Exodus 23

Exodus 23:1-9

This call for justice includes a mixed list of covenant requirements. Most of these requirements deal with fairness and honesty in daily life. They show how God’s people should treat others with integrity.

Exodus 23:1-3

It is important to speak the truth, even when facing evil people, a crowd, or misguided motives (23:1, 2, 3, 7–8).

Exodus 23:7

God's character inspires people to act righteously (see 22:22–24, 27).

Exodus 23:10-12

Renewal, rest, and refreshment are important (23:12). Just as humans and animals are to enjoy these in the weekly Sabbath, so the land is to be given rest every seven years (23:10–11; see study note on 20:8–11).

Exodus 23:14-17

God commanded that every man in Israel must appear before him three times each year (23:17). They must appear at the tabernacle (also called the Tent of Meeting). While Israel camped around the Tent of Meeting in the wilderness, this command was not difficult to obey. The people lived close to the tabernacle.

Later, after Israel settled in the promised land, many people lived far from the Tent of Meeting and later from the temple in Jerusalem. Travel became longer and more demanding.

This command was likely meant to prevent the people from building local worship centers. If each region created its own place of worship, the nation could become divided.

Local shrines could also allow pagan influences (beliefs and practices from other religions) to enter the worship of Yahweh. By gathering at one central place, the people would remain united in their worship of the one true God.

Sadly, the people did not always carry out these commands carefully (see, for example, 2 Kings 23:21–23).

Exodus 23:15

At the appointed time in the month of Abib: See 13:4–5; Leviticus 23:5–8; Deuteronomy 16:1–8.

Exodus 23:16

• They celebrated the Feast of Harvest seven weeks after Passover. This was about the end of the barley harvest and the start of the wheat harvest (mid-May to mid-June). In later Judaism, this feast marked the giving of the covenant at Mount Sinai. This happened 50 days after the first Passover in Egypt (see Leviticus 23:15–21; Deuteronomy 16:9–12).

• They celebrated the Feast of the Ingathering on the fifteenth day of the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar (mid-September to mid-October). This was after the grape harvest ended. This feast remembered the time in the wilderness when God provided for his people.

Exodus 23:18

• Blood symbolized life (Leviticus 17:11–14; Deuteronomy 12:23). So, it must not mix with anything leaven, which was usually not included in offerings (see study note on Leviticus 2:11).

• They had to immediately burn the fat. This was considered the best part of the offering (see Leviticus 3:3–5).

Exodus 23:19

The meaning of the command not to cook a young goat in its mother’s milk is not clear.

The Bible does not explain the reason for this law. Because it appears among other worship laws, some scholars think it may have been a pagan religious practice. Pagan means related to the worship of other gods.

If that is true, the command would warn Israel not to copy the worship practices of other nations.

Exodus 23:20-33

If the people obeyed the covenant rules, God promised to protect them from enemies and illness and give them land to own (23:22–23, 25–26, 27–31). These promises depended on complete loyalty to God (Yahweh). Worshiping the gods of the peoples expelled from the land would be an act of rebellion (23:21; 24, 32–33).

Exodus 23:20-23

an angel: Probably "the angel of the LORD," often representing God himself (see 3:2).

Exodus 23:24

In Canaanite worship, people built holy pillars to represent the gods. Sometimes, they carved them to look like humans.

Exodus 23:26

Pagan rites were carried out in an attempt to manipulate the forces of fertility and reproduction. God promised to give these gifts freely if the people would faithfully carry out the terms of their covenant with him.

Exodus 23:29-31

I will: God, not Israel, would take the land. The land would be a gift from their Covenant Lord. Israel was being granted possession of it as long as they faithfully fulfilled the covenant.

Exodus 23:31

• from the desert to the Euphrates: See Genesis 15:18; Numbers 34:2–12; Deuteronomy 11:24; 2 Chronicles 9:26.

• I will deliver the inhabitants: God promised the land to Abraham (Genesis 15:16). At that time, "the iniquity of the Amorites" was not yet complete. Now they were. God was not randomly taking land from the Amorites (that is, the Canaanites). He used the Israelites to judge their wickedness.

Exodus 23:33

they cause you to sin against Me: God commanded Israel to destroy the Canaanites. There could be no peace agreement between a holy God and sin.

God had chosen Israel to carry his message (revelation, meaning what God makes known about himself) to the world. This message would one day lead to the coming of Jesus Christ in human form (the incarnation).

For this plan to continue, Israel had to remain faithful to God. If they returned to pagan worship (the worship of false gods), this plan would be broken.

Aquifer Open Study Notes © 2026 Mission Mutual, an adaptation of the Tyndale Open Study Notes © 2023 Tyndale House Publishers. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.