Bible Commentaries
Exodus 23

Verse 2

23:2 Thou shalt not follow a multitude to [do] evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause {a} to decline after many to wrest [judgment]:

(a) Do that which is godly, though few favour it.

Verse 4

23:4 If thou meet thine enemy’s ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely {b} bring it back to him again.

(b) If we are bound to do good to our enemies beast, how much more to our enemy himself, Matthew 5:44.

Verse 5

23:5 If thou see the {c} ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him.

(c) If God commands us to help our enemy’s donkey under his burden, will he suffer us to cast down our brethren with heavy burdens?

Verse 7

23:7 Keep thee far from a false matter; and the {d} innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked.

(d) Whether you are the magistrate or are commanded by the magistrate.

Verse 9

23:9 Also thou shalt not oppress a stranger: for ye know the {e} heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.

(e) For since he is a stranger, his heart is sorrowful enough.

Verse 13

23:13 And in all [things] that I have said unto you be circumspect: and make {f} no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth.

(f) Neither by swearing by them, nor speaking of them, Psalms 16:4, Ephesians 5:3.

Verse 15

23:15 Thou shalt keep the feast of {g} unleavened bread:

(thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:)

(g) That is, Easter, in remembrance that the angel passed over and spared the Israelites, when he slew the first born of the Egyptians.

Verse 16

23:16 And the {h} feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the {i} feast of ingathering, [which is] in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.

(h) Which is Whit Sunday, in token that the law was given 50 days after they departed from Egypt.

(i) This is the feast of tabernacles, signifying that they lived for 40 years in the tents or the tabernacles in the wilderness.

Verse 18

23:18 Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with {k} leavened bread; neither shall the fat of my sacrifice remain until the morning.

(k) No leavened bread will be in your house.

Verse 19

23:19 The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his {l} mother’s milk.

(l) Meaning, that no fruit should be taken before just time: and by this all cruel and wanton appetites are controlled.

Verse 21

23:21 Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my {m} name [is] in him.

(m) I will give him my authority, and he will govern you in my name.

Verse 24

23:24 Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt {n} utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images.

(n) God commands his own to not only not worship idols, but to destroy them.

Verse 25

23:25 And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless thy {o} bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.

(o) That is, all things necessary for this present life.

Verse 27

23:27 I will send my {p} fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee.

(p) I will make them afraid of your coming and send my angel to destroy them, as in Exodus 35:2.

Verse 31

23:31 And I will set thy bounds from the Red sea even unto the sea {q} of the Philistines, and from the {r} desert unto the {s} river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee.

(q) Called the Sea of Syria.

(r) Of Arabia called desert.

(s) That is, Ephraim.