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Parsha[GN] 18: Mishpatim (continued)
“Rulings” • Exod 21:1–24:18
c. Religious, Moral, and Cultic Instructions (22:16-23:19)
(1) Laws of Social Responsibility (22:16-31)
(2) Justice and Mercy (23:1-9)
1 “You must not spread a false report. Don’t join the wicked by being a malicious witness.[1]
2 “You must not follow a crowd in any form of wrongdoing. When you testify in court, you must not side with the majority to pervert justice. 3 And you must not show favoritism toward a poor man in his dispute.
4 “If you encounter your enemy’s stray ox or donkey, you must return it to him. 5 If you see the donkey that belongs to someone who hates you fallen under its load, don’t leave it there. You must help him with it.
(v) 6 “You must not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits.
7 “Stay far away from a false accusation, and don’t kill the innocent and righteous; for I will not acquit the guilty.
8 “You must not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and perverts the words of the righteous.
9 “You must not oppress a foreigner, since you know how it feels to be a foreigner because you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
(3) Sabbath Laws (23:10-13)
10 “For six years you are to sow your land and gather its produce, 11 but the seventh year you must let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor among your people may eat of that field; and the animals may eat what they leave. You must do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.
12 “For six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you must cease, so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your maidservant may be refreshed, as well as the foreigner.
13 “Be careful to do everything that I have said to you. You must not mention the names of other gods or even let them be heard from your lips.
(4) The Three Feasts of Pilgrimage (23:14-19)
14 “Three times a year you are to celebrate a feast to Me. 15 You are to celebrate the Feast of MatzahUnleavened Bread at the appointed time in the month of Avivor Abib, spring, lit. fresh, young barley ears. You are to eat matzahunleavened bread for seven days as I commanded you, for in Aviv you came out of Egypt. No one is to appear before Me empty-handed. 16 Next, the Festival of Harvest with the first fruits of the produce that you sow in the field. Also the Festival of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in your produce from the field. 17 Three times a year all your men must appear before the Lord ADONAI.
18 “You must not offer the blood of My sacrifice with anything leavened, nor may the fat[18] of My feast remain until morning.
19 You must bring the best of the first fruits of your soil into the house of ADONAI your Elohim.
“You must not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.[19]
d. Epilogue (23:20-33)
(vi) 20 “Hinneh,[GN] I am sending an Angel[GN] before you, to protect you along the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared.[20] 21 Pay attention to Him, and listen to His voice. Don’t provoke Him, for He will not pardon your disobedience,[21a] for My Name is in Him.[21b] 22 But if you indeed listen to His voice, and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies, and an adversary to your adversaries.[22] 23 For My Angel must go before you, and bring you in to the EmoriAmorite, HittiHittite, P’riziPerizzite, Kena‘aniCanaanite, HiviHivite, and Y’vusiJebusite; and I will annihilate them. 24 You must not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor follow their practices; instead, you must utterly overthrow them and demolish their sacred stones.
25 You must serve ADONAI your God, and He will bless your bread and your water. And I will take sickness away from among you.[25]
(vii) 26 “No woman in your land will miscarry or
be barren. I will give you the full number of your days.[26]
27 I will send terror
of Me ahead of you, and will throw into confusion every nation you
encounter. And I will make all
your enemies turn and run from you.
28 I will send the hornet
ahead of you to drive the
HiviHivite, the
Kena‘aniCanaanite,
and the
HittiHittite out of
your way.
29 I will not drive them
out from ahead of you in a single year; otherwise the land would become desolate and
wild animals
would multiply against you.
30 Little by little I will
drive them out ahead of you, until you have become fruitful and
possess the land.
31 I will
establish your border
from the Sea of SufRed Sea
clear to the
Sea of the PhilistinesMediterranean Sea,
and from the desert to the [Euphrates] River; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and
you will drive them out before you.
32 You must make no
covenant with them,[32] nor with their gods.
33 They must not
remain
in your land,[33] lest they cause you
to sin against Me, for if you serve their gods,
it will surely be a snare to you.”
1. This includes, of course, participating in gossip, most of which is malicious to begin with. [BACK]
18. Hebrew חֶלֶבּ (kheleb), fat, choicest, best part. [BACK]
19. From this one statement, the Rabbis derived all of the numerous takanot[GN] regarding the mixing of all forms of meat and all forms of dairy, which require this huge page to explain. The Karaites (with whom I closely identify), completely rejecting the Talmud, have few qualms about the general mixing of meat and dairy. It is only the cooking of a young goat in the milk of its actual mother that is banned by Torah. The Philistines observed a fertility ritual in which a young goat was literally boiled in its own mother’s milk. It is my considered opinion that it is specifically this pagan ritual (along with all the rituals of the pagans) which is intended to be avoided, and this command has absolutely nothing at all to do with dietary restrictions. Remember that ADONAI Himself had lunch with Avram at Mamre[GN] and they had meat and dairy in the same meal. Feel free to disagree. [BACK]
20. Compare Yeshua’s words in John 14:2-3. [BACK]
21a. Because created angels do not have the authority to “pardon your disobedience” I assume this Angel to be The Angel of ADONAI, the pre-incarnate God the Son.[GN] [BACK]
21b. An alternate interpretation is that this might be the archangel Michael (מִֽיכָאֵ֗ל, mî·ḵā·’êl, “who is like God” — “… My Name is in Him”), apparently the commanding officer of God’s angelic army and the angel specifically assigned as the guardian of Isra'el (see Dan 10:13; 10:21; 12:1). [BACK]
22. “… listen to His voice, and do all that I speak …” It seems to me that the “Angel” gives voice to what ADONAI speaks. Compare John 5:19, 24. [BACK]
25. During the great plagues of Europe, Jewish communities were often accused of witchcraft because, due to them keeping HaShem’s sanitary instructions, they were rarely affected with devastating sickness. [BACK]
26. That is, you will not die prematurely due to illness [BACK]
32. Isra'el is forbidden to make a treaty with the “Palestinians.” [BACK]
33. The “Palestinians” must not be allowed to live in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza. They will eventually also be driven from Jordan, northern Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and most of Syria. [BACK]
Other commentaries on Exodus 23
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
Pulpit Commentary
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
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ANXIOUSLY WATCHING FOR MASHIACH’S RETURN,
SPEEDILY AND IN OUR DAY. MARANA, TA!
