Exodus 22:24, commentary and pictures

The verse belongs to the instruction given through Moses that people are to obey, part of the laws in Exodus 21-23 that guard against injustice and guide how people deal with one another. Those statutes are authoritative directions from Christ and were to be strictly obeyed, and those chapters include special directions concerning the poor.

The verse shows how carefully God guards the interests of those who cannot help themselves, watching over the afflicted and taking up their cause. He hears the cries of widows, orphans and fatherless children oppressed through hardship and injustice, and He surely hears the cry of the widow for her fatherless children. Afflicting any widow or fatherless child brings His hot wrath in severe and violent judgment. The oppressors will be killed with the sword, leaving their own wives as widows and their own children fatherless, reversing their condition upon themselves.

Exploiting the poor, including through oppressive lending, is by this verse a violation of God's law. The verse is part of the Hebrew code that defines who is neighbor, condemning the priest and Levite for passing by the wounded man. It grounds a duty to protect people who are especially helpless. It binds churches today and those in positions of responsibility in institutions to help those who need help.

The warning against injustice to the widow and fatherless still stands, and God will bring into judgment those who disregard the rules He laid down to shield the helpless from harm. Those who hear the Word yet will not change course to help the needy, who turn away from the plea of the fatherless and for whom the tears and prayers of the widow are nothing, will be dealt with as they dealt with those who sought aid. With those who dare to deal without mercy, God will deal without mercy, punishing in kind those not afraid to do them injustice. The same in-kind retribution applies to the merciless way the blind have often been treated.