"... Specifically, they have disobeyed the command­ment of Leviticus 19:13 against withholding the wages of a day laborer until morning. James alludes also to Deuteronomy 24:14-15, a fuller version of that command­ment, and to Isaiah 5:9 LXX. References to this command­ment are frequent in Jewish literature (Malachi 3:5; Sirach 34:27; Tobit 4:14; Testament of Job 12:4; Pseudo-Phocylides 19). The reason is that the day laborer was a significant category of the poor. He neither owned nor rented land, but was em­ployed a day at a time on the estates of others and paid his wages at the end of each day’s work. Of all peasant workers, he was in the most vulnerable position. His em­ployment could be terminated at a few hours’ notice. He might often be unemployed. His wages were too small to make savings possible. He and his family lived from hand to mouth, and withholding his wages even until next morning was a serious matter. An employer who did so could even be accused of murder without hyper­ bole (Sirach 34:25-27) ..."