Catholic Commentary on Deuteronomy 24

"Do 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 24:14)

Protections for the Vulnerable

Deuteronomy 24 is a catalogue of protections for the vulnerable. A newly married man must not go to war or be charged with any duty for one year; he is free to stay at home and bring happiness to the wife he has married. No one may take a pair of millstones as security for a debt, because that would be taking a person's livelihood. Kidnappers must be put to death. Do not charge interest to fellow Israelites. When you make a loan, do not go into the house to collect the pledge; wait outside. Return a poor man's cloak by sunset so he can sleep in it, and this will be righteousness to you. Do 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. Pay them each day before sunset, because they are poor and are counting on it.

Do not deprive the foreigner or the fatherless of justice. Do not take the cloak of the widow as a pledge. When you harvest, do not go over your field a second time; leave it for the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow. The Catechism draws from this the preferential option for the poor: the covenant community's treatment of its most vulnerable members is a measure of its fidelity to the covenant with the God who is himself the defender of the poor (CCC 2448).

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, pay your workers each day before sunset, because they are poor and are counting on it. The withholding of wages owed to the poor is a cry that reaches heaven. The covenant requires prompt payment, honest dealing, and the protection of those who depend on others for their survival. Your faithfulness to these obligations is counted as righteousness before God.

Prayer

Lord God, you commanded your people to leave the gleanings of harvest for the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow. Give us open hands and just dealings with every worker and neighbour who depends on our fairness. Let righteousness be the measure of our economic life. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

24
Marriage and Divorce Laws
(Matthew 5:31–32; Luke 16:18)
1 If a man marries a woman, but she becomes displeasing to him because he finds some indecency in her, he may write her a certificate of divorce,* 24:1 Cited in Matthew 5:31; see also Mark 10:4. hand it to her, and send her away from his house.
 
2 If, after leaving his house, she goes and becomes another man’s wife, 3 and the second man hates her, writes her a certificate of divorce, hands it to her, and sends her away from his house, or if he dies, 4 then the husband who divorced her first may not remarry her after she has been defiled, for that is an abomination to the LORD. You must not bring sin upon the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.
 
5 If a man is newly married, he must not be sent to war or be pressed into any duty. For one year he is free to stay at home and bring joy to the wife he has married.
Additional Laws
 
6 Do not take a pair of millstones or even an upper millstone as security for a debt, because that would be taking one’s livelihood as security.
 
7 If a man is caught kidnapping one of his Israelite brothers, whether he treats him as a slave or sells him, the kidnapper must die. So you must purge the evil from among you.† 24:7 Cited in 1 Corinthians 5:13
 
8 In cases of infectious skin diseases,‡ 24:8 Forms of the Hebrew tzaraath, traditionally translated as leprosy, were used for various skin diseases; see Leviticus 13. be careful to diligently follow everything the Levitical priests instruct you. Be careful to do as I have commanded them. 9 Remember what the LORD your God did to Miriam on the journey after you came out of Egypt.
 
10 When you lend anything to your neighbor, do not enter his house to collect security. 11 You are to stand outside while the man to whom you are lending brings the security out to you. 12 If he is a poor man, you must not go to sleep with the security in your possession; 13 be sure to return it to him by sunset, so that he may sleep in his own cloak and bless you, and this will be credited to you as righteousness before the LORD your God.
 
14 Do not oppress a hired hand who is poor and needy, whether he is a brother or a foreigner residing in one of your towns. 15 You are to pay his wages each day before sunset, because he is poor and depends on them. Otherwise he may cry out to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty of sin.
 
16 Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children for their fathers; each is to die for his own sin.§ 24:16 Cited in 2 Kings 14:6 and 2 Chronicles 25:4
 
17 Do not deny justice to the foreigner or the fatherless, and do not take a widow’s cloak as security. 18 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you from that place. Therefore I am commanding you to do this.
 
19 If you are harvesting in your field and forget a sheaf there, do not go back to get it. It is to be left for the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.
 
20 When you beat the olives from your trees, you must not go over the branches again. What remains will be for the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow.
 
21 When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you must not go over the vines again. What remains will be for the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow. 22 Remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt. Therefore I am commanding you to do this.

*24:1 24:1 Cited in Matthew 5:31; see also Mark 10:4.

†24:7 24:7 Cited in 1 Corinthians 5:13

‡24:8 24:8 Forms of the Hebrew tzaraath, traditionally translated as leprosy, were used for various skin diseases; see Leviticus 13.

§24:16 24:16 Cited in 2 Kings 14:6 and 2 Chronicles 25:4

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