Context No. 2526 of 4322 · Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 15:1-16: in context

1At the end of every seven years, you shall cancel debts. 2This is the way it shall be done: every creditor shall release that which he has lent to his neighbor. He shall not require payment from his neighbor and his brother, because the LORD’s release has been proclaimed. 3Of a foreigner you may require it; but whatever of yours is with your brother, your hand shall release. 4However there will be no poor with you (for the LORD will surely bless you in the land which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance to possess) 5if only you diligently listen to the LORD your God’s voice, to observe to do all this commandment which I command you today. 6For the LORD your God will bless you, as he promised you. You will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow. You will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you. 7If a poor man, one of your brothers, is with you within any of your gates in your land which the LORD your God gives you, you shall not harden your heart, nor shut your hand from your poor brother; 8but you shall surely open your hand to him, and shall surely lend him sufficient for his need, which he lacks. 9Beware that there not be a wicked thought in your heart, saying, “The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand,” and your eye be evil against your poor brother and you give him nothing; and he cry to the LORD against you, and it be sin to you. 10You shall surely give, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him, because it is for this thing the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you put your hand to. 11For the poor will never cease out of the land. Therefore I command you to surely open your hand to your brother, to your needy, and to your poor, in your land. 12If your brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you and serves you six years, then in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you. 13When you let him go free from you, you shall not let him go empty. 14You shall furnish him liberally out of your flock, out of your threshing floor, and out of your wine press. As the LORD your God has blessed you, you shall give to him. 15You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you. Therefore I command you this thing today. 16It shall be, if he tells you, “I will not go out from you,” because he loves you and your house, because he is well with you,

Deuteronomy commands a rhythm of release: every seventh year, debts among fellow Israelites are canceled. And it presses on the heart behind the practice. Do not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother; open your hand wide and lend him what he needs. Beware, it warns, of the mean calculation that says the release year is near, so I will give nothing. Give freely, and let your heart not be grudging when you give.

What is striking is how the law goes after the heart, not just the act. It anticipates the stingy arithmetic we run, the reasons we find not to give, the fear of not being repaid, the timing that makes generosity inconvenient, and forbids it. Open your hand wide, it says, and do not let your giving be grudging. God is not only after the transfer of goods but the posture of an open hand and an ungrudging heart. It roots the whole thing in memory: you were a slave, and God redeemed you, so deal generously with those in need.

Does a mean calculation, the fear of not being repaid, the inconvenience, quietly shrivel my open hand and make my giving grudging?

Sources

Deuteronomy 15:7: you shall not harden your heart, nor shut your hand from your poor brother.
Deuteronomy 15:10: You shall surely give, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him.
Deuteronomy 15:15: You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you.