“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
Before moving forward with verse 14 of Deuteronomy 24, keep in mind that all these words of Deuteronomy are essentially Moses expounding on the Law as it was first given to him at Mount Sinai.
In other words, this is Moses giving his “Sermon on the Mount”…
…just as Yeshua would give his own version of a sermon on the mount hundreds of years later.
Okay, let’s move forward.
What we’re dealing with here in verse 14 is an appeal to employers to make sure they pay the poor working for them any wages due them at the end of the day.
This was very important because the poor needed that money for their daily survival.
Moses is making the point that since the employee has worked hard and earned the money due him (or her), it would be wrong to withhold his salary at a later time that might be more convenient for the employer.
What’s interesting is the word used for holding back wages is “abuse” or תַעֲשֹׁ֥ק (ṯa·‘ă·šōq) in Hebrew AND…
…it is the very same word used in Leviticus 19:13 where it says…
…“Do not defraud or rob your neighbor”.
I find this interesting because this word is being used for a law referring to the crime of robbing someone.
So Moses is telling an employer if he abuses a poor worker by refusing to pay him his wages on time, not only is he robbing him, but even though the helpless worker doesn’t possess the power to force the employer to pay him, if he cries out to the Lord, the Lord will hear that prayer and make sure divine justice is meted out for the sin committed.
Finally, notice it says that it doesn’t matter whether the poor worker is a native-born Hebrew or not.
God’s law is to apply equally to BOTH of them.
For its time, this was a revolutionary notion.
We can see that the idea of fair treatment for all workers regardless of race and religion began right here in the Torah.
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