Bible Commentary

Deuteronomy 15:4

Deuteronomy 15:4

The Pulpit Commentary · Joseph S. Exell and contributors · Public Domain

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 being poor in the land. The reason assigned is that the Lord would greatly bless them in the land which he had given them, so that the creditor would be no loser by refraining from exacting his debt from his brother in the seventh year.

This blessing, though promised and certified, should come only if they were careful to observe and do all that God commanded them. The for at the beginning of connects this with . Thou shalt lend. The verb in Kal signifies to borrow on a pledge; in Hiph. to lend on a pledge, as here; it is a denominative from the Hebrew noun signifying pledge.

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