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Êxodo 23

BLIVRE · Chapter 23/40

1Não admitirás falso rumor. Não serás cúmplice com o ímpio para ser falsa testemunha.

2Não seguirás aos muitos para mal fazer; nem responderás em litigio inclinando-te à maioria para fazer injustiças;

3nem ao pobre privilegiarás em sua causa.

4Se encontrares o boi de teu inimigo ou seu asno extraviado, traze-o de volta.

5Se vires o asno do que te aborrece caído debaixo de sua carga, lhe deixarás então desamparado? Sem falta ajudarás com ele a levantá-lo.

6Não perverterás o direito de teu pobre em seu pleito.

7De palavra de mentira te afastarás, e não matarás ao inocente e justo; porque eu não justificarei ao ímpio.

8Não receberás suborno; porque o suborno cega aos que veem, e perverte as palavras justas.

9E não angustiarás ao estrangeiro: pois vós sabeis como se acha a alma do estrangeiro, já que estrangeiros fostes na terra do Egito.

10Seis anos semearás tua terra, e recolherás sua colheita:

11Mas no sétimo a deixarás vazia e liberarás, para que comam os pobres de teu povo; e do que restar comerão os animais do campo; assim farás de tua vinha e de teu olival.

12Seis dias farás teus negócios, e ao sétimo dia folgarás, a fim que descanse teu boi e teu asno, e tome refrigério o filho de tua serva, e o estrangeiro.

13E em tudo o que vos disse sereis avisados. E nome de outros deuses não mencionareis, nem se ouvirá de vossa boca.

14Três vezes no ano me celebrareis festa.

15A festa dos pães ázimos guardarás: Sete dias comerás os pães sem levedura, como eu te mandei, no tempo do mês de Abibe; porque nele saíste do Egito: e ninguém comparecerá vazio diante de mim:

16Também a festa da colheita, os primeiros frutos de teus trabalhos que houveres semeado no campo; e a festa da colheita à saída do ano, quando haverás recolhido teus trabalhos do campo.

17Três vezes no ano comparecerá todo homem teu diante do Senhor DEUS.

18Não oferecerás com pão levedado o sangue de meu sacrifício, nem a gordura de meu animal sacrificado ficará da noite até a manhã.

19As primícias dos primeiros frutos de tua terra trarás à casa do SENHOR teu Deus. Não cozerás o cabrito com o leite de sua mãe.

20Eis que eu envio o anjo diante de ti para que te guarde no caminho, e te introduza no lugar que eu preparei.

21Guarda-te diante dele, e ouve sua voz; não lhe sejas rebelde; porque ele não perdoará vossa rebelião: porque meu nome está nele.

22Porém se em verdade ouvires sua voz, e fizeres tudo o que eu te disser, serei inimigo a teus inimigos, e afligirei aos que te afligirem.

23Porque meu anjo irá adiante de ti, e te introduzirá aos amorreus, e aos heteus, e aos perizeus, e aos cananeus, e aos heveus, e aos jebuseus, aos quais eu farei destruir.

24Não te inclinarás a seus deuses, nem os servirás, nem farás como eles fazem; antes os destruirás por completo, e quebrarás inteiramente suas estátuas.

25Mas ao SENHOR vosso Deus servireis, e ele abençoará teu pão e tuas águas; e eu tirarei toda enfermidade do meio de ti.

26Não haverá mulher que aborte, nem estéril em tua terra; e eu cumprirei o número de teus dias.

27Eu enviarei meu terror diante de ti, e abaterei a todo povo onde tu entrares, e te darei o pescoço de todos os teus inimigos.

28Eu enviarei a vespa diante de ti, que lance fora aos heveus, e aos cananeus, e aos heteus, de diante de ti:

29Não os expulsarei de diante de ti em ano, para que não fique a terra deserta, e se aumentem contra ti as feras do campo.

30Pouco a pouco os expulsarei de diante de ti, até que te multipliques e tomes a terra por herança.

31E eu porei teu termo desde o mar Vermelho até o mar de filístia, e desde o deserto até o rio: porque porei em vossas mãos os moradores da terra, e tu os expulsarás de diante de ti.

32Não farás aliança com eles, nem com seus deuses.

33Em tua terra não habitarão, não seja que te façam pecar contra mim servindo a seus deuses: porque te será de tropeço.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Laws are given regarding impartial justice, the land's rest every seven years, the observance of the Sabbath and the three annual feasts, and the promise that an angel will guide Israel to drive out the peoples of Canaan.

Explanation

This chapter concludes the so-called 'Book of the Covenant' with a series of instructions balancing social justice, periodic rest, and regular communal worship. The emphasis on not following the crowd to do evil, nor unfairly favoring the poor or the powerful in a legal dispute (v. 2-3), shows a commitment to judicial impartiality that resists both popular pressure and reverse favoritism. The principle of the sabbatical year, letting the land rest every seven years so that the poor could eat what grew on its own, demonstrates a vision that was both ecologically and socially advanced for its time. The three mandatory annual feasts (Unleavened Bread, Harvest/Weeks, and Ingathering/Tabernacles) structured Israel's religious calendar around moments of collective gratitude. The chapter closes with the promise of a gradual conquest of the promised land, warning that it would happen 'little by little' so that the land would not become a wasteland for lack of enough inhabitants.

Fun facts

  • The principle of the land's sabbatical year (every seven years) would be expanded centuries later in the Law of Moses to include the Year of Jubilee every 50 years (Leviticus 25), a complete system of economic rest and redistribution that few ancient civilizations attempted to implement in such a structured way.
  • The promise of the gradual expulsion of the peoples of Canaan, 'little by little... until thou be increased' (v. 29-30), shows a strategic and realistic approach, acknowledging the practical limitations of Israel itself, rather than promising an instant, complete conquest.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Êxodo 23:1Forbids spreading false rumors and joining with a dishonest person to give false testimony, protecting the integrity of judicial proceedings in Israel.
  2. Êxodo 23:2Here the subject is testifying in a trial: it is not acceptable to lie or distort the facts just because that is what the majority is saying. Group pressure is no excuse for a witness to misrepresent what they saw.
  3. Êxodo 23:3Complements the previous prohibition against favoring the rich: even the poor should not receive special treatment in a trial, justice must be impartial.
  4. Êxodo 23:4Determines that even the stray animal of a personal enemy must be returned, showing that obligations of good neighborliness hold regardless of rivalries.
  5. Êxodo 23:5The law calls for helping even the animal of a personal enemy, if it has collapsed under the weight of its load. The idea is that the animal’s welfare and practical help cannot depend on who is someone’s friend or enemy.
  6. Êxodo 23:6Repeats the principle of impartiality, this time warning against distorting judgment against the poor, the opposite of the risk mentioned in verse 3.
  7. Êxodo 23:7Forbids both lying and condemning an innocent person, making clear that God will not validate an unjust sentence, even if human judges err.
  8. Êxodo 23:8Forbids bribes, because money handed to a judge corrupts his judgment, even if the person considers himself upright enough to resist it.
  9. Êxodo 23:9Repeats the prohibition against oppressing foreigners, already seen in chapter 22, reinforcing that the Israelites themselves knew that experience well from Egypt.
  10. Êxodo 23:10Introduces the law of the sabbatical year: six years of normal cultivation of the land before the rest period explained in the next verse.
  11. Êxodo 23:11Every seven years, the land had to rest, with no planting or organized harvest. Whatever grew on its own that year was left for the poor to gather freely, and whatever remained was left for the wild animals to eat.
  12. Êxodo 23:12Repeats the commandment of the weekly sabbath, but highlights here the practical benefit also for working animals and for the household’s servants and foreigners.
  13. Êxodo 23:13Closes this section of laws with a general reminder: no other god should even be mentioned by the people, returning to the first commandment.
  14. Êxodo 23:14Introduces the calendar of mandatory feasts, going on to detail the three annual celebrations that every Israelite man had to keep.
  15. Êxodo 23:15This is part of the instruction about the Feast of Unleavened Bread, one of the three annual feasts at which every Israelite man had to appear at the sanctuary. “None shall appear before me empty” means each person had to bring some offering along, in proportion to what he had, and not come to the celebration empty-handed.
  16. Êxodo 23:16Describes the other two annual feasts: the feast of the harvest of the firstfruits, in the middle of the agricultural year, and the feast of the final ingathering, at the end of the year.
  17. Êxodo 23:17Summarizes the obligation: three times a year, every Israelite man had to appear physically before God at the sanctuary for these feasts.
  18. Êxodo 23:18Regulates technical details of the sacrifices: the blood could not be offered together with leavened bread, and the fat of the offering could not be kept until the next day.
  19. Êxodo 23:19This short line later gave rise to the Jewish rule against mixing meat and milk in the same meal. In its original context, it likely forbade a ritual custom of the neighboring religions, cooking a young goat in its own mother’s milk as part of a fertility rite, though scholars are not entirely certain of the exact origin of the custom being forbidden.
  20. Êxodo 23:20God promises to send an angel to guide and protect the people throughout the journey to the promised land, a figure who appears again at other points in the book.
  21. Êxodo 23:21The “angel” mentioned in the previous verses had the authority to represent God before the people, guiding them along the way. The text explains that this angel acted invested with God’s own authority, which is why disobeying him carried the same weight as disobeying God directly.
  22. Êxodo 23:22Makes the promised protection conditional on obedience: if the people follow the angel’s voice, God promises to act against Israel’s enemies as if they were His own enemies.
  23. Êxodo 23:23The angel will lead the people directly against the inhabitants of Canaan, listing the same peoples mentioned in other promises of the land throughout the book.
  24. Êxodo 23:24Forbids any form of worship of these peoples’ gods and demands the complete destruction of their religious statues, preventing foreign religious influence.
  25. Êxodo 23:25Promises concrete blessings in exchange for faithfulness: plentiful food and protection from disease, linking obedience to physical well-being within that covenant context.
  26. Êxodo 23:26Continues the list of practical blessings: guaranteed fertility and long life for whoever faithfully kept this covenant.
  27. Êxodo 23:27Promises that fear itself, spread among the enemy peoples, would make the conquest of the land easier, causing them to flee even before a direct confrontation.
  28. Êxodo 23:28“Hornets” are wasps: the text promises that swarms of these insects would help drive out the peoples living in the promised land before Israel’s arrival. It can be read literally, as an actual insect attack, or as an image of panic spread among the enemies; scholars read this detail both ways.
  29. Êxodo 23:29Explains why the conquest of the land would not happen all at once: driving out all the peoples too quickly would leave the land empty and vulnerable to wild animals.
  30. Êxodo 23:30The gradual conquest serves a practical purpose: giving Israel’s own people time to grow enough to occupy the entire conquered territory.
  31. Êxodo 23:31Defines the future borders of the promised land, from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines and from the desert to the river Euphrates, an extent much larger than Israel actually occupied.
  32. Êxodo 23:32Forbids any kind of formal covenant with the peoples of Canaan or with their gods, avoiding any commitment that would blend the two religious cultures.
  33. Êxodo 23:33Justifies the previous prohibition: allowing these peoples to keep living there would pose a constant risk of Israel itself being led to worship other gods.

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