Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger, [or] of the fatherless; and thou shalt not take in pledge a widow's garment.
Three kinds of people in Israel had no natural protector: the foreigner living among them, the child with no father, and the widow. This verse puts all three under the protection of the courts. It also stops a lender from taking a widow's garment as security for a loan.
The two halves of the verse guard against two different kinds of pressure — one in court, one in business.
One may be in a position to take unfair advantage of a stranger or of a fatherless child. But such perversion of justice was sternly forbidden (v.17). Also forbidden was taking a widow's garment as a pledge for debt. For Israel was to remember that they too at one time were in a place of slavery in Egypt, reduced to poverty.
A pledge was an item handed over as security for a loan — here, the clothing off a widow's back.
People took items as security for loans from very early times. The law set limits on this, so that no one could use it to take unfair advantage. Exodus 22:26; Deuteronomy 24:10-17; Amos 2:8.
Similar laws appear elsewhere in Scripture. They show what God thinks of those who prey on the weak.
These verses protect the rights of those who count for least and can defend themselves least — strangers, widows, the fatherless and the poor. The tendency of fallen mankind is to take advantage of these, oppressing and defrauding them. Such conduct is hateful to God, and His kindness shines out even as He gives His law. He will be their Defender. As He thinks of them His word is, "I am gracious."
Scripture returns to the widow and the fatherless again and again, and the New Testament keeps the same demand.
The helpless are next commended to their hearts. Of all the helpless ones who appeal to our compassion, the widow and the fatherless surely have the first claim. God surrounds them here with the powerful defence of His own arm... All through Scripture God marks out these two groups as the special object of His care. So they should be objects of our compassionate concern too. James says accordingly, "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world." (James 1:27)
The law does not only command; it gives a motive. Israel had been slaves, and God had redeemed them.
They were to remember the Lord's grace in redeeming them out of Egypt. That memory was to be the constant, all-powerful motive behind their actions toward the poor brother. This is a principle that never fails; and nothing lower than this will ever stand. Look for motives anywhere but in God Himself and in His dealings with us, and we shall soon break down in daily life. One thing alone will keep us in a course of true, active kindness. We must keep before our hearts the marvellous grace of God shown to us in the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. Merely kind feelings bubbling up in our own hearts, or drawn out by the sorrows and distresses of others, will prove short-lived.
Israel had two things to look at: God's own example, and their own past.
They were to keep the divine model before their eyes. They were also to remember their own past history and experience. Then their hearts would be drawn out in sympathy and compassion toward the poor homeless stranger. It was the binding duty and high privilege of the Israel of God to stand where others stood and feel what they felt. They were to be the moral representatives of that blessed One. They were His people, and they bore His Name. They were to imitate Him in meeting the wants and gladdening the hearts of the fatherless, the widow, and the stranger.
Christians have their own Egypt to remember.
God showed His gracious care for the oppressed, and Israel had to remember that they themselves had been in the land of Egypt. We too who are Christians must remember that we were once in the bondage of sin before being saved by the grace of the Lord Jesus. If so, we shall care about those who have never been set free from the poverty of their sinful state. We should gladly give up something of our own prosperity for their sakes.
- Remember Egypt. Israel had been slaves, and God redeemed them. That memory drives every act of kindness that follows.
- Remember the bench. Bending a court case against a foreigner or a fatherless child is a perversion of justice. God forbids it, because the strong find it so easy.
- Remember the coat. Never hold a widow's garment as security. The law limits the pledge, so that no one profits from her poverty.
- Remember whose side God is on. He defends the ones nobody defends, and while giving the law says of Himself, "I am gracious."
- Remember you are a copy. God's people copy Him toward the widow, the orphan and the stranger. The New Testament calls that religion pure and undefiled.
And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt, and that Jehovah thy God redeemed thee from thence; therefore I command thee to do this thing.
This verse closes a short block of laws that protect the foreigner, the orphan and the widow. Instead of a penalty, God gives a memory as the reason — so why does He base justice for the weak on what He once did for Israel?
The verse begins with "therefore," so it looks back at the commands just given. One writer sets out what those commands forbid:
Someone may be in a position to take unfair advantage of a stranger or of a fatherless child. But such perversion of justice was sternly forbidden (v.17). Also forbidden was taking a widow's garment as a pledge for debt. For Israel was to remember that they too were once in a place of slavery in Egypt, reduced to poverty.
These are people with no leverage. A widow has nothing left to pledge but the clothes she wears.
God does not ask Israel to pity strangers in the abstract. He tells them to remember a condition they had lived in themselves. Commenting on the matching law in Exodus, one writer draws out why that memory works:
The stranger comes first, and the remembrance of what they had been in the land of Egypt was to govern their conduct toward such. Their souls had been full of bitterness under the hard slavery of Pharaoh. So they could enter into the feelings of those who were strangers in a foreign land. Next, God commits the helpless to their hearts. Of all the helpless ones who appeal to our compassion, the widow and the fatherless have the first claim. In this way God surrounds them with the powerful defence of His own arm.
There is a second edge to the memory. The rescue was God's act, and it showed what He is like. Israel's treatment of the weak was meant to copy it:
They knew God in His wonderful work for them, as well as in the commandments which displayed His character. They were called to imitate Him. If He cared for the fatherless and widows, and for the stranger, they too must care. And had they not known what it was to be strangers in that land? He had multiplied them wonderfully through all their suffering, and then delivered them with an outstretched arm.
The same words appear earlier in Deuteronomy, about the poor brother. One writer explains why this reason, and no other, can keep generosity going:
The remembrance of the Lord's grace in redeeming them out of Egypt was to be the ever-present and all-powerful motive-spring of their actions towards the poor brother. This is a never-failing principle; and nothing lower than this will ever stand. If we look for our motives anywhere but in God Himself, and in His dealings with us, we shall soon break down in our practical life. Only one thing will keep us in a course of true, active kindness, whether toward our brothers or those outside. We must keep before our hearts the marvellous grace of God shown to us in the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. Mere kindly feelings bubbling up in our own hearts, or drawn out by the sorrows and distresses and needs of others, will prove short-lived.
Remembering rescue could be mistaken for a licence to relax. On the same formula in chapter 16, a writer holds the two halves together:
"You shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt; and you shall be careful to observe these statutes." That is, the power of the Holy Spirit keeps before us what we were, and the mighty deliverance God has worked for us. The same power also reminds us of our responsibility to do nothing but the will of the Lord, now that His grace has dealt with us this way. The grace of God teaches us to obey, not to relax. It is a law of liberty.
The same logic reaches Christians. Commenting on the gleaning laws that follow in this chapter, one writer applies it:
We too who are Christians must remember that we were once in the bondage of sin, before the grace of the Lord Jesus saved us. If so, we shall care about the needs of those who are still not delivered from the poverty of their sinful state. And we should gladly sacrifice something of our own prosperity for their sakes.
- Remember — the command rests on a memory: slavery in Egypt, and a God who paid to end it.
- Receive — redemption was pure grace, and grace is the strongest, longest-lasting motive for kindness. Feelings alone run dry.
- Resemble — because God defends the stranger, the orphan and the widow, His people must defend them too.
- Reach — memory teaches sympathy. People who once had no help can feel for those who have none now.
- Respond — grace teaches obedience, not relaxation. Freed people give up something of their own for those still in need.