Passage

Exodus 23.4-5

Book: Exodus · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"2. Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to turn aside after a multitude to wrest justice: 3. neither shalt thou favor a poor man in his cause."

"4. If thou meet thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again. 5. If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, thou shalt forbear to leave him, thou shalt surely release it with him."

"6. Thou shalt not wrest the justice due to 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." (Exodus 23:2-7, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"2. “You shall not follow a crowd to do evil. You shall not testify in court to side with a multitude to pervert justice. 3. You shall not favor a poor man in his cause."

"4. “If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall surely bring it back to him again. 5. If you see the donkey of him who hates you fallen down under his burden, don’t leave him, you shall surely help him with it."

"6. “You shall not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits. 7. “Keep far from a false charge, and don’t kill the innocent and righteous: for I will not justify the wicked." (Exodus 23:2-7, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"2. Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment: ^{speak: Heb. answer} 3. Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause."

"4. If thou meet thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again. 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. ^{and: or, wilt thou cease to help him? or, and wouldest cease to leave thy business for him: thou shalt surely leave it to join with him}"

"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." (Exodus 23:2-7, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"2. 'Thou art not after many to evil, nor dost thou testify concerning a strife, to turn aside after many to cause [others] to turn aside; 3. and a poor man thou dost not honour in his strife."

"4. 'When thou meetest thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou dost certainly turn it back to him; 5. when thou seest the ass of him who is hating thee crouching under its burden, then thou hast ceased from leaving [it] to it, thou dost certainly leave [it] with him."

"6. 'Thou dost not turn aside the judgment of thy needy one in his strife; 7. from a false matter thou dost keep far off, and an innocent and righteous man thou dost not slay; for I do not justify a wicked man." (Exodus 23:2-7, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
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Quoted in

Biblical Forgiveness

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.