Deuteronomy 24:14
in Deuteronomy 24Do not oppress a hired hand who is poor and needy, whether he is a brother or a foreigner residing in one of your towns.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thou shalt not oppress a hired servant that is poor and needy, whether he be of thy brethren, or of thy sojourners that are in thy land within thy gates:
KJV
Thou shalt not oppress an hired servant that is poor and needy, whether he be of thy brethren, or of thy strangers that are in thy land within thy gates:
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This verse in Deuteronomy 24
Commentary
3 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Thou shalt not oppress an hired servant that is poor and needy--Hired servants in the East are paid at the close of the day; and for a master to defraud the laborer of his hire, or to withhold it wrongfully for a night, might have subjected a poor man with his family to suffering and was therefore an injustice to be avoided (Le 19:13).
This site's exposition
When thou dost lend thy brother any thing
on Deuteronomy 24:10-15
The creditor waits outside and the debtor brings the pledge out to him, so a poor man's house is not entered over a debt. Exodus 22:26-27 already required the garment back by sundown, and verse 13 adds what the older statute did not, that it shall be righteousness unto thee before the Lord thy God. The hired servant is paid at his day whether he is of thy brethren or of thy strangers, because he is poor, and setteth his heart upon it, and Leviticus 19:13 gives the same rule. James 5:4 has the hire of the labourers kept back by fraud crying into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Thou shall not oppress an hired servant,....
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Scripture is speaking of the common occurrence, for the poor, the needy, and strangers hire themselves out [for wages, but the law applies to all workers]. Similarly, If thou lend money to any of My people that is poor by thee. Exodus:24.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
כבוא השמש [THOU SHALT RESTORE HIM THE PLEDGE] WHEN THE SUN GOETH DOWN — if it be a night garment; whilst if it be a garment worn during the day restore it to him in the morning.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
11 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תַעֲשֹׁ֥ק | taashok | you must oppress | H6231 → | 36 times |
| שָׂכִ֖יר | sakhir | a hired laborer | H7916 → | |
| עָנִ֣י | ʾani | poor | H6041 → | 73 times |
| וְאֶבְי֑וֹן | veevyon | and needy | H34 → | 61 times |
| מֵאַחֶ֕יךָ | meacheikha | one of countrymen your | H251 → | 630 times |
| א֧וֹ | ʾo | or | H176 → | 321 times |
| מִגֵּרְךָ֛ | migerekha | one of sojourner[s] your | H1616 → | 92 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| בְּאַרְצְךָ֖ | beartzekha | [is] in land your | H776 → | 2504 times |
| בִּשְׁעָרֶֽיךָ׃ | bishareikha | in gates your | H8179 → | 374 times |
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
תַעֲשֹׁ֥קyou must oppress
taashokH6231 →36 times
שָׂכִ֖ירa hired laborer
sakhirH7916 →
עָנִ֣יpoor
ʾaniH6041 →73 times
וְאֶבְי֑וֹןand needy
veevyonH34 →61 times
מֵאַחֶ֕יךָone of countrymen your
meacheikhaH251 →630 times
א֧וֹor
ʾoH176 →321 times
מִגֵּרְךָ֛one of sojourner[s] your
migerekhaH1616 →92 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רwho
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
בְּאַרְצְךָ֖[is] in land your
beartzekhaH776 →2504 times
בִּשְׁעָרֶֽיךָ׃in gates your
bishareikhaH8179 →374 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Malachi 3:5“Then I will draw near to you for judgment. And I will be a swift witness against sorcerers and adulterers and perjurers, against oppressors of the widowed and fatherless, and against those who defraud…
it leads to
- James 5:8–9
You, too, be patient and strengthen your hearts, because the Lord’s coming is near.
- Hebrews 13:4
Marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed kept undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.
- Deuteronomy 5:11
You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave anyone unpunished who takes His name in vain.
- James 5:4
Look, the wages you withheld from the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.
- Deuteronomy 27:19
‘Cursed is he who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’
- James 5:8–9
Through
Proverbs 14:31Whoever oppresses the poor taunts their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors Him.
it leads to
- Proverbs 22:2
The rich and the poor have this in common: The LORD is Maker of them all.
- Proverbs 17:5
He who mocks the poor insults their Maker; whoever gloats over calamity will not go unpunished.
- Proverbs 22:2
Through
Proverbs 22:16Oppressing the poor to enrich oneself or giving gifts to the rich will surely lead to poverty.
it leads to
- Proverbs 22:22–23
Do not rob a poor man because he is poor, and do not crush the afflicted at the gate,
- Proverbs 22:22–23
Where this verse is studied
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.