New International Version
Exodus 23:9
9“Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in 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.
- English Standard Version (ESV)"You shall not oppress a sojourner. You know the heart of a sojourner, for you were sojourners in the land of 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
7Have nothing to do with a false charge and do not put an innocent or honest person to death, for I will not acquit the guilty. 8“Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the innocent. “Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt. 10“For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops, 11but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what is left. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.
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 they are not to be punished if the slave recovers after a day or two, since the slave is their property.
- Deuteronomy 10:19And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.
- Deuteronomy 24:14Do not take advantage of a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether that worker is a fellow Israelite or a foreigner residing in one of your towns.
- Deuteronomy 27:19“Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow.” Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”
- Psalms 94:6They slay the widow and the foreigner; they murder the fatherless.
- Ezekiel 22:7In you they have treated father and mother with contempt; in you they have oppressed the foreigner and mistreated the fatherless and the widow.
- Matthew 18:33Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’
- Hebrews 2:17For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement 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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