Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
Exodus 23:1-9
Regulations Concerning Behaviour to One's Neighbour (Exodus 23:1).
There is an interesting pattern to the following verses. (Compare Exodus 23:1 with Exodus 23:7; Exodus 23:2 with Exodus 23:6; Exodus 23:3 with Exodus 23:5).
a Taking a false report and perverting justice (Exodus 23:1).
b Following a crowd to do evil (Exodus 23:2).
c Dealing with the poor by favouring him (Exodus 23:3).
d Attitude to dumb beasts (Exodus 23:4).
c Dealing with the poor by preventing justice for him (Exodus 23:6).
b Following a false matter (Exodus 23:7).
a Taking a gift and perverting the truth (Exodus 23:8).
“You shall not take up a false report. Do not put your hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.”
This is a warning against perjury. To take up false information in order to use it, is to be hand in hand with the wicked, that is, with those condemned by Yahweh. Such people stand against God.
“Do not put your hand with the wicked.” A joining of hands to confirm the agreement to give false testimony seems to be in mind, an act which puts all under equal condemnation. Compare Job 9:33.
“You shall not follow a crowd to do evil. Nor shall you speak in a cause to turn aside after a crowd to bend judgment.”
This is a warning against being influenced by the crowd, whether in private affairs or in court. If a crowd plans evil it is to be avoided. Nor must a man join with the many to bring about a wrong judgment. God's man must stand up for right and truth even against the will of a crowd.
“Neither shall you favour a poor man in his cause.”
Rich and poor are to be treated the same. To be prejudiced on behalf of a poor man is no better than being prejudiced on behalf of a rich man. The truth is what matters without fear or favour.
Some feel that the statement is unexpected and try to change the sense. But there is no textual justification for it and prejudice against the rich by the poor is not unknown (also see verse 6 where the converse is dealt with).
“If you meet your enemy's ox or his ass going astray you shall surely bring it back to him again. If you see the ass of him who hates you lying under his burden and would forbear to help him, you shall surely help with him.”
Concern for the animal's welfare is possibly as much in mind here as concern for the ‘enemy'. Attitudes between people are not to prevent acts of mercy towards dumb animals. But such an act would often produce reconciliation.
This sudden switch in subject matter is typical of ancient law codes, but in fact the switch may not be as noticeable to the ancient mind as to us. After concern for the poor man comes concern for brute beasts. It is simply a step downwards The change of format is required by the content.
The phrase ‘your poor' is found elsewhere only in Deuteronomy 15:11 and speaks of the poor as a whole. To wrest (or bend) judgment suggests the twisting or manoeuvring of the facts. Thus the command is not to interfere with true judgment just because the poor are involved. This would seem to warn against discriminating against the poor, the opposite of Exodus 23:3. The content of Exodus 23:4 and Exodus 23:5 may well have been deliberately included here to separate the two ideas in Exodus 23:3 and Exodus 23:6 so that they could be stated separately and not confused.
“Keep yourself far from a false matter, and do not slay the innocent and the righteous, for I will not justify the wicked.”
Anything that is dubious or false is to be avoided, especially as relating to matters of justice. To assist in a false verdict is to punish and even possibly kill those who are righteous, and to declare the wicked innocent. This is something Yahweh could not participate in and therefore neither can His people. It is contrary to all that Yahweh is.
“I will not justify the wicked.” This could refer to His not participating in a verdict that brings guilt or innocence on the wrong person, or it could be referring His judgment on those who assist in a false verdict. There is One Who sees and judges (Proverbs 15:3).
“And you shall accept no gift, for a gift blinds those who have sight (literally ‘the open-eyed') and perverts the words of the righteous.”
This refers especially to witnesses, but it can also be seen as referring to any occasion when the reception of a gift could produce biased judgment. To accept a gift from someone about whom you are called to give an opinion, or from his friends, is strictly forbidden. We will always favour those who reward us however much we may protest otherwise, and this can apply equally in churches as well as in courts of law.
“A gift blinds the open-eyed.” This is the fact, however much we persuade ourselves otherwise. Its effect is subtle but certain. It makes us close our eyes to what we have seen. It makes even the righteous behave and speak unrighteously, in other words to say what otherwise they would not have said. ‘A gift is as a precious stone in the eyes of him who has it, wherever it turns it prospers' (Proverbs 17:8), which simply indicates that it obtains what the giver is seeking to obtain.
As today, bribery was a common fact of Old Testament life and utterly condemned (see Isaiah 1:23; Amos 5:12; Micah 3:11; Psalms 15:5; Psalms 26:10; Proverbs 17:23).
“And a stranger you will not oppress, for you understand the heart of a stranger seeing you were strangers in the land of Egypt.”
The position of this verse shows that the previous warning is in mind. Strangers resident among us have as much right to justice as anyone else, and it is especially easy to be turned against a foreigner by ‘gifts'. But they deserve justice too. Compare Exodus 22:21, which is very similar, for the general attitude to strangers. But here the emphasis is on the resident alien receiving proper justice, in Exodus 2:21 it was on seeing him as within the sphere of God's covenant mercy.