Exodus 23:1-9 comments: laws against injustice

Exodus 23:1 ¶  Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness. 2  Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment: 3  Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause. 4  If thou meet thine enemy’s ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again. 5  If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him. 6  Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause. 7  Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked. 8  And thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous. 9  Also thou shalt not oppress a stranger: for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.

The context of this entire passage is about not mistreating the poor person or the foreigner, both politically powerless entities. Here begins with a warning not to bear false witness as stated in the list of ten earlier. Another admonition against following wicked and evil people follows. The book of Proverbs gives warnings against following the sinful ways of others. To wrest judgment is to pervert judgment, a corrupt thing to do. Here, in context it is referring to abusing the poor and backing the powerful in a way that perverts judgment.

James 2:6  But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?

Verse 3 is difficult because of the archaic use of the word countenance as a verb. It does not necessarily mean, ‘to favor,’ as some commentators insist, stating that you should not support a poor man just because he was poor. In Baret’s 1574 dictionary, referenced earlier, you can find one meaning as to deny, refuse, or forbid. Other dictionaries at the same general time frame, and you can verify this by accessing the early modern English website previously mentioned, also suggest the possibility of the false pretense of justice by putting a good face on it but the reality not being so. So here it is forbidden to refuse a poor man equitable judgment and put a false, hypocritical honest face on it. This is an archaic meaning of the verb but one that is readily accessible to anyone interested. This meaning fits well in the context here and in the context of other Biblical admonitions against abusing the poor. It is not the proverbial ‘rocket science.’ Just look for the meaning of a difficult word used rarely in a particular form in the Bible around the time that this Bible was translated. The information is there. Do you really want to know what the Bible says?

Verse 4 mandates kindness, as taking it on oneself to return another’s straying beast back to him. Verse 5 requires one to render assistance to a beast struggling with a load he is having a hard time supporting even if the owner of the beast is someone they know doesn’t like them and they probably don’t like. This calls for compassion for an animal regardless who owns it.

Verse 6 reinforces verse 3 and 7 verse 1. Clearly, the context of these judgments is a fair and equal treatment regardless of someone’s social status and an attitude of mercy and compassion regardless of your difficult relationship with others. Verse 8 denies bribery or oppressing the politically powerless or weak.

These are important principles that are often not followed. It may be helpful to offer examples that are easy to understand. If you do not get along with someone or even have a feud going and their dog escapes from their yard you would return the dog regardless of your feud as an act of righteousness. Although we use mechanical ‘beasts’ of burden now in that time if a Hebrew were to see another man’s donkey struggling under a burden he would be compelled to ease the burden of the poor animal. The fact that these are listed under the Law given to Moses for the Hebrews shows us that matters of personal responsibility were coded into the civil regulations. You could be held responsible for not being a good neighbor even to a neighbor you didn’t like.

Bribery was forbidden.

Deuteronomy 16:19  Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous.

Proverbs 17:23 ¶  A wicked man taketh a gift out of the bosom to pervert the ways of judgment.

Our government is corrupt today because of lobbyists for even good causes who put money, desirable vacations, and even luxurious homes in front of our lawmakers to pervert judgment.

There is a tie-in here with doing right regardless of another’s social status and following the law regardless of your relationship with another person. There is an absolute standard here that rises above your petty selfishness. There is compassion for the weak that goes beyond your hatred or contempt. The righteous man does right regardless of the enticement to pervert judgment or ignore the suffering of another. From the point of view of God another person’s social status or your relationship with them should not be affected by your doing what is right in obedience to God and not doing what is wrong.