Deuteronomy 24

1 "Suppose a man marries a woman and later decides that he doesn't want her, because he finds something about her that he doesn't like. So he writes out divorce papers, gives them to her, and sends her away from his home. ¹

2 Then suppose she marries another man,

3 and he also decides that he doesn't want her, so he also writes out divorce papers, gives them to her, and sends her away from his home. Or suppose her second husband dies.

4 In either case, her first husband is not to marry her again; he is to consider her defiled. If he married her again, it would be offensive to the Lord. You are not to commit such a terrible sin in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

5 "When a man is newly married, he is not to be drafted into military service or any other public duty; he is to be excused from duty for one year, so that he can stay at home and make his wife happy.

6 "When you lend someone something, you are not to take as security his millstones used for grinding his grain. This would take away the family's means of preparing food to stay alive.

7 "If any of you kidnap Israelites and make them your slaves or sell them into slavery, you are to be put to death. In this way your nation will get rid of this evil. ²

8 "When you are suffering from a dreaded skin disease, be sure to do exactly what the levitical priests tell you; follow the instructions that I have given them. ³

9 Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam as you were coming from Egypt. ⁴

10 "When you lend someone something, do not go into his house to get the garment he is going to give you as security; ⁵

11 wait outside and let him bring it to you himself.

12 If he is poor, do not keep it overnight;

13 return it to him each evening, so that he can have it to sleep in. Then he will be grateful, and the Lord your God will be pleased with you.

14 "Do not cheat poor and needy hired servants, whether they are Israelites or foreigners living in one of your towns. ⁶

15 Each day before sunset pay them for that day's work; they need the money and have counted on getting it. If you do not pay them, they will cry out against you to the Lord, and you will be guilty of sin.

16 "Parents are not to be put to death for crimes committed by their children, and children are not to be put to death for crimes committed by their parents; people are to be put to death only for a crime they themselves have committed. ⁷

17 "Do not deprive foreigners and orphans of their rights; and do not take a widow's garment as security for a loan. ⁸

18 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God set you free; that is why I have given you this command.

19 "When you gather your crops and fail to bring in some of the grain that you have cut, do not go back for it; it is to be left for the foreigners, orphans, and widows, so that the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do. ⁹

20 When you have picked your olives once, do not go back and get those that are left; they are for the foreigners, orphans, and widows.

21 When you have gathered your grapes once, do not go back over the vines a second time; the grapes that are left are for the foreigners, orphans, and widows.

22 Never forget that you were slaves in Egypt; that is why I have given you this command.

Deuteronomy 24 Commentary

Chapter 24

Of divorce. (1-4) Of new-married persons, Of man-stealers, Of pledges. (5-13) Of justice and generosity. (14-22)

Verses 1-4 Where the providence of God, or his own wrong choice in marriage, has allotted to a Christian a trial instead of a help meet; he will from his heart prefer bearing the cross, to such relief as tends to sin, confusion, and misery. Divine grace will sanctify this cross, support under it, and teach so to behave, as will gradually render it more tolerable.

Verses 5-13 It is of great consequence that love be kept up between husband and wife; that they carefully avoid every thing which might make them strange one to another. Man-stealing was a capital crime, which could not be settled, as other thefts, by restitution. The laws concerning leprosy must be carefully observed. Thus all who feel their consciences under guilt and wrath, must not cover it, or endeavour to shake off their convictions; but by repentance, and prayer, and humble confession, take the way to peace and pardon. Some orders are given about pledges for money lent. This teaches us to consult the comfort and subsistence of others, as much as our own advantage. Let the poor debtor sleep in his own raiment, and praise God for thy kindness to him. Poor debtors ought to feel more than commonly they do, the goodness of creditors who do not take all the advantage of the law against them, nor should this ever be looked upon as weakness.

Verses 14-22 It is not hard to prove that purity, piety, justice, mercy, fair conduct, kindness to the poor and destitute, consideration for them, and generosity of spirit, are pleasing to God, and becoming in his redeemed people. The difficulty is to attend to them in our daily walk and conversation.

Cross References

• 1. 24.1Matthew 5.31; 19.7;Mark 10.4.
• 2. 24.7Exodus 21.16.
• 3. 24.8Leviticus 13.1--14.54.
• 4. 24.9Numbers 12.10.
• 5. 24.10-13Exodus 22.26, 27.
• 6. 24.14, 15Leviticus 19.13.
• 7. 24.16 2 K 14.6;2 Chronicles 25.4;Ezekiel 18.20.
• 8. 24.17, 18Exodus 23.9;Leviticus 19.33, 34;Deuteronomy 27.19.
• 9. 24.19-21Leviticus 19.9, 10; 23.22.

Footnotes

• [a]. something . . . like; [or] that she is guilty of some shameful conduct.
• [b]. make his wife happy; [or] be happy with his wife.

Chapter Summary

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.