Deuteronomy 15:7-11

The Spirit of Liberality

15:7 If a fellow Israelite ¹  from one of your villages ²  in the land that the Lord your God is giving you should be poor, you must not harden your heart or be insensitive ³  to his impoverished condition. ⁴  15:8 Instead, you must be sure to open your hand to him and generously lend ⁵  him whatever he needs. ⁶  15:9 Be careful lest you entertain the wicked thought that the seventh year, the year of cancellation of debts, has almost arrived, and your attitude ⁷  be wrong toward your impoverished fellow Israelite ⁸  and you do not lend ⁹  him anything; he will cry out to the Lord against you and you will be regarded as having sinned. ¹⁰  15:10 You must by all means lend ¹¹  to him and not be upset by doing it, ¹²  for because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you attempt. 15:11 There will never cease to be some poor people in the land; therefore, I am commanding you to make sure you open ¹³  your hand to your fellow Israelites ¹⁴  who are needy and poor in your land.

Deuteronomy 23:7

23:7 You must not hate an Edomite, for he is your relative; ¹⁵  you must not hate an Egyptian, for you lived as a foreigner ¹⁶  in his land.

Proverbs 25:21

25:21 If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat,

and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink,

Matthew 25:35

25:35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,

Luke 10:36-37

10:36 Which of these three do you think became a neighbor ¹⁷  to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” 10:37 The expert in religious law ¹⁸  said, “The one who showed mercy ¹⁹  to him.” So ²⁰  Jesus said to him, “Go and do ²¹  the same.”

Romans 12:20-21

12:20 Rather, if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in doing this you will be heaping burning coals on his head. ²²  12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

[15:7]  ¹ tn Heb “one of your brothers” (so NASB); NAB “one of your kinsmen”; NRSV “a member of your community.” See the note at v. 2.

[15:7]  ² tn Heb “gates.”

[15:7]  ³ tn Heb “withdraw your hand.” Cf. NIV “hardhearted or tightfisted” (NRSV and NLT similar).

[15:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “from your needy brother.”

[15:8]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute before both verbs. The translation indicates the emphasis with the words “be sure to” and “generously,” respectively.

[15:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “whatever his need that he needs for himself.” This redundant expression has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[15:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “your eye.”

[15:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “your needy brother.”

[15:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “give” (likewise in v. 10).

[15:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “it will be a sin to you.”

[15:10]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “by all means.”

[15:10]  ¹² tc Heb “your heart must not be grieved in giving to him.” The LXX and Orig add, “you shall surely lend to him sufficient for his need,” a suggestion based on the same basic idea in v. 8. Such slavish adherence to stock phrases is without warrant in most cases, and certainly here.

[15:11]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “make sure.”

[15:11]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “your brother.”

[23:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “brother.”

[23:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “sojourner.”

[10:36]  ¹⁷ sn Jesus reversed the question the expert in religious law asked in v. 29 to one of becoming a neighbor by loving. “Do not think about who they are, but who you are,” was his reply.

[10:37]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “And he”; the referent (the expert in religious law) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[10:37]  ¹⁹ sn The neighbor did not do what was required (that is why his response is called mercy) but had compassion and out of kindness went the extra step that shows love. See Mic 6:8. Note how the expert in religious law could not bring himself to admit that the example was a Samaritan, someone who would have been seen as a racial half-breed and one not worthy of respect. So Jesus makes a second point that neighbors may appear in surprising places.

[10:37]  ²⁰ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the concluding summary.

[10:37]  ²¹ tn This recalls the verb of the earlier reply in v. 28.

[12:20]  ²² sn A quotation from Prov 25:21-22.