Bible Strands
Deuteronomy 27:19
‘Cursed is he who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Moses pronounces a covenant curse to Israel, positioned between warnings about the blind man (Deuteronomy 27:18) and familial violation (Deuteronomy 27:20). The people respond collectively to ratify the decree.
The words — מַטֶּ֛ה (ma.Teh) translates as “[one who] turns aside,” describing the active obstruction of מִשְׁפַּ֥ט (mish.Pat), or “[the] justice of” the גֵּר\־ (ger-), יָת֖וֹם (ya.Tom), and אַלְמָנָ֑ה (al.ma.Nah).
The thread — The mandate to protect these vulnerable groups recurs in Deuteronomy 10:18, Deuteronomy 24:17, and Exodus 22:21.
Why it lands — The text requires legal and social structures to actively deliver justice to marginalized residents rather than ignore their claims. The people’s “Amen!” forces every listener to personally endorse this standard as binding.
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
Cursed be he that perverteth the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow. And all the people shall say, Amen.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 10:18 He executes justice for the fatherless and widow, and He loves the foreigner, giving him food and clothing.
- Deuteronomy 24:17 Do not deny justice to the foreigner or the fatherless, and do not take a widow’s cloak as security.
- Exodus 22:21 You must not exploit or oppress a foreign resident, for you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
- Exodus 23:2 You shall not follow the crowd in wrongdoing. When you testify in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd.
- Psalms 82:2 “How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Selah
- Proverbs 17:23 A wicked man takes a covert bribe to subvert the course of justice.
- 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.
- Exodus 23:8 Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the righteous.
- Proverbs 31:5 lest they drink and forget what is decreed, depriving all the oppressed of justice.
- Micah 3:9 Now hear this, O leaders of the house of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel, who despise justice and pervert all that is right,