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Exodus 23:4-5
New English Translation
Exodus 23:4-5
New English Translation
4 “If you encounter[a] your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering off, you must by all means return[b] it to him. 5 If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen under its load, you must not ignore him,[c] but be sure to help[d] him with it.[e]
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- Exodus 23:4 tn Heb “meet” (so KJV, ASV, NASB).
- Exodus 23:4 tn The construction uses the imperfect tense (taken here as an obligatory imperfect) and the infinitive absolute for emphasis.
- Exodus 23:5 tn The line reads “you will cease to forsake him”—refrain from leaving your enemy without help.
- Exodus 23:5 tn The law is emphatic here as well, using the infinitive absolute and the imperfect of instruction (or possibly obligation). There is also a wordplay here: two words עָזַב (ʿazav) are used, one meaning “forsake” and the other possibly meaning “arrange” based on Arabic and Ugaritic evidence (see U. Cassuto, Exodus, 297-98).
- Exodus 23:5 sn See H. B. Huffmon, “Exodus 23:4-5: A Comparative Study,” A Light Unto My Path, 271-78.
New English Translation (NET)
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