Deuteronomy 15:7

The Spirit of Liberality

15:7 If a fellow Israelite 1  from one of your villages 2  in the land that the Lord your God is giving you should be poor, you must not harden your heart or be insensitive 3  to his impoverished condition. 4 

Deuteronomy 15:10

15:10 You must by all means lend 5  to him and not be upset by doing it, 6  for because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you attempt.

1 tn Heb “one of your brothers” (so NASB); NAB “one of your kinsmen”; NRSV “a member of your community.” See the note at v. 2.

2 tn Heb “gates.”

3 tn Heb “withdraw your hand.” Cf. NIV “hardhearted or tightfisted” (NRSV and NLT similar).

4 tn Heb “from your needy brother.”

5 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “by all means.”

6 tc Heb “your heart must not be grieved in giving to him.” The LXX and Orig add, “you shall surely lend to him sufficient for his need,” a suggestion based on the same basic idea in v. 8. Such slavish adherence to stock phrases is without warrant in most cases, and certainly here.