Shemos 21:1

וְאֵ֙לֶּה֙ הַמִּשְׁפָּטִ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר תָּשִׂ֖ים לִפְנֵיהֶֽם

“And these are the ordinances…”.

Rashi explains, and this is from the words of our Sages of blessed memory (Shemos Rabbah 30, 3): Wherever it says “These”, it disqualifies/negates the former; but where it says “And these”, it adds to the former. Just as the former [the Ten Commandments] were from Sinai, so too these [the civil laws] are from Sinai.

One must examine: What would I have thought—that these laws are not from Sinai, such that it was necessary to inform us that they are from Sinai? Furthermore, what was difficult for [the Sages] that forced them into this interpretation?

It must be said that the difficulty they faced was: Why didn’t the Torah portion begin with “And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying…”? Therefore, they said that these laws are connected to the preceding portion, the Ten Commandments, which were stated at Sinai. Similarly, these civil laws were also stated then at Sinai, and consequently, there is no need to repeat “And the Lord spoke…” again.

And as our Sages of blessed memory said (Devarim Rabbah 5,1): “Do not treat a single civil law lightly that they are from the three pillars of the world, why did our Sages teach (Pirkei Avos 1:18) : “On three things the world stands: on Justice , on Truth, and on Peace”?

And why was it necessary to specifically inform us regarding Justice , and not regarding the others, as in all of them it is said “And [God] spoke…”?

It must be said that because these laws are logical, and even the nations of the world have regulations that they rule by, the Children of Israel might think there is some equality between us and them in this detail.

Therefore, it says that these laws were also stated at Sinai and they are the “Judgments of God”. “He has not done so for any other nation; and such laws, they have not known them”