Another clear example where the rabbis perverted the explicit, plain reading of the Hebrew Bible is found in the following Talmudic reference:
עָמַד רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ עַל רַגְלָיו וְאָמַר: ״לֹא בַשָּׁמַיִם הִיא!״ מַאי ״לֹא בַּשָּׁמַיִם הִיא״? אָמַר רַבִּי יִרְמְיָה: שֶׁכְּבָר נִתְּנָה תּוֹרָה מֵהַר סִינַי, אֵין אָנוּ מַשְׁגִּיחִין בְּבַת קוֹל, שֶׁכְּבָר כָּתַבְתָּ בְּהַר סִינַי בַּתּוֹרָה ״אַחֲרֵי רַבִּים לְהַטֹּת״. אַשְׁכְּחֵיהּ רַבִּי נָתָן לְאֵלִיָּהוּ, אֲמַר לֵיהּ: מַאי עָבֵיד קוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא בְּהַהִיא שַׁעְתָּא? אֲמַר לֵיהּ: קָא חָיֵיךְ וְאָמַר, ״נִצְּחוּנִי בָּנַי! נִצְּחוּנִי בָּנַי!״
Rabbi Yehoshua stood on his feet and said: It is written: “It is not in heaven” (Deuteronomy 30:12). The Gemara asks: What is the relevance of the phrase “It is not in heaven” in this context? Rabbi Yirmeya says: Since the Torah was already given at Mount Sinai, we do not regard a Divine Voice, as You already wrote at Mount Sinai, in the Torah: “After a majority to incline” (Exodus 23:2). Since the majority of Rabbis disagreed with Rabbi Eliezer’s opinion, the halakha is not ruled in accordance with his opinion. The Gemara relates: Years after, Rabbi Natan encountered Elijah the prophet and said to him: What did the Holy One, Blessed be He, do at that time, when Rabbi Yehoshua issued his declaration? Elijah said to him: The Holy One, Blessed be He, smiled and said: My children have triumphed over Me; My children have triumphed over Me. (Bava Metzia, 59b https://www.sefaria.org/Bava_Metzia.59b.5?lang=bi)
Here the rabbis extracted a part from Exodus 23:2 to support their position that a person should follow and obey the majority over against the isolated position or opinion of the few or of a single individual.
What makes this so disturbing, in fact shocking, is that this the EXACT OPPOSITE point of the verse!
Here is what the passage says as I quote from several English translations:
“You are NOT TO FOLLOW THE MAJORITY in doing wrong, and you are not to testify in a lawsuit so as to follow the majority and pervert justice.” International Standard Version (ISV)
You will NOT FOLLOW A MAJORITY for evil, and you will not testify concerning a legal dispute to turn aside after a majority to pervert justice.” Lexham English Bible (LEB)
“You shall NOT FOLLOW A MAJORITY in wrongdoing; when you bear witness in a lawsuit, you shall not side with the majority so as to pervert justice,” New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVUE)
The unambiguous reading is that one should never follow the majority to do evil or pervert justice, and yet the Talmud took the phrase “follow the majority” to mislead folks into following the majority of rabbis when they have decided a matter!
Even the renowned medieval rabbi Rashi had to candidly admit:
“You shall not follow the majority for evil, and you shall not respond concerning a lawsuit to follow many to pervert [justice].” Exodus 23:2
You shall not follow the majority for evil: There are [halachic] interpretations for this verse given by the Sages of Israel, but the language of the verse does not fit its context according to them. From here they [the Sages] expounded that we may not decide unfavorably [for the defendant] by a majority created by one judge. They interpreted the end of the verse: אַחִרֵי רַבִּים לְהַטֹת, “after the majority to decide,” [to mean] that if those [judges] voting [that the defendant is] guilty outnumber those voting [that the defendant is] innocent by two, the verdict is to be decided unfavorably according to their [the majority’s] opinion. The text speaks of capital cases [i.e., in regard to the death penalty] (Sanh. 2a). [Note that in monetary cases, the court requires a majority of only one judge in order to convict someone.] The middle of the verse וְלֹא-תַעִנֶה עַל-רִב, they [the Rabbis] interpreted like וְלֹא-תַעִנֶה עַל-רַב [and you shall not speak up against a master], meaning that we may not differ with the greatest of the court. Therefore, in capital cases they [the judges] commence [the roll call] from the side, meaning that they first ask the smallest [least esteemed] of them to express his opinion (Sanh. 32a). According to the words of our Sages, this is the interpretation of the verse: You shall not follow the majority for evil to condemn [a person] to death because of one judge, by whom those who declare [the defendant] guilty outnumber those who declare [him] innocent. And you shall not speak up against a master to deviate from his words. Because the “yud” [of רִיב, meaning quarrel] is missing, they interpreted it (רִב) in this manner [i.e., like (רַב)]. After the majority to decide [signifies that] there is, however, a majority after whom you do decide [the verdict]. When? If those [judges] who declare [the defendant] guilty outnumber by two those who declare him innocent. And since it says: “You shall not follow the majority for evil,” I deduce that you shall follow them [the majority] for good. From here they [the Rabbis] deduced that in capital cases, we decide through [a majority of] one for an acquittal and through [a majority of] two for a conviction. Onkelos renders [this verse]: Do not refrain from teaching what appears to you concerning a judgment. The Hebrew wording according to the Targum is interpreted as follows: And you shall not respond concerning a quarrel by turning away. If someone asks you something concerning the law, do not answer by turning aside and distancing yourself from the quarrel, but judge it honestly. I, however, say, [DIFFERING FROM THE RABBIS AND ONKELOS] that it [the verse] SHOULD BE ACCORDING TO ITS CONTEXT. This is its interpretation:
You shall not follow the majority for evil: If you see wicked people perverting justice, do not say, “Since they are many, I will follow them.”
and you shall not respond concerning a lawsuit to follow, etc.: And if the litigant asks you about that [corrupted] judgment, do not answer him concerning the lawsuit with an answer that follows those many to pervert the judgment from its true ruling But tell the judgment as it is, and let the neck iron hang on the neck of the many. [I.e., let the many bear the punishment for their perversion of justice.] (The Complete Jewish Bible with Rashi Commentary https://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/9884/showrashi/true#v2; emphasis mine)
Our risen Lord of glory was right when he castigated the Jews of his day for perverting the inspired Scriptures by their uninspired traditions:
“And the Pharisees and some of the scribes gathered around Him when they had come from Jerusalem,and had seen that some of His disciples were eating their bread with defiled hands, that is, unwashed.(For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they carefully wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders; and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash themselves; and there are many other things which they have received in order to observe, such as the washing of cups and pitchers and copper pots.) 5 And the Pharisees and the scribes *asked Him, ‘Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with defiled hands?’And He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: “This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me. But in vain do they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commands of men.” Leaving the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.’ And He was also saying to them, “You are good at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition.For Moses said, “Honor your father and your mother”; and, “He who speaks evil of father or mother, is to be put to death”; but you say, “If a man says to his father or his mother, whatever you might benefit from me is Corban (that is to say, given to God),” you no longer leave him to do anything for his father or his mother; thus invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that.’” Mark 7:1-13 Legacy Standard Bible (LSB)
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