Ezekiel 18:7

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex) Ezekiel 18:7 appears in the Hebrew Old Testament. The text above is from the Westminster Leningrad Codex. Each word links to its Strong’s number, a concise gloss, and parsing drawn from the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible morphology. Click any word for its full Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB) entry.
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Ezekiel 18:7 (World English Bible). Public Domain. Lemma interlinear Bible study tool, https://lemma.gebible.app/v/ezekiel/18/7.

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English Translation
and has not wronged any, but has restored to the debtor his pledge, has taken nothing by robbery, has given his bread to the hungry, and has covered the naked with a garment;
World English Bible · Public Domain
Highlights
  • 1 hapax legomenon — only here in the Hebrew Bible
  • 2 first appearances in the Hebrew Bible
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Compare translations 3

The same verse in 3 English versions, stacked beneath the original-language interlinear above. Click any original word for its lexicon entry.

Each is an independent rendering of the whole verse — the interlinear is not word-aligned to these translations.

Highlighted words mark where these versions differ — a whole-verse word diff, not a word-by-word alignment.

  • World English Bible Public Domain
    and has not wronged any, but has restored to the debtor his pledge, has taken nothing by robbery, has given his bread to the hungry, and has covered the naked with a garment;
  • King James Version Public Domain
    And hath not oppressed any, but hath restored to the debtor his pledge, hath spoiled none by violence, hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment;
  • unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
    What can be said about a man who does not oppress anyone, and he gives back to the debtor what was put up as security for a loan, and he does not commit theft but gives his food to the hungry and he covers the naked with clothes, is he a righteous man?

unfoldingWord Literal Text — © unfoldingWord, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Word-aligned USFM3 via Door43 (git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ult).

Versions to compare (up to 4)

3 of 4 selected

Show all 18 translations

Every available English version of this verse, each an independent rendering of the whole verse.

  • World English Bible Public Domain
    and has not wronged any, but has restored to the debtor his pledge, has taken nothing by robbery, has given his bread to the hungry, and has covered the naked with a garment;
  • Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
    He does not oppress another, but restores the pledge to the debtor. He does not commit robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing.
  • Majority Standard Bible Public Domain
    He does not oppress another, but restores the pledge to the debtor. He does not commit robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing.
  • King James Version Public Domain
    And hath not oppressed any, but hath restored to the debtor his pledge, hath spoiled none by violence, hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment;
  • American Standard Version (1901) Public Domain
    and hath not wronged any, but hath restored to the debtor his pledge, hath taken nought by robbery, hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment;
  • Revised Version (1885) Public Domain
    and hath not wronged any, but hath restored to the debtor his pledge, hath spoiled none by violence, hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment;
  • Geneva Bible (1599) Public Domain
    Neither hath oppressed any, but hath restored the pledge to his dettour: he that hath spoyled none by violence, but hath giuen his bread to the hungry, and hath couered the naked with a garment,
  • Douay-Rheims (1899) Public Domain
    And hath not wronged any man: but hath restored the pledge to the debtor, hath taken nothing away by violence: hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment:
  • Young's Literal Translation Public Domain
    A man -- he doth not oppress, His pledge to the debtor he doth return, Plunder he doth not take away, His bread to the hungry he doth give, And the naked doth cover with a garment,
  • Literal Standard Version CC BY-SA 4.0
    He does not oppress a man, || He returns his pledge to the debtor, || He does not take away plunder, || He gives his bread to the hungry, || And covers the naked with a garment,
  • Unlocked Literal Bible CC BY-SA 4.0
    What can be said about a man who does not oppress anyone, and he gives back to the debtor what was put up as security for a loan, and he does not commit theft but gives his food to the hungry and he covers the naked with clothes, is he a righteous man?
  • unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
    What can be said about a man who does not oppress anyone, and he gives back to the debtor what was put up as security for a loan, and he does not commit theft but gives his food to the hungry and he covers the naked with clothes, is he a righteous man?
  • Darby Bible Public Domain
    and hath not oppressed any; he hath restored to the debtor his pledge, hath not exercised robbery, hath given his bread to the hungry, and covered the naked with a garment;
  • World Messianic Bible Public Domain
    and has not wronged any, but has restored to the debtor his pledge, has taken nothing by robbery, has given his bread to the hungry, and has covered the naked with a garment;
  • Webster's Bible Public Domain
    And hath not oppressed any, but hath restored to the debtor his pledge, hath stripped none by violence, hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment:
  • Free Bible Version CC BY-SA 4.0
    He doesn't exploit anyone. He gives back what a debtor has given him as security. He doesn't rob others. He feeds the hungry and clothes the naked.
  • Bible in Basic English Public Domain
    And has done no wrong to any, but has given back to the debtor what is his, and has taken no one's goods by force, and has given food to him who was in need of it, and clothing to him who was without it;
  • JPS Tanakh (1917) Public Domain
    and hath not wronged any, but hath restored his pledge for a debt, hath taken nought by robbery, hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment;

Literal Standard Version (2020), Covenant Press — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org). Unlocked Literal Bible (unfoldingWord) — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org). unfoldingWord Literal Text — © unfoldingWord, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Word-aligned USFM3 via Door43 (git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ult). Free Bible Version, Dr. Jonathan Gallagher — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org).

Word by word

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חוֹב֙
chôwb
H2326
“debt”
Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute
Part of Speech
Noun
Type
Common
Gender
Masculine
Number
Singular
State
Absolute
Full BDB Definition

Origin: from H2325

TWOT: 614a

a debt, debtor
  1. וְאִישׁ֙ ʼîysh H376 “and · man” Conjunction + Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute
  2. לֹ֣א lôʼ H3808 “not” Particle, Negative
  3. יוֹנֶ֔ה yânâh H3238 “to oppress” Verb, Hiphil, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular
  4. חֲבֹלָת֥וֹ chăbôl H2258 “pledge · his” Noun, Common, Feminine, Singular, Construct + Suffix, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular
  5. יָשִׁ֔יב shûwb H7725 “to return” Verb, Hiphil, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular
  6. גְּזֵלָ֖ה gᵉzêlâh H1500 “plunder” Noun, Common, Feminine, Singular, Absolute
  7. לֹ֣א lôʼ H3808 “not” Particle, Negative
  8. יִגְזֹ֑ל gâzal H1497 “to plunder” Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular
  9. לַחְמוֹ֙ lechem H3899 “bread · his” Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Construct + Suffix, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular
  10. לְרָעֵ֣ב râʻêb H7457 “to/for · hungry” Preposition + Adjective, Adjective, Masculine, Singular, Absolute
  11. יִתֵּ֔ן nâthan H5414 “to give” Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular
  12. וְעֵירֹ֖ם ʻêyrôm H5903 “and · naked” Conjunction + Adjective, Adjective, Masculine, Singular, Absolute
  13. יְכַסֶּה kâçâh H3680 “to cover” Verb, Piel, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular
  14. בָּֽגֶד beged H899 “garment” Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

15
words
14
distinct lemmas
Prophets
section

Notable vocabulary

1 hapax legomenon — a word that appears only here in the entire Hebrew Bible:

First appearance in Scripture

These words make their first canonical appearance in the Hebrew Bible here:

  • חֲבֹלָת֥וֹ pledge H2258
  • חוֹב֙ debt H2326

Shared distinctive vocabulary

חֲבֹלָת֥וֹ pledge H2258 occurs in 4 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

Grammatical profile

  • 5 verbs
  • 6 nouns
  • 2 adjectives
  • 2 particles

Verb forms

  • יוֹנֶ֔ה Hiphil · Imperfect
  • יָשִׁ֔יב Hiphil · Imperfect
  • יִגְזֹ֑ל Qal · Imperfect
  • יִתֵּ֔ן Qal · Imperfect
  • יְכַסֶּה Piel · Imperfect

Repetition

A word recurs within this verse — often emphatic in Hebrew:

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 33 words from the Hebrew and 32 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — closely comparable.

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

In the original languages it is 15 Hebrew tokens and 21 Greek tokens — but the two are counted differently (Hebrew bundles its prefixes and suffixes into one token; the Greek is in lemma form), so that isn’t a like-for-like length.

Cross-references

56

Topical passages linked to Ezekiel 18:7 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

  • Ezekiel 18:16 neither has wronged any, has not taken anything to pledge, neither has taken by robbery, but has given his bread to the hungry, and has covered the naked with a garment;
  • Exodus 22:26 If you take your neighbor's garment as collateral, you shall restore it to him before the sun goes down,
  • Ezekiel 18:12 has wronged the poor and needy, has taken by robbery, has not restored the pledge, and has lifted up his eyes to the idols, has committed abomination,
  • Deuteronomy 24:12–13 If he be a poor man, you shall not sleep with his pledge;
  • Ezekiel 33:15 if the wicked restore the pledge, give again that which he had taken by robbery, walk in the statutes of life, committing no iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die.
  • Exodus 22:21–24 "You shall not wrong an alien, neither shall you oppress him, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.
  • Ezekiel 18:18 As for his father, because he cruelly oppressed, robbed his brother, and did that which is not good among his people, behold, he shall die in his iniquity.
  • Amos 2:8 And they lay themselves down beside every altar on clothes taken in pledge; And in the house of their God they drink the wine of those who have been fined.
  • Amos 3:10 "Indeed they don't know to do right," says Yahweh, "Who hoard plunder and loot in their palaces."
  • Luke 3:11 He answered them, "He who has two coats, let him give to him who has none. He who has food, let him do likewise."
  • Genesis 6:11–12 The earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
  • Exodus 23:9 "You shall not oppress an alien, for you know the heart of an alien, seeing you were aliens in the land of Egypt.
  • Leviticus 19:15 "'You shall do no injustice in judgment: you shall not be partial to the poor, nor show favoritism to the great; but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.
  • Deuteronomy 15:7–11 If there be with you a poor man, one of your brothers, within any of your gates in your land which Yahweh your God gives you, you shall not harden your heart, nor shut your hand from your poor brother;
  • Deuteronomy 24:17 You shall not wrest the justice [due] to the foreigner, [or] to the fatherless, nor take the widow's clothing to pledge;
  • 1 Samuel 12:3–4 Here I am: witness against me before Yahweh, and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose donkey have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I taken a ransom to blind my eyes therewith? and I will restore it you.
  • Job 22:6 For you have taken pledges from your brother for nothing, And stripped the naked of their clothing.
  • Job 24:3 They drive away the donkey of the fatherless, And they take the widow's ox for a pledge.
  • Job 24:9 There are those who pluck the fatherless from the breast, And take a pledge of the poor,
  • Job 31:13–22 "If I have despised the cause of my man-servant Or of my maid-servant, When they contended with me;
  • Psalms 41:1 Blessed is he who considers the poor: Yahweh will deliver him in the day of evil.
  • Psalms 112:4 Light dawns in the darkness for the upright, Gracious, merciful, and righteous.
  • Psalms 112:9 He has dispersed, he has given to the poor. His righteousness endures forever. His horn will be exalted with honor.
  • Proverbs 3:31 Don't envy the man of violence. Choose none of his ways.
  • Proverbs 11:24–25 There is one who scatters, and increases yet more. There is one who withholds more than is appropriate, but gains poverty.
  • Proverbs 14:31 He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for his Maker, But he who is kind to the needy honors him.
  • Proverbs 22:22–23 Don't exploit the poor, because he is poor; And don't crush the needy in court;
  • Proverbs 28:8 He who increases his wealth by excessive interest Gathers it for one who has pity on the poor.
  • Proverbs 28:27 One who gives to the poor has no lack; But one who closes his eyes will have many curses.
  • Isaiah 1:17 Learn to do well. Seek justice, Relieve the oppressed, Judge the fatherless, Plead for the widow."
  • Isaiah 5:7 For the vineyard of Yahweh of Hosts is the house of Israel, And the men of Judah his pleasant plant: And he looked for justice, but, behold, oppression; For righteousness, but, behold, a cry of distress.
  • Isaiah 33:15 He who walks righteously, and speaks blamelessly; he who despises the gain of oppressions, who shakes his hands from taking a bribe, who stops his ears from hearing of blood, and shuts his eyes from looking on evil:
  • Isaiah 58:6–11 Isn't this the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke?
  • Isaiah 59:6–7 Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall they cover themselves with their works: their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands.
  • Jeremiah 7:6–7 if you don't oppress the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, and don't shed innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your own hurt:
  • Jeremiah 22:3 Thus says Yahweh: Execute you justice and righteousness, and deliver him who is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence, to the foreigner, the fatherless, nor the widow; neither shed innocent blood in this place.
  • Jeremiah 22:16–17 He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Wasn't this to know me? says Yahweh.
  • Ezekiel 7:23 Make the chain; for the land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence.
  • Ezekiel 22:12–13 In you have they taken bribes to shed blood; you have taken interest and increase, and you have greedily gained of your neighbors by oppression, and have forgotten me, says the Lord Yahweh.
  • Ezekiel 22:27–29 Her princes in the midst of it are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, [and] to destroy souls, that they may get dishonest gain.
  • Amos 5:11–12 Forasmuch therefore as you trample on the poor, And take taxes from him of wheat: You have built houses of hewn stone, But you will not dwell in them. You have planted pleasant vineyards, But you shall not drink their wine.
  • Amos 6:3 Those who put far away the evil day, And cause the seat of violence to come near;
  • Amos 8:4–6 Hear this, you who desire to swallow up the needy, And cause the poor of the land to fail,
  • Micah 2:1 Woe to those who devise iniquity And work evil on their beds! When the morning is light, they practice it, Because it is in the power of their hand.
  • Micah 3:2 You who hate the good, And love the evil; Who tear off their skin, And their flesh from off their bones;
  • Zephaniah 1:9 In that day, I will punish all those who leap over the threshold, who fill their master's house with violence and deceit.
  • Zechariah 7:9–11 "Thus has Yahweh of Hosts spoken, saying, 'Execute true judgment, and show kindness and compassion every man to his brother.
  • Malachi 3:5 I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against the perjurers, and against those who oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and who deprive the foreigner of justice, and don't fear me," says Yahweh of Hosts.
  • Matthew 25:34–46 Then the King will tell those on his right hand, 'Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;
  • 2 Corinthians 8:7–9 But as you abound in everything, in faith, utterance, knowledge, all earnestness, and in your love to us, see that you also abound in this grace.
  • 2 Corinthians 9:6–14 Remember this: he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. He who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
  • James 2:13–17 For judgment is without mercy to him who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
  • James 5:1–6 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming on you.
  • 1 John 3:16–19 By this we know love, because he laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.
  • Leviticus 25:14 "'If you sell anything to your neighbor, or buy from your neighbor, you shall not wrong one another.
  • Amos 2:6 Thus says Yahweh: "For three transgressions of Israel, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; Because they have sold the righteous for silver, And the needy for a pair of shoes;

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew Ezekiel 18:7 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

וְאִישׁ֙ לֹ֣א יוֹנֶ֔ה חֲבֹלָת֥וֹ חוֹב֙ יָשִׁ֔יב גְּזֵלָ֖ה לֹ֣א יִגְזֹ֑ל לַחְמוֹ֙ לְרָעֵ֣ב יִתֵּ֔ן וְעֵירֹ֖ם יְכַסֶּה בָּֽגֶד

and has not wronged any, but has restored to the debtor his pledge, has taken nothing by robbery, has given his bread to the hungry, and has covered the naked with a garment;

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Ezekiel 18:7 Septuagint · lemma form

καί ἄνθρωπος οὐ μή καταδυναστεύω ἐνεχυρασμός ὀφείλω ἀποδίδωμι καί ἅρπαγμα οὐ ἁρπάζω ὁ ἄρτος αὐτός ὁ πεινάω δίδωμι καί γυμνός περιβάλλω

and shall not oppress any man, but shall return the pledge of the debtor, and shall be guilty of no plunder, shall give his bread to the hungry, and clothe the naked;

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Targum (Aramaic paraphrase)

1

The Targum is the ancient Jewish Aramaic paraphrase of the Hebrew Scriptures — an interpretive translation, not the Hebrew text itself. Onkelos (literal) and Pseudo-Jonathan (expansive) render the Torah, and Jonathan the Prophets. Coverage is partial: where no permissively-licensed English translation exists for a verse, only the Aramaic is shown. This is verse-level text, not a word-by-word alignment to the Hebrew.

  1. Targum Jonathan Prophets (Joshua–Malachi)
    וֶאֱנַשׁ לָא אוֹנֵי מַשְׁכּוֹן דְחוֹבְתָא אֲתֵיב גְזֵילָא לָא גְזַל מִלְחַמְמֵיהּ לְכָפְנָא יְהֵב וְעַרְטִילָאָה כַּסֵי מִכְּסוּתֵיהּ:

    (no public-domain English translation for this verse)

    Targum Jonathan — Aramaic: “Mikraot Gedolot” (public domain). English: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “London "Chaldee Paraphrase," 1871” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.

Commentary

Notes on Ezekiel 18:7 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

Eze 18:7 And hath not oppressed any, [but] hath restored to the debtor his pledge, hath spoiled none by violence, hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment;

Ver. 7. And hath not oppressed any.] Either by force or fraud.

Hath given his bread to the hungry.] Negative goodness alone is little worth. Men must not only rob the hospital, as we say, spoil the poor by violence, but "draw forth their souls," and their sheaves both, "to the hungry," and clothe the naked with a garment, or they cannot have the comfort and credit of just men.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Tyndale Open Study Notes

Tyndale Open Resources

18:7 Borrowers might be required to give objects as security to ensure that the loan would be repaid. However, if the object was an outer garment (which might be a poor man’s only valuable possession), it had to be returned before nightfall so that he could remain warm at night (see Exod 22:26-27).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown

restored . . . pledge--that which the poor debtor absolutely needed; as his raiment, which the creditor was bound to restore before sunset (Exo 22:26-27), and his millstone, which was needed for preparing his food (Deu 24:6, Deu 24:10-13).

bread to . . . hungry . . . covered . . . naked-- (Isa 58:7; Mat 25:35-36). After duties of justice come those of benevolence. It is not enough to refrain from doing a wrong to our neighbor, we must also do him good. The bread owned by a man, though "his," is given to him, not to keep to himself, but to impart to the needy.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 7. 5. Hath not oppressed any] Has not used his power or influence to oppress, pain, or injure another.

6. Hath restored to the debtor his pledge] Has carefully surrendered the pawn or pledge when its owner came to redeem it. As the pledge is generally of more worth than that for which it is pledged, an unprincipled man will make some pretence to keep it; which is highly abominable in the sight of God.

7. Hath spoiled none by violence] Either by robbery or personal insult. For a man may be spoiled both ways.

8. Hath given his bread to the hungry] Has been kind-hearted and charitable; especially to them that are in the deepest want.

9. Hath covered the naked with a garment] Has divided both his bread and his clothing with the necessitous. These are two branches of the same root.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(7) To the debtor his pledge.—In the simple state of early Hebrew society borrowing was resorted to only by the very poor, and the law abounds in precepts against any oppression or taking advantage in such cases (Exo_22:25-27; Lev_25:14; Lev_25:17, &c). Especial provision was made for restoring in a considerate way a pledge for borrowed money (Exo_22:26; Deu_24:6; Deu_24:10, &c).

Given his bread.—In addition to the negative duties mentioned, were also the positive ones of feeding the hungry and clothing the naked; and it is to be remembered that these duties, and general helpfulness to those who need our help, are not left optional in Scripture, but are positively required, both in the Old and the New Testament, and their neglect is sin. (See Deu_22:1-4; Job_31:16-22; Isa_58:5; Isa_58:7; Mat_25:34-46; Jas_1:27; Jas_2:15-16).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

7. hath not oppressed] In Eze_18:12 the opposite course reads: hath oppressed the poor and needy. Occasion of oppression would arise when the poor was in debt (Amo_2:6-7); or being unprotected he might be defrauded of his hire, Mal_3:5 (Jas_5:4). Cf. the claim made by Job_31:13.

to the debtor his pledge] This refers to the duty of returning to the debtor any pledge which was an article necessary to his existence or comfort, as a garment which was his cover by night. Exo_22:26; Deu_24:6; cf. Job_22:6; Amo_2:8. On the positive duties of feeding the hungry and clothing the naked cf. again the claims of Job_31:17-20.

7, 8. Duties to one’s neighbour.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Gill's Exposition

Hath walked in my statutes,.... Respecting the worship of God and true religion; being observant of all laws and ordinances relating thereunto:

and hath kept my judgments to deal truly; in things moral and civil among men; regarding all such laws of God as oblige to such things:

he is just; such a man is a just man, at least externally; and if he does all these things from a right principle, without trusting to them for justification before God, and acceptance with him, but looking to the righteousness of Christ for these things, he is truly, and in the sight of God, a just man:

he shall surely live, saith the Lord God; spiritually and comfortably here, and an eternal life hereafter; or rather he shall not be distressed with famine, sword, or plague, or go into captivity; but shall live in his own land, and eat the good things of it; and this shall be his case, let his father have been what he will, ever so great a sinner.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

Wronged. Literally, "constristated." (Haydock) --- Hebrew, "oppressed," maliciously.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Matthew Poole's English Annotations

Hath not oppressed; by rigorous dealing grieve, injure, or damnify, and cause them to cry out, Eze 22:9; Zec 7:10, which is done many ways; and how slyly soever it is done, yet it is a crying sin, Exo 22:21-24. Much of oppression is in detaining what was laid in pawn, which was always of greater value than the thing that was taken upon it; and the poor often pawned their most necessary utensils, and oftentimes needed them ere they could redeem them; in such cases God will not that the pledge be detained; as Exo 22:26; Deu 24:6,10-13,17; but here mercy ought to be preferred above profit; nor might the pledge be any way lessened by embezzling it.

Hath spoiled none by violence; nor by force robbed any one, and taken out of the hand of the owner, as the thief doth; whoso hath forborne these courses of inhumanity and injustice.

Hath given his bread; with compassion hath given to the necessitous, communicating to them as their case required, and our ability will reach.

Bread here is largely to be taken, Isa 58:7.

To the hungry; such as truly want, are not able to help themselves, and, we may with reason think, have none to help them if we do not. Hath covered the naked; clothed the naked, who else are like to perish for want of clothing, as Job 31:19. Who are such, and live so just, so holy, so inoffensive, so beneficent a life among men, shall not suffer for the sins others commit.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

Daniel D. Whedon

7. Violence — Rather, robbery. (Also Eze_18:12; Eze_18:16; Eze_18:18.) It vividly shows the poverty of the “common people,” that they had to get back their cloak in order to have something with which to cover themselves at night. Of course they were expected to return the pledge the next morning; but no doubt often this was not done. The temptation, therefore, on the part of the creditor to break the law was very strong. The references here are to Exo_22:21; Exo_22:26; Lev_6:1-5; Lev_19:15; Lev_25:14; Deu_24:12-13; see also Amo_2:6-7; Job_30:13.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Pulpit Commentary

Hath restored to the debtor his pledge. The law, found in Exo_22:25 and Deu_24:6, Deu_24:13, was a striking instance of the considerateness of the Mosaic Law. The garment which the debtor had pledged as a security was to be restored to him at night. Such a law implied, of course, the return of the pledge in the morning. It was probably often used by the debtor for his own fraudulent advantage, and it was a natural consequence that the creditor should be tempted to evade compliance with it. The excellence of the man whom Ezekiel describes was that he resisted the temptation. Hath spoiled none by violence. Comp. Lev_6:1-5, which Ezekiel probably had specially in view. The sin, common enough at all times, (1Sa_12:3) would seem to have been specially characteristic of the time in which Ezekiel lived, from the king downwards. (Jer_22:13) As contrasted with the sin, there was the virtue of generous almsgiving. (Isa_58:5-7)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

unfoldingWord translationNotes

Door43 World Missions Community

gives back to the debtor what was put up as security for a loan

"returns to the debtor the item that the debtor gave him as security for the loan"

translationWords

oppress

pledge

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

Rashi

Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rashi)

wrongs Heb. יוֹנֶה, an expression of wronging (אוֹנָאָה); i.e., he wronged no man.

what has been pledged for a debt he returns If he took his friend’s garment as a pledge for a loan, he would return it to him at sunset.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Ezekiel, in the Prophets, opens this verse with 15 words (14 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is chôwb (“debt”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

  1. The word chôwb carries the sense “debt.” How does it shape the verse?
  2. 1 word here appears nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible. Why might the author reach for such rare wording?
  3. 2 words make their first appearance in Scripture here. What does this debut establish?
  4. How does Ezekiel 18:12, which shares the word «pledge», read alongside this verse?
  5. What does the repetition of “not” (2× in this one verse) do in this verse?
  6. These translations render this verse differently; the difference is in the English rendering, not the original. What questions does that raise?
  7. «יוֹנֶ֔ה» is a Hiphil Imperfect verb. How does that grammatical form shape the action described?
  8. Compare how Trapp's Complete Commentary and Tyndale Open Study Notes read this verse. Where do they agree or differ?

Things to notice

  • 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible.
  • 2 words make their first canonical appearance in Scripture here.
  • This verse counts 15 Hebrew ↔ 21 Greek words.
  • These translations choose different wording for 37 words in this verse.
  • “not” occurs 2× in this single verse.

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Old Testament
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English shown for the Greek Septuagint (in the Hebrew ↔ Greek comparison).

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