1 `Thou dost not lift up a vain report; thou dost not put thy hand with a wicked man to be a violent witness.
Whoso slandereth in secret his neighbour, Him I cut off, The high of eyes and proud of heart, him I endure not.
A false witness is not acquitted, Whoso breatheth out lies is not delivered.
`Thou dost not answer against thy neighbour a false testimony.
`Ye do not steal, nor feign, nor lie one against his fellow.
`Thou dost not go slandering among thy people; thou dost not stand against the blood of thy neighbour; I `am' Jehovah.
`Thou dost not answer against thy neighbour -- a false testimony.
`When a violent witness doth rise against a man, to testify against him apostacy, then have both the men who have the strife stood before Jehovah, before the priests and the judges who are in those days, and the judges have searched diligently, and lo, the witness `is' a false witness, a falsehood he hath testified against his brother: `Then ye have done to him as he devised to do to his brother, and thou hast put away the evil thing out of thy midst, and those who are left do hear and fear, and add not to do any more according to this evil thing in thy midst; and thine eye doth not pity -- life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
And the chief priests, and the elders, and all the council, were seeking false witness against Jesus, that they might put him to death, and they did not find; and many false witnesses having come near, they did not find; and at last two false witnesses having come near, said, `This one said, I am able to throw down the sanctuary of God, and after three days to build it.'
and if this be heard by the governor, we will persuade him, and you keep free from anxiety.' And they, having received the money, did as they were taught, and this account was spread abroad among Jews till this day.
And I heard a great voice saying in the heaven, `Now did come the salvation, and the power, and the reign, of our God, and the authority of His Christ, because cast down was the accuser of our brethren, who is accusing them before our God day and night;
having a good conscience, that in that in which they speak against you as evil-doers, they may be ashamed who are traducing your good behaviour in Christ;
without natural affection, implacable, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, not lovers of those who are good,
and not, as we are evil spoken of, and as certain affirm us to say -- `We may do the evil things, that the good ones may come?' whose judgment is righteous.
then they suborned men, saying -- `We have heard him speaking evil sayings in regard to Moses and God.' They did stir up also the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and having come upon `him', they caught him, and brought `him' to the sanhedrim; they set up also false witnesses, saying, `This one doth not cease to speak evil sayings against this holy place and the law,
And questioning him also were those warring, saying, `And we, what shall we do?' and he said unto them, `Do violence to no one, nor accuse falsely, and be content with your wages.'
An evil doer is attentive to lips of vanity, Falsehood is giving ear to a mischievous tongue.
and cause two men -- sons of worthlessness -- to sit over-against him, and they testify of him, saying, Thou hast blessed God and Melech; and they have brought him out, and stoned him, and he dieth.' And the men of his city, the elders and the freemen who are dwelling in his city, do as Jezebel hath sent unto them, as written in the letters that she sent unto them, they have proclaimed a fast, and caused Naboth to sit at the head of the people, and two men -- sons of worthlessness -- come in, and sit over-against him, and the men of worthlessness testify of him, even Naboth, before the people, saying, `Naboth blessed God and Melech;' and they take him out to the outside of the city, and stone him with stones, and he dieth;
He hath not slandered by his tongue, He hath not done to his friend evil; And reproach he hath not lifted up Against his neighbour.
What doth He give to thee? And what doth He add to thee? O deceitful tongue!
A false witness `who' doth breathe out lies -- And one sending forth contentions between brethren.
Whoso uttereth faithfulness declareth righteousness, And a false witness -- deceit.
And the king saith, `And where `is' the son of thy lord?' and Ziba saith unto the king, `Lo, he is abiding in Jerusalem, for he said, To-day do the house of Israel give back to me the kingdom of my father.'
A worthless witness scorneth judgment, And the mouth of the wicked swalloweth iniquity.
A false witness doth perish, And an attentive man for ever speaketh.
A maul, and a sword, and a sharp arrow, `Is' the man testifying against his neighbour a false testimony.
A north wind bringeth forth rain, And a secret tongue -- indignant faces.
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.