• Torah (T): Shemot (Exodus) 21:1 – 22:24
• Prophets (P): Jeremiah 34:1-14
• Apostolic (A): 1 Corinthians 6:1-11
• Additional (ADD): Wisdom of Solomon 2:10-12

RELATED SCRIPTURES

• Psalms 147:19-20 (T)
• Deuteronomy 15:1-18 (T)
• Jeremiah 34:12-20 (T)
• Leviticus 25:39-46 (T)
• Isaiah 4:1 (T)
• Leviticus 24:17-22 (T)
• Genesis 9:5-6 (T)
• Deuteronomy 19:1-13; Numbers 35:1-25; Joshua 20:1-9 (T)
• Matthew 15:3-6; Mark 7:6-13 (T)
• Deuteronomy 24:7 (T)
• Leviticus 20:9; Proverbs 20:20 (T)
• Deuteronomy 19:15-21 (T)
• Matthew 5:38-42 (T)
• Exodus 22:1-4 LXX (T)
• 2 Samuel 12:1-14 (T)
• Proverbs 6:30-31 (T)
• Genesis 31:38-39 (T)
• Hebrews 6:13-20 (T)
• Deuteronomy 22:23-29 (T)
• Deuteronomy 18:10-14 (T)
• Leviticus 18:23; 20:15-16 (T)
• Deuteronomy 17:2-5 (T)
• Leviticus 19:33-34 (T)
• Ezekiel 18:5-17 (T)
• Deuteronomy 24:17-18; Zechariah 7:8-12 (T)
• Proverbs 22:22-23 (T)
• Malachi 3:5 (T)

RELATED ADDITIONAL READINGS

• Wisdom of Solomon 12:23-27 (T)
• Baruch 4:1-14 (T)
• Exodus 21:1 – 22:24 from the Jerusalem Targum aka Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (T)
• Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus 3.5.6 (T)

Note: (T) means the verse relates to that week’s Torah portion. (P) means the verse relates to that week’s Prophets portion. (A) means the verse relates to that week’s Apostolic portion. (ADD) means the verse relates to that week’s Additional portion.

Torah Portion (T)

10:1 YHWH said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh, for I have made his heart heavy and the heart of his servants, that I may show these my signs among them; 2 and that you may tell in the hearing of your son, and of your son's son, what things I have done to Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them; that you may know that I am YHWH.” 3 Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and said to him, “This is what YHWH, the Elohim of the Hebrews, says: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, that they may serve me. 4 Or else, if you refuse to let my people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country, 5 and they shall cover the surface of the land, so that one won't be able to see the land. They shall eat the residue of that which has escaped, which remains to you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which grows for you out of the field. 6 Your houses shall be filled, and the houses of all your servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians, as neither your fathers nor your fathers' fathers have seen, since the day that they were on the land to this day.' ” He turned, and went out from Pharaoh. 7 Pharaoh's servants said to him, “How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve [their Elohim].^(LXX) Don't you yet know that Egypt is destroyed?” 8 Moses and Aaron were brought again to Pharaoh, and he said to them, “Go, serve [your Elohim];^(LXX) but who are those who will go?” 9 Moses said, “We will go with our young and with our old. We will go with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds; for we must hold a feast to YHWH.” 10 He said to them, “YHWH be with you [as I send you away, but your belongings also?]^(LXX) See, evil is clearly before your faces. 11 Not so! Go now you who are men, and serve [Elohim];^(LXX) for that is what you desire!” Then they were driven out from Pharaoh's face. 12 YHWH said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up on the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land [and all the fruit of the trees],^(SP)(LXX) even all that the hail has left.” 13 Moses stretched out his rod over the land of Egypt, and YHWH brought an east wind on the land all that day, and all night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts. 14 The locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the borders of Egypt. They were very grievous. Before them there were no such locusts as they, nor will there ever be again. 15 For they covered the surface of the whole land, so that the land was darkened, and they ate every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left. There remained nothing green, either tree or herb of the field, through all the land of Egypt. 16 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste, and he said, “I have sinned against YHWH your Elohim, and against you. 17 Now therefore please forgive my sin again, and pray to YHWH your Elohim, that he may also take away from me this death.” 18 Moses went out from Pharaoh, and prayed to [Elohim].^(LXX) 19 YHWH sent an exceedingly strong west wind, which took up the locusts, and drove them into the Sea [at the End].^(LXX) (cf. 1 Kings 9:26) There remained not one locust in all the borders of Egypt. 20 But YHWH strengthened Pharaoh's heart, and he didn't let the sons of Israel go. 21 YHWH said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the heavens, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt.” 22 Moses stretched out his hand toward the heavens, and there was a darkness [very black, even a storm over]^(LXX) all the land of Egypt for three days. 23 They didn't see one another, and nobody rose from his place for three days; but all the sons of Israel had light in their dwellings. 24 Pharaoh called to Moses [and to Aaron],^(DSS)(LXX) and said, “Go, serve YHWH [your Elohim].^(LXX) Only let your flocks and your herds stay behind. Let your [belongings]^(LXX) also go with you.” 25 Moses said, “You must also give into our hand slaughters and burnt offerings, that we may slaughter to YHWH our Elohim. 26 Our livestock also shall go with us. Not a hoof [is]^(DSS)(LXX) left behind, for of it we must take to serve YHWH our Elohim; and we don't know with what we must serve YHWH, until we come there.” 27 But YHWH strengthened Pharaoh's heart, and he wouldn't let them go. 28 Pharaoh said to him, “Get away from me! Be careful to see my face no more; for in the day you see my face you shall die!” 29 Moses said, “You have spoken well. I will see your face again no more.”

Prophets Portion (P)

34:1 The word which came to Jeremiah from YHWH, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, with all his army, all the reigns of the earth that were under his dominion, and all the peoples, were fighting against Jerusalem and against all its cities, saying: 2 “YHWH, the Elohim of Israel, says, ‘Go, and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell him, YHWH says, “Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon and he will burn it with fire. 3 You won’t escape out of his hand, but will surely be taken and delivered into his hand. Your eyes will see the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he will speak with you mouth to mouth. You will go to Babylon.” ‘ 4 “Yet hear the word of YHWH, O Zedekiah king of Judah. YHWH says concerning you, ‘You won’t die by the sword. 5 You will die in peace; and with the burnings of your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so they will make a burning for you. They will lament you, saying, “Ah Lord!” for I have spoken the word,’ says YHWH.” 6 Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem, 7 when the king of Babylon’s army was fighting against Jerusalem and against all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish and against Azekah; for these alone remained of the cities of Judah as fortified cities. 8 The word came to Jeremiah from YHWH, after king Zedekiah had cut a covenant with all the people who were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty to them, 9 that every man should let his male servant, and every man his maid, who is a Hebrew or a Hebrewess, go free, that no one should make bondservants of them, of a Jew his brother. 10 All the princes and all the people obeyed who had entered into the covenant, that everyone should let his male servant and everyone his maid go free, that no one should make bondservants of them any more. They obeyed and let them go, 11 but afterwards they turned, and caused the servants and the handmaids whom they had let go free to return, and brought them into subjection for servants and for handmaids. 12 Therefore the word of YHWH came to Jeremiah from YHWH, saying, 13 “YHWH, the Elohim of Israel, says: ‘I cut a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying: 14 At the end of seven years, every man of you will release his brother who is a Hebrew, who has been sold to you, and has served you six years. You will let him go free from you. But your fathers didn’t listen to me, and didn’t incline their ear.

Apostolic Portion (A)

6:1 Dare any of you, having a matter against his neighbor, go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the holy ones? 2 Don’t you know that the holy ones will judge the world? And if the world is judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? 3 Don’t you know that we will judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life? 4 If then you have to judge things pertaining to this life, do you set them to judge who are of no account in the assembly? 5 I say this to move you to shame. Isn’t there even one wise man among you who would be able to decide between [a brother and his brother]?^(mss) 6 But brother goes to law with brother, and that before unbelievers! 7 Therefore it is already altogether a defect in you that you have lawsuits one with another. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded? 8 No, but you yourselves do wrong and defraud, and that against your brothers. 9 Or don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit the reign of Elohim? Don’t be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate men who make women of themselves, nor one who lies with a male as with a female, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor extortionists, will inherit the reign of Elohim. 11 Some of you were such, but you were washed. You were sanctified. You were justified in the name of the Lord Yeshua, and in the Spirit of our Elohim.

Additional Portion (ADD)

The Wisdom of Solomon or Book of Wisdom is a Jewish work, written in Greek, and most likely composed in Alexandria, Egypt. Generally dated to the mid first century B.C. It is uncertain whether the book has a single author or comes from a school of writers, but recent scholarship has favored regarding it as a unified work.

2:10 Let’s oppress the righteous poor. Let’s not spare the widow, nor reverence the gray hair of the bearded man. 11 But let our strength be a law of righteousness; for that which is weak is proven useless. 12 But let’s lie in wait for the righteous man, because he annoys us, is contrary to our works, reproaches us with sins against the law, and charges us with sins against our training.

Related Scriptures

147:19 He shows his word to Jacob, his statutes and his judgments to Israel. 20 He has not done this for any nation. They don’t know his judgments. Praise Yah!

15:1 At the end of every seven years, you will cancel debts. 2 This is the way it will be done: every creditor will release that which he has lent to his neighbor. He will not require payment from his neighbor and his brother, because YHWH’s release has been proclaimed. 3 Of a foreigner you may require it; but whatever of yours is with your brother, your hand will release. 4 However there will be no poor with you (for YHWH will surely bless you in the land which YHWH your Elohim gives you for an inheritance to possess) 5 if only you diligently listen to YHWH your Elohim’s voice, to observe to do all this commandment which I command you today. 6 For YHWH your Elohim will bless you, as he promised you. You will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow. You will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you. 7 If a poor man, one of your brothers, is with you within any of your gates in your land which YHWH your Elohim gives you, you will not harden your heart, nor shut your hand from your poor brother; 8 but you will surely open your hand to him, and will surely lend him sufficient for his need, which he lacks. 9 Beware that there not be a wicked thought in your heart, saying, “The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand,” and your eye be evil against your poor brother and you give him nothing; and he cry to YHWH against you, and it be sin to you. 10 You will surely give, and your heart will not be grieved when you give to him, because it is for this thing YHWH your Elohim will bless you in all your work and in all that you put your hand to. 11 For the poor will never cease out of the land. Therefore I command you to surely open your hand to your brother, to your needy, and to your poor, in your land. 12 If your brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you and serves you six years, then in the seventh year you will let him go free from you. 13 When you let him go free from you, you will not let him go empty. 14 You will furnish him liberally out of your flock, out of your threshing floor, and out of your wine press. As YHWH your Elohim has blessed you, you will give to him. 15 You will remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and YHWH your Elohim redeemed you. Therefore I command you this thing today. 16 It will be, if he tells you, “I will not go out from you,” because he loves you and your house, because he is well with you, 17 then you will take an awl, and thrust it through his ear to the door, and he will be your servant to a distant time. Also to your maid you will do likewise. 18 It will not seem hard to you when you let him go free from you, for he has been double the value of a hired hand as he served you six years. YHWH your Elohim will bless you in all that you do.

34:12 Therefore the word of YHWH came to Jeremiah from YHWH, saying, 13 “YHWH, the Elohim of Israel, says: ‘I cut a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying: 14 At the end of seven years, every man of you will release his brother who is a Hebrew, who has been sold to you, and has served you six years. You will let him go free from you. But your fathers didn’t listen to me, and didn’t incline their ear. 15 You had now turned, and had done that which is right in my eyes, in every man proclaiming liberty to his neighbor. You had cut a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name; 16 but you turned and profaned my name, and every man caused his servant and every man his handmaid, whom you had let go free at their pleasure, to return. You brought them into subjection, to be to you for servants and for handmaids.’ ” 17 Therefore YHWH says: “You have not listened to me, to proclaim liberty, every man to his brother, and every man to his neighbor. Behold, I proclaim to you a liberty,” says YHWH, “to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine. I will make you be tossed back and forth among all the reigns of the earth. 18 I will give the men who have transgressed my covenant, who have not performed the words of the covenant which they made before me when they cut the calf in two and passed between its parts: 19 the princes of Judah, the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, the priests, and all the people of the land, who passed between the parts of the calf. 20 I will even give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their life. Their dead bodies will be food for the birds of the heavens and for the animals of the earth.

25:39 If your brother has grown poor among you, and sells himself to you, you will not make him to serve as a slave. 40 As a hired-servant, and as a settler, he will be with you; he will serve with you until the Year of Jubilee. 41 Then he will go out from you, he and his children with him, and will return to his own family, and to the possession of his fathers. 42 For they are my servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt. They will not be sold as slaves. 43 You will not rule over him with harshness, but will fear your Elohim. 44 As for your male and your female slaves, whom you may have from the nations that are around you, from them you may acquire male and female slaves. 45 Moreover, of the children of the sojourners who live among you, of them you may acquire, and of their families who are with you, which they have conceived in your land; and they will be your property. 46 You may make them an inheritance for your children after you, to hold for a possession. Of them you may take your slaves for a distant time, but over your brothers the sons of Israel you will not rule, one over another, with harshness.

4:1 Seven women will take hold of one man in that day, saying, “We will eat our own bread, and wear our own clothing. Just let us be called by your name. Take away our reproach.”

24:17 He who strikes any man mortally will surely be put to death. 18 He who strikes an animal mortally will make it good, life for life. 19 If anyone injures his neighbor, it will be done to him as he has done: 20 fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. It will be done to him as he has injured someone. 21 He who kills an animal will make it good; and he who kills a man will be put to death. 22 You will have one judgment for the foreigner as well as the native; for I am YHWH your Elohim.’ ”

9:5 I will surely require accounting for your life’s blood. At the hand of every animal I will require it. At the hand of man, even at the hand of every man’s brother, I will require the life of man. 6 Whoever sheds man’s blood, his blood will be shed by man, for Elohim made man in his own image.

Deuteronomy 19:1 When YHWH your Elohim cuts off the nations whose land YHWH your Elohim gives you, and you succeed them and dwell in their cities and in their houses, 2 you will set apart three cities for yourselves in the middle of your land, which YHWH your Elohim gives you to possess. 3 You will prepare the way, and divide the borders of your land which YHWH your Elohim causes you to inherit into three parts, that every man-slayer may flee there. 4 This is the case of the man-slayer who will flee there and live: Whoever kills his neighbor unintentionally, and didn’t hate him in time past— 5 as when a man goes into the forest with his neighbor to chop wood and his hand swings the ax to cut down the tree, and the head slips from the handle and hits his neighbor so that he dies—he will flee to one of these cities and live. 6 Otherwise, the avenger of blood might pursue the man-slayer while hot anger is in his heart and overtake him, because the way is long, and strike him mortally, even though he was not worthy of death, because he didn’t hate him in time past. 7 Therefore I command you to set apart three cities for yourselves. 8 If YHWH your Elohim enlarges your border, as he has sworn to your fathers, and gives you all the land which he promised to give to your fathers; 9 and if you guard all this commandment to do it, which I command you today, to love YHWH your Elohim, and to walk ever in his ways, then you will add three cities more for yourselves, in addition to these three. 10 This is so that innocent blood will not be shed in the middle of your land which YHWH your Elohim gives you for an inheritance, leaving blood guilt on you. 11 But if any man hates his neighbor, lies in wait for him, rises up against him, strikes him mortally so that he dies, and he flees into one of these cities; 12 then the elders of his city will send and bring him there, and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die. 13 Your eye will not pity him, but you will purge the innocent blood from Israel that it may go well with you.

Numbers 35:1 YHWH spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, 2 “Command the sons of Israel to give to the Levites cities to dwell in out of their inheritance. You will give pasture lands for the cities around them to the Levites. 3 They will have the cities to dwell in. Their pasture lands will be for their livestock, and for their possessions, and for all their animals. 4 “The pasture lands of the cities, which you will give to the Levites, will be from the wall of the city and outward one thousand cubits around it. 5 You will measure outside of the city for the east side two thousand cubits, and for the south side two thousand cubits, and for the west side two thousand cubits, and for the north side two thousand cubits, the city being in the middle. This will be the pasture lands of their cities. 6 “The cities which you will give to the Levites, they will be the six cities of refuge, which you will give for the man-slayer to flee to. Besides them you will give forty-two cities. 7 All the cities which you will give to the Levites will be forty-eight cities together with their pasture lands. 8 Concerning the cities which you will give of the possession of the sons of Israel, from the many you will take many, and from the few you will take few. Everyone according to his inheritance which he inherits will give some of his cities to the Levites.” 9 YHWH spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “Speak to the sons of Israel, and tell them, ‘When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 11 then you will appoint for yourselves cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the man-slayer who kills any person unwittingly may flee there. 12 The cities will be for your refuge from the avenger, that the man-slayer not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment. 13 The cities which you will give will be for you six cities of refuge. 14 You will give three cities beyond the Jordan, and you will give three cities in the land of Canaan. They will be cities of refuge. 15 These six cities will be refuge for the sons of Israel, for the stranger, and for the foreigner living among them, that everyone who kills any person unwittingly may flee there. 16 But if he struck him with an instrument of iron, so that he died, he is a murderer. The murderer will surely be put to death. 17 If he struck him with a stone in the hand, by which a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer will surely be put to death. 18 Or if he struck him with a weapon of wood in the hand, by which a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer will surely be put to death. 19 The avenger of blood will himself put the murderer to death. When he meets him, he will put him to death. 20 If he shoved him out of hatred, or hurled something at him while lying in wait, so that he died, 21 or in hostility struck him with his hand, so that he died, he who struck him will surely be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood will put the murderer to death when he meets him. 22 But if he shoved him suddenly without hostility, or hurled on him anything without lying in wait, 23 or with any stone, by which a man may die, not seeing him, and cast it on him so that he died, and he was not his enemy and not seeking his harm, 24 then the congregation will judge between the striker and the avenger of blood according to these ordinances. 25 The congregation will deliver the man-slayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation will restore him to his city of refuge, where he had fled. He will dwell therein until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil.

Joshua 20:1 YHWH spoke to Joshua, saying, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘Assign the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you by Moses, 3 that the man-slayer who kills any person accidentally or unintentionally may flee there. They will be to you for a refuge from the avenger of blood. 4 He will flee to one of those cities, and will stand at the entrance of the gate of the city, and declare his case in the ears of the elders of that city. They will take him into the city with them, and give him a place, that he may live among them. 5 If the avenger of blood pursues him, then they will not deliver up the man-slayer into his hand; because he struck his neighbor unintentionally, and didn’t hate him before. 6 He will dwell in that city until he stands before the congregation for judgment, until the death of the high priest that will be in those days. Then the man-slayer will return, and come to his own city, and to his own house, to the city he fled from.’ ” 7 They set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath Arba (also called Hebron) in the hill country of Judah. 8 Beyond the Jordan at Jericho eastward, they assigned Bezer in the wilderness in the plain out of the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead out of the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan out of the tribe of Manasseh. 9 These were the appointed cities for all the sons of Israel, and for the sojourner who lives among them, that whoever kills any person unintentionally might flee there, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, until he stands trial before the congregation.

Matthew 15:3 He answered them, “Why do you also disobey the commandment of Elohim because of your tradition? 4  For Elohim commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death.’ 5  But you say, ‘Whoever may tell his father or his mother, “Whatever help you might otherwise have gotten from me is a gift devoted to Elohim,” 6  he will not honor his father or mother.’ You have made the commandment of Elohim void because of your tradition.

Mark 7:6 He answered them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. 7 They worship me in vain, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ 8 “For you set aside the commandment of Elohim, and hold tightly to the tradition of men—the washing of pitchers and cups, and you do many other such things.” 9 He said to them, “Full well do you reject the commandment of Elohim, that you may guard your tradition. 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother;’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death.’ 11 But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever benefit you might have received from me is Corban,” ‘ ” that is to say, given to Elohim, 12 “then you no longer allow him to do anything for his father or his mother, 13 making void the word of Elohim by your tradition which you have handed down. You do many things like this.”

24:7 If a man is found stealing any of his brothers of the sons of Israel, and he deals with him as a slave, or sells him, then that thief will die. So you will remove the evil from among you.

Leviticus 20:9 For everyone who curses his father or his mother will surely be put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother. His blood will be upon himself.

Proverbs 20:20 Whoever curses his father or his mother, his lamp will be put out in blackness of darkness.

19:15 One witness will not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin that he sins. At the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, will a matter be established. 16 If an unrighteous witness rises up against any man to testify against him of wrongdoing, 17 then both the men, between whom the controversy is, will stand before YHWH, before the priests and the judges who will be in those days; 18 and the judges will make diligent inquisition; and behold, if the witness is a false witness, and has witnessed falsely against his brother, 19 then you will do to him as he had thought to do to his brother. So you will remove the evil from among you. 20 Those who remain will hear, and fear, and will never again commit any such evil among you. 21 Your eyes will not pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

5:38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39  But I tell you, don’t resist him who is evil; but whoever strikes you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40  If anyone sues you to take away your coat, let him have your cloak also. 41  Whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. 42  Give to him who asks you, and don’t turn away him who desires to borrow from you.”

22:1 Septuagint (LXX) And if one steal an ox or a sheep, and kill it or sell it, he will pay five calves for a calf, and four sheep for a sheep. 2 And if the thief be found in the ditch [made by himself] and being struck should die, it is not murder to him. 3 But if the sun be risen upon him, he is guilty, he will [repay]; and if a thief have nothing, let him be sold in compensation for what he has stolen. 4 And if the thing stolen be left and be in his hand alive, whether ox or sheep, he will restore them two-fold.

12:1 YHWH sent Nathan to David. He came to him, and said to him, “There were two men in one city: the one rich, and the other poor. 2 The rich man had very many flocks and herds, 3 but the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and raised. It grew up together with him and with his children. It ate of his own food, drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was like a daughter to him. 4 A traveler came to the rich man, and he didn’t want to take of his own flock and of his own herd to prepare for the wayfaring man who had come to him, but took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.” 5 David’s anger burned hot against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As YHWH lives, the man who has done this deserves to die! 6 He must restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing and because he had no pity!” 7 Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what YHWH, the Elohim of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. 8 I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your bosom, and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that would have been too little, I would have added to you many more such things. 9 Why have you despised the word of YHWH, to do that which is evil in his sight? You have struck Uriah the Hittite with the sword, have taken his wife to be your wife, and have slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. 10 Now therefore the sword will never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken Uriah the Hittite’s wife to be your wife.’ 11 “This is what YHWH says: ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he will lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. 12 For you did this secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.’ ” 13 David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against YHWH.” Nathan said to David, “YHWH also has put away your sin. You will not die. 14 However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to YHWH’s enemies to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you will surely die.” 15 Then Nathan departed to his house.

6:30 Men don’t despise a thief if he steals to satisfy himself when he is hungry, 31 but if he is found, he will restore seven times. He will give all the wealth of his house.

31:38 These twenty years I have been with you. Your ewes and your female goats have not cast their young, and I haven’t eaten the rams of your flocks. 39 That which was torn of animals, I didn’t bring to you. I bore its loss. Of my hand you required it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night.

6:13 For when Elohim made a promise to Abraham, since he could swear by no one greater, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.” 15 Thus, having patiently endured, he obtained the promise. 16 For men indeed swear by a greater one, and in every dispute of theirs the oath is final for confirmation. 17 In this way Elohim, being determined to show more abundantly to the heirs of the promise the immutability of his counsel, interposed with an oath, 18 that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for Elohim to lie, we may have a strong encouragement, who have fled for refuge to take hold of the hope set before us. 19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and entering into that which is within the veil, 20 where as a forerunner Yeshua entered for us, having become a high priest to a distant time after the order of Melchizedek.

Deuteronomy 22:23 If there is a young lady who is a virgin betrothed to a husband, and a man finds her in the city, and lies with her, 24 then you will bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you will stone them to death with stones; the lady, because she didn’t cry, being in the city; and the man, because he has humbled his neighbor’s wife. So you will remove the evil from among you. 25 But if the man finds the lady who is betrothed in the field, and the man forces her and lies with her, then only the man who lay with her will die; 26 but to the lady you will do nothing. There is in the lady no sin worthy of death; for as when a man rises against his neighbor and kills him, even so is this matter; 27 for he found her in the field, the betrothed lady cried, and there was no one to save her. 28 If a man finds a lady who is a virgin, who is not betrothed, grabs her and lies with her, and they are found, 29 then the man who lay with her will give to the lady’s father fifty shekels of silver. She will be his wife, because he has humbled her. He may not put her away all his days. 30 A man will not take his father’s wife, and will not uncover his father’s skirt.

The Temple Scroll 11Q19-20, Col. 66 [If it should happen that a young woman,] [a virgin betrothed for marriage to one man, is encountered by another man in the city and he rapes her,] [then they will both be brought to the gate] of that city and stoned until dead: the woman, on the grounds that she did not cry out for help in the city, and the man, on the grounds that he violated his neighbor’s wife. So you will purge the evil one from your midst.

But if the man encountered the woman in a distant field out of sight of the city, and he overpowered her and raped her, then only the man who raped her will be put to death. To the woman you will do nothing, for she has committed no sin worthy of death; this case is like that of a man attacked by his neighbor who kills in self-defense. For he encountered her in a field; the betrothed woman cried out for help, but there was none to save her.

If a man seduces a virgin who is not betrothed (one who by statute is a possible marriage partner for him) and he has intercourse with her and is discovered, then the man must give the woman’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she will become his wife. Since he has violated her, he cannot divorce her as long as he lives.

The above excerpt is from Wise, Michael Owen, et al. The Dead Sea Scrolls: a New Translation. HarperSanFrancisco, 2005.

18:10 There will not be found with you anyone who makes his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who tells fortunes, or an enchanter, or a sorcerer, 11 or a charmer, or someone who consults with a familiar spirit, or a wizard, or a necromancer. 12 For whoever does these things is an abomination to YHWH. Because of these abominations, YHWH your Elohim drives them out from before you. 13 You will be blameless with YHWH your Elohim. 14 For these nations that you will dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery and to diviners; but as for you, YHWH your Elohim has not allowed you so to do.

18:23 You will not lie with any animal to defile yourself with it. No woman may give herself to an animal, to lie down with it: it is a perversion…20:15 If a man lies with an animal, he will surely be put to death; and you will kill the animal. 16‘If a woman approaches any animal and lies with it, you will kill the woman and the animal. They will surely be put to death. Their blood will be upon them.

17:2 If there is found among you, within any of your gates which YHWH your Elohim gives you, a man or woman who does that which is evil in YHWH your Elohim’s sight in transgressing his covenant, 3 and has gone and served other elohim and did bow down to them, or the sun, or the moon, or any of the stars of the heavens, which I have not commanded, 4 and you are told, and you have heard of it, then you will inquire diligently. Behold, if it is true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is done in Israel, 5 then you will bring out that man or that woman who has done this evil thing to your gates, even that same man or woman; and you will stone them to death with stones.

19:33 If a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you will not do him wrong. 34 The sojourner who sojourns with you will be to you as the native among you, and you will love him as yourself; for you lived as foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am YHWH your Elohim.

18:5 “But if a man is righteous, and does judgment and righteousness, 6 and has not eaten on the mountains, hasn’t lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, hasn’t defiled his neighbor’s wife, hasn’t come near a woman in her seperation, 7 and has not wronged any, but has restored to the debtor his pledge, has taken nothing by robbery, has given his bread to the hungry, and has covered the naked with a garment; 8 he who hasn’t lent to them with interest, hasn’t taken any increase from them, who has withdrawn his hand from iniquity, has executed true justice between man and man, 9 has walked in my statutes, and has kept my ordinances, to deal truly; he is just, he will surely live,” says the Lord YHWH. 10 “If he fathers a son who is a robber who sheds blood, and who does any one of these things, 11 or who does not do any of those things but has eaten at the mountain shrines and defiled his neighbor’s wife, 12 has wronged the poor and needy, has taken by robbery, has not restored the pledge, and has lifted up his eyes to the idols, has committed abomination, 13 has lent with interest, and has taken increase from the poor, will he then live? He will not live. He has done all these abominations. He will surely die. His blood will be on him. 14 “Now, behold, if he fathers a son who sees all his father’s sins which he has done, and fears, and doesn’t do likewise, 15 who hasn’t eaten on the mountains, hasn’t lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, hasn’t defiled his neighbor’s wife, 16 hasn’t wronged any, hasn’t taken anything to pledge, hasn’t taken by robbery, but has given his bread to the hungry, and has covered the naked with a garment; 17 who has withdrawn his hand from the poor, who hasn’t received interest or increase, has executed my ordinances, has walked in my statutes; he will not die for the iniquity of his father. He will surely live.

Deuteronomy 24:17 You will not deprive the foreigner or the fatherless of justice, nor take a widow’s clothing in pledge; 18 but you will remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and YHWH your Elohim redeemed you there. Therefore I command you to do this thing.

Zechariah 7:8 the word of YHWH came to Zechariah, saying, 9 “Thus has YHWH of Armies spoken, saying, ‘Execute true judgment, and show kindness and compassion every man to his brother. 10 Don’t oppress the widow, the fatherless, the foreigner, nor the poor; and let none of you devise evil against his brother in your heart.’ 11 But they refused to listen, and turned their backs, and stopped their ears, that they might not hear. 12 Yes, they made their hearts as hard as flint, lest they might hear the law and the words which YHWH of Armies had sent by his Spirit by the former prophets. Therefore great wrath came from YHWH of Armies.

22:22 Don’t exploit the poor because he is poor; and don’t crush the needy in court; 23 for YHWH will plead their case, and plunder the life of those who plunder them.

3:5 I will come near to you to judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against the perjurers, and against those who oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and who deprive the foreigner of justice, and don’t fear me,” says YHWH of Armies.

Additional Readings​

12:23 Wherefore also the unrighteous that lived in folly of life, you tormented through their own abominations. 24 For truly they went astray very far in the ways of error, Taking as elohim those animals which even among their enemies were held in dishonor, deceived like foolish babes. 25 Therefore, as to unreasoning children, you sent your judgment to mock them. 26 But those who would not be admonished by a mocking correction as of children will experience a judgment worthy of Elohim. 27 For through the sufferings they were indignant of, being punished in these creatures which they supposed to be elohim, they saw and recognized as the true Elohim him whom they refused to know. Therefore also the result of condemnation came upon them.

4:1 This is the book of the commandments of Elohim, and the law that endures forever: all those who hold it fast are appointed to life; but such as leave it will die. 2 Turn you, O Jacob, and take hold of it: walk toward her shining in the face of the light thereof. 3 Give not your glory to another, nor the things that are profitable to you to a strange nation. 4 O Israel, happy are we: for the things that are pleasing to Elohim are made known to us. 5 Be of good cheer, my people, the memorial of Israel. 6 You were sold to the nations, but not for destruction: because you moved Elohim to wrath, you were delivered to your adversaries. 7 For you provoked him that made you by slaughtering to demons, and not to Elohim. 8 You forgot the everlasting Elohim, that brought you up; you grieved also Jerusalem, that nursed you. 9 For she saw the wrath that is come upon you from Elohim, and said, Listen, you women that dwell about Zion: for Elohim has brought upon me great mourning; 10 for I have seen the captivity of my sons and daughters, which the Everlasting has brought upon them. 11 For with joy did I nourish them; but sent them away with weeping and mourning. 12 Let no man rejoice over me, a widow, and forsaken of many: for the sins of my children am I left desolate; because they turned away from the law of Elohim, 13 and had no regard to his statutes, neither walked they in the ways of Elohim’s commandments, nor trod in the paths of discipline in his righteousness. 14 Let those who dwell about Zion come, and remember you the captivity of my sons and daughters, which the Everlasting has brought upon them.

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Exodus 21:1 – 22:24 from the Jerusalem Targum aka Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (T)

Composed in Talmudic Israel (c.150 – c.250 AD). Targum Pseudo-Jonathan is a western targum (translation) of the Torah (Pentateuch) from the land of Israel (as opposed to the eastern Babylonian Targum Onkelos). Its correct title was originally Targum Yerushalmi (Jerusalem Targum), which is how it was known in medieval times. But because of a printer’s mistake it was later labeled Targum Jonathan, in reference to Jonathan ben Uzziel. Some editions of the Pentateuch continue to call it Targum Jonathan to this day. Most scholars refer to the text as Targum Pseudo-Jonathan. This targum is more than a mere translation. It includes much Aggadic material collected from various sources as late as the Midrash Rabbah as well as earlier material from the Talmud. It is effectively a combination of a commentary and a translation. In the portions where it is pure translation, it often agrees with the Targum Onkelos. The date of its composition is disputed. It cannot have been completed before the Arabic conquest as it refers to Mohammad’s wife Fatimah, but might have been initially composed in the 4th Century AD. However, some scholars date it in the 14th Century.

Chapter 21 And these are the orders of judgments which thou shalt order before them. If thou shalt have bought a son of Israel, on account of his theft, six years he will serve, and at the incoming of the seventh he will go out free without price. If he came in alone, he will go out alone: but if (he be) the husband of a woman, a daughter of Israel, his wife will go out with him. If his master give him a woman, an handmaid, and she bear him sons or daughters, the woman and her children will belong to his master, and he may go out alone. But if the servant will affirm and say, I love my master, my wife, and my children, (and) I will not go out free, then his master will bring him before the judges, and will receive from them the power, and bring him to the door that hath posts; and his master will pierce his right ear with an awl; and he will be a servant to serve him until the jubela. And if a man of Israel sell his daughter, a little handmaid, she will not go forth according to the going forth of the servants of the Kenaanaee, who are set at liberty on account of the tooth or the eye; but in the years of forgiveness, and with tokens, and at the jubela, and on the death of her master, and by redemption with money. If she hath not found favour before her master who bought her, then her father may redeem her; but to a foreigner he will not have power to sell her; for as a vessel of her Lord he hath power over her. And if he had intended her for the side of his son, he will do by her after the manner of the daughters of Israel. If he take another daughter of Israel to him beside her, her food, her adorning, and her conjugal rights, he will not withhold from her. [JERUSALEM. And if he take another woman beside her, of her food, her adorning, and her going in and coming out with him, he will not deprive her.] And if these three things he doth not for her, to covenant her to himself, or to his son, or to release her into the hand of her father, she will go free without payment, and a writing of release he will give her.

Whosoever smiteth a son or a daughter of Israel, so as to cause death, will be put to death with the sword. But he who did not attack him, but mischance from before the Lord befell him at his hand, I will appoint thee a place where he may flee. But if a man come maliciously upon his neighbour to kill him with craft, though the priests are ministering at My altar, thence thou shalt take him, and slay him with the sword. [JERUSALEM. But if a man deviseth against his neighbour to kill him by guile, though the high priest were standing to minister before Me, from thence thou shalt bring him, and put him to death.] And he who woundeth his father or his mother will die by strangling. And he who stealeth a soul of the sons of Israel, and selleth him, or if he be found in his possession, will die by strangling. And he who curseth his father or his mother by the Great Name, dying he will die by being stoned with stones. And when men strive together, and one smite his neighbour with a stone, or with his fist, so that he die not, but fall ill, if he rise again from his illness, and walk in the street upon his staff, he who smote him will be acquitted from the penalty of death; only for his cessation from labour, his affliction, his injury, his disgrace, and the hire of the physician, he will make good until he be cured. And when a man hath smitten his Kenaanite man‑servant or maid‑servant with a staff, and he die the same day under his hand, he will be judged with the judgment of death by the sword. But if the wounded person continue one or two days from time to time, he will not be (so) judged; because with money he had bought him. If men when striving strike a woman with child, and cause her to miscarry, but not to lose her life, the fine on account of the infant which the husband of the woman will lay upon him, he will pay according to the sentence of the judges. But if death befall her, then thou shalt judge the life of the killer for the life of the woman. The value of an eye for an eye, the value of a tooth for a tooth, the value of a hand for a hand, the value of a foot for a foot, all equivalent of the pain of burning for burning, and of wounding for wounding, and of blow for blow. And when a man strikes the eye of his Kenaanite servant or handmaid, and causeth blindness, he will let him go free, on account of the eye. And if he strike out the tooth of his Kenaanite man or maid‑servant, he will make the servant free on account of the tooth.

And if an ox goreth a man or woman to cause death, the ox must be stoned, but will not be killed that his flesh may be eaten; and the owner of the ox will be exempt from the condemnation of death, and also from the price of the servant or handmaid. But if the ox (had been wont) to gore yesterday and before, and it had been attested before his owner three times, and he (had neglected) to restrain him, the ox, when he killeth man or woman, will be stoned, and his master also will die with a death sent upon him from the heavens. Yet if a fine of money be laid upon him, he may give a ransom for his life, according to what will be imposed on him by the sanhedrin of Israel. Whether the ox hath gored a son or a daughter of Israel, according to that judgment it will be done to him. If an ox goreth a Kenaanite man‑servant or handmaid, the master of the man or woman‑servant will give thirty sileen[3] of silver, and the ox will be stoned. And if a man openeth a pit in the street, and doth not cover it, and an ox or a donkey fall therein; the master of the pit will deliver silver to give to its owner the price of the ox or the donkey, and the dead body will be his. And when an ox woundeth his neighbour’s ox, and he die, they will sell the living ox, and divide the price, and the price of the dead one will they also divide. But if it hath been known that the ox was wont to gore in time past, and his master did not restrain him, he will surely deliver ox for ox; but the carcase and the skin will be his. When a man stealeth an ox or a sheep, and killeth or selleth it, five oxen will he make good for one ox, because he hath hindered him from his ploughing; and four sheep for one, because he hath impoverished him by his theft, and not done service by it.

Chapter 22 If a thief be found in a window of the wall, and be smitten and die, there will not be on his account the guilt of the shedding of innocent blood. If the thing be as clear as the sun that he was not entering to destroy life, and one hath killed him, the guilt of the shedding of innocent blood is upon him; and if spared from his hand, restoring he will restore. If he have not wherewith to restore, the beth din will sell him for his theft until the year of release. If before witnesses, the thing stolen was found in his possession, from an ox or an ass, unto a sheep alive, he will restore two for one. If a man break in upon a field or a vineyard, and send in his beast to feed in another man’s field, the best of his field and the best of his vineyard he will restore. If fire break out, and catch thorns, and consume the sheaves, or whatever is standing, or the field, whoever kindled the fire will surely restore.

When a man confideth to his neighbour silver, or vessels to keep, without recompense for the care, and they be stolen from the man’s house, if the thief be found, he will restore two for one. If the thief be not found, the owner of the house will be brought before the judges, and will swear that he hath not put forth his own hand upon the property of his neighbour. And about whatever is injured covertly, whether ox, or ass, or sheep, or raiment, of whatever is (so) lost, he will make oath when he saith that so it is; and when the thing stolen will be afterward found in the hand of the thief, the cause of both will be brought before the judges, the cause of the householder and the cause of the thief; and whom the judges will condemn, the thief will restore twofold to his neighbour If a man deliver to his neighbour all ox, or a sheep, or any animal to keep, (if) he is to keep it without recompense, and it die, or be torn by wild beast, or be carried off, and no witness seeing who can testify it; an oath of the Lord will be between them both, that he hath not put forth his hand upon the property of his neighbour; and the owner of the thing will accept his oath, and he will not (be required to) make it good. But if it be stolen from him who was to receive recompense for the care, he will make it good to its owner. If it hath been torn by a wild beast, let him bring witnesses, or bring him to the carcase: because for that which is (so) torn he will not make restitution. [JERUSALEM. 12. If it hath been really killed, he will bring of its members, as a witness, and for that which is killed he will not make restitution.] And if a man borrow anything of his neighbour, and the vessel be broken, or the animal die, and the owner be not with it, lie will certainly make it good. If the owner be with it, he will not make it good: if it had been lent for profit, its loss came on account of its hire.

If a man seduce a virgin unbetrothed, and have criminal conduct with her, endowing, he will endow her to be his wife. [JERUSALEM. 15. If a man seduce a virgin, unbetrothed, and have criminal conduct with her, endowing, he will endow her to be a woman.] If this doth not appear to him (to be desirable), or if her father be not willing to give her to him fifty sileen of silver will be laid upon him, according to the endowment of a virgin. Sons of My people Israel, whosoever practiseth witchcraft you will not suffer to live. Whosoever lieth with a beast will be stoned to death. Whosoever slaughterth to the idols of the Nations will be slain with the sword, and his goods be destroyed; for ye will worship only the Name of the Lord. And the stranger you will not vex with words, nor distress him by taking his goods: Remember, sons of Israel, My people, that you were strangers in the land of Mizraim. You will not impoverish the widow or the orphan. If thou impoverish her, beware; for if they rise up and cry against you in prayer before Me, I will hear the voice of their prayer, and will avenge them, and My anger will be kindled, and I will slay you with the sword, and your wives will be widows, and your children be orphans.

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3.5.6. Now when the multitude had heard Elohim himself giving those precepts which Moses had discoursed of, they rejoiced at what was said; and the congregation was dissolved: but on the following days they came to his tent, and desired him to bring them, besides, other laws from Elohim. Accordingly he appointed such laws, and afterwards informed them in what manner they should act in all cases; which laws I will make mention of in their proper time; but I will reserve most of those laws for another work, and make there a distinct explication of them.