Deuteronomy 24:9-19

9 Remember what Jehovah thy God did unto Miriam on the way, after that ye came forth out of Egypt.
10 When thou dost lend thy brother anything, thou shalt not go into his house to secure his pledge.
11 Thou shalt stand outside, and the man to whom thou hast made a loan shall bring out the pledge to thee without.
12 And if the man be needy, thou shalt not lie down with his pledge;
13 in any case thou shalt return him the pledge at the going down of the sun, that he may sleep in his own upper garment and bless thee; and it shall be righteousness unto thee before Jehovah thy God.
14 Thou shalt not oppress a hired servant [who is] poor and needy of thy brethren, or of thy sojourners who are in thy land within thy gates:
15 on his day thou shalt give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down upon it; for he is poor, and his soul yearneth after it; lest he cry against thee to Jehovah, and it be a sin in thee.
16 The fathers shall not be put to death for the sons, neither shall the sons be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin.
17 Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger, [or] of the fatherless; and thou shalt not take in pledge a widow's garment.
18 And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt, and that Jehovah thy God redeemed thee from thence; therefore I command thee to do this thing.
19 When thou reapest thy harvest in thy field, and forgettest a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not return to fetch it; it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow; that Jehovah thy God may bless thee in all the work of thy hands.

Deuteronomy 24:9-19 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.

Footnotes 4

  • [a]. Or 'strangers.'
  • [b]. Or 'afflicted,' as ch. 15.11.
  • [c]. Lit. 'he lifteth his soul to it.'
  • [d]. Or 'there be sin upon.'
The Darby Translation is in the public domain.