Exodus
Chapter 23
Judicial Legislation
Do not make false statements. And do not join hands with the wicked by being a malicious witness.
Do not follow the majority when they do evil or pervert justice in a lawsuit.
Do not be partial, not even to the poor.
If you see your enemy’s ox or donkey going astray, return it to him.
When you see the donkey of a man who hates you falling under its load, do not pass by but help him.
Do not deny justice to any of your poor in a lawsuit.
Keep away from lies.
Do not slay the innocent or the just, for I will not forgive the wicked.
And do not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the clear-sighted and perverts the sentence of the just.
Do not oppress a stranger; you know what it is to be a stranger, for that is what you were in the land of Egypt.
Sabbath and Sabbatical Year of the Land
For six years, you will sow your fields and reap their produce,
but in the seventh, you will let the land rest and lie fallow. The poor may eat what it produces, and what is left will be eaten by wild animals. It will be the same for your vineyard and your olive grove.
You shall work for six days, but on the seventh, you shall rest so that your ox and your donkey may also rest and the son of your slave girl and the stranger may have breathing space.
Pay attention to all that I tell you and do not call upon other gods; don’t let their names be heard on your lips.
Cultic Prescriptions
You shall celebrate a feast in my honor three times each year.
You shall keep the feast of Unleavened Bread, as I commanded you, and eat unleavened bread for seven days at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for it was then that you left Egypt. And do not come to me empty-handed.
You shall keep the Feast of the Harvest, the feast of the first harvest of what you sowed in your fields, and the feast of Ingathering, which is the feast at the end of the year when you gather the fruit of your labor in the fields.
Three times a year, all your men shall present themselves before the Lord.
Do not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread or let the fat of my feast remain until morning.
You will bring to the house of the Lord, your God, the first of the first fruits of your soil. Do not boil a kid in its mother’s milk.
Epilogue
See, I am sending an angel before you to keep you safe on the way and bring you to the place I have made ready.
Be on your guard in his presence and listen to him; do not resist him, for he will not pardon your wrongdoing, for my name is in him.
If you listen to him and do what I say, I will be the enemy of your enemies and the opponent of your opponents.
My angel will go before you and bring you to the land of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; all these I will destroy.
You shall not bow down before their gods or serve them, or act according to their ways; instead, you will destroy them utterly and smash their sacred stones.
If you serve the Lord, your God, he will bless your bread and water, and I will keep sickness away from you.
No woman among you will miscarry or be barren. I will fulfill the number of your days.
Now I will send my terror ahead of you and confuse all the people you encounter; I will make all your enemies turn and flee before you.
I will send hornets ahead of you to drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites.
I will not drive them out in a year lest the land become a desert and the wild beasts increase and molest you.
I will drive them out before you, little by little, until your number increases and you can take possession of the land.
I will fix your boundaries from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines and from the Wilderness to the Euphrates; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your power and drive them out before you.
You shall make no treaty with them or with their gods.
They shall not live in your country lest they lead you to sin against me and to serve their gods. That would surely be a snare for you.”They shall not live in your country lest they lead you to sin against me and to serve their gods. That would surely be a snare for you.”
Commentaries
Judicial Legislation.
This section mixes laws covering fair treatment in courts (1-3, 6-8) with proper actions when an enemy’s animals are lost or in danger (4f). The focus should be on caring for the poor (6) and the innocent (7f); the emigrant, often in a vulnerable position, is a key example. The Israelites would have been familiar with the struggles of emigrants, having experienced them themselves in Egypt (9). This sets the standard for showing mercy and justice to those in need.
Sabbath and Sabbatical Year of the Land.
A farmer understands that the earth also needs rest. This natural understanding of the farmer is seen here as a divine law that benefits the land, animals, and people. Especially, the poor and those who have lost their property can eat the fruits that the earth produces freely during this year. However, there is a rule for them: they should take only what is necessary and leave the rest for wild animals. Verse 12 emphasizes the need for a Sabbath rest with a more humanitarian rather than religious meaning. The goal is to make sure that after a week of work, there is a day of rest for both animals and humans. To introduce the upcoming festive calendar, the Israelites are warned not to call upon the names of foreign gods. Remember, calling on a name was, for the ancient people of the East, like accepting the person. So, by calling upon the name of a god, they acknowledged and accepted that deity. The prophets condemned this as idolatry but also saw it as adultery or a breach of fidelity owed to the Lord (cf. Hos 2:17; Zech 13:2).
Cultic Prescriptions.
This calendar of feasts, still incomplete, has two main features:
1. They are the feasts that involve a pilgrimage, a journey to the Sanctuary. Before Josiah’s reform in 622 B.C., these feasts were celebrated at local sanctuaries, and people would travel to the nearest sanctuary. After the reform, everyone had to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, the only valid sanctuary for the celebrations.
2. The feast required men’s attendance. This likely reflects the patriarchal nature that runs throughout the Bible and assumes that males sanctify females, either as fathers or husbands. However, it could also aim to correct what we often see in our communities: when religious events are organized, the majority of attendees are typically women. Many men believe attending such activities threatens their manliness; perhaps this was also true in Israel, which explains the emphasis on men’s presence, without implying women and children are absent.
He concludes this section with several sacrificial commands (18f) typical of the priestly stream (P). These agricultural feasts and their method of celebration assume that the people are already settled in the land.
Epilogue.
It is unclear whether this is one of the final steps of the covenant celebrations. This step involves listing a series of blessings if all the terms of the covenant are fulfilled, or curses if they are broken (cf. Dt 28). Some believe it functions more as a “farewell discourse,” since its content is not related to the covenant’s terms; it’s suggested that this speech aimed to encourage the people during the early, challenging days of the monarchy (around the 9th century B.C.), as it mentions the borders of the kingdom of David and Solomon (31); at least, it would be a text adapted for that time by including these boundaries. In short, this passage warns the people to stay faithful to their commitments from Sinai, especially in a setting like Canaan, where the Israelite community was surrounded by cultures, beliefs, religions, and practices considered abominable and contrary to their way of life, leading to efforts to eradicate them. However, it is common for prophets to denounce the contamination of their people’s religion with Canaanite practices.