Keluaran 22:21-22

22:21 “You must not wrong ¹  a foreigner ²  nor oppress him, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

22:22 “You must not afflict ³  any widow or orphan.

Keluaran 23:2

23:2 “You must not follow a crowd ⁴  in doing evil things; ⁵  in a lawsuit you must not offer testimony that agrees with a crowd so as to pervert justice, ⁶ 

Keluaran 23:6

23:6 “You must not turn away justice for your poor people in their lawsuits.

Keluaran 23:9

23:9 “You must not oppress ⁷  a foreigner, since you know the life ⁸  of a foreigner, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

[22:21]  ¹ tn Or “oppress.”

[22:21]  ² tn Or “alien,” both here and in 23:9. This individual is a resident foreigner; he lives in the land but, aside from provisions such as this, might easily be without legal rights.

[22:22]  ³ tn The verb “afflict” is a Piel imperfect from עָנָה (’anah); it has a wide range of meanings: “afflict, oppress, humiliate, rape.” These victims are at the mercy of the judges, businessmen, or villains. The righteous king and the righteous people will not mistreat them (see Isa 1:17; Job 31:16, 17, 21).

[23:2]  ⁴ tn The word רָבִּים (rabbim), here rendered “crowd,” is also used infrequently to refer to the “mighty,” people of importance in society (Job 35:9; cf. Lev 19:15).

[23:2]  ⁵ tn For any individual to join a group that is bent on acting wickedly would be a violation of the Law and would incur personal responsibility.

[23:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “you will not answer in a lawsuit to turn after the crowd to turn.” The form translated “agrees with” (Heb “to turn after”) is a Qal infinitive construct from נָטָה (natah); the same root is used at the end of the verse but as a Hiphil infinitive construct, “to pervert [justice].”

[23:9]  ⁷ tn The verb means “to crush.” S. R. Driver notes that in this context this would probably mean with an unfair judgment in the courts (Exodus, 239).

[23:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “soul, life” – “you know what it feels like.”