Bible Strands
Deuteronomy 23:16
Let him live among you wherever he chooses, in the town of his pleasing. Do not oppress him.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Moses addresses Israel on the plains of Moab, delivering covenant laws that regulate camp purity and social conduct immediately before the conquest of Canaan.
The words — The Hebrew phrase בְּאַחַד שְׁעָרֶיךָ (be-'a.Chad she.'a.Rei./kha) translates literally as "in one of your gates," restricting the refugee’s settlement choice to Israel’s established towns rather than open territory.
The thread — The instruction to protect vulnerable outsiders without exploitation appears in Exodus 22:21 and Exodus 23:9, which ground the command in Israel’s own historical experience as foreigners in Egypt.
Why it lands — The text commands granting a foreign refugee the legal right to settle in any Israelite town of his choosing and explicitly forbids any form of oppression or coercion against him.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
He shall dwell with thee, even among you, in that place which he shall choose in one of thy gates, where it liketh him best: thou shalt not oppress him.
Cross-references
- Exodus 22:21 You must not exploit or oppress a foreign resident, for you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
- Exodus 23:9 Do not oppress a foreign resident, since you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners; for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
- Isaiah 16:3 “Give us counsel; render a decision. Shelter us at noonday with shade as dark as night. Hide the refugees; do not betray the one who flees.
- Jeremiah 7:6 if you no longer oppress the foreigner and the fatherless and the widow, and if you no longer shed innocent blood in this place or follow other gods to your own harm,
- Zechariah 7:10 Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. And do not plot evil in your hearts against one another.’
- Malachi 3:5 “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. And I will be a swift witness against sorcerers and adulterers and perjurers, against oppressors of the widowed and fatherless, and against those who defraud laborers of their wages and deny justice to the foreigner but do not fear Me,” says the LORD of Hosts.
- Titus 3:2 to malign no one, and to be peaceable and gentle, showing full consideration to everyone.
- James 2:6 But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you and drag you into court?
- Luke 15:15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed the pigs.