Deuteronomy 24:5-15

5 When a man hath taken (of) late a wife, he shall not go forth to battle, neither anything of the common needs shall be enjoined to him, but he shall give attention without blame to his house(hold), that he be glad in one year with his wife. (When a man hath recently taken a wife, he shall not go forth to battle, nor anything of the common needs shall be required from him, but he shall give attention to his family for one year without blame, so that he can be happy with his wife.)
6 Thou shalt not take instead of a wed the lower and the higher quernstone of thy brother, for he hath put his life to thee. (Thou shalt not take in place of a pledge the lower or the higher millstone of thy brother, for then he hath given thee his life, that is, his livelihood.)
7 If a man is taken, that is, convicted in doom, busily ambushing to steal his brother of the sons of Israel, and when he hath sold him, taketh price, he shall be slain; and thus thou shalt do away evil from the midst of thee. (If a man hath kidnapped his brother, yea, one of the Israelites, and maketh him his slave, or selleth him into slavery, he shall be put to death; and so thou shalt do away evil from the midst of thee.)
8 Keep thou diligently, lest thou run into the sickness of leprosy, but thou shalt do whatever things that the priests of the kin of Levi teach thee, by that that I commanded to them, and fulfill thou it diligently. (Be thou careful, when thou hast run into the sickness of leprosy, that thou do whatever the levitical priests tell thee to do, yea, what I have commanded to them, and which thou must obey in order to recover.)
9 Have ye mind what things your Lord God did to Marie, in the way, when ye went out of Egypt. (Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam, on the way, when ye went out of Egypt.)
10 When thou shalt ask of thy neighbour anything that he oweth to thee, thou shalt not enter into his house, that thou take away from him a wed; (When thou shalt ask thy neighbour for what he oweth thee, thou shalt not enter into his house, to take away a pledge from him;)
11 but thou shalt stand withoutforth, and he shall bring forth to thee that that he hath.
12 And if he is poor, his wed shall not abide by night with thee (his pledge shall not stay with thee all night),
13 but anon thou shalt yield his wed to him before the going down of the sun, that he sleep in his cloth, and bless thee, and thou have rightwiseness before thy Lord God. (but at once thou shalt yield his pledge back to him, yea, before the going down of the sun, so that he can sleep in his own cloak, and bless thee, and then thou shalt have righteousness before the Lord thy God.)
14 Thou shalt not deny the hire of thy brother (who is) needy and poor, either of the comeling that dwelleth with thee in thy land, and is within thy gates; (Thou shalt not withhold the wages of thy servant who is needy and poor, whether he be a fellow Israelite, or a newcomer who dwelleth with thee in thy land, within thy gates;)
15 but in the same day thou shalt yield to him the price of his travail, before the going down of the sun, for he is poor, and sustaineth thereof his life; lest he cry against thee to the Lord, and it be reckoned to thee into sin. (but thou shalt yield to him the wages for his work on the same day, before the going down of the sun, for he is poor, and sustaineth his life with them; lest he cry against thee to the Lord, and it be reckoned unto thee as a sin.)

Deuteronomy 24:5-15 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.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.