CRITICAL NOTES.—
Exodus 23:1 Thou shalt not raise] = tissa, from the inf. napa, in its simple sense, “to carry,” and in its ethical, “to bear about in the heart.” Hence tissa is a pregnant word, and signifies: “Thou shalt neither raise nor carry abroad, nor harbour in your heart, evil report.”
Exodus 23:2. Thou shalt not follow]. Our idiomatic expression, “to be after,” i.e., to preserve a course of parsistent getting at a person or thing answers well to the literal meaning of the words, lo tihyeh, “be not;” achrey. “after;” rabbim, “multitude;” le râoth, “for evil.” In other words, do not get at the multitude with evil designs, and so become an evil unto the multitude. Hence the appositeness of the other clause of the sentence becomes evident, if rightly rendered: “Neither shalt thou speak in a cause to incline (to the multitude) to wrest judgment.” The exhortation means, “not to give way, or bend (lintoth), on account of the pressure of the multitude, and thus suffer the multitude to become an occasion for evil unto thee.”
Exodus 23:3. Thou shalt not adorn] (tehdar), i.e., gloss over the cause of a man (though he be) dal = destitute.
6. The poor referred to in this verse is “thy poor ones” (ebyoncha), in the sense of simply being in, or suffering from, want, but not being absolutely destitute.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Exodus 23:1-9
RULES FOR JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS
We see a connection running through the whole of these verses. They may all be said to have a bearing upon judicial proceedings. Rightly received they tend to promote the integrity of the witness, the uprightness of the judge, and the correctness of the judicial conclusion. All must regard themselves under law. Subjects are under law. Lawgivers and law administrators are likewise under law. There can be no escape from law. The highest condition is that of being ruled by the great law of love.
I. Perjury is to be avoided. “Thou shalt not raise or receive a false report; put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.” If the receiver is as bad as the thief, then the receiver of a false report is as bad as the raiser. If we pass out of the court of justice and say that men are not to raise false reports, which is undoubtedly true, and that the receivers are just as guilty as the raisers of false reports; then we get a very painful view of even Christian (so called) society. Such is the corruption of human nature that we delight in listening to a false report, though we may doubt its accuracy. Laws against perjury are severe, and justly so, for the perjurer is one of the vilest of men.
II. The influence of the multitude is to be repudiated. Too often the multitude is omnipotent. “The voice of the people is the voice of God,” is a proverb which is injurious, which is in great measure false, but which shows how men follow the leading of the crowd. The voice of the sovereign people is too often appealed to as the divinest law. The conclusion of the thinking multitude will very likely be correct; but the movements of the unreflecting multitude are just as likely to be under the direction of folly; and the greater part of large gatherings are unreflecting. The crowd will cut a man’s head off to-day, and canonize him to-morrow. There is no reason why the multitude passes so quickly from crying “Hosannah” to crying “Crucify.” The leaders of the people exercise a responsible function. Too often the leaders are only led. The men are benefactors who work to create a healthy public opinion. Judges, above all men, should be free from the influence of the multitude.
III. False sentiment must find no place. “Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause.” Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause. Tenderness for poverty is misplaced when it leads to the perversion of justice. The emotional must not be stifled, but kept in its right position. The emotional must be subordinate to the intellectual and deliberative faculties. In all our judgments let us preserve the true position of our God-given faculties.
IV. Prejudice must be laid upon one side. Regard the directions in Exodus 23:4-5 not merely as enjoining upon men the duty of doing good to those who hate them, but as showing that the judge must not let prejudice influence while seeking to come to a conclusion. Thus we see a purpose in the placing of them in this part of the general legal directions. It is certain that judges ought to be even-handed, as free on the one hand from the sentiment of pity as from the feeling of hatred on the other.
V. The bribe must be at once rejected. How true universally are those words—the gift blindeth the wise. Gold can throw a yellow film over the most keen-sighted of men, that they see not clearly. All things are tinged with the colour of the metal prostituted to a base purpose.
VI. And yet the judge must not be a hard oppressor. He must give the Poor stranger a fair chance. He must make due allowance for his timorousness; for ye know the heart of a stranger. How suggestive from the homiletical point of view!
1. Sorrowful dispensations increase knowledge.
2. Sorrowful dispensations develop refinement.
3. Sorrowful dispensations enlarge sympathy.
4. Sorrowful dispensations promote beneficence.
V. Judges themselves must be judged. “I will not justify the wicked.” Therefore be careful. The innocent and righteous slay not. Fearful will be the doom of unjust judges. Slaughtered innocents will confront them, and fill their souls with unutterable anguish. God is judge, and a great day of trial will come to universal man.—W. Burrows, B.A.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
SLANDER.—Exodus 23:1 (first clause)
The word rendered “thou shalt not raise” is from נָשָֹׁא to take away; hence both text “raise,” and margin “receive,” are correct. In this law slander is characterised, prohibited, and punished.
I. Slander is characterised—
1. Slander consists in originating a false report.
(1.) It may be from envy.
(2.) It may be from carelessness; judging appearances merely.
(3.) It may be from hasty conclusions, through not taking into consideration the whole of the circumstances of a given case, or not waiting for its full explanation.
2. Slander consists in listening to false reports.
(1.) Because it countenances and encourages the slanderer.
(2.) Because you allow it to be reported to one at least who ought not to have heard it.
(3.) Because repeated encouragement of slander may make you a slanderer.
3. Slander consists in circulating a false report (Leviticus 19:16.)
(1.) It may be circulated confidentially; “I wouldn’t let any one know it for the world! It may not be true, you know.”
(2.) It may be circulated as an ordinary topic of information in gossip.
(3.) It may be circulated by a pretended desire to benefit the individual concerned: “Don’t you think I ought to mention it to him?”
(4.) It may be circulated by implication; shoulders, eyes, lips, hands, may be all eloquent with slanderous insinuations.
(5.) It may be circulated negatively: “I don’t believe it; now, do you?”
II. Slander is prohibited.
1. Affecting antecedents.
(1.) A man’s character does not consist in what he has been, but in what he is.
(2.) What a man has been ought not to be a lever to lift him into it again.
(3.) Even if a man has been very bad in the past, he may be very good in the present.
2. Affecting character. A man’s character is his all; if you take that away, you leave him “poor indeed!”
3. Affecting his family or social relations.
4. Affecting his goods.
III. Slander is punished. This is one of those commandments which are addressed to the conscience, common sense, and good feeling, and is not followed by judicial punishment. But does the slanderer escape? Nay, verily!
1. He is excluded from religious fellowship (Psalms 15:3).
2. He is the object of Divine vengeance (Psalms 10:5).
3. He is exposed to the contempt of mankind (Proverbs 10:18).
4. He is excluded from the kingdom of heaven (Revelation 22:15). See some excellent remarks by Wesley (Sermon xxii. on Matthew 5:5-7).
In conclusion—
1. Exodus 20:16; Exodus 2. Matthew 18:15; Matthew,
3. Galatians 6:1.
—J. W. Burn.
THE DUTIES OF WITNESSES (last clause of Exodus 23:1-3)
I. Not to co-operate in an unrighteous cause, Exodus 23:1. This “commandment is exceeding broad,” and conveys a lesson—
1. To judicial witnesses.
(1.) Personal friendships.
(2.) The guilt of the accused on some other point.
(3.) A show of justice must not influence us.
2. To all partisans, controversialists, politicians.
3. To trades unionists, &c.
II. Not to co-operate in any unrighteous cause because it is popular, Exodus 23:2.
1. Because majorities are no test of truth. Multitudes may be roused by passion, prejudice, or self-interest.
2. Because men should be weighed as well as counted.
3. Because righteousness, from the constitution of human nature, is often unpopular, and in the minority.
III. Not to co-operate in an unrighteous cause because it is apparently benevolent, Exodus 23:3; (Leviticus 19:15).
1. Because we may be putting a premium on vice which is the source of all misery.
(1.) By endeavouring to conceal the crime.
(2.) By extolling other virtues, so as to minimise the enormity of guilt. But to what purpose is it if we extol a man’s honesty, if he is lazy, or a drunkard; or his sobriety, if a thief?
2. Because justice is above mere sentiment, and for the wellbeing of the whole community, and not for the exclusive benefit of a class.
3. Because of its influence on the object himself. Let a man feel that you do this or that for him simply because he is poor, and he will see no advantage in helping himself.
Learn then—
i. To entertain none but righteous considerations. ii. To pursue them at all cost.—J. W. Burn.
ON DUTIES TO ENEMIES.—Exodus 23:4-5
Notice—
I. That duties to enemies are enjoined (Proverbs 24:17; 1 Thessalonians 5:15).
1. It is our duty to protect the interests of our enemy.
(1.) If they are damaged, we should endeavour to retrieve them.
(2.) If they are in danger of damage, we should endeavour to prevent them (James 5:19-20).
2. It is our duty to help the difficulties of our enemy.
(1.) His mind may be in difficulties.
(2.) His soul may be in difficulties.
(3.) His material interests may be in difficulties.
II. That duties to enemies are difficult: “and wouldest forbear to help him.”
1. Such duties are against the grain of human nature.
2. Such duties are apparently against self-interest.
3. Such duties require self-denials and sacrifices.
III. That duties to enemies are rewarded (Proverbs 25:21-22; Matthew 5:44-45; Romans 12:20).
IV. That neglect of duties to enemies is punished (Job 31:29; Proverbs 24:18). In conclusion—
i. Our text applies to all enmity, whether polemical, political, or national. ii. Its precepts should be obeyed, because we may be in the wrong and our enemy in the right. iii. Because God has Himself set us the sublime example. “When we were enemies, we were reconciled by the death of His Son.”
—J. W. Burn.
THE DUTIES OF JUDGES.—Exodus 23:6-9
Our text enjoins—
I. That judges should be impartial
1. In particular towards the poor, Exodus 23:6.
(1.) Because the poor are most open to the oppression of the powerful.
(2.) Because the poor are often at a disadvantage for the want of technical knowledge, or means to procure legal assistance.
(3.) Because the poor are easily overawed.
2. In general towards the right, Exodus 23:7, first clause. Not to aid or abet a wrong cause.
II. That judges should be cautious, particularly with regard to matters relating to capital punishment. “The innocent and righteous slay thou not.”
1. The case must be clearly proved.
2. The accused to have the benefit of the doubt.
3. Because justice would be done. If the criminal escaped an earthly doom, God would “not justify the wicked” (Proverbs 11:21).
III. That judges should be incorrupt, Exodus 23:8, either in the shape of direct bribe or indirect present.
1. Because the bribe may blind him to the true merit of the case; and
2. Because the bribe may weigh down and pervert his judgment on the wrong side.
IV. That judges should be considerate, Exodus 23:9; particularly in regard to foreigners. Because—
1. They had been foreigners themselves, and had suffered for the want of consideration.
2. They therefore knew something of the sufferings of foreigners.
(1.) Foreigners may be ignorant of the law and unwittingly break it.
(2.) When broken, they may know nothing of legal technicalities, or be unable to pay legal expenses.
Application.—“I will not justify the wicked” applies to the judge as well as to the accused. Judges will have to stand before the judgment-seat of Christ.—J. W. Burn.
ILLUSTRATIONS
BY
REV. WILLIAM ADAMSON
Mosaic Morals! Exodus 23:1-19. A modern jurist, Hennequin, says: “Good right had Moses to challenge the Israelites, what nation hath statutes like yours? a worship so exalted—laws so equitable—a code so complex?” A Frenchman and an infidel, he observes that, compared with all the legislations of antiquity, none so thoroughly embodies the principles of everlasting righteousness. Lycurgus wrote, not for a people, but for an army: It was a barrack which he erected, not a commonwealth. Solon, on the other hand, could not resist the surrounding effeminate influences of Athens. It is in Moses alone that we find a regard for the right, austere and incorruptible; a morality distinct from policy, and rising above regard for times and peoples.
“But what could Moses’ law have done
Had it not been divinely sent?
The power was from the Lord alone,
And Moses but the instrument.”
—Newton.
Slander-Scandal! Exodus 23:1-9. It must be universally acknowledged that mankind at large are insatiable reporters of gossip—that gossip heats by friction—and that what today is only an unusual circumstance, is tomorrow a foul crime. If an apprentice runs away from his master, the latter is straightway reported to have killed and concealed him. If a girl is found drowned without any circumstance whatever to warrant such a notion, it is immediately insinuated that she has been murdered. If a husband or wife dies suddenly, the slander is at once broached that the survivor accomplished the death for sinister purposes. If a child is burnt to death, forthwith the calamity floats abroad that the parents behaved cruelly to the child, and at last burnt the body to destroy all traces of their wanton and unuatural brutality. The morbid appetite for horrors and the ordinary appetite for gossip, when combined together, constitute a calumnious power of terrible evil. Hence the Mosaic Law here seeks to dry up the fount of corruption by legal barriers.
“For Slander lives upon succession;
For ever licensed when once it gets possession.”
—Shakespeare.
Slander-Sting! Exodus 23:1. It is fruitful in variety of expedients to satiate as well as disguise itself. But, says Sterne, if these smooth weapons cut so sore, what shall we say of open and unblushing scandal, subjected to no caution, tied down to no restraints? If the one, like an arrow shot in the dark, does nevertheless so much secret mischief, this, like the pestilence which rages at noon-day, sweeps all before it, levelling without distinction the good and bad. The whispered tale
“That, like the falling hill, no foundation knows;—
Fair-faced deceit, whose wily, conscious eye
Ne’er looks direct—the tongue that licks the dust,
But, when it safely dares, as prompt to sting.”
—Thomson.
Multitudes. Exodus 23:2. It is here assumed that the multitude do evil; and it is here implied that we are in danger of copying their example. Hence the urgent need to guard against the seductive influence of the multitude. This is best accomplished by seeking the grace of God. Colton remarks that the mob is a monster with the hands of Briareus, but the head of Polyphemus, strong to execute, but blind to perceive. If Dryden is correct, how valuable the command not to follow a multitude: “it is the scum that rises upmost when the nation boils.” Nothing is more easily swayed than the multitude, and that sway is always most easy in the direction of evil.
“And since the rabble now is ours,
Keep the tools hot, preach dangers in their ears,
Till they run headlong into evil discords,
And do our business with their own destruction.”
—Otway.
Judges! Exodus 23:4-7. Aristides being judge between two private persons, one of them declared that his adversary had greatly injured Aristides. Interrupting him at once, the judge said: “Relate rather what wrong he hath done thee; for it is thy cause, not mine, that I now sit judge of.” Corrupt judgment is a familiar evil in Egypt, Syria, and other Eastern lands. Of these, we may say with Massinger, “petitions not sweetened with gold are but unsavoury and oft refused; or, if received, are pocketed, not read.”
“Who painted Justice blind, did not declare
What magistrates should be, but what they are;
Not so much ’cause they rich and poor should weigh
In their just scales alike, but because they,
Now blind with bribes, are grown so weak of sight,
They’ll sooner feel a cause than see it right.”
—Heath.
Falsehood—Folly! Exodus 23:7. There is nothing of so ill consequence, says Lloyd, to the public as falsehood, or—speech being the current coin of converse—the putting false money upon the world; or so dark a blot as dissembling, which, as Montaigne remarks, is only to be brave towards God, and a coward towards man; for a lie faceth God, and shrinketh from man. Therefore a lie should be trampled on and extinguished wherever found. Carlyle says, “I am for fumigating the atmosphere when I suspect that falsehood, like pestilence, breathes around me.” Let those who bear false witness remember Reade when he says, “that every false report, great or small, is the brink of a precipice—the depth of which nothing but Omniscience can fathom.”
“Lying’s a certain mark of cowardice;
And when the tongue forgets its honesty,
The heart and hand may drop their functions too,
And nothing worthy be resolved or done.”
—Southerne.
Judicial Venality! Exodus 23:8.
(1.) Sir Thomas More succeeded Cardinal Wolsey as Lord Chancellor of England. Many abuses had multiplied during Wolsey’s chancellorship, more especially in the way of gratuities. Sir Thomas, however, neither in his own person nor in that of any under him, would allow of anything in the shape of a bribe. At this his son-in-law rather complained, saying, “The fingers of my Lord Chancellor Cardinal’s veriest doorkeepers were tipped with gold; but I, since I married your daughter, have got no pickings.” And yet, no matter how immaculately impartial a judge may be, how far wrong may be his judgment! Not so God; His judgment is unerring and unimpeachable. Venal judges cannot bribe the Divine Judgment.
(2) There is a machine in the Bank of England which receives sovereigns as a mill receives grain. This is for the purpose of determining wholesale whether they are of full weight. As they pass through, the machinery—by unerring laws—throws all that are light to the one side. This proceeding affords the most vivid similitude of the judicial functions at the Last Day! Venal judgments will be weighed in the balances and found wanting. The Lord Cardinal’s fingers, as well as those of his veriest doorkeeper, may have been weighted heavily with gold, but this will not avail to pass them from before the Divine Judge as of standard weight.
“Of mortal justice, if thou scorn the rod,
Believe and tremble, thou art judged of God.”
—Swenam.