21“You shall not wrong an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.
22“You shall not take advantage of any widow or fatherless child.23If you take advantage of them at all, and they cry at all to me, I will surely hear their cry;24and my wrath will grow hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.
Exodus 23:9(v21)“You shall not oppress an alien, for you know the heart of an alien, since you were aliens in the land of Egypt.
Deuteronomy 10:19(v21)Therefore love the foreigner, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
Deuteronomy 24:17(v22)You shall not deprive the foreigner or the fatherless of justice, nor take a widow’s clothing in pledge;
Isaiah 1:17(v22)Learn to do well. Seek justice. Relieve the oppressed. Defend the fatherless. Plead for the widow.”
Leviticus 19:33(v21)“ ‘If a stranger lives as a foreigner with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong.
Show all 48 cross-references
Job 34:28(v23)so that they caused the cry of the poor to come to him. He heard the cry of the afflicted.
Psalms 10:17-18(v23)Yahweh, you have heard the desire of the humble. You will prepare their heart. You will cause your ear to hear, to judge the fatherless and…
Psalms 18:6(v23)In my distress I called on Yahweh, and cried to my God. He heard my voice out of his temple. My cry before him came into his ears.
Isaiah 1:23(v22)Your princes are rebellious and companions of thieves. Everyone loves bribes and follows after rewards. They don’t defend the fatherless,…
Luke 18:7(v23)Won’t God avenge his chosen ones who are crying out to him day and night, and yet he exercises patience with them?
Zechariah 7:10(vv21–22)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…
Deuteronomy 10:18(v22)He executes justice for the fatherless and widow and loves the foreigner in giving him food and clothing.
Deuteronomy 15:9(v23)Beware that there not be a wicked thought in your heart, saying, “The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand,” and your eye be evil…
Deuteronomy 27:19(v22)‘Cursed is he who withholds justice from the foreigner, fatherless, and widow.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
Psalms 109:9(v24)Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow.
Isaiah 10:2(v22)to deprive the needy from justice, and to rob the poor among my people of their rights, that widows may be their plunder, and that they may…
Ezekiel 22:7(v22)In you have they treated father and mother with contempt. Among you they have oppressed the foreigner. In you they have wronged the…
James 1:27(v22)Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself…
Job 35:9(v23)“By reason of the multitude of oppressions they cry out. They cry for help by reason of the arm of the mighty.
Psalms 94:6-7(v22)They kill the widow and the alien, and murder the fatherless. They say, “Yah will not see, neither will Jacob’s God consider.”
Jeremiah 15:8(v24)Their widows are increased more than the sand of the seas. I have brought on them against the mother of the young men a destroyer at…
James 5:4(v23)Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you have kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of those who reaped have…
Exodus 20:2(v21)“I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
Leviticus 25:35(v21)“ ‘If your brother has become poor, and his hand can’t support himself among you, then you shall uphold him. He shall live with you like an…
Deuteronomy 23:7(v21)You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother. You shall not abhor an Egyptian, because you lived as a foreigner in his land.
Psalms 69:24(v24)Pour out your indignation on them. Let the fierceness of your anger overtake them.
Psalms 76:7(v24)You, even you, are to be feared. Who can stand in your sight when you are angry?
Psalms 78:63-64(v24)Fire devoured their young men. Their virgins had no wedding song. Their priests fell by the sword, and their widows couldn’t weep.
Psalms 90:11(v24)Who knows the power of your anger, your wrath according to the fear that is due to you?
Psalms 145:19(v23)He will fulfill the desire of those who fear him. He also will hear their cry, and will save them.
Psalms 146:7-9(v23)who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry. Yahweh frees the prisoners. Yahweh opens the eyes of the blind.…
Jeremiah 7:6(v21)if you don’t oppress the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, and don’t shed innocent blood in this place, and don’t walk after other…
Lamentations 5:3(v24)We are orphans and fatherless. Our mothers are as widows.
Malachi 3:5(v21)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…
Deuteronomy 15:15(v21)You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and Yahweh your God redeemed you. Therefore I command you this thing today.
Deuteronomy 24:15(v23)In his day you shall give him his wages, neither shall the sun go down on it; for he is poor and sets his heart on it; lest he cry against…
Job 27:13-15(v24)“This is the portion of a wicked man with God, the heritage of oppressors, which they receive from the Almighty. If his children are…
Job 31:23(v24)For calamity from God is a terror to me. Because of his majesty, I can do nothing.
Job 31:38-39(v23)If my land cries out against me, and its furrows weep together; if I have eaten its fruits without money, or have caused its owners to lose…
Psalms 140:12(v23)I know that Yahweh will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and justice for the needy.
Proverbs 22:22-23(v23)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…
Proverbs 23:10-11(v23)Don’t move the ancient boundary stone. Don’t encroach on the fields of the fatherless, for their Defender is strong. He will plead their…
Jeremiah 18:21(v24)Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and give them over to the power of the sword. Let their wives become childless and…
Jeremiah 22:3(v21)Yahweh says: “Execute justice and righteousness, and deliver him who is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor. Do no wrong. Do no…
Nahum 1:6(v24)Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the fierceness of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are…
Luke 6:38(v24)“Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be given to you. For with the same…
Romans 2:5-9(v24)But according to your hardness and unrepentant heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath, revelation, and of the…
Hebrews 10:31(v24)It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
48 distinct cross-references across this passage (49 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (15 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Geneva Bible translators1599 · Public DomainOn v24The just plague of God upon the oppressors.
The just plague of God upon the oppressors.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp1656 · Public DomainOn vv21–24Exo 22:21 Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor…
Exo 22:21 Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
Ver. 21. Theft shalt not vex a stranger.] The right of strangers is so holy, saith one, that there was never nation so barbarous that would violate the same. When Stephen Gardner had in his power the renowned divine Peter Martyr, then teaching at Oxford, he would not keep him to punish him; but when he should go his way, gave him wherewith to bear his charges. {a}
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{a} Act. and Mon., fol. 1783.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill1763 · Public DomainOn vv21–24Ye shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child.…
Ye shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child. Who have no friends, husband, or father to be on their side and protect them, and are weak and helpless to defend themselves, and therefore it must be barbarous to do them any injury, either to their persons or property; no one ought to be afflicted and distressed by another, either in body or mind, or substance, and especially such as have no helper, not any to assist them and sympathize with them; for this is a law for every man, as Jarchi observes, is binding upon all; only the Scripture speaks of these, because of their weakness, and because they are more frequently afflicted than others, cruel and unmerciful men taking the advantage of their inability to defend themselves.
Ye shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child. Who have no friends, husband, or father to be on their side and protect them, and are weak and helpless to defend themselves, and therefore it must be barbarous to do them any injury, either to their persons or property; no one ought to be afflicted and distressed by another, either in body or mind, or substance, and especially such as have no helper, not any to assist them and sympathize with them; for this is a law for every man, as Jarchi observes, is binding upon all; only the Scripture speaks of these, because of their weakness, and because they are more frequently afflicted than others, cruel and unmerciful men taking the advantage of their inability to defend themselves.
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Exodus 22:23
exo 22:23
exo 22:23
exo 22:23If thou afflict them in any wise,..... In any way, or by any means whatever; their minds, by reproaches, censures, insults, and their bodies by stripes, false imprisonment, &c. and in their substance, by withholding from them what belongs to them, taking what they have, or cheating and defrauding them in any respect; or, "in afflicting afflict them" (e); afflict them much, and continue to do so:
and they cry at all unto me; in prayer, as the Targum of Jonathan; or, "in crying cry" (f); cry vehemently, or importunately, and with constancy, or rather, cry ever so little:
I will surely hear their cry; the voice of their prayer, as the same Targum; or, "in hearing I will hear" (g); will certainly take notice of their cries, and return an answer to them, by appearing on their side, and avenging their injuries; for God is the Father of the fatherless, and the husband of the widow, and the Judge of them both: the manner of speaking or form of expression is the same in all these clauses, the words being doubled.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley1765 · Public DomainOn vv21–22A stranger must not be abused, not wronged in…
A stranger must not be abused, not wronged in judgment by the magistrates, not imposed upon in contracts, nor any advantage taken of his ignorance or necessity, no, nor must he be taunted, or upbraided with his being a stranger; for all these were vexations. For ye were strangers in Egypt - And knew what it was to be vexed and oppressed there. Those that have themselves been in poverty and distress, if Providence enrich and enlarge them, ought to shew a particular tenderness towards those that are now in such circumstances as they were in formerly, now doing to them as they then wished to be done by.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke1810 · Public DomainOn vv21–22Verse 21. Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor…
Verse 21. Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him] This was not only a very humane law, but it was also the offspring of a sound policy: "Do not vex a stranger; remember ye were strangers. Do not oppress a stranger; remember ye were oppressed. Therefore do unto all men as ye would they should do to you." It was the produce of a sound policy: "Let strangers be well treated among you, and many will come to take refuge among you, and thus the strength of your country will be increased. If refugees of this kind be treated well, they will become proselytes to your religion, and thus their souls may be saved." In every point of view, therefore, justice, humanity, sound policy, and religion, say. Neither vex nor oppress a stranger.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson1811 · Public DomainOn vv21–22Exo 22:21. A stranger must not be abused, not…
Exo 22:21. A stranger must not be abused, not wronged in judgment by the magistrates, not imposed upon in contracts, nor any advantage taken of his ignorance or necessity, no, nor must he be taunted, or upbraided with his being a stranger; for all these were vexatious. For ye were strangers in Egypt — And knew what it was to be vexed and oppressed there. Those that have themselves been in poverty and distress, if Providence enrich and enlarge them, ought to show a particular tenderness toward those that are now in such circumstances as they were in formerly, now doing to them as they then wished to be done to.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes1834 · Public DomainOn vv21–22A stranger - See Exo 20:10 note.
A stranger - See Exo 20:10 note.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary1859 · Public DomainOn vv21, 24Were strangers. The Celtes punished with death the murderer…
Were strangers. The Celtes punished with death the murderer of a stranger, which they only banished him who murdered a citizen. (Calmet)
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. Whedon1874 · Public DomainOn v2424. I will kill you with the sword —…
24. I will kill you with the sword — Observe here that Jehovah is the governor and judge over all, and will, sooner or later, punish all evildoers and them that forget mercy. The magistrate bears not the sword in vain if he maintain justice and defend the weak; but if he fail in these high responsibilities, God’s own hand will interpose and bring deserved retribution.
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 Colleges1878 · Public DomainOn vv21–2421. a sojourner shalt thou not wrong …; for…
21. a sojourner shalt thou not wrong …; for ye were sojourners in the land of Egypt] The ‘sojourner’ (gêr), or resident foreigner (see on Exo_12:48; and cf. Exo_2:22, Exo_20:10), had at this time no legal status in Israel, and was thus liable in many ways to injustice and oppression. With this injunction comp. Lev_19:33-34, Deu_1:16; Deu_10:18 f., and the other passages from Dt. and Jer. cited on v. 22; for allusions to the oppression of the gêr, see Eze_22:7; Eze_22:29, Mal_3:5.
wrong] Heb. hônâh; cf. Lev_19:33 (‘oppress’), also of the gêr.
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oppress] lit. crush (Num_22:25): fig. of external oppressors, Jdg_2:8 al.; as here, only Exo_23:9 besides.
for ye were sojourners, &c.] The same motive, in exactly the same words, in Exo_23:9, Lev_19:34 (H), Deu_10:19. For the cognate verb cased of the ‘sojourn’ in Egypt, see Gen_12:10 (of Abraham), Exo_6:4, Deu_26:5, Isa_52:4, Psa_105:12.
21–27. A group of humanitarian laws. The gêr, or resident foreigner, the widow, and the orphan not to be oppressed, vv. 21–24; interest not to be taken from the poor, v. 25; a garment taken in pledge to be returned before nightfall, vv. 26 f.
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 Readers1878 · Public DomainOn vv21, 23(21) For ye were strangers.—Ye should, therefore, sympathise with…
(21) For ye were strangers.—Ye should, therefore, sympathise with “strangers;” not “vex them,” not “oppress them,” but “love them as yourselves” (Lev_19:34). The condition of foreigners in Israel is shown to have been more than tolerable by the examples of the Kenites (Jdg_1:16; Jdg_4:11); of Araunah the Jebusite (2Sa_24:18-24); of Uriah the Hittite (2Sa_23:39), Zelek the Ammonite (2Sa_23:37), and others.
(21-24) The juxtaposition of laws against oppression with three crimes of the deepest dye seems intended to indicate that oppression is among the sins which are most hateful in God’s sight. The lawgiver, however, does not say that it is to be punished capitally, nor, indeed, does he affix to it any legal penalty. Instead of so doing, he declares that God Himself will punish it “with the sword” (Exo_22:24). Three classes of persons particularly liable to be oppressed are selected for mention—(1) Strangers, i.e., foreigners; (2) widows; and (3) orphans. Strangers have seldom been protected by any legislation, unless, indeed, they formed a class of permanent residents, like the Metœci at Athens. The law of civilised communities has generally afforded some protection to the orphan and the widow, particularly in respect of rights of property. The protection given is, however, very generally insufficient; and it is of the highest importance that it should be supplemented by an assured belief that, beyond all legal penalties there lies the Divine sentence of wrath and punishment, certain to fall upon every one who, careless of law and right, makes the stranger, the widow, or the orphan to suffer wrong at his hands.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary1880 · Public DomainOn vv21–24Law against oppression of foreigners. It may be doubted…
Law against oppression of foreigners. It may be doubted whether such a law as this was ever made in any other country. Foreigners are generally looked upon as "fair game," whom the natives of a country may ridicule and annoy at their pleasure. Native politeness gives them an exceptional position in France; but elsewhere it is the general rule to "vex" them. The Mosaic legislation protested strongly against this practice (Exo_23:9; Lev_19:33) and even required the Israelites to "love the stranger who dwelt with them as themselves". (Lev_19:34) For ye were strangers. Compare Lev_19:34, and Deu_10:19 in Exo_23:9 the addition is made ye know the heart of a stranger ye know; i.e. , the feelings which strangers have when they are vexed and oppressed ye know this by your own sad experience, and should therefore have a tenderness for strangers.
Vers. 21-29. Jehovah"s proteges and representatives.
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I JEHOVAH"S PROTEGES (vers. 21-28). These are the stranger, the fatherless, the widow, and the poor generally all of whom the Israelites are forbidden to "afflict." The ground of Jehovah"s interest in them is his own character I am gracious" (ver. 27). In him, however little they may sometimes think of it or feel it, they have a constant Friend, a great invisible Protector. They are (in the sense of Roman law) Jehovah"s "clients." He is their great Patron; he identifies himself with their interests; he will uphold their cause. Injuries done to them he will resent as if done to himself, and will call the wrong-doer to strict account. If earthly law fails, let them cry to him, and he will put the jus talionis in operation with his own hands (vers. 23, 24, 27). Vers. 25-28 specially forbid exacting treatment of the poor. Liberal help is to be afforded them. A neighbour is not to be harshly dealt with when driven to a strait. His garment, if given as a pledge, is not to be kept beyond nightfall, which is practically equivalent to saying that it is not to be taken from him at all (ver. 27). What kindness breathes in these precepts! How justly does the law which embodies them claim to be a law of love! And how far, even yet, is our Christian society from having risen to the height of the standard they set up! Let us seek ourselves to translate them more uniformly into practice. Learn also, from these precepts, inculcating love to the stronger, how little ground there is for accusing the religion of Moses of fanatical hatred of foreign peoples.
II JEHOVAH"S REPRESENTATIVES (ver. 28). Magistrates and rulers are to be treated with respect. They are invested with a portion of God"s authority. J.O. (Rom_14:1)
HOMILIES BY D. YOUNG Ver. 21. The treatment of the stranger.
I NOTE THE FACT THAT STRANGERS WOULD COME INTO SUCH CONTACT WITH ISRAEL AS TO PROVIDE OPPORTUNITY FOR THIS TREATMENT. Jehovah had done a great deal in Israel to make them a separated people separated in many ways as by the land of their dwelling, their national institutions, their worship, their personal rite of circumcision; but separation, with all its rigours and all the penalties for neglecting it, could never become isolation. Solemnly indeed were the people enjoined to drive out the Canaanites, and trample down all idolatry; but there still remained the fact, that by a certain Divine and glorious necessity, strangers were to come into considerable intercourse with them. That strangers should have been drawn to them when they settled in their fertile home was only likely; but this must nave happened to some extent even before. We may be perfectly certain, considering the analogies of after generations and what we read of proselytism in the New Testament, that from the very first there must have been some with the proselyte disposition in them. Few perhaps of this sort were to be found in the mixed multitude coming out of Egypt but still there were some. The Lord knoweth them that are his. If there are those of whom John might say, "They went out from us because they were not of us," so there are those of whom the Church may ever say, "They come to us because they are of us." For such God lovingly and amply provided from the first, even when they came with all the disadvantages and difficulties of strangers to contend against. There is in this very injunction, a foreshadowing of the power and attractiveness to which Israel in due time would rise, though as yet it was but a fugitive people without discipline and without coherence. Strangers in their need were even now drawn to Israel and would be drawn still more, just as years ago their needy ancestor and his children were drawn to Egypt because of the corn that was there.
II THE STRONG TEMPTATION TO TREAT THESE FOREIGNERS BADLY. There is a very melancholy picture of human inconsistency here presented. Liberated slaves, forgetting the horrors of their own servitude, treat with like cruelty those exposed to the opportunity of that cruelty. Men soon forget their past condition. Israel, we see, forgot the horror of their own Egyptian experiences in two ways.
1. They lusted after the flesh-pots of Egypt.
2. They failed in sympathy for the foreigners among themselves.
When we have possessions and power and thus get the chance of domination, we are only too ready to treat foreigners either as interlopers wishing to spoil us, or tools fitted to increase our possessions. The world, alas! is always abounding in a great number of the feeble and unfortunate, of whom it is only too easy to take advantage. More than one class of these are mentioned in this chapter, and among them we see that the foreigner occupies a conspicuous place. The stranger is the man without friends; he comes into a place where the very things that profit the knowing are traps and snares for the ignorant. Consider the difficulties of a foreigner planted down in the midst of a huge city like London, a place of dangers and difficulties even for an Englishman who is thrown into it for the first time, and how much more for one whom ignorance of the language makes doubly strange! Blanco White, who it will be remembered was an exile from his native land of Spain, gives as an instance of Shakespeare"s surprising knowledge of the human mind and heart "the passage in which he describes the magnitude of the loss which a man banished from his country has to endure by living among those who do not understand his native language." The words are those put into the mouth of Mowbray Duke of Norfolk, on his banishment by Richard II.
The language I have learn" d these forty years, My native English, now I must forego. And now my tongue"s use is to me no more Than an unstringed viol or a harp, Or like a cunning instrument cased up Or, being open, put into his hands That knows no touch to tune the harmony: Within my mouth you have engaoled my tongue, Doubly portcullis" d with my teeth and lips; And dull unfeeling barren ignorance Is made my gaoler to attend on me.
If this be so, the stranger"s feelings are some index to the temptations of those among whom he is cast. There may not be downright robbery, but there are tricks of trade, extortionate charges on pretence of making hay while the sun shines; in short there are all sorts of human foxes ever on the watch to catch the ignorant, the innocent, and the confiding. But are God"s people amenable to charges of this kind? It is evident that the Israelites were, from this warning to them. It was so easy to turn Jehovah"s denunciations of the idolater into excuses for maltreating the stranger because he had the look of an idolater. Nay more, how easy it was both to yield to the idolatry and maltreat the stranger!
III THE GREAT CONSIDERATION WHICH IS TO LEAD TO PROPER TREATMENT OF THE STRANGER. "Ye were strangers in the land of Egypt." Great as the temptation was to treat strangers badly, such treatment if only looked at in a certain light would be scarcely excusable at all This possible treatment of the stranger is to be looked at in the clear light of our Lord"s parable concerning the forgiven yet unforgiving debtor. Israel had been strangers in Egypt, not only foreigners among the Egyptians, but to some extent exiles from God, who had put on the appearance of having forgotten them. But now he had brought them to himself, they were to be his people, a holy nation; and it was want of loyalty to God, it was behaviour unworthy of a holy nation for them to treat strangers as the Egyptians had treated Israel. God hates the oppressor everywhere and pities the oppressed. The people of God never dishonour their name more than when they trample on the alien from the commonwealth of Israel and the stranger from the covenant of promise. The alien may become as the home-born. The stranger may become familiar with Divine covenants and promises as if he were an Israelite from the womb. Even already the Israelites were being warned against counting too much on outward signs and natural descent. We should ever be looking for the minimum of living faith rather than the maximum of formal orthodoxy. A tiny seed is more to be cherished than a huge log of timber; for the one has whole living forests in it, and the other is dead and dead it must remain. We must labour to get the insight whereby we may penetrate through strange outward aspects and discern the spiritual life and sympathies underneath. God will give us the eye to discover, the honest and good eye, whether the stranger who comes is a wandering sheep seeking the true flock or a wolf in sheep"s clothing. To mistake the sheep for the wolf is equally lamentable with mistaking the wolf for the sheep. The Pharisaic spirit so easily finds entrance, welcome and dominion in our breasts. It is so natural to play the censor towards those who sin the tins which we have no temptation to fall into. He without mercy for him that seems a stranger to God, may suspect that he is still a stranger himself. Many even of the Israelites at Mount Sinai had not been brought to God in the full sense of the term. Theirs was but a local contiguity to the awful demonstrations, not an attachment of the whole heart to the pure and glorious God who was behind the demonstrations. Y.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator1887 · Public DomainOn vv21–22Neither vex a stranger.
Exo_22:21
Neither vex a stranger.
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The stranger
The spirit of the Hebrew law was broader than race, or country, or kindred. Among the ancients generally a foreigner had no rights in any country but his own. In some languages the very word stranger was synonymous with enemy. Against these race hatreds Moses set up this command. Not only were foreigners to be tolerated; they were to receive the fullest protection (see Lev_24:22). (H. M. Field, D. D.)
Sound policy
This was not only a humane law; but it was a sound policy. Do not wrong a stranger; remember ye were strangers. Do not oppress a stranger; remember ye were oppressed. Therefore do unto all men as you would they should do to you. Let strangers be well treated among you, and many will come among you, and the strength of your country will be increased. If refugees of this kind be treated well, they will become proselytes to your religion, and thus their souls may be saved. (A. Clarke, D. D.)
She was a stranger
A missionary was requested to go out to a new settlement to address a Sabbath-school. He had preached in the morning, and was wearied and felt quite unfitted for the task, but reluctantly consented to go. When he found himself at the spot, he looked round the assembly with great misgivings, not knowing what to say to them. He noticed a little girl, shabbily dressed and barefooted, shrinking in a corner, her little sunburnt face buried in her hands, the tears trickling between her small brown fingers, and sobbing as if her heart would break. Soon, however, another little girl, about eleven years old, got up and went to her, whispered kindly to her, and taking her by the hand, led her toward a brook, then seated her on a log, and kneeling beside her she took off her ragged sun bonnet, and dipping her hand in the water, bathed her hot eyes and tear-stained face, and smoothed her tangled hair, talking in a cheery manner all the while. The little one brightened up, the tears all went, and smiles came creeping around the rosy mouth. The missionary stepped forward and said: Is that your little sister, my dear? No, sir, answered the noble child, with tender, earnest eyes, I have no sister, sir. Oh, one of the neighbours children, replied the missionary; a little school-mate, perhaps? No, sir; she is a stranger. I do not know where she came from; I never saw her before. Then how came you to take her out and have such a care for her if you do not know her? Because she was a stranger, sir, and seemed all alone, and needed somebody to be kind to her. Ah, said the missionary to himself, here is a text for me to preach from--Because she was a stranger, and seemed all alone, and needed somebody to be kind to her. The words came to him, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me. So, taking the little girls by the hand, he went back to the school-room and told the people the simple story; then spoke of the great love that all should bear to one another, even as the dear Saviour sought out those who were humble and of low estate, making them His peculiar care. The missionary forgot his weariness, and felt that God had put good word in his mouth.
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0On v22You must not mistreat any widow or fatherless child
You must not mistreat any widow or fatherless child
This can be stated in positive form. AT: "You must treat all widows and fatherless children fairly" (See: Double Negatives)
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widow
"woman whose husband has died"
fatherless child
"orphan" or "child with no parents"
I will kill you with the sword
To be killed "with the sword" is a metonym that means a person will die violently, or perhaps fighting in a war. AT: "you will die a violent death" (See: Metonymy)
Tyndale Open Study Notes2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv21–2222:21 The Hebrews were to treat foreigners kindly because…
22:21 The Hebrews were to treat foreigners kindly because they, too, had once been foreigners (see also 23:9; Deut 10:18-19). For further development of the principle, see Luke 6:31.
GEBible — Godless Engineer's Bible App
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v24 The just plague of God upon the oppressors.
The just plague of God upon the oppressors.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv21–24 Exo 22:21 Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor…
Exo 22:21 Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
Ver. 21. Theft shalt not vex a stranger.] The right of strangers is so holy, saith one, that there was never nation so barbarous that would violate the same. When Stephen Gardner had in his power the renowned divine Peter Martyr, then teaching at Oxford, he would not keep him to punish him; but when he should go his way, gave him wherewith to bear his charges. {a}
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{a} Act. and Mon., fol. 1783.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv21–24 Ye shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child.…
Ye shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child. Who have no friends, husband, or father to be on their side and protect them, and are weak and helpless to defend themselves, and therefore it must be barbarous to do them any injury, either to their persons or property; no one ought to be afflicted and distressed by another, either in body or mind, or substance, and especially such as have no helper, not any to assist them and sympathize with them; for this is a law for every man, as Jarchi observes, is binding upon all; only the Scripture speaks of these, because of their weakness, and because they are more frequently afflicted than others, cruel and unmerciful men taking the advantage of their inability to defend themselves.
Ye shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child. Who have no friends, husband, or father to be on their side and protect them, and are weak and helpless to defend themselves, and therefore it must be barbarous to do them any injury, either to their persons or property; no one ought to be afflicted and distressed by another, either in body or mind, or substance, and especially such as have no helper, not any to assist them and sympathize with them; for this is a law for every man, as Jarchi observes, is binding upon all; only the Scripture speaks of these, because of their weakness, and because they are more frequently afflicted than others, cruel and unmerciful men taking the advantage of their inability to defend themselves.
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Exodus 22:23
exo 22:23
exo 22:23
exo 22:23If thou afflict them in any wise,..... In any way, or by any means whatever; their minds, by reproaches, censures, insults, and their bodies by stripes, false imprisonment, &c. and in their substance, by withholding from them what belongs to them, taking what they have, or cheating and defrauding them in any respect; or, "in afflicting afflict them" (e); afflict them much, and continue to do so:
and they cry at all unto me; in prayer, as the Targum of Jonathan; or, "in crying cry" (f); cry vehemently, or importunately, and with constancy, or rather, cry ever so little:
I will surely hear their cry; the voice of their prayer, as the same Targum; or, "in hearing I will hear" (g); will certainly take notice of their cries, and return an answer to them, by appearing on their side, and avenging their injuries; for God is the Father of the fatherless, and the husband of the widow, and the Judge of them both: the manner of speaking or form of expression is the same in all these clauses, the words being doubled.
(e) "affligendo afflixeris", Pagninus, Piscator, Ainsworth, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius. (f) "clamando clamaverit", Pagninus, Montanus, Piscator, Ainsworth. (g) "audiendo audiam", Pagninus, Montanus, Piscator, Ainsworth.
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 On vv21–22 A stranger must not be abused, not wronged in…
A stranger must not be abused, not wronged in judgment by the magistrates, not imposed upon in contracts, nor any advantage taken of his ignorance or necessity, no, nor must he be taunted, or upbraided with his being a stranger; for all these were vexations. For ye were strangers in Egypt - And knew what it was to be vexed and oppressed there. Those that have themselves been in poverty and distress, if Providence enrich and enlarge them, ought to shew a particular tenderness towards those that are now in such circumstances as they were in formerly, now doing to them as they then wished to be done by.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv21–22 Verse 21. Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor…
Verse 21. Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him] This was not only a very humane law, but it was also the offspring of a sound policy: "Do not vex a stranger; remember ye were strangers. Do not oppress a stranger; remember ye were oppressed. Therefore do unto all men as ye would they should do to you." It was the produce of a sound policy: "Let strangers be well treated among you, and many will come to take refuge among you, and thus the strength of your country will be increased. If refugees of this kind be treated well, they will become proselytes to your religion, and thus their souls may be saved." In every point of view, therefore, justice, humanity, sound policy, and religion, say. Neither vex nor oppress a stranger.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv21–22 Exo 22:21. A stranger must not be abused, not…
Exo 22:21. A stranger must not be abused, not wronged in judgment by the magistrates, not imposed upon in contracts, nor any advantage taken of his ignorance or necessity, no, nor must he be taunted, or upbraided with his being a stranger; for all these were vexatious. For ye were strangers in Egypt — And knew what it was to be vexed and oppressed there. Those that have themselves been in poverty and distress, if Providence enrich and enlarge them, ought to show a particular tenderness toward those that are now in such circumstances as they were in formerly, now doing to them as they then wished to be done to.
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 On vv21–22 A stranger - See Exo 20:10 note.
A stranger - See Exo 20:10 note.
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 On vv21, 24 Were strangers. The Celtes punished with death the murderer…
Were strangers. The Celtes punished with death the murderer of a stranger, which they only banished him who murdered a citizen. (Calmet)
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 On v24 24. I will kill you with the sword —…
24. I will kill you with the sword — Observe here that Jehovah is the governor and judge over all, and will, sooner or later, punish all evildoers and them that forget mercy. The magistrate bears not the sword in vain if he maintain justice and defend the weak; but if he fail in these high responsibilities, God’s own hand will interpose and bring deserved retribution.
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 On vv21–24 21. a sojourner shalt thou not wrong …; for…
21. a sojourner shalt thou not wrong …; for ye were sojourners in the land of Egypt] The ‘sojourner’ (gêr), or resident foreigner (see on Exo_12:48; and cf. Exo_2:22, Exo_20:10), had at this time no legal status in Israel, and was thus liable in many ways to injustice and oppression. With this injunction comp. Lev_19:33-34, Deu_1:16; Deu_10:18 f., and the other passages from Dt. and Jer. cited on v. 22; for allusions to the oppression of the gêr, see Eze_22:7; Eze_22:29, Mal_3:5.
wrong] Heb. hônâh; cf. Lev_19:33 (‘oppress’), also of the gêr.
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oppress] lit. crush (Num_22:25): fig. of external oppressors, Jdg_2:8 al.; as here, only Exo_23:9 besides.
for ye were sojourners, &c.] The same motive, in exactly the same words, in Exo_23:9, Lev_19:34 (H), Deu_10:19. For the cognate verb cased of the ‘sojourn’ in Egypt, see Gen_12:10 (of Abraham), Exo_6:4, Deu_26:5, Isa_52:4, Psa_105:12.
21–27. A group of humanitarian laws. The gêr, or resident foreigner, the widow, and the orphan not to be oppressed, vv. 21–24; interest not to be taken from the poor, v. 25; a garment taken in pledge to be returned before nightfall, vv. 26 f.
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 On vv21, 23 (21) For ye were strangers.—Ye should, therefore, sympathise with…
(21) For ye were strangers.—Ye should, therefore, sympathise with “strangers;” not “vex them,” not “oppress them,” but “love them as yourselves” (Lev_19:34). The condition of foreigners in Israel is shown to have been more than tolerable by the examples of the Kenites (Jdg_1:16; Jdg_4:11); of Araunah the Jebusite (2Sa_24:18-24); of Uriah the Hittite (2Sa_23:39), Zelek the Ammonite (2Sa_23:37), and others.
(21-24) The juxtaposition of laws against oppression with three crimes of the deepest dye seems intended to indicate that oppression is among the sins which are most hateful in God’s sight. The lawgiver, however, does not say that it is to be punished capitally, nor, indeed, does he affix to it any legal penalty. Instead of so doing, he declares that God Himself will punish it “with the sword” (Exo_22:24). Three classes of persons particularly liable to be oppressed are selected for mention—(1) Strangers, i.e., foreigners; (2) widows; and (3) orphans. Strangers have seldom been protected by any legislation, unless, indeed, they formed a class of permanent residents, like the Metœci at Athens. The law of civilised communities has generally afforded some protection to the orphan and the widow, particularly in respect of rights of property. The protection given is, however, very generally insufficient; and it is of the highest importance that it should be supplemented by an assured belief that, beyond all legal penalties there lies the Divine sentence of wrath and punishment, certain to fall upon every one who, careless of law and right, makes the stranger, the widow, or the orphan to suffer wrong at his hands.
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 On vv21–24 Law against oppression of foreigners. It may be doubted…
Law against oppression of foreigners. It may be doubted whether such a law as this was ever made in any other country. Foreigners are generally looked upon as "fair game," whom the natives of a country may ridicule and annoy at their pleasure. Native politeness gives them an exceptional position in France; but elsewhere it is the general rule to "vex" them. The Mosaic legislation protested strongly against this practice (Exo_23:9; Lev_19:33) and even required the Israelites to "love the stranger who dwelt with them as themselves". (Lev_19:34) For ye were strangers. Compare Lev_19:34, and Deu_10:19 in Exo_23:9 the addition is made ye know the heart of a stranger ye know; i.e. , the feelings which strangers have when they are vexed and oppressed ye know this by your own sad experience, and should therefore have a tenderness for strangers.
Vers. 21-29. Jehovah"s proteges and representatives.
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I JEHOVAH"S PROTEGES (vers. 21-28). These are the stranger, the fatherless, the widow, and the poor generally all of whom the Israelites are forbidden to "afflict." The ground of Jehovah"s interest in them is his own character I am gracious" (ver. 27). In him, however little they may sometimes think of it or feel it, they have a constant Friend, a great invisible Protector. They are (in the sense of Roman law) Jehovah"s "clients." He is their great Patron; he identifies himself with their interests; he will uphold their cause. Injuries done to them he will resent as if done to himself, and will call the wrong-doer to strict account. If earthly law fails, let them cry to him, and he will put the jus talionis in operation with his own hands (vers. 23, 24, 27). Vers. 25-28 specially forbid exacting treatment of the poor. Liberal help is to be afforded them. A neighbour is not to be harshly dealt with when driven to a strait. His garment, if given as a pledge, is not to be kept beyond nightfall, which is practically equivalent to saying that it is not to be taken from him at all (ver. 27). What kindness breathes in these precepts! How justly does the law which embodies them claim to be a law of love! And how far, even yet, is our Christian society from having risen to the height of the standard they set up! Let us seek ourselves to translate them more uniformly into practice. Learn also, from these precepts, inculcating love to the stronger, how little ground there is for accusing the religion of Moses of fanatical hatred of foreign peoples.
II JEHOVAH"S REPRESENTATIVES (ver. 28). Magistrates and rulers are to be treated with respect. They are invested with a portion of God"s authority. J.O. (Rom_14:1)
HOMILIES BY D. YOUNG Ver. 21. The treatment of the stranger.
I NOTE THE FACT THAT STRANGERS WOULD COME INTO SUCH CONTACT WITH ISRAEL AS TO PROVIDE OPPORTUNITY FOR THIS TREATMENT. Jehovah had done a great deal in Israel to make them a separated people separated in many ways as by the land of their dwelling, their national institutions, their worship, their personal rite of circumcision; but separation, with all its rigours and all the penalties for neglecting it, could never become isolation. Solemnly indeed were the people enjoined to drive out the Canaanites, and trample down all idolatry; but there still remained the fact, that by a certain Divine and glorious necessity, strangers were to come into considerable intercourse with them. That strangers should have been drawn to them when they settled in their fertile home was only likely; but this must nave happened to some extent even before. We may be perfectly certain, considering the analogies of after generations and what we read of proselytism in the New Testament, that from the very first there must have been some with the proselyte disposition in them. Few perhaps of this sort were to be found in the mixed multitude coming out of Egypt but still there were some. The Lord knoweth them that are his. If there are those of whom John might say, "They went out from us because they were not of us," so there are those of whom the Church may ever say, "They come to us because they are of us." For such God lovingly and amply provided from the first, even when they came with all the disadvantages and difficulties of strangers to contend against. There is in this very injunction, a foreshadowing of the power and attractiveness to which Israel in due time would rise, though as yet it was but a fugitive people without discipline and without coherence. Strangers in their need were even now drawn to Israel and would be drawn still more, just as years ago their needy ancestor and his children were drawn to Egypt because of the corn that was there.
II THE STRONG TEMPTATION TO TREAT THESE FOREIGNERS BADLY. There is a very melancholy picture of human inconsistency here presented. Liberated slaves, forgetting the horrors of their own servitude, treat with like cruelty those exposed to the opportunity of that cruelty. Men soon forget their past condition. Israel, we see, forgot the horror of their own Egyptian experiences in two ways.
1. They lusted after the flesh-pots of Egypt.
2. They failed in sympathy for the foreigners among themselves.
When we have possessions and power and thus get the chance of domination, we are only too ready to treat foreigners either as interlopers wishing to spoil us, or tools fitted to increase our possessions. The world, alas! is always abounding in a great number of the feeble and unfortunate, of whom it is only too easy to take advantage. More than one class of these are mentioned in this chapter, and among them we see that the foreigner occupies a conspicuous place. The stranger is the man without friends; he comes into a place where the very things that profit the knowing are traps and snares for the ignorant. Consider the difficulties of a foreigner planted down in the midst of a huge city like London, a place of dangers and difficulties even for an Englishman who is thrown into it for the first time, and how much more for one whom ignorance of the language makes doubly strange! Blanco White, who it will be remembered was an exile from his native land of Spain, gives as an instance of Shakespeare"s surprising knowledge of the human mind and heart "the passage in which he describes the magnitude of the loss which a man banished from his country has to endure by living among those who do not understand his native language." The words are those put into the mouth of Mowbray Duke of Norfolk, on his banishment by Richard II.
The language I have learn" d these forty years, My native English, now I must forego. And now my tongue"s use is to me no more Than an unstringed viol or a harp, Or like a cunning instrument cased up Or, being open, put into his hands That knows no touch to tune the harmony: Within my mouth you have engaoled my tongue, Doubly portcullis" d with my teeth and lips; And dull unfeeling barren ignorance Is made my gaoler to attend on me.
If this be so, the stranger"s feelings are some index to the temptations of those among whom he is cast. There may not be downright robbery, but there are tricks of trade, extortionate charges on pretence of making hay while the sun shines; in short there are all sorts of human foxes ever on the watch to catch the ignorant, the innocent, and the confiding. But are God"s people amenable to charges of this kind? It is evident that the Israelites were, from this warning to them. It was so easy to turn Jehovah"s denunciations of the idolater into excuses for maltreating the stranger because he had the look of an idolater. Nay more, how easy it was both to yield to the idolatry and maltreat the stranger!
III THE GREAT CONSIDERATION WHICH IS TO LEAD TO PROPER TREATMENT OF THE STRANGER. "Ye were strangers in the land of Egypt." Great as the temptation was to treat strangers badly, such treatment if only looked at in a certain light would be scarcely excusable at all This possible treatment of the stranger is to be looked at in the clear light of our Lord"s parable concerning the forgiven yet unforgiving debtor. Israel had been strangers in Egypt, not only foreigners among the Egyptians, but to some extent exiles from God, who had put on the appearance of having forgotten them. But now he had brought them to himself, they were to be his people, a holy nation; and it was want of loyalty to God, it was behaviour unworthy of a holy nation for them to treat strangers as the Egyptians had treated Israel. God hates the oppressor everywhere and pities the oppressed. The people of God never dishonour their name more than when they trample on the alien from the commonwealth of Israel and the stranger from the covenant of promise. The alien may become as the home-born. The stranger may become familiar with Divine covenants and promises as if he were an Israelite from the womb. Even already the Israelites were being warned against counting too much on outward signs and natural descent. We should ever be looking for the minimum of living faith rather than the maximum of formal orthodoxy. A tiny seed is more to be cherished than a huge log of timber; for the one has whole living forests in it, and the other is dead and dead it must remain. We must labour to get the insight whereby we may penetrate through strange outward aspects and discern the spiritual life and sympathies underneath. God will give us the eye to discover, the honest and good eye, whether the stranger who comes is a wandering sheep seeking the true flock or a wolf in sheep"s clothing. To mistake the sheep for the wolf is equally lamentable with mistaking the wolf for the sheep. The Pharisaic spirit so easily finds entrance, welcome and dominion in our breasts. It is so natural to play the censor towards those who sin the tins which we have no temptation to fall into. He without mercy for him that seems a stranger to God, may suspect that he is still a stranger himself. Many even of the Israelites at Mount Sinai had not been brought to God in the full sense of the term. Theirs was but a local contiguity to the awful demonstrations, not an attachment of the whole heart to the pure and glorious God who was behind the demonstrations. Y.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv21–22 Neither vex a stranger.
Exo_22:21
Neither vex a stranger.
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The stranger
The spirit of the Hebrew law was broader than race, or country, or kindred. Among the ancients generally a foreigner had no rights in any country but his own. In some languages the very word stranger was synonymous with enemy. Against these race hatreds Moses set up this command. Not only were foreigners to be tolerated; they were to receive the fullest protection (see Lev_24:22). (H. M. Field, D. D.)
Sound policy
This was not only a humane law; but it was a sound policy. Do not wrong a stranger; remember ye were strangers. Do not oppress a stranger; remember ye were oppressed. Therefore do unto all men as you would they should do to you. Let strangers be well treated among you, and many will come among you, and the strength of your country will be increased. If refugees of this kind be treated well, they will become proselytes to your religion, and thus their souls may be saved. (A. Clarke, D. D.)
She was a stranger
A missionary was requested to go out to a new settlement to address a Sabbath-school. He had preached in the morning, and was wearied and felt quite unfitted for the task, but reluctantly consented to go. When he found himself at the spot, he looked round the assembly with great misgivings, not knowing what to say to them. He noticed a little girl, shabbily dressed and barefooted, shrinking in a corner, her little sunburnt face buried in her hands, the tears trickling between her small brown fingers, and sobbing as if her heart would break. Soon, however, another little girl, about eleven years old, got up and went to her, whispered kindly to her, and taking her by the hand, led her toward a brook, then seated her on a log, and kneeling beside her she took off her ragged sun bonnet, and dipping her hand in the water, bathed her hot eyes and tear-stained face, and smoothed her tangled hair, talking in a cheery manner all the while. The little one brightened up, the tears all went, and smiles came creeping around the rosy mouth. The missionary stepped forward and said: Is that your little sister, my dear? No, sir, answered the noble child, with tender, earnest eyes, I have no sister, sir. Oh, one of the neighbours children, replied the missionary; a little school-mate, perhaps? No, sir; she is a stranger. I do not know where she came from; I never saw her before. Then how came you to take her out and have such a care for her if you do not know her? Because she was a stranger, sir, and seemed all alone, and needed somebody to be kind to her. Ah, said the missionary to himself, here is a text for me to preach from--Because she was a stranger, and seemed all alone, and needed somebody to be kind to her. The words came to him, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me. So, taking the little girls by the hand, he went back to the school-room and told the people the simple story; then spoke of the great love that all should bear to one another, even as the dear Saviour sought out those who were humble and of low estate, making them His peculiar care. The missionary forgot his weariness, and felt that God had put good word in his mouth.
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v22 You must not mistreat any widow or fatherless child
You must not mistreat any widow or fatherless child
This can be stated in positive form. AT: "You must treat all widows and fatherless children fairly" (See: Double Negatives)
Read full note →
widow
"woman whose husband has died"
fatherless child
"orphan" or "child with no parents"
I will kill you with the sword
To be killed "with the sword" is a metonym that means a person will die violently, or perhaps fighting in a war. AT: "you will die a violent death" (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
wrong
afflicted
anger
sword
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 On vv21–22 22:21 The Hebrews were to treat foreigners kindly because…
22:21 The Hebrews were to treat foreigners kindly because they, too, had once been foreigners (see also 23:9; Deut 10:18-19). For further development of the principle, see Luke 6:31.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.