Deuteronomy 24:14
Ver. 14. Thou shall not oppress an hired servant,.... That is hired by the day, as appears by De 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 Jas 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 24:15Ver. 15. At his day thou shalt give [him] his hire,.... At the close of the day, when his work is done, the hire agreed for must be paid him; and, by the same rule, all such that were hired by the week, month, or year, were to have their wages paid them at the day their time was up:neither shall the sun go down upon it; it was to be paid before sun setting, or at it; see Le 19:13;for he [is] poor, and setteth his heart upon it; being poor, he cannot wait any longer for the payment of it; his personal and family wants are such as require immediate payment; and besides, he has been eagerly expecting it, and earnestly desiring it, that he may satisfy the craving necessities of himself and family; and therefore it would be a great balk and disappointment to him to have his wages detained:lest he cry against thee to the Lord; having none to apply unto but him, who is the patron of the poor and needy, not being able to help himself, nor having interest in any to interpose on his behalf; and his cry, and the cry of his hire too, enter into the ears of the Lord of hosts, and is regarded by him, Jas 5:4;and it be sin unto thee: be imputed to him, the guilt charged on him, and punishment inflicted for it. Deuteronomy 24:16Ver. 16. The fathers shall not be put to death for the children,.... By the civil magistrates, for sins committed by them of a capital nature, and which are worthy of death:neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers; for sins committed by them that deserve it:every man shall be put to death for his own sin: which is but just and reasonable; see Eze 18:4; which is no contradiction to Ex 20:5; that respects what God himself would do, this what Israel, or the civil magistrates in it, should do; this is a command on Israel, as Aben Ezra observes; that the declaration of the sovereign Being, who is not bound by any law. Jarchi interprets these words differently, as that the one should not be put to death by the testimony of the other; and it is a rule with the Jews,"that an oath of witness is taken of men, and not of women; of those that are not akin, and not of those that are nearly related {p}:''on which one of the commentators observes {q} that such that are near akin are not fit to bear testimony, because it is written, "the father shall not be put to death for the children"; that is, for the testimony of the children. Jarchi indeed mentions the other sense, for the sins of the children, which has been given, and is undoubtedly the true sense of the text. The Targum of Jonathan gives both;"fathers should not be put to death, neither by the testimony, nor for the sins of the children; and children shall not be put to death, neither by the testimony, nor for the sins of fathers; but every man shall be put to death for his own sin by proper witnesses.''{p} Misn. Shebuot, c. 4. sect. 1. {q} Bartenora in ib. Deuteronomy 24:17Ver. 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 {r}, of a widow, whether she is poor or rich, a pledge is not taken; the reason given for which is, that it would raise an ill suspicion, and cause an evil report of her among her neighbours {s}; and which is suggested by the Targum of Jonathan"neither shall any of you take for a pledge the raiment of a widow, lest wicked neighbours should arise, and bring an evil report upon her, when ye return the pledge unto her.''But no doubt a poor widow is meant, and the design of the law is mercy to her, and that she might not be distressed by taking that from her she needed.{r} Misn. Bava Metzia, c. 9. sect. 13. {s} Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Bava Metzia, c. 9. sect. 13. Deuteronomy 24:18Ver. 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 this thing: not to pervert the judgment of the stranger and fatherless, nor take a widow's raiment for a pledge; and it may be carried further into the context, and respect the laws about the pledge of the poor man, and giving the hired servant his wages in due time. Deuteronomy 24:19Ver. 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 not by the other, it could not be so called. The canon runs thus {t},"a sheaf which the workmen forget, and not the owner, or the owner forgets, and not the workman, before which the poor stand, or is covered with straw or stubble, is not a forgotten sheaf.''And about this they have various other rules;"a sheaf that is near the gate (of a field), or to an heap (of sheaves), or to oxen, or to instruments, and left, the house of Shammai say it is not to be reckoned a forgotten sheaf; but the house of Hillell say it is;--two sheaves are reckoned forgotten, three are not; a sheaf in which there are two seahs (about a peck and a half), and they leave it, it is not reckoned forgotten {u}:''thou shall not go again to fetch it; which supposes a remembrance of it, or some intelligence about it when at home, and after the field has been cleared, and all carried in but this sheaf; then the owner might not go nor send to fetch it: the beginnings of the rows, they say, show when a sheaf is forgotten, or not; particularly the adverse sheaf, or that over against it, shows it {w}; so Jarchi:it shall be for the stranger; or proselyte; the proselyte of righteousness; of this there is no doubt, but it seems to be for the proselyte of the gate also:for the fatherless and for the widow; which of them soever should first find it:that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hands; in the culture of their ground the next year, and give them large and fruitful crops; they either purposely leaving the sheaf for the poor, or however suffer them to take it unmolested when found by them. The Targum of Jonathan is, "that the word of the Lord thy God may bless thee", &c.{t} Misn. Peah, c. 5. sect. 7. {u} Misn. Peah, c. 6. sect. 2, 5, 6. {w} Ib. sect. 3, 4. Deuteronomy 24:20Ver. 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. Deuteronomy 24:21Ver. 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 sheaf, and the olive berries left; these are all supposed to be poor persons, otherwise no doubt there were strangers, and fatherless persons, and widows, in good circumstances; who, as they needed not, so neither would give themselves the trouble, but think it beneath them to go into fields, oliveyards, and vineyards, to gather what was left by the owners. These laws were made in favour of the poor, that mercy and kindness might be showed to them, and that they might have a taste of all the fruits of the earth. Deuteronomy 24:22Ver. 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.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.