Exodus 23:4

Exo 23:4 If thou meet thine enemy’s ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again.

Ver. 4. Ox or his ass going astray.] How much more his soul. {See Trapp on "Jas 5:20"} {See Trapp on "Jdg 1:22"} {See Trapp on "Jdg 1:23"}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Exo_23:4-5

Thine enemys ox.

On duties to enemies

I. That duties to enemies are enjoined (Pro_24:17; 1Th_5:15).

1. It is our duty to protect the interests of our enemy.

(1) If they are damaged, we should endeavour to retrieve them.

(2) If they are in danger of damage, we should endeavour to prevent them (Jam_5:19-20).

2. It is our duty to help the difficulties of our enemy.

(1) His mind may be in difficulties.

(2) His soul may be in difficulties.

(3) His material interests may be in difficulties.

II. That duties to enemies are difficult: and wouldest forbear to help him.

1. Such duties are against the grain of human nature.

2. Such duties are apparently against self-interest.

3. Such duties require self-denials and sacrifices.

III. That duties to enemies are rewarded (Pro_25:21-22; Mat_5:44-45; Rom_12:20).

IV. That neglect of duties to enemies is punished (Job_31:29; Pro_24:18). In conclusion--

1. Our text applies to all enmity, whether polemical, political, or national.

2. Its precepts should be obeyed, because we may be in the wrong and our enemy in the right.

3. Because God has Himself set us the sublime example. When we were enemies, we were reconciled by the death of His Son. (J. W. Burn.)

Neighbourly conduct

The horse of a pious man living in Massachusetts, North America, happening to stray into the road, a neighbour of the man who owned the horse put him into the pound. Meeting the owner soon after, he told him what he had done; And if I catch him in the road again, said he, Ill do it again. Neighbour, replied the other, not long since I looked out of my window in the night and saw your cattle in my meadow, and I drove them out and shut them in your yard; and Ill do it again. Struck with the reply, the man liberated the horse from the pound, and paid the charges himself. A soft answer turneth away wrath.

A humane disposition

In one of my temperance pilgrimages through Illinois I met a gentleman who was the companion of a dreary ride which Mr. Lincoln made in a light waggon, going the rounds of a circuit court where he had clients to look after. The weather was rainy, the road heavy with mud. Lincoln enlivened the way with anecdotes and recital, for few indeed were the incidents that relieved the tedium of the trip. At last, in wallowing through a slough, they came upon a poor hog, which was literally fast in the mud. The lawyers commented on the poor creatures pitiful condition and drove on. About half a mile was laboriously gone over, when Lincoln suddenly exclaimed, I dont know how you feel about it, but Ive got to go back and pull that pig out of the slough. His comrade laughed, thinking it merely a joke; but what was his surprise when Lincoln dismounted, left him to his reflections, and striding slowly back, like a man on stilts picking his way as his long walking implements permitted, he grappled with the drowning swine, dragged him out of the ditch, left him on its edge to recover his strength, slowly measured off the distance back to his waggon, and the two men drove on as if nothing had happened. The grand and brotherly nature which could not consent to see the lowest of animals suffer without coming to its rescue at great personal discomfort was nurtured by years of self-abnegation for the great struggle, when he should be strong enough to put a shoulder to the wheel, that should lift the chariot of State out of the mire and set a subject race upon its feet. (Frances E. Willard.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Exo 23:4. Thou shalt surely bring it back to him — So far shalt thou be from revenging his injuries, that thou shalt render good to him for them, whereby if thou dost not reconcile him, thou wilt at least procure peace to thyself, and an honour to religion.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

If we be bound to do good to our enemy’s beast, much more to our enemy himself, Matt. 5:44.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 4. If thou meet thine enemy's ox - going astray] From the humane and heavenly maxim in this and the following verse, our blessed Lord has formed the following precept: "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you;" Mt 5:44. A precept so plain, wise, benevolent, and useful, can receive no other comment than that which its influence on the heart of a kind and merciful man produces in his life.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(4) Thine enemy’s ox.—The general duty of stopping stray animals and restoring them to friendly owners, expressly taught in Deu_22:1-3, is here implied as if admitted on all hands. The legislator extends this duty to cases where the owner is our personal enemy. It was not generally recognised in antiquity that men’s enemies had any claims upon them. Cicero, indeed, says—“Sunt autem quædam officia etiam adversus eos servanda, a quibus injuriam aceeperis” (De Off. i. 11); but he stops short of enjoining active benevolence. Here and in Exo_23:5 we have a sort of anticipation of Christianity—active kindness to an enemy being required, even when it costs us some trouble. The principle of friendliness is involved—the germ which in Christianity blossoms out into the precept, “Love your enemies.”

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

4. thine enemy’s ox] that such a service would be rendered to a friend, is taken for granted. In Dt. the comprehensive term ‘brother,’ i.e. fellow-countryman, is employed, in accordance with the prevalent usage of that book (cf. Deu_15:2-3; Deu_15:7; Deu_15:9; Deu_15:11-12; Deu_17:15 al.).

4, 5. An enemy’s beast to be preserved from harm. These two injunctions breathe a spirit unusual in the OT. (cf., however, Lev_19:17-18), and reminding one of Mat_5:44. They are repeated in Deu_22:1-4, in an expanded form, accommodating them to the spirit and point of view of Deuteronomy. They can hardly be here in their original place; for they evidently interrupt the connexion between vv. 1–3 and vv. 6–9: they would follow better after Exo_22:24 or 27.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

If thou meet thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray,.... Or any other beast, as the Samaritan version adds; for these are only mentioned for instances, as being more common, and creatures subject to go astray; now when such as these are met going astray, so as to be in danger of being lost to the owner, though he is an enemy; or as the Targum of Jonathan,"whom thou hatest because of a sin, which thou alone knowest in him;''yet this was not so far to prejudice the finder of his beasts against him, as to be careless about them, to suffer them to go on without acquainting him with them, or returning them to him, as follows:

thou shalt surely bring it back to him again; whether it be an ox, or an ass, or any other beast, the law is very strong and binding upon the finder to return it to his neighbour, though an enemy, and bring it either to his field or to his farm.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

So far was the spirit of the law from encouraging personal revenge that it would not allow a man to neglect an opportunity of saving his enemy from loss.

Exo 23:5

The sense appears to be: “If thou see the ass of thine enemy lying down under his burden, thou shalt forbear to pass by him; thou shalt help him in loosening the girths of the ass.”

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

So far shalt thou be from revenging his injuries, that thou shalt render good to him for them, whereby if thou dost not reconcile him, thou wilt procure peace to thyself, and honour to religion.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

4, 5. Enemy’s ox… bring it back — This statute embodies the essence of our Lord’s command to “do good to them that hate you,” (Mat_5:44,) and furnishes a most admirable illustration of it.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Thine enemy"s ox. A private enemy is here spoken of, not a public one, as in Deu_23:6. It is remarkable that the law should have so far anticipated Christianity as to have laid it down that men have duties of friendliness even towards their enemies, and are bound under certain circumstances to render them a service. "Hate thine enemies" (Mat_5:43) was no injunction of the Mosaic taw, but a conclusion which Rabbinical teachers unwarrantably drew from it. Christianity, however, goes far beyond Mosaism in laying down the broad precept your enemies."

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

General Information:

Yahweh continues telling Moses his laws for the people of Israel.

translationWords

cow

donkey

astray

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.