Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah
Ibn Ezra on Exodus 23:2/אבן עזרא על שמות כ״ג:ב׳
אלא. אם ראית רבים יעידו על דבר שלא ידעתו לא תאמר בלבבך אלה לא יכזבו ואמר הגאון כי שתים מצות יש בפסוק הזה, האחת מצות לא תעשה, והשנית מצות עשה, כי אמר חייב אתה אחרי רבים להטות, כי חשב כי מלת להטות כמו לנטות ואינה כן. רק היא מהבנין הדגוש הכבד כמו ארור מטה משפט (דבר' כז יט) גם נמצאת בלא משפט, ומטי גר (מלאכי ג ה), וחז"ל פי', כי מזה נלמוד כי הלכה כרבים ומה שהעתיקו הוא האמת, ואחר שהכתוב אמר לא תהיה אחרי רבים לרעות, מזה נלמוד, כי אם יהיו הרבים לטובה שהיא מצוה ללכת אחריהם:
1THOU SHALT NOT FOLLOW A MULTITUDE TO DO EVIL. If you see many people testifying concerning something that you know nothing of, do not say to yourself all of these people cannot be lying.3 Saadiah Gaon says that there are two commandments in this verse. One is a negative commandment,4. the other a positive commandment.5 The Gaon says that6 we are obligated to follow the majority,7. Saadiah, like the Talmud (San. 2a), interprets this to mean you shall follow the majority; that is, legal questions are decided by the majority opinion of the court. for Saadiah thought that the word le-hattot (to pervert) has the same meaning as li-netot (to turn).8 as you shall follow the majority. It should be noted that both li-netot and le-hattot come from the same root, nun, tet, heh. However, this is not the case. Le-hattot is a pi’el.9 is a kal. There is an obvious error in I.E. Le-hattot is a hifil. The error was probably made by a scribe, or it is a slip of the pen. It is similar to the word matteh (perverteth) in Cursed be he that perverteth the justice due to the stranger, fatherless, and widow (Deut. 27:19). This form10 form of nun, tet, heh. is also found without the word justice following it. See u-matteh11 is a participle. Le-hattot is an infinitive. Both words are in the hifil. ger (and pervert the stranger)12 (Mal. 3:5). Our rabbis of blessed memory derived the law that the halakha follows the majority opinion from this verse.13 They transmitted the truth to us, for after Scripture states, Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil, we learn that we are commanded to follow a multitude that wants to do good.14 does not follow the plain meaning of the text. It was merely a device by which to pass on the law.
בלא תענה על ריב. מצוה על כל ישראל, ואף כי הדיין שהוא שהריב לפניו לעזור לרעהו:
2NEITHER SHALT THOU BEAR WITNESS. This commandment falls upon all of Israel. How much more so is a judge, before whom a dispute comes, obligated to help his neighbor.15