^22:22“You must not afflict⁴⁹ any widow or orphan. ^22:23If you afflict them⁵⁰ in any way⁵¹ and they cry to me, I will surely hear⁵² their cry, ^22:24and my anger will burn and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives will be widows and your children will be fatherless.⁵³

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Footnotes

43 There still were many who wished to follow pagan beliefs and consort with the dead (see Deut 18:10–11). The sorceress was someone who dealt with drugs or herbs for occult purposes.
44 Heb “lies with.”
45 Heb “not to Yahweh.”
46 The verb חָרַם (kharam) means “to be devoted” to God or “to be banned.” The idea is that it would be God’s to do with as he liked. What was put under the ban was for God alone, either for his service or for his judgment. But it was out of human control. Here the verb is saying that the person will be utterly destroyed.
47 Or “oppress.”
48 Or “alien,” both here and in 23:9. This individual is a resident foreigner; he lives in the land but, aside from provisions such as this, might easily be without legal rights.
49 The verb “afflict” is a Piel imperfect from עָנָה (’anah); it has a wide range of meanings: “afflict, oppress, humiliate, rape.” These victims are at the mercy of the judges, businessmen, or villains. The righteous king and the righteous people will not mistreat them (see Isa 1:17; Job 31:16, 17, 21).
50 The accusative here is the masculine singular pronoun, which leads S. R. Driver to conclude that this line is out of place, even though the masculine singular can be used in places like this (Exodus, ). U. Cassuto says its use is to refer to certain classes (Exodus, ).
51 Here again and with “cry” the infinitive absolute functions with a diminished emphasis ( §113.o).
52 Here is the normal use of the infinitive absolute with the imperfect tense to emphasize the verb: “I will surely hear,” implying, “I will surely respond.”
53 The punishment will follow the form of talionic justice, an eye for an eye, in which the punishment matches the crime. God will use invading armies (“sword” is a metonymy of adjunct here) to destroy them, making their wives widows and their children orphans.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

“You shall not permit a sorceress to live.

“Whoever lies with an animal shall be put to death.

“Whoever sacrifices to any god, other than the Lord alone, shall be devoted to destruction.

“You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry, and my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

“Do not allow a sorceress to live.

“Anyone who has sexual relations with an animal is to be put to death.

“Whoever sacrifices to any god other than the Lord must be destroyed.

“Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt.

“Do not take advantage of the widow or the fatherless. If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry. My anger will be aroused, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives will become widows and your children fatherless.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

“Do not allow a sorceress to live.

“Whoever has sexual intercourse with an animal must be put to death.

“Whoever sacrifices to any gods, except the Lord alone, is to be set apart for destruction.

“You must not exploit a resident alien or oppress him, since you were resident aliens in the land of Egypt.

“You must not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. If you do mistreat them, they will no doubt cry to me, and I will certainly hear their cry. My anger will burn, and I will kill you with the sword; then your wives will be widows and your children fatherless.

NLTNew Living Translation

“You must not allow a sorceress to live.

“Anyone who has sexual relations with an animal must certainly be put to death.

“Anyone who sacrifices to any god other than the Lord must be destroyed.

“You must not mistreat or oppress foreigners in any way. Remember, you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt.

“You must not exploit a widow or an orphan. If you exploit them in any way and they cry out to me, then I will certainly hear their cry. My anger will blaze against you, and I will kill you with the sword. Then your wives will be widows and your children fatherless.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

“ ‘You will not let a witch live.

“ ‘Anyone lying with an animal will surely be put to death.

“ ‘Whoever sacrifices to the gods—not to Yahweh, to him alone—will be destroyed.

“ ‘You will not mistreat an alien, and you will not oppress him, because you were aliens in the land of Egypt.

“ ‘You will not afflict any widow or orphan. If you indeed afflict him, yes, if he cries out at all to me, I will certainly hear his cry of distress. And I will become angry, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives will be widows and your children orphans.

KJV 1900King James Version

Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. Whosoever lieth with a beast shall surely be put to death. He that sacrificeth unto any god, save unto the Lord only, he shall be utterly destroyed.

Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child. If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry; And my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.

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