1.
Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.
raise = utter, or take up. Same as Exodus 20:7 .
the wicked = a wicked one. Hebrew. rash ' a. App-44 .
2.
Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment:
evil-injury . Hebrew. r ' a ' a. See App-44 .
speak = testify.
decline = "turn away [and follow]". Figure of speech Ellipsis ( App-6 . a).
3.
Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause.
countenance = prefer, or favour.
4.
If thou meet thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again.
ox or his ass . Figure of speech Synecdoche (of Species), App-6 , put for any kind of beast of burden.
5.
If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him.
help . Hebrew. Homonym. 'azab two words (1) 'azab = to leave, or forsake. (2) 'azab = to help, or restore (hence strengthen, or fortify). No. 1 in Genesis 2:24 ; Genesis 39:6 . Nehemiah 5:10 . Psalms 49:10 . Malachi 4 . But here it should be No. 2 (as in Nehemiah 3:8 . Deuteronomy 32:36 . 1Ki 14:10 . 2 Kings 14:26 . Jeremiah 49:25 ).
surely help with him . Figure of speech Polyptoton ( App-6 ), "helping shalt help him", or, supplying the Ellipsis, " surely help him [to unload]".
6.
Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause.
7.
Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked.
wicked = a wicked one. Hebrew. rash ' a. App-44 .
8.
And thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous.
blindeth . . . perverteth : i.e. causeth these acts, or sins. Figure of speech Metonymy (of Effect), App-6 .
wise . Hebrew seeing the most clear-sighted.
9.
Also thou shalt not oppress a stranger: for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
heart = soul. Hebrew. nephesh. App-13 .
10.
And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the fruits thereof:
fruits . Hebrew harvest.
11.
But the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie still; that the poor of thy people may eat: and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, and with thy oliveyard.
and . Some codices, with Samaritan Pentateuch and Septuagint, have this in text; it need not, therefore, be in italics.
12.
Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.
refreshed . Hebrew verbal form of nephesh (soul) = quickened, have new life put in, renewed, or revived.
13.
And in all things that I have said unto you be circumspect: and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth.
be circumspect = take heed.
make no mention , &c. A command often disobeyed, especially in house of Saul. Compare "Baal", 1 Chronicles 8:33 ; 1 Chronicles 9:39 ; 1Ch 12:5 ; 1 Chronicles 14:7 ; 1 Chronicles 27:28 . Hence the importance of the prophecy as to the future in Hosea 2:16 , Hosea 2:17 .
14.
Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year.
Three times . No. of Divine perfection. App-10 .
15.
Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:)
as = according as.
month Abib . See App-51 .
appear before Me . This is the current Hebrew text: but this, and ten other passages were altered by the Sopherim (only in the pointing). App-33 . The primitive text read (and ought to be) "see My face". They did not know that "face" was used by Figure of speech Synecdoche (of Part), App-6 , for the person "Me", and they thought it too anthropomorphitic. See note on Exodus 34:20 .
empty = empty-handed.
16.
And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.
17.
Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord GOD.
before = Hebrew "before the face of".
THE Lord God = Hebrew. ha-'adon Jehovah. See App-4 .
18.
Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the fat of my sacrifice remain until the morning.
offer . Hebrew "slay", requiring the supply of the Ellipsis, ii. d ( App-8 ), "slay [and pour out]". See App-43 .
sacrifice . Hebrew "feast", put by Metonymy (of Adjunct' for "festal sacrifice" ( App-6 ).
19.
The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.
the LORD . Hebrew. Jehovah . App-4 .
God . Hebrew. Elohim . App-4 .
mother's : i.e. in the milk of its dam. Repeated, Exo 84:26 and Deuteronomy 14:21 . For similar consideration compare Deuteronomy 22:6 . Leviticus 22:28 .
20.
Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.
Behold . Figure of speech Asterismos ( App-6 ) for emphasis. an angel. It is Elohim speaking, therefore, who can it be but Micha-el? Compare Daniel 10:13 , Daniel 10:21 ; Daniel 12:1 .Jude 1:9 ; and see Malachi 3:1 ; Isaiah 63:9 .
21.
Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him.
transgressions = Hebrew. pasha. App-44 . My name. Compare Jeremiah 23:26 . Colossians 2:9 .
the Hivites . Some codices, with Samaritan Pentateuch, Targum of Onkelos, and one early printed edition, read "and the Hivites".
them = the six nations. See App-10 .
22.
But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries.
23.
For mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them off.
24.
Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images.
images = sacred pillars or statues. Exodus 24:4 ; Exodus 34:13 . See note on Exodus 26 .
25.
And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.
bread , and thy water. Figure of speech Synecdoche (of Species), App-6 , put for all kinds of food and drink.
26.
There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy land: the number of thy days I will fulfil.
27.
I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee.
My fear = a terror of me.
28.
And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee.
hornets . Compare Deuteronomy 7:20 . Joshua 24:12 .
29.
I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee.
30.
By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.
31.
And I will set thy bounds from the Red sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee.
sea of the Philistines = the Mediterranean or "Great Sea".
from the desert = the desert of Shur.
the river = the Euphrates.
the inhabitants . Some codices, with The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel and one early printed edition, read "all the inhabitants".
32.
Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.
33.
They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me: for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee.
sin . Hebrew. chat'a. See App-44 .