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The Pulpit Commentary
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 15:1-11
A bulwark against cupidity. Material prosperity was the only form of blessing that had attractive charm for the Hebrews. Neither mind nor conscience was yet sufficiently developed to value higher good. God had to raise…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 15:1-6
The year of forgiveness. We have here what we may call the "poor law" of Palestine. The poor were to be regarded as "brethren," they were to be treated as neighbors, as members of the one society. Money was to be lent t…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 15:1-6
Divine checks on human greed. In this paragraph the institution of the sabbatical year is presupposed (of. Exodus 23:9-13; Le Exodus 25:2-7). During this year the land was to rest, and it would doubtless be conducive to…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 15:1-12
The Lord's release. The sabbatic year was in many respects a year of mercy to the poor. The beautiful name given to it here—"the Lord's release"—suggests gospel ideas. It finds its higher counterpart in that "acceptable…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 15:1
Release. The word thus rendered ( שְׁמִטָּה, from שָׁמַט, to leave, to let lie fallow) occurs only here and in Deuteronomy 15:2; in Exodus 33:11 the cognate verb is used, and from this the word is best explained. The de…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 15:2
Creditor; literally, master of the loan of his hand, equivalent to owner of what his hand has lent to another. Comp. the expression, "what was laid in his hand" (Le Deuteronomy 5:21; Authorized Version, "in fellowship,"…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 15:3
A foreigner; a stranger of another nation, having no internal social relation to Israel ( נָכְרִי), as distinguished from the stranger who lived among them and had claims on their benevolence ( גֵּר). Of such they might…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 15:4
Save when there shall be no poor among you; rather, only that there shall be no poor among you; q.d; this ordinance is not intended to prevent creditors seeking the payment of their just debts, but only to prevent there…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 15:7-11
The duty of kindness to the poor. There seems to be at first sight a discrepancy between the phrase in Deuteronomy 15:4 and that in Deuteronomy 15:11. The former is, "Save when there shall be no poor among you;" the lat…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 15:7-11
Open-handedness. Having inculcated the forgiveness of a brother's debts during the sabbatic year, Moses now proceeds to speak of the open-handedness which should precede that year. It might be made a pretext for refusin…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 15:7-11
The reference to the release leads to a prescription regarding readiness to lend to the poor. They were not to harden their hearts against their poorer brethren, nor were they, in the prospect of the year of release, to…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 15:7
Harden thine heart; literally, maize strong, so as to suppress natural compassion and sympathy.
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 15:8
Sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth; literally, the sufficiency of his need which he needeth, i.e. whatever he might need to meet his requirements.
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 15:9
A thought in thy wicked heart; literally, a thing in thy heart worthlessness, i.e. a thing which is worthless and unworthy. The word used is belial ( בְּלִיַּעַל), which does not denote that which is wicked so much as t…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 15:10
Shall not be grieved; literally, shall not become evil, i.e. shall not entertain a grudge. They were to give, not grudgingly or of necessity, merely through dread of God's displeasure, but cheerfully and spontaneously (…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 15:11
They were to open their hand wide to their poorer brethren, for there should always be such in the land. This statement is not inconsistent with that in Deuteronomy 15:4, for there it is the prevention of poverty by not…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 15:11
The poor in the land. The meaning is that there will always be greater or less scope for the exercise of the virtues of kindness and liberality,—that it is vain to hope for a Utopian condition of society in which there…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 15:12-18
Slaves to be regarded as brethren. Quiet revolutions are the most permanent and the most successful. Sudden and violent assaults upon social institutions are sure to provoke reaction. All great changes must commence in…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 15:12-18
From injunctions regarding the treatment of the poor and of debtors the transition is easy to the law concerning slaves, inasmuch as it was through the stress of poverty that any became such from among their brethren. T…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 15:12-18
The rights of the slaves. By some who are but slightly acquainted with the subject, and who have too strong an animus against the Old Book to deal fairly with it, it has been made a matter of complaint against our Lord…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 15:12-19
Bondmen. No argument in favor of modern slave-holding can be drawn from Hebrew bend-service. The Hebrew bondmen, unlike modern slaves, were incorporated as part of the nation; had legal rights; took part in the religiou…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 15:12-18
The freedom of the slave. The seventh year was the year of personal release as well as release from debt. Slavery among the Jews was utterly unlike the slavery of modern times. It arose when a Jew became bankrupt; he mi…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 15:14
Thou shalt furnish him liberally; literally, shalt lay on his neck, i.e. thou shalt load him. The meaning is well expressed in the Authorized Version. This is the new prescription added to the earlier law.
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 15:15
Compliance is enforced by the consideration that the Israelites had been themselves bondmen in Egypt, and had been redeemed out of that bondage by God (cf. Deuteronomy 5:15; Deuteronomy 10:19; Deuteronomy 16:12; Deutero…