Deuteronomy 15:7

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 

Deuteronomy 15:11

15:11 There will never cease to be some poor people in the land; therefore, I am commanding you to make sure you open ⁵  your hand to your fellow Israelites ⁶  who are needy and poor in your land.

[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.”

[15:11]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “make sure.”

[15:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “your brother.”