Exodus 23:1
Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.
Exodus 23:1 in other translations
| BSB | “You shall not spread a false report. Do not join the wicked by being a malicious witness. |
|---|---|
| WEB | “You shall not spread a false report. Don’t join your hand with the wicked to be a malicious witness. |
| ASV | Thou shalt not take up a false report: put not thy hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness. |
| YLT | ‘Thou dost not lift up a vain report; thou dost not put thy hand with a wicked man to be a violent witness. |
| DARBY | Thou shalt not accept a false report; extend not thy hand to the wicked, to be an unrighteous witness. |
| BBE | Do not let a false statement go further; do not make an agreement with evil-doers to be a false witness. |
| Webster | Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thy hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness. |
What does Exodus 23:1 mean?
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
Ex 23:1-33. Laws concerning Slander, &c.
1. put not thine hand--join not hands.Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain
Adam Clarke's Commentary
Introduction
Laws against evil-speaking, Exo 23:1. Against bad company, Exo 23:2. Against partiality, Exo 23:3. Laws commanding acts of kindness and humanity, Exo 23:4, Exo 23:5. Against oppression, Exo 23:6. Against unrighteous decisions, Exo 23:7. Against bribery and corruption, Exo 23:8. Against unkindness to strangers, Exo 23:9. The ordinance concerning the Sabbatical year, Exo 23:10, Exo 23:11. The Sabbath a day of rest, Exo 23:12. General directions concerning circumcision, etc., Exo 23:13. The three annual festivals, Exo 23:14. The feast of unleavened bread, Exo 23:15. The feast of harvest, and the feast of ingathering, Exo 23:16. All the males to appear before God thrice in a year, Exo 23:17. Different ordinances - no blood to be offered with leavened bread - no fat to be left till the next day - the first fruits to be brought to the house of God - and a kid not to be seethed in its mother's milk, Exo 23:18, Exo 23:19. Description of the Angel of God, who was to lead the people into the promised land, and drive out the Amorites, etc., Exo 23:20-23. Idolatry to be avoided, and the images of idols destroyed, Exo 23:24. Different promises to obedience, Exo 23:25-27. Hornets shall be sent to drive out the Canaanites, etc., Exo 23:28. The ancient inhabitants to be driven out by little and little, and the reason why, Exo 23:29, Exo 23:30. The boundaries of the promised land, Exo 23:31. No league or covenant to be made with the ancient inhabitants, who are all to be utterly expelled, Exo 23:32, Exo 23:33. Verse 1 Thou shalt not raise a false report - Acting contrary to this precept is a sin against the ninth commandment. And the inventor and receiver of false and slanderous reports, are almost equally criminal. The word seems to refer to either, and our translators have very properly retained both senses, putting raise in the text, and receive in the margin. The original לא תשא lo tissa has been translated, thou shalt not publish. Were there no publishers of slander and calumny, there would be no receivers; and were there none to receive them, there would be none to raise them; and were there no raisers, receivers, nor propagators of calumny, lies, etc., society would be in peace.Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Exodus 23:1-9
Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain
Exodus 23:1 in the original Hebrew
Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.
Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).
Cross references for Exodus 23:1
- Psalms 101:5
Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him will I cut off: him that hath an high look and a proud heart will not I suffer.
- Proverbs 19:5
A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall not escape.
- Deuteronomy 19:16-21
If a false witness rise up against any man to testify against him that which is wrong; Then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before the Lord, before the priests and the judges, which shall be in those days; And the judges shall make diligent inquisition: and, behold, if the witness be a false witness, and hath testified falsely against his brother; Then shall ye do unto him, as he had thought to have done unto his brother: so shalt thou put the evil away from among you. …
- Matthew 26:59-61
Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death; But found none: yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found they none. At the last came two false witnesses, And said, This fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days.
- Exodus 20:16
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
- Deuteronomy 5:20
Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbour.
- Romans 3:8
And not rather, (as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say,) Let us do evil, that good may come? whose damnation is just.
- Leviticus 19:16
Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbour: I am the Lord.
- Psalms 35:11
False witnesses did rise up; they laid to my charge things that I knew not.
- Acts 6:11-13
Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God. And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council, And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law:
- Proverbs 19:9
A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall perish.
- Revelation 12:10
And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).
Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
4 Of charitableness.
6 Of justice in judgment.
8 Of taking bribes.
9 Of oppressing a stranger.
10 Of the year of rest.
12 Of the sabbath.
13 Of idolatry.
14 Of the three feasts.
18 Of the blood and the fat of the sacrifice.
20 An angel is promised, with a blessing, if they obey him.
shalt not.
7; 20:16; Le 19:16; 2Sa 16:3; 19:27; Ps 15:3; 101:5; 120:3
Pr 10:18; 17:4; 25:23; Jer 20:10; Mt 28:14,15; Ro 3:8
raise. or, receive. an unrighteous witness.
De 5:20; 19:16-21; 1Ki 21:10-13; Ps 27:12; 35:11; Pr 6:19; 12:17
Pr 19:5,9,28; 21:28; 24:28; 25:18; Mt 19:18; 26:59-61; Lu 3:14; 19:8
Ac 6:11-13; Eph 4:25; 2Ti 3:3; 1Pe 3:16; Re 12:10
Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain
Context
- Exodus 23:1
Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.
- Exodus 23:2
Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment:
Exodus 23:1 in other languages
| Spanish Reina-Valera 1909 | NO admitirás falso rumor. No te concertarás con el impío para ser testigo falso. |
|---|---|
| French Bible J.N. Darby 1885 | Tu ne feras pas courir de faux bruits. Tu ne donneras pas la main au méchant, pour être un témoin inique. |
| German Elberfelder 1871 | Du sollst kein falsches Gerücht aufnehmen; du sollst deine Hand nicht dem Gesetzlosen reichen, um ein ungerechter Zeuge zu sein. |
| Latin Clementine Vulgate | Non suscipies vocem mendacii, nec junges manum tuam ut pro impio dicas falsum testimonium. |