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About this book

Deuteronomy

About this book
Chapter 24

1 If a man marries a woman and she does not please him because he has found something indecent in her, then he may draw up a divorce document, give it to her, and evict her from his house.⁠ 2 When she has left him she may go and become someone else’s wife. 3 If the second husband rejects her and then divorces her, gives her the papers, and evicts her from his house, or if the second husband who married her dies,⁠ 4 her first husband who divorced her is not permitted to remarry her after she has become ritually impure, for that is offensive to the Lord. You must not bring guilt on the land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance. 5 When a man is newly married, he need not go into the army nor be obligated in any way; he must be free to stay at home for a full year and bring joy to the wife he has married. 6 One must not take either lower or upper millstones as security on a loan, for that is like taking a life itself as security. 7 If a man is found kidnapping a person from among his fellow Israelites, and regards him as mere property and sells him, that kidnapper must die. In this way you will purge the evil from among you. 8 Be careful during an outbreak of leprosy to follow precisely all that the Levitical priests instruct you; as I have commanded them, so you should do.⁠ 9 Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam along the way after you left Egypt. 10 When you make any kind of loan to your neighbor, you may not go into his house to claim what he is offering as security.⁠ 11 You must stand outside and the person to whom you are making the loan will bring out to you what he is offering as security. 12 If the person is poor you may not use what he gives you as security for a covering. 13 You must by all means return to him at sunset the item he gave you as security so that he may sleep in his outer garment and bless you for it; it will be considered a just deed by the Lord your God. 14 You must not oppress a lowly and poor servant, whether one from among your fellow Israelites or from the resident foreigners who are living in your land and villages. 15 You must pay his wage that very day before the sun sets, for he is poor and his life depends on it. Otherwise he will cry out to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty of sin.⁠ 16 Fathers must not be put to death for what their children do, nor children for what their fathers do; each must be put to death for his own sin.⁠ 17 You must not pervert justice due a resident foreigner or an orphan, or take a widow’s garment as security for a loan.⁠ 18 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God redeemed you from there; therefore I am commanding you to do all this. 19 Whenever you reap your harvest in your field and leave some unraked grain there, you must not return to get it; it should go to the resident foreigner, orphan, and widow so that the Lord your God may bless all the work you do.⁠ 20 When you beat your olive tree you must not repeat the procedure; the remaining olives belong to the resident foreigner, orphan, and widow. 21 When you gather the grapes of your vineyard you must not do so a second time; they should go to the resident foreigner, orphan, and widow.⁠ 22 Remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt; therefore, I am commanding you to do all this.

Texts in conversation

Compare Exodus 22:26 and Deuteronomy 24:17

Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Exodus 22 and Deuteronomy 24 place limits on lending, requiring that a garment taken as collateral from the poor be returned by nightfall, since it may be the borrower’s only covering. This is echoed in many commandments that protect the vulnerable.

Passages

Exodus 22:26

Hebrew Bible
24 and my anger will burn and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives will be widows and your children will be fatherless. 25 “If you lend money to any of my people who are needy among you, do not be like a moneylender to him; do not charge him interest. 26 If you do take the garment of your neighbor in pledge, you must return it to him by the time the sun goes down, 27 for it is his only covering—it is his garment for his body. What else can he sleep in? And when he cries out to me, I will hear, for I am gracious. 28 “You must not blaspheme God or curse the ruler of your people.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Exodus

Deuteronomy 24:17

Hebrew Bible
15 You must pay his wage that very day before the sun sets, for he is poor and his life depends on it. Otherwise he will cry out to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty of sin. 16 Fathers must not be put to death for what their children do, nor children for what their fathers do; each must be put to death for his own sin. 17 You must not pervert justice due a resident foreigner or an orphan, or take a widow’s garment as security for a loan. 18 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God redeemed you from there; therefore I am commanding you to do all this. 19 Whenever you reap your harvest in your field and leave some unraked grain there, you must not return to get it; it should go to the resident foreigner, orphan, and widow so that the Lord your God may bless all the work you do.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Deuteronomy

References

"... In the call to social justice, the Bible does not idealize or romanticize poverty. Poverty is human need, social distress, and suffering and it is contrary to God’s will. The Bible acknowledges poverty as a social reality and encourages a response of willing generosity. ... The Bible portrays God as an advocate for the poor. He is their refuge, he hears their needy cries, he provides for them, and he secures justice for them. All people, rich or poor, male or female, young or old, Jew or Gentile have dignity and value as persons made in God’s image and thus have one Father. The Old Testament contains a considerable body of legislation aimed at providing justice for those socially disadvantaged. For example: Gleaning laws provided for the poor (Leviticus 19:9–10; Deuteronomy 24:17–22); A special tithe was collected for the poor (Deuteronomy 14:28–29; 26:12); The sabbatical year allowed the poor to eat of the fallow land (Leviticus 25:1–7; Deuteronomy 15:1–11); The poor deserve impartial judgment, neither favored nor oppressed due to their status (Exodus 23:3–11; 30:15; Leviticus 19:15); The poor were not to be denied justice nor exploited (Exodus 23:6); The poor among Israel were not to be charged interest on loans (Exodus 22:25); Certain items of security offered by the poor in lending was to be returned each day (Exodus 22:26–27; Deuteronomy 24:12–13); The poor were allowed to make less expensive offerings (Leviticus 5:7, 11; 27:8) ..."
Andrew E. Hill and John H. Walton, A Survey of the Old Testament, 3rd ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2009), 1394–1395.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Exodus 22:26 and Deuteronomy 24:17

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