(KJV) Deuteronomy 151

<< Deuteronomy 14 Deuteronomy 16 >>

⥃The Seventh Year [ Exodus 23:10–13 † Leviticus 25:1–7 ]

[1] At the end of [every] seven years thou shalt make a release.2 [2] And this [is] the manner of the release: Every creditor that lendeth3 [ought] unto his neighbour shall release [it]; he shall not exact [it4] of his neighbour, or of his brother; because it is called the Lord’s release. [3] Of a foreigner thou mayest exact [it again]: but [that] which is thine with thy brother thine hand shall release;5 [4] Save6 when there shall be no poor among you; for the Lord shall greatly bless7 thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee [for] an inheritance to possess it: [5] Only if thou carefully hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all these commandments which I command thee this day.8 [6] For the Lord thy God blesseth thee, as he promised thee: and thou shalt lend9 unto many nations, but thou shalt not borrow; and thou shalt reign10 over many nations, but they shall not reign over thee.

⥃Generosity in Lending and Giving [ Matthew 6:1–4 ]

[7] [¶]If there be11 among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt12 not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother: [8] But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, [in that] which he wanteth. [9] Beware13 that there be not a thought14 in thy wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye15 be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and he cry16 unto the Lord against thee, and it be sin unto thee17. [10] Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart18 shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him: because19 that for this thing the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto. [11] For the poor20 shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt21 open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.

⥃Hebrew Servants [ Exodus 21:1–11 ]

[12] [And] if thy brother, an Hebrew man, or an Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee, and serve thee six years; then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee.22 [13] And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty:2324 [14] Thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and out of thy floor, and out of thy winepress: [of that] wherewith the Lord25 thy God hath blessed thee thou shalt give unto him. [15] And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the Lord thy God redeemed thee: therefore I command thee this thing to day.26 [16] And it shall be, if he say unto thee, I will not go away from thee; because he loveth thee and thine house, because he is well with thee;27 [17] Then thou shalt take an aul, and thrust [it] through his ear unto the door, and he shall be thy servant for ever28. And also unto thy maidservant thou shalt do likewise. [18] It shall not29 seem hard unto thee, when thou sendest him away free from thee; for he hath been worth a double30 hired servant [to thee], in serving thee six years: and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all that thou doest.

⥃Firstborn Animals [ Exodus 13:1–16 ]

[19] All the firstling31 males that come of thy herd and of thy flock thou shalt sanctify unto the Lord thy God: thou shalt do32 no work with the firstling of thy bullock, nor shear the firstling of thy sheep. [20] Thou shalt eat [it] before the Lord thy God year by year in the place which the Lord shall choose, thou and thy household.33 [21] And if there be [any] blemish therein, [as if it be] lame, or blind, [or have] any ill blemish, thou shalt not sacrifice it unto the Lord thy God.34 [22] Thou shalt eat it within thy gates: the unclean35 and the clean [person shall eat it] alike, as the roebuck36, and as the hart. [23] Only thou shalt not eat the blood thereof; thou shalt pour it upon the ground as water. 37

<< Deuteronomy 14 Deuteronomy 16 >>

  1. Deut 15:1, The seventh year a year of release for the poor; Deut 15:7, It must be no let of lending or giving; Deut 15:12, An Hebrew servant, except he will not depart, must in the seventh year go forth free and well furnished; Deut 15:19, All firstling males of the cattle are to be sanctified unto the Lord. ↩

  2. Deut 31:10; Exod 21:2, Exod 23:10-11; Lev 25:2-4; Isa 61:1-3; Jer 36:8-18; Luke 4:18-19 ↩

  3. Heb. master of the lending of his hand ↩

  4. Neh 5:7-11; Isa 58:3; Amos 8:4-6; Matt 6:12, Matt 6:14-15, Matt 18:25-35; Luke 6:34-38; Luke 7:42; Jas 2:13 ↩

  5. Deut 23:20; Exod 22:25; Matt 17:25-26; John 8:35; 1Cor 6:6-7; Gal 6:10 ↩

  6. etc. or, To the end that there be no poor among you, Houbigant follows this marginal reading, to which he joins the end of the Deut 15:3, considering it as explanatory of the law; as if he had said, "Thou shalt not exact the debt that is due from thy brother, but thy hand shall release him, for this reason, that there may be no poor among you through your severity." He justly contends that the phrase ephes kee, can here only mean, "to the end that," being equivalent to the French afin que. ↩

  7. Deut 14:29, Deut 28:1-8, Deut 28:11; Prov 11:24-25, Prov 14:21, Prov 28:27; Isa 58:10-11 ↩

  8. Deut 4:9, Deut 11:13-15, Deut 28:1-15; Lev 26:3-14; Josh 1:7; Ps 19:11; Isa 1:19-20; Phil 1:27 ↩

  9. Deut 28:12, Deut 28:44; Ps 37:21, Ps 37:26, Ps 112:5; Prov 22:7; Luke 6:35 ↩

  10. Deut 28:13; 1Kgs 4:21, 1Kgs 4:24; 2Chr 9:26; Ezra 4:20; Neh 9:27 ↩

  11. Lest the preceding law might render the Israelites cautious in lending to the poor, Moses here warns them against being led by so mean a principle; but to lend liberally, and God would reward them. ↩

  12. Deut 15:9; Prov 21:13; Matt 18:30; Jas 2:15-16; 1John 3:16-17 ↩

  13. Prov 4:23; Jer 17:10; Matt 15:19; Mark 7:21-22; Rom 7:8-9; Jas 4:5 ↩

  14. etc. Heb. word with thine heart of Belial ↩

  15. Deut 28:54-56; Prov 23:6, Prov 24:9, Prov 28:22; Matt 20:15; Jas 5:9; 1Pet 4:9 ↩

  16. Deut 24:15; Exod 3:7, Exod 22:23; Job 34:28; Ps 9:12; Prov 21:13; Jas 5:4 ↩

  17. Matt 25:41-45; Jas 4:17; 1John 3:15-17 ↩

  18. Matt 25:40; Acts 20:35; Rom 12:8; 2Cor 9:5-7; 1Tim 6:18-19; 1Pet 4:11 ↩

  19. Deut 15:4, Deut 14:19, Deut 14:29, Deut 24:19; Ps 41:1-2; Prov 11:24-25, Prov 22:9; Isa 32:8, Isa 58:10; 2Cor 9:8-11; Phil 4:18-19; Heb 13:16 ↩

  20. Although Moses, by the statutes relative to the division of the land, and inheritance, and the inalienable nature of it, had studied to prevent any Israelite from being born poor, yet he exhorts them to the exercise of the tenderest compassion and most benevolent actions; and not to refuse assistance to the decayed Israelite, though the sabbatical year drew nigh. Prov 22:2; Matt 26:11; Mark 14:7; John 12:8 ↩

  21. Deut 15:8; Matt 5:42; Luke 12:33; Acts 2:45, Acts 4:32-35, Acts 11:28-30; 2Cor 8:2-9; 1John 3:16-18 ↩

  22. Deut 15:1; Exod 21:2-6; Lev 25:39-41; Jer 34:14; John 8:35-36 ↩

  23. This is a most humane and merciful addition to the law in Exod 21:2-11; enforced upon the Israelites by the consideration of their Egyptian bondage. As a faithful servant has made no property for himself while honestly serving his master, so now, when he quits his service, he has nothing to begin the world with except what the kindness of his master may bestow upon him as a remuneration for his zeal and fidelity. Though what was to be bestowed upon servants is not fixed, yet they were to be liberally supplied (Deut 15:14). ↩

  24. Gen 31:42; Exod 3:21; Lev 25:42-44; Prov 3:27-28; Jer 22:13; Mal 3:5; Col 4:1 ↩

  25. Neh 8:10; Ps 68:10; Prov 10:22; Acts 20:35; 1Cor 16:2 ↩

  26. Deut 5:14-15, Deut 16:12; Exod 20:2; Isa 51:1; Matt 6:14-15, Matt 18:32-33; Eph 1:7; Eph 2:12, Eph 4:32, Eph 5:1-2; Titus 2:14; 1John 3:16, 1John 4:9-11 ↩

  27. Exod 21:5-6; Ps 40:6, Ps 40:8 ↩

  28. Lev 25:39-42; 1Sam 1:22 ↩

  29. Deut 15:10 ↩

  30. Isa 16:14, Isa 21:16; Luke 17:7-8 ↩

  31. Exod 13:2, Exod 13:12, Exod 34:19; Lev 27:26; Num 3:13, Num 18:17; Rom 8:29; Heb 12:23 ↩

  32. Deut 12:5-7, Deut 12:17, Deut 14:23, Deut 16:11, Deut 16:14; Num 18:15 ↩

  33. Deut 12:5-7, Deut 12:17 ↩

  34. Deut 17:1; Lev 22:20, Lev 22:24; Mal 1:7-8 ↩

  35. Deut 12:15, Deut 12:21-22 ↩

  36. Tzevee, in Arabic zaby, Chaldee and Syriac tavya, denotes the gazelle or antelope, so called from its stately beauty, as the word imports. In size it is smaller than the roe, of an elegant form, and it motions are light and graceful. It bounds seemingly without effort, and runs with such swiftness that few creatures can exceed it (2Sam 2:18). Its fine eyes are so much celebrated as even to become a proverb; and its flesh is much esteemed for food among eastern nations, having a sweet, musky taste, which is highly agreeable to their palates (1Kgs 4:23). If to these circumstances we add, that they are gregarious, and common all over the East, whereas the roe is either not known at all, or else very rare in these countries, little doubt can remain that the gazelle and not the roe is intended by the original word. ↩

  37. Deut 12:16, Deut 12:23; Lev 7:26; 1Sam 14:32; Ezek 33:25 ↩