Exodus 23

2. 3 Thou shalt not follow, etc. “Nor must you bear witness in court so as to side with an unjust majority; neither must you be partial to a poor man’s plea” (Moffatt).

5 and wouldest forbear, etc. Perhaps, “thou shalt forbear to leave (it) him (alone); thou shalt surely loosen (it).” Though the grammatical construction of this sentence is difficult, the sense is plain.

6. Thou shalt not. Vers. 6-9 are addressed to judges.

19 mother’s milk. “Probably to inculcate a tender appreciation of the natural order and of the relation between a mother and her offspring. It was against nature to make the mother an accomplice in the death of her child.” (F. B. Meyer: Devotional Commentary: Exodus. R.T.S.)

20 angel. See Exod. xiv. 19, 20; and cp. Isa. lxiii, 9.

21. My name is in him. That is, “My attributes are his.”

31 the sea of the Philistines. The Mediterranean Sea; also called the “hinder sea” (Deut. xi. 24); the “western sea” (Deut. xxxiv. 2, R.V. marg.; Joel ii. 20),—the river. From the Desert of Shur or Paran, on the south of Judea, to the river Euphrates; actually possessed only under David and Solomon. See on Gen. xv. 18; and 1 Kings iv. 21.