Exodus 23:5

_IF THOU MEET THINE ENEMY'S OX OR HIS ASS GOING ASTRAY, THOU SHALT SURELY BRING IT BACK TO HIM AGAIN._ If thou meet thine enemy's ox ... going astray. The ox and the donkey are specified as samples of the stock which constituted the staple property of the Israelites. The object of these counsels obviously is to encourage a humane and kindly spirit of willingness to protect the interests even of an enemy (cf. Matthew 5:43), when they are seen, in his absence, to be in jeopardy. They enjoin it as a duty to render good for evil (cf. Romans 12:17), and instead of taking revenge for his injuries, to confer upon him a seasonable and important benefit, by rescuing his cattle from being damaged or lost. This is the purport of the precept in both verses, though the meaning is somewhat obscured in t

1-9 In the law of Moses are very plain marks of sound moral feeling, and of true political wisdom. Every thing in it is suited to the desired and avowed object, the worship of one only God, and the separation of Israel from the pagan world. Neither parties, friends, witnesses, nor common opinions, must move us to lessen great faults, to aggravate small ones, excuse offenders, accuse the innocent, or misrepresent any thing....

So far was the spirit of the law from encouraging personal revenge that it would not allow a man to neglect an opportunity of saving his enemy from loss. Exodus 23:5 The sense appears to be: “If thou see the ass of thine enemy lying down under his burden, thou shalt forbear to pass by him; thou shalt help him in loosening the girths of the ass.”...

THE BOOK OF THE COVENANT.—_Continued_. EXPOSITION EXODUS 23:1 MISCELLANEOUS LAWS—_continued_. The same want of logical arrangement appears in this chapter as in the preceding one. The first nine verses contain some twelve laws, of which not more than two that are consecutive can be said to be on the same subject. There is perhaps in the section a predominant idea of warning against sins and errors connected with the trial of causes before a court, but Exodus 23:4 and Exodus 23:5, at any rate, lie quite outside this idea. From...

IF THOU SEE THE ASS OF HIM THAT HATETH THEE LYING UNDER HIS BURDEN,.... Fallen down, and such a burden upon him that he cannot rise up again, but lies under it, and the owner of it is not able of himself to raise it up again: AND WOULDST FORBEAR TO HELP HIM; show an inclination to pass on without giving him any assistance to get up his beast again; or "wouldst thou forbear to help him?" w as Jarchi, and others, read with an interrogation, could it be in thine heart to forbear helping him? couldest thou go on, and take no notice of him and his case, and not join him in endeavouring to get up his beast again, that he may proceed its his journey? canst thou be so cruel and hardhearted, though he is thine enemy? but if thou art, know this, THOU SHALT SURELY HELP WITH HIM; to get up his ass again: hence the Jewish canon runs thus x, "if an ass is unloaded and loaded four or five times, a m...

CHAPTER 23 FURTHER JUDGMENTS AND DIRECTIONS _ 1. Concerning unrighteous dealings of various kinds (Exodus 23:1)_ 2. Concerning the seventh year (Exodus 23:10) 3. Concerning the three feasts (Exodus 23:14) 4. Promises concerning the possession of the land (Exodus 23:20) We call attention to the words concerning the seventh year. The seventh day was the day of rest. The seventh year was to give the land rest; it was to rest and lie still. Besides this there was the jubilee year, which occurred every seven times seven years, that is, the fiftieth year was the year of jubilee, in which liberty was pro

EXODUS 23:1 R. JUSTICE. Form and substance also separate _this_ group from the Judgments and ally it with the Words of Yahweh in the Covenant Book. Circulating groundless reports (Exodus 23:1_ a_), conspiring with him that is in the wrong (_cf. Exodus 2:13_) to be a malicious witness (Exodus 23:1_ b),_ siding with the strongest in action or witness-bearing (Exodus 23:2), and partiality in judgment (Exodus 23:3) are condemned. Read in...

HELP. Hebrew. _Homonym. 'azab_ two words (1) _'azab =_ to leave, or forsake. (2) _'azab_. to help, or restore (hence strengthen, or fortify). No.. in Genesis 2:24; Genesis 39:6; Nehemiah 5:10; Psalms 49:10; Malachi 4. But here it should be No.. (as in Nehemiah 3:8; Deuteronomy 32:36. 1Ki 14:10....

Exodus 20:22 to Exodus 23:33 _The Book of the Covenant_ The -Book of the Covenant" (see Exodus 24:7 in explanation of the name) is the oldest piece of Hebrew legislation that we possess. The laws contained in it are spoken of in Exodus 24:3 as consisting of two elements, the WORDS (or commands) and the JUDGEMENTS: the JUDGEMENTS (see on Exodus 21:1) are the provisions relating to civil and criminal law, prescribing what is to be done when particular cases arise, and comprised in...

AND WOULDEST FORBEAR TO HELP HIM— The meaning of this verse is evident enough from the parallel passage, Deuteronomy 22:4. But it is difficult to make out the literal construction of the Hebrew, as the marginal version of our Bibles may serve to shew. Parkhurst, in his Lexicon, renders it thus, _"When thou shalt see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden,_ לו מעזב וחדלת, _then thou shalt forbear_ to leave _it to him,_ (i.e. thou shalt not _leave_ the beast under his burden, but shalt assist him in raising it up again, and then) עמו תעזב עזב _thou shalt_ surely leave _it with him._ Notwithstanding this, if עזב _ozob_ will bear the sense of _helping,_ as Stockius affirms, I see no great difficulty in understanding the passage according to our version: _If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee,_ &c. and wouldest forbea