Chapter Twenty-Three
Rules Regarding Social Justice and Responsibility Continued
23:1 “You shall not spread a false report. You shall not join hands with a wicked man to be a malicious witness.
This and the following seven verses focus on a person’s responsibility and role in maintaining social justice within their community. Here people were not to slander another person by lying about them or accuse them falsely. Since later in the book of Deuteronomy it states that justice requires only two people to convict someone of a crime (see Deuteronomy 19:15), it was critical that people didn’t conspire with another with the intention of falsely convicting someone else. All a wicked person needed to do was to find another person to be a lying witness. God prohibited this form of collusion.
23:2 You shall not fall in with the many to do evil, nor shall you bear witness in a lawsuit, siding with the many, so as to pervert justice, 3 nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his lawsuit.
Continuing with the theme of forbidding being a false witness, God now points to the need for people to carefully choose their friends and stay away from those who do evil. They were also forbidden to be a witness in a lawsuit that sided with those that desired to pervert justice or be willing to falsely testify in favor of someone just because they are poor.
23:4 “If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall bring it back to him. 5 If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying down under its burden, you shall refrain from leaving him with it; you shall rescue it with him.
If someone encountered or spotted someone’s ox or donkey wandering loose, including one belonging to someone that might be considered an enemy, they are to bring it back to the owner. If someone sees a donkey that belongs to someone who hates them (or didn’t like them), collapsed on the ground due the weight of the load, they are to help them rescue the animal.
23:6 “You shall not pervert the justice due to your poor in his lawsuit.
In verse three, a person was not allowed to grant favor to the poor just because they were poor, here one is not to ‘bend’ justice away from the poor. They were not to be denied justice, which would have been unique from most of their surrounding nations as many did not consider the poor worthy of justice; no time would have been spent defending a poor person.
23:7 Keep far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent and righteous, for I will not acquit the wicked.
They were instructed to never falsely accuse another person, declaring an innocent person guilty. The last portion of the verse is somewhat controversial, and it has a variety of different possible interpretations, including that it means:
23:8 And you shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the cause of those who are in the right.
God makes it clear that no one was to accept a bribe, as a bribe prevents a good witness to see something other than the truth. This is also another way to revoke justice from the poor. Sadly, bribery has been common throughout history.
23:9 “You shall not oppress a sojourner. You know the heart of a sojourner, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.
While this verse is essentially the same rule that is found in Exodus 22:21, “You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt,” it is not the same command. Since they should know the heart of a sojourner, they should not oppress them, but have compassion and understanding. The rule was probably repeated to emphasize the importance to refrain from being hypocritical towards others, especially foreigners in a foreign land as they once were.
Rules Regarding the Sabbaths and Festivals
23:10 “For six years you shall sow your land and gather in its yield, 11 but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave the beasts of the field may eat. You shall do likewise with your vineyard, and with your olive orchard.
This is the first reference to their land being required to rest, referred to later as a “Sabbath to the LORD,” (see Leviticus 25:4) or simply the Sabbath Year. Crops from a field were to be gathered for six years and on the seventh year the land was to rest and not be harvested. The same was to be done with their vineyards and olive trees. The poor were allowed to harvest what they wanted to eat, and the wild animals may eat from the land, but the owner and their family were not allowed during the seventh year. The rules regarding the Sabbath Year for the land are detailed in Leviticus 25:1-7; see also Deuteronomy chapter 15 regarding other non-land-related Sabbath years, often referred to as the year of ‘release’, or in the Hebrew ’šemiṭ·ṭā(h)’[1] (or Shmita).
It is interesting to note that since the commandments requiring the land to rest were not followed for 490 years, God sent the Babylonians, to punish the Israelites. They held the Israelites in captivity for 70 years (one year for every Sabbath of years they did not obey, they ‘owed’ God, see Isaiah 23:15; Jeremiah 25:7-14; 29:10; Daniel 9:2; Zechariah 1:12; 2 Chronicles 36:21). Why was this a problem? First, they were disobedient to God, as some thought they could use a “loophole” in the law and temporarily lease their land to someone else during that time. But secondly, they did not trust God to provide the abundance of crops during the sixth year to provide for their needs in the seventh year. They denied God the opportunity to bless them (see Considerations below).
23:12 “Six days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and the son of your servant woman, and the alien, may be refreshed.
The concept of the Sabbath rest is amplified here from the original commandment (see Exodus 20:8-11), with it now listing all work animals, servants and their families, and aliens in the land were also required to comply (and allowed to comply) and enjoy the rest so that they may be refreshed as well.
23:13 “Pay attention to all that I have said to you, and make no mention of the names of other gods, nor let it be heard on your lips.
Before transitioning to the rules regarding the festivals, God once again warns the Israelites to listen and to obey what they heard. The Hebrew word that is translated here as ‘mention’ is ‘ṯǎz·kî’·rû’,[2] a verb meaning to remember, to recall, to mention, or to think about. They were not to recall or think about any other god, let alone speak the name.
23:14 “Three times in the year you shall keep a feast to me. 15 You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. As I commanded you, you shall eat unleavened bread for seven days at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. None shall appear before me empty-handed.
The Israelites would have been aware of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, as it was instituted while they were still in Egypt (see Exodus 12:15-20), beginning on the fifteenth day of the month of Abib (the day after Passover).[3] No one was allowed to participate without an acceptable offering.
Ultimately God will ordain seven festivals (or feasts) through Moses, often referred to as the Mosaic Festivals. Three of the seven, the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the two listed in the following verse, are considered mandatory by all able-bodied males, also known as the pilgrimage festivals (see verse 17; 34:23; Deuteronomy 16:16).
23:16 You shall keep the Feast of Harvest, of the firstfruits of your labor, of what you sow in the field. You shall keep the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in from the field the fruit of your labor. 17 Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord GOD.
The second mandatory-to-attend festival was the Feast of Harvest (see Leviticus 23:15-22), listed as the celebration of the firstfruits of their labor, however it should not be confused with the Feast of Firstfruits (see Leviticus 23:9-14), which celebrates, among other things, the barley harvest on the day after the Sabbath that follows Passover (known today as Easter). This Feast of Harvest celebrates the wheat or second harvest. It is also known as the Feast of Weeks since it is seven weeks (of days) after the waving of the sheaf offering, which is offered during the Feast of Firstfruits. “You shall count seven full weeks from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering. You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath. Then you shall present a grain offering of new grain to the LORD.” (Leviticus 23:15-16) The seven weeks, plus one day, makes a total count of fifty days after the Feast of Firstfruits, which is why the feast is often called ‘Pentecost’ (from the Greek word ‘pentēkostē’,[4] meaning ‘50’).
The third festival listed is called here the Feast of Ingathering, it is better known as the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths. Like the Feast of Unleavened Bread, this feast is a week-long festival (see Leviticus 23:33-43). The fruit harvests were gathered and celebrated in a joyous festival that is often referred to as the Jewish Thanksgiving (some believe that this festival was the model for the modern-day celebration of Thanksgiving).
One mandatory festival in the Spring, one in early Summer, and one in the Fall, for a total of three pilgrimages per year. The destination of each pilgrimage prior to the Temple will depend on the location of the Tabernacle and then once the Temple is built, Jerusalem (see Deuteronomy 16:16)
For details regarding each of the Mosaic festivals, see Leviticus chapter 23.[5]
23:18 “You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with anything leavened, or let the fat of my feast remain until the morning.
Blood from any animal sacrificed was not to be offered with anything that contained leaven (bread or any baked goods). As discussed earlier,[6] blood represents life and leaven represents sin.[7] Since innocent blood was used to atone for sin, the presence of leaven was unacceptable. Rabbis connect this verse to be a reference to the Passover Lamb, which is not to be slain until all leaven has been removed.
Thou shalt not slaughter the paschal lamb while the leavened bread is still there.—These are the words of R. Ishmael.[8]
The second portion of this verse refers to the fat of the animal being sacrificed, that it must not be allowed to remain until the morning. This anticipates the instruction that, “All fat is the LORD’s” (Leviticus 3:16b), the priests are to burn all the fat on the altar (see Exodus 29:13; Leviticus 3:16-17).
This verse is often categorized as warnings against potential animal sacrifice abuse, people trying to shortchange God through compromise.
23:19 “The best of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the LORD your God. “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.
If the previous verse was to warn against abusing the process of animal sacrifice, then the first half of this verse could be categorized as a warning against possible abuse of crop offerings. The idea of offering a harvest’s firstfruits was to bring the best of the harvest to God. This is a reminder to offer the best of the firstfruits, not something unusable, blemished, spoiled, or otherwise unwanted.
The commandment to not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk has been interpreted in many ways and is the basis for the Jewish prohibition of eating or cooking meat and milk together at any time (see also Exodus 34:26; Deuteronomy 14:21).
Since it became impossible to determine which baby goat and which mother’s milk were related, the law was extended so that no animal (meat) could be cooked in any milk (dairy). The Rabbis interpreted the threefold repetition of this verse as defining three separate prohibitions: cooking meat and milk together, eating such a mixture, and deriving any benefit from it (such as savoring the aroma or feeding it to a pet) (Hul. 115b). The term “milk” was interpreted to mean all dairy products, such as butter, cheese, and fresh and sour cream. Because many commonly eaten processed foods contain unsuspected dairy ingredients—such as bread, cakes, and cookies made with buttermilk, nonfat dry milk, whey, or dairy-derived additives—kashrut observers always read the labels carefully and buy products only with a hechsher (kosher certification).[9]
Considerations
Trust is Necessary for Blessing
The instruction for the land to rest every seven years would have been a blessing. God would have provided sufficient crop production during the sixth year to provide for them while the land and the people were resting. Since the land would not need labor to maintain, the people would enjoy some rest as well. Sadly, the Israelites did not do as God asked them to do, they found ways to continue working the land.
Since they did not trust God for His provision, they were not blessed with the rest and were ultimately punished after 490 years (interesting number, remember when Peter asked Jesus, ““Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? As many as seven times?” “I tell you, not as many as seven,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven.” (Matthew 18:21b-22, CSB) Note: 70 x 7 = 490.
Trusting God is the foundation of faith in God, knowing that He will do just as He said He would do, not hoping but knowing. “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:17) While this is certainly true for salvation, it is also true when a Christian prays. If a Christian prays for something but does not believe that God will answer, they are no different than the Israelites that would not allow God to bless them. Prayers to God should only be offered in faith, the prayer may not be answered in the way desired, but trust that God will respond. “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:7-11)
Successful Conquest of Canaan Promised
23:20 “Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. 21 Pay careful attention to him and obey his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgression, for my name is in him. 22 “But if you carefully obey his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. 23 “When my angel goes before you and brings you to the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, and I blot them out, 24 you shall not bow down to their gods nor serve them, nor do as they do, but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their pillars in pieces.
God will send them an angel, since the Hebrew word ‘mǎl·’āḵ’ (translated here as ‘angel’) can be translated and interpreted in many ways[10], the word has been interpreted in these verses as being a man, a human messenger sent by God like Moses; a supernatural angel, like a cherub; or even God Himself (like the angel of the LORD encountered in Exodus 3:2). God reassures the Israelites that He will not only guide them to the Promised Land, but He will also be an enemy to their enemies and oppose those who try to oppose them.
However, there is one big condition, they must listen and obey what the angel says. If they rebel, their disobedience will not be forgiven. God further promises that when they encounter the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites, and the Jebusites, He will conquer them. But they must not worship, serve, or even acknowledge the existence of their gods. If they obey, they will be victorious and will be able to break their pillars into pieces (Hebrew ‘mǎṣ·ṣē·ḇō·ṯê’,[11] refers to something set upright, usually a block of stone utilized for religious or memorial purposes).
23:25 You shall serve the LORD your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from among you. 26 None shall miscarry or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days.
They are to serve YHWH only, in response, God will bless their bread and water (much of the water can be undrinkable or unavailable, as already experienced leaving Egypt, see Exodus 15:22; 17:1). In addition, He will make sure they will not get sick, have any miscarriages, or allow a potential mother to remain barren. God will also give them long life spans.
23:27 I will send my terror before you and will throw into confusion all the people against whom you shall come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you.
The list of God’s blessings continues with the promise to send terror before them against their enemies (see also Deuteronomy 2:25; Joshua 2:9) and throw any group of people that may be against them into confusion (see also Deuteronomy 7:23) and they will run away from them in a panic.
23:28 And I will send hornets before you, which shall drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites from before you.
Hornets would be an effective weapon against any enemy. Here, God promises to send them to drive out the Hivites, Canaanites, and the Hittites from before them, where they can easily take over their lands and cities.
23:29 I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the wild beasts multiply against you. 30 Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and possess the land.
God tells them that the conquering of the current inhabitants of the Promised Land was going to occur in increments. Since they currently had insufficient number of people to occupy the entire land, they were going take possession of the land one segment at a time as their population increased. The reason God gives was so that the land would not become desolate (no one to attend to buildings and land) and that the wild animals would not increase in number such that would pose a threat to them later.
23:31 And I will set your border from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the Euphrates, for I will give the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you.
The boundaries of the Promised Land are briefly summarized here as being from the Red Sea (north end of the Gulf of Aqaba) on the east to the Sea of the Philistines (the Mediterranean Sea) on the west and from the wilderness (Negev) in the south to the Euphrates River in the north. God promises that He will give the current inhabitants into their hand as they drive them out (see also Genesis 15:18; Numbers 34:3; Deuteronomy 11:24; Joshua 1:4). It is interesting to note that even during King David’s or King Solomon’s reign, the Israelites have yet to occupy the entire Promised Land, so was God in error? No, the promise will be fulfilled yet future.
23:32 You shall make no covenant with them and their gods.
The Israelites were told not to make any covenant with the current occupants as they were all to be completely purged from the land. Note again the issue of their gods, the land was ‘polluted’ by the presence of their gods, under no circumstance were they to remain. It is also interesting to note that later the Gibeonites tricked the Israelites into creating a covenant with them (see Joshua chapter nine), something they had to abide to.
23:33 They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against me; for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”
God gives the Israelites another warning against the current occupants being allowed to stay in the Promised Land. The concern is that through their practice of worshiping false gods, the practice will entice them to sin against Him. God makes it clear that this is not just a possibility, but an absolute, “it will surely be a snare to you.” This helps us understand why, when they do enter the Promised Land, everything needed to go.
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[1] Strong’s Hebrew 8059.
[2] Strong’s Hebrew 2142.
[3] See Considerations under Genesis 8:12-14 and Exodus 12:28 regarding the Hebrew calendar.
[4] Strong’s Greek 4005.
[5] See also Prophetic Overview under Leviticus 23:44.
[6] See commentaries under Genesis 3:21 and Exodus 4:9.
[7] See Considerations under Genesis 18:16-21.
[8] Lauterbach, J. Z. (2004). Mekilta de-Rabbi Ishmael (New ed., p. 484). Philadelphia, Pa: Jewish Publication Society.
[9] Eisenberg, R. L. (2004). The JPS guide to Jewish traditions (1st ed., p. 662). Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society.
[10] See commentary under Genesis 16:7.
[11] Strong’s Hebrew 4676.