Chapter 22
Many more laws about borrowing and loaning and accidents and how much is owed when one person takes a loss due to the action or inaction of another.
2022 - This interesting little verse:
"3 nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his lawsuit." [Exo 23:3 ESV]
This was under the law, but the principle is equal justice under the law. We always focus on how the rich ought not be above the law, but subject to it as everyone else. But the other side of that coin, though rarely discussed, is also true. Just because someone is poor doesn't make him entitled to a giant settlement. In our culture, violation of this verse runs rampant. Large corporations almost never go to court over even the most frivolous lawsuit because of the tendency of juries to "over compensate" for the downtrodden. This does not mean that corporations shouldn't be held accountable - nor that municipalities shouldn't, nor that law enforcement shouldn't. But it ought to be the same when a poor person is abused as when a rich one is abused. This would be justice under the law, and it ought to be the same in civil as in criminal cases. We can also see how socialism is rooted in violation of this same verse. Why is the rich not entitled to be rich? Why is the poor man entitled to more than he earns?
Possible FB post.
Some that jumped out at me:
21 "You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. [Exo 22:21 ESV]
I would classify a sojourner as a legal immigrant, because that is what Israel was in Egypt. But this says much about how to treat Chinatown, Little Italy, and all the other names for the places where we confine such people. Doesn't say to embrace them and their cultures with open arms, but it is very clear that they are to be treated fairly, according to the same rules that apply to everyone else!
28 "You shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of your people. [Exo 22:28 ESV]
Doesn't say not to curse Dems or Repubs. Or anything else. If they're in charge, you do not curse them.