From Exodus 22:25–23:33, the focus is on Torah-rooted justice: God’s laws shape a holy community that protects the vulnerable, requires mercy in dealings, and prohibits idolatry and partiality, reflecting God’s character and covenant life. Seeing Isaiah 49:1–6 through the lenses of the whole Bible, God’s Servant as Israel is a light to the nations, whose mission anticipates the Messiah’s redemptive role. James 1:26–2:4 challenges believers to live true religion, bridging faith with deeds and rejecting favoritism, and echoing Torah justice through the world.
Starting after Sukkot 2024, Hallel Fellowship switched to a three-year cycle of Torah and parallel Bible readings (2024–2027), outlined by TorahResource. While there’s ancient evidence for a triennial cycle, a major benefit is to provide more time to mine more of Scripture for lessons.
The Messiah does not abolish these themes; He fulfills (fills full) and embodies them, forming a community where justice, mercy, humility, and mission converge — a living testimony of God’s kingdom on earth.
God’s redeemed people are called to reflect His character through justice, mercy, and impartiality, so that His saving purposes may reach the nations.
Exodus 22–23 grounds this vision in covenantal law: justice for the vulnerable, integrity in speech and judgment, and loyalty to YHWH alone.
Isaiah 49 universalizes the mission: Israel — and ultimately the Servant — exists not merely for internal righteousness but as a light to the nations.
James 1–2 applies these truths to a Messianic community: Torah-shaped ethics fulfilled and embodied through faith in the Messiah, rejecting favoritism and empty religiosity.
לֹא־תַטֶּה מִשְׁפַּט אֶבְיֹנְךָ “You shall not pervert the justice of your poor.”
Exodus 23:6
New Testament usage:
James 1:20 — δικαιοσύνη θεοῦ dikaiosynē (“the righteousness of God”)
James 2:1–4 — κρίσις krisis distorted by favoritism
Ya’akov (James) draws directly from the LXX justice vocabulary, showing that Torah ethics remain authoritative but are now lived out in Messiah-centered community life.
James 2:2–6 — πτωχός ptōchos vs. πλούσιος plousios (poor vs. rich)
Matthew 5:3 — “Blessed are the poor in spirit”
Ya’akov is not introducing a new ethic. He is reapplying Torah’s concern for the poor within the redeemed community gathered around Yeshua.
Partiality and favoritism
Faith in the “Lord of Glory” (James 2:1) is incompatible with courtroom-style injustice—precisely what Exodus forbids.
Hebrew:
נָשָׂא פָּנִיםnāśā’ pānîm — to lift the face, i.e, to show favoritism
In Semitic thought, “the face” represents honor, rank or relational access, not merely physical features. So Thus, acting “according to the face” means judging based on appearance or status rather than truth.
וְדָל לֹא־תֶהְדַּר בְּרִיבוֹ
“Nor shall you favor a poor man in his dispute.”
Exodus 23:3
LXX:
λαμβάνω/θαυμάζω πρόσωπονlambano/thaumazoprosopon —accepting/admiring the face
οὐ λαμβάνει πρόσωπον ou lambanei prosopon “He does not receive faces” (i.e., God accepts no favoritism)
Deuteronomy 10:17
Construction
Core action
Type of bias
Ethical danger
λαμβάνω πρόσωπον
Accepting
Structural, transactional, legal
Corruption, bribery
θαυμάζω πρόσωπον
Admiring
Emotional, social
Flattery, status-driven judgment
New Testament term (James 2:1):
προσωπολημψίαprosōpolēmpsia — favoritism
προσωπολημψία is a compound term formed from LXX idiom, literally “receiving the face,” mirroring נָשָׂא פָּנִים.
NT Examples:
Romans 2:11
Ephesians 6:9
Colossians 3:25
Calling, mission & the servant
Isaiah’s Servant embodies both Israel’s vocation and the Messiah’s mission, restoring Jacob and extending redemption to the nations.
Hebrew (Isaiah 49:6):
אוֹר גּוֹיִם’ôr gôyim — light to the nations
יְשׁוּעָהyeshu‘āh — salvation. A shortened form, יֵשׁוּעַ Yeshua, is the Heaven-given name of the Messiah.
LXX:
φῶς ἐθνῶνphōs ethnōn — light to the nations
σωτηρίαsōtēria — salvation
New Testament usage:
Luke 2:32 — φῶς εἰς ἀποκάλυψιν ἐθνῶν phos eis apokalupsin ethnon
Acts 13:47 — Paul explicitly quotes Isaiah 49:6 LXX
The Bible’s laws about slavery can be troubling, but they reveal something deeper: Even within ancient realities, God’s instructions are aimed to bring dignity, protection, and a pathway to freedom for everyone — Israelites and outsiders alike. In Exodus 21-22, Jeremiah 34 and similar passages, we see that Scripture moves toward greater justice, mercy and inclusion. Ultimately, all these hopes find their fulfillment in the Messiah, Who opens the door to true freedom for every person and nation, showing God’s heart to set all captives free and welcome all into His family.
Despite its ancient origins, the Torah’s guidance on ethics, justice, and compassion remains pertinent today. Faith must be wedded to obedience in applying Heaven’s teachings to contemporary life. This study of Torah reading מִּשְׁפָּטִים Mishpatim (“judgments,” Exodus 21–24) delves into legal interpretations of the Ten Commandments, stressing fairness and impartiality in legal proceedings. The Torah’s stance on issues like slavery underscores principles of compassion and equitable treatment. Drawing from biblical and historical contexts (Paul’s letter to Philemon, Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus) in Matthew 20), we advocate for justice, mercy, and societal transformation guided by Torah’s timeless wisdom.
Yeshua the Mashiakh (Jesus the Christ) told us the two greatest commandments were to love God unreservedly and to love other people unselfishly (Matt. 22:34–40; Mark 12:28–31; Deut. 6:4–6; Lev. 19:18). Learning what the LORD would do in a situation — to walk as He walked (1Jn. 2:6) — is at the heart of this week’s Torah reading Mishpatim (“judgements,” Ex. 21:1-24:18).
One of the key lessons from Torah portion מִּשְׁפָּטִים Mishpatim (Exodus 21–24) and from the Prophets and Gospels is that God and Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus) doesn’t separate religious and civil laws. The reasons for that are encapsulated in the Greatest Commandment and the Golden Rule — and in the Torah laws that restricted and ultimately abolished slavery.
“(T)he Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28 NASB). While some see the instructions in the Torah about relationships between masters and slaves as proof of no transcendent Source for the text, others see the context as part of a “poison pill” that Heaven put in the human heart sickness that seeks subjugation of others deemed weaker or powerless.
That’s the surprising lesson we learn from the Torah portion מִּשְׁפָּטִים Mishpatim (Exodus 21–24) and companion passages on the wrong treatment (Jeremiah 34:8–22) and right treatment…
Are “white lies” covered by the Torah prohibition on lying? What does it mean to curse your parents? Does the Torah really contain a time bomb for human slavery? How is that connected to the LORD’s warning about oppression? And was the Angel of the LORD during the Exodus a manifestation of the Messiah? How does this angel compare with Yeshua (Jesus)? These are topics covered in the Torah reading מִשְׁפָּטִים Mishpatim (“judgments,” Ex. 21:1–24:18).
Does the Torah promote vigilantism (taking the law into your own hands)? Some years ago, those who were against Torah would ask facetious questions like, “If I see my neighbor mowing the lawn on the Shabbat, do I have permission to kill him?” This ridiculous line of argument even ended up as an episode plot for a popular show (“The Midterms,” The West Wing, October 2000).
Are these judgments ignorant and obsolete? For example, in this section of the Torah refers to daughter literally as their father’s silver. Are daughter just the property of their fathers freely passed around and bought and…
Parashat Mishpatim is one of the most uncomfortable chapters in the Torah. It has rules about what we would call indentured servitude as well as how to deal with victims of infanticide. However, the overarching theme in today’s Torah study is how God holds us to keep our own covenants, even if they go above and beyond the covenants He has placed on us Himself.
Does the Torah promote vigilantism? Are its instructions backward and obsolete? If not, what do these instructions mean to me today?
In the Torah reading מִּשְׁפָּטִים Mishpatim (“Judgments,” Exodus 21–24), we see an explanation of each of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20; Deuteronomy 5). By keeping the words of Yeshua haMashiakh (Jesus the Christ) in our minds (Matthew 22:36–40) while reading the Torah, we can start to understand how the instructions teach us as much about the character of the Father as they do about Heaven’s goal for our treatment of other people.
Last time, we discussed lashon ha-ra (evil tongue, i.e., gossip, slander and divisiveness) and how it is one of the latter-day plagues among God’s people.
In this excursus, we will explore a related principle taught in Torah by Yeshua and His apostles: proportionality. A number of Christians often consider “eye for an eye and tooth for tooth” an example of the “old covenant” not to live by anymore and quote Yeshua to that effect.
Rather, we’ll see that “eye for an eye” is a Bible parabolic idiom teaching proportionality. The point of justice is to restore the offender to the community,…
In Exodus 24, we read that after the revelation of the 10 Commandments, God wanted to reveal more information to Moshe (Moses) but for part of that journey, he brought an entourage. God told Moshe to appear before Him but God also called for Aharon (Aaron), Nadab ben Aharon, Abihu ben Aharon, and 70 of the elders of Israel to meet with Him on the mountain first for a seven-day feast, and they did meet Him. They saw Yeshua (Jesus), the Word, the Logos of the Father. That’s why Abraham as well as Moshe, Aharon, Aharon’s two oldest sons and…
The judgments that God gave Moshe (Moses) to teach the Israelite people tell us a lot about God’s character and personality. We learn how God sees us as well. It’s a difficult section to go through because these judgements cover so many issues that aren’t related directly to one another but these things have been written down for us to learn. These judgements are written for us so we can avoid incurring them on ourselves.
Yeshua told us that the second greatest commandment was to “love your neighbor as yourself.” How do we go from loving our neighbors on a theoretical level to a practical level? Exodus 21 doesn’t just show us how people should treat people. It also teaches us how God treats people.
God is going to treat you the same way you treat others. If you abuse people, God will allow abuse to come to you. If you are kind to others, God will be kind to you.
