At the end of seven years thou shalt make a release,
Every seven years, Israel had to wipe the slate clean for its debtors — not as charity, but as law, with God's own name on it. So what was released, why the seventh year, and what does a rule like this show about the God who gave it?
The seventh year did not belong to the lender. The release carries God's name, not the lender's, and the poor debtor was the one meant to feel it.
In the seventh year we see a lovely pledge and foreshadowing of all this. It was "The Lord's release," so every poor debtor in the land, from one end of Israel to the other, was meant to feel its blessing. The Lord would give His people the high and holy privilege of sharing with Him in making the debtor's heart sing for joy. He would teach them, if only they would learn, how deeply blessed it is to forgive everything freely. This is what He Himself delights in — blessed for ever be His great and glorious Name!
Writers differ on whether the seventh year cancelled the debt outright or only paused it. One reading links the word "release" here with the same word used of the land resting in Exodus 23.
In Exodus 23:11 the same word used here for "release" is used of the land — letting it rest. That comparison shows us plainly that this was not a complete cancelling of all debt, but a temporary one, during the time the land rested, which might get in the way of payment. It did not apply to the foreigner, and that shows why he was exempt. God would have no poor among His people, though there would always be some, left to test and draw out the mercy of their brothers, who were to end their poverty by their care for them. And they need not fear losing by this freedom, for by acting so they would be blessed in all they put their hand to.
Others read it as the loan left with the borrower for good: "anything not repaid when the seventh year arrived, was to be released and left in the hand of the poor man" (F. B. Hole). Either way, the timing is the point. When the fields rested, the debts rested too. No one chased the poor man for money the year could not produce.
This law is not an isolated kindness. It sits inside a whole system of repeating reminders.
There was the morning and evening lamb, every day. There was the holy sabbath, every week. There was the new moon, every month. There was the Passover, every year. There was the tithing, every three years. There was the release, every seven years. And there was the jubilee, every fifty years.
The seventh year also pointed forward, to "a bright time when all debts would be cancelled, all loans disposed of, all burdens removed."
The reason given is not economics. Israel was to release others because God had released them.
They are reminded of their own place. They had been slaves themselves. If God had set them free, they should grow the same spirit He had shown. This was where they were to imitate God.
The poor man was never only the lender's problem. The lender who honoured God here was to depend on God for his own supply, "who would bless him for acting in this way according to His commandment; for the poor were His poor" (J. N. Darby).
A rule like this tests the lender far more than the borrower.
Nothing brings the hidden roots of evil in human nature to light like grace does. A person must be made new in the very deepest springs of his moral being before he can carry God's love to others. And even those who have been made new by grace must keep watch against the ugly forms of selfishness that our fallen nature dresses itself in.
This law pictures something far greater. God "required creditors to release debtors from their debts at the end of seven years. This surely reminds us of the grace of God in forgiving our great debt of sin through the sacrifice of His beloved Son" (Leslie M. Grant).
- Released — the seventh year cancelled or paused what the poor owed. The same word describes the land itself resting.
- The Lord's — it carries God's name, not the lender's. The creditor gave up what was never fully his to hold.
- Because freed — Israel forgave because God had freed them from slavery. The law was their way of imitating Him.
- Tested — mercy commanded on a fixed date exposes the selfishness a generous mood can hide.
- Foreshadowing — the cancelled debt points ahead to a greater one: God forgives our debt of sin through the sacrifice of His Son.
and this is the manner of the release Every creditor shall relax his hand from the loan which he hath lent unto his neighbour; he shall not demand it of his neighbour, or of his brother; for a release to Jehovah hath been proclaimed.
Deuteronomy 15:2 sets out a law for Israel: every seventh year, a lender had to let go of what a fellow Israelite owed him. The release carried God's own name, and commentators ask how far it went, why it was called His, and what it exposed in the lender's heart.
One writer sets out what the law required and where it stopped.
Every seventh year was to be a year of release. A well-off Israelite might lend money to his poor neighbour. If the loan was not repaid when the seventh year came, he had to release it and leave it in the hand of the poor man. So the law demanded a spirit of gracious care for the poor among the people. This arrangement did not apply to strangers among them.
Everyone in Israel knew when the year was due. One writer notes the risk that created.
This was evidently a general year of release, not a release of any particular debt after seven years (v.9). Some people might take advantage of this to borrow money just before the time of release, but notice verse 9.
A man lent the money, yet God put His own name on the cancelling.
The seventh or sabbath year was the Lord's release for the Israelite who could not pay his debts (Deut. 15:1-15). It is beautiful and moving how God inspired the lawgiver to appeal to the hearts of those who had, on behalf of the poor brother who had not. But God's mind was clear and plain in this generous wiping out of debts. It came in the year when His own bounty to His people was so obvious, despite sad and frequent faults.
Commentators differ on whether the debt was wiped out for good or only paused. One writer settles it by comparing the word "release" with its use for the land.
Exodus 23:11 uses the same word for "release" about the land — the letting it rest. That comparison assures us plainly that this was not an absolute cancelling of all debt. It was a temporary one, lasting through the land's rest, which might make payment hard. Of course this did not affect the foreigner, and that shows why he was left out.
For the lender this was not simply a loss. God was offering him a share in what He Himself loves to do.
We see a lovely pledge and foreshadowing of all this in the seventh year. It was "The Lord's release," and so its blessed influence was to reach every poor debtor from one end of the land to the other. The Lord would grant His people the high and holy privilege of sharing with Him in making the debtor's heart sing for joy. He would teach them, if they would only learn, the deep blessedness of freely forgiving all. This is what He Himself delights in.
The lender was not left to carry the cost alone.
They need not fear that they would lose by this generosity, for they would be blessed in all they put their hand to. What a tender witness this sabbath year was to the bounty of God, whose hand supported them all!
A law like this does more than move money. It puts the heart of the giver on trial.
Here the deep springs of the poor selfish heart are uncovered and judged. There is nothing like grace for making the hidden roots of evil in human nature show themselves. A man must be renewed in the very deepest springs of his moral being before he can carry divine love. Even those who are renewed by grace must keep watch against the ugly forms of selfishness that our fallen nature dresses itself in.
The seventh year pointed forward. One writer sets it beside Christ's visit to the house of a Pharisee.
How good to read that Christ was there to proclaim the year of release to the Lord's glory (Deut. 15:2). "The poor have good news preached to them" (Luke 7:22). God was there; He was there in grace, "not counting their trespasses against them" (2 Cor. 5:19). So He was also in the house of Simon the Pharisee. He was there, and though He was the creditor, He had not come to press His charges.
- His release. A neighbour held the debt, but the cancelling carried God's name. It fell in the year when God's bounty to Israel was clearest.
- His timing. The release ran by the calendar, not by each loan's age. Everyone knew the date, which could tempt people to work the system.
- His limit. Commentators differ. Some read a debt left with the poor man for good. Others read a pause that matched the year the land rested and payment was hard — the reason the foreigner was left out.
- His mirror. Grace to a debtor drags hidden selfishness into the light. The command tested hearts as much as it relieved poverty.
- His fulfilment. The seventh year was a foreshadowing of Christ, who came as the creditor and did not press His charges.
Of the foreigner thou mayest demand it; but what is thine with thy brother thy hand shall release;
Every seventh year Israel released debts, and this verse draws the line: a brother's debt is let go, a foreigner's is not. Why the difference, what debt was cancelled, and is there room for kindness beyond the family?
The verse sets the foreigner against the brother. A dictionary of Bible terms defines who counted as a foreigner:
Those who were not of the lineage of Israel. Exodus 12:45; Deuteronomy 15:3; Obadiah 11. Also unconverted Gentiles. Ephesians 2:19.
The release was tied to the land's sabbath rest. The fields lay idle, so a poor Israelite had no crop to pay from. That link explains the exemption in this verse:
Compare Exodus 23:11, where the same word used for "release" here is applied to the land — the letting it rest. That comparison shows us plainly that this was not an absolute cancelling of all debt. It was a temporary one, during the time of the land's rest, which might get in the way of payment. This, of course, did not affect the foreigner, and it shows the reason for his exemption.
The two borrowers were not in the same position. The same writer, on the rule about interest, says why the outsider borrowed:
Israel was allowed to take interest from the stranger. He probably borrowed for business. But Israel was not meant to be a trading people, and certainly not to thrive on the needs of their own brothers.
A debt that did not come from poverty was not the target of the law at all:
The Lord would bless Israel in the land so richly that there would be no poor among them. If that were so, and people still ran up debts, verses 3 and 4 show that the release would not apply, because the debt did not come from poverty.
The seventh year carried God's own name. Letting a brother's debt go was a share in what God delights to do:
We see a lovely pledge and foreshadowing of all this in the seventh year. It was "the Lord's release," and so every poor debtor, from one end of the land to the other, felt its blessing. The Lord would give His people a high and holy privilege: sharing with Him in making the debtor's heart sing for joy. He would teach them, if they would only learn, the deep blessedness of freely forgiving all. This is what He Himself delights in.
Israel had a reason to behave this way that no other nation had:
In Deuteronomy 15 the year of release follows a similar principle. Here they are reminded of their own place. They had been slaves themselves; and if God had delivered them, they should cultivate the same spirit He had shown. This was their point of imitating God.
The rule also points beyond itself, to a far greater debt:
Out of compassion for the poor, God required creditors to release debtors from their debts at the end of seven years. This surely reminds us of the grace of God in forgiving our great debt of sin through the sacrifice of His beloved Son. This was clearly a general year of release. It was not a release of each debt seven years after it was made (v. 9)… But the release did not apply to foreigners who borrowed from Israelites (v. 3).
In this verse the hand that lets go is the lender's own. Grace opens that hand wider:
How lovely are those words, "You shall open wide your hand"! They breathe the very air of heaven. An open heart and a wide hand are like God. "God loves a cheerful giver," because that is precisely what He is Himself… We are not only saved by grace. We stand in grace, live under the blessed reign of grace, and breathe the very atmosphere of grace. God calls us to be living examples of grace, not only to our brothers and sisters but to the whole human family. "So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith."
- Release: the seventh year lifted debts the land's rest made unpayable. It was a pause, not the end of every debt forever.
- Reason: the foreigner was exempt because the land's rest did not stop his income. He borrowed for trade, not need.
- Relationship: inside Israel the lender faced a brother. A people once enslaved and set free were to show the mercy they had received.
- Reflection: letting a brother's debt go gave Israel a share in God's own joy. It pictures our debt of sin, forgiven through the sacrifice of His Son.
- Reach: the law's circle ended at the brother. Grace opens the hand wide to the whole human family, and especially to fellow believers.
save when there shall be no one in need among you; for Jehovah will greatly bless thee in the land that Jehovah thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it,
Deuteronomy 15 opens with the law of the seventh-year release, and verse 4 adds a startling goal: no poor in God's land. Yet verse 11 says the poor will never leave that land — so which is true, and what was God teaching through both?
The seventh year carried God's own name. One writer shows what God offered the lender in that year.
We see a lovely pledge and foreshadowing of all this in the seventh year. It was "the LORD's release," and so every poor debtor from Dan to Beersheba was to feel its blessed influence. The LORD would grant His people the high and holy privilege of having fellowship with Him in making the debtor's heart sing for joy. He would teach them, if only they would learn, the deep blessedness of freely forgiving everything. This is what He Himself delights in — blessed forever be His great and glorious Name!
Some translations open verse 4 as an exception: "save when there shall be no one in need among you." Read that way, the clause limits the release instead of predicting the end of poverty. One writer follows that reading.
The LORD would greatly bless Israel in the land to the point that there would be no poor among them. If this were the case, and debts were still incurred, verses 3 and 4 show that the release would not apply, because the debt did not come from poverty.
The promise came with a condition, and Israel broke down at it. The same writer follows the result into the Gospels and beyond.
God's blessing in this way, however, would depend on Israel obeying the LORD with care and keeping all His commandments (v. 5). So this was a conditional promise. Israel failed to keep the conditions, and poverty did not end. That is why the Lord Jesus told His disciples, "For you always have the poor with you" (John 12:8). This will change only after the Lord's judgment and His establishing Israel in the future blessings of the millennium.
God wanted no poor, yet said the poor would always be there. The next writer explains what the release actually cancelled, and where the two statements meet.
The seventh year — the sabbath year — brought the debtor "release" from his debt. In Exodus 23:11 the same word is used of the land, of letting it rest. So this was not an absolute cancelling of all debt. It was a temporary release during the land's rest, when the rest itself might make payment hard. This did not affect the foreigner, and it shows the reason for his exemption. God would have no poor among His people, though poor there would always be. They were left to test and draw out the mercy of their brothers, who were to make them cease in practice by their care for them. (Compare verse 4 with verse 11.) Nor did they need to fear losing by this liberality, for they would be blessed in everything they put their hand to. What a tender witness this sabbatic year was to the bounty of His hand who supported all!
What Israel never achieved, Christ came proclaiming. One writer links the release law to His ministry, and then to His visit in the house of Simon the Pharisee.
According to Deuteronomy 15:4-5 there should not have been any poor people in Israel if the nation had kept the commandments. How good to read that Christ was there to proclaim the year of release to the Lord's glory (Deut. 15:2). "The poor have good news preached to them" (Luke 7:22). God was there; He was there in grace, "reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them" (2 Cor. 5:19). So He was also in the house of Simon the Pharisee. He was there, and though He was the creditor, He had not come to press His charges.
The clause about no poor names a case that would suspend the rule. Another writer notes the case never came, and draws the parallel for Christians today.
Should there be no poor, the rule would lapse. But in verse 11 they are plainly told that "there will never cease to be poor in the land." The same is true for us Christians. There will always be among us those who are "weak in the faith," who are only "babes" in Christ. And those strong in the faith must be careful that their "knowledge" does not destroy the weak brother "for whom Christ died" (1 Cor. 8:11). The poor and the weak must be considered.
- Release. The seventh year carried God's own name — the LORD's release — and it let every creditor share His delight in forgiving everything.
- Condition. The promise of no poor rested on careful obedience (v. 5); Israel failed, and poverty stayed.
- Tension. Verse 4 and verse 11 do not clash. God left the poor to draw out the mercy of their brothers, who were to make poverty cease by their care.
- Reward. God promised the generous blessing in everything they put their hand to. The giver never loses.
- Fulfilment. Christ came proclaiming the release. He was the creditor who did not press His charges, and full blessing waits for His future reign.
if thou only diligently hearken unto the voice of Jehovah thy God, to take heed to do all this commandment which I command thee this day.
Deuteronomy 15 opens with the law of release. Every seventh year, debts between Israelites were wiped clean, and God promised there would be no poor among His people. Verse 5 holds that promise up. The whole hope of a nation without poverty hangs on one word: "if."
The blessing of verse 4 comes with strings attached. Verse 5 states the terms.
But God's blessing in this way depended on Israel obeying the Lord with care and keeping all His commandments (v.5). So this was a conditional promise. Israel failed to keep the conditions, and poverty did not end. That is why the Lord Jesus told His disciples, "For the poor you always have with you" (John 12:8). This will change only after the Lord's judgment, when He establishes Israel in the future blessings of the millennium.
This demand is not unique to chapter 15. It runs through the whole book, and it is never presented as cold duty.
The book of Deuteronomy is the book which demands obedience. Obedience is the keynote of almost every chapter. It is the great lesson of the book. What God asks of His people is obedience in the spirit of love. That obedience flows out of a blessed relationship with the Lord that they enjoy. Again and again in this last part of the first five books of the Bible, the Lord reminds the people of Israel of His great goodness and faithfulness.
Notice that the verse asks two things, not one: listen to God's voice, then do what He says.
Here, right in front of us, is the special mark of the whole book of Deuteronomy. "Listen," and "do," so that you may "live" and "possess." This principle holds everywhere and always. It was true for Israel, and it is true for us. The pathway of life and the true secret of possession is simple obedience to the holy commandments of God.
The commandment in view here is about money and mercy. Obeying it meant letting go of what people owed you and leaning on God instead.
Chapter 15 teaches every person among the people to treat their poor brothers with generosity and grace. That care was also secured to the poor by the year of release, which covered debts and Hebrew slaves. The man who honoured the Lord in His poor was to depend on God. God would bless him for acting this way, in line with His commandment. The poor were God's poor.
A law of open-handed release was not a light thing to keep. It reached past behaviour and into motive.
Here the deep springs of the poor selfish heart are uncovered and judged. Nothing shows up the hidden roots of evil in human nature like grace does. A man must be renewed in the very deepest springs of his moral being before he can carry divine love to others. And even those whom grace has renewed must keep watch against the ugly forms of selfishness that our fallen nature dresses itself in.
Later in the chapter God says there will always be poor people in the land. Both statements stand together.
God would have no poor among His people. Yet poor people would always be there, left to test and draw out the mercy of their brothers, who were to make them cease in practice by caring for them. (Compare v. 4 with v. 11.) They need not fear that this open-handedness would cost them. By it they would be blessed in everything they put their hand to.
Israel never met the condition. What the law offered on terms, Christ brought in grace.
According to Deuteronomy 15:4,5, there should have been no poor people in Israel if the nation had kept the commandments. How good to read that Christ was there to proclaim the year of release to the Lord's glory (Deut. 15:2). "The poor have good news preached to them" (Luke 7:22). God was there. He was there in grace, "reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them" (2 Cor. 5:19)… He was there, and though He was the creditor, He had not come to press His charges.
- Condition. One "if" carries the promise of a land without poverty. Careful obedience to the Lord's voice was the price of the blessing.
- Keynote. The whole book demands obedience. It should flow out of love and a relationship with God that His people enjoy, not out of fear.
- Two verbs. Hearing and doing belong together; that pairing is the road to living and possessing.
- Test. The command touched the wallet, so it exposed the heart — grace shows up the selfishness that hides in us.
- Release. Israel failed the condition, and the poor remained. Christ came as the creditor who would not press His charges. Israel's promised blessing still awaits His kingdom.
For Jehovah thy God will bless thee, as he promised thee; and thou shalt lend on pledge to many nations, but thou shalt not borrow; and thou shalt rule over many nations, but they shall not rule over thee.
These words close the law of release. Every seventh year, an Israelite who had lent money had to let his neighbour's debt go. God promises that the nation which forgives debts at home will be the nation that lends abroad. So on what terms was that promise given, and what happened when Israel broke them?
The release law raises a fear. If every seventh year cancels what people owe you, will lending leave you poor? One writer answers that fear.
The release did not wipe out every debt forever. It was a pause while the land itself was resting and payment was hard — which is why it did not apply to the foreigner. God would have no poor among His people. Yet poor people would always be there, to test and draw out the mercy of their fellow Israelites, who were to make poverty cease in practice by caring for them. And they need not fear that this freedom would cost them, for God would bless them in all they put their hand to. What a tender witness this seventh year is to the open hand of the God who supported them all!
The same law told each Israelite how to treat a poor neighbour. One writer carries that command forward into the Christian life.
Israelites are told to "open your hand wide," without the least grudging, willingly lending a poor person whatever he needs... The New Testament urges believers to give, not merely to lend. If we give as to the Lord, the Lord keeps full account of it. Proverbs 19:17 already said so: "Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will repay him for his deed." So how good it is to give gladly, with no strings attached. Faith can rest on the Lord alone.
Verse 5 attaches a condition to verse 6, and that condition decided Israel's history.
God's blessing in this way would depend on Israel obeying the Lord with care and keeping all His commandments (v.5). So this was a conditional promise. Israel failed to keep the conditions, and poverty was not abolished. That is why the Lord Jesus told His disciples, "You always have the poor with you" (John 12:8). This will change only after the Lord's judgment, when He establishes Israel in the future blessings of the millennium.
Instead of ruling many nations, Israel has been ruled by them. Commentators say so plainly, and they look for the change in the millennium — Israel's coming age of blessing.
Israel was to rule over many nations, and will yet do so in the millennium (v.6). But because of her disobedience to God, the situation has been the reverse. Many nations have ruled over her, and she has been brought tragically low over past centuries.
Commentators differ on whether any of the promise shows today. One sees a trace of it even while Israel is scattered:
Verse 6 is of special interest... Even today, while they are blind and scattered, this promise is being fulfilled. Who does not know that the Jews are the money lenders of the nations? Kings and princes have borrowed from this remarkable people. Some day the time of their fullness and blessing will come. Then this promise will be completely fulfilled: Israel will reign over the nations, and be the head and no longer the tail.
Israel's failure did not cancel the promise. One writer points to where its fulfilment will come from.
Deuteronomy 15:6 will not fail. Israel will yet be supreme among the nations, though this has been long delayed by their failure to meet their responsibility... But God's sovereign grace will bring it about. It goes with the setting up of God's king as ruler in Zion, after Israel had completely broken down under the law and even under the priesthood.
People have used this verse as a proof text for their own nation. Moses spoke it to Israel, and with conditions attached.
In both of these proof texts it is Moses who is addressing the WHOLE of the twelve tribes... Moreover the promise is to the people WHEN in the land, and depends on their obedience. It was remarkable how that little land stood up against mighty nations such as the Egyptians, Assyrians and Amorites, and no one could defeat them as long as they honoured the LORD.
The verse's warning about borrowing still speaks to ordinary life.
If we borrow from others, we shall find ourselves subservient to the lender. How much better to "Owe no one anything, except to love each other" (Romans 13:8). Sometimes it is easy to borrow, but hard to repay. It is wise to be on the safe side by not borrowing at all.
- Cause — the promise follows the law of release: God told a people who let debts go that they would lose nothing by it.
- Gift — the blessing is God's own act, promised in advance, so Israel could give without fear of loss.
- Condition — verse 5 ties the whole promise to obeying God's voice, and that condition decided the outcome.
- Reversal — Israel failed. Poverty remained, and nations ruled over her instead of under her.
- Result — the promise is delayed, not dead. Grace, through God's king in Zion, will do what obedience never could.
If there be amongst you a poor man, any one of thy brethren in one of thy gates, in thy land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thy heart, nor shut thy hand from thy brother in need;
Deuteronomy 15 sets the rules for the seventh year, when Israel cancelled debts. This verse turns from national policy to the single heart. It names two ways to fail a poor neighbour: a hard heart and a shut hand.
The whole chapter teaches generosity, and the release year stands behind it. The verse also sets the need inside the land God gives, and one writer draws the conclusion:
Chapter 15 teaches each one among the people to consider their poor brothers with liberality and grace. That care was also made sure to them by the year of release, which applied to debts and to Hebrew slaves. The one who respected the Lord in His poor was to place his dependence in God. God would bless him for acting according to His commandment, for the poor were His poor.
The verse calls the needy man one of your brothers. Israel broke that bond in Nehemiah's day, and one writer names two things wrong with their conduct:
There was more than forgetfulness of relationship in this conduct on the part of the Jews. There was also positive disobedience... As those who had themselves received grace, they were to express that grace to their brothers. But instead they denied the truth of their redeemed position. They showed a spirit of harshness and oppression for the sake of gain, and broke the plainest instructions of the word of God.
The command starts inside. The hand closes only after the heart hardens, so a law about money exposes more than money:
Here the deep springs of the poor selfish heart are uncovered and judged. There is nothing like grace for bringing to light the hidden roots of evil in human nature. A man must be renewed in the very deepest springs of his moral being before he can carry divine love. Even those whom grace has renewed have to watch constantly against the ugly forms of selfishness that our fallen nature dresses itself in. Nothing but grace can keep the heart wide open to every form of human need.
The positive side of the command, repeated twice in the passage, is not merely to give but to open the hand wide. That posture is borrowed from God Himself:
How lovely are those words, "You shall open your hand wide!" They breathe the very air of heaven. An open heart and a wide hand are like God. "The Lord loves a cheerful giver," because that is exactly what He is Himself... We are not only saved by grace. We stand in grace, live under the blessed reign of grace, and breathe the very atmosphere of grace. And God calls us to be the living display of grace, not only to our brothers but to the whole human family.
The next verses warn against a specific piece of arithmetic: refusing a loan because the release year is close and the money will never come back. That calculation is ruled out:
If there was a case of genuine need, even though the year of release was near, this could not be an excuse for refusing help at the time (v.9), though it was then almost certain that the debt would never be repaid. But God always repays faith. So they should willingly give with a full heart, expecting nothing in return, for when this is our attitude, God will always reward it in the most fitting way.
Another common excuse — that the poor man brought it on himself — is answered just as directly:
Whatever the reason a person may be poor, the Lord did not excuse Israel from the responsibility of helping with material support. Some have dared to say that if a person is poor it is his own fault, but whether we think this way or not, it is our fault if we fail to give him help.
Nabal shows the closed hand in action. He was a rich man who refused David's request for help:
Grace would keep the heart wide open to every object of need, while selfishness would close it against every applicant. Nabal should have obeyed the word, whatever he knew about David. But his selfishness ran too deep. It kept him from obeying the Lord's word and from loving the Lord's anointed.
The New Testament uses the same shut hand as a test of love for God:
One has the means of helping and relieving, but instead of this he "shuts up his heart" from him, the sufferer... The apostle puts it carefully and calmly, but earnestly and searchingly: "How does the love of God dwell in him?" He does not ask me to die for my brother. He does ask that my love should go out to someone who is suffering — from cold or sickness, hunger, or other pains. It should go out with means beyond my own real needs.
- Open, because God is open. A wide hand is not extra credit; it is a family likeness — "an open heart and a wide hand are like God."
- Open the heart first. The hand shuts only after the heart hardens. So the command reaches the "deep springs" of selfishness before it reaches the wallet.
- Open toward a brother. The needy man is bound to you by relationship, and those who have received grace are meant to pass grace on.
- Open without excuses. Whatever put the man in poverty, the duty stands. If he goes without help, the fault is ours, not his.
- Open, and God settles the account. The giver depends on God, who blesses him for it. And the closed hand, as Nabal shows, refuses God's own word.
but thou shalt open thy hand bountifully unto him, and shalt certainly lend him on pledge what is sufficient for his need, [in that] which he lacketh.
Deuteronomy 15 sets the rules for the seventh year, when Israel released debts. Verse 8 turns from the calendar to one poor neighbour at your gate, and settles both what your hand does and how much it gives.
One writer reads the whole chapter as a call to grace, with the year of release standing behind it.
Chapter 15 teaches every one of the people to treat their poor brothers with generosity and grace. The year of release made that certain to them as well, and it covered debts and Hebrew slaves. The man who in this way respected the Lord in His poor was to depend on God. God would bless him for acting according to His commandment, for the poor were His poor.
Older translations read "open your hand wide." That open hand describes God before it describes anyone else.
How lovely are those words, "You shall open your hand wide!" They breathe the very air of heaven. An open heart and a wide hand are like God. "God loves a cheerful giver," because that is precisely what He is Himself. He "gives generously to all without reproach." And He would grant to us the rare and most exquisite privilege of being imitators of Him. Marvellous grace! … We are not only saved by grace. We stand in grace, live under the blessed reign of grace, and breathe the very atmosphere of grace. God calls us to be living displays of that grace, not only to our brothers but to the whole human family.
The verse fixes the amount by the borrower's lack, not by the lender's convenience.
So verse 8 tells Israelites to "open your hand wide." They were to lend a poor person whatever he needs, without the least grudging. This was under law. The person had to pay it back if he was able, though the seventh year would cancel the debt. The New Testament urges believers to give, not just to lend. If we give as to the Lord, the Lord will take full account. Proverbs 19:17 already says this: "Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will repay him for his deed." So how good it is to gladly give with no strings attached. Faith can surely rest simply on the Lord.
Israel had a personal reason to lend freely.
In Deuteronomy 15 we find a similar principle in the year of release. We need not go into detail, but the passage reminds them of their own place. They had been slaves themselves, and if God had delivered them, they should cultivate the same spirit He had shown. This was how they were to imitate God.
Israel later did the very opposite of this command.
Since they were themselves recipients of grace, they were to express that grace to their brothers. But instead of this they denied the truth of their redeemed position, and, showing a spirit of harshness and oppression for the sake of gain, they violated the plainest commands of the word of God.
The command meets resistance inside the giver.
Here the deep springs of the poor selfish heart are uncovered and judged. There is nothing like grace for making the hidden roots of evil in human nature show themselves. A man must be renewed in the very deepest springs of his moral being before he can carry divine love. And even those whom grace has renewed must watch constantly against the hideous forms of selfishness that our fallen nature puts on.
One writer was asked whether a Christian should turn to public relief. He answered from this verse.
We consider it a disgrace to Christians to let a brother or sister turn to public relief, if they know about it. It is their high privilege to minister to their brother's need. "You shall open your hand wide to your poor brother." This was a command under the law of Moses, and surely it should speak to our hearts. If a Jew was told to open his hand wide to the poor, how much more should we? We believe there is ample provision in the Church of God to meet the need of all its members. What we need is more grace — more faith.
- Received — Israel had been slaves, and God set them free. Having received grace, they were to pass it on. To refuse was to deny their own place.
- Opened — the wide hand is God's own. He gives generously to all without reproach, and calls His people to imitate Him.
- Measured — the neighbour's need sets the amount, not the giver's comfort. The New Testament turns the loan into a gift, and the Lord keeps the account.
- Guarded — the command exposes selfishness, so we must watch our hearts. More grace, not more willpower, keeps the hand open.
- Enlarged — if this bound Israel under law, it binds us far more. The shortage is never supply but faith.
Beware that there be not a wicked thought in thy heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and he cry against thee to Jehovah, and it be sin in thee.
Every seventh year, Israel's law cancelled debts. This verse guards the moment just before that year arrives, when lending to a poor neighbour starts to look like a bad investment. It exposes the quiet calculation behind a closed hand, and warns that the man left unhelped can take his case to God.
The law tells Israel to lend freely. Then it turns to what happens inside the giver. One writer sees grace here exposing a hidden motive:
Here the deep springs of the poor selfish heart are uncovered and judged. Nothing brings the hidden roots of evil in human nature to light like grace. A man must be renewed in the very deepest springs of his moral being before he can be a channel of divine love. And even those whom grace has renewed must watch constantly against the hideous forms of selfishness that our fallen nature dresses itself in.
The sin begins in the heart, and the warning reaches it there.
The verse speaks of an eye that looks grudgingly. Scripture keeps that eye in bad company:
In the Scriptures, the evil eye is often seen as a close companion of covetousness, selfishness and envious jealousy. The evil eye ignores the sufferings of others if personal gain can be had by it. The LORD warned the people of Israel against having an evil eye towards a poor brother in need, and against holding back the help he was owed (Deuteronomy 15:7-9; Deuteronomy 28:54-55). Men were told to avoid a stingy spirit, and to grow the generous eye that gives freely to the needy (Proverbs 22:9).
The verse ends with the refused man's cry. He takes it to God, and God charges the refusal to the one who turned him away:
Scripture says the poor would never disappear from the land. If no one helped them, and they cried to the LORD, it would count as a sin against those who should have helped them. Deuteronomy 15:7-11. On the other hand, we read: "Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the LORD, and He will repay him for his deed." Proverbs 19:17.
That cry is not a formality. The same holds where an employer holds back a worker's pay:
Nothing hurts a tender heart more than the lack of kind consideration for the poor, so often shown by the rich... Do we want to know what God thinks of such conduct? Then listen to these words of holy indignation: "Behold, the wages of the labourers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts." (James 5:4) "The Lord of hosts" hears the cry of the wronged and disappointed labourer... God will not allow the claims of the poor to be tossed heartlessly aside by people so hardened by wealth that they cannot feel an appeal to tenderness... The poor are the special objects of God's care.
The cry carries weight because the needy man belongs to God:
Chapter 15 teaches everyone among the people to think of their poor brothers with generosity and grace. The year of release, which applied to debts and to Hebrew slaves, also made that care certain for them. The man who respected the LORD in this way, in His poor, was to put his dependence in God. God would bless him for acting according to His commandment, for the poor were His poor.
An open hand is more than a duty done. It makes the giver look like God:
How lovely are those words, "You shall open wide your hand!" They breathe the very air of heaven. An open heart and a wide hand are like God. "God loves a cheerful giver," because that is what He is Himself. "He gives generously to all without reproach." And He would give us the rare and precious privilege of imitating Him.
One man in Israel's history did what this verse forbids. Nabal refused help to David, and a writer holds him up against this chapter:
Precious grace! How like God. How unlike Nabal! Grace would keep the heart wide open to every case of need. Selfishness would close it against everyone who asks.
- Thought. The sin starts as a private calculation. Grace drags the hidden roots of selfishness into the light.
- Eye. The grudging eye keeps company with covetousness. It sees another's suffering and still chooses personal gain.
- Owner. The needy man is God's poor, so how you treat him is a matter between you and God.
- Cry. God hears what the refused man tells Him, and charges the refusal as sin to the one who could have helped.
- Hand. The open hand is the family likeness of a God who gives generously and loves a cheerful giver.
Thou shalt bountifully give unto him, and thy heart shall not be evil-disposed when thou givest unto him; because for this thing Jehovah thy God will bless thee in all thy works, and in all the business of thy hand.
Deuteronomy 15 tells Israel how to treat a poor neighbour in the land God was giving them. Verse 10 reaches past the hand to the motive behind it: it commands an act and an attitude, then ties God's blessing to both.
The verse doubles the command: give, and give without inward regret. Older translations read "your heart shall not be grieved," and one writer draws out what that rules out:
Your charity must be free. "You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging" (Deut. 15:10). That is, you shall not be troubled at parting with your money. Whoever gives with grief gives grudgingly. Charity must flow like spring water. The heart must be the spring, the hand the pipe, the poor the cistern. God loves a cheerful giver.
Verses 7-11 are full of cautions: do not harden your heart, do not shut your hand. Commentators read them as a diagnosis of the human heart:
Here the deep springs of the poor selfish heart are exposed and judged. Nothing reveals the hidden roots of evil in human nature like grace. Man must be renewed in the very deepest springs of his moral being before he can carry divine love to others. And even those whom grace has renewed must keep constant watch against the hideous forms of selfishness that our fallen nature dresses itself in. Nothing but grace can keep the heart open wide to every form of human need.
The open hand copies God's own way of giving, and that is a privilege:
An open heart and a wide hand are like God. "God loves a cheerful giver," because that is precisely what He is Himself. "He gives generously to all, and does not reproach." And He would grant to us the rare and most exquisite privilege of being imitators of Him. … We are not only saved by grace. We stand in grace, live under the blessed reign of grace, and breathe the very atmosphere of grace. And we are called to be living expressions of grace, not only to fellow believers but to the whole human family.
The word because ties the blessing to the giving. The giver leans on God, and the poor man he helps belongs to God:
Chapter 15 teaches everyone among the people to treat their poor brothers with generosity and grace. That care was also made certain for them by the year of release, which applied to debts and to Hebrew slaves. The man who honoured Jehovah in His poor was to depend on God. God would bless him for acting in this way, as He had commanded, for the poor were His poor.
The form of that blessing is not fixed. God often repays in a currency the giver never expected:
The man who sows seed by scattering what he has to give deals with a God "who is able to make all grace abound." ALL grace, note — grace of every kind. Grace in spiritual things and grace in material things. … God enriches him so that his giving can keep going and grow. This enrichment may not come in material things. God may choose instead to enrich him in spiritual things, so that the man who began by giving a little money ends by handing out a rich store of spiritual blessing.
Verse 11 explains why this command would never expire: there will always be someone to give to. One writer carries that forward into a different kind of poverty:
Almost the whole of Deuteronomy 15 lays down laws about how the people were to treat their poor. … If there were no poor, the rule would lapse. But verse 11 tells them plainly that "the poor will never cease out of the land." For us Christians the same is true. There will always be some among us who are "weak in the faith," who are only "babes" in Christ. Those strong in the faith must take care. Otherwise their "knowledge" may make "the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died" (1 Cor. 8:11). We must consider the poor and the weak.
- Heart first. The command is not only give but give without a grudge. A gift handed over while the heart resists is still grudging. The heart is the spring; the hand is only the pipe.
- Heart exposed. Grace uncovers the selfishness hidden in us. Only grace keeps the hand open wide.
- Heart like God's. An open hand is God's own character. He invites the giver to imitate Him — the One who gives generously and does not reproach.
- Heart trusting. The poor man is God's poor. So the giver's security is not his own arithmetic but God, who blesses him in all he undertakes.
- Heart never off duty. The need never runs out — so the open hand is not an occasional gesture but a settled way of living.
For the needy shall never cease from within the land; therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thy hand bountifully unto thy brother, to thy poor and to thy needy, in thy land.
Deuteronomy 15 sets out laws for the seventh-year release of debts. This verse states the plain fact behind them: the poor will always be in the land. God makes that fact a reason to give, not a reason to give up.
Earlier in the same chapter God says there should be no poor among them (verse 4). But that promise depended on Israel's obedience. Verse 11 tells us what happened instead.
God's blessing in this way, however, would depend on Israel carefully obeying the Lord and observing all His commandments (v.5). So this was a conditional promise. Israel failed to keep the conditions, and poverty was not abolished, so the Lord Jesus told His disciples, "For the poor you always have with you" (John 12:8). This will change only after the Lord's judgment and His establishing Israel in the future blessings of the millennium.
The verse asks for wide giving, not measured giving, and it names three groups: your brother, the needy and the poor. One writer finds God's own character behind the command.
How lovely are those words, "You shall open wide your hand!" They breathe the very air of heaven. An open heart and a wide hand are like God. "God loves a cheerful giver," because that is exactly what He is Himself. "He gives generously to all without reproach." And He would grant us the rare and most exquisite privilege of being imitators of Him. Marvellous grace! ... We are not only saved by grace. We stand in grace, live under the blessed reign of grace, and breathe the very atmosphere of grace. He calls us to be the living expression of grace, not only to our brothers and sisters but to the whole human family.
The verses just before warn against a hard heart and a shut hand. Those warnings say something about us.
Here the deep springs of the poor selfish heart are uncovered and judged. There is nothing like grace for making plain the hidden roots of evil in human nature. A person must be renewed in the very deepest springs of his moral being before he can carry divine love. Even those whom grace has renewed must watch all the time against the ugly forms of selfishness that our fallen nature dresses itself in. Nothing but grace can keep the heart open wide to every kind of human need.
The giver in this chapter is not left to carry the cost alone. God ties His own blessing to the act, and treats the needy as belonging to Him.
Chapter 15 teaches everyone among the people to treat their poor brothers with generosity and grace. The year of release also secured this care for them, and it applied to debts and to Hebrew slaves. The one who in this way respected Jehovah in His poor was to depend on God. God would bless him for acting according to His commandment, for the poor were His poor.
Because they are His, turning them away is not a private matter. God keeps the account.
The law made provision for the poor. It declares that the poor would never cease out of the land. If no one relieved them and they cried to the Lord, it would count as a sin against those who should have helped them. On the other hand, we read that "whoever is generous to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will repay him for his deed."
One writer links this verse to the day people objected that Mary was wasting what could have helped the poor. The lasting need of the poor is what left her free to honour the Lord.
The objection sounded fair: Mary was depriving the poor of something that would have helped them. The Lord answered that opportunities to serve the poor were plentiful and would not run out. Opportunities to serve Him in His humiliation would now be very few.
One writer applies this command to believers today.
We consider it a disgrace to Christians to let a brother or sister seek help from public relief, if they know about it. It is their high privilege to serve their brother's need. "You shall open wide your hand to your brother." This was a command under the law, and surely it should speak to our hearts. If a Jew was told to open his hand wide to the poor, how much more should we?
- Never ceasing — the promise of verse 4 rested on obedience Israel never gave, so poverty stayed. God states the fact to keep the hand open, not to shut it.
- Open wide — God's own character sets the measure. He gives generously without reproach, and giving is the privilege of imitating Him.
- Open heart — the warnings about a hard heart and a shut hand expose our selfishness. Only grace keeps a heart open to every human need.
- Open account — the poor are His poor. Their unanswered cry counts as sin, and giving to them is a loan to the Lord, which He repays.
- Open opportunity — the Lord used this fact when people criticised Mary. Chances to help the poor never run out, but the moment to honour Him was passing.