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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width; initial-scale=1.0; maximum-scale=1.0; user-scalable=0;"/><title>Exodus 23:6 Commentaries: "You shall not pervert the justice due to your needy brother in his dispute.</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/newcom.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /><script type="application/javascript" src="https://scripts.webcontentassessor.com/scripts/8a2459b64f9cac8122fc7f2eac4409c8555fac9383016db59c4c26e3d5b8b157"></script><script src='https://qd.admetricspro.com/js/biblehub/biblehub-layout-loader.js'></script></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" 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width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../exodus/23-5.htm" title="Exodus 23:5">◄</a> Exodus 23:6 <a href="../exodus/23-7.htm" title="Exodus 23:7">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="topverse">Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause.</div><div id="jump">Jump to: <a href="/commentaries/barnes/exodus/23.htm" title="Barnes' Notes">Barnes</a> • <a href="/commentaries/benson/exodus/23.htm" title="Benson Commentary">Benson</a> • <a href="/commentaries/illustrator/exodus/23.htm" title="Biblical Illustrator">BI</a> • <a href="/commentaries/calvin/exodus/23.htm" title="Calvin's Commentaries">Calvin</a> • <a href="/commentaries/cambridge/exodus/23.htm" title="Cambridge Bible">Cambridge</a> • <a href="/commentaries/clarke/exodus/23.htm" title="Clarke's Commentary">Clarke</a> • <a href="/commentaries/darby/exodus/23.htm" title="Darby's Bible Synopsis">Darby</a> • <a href="/commentaries/ellicott/exodus/23.htm" title="Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers">Ellicott</a> • <a href="/commentaries/expositors/exodus/23.htm" title="Expositor's Bible">Expositor's</a> • <a href="/commentaries/edt/exodus/23.htm" title="Expositor's Dictionary">Exp Dct</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gaebelein/exodus/23.htm" title="Gaebelein's Annotated Bible">Gaebelein</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gsb/exodus/23.htm" title="Geneva Study Bible">GSB</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gill/exodus/23.htm" title="Gill's Bible Exposition">Gill</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gray/exodus/23.htm" title="Gray's Concise">Gray</a> • <a href="/commentaries/guzik/exodus/23.htm" title="Guzik Bible Commentary">Guzik</a> • <a href="/commentaries/haydock/exodus/23.htm" title="Haydock Catholic Bible Commentary">Haydock</a> • <a href="/commentaries/hastings/exodus/14-15.htm" title="Hastings Great Texts">Hastings</a> • <a href="/commentaries/homiletics/exodus/23.htm" title="Pulpit Homiletics">Homiletics</a> • <a href="/commentaries/jfb/exodus/23.htm" title="Jamieson-Fausset-Brown">JFB</a> • <a href="/commentaries/kad/exodus/23.htm" title="Keil and Delitzsch OT">KD</a> • <a href="/commentaries/king-en/exodus/23.htm" title="Kingcomments Bible Studies">King</a> • <a href="/commentaries/lange/exodus/23.htm" title="Lange Commentary">Lange</a> • <a href="/commentaries/maclaren/exodus/23.htm" title="MacLaren Expositions">MacLaren</a> • <a href="/commentaries/mhc/exodus/23.htm" title="Matthew Henry Concise">MHC</a> • <a href="/commentaries/mhcw/exodus/23.htm" title="Matthew Henry Full">MHCW</a> • <a href="/commentaries/parker/exodus/23.htm" title="The People's Bible by Joseph Parker">Parker</a> • <a href="/commentaries/poole/exodus/23.htm" title="Matthew Poole">Poole</a> • <a href="/commentaries/pulpit/exodus/23.htm" title="Pulpit Commentary">Pulpit</a> • <a href="/commentaries/sermon/exodus/23.htm" title="Sermon Bible">Sermon</a> • <a href="/commentaries/sco/exodus/23.htm" title="Scofield Reference Notes">SCO</a> • <a href="/commentaries/ttb/exodus/23.htm" title="Through The Bible">TTB</a> • <a href="/commentaries/wes/exodus/23.htm" title="Wesley's Notes">WES</a> • <a href="#tsk" title="Treasury of Scripture Knowledge">TSK</a></div><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="comtype">EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)</div><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/ellicott/exodus/23.htm">Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers</a></div>(6) <span class= "bld">Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor.</span>—If we are not to favour the poor man in a court of justice on account of his poverty (<a href="/exodus/23-3.htm" title="Neither shall you countenance a poor man in his cause.">Exodus 23:3</a>), much less are we to treat him with disfavour. (Comp. <a href="/deuteronomy/24-17.htm" title="You shall not pervert the judgment of the stranger, nor of the fatherless; nor take a widow's raiment to pledge:">Deuteronomy 24:17</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/27-19.htm" title="Cursed be he that perverts the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow. And all the people shall say, Amen.">Deuteronomy 27:19</a>; <a href="/jeremiah/5-28.htm" title="They are waxen fat, they shine: yes, they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge.">Jeremiah 5:28</a>, &c.)<p><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/benson/exodus/23.htm">Benson Commentary</a></div><span class="bld"><a href="/exodus/23-6.htm" title="You shall not wrest the judgment of your poor in his cause.">Exodus 23:6</a></span>. <span class="ital">Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor — </span>As a judge should beware, lest through motives of compassion, or an affectation of popularity, he be biassed in favour of the poor; so, on the other hand, he must not despise a man because he is poor and without friends: he must not take advantage of his poverty to misrepresent his cause, to refuse to give him an impartial hearing, to strain a point of equity to his prejudice, or pass sentence wrongfully against him. The words <span class="ital">thy poor, </span>are emphatical, importing that they were members of their body, though poor.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a name="mhc" id="mhc"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/mhc/exodus/23.htm">Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary</a></div>23:1-9 In the law of Moses are very plain marks of sound moral feeling, and of true political wisdom. Every thing in it is suited to the desired and avowed object, the worship of one only God, and the separation of Israel from the pagan world. Neither parties, friends, witnesses, nor common opinions, must move us to lessen great faults, to aggravate small ones, excuse offenders, accuse the innocent, or misrepresent any thing.<a name="bar" id="bar"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/barnes/exodus/23.htm">Barnes' Notes on the Bible</a></div>Four precepts evidently addressed to those in authority as judges:<p>(a) To do justice to the poor. Comparing <a href="/exodus/23-6.htm">Exodus 23:6</a> with <a href="http://biblehub.com/exodus/23-3.htm">Exodus 23:3</a>, 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.<p>(b) To be cautious of inflicting capital punishment on one whose guilt was not clearly proved. A doubtful case was rather to be left to God Himself, who would "not justify the wicked," nor suffer him to go unpunished though he might be acquitted by an earthly tribunal. <a href="/exodus/23-7.htm">Exodus 23:7</a>.<p>(c) To take no bribe or present which might in any way pervert judgment <a href="/exodus/23-8.htm">Exodus 23:8</a>; compare <a href="/numbers/16-15.htm">Numbers 16:15</a>; <a href="/1_samuel/12-3.htm">1 Samuel 12:3</a>; <a href="/acts/26-26.htm">Acts 26:26</a>.<p>(d) To vindicate the rights of the stranger <a href="/exodus/23-9.htm">Exodus 23:9</a> - rather, the foreigner. (<a href="/exodus/20-10.htm">Exodus 20:10</a> note.) This verse is a repetition of <a href="http://biblehub.com/exodus/22-21.htm">Exodus 22:21</a>, but the precept is there addressed to the people at large, while it is here addressed to the judges in reference to their official duties. The caution was perpetually necessary. Compare <a href="/ezekiel/22-7.htm">Ezekiel 22:7</a>; <a href="/malachi/3-5.htm">Malachi 3:5</a>. The word rendered "heart" is more strictly "soul," and would be better represented here by feelings. <a name="jfb" id="jfb"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/jfb/exodus/23.htm">Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary</a></div>3. countenance—adorn, embellish—thou shalt not varnish the cause even of a poor man to give it a better coloring than it merits.<div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/poole/exodus/23.htm">Matthew Poole's Commentary</a></div> i.e. Of the poor which is among thee, not of the poor Jews only, as some peradventure may conceive; for common right must be done even to the Gentiles. Compare <span class="bldvs"> <a href="/deuteronomy/27-19.htm" title="Cursed be he that perverts the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow. And all the people shall say, Amen.">Deu 27:19</a></span>. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a name="gil" id="gil"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/gill/exodus/23.htm">Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible</a></div>Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause. As the poor man was not to be favoured when his cause was bad through an affected pity for him as a poor man, so his judgment was not to be wrested or perverted, when his cause was good, because of his poverty; which is too often the case, through the power of rich men, and the prevalence of their gifts and bribes, and to curry favour with them: the phrase, "thy poor", is very emphatic, and intended to engage judges to regard them, as being of the same flesh and blood with them, of the same nation and religion; and who were particularly committed to their care and protection under God, who is the Judge and protector of the poor, of the widow and the fatherless. <a name="gsb" id="gsb"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/gsb/exodus/23.htm">Geneva Study Bible</a></div><span class="cverse2">Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause.</span></div></div><div id="centbox"><div class="padcent"><div class="comtype">EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)</div><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/cambridge/exodus/23.htm">Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges</a></div><span class="bld">6</span>. Cf. <a href="/deuteronomy/1-17.htm" title="You shall not respect persons in judgment; but you shall hear the small as well as the great; you shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God's: and the cause that is too hard for you, bring it to me, and I will hear it.">Deuteronomy 1:17</a>; and, more generally, <a href="/leviticus/19-15.htm" title="You shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: you shall not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.">Leviticus 19:15</a> (H), <a href="/deuteronomy/16-19.htm" title="You shall not wrest judgment; you shall not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift does blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous.">Deuteronomy 16:19</a>. As is well known, the maladministration of justice is, and always has been, a crying evil among Oriental nations; and the poor, especially, are rarely able to get their rights. Comp. allusions in the OT., <a href="/amos/5-12.htm" title="For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right.">Amos 5:12</a>, <a href="/isaiah/10-2.htm" title="To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless!">Isaiah 10:2</a>, <a href="/jeremiah/5-28.htm" title="They are waxen fat, they shine: yes, they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge.">Jeremiah 5:28</a>, <a href="/psalms/10-17.htm" title="LORD, you have heard the desire of the humble: you will prepare their heart, you will cause your ear to hear:">Psalm 10:17</a>; <a href="/psalms/82-4.htm" title="Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked.">Psalm 82:4</a>, <a href="/proverbs/31-9.htm" title="Open your mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.">Proverbs 31:9</a>; also <a href="/jeremiah/22-16.htm" title="He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know me? said the LORD.">Jeremiah 22:16</a> (where Josiah is praised for having ‘judged the cause of the poor and the needy’), <a href="/context/psalms/72-12.htm" title="For he shall deliver the needy when he cries; the poor also, and him that has no helper....">Psalm 72:12-14</a>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">6–9</span>. Justice to be administered impartially: bribes not to be taken; the poor and the <span class="ital">gêr</span> not to be oppressed. The verses form the continuation of <span class="ital">vv.</span> 1–3, <span class="ital">vv.</span> 1–3 dealing with fairness in bearing <span class="ital">witness</span>, and these verses with fairness in administering <span class="ital">justice</span>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a name="pul" id="pul"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/pulpit/exodus/23.htm">Pulpit Commentary</a></div><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 6.</span> - As in verse 3 men were warned not to favour the poor unduly in courts of justice out of compassion for them, so here there is a warning against the opposite, and far more usual error, of leaning against the poor man in our evidence or in our decisions The scales of justice are to be held even; strict right is to be done; our feelings are not be allowed to influence us, much less our class prejudices. Exodus 23:6<a name="kad" id="kad"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/kad/exodus/23.htm">Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament</a></div>The warning against unkindness towards an enemy is followed by still further prohibitions of injustice in questions of right: viz., in <a href="http://biblehub.com/exodus/23-6.htm">Exodus 23:6</a>, a warning against perverting the right of the poor in his cause; in <a href="http://biblehub.com/exodus/23-7.htm">Exodus 23:7</a>, a general command to keep far away from a false matter, and not to slay the innocent and righteous, i.e., not to be guilty of judicial murder, together with the threat that God would not justify the sinner; and in <a href="http://biblehub.com/exodus/23-8.htm">Exodus 23:8</a>, the command not to accept presents, i.e., to be bribed by gifts, because "the gift makes seeing men (פּקחים open eyes) blind, and perverts the causes of the just." The rendering "words of the righteous" is not correct; for even if we are to understand the expression "seeing men" as referring to judges, the "righteous" can only refer to those who stand at the bar, and have right on their side, which judges who accept of bribes may turn into wrong.<div class="vheading2">Links</div><a href="/interlinear/exodus/23-6.htm">Exodus 23:6 Interlinear</a><br /><a href="/texts/exodus/23-6.htm">Exodus 23:6 Parallel Texts</a><br /><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/niv/exodus/23-6.htm">Exodus 23:6 NIV</a><br /><a href="/nlt/exodus/23-6.htm">Exodus 23:6 NLT</a><br /><a href="/esv/exodus/23-6.htm">Exodus 23:6 ESV</a><br /><a href="/nasb/exodus/23-6.htm">Exodus 23:6 NASB</a><br /><a href="/kjv/exodus/23-6.htm">Exodus 23:6 KJV</a><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="http://bibleapps.com/exodus/23-6.htm">Exodus 23:6 Bible Apps</a><br /><a href="/exodus/23-6.htm">Exodus 23:6 Parallel</a><br /><a href="http://bibliaparalela.com/exodus/23-6.htm">Exodus 23:6 Biblia Paralela</a><br /><a href="http://holybible.com.cn/exodus/23-6.htm">Exodus 23:6 Chinese Bible</a><br /><a href="http://saintebible.com/exodus/23-6.htm">Exodus 23:6 French Bible</a><br /><a href="http://bibeltext.com/exodus/23-6.htm">Exodus 23:6 German Bible</a><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/">Bible Hub</a><br /></div></div></td></tr></table></div><div id="mdd"><div align="center"><div class="bot2"><table align="center" width="100%"><tr><td align="center"><div align="center"> <script id="3d27ed63fc4348d5b062c4527ae09445"> (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=51ce25d5-1a8c-424a-8695-4bd48c750f35&cid=3a9f82d0-4344-4f8d-ac0c-e1a0eb43a405'; </script> <script id="b817b7107f1d4a7997da1b3c33457e03"> (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=cb0edd8b-b416-47eb-8c6d-3cc96561f7e8&cid=3a9f82d0-4344-4f8d-ac0c-e1a0eb43a405'; </script><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-2'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-0' style='max-width: 300px;'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-3'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-1' style='max-width: 300px;'> </div><br /><br />  <div align="center" id='div-gpt-ad-1531425649696-0'> </div><br /><br /> <script type="text/javascript"> </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script><br /><br /> </div> <div id="left"><a href="../exodus/23-5.htm" onmouseover='lft.src="/leftgif.png"' onmouseout='lft.src="/left.png"' title="Exodus 23:5"><img src="/left.png" name="lft" border="0" alt="Exodus 23:5" /></a></div><div id="right"><a href="../exodus/23-7.htm" onmouseover='rght.src="/rightgif.png"' onmouseout='rght.src="/right.png"' title="Exodus 23:7"><img src="/right.png" name="rght" border="0" alt="Exodus 23:7" /></a></div><div id="botleft"><a href="#" onmouseover='botleft.src="/botleftgif.png"' onmouseout='botleft.src="/botleft.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botleft.png" name="botleft" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="botright"><a href="#" onmouseover='botright.src="/botrightgif.png"' onmouseout='botright.src="/botright.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botright.png" name="botright" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div> <div id="bot"><iframe width="100%" height="1500" scrolling="no" src="/botmenubhnew2.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></td></tr></table></div></body></html>