Exodus 23:2

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

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

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

לֹֽא־תִהְיֶ֥ה אַחֲרֵֽי־רַבִּ֖ים לְרָעֹ֑ת וְלֹא־תַעֲנֶ֣ה עַל־רִ֗ב לִנְטֹ֛ת אַחֲרֵ֥י רַבִּ֖ים לְהַטֹּֽת׃

Transliteration

Not-tihyeh after-rabbîm for-rāʿōt and-not-taʿăneh on-rīb to-nĕṭōt after rabbîm to-haṭṭōt

Grammar Details

• *tihyeh*: qal imperfect 2nd person masculine singular - be/become/follow
• *rabbîm*: adjective masculine plural - many/great/numerous
• *rāʿōt*: verb qal infinitive construct - to do evil/harm
• *taʿăneh*: qal imperfect 2nd person masculine singular - answer/respond/testify
• *rīb*: noun masculine singular - dispute/controversy/case
• *nĕṭōt*: qal infinitive construct - to stretch out/turn aside/incline
• *haṭṭōt*: hiphil infinitive construct - to turn/pervert/bend

Word Meanings

• *tihyeh*: be/become/follow/go after
• *rabbîm*: many/great/numerous/majority
• *rāʿōt*: do evil/harm/wrong/wickedness
• *rīb*: dispute/controversy/legal case/lawsuit
• *nĕṭōt*: turn aside/incline/stretch out/bend
• *haṭṭōt*: turn/bend/pervert/distort

Referenced Verses

• Prov 1:10-11 : 10 Admonition to Avoid Easy but Unjust Riches My child, if sinners try to entice you, do not consent! 11 If they say,“Come with us! We will lie in wait to shed blood; we will ambush an innocent person capriciously.
• Prov 1:15 : 15 My child, do not go down their way, withhold yourself from their path;
• Exod 23:6-7 : 6 “You must not turn away justice for your poor people in their lawsuits. 7 Keep your distance from a false charge– do not kill the innocent and the righteous, for I will not justify the wicked.
• Exod 32:1-5 : 1 The Sin of the Golden Calf When the people saw that Moses delayed in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said to him,“Get up, make us gods that will go before us. As for this fellow Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him!” 2 So Aaron said to them,“Break off the gold earrings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” 3 So all the people broke off the gold earrings that were on their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4 He accepted the gold from them, fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molten calf. Then they said,“These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” 5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it, and Aaron made a proclamation and said,“Tomorrow will be a feast to the LORD.”
• Lev 19:15 : 15 Justice, Love, and Propriety“‘You must not deal unjustly in judgment: you must neither show partiality to the poor nor honor the rich. You must judge your fellow citizen fairly.
• Deut 1:17 : 17 They must not discriminate in judgment, but hear the lowly and the great alike. Nor should they be intimidated by human beings, for judgment belongs to God. If the matter being adjudicated is too difficult for them, they should bring it before me for a hearing.
• Josh 24:15 : 15 If you have no desire to worship the LORD, choose today whom you will worship, whether it be the gods whom your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. But I and my family will worship the LORD.
• Job 31:34 : 34 because I was terrified of the great multitude, and the contempt of families terrified me, so that I remained silent and would not go outdoors–
• Ps 72:2 : 2 Then he will judge your people fairly, and your oppressed ones equitably.
• 1 Sam 15:9 : 9 However, Saul and the army spared Agag, along with the best of the flock, the cattle, the fatlings, and the lambs, as well as everything else that was of value. They were not willing to slaughter them. But they did slaughter everything that was despised and worthless.
• 1 Kgs 19:10 : 10 He answered,“I have been absolutely loyal to the LORD God of Heaven’s Armies, even though the Israelites have abandoned the covenant they made with you, torn down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left and now they want to take my life.”
• Deut 16:19 : 19 You must not pervert justice or show favor. Do not take a bribe, for bribes blind the eyes of the wise and distort the words of the righteous.
• Deut 24:17 : 17 You must not pervert justice due a resident foreigner or an orphan, or take a widow’s garment as security for a loan.
• Num 14:1-9 : 1 The Israelites Respond in Unbelief Then all the community raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. 2 And all the Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them,“If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had perished in this wilderness! 3 Why has the LORD brought us into this land only to be killed by the sword, that our wives and our children should become plunder? Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?” 4 So they said to one another,“Let’s appoint a leader and return to Egypt.” 5 Then Moses and Aaron fell down with their faces to the ground before the whole assembled community of the Israelites. 6 And Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, two of those who had investigated the land, tore their garments. 7 They said to the whole community of the Israelites,“The land we passed through to investigate is an exceedingly good land. 8 If the LORD delights in us, then he will bring us into this land and give it to us– a land that is flowing with milk and honey. 9 Only do not rebel against the LORD, and do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection has turned aside from them, but the LORD is with us. Do not fear them!” 10 However, the whole community threatened to stone them. But the glory of the LORD appeared to all the Israelites at the tent of meeting.
• Gen 6:12 : 12 God saw the earth, and indeed it was ruined, for all living creatures on the earth were sinful.
• Gen 7:1 : 1 The LORD said to Noah,“Come into the ark, you and all your household, for I consider you godly among this generation.
• Gen 19:4 : 4 Before they could lie down to sleep, all the men– both young and old, from every part of the city of Sodom– surrounded the house.
• Gen 19:7-9 : 7 He said,“No, my brothers! Don’t act so wickedly! 8 Look, I have two daughters who have never been intimate with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do to them whatever you please. Only don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.” 9 “Out of our way!” they cried, and“This man came to live here as a foreigner, and now he dares to judge us! We’ll do more harm to you than to them!” They kept pressing in on Lot until they were close enough to break down the door.
• Prov 4:14 : 14 Do not enter the path of the wicked or walk in the way of those who are evil.
• Jer 37:15 : 15 The officials were very angry at Jeremiah. They had him flogged and put in prison in the house of Jonathan, the royal secretary, which they had converted into a place for confining prisoners.
• Jer 37:21 : 21 Then King Zedekiah ordered that Jeremiah be committed to the courtyard of the guardhouse. He also ordered that a loaf of bread be given to him every day from the baker’s street until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah was kept in the courtyard of the guardhouse.
• Jer 38:5-6 : 5 King Zedekiah said to them,“Very well, you can do what you want with him. For I cannot do anything to stop you.” 6 So the officials took Jeremiah and put him in the cistern of Malkijah, one of the royal princes, that was in the courtyard of the guardhouse. There was no water in the cistern, only mud. So when they lowered Jeremiah into the cistern with ropes he sank in the mud.
• Jer 38:9 : 9 “Your royal Majesty, those men have been very wicked in all that they have done to the prophet Jeremiah. They have thrown him into a cistern and he is sure to die of starvation there because there is no food left in the city.”
• Ezek 9:9 : 9 He said to me,“The sin of the house of Israel and Judah is extremely great; the land is full of murder, and the city is full of corruption, for they say,‘The LORD has abandoned the land, and the LORD does not see!’
• Hag 1:4 : 4 “Is it right for you to live in richly paneled houses while my temple is in ruins?
• Matt 27:24-26 : 24 Jesus is Condemned and Mocked When Pilate saw that he could do nothing, but that instead a riot was starting, he took some water, washed his hands before the crowd and said,“I am innocent of this man’s blood. You take care of it yourselves!” 25 In reply all the people said,“Let his blood be on us and on our children!” 26 Then he released Barabbas for them. But after he had Jesus flogged, he handed him over to be crucified.
• Mark 15:15 : 15 Because he wanted to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas for them. Then, after he had Jesus flogged, he handed him over to be crucified.
• Luke 23:23-24 : 23 But they were insistent, demanding with loud shouts that he be crucified. And their shouts prevailed. 24 So Pilate decided that their demand should be granted.
• Luke 23:51 : 51 (He had not consented to their plan and action.) He was from the Judean town of Arimathea, and was looking forward to the kingdom of God.
• John 7:50-51 : 50 Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus before and who was one of the rulers, said, 51 “Our law doesn’t condemn a man unless it first hears from him and learns what he is doing, does it?”
• Acts 24:27 : 27 After two years had passed, Porcius Festus succeeded Felix, and because he wanted to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison.
• Acts 25:9 : 9 But Festus, wanting to do the Jews a favor, asked Paul,“Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and be tried before me there on these charges?”
• Rom 1:32 : 32 Although they fully know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but also approve of those who practice them.
• Gal 2:11-13 : 11 Paul Rebukes Peter But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he had clearly done wrong. 12 Until certain people came from James, he had been eating with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he stopped doing this and separated himself because he was afraid of those who were pro-circumcision. 13 And the rest of the Jews also joined with him in this hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was led astray with them by their hypocrisy.