Deuteronomy 1:16

1:16 I furthermore admonished your judges at that time that they ¹  should pay attention to issues among your fellow citizens ²  and judge fairly, ³  whether between one citizen and another ⁴  or a citizen and a resident foreigner. ⁵ 

Deuteronomy 15:2

15:2 This is the nature of the cancellation: Every creditor must remit what he has loaned to another person; ⁶  he must not force payment from his fellow Israelite, ⁷  for it is to be recognized as “the Lord’s cancellation of debts.”

Deuteronomy 15:7

The Spirit of Liberality

15:7 If a fellow Israelite ⁸  from one of your villages ⁹  in the land that the Lord your God is giving you should be poor, you must not harden your heart or be insensitive ¹⁰  to his impoverished condition. ¹¹ 

[1:16]  ¹ tn Or “you.” A number of English versions treat the remainder of this verse and v. 17 as direct discourse rather than indirect discourse (cf. KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[1:16]  ² tn Heb “brothers.” The term “brothers” could, in English, be understood to refer to siblings, so “fellow citizens” has been used in the translation.

[1:16]  ³ tn The Hebrew word צֶדֶק (tsedeq, “fairly”) carries the basic idea of conformity to a norm of expected behavior or character, one established by God himself. Fair judgment adheres strictly to that norm or standard (see D. Reimer, NIDOTTE 3:750).

[1:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “between a man and his brother.”

[1:16]  ⁵ tn Heb “his stranger” or “his sojourner”; NAB, NIV “an alien”; NRSV “resident alien.” The Hebrew word גֵּר (ger) commonly means “foreigner.”

[15:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “his neighbor,” used idiomatically to refer to another person.

[15:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “his neighbor and his brother.” The words “his brother” may be a scribal gloss identifying “his neighbor” (on this idiom, see the preceding note) as a fellow Israelite (cf. v. 3). In this case the conjunction before “his brother” does not introduce a second category, but rather has the force of “that is.”

[15:7]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² tn Heb “gates.”

[15:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “withdraw your hand.” Cf. NIV “hardhearted or tightfisted” (NRSV and NLT similar).

[15:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “from your needy brother.”