You shall not deprive the foreigner or the fatherless of justice, nor take a widow’s clothing in pledge;
Parallel Translations
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You shall not deprive the foreigner or the fatherless of justice, nor take a widow’s clothing in pledge;
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Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger, nor of the fatherless; nor take a widow’s raiment to pledge:
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Thou shalt not pervert the justice due to the stranger, or to the fatherless; nor take the widow's raiment to pledge.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Commandments (2)
The laws of the Torah, each cited and shown as a primary source.
Cross-references (34)
Passages linked to Deuteronomy 24:17 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Deuteronomy 16:19 You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality. You shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts the words of the righteous.
- Exodus 22:21-22 “You shall not wrong an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt. “You shall not take advantage of any widow or fatherless child.
- Exodus 23:6 “You shall not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits.
- Deuteronomy 27:19 ‘Cursed is he who withholds justice from the foreigner, fatherless, and widow.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
- Exodus 23:2 “You shall not follow a crowd to do evil. You shall not testify in court to side with a multitude to pervert justice.
- Exodus 23:9 “You shall not oppress an alien, for you know the heart of an alien, since you were aliens in the land of Egypt.
- Deuteronomy 1:17 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. The case that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.”
- Job 29:11-17 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 no one 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. I researched the cause of him who I didn’t know. I broke the jaws of the unrighteous and plucked the prey out of his teeth.
- Isaiah 1:23 Your princes are rebellious and companions of thieves. Everyone loves bribes and follows after rewards. They don’t defend the fatherless, neither does the cause of the widow come to them.
- Jeremiah 5:28 They have grown fat. They shine; yes, they excel in deeds of wickedness. They don’t plead the cause, the cause of the fatherless, that they may prosper; and they don’t defend the rights of the needy.
- Micah 7:3 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.
- Exodus 22:26-27 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.
- Deuteronomy 10:17-18 For Yahweh your God, he is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, the mighty, and the awesome, who doesn’t respect persons or take bribes. He executes justice for the fatherless and widow and loves the foreigner in giving him food and clothing.
- Deuteronomy 24:6 No man shall take the mill or the upper millstone as a pledge, for he takes a life in pledge.
- Deuteronomy 24:13 You shall surely restore to him the pledge when the sun goes down, that he may sleep in his garment and bless you. It shall be righteousness to you before Yahweh your God.
- 1 Samuel 12:3-4 Here I am. Witness against me before Yahweh, and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Of whose hand have I taken a bribe to make me blind my eyes? I will restore it to you.” They said, “You have not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither have you taken anything from anyone’s hand.”
- Job 22:8-9 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.
- Psalms 82:1-5 God presides in the great assembly. He judges among the gods. “How long will you judge unjustly, and show partiality to the wicked?” “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.
- Psalms 94:3-6 Yahweh, how long will the wicked, how long will the wicked triumph? They pour out arrogant words. All the evildoers boast. They break your people in pieces, Yahweh, and afflict your heritage. They kill the widow and the alien, and murder the fatherless.
- Psalms 94:20-21 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.
- Proverbs 22:22-23 Don’t exploit the poor, because he is poor; and don’t crush the needy in court; for Yahweh will plead their case, and plunder the life of those who plunder them.
- Proverbs 31:5 lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the justice due to anyone who is afflicted.
- Ecclesiastes 5:8 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.
- Isaiah 3:15 What do you mean that you crush my people, and grind the face of the poor?” says the Lord, Yahweh of Armies.
- Isaiah 33:15 He who walks righteously and speaks blamelessly, he who despises the gain of oppressions, who gestures with his hands, refusing to take a bribe, who stops his ears from hearing of blood, and shuts his eyes from looking at evil—
- Jeremiah 22:3 Yahweh says: “Execute justice and righteousness, and deliver him who is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor. Do no wrong. Do no violence to the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow. Don’t shed innocent blood in this place.
- Ezekiel 22:7 In you have they treated father and mother with contempt. Among you they have oppressed the foreigner. In you they have wronged the fatherless and the widow.
- Ezekiel 22:29 The people of the land have used oppression and exercised robbery. Yes, they have troubled the poor and needy, and have oppressed the foreigner wrongfully.
- Amos 5:7-12 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. Therefore, because you trample on the poor, and take taxes from him of wheat: You have built houses of cut 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 away the needy in the courts.
- Micah 2:1-2 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.
- Zechariah 7:10 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.’
- Malachi 3:5 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 Armies.
- Luke 3:14 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.”
- James 2:6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Don’t the rich oppress you, and personally drag you before the courts?
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Because the world did least esteem these sorts of…
Because the world did least esteem these sorts of people, therefore God hath most care over them.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Nor of the fatherless; nor of the widow, which…
Nor of the fatherless; nor of the widow, which is to be supplied out of the last member; nor indeed of any other person; but he particularly mentions these, partly because men are most apt to wrong such helpless persons, and partly because God is pleased especially to charge himself, and so to charge others, with the care of those who have no other refuge. See Isa 1:23; Jer 5:28.
A widow’s raiment, to wit, such a one as she hath daily and necessary use of, as being poor, as may appear by comparing this with Deu 24:12,13, and with other places. But this concerns not rich persons, nor superfluous raiment.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger,…
Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger, nor of the fatherless,.... 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 them:
nor take a widow's raiment to pledge; nor anything else, as her ox or cow, Job 24:3; according to the Jewish canons (r), of a widow, whether she is poor or rich, a pledge is not taken; the reason given for which is, that it would raise an ill suspicion, and cause an evil report of her among her neighbours (s); and which is suggested by the Targum of Jonathan"neither shall any of you take for a pledge the raiment of a widow, lest wicked neighbours should arise, and bring an evil report upon her, when ye return the pledge unto her.''But no doubt a poor widow is meant, and the design of the law is mercy to her, and that she might not be distressed by taking that from her she needed.
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(r) Misn. Bava Metzia, c. 9. sect. 13. (s) Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Bava Metzia, c. 9. sect. 13.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Raiment - Not such as she hath daily and…
Raiment - Not such as she hath daily and necessary use of, as being poor. But this concerns not rich persons, nor superfluous raiment.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Deu 24:17. Raiment — Not such as he hath…
Deu 24:17. Raiment — Not such as he hath daily and necessary use of, as being poor. But this concerns not rich persons, nor superfluous raiment.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Compare the marginal references. The motive assigned for these…
Compare the marginal references. The motive assigned for these various acts of consideration is one and the same Deu 24:18, Deu 24:22.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Pervert. Thou shalt not pass an unjust sentence upon…
Pervert. Thou shalt not pass an unjust sentence upon any one, particularly (Haydock) upon those who are least able to defend themselves. (Menochius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 17, 18. Thou shalt not pervert, etc. — The…
17, 18. Thou shalt not pervert, etc. — The law is repeated from Exo_22:21-22, and Exo_23:9, with the addition that a widow’s raiment was not to be taken as a pledge.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 17. nor of the fatherless] So LXX, Syr., etc.…
17. nor of the fatherless] So LXX, Syr., etc. Heb. omits nor. Add (with LXX B) nor of the widow.
17, 18. Against Injustice to the Gçr, the Orphan and the Widow, the three classes so earnestly cared for by D, Deu_24:19-22, Deu_10:18, q.v., Deu_14:29, Deu_16:11; Deu_16:14. Parallels in E, Exo_22:21 f., Deu_23:6 (the poor), 9, on which see Driver’s Exod.; and in H, Lev_19:33. The clause against pledging the widow’s raiment is omitted by some LXX codd. and some suggest that its proper place is with 10–13. Its word for pledge, however, is not ‘abat as there but ḥabal as in Deu_24:6, and its appearance here is natural. On widows’ rights in Babylonia, see Johns, op. cit. ch. xii.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (17-22) The stranger, the fatherless, and the widow—are the…
(17-22) The stranger, the fatherless, and the widow—are the subject of all the laws in these verses. For the first two (Deu_24:17-18), see Exo_22:22-24. As to the harvest, see Lev_23:22. It is noticeable that this law is connected with the Feast of Pentecost in that place. Never was such care for the widow and the poor manifested as after the day of Pentecost in the New Testament. When “great grace was upon them all,” it is written that “neither was there any among them that lacked.”
In a very special way and for some special reason, all through the Old Testament, “the Lord careth for the stranger.” What the reason is, if we had the Old Testament only, we might find it hard to discover. But when we open the New Testament, we may see that this is one aspect of the love of God the Father to His Son Jesus Christ, who was one day to come among us as “a stranger,” when there was “no room for Him in the inn.” His coming hither as a stranger could not be unnoticed. And, therefore, the name and mention of the stranger all through the Old Testament is like a path strewn with flowers, in expectation of the coming of one that is greatly beloved. We see angels walking upon the earth, entertained as strangers. The wealthy patriarch, a “prince of God” among the Canaanites, confesses himself a “stranger and pilgrim on the earth.” Those that inherit the land are put in the same category, “Ye are strangers and sojourners with Me.” The stranger sits beside the Levite at Israel’s table. The second great commandment is rehearsed again for his especial benefit. “He shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself.” There is only one key to all this combination of tenderness. “I was a stranger, and ye took me in.”
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(18,22) Thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt.—An exhortation thoroughly in place here, in the writings of Moses. In this form it occurs repeatedly in the Pentateuch, but not elsewhere. It is not the language which would naturally suggest itself to the prophets of later times.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Vers. 17, 18. The law against perverting the right…
Vers. 17, 18. The law against perverting the right of strangers, widows, and orphans is here repeated from Exo_22:20, 21 23:9, with the addition that the raiment of the widow was not to be taken in pledge. To enforce this, the people are reminded that they themselves as a nation had been in the condition of strangers and bondmen in Egypt. (cf. Lev_19:33, Lev_19:34)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
Moses speaks to the Israelites as if they were one man, so the words "you" and "your" here are singular. (See: Forms of You)
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You must not use force to take away the justice that is due the foreigner or the fatherless
Moses speaks of justice as if it were a physical object that a stronger person can violently pull away from a weaker person. AT: "You must not treat a foreigner or the fatherless unfairly" (See: Metaphor)
fatherless
This refers to children whose parents have both died and do not have relatives to care for them.
nor take the widow's cloak as a pledge
A lender would take something from the borrower to ensure that she would pay him back. He was not allowed to take her coat because she needed it to stay warm. The full meaning of this statement can be made explicit. AT: "and do not take a widow's cloak as a pledge because she needs it to stay warm" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
call to mind
This is an idiom. AT: "remember" (See: Idiom)
translationWords
just
alien
pledge
servant
Egypt
instruct
obey
command
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 24:17 True justice must be given (literally do not…
24:17 True justice must be given (literally do not deprive of justice): The people of Israel were to vigorously resist discrimination against the weakest and most vulnerable people in society. Israel had been redeemed from such a status in Egypt, and their experience should help them realize how to treat others in similar circumstances (24:18).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.