Exodus 23:7

Exodus 23:7 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked.
• New International Version (NIV)Have nothing to do with a false charge and do not put an innocent or honest person to death, for I will not acquit the guilty.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Keep far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent and righteous, for I will not acquit the wicked.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Keep yourself far from a false matter; do not kill the innocent and righteous. For I will not justify the wicked.

Context of Exodus 23:7

5Perhaps you may see your enemy's donkey when it is carrying a heavy load. If the donkey has fallen down, do not refuse to give help. Do not leave the donkey there. 6Always do what is right for your poor people when they stand in front of a judge. Do not help anyone to use lies to accuse another person. Never punish anyone with death if they are not guilty. I will never say that a wicked person is not guilty. 8Do not accept a bribe. A bribe will hide the truth even from honest people. It can make good people tell lies. 9Do not be cruel to a foreign person who lives among you. You yourselves know what that feels like. Remember that you lived in Egypt as foreigners.

Exodus 23:7 word by word

מִדְּבַר־שֶׁ֖קֶר תִּרְחָ֑ק וְנָקִ֤י וְצַדִּיק֙ אַֽל־תַּהֲרֹ֔ג כִּ֥י לֹא־אַצְדִּ֖יק רָשָֽׁע׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Keep thee farרָחַקrâchaq · to removeH7368
• from a falseשֶׁ֫קֶרsheqer · deceptionH8267
• matterדָּבָרdâbâr · wordH1697
• and the innocentנָקִיnâqîy nâqîy' · innocentH5355
• and righteousצַדִּיקtsaddîyq · righteousH6662
• slayהָרַגhârag · to killH2026
• thou not: for I will not justifyצָדֵקtsâdaq · to justifyH6663
• the wickedרָשָׁעrâshâ‛ · wickedH7563

Cross-references for Exodus 23:7

• Exodus 23:1Do not make false reports. Do not tell lies in court to help wicked people.
• Leviticus 19:11You must not take something that belongs to another person. You must not say something that is not true. You must obey my rules.
• Deuteronomy 19:16Somebody may accuse another person because he wants to hurt him. He tells lies against him.
• Job 22:23Turn back to the Almighty God, so that you become strong again. Stop all the evil things that happen in your house.
• Proverbs 4:14Do not join with wicked or evil people. Do not do the things that they do.
• Isaiah 33:15But some people can still live! Those who are honest in what they do and fair in what they say. Those who refuse to cheat other people so that they can become rich. Those who refuse to accept bribes. Those who will not listen to murderers, and who will not think about evil things.
• Luke 3:14Then some soldiers asked John, ‘What about us? What should we do?’ John replied, ‘Do not rob people of their money. Do not say that a person is guilty if he has not done anything wrong. You must not take money for yourself in that way. You should be happy with the money that you receive for your work.’
• Ephesians 4:25So you must stop telling lies. Each of you must say only true things to one another. Remember that all of us belong to one another, like parts of the same body.
• 1 Thessalonians 5:22But keep away from any kind of bad thing.
• Deuteronomy 27:25‘God will curse anyone who receives a bribe to kill someone who has done nothing wrong.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Yes, we agree!’
• Exodus 34:7I faithfully love thousands of people. I forgive their sins when they turn against me. But if people are guilty, I surely punish them. I punish their children, their grandchildren and their grandchildren's children.’
• Proverbs 17:15If a judge says that a guilty person is not guilty, the Lord hates it. If a judge punishes someone who is not guilty, the Lord hates that too.
• Nahum 1:3The Lord will punish those who do wrong things. But he does not get angry quickly. He is a powerful God. The Lord does not get angry quickly. But he gets angry when people do wrong things. Then he punishes those people. He is very powerful. You can see his power in the wind and the storms. The clouds are like dust that his feet shake.
• Romans 1:18God in heaven shows that he is angry with people. He is angry because they do not respect him and they do bad things. Because they continue to do those bad things, they choose not to accept God's true message.
• Romans 2:5But you refuse to change the way that you live. You are not sorry about the wrong things that you have done. As a result, you cause God to become even angrier with you. So he will punish you even more on the day when he will judge everyone. On that day, he will show how angry he is against people who do bad things. Everyone will know that he judges people in a right way.

Commentaries on Exodus 23:7

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 6-9Verses 6-9 Four precepts evidently addressed to those in authority as judges: (a) To do justice to the poor. Comparing Exodus 23:6 with Exodus 23:3, it was the part of the judge to defend the poor against the oppression of the rich, and the part of the witness to take care lest his feelings of natural pity should tempt him to falsify evidence. (b) To be cautious of inflicting capital punishment on one whose guilt was not clearly proved. A doubtful case…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 7God's character inspires people to act righteously (see 22:22–24, 27).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-331. put not thine hand--join not hands.Read the comment

Topics related to Exodus 23:7

• Accusation, False
• Court
• Evidence
• Injustice
• Justice
• Rulers

In the dictionaries

• Beware
• Book
• Countenance
• Ingathering
• Refresh
• Seethe
• Turn
• Wrest
• Amos (1)
• Bible, the

Commentaries on Exodus 23

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings