Deuteronomy 24:5-22

Miscellaneous Laws

5 ¹"When a man is newly married, he shall not go out with the army or be liable for any other public duty. He shall be free at home one year ²to be happy with his wife whom he has taken.

6 "No one shall take a mill or an upper millstone in pledge, for that would be taking a life in pledge.

7 ³"If a man is found stealing one of his brothers of the people of Israel, and if he ⁴treats him as a slave or sells him, then that thief shall die. ⁵So you shall purge the evil from your midst.

8 "Take care, in ⁶a case of leprous^[a] disease, to be very careful to do according to all that the Levitical priests shall direct you. As I commanded them, so you shall be careful to do.

9 Remember what the LORD your God did to ⁷Miriam ⁸on the way as you came out of Egypt.

10 "When you make your neighbor a loan of any sort, you shall not go into his house to collect his pledge.

11 You shall stand outside, and the man to whom you make the loan shall bring the pledge out to you.

12 And if he is a poor man, you shall not sleep in his pledge.

13 ⁹You shall restore to him the pledge as the sun sets, that he may sleep in his cloak and ¹⁰bless you. And ¹¹it shall be righteousness for you before the LORD your God.

14 "You shall not ¹²oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brothers or one of the sojourners who are in your land within your towns.

15 ¹³You shall give him his wages on the same day, before the sun sets (for he is poor and counts on it), ¹⁴lest he cry against you to the LORD, and you be guilty of sin.

16 ¹⁵"Fathers shall not be put to death because of their children, nor shall children be put to death because of their fathers. Each one shall be put to death for his own sin.

17 ¹⁶"You shall not pervert the justice due to the sojourner or to the fatherless, ¹⁷or take a widow's garment in pledge,

18 but ¹⁸you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you from there; therefore I command you to do this.

19 ¹⁹"When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, ²⁰that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.

20 When you beat your olive trees, you shall not go over them again. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.

21 When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not strip it afterward. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.

22 ²¹You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I command you to do this.

Deuteronomy 24:5-22 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 24

This chapter contains various laws concerning divorces, De 24:1-4; the discharge of a newly married man from war and business, De 24:5; about taking pledges, De 24:6,10-13; man stealing, De 24:7; the plague of leprosy, De 24:8,9; and giving servants their hire in due time, De 24:14,15; concerning doing justice in capital cases, and towards the stranger, fatherless, and widow, De 24:16-18; and of charity to the poor, in allowing them the forgotten sheaf, and the gleanings of their oliveyards and vineyards, De 24:19-22.

Cross References

• 1. [Deuteronomy 20:7]
• 2. Proverbs 5:18
• 3. Exodus 21:16; [1 Timothy 1:10]
• 4. Deuteronomy 21:14
• 5. See Deuteronomy 13:5
• 6. See Lev. 13 - 14
• 7. See Numbers 12:10-15
• 8. Deuteronomy 25:17
• 9. See Exodus 22:26
• 10. Job 29:13; Job 31:20
• 11. Psalms 112:9; Daniel 4:27; [Deuteronomy 6:25]
• 12. Malachi 3:5; See Leviticus 25:39-43
• 13. Jeremiah 22:13; See Leviticus 19:13
• 14. Deuteronomy 15:9; James 5:4
• 15. Cited 2 Kings 14:6; 2 Chronicles 25:4; [Jeremiah 31:29, 30; Ezekiel 18:20]
• 16. Exodus 22:21, 22; Exodus 23:6; [Deuteronomy 10:18; Deuteronomy 27:19; Isaiah 1:23; Jeremiah 5:28]; See Deuteronomy 16:19
• 17. [ver. 6, 13; Job 24:3]
• 18. See Deuteronomy 5:15
• 19. Leviticus 19:9; Leviticus 23:22
• 20. See Deuteronomy 14:29
• 21. [See ver. 18 above]

Footnotes

• [a]. Leprosy was a term for several skin diseases; see Leviticus 13