English Standard Version
Exodus 23:9
9"You shall not oppress a sojourner. You know the heart of a sojourner, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.
Exodus 23:9 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Also thou shalt not oppress a stranger: for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
- New International Version (NIV)“Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt.
- New King James Version (NKJV)“Also you shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the heart of a stranger, because you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
- New Living Translation (NLT)“You must not oppress foreigners. You know what it’s like to be a foreigner, for you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt.
Context of Exodus 23:9
7Keep far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent and righteous, for I will not acquit the wicked. 8And you shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the cause of those who are in the right. "You shall not oppress a sojourner. You know the heart of a sojourner, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. 10"For six years you shall sow your land and gather in its yield, 11but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave the beasts of the field may eat. You shall do likewise with your vineyard, and with your olive orchard.
Read all of Exodus 23Exodus 23:9 word by word
וְגֵ֖ר לֹ֣א תִלְחָ֑ץ וְאַתֶּ֗ם יְדַעְתֶּם֙ אֶת־נֶ֣פֶשׁ הַגֵּ֔ר כִּֽי־גֵרִ֥ים הֱיִיתֶ֖ם בְּאֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרָֽיִם׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Exodus 23:9
- Exodus 21:21But if the slave survives a day or two, he is not to be avenged, for the slave is his money.
- Deuteronomy 10:19Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.
- Deuteronomy 24:14"You shall not oppress a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brothers or one of the sojourners who are in your land within your towns.
- Deuteronomy 27:19"'Cursed be anyone who perverts the justice due to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.'
- Psalms 94:6They kill the widow and the sojourner, and murder the fatherless;
- Ezekiel 22:7Father and mother are treated with contempt in you; the sojourner suffers extortion in your midst; the fatherless and the widow are wronged in you.
- Matthew 18:33And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?'
- Hebrews 2:17Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
Commentaries on Exodus 23:9
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 9Ye know the heart of a stranger - Having been strangers yourselves, under severe, long continued, and cruel oppression, ye know the fears, cares, anxieties, and dismal forebodings which the heart of a stranger feels. What a forcible appeal to humanity and compassion!Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 6-9Verses 6-9 Four precepts evidently addressed to those in authority as judges: (a) To do justice to the poor. Comparing Exodus 23:6 with Exodus 23:3, it was the part of the judge to defend the poor against the oppression of the rich, and the part of the witness to take care lest his feelings of natural pity should tempt him to falsify evidence. (b) To be cautious of inflicting capital punishment on one whose guilt was not clearly proved. A doubtful case…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-9This call for justice includes a mixed list of covenant requirements. Most of these requirements deal with fairness and honesty in daily life. They show how God’s people should treat others with integrity.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-331. put not thine hand--join not hands.Read the comment
Topics related to Exodus 23:9
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Exodus 23
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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Commentaries