war (cf. 1:6, 9), but here the circumstances are quite different. Those who are being exploited are peasants and small landowners who had apparently fallen into tragic levels of indebtedness. The text does not reveal the causes of their plight. These could have included adverse agricultural conditions (drought, blight, or crop failure), illness, the repercussions of war (e.g., the death of family members, maiming, and the destruction of property), or the consequences of unjust actions against the