The Escaped Slave
15 You shall not deliver to his master a servant who has escaped from his master to you. 16 He shall dwell with you, among you, in the place which he shall choose within one of your gates, where it pleases him best. You shall not oppress him. 17 There shall be no prostitute of the daughters of Israel, neither shall there be a sodomite of the sons of Israel. 18 You shall not bring the hire of a prostitute, or the wages of a male prostitute, into the house of Yahweh your God for any vow; for both of these are an abomination to Yahweh your God. 19 You shall not lend on interest to your brother: interest of money, interest of food, interest of anything that is lent on interest. 20 You may charge a foreigner interest; but you shall not charge your brother interest, that Yahweh your God may bless you in all that you put your hand to, in the land where you go in to possess it. 21 When you vow a vow to Yahweh your God, you shall not be slack to pay it, for Yahweh your God will surely require it of you; and it would be sin in you. 22 But if you refrain from making a vow, it shall be no sin in you. 23 You shall observe and do that which has gone out of your lips. Whatever you have vowed to Yahweh your God as a free will offering, which you have promised with your mouth, you must do. 24 When you come into your neighbor’s vineyard, then you may eat your fill of grapes at your own pleasure; but you shall not put any in your container. 25 When you come into your neighbor’s standing grain, then you may pluck the ears with your hand; but you shall not use a sickle on your neighbor’s standing grain.
A runaway is not returned but housed wherever he likes, and a hungry traveler may eat from any field but not harvest it.
You shall not deliver to his master a servant who has escaped from his master to you.
Every legal system in the ancient world provided for the return of runaway slaves, usually with penalties for harboring them. This one forbids the return outright.
And it goes further than sanctuary. He shall dwell with you, among you, in the place which he shall choose within one of your gates, where it pleases him best. You shall not oppress him Deuteronomy 23:16.
He is not merely not handed back. He chooses where he lives — the choice is his, and the phrase where it pleases him best is unnecessary unless the point is that a man who has had no choices now has one. And a warning against exploiting him is attached, because a fugitive with no papers is the easiest person in the country to abuse.
The rule on lending follows the same instinct. You shall not lend on interest to your brother: interest of money, interest of food, interest of anything Deuteronomy 23:19.
The categories matter. Food is named, because a man who borrows grain is not investing; he is eating. Charging interest on a neighbor's hunger is what the law refuses, and the permission to charge a foreigner concerns commercial lending outside the covenant community rather than a licence to exploit strangers, whom this book repeatedly commands love toward Deuteronomy 10:19.
The vow law is short and sharp. A vow must be paid, and God will surely require it Deuteronomy 23:21. But: if you refrain from making a vow, it shall be no sin in you Deuteronomy 23:22.
Nobody is obliged to promise anything. The whole weight falls on the words once they are out — you shall observe and do that which has gone out of your lips Deuteronomy 23:23. The safest course is silence, and the same counsel is given later in almost the same terms Ecclesiastes 5:5.
The last two verses are among the most attractive in the code. A person passing through a vineyard may eat your fill of grapes at your own pleasure, and through standing grain may pluck the ears with your hand — but no container, and no sickle Deuteronomy 23:24–25.
A traveler may always eat. He may not harvest. The line falls exactly between hunger and profit, and it is drawn by what a man carries: hands are permitted, tools are not. This is the law the disciples were keeping when they were accused of something else entirely Matthew 12:1.
settled What this mark means