Deuteronomy 24:14

24:14-22 It is not hard to prove that purity, piety, justice, mercy, fair conduct, kindness to the poor and destitute, consideration for them, and generosity of spirit, are pleasing to God, and becoming in his redeemed people. The difficulty is to attend to them in our daily walk and conversation.

Thou shall not oppress an hired servant,.... That is hired by the day, as appears by Deuteronomy 24:15 ; though the law may include such as are hired by the week, or month, or year; neither of whom are to be oppressed by any means, and chiefly by detaining their wages; so the Jerusalem Targum explains the phrase,"ye shall not detain by force the hire of the hired servant;''nor by fraud, as in James 5:4 , that is poor and needy; and so cannot bear the lest oppression of this kind, nor to have his wages detained from him any time, and much less wholly to be defrauded of them: whether he be of thy brethren; an Israelite, and so a brother both by nation and religion: or of thy strangers that are in thy land, within thy gates; Jarchi interprets this, both of proselytes of righteousness, and of proselytes of the gate; which latter are plainly described by this clause, and the former must be included; for, if proselytes of the gate are not to be oppressed, much less proselytes of righteousness, who were in all respects as Israelites, the same law was to them both. Jarchi says, the phrase "in thy land" is intended to comprehend the hire of beasts, and of vessels; and these in the Misnah (o) are said to be comprehended in this precept, as well as the hire of man. (o) Bava Metzia, c. 9. sect. 12.

Deuteronomy 24:14-15 . Not oppress a hired servant — By detaining his wages from him when due, which is the meaning of oppression here, as appears from the next verse. At his day thou shalt give him his hire — That is, at the time appointed, weekly or daily. He speaks of a hireling who was so poor as not to be able to provide himself and family with necessaries without his wages, and who therefore eagerly expected them as the support of their lives.

Verses 14, 15. - The wage of the laborer was to be punctually paid, whether he were an Israelite or a foreigner (cf. Leviticus 19:13 ; the law there is repeated here, with a special reference to the distress which the withholding of the hire from a poor man even for a day might occasion). Deuteronomy 24:14

14, 15. Thou shalt not oppress an hired servant that is poor and needy—Hired servants in the East are paid at the close of the day; and for a master to defraud the laborer of his hire, or to withhold it wrongfully for a night, might have subjected a poor man with his family to suffering and was therefore an injustice to be avoided (Le 19:13).

14 . poor and needy ] See on Deuteronomy 15:11 . within thy gates ] See on Deuteronomy 12:17 . The preceding in thy land , omitted by Sam., LXX, is a gloss. 14, 15 . Payment of the Wage-earner. Whether Israelite or gçr , if he be poor, his wage is to be paid the day he earns it; if he has to appeal to God it will be sin to thee.—Sg. with brother (not neighbour ) and other deuteronomic phrases. Parallel to H, Leviticus 19:13 : thou shalt not oppress thy neighbour … the wage of a hireling shall not stay overnight with thee till morning . Cp. Malachi 3:5 , Tob 4:14 , James 5:4 . Ḫammurabi fixes the daily money wages of labourers and artisans (273 f.), in other cases wages in kind are paid yearly (257 f., 261).

They were not to oppress a poor and distressed labourer, by withholding his wages. This command is repeated here from Leviticus 19:13 , with special reference to the distress of the poor man. "And to it (his wages) he lifts up his soul:" i.e., he feels a longing for it. "Lifts up his soul:" as in Psalm 24:4 ; Hosea 4:8 ; Jeremiah 22:27 . On Deuteronomy 24:15 , see Deuteronomy 15:9 and James 5:4 .

[Bible] 24:14. Thou shalt not refuse the hire of the needy, and the poor, whether he be thy brother, or a stranger that dwelleth with thee in the land, and is within thy gates: 24:15. But thou shalt pay him the price of his labour the same day, before the going down of the sun, because he is poor, and with it maintaineth his life: lest he cry against thee to the Lord, and it be reputed to thee for a sin. 24:16. The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the children for the fathers, but every one shall die for his own sin, 24:17. Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger nor of the fatherless, neither shalt thou take away the widow's raiment for a pledge. 24:18. Remember that thou wast a slave in Egypt, and the Lord thy God delivered thee from thence. Therefore I command thee to do this thing. 24:19. When thou hast reaped the corn in thy field, and hast forgot and left a sheaf, thou shalt not return to take it away: but thou shalt suffer the stranger, and the fatherless and the widow to take it away: that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the works of thy hands. 24:20. If thou have gathered the fruit of thy olive trees, thou shalt not return to gather whatsoever remaineth on the trees: but shalt leave it for the stranger, for the fatherless, and the widow. 24:21. If thou make the vintage of thy vineyard, thou shalt not gather the clusters that remain, but they shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. 24:22. Remember that thou also wast a bondman in Egypt, and therefore I command thee to do this thing. Deuteronomy Chapter 25 Stripes must not exceed forty. The ox is not to be muzzled. Of raising seed to the brother. Of the immodest woman. Of unjust weight. Of destroying the Amalecites. 25:1. If there be a controversy between men, and they call upon the judges: they shall give the prize of justice to him whom they perceive to be just: and him whom they find to be wicked, they shall condemn of wickedness.