Exodus 23:7 - Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible

Keep thee far, i.e. abstain from all occasions, degrees, or appearances of it. Compare Job 22:23 Proverbs 4:14,15. A false matter, i.e. an unrighteous judgment; for he is speaking to the judges, as appears both by the foregoing and following verses. Slay thou not; condemn not to death, nor to any other unjust penalty, for the same reason. I will not justify the wicked, and therefore not condemn the innocent; one contrary being here understood from the other, as is frequent in the book of the Proverbs; and what I do not, thou who actest in my name and stead shouldst not do. Or rather thus, Know, O judge, (for to such he speaks,) if thou dost pronounce such a wicked sentence, I will not justify thee, or hold thee guiltless, i.e. I will severely punish thee, as Exodus 20:7.