Deuteronomy 24:17-22

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Deuteronomy 24:14-22

Here, I. Masters are commanded to be just to their poor servants, Deut. 24:14, 15. 1. They must not oppress them, by overloading them with work, by giving them undue and unreasonable rebukes, or by withholding from them proper maintenance. A servant, though a stranger to the commonwealth of Israel, must not be abused: ?For thou wast a bondman in the land where thou wast a stranger (Deut. 24:18), and thou knowest what a grievous thing it is to be oppressed by a task-master, and therefore, in... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 24:17

Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger, nor of the fatherless ,.... Who are unable to defend themselves, and have but few, if any, to take their part; and therefore particular care should be taken by judges and civil magistrates to do them justice, or God will require it of them: nor take a widow's raiment to pledge ; nor anything else, as her ox or cow, Job 24:3 ; according to the Jewish canons F18 Misn. Bava Metzia, c. 9. sect. 13. , of a widow, whether she is... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 24:18

But thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt ,.... The remembrance of which may cause sympathy with persons in distress; particularly the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow: and the Lord thy God redeemed thee thence ; the Targum of Jonathan,"the Word of the Lord thy God;'which, as it was an act of great kindness and mercy in God to them, taught them, and laid them under obligation to show favour to their fellow creatures in distress: therefore I command thee to do... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 24:19

When thou cuttest down thine harvest in thy field ,.... Whether barley harvest or wheat harvest, when either of them are ripe for cutting, mowing, or reaping, and are cutting down: and hast forgot a sheaf in the field ; Jarchi says the phrase "in the field" is to include standing corn, some of which is forgotten in cutting down, and so is subject to this law as well as a sheaf; and a sheaf claimed by this name is one that is forgotten both by the workman and the owner; if by the one and... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 24:20

When thou beatest thine olive tree ,.... With sticks and staves, to get off the olives when ripe: thou shall not go over the boughs again ; to beat off some few that may remain; they were not nicely to examine the boughs over again, whether there were any left or not: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow ; who might come into their oliveyards after the trees had been beaten, and gather what were left. read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 24:21

When thou gatherest the grapes of thy vineyard ,.... Which was done much about the same time that the olives were gathered, and both after wheat harvest, about the latter end of June, or beginning of July; for they were more forward in those hot countries: thou shall not glean it afterwards ; go over the vines a second time, to pick off every berry or bunch that escaped them at first gathering: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow ; as the forgotten... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 24:22

And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt ,.... When they would have been glad to have enjoyed the like favours, as small as they might seem to be, even to glean in their fields, vineyards, and oliveyards: therefore I command thee to do this thing ; to suffer the poor to take the forgotten sheaf, and to come into their oliveyards and vineyards, and gather what olives and grapes remained after the first beating of the one, and the ingathering of the other. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 24:18

Thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman - Most people who have affluence rose from comparative penury, for those who are born to estates frequently squander them away; such therefore should remember what their feelings, their fears, and anxieties were, when they were poor and abject. A want of attention to this most wholesome precept is the reason why pride and arrogance are the general characteristics of those who have risen in the world from poverty to affluence; and it is the conduct... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 24:19

When thou cuttest down thine harvest - This is an addition to the law, Leviticus 19:9 ; Leviticus 23:22 . The corners of the field, the gleanings, and the forgotten sheaf, were all the property of the poor. This the Hebrews extended to any part of the fruit or produce of a field, which had been forgotten in the time of general ingathering, as appears from the concluding verses of this chapter. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 24:19

Verse 19 God here inculcates liberality upon the possessors of land, when their fruits are gathered: for, when His bounty is exercised before our eyes, it invites us to imitate Him; and it is a sign of ingratitude, unkindly and maliciously, to withhold what we derive from His blessing. God does not indeed require that those who have abundance should so profusely give away their produce, as to despoil themselves by enriching others; and, in fact, Paul prescribes this as the measure of our alms,... read more

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