Deuteronomy 10:18

Hebrew Bible
15 However, only to your ancestors did he show his loving favor, and he chose you, their descendants, from all peoples—as is apparent today. 16 Therefore, circumcise your hearts and stop being so stubborn! 17 For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God who is unbiased and takes no bribe, 18 who justly treats the orphan and widow, and who loves resident foreigners, giving them food and clothing. 19 So you must love the resident foreigner because you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
Date: 6th Century B.C.E. (Final composition) (based on scholarly estimates) Source

2 Kings 4:1

Hebrew Bible
1 Now a wife of one of the prophets appealed to Elisha for help, saying, “Your servant, my husband is dead. You know that your servant was a loyal follower of the Lord. Now the creditor is coming to take away my two boys to be his servants.” 2 Elisha said to her, “What can I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” She answered, “Your servant has nothing in the house except a small jar of olive oil.” 3 He said, “Go and ask all your neighbors for empty containers. Get as many as you can. 4 Go and close the door behind you and your sons. Pour the olive oil into all the containers; set aside each one when you have filled it.” 5 So she left him and closed the door behind her and her sons. As they were bringing the containers to her, she was pouring the olive oil.
Date: 6th Century B.C.E. (Final composition) (based on scholarly estimates) Source

Texts in Conversation

2 Kings 4 offers a narrative retelling of the ideals found in Deuteronomy and Exodus, with its calls to protect the vulnerable including orphans, widows, and resident foreigners. In the story, Elisha rescues a widow from losing her children to slavery, dramatizing these ideas in telling a story. This places 2 Kings 4 in continuity with the Hebrew bible and other ancient Near Eastern literature with similar calls for social justice.

Notes and References

"... Concern for the welfare of resident aliens, the fatherless, and widows is a recurrent theme in the Bible. As explained in Deuteronomy 1:16 and 10:18, their economic and social disadvantages exposed them to exploitation. This is a universal problem, and concern for the welfare of the fatherless and widows is commonly mentioned in ancient Near Eastern wisdom literature and texts about the activities of kings, whose special duty it was to protect them (concern for the alien is not nearly so common outside the Bible). Biblical law requires every Israelite to avoid wronging them and to be concerned with their welfare. Exodus and Leviticus warn against mistreating them economically and judicially, and earlier passages in Deuteronomy have focused on the obligation to include them in the triennial tithe for the poor (14:29), the Sabbath rest (5:14), and the celebration accompanying festivals Their economic needs are addressed again below in verses 19—21. Here the concern is with protecting them from mistreatment in court ... 2 Kings 4 tells how Elisha miraculously enabled a widow to avoid distraint of her children. According to halakhah, no possessions of a widow may be distrained ..."
Tigay, Jeffrey H. Deuteronomy: The Traditional Hebrew Text with the New JPS Translation (p. 228) Jewish Publication Society, 1996

* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.

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