Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Deuteronomy 24:10 - 24:22

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Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Deuteronomy 24:10 - 24:22


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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:



Kindness Toward the Poor and Needy

v. 10. When thou dost lend thy brother anything, thou shalt not go into his house to fetch his pledge.
The choice of the pledge was to be left to the borrower, and the lender was to respect the sanctity of his fellow-man's home.

v. 11. Thou shalt stand abroad,
outside the house, and the man to whom thou dost lend shall bring out the pledge abroad unto thee, something which he could spare for the time being.

v. 12. And if the man,
the borrower, be poor, thou shalt not sleep with his pledge, since this consisted, as a rule, of the upper garment or mantle, which was, at the same time, the poor man's covering;

v. 13. in any case,
by all means, thou shalt deliver him the pledge again when the sun goeth down, that he may sleep in his own raiment, which served for his bed, and bless thee; and it shall be righteousness unto thee before the Lord, thy God. Cf Exo_22:26-27.

v. 14. Thou shalt not oppress an hired servant that is poor and needy,
the laborer working for wages, whether he be of thy brethren, or of thy strangers that are in thy land within thy gates, Lev_19:13;

v. 15. at his day,
that is, day by day, thou shalt give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down upon it, Jer_22:13; Jam_5:4; for he is poor, and setteth his heart upon it, he desires to have his wages regularly, because his life depends upon this money; lest he cry against thee unto the Lord and it be sin unto thee.

v. 16. The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers,
neither the one nor the other should suffer the punishment of death for crimes in which they took no part, which they did not countenance; every man shall be put to death for his own sin. In other words, the children of Israel were not to confound the justice of God, Exo_20:5, with that of man; they n-ere not to presume upon God's methods of punishment.

v. 17. Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger nor of the fatherless,
Exo_22:20-21; Exo_23:9; nor take a widow's raiment to pledge. Cf Lev_19:33-34.

v. 18. But thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt,
oppressed on every hand with great severity, and the Lord, thy God, redeemed thee thence; therefore I command thee to do this thing.

v. 19. When thou cuttest down thine harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it; it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow; that the Lord, thy God, may bless thee in all the work of thine hands,
as a reward of humanity and brotherly love. Cf Lev_19:9-10; Lev_23:22.

v. 20. When thou beatest thine olive-tree,
as was done before they were fully ripe, in order to insure a finer grade of oil, thou shalt not go over the boughs again, in the effort to obtain every last bit of fruit; it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.

v. 21. When thou gatherest the grapes of thy vineyard, thou shalt not glean it afterward,
go over the vines a second time; it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.

v. 22. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt; therefore I command thee to do this thing,
Deu_15:15. All believers will remember the obligations laid upon them in the matter of brotherly love and charity and take care to discharge these obligations whenever they have an opportunity to do so.