Leviticus 19:33
in Leviticus 19When a foreigner resides with you in your land, you must not oppress him.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not do him wrong.
KJV
And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him.
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This verse in Leviticus 19
Commentary
6 notes on this verseIf a stranger sojourn - This law to protect and comfort the stranger was at once humane and politic. None is so desolate as the stranger, and none needs the offices of benevolence and charity more: and we may add that he who is not affected by the desolate state of the stranger has neither benevolence nor charity.
This site's exposition
if a stranger sojourn with thee
on Leviticus 19:33-34
The love command is given a second time and its object is the foreigner, and these two verses hold the only other occurrence of as thyself in the Torah. The stranger who dwells in the land is counted as one born among you, so the measure set is the treatment a citizen receives. The reason moves off the refrain and onto memory, for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt, which is the ground Exodus 22:21 and 23:9 also give. Israel is asked to treat the outsider by remembering what it was to be one.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Something of each commandment. (1.) The first commandment implied in that which is often repeated here, "I am your God." And here is a prohibition of enchantment (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
And if a stranger sojourn with you in your land,....
Strangers shall be welcome to God's grace, and therefore we should do what we can to invite them to it, and to recommend religion to their good opinion. It argues a generous disposition, and a pious regard to God, as a common Father, to be kind to strangers; for those of different countries, customs, and languages, are all made of one blood.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The stranger - The foreigner. See Lev 16:29 note; Exo 23:9.
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְכִֽי־ | vekhi- | and if | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| יָג֧וּר | yagur | he will sojourn | H1481 → | 97 times |
| אִתְּךָ֛ | ʾitekha | with you | H854 → | 929 times |
| גֵּ֖ר | ger | a sojourner | H1616 → | 92 times |
| בְּאַרְצְכֶ֑ם | beartzekhem | in land your | H776 → | 2504 times |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תוֹנ֖וּ | tonu | you will maltreat | H3238 → | 20 times |
| אֹתֽוֹ׃ | ʾoto | <obj.> him | H853 → | 10935 times |
וְכִֽי־and if
vekhi-H3588 →4482 times
יָג֧וּרhe will sojourn
yagurH1481 →97 times
אִתְּךָ֛with you
ʾitekhaH854 →929 times
גֵּ֖רa sojourner
gerH1616 →92 times
בְּאַרְצְכֶ֑םin land your
beartzekhemH776 →2504 times
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
תוֹנ֖וּyou will maltreat
tonuH3238 →20 times
אֹתֽוֹ׃<obj.> him
ʾotoH853 →10935 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
Deuteronomy 24:14Do not oppress a hired hand who is poor and needy, whether he is a brother or a foreigner residing in one of your towns.
it leads to
- 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.
- Proverbs 14:31
Whoever oppresses the poor taunts their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors Him.
- Proverbs 22:16
Oppressing the poor to enrich oneself or giving gifts to the rich will surely lead to poverty.
- Malachi 3:5
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.
- Deuteronomy 27:19
‘Cursed is he who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’
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.
- 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.
- James 5:8–9
Where this verse is studied
About Leviticus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Calvin, Commentary on the Four Last Books of Moses Arranged in the Form of a Harmony; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.