Deuteronomy 24

1 And if thou shouldest go into the corn field of thy neighbour, then thou mayest gather the ears with thy hands; but thou shalt not put the sickle to thy neighbour's corn.

2 And if thou shouldest go into the vineyard of thy neighbour, thou shalt eat grapes sufficient to satisfy thy desire; but thou mayest not put them into a vessel.

3 And if any one should take a wife, and should dwell with her, then it shall come to pass if she should not have found favour before him, because he has found some unbecoming thing in her, that he shall write for her a bill of divorcement, and give it into her hands, and he shall send her away out of his house.

4 And she should go away and be married to another man;

5 and the last husband should hate her, and write for her a bill of divorcement; and should give it into her hands, and send her away out of his house, and the last husband should die, who took her to himself for a wife;

6 the former husband who sent her away shall not be able to return and take her to himself for a wife, after she has been defiled; because it is an abomination before the Lord thy God, and ye shall not defile the land, which the Lord thy God gives thee to inherit.

7 And if any one should have recently taken a wife, he shall not go out to war, neither shall any thing be laid upon him; he shall be free in his house; for one year he shall cheer his wife whom he has taken.

8 Thou shalt not take for a pledge the under millstone, nor the upper millstone; for he who does so takes life for a pledge.

9 And if a man should be caught stealing one of his brethren of the children of Israel, and having overcome him he should sell him, that thief shall die; so shalt thou remove that evil one from yourselves.

10 Take heed to thyself in the plague of leprosy: thou shalt take great heed to do according to all the law, which the priests the Levites shall report to you; take heed to do, as I have charged you.

11 Remember all that the Lord thy God did to Mariam in the way, when ye were going out of Egypt.

12 If thy neighbour owe thee a debt, any debt whatsoever, thou shalt not go into his house to take his pledge:

13 thou shalt stand without, and the man who is in thy debt shall bring the pledge out to thee.

14 And if the man be poor, thou shalt not sleep with his pledge.

15 Thou shalt surely restore his pledge at sunset, and he shall sleep in his garment, and he shall bless thee; and it shall be mercy to thee before the Lord thy God.

16 Thou shalt not unjustly withhold the wages of the poor and needy of thy brethren, or of the strangers who are in thy cities.

17 Thou shalt pay him his wages the same day, the sun shall not go down upon it, because he is poor and he trusts in it; and he shall cry against thee to the Lord, and it shall be sin in thee.

18 The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, and the sons shall not be put to death for the fathers; every one shall be put to death for his own sin.

19 Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of the stranger and the fatherless, and widow; thou shalt not take the widow's garment for a pledge.

20 And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the Lord thy God redeemed thee from thence; therefore I charge thee to do this thing.

21 And when thou shalt have reaped corn in thy field, and shalt have forgotten a sheaf in thy field, thou shalt not return to take it; it shall be for the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the works of thy hands.

22 And if thou shouldest gather thine olives, thou shalt not return to collect the remainder; it shall be for the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, and thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt; therefore I command thee to do this thing.

23 And when soever thou shalt gather the grapes of thy vineyard, thou shalt not glean what thou hast left; it shall be for the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow:

24 and thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt; therefore I command thee to do this thing.

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.

Footnotes

• [a]. book.
• [b]. guiltless.
• [c]. this man.
• [d]. a soul.
• [e]. mercy shewn by thee.
• [f]. die in his own sin.

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.