Discovery BoxExodus 21:33 
Context21:33 “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 into it,
Exodus 23:4-5
Context23:4 “If you encounter 1 your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering off, you must by all means return 2 it to him. 23:5 If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen under its load, you must not ignore him, 3 but be sure to help 4 him with it. 5
1 tn Heb “meet” (so KJV, ASV, NASB).
2 tn The construction uses the imperfect tense (taken here as an obligatory imperfect) and the infinitive absolute for emphasis.
3 tn The line reads “you will cease to forsake him” – refrain from leaving your enemy without help.
4 tn The law is emphatic here as well, using the infinitive absolute and the imperfect of instruction (or possibly obligation). There is also a wordplay here: two words עָזַב (’azav) are used, one meaning “forsake” and the other possibly meaning “arrange” based on Arabic and Ugaritic evidence (see U. Cassuto, Exodus, 297-98).
5 sn See H. B. Huffmon, “Exodus 23:4-5: A Comparative Study,” A Light Unto My Path, 271-78.
