Exodus 23

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8 passages from writers of 2 traditions, in their own words, each with their dates and tradition. The site doesn’t say who is right: read them beside the verses. About these

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• Josephus37–c. 100JewishAntiquities of the Jews · on Exodus 23:10–11And truly Moses gave them all these precepts, being such as were observed during his own lifetime; but though he lived now in the wilderness, yet did he make provision how they might observe the same laws when they should have taken the land of Canaan. He gave them rest to the land from ploughing and planting every seventh year, as he had prescribed to them to rest from working every seventh day; and ordered, that then what grew of its own accord out of the earth should in common belong to all that pleased to use it, making no distinction in that respect between their own countrymen and foreigners

  And truly Moses gave them all these precepts, being such as were observed during his own lifetime; but though he lived now in the wilderness, yet did he make provision how they might observe the same laws when they should have taken the land of Canaan. He gave them rest to the land from ploughing and planting every seventh year, as he had prescribed to them to rest from working every seventh day; and ordered, that then what grew of its own accord out of the earth should in common belong to all that pleased to use it, making no distinction in that respect between their own countrymen and foreigners

  Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Antiquities 3.12.3; translated by William Whiston (1737); the text of Project Gutenberg. The edition

  A Jewish priest from Jerusalem who fought Rome in the war of 66–70 and afterwards wrote the history of his people for Greek readers.

• Rashi1040–1105JewishCommentary on the Torah · on Exodus 23:2–3THOU SHALT NOT FOLLOW THE MANY FOR EVIL — There are Halachic interpretations of this verse given by the Sages of Israel but the wording of the text does not fit in well with them. … Hence they (the Rabbis) said (i. e. they established the general rule): In capital cases we may decide by a majority of one for acquittal, but only by a majority of at least two to condemn. … But I think that if one wishes to explain the verse so that every thing should fit in properly, its exegesis must be as follows: … If you see wicked men wresting judgment do not say: since they are many I will incline after them; … pronounce the decision just as it should be and let the collar hang around the neck of the majority (i. e. if you be outvoted let them bear the responsibility). … NEITHER SHALT THOU COUNTENANCE [THE INDIGENT IN HIS QUARREL] — You shall not pay regard to him by finding in his favour in the law suit, saying, “He is a poor man; I will find in his favour, and thus show him some measure of respect.”

  THOU SHALT NOT FOLLOW THE MANY FOR EVIL — There are Halachic interpretations of this verse given by the Sages of Israel but the wording of the text does not fit in well with them. … Hence they (the Rabbis) said (i. e. they established the general rule): In capital cases we may decide by a majority of one for acquittal, but only by a majority of at least two to condemn. … But I think that if one wishes to explain the verse so that every thing should fit in properly, its exegesis must be as follows: … If you see wicked men wresting judgment do not say: since they are many I will incline after them; … pronounce the decision just as it should be and let the collar hang around the neck of the majority (i. e. if you be outvoted let them bear the responsibility). … NEITHER SHALT THOU COUNTENANCE [THE INDIGENT IN HIS QUARREL] — You shall not pay regard to him by finding in his favour in the law suit, saying, “He is a poor man; I will find in his favour, and thus show him some measure of respect.”

  Rashi, Commentary on the Torah, on 23:2–3; translated by M. Rosenbaum and A. M. Silbermann (London: Genesis 1929, Exodus 1930). The edition

  Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki of Troyes, in France, whose commentary on the Torah is still the first that Jewish readers turn to.

• Rashi1040–1105JewishCommentary on the Torah · on Exodus 23:19How was the procedure at the setting apart of the first fruits? A man goes into his field and sees a fig which was the first to ripen; he ties a piece of reed-grass round it to distinguish it and so marks its sacred character (Mishnah Bikkurim 3:1). … THOU SHALT NOT COOK A KID — A calf and a lamb also are comprehended under the term גדי, for גדי means nothing more than a young tender animal … This fact serves to show you that wherever גדי is mentioned without further description the term implies also a calf and a lamb. — In three different passages the law לא תבשל גדי is written: once for the purpose of prohibiting the eating of meat-food with milk-food, once to prohibit us from deriving any other benefit (besides eating) from such mixture, and once to prohibit the boiling of meat with milk (Mekhilta; Chullin 115b).

  How was the procedure at the setting apart of the first fruits? A man goes into his field and sees a fig which was the first to ripen; he ties a piece of reed-grass round it to distinguish it and so marks its sacred character (Mishnah Bikkurim 3:1). … THOU SHALT NOT COOK A KID — A calf and a lamb also are comprehended under the term גדי, for גדי means nothing more than a young tender animal … This fact serves to show you that wherever גדי is mentioned without further description the term implies also a calf and a lamb. — In three different passages the law לא תבשל גדי is written: once for the purpose of prohibiting the eating of meat-food with milk-food, once to prohibit us from deriving any other benefit (besides eating) from such mixture, and once to prohibit the boiling of meat with milk (Mekhilta; Chullin 115b).

  Rashi, Commentary on the Torah, on 23:19; translated by M. Rosenbaum and A. M. Silbermann (London: Genesis 1929, Exodus 1930). The edition

  Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki of Troyes, in France, whose commentary on the Torah is still the first that Jewish readers turn to.

• Rashi1040–1105JewishCommentary on the Torah · on Exodus 23:20–21BEHOLD, I SEND A MESSENGER [BEFORE THEE] — Here they were informed that they would once sin and that the Divine Majesty would have to tell them, (Exodus 33:3) “for ‘I’ will not go up among thee” (cf. Exodus Rabbah 32:3). … FOR HE WILL NOT PARDON YOUR TRESPASS — He is not accustomed to it (to sin) for he is one of a class of beings who never sin. Besides he is only a messenger and only carries out the mission entrusted to him (i. e. he has no right to pardon you, for this is My prerogative: it is his only to insist upon obedience to My commands) (Midrash Tanchuma, Mishpatim 18). … FOR MY NAME IS IN HIM — This passage must be connected with the beginning of the verse: Take heed of him etc. — for (כי) My Name is associated with his (i. e. whatever he does, he does in My Name). Our Rabbis said that he (the angel) is Mattatron (מטטרון) whose name is even as the name of his Master, for מטטרון has the numerical value of שדי “the Almighty” (Sanhedrin 38b).

  BEHOLD, I SEND A MESSENGER [BEFORE THEE] — Here they were informed that they would once sin and that the Divine Majesty would have to tell them, (Exodus 33:3) “for ‘I’ will not go up among thee” (cf. Exodus Rabbah 32:3). … FOR HE WILL NOT PARDON YOUR TRESPASS — He is not accustomed to it (to sin) for he is one of a class of beings who never sin. Besides he is only a messenger and only carries out the mission entrusted to him (i. e. he has no right to pardon you, for this is My prerogative: it is his only to insist upon obedience to My commands) (Midrash Tanchuma, Mishpatim 18). … FOR MY NAME IS IN HIM — This passage must be connected with the beginning of the verse: Take heed of him etc. — for (כי) My Name is associated with his (i. e. whatever he does, he does in My Name). Our Rabbis said that he (the angel) is Mattatron (מטטרון) whose name is even as the name of his Master, for מטטרון has the numerical value of שדי “the Almighty” (Sanhedrin 38b).

  Rashi, Commentary on the Torah, on 23:20–21; translated by M. Rosenbaum and A. M. Silbermann (London: Genesis 1929, Exodus 1930). The edition

  Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki of Troyes, in France, whose commentary on the Torah is still the first that Jewish readers turn to.

• John Calvin1509–1564ReformedCommentaries · on Exodus 23:14–17Three times shalt thou keep a feast. It is strange that Moses, who elsewhere enumerates several feast-days, should here only command them to appear in God's presence thrice a year. Where then is the feast of trumpets and the day of atonement? for undoubtedly all were to be celebrated at Jerusalem. In the first place, it is to be observed that the principal ones, to which the greater honor appertained, are here mentioned. … At any rate, it appears that God spared His people, when prescribed only three necessary convocations, lest the fathers of families and their children should be wearied by the expense and trouble of them, since he approves of no service which does not proceed from a cheerful heart.

  Three times shalt thou keep a feast. It is strange that Moses, who elsewhere enumerates several feast-days, should here only command them to appear in God's presence thrice a year. Where then is the feast of trumpets and the day of atonement? for undoubtedly all were to be celebrated at Jerusalem. In the first place, it is to be observed that the principal ones, to which the greater honor appertained, are here mentioned. … At any rate, it appears that God spared His people, when prescribed only three necessary convocations, lest the fathers of families and their children should be wearied by the expense and trouble of them, since he approves of no service which does not proceed from a cheerful heart.

  John Calvin, Commentaries, on 23:14–17; Calvin Translation Society (Edinburgh, 1843–1855); the text of the Free Use Bible API. The edition

  The French reformer of Geneva, from whose teaching the Reformed and Presbyterian churches come.

• Matthew Henry1662–1714English PresbyterianCommentary on the Whole Bible · on Exodus 23:2–9The former part of this verse also gives a general rule for all, as well as judges, not to follow a multitude to do evil. … We must enquire what we ought to do, not what the majority do; because we must be judged by our Master, not by our fellow-servants, and it is too great a compliment to be willing to go to hell for company. … If a poor man be a bad man, and do a bad thing, it is foolish pity to let him fare the better for his poverty … (3.) Neither must they pervert judgment in prejudice to a poor man, nor suffer him to be wronged because he had not wherewithal to right himself … You know the heart of a stranger; you know something of the griefs and fears of a stranger by sad experience … We must be ready to do all good offices, as there is occasion, for any body, yea even for those that have done us ill offices … The command of loving our enemies, and doing good to those that hate us, is not only a new, but an old commandment

  The former part of this verse also gives a general rule for all, as well as judges, not to follow a multitude to do evil. … We must enquire what we ought to do, not what the majority do; because we must be judged by our Master, not by our fellow-servants, and it is too great a compliment to be willing to go to hell for company. … If a poor man be a bad man, and do a bad thing, it is foolish pity to let him fare the better for his poverty … (3.) Neither must they pervert judgment in prejudice to a poor man, nor suffer him to be wronged because he had not wherewithal to right himself … You know the heart of a stranger; you know something of the griefs and fears of a stranger by sad experience … We must be ready to do all good offices, as there is occasion, for any body, yea even for those that have done us ill offices … The command of loving our enemies, and doing good to those that hate us, is not only a new, but an old commandment

  Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, on 23:1–9; 1706–1714; the text of the Free Use Bible API. The edition

  An English Presbyterian minister whose commentary on the whole Bible Protestants have read for three centuries.

• Adam Clarkec. 1760–1832MethodistCommentary on the Holy Bible · on Exodus 23:19–21Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk - … Dr. Cudworth is supposed to have given it its true meaning by quoting a MS. comment of a Karaite Jew … It was a custom of the ancient heathens, when they had gathered in all their fruits, to take a kid and boil it in the milk of its dam; and then, in a magical way, to go about and besprinkle with it all their trees and fields, gardens and orchards; thinking by these means to make them fruitful … the simple object of the precept seems to be this: "Thou shalt do nothing that may have any tendency to blunt thy moral feelings, or teach thee hardness of heart." … Behold, I send an Angel before thee - Some have thought that this was Moses, others Joshua … it is more likely that the great Angel of the Covenant, the Lord Jesus Christ, is meant … He will not pardon your transgressions - … were he either man or angel, … it need not be said, He will not pardon your transgressions, for neither man nor angel could do it.

  Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk - … Dr. Cudworth is supposed to have given it its true meaning by quoting a MS. comment of a Karaite Jew … It was a custom of the ancient heathens, when they had gathered in all their fruits, to take a kid and boil it in the milk of its dam; and then, in a magical way, to go about and besprinkle with it all their trees and fields, gardens and orchards; thinking by these means to make them fruitful … the simple object of the precept seems to be this: "Thou shalt do nothing that may have any tendency to blunt thy moral feelings, or teach thee hardness of heart." … Behold, I send an Angel before thee - Some have thought that this was Moses, others Joshua … it is more likely that the great Angel of the Covenant, the Lord Jesus Christ, is meant … He will not pardon your transgressions - … were he either man or angel, … it need not be said, He will not pardon your transgressions, for neither man nor angel could do it.

  Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Holy Bible, on 23:19 and 23:20–22; 1810–1826; the text of the Free Use Bible API. The edition

  A Methodist preacher and scholar from Ulster, whose commentary on the whole Bible took him nearly forty years.

• Keil and Delitzsch1807–1888 and 1813–1890LutheranBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament · on Exodus 23:19Very different explanations have been given to the command. In the Targum, Mishnah, etc., it is regarded as a general prohibition against eating flesh prepared with milk. Luther and others suppose it to refer to the cooking of the kid, before it has been weaned from its mother's milk. But the actual reference is to the cooking of a kid in the milk of its own mother, as indicating a contempt of the relation which God has established and sanctified between parent and young, and thus subverting the divine ordinances. As kids were a very favourite food … it is very likely that by way of improving the flavour they were sometimes cooked in milk. … A restriction is placed upon this custom in the prohibition before us, but there is no intention to prevent the introduction of a superstitious usage customary at the sacrificial meals of other nations, which Spencer and Knobel have sought to establish as at all events probable, though without any definite historical proofs

  Very different explanations have been given to the command. In the Targum, Mishnah, etc., it is regarded as a general prohibition against eating flesh prepared with milk. Luther and others suppose it to refer to the cooking of the kid, before it has been weaned from its mother's milk. But the actual reference is to the cooking of a kid in the milk of its own mother, as indicating a contempt of the relation which God has established and sanctified between parent and young, and thus subverting the divine ordinances. As kids were a very favourite food … it is very likely that by way of improving the flavour they were sometimes cooked in milk. … A restriction is placed upon this custom in the prohibition before us, but there is no intention to prevent the introduction of a superstitious usage customary at the sacrificial meals of other nations, which Spencer and Knobel have sought to establish as at all events probable, though without any definite historical proofs

  Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament, on 23:19; translated by James Martin and others (Edinburgh, 1866–1891); the text of the Free Use Bible API. The edition

  Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch, two German Lutheran scholars of Hebrew whose commentary on the Old Testament is still read for its learning.