The Fallible · Synthetic · Study Bible
Additional Laws
Deuteronomy 24:6–22 — Additional Laws. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.
6Do not take a pair of millstones or even an upper millstone as security for a debt, because that would be taking one’s livelihood as security.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
lō- rê·ḥa·yim wā·rā·ḵeḇ ya·ḥă·ḇōl kî- hū ne·p̄eš ḥō·ḇêl
Literal — word-for-word from the original
Not the-two-millstones and-the-rider shall-one-take-in-pledge, for a-life he is-pledging.
Where the English smooths the original
Literally, the two millstones, or even the upper one. A man’s life. —Literally, a soul. This word connects the two verses (6, 7).Ellicott on the two literal cruxes: the "two millstones" of the dual noun, and the "soul" (nephesh) that ties v. 6 to the man-stealing of v. 7.
the handmill was indispensable for preparing the daily food for the house; so that whoever took them away injured life itself, by withdrawing what was indispensable to the preservation of life.Keil gives the law's logic: the mill ground the daily bread, so to pawn it is to "injure life itself" — the legal version of Ellicott's "soul."
Milling (as largely still in Palestine) was mainly domestic, the first indispensable duty of the day; the sound of the millstones as sure a sign of a living family as the light of the candleCambridge fixes the daily-life image — the grinding stones as the morning sound of a living household (echoing Jeremiah 25:10; Revelation 18:22).
The propriety of the law was founded on the custom of grinding corn every morning for daily consumption. If either of the stones, therefore, which composed the handmill was wanting, a person would be deprived of his necessary provision.JFB explains why even the upper stone alone is protected: remove either half and the whole mill is useless, so the poor man loses his bread.
7If a man is caught kidnapping one of his Israelite brothers, whether he treats him as a slave or sells him, the kidnapper must die. So you must purge the evil from among you.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
kî- ’îš yim·mā·ṣê gō·nêḇ ne·p̄eš mib·bə·nê yiś·rā·’êl mê·’e·ḥāw wə·hiṯ·‘am·mer- bōw ū·mə·ḵā·rōw ha·hū hag·gan·nāḇ ū·mêṯ ū·ḇi·‘ar·tā hā·rā‘ miq·qir·be·ḵā
Literal — word-for-word from the original
If a-man is-found stealing a-soul from-his-brothers, from-the-sons-of-Israel, and-treats-him-as-property and-sells-him — then-that thief shall-die; and-you-shall-burn-away the-evil from-your-midst.
Where the English smooths the original
The parallel in E, Exodus 21:16 , has stealing a man ; for D’s substitution of Israelite see on Deuteronomy 15:2 , Deuteronomy 22:1-4 . Ḫammurabi (§ 14) decrees death to the kidnapper.Cambridge sets the law beside its Exodus parallel and the older Code of Hammurabi, which likewise made kidnapping a capital crime.
Thus the crime of man-stealing was to be punished with death, though stealing of beasts, or other things, was not.Benson names the gradation: stealing property required restitution, but stealing a person required the thief's life.
and maketh merchandise of him; or rather uses him as a servant, and employs him in any service to the least profit and advantage by him, even to the value of a farthingGill, drawing on Maimonides, presses how little "using" suffices for guilt — to profit by the stolen man at all, "even to the value of a farthing."
Man-stealing was a capital crime, which could not be settled, as other thefts, by restitution.Henry's terse summary of the principle: man-stealing was beyond the reach of restitution because a person is not a thing to be repaid.
8In cases of infectious skin diseases, be careful to diligently follow everything the Levitical priests instruct you. Be careful to do as I have commanded them.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
bə·ne·ḡa‘- haṣ·ṣā·ra·‘aṯ hiš·šā·mer liš·mōr wə·la·‘ă·śō·wṯ mə·’ōḏ kə·ḵōl ’ă·šer- hal·wî·yim ka·’ă·šer hak·kō·hă·nîm yō·w·rū ’eṯ·ḵem tiš·mə·rū la·‘ă·śō·wṯ ṣiw·wî·ṯim
Literal — word-for-word from the original
In-the-plague of-the-leprosy, take-heed to-guard diligently and-to-do according-to-all that the-priests, the-Levites, instruct you; as I-have-commanded them, you-shall-keep to-do.
Where the English smooths the original
By which words he plainly intimates, that they were not only to have an eye to the Levites’ instructions, but also and especially unto the word and command of God, and that if the Levites’ sentence were manifestly contrary to the command of God, it were not to be obeyed.Poole reads the closing clause ("as I have commanded them") as a limit on priestly authority: obey the priests, but only as far as they keep to God's command.
If 8 b is original to D this Torah need not be the detailed instructions on leprosy now found in P, Leviticus 13 f., but some earlier priestly Torah from which those have developedCambridge's source-critical reading: the "torah" the priests teach may be an early priestly instruction behind the developed Leviticus 13–14 code — offered here as one scholar's reconstruction, not a settled fact.
But it is improbable that a general counsel to submit to the priests should be introduced among the special counsels here given; and besides, the formula הִשָּׁמֶר בְ means, "Take heed to yourself in respect of" (cf. 2 Samuel 20:10 ; Jeremiah 17:21 ), rather than "Beware of," or "Be on your guard against."The Pulpit Commentary weighs the two readings of the contested phrase hiššāmer bĕ: Michaelis, Keil, and the Vulgate take it as "beware of incurring leprosy by disobedience," but the Pulpit prefers "take heed to yourself in respect of" the plague — i.e., submit to the priests' rulings on it — and gives the grammatical parallels (2 Samuel 20:10; Jeremiah 17:21).
which shows the they were not to comply with their orders, and conform to them, any further than they agreed with the commands of God, and the instructions he had given them in the places referred to.Gill, like Poole, insists the people's obedience to the priests was bounded by God's own commands — a Reformation-era safeguard against clerical overreach.
9Remember what the LORD your God did to Miriam on the journey after you came out of Egypt.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
zā·ḵō·wr ’êṯ ’ă·šer- Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·he·ḵā ‘ā·śāh lə·mir·yām bad·de·reḵ bə·ṣê·ṯə·ḵem mim·miṣ·rā·yim
Literal — word-for-word from the original
Remember what Yahweh your-God did to-Miriam on-the-way, when-you-came-out from-Egypt.
Where the English smooths the original
God smote Miriam with leprosy for her contempt of Moses, and therefore thou mayst expect the same or like punishment, if thou dost despise the counsel and direction of the Levites, which I have set over thee, and commanded thee to observe in this and the like matters.Poole reads the memory of Miriam as a sanction behind the leprosy law: as she was struck for contempt of Moses, so contempt for the Levites' priestly direction invites the same stroke.
This seems to have been intended as an admonition, to take care lest they spoke evil of dignities, or disobeyed the commands of the priest, which might bring such a stroke upon them as God inflicted upon Miriam.Benson takes the memory of Miriam as a caution against rebellion — against speaking evil of leaders or defying the priests' rulings on leprosy.
Who was stricken with leprosy for speaking against Moses, and was shut up seven days; and they are reminded of this instance, partly to warn them against entertaining evil suspicions, and surmises of persons in power and authority, and speaking evil of themGill links the leprosy law to the sin that occasioned Miriam's: leprosy came as judgment on her speech against Moses, a warning against contempt for authority.
10When you lend anything to your neighbor, do not enter his house to collect security.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
kî- ṯaš·šeh maš·šaṯ mə·’ū·māh ḇə·rē·ʿă·ḵå̄ lō- ṯā·ḇō ’el- bê·ṯōw la·‘ă·ḇōṭ ‘ă·ḇō·ṭōw
Literal — word-for-word from the original
When you-lend your-neighbor a-loan of-anything, you-shall-not go into his-house to-take-as-pledge his-pledge.
Where the English smooths the original
the lender was not to go into his house to pledge (take) a pledge, but was to let the borrower bring the pledge out. The meaning is, that they were to leave it to the borrower to give a pledge, and not compel him to give up something as a pledge that might be indispensable to him.Keil states the law's mechanism and its mercy: the borrower, not the creditor, chooses the pledge, so nothing indispensable is seized.
he was not insolently to enter the house and lay hands on any part of the owner's property. To stand outside and call is still a common mode of seeking access to a person in his own house or apartment among the Arabs, and is regarded as the only respectful mode.The Pulpit Commentary reads the law as protecting the debtor's dignity — and notes the Eastern custom that calling from outside, not entering, is the respectful approach.
The law in these verses is evidently the production of primitive and simple times, when men had little more than the bare necessaries of life to offer as security—their own clothing, or the mill-stones used to prepare their daily food, being almost their only portable property.Ellicott situates the pledge-laws in an economy where the poor had only clothing and millstones to give — which is exactly why these laws guard those very things.
thou shall not go into his house to fetch his pledge; which would be an exercise of too much power and authority, to go into a neighbour's house, and take what was liked; and besides, as no doubt he would take the best, so he might take that which the poor man could not spareGill names the double danger the law prevents: the creditor's overreach into the home, and his taking "the best" — what the poor man could least spare.
11You are to stand outside while the man to whom you are lending brings the security out to you.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
ta·‘ă·mōḏ ba·ḥūṣ wə·hā·’îš ’ă·šer ’at·tāh nō·šeh ḇōw yō·w·ṣî ha·‘ă·ḇō·wṭ ha·ḥū·ṣāh ’ê·le·ḵā ’eṯ-
Literal — word-for-word from the original
Outside you-shall-stand; and-the-man to-whom you are-lending shall-bring-out the-pledge to-you outside.
Where the English smooths the original
now as, on the one hand, if the lender or creditor had been allowed to go in and take what he pleased for a pledge, he would choose the best; so, on the other hand, the borrower or debtor would be apt to bring the worst, what was of the least value and use; wherefore the Jews made it a rule that it should be of a middling sortGill balances the law: leaving the choice to the borrower could tempt him to bring the worst, so rabbinic rule required a pledge "of a middling sort."
He shall choose what pledge he please, provided only it be sufficient for the purpose.Poole states the borrower's freedom plainly — his to choose the pledge, so long as it suffices to secure the loan.
the lender was not to go into his house to pledge (take) a pledge, but was to let the borrower bring the pledge out.Keil, treating vv. 10–11 together, restates the core procedure: the borrower brings the pledge out; the lender waits without.
12If he is a poor man, you must not go to sleep with the security in your possession;
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·’im- hū ‘ā·nî ’îš lō ṯiš·kaḇ ba·‘ă·ḇō·ṭōw
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-if a-poor man he-is, you-shall-not lie-down in-his-pledge.
Where the English smooths the original
And if the man was in distress (עני), the lender was not to lie (sleep) upon his pledge, since the poor man had very often nothing but his upper garment, in which he slept, to give as a pledge.Keil identifies the pledge: the poor man's one garment, his daytime robe and his only bedding, which the creditor must not keep overnight.
some might be so very destitute of goods and raiment in their houses, that whatever they parted with was distressing to them, and they could not well do without it: thou shalt not sleep with his pledge; nor keep it a nightGill marks the gradation of poverty: for the truly destitute, any pledge was a distress, so the creditor must not keep it even one night.
But restore it before night, which intimates that he should take no such thing for pledge, without which a man cannot sleep, since it were an idle thing to fetch it and carry it every day.Poole draws the practical inference: if a pledge must be returned each night, a creditor should not take a thing the man cannot sleep without at all.
13be sure to return it to him by sunset, so that he may sleep in his own cloak and bless you, and this will be credited to you as righteousness before the LORD your God.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
hā·šêḇ tā·šîḇ ’eṯ- ha·‘ă·ḇō·wṭ lōw kə·ḇō haš·še·meš wə·šā·ḵaḇ bə·śal·mā·ṯōw ū·ḇê·ră·ḵe·kā tih·yeh ṣə·ḏā·qāh ū·lə·ḵā lip̄·nê Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·he·ḵā
Literal — word-for-word from the original
Returning you-shall-return to-him the-pledge when the-sun goes-in, that-he-may-lie-down in-his-cloak and-bless you; and-to-you it-shall-be righteousness before Yahweh your-God.
Where the English smooths the original
Bless thee, instrumentally, as ministers are said to convert and save sinners, to wit, bring down the blessing of God upon thee by his prayers; for though his prayers, if he be not a good man, shall not avail for his own behalf, yet they shall avail for thy benefit.Poole explains how the poor man "blesses" the merciful creditor — by prayers that bring God's blessing down on him, availing even when the poor man himself is no saint.
not his justifying righteousness before God, for by the deeds of the law shall no flesh living be justified in his sight; but it shall be owned and approved of as a good and righteous action, and answerable to the intention of this law, which is, that mercy should be shown to persons in distressGill guards the word "righteousness" against works-justification: the deed is approved as righteous and merciful, but no one is justified before God by such deeds of the law.
the large outer robe which the peasant can dispense with by day while at work, but which he almost invariably sleeps in; cp. Amos 2:8 , Job 22:6 , Proverbs 20:16 .Cambridge identifies the cloak (salmah) and lists the prophets and wisdom texts (Amos 2:8; Job 22:6; Proverbs 20:16) that condemn its abuse as a pledge.
14Do not oppress a hired hand who is poor and needy, whether he is a brother or a foreigner residing in one of your towns.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
lō- ṯa·‘ă·šōq śā·ḵîr ‘ā·nî wə·’eḇ·yō·wn mê·’a·ḥe·ḵā ’ōw mig·gê·rə·ḵā ’ă·šer biš·‘ā·re·ḵā bə·’ar·ṣə·ḵā
Literal — word-for-word from the original
You-shall-not oppress a-hired-laborer who-is-poor and-needy, whether from-your-brothers or from-your-sojourner who-is in-your-land, within-your-gates.
Where the English smooths the original
Not oppress a hired servant — By detaining his wages from him when due, which is the meaning of oppression here, as appears from the next verse.Benson pins down what "oppress" means in this law: not violence but wage theft — withholding the laborer's pay when it is due.
Hired servants in the East are paid at the close of the day; and for a master to defraud the laborer of his hire, or to withhold it wrongfully for a night, might have subjected a poor man with his family to suffering and was therefore an injustice to be avoidedJFB explains the daily-wage economy behind the law: a laborer paid at dusk had no margin, so even one night's delay could mean his family's hunger.
Whether Israelite or gçr , if he be poor, his wage is to be paid the day he earns it; if he has to appeal to God it will be sin to thee.—Sg. with brother (not neighbour ) and other deuteronomic phrases. Parallel to H, Leviticus 19:13Cambridge summarizes the law and names its parallel in the Holiness Code (Leviticus 19:13), noting the protection extends to Israelite and gêr alike.
“The wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning.” (Comp. also Jeremiah 22:13 ; Malachi 3:5 ; James 5:4 .)Ellicott traces the wage-law's afterlife through the prophets and into the New Testament — Jeremiah 22:13, Malachi 3:5, and James 5:4 on the cry of the defrauded laborer.
15You are to pay his wages each day before sunset, because he is poor and depends on them. Otherwise he may cry out to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty of sin.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
ṯit·tên śə·ḵā·rōw bə·yō·w·mōw wə·lō- haš·še·meš ṯā·ḇō·w ‘ā·lāw kî hū wə·’ê·lāw hū ‘ā·nî nō·śê ’eṯ- nap̄·šōw ’el- wə·lō- yiq·rā Yah·weh ‘ā·le·ḵā wə·hā·yāh ḇə·ḵā ḥêṭ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
In-his-day you-shall-give his-wages, and-the-sun shall-not go-in upon-it, for he-is-poor and-to-it he-lifts-up his-soul; lest he-cry-out against-you to-Yahweh, and-it-be in-you sin.
Where the English smooths the original
"And to it (his wages) he lifts up his soul:" i.e., he feels a longing for it. "Lifts up his soul:" as in Psalm 24:4 ; Hosea 4:8 ; Jeremiah 22:27 . On Deuteronomy 24:15 , see Deuteronomy 15:9 and James 5:4 .Keil unfolds the idiom "lifts up his soul" as longing, citing its other occurrences, and forward-links the law to James 5:4 on the withheld wages that cry out.
having none to apply unto but him, who is the patron of the poor and needy, not being able to help himself, nor having interest in any to interpose on his behalf; and his cry, and the cry of his hire too, enter into the ears of the Lord of hostsGill makes God the poor man's only advocate: with no human patron, his cry — and "the cry of his hire" (James 5:4) — reaches the ears of the Lord of hosts.
Setteth his heart upon it, Heb. lifteth up his soul to it , which notes his great desire and hope of it, and his dependence upon it: see Psalm 24:4 Jeremiah 22:27 .Poole gives the literal Hebrew behind "setteth his heart" — "lifteth up his soul" — and reads it as the poor man's desire, hope, and dependence on his pay.
setteth his heart ] Lit. lifteth up his desire ( nephesh ). The Heb. term with its several meanings suggests how his life depends on his wage. Being poor he cannot be indifferent to it.Cambridge plays on the range of nephesh (desire / life): the very ambiguity shows the laborer's life is bound up in the wage he cannot afford to wait for.
16Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children for their fathers; each is to die for his own sin.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
’ā·ḇō·wṯ lō- yū·mə·ṯū ‘al- bā·nîm ū·ḇā·nîm lō- yū·mə·ṯū ‘al- ’ā·ḇō·wṯ ʾīš yū·mā·ṯū bə·ḥeṭ·’ōw
Literal — word-for-word from the original
Fathers shall-not be-put-to-death for sons, and-sons shall-not be-put-to-death for fathers; each for-his-own-sin shall-be-put-to-death.
Where the English smooths the original
they were not to suffer the punishment of death with them for crimes in which they had no share; but every one was to be punished simply for his own sin. This command was important, to prevent an unwarrantable and abusive application of the law which is manifest in the movements of divine justiceKeil draws the careful line: God may visit a father's sin on his children (Exodus 20:5), but human courts may not — each is punished only for his own sin.
A caution addressed to earthly judges. Among other Oriental nations the family of a criminal was commonly involved in his punishment (compare Esther 9:13-14 ). In Israel it was not to be soBarnes specifies the audience — "earthly judges" — and contrasts Israel's law with the surrounding nations that punished a criminal's whole family.
But 2 Kings 14:6 records that Amaziah when putting to death the assassins of his father did not also slay their children—apparently an innovation on the usual practice. The deuteronomic editor of Kings quotes D’s law as the King’s authority for his clemency.Cambridge supplies the law's first recorded enforcement: King Amaziah spared the assassins' children (2 Kings 14:6), an act the editor of Kings grounds in this very statute.
For though God do visit the father’s sins upon the children, (Exodus 20.,) yet he will not suffer men to do so.Benson states the resolution of the apparent tension with Exodus 20:5 in one line: what God may do as sovereign, He forbids men to do as judges.
17Do not deny justice to the foreigner or the fatherless, and do not take a widow’s cloak as security.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
lō ṯaṭ·ṭeh miš·paṭ gêr yā·ṯō·wm wə·lō ’al·mā·nāh be·ḡeḏ ṯa·ḥă·ḇōl
Literal — word-for-word from the original
You-shall-not turn-aside the-justice of-a-sojourner, an-orphan; and-you-shall-not take-in-pledge a-widow's garment.
Where the English smooths the original
In a very special way and for some special reason, all through the Old Testament, “the Lord careth for the stranger.”Ellicott names the pattern that runs the length of the Old Testament — God's particular care for the stranger — which his fuller note (below) reads typologically toward Christ.
Because the world valued these people least, therefore God has most care over them.The Geneva note states the reversal at the heart of the law: God's care is heaviest where the world's value is lightest — the stranger, the orphan, the widow.
Who are unable to defend themselves, and have but few, if any, to take their part; and therefore particular care should be taken by judges and civil magistrates to do them justice, or God will require it of themGill grounds the law in the defenselessness of its beneficiaries: with no one to take their part, the powerless are made the special charge of judges, on pain of God's reckoning.
Its word for pledge , however, is not ‘abat as there but ḥabal as in Deuteronomy 24:6 , and its appearance here is natural.Cambridge notes the lexical seam: the widow's-cloak clause uses ḥabal, the pledge-verb of v. 6, not the ‘abat of vv. 10–13 — binding this verse back to the millstone law.
18Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you from that place. Therefore I am commanding you to do this.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·zā·ḵar·tā kî hā·yî·ṯā ‘e·ḇeḏ bə·miṣ·ra·yim Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·he·ḵā way·yip̄·də·ḵā miš·šām ‘al- kên ’ā·nō·ḵî mə·ṣaw·wə·ḵā la·‘ă·śō·wṯ ’eṯ- had·dā·ḇār haz·zeh
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-you-shall-remember that a-slave you-were in-Egypt, and-Yahweh your-God redeemed you from-there; therefore I am-commanding you to-do this-word.
Where the English smooths the original
Thou shalt remember, to wit, affectionately and practically; and by the compassionate sense of others’ miseries, thou shalt make it evident that thou hast not forgotten thy own distresses and deliverances.Poole defines the kind of remembering the law demands: not sentiment but action — a compassion for others' misery that proves one has not forgotten one's own.
The remembrance of which may cause sympathy with persons in distress; particularly the stranger, the fatherless, and the widowGill names the affective logic of the motive-clause: remembering one's own bondage breeds sympathy for those now in distress — the stranger, fatherless, and widow of the verses around it.
thou shalt remember , etc.] Almost exactly as in Deuteronomy 24:22 , and Deuteronomy 15:5 ; cp. Deuteronomy 5:15 .Cambridge flags the refrain: the "remember you were slaves" formula recurs almost verbatim in v. 22 and across Deuteronomy (15:15; 5:15) as the book's signature motive.
19If you are harvesting in your field and forget a sheaf there, do not go back to get it. It is to be left for the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
kî ṯiq·ṣōr qə·ṣî·rə·ḵā ḇə·śā·ḏe·ḵā wə·šā·ḵaḥ·tā ‘ō·mer baś·śā·ḏeh lō ṯā·šūḇ lə·qaḥ·tōw yih·yeh lag·gêr lay·yā·ṯō·wm wə·lā·’al·mā·nāh lə·ma·‘an Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·he·ḵā yə·ḇā·reḵ·ḵā bə·ḵōl ma·‘ă·śêh yā·ḏe·ḵā
Literal — word-for-word from the original
When you-reap your-harvest in-your-field, and-you-forget a-sheaf in-the-field, you-shall-not turn-back to-take-it; for-the-sojourner, for-the-orphan, and-for-the-widow it-shall-be — that Yahweh your-God may-bless you in-all the-work of-your-hands.
Where the English smooths the original
Here is a beneficent provision for the poor. Every forgotten sheaf in the harvest-field was to lie; the olive tree was not to be beaten a second time; nor were grapes to be gathered, in order that, in collecting what remained, the hearts of the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow might be gladdened by the bounty of Providence.JFB reads all three gleaning-laws (vv. 19–21) as one beneficent system, gladdening the stranger, fatherless, and widow with "the bounty of Providence."
a sheaf claimed by this name is one that is forgotten both by the workman and the owner; if by the one and not by the other, it could not be so called.Gill, drawing on the Mishnah (Peah), defines "forgotten": only a sheaf overlooked by both worker and owner qualifies — a deliberately left sheaf does not.
But those who see in these the sole origin of the custom ignore the natural promptings of the hearts of simple, peasant peoples to care for the needy. There are no traces of the superstition in D, H or Ruth 2.Cambridge weighs and rejects the anthropological theory (a "corn-spirit" in the last sheaf) as the law's sole origin, crediting instead the plain human impulse to care for the needy.
Moses here exhorts them to be mindful of those provisions made for the poor by this law, ( Leviticus 19:9-10 ; Leviticus 23:22 ,) wherein they are ordered not to be over exact in reaping the fruits of their fields and vineyards, but to leave something to be gathered by their poor neighbours.Benson ties the gleaning-law to its Leviticus parallels and states its spirit: not to be "over exact" in harvesting, but to leave a margin for poor neighbors.
20When you beat the olives from your trees, you must not go over the branches again. What remains will be for the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
kî ṯaḥ·bōṭ zê·ṯə·ḵā lō ṯə·p̄ā·’êr ’a·ḥă·re·ḵā yih·yeh lag·gêr lay·yā·ṯō·wm wə·lā·’al·mā·nāh
Literal — word-for-word from the original
When you-beat your-olive-tree, you-shall-not go-over the-boughs after-you; for-the-sojourner, for-the-orphan, and-for-the-widow it-shall-be.
Where the English smooths the original
‘Some climb into the trees and shake the boughs, while others stand below and beat off the fruit with long slender poles’Cambridge supplies a traveler's eyewitness of the olive harvest (Van Lennep) — climbers shaking, beaters below with poles — the very scene the verb assumes.
thou shall not go over the boughs again; to beat off some few that may remain; they were not nicely to examine the boughs over again, whether there were any left or not: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widowGill reads the prohibition against the second pass as a ban on scrupulous over-gleaning: the owner is not to comb the boughs for the last few olives owed to the poor.
the olive tree was not to be beaten a second time; nor were grapes to be gathered, in order that, in collecting what remained, the hearts of the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow might be gladdened by the bounty of Providence.JFB joins the olive and grape laws to the forgotten sheaf as one provision, with the gleanings framed as "the bounty of Providence" for the powerless.
21When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you must not go over the vines again. What remains will be for the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
kî ṯiḇ·ṣōr kar·mə·ḵā lō ṯə·‘ō·w·lêl ’a·ḥă·re·ḵā yih·yeh lag·gêr lay·yā·ṯō·wm wə·lā·’al·mā·nāh
Literal — word-for-word from the original
When you-gather-grapes of-your-vineyard, you-shall-not go-over it again; for-the-sojourner, for-the-orphan, and-for-the-widow it-shall-be.
Where the English smooths the original
literally, Thou shalt not glean after thee , i . e . after thou hast reaped and gathered for thyself. It is still the custom among the Arabs for the poor to be allowed to gather the berries that may be left on the olive trees after they have been beatenThe Pulpit Commentary gives the literal "glean after thee" and notes the living custom — the poor still gathering what the harvesters leave behind.
These laws were made in favour of the poor, that mercy and kindness might be showed to them, and that they might have a taste of all the fruits of the earth.Gill gathers the purpose of the whole gleaning-code in a sentence: that the poor might "have a taste of all the fruits of the earth" — grain, oil, and wine alike.
When thou gatherest ] Lit. cuttest off , the usual vb. for harvesting grapes ( Jdg 9:27 ). Ingathering , applied to the vintage feast (see on Deuteronomy 16:13 ), is another vb.Cambridge distinguishes the verb here (bâtsar, "cut off / harvest grapes") from the word for the vintage feast's "ingathering" — a lexical nicety lost in English.
22Remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt. Therefore I am commanding you to do this.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·zā·ḵar·tā kî- hā·yî·ṯā ‘e·ḇeḏ bə·’e·reṣ miṣ·rā·yim ‘al- kên ’ā·nō·ḵî mə·ṣaw·wə·ḵā la·‘ă·śō·wṯ ’eṯ- had·dā·ḇār haz·zeh
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-you-shall-remember that a-slave you-were in-the-land of-Egypt; therefore I am-commanding you to-do this-word.
Where the English smooths the original
God judged them not mindful of his beasts, unless they were beneficial to others.The Geneva note turns the memory-clause into a test of true remembering: God counts no one mindful of His mercies who is not, in turn, "beneficial to others."
When they would have been glad to have enjoyed the like favours, as small as they might seem to be, even to glean in their fields, vineyards, and oliveyardsGill drives the memory home to the gleaning-laws: as slaves in Egypt, Israel would have been glad of just such small mercies — so they owe them now to the poor among them.
The motive assigned for these various acts of consideration is one and the same Deuteronomy 24:18 , Deuteronomy 24:22 .Barnes names the single recurring motive that governs the whole section: the memory of Egypt, stated at v. 18 and repeated here at v. 22.
The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.
AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.
The unit opens with a word-play the commentators all see and the English hides. The law forbids taking rêḥayim (H7347), the two millstones, "or even the rider" (rekeb, H7393) — the upper stone the Arabs still call "the rider" (so JFB and the Pulpit Commentary). Why? "For he taketh a man's life to pledge" — and that word is nephesh (H5315), "a soul." Ellicott states it flatly: "Literally, a soul. This word connects the two verses (6, 7)." Keil draws the law's logic: "the handmill was indispensable for preparing the daily food for the house; so that whoever took them away injured life itself." Then v. 7 makes the seam audible: the man-stealer is found "stealing a nephesh" — the same soul-word, now a stolen person. The mill is a life because it makes bread; the kidnapped man is a soul because he is one. Benson marks the gradation in punishment: "the crime of man-stealing was to be punished with death, though stealing of beasts, or other things, was not" (⚙ the soul-word, traced by Ellicott across vv. 6–7, is the unit's first verbal seam; the verb ‘âmar, "plays the owner," recurs in only three verses — see the threads).
Between the laws of property and the laws of pledge stands a strange pair of verses: "take heed in the plague of leprosy," then "remember what Yahweh did to Miriam." The construction hiššāmer bĕ is contested, and the two camps cut across the commentators. The Pulpit Commentary reads it "take heed to yourself in respect of" the plague — submit to the priests' rulings — and judges it "improbable that a general counsel to submit to the priests should be introduced among the special counsels here given" by the rival sense. Keil takes the rival sense himself: with the Vulgate and Michaelis he reads "Be on thy guard because of the plague of leprosy," i.e., that you do not incur it "as the reward for thy rebellion" against the priests' teaching — the very fate that overtook Miriam. The text itself supplies the test-case rather than the rule: Miriam (H4813, a name in only thirteen verses), struck with leprosy "on the way" out of Egypt for speaking against Moses (Numbers 12:10). Ellicott reads it against partiality: though she was "one of the three leaders of Israel," she "was shut out of the camp seven days" — "there might be a tendency to relax the law in the case of great or wealthy persons," and the memory of Miriam forbids it. Gill and Benson hear in it a warning against contempt for those in authority. The law teaches by remembering a person, not reciting a principle — the same instinct that will close the unit with "remember you were slaves."
Four verses govern how a loan is secured, and every one of them is a fence around the borrower's dignity. The lender may not enter the house: he "shall stand outside" (v. 11, the verb ‘âmad placed first for emphasis) while the borrower brings the pledge out. Keil: "they were to leave it to the borrower to give a pledge, and not compel him to give up something that might be indispensable to him." The Pulpit Commentary notes the cultural grain — among the Arabs, calling from outside "is regarded as the only respectful mode"; Gill names the double abuse it prevents (the creditor taking "the best," the debtor bringing the worst), which the rabbis split by requiring a pledge "of a middling sort." Then mercy sharpens: if the man is ‘ānî (H6041, "poor, afflicted") and his pledge is his one cloak, "you shall not lie down in his pledge" (v. 12) — return it by sundown "that he may sleep in his own cloak and bless you." The verb shâkab ("lie down") is the hinge: the creditor must not sleep on the cloak the poor man needs to sleep under. And the reward is named tsᵉdâqâh (H6666, "righteousness"), which Ellicott notes the LXX renders "alms, or mercy." Gill guards it: "not his justifying righteousness before God... but it shall be owned and approved of as a good and righteous action." Cambridge identifies the cloak as the salmah, the robe "which the peasant... almost invariably sleeps in," and lists its abuse in Amos 2:8, Job 22:6, Proverbs 20:16.
The wage-law turns on a single verb, ‘âshaq (H6231, "oppress"), which Benson narrows precisely: "By detaining his wages from him when due, which is the meaning of oppression here." The śâkîr (H7916), the day-laborer, lives wage to wage — JFB: "Hired servants in the East are paid at the close of the day," and even one night's delay "might have subjected a poor man with his family to suffering." The Hebrew idiom for his dependence is vivid: he "lifts up his soul (nephesh) to it" — Keil: "he feels a longing for it"; Cambridge: "how his life depends on his wage." And the unpaid wage does not stay silent: "he may cry out (qârâʼ) to Yahweh against you, and it be sin in you." Gill makes God the laborer's only advocate — "his cry, and the cry of his hire too, enter into the ears of the Lord of hosts" — and both Keil and Ellicott hear behind it James 5:4 (⚙ the leap from Deuteronomy to James is mine to mark: the Hebrew law and the Greek epistle share no Strong's number, so the link below is tiered structural, not verbal).
Verse 16 stands almost alone among ancient codes: "each is to die for his own sin." Barnes calls it "a caution addressed to earthly judges"; among the nations "the family of a criminal was commonly involved in his punishment," but "in Israel it was not to be so." Benson resolves the tension with Exodus 20:5 in a line: "though God do visit the father's sins upon the children... yet he will not suffer men to do so." Cambridge supplies the law's first recorded use — Amaziah sparing the assassins' children (2 Kings 14:6) — and the principle is the one Ezekiel 18 will proclaim. Then the triad the unit keeps returning to comes into focus: "do not deny justice to the gêr, the orphan," and "do not take a widow's cloak in pledge." Cambridge catches the lexical seam — the pledge-verb here is ḥabal, the word of v. 6, not the ‘âbat of vv. 10–13 — binding the widow's cloak back to the protected millstone. The Geneva note states the law's heart: "Because the world valued these people least, therefore God has most care over them." And v. 18 grounds it all in memory: "remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and Yahweh redeemed (pâdâh) you" — Poole insists this means remembering "affectionately and practically," not as sentiment.
The unit ends in the fields. Three harvests — grain, olives, grapes — each to be reaped only once, the remainder left "for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow." The grain-law turns on shâkach (H7911, "forget"): the gift is the forgotten sheaf, and Gill, citing the Mishnah, insists it must be genuinely forgotten "both by the workman and the owner." The olive-law forbids going "over the boughs again" (pâʼar, oddly rooted in "to make beautiful," here "to strip bare"); the grape-law forbids the second picking (‘âlal, the gleaning-verb), which the Pulpit Commentary renders literally "glean after thee." JFB binds all three: "the hearts of the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow might be gladdened by the bounty of Providence." Cambridge weighs the anthropologists' "corn-spirit" theory and rejects it for "the natural promptings of the hearts of simple, peasant peoples to care for the needy." And the closing motive (v. 22) repeats v. 18 word for word — "remember that you were a slave" — with the Geneva note as its sting: God "judged them not mindful of his beasts, unless they were beneficial to others." The reward is the blessing-verb bârak (H1288, also v. 13): generosity left in the field returns as God's blessing "in all the work of your hands."
Read under the rule that Scripture interprets Scripture, three things rise out of this unit — offered as a reading to be tested, not a verdict to be trusted:
The whole code is one word repeated: nephesh. A "soul" is what the millstone is (v. 6), what the kidnapper steals (v. 7), and what the day-laborer "lifts up" toward his wage (v. 15). These are not seventeen unrelated rules but one conviction worked out in mill, manacle, cloak, and wage: that a poor man's life is bound up in small, seizable things, and that to take the thing is to take the life. The law builds fences around the necessities of the vulnerable precisely because their souls are stored there.
Memory is the engine, and grace is the ground. The unit is hinged on three commands to remember — Miriam (v. 9), and twice the bondage in Egypt (vv. 18, 22) — and the second two add the reason: "Yahweh your God redeemed you." Israel's social ethic is not invented from principle; it is deduced from grace already received. "Therefore" (v. 22) is the most important word in the chapter: because you were a redeemed slave, therefore you must not oppress one. The Geneva note presses it to its edge — a memory of mercy that does not issue in mercy is counted no memory at all.
And heaven keeps the books the courts cannot. The poor man has no patron but God (Gill), so his unpaid wage "cries out to Yahweh" (v. 15) and the withholding becomes "sin." The merciful creditor, by contrast, is "blessed" by the poor man's prayer and credited with "righteousness before the LORD" (v. 13). The same God who individualizes guilt at the court (v. 16) personally hears the cry the court never reaches — which is why James 5:4 can lift this Hebrew law straight into the church without changing a thing.
A poor man's soul is kept in small and seizable things — a millstone, a cloak, a day's wage; so the law fences the necessities, because to take the thing is to take the life. (⚙ a fallible reading, not Scripture.)
AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.
The pledge-laws of vv. 6, 10–13, 17 repeatedly echo the older legislation of Exodus 22:25–27, where the poor man's cloak, taken in pledge, must be returned "before the sun goes down" because it is "his only covering." Barnes simply writes "Compare Exodus 22:25–27"; Keil calls v. 12–13 "a repetition of Exodus 22:25–26"; Cambridge notes Deuteronomy adapts E's wording, even down to swapping the pledge-verb. The Verifier confirms the shared rare lexeme châbal (H2254, "to bind in pledge," in 23 vv) between Deuteronomy 24:6 and Exodus 22:26 — the same binding-verb governs both. The basis is a shared, restated ordinance, not a quotation, so the honest tier is structural.
Deuteronomy 24:6 · Deuteronomy 24:12 · Deuteronomy 24:13 · Exodus 22:26 · Job 24:3
basis: Verifier-computed for Deuteronomy 24:6 ↔ Exodus 22:26: shared lexeme H2254 châbal (in 23 vv), the pledge/binding-verb; and for Deut 24:6 ↔ Job 24:3: H2254 châbal again (Job condemns those who "take the widow's ox for a pledge"). A restated pledge-ordinance across the law-codes, not a verbal quotation — tier structural. Barnes and Keil name Exodus 22:25–27 as the source by reference.
Verse 7 is, in the commentators' unanimous judgment, a repetition and expansion of Exodus 21:16 ("whoever steals a man... shall be put to death"). The Pulpit Commentary: "repetition, with expansion, of the law in Exodus 21:16"; Keil and JFB say the same; Cambridge adds that Deuteronomy substitutes "Israelite" for Exodus's bare "man." The Verifier confirms shared lexemes between Deuteronomy 24:7 and Exodus 21:16 — gânab (H1589, steal, 36 vv), mâkar (H4376, sell, 74 vv), mûwth (H4191, die) — a restated capital law. A second, tighter link runs to Deuteronomy 21:14: the rare verb ‘âmar (H6014, "treat as property / play the owner") occurs in only three verses, and is shared by 24:7 and 21:14, where the Verifier's basis rises to verbal.
Deuteronomy 24:7 · Exodus 21:16 · Deuteronomy 21:14
basis: Verifier-computed for Deuteronomy 24:7 ↔ Deuteronomy 21:14: shared scarce lexeme H6014 ʻâmar (only 3 vv in all Scripture, "to treat as property / play the owner") + H4376 mâkar (sell) + H5315 nephesh (soul) — a lexeme this rare marks verbal kinship. The ↔ Exodus 21:16 link (H1589 gânab, H4376 mâkar, H4191 mûwth) is the restated man-stealing law the commentators (Pulpit, Keil, JFB, Cambridge) name by reference; that pair alone is structural.
Verse 9's command to "remember what the LORD did to Miriam" points to a single narrative: Numbers 12:10–15, where Miriam is struck with leprosy for speaking against Moses and shut outside the camp seven days. Every commentator on the verse — Ellicott, Benson, Gill, Keil — reads it as a direct recollection of that episode. The Verifier confirms the link by the rare proper name Miryâm (H4813), which occurs in only thirteen verses in all Scripture and is shared by Deuteronomy 24:9 and Numbers 12:10. The basis is a named historical reference, not a quotation of legal text, so the tier is structural — but the rarity of the shared name makes the connection certain.
Deuteronomy 24:9 · Numbers 12:10 · Numbers 12:14
basis: Verifier-computed for Deuteronomy 24:9 ↔ Numbers 12:10: shared rare proper name H4813 Miryâm (only 13 vv in all Scripture). A pointed historical reference to a single narrative (Numbers 12:10–15), named by Ellicott, Benson, Gill, and Keil — not a verbal quotation of a law, so tier structural; the scarce shared name makes the reference certain.
The wage-law of vv. 14–15 is, as Cambridge, Keil, and JFB all note, a restatement of Leviticus 19:13 ("the wages of a hired worker shall not remain with you all night until morning"). It is then taken up by the prophet Malachi 3:5, who places God's judgment against "those who oppress the hired worker in his wages" alongside the same triad — the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner. The Verifier confirms a verbal-grade link between Deuteronomy 24:14 and Malachi 3:5 on three shared lexemes, including the relatively rare śâkîyr (H7916, hired laborer, in only 17 vv) and the oppression-verb ‘âshaq (H6231, 35 vv). Malachi deliberately gathers the Deuteronomic protected classes into one oracle of judgment — a prophetic re-use confirmed by the shared scarce vocabulary.
Deuteronomy 24:14 · Deuteronomy 24:15 · Leviticus 19:13 · Malachi 3:5
basis: Verifier-computed for Deuteronomy 24:14 ↔ Malachi 3:5: shared lexemes H7916 sâkîyr (hired laborer, rare — 17 vv) + H6231 ʻâshaq (oppress, 35 vv) + H1616 gêr (sojourner). The relatively scarce sâkîyr plus the shared oppression-verb mark a verbal allusion; Malachi gathers the Deuteronomic protected classes into one judgment-oracle. Leviticus 19:13 is the restated source-law the commentators (Cambridge, Keil, JFB) name by reference.
Verse 16's principle — "each is to die for his own sin" — is the seed of the doctrine of individual responsibility that Ezekiel 18 proclaims in full ("the soul who sins shall die; the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father"). Cambridge explicitly raises the question whether the Deuteronomic law depends on Ezekiel 18 or precedes it; Keil and the commentators read v. 16 as the courtroom rule the prophet later universalizes. The Verifier confirms shared lexemes between Deuteronomy 24:16 and Ezekiel 18:20 — mûwth (H4191, die) and ʼâb (H1, father) — but these are common words; the connection is a shared theological pattern (individual guilt against inherited punishment), not a quotation. Tier structural, and honestly so: the link is the principle, not the wording.
Deuteronomy 24:16 · Ezekiel 18:20 · 2 Kings 14:6
basis: Verifier-computed for Deuteronomy 24:16 ↔ Ezekiel 18:20: shared lexemes H4191 mûwth (die, 700 vv) + H1 ʼâb (father, 1060 vv) — both common, so the basis is a shared doctrine of individual responsibility, not verbal quotation. Cambridge debates the direction of dependence; 2 Kings 14:6 records the law's first enforcement (Amaziah). Tier structural.
The protected triad — gêr, orphan, widow — runs through vv. 17, 19, 20, 21 and ties this unit to a web of Deuteronomic and Exodus laws guarding the same three classes (Exodus 22:21–22; Deuteronomy 27:19; Jeremiah 7:6; Zechariah 7:10; Jeremiah 22:3). The Verifier confirms a verbal-grade link between Deuteronomy 24:17 and Exodus 22:22 on the shared lexemes yâthôwm (H3490, orphan, 42 vv) and ʼalmânâh (H490, widow, 54 vv); Keil and the Pulpit Commentary name Exodus 22:20–21 and 23:9 as the repeated source. The thread-candidate set the Verifier returned for this unit (Zechariah 7:10, Jeremiah 7:6, Jeremiah 22:3, Deuteronomy 27:19) all cluster on this same triad of gêr + orphan + widow — the prophets pressing the Deuteronomic protected classes back upon a forgetful nation.
Deuteronomy 24:17 · Exodus 22:22 · Deuteronomy 27:19 · Jeremiah 7:6 · Zechariah 7:10
basis: Verifier-computed for Deuteronomy 24:17 ↔ Exodus 22:22: shared lexemes H3490 yâthôwm (orphan, 42 vv) + H490 ʼalmânâh (widow, 54 vv) — the paired protected classes restated from the Covenant Code. The unit's own thread-candidates (Jeremiah 7:6, Zechariah 7:10, Jeremiah 22:3, Deuteronomy 27:19) share the gêr+orphan+widow lexeme cluster (H1616 gêr, H3490 yâthôwm) — the prophetic re-use of the same triad. The orphan/widow pairing is specific enough to read as verbal restatement.
The gleaning-laws of vv. 19–21 are, as Benson, Keil, and the Pulpit Commentary all note, parallel to Leviticus 19:9–10 and 23:22, where the field's corners and gleanings are left "for the poor and the sojourner." Cambridge observes the difference (Deuteronomy uniquely includes olives, and leaves what is forgotten rather than deliberately reserved), but the kinship is plain. The Verifier confirms a verbal-grade link between Deuteronomy 24:19 and Leviticus 19:9 on the shared harvest-vocabulary — qâtsar (H7114, reap, 46 vv), qâtsîyr (H7105, harvest, 49 vv), and sâdeh (H7704, field) together — a cluster specific enough to mark a restatement of the one gleaning-law. The same practice is dramatized in Ruth 2, where Boaz's field enacts exactly this provision (shared sâdeh, the field of the gleaner).
Deuteronomy 24:19 · Leviticus 19:9 · Leviticus 23:22 · Ruth 2:2
basis: Verifier-computed for Deuteronomy 24:19 ↔ Leviticus 19:9: shared lexemes H7114 qâtsar (reap, 46 vv) + H7105 qâtsîyr (harvest, 49 vv) + H7704 sâdeh (field) — the harvest-vocabulary cluster marks a restatement of the one gleaning-law (Benson, Keil, Pulpit name Lev 19:9–10; 23:22 by reference). Ruth 2:2 shares H7704 sâdeh and dramatizes the same provision; that single common-word link alone is structural, so Ruth is cited as enactment, not verbal proof.
The unit's closing refrain (vv. 18, 22) — "remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and the LORD redeemed you; therefore I command you" — is one of Deuteronomy's signature formulas, recurring at 15:15, 16:12, and (in the Sabbath form) 5:15. Cambridge flags it directly: v. 18 is "almost exactly as in 24:22, and 15:5; cp. 5:15." The Verifier confirms the link between Deuteronomy 24:18 and Deuteronomy 15:15 on a cluster of shared lexemes — pâdâh (H6299, redeem, 48 vv), zâkar (H2142, remember), ʼânôkîy (H595, I), and tsâvâh (H6680, command) — the whole motive-formula reproduced. This is Deuteronomy quoting itself, the book's grace-grounded ethic stated in a fixed form; the basis is the recurring formula, so the tier is structural.
Deuteronomy 24:18 · Deuteronomy 24:22 · Deuteronomy 15:15 · Deuteronomy 5:15
basis: Verifier-computed for Deuteronomy 24:18 ↔ Deuteronomy 15:15: shared lexemes H6299 pâdâh (redeem, 48 vv) + H2142 zâkar (remember) + H595 ʼânôkîy (I) + H6680 tsâvâh (command) — the full redemption-motive formula. Cambridge names 24:18 = 24:22 = 15:15, cp. 5:15. Deuteronomy's own recurring formula, not a quotation of a separate text — tier structural.
AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.
Ellicott reads the Old Testament's persistent care for the gêr (vv. 14, 17, 19–21) typologically toward Christ. "All through the Old Testament," he writes, "the name and mention of the stranger... is like a path strewn with flowers, in expectation of the coming of one that is greatly beloved" — for the Son "was one day to come among us as 'a stranger,' when there was 'no room for Him in the inn.'" The law's tenderness for the sojourner finds its key, says Ellicott, in one sentence of the Judgment: "I was a stranger, and ye took me in" (Matthew 25:35). This is an explicit, named reading by the human commentator, not a Verifier-confirmed verbal link, and it is figural — so it is marked typological, and is at least as old as the Fathers' reading of Matthew 25.
Deuteronomy 24:14 · Deuteronomy 24:17 · Deuteronomy 24:19 · Matthew 25:35
The wage-law of v. 15 — pay the laborer before sundown, "lest he cry out to the LORD against you" — is lifted directly into the New Testament by James, whom Keil, Ellicott, and Gill all cite on the verse: "the wages of the laborers... which you kept back by fraud, are crying out" (James 5:4). What Deuteronomy lodges as a cry to Yahweh, James hears reaching "the ears of the Lord of hosts" (Gill, quoting the same phrase James uses). The Hebrew law and the Greek epistle share no Strong's number — this is a cross-Testament link of theme and apostolic re-use, not verbal identity — but the apostle plainly takes up the Deuteronomic law as binding on the church. In the Lord who "hears" the defrauded poor, the law's nameless cry is answered by the Christ before whom every account is finally settled.
Deuteronomy 24:15 · James 5:4
Verse 16 fixes a courtroom rule: "each is to die for his own sin" — no father for his son, no son for his father. The Gospel does not abolish this principle but answers it with a wonder that lies beyond the law's reach. The law forbids one man to be executed for another's guilt; the cross is God Himself bearing the guilt of others, "the righteous for the unrighteous" (1 Peter 3:18), the One who "bore our sins in His body on the tree" (1 Peter 2:24). What no human court may impose, the Son freely takes up. This is a constructive theological reading — the human voices here (Barnes, Keil, Benson) treat v. 16 only as civil law, and the move to substitutionary atonement is the tool's own; it is therefore marked novel, offered to be tested against the whole counsel of Scripture.
Deuteronomy 24:16 · 1 Peter 3:18 · 1 Peter 2:24 · Isaiah 53:6
The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.
Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:
The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain. The named voices are quoted verbatim from public-domain commentaries on Deuteronomy 24:6–22, attributed in place: Charles Ellicott (Commentary for English Readers, 1878), Joseph Benson (1810s), Matthew Henry (Concise Commentary, 1706), Albert Barnes (Notes, 1834), Jamieson–Fausset–Brown (1871), Matthew Poole (1685), John Gill (1746–63), the Geneva Study Bible (1599), the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (1880s), the Pulpit Commentary (1880s), and Keil & Delitzsch (1860s). The ⚙ machine layer — the literal renderings, the divergence notes, the word-notes, the grand commentary, the threads, and the Christ readings — is synthetic, fallible, and offered to be tested.
Honesty notes specific to this unit. (1) The parses are Berean/Strong's; where I name a root sense (e.g. bâʻar "to kindle," pâʼar "to make beautiful") I am reporting Strong's gloss, which a fuller lexicon may nuance. (2) The cross-Testament link to James 5:4 (v. 15) and the Christ readings to Matthew 25:35, 1 Peter 2:24; 3:18 are not Verifier-confirmed verbal links: a Hebrew text and a Greek text cannot share a Strong's number, so these are tiered structural / typological and rest on the named commentators' own cross-references (Ellicott, Keil, Gill) or on explicit theological construction, marked as such. (3) The man-stealing thread carries a verbal tier only on the Deuteronomy 24:7 ↔ Deuteronomy 21:14 pair, where the scarce verb ‘âmar (H6014, 3 vv) is shared; the ↔ Exodus 21:16 pair is a restated law on common vocabulary and is tiered structural. (4) Verse 16's move from civil law to substitutionary atonement is the tool's own construction and is marked novel, not traditional exegesis of the verse. (5) Several commentary excerpts contain BibleHub's own embedded scripture-reference numerals and editorial tags; these have been preserved verbatim within the quoted span rather than silently cleaned, so that each voice remains a contiguous substring of its source.
✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)