Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him; for ye have been strangers in the land of Egypt.
The command not to wrong a foreigner sits among the civil laws given after the Ten Commandments, and God attaches a reason to it: Israel's own past. Why should a nation's memory of slavery govern how it treats outsiders, and what happens if it forgets?
This verse belongs to a small cluster of laws about people with no power to defend themselves.
Verses 21 to 27 protect the rights of the weakest in the land — foreigners, widows, orphans and the poor. These people count for less and cannot defend themselves. Fallen mankind tends 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."
The list has an order. The reason God gives reaches back to what Israel had lived through.
The foreigner comes first. The memory of what they had been in the land of Egypt was to govern how they treated such people. They had been in bitterness of soul through hard slavery under the iron yoke of Pharaoh. So they could enter into the feelings of those who were foreigners in a foreign land. The helpless are next commended to their hearts. Of all the helpless ones who appeal to our compassion, the widow and the orphan have the first claim. So God surrounds them here with the powerful defence of His own arm.
Suffering can harden people as easily as soften them. A related law shows which way God means the memory to run, and how far He takes the demand.
This cuts off in advance the narrow and base pride of later tradition. A foreigner who might live in their land was not only to be left in peace. He was to be loved as one born among them. "You shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God." How touching to remember their oppression in Egypt, not for resentment but for compassion!
Many laws in this chapter name an exact repayment. This one does not, and the silence is not weakness.
God set no exact penalty for mistreating or oppressing a foreigner or widow or orphan, though He firmly forbade it (vv. 21-24). But God warns that if the oppressed cried to Him, He would step in Himself. He would kill the oppressor by means of an enemy with a sword, leaving their wives as widows and their children fatherless.
The same instruction returns two chapters later, with an added phrase.
The ninth verse repeats the instruction given in Exodus 22:21. This shows how important it is in God's eyes. Here it comes with added emphasis: "You know the heart of a stranger." Their own experience qualified the children of Israel to sympathise with strangers. The memory of their own past sorrow was to shape how they treated people in the same position.
Kindness to outsiders reached into the harvest field, where the foreigner had done none of the work.
The nation should remember God's kindness to them. They had all been "strangers" and slaves in the land of Egypt (Ex. 22:21). So they ought to show kindness to any "strangers" among them. They were to let them glean in their fields and vineyards, making sure the reapers left something behind for the gleaners. The strangers were not of "the seed of Abraham according to the flesh," and they had taken no part in the ploughing or sowing or reaping. Even so, they were to have a full share of God's generous provision at harvest time.
One writer remembers a friend who kept these words in mind whenever he met someone lonely or out of place.
He often quoted the words, "You know the heart of a stranger." He said them when he heard of anyone lonely, or of a stranger he might show kindness to. No difference of rank hindered the welcome he gave to any whom he believed to be followers of his Lord.
- Remember — Egypt is the reason given. Israel had suffered under Pharaoh, so they knew how a foreigner feels.
- Redirect — the memory should produce compassion, not resentment. A related command goes as far as loving the foreigner as yourself.
- Reach — the command widens from not harming to giving. Landowners left grain in the field for those who never sowed it.
- Defend — God names no fixed penalty. He Himself answers the cry of the oppressed and strikes the oppressor.
- Reveal — even while giving law, God's kindness shows through in the words "I am gracious."
Ye shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child.
This command sits in a run of case laws given at Sinai, and it names the two people in Israel with no natural protector. One commentator explains why they head the list of those the law shields, and what God puts around them in place of a husband or father:
Next the law commends the helpless to their hearts. Of all the helpless ones who appeal to our compassion, the widow and the fatherless surely have the first claim. God here surrounds them with the powerful defence of His own arm. If anyone afflicts them, that man will be killed, and his wife and children will become a widow and orphans. All through Scripture these two groups are shown as the special object of God's care, and so they should be the objects of our compassionate concern.
This protection is not a random rule. It comes out of what God Himself is. One writer draws that out from Moses' words about God:
Here Moses speaks not only of God's doings, dealings and ways, but of Himself — of what He is. He is high over all, the great, the mighty and the terrible. But He has a heart for the widow and the fatherless. They are helpless ones stripped of every earthly and natural support — the poor grieving, broken-hearted widow, and the lonely orphan. God thinks of such people and cares for them in a very special way; they have a claim on His loving heart and mighty hand. "Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation." "Leave your fatherless children; I will keep them alive; and let your widows trust in me."
So who deals with the man who preys on a widow? The answer here is not a court sentence:
The law set no exact penalty for mistreating or oppressing a stranger, a widow or a fatherless child, though it firmly forbade this (vv. 21-24). But God warns that if the oppressed cried out to Him, He would step in Himself. He would kill the oppressor by the hand of an enemy with a sword, leaving their wives as widows and their children fatherless.
The punishment mirrors the crime.
This command does not stand alone. The verses around it protect others who are easy to exploit, and together they show what the Lawgiver is like:
Verses 21-27 safeguard the rights of the people who count for least and can defend themselves least — strangers, widows, the fatherless and the poor. Fallen mankind tends to take advantage of these people. It oppresses them and cheats them. God hates such conduct, 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."
Why should Israel care? One writer points to their own past, and to the God they had come to know:
They knew God in the wonderful work He had done for them, and also in the commandments that displayed His character. God called them 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 Egypt? He had brought them out of that land with an outstretched arm, and He had multiplied them wonderfully through all their suffering.
The command here is a prohibition. One writer traces how it reappears in the New Testament as something positive, and points to where it was lived out perfectly:
In Exodus 22:22 we read, "You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child." In James 1:27 it says, "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." Christ, as seen in the Gospels, is the perfect example of this verse. Think of the son of the widow of Nain as one instance.
- Claim — the widow and the orphan have lost every natural protector. That gives them the first claim on our compassion, and a claim on God's own heart and hand.
- Defence — they have no one to defend them, so God puts His own arm around them. He is their Defender.
- Cry — the law names no human penalty here. Their cry goes straight to God, and He steps in against the oppressor Himself.
- Mirror — the sentence matches the sin. The man who makes widows and orphans leaves his own wife a widow and his own children fatherless.
- Imitation — Israel had once been strangers in Egypt, and God called them to imitate the One who rescued them. In the New Testament that same care becomes visiting widows and orphans. Christ lived it perfectly.
If thou afflict him in any way, if he cry at all unto me, I will certainly hear his cry;
This verse sits inside a long list of civil rulings. Yet here God stops fixing penalties and speaks about Himself: the cry of a wronged foreigner, widow or orphan reaches His own ear, and He answers it.
One writer roots this care in Israel's own memory of Egypt, and shows how God puts His own strength around the helpless.
The stranger comes first, and the memory of what they had been in the land of Egypt was to govern their conduct toward such people. They had known bitterness of soul under Pharaoh's hard slavery. So they could enter into the feelings of those who were strangers in a strange land. The helpless are next commended to their hearts. Of all the helpless who appeal to our compassion, surely the widow and the fatherless have the first claim. So God surrounds them here with the powerful defence of His own arm. All through Scripture these two groups are marked out as the special object of God's care. So they should be the objects of our compassionate concern. So James says, "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."
The law names no human judge for this offence. God keeps the case for Himself.
God set no precise penalty for mistreating or oppressing a stranger or widow or fatherless child, though He firmly forbade it (vv. 21-24). But God warns that if those who were oppressed cried to Him, He would step in Himself. He would kill the oppressor by means of an enemy with a sword, leaving their wives as widows and their children fatherless.
Commentators read this run of verses as a guard around those least able to defend themselves. One writer hears God's own character in it.
The verses in between (21-27) safeguard the rights of the less important and more defenceless folk — strangers, widows, fatherless and poor. The tendency of fallen mankind is to take advantage of these, oppressing and defrauding them. God hates such conduct. 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."
The same code that demands repayment also bends toward the weak. One writer holds both together.
These "judgments" reveal the true character of the law: inflexible righteousness, with its inescapable demands of restitution and penalty. There could be no escape from their responsibility. Yet the spirit in which the children of Israel dealt with each other, following these divine instructions, expressed the beautiful features of grace and compassion. These words support what I am saying. They were not to mistreat a stranger, or afflict the widow and the fatherless (Ex. 22:21-22). They were not to charge interest to a poor man who borrowed money (Ex. 22:25). They were not to keep a neighbour's pledged garment overnight (Ex. 22:26-27). To this last God adds this beautiful expression, "for I am gracious."
One writer sets God beside the unjust judge of the parable, and shows why His delay is never indifference.
If the unjust judge hears and acts for the defenceless, whatever his motive, will not God? But this is far from all. God has His affections — not only His character, but objects of His delight. "And will not God give justice to his elect?" The righteous God, who takes vengeance, can never make light of evil or let the wicked go unpunished. For then how would He judge the world? He notices the cry from the oppressed day and night, and it is the cry of His own elect. "I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily."
Israel had more than a ban on oppression. They had a model to copy, and their own past was the reason.
They knew God in His wonderful work for them, and in the commandments which displayed His character. God called them 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 brought them out of it with an outstretched arm, a people wonderfully multiplied through all their suffering.
- Cry. The wronged have no human court here. Their cry goes straight to God, and He hears it Himself.
- Defender. The law fixes no human penalty here. God takes the case Himself and defends the stranger, widow and fatherless.
- Mirror. The punishment mirrors the crime. The man who makes widows and orphans will leave a widow and orphans behind him.
- Gracious. The same rulings that demand full repayment carry God's own words: "I am gracious."
- Imitate. God rescued Israel when they were strangers in Egypt. Having received that care, they had to show it — what James calls pure religion.
and my anger shall burn, and I will slay you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.
This verse sits in a long list of civil laws, yet it is not ordinary legislation. It is a personal warning from God: the man who crushes a widow or an orphan will lose his own wife and children. Why does God attach His own anger to a crime no human court is told to punish? And what does that show about the heart behind the law?
This law protects people who have no one to protect them. One writer shows who defends them, and how far the punishment reaches.
Next, the helpless are entrusted to their hearts. Of all the helpless people who appeal to our compassion, the widow and the fatherless have the first claim. So God surrounds them here with the powerful defence of His own arm. Anyone who harmed them would be killed, and his wife and children would become a widow and orphans.
Every other offence in this chapter carries a fine or a sentence. Here God names none. Instead His own anger burns, and He takes the case Himself.
The law set no exact penalty for mistreating or oppressing a stranger, a widow, or a fatherless child, though it firmly forbade this (vv. 21-24). But God warns that if the oppressed cried to Him, He would step in Himself. He would kill the oppressor by the sword of an enemy, leaving their wives as widows and their children fatherless.
The punishment matches the crime. One writer finds the same rule when God judges nations.
He counts every wrong done to His people as done to Himself. Through them the same evils would come back in judgment on the nations that inflicted them.
The threat is fierce, but the motive behind it is not. Reading the whole paragraph these verses belong to, one writer draws out what kind of God is speaking.
The verses in between (21-27) protect the rights of the lowlier and more defenceless people — strangers, widows, the fatherless, and the poor. Fallen mankind tends to take advantage of them, oppressing and cheating them. God hates such conduct, 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."
The same care runs through the whole body of laws. Among the rules about repayment and damages, God protects those who cannot defend themselves.
No one may take advantage of the weak or of those under authority. Violence cannot go unpunished, and neither can disrespect where we owe honour... No one may harass or mistreat a stranger, a widow, or an orphan. No one may weigh down the poor or insult judges.
The people most at risk are those holding office. One writer points to the judges, who stood in God's place and yet wronged the people God defends.
Here (vv. 1-4) the sin is the injustice of the judges. They stood in the place of God Himself... yet they badly misrepresented His character and wronged His people, especially the defenceless... The highest will be brought lowest. Those will fare worst who least of all should have turned their high position and great power into greed that dishonours God, and into oppression of the weak and wretched.
The warning has a positive side. God's care for the widow and the fatherless is meant to become ours. One writer asks why this call comes first, and why we need it pressed on us.
The answer is that God, our Father, has a special care for the fatherless and the widow, and so He puts this call first. Could the reason also be that we are slow to care for the fatherless and the widow? In any case, this is a very powerful call — and we do well to take it to heart.
Notice too that these are laws, not sentiments. They set a floor under how a society treats the people at its edges.
These laws, spite of the fact that the children of Israel were now governed from Sinai, permit us to see into the depths of the heart of God.
- Cry. The widow and the orphan have no defender on earth. So they cry to God, and He hears them.
- Defender. Where the law names no fine and no court, God acts Himself. His own arm is their defence.
- Sword. The punishment matches the crime. The man who made widows and orphans leaves a widow and orphans of his own.
- Power. The heaviest warning falls on people in power. They above all should never turn their position into greed and oppression.
- Grace. Even as He gives law, God's kindness shows through. That same care is meant to become ours, because we are slow to feel it.
-- If thou lend money to my people, the poor with thee, thou shalt not be to him as a usurer ye shall charge him no interest.
Among the case laws of Exodus 22 sits a rule about money: a loan to a poor member of God's people must never turn a profit. It raises two questions — what is banned, and why does God tie His own name to a private loan?
The older translations use a word that has since narrowed in meaning. A dictionary of Bible terms sets it straight, and also marks out who the law protects:
In Scripture this word does not mean, as it does now, excessive interest, but simply interest of any kind. The Israelites were forbidden to charge interest to their brothers. The law always assumed the borrower was poor; otherwise he would not need to borrow. To strangers, however, they could lend at interest. Exodus 22:25; Leviticus 25:35-38; Deuteronomy 23:19-20. When the Jews returned, Nehemiah sharply rebuked the nobles and rulers for taking interest from their poorer brothers. Nehemiah 5:3-13. Scripture strictly commands the rich to help the poor. The only time the New Testament mentions usury is in the parables of the talents and the pounds. There the master blamed the servant for not putting the gifts to use, so that he might have received his own back with interest, or increase. Matthew 25:27; Luke 19:23.
The verse turns on one condition: the borrower is poor. One writer marks the difference between a bank loan and a neighbour in need:
Exodus 22:25 explicitly warns Israelites against charging interest when lending money to the poor. Of course, it is only proper business to expect interest from a bank, as Luke 19:23 tells us. But if someone is poor and needs financial help, it is certainly cruelty to charge him interest. By faith a believer would gladly lend without such a condition. He may in fact gladly give without conditions (2 Corinthians 9:7), expecting nothing in return.
This command sits beside protections for the foreigner, the widow and the orphan. One writer reads the whole cluster as a window into what God is like:
The two directions that follow concern the poor. The first saves him from extortion and stops the rich from making gain out of his poverty. The second keeps him from destitution and nakedness. The children of Israel were now governed from Sinai, yet these laws let us see into the depths of the heart of God.
The section ends with God saying of Himself, "I am gracious." That statement is not decoration; it explains the whole run of commands:
Verses 21-27 safeguard the rights of the less important and more defenceless people: strangers, widows, the fatherless and the poor. Fallen mankind tends to take advantage of these, oppressing and defrauding them. Such conduct is detestable 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."
The command was broken in Nehemiah's day, when hunger drove families to borrow from their own people:
Now, who had taken advantage of them when, in their hunger, they needed bread? It was their brothers — and yet the law of Moses forbade them to do this. The Israelite could lend to the nations, but he could not charge his brother interest (Deuteronomy 23:19-20; Exodus 22:25). So the love of money led them into this great sin.
God gave this command under law, so some may think Christians are free of it. One writer presses the opposite conclusion:
The Jews under law were forbidden to charge interest when lending to another poor Israelite. Now that we are under grace, should we ignore such instruction? Rather, under grace we might go much further, by giving instead of lending.
- Brother, not customer. "Usury" here means interest of any kind. The line the law draws is the relationship: no interest from a poor brother, though Israel could lend to outsiders at interest.
- Brother in need. The trigger is poverty, not borrowing itself. A commercial loan is a different matter; charging a man for his hunger is cruelty.
- Brother defended. God Himself shields the stranger, widow, orphan and poor. He will be their Defender, and His word over them is "I am gracious."
- Brother betrayed. In Nehemiah 5 the rich charged their own brothers interest. Commentators trace it to the love of money and call it plain disobedience to this verse.
- Brother given to. Under grace the standard rises. The believer may go past interest-free lending to giving outright, expecting nothing back.
-- If thou at all take thy neighbour's garment in pledge, thou shalt return it to him before the sun goes down;
One line of Israel's law protects the one thing a poor man could offer as security and could not do without: the coat he slept in. Why would God make a law about a borrower's bedding?
The pledge in view was not a spare item of clothing. It was the wide outer cloak that doubled as a blanket, so taking it overnight left a man exposed.
The other main garment was the simlah, a cloak or wide outer mantle. Men and women wore it, and they wrapped themselves in it at night. If a lender took this garment in pledge, he had to give it back in the evening, for without it 'what shall he sleep in?'
Taking security for a loan was an old and accepted practice; what the law did was fence it in.
People took articles as security for loans very early on. The law set limits on this, so that no one could take unfair advantage.
The law does not forbid the lender to take a pledge. It limits what his claim may cost the borrower.
If a borrower were to give his garment as security, the lender must not keep it even overnight. My righteous demands must in no way take precedence over proper compassion (vv. 26-27).
Another writer draws out two more limits: how the lender may collect the pledge, and when he must hand it back.
Here again the law limits the pledge. The creditor must not push into the debtor's house to get it. And if it is something the debtor can spare only for the day, the creditor must give it back by nightfall.
This chapter is full of penalties and repayment. Yet the way Israelites were to treat each other under those rules has a different flavour. And God backs this rule with a word about Himself.
These "judgments" show the true character of the law: unbending righteousness, demanding repayment for loss and punishment for wrong. No one could escape that responsibility. Yet the way the children of Israel dealt with each other under these instructions from God showed the beautiful features of grace and compassion... They were not to charge interest to a poor man who borrowed money (Ex. 22:25), and they were not to keep a neighbour's pledged garment overnight (Ex. 22:26-27). To this last God adds these beautiful words, "for I am gracious."
A rule about a coat shows what God Himself feels.
The children of Israel were now governed from Sinai. Even so, these laws let us see into the depths of the heart of God. What deep tenderness there is in the rule that a pledged garment must be handed back "by the time the sun goes down: for that is his covering only, it is his clothing for his skin: what shall he sleep in? And when he cries to Me, I will hear; for I am gracious." His people must show the heart of God. And He is touched by the sight of a man who has nothing to cover his body when he lies down to sleep!
Notice the scale of God's care here: one man's bedding.
Touches of this kind go far to remind us of how detailed God's regard is, and of the depth of His gracious consideration for the details of our life.
Later, a prophet describes Israel doing exactly what this rule forbids — at the altar itself.
They care nothing for the sufferings of the poor. Yet even at the altar — which is supposed to be the Lord's — they lie down on garments pledged because of poverty. And they make merry with the fines imposed for wrongdoing.
One writer turns the returned cloak into a picture of the believer's hope.
If a Jew had pawned his bedclothes, God in His mercy required them back before night. "For," He says, "that is his covering; what shall he sleep in?" (Ex. 22:27). Hope is the believer's covering. He wraps himself in it when he lays his body down to sleep in the grave: "My flesh," says David, "shall rest in hope" (Ps. 16:9). The man who has no hope of a resurrection to life goes sadly to the bed of the grave.
- Covering. The pledge was the poor man's outer cloak, his blanket at night — which is why it had to be back in his hands by sunset.
- Limit. A lender could take security, but he could not force his way into the house, and he had to hand back by nightfall what the man could not spare.
- Order. A lender's righteous claim never outranks compassion.
- Reason. God grounds the command in His own character — "for I am gracious" — and His people were to express His heart.
- Warning. A prophet later shows the law reversed: men lying down at the altar on garments taken from the poor.
for that is his only covering, his garment for his skin on what shall he lie down? And it shall come to pass, when he crieth unto me, that I will hear; for I am gracious.
A poor man hands his cloak to a lender as security, and God sets a deadline for its return: sundown. The reason He gives is not what the borrower deserves, but who He Himself is.
The cloak here is one specific garment. It was a wide outer mantle that also served as a man's bedding.
The other main garment was the simlah, a cloak or wide outer mantle, worn by men and women, and in which they wrapped themselves at night. This might be of any material according to the season, and according to the wearer's position in life. The peasants often wear such a garment, called an "abba," of camel's or goat's hair. If a lender took this garment as security, he had to return it in the evening, for without it "in what else shall he sleep?"
One writer pictures the night for a man whose only covering sits in a creditor's house.
The sun has gone down; the chill of midnight creeps over his sleeping form. It disturbs the rest he needs and endangers his health. His skin needs a covering and warmth. Where can he find this if he has pledged his garment and the lender keeps it? Nowhere.
The lender has a real right to the security. God sets a limit on how far he may press it.
If a borrower were to give his garment as security, the lender must not keep it even overnight. My righteous demands must in no way take precedence over proper compassion.
The laws around this verse are strict. They demand restitution and penalty, and no one could escape them. Yet this rule runs the other way, and the verse ends with God's reason. Where the ESV says "I am compassionate," the older wording quoted below reads "I am gracious."
These "judgments" reveal the true character of the law: inflexible righteousness, with its inescapable demands of restitution and penalty. There could be no evading that responsibility. Yet the children of Israel dealt with each other in a spirit that expressed the beautiful features of grace and compassion, following these divine instructions... no one was to keep a neighbour's pledged garment overnight. To this last God adds this beautiful expression, "for I am gracious."
Another writer finds the same heart in the rule, and a duty for God's people to show it.
Even though God now governed the children of Israel from Sinai, these laws let us see into the depths of the heart of God. What indescribable tenderness in the rule that a lender must hand back a pledged garment before the sun went down. His people must express the heart of God, and He is touched by the sight of a man who has nothing to cover his body when he lies down to sleep!
This verse sits in a run of laws about strangers, widows, orphans and the poor. They are the easiest people to exploit, and their cry goes straight to God.
Verses 21-27 protect the rights of the less important and more defenceless people — 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."
God makes a law about one man's blanket. That detail is the lesson.
Touches of this kind go far to remind us how detailed God's regard is, and how deep His gracious consideration for the details of our life. He clothes the lily, He numbers the hairs of the head, and takes note of the falling sparrow. He tells us to be anxious for nothing. In everything we are to make our requests known to Him by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, and to cast all our care on Him, for He cares for us.
- Cloak. The pledge was a wide outer mantle. A poor man wrapped himself in it at night, so it was his bed as well as his coat. Hence the sundown deadline.
- Limit. The creditor's claim was genuine, but it could not outrank compassion. You may hold a right and still not press it.
- Defender. These verses guard strangers, widows, orphans and the poor. God hears their cry and stands on their side as their Defender.
- Grace. This rule sits among laws of strict restitution and penalty. It still breathes grace and compassion, and lets us see into the heart of God.
- Reason. The motive is not the borrower's worth but God's own nature: "I am compassionate." This is the God who notices the sparrow and counts the hairs of your head.