If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under its burden, thou shalt forbear to pass by him; thou shalt surely release it with him. (Exodus 23:5)
כִּי תִרְאֶה חֲמוֹר שֹׂנַאֲךָ רֹבֵץ תַּחַת מַשָּׂאוֹ וְחָדַלְתָּ מֵעֲזֹב לוֹ עָזֹב תַּעֲזֹב עִמּוֹ. (שמות כ"ג, ה)
This verse is formulated as a conditional case and response, but is ambiguous. It is unclear whether “ve-hadalta me-azov lo” – refraining from helping him – describes the case or the desired response.
We can understand it as part of the desired response, as Ibn Ezra does. The verse would then mean: if you see your enemy’s ass lying under its burden, stop leaving the matter to your enemy; instead, help him release, or unload, the burden from the ass. Alternatively, it can describe the case: if you see your enemy’s ass lying under its burden, and your spontaneous reaction is not to help him, you must help him nonetheless.
The cantillation supports the second possibility. The etnahta on “lo” divides the sentence so that “ve-hadalta me-azov lo” remains in the first part, describing the case.
The Torah is therefore not occupied here with commanding help for others. Nor is it merely commanding help for an enemy whose ass lies under its burden; it could have simply said: “If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under its burden … thou shalt surely release it with him.” Instead, it addresses the person’s inner world, the heart’s inclination to avoid helping an enemy. It tells the person: if this is your situation, if this is how you feel, you must overcome your inclination and help him.
This connects to other passages where the Torah addresses human feelings and thoughts and seeks to refine them. For example, “Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart” commands an inward state rather than any outward deed. The Torah goes beyond a dry list of prohibitions and permissions, seeking to educate people and make them better. It does more than command outward actions without intention: it seeks to reach the heart. As the Sages put it, “The Merciful One desires the heart” (Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 106b).
