Worthy.Bible » STRONG » Exodus » Chapter 23 » Verse 9-12

Exodus 23:9-12 King James Version with Strong's Concordance (STRONG)

9 Also thou shalt not oppress H3905 a stranger: H1616 for ye know H3045 the heart H5315 of a stranger, H1616 seeing H3588 ye were strangers H1616 in the land H776 of Egypt. H4714

10 And six H8337 years H8141 thou shalt sow H2232 thy land, H776 and shalt gather H622 in the fruits H8393 thereof:

11 But the seventh H7637 year thou shalt let it rest H8058 and lie H5203 still; that the poor H34 of thy people H5971 may eat: H398 and what they leave H3499 the beasts H2416 of the field H7704 shall eat. H398 In like manner thou shalt deal H6213 with thy vineyard, H3754 and with thy oliveyard. H2132

12 Six H8337 days H3117 thou shalt do H6213 thy work, H4639 and on the seventh H7637 day H3117 thou shalt rest: H7673 that thine ox H7794 and thine ass H2543 may rest, H5117 and the son H1121 of thy handmaid, H519 and the stranger, H1616 may be refreshed. H5314

Commentary on Exodus 23 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible


CHAPTER 23

Ex 23:1-33. Laws concerning Slander, &c.

1. put not thine hand—join not hands.

2. decline—depart, deviate from the straight path of rectitude.

3. countenance—adorn, embellish—thou shalt not varnish the cause even of a poor man to give it a better coloring than it merits.

10. six years thou shalt sow thy land—intermitting the cultivation of the land every seventh year. But it appears that even then there was a spontaneous produce which the poor were permitted freely to gather for their use, and the beasts driven out fed on the remainder, the owners of fields not being allowed to reap or collect the fruits of the vineyard or oliveyard during the course of this sabbatical year. This was a regulation subservient to many excellent purposes; for, besides inculcating the general lesson of dependence on Providence, and of confidence in His faithfulness to His promise respecting the triple increase on the sixth year (Le 25:20, 21), it gave the Israelites a practical proof that they held their properties of the Lord as His tenants, and must conform to His rules on pain of forfeiting the lease of them.

12. Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest—This law is repeated [Ex 20:9] lest any might suppose there was a relaxation of its observance during the sabbatical year.

13. make no mention of the name of other gods, &c.—that is, in common conversation, for a familiar use of them would tend to lessen horror of idolatry.

14-18. Three times … keep a feast … in the year—This was the institution of the great religious festivals—"The feast of unleavened bread," or the passover—"the feast of harvest," or pentecost—"the feast of ingathering," or the feast of tabernacles, which was a memorial of the dwelling in booths in the wilderness, and which was observed in the seventh month (Ex 12:2). All the males were enjoined to repair to the tabernacle and afterwards the temple, and the women frequently went. The institution of this national custom was of the greatest importance in many ways: by keeping up a national sense of religion and a public uniformity in worship, by creating a bond of unity, and also by promoting internal commerce among the people. Though the absence of all the males at these three festivals left the country defenseless, a special promise was given of divine protection, and no incursion of enemies was ever permitted to happen on those occasions.

19. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk—A prohibition against imitating the superstitious rites of the idolaters in Egypt, who, at the end of their harvest, seethed a kid in its mother's milk and sprinkled the broth as a magical charm on their gardens and fields, to render them more productive the following season. [See on De 14:21].

20-25. Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way—The communication of these laws, made to Moses and by him rehearsed to the people, was concluded by the addition of many animating promises, intermingled with several solemn warnings that lapses into sin and idolatry would not be tolerated or passed with impunity.

21. my name is in him—This angel is frequently called Jehovah and Elohim, that is, God.

28. I will send hornets before thee, &c. (See on Jos 24:12)—Some instrument of divine judgment, but variously interpreted: as hornets in a literal sense [Bochart]; as a pestilential disease [Rosenmuller]; as a terror of the Lord, an extraordinary dejection [Junius].

29, 30. I will not drive … out … in one year; lest the land become desolate—Many reasons recommend a gradual extirpation of the former inhabitants of Canaan. But only one is here specified—the danger lest, in the unoccupied grounds, wild beasts should inconveniently multiply; a clear proof that the promised land was more than sufficient to contain the actual population of the Israelites.