Exodus 23:3

Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
countenance	תֶהְדַּ֖ר teh.Dar	H1921	to swell up (literally or figuratively · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular
poor	וְדָ֕ל ve.Dal	H1800	properly · conjunction + adjective, masculine singular absolute
cause	בְּרִיבֽוֹ be.ri.Vo	H7379	a contest (personal or legal) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Leviticus 19:15 Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: but in right…
James 3:17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without pa…
Psalms 82:2-3 How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked? Selah.
Deuteronomy 1:17 Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; but ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for t…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 23:1-9

Here are, I. Cautions concerning judicial proceedings; it was not enough that they had good laws, better than ever any nation had, but care must be taken for the due administration of justice according to those laws. 1. The witnesses are here cautioned that they neither occasion an innocent man to be indicted, by raising a false report of him and setting common fame against him, nor assist in the prosecution of an innocent man, or one whom they do not know to be guilty, by putting their hand in swearing as witnesses against him, Exo 23:1. Bearing false witness against a man, in a matter that touches his life, has in it all the guilty of lying, perjury, malice, theft, murder, with the additio…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 23:3

countenance--adorn, embellish--thou shalt not varnish the cause even of a poor man to give it a better coloring than it merits.

Adam Clarke on Exodus 23:3

Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause - The word דל dal, which we translate poor man, is probably put here in opposition to רבים rabbim, the great, or noble men, in the preceding verse: if so, the meaning is, Thou shalt neither be influenced by the great to make an unrighteous decision, nor by the poverty or distress of the poor to give thy voice against the dictates of justice and truth. Hence the ancient maxim, Fiat Justitia, Ruat Coelum. "Let justice be done, though the heavens should be dissolved."

John Gill on Exodus 23:3

Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause. Because he is a poor man, and for that reason endeavour to carry his cause for him, right or wrong, from a foolish pity to him as a poor man, and from an affectation of gaining the applause of people on that account; or "thou shalt not honour" or "adorn" a poor man (u), by a set speech in favour of his cause, though wrong, dressed up in the best manner, and set off with all the colourings of art, to make it appear in the most plausible manner; the law is against respect of persons, as not the person of the rich, so neither is the person of the poor to be accepted, but the justice of their cause is to be regarded; so the Targum of Jonath…

The Church Fathers

"Thou shalt not pity," It saith, "the poor in judgment." (Ex. xxiii. 3.) What is meant? "Be not broken down, nor bent," It saith, "if he that doth the wrong be a poor man." Now if you may not favor a poor man, much less a rich. And this I say not only to you who are judges, but to all men, that they nowhere pervert justice, but preserve it everywhere pure.
— John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 49

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Law of Moses — Is the whole body of the Mosaic legislation (1 Kings 2:3; 2 Kings 23:25; Ezra 3:2). It is called by way of eminence simply “the Law” (Heb. Torah, Deut. 1:5; 4:8, 44; 17:18, 19; 27:3, 8). As a written…
Court · JUSTICE REQUIRED OF — JUSTICE REQUIRED OF
Courts Of Justice · Judges of: To judge without respect of persons — Judges of: To judge without respect of persons
Injustice · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Justice · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Poor · UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO — UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO
Rulers · DUTIES OF — DUTIES OF

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Exodus 23:3

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 23:1-9

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 23:3

Adam Clarke on Exodus 23:3

John Gill on Exodus 23:3

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Exodus 23:3

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 23:1-9

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 23:3

Adam Clarke on Exodus 23:3

John Gill on Exodus 23:3

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Exodus 23:3

Keil & Delitzsch on Exodus 23:1-13

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Exodus 23:1-9

Rashi on Exodus 23:3