17 You shall not wrest the justice [due] to the foreigner, [or] to the fatherless, nor take the widow's clothing to pledge;
You shall not wrest justice: you shall not respect persons; neither shall you take a bribe; for a bribe does blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous.
Cursed be he who wrests the justice [due] to the foreigner, fatherless, and widow. All the people shall say, Amen.
"You shall not wrong an alien, neither shall you oppress him, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt. "You shall not take advantage of any widow or fatherless child.
For when the ear heard me, then it blessed me; And when the eye saw me, it commended me: Because I delivered the poor who cried, And the fatherless also, who had none to help him. The blessing of him who was ready to perish came on me, And I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. I put on righteousness, and it clothed me. My justice was as a robe and a diadem. I was eyes to the blind, And feet to the lame. I was a father to the needy. The cause of him who I didn't know, I searched out. I broke the jaws of the unrighteous, And plucked the prey out of his teeth.
"You shall not oppress an alien, for you know the heart of an alien, seeing you were aliens in the land of Egypt.
You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small and the great alike; you shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God's: and the cause that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.
They are grew fat, they shine: yes, they overpass in deeds of wickedness; they don't plead the cause, the cause of the fatherless, that they may prosper; and the right of the needy they don't judge.
Their hands are on that which is evil to do it diligently. The ruler and judge ask for a bribe; And the powerful man dictates the evil desire of his soul. Thus they conspire together.
You who turn justice to wormwood, And cast down righteousness to the earth: Seek him who made the Pleiades and Orion, And turns the shadow of death into the morning, And makes the day dark with night; Who calls for the waters of the sea, And pours them out on the surface of the earth, Yahweh is his name, Who brings sudden destruction on the strong, So that destruction comes on the fortress. They hate him who reproves in the gate, And they abhor him who speaks blamelessly. Forasmuch therefore as you trample on the poor, And take taxes from him of wheat: You have built houses of hewn stone, But you will not dwell in them. You have planted pleasant vineyards, But you shall not drink their wine. For I know how many your offenses, And how great are your sins-- You who afflict the just, Who take a bribe, And who turn aside the needy in the courts.
But you have dishonored the poor man. Don't the rich oppress you, and personally drag you before the courts?
Soldiers also asked him, saying, "What about us? What must we do?" He said to them, "Extort from no one by violence, neither accuse anyone wrongfully. Be content with your wages."
I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against the perjurers, and against those who oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and who deprive the foreigner of justice, and don't fear me," says Yahweh of Hosts.
Don't oppress the widow, nor the fatherless, the foreigner, nor the poor; and let none of you devise evil against his brother in your heart.'
Woe to those who devise iniquity And work evil on their beds! When the morning is light, they practice it, Because it is in the power of their hand. They covet fields, and seize them; And houses, and take them away: And they oppress a man and his house, Even a man and his heritage.
For Yahweh your God, he is God of gods, and Lord of lords, the great God, the mighty, and the awesome, who doesn't regard persons, nor takes reward. He does execute justice for the fatherless and widow, and loves the foreigner, in giving him food and clothing.
No man shall take the mill or the upper millstone to pledge; for he takes [a man's] life to pledge.
Here I am: witness against me before Yahweh, and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose donkey have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I taken a ransom to blind my eyes therewith? and I will restore it you. They said, You have not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither have you taken anything of any man's hand.
But as for the mighty man, he had the earth. The honorable man, he lived in it. You have sent widows away empty, And the arms of the fatherless have been broken.
> God presides in the great assembly. He judges among the gods. "How long will you judge unjustly, And show partiality to the wicked?" Selah. "Defend the weak, the poor, and the fatherless. Maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy. Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked." They don't know, neither do they understand. They walk back and forth in darkness. All the foundations of the earth are shaken.
Yahweh, how long will the wicked, How long will the wicked triumph? They pour out arrogant words. All the evil-doers boast. They break your people in pieces, Yahweh, And afflict your heritage. They kill the widow and the alien, And murder the fatherless.
Shall the throne of wickedness have fellowship with you, Which brings about mischief by statute? They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, And condemn the innocent blood.
If you take your neighbor's garment as collateral, you shall restore it to him before the sun goes down, for that is his only covering, it is his garment for his skin. What would he sleep in? It will happen, when he cries to me, that I will hear, for I am gracious.
Lest they drink, and forget the law, And pervert the justice due to anyone who is afflicted.
If you see the oppression of the poor, and the violent taking away of justice and righteousness in a district, don't marvel at the matter: for one official is eyed by a higher one; and there are officials over them.
He who walks righteously, and speaks blamelessly; he who despises the gain of oppressions, who shakes his hands from taking a bribe, who stops his ears from hearing of blood, and shuts his eyes from looking on evil:
Thus says Yahweh: Execute you justice and righteousness, and deliver him who is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence, to the foreigner, the fatherless, nor the widow; neither shed innocent blood in this place.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Deuteronomy 24
Commentary on Deuteronomy 24 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 24
In this chapter we have,
Deu 24:1-4
This is that permission which the Pharisees erroneously referred to as a precept, Mt. 19:7, Moses commanded to give a writing of divorcement. It was not so; our Saviour told them that he only suffered it because of the hardness of their hearts, lest, if they had not had liberty to divorce their wives, they should have ruled them with rigour, and it may be, have been the death of them. It is probable that divorces were in use before (they are taken for granted, Lev. 21:14), and Moses thought it needful here to give some rules concerning them.
Deu 24:5-13
Here is,
Deu 24:14-22
Here,