1 Thou shalt not raise H5375 a false H7723 report: H8088 put H7896 not thine hand H3027 with the wicked H7563 to be an unrighteous H2555 witness. H5707
If a false H2555 witness H5707 rise up H6965 against any man H376 to testify H6030 against him that which is wrong; H5627 Then both H8147 the men, H582 between whom the controversy H7379 is, shall stand H5975 before H6440 the LORD, H3068 before H6440 the priests H3548 and the judges, H8199 which shall be in those days; H3117 And the judges H8199 shall make diligent H3190 inquisition: H1875 and, behold, if the witness H5707 be a false H8267 witness, H5707 and hath testified H6030 falsely H8267 against his brother; H251 Then shall ye do H6213 unto him, as he had thought H2161 to have done H6213 unto his brother: H251 so shalt thou put H1197 the evil H7451 away H1197 from among H7130 you. And those which remain H7604 shall hear, H8085 and fear, H3372 and shall henceforth H3254 commit H6213 no more any H1697 such evil H7451 among H7130 you. And thine eye H5869 shall not pity; H2347 but life H5315 shall go for life, H5315 eye H5869 for eye, H5869 tooth H8127 for tooth, H8127 hand H3027 for hand, H3027 foot H7272 for foot. H7272
Now G1161 the chief priests, G749 and G2532 elders, G4245 and G2532 all G3650 the council, G4892 sought G2212 false witness G5577 against G2596 Jesus, G2424 to G3704 put G2289 him G846 to death; G2289 But G2532 found G2147 none: G3756 yea, G2532 though many G4183 false witnesses G5575 came, G4334 yet found they G2147 none. G3756 G1161 At the last G5305 came G4334 two G1417 false witnesses, G5575 And said, G2036 This G3778 fellow said, G5346 I am able G1410 to destroy G2647 the temple G3485 of God, G2316 and G2532 to build G3618 it G846 in G1223 three G5140 days. G2250
And G2532 if G1437 this G5124 come G191 to G1909 the governor's G2232 ears, G191 we G2249 will persuade G3982 him, G846 and G2532 secure G275 G4160 you. G5209 So G1161 they took G2983 the money, G694 and did G4160 as G5613 they were taught: G1321 and G2532 this G3778 saying G3056 is commonly reported G1310 among G3844 the Jews G2453 until G3360 this day. G4594
Then G5119 they suborned G5260 men, G435 which said, G3004 G3754 We have heard G191 him G846 speak G2980 blasphemous G989 words G4487 against G1519 Moses, G3475 and G2532 against God. G2316 And G5037 they stirred up G4787 the people, G2992 and G2532 the elders, G4245 and G2532 the scribes, G1122 and G2532 came upon G2186 him, and caught G4884 him, G846 and G2532 brought G71 him to G1519 the council, G4892 And G5037 set up G2476 false G5571 witnesses, G3144 which said, G3004 This G5127 man G444 ceaseth G3973 not G3756 to speak G2980 blasphemous G989 words G4487 against G2596 this G3778 holy G40 place, G5117 and G2532 the law: G3551
And set H3427 two H8147 men, H582 sons H1121 of Belial, H1100 before him, to bear witness H5749 against him, saying, H559 Thou didst blaspheme H1288 God H430 and the king. H4428 And then carry him out, H3318 and stone H5619 him, that he may die. H4191 And the men H582 of his city, H5892 even the elders H2205 and the nobles H2715 who were the inhabitants H3427 in his city, H5892 did H6213 as Jezebel H348 had sent H7971 unto them, and as it was written H3789 in the letters H5612 which she had sent H7971 unto them. They proclaimed H7121 a fast, H6685 and set H3427 Naboth H5022 on high H7218 among the people. H5971 And there came H935 in two H8147 men, H582 children H1121 of Belial, H1100 and sat H3427 before him: and the men H582 of Belial H1100 witnessed H5749 against him, even against Naboth, H5022 in the presence of the people, H5971 saying, H559 Naboth H5022 did blaspheme H1288 God H430 and the king. H4428 Then they carried him forth H3318 out H2351 of the city, H5892 and stoned H5619 him with stones, H68 that he died. H4191
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Exodus 23
Commentary on Exodus 23 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 23
Ex 23:1-33. Laws concerning Slander, &c.
1. put not thine hand—join not hands.
2. decline—depart, deviate from the straight path of rectitude.
3. countenance—adorn, embellish—thou shalt not varnish the cause even of a poor man to give it a better coloring than it merits.
10. six years thou shalt sow thy land—intermitting the cultivation of the land every seventh year. But it appears that even then there was a spontaneous produce which the poor were permitted freely to gather for their use, and the beasts driven out fed on the remainder, the owners of fields not being allowed to reap or collect the fruits of the vineyard or oliveyard during the course of this sabbatical year. This was a regulation subservient to many excellent purposes; for, besides inculcating the general lesson of dependence on Providence, and of confidence in His faithfulness to His promise respecting the triple increase on the sixth year (Le 25:20, 21), it gave the Israelites a practical proof that they held their properties of the Lord as His tenants, and must conform to His rules on pain of forfeiting the lease of them.
12. Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest—This law is repeated [Ex 20:9] lest any might suppose there was a relaxation of its observance during the sabbatical year.
13. make no mention of the name of other gods, &c.—that is, in common conversation, for a familiar use of them would tend to lessen horror of idolatry.
14-18. Three times … keep a feast … in the year—This was the institution of the great religious festivals—"The feast of unleavened bread," or the passover—"the feast of harvest," or pentecost—"the feast of ingathering," or the feast of tabernacles, which was a memorial of the dwelling in booths in the wilderness, and which was observed in the seventh month (Ex 12:2). All the males were enjoined to repair to the tabernacle and afterwards the temple, and the women frequently went. The institution of this national custom was of the greatest importance in many ways: by keeping up a national sense of religion and a public uniformity in worship, by creating a bond of unity, and also by promoting internal commerce among the people. Though the absence of all the males at these three festivals left the country defenseless, a special promise was given of divine protection, and no incursion of enemies was ever permitted to happen on those occasions.
19. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk—A prohibition against imitating the superstitious rites of the idolaters in Egypt, who, at the end of their harvest, seethed a kid in its mother's milk and sprinkled the broth as a magical charm on their gardens and fields, to render them more productive the following season. [See on De 14:21].
20-25. Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way—The communication of these laws, made to Moses and by him rehearsed to the people, was concluded by the addition of many animating promises, intermingled with several solemn warnings that lapses into sin and idolatry would not be tolerated or passed with impunity.
21. my name is in him—This angel is frequently called Jehovah and Elohim, that is, God.
28. I will send hornets before thee, &c. (See on Jos 24:12)—Some instrument of divine judgment, but variously interpreted: as hornets in a literal sense [Bochart]; as a pestilential disease [Rosenmuller]; as a terror of the Lord, an extraordinary dejection [Junius].
29, 30. I will not drive … out … in one year; lest the land become desolate—Many reasons recommend a gradual extirpation of the former inhabitants of Canaan. But only one is here specified—the danger lest, in the unoccupied grounds, wild beasts should inconveniently multiply; a clear proof that the promised land was more than sufficient to contain the actual population of the Israelites.