MISHPATIM (משפטים) - JUDGMENTS - Audio Podcast Feb 25, 2023
Notes
Transcript
Exodus 21:2-22:16
Review
Review
In our last Torah Portions
We have talked about different topics
The Torah is the manual how to serve God- gives a sense of direction, like a compass
W/o direction you do not know where you are going or what you are doing.
We talked about Yitro
This is the name of Moses’ father in law
Known for his organizational gifts
His desire to be grafted in to Israel
Example of a Gentile - character - his titles
He had seven names:
“Jethro” -Jethro (Exod 3:1; 4:18; 18:1–2, 5–6, 9–10, 12)he who conquers and reigns with YHWH as a prince• Jether (Exod 4:18)-Abundance; excellence; pre-eminent
• Reuel (“God’s friend”; Exod 2:18; Num 10:29) Friend of God; (root = to feed; to shepherd; to use as a friend). Associate ye with God1
• Hobab (Num 10:29; Judg 4:11) - beloved
• the Heber, Keni (Judg 1:16; 4:11) Heber: fellowship, companion, production
Keni: a fabricator
Putiel - Eleazar’s father in law (Exodus 6:25) = afflicted of God- God enlightens
The mountain of God:
Sinai
יהוה (Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh)/ YaHava/ YHWH
Pentacost
Shavuot are to be viewed as seven times the 7 day purification
This is when the Lord gives the Torah, and the pouring of His Spirit
the yes, I do
The unanimous and unhesitating response is to accept, readily and freely, God’s charge—even before hearing the terms of the covenant (cf. 24:3, 7).
10 commandments
In Hebrew:
ʿaseret ha-devarim
10 Words
5 concerning our relationship with God
5 Concerning our relationship with one another
And how relevant this is in the NT
How they were different in different religions
Devarim is the plural of debar
Devarim - things, events
Debar - word
The words become things when the Lord speaks
דבר = (dabbar) = word
Word
Words
Things
Thing
Matters
Acts
Chronicles
Affair
Logos in Greek
There is a Hebrew alignment to the word logos - devarim
The Torah for life:
Jesus provides a summarized version of devarim
When we study the word, we will end up studying the 613 commandments
Introduction
Introduction
These are the Sh’mot (the names) of Ya’akov’s sons, enslaved in Egypt. God says, va’Era (I appear) to keep My promises. Now Bo (come), negotiate to let My people go! b’Shalach Pharaoh (when Pharaoh let go), we exit through the parted sea! Yitro (jethro abundance) advises Moshe to appoint judges who will govern by God’s wise Mishpatim (judgments)11 Jeffrey Enoch. Feinberg Ph.D. and Kim Alan Moudy, Walk Exodus!: Names (Clarksville, MD: Messianic Jewish Publishers, 2000), 103.
4 Types of Commandments in the Law Chart
613 laws distributed in all 4 categories
We classified them to make them easy to apply to our relationship to God and others
4 Types of Commandments
Commandment:
Singular Hebrew: Mitzvah ( מצוה )
Plural Hebrew: Mitzvot (מצות )
Judgment - Ordinance
Singular Hebrew: Mishpat ( משפט )
Plural Hebrew: Mishpatim ( משפטם )
Statute
Singular Hebrew:
Chukah ( חקה)
Chuk ( חק )
Plural Hebrew:
Chukot ( חקית )
Chukim ( חקים )
Law (Instruction)
Singular Hebrew: Torah (תורה )
Plural Hebrew: Torot ( תרות )
Our focus today will be on Mishpatim
Presentation
Presentation
Our Torah portion
MISHPATIM (משפטים) - JUDGMENTS
Exodus 21:1-24:18
“Now these are the judgments which you shall set before them:
These are the judgments
וְאֵ֙לֶּה֙ = ve-elleh
(vav, aleph, lemed, hey) = ve-elleh
These are Hebrew ve-ʾelleh, literally
“And these are,” the conjunction indicating continuity.
It connects the following laws with the preceding (devarim) 10 Words (Decalogue), all of which emanated from the same Source at Sinai
It’s used as an antecedent
Vav is a conjunction connecting what was said before with what it is about to be said.
אלה (e-lleh)
According to Rashi whenever the word אלה (e-lleh) appears, it signals a break with what preceded, whereas when the word ואלה (ve-elleh) appears it signals a continuation or addition of the subject that had been discussed previously.
In other words, the correct translation of the word: אלה is: “these” opposed to what preceded “it,” whereas ואלה should be translated as “and these as well as the preceding verses.”
This is supported also in other parts of the Bible:
So He declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to perform, the Ten Commandments; and He wrote them on two tablets of stone.
And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that you might observe them in the land which you cross over to possess.
Judgments = mishpatim = משפטים
“Then the Lord heard the voice of your words when you spoke to me, and the Lord said to me: ‘I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken to you. They are right in all that they have spoken.
Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!
Go and say to them, “Return to your tents.”
But as for you, stand here by Me, and I will speak to you all the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments which you shall teach them, that they may observe them in the land which I am giving them to possess.’
“Therefore you shall be careful to do as the Lord your God has commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.
You shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess.
“Now this is the commandment, and these are the statutes and judgments which the Lord your God has commanded to teach you, that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess,
that you may fear the Lord your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, you and your son and your grandson, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged.
Therefore hear, O Israel, and be careful to observe it, that it may be well with you, and that you may multiply greatly as the Lord God of your fathers has promised you—‘a land flowing with milk and honey.’
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
“And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.
You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.
You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
“So it shall be, when the Lord your God brings you into the land of which He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you large and beautiful cities which you did not build,
houses full of all good things, which you did not fill, hewn-out wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant—when you have eaten and are full—
There is continuation - not separation between the 10 commandments and Mishpatim and the other commandments
“Now these are the judgments which you shall set before them:
Judgments = mishpatim = משפטים
5477 מִשְׁפָּט (miš·pāṭ): n.masc.; ≡ Str 4941; TWOT 2443c—1. judgment, i.e., the act. of deciding a legal dispute or case (Dt 1:17); 2.court, i.e., a place where a legal case is decided (Dt 25:1; Job 9:32); 3. case, lawsuit, i.e., a legal action taken in court (2Sa 15:4); 4. decision, sentence, i.e., an official proclamation in a legal verdict (1Ki 20:40); 5. justice, i.e., a state or condition of fairness in disputes (Ex 23:6); 6. law, regulation, prescription, specification, i.e., a spoken or written command which is to be obeyed, often with penalties for non-compliance (Ex 21:1); 7. plan, formally, prescription, i.e., a graphic or verbal description of how to build something (Ex 26:30; 1Ki 6:38) 8.share, i.e., what is a just amount of a whole (Dt 18:3; 1Ki 5:8); 9. custom, practice, i.e., a behavior which is more or less fixed and accepted as a normal practice (1Sa 2:13); also part of a compound name, En Mishpat, see 6535; note: 1Ki 7:7, see 395, 395.5
James Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997).
Immediately after devarim, God gives Mishpatim - as a continuation
Yeshua said in:
And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.
And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
You can look at the 2 major commandments as the overall high arching over the 10 words
The first 5 deal with our relationship with God
The second 5 with our relationship with one another
Shabbat also includes some human interaction and serves as transition to the human commandments
We keep the commandments because we love the Lord and our neighbour
For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.
says: This is the love of God that we keep his commandments
“If you love Me, keep My commandments.
If you love you will keep commandments
the commandments are motivated by love
If we keep the commandments Yeshua will be revealed in His love
The commandments hang on these two greater commandments in
Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
This is the first and great commandment.
And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
Hang up
κρεμάννυμι
kremannymi, v., hang; hang up. 25× +NT +AF
Hebrew Alignment
תלה—hang up; attach, suspend (15): Ge 40:19, 22; 41:13; Dt 21:22, 23; Jos 8:29; 10:26; 2 Kgdms 4:12; 18:10; Es 6:4; 8:7; 9:13, 14; Song 4:4; Lam 5:121
1 The Lexham Analytical Lexicon of the Septuagint (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012).
9434 תָּלָה (tā·lā(h)): v.; ≡ Str 8518; TWOT 2512—1. hang, suspend, (qal pass.) suspended, be hung (2Sa 18:10+); (nif) be hung (Est 2:23; La 5:12+); 2. LN 18.12–18.23 (qal) hang, suspend, (qal pass.) suspended, be hung (Dt 21:23; Jos 10:26b; SS 4:4+); (piel) hang, suspend (Eze 27:10, 11+), note: see also 942811 James Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997).
תלה to hang, to depend
Commentary of Ezra on Isaiah
The obedience to the commandments depends on our love for the Saviour and for the people.
If it is not the love of the Lord, it will not last.
And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.
And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
This is the fulfilment of the Torah Law in
And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.
Not only to the Jew, but also to the Gentiles, as reaffirmed by Yeshua in Mark 12
Again Yeshua said in
On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
All of the following hang on the two greatest commandments. They all depend on the Love of God
We are told not to steal, but if someone does, what do we do?
Mishpatim tells us what to do
He does not start by telling us how to treat kings, but servants, slaves- He starts with the lowest of all.
We are not condoning slavery. In English when we speak of slavery we immediately switch to pre-colonial times and judge from that perspective.
Mishpatim is given to us to be able to judge the issues of life from the perspective of the Father.
There are at least 12 ordinances- judgments or Mishpatim in this Torah Portion.
1- Mishpatim for Servants
If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years; and in the seventh he shall go out free and pay nothing.
If he comes in by himself, he shall go out by himself; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him.
If his master has given him a wife, and she has borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself.
But if the servant plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’
then his master shall bring him to the judges. He shall also bring him to the door, or to the doorpost, and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him forever.
For the times of the Exodus, slavery meant - indentured servants
indenture verb transitive
in•den•tured; in•den•tur•ing \-ˈden(t)-shriŋ, -ˈden(t)-shə-riŋ\ 1676: to bind (as an apprentice) by or as if by indentures
indentured servant noun
1723: a person who signs and is bound by indentures to work for another for a specified time especially in return for payment of travel expenses and maintenance1
1 Inc Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. (Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, Inc., 2003).
If a person is poor, fallen in hard times, and did not know how to take care of himself or the family and there was no option for him, he could enter into an indenture into a wealthy family.
This way he could be helped out in a place where he would serve in exchange of food and shelter, and safety for a period of time.
When you see rabbinical writings about this (not everything the rabbis wrote is wrong), they mentioned that the servant
Many in the OT were referred to as “servants” of God:
Abraham
And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham; do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for My servant Abraham’s sake.”
Moses
Not so with My servant Moses; He is faithful in all My house.
Joshua
Now it came to pass after these things that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being one hundred and ten years old.
David
“Go and tell My servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Would you build a house for Me to dwell in?
Isaiah - the prophet
Then the Lord said, “Just as My servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and a wonder against Egypt and Ethiopia,
Messiah
He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities.
This is exactly what happens to us when we decide to follow Jesus.
We become bondservants and allow our flesh to be pierced by the Lord, as we have decided to stay with Him since we love Him.
Jesus explained it in the following parables:
The Talents
His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
Faithful Steward
Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.
in
And He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.”
Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.”
Servanthood is not a new idea Jesus introduced. It came from the Torah.
Paul will say it this way:
Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God
Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:
And even today, for us believers:
For he who is called in the Lord while a slave is the Lord’s freedman. Likewise he who is called while free is Christ’s slave.
not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart,
Selling slaves is not approved by God:
“He who kidnaps a man and sells him, or if he is found in his hand, shall surely be put to death.
2- Mishpatim for Justice in Capital Offenses
This section elaborates on three of the topics of the Decalogue: murder, dishonoring parents, and kidnapping.
Violation of each law, under specific conditions, incurs the death penalty.1
1 Nahum M. Sarna, Exodus, The JPS Torah Commentary (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1991), 121.
Sefer haB’rit (The Book of the Covenant, Ex. 21:1–23:19) spells out ways to arrive at mishpatim (rulings). 1
1 Jeffrey Enoch. Feinberg Ph.D. and Kim Alan Moudy, Walk Exodus!: Names (Clarksville, MD: Messianic Jewish Publishers, 2000), 106.
Sefer haB’rit is not really a law code of commandments to be observed. Rather, it is a guide for writing rulings to add enforcement provisions to the principles of Aseret haDibrot (the Ten Words).
Sefer haB’rit is “set before” the people—not “commanded” or “spoken” (Ex. 21:1).
Civil rulings evolve into an enforceable code of law, from decisions based on case law.
The first ruling enforces the first principle that God freed Hebrew slaves.
The court rules that Hebrew slaves must be set free after seven years.
Any slave choosing to stay with his master must submit to having his ears pierced at the doorpost, thus negating his freedom [Stone, p. 418].
In any event, freedom is mandated at Jubilee [Lev. 25:54–55; Mish. Kidd. 1:2, Kidd. 22b].1
1 Jeffrey Enoch. Feinberg Ph.D. and Kim Alan Moudy, Walk Exodus!: Names (Clarksville, MD: Messianic Jewish Publishers, 2000), 106.
“He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death.
However, if he did not lie in wait, but God delivered him into his hand, then I will appoint for you a place where he may flee.
“But if a man acts with premeditation against his neighbor, to kill him by treachery, you shall take him from My altar, that he may die.
This mishpatim is given for life
Life is precious to God
Only God can be the God of Life
Only God can give and take life
The reference here is to criminal homicide where malice aforethought has been established beyond question.
Nahum M. Sarna, Exodus, The JPS Torah Commentary (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1991), 121.
‘Whoever kills any man shall surely be put to death.
When referring to a “man” let us consider what the rabbis say about this
Mekhilta d’Rabbi Yishmael says:
“And the man that smiteth (יכה) any person (more lit., the soul of any human being) [shall surely be put to death]”
He later includes killing a minor as an abortion:
Scripture therefore states “Whosoever smiteth a man” to intimate that one is not subject to the death penalty unless he kills a viable child — one which is fitted to become a man
But there is a Mishpatim to make the judgement:
Whoever is deserving of death shall be put to death on the testimony of two or three witnesses; he shall not be put to death on the testimony of one witness.
Whoever kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the testimony of witnesses; but one witness is not sufficient testimony against a person for the death penalty.
Moreover you shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, but he shall surely be put to death.
murder The Hebrew stem r-ts-ḥ, as noted by Rashbam and Bekhor Shor, applies only to illegal killing and, unlike other verbs for the taking of life, is never used in the administration of justice or for killing in war.
Also, it is never employed when the subject of the action is God or an angel.
This command, therefore, cannot be used to justify either pacifism or the abolition of the death penalty, both of which would have to be argued on other grounds
Nahum M. Sarna, Exodus, The JPS Torah Commentary (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1991), 113.
But if any harm follows, then you shall give life for life,
eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
Eye for eye and tooth for tooth—enacted literally—would have made Yisra’el a blind and toothless society.
Rather, an abstract legal formula meaning “fair compensation” is stated as a ruling derived from case law.
Measure for measure means fair compensation.1
1 Jeffrey Enoch. Feinberg Ph.D. and Kim Alan Moudy, Walk Exodus!: Names (Clarksville, MD: Messianic Jewish Publishers, 2000), 107.
Justice = equal payment for the offense
RESTITUTION and REMEDY
Restitution is always required for wrongs committed.
It is never enough to ask for forgiveness and then move on.
Here, the damages may have arisen from unintentional harm (such as the animal trampling crops under foot or engaging in excess grazing, leaving the ground barren in spots).
Torah mandates that the owner of the offending animal pay back not only measure for measure, but from the very choicest of his fields.
Thus, a remedy is required for “pain and hassle” in addition to the damage caused.1
1 Jeffrey Enoch. Feinberg Ph.D. and Kim Alan Moudy, Walk Exodus!: Names (Clarksville, MD: Messianic Jewish Publishers, 2000), 108.
3-Mishpatim regarding animals? - A responsibility of the Owner
Be responsible for your pet
“If an ox gores a man or a woman to death, then the ox shall surely be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be acquitted.
But if the ox tended to thrust with its horn in times past, and it has been made known to his owner, and he has not kept it confined, so that it has killed a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned and its owner also shall be put to death.
If there is imposed on him a sum of money, then he shall pay to redeem his life, whatever is imposed on him.
Whether it has gored a son or gored a daughter, according to this judgment it shall be done to him.
If the ox gores a male or female servant, he shall give to their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.
“And if a man opens a pit, or if a man digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls in it,
the owner of the pit shall make it good; he shall give money to their owner, but the dead animal shall be his.
“If one man’s ox hurts another’s, so that it dies, then they shall sell the live ox and divide the money from it; and the dead ox they shall also divide.
Or if it was known that the ox tended to thrust in time past, and its owner has not kept it confined, he shall surely pay ox for ox, and the dead animal shall be his own.
Oxen = gores = thrust a person
I don’t own an ox - what does that have to do with me?
For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer is worthy of his wages.”
This is a principle that talks about providing life.
Those who dedicate their lives to teach the word, are worthy of wages.
You also let the ox eat and have a break.
In other words, if God cares for oxen in His Torah how much more would He care for His bondservants.
This Torah portion teaches principles on how to relate to one another.
When we call them judgements, we immediately default to being the judge as to deciding who is right and who is wrong.
When we speak of Mishpatim it is about being in a justly relationship with one another.
Take for example your dog- He bites your neighbor. What do you do? You do what is right: pay for doctor, meds, hospital, care for the neighbor
For it is written in the law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.” Is it oxen God is concerned about?
Or does He say it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written, that he who plows should plow in hope, and he who threshes in hope should be partaker of his hope.
4- Mishpatim regarding Stealing
Stealing
“If a man steals an ox or a sheep, and slaughters it or sells it, he shall restore five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep.
If the thief is found breaking in, and he is struck so that he dies, there shall be no guilt for his bloodshed.
If the sun has risen on him, there shall be guilt for his bloodshed. He should make full restitution; if he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.
If the theft is certainly found alive in his hand, whether it is an ox or donkey or sheep, he shall restore double.
A principle that is aimed to restoration.
At the time, there were not prison sentences.
There were detention places to give the judges time to decide what they are going to do with the offender, but the whole idea was to restore the damage.
The operative principle here is that the slaughter or sale of the stolen animal constitutes unmistakable evidence of mens rea, that is, evil intent on the part of the thief.
The theft cannot be interpreted as merely an impulsive act.
The thief must pay back in kind fivefold for the ox and fourfold for the sheep.
Rabbinic tradition understood this to mean replacing the animal plus four more or three more animals respectively.1
1 Nahum M. Sarna, Exodus, The JPS Torah Commentary (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1991), 129.
If I am the one who the offender has committed a crime against, I would much more prefer the offender pay for restitution than the government investing in keeping him in jail for 2 weeks, a month, and use our tax money.
A thief can be put in jail, but not be asked to pay restitution. What is the lesson then?
The law of the Torah was intended to give a lesson and to produce life.
Besides, the victim has no restitution but a loss. Unless, the person coming the criminal is put to work to take responsibility for their actions and to allow him to learn the lesson that getting what he wants has a price.
The rabbis put it this way:
“if the thief was discovered while tunneling” (acting so as not to be discovered); according to Rashi he had left behind evidence of forcible entry into the victim’s house;
“if the thief is discovered while tunneling, underground, etc.;” the scenario described here where the owner of the house being burgled kills the intruder, and the Torah exonerates him, applies only when the thief had made an effort to remain undiscovered.
If he broke in the front door and the owner harms or kills him, he is liable for damages or even murder, seeing that his life had not been endangered.
The thief had obviously decided that if discovered he would flee the way he had entered, and not become violent.
Daat Zhenim
5- Mishpatim against Rebellion
Rebellion
“You shall not permit a sorceress to live.
Rebellion
Some people say witches should be burned like in the middle ages
Others say maybe it does not mean to kill a witch but not to allow them to make a living by practicing witchcraft
Taking about witchcraft, we need to ask what is the origin of witchcraft?
We read in
For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king.”
Stubbornness and Rejection of the Word of God
“I have cut off nations, Their fortresses are devastated; I have made their streets desolate, With none passing by. Their cities are destroyed; There is no one, no inhabitant.
I said, ‘Surely you will fear Me, You will receive instruction’— So that her dwelling would not be cut off, Despite everything for which I punished her. But they rose early and corrupted all their deeds.
We corrupt all we do when rebellious and when rejecting the word of God
Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?” says the Lord God, “and not that he should turn from his ways and live?
When a righteous man does it, the iniquity is brought in
“So it was, when you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, that you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes and your elders.
And you said: ‘Surely the Lord our God has shown us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice from the midst of the fire. We have seen this day that God speaks with man; yet he still lives.
Now therefore, why should we die? For this great fire will consume us; if we hear the voice of the Lord our God anymore, then we shall die.
For who is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?
You go near and hear all that the Lord our God may say, and tell us all that the Lord our God says to you, and we will hear and do it.’
“Then the Lord heard the voice of your words when you spoke to me, and the Lord said to me: ‘I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken to you. They are right in all that they have spoken.
Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!
The result is that the heart hardens and does not obey, and does not help our next generation
Best example Pharaoh:
But Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers; so the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments.
For every man threw down his rod, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.
And Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, as the Lord had said.
So the Lord said to Moses: “Pharaoh’s heart is hard; he refuses to let the people go.
כָּבֵד (kā·ḇēḏ)
3878 II. כָּבֵד (kā·ḇēḏ): adj.; ≡ Str 3515; TWOT 943a—1. severe, i.e., pertaining to a great degree of intensity; 2. large, i.e., pertaining to a large number of persons as a quantity 3. LN 86.1–86.3 heavy, i.e., pertaining to being of a great physical weight (1Sa 4:18; Ex 17:12); 4. harsh, i.e., pertaining to a heavy handed dealing with a person as oppression which treats people badly (1Ki 12:11); 5. thick, i.e., pertaining to a dense mass of a thing (Ex 19:16); 6. stubborn, formally, heavy of heart, i.e., to refuse to submit to another (Ex 7:14); 7. LN 32.19–32.23 difficult, i.e., pertaining to what is not easy to understand (Eze 3:5, 6),
James Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997).
Consider:
For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the road, at the fork of the two roads, to use divination: he shakes the arrows, he consults the images, he looks at the liver.
Liver
כָּבֵד (kā·ḇēḏ)
3879 III. כָּבֵד (kā·ḇēḏ): n.masc.; ≡ Str 3516; TWOT 943b—1. LN 8.9–8.69 liver, i.e., an organ of the body, with the associative meaning of this being the organ essential to life, and possibly the center of being (Ex 29:13, 22; Lev 3:4, 10, 15; 4:9; 7:4; 8:16, 25; 9:10, 19; Pr 7:23; Eze 21:26[EB 21]+); 2. LN 26 heart, formally, liver, i.e., the center or seat of psychological faculties (La 2:11+)1
1 James Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997).
heart, formally, liver, i.e., the center or seat of psychological faculties
Rebellion has to do even with the way we treat strangers and mandatories
“You shall neither mistreat a stranger nor oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
“You shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of your people.
“You shall not delay to offer the first of your ripe produce and your juices. The firstborn of your sons you shall give to Me.
6- Mishpatim for Integrity in a process - especially judicial
Integrity
“You shall not circulate a false report. Do not put your hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.
You shall not follow a crowd to do evil; nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after many to pervert justice.
Chizkuni, on Exodus 23:1:1
לא תשא שמע שוא, “do not spread false rumours;” the expression תשא from the root נשא, ”to carry,” is used here as “carrying by mouth;”
It is forbidden to believe unverified gossip about another person.
This applies both to an individual - who is forbidden to believe, evil talk, and to judge who is forbidden to listen to a disputant unless the second party is present (Rashi)
“You shall not pervert the judgment of your poor in his dispute.
Keep yourself far from a false matter; do not kill the innocent and righteous. For I will not justify the wicked.
another example of the same expression being used in a similar context is found in
Their sorrows shall be multiplied who hasten after another god; Their drink offerings of blood I will not offer, Nor take up their names on my lips.
: ובל אשא את שמותם על שפתי, “so that their names will not pass my lips.” In other words: “let me not utter a lie.”
“You shall not circulate a false report. Do not put your hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.
Is false doctrine - false report?
False Doctrine: I will let you be the one who decides
9051 שֵׁמַע (šē·mǎʿ): n.[masc.]; ≡ Str 8088; TWOT 2412b—1. message, report, news, i.e., information, often from another geographical area, which is announced to others 2. LN 24.52–24.70 what is heard, i.e., a message, with a focus on the hearing gate and the response which occurs upon hearing (Job 42:5; Ps 18:45[EB 44]; Jer 37:5; 50:43+); 3. hearing, i.e., the act. of sound waves reaching the ear, and the sounds being meaningfully interpreted as information (Hos 7:12+); James Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997).
The wicked = רָשָׁע (rā·šāʿ)
8401 רָשָׁע (rā·šāʿ): adj. [see also 8401.5]; ≡ Str 7563; TWOT 2222b—1. LN 88.105–88.125 wicked, unrighteous, i.e., pertaining to being evil, with a focus on the guilt of violating a standard (2Sa 4:11); 2. LN 88.289–88.318 guilty, i.e., pertaining to being legally not innocent of a violation of law (Ps 109:7)1
1 James Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997).
Unrighteous witness:
6332 עֵד (ʿēḏ): n.masc. [see also 6332.5]; ≡ Str 5707; TWOT 1576b—1. LN 29.6–29.12 witness, testimony, i.e., an object which is a symbol of a past event, and so acts as a memorial (Ge 31:44), see also domain LN 33.262–33.273; 2. LN 56.4–56.11 witness, testimony, i.e., the giving of evidence in a formal legal setting (Ex 20:16); note: for MT text in Zep 3:8, see 6331; Isa 33:8 see 6551; 3. LN 56.4–56.11 evidence, i.e., an object which is legal proof of an accusation (Ex 22:12); 4. LN 33.262–33.273 witness, i.e., a person which gives verbal testimony and provides information about a situation (Ex 23:1); note: for MT text in Isa 33:8, see 655111 James Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997).
According to Rashi, the wicked refers to the litigant (he who disputes) who seeks to enlist a witness to support his contention (point / argument).
According to Lbn Ezra and Sforno, the wicked one is a false witness, who needs a second witness to corroborate his testimony.
This is also a warning not to testify with a disqualified witness, even if what he is saying happens to be true
An honest witness is forbidden to associate his testimony with a dishonest person.
7- Mishpatim not to glorify the poor
the poor
You shall not show partiality to a poor man in his dispute.
“and do not favour the poor (because he is poor).
This verse follows closely on the heels of not testifying falsely, in order that you do not think that it is your duty to assist a poor man in his dispute with a rich man.
Chizkuni, on Exodus 23:3
Despite the temptation to ease the plight of the poor by allowing them to win their case and thereby receive money with dignity from the rich- who will not miss it in any case - it is forbidden to pervert the law, no matter how noble the intention.
8- Mishpatim to love your enemies
Love your enemies
“If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall surely bring it back to him again.
If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying under its burden, and you would refrain from helping it, you shall surely help him with it.
“You shall not pervert the judgment of your poor in his dispute.
Keep yourself far from a false matter; do not kill the innocent and righteous. For I will not justify the wicked.
This is the seed for the commandment Yeshua gave us:
You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.
9-Mishpatim regarding taking a bribe and manipulation
And you shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the discerning and perverts the words of the righteous.
“Also you shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the heart of a stranger, because you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
Chizkuni, Exodus 23:8:2
“for bribes even blind the righteous judges.” changing their decision from innocent to guilty.
Rashi on Exodus 23:8:3
render it as the Targum does: ויקלקל “makes bad”, “perverts”.
Bribery- skews your judgment
Manipulation - to make the stranger do what he would not normally do - as it happened to Israel in Egypt - slaves
10- Mishpatim regarding the yearly Sabbath:
Sabbath
“Six years you shall sow your land and gather in its produce,
but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave, the beasts of the field may eat. In like manner you shall do with your vineyard and your olive grove.
Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest, that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female servant and the stranger may be refreshed.
“And in all that I have said to you, be circumspect and make no mention of the name of other gods, nor let it be heard from your mouth.
The Torah speaks of very basis laws of the Yearly Sabbath - Shemittah Year and the weekly Sabbath because both represent man’s testimony that God created the universe in six days and rested on the seventh.
These verses contain only general laws; the details are given in later chapters.
R’ Bachya notes that in discussing Shemittah and Sabbath, the Torah speaks of your field and your work, but in the speaking of the year of Jubilee, it speaks of its, the fields, produce, not your produce. For example:
That fiftieth year shall be a Jubilee to you; in it you shall neither sow nor reap what grows of its own accord, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine.
For it is the Jubilee; it shall be holy to you; you shall eat its produce from the field.
11- Mishpatim regarding the three annual feasts
Feasts (Ex 23:14-16)
There are three concepts symbolized by these feasts:
A-Freedom
B-Seasons
C-Prosperity
These are at the root of human existence.
By celebrating the feasts at Jerusalem at the resting place of God’s Presence and by bringing offerings to mark the occasions, we acknowledge Him as the Lord, who controls all aspects of life (Sforno)
Three Pilgrimage Festivals
A- the feast of unleavened bread and Passover ( Matzos and Pesach) in verse 15
This is to commemorate the freedom from slavery
B- the feast of Harvest - Shavaot- the multiplication through the Holy Spirit verse 16
This is to remember that is the Lord who brings the increase
C- the feast of Ingathering - Succot- Verse 16- when all the fruit is brought together
This is to remember the promise of Messiah coming and establishing His kingdom and bringing all His fruit together.
12- Mishpatim regarding maturity
maturity
The first of the firstfruits of your land you shall bring into the house of the Lord your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.
Not to boil a kid in his mother’s milk
Rabbis use this verse as the basis to separate milk and meat from each other
Given three times in the Torah. Two times is not in the contest of dietary laws:
“The first of the firstfruits of your land you shall bring to the house of the Lord your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.”
“You shall not eat anything that dies of itself; you may give it to the alien who is within your gates, that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner; for you are a holy people to the Lord your God. “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.
The first of the firstfruits of your land you shall bring into the house of the Lord your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.
בָּשַׁל = basal
1418 בָּשַׁל (bā·šǎl): v.; ≡ Str 1310; TWOT 292—1. LN 46 (qal) boil, seethe, i.e., cook a food in water (Eze 2. LN 23.197–23.204 (qal) be ripe, i.e., to have fruit mature and be ready to harvest (Joel 4:13[EB 3:13]); (hif) ripen (Ge 40:10+);
James Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997).
maturity
It is not about cooking but being ripen
Meaning to mature
Don’t wait until he has been weaned from his mother to offer him as the first fruit as indicated in verses 16, and 19
These are the 12 mishpatim listed in this Torah Portion.
Closing
Closing
We have seen Mishpatim in the Tanakh - judgements, ordinances that tend to be played down by many- especially those who do not see the benefit of the law
We have seen that the law must be motivated by love
Then the Torah portion shifts from Mishpatim to the Covenant
God needed to teach Moses for 40 days and 40 nights.
He also needed to be taught regarding the covenant of the Jewish people being sealed with God, and their eternal responsibility to study and uphold the Torah.
There is argument that the previous Mishpatim we discussed in the previous chapters were given before chapter 24.
Some believe chapter 24 happens and then the judgements are given.
Some others believe it was after the giving of the covenant and the Torah.
Both arguments are possible because the Torah is not necessarily written in chronological order.
Whichever way we look at it, my opinion is that Mishpatim are given to remind us of the responsibility of entering the covenant.
The covenant
Believe the Covenant even if you do not see God
Now He said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from afar.
And Moses alone shall come near the Lord, but they shall not come near; nor shall the people go up with him.”
So Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the judgments. And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words which the Lord has said we will do.”
And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord. And he rose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel.
All 12 tribes entered the covenant - that is they accepted the responsibility of the covenant
Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the Lord has said we will do, and be obedient.”
The scroll, certificate
And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, “This is the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you according to all these words.”
They entered the covenant
74 men go up
Then Moses went up, also Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel,
and they saw the God of Israel. And there was under His feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and it was like the very heavens in its clarity.
They saw God
Interestingly enough Nadab and Abihu die at a later event.
Some believe this was due to seeing God in an unworthy manner and their death being delayed.
But He said, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.”
This is the reason for Yeshua to descend
Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen.”
Although you say you do not see Him, Yet justice is before Him, and you must wait for Him.
He give His law first and then we saw Him
No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.
Only one can see God
He who is holy
No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.
The only evidence today that we have seen Him is His love
Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father.
Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.
Because we have seen Him, and love Him, we keep the commandments
If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?
What does Mishpatim have to do with
NT then, if Yeshua fulfilled it?
He gave us the Spirit to fulfill Mishpatim in us
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem; See now and know; And seek in her open places If you can find a man, If there is anyone who executes judgment, Who seeks the truth, And I will pardon her.
Judgment- It seems to me that keeping mishpatim is important for God
Though they say, ‘As the Lord lives,’ Surely they swear falsely.”
O Lord, are not Your eyes on the truth? You have stricken them, But they have not grieved; You have consumed them, But they have refused to receive correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; They have refused to return.
Therefore I said, “Surely these are poor. They are foolish; For they do not know the way of the Lord, The judgment of their God.
Poor in the Spirit
Do not know the judgments of God - Mishpatim
He gave us the Holy Spirit to know better, to obey
He opened the way for us to understand and have the strength to do it
I will go to the great men and speak to them, For they have known the way of the Lord, The judgment of their God.” But these have altogether broken the yoke And burst the bonds.
To know the Lord is one thing, to know the ways of the Lord is other
The ways of the Lord are the judgments of God
The judgments are Mishpatim
Shabbat Shalom