Deuteronomy 10:18

Hebrew Bible

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. 20 Revere the Lord your God, serve him, be loyal to him, and take oaths only in his name.

Psalm 146:7

Hebrew Bible

5 How blessed is the one whose helper is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God. 6 The one who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who remains forever faithful, 7 vindicates the oppressed, and gives food to the hungry. The Lord releases the imprisoned. 8 The Lord gives sight to the blind. The Lord lifts up all who are bent over. The Lord loves the godly. 9 The Lord protects the resident foreigner. He lifts up the fatherless and the widow, but he opposes the wicked.

 Notes and References

"... The Exodus is seen as the ultimate act of divine justice in the Hebrew Bible, because it is an act of God that overthrows the totalitarian rule of the Pharaoh (in respect of the Israelites) and frees them from slavery. For this reason, ‘the entire history of Israel under God is subordinated to one purpose—righteousness expressed in justice’ ... This is reflected in Psalm 146:7–9, a song of praise ... Justice is envisaged as a mighty, surging river, like the River Jordan in full flood. It illustrates that justice is not a static state (like the scales of Justicia) but an intervening power: it strikes and changes, restores and heals. It is dynamic, rushing onwards, bringing life to a parched land. Justice has transformative potential. Against this background, the treatment of the least favoured in society becomes the fundamental criterion for achieving justice. The triumvirate of ‘the alien, the fatherless and the widow’ are the object of God’s special concern (Deuteronomy 10:18). Accordingly, they are to be the people’s focus also ..."

Burnside, Jonathan The Spirit of Biblical Law (pp. 1-25) Oxford Journal of Law and Religion, 2012

 User Comments

Do you have questions or comments about these texts? Please submit them here.