Exodus 23:6-16

6 "1You shall not pervert the justice due to your needy brother in his dispute.
7 "2Keep far from a false charge, and 3do not kill the innocent or the righteous, for 4I will not acquit the guilty.
8 "5You shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the cause of the just.
9 "6You shall not oppress a stranger, since you yourselves know the feelings of a stranger, for you also were strangers in the land of Egypt.

The Sabbath and Land

10 "7You shall sow your land for six years and gather in its yield,
11 but on the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, so that the needy of your people may eat; and whatever they leave the beast of the field may eat. You are to do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.
12 "8Six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you shall cease from labor so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female slave, as well as your stranger, may refresh themselves.
13 "Now 9concerning everything which I have said to you, be on your guard; and 10do not mention the name of other gods, nor let them be heard from your mouth.

Three National Feasts

14 "11Three times a year you shall celebrate a feast to Me
15 "You shall observe 12the Feast of Unleavened Bread; for seven days you are to eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the appointed time in the 13month Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. And 14none shall appear before Me empty-handed.
16 "Also you shall observe 15the Feast of the Harvest of the first fruits of your labors from what you sow in the field; also the Feast of the Ingathering at the end of the year 16when you gather in the fruit of your labors from the field.

Exodus 23:6-16 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 23

This chapter contains several laws, chiefly judicial, relating to the civil polity of Israel, as concerning witness borne and judgment made of cases in courts of judicature, without any respect to poor or rich, and without the influence of a bribe, Ex 23:1-3,6-8, concerning doing good to an enemy in case any of his cattle go astray, or fall under their burden, Ex 23:4,5, and of the oppression of a stranger, Ex 23:9, and then follow others concerning the sabbath of the seventh year, and of the seventh day, with a caution against the use of the names of idols, Ex 23:10-13, next are laws concerning the appearance of all their males at the three feasts, Ex 23:14-17, and concerning the slaying of the sacrifice of the passover, and bringing the first of the firstfruits of the land, Ex 23:18,19 and then a promise is made of sending an angel to them to bring them into the land of Canaan, where they should carefully avoid all idolatry, and show a just indignation against it, and serve the Lord, and then it would be well with them, Ex 23:20-26, and particularly it is promised, that the Lord would send his fear, and his hornets, before them, to destroy the inhabitants of the land, and drive out the rest by little and little, until they should possess the utmost borders of it, which are fixed, Ex 23:27-31, and the chapter is concluded with a direction not to make a covenant with these people, or their gods, nor suffer them to dwell among them, lest they should be a snare unto them, Ex 23:32,33.

Cross References 16

  • 1. Exodus 23:2, 3; Leviticus 19:15
  • 2. Exodus 20:16; Psalms 119:29; Ephesians 4:25
  • 3. Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 27:25
  • 4. Exodus 34:7; Deuteronomy 25:1; Romans 1:18
  • 5. Deuteronomy 10:17; Deuteronomy 16:19; Proverbs 15:27; Proverbs 17:8, 23; Isaiah 5:22, 23
  • 6. Exodus 22:21; Leviticus 19:33; Deuteronomy 24:17; Deuteronomy 27:19
  • 7. Leviticus 25:1-7
  • 8. Exodus 20:8-11; Exodus 31:15; Exodus 34:21; Exodus 35:2, 3; Leviticus 23:3; Deuteronomy 5:13
  • 9. Deuteronomy 4:9, 23; 1 Timothy 4:16
  • 10. Joshua 23:7; Psalms 16:4; Hosea 2:17
  • 11. Exodus 23:17; Exodus 34:22-24; Deuteronomy 16:16
  • 12. Exodus 12:14-20; Leviticus 23:6-8; Numbers 28:16-25
  • 13. Exodus 12:2; Exodus 13:4
  • 14. Exodus 22:29; Exodus 34:20
  • 15. Exodus 34:22; Leviticus 23:10; Numbers 28:26
  • 16. Leviticus 23:39

Footnotes 9

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