Exodus 22:22
Hebrew Bible
21 “You must not wrong a resident foreigner nor oppress him, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. 22 “You must not afflict any widow or orphan. 23 If you afflict them in any way and they cry to me, I will surely hear their cry, 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.
Date: 5th Century B.C.E. (Final composition) (based on scholarly estimates)
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Psalm 94:6
Hebrew Bible
4 They spew out threats and speak defiantly; all the evildoers boast. 5 O Lord, they crush your people; they oppress the nation that belongs to you. 6 They kill the widow and the resident foreigner, and they murder the fatherless. 7 Then they say, “The Lord does not see this; the God of Jacob does not take notice of it.” 8 Take notice of this, you ignorant people. You fools, when will you ever understand?
Date: 6th-3rd Centuries B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Texts in Conversation
Psalm 94 alludes to the command of Exodus 22, where vulnerable widows and orphans are placed under divine protection. In doing this, Psalm 94 portrays the enemies of God's people as those who reject the ethics of the Torah. This connection shows how the Psalm gives voice to the oppressed, casting them as those whose cries, like in Exodus, call for divine attention.
Notes and References
"... In Psalm 68:5 God is called the protector of widows, and in Psalm 146:9 he takes care of them. In both instances they are mentioned in the same breath as orphans; in the latter they are mentioned at the same time as strangers. This actualizes the social law of Exodus 22:20-23. Widows, orphans, strangers, and the wretched/poor are under God’s protection, and he extends his solidarity to them. Their cry for help in oppressive situations (see Psalm 94:6) is heard and answered by God. In the Psalms, those marginalized by society and pushed to the margins of life, or those threatened by the powerful and violent, are called needy or wretched ..."
Bail, Ulrike
"The Psalms: 'Who is Speaking May Be All That Matters'" in Schottroff, Luise and Marie-Theres Wacher (eds.) Feminist Biblical Interpretation: A Compendium of Critical Commentary on the Books of the Bible and Related Literature
(pp. 240-254) William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2012
* 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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