Leviticus 19:13
in Leviticus 19You must not defraud your neighbor or rob him. You must not withhold until morning the wages due a hired hand.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thou shalt not oppress thy neighbor, nor rob him: the wages of a hired servant shall not abide with thee all night until the morning.
KJV
Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning.
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This verse in Leviticus 19
Commentary
6 notes on this verseLet no one deny the hireling the wage he is owed, since we too are hirelings of our God, and from him we look forward to the reward of our labor. And if you indeed, whatever type of businessman you are, deny your hireling a monetary payment that is a perishable trifle, you shall be denied the reward of heaven that has been promised. You shall not defraud, as the law says, the hireling of his pay.
This site's exposition
Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour
on Leviticus 19:13-14
The day labourer is paid before nightfall because that money is the evening meal, and Adam Clarke puts it exactly there, that the wage supports the man and his family as fast as it is earned. James 5:4 takes the rule up and says the hire kept back crieth, and Deuteronomy 24:15 gives it with the reason that he setteth his heart upon it. Verse 14 names two crimes the victim cannot detect, since a deaf man does not hear the curse and a blind man does not see what was laid in his path. The enforcement offered is but shalt fear thy God, so the law is written for the cases where no witness exists, and the word stumblingblock occurs here for the first time in Scripture.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Let the day-labourer have his wages as soon as he has done his day's work, if he desire it. It is a great sin to deny the payment of it, nay, to defer it, to his damage, a sin that cries to heaven for vengeance, Jam. v. 4 .
Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob him,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Ye shall not steal--A variety of social duties are inculcated in this passage, chiefly in reference to common and little-thought-of vices to which mankind are exceedingly prone; such as committing petty frauds, or not scrupling to violate truth in transactions of business, ridiculing bodily infirmities, or circulating stories to the prejudice of others.
The wages - shall not abide with thee all night - For this plain reason, it is the support of the man’s life and family, and they need to expend it as fast as it is earned.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
לא תעשק THOU SHALT NOT WRONG [THY FELLOW-MAN] — This refers to one who withholds the wages of a hired servant (Sifra, Kedoshim, Section 2; Bava Metzia 61a).
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
“Why is this stated [when it has already been mentioned in the Ten Commandments]? Since it is said, Thou shalt not take the Name of the Eternal thy G-d in vain, 37 Ibid., Verse.
“From this verse I know only [that one may not curse] the deaf. Whence do I know that one may not curse anybody? From the words of Scripture: Of thy people thou shalt not curse. 56 Exodus:27. If so, why does it state [here] ‘the deaf’?
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
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תַעֲשֹׁ֥ק | taashok | you will oppress | H6231 → | 36 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| רֵֽעֲךָ֖ | reakha | neighbor your | H7453 → | 188 times |
| וְלֹ֣א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תִגְזֹ֑ל | tigzol | you will rob [him] | H1497 → | |
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תָלִ֞ין | talin | it will remain overnight | H3885 → | |
| פְּעֻלַּ֥ת | peulat | [the] wage[s] of | H6468 → | |
| שָׂכִ֛יר | sakhir | a hired laborer | H7916 → | 17 times |
| אִתְּךָ֖ | ʾitekha | with you | H854 → | 929 times |
| עַד־ | ʾad- | until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| בֹּֽקֶר׃ | boker | morning | H1242 → | 214 times |
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
תַעֲשֹׁ֥קyou will oppress
taashokH6231 →36 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
רֵֽעֲךָ֖neighbor your
reakhaH7453 →188 times
וְלֹ֣אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
תִגְזֹ֑לyou will rob [him]
tigzolH1497 →
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
תָלִ֞יןit will remain overnight
talinH3885 →
פְּעֻלַּ֥ת[the] wage[s] of
peulatH6468 →
שָׂכִ֛ירa hired laborer
sakhirH7916 →17 times
אִתְּךָ֖with you
ʾitekhaH854 →929 times
עַד־until
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
בֹּֽקֶר׃morning
bokerH1242 →214 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.
- 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.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 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.
- 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
James 5:4Look, 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.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 24:14–15
Do not oppress a hired hand who is poor and needy, whether he is a brother or a foreigner residing in one of your towns.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 22:13
“Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness, and his upper rooms without justice, who makes his countrymen serve without pay, and fails to pay their wages,
- 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…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 24:14–15
Where this verse is studied
About Leviticus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Ambrose of Milan, LETTER 62 (19).3; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.