Keluaran 22:28

22:28 “You must not blaspheme ¹  God ²  or curse the ruler of your people.

Imamat 24:15-16

24:15 Moreover, ³  you are to tell the Israelites, ‘If any man curses his God ⁴  he will bear responsibility for his sin, 24:16 and one who misuses ⁵  the name of the Lord must surely be put to death. The whole congregation must surely stone him, whether he is a foreigner or a native citizen; when he misuses the Name he must be put to death.

[22:28]  ¹ tn The two verbs in this verse are synonyms: קָלַל (qalal) means “to treat lightly, curse,” and אָרַר (’arar) means “to curse.”

[22:28]  ² tn The word אֱלֹהִים (’elohim) is “gods” or “God.” If taken as the simple plural, it could refer to the human judges, as it has in the section of laws; this would match the parallelism in the verse. If it was taken to refer to God, then the idea of cursing God would be more along the line of blasphemy. B. Jacob says that the word refers to functioning judges, and that would indirectly mean God, for they represented the religious authority, and the prince the civil authority (Exodus, 708).

[24:15]  ³ tn Heb “And.”

[24:15]  ⁴ sn See the note on v. 11 above and esp. Exod 22:28 [27 HT].

[24:16]  ⁵ sn See the note on v. 11 above.