Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him; for ye have been strangers in the land of Egypt.
Commentary for this Verse
The command not to wrong a foreigner sits among the civil laws given after the Ten Commandments, and God attaches a reason to it: Israel's own past. Why should a nation's memory of slavery govern how it treats outsiders, and what happens if it forgets?
Where the command sits
This verse belongs to a small cluster of laws about people with no power to defend themselves.
F. B. HoleVerses 21 to 27 protect the rights of the weakest in the land — foreigners, widows, orphans and the poor. These people count for less and cannot defend themselves. Fallen mankind tends to take advantage of these, oppressing and defrauding them. Such conduct is hateful to God, and His kindness shines out even as He gives His law. He will be their Defender. As He thinks of them His word is, "I am gracious."
Egypt as the reason
The list has an order. The reason God gives reaches back to what Israel had lived through.
Edward DennettThe foreigner comes first. The memory of what they had been in the land of Egypt was to govern how they treated such people. They had been in bitterness of soul through hard slavery under the iron yoke of Pharaoh. So they could enter into the feelings of those who were foreigners in a foreign land. The helpless are next commended to their hearts. Of all the helpless ones who appeal to our compassion, the widow and the orphan have the first claim. So God surrounds them here with the powerful defence of His own arm.
Memory turned to compassion
Suffering can harden people as easily as soften them. A related law shows which way God means the memory to run, and how far He takes the demand.
William KellyThis cuts off in advance the narrow and base pride of later tradition. A foreigner who might live in their land was not only to be left in peace. He was to be loved as one born among them. "You shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God." How touching to remember their oppression in Egypt, not for resentment but for compassion!
No stated penalty
Many laws in this chapter name an exact repayment. This one does not, and the silence is not weakness.
L. M. GrantGod set no exact penalty for mistreating or oppressing a foreigner or widow or orphan, though He firmly forbade it (vv. 21-24). But God warns that if the oppressed cried to Him, He would step in Himself. He would kill the oppressor by means of an enemy with a sword, leaving their wives as widows and their children fatherless.
Repeated, and sharpened
The same instruction returns two chapters later, with an added phrase.
Edward DennettThe ninth verse repeats the instruction given in Exodus 22:21. This shows how important it is in God's eyes. Here it comes with added emphasis: "You know the heart of a stranger." Their own experience qualified the children of Israel to sympathise with strangers. The memory of their own past sorrow was to shape how they treated people in the same position.
What it looks like in practice
Kindness to outsiders reached into the harvest field, where the foreigner had done none of the work.
William J HockingThe nation should remember God's kindness to them. They had all been "strangers" and slaves in the land of Egypt (Ex. 22:21). So they ought to show kindness to any "strangers" among them. They were to let them glean in their fields and vineyards, making sure the reapers left something behind for the gleaners. The strangers were not of "the seed of Abraham according to the flesh," and they had taken no part in the ploughing or sowing or reaping. Even so, they were to have a full share of God's generous provision at harvest time.
One writer remembers a friend who kept these words in mind whenever he met someone lonely or out of place.
J. G. BellettHe often quoted the words, "You know the heart of a stranger." He said them when he heard of anyone lonely, or of a stranger he might show kindness to. No difference of rank hindered the welcome he gave to any whom he believed to be followers of his Lord.
Summary
- Remember — Egypt is the reason given. Israel had suffered under Pharaoh, so they knew how a foreigner feels.
- Redirect — the memory should produce compassion, not resentment. A related command goes as far as loving the foreigner as yourself.
- Reach — the command widens from not harming to giving. Landowners left grain in the field for those who never sowed it.
- Defend — God names no fixed penalty. He Himself answers the cry of the oppressed and strikes the oppressor.
- Reveal — even while giving law, God's kindness shows through in the words "I am gracious."