Exodus 23 - Introduction
_LAWS RESPECTING SLANDER AND FALSE-WITNESS; THE POOR; THE SABBATH OF THE LAND; IDOLATRY; THE YEARLY FEASTS. BLESSINGS PROMISED TO OBEDIENCE._ _Before Christ 1491._... [ Continue Reading ]
_LAWS RESPECTING SLANDER AND FALSE-WITNESS; THE POOR; THE SABBATH OF THE LAND; IDOLATRY; THE YEARLY FEASTS. BLESSINGS PROMISED TO OBEDIENCE._ _Before Christ 1491._... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU SHALT NOT RAISE A FALSE REPORT, &C.— There is an ambiguity in the word תשׂא _tissa,_ which signifies no less _to spread_ false reports, than _to give credit_ to them when spread. Houbigant prefers the latter sense (_thou shalt not give ear to a false report_); and for this reason, says he, that... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU SHALT NOT FOLLOW A MULTITUDE TO DO EVIL— As the former verse, no less than the latter part of this and the third, refers to testimony and judgment, one would imagine, that this also must have a more limited sense than the words bear in our version. Houbigant renders the whole verse thus: _thou... [ Continue Reading ]
IF THOU MEET THINE ENEMY'S OX, &C.— Here the noble precept of doing good for evil, of assisting enemies, _those who hate us,_ Exodus 23:5 is strongly inculcated. Nothing can excuse us from discharging the offices of kindness and humanity, when they are wanted, and we are able to perform them, toward... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WOULDEST FORBEAR TO HELP HIM— The meaning of this verse is evident enough from the parallel passage, Deuteronomy 22:4. But it is difficult to make out the literal construction of the Hebrew, as the marginal version of our Bibles may serve to shew. Parkhurst, in his Lexicon, renders it thus, _"Wh... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU SHALT NOT WREST THE JUDGMENT OF THY POOR IN HIS CAUSE— _The poor,_ is emphatic; and designed to enforce the observation of this law, which enjoins the impartial administration of justice to the _poor,_ as well as to the rich; to the _stranger,_ as well as to the native Israelite, Exodus 23:9. S... [ Continue Reading ]
A GIFT BLINDETH THE WISE— See Ecclesiastes 7:7. The margin of our Bibles renders, very properly, the Hebrew word, translated _the wise_ in the text, _the seeing._ Houbigant, from the Samaritan and others, adds the word _eyes; a gift blindeth the open,_ or _seeing eyes._ The law of the twelve tables... [ Continue Reading ]
AND SIX YEARS— See Leviticus 25 for the particulars respecting the sabbatical year: see also Deuteronomy 31:10; Deuteronomy 31:30. _Note:_ 1. Every seventh year the land was neither plowed nor sown, nor their vineyards or olive-yards gathered: the poor had a right to the increase. A tender concern f... [ Continue Reading ]
THREE TIMES THOU SHALT KEEP A FEAST UNTO ME IN THE YEAR— It is very evident, from the appointment of these three solemn festivals, _when all the males were to appear before the Lord_ in that place where he peculiarly manifested himself to them, that the Jewish religion was never designed to be an un... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU SHALT KEEP THE FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD— Concerning this feast of passover, see ch. 12: and Deuteronomy 16:1. It is enjoined, at the close of this verse, that _none should appear empty before God; i.e_. without the appointed offering; a command, which refers to all the three festivals, Deutero... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE FEAST OF HARVEST— Concerning this feast, otherwise called _the feast of weeks,_ or of _pentecost;_ see Deuteronomy 16:9 and Leviticus 23:15; Leviticus 23:44. _AND THE FEAST OF IN-GATHERING_— Concerning this feast, commonly called _the feast of tabernacles;_ see Deuteronomy 16:13.Leviticus 2... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU SHALT NOT OFFER THE BLOOD OF MY SACRIFICE— It has been concluded, from ch. Exodus 34:25 that _the blood of the sacrifice_ here meant, was that of the paschal lamb; and accordingly the Chaldee paraphrast, in that place, renders it, _thou shalt not offer the blood of my passover with leaven_ (see... [ Continue Reading ]
THE FIRST OF THE FIRST-FRUITS, &C— See ch. Exodus 22:29. This command refers to the first-fruits to be offered at the several festivals, when they were settled in the land of Canaan. _THOU SHALT NOT SEETHE A KID IN HIS MOTHER'S MILK_— This extraordinary command is repeated, ch. Exodus 34:26 and Deut... [ Continue Reading ]
BEHOLD, I SEND AN ANGEL— This might as well be rendered, _the Angel_ or _Messenger._ Houbigant, after the Samaritan, the LXX, and the Vulgate, reads _my Angel,_ as in Exodus 23:23. Who he was, appears from the whole subsequent history; namely, that same Divine Person who appeared to Moses in the bus... [ Continue Reading ]
AND YE SHALL SERVE THE LORD YOUR GOD— In consequence of their utter extirpation of idols and idolatry, and their obedience to God, he promises every sort of temporal blessings: Plenty of meat and drink; implied in the words _bread_ and _water;_ see 1 Samuel 25:11. Health; _I will take sickness away,... [ Continue Reading ]
AND I WILL SEND HORNETS BEFORE THEE— See this fulfilled, Joshua 24:12. The author of the Book of Wisdom, ch. Exodus 12:8 calls these _wasps; and didst find wasps, forerunners of thine host, to destroy them by little and little._ The _hornet,_ whose sting is more venomous with _us_ than that of the _... [ Continue Reading ]
I WILL NOT DRIVE THEM OUT FROM BEFORE THEE IN ONE YEAR— The reasons for this are subjoined: to which may be added others, deduced from Judges 3:1.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND I WILL SET THY BOUNDS— The bounds of the land _which they were to inherit,_ (Exodus 23:30.) are here set down: they were to be from the _Red Sea_ on the south-east, _unto the sea of the Philistines_ or the Mediterranean sea on the north-west; _and from the desert_ of Arabia, or the wilderness of... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU SHALT MAKE NO COVENANT, &C.— From this place, and ch. Exodus 34:11, one cannot help remarking the absurdity of Voltaire's position, that the Jewish religion was a religion of toleration: indeed it would have been strange, that a religion calculated for the preservation of the knowledge and wors... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY SHALL NOT DWELL IN THY LAND— i.e. "They shall on no account be suffered to dwell within thy land, while continuing in the practice of idolatry;" the reason of which is subjoined; and it is added, _If,_ seduced by them, _thou shalt serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee._ It will... [ Continue Reading ]