^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

^22:25“If you lend money to any of⁵⁴ my people who are needy among you, do not be like a moneylender⁵⁵ to him; do not charge⁵⁶ him interest.⁵⁷^22:26If you do take⁵⁸ the garment of your neighbor in pledge, you must return it to him by the time the sun goes down,⁵⁹^22:27for it is his only covering—it is his garment for his body.⁶⁰ What else can he sleep in?⁶¹ And⁶² when he cries out to me, I will hear, for I am gracious.

^22:28“You must not blaspheme⁶³ God⁶⁴ or curse the ruler of your people.

Read in Logos

Footnotes

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.
54 “any of” has been supplied.
55 The moneylender will be demanding and exacting. In Ps 109:11 and 2 Kgs 4:1 the word is rendered as “extortioner.”
56 Heb “set.”
57 In ancient times money was lent primarily for poverty and not for commercial ventures (H. Gamoran, “The Biblical Law against Loans on Interest,” 30 [1971]: 127–34). The lending to the poor was essentially a charity, and so not to be an opportunity to make money from another person’s misfortune. The word נֶשֶׁךְ (neshekh) may be derived from a verb that means “to bite,” and so the idea of usury or interest was that of putting out one’s money with a bite in it (See S. Stein, “The Laws on Interest in the Old Testament,” 4 [1953]: 161–70; and E. Neufeld, “The Prohibition against Loans at Interest in the Old Testament,” 26 [1955]: 355–412).
58 The construction again uses the infinitive absolute with the verb in the conditional clause to stress the condition.
59 The clause uses the preposition, the infinitive construct, and the noun that is the subjective genitive—“at the going in of the sun.”
60 Heb “his skin.”
61 Literally the text reads, “In what can he lie down?” The cloak would be used for a covering at night to use when sleeping. The garment, then, was the property that could not be taken and not given back—it was the last possession. The modern idiom of “the shirt off his back” gets at the point being made here.
62 Heb “and it will be.”
63 The two verbs in this verse are synonyms: קָלַל (qalal) means “to treat lightly, curse,” and אָרַר (’arar) means “to curse.”
64 The word אֱלֹהִים (’elohim) is “gods” or “God.” If taken as the simple plural, it could refer to the human judges, as it has in the section of laws; this would match the parallelism in the verse. If it was taken to refer to God, then the idea of cursing God would be more along the line of blasphemy. B. Jacob says that the word refers to functioning judges, and that would indirectly mean God, for they represented the religious authority, and the prince the civil authority (Exodus, 708).

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

“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.

“If you lend money to any of my people with you who is poor, you shall not be like a moneylender to him, and you shall not exact interest from him. If ever you take your neighbor’s cloak in pledge, you shall return it to him before the sun goes down, for that is his only covering, and it is his cloak for his body; in what else shall he sleep? And if he cries to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.

“You shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of your people.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

“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.

“If you lend money to one of my people among you who is needy, do not treat it like a business deal; charge no interest. If you take your neighbor’s cloak as a pledge, return it by sunset, because that cloak is the only covering your neighbor has. What else can they sleep in? When they cry out to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.

“Do not blaspheme God or curse the ruler of your people.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

“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.

“If you lend silver to my people, to the poor person among you, you must not be like a creditor to him; you must not charge him interest.

“If you ever take your neighbor’s cloak as collateral, return it to him before sunset. For it is his only covering; it is the clothing for his body. What will he sleep in? And if he cries out to me, I will listen because I am gracious.

“You must not blaspheme God or curse a leader among your people.

NLTNew Living Translation

“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.

“If you lend money to any of my people who are in need, do not charge interest as a money lender would. If you take your neighbor’s cloak as security for a loan, you must return it before sunset. This coat may be the only blanket your neighbor has. How can a person sleep without it? If you do not return it and your neighbor cries out to me for help, then I will hear, for I am merciful.

“You must not dishonor God or curse any of your rulers.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

“ ‘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.

“ ‘If you lend money to my people, to the needy with you, you will not be to him as a creditor; you will not charge him interest. If indeed you require the cloak of your neighbor as a pledge, you will return it to him at sundown, because it is his only garment; it is his cloak for his skin. In what will he sleep? And when he cries out to me, I will hear, because I am gracious.

“ ‘You will not curse God, and you will not curse a leader among your people.

KJV 1900King James Version

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.

If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury. If thou at all take thy neighbour’s raiment to pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him by that the sun goeth down: For that is his covering only, it is his raiment for his skin: wherein shall he sleep? and it shall come to pass, when he crieth unto me, that I will hear; for I am gracious.

Thou shalt not revile the gods, nor curse the ruler of thy people.

Public Domain