What Does Exodus 23:2 Mean in the King James?

Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment:

Exodus 23:2 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

The danger is not simply following a crowd; it is letting the crowd make your judgment lean.

THE MEANING

Many voices can pull your conduct toward harm, then make a disputed matter seem to lean toward their preferred outcome. Your words enter that judgment, and agreement does not make the bend just.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

A majority is not proof of what is right, and repeating its verdict does not make you neutral.

THE ROOT

לְהַטֹּת

lehatot

GROWS FROM

נטה

n-t-h

To stretch out, incline, or turn aside.

“wrest” in this verse is lehatot. The Hebrew pictures judgment being made to lean in a particular direction. That connects the crowd’s pressure with the distortion itself: the many do not merely surround the decision; their influence can bend it.

ALSO GROWS

matteh: Staff; tribe.

מַטֶּה

A branch of the same root, it carries the sense of something extended or inclined and makes the verse’s image of a judgment being bent more tangible.

netiyah: Inclination; turning.

נְטִיָּה

This derivative names the directional pull that the verse warns can distort a decision.

רִיב

riv

GROWS FROM

ריב

r-y-b

To contend, plead, or bring a dispute.

The word translated “cause” belongs to the language of contention and legal dispute. The verse places speech inside a consequential matter: what you say can join the dispute and help turn its judgment.

ALSO GROWS

riv: Dispute; legal case.

רִיב

This is the same word used for the matter on which a person speaks, showing that the speech takes place within an active dispute.

merivah: Quarrel; contention.

מְרִיבָה

This related form carries the root into conflict, clarifying that the verse addresses speech where opposing claims are already in tension.

THE PATTERN

The size and volume of a group cannot make an unjust judgment right.

And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.

1 Samuel 15:24 · KJVSaul names how fear of the people’s voice can pull a person away from what is right.

And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified.

Mark 15:15 · KJVPilate lets the desire to satisfy the crowd shape a decision that delivers an innocent man to crucifixion.

Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.

Acts 5:29 · KJVThe apostles refuse to let human authority or pressure overrule what they understand to be right.

THE THREAD

Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous.

Deuteronomy 16:19 · KJV

“Wrest” in both verses comes from ⁨נטה⁩ (natah), to incline or turn aside. Deuteronomy names other forces that can bend judgment, favoritism and gifts, while Exodus exposes the pressure of many voices.

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