“Keep far from a false charge, and don’t kill the innocent and righteous; for I will not justify the wicked.
Parallel Translations
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“Keep far from a false charge, and don’t kill the innocent and righteous; for I will not justify the wicked.
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Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked.
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Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not; for I will not justify the wicked.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (2)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Commandments (1)
The laws of the Torah, each cited and shown as a primary source.
Cross-references (16)
Passages linked to Exodus 23:7 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Ephesians 4:25 Therefore putting away falsehood, speak truth each one with his neighbor. For we are members of one another.
- Exodus 23:1 “You shall not spread a false report. Don’t join your hand with the wicked to be a malicious witness.
- Deuteronomy 27:25 ‘Cursed is he who takes a bribe to kill an innocent person.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
- Exodus 34:7 keeping loving kindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and disobedience and sin; and who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the children’s children, on the third and on the fourth generation.”
- Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,
- Leviticus 19:11 “ ‘You shall not steal. “ ‘You shall not lie. “ ‘You shall not deceive one another.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:22 Abstain from every form of evil.
- Deuteronomy 19:16-21 If an unrighteous witness rises up against any man to testify against him of wrongdoing, then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before Yahweh, before the priests and the judges who shall be in those days; and the judges shall make diligent inquisition; and behold, if the witness is a false witness, and has testified falsely against his brother, then you shall do to him as he had thought to do to his brother. So you shall remove the evil from among you. Those who remain shall hear, and fear, and will never again commit any such evil among you. Your eyes shall not pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
- Exodus 20:13 “You shall not murder.
- Job 22:23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be built up, if you put away unrighteousness far from your tents.
- Proverbs 4:14-15 Don’t enter into the path of the wicked. Don’t walk in the way of evil men. Avoid it, and don’t pass by it. Turn from it, and pass on.
- Proverbs 17:15 He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the righteous, both of them alike are an abomination to Yahweh.
- Isaiah 33:15 He who walks righteously and speaks blamelessly, he who despises the gain of oppressions, who gestures with his hands, refusing to take a bribe, who stops his ears from hearing of blood, and shuts his eyes from looking at evil—
- Nahum 1:3 Yahweh is slow to anger, and great in power, and will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. Yahweh has his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.
- Luke 3:14 Soldiers also asked him, saying, “What about us? What must we do?” He said to them, “Extort from no one by violence, neither accuse anyone wrongfully. Be content with your wages.”
- Romans 2:5-6 But according to your hardness and unrepentant heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath, revelation, and of the righteous judgment of God; who “will pay back to everyone according to their works:”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (11 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Whether thou be magistrate or art commanded by the…
Whether thou be magistrate or art commanded by the magistrate.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Exo 23:7 Keep thee far from a false matter;…
Exo 23:7 Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked.
Ver. 7. Keep thee far from a false matter.] Stand aloof off; keep at a distance. See Isa 33:15. A public man should be above all price or sale: and every man should carefully keep himself from the occasions of sin. A good man dare not come near the train, though he be far off the blow.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Keep thee far, i.e. abstain from all occasions, degrees,…
Keep thee far, i.e. abstain from all occasions, degrees, or appearances of it. Compare Job 22:23; Pro 4:14,15.
A false matter, i.e. an unrighteous judgment; for he is speaking to the judges, as appears both by the foregoing and following verses.
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Slay thou not; condemn not to death, nor to any other unjust penalty, for the same reason.
I will not justify the wicked, and therefore not condemn the innocent; one contrary being here understood from the other, as is frequent in the book of the Proverbs; and what I do not, thou who actest in my name and stead shouldst not do. Or rather thus, Know, O judge, (for to such he speaks,) if thou dost pronounce such a wicked sentence, I will not justify thee, or hold thee guiltless, i.e. I will severely punish thee, as Exo 20:7.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And thou shalt take no gift,.... Of the persons…
And thou shalt take no gift,.... Of the persons whose cause is to be tried in a court of judicature before judges; neither of those on the one side nor on the other, neither before the trial nor after, neither by words, by a promise, nor by facts, by actually receiving money; and not even to judge truly, as Jarchi observes, neither to clear the innocent nor to condemn the guilty: a gift was not to be taken on any consideration whatever:
for the gift blindeth the wise; or the "seeing" (a); the open ones, who used to have both their eyes and their ears open, and attentive to the cause before them; and yet a gift so blinds them, by casting such a mist before them, that they are inattentive to the true merits of the cause, and their affections and judgments are to be carried away in favour of those that have bribed them, as to pass a wrong sentence:
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and perverteth the words of the righteous; either the sentences of righteous judges, as they ought to be, but a gift perverts their judgment, and they give a wrong decree; or the causes of the righteous that are brought before those are perverted by giving the cause to their adversaries, who are wicked men.
(a) "videntes", Pagninus, Vatablus, Cartwright; "apertos", Montanus, Drusius.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Keep thee far from a false matter - From…
Keep thee far from a false matter - From assisting or abetting an ill thing. Yea, keep thee far from it, dread it as a dangerous snare. I will not justify the wicked - That is, I will condemn him that unjustly condemns others.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Exo 23:7. Keep thee far from a false matter…
Exo 23:7. Keep thee far from a false matter — From assisting or abetting all ill thing. Yea, keep thee far from it, dread it as a dangerous snare. I will not justify the wicked — That is, I will condemn him that unjustly condemns others.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 7. Righteous slay thou not — By false testimony…
7. Righteous slay thou not — By false testimony against them. If an innocent and righteous man is convicted and suffers the death penalty on account of the testimony of a lying witness, that witness is guilty of his death.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 7. a false matter] i.e., as the context shews,…
7. a false matter] i.e., as the context shews, a case that can only be carried through with the help of false statements, and false witnesses.
slay thou not] by false accusations, false witness, or an unjust sentence. The words are addressed indifferently to accuser, witness, and judge. Cf. Deu_27:25, Psa_94:6; Psa_94:21.
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for I do not justify the wicked] I do not justify the man who is in the wrong (v. 1b), and who accuses the innocent unjustly; and therefore the judges should act similarly. LXX. however read, and thou shalt not justify the wicked, which may be the original reading (Bä.); cf. Deu_25:1.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (7) Keep thee far from a false matter.—A false…
(7) Keep thee far from a false matter.—A false accusation seems to be intended. If we make one it may result in an innocent man’s death, and we shall be murderers; God will then assuredly hold us guilty.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Keep thee far from a false matter. Hold aloof,…
Keep thee far from a false matter. Hold aloof, i.e. , from anything like a false accusation. Neither bring one, nor countenance one, else those mayest cause the death of an innocent and righteous man, and bring down on thyself the vengeance of him, who will not justify the wicked.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 23:7 God’s character is the motive for righteous behavior…
23:7 God’s character is the motive for righteous behavior (see 22:22-24, 27).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.