Deuteronomy 24:17

American Standard Version (1901)

Thou shalt not wrest the justice [due] to the sojourner, [or] to the fatherless, nor take the widow's raiment to pledge;

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

לֹ֣א תַטֶּ֔ה מִשְׁפַּ֖ט גֵּ֣ר יָת֑וֹם וְלֹ֣א תַחֲבֹ֔ל בֶּ֖גֶד אַלְמָנָֽה׃

Transliteration

Not taṭṭeh mišpaṭ gēr yātôm, and not taḥăbōl beged ʾalmānâ.

Grammar Details

• *taṭṭeh*: hiphil imperfect 2nd masculine singular - you pervert/distort
• *mišpaṭ*: masculine singular construct - justice of
• *gēr*: masculine singular noun - sojourner/foreigner
• *yātôm*: masculine singular noun - orphan/fatherless
• *taḥăbōl*: qal imperfect 2nd masculine singular - you take as pledge
• *beged*: masculine singular noun - garment/clothing
• *ʾalmānâ*: feminine singular noun - widow

Word Meanings

• *taṭṭeh* *mišpaṭ*: pervert justice/distort judgment
• *gēr*: foreigner/sojourner/resident alien

Referenced Verses

• Deut 16:19 : 19 Thou shalt not wrest justice: thou shalt not respect persons; neither shalt thou take a bribe; for a bribe doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous.
• Exod 22:21-22 : 21 And a sojourner shalt thou not wrong, neither shalt thou oppress him: for ye were sojourners in the land of Egypt. 22 Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child.
• Exod 23:6 : 6 Thou shalt not wrest the justice [due] to thy poor in his cause.
• Deut 27:19 : 19 Cursed be he that wresteth the justice [due] to the sojourner, fatherless, and widow. And all the people shall say, Amen.
• Isa 1:23 : 23 Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves; every one loveth bribes, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.
• Job 29:11-17 : 11 For when the ear heard [me], then it blessed me; And when the eye saw [me], it gave witness unto me: 12 Because I delivered the poor that cried, The fatherless also, that had none to help him. 13 The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me; And I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. 14 I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: My justice was as a robe and a diadem. 15 I was eyes to the blind, And feet was I to the lame. 16 I was a father to the needy: And the cause of him that I knew not I searched out. 17 And I brake the jaws of the unrighteous, And plucked the prey out of his teeth.
• Exod 23:9 : 9 And a sojourner shalt thou not oppress: for ye know the heart of a sojourner, seeing ye were sojourners in the land of Egypt.
• Deut 1:17 : 17 Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; ye shall hear the small and the great alike; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God's: and the cause that is too hard for you ye shall bring unto me, and I will hear it.
• Jer 5:28 : 28 They are waxed fat, they shine: yea, they overpass in deeds of wickedness; they plead not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, that they may prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge.
• Mic 7:3 : 3 Their hands are upon that which is evil to do it diligently; the prince asketh, and the judge [is ready] for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth the evil desire of his soul: thus they weave it together.
• Exod 23:2 : 2 Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to turn aside after a multitude to wrest [justice] :
• Zech 7:10 : 10 and oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the sojourner, nor the poor; and let none of you devise evil against his brother in your heart.
• Mal 3:5 : 5 And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against the false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the sojourner [from his right], and fear not me, saith Jehovah of hosts.
• Luke 3:14 : 14 And soldiers also asked him, saying, And we, what must we do? And he said unto them, Extort from no man by violence, neither accuse [any one] wrongfully; and be content with your wages. [
• Jas 2:6 : 6 But ye have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you, and themselves drag you before the judgment-seats?
• Jer 22:3 : 3 Thus saith Jehovah: Execute ye justice and righteousness, and deliver him that is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence, to the sojourner, the fatherless, nor the widow; neither shed innocent blood in this place.
• Ezek 22:7 : 7 In thee have they set light by father and mother; in the midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the sojourner; in thee have they wronged the fatherless and the widow.
• Ezek 22:29 : 29 The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery; yea, they have vexed the poor and needy, and have oppressed the sojourner wrongfully.
• Amos 5:7-9 : 7 Ye who turn justice to wormwood, and cast down righteousness to the earth, 8 [ seek him] that maketh the Pleiades and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night; that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth (Jehovah is his name); 9 that bringeth sudden destruction upon the strong, so that destruction cometh upon the fortress. 10 They hate him that reproveth in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly. 11 Forasmuch therefore as ye trample upon the poor, and take exactions from him of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink the wine thereof. 12 For I know how manifold are your transgressions, and how mighty are your sins--ye that afflict the just, that take a bribe, and that turn aside the needy in the gate [from their right] .
• Mic 2:1-2 : 1 Woe to them that devise iniquity and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand. 2 And they covet fields, and seize them; and houses, and take them away: and they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.
• Deut 10:17-18 : 17 For Jehovah your God, he is God of gods, and Lord of lords, the great God, the mighty, and the terrible, who regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward. 18 He doth execute justice for the fatherless and widow, and loveth the sojourner, in giving him food and raiment.
• Exod 22:26-27 : 26 If thou at all take thy neighbor's garment to pledge, thou shalt restore it unto him before the sun goeth down: 27 for that is his only covering, it is his garment for his skin: wherein shall he sleep? and it shall come to pass, when he crieth unto me, that I will hear; for I am gracious.
• Deut 24:6 : 6 No man shall take the mill or the upper millstone to pledge; for he taketh [a man's] life to pledge.
• Deut 24:13 : 13 thou shalt surely restore to him the pledge when the sun goeth down, that he may sleep in his garment, and bless thee: and it shall be righteousness unto thee before Jehovah thy God.
• Ps 82:1-5 : 1 [A Psalm of Asaph]. God standeth in the congregation of God; He judgeth among the gods. 2 How long will ye judge unjustly, And respect the persons of the wicked? {{Selah 3 Judge the poor and fatherless: Do justice to the afflicted and destitute. 4 Rescue the poor and needy: Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked. 5 They know not, neither do they understand; They walk to and fro in darkness: All the foundations of the earth are shaken.
• Ps 94:3-6 : 3 Jehovah, how long shall the wicked, How long shall the wicked triumph? 4 They prate, they speak arrogantly: All the workers of iniquity boast themselves. 5 They break in pieces thy people, O Jehovah, And afflict thy heritage. 6 They slay the widow and the sojourner, And murder the fatherless.
• Ps 94:20-21 : 20 Shall the throne of wickedness have fellowship with thee, Which frameth mischief by statute? 21 They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, And condemn the innocent blood.
• Prov 22:22-23 : 22 Rob not the poor, because he is poor; Neither oppress the afflicted in the gate: 23 For Jehovah will plead their cause, And despoil of life those that despoil them.
• Prov 31:5 : 5 Lest they drink, and forget the law, And pervert the justice [due] to any that is afflicted.
• Eccl 5:8 : 8 If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and the violent taking away of justice and righteousness in a province, marvel not at the matter: for one higher than the high regardeth; and there are higher than they.
• Isa 3:15 : 15 what mean ye that ye crush my people, and grind the face of the poor? saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts.
• Isa 33:15 : 15 He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from taking a bribe, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from looking upon evil:
• 1 Sam 12:3-4 : 3 Here I am: witness against me before Jehovah, and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I taken a ransom to blind mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it you. 4 And they said, Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken aught of any man's hand.
• Job 22:8-9 : 8 But as for the mighty man, he had the earth; And the honorable man, he dwelt in it. 9 Thou hast sent widows away empty, And the arms of the fatherless have been broken.