses the infinitive construct with the preposition in a temporal clause: “in the going in of the year.” The word “year” is the subjective genitive, the subject of the clause.
³⁹tn The same construction is used here for this temporal clause: a preposition of time, the infinitive construct, the subjective genitive suffix— “in the ingathering of you.”
⁴⁰tn This is the metonymy of cause, put for the effect. Labors are not gathered in, but what the labors produced—the harvest.
⁴¹tn Adverbial accusative of time: “three times” becomes “at three times.”
⁴²tn Here the divine Name reads in Hebrew hw`hy+ /d)a*h* (h*a*d{/ y+hw*h), which if rendered according to the traditional scheme of “Lord” for “Yahweh” would result in “Lord Lord.” A number of English versions therefore render this phrase “Lord God,” and that convention has been followed here.
⁴³tn The verb is jB^z+T! (tizbah), the imperfect tense from the same root as the genitive that qualifies the accusative: “you will not sacrifice the blood of my sacrifice.” The verb means “to slaughter”; since one cannot slaughter blood, a more general translation is required here. But if the genitive is explained with Cassuto as “my blood-sacrifice” (a genitive of specification; like “the evil of your doings” in Isa 1:16), then a translation of sacrifice would work (p. 304).
⁴⁴sn See N. Snaith, “Exodus 23:18 and 34:25,” JTS 20 (1969): 533-34; see also M. Haran, “The Passover Sacrifice,” in Studies in the Religion of Ancient Israel (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1972), 86-116.
⁴⁵sn Cassuto reminds readers that Maimonides centuries ago said that this law was intended to keep Israelites away from idolatrous practices. Then he cites the recently discovered Ugaritic tablet on “The gods pleasant and beautiful,” text 52, line 14: “boil a kid in milk, a lamb in butter.” The words “kid in milk” are the same as the Hebrew words in Exodus, but it does not say that this is the mother’s milk. See C. M. Carmichael, “On Separating Life and Death: An Explanation of Some Biblical Laws,” HTR 69 (1976): 1-7; J. Milgrom, “You Shall Not Boil a Kid In Its Mother’s Milk,” BRev 1 (1985): 48-55; R. J. Ratner and B. Zuckerman, “In Rereading the ‘Kid in Milk’ Inscriptions,” BRev 1 (1985): 56-58; and M. Haran, “Seething a Kid in Its Mother’s Milk,” JJS 30 (1979): 23-35. Here and at 34:26, where this command is repeated, it ends a series of instructions about procedures for worship.
⁴⁶sn This passage has some of the most interesting and perplexing expressions and constructions in the book. It is largely promise; but it is part of the Law and so demands compliance by faith. Its points are: God promises to send his Angel to prepare the way before his obedient servants (20-23); God promises blessing for his loyal servants (24-33). So in the section one learns that God promises his protection (victory) and blessing (through his Angel) for his obedient and loyal worshipers.
⁴⁷tn The construction uses the particle hN@h! (hinneh) before the active participle, to indicate imminent future, something God is about to do.
⁴⁸sn The word is Ea*l=m^ (mal’ak), “messenger, angel.” This angel is to be treated with the same fear and respect as Yahweh, for Yahweh will be speaking in him. Cassuto says that the words of the first clause do not imply a being distinct from God, for in the ancient world the line of demarcation between the sender and the sent is liable easily to be blurred. Cassuto then shows how the “Angel of Yahweh” in Genesis is Yahweh. He concludes that the words here mean “I will guide you” (pp. 305-6). Christian commentators tend to identify the Angel of Yahweh as the second person of the Trinity (W. C. Kaiser, Jr, “Exodus,” in EBC 446; and Kaiser, Old Testament Theology, 120). However, in addition to being a preincarnate appearance, the word could refer to Yahweh—some manifestation of Yahweh himself.
⁴⁹tn The form is the Hiphil perfect of the verb /WK (kun), “to establish, prepare.”
⁵⁰sn The warning is “take heed,” meaning, guard yourself, watch yourself. So, just as the Angel is coming to guard you, you are to guard yourself against disobeying him.
⁵¹sn This means “the manifestation of my being” is in him (Driver, 247). Driver then quotes McNeile as saying, “The ‘angel’ is Jehovah Himself ‘in a temporary descent to visibility for a special purpose’.” The Talmud identified the Angel as “Metatron,” who stood nearest the throne of God.
⁵²tn The infinitive absolute here does not add as great an emphasis as normal, but emphasizes the condition that is being set forth (see again GKC §113.o).
⁵³tn The Hebrew is <h#yt@b)X@m^ (massebotehem), “their standing stones”; these long stones were erected to represent the abode of the numen or deity. They were usually set up near the altar or the high place. To destroy these would be to destroy the center of Canaanite worship in the land.
⁵⁴tn Both verbs are joined with their infinitive absolutes to provide the strongest sense to these instructions. The images of the false gods in Canaan were to be completely and utterly destroyed. This could not be said any stronger.
⁵⁵tn This is the perfect tense, masculine plural, with the vav consecutive; it is in sequence to the preceding: do not bow down to them, but serve Yahweh. It is then the equivalent of an imperfect of instruction or injunction.
⁵⁶tn The LXX reads “and I will bless” to make the verb conform with the speaker, Yahweh.
⁵⁷sn On this unusual clause B. Jacob says that it is the reversal of the curse in Genesis, because the “bread and water” represent the field work and ground suitability for abundant blessing of provisions (p. 734).
⁵⁸tn Or “abort”; Heb “cast.”
⁵⁹sn No one will die prematurely; this applies to the individual or the nation. The plan of God to bless was grand, if the people would obey.
⁶⁰tn The word for “terror” is yt!m*ya@ (‘emati); the word has more the meaning “panic” or “dread.” As the Israelites advanced God would make the nations panic as they heard of the exploits and knew the new nation was drawing near. Cassuto thinks the reference to “hornets” in v. 28 may be a reference to this fear, an unreasoning dread, rather than to another insect invasion (p. 308). Others suggest it is symbolical of an invading army, or a country like Egypt, or literal insects (see E. Neufeld, “Insects as Warfare Agents in the Ancient Near East,” Or 49 [1980]: 30-57).
⁶¹tn Heb “kill.”
⁶²tn The text has “and I will give all your enemies to you [as] a back.” The verb of making takes two accusatives, the second being the adverbial accusative of product (see GKC §117.ii, note).
⁶³tn Heb “and I will send.”
⁶⁴tn Heb “the beast of the field.”
⁶⁵tn The repetition expresses an exceptional or super-fine quality (see GKC §123.e).
⁶⁶tn The form is the perfect tense with the vav consecutive.
⁶⁷sn In the Hebrew Bible “the River” usually refers to the Euphrates. There is some thought that it refers to a river Nahr el Kebir between Lebanon and Syria. See further W. C. Kaiser, Jr, “Exodus,” in EBC 447; and G. W. Buchanan, The Consequences of the Covenant (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1970), pp 91-100.
⁶⁸tn The idea of the “snare” is to lure them to judgment; God is apparently warning about intercourse with the Canaanites, either in worship or in business. They are very syncretistic, and so it would be dangerous to settle among them.