Leviticus 19:13

19:13 You must not oppress your neighbor or commit robbery against him. ¹  You must not withhold ²  the wages of the hired laborer overnight until morning.

Leviticus 25:39-43

25:39 “‘If your brother becomes impoverished with regard to you so that he sells himself to you, you must not subject him to slave service. ³  25:40 He must be with you as a hired worker, as a resident foreigner; ⁴  he must serve with you until the year of jubilee, 25:41 but then ⁵  he may go free, ⁶  he and his children with him, and may return to his family and to the property of his ancestors. ⁷  25:42 Since they are my servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt, they must not be sold in a slave sale. ⁸  25:43 You must not rule over him harshly, ⁹  but you must fear your God.

Deuteronomy 15:12-15

Release of Debt Slaves

15:12 If your fellow Hebrew ¹⁰  – whether male or female ¹¹  – is sold to you and serves you for six years, then in the seventh year you must let that servant ¹²  go free. ¹³  15:13 If you set them free, you must not send them away empty-handed. 15:14 You must supply them generously ¹⁴  from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress – as the Lord your God has blessed you, you must give to them. 15:15 Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore, I am commanding you to do this thing today.

Deuteronomy 24:14-15

24:14 You must not oppress a lowly and poor servant, whether one from among your fellow Israelites ¹⁵  or from the resident foreigners who are living in your land and villages. ¹⁶  24:15 You must pay his wage that very day before the sun sets, for he is poor and his life depends on it. Otherwise he will cry out to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty of sin.

Nehemiah 5:5-13

5:5 And now, though we share the same flesh and blood as our fellow countrymen, ¹⁷  and our children are just like their children, ¹⁸  still we have found it necessary to subject our sons and daughters to slavery. ¹⁹  Some of our daughters have been subjected to slavery, while we are powerless to help, ²⁰  since our fields and vineyards now belong to other people.” ²¹ 

5:6 I was very angry when I heard their outcry and these complaints. ²²  5:7 I considered these things carefully ²³  and then registered a complaint with the wealthy ²⁴  and the officials. I said to them, “Each one of you is seizing the collateral ²⁵  from your own countrymen!” ²⁶  Because of them I called for ²⁷  a great public assembly. 5:8 I said to them, “To the extent possible we have bought back our fellow Jews ²⁸  who had been sold to the Gentiles. But now you yourselves want to sell your own countrymen, ²⁹  so that we can then buy them back!” They were utterly silent, and could find nothing to say.

5:9 Then I ³⁰  said, “The thing that you are doing is wrong! ³¹  Should you not conduct yourselves ³²  in the fear of our God in order to avoid the reproach of the Gentiles who are our enemies? 5:10 Even I and my relatives ³³  and my associates ³⁴  are lending them money and grain. But let us abandon this practice of seizing collateral! ³⁵  5:11 This very day return to them their fields, their vineyards, their olive trees, and their houses, along with the interest ³⁶  that you are exacting from them on the money, the grain, the new wine, and the olive oil.”

5:12 They replied, “We will return these things, ³⁷  and we will no longer demand anything from them. We will do just as you say.” Then I called the priests and made the wealthy and the officials ³⁸  swear to do what had been promised. ³⁹  5:13 I also shook out my garment, ⁴⁰  and I said, “In this way may God shake out from his house and his property every person who does not carry out ⁴¹  this matter. In this way may he be shaken out and emptied!” All the assembly replied, “So be it!” and they praised the LORD. Then the people did as they had promised. ⁴² 

Job 24:11-12

24:11 They press out the olive oil between the rows of olive trees; ⁴³ 

they tread the winepresses while they are thirsty. ⁴⁴ 

24:12 From the city the dying ⁴⁵  groan,

and the wounded ⁴⁶  cry out for help,

but God charges no one with wrongdoing. ⁴⁷ 

Job 31:13-15

31:13 “If I have disregarded the right of my male servants

or my female servants

when they disputed ⁴⁸  with me,

31:14 then what will I do when God confronts me in judgment; ⁴⁹ 

when he intervenes, ⁵⁰ 

how will I respond to him?

31:15 Did not the one who made me in the womb make them? ⁵¹ 

Did not the same one form us in the womb?

Isaiah 58:3

58:3 They lament, ⁵²  ‘Why don’t you notice when we fast?

Why don’t you pay attention when we humble ourselves?’

Look, at the same time you fast, you satisfy your selfish desires, ⁵³ 

you oppress your workers. ⁵⁴ 

Isaiah 58:5-9

58:5 Is this really the kind of fasting I want? ⁵⁵ 

Do I want a day when people merely humble themselves, ⁵⁶ 

bowing their heads like a reed

and stretching out ⁵⁷  on sackcloth and ashes?

Is this really what you call a fast,

a day that is pleasing to the Lord?

58:6 No, this is the kind of fast I want. ⁵⁸ 

I want you ⁵⁹  to remove the sinful chains,

to tear away the ropes of the burdensome yoke,

to set free the oppressed, ⁶⁰ 

and to break every burdensome yoke.

58:7 I want you ⁶¹  to share your food with the hungry

and to provide shelter for homeless, oppressed people. ⁶² 

When you see someone naked, clothe him!

Don’t turn your back on your own flesh and blood! ⁶³ 

58:8 Then your light will shine like the sunrise; ⁶⁴ 

your restoration will quickly arrive; ⁶⁵ 

your godly behavior ⁶⁶  will go before you,

and the Lord’s splendor will be your rear guard. ⁶⁷ 

58:9 Then you will call out, and the Lord will respond;

you will cry out, and he will reply, ‘Here I am.’

You must ⁶⁸  remove the burdensome yoke from among you

and stop pointing fingers and speaking sinfully.

Jeremiah 34:9-17

34:9 Everyone was supposed to free their male and female Hebrew slaves. No one was supposed to keep a fellow Judean enslaved. ⁶⁹  34:10 All the people and their leaders had agreed to this. They had agreed to free their male and female slaves and not keep them enslaved any longer. They originally complied with the covenant and freed them. ⁷⁰  34:11 But later ⁷¹  they had changed their minds. They had taken back their male and female slaves that they had freed and forced them to be slaves again. ⁷²  34:12 That was when the Lord spoke to Jeremiah, ⁷³  34:13 “The Lord God of Israel has a message for you. ⁷⁴  ‘I made a covenant with your ancestors ⁷⁵  when I brought them out of Egypt where they had been slaves. ⁷⁶  It stipulated, ⁷⁷  34:14 “Every seven years each of you must free any fellow Hebrews who have sold themselves to you. After they have served you for six years, you shall set them free.” ⁷⁸  But your ancestors did not obey me or pay any attention to me. 34:15 Recently, however, you yourselves ⁷⁹  showed a change of heart and did what is pleasing to me. You granted your fellow countrymen their freedom and you made a covenant to that effect in my presence in the house that I have claimed for my own. ⁸⁰  34:16 But then you turned right around ⁸¹  and showed that you did not honor me. ⁸²  Each of you took back your male and female slaves whom you had freed as they desired, and you forced them to be your slaves again. ⁸³  34:17 So I, the Lord, say: “You have not really obeyed me and granted freedom to your neighbor and fellow countryman. ⁸⁴  Therefore, I will grant you freedom, the freedom ⁸⁵  to die in war, or by starvation or disease. I, the Lord, affirm it! ⁸⁶  I will make all the kingdoms of the earth horrified at what happens to you. ⁸⁷ 

Malachi 3:5

3:5 “I ⁸⁸  will come to you in judgment. I will be quick to testify against those who practice divination, those who commit adultery, those who break promises, ⁸⁹  and those who exploit workers, widows, and orphans, ⁹⁰  who refuse to help ⁹¹  the immigrant ⁹²  and in this way show they do not fear me,” says the Lord who rules over all.

James 2:13

2:13 For judgment is merciless for the one who has shown no mercy. But mercy triumphs over ⁹³  judgment.

James 5:4

5:4 Look, the pay you have held back from the workers who mowed your fields cries out against you, and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.

[19:13]  ¹ tn Heb “You shall not oppress your neighbor and you shall not rob.”

[19:13]  ² tn Heb “hold back with you”; perhaps “hold back for yourself” (cf. NRSV “keep for yourself”).

[25:39]  ³ tn Heb “you shall not serve against him service of a slave.” A distinction is being made here between the status of slave and indentured servant.

[25:40]  ⁴ tn See the note on Lev 25:6 above.

[25:41]  ⁵ tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have adversative force here.

[25:41]  ⁶ tn Heb “may go out from you.”

[25:41]  ⁷ tn Heb “fathers.”

[25:42]  ⁸ tn Or perhaps reflexive Niphal rather than passive, “they shall not sell themselves [as in] a slave sale.”

[25:43]  ⁹ tn Heb “You shall not rule in him in violence”; cf. NASB “with severity”; NIV “ruthlessly.”

[15:12]  ¹⁰ sn Elsewhere in the OT, the Israelites are called “Hebrews” (עִבְרִי, ’ivriy) by outsiders, rarely by themselves (cf. Gen 14:13; 39:14, 17; 41:12; Exod 1:15, 16, 19; 2:6, 7, 11, 13; 1 Sam 4:6; Jonah 1:9). Thus, here and in the parallel passage in Exod 21:2-6 the term עִבְרִי may designate non-Israelites, specifically a people well-known throughout the ancient Near East as ’apiru or habiru. They lived a rather vagabond lifestyle, frequently hiring themselves out as laborers or mercenary soldiers. While accounting nicely for the surprising use of the term here in an Israelite law code, the suggestion has against it the unlikelihood that a set of laws would address such a marginal people so specifically (as opposed to simply calling them aliens or the like). More likely עִבְרִי is chosen as a term to remind Israel that when they were “Hebrews,” that is, when they were in Egypt, they were slaves. Now that they are free they must not keep their fellow Israelites in economic bondage. See v. 15.

[15:12]  ¹¹ tn Heb “your brother, a Hebrew (male) or Hebrew (female).”

[15:12]  ¹² tn Heb “him.” The singular pronoun occurs throughout the passage.

[15:12]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew text includes “from you.”

[15:14]  ¹⁴ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “generously.”

[24:14]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “your brothers,” but not limited only to actual siblings; cf. NASB “your (+ own NAB) countrymen.”

[24:14]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “who are in your land in your gates.” The word “living” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[5:5]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “according to the flesh of our brothers is our flesh.”

[5:5]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “like their children, our children.”

[5:5]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “to become slaves” (also later in this verse).

[5:5]  ²⁰ tn Heb “there is not power for our hand.” The Hebrew expression used here is rather difficult.

[5:5]  ²¹ sn The poor among the returned exiles were being exploited by their rich countrymen. Moneylenders were loaning large amounts of money, and not only collecting interest on loans which was illegal (Lev 25:36-37; Deut 23:19-20), but also seizing pledges as collateral (Neh 5:3) which was allowed (Deut 24:10). When the debtors missed a payment, the moneylenders would seize their collateral: their fields, vineyards and homes. With no other means of income, the debtors were forced to sell their children into slavery, a common practice at this time (Neh 5:5). Nehemiah himself was one of the moneylenders (Neh 5:10), but he insisted that seizure of collateral from fellow Jewish countrymen was ethically wrong (Neh 5:9).

[5:6]  ²² tn Heb “words.”

[5:7]  ²³ tn Heb “my heart was advised upon me.”

[5:7]  ²⁴ tn Heb “nobles.”

[5:7]  ²⁵ tn Heb “taking a creditor’s debt.” The Hebrew noun מַשָּׁא (masha’) means “interest; debt” and probably refers to the collateral (pledge) collected by a creditor (HALOT 641-42 s.v.). This particular noun form appears only in Nehemiah (5:7, 10; 10:32); however, it is related to מַשָּׁאָה (masha’ah, “contractual loan; debt; collateral”) which appears elsewhere (Deut 24:10; Prov 22:26; cf. Neh 5:11). See the note on the word “people” at the end of v. 5. The BHS editors suggest emending the MT to מָשָׂא (masa’, “burden”), following several medieval Hebrew MSS; however, the result is not entirely clear: “you are bearing a burden, a man with his brothers.”

[5:7]  ²⁶ tn Heb “his brothers.”

[5:7]  ²⁷ tn Heb “I gave.”

[5:8]  ²⁸ tn Heb “our brothers, the Jews.”

[5:8]  ²⁹ tn Heb “your brothers.”

[5:9]  ³⁰ tc The translation reads with the Qere and the ancient versions וָאוֹמַר (va’omar, “and I said”) rather than the MT Kethib, וַיֹּאמֶר (vayyo’mer, “and he said”).

[5:9]  ³¹ tn Heb “not good.” The statement “The thing…is not good” is an example of tapeinosis, a figurative expression which emphasizes the intended point (“The thing…is wrong!”) by negating its opposite.

[5:9]  ³² tn Heb “[should you not] walk.”

[5:10]  ³³ tn Heb “brothers.”

[5:10]  ³⁴ tn Heb “lads.”

[5:10]  ³⁵ tn Heb “this debt.” This expression is a metonymy of association: “debt” refers to the seizure of the collateral of the debt.

[5:11]  ³⁶ tc The MT reads וּמְאַת (umÿ’at, “and the hundredth”) which is somewhat enigmatic. The BHS editors suggest emending to וּמַשַּׁאת (umasha’t, “and the debt”) which refers to the interest or collateral (pledge) seized by a creditor (Deut 24:10; Prov 22:26; see HALOT 641-42 s.v. מַשָּׁא). The term מַשַּׁאת (masha’t) is related to the noun מָשָּׁא (masha’, “debt”) in 5:7, 10.

[5:12]  ³⁷ tn The words “these things” are not included in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[5:12]  ³⁸ tn Heb “took an oath from them”; the referents (the wealthy and the officials, cf. v. 7) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:12]  ³⁹ tn Heb “according to this word.”

[5:13]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “my bosom.”

[5:13]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “cause to stand.”

[5:13]  ⁴² tn Heb “according to this word.”

[24:11]  ⁴³ tc The Hebrew term is שׁוּרֹתָם (shurotam), which may be translated “terraces” or “olive rows.” But that would not be the proper place to have a press to press the olives and make oil. E. Dhorme (Job, 360-61) proposes on the analogy of an Arabic word that this should be read as “millstones” (which he would also write in the dual). But the argument does not come from a clean cognate, but from a possible development of words. The meaning of “olive rows” works well enough.

[24:11]  ⁴⁴ tn The final verb, a preterite with the ו (vav) consecutive, is here interpreted as a circumstantial clause.

[24:12]  ⁴⁵ tc The MT as pointed reads “from the city of men they groan.” Most commentators change one vowel in מְתִים (mÿtim) to get מֵתִים (metim) to get the active participle, “the dying.” This certainly fits the parallelism better, although sense could be made out of the MT.

[24:12]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “the souls of the wounded,” which here refers to the wounded themselves.

[24:12]  ⁴⁷ tc The MT has the noun תִּפְלָה (tiflah) which means “folly; tastelessness” (cf. 1:22). The verb, which normally means “to place; to put,” would then be rendered “to impute; to charge.” This is certainly a workable translation in the context. Many commentators have emended the text, changing the noun to תְּפִלָּה (tÿfillah, “prayer”), and so then also the verb יָשִׂים (yasim, here “charges”) to יִשְׁמַע (yishma’, “hears”). It reads: “But God does not hear the prayer” – referring to the groans.

[31:13]  ⁴⁸ tn This construction is an adverbial clause using the temporal preposition, the infinitive from רִיב (riv, “contend”), and the suffix which is the subjective genitive.

[31:14]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “arises.” The LXX reads “takes vengeance,” an interpretation that is somewhat correct but unnecessary. The verb “to rise” would mean “to confront in judgment.”

[31:14]  ⁵⁰ tn The verb פָקַד (paqad) means “to visit,” but with God as the subject it means any divine intervention for blessing or cursing, anything God does that changes a person’s life. Here it is “visit to judge.”

[31:15]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “him,” but the plural pronoun has been used in the translation to indicate that the referent is the servants mentioned in v. 13 (since the previous “him” in v. 14 refers to God).

[58:3]  ⁵² tn The words “they lament” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[58:3]  ⁵³ tn Heb “you find pleasure”; NASB “you find your desire.”

[58:3]  ⁵⁴ tn Or perhaps, “debtors.” See HALOT 865 s.v. * עָצֵב.

[58:5]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “choose” (so NASB, NRSV); NAB “wish.”

[58:5]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “a day when man humbles himself.” The words “Do I want” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[58:5]  ⁵⁷ tn Or “making [their] bed.”

[58:6]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “Is this not a fast I choose?” “No” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[58:6]  ⁵⁹ tn The words “I want you” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[58:6]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “crushed.”

[58:7]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “Is it not?” The rhetorical question here expects a positive answer, “It is!”

[58:7]  ⁶² tn Heb “and afflicted [ones], homeless [ones] you should bring [into] a house.” On the meaning of מְרוּדִים (mÿrudim, “homeless”) see HALOT 633 s.v. *מָרוּד.

[58:7]  ⁶³ tn Heb “and from your flesh do not hide yourself.”

[58:8]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “will burst out like the dawn.”

[58:8]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “prosper”; KJV “spring forth speedily.”

[58:8]  ⁶⁶ tn Or “righteousness.” Their godly behavior will be on display for all to see.

[58:8]  ⁶⁷ sn The nation will experience God’s protective presence.

[58:9]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “if you.” In the Hebrew text vv. 9b-10 are one long conditional sentence. The protasis (“if” clauses appear in vv. 9b-10a), with the apodosis (“then” clause) appearing in v. 10b.

[34:9]  ⁶⁹ tn Heb “after King Zedekiah made a covenant…to proclaim liberty to them [the slaves mentioned in the next verse] so that each would send away free his male slave and his female slave, the Hebrew man and the Hebrew woman, so that a man would not hold them in bondage, namely a Judean, his brother [this latter phrase is explicative of “them” because it repeats the preposition in front of “them”].” The complex Hebrew syntax has been broken down into shorter English sentences but an attempt has been made to retain the proper subordinations.

[34:10]  ⁷⁰ tn Heb “And they complied, [that is] all the leaders and all the people who entered into the covenant that they would each let his male slave and his female slave go free so as not to hold them in bondage any longer; they complied and they let [them] go.” The verb “they complied” (Heb “they hearkened”) is repeated at the end after the lengthy description of the subject. This is characteristic of Hebrew style. The translation has resolved the complex sentence by making the relative clauses modifying the subject independent sentences describing the situational background before mentioning the main focus, “they had complied and let them go.”

[34:11]  ⁷¹ sn Most commentators are agreed that the incident referred to here occurred during the period of relief from the siege provided by the Babylonians going off to fight against the Egyptians who were apparently coming to Zedekiah’s aid (compare vv. 21-22 with 37:5, 7). The freeing of the slaves had occurred earlier, under the crisis of the siege while the people were more responsive to the Lord due to the threat of destruction (cf. v. 15).

[34:11]  ⁷² tn Heb “they had brought them into subjection for male and female slaves.” However, the qualification of “male and female” is already clear from the preceding and is unnecessary to the English sentence.

[34:12]  ⁷³ tn Heb “And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying.” This is the resumption of the introduction in v. 8 after the lengthy description of the situation that had precipitated the Lord’s message to Jeremiah. “That was when” is intended to take the reader back to v. 8.

[34:13]  ⁷⁴ tn Heb “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘…’” The style adopted here has been used to avoid a longer, more complex English sentence.

[34:13]  ⁷⁵ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 14, 15).

[34:13]  ⁷⁶ tn Heb “out of the house of bondage.”

[34:13]  ⁷⁷ tn Heb “made a covenant, saying.” This was only one of several stipulations of the covenant. The form used here has been chosen as an indirect way of relating the specific stipulation that is being focused upon to the general covenant that is referred to in v. 13.

[34:14]  ⁷⁸ sn Compare Deut 15:12-18 for the complete statement of this law. Here only the first part of it is cited.

[34:15]  ⁷⁹ tn The presence of the independent pronoun in the Hebrew text is intended to contrast their actions with those of their ancestors.

[34:15]  ⁸⁰ sn This refers to the temple. See Jer 7:10, 11, 14, 30 and see the translator’s note on 7:10 and the study note on 10:25 for the explanation of the idiom involved here.

[34:16]  ⁸¹ sn The verb at the beginning of v. 15 and v. 16 are the same in the Hebrew. They had two changes of heart (Heb “you turned”), one that was pleasing to him (Heb “right in his eyes”) and one that showed they did not honor him (Heb “profaned [or belittled] his name”).

[34:16]  ⁸² sn Heb “you profaned my name.” His name had been invoked in the oath confirming the covenant. Breaking the covenant involved taking his name in vain (cf. Exod 20:7; Deut 5:11; Jer 5:2). Hence the one who bore the name was not treated with the special honor and reverence due him (see the study note on 23:27 for the significance of “name” in the OT).

[34:16]  ⁸³ tn Heb “and you brought them into subjection to be to you for male and female slaves.” See the translator’s note on v. 11 for the same redundant repetition which is not carried over into the contemporary English sentence.

[34:17]  ⁸⁴ tn The Hebrew text has a compound object, the two terms of which have been synonyms in vv. 14, 15. G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, and T. G. Smothers (Jeremiah 26-52 [WBC], 189) make the interesting observation that these two terms (Heb “brother” and “neighbor”) emphasize the relationships that should have taken precedence over their being viewed as mere slaves.

[34:17]  ⁸⁵ sn This is, of course, a metaphorical and ironical use of the term “to grant freedom to.” It is, however, a typical statement of the concept of talionic justice which is quite often operative in God’s judgments in the OT (cf., e.g., Obad 15).

[34:17]  ⁸⁶ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[34:17]  ⁸⁷ sn Compare Jer 15:4; 24:9; 29:18.

[3:5]  ⁸⁸ tn The first person pronoun (a reference to the Lord) indicates that the Lord himself now speaks (see also v. 1). The prophet speaks in vv. 2-4 (see also 2:17).

[3:5]  ⁸⁹ tn Heb “those who swear [oaths] falsely.” Cf. NIV “perjurers”; TEV “those who give false testimony”; NLT “liars.”

[3:5]  ⁹⁰ tn Heb “and against the oppressors of the worker for a wage, [the] widow and orphan.”

[3:5]  ⁹¹ tn Heb “those who turn aside.”

[3:5]  ⁹² tn Or “resident foreigner”; NIV “aliens”; NRSV “the alien.”

[2:13]  ⁹³ tn Grk “boasts against, exults over,” in victory.