Deuteronomy 23:15

Thou shalt not deliver unto his master the servant which is escaped from his master unto thee:

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
deliver	תַסְגִּ֥יר tas.Gir	H5462	to shut up · verb, hiphil imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular
master	אֲדֹנָ֑יו 'a.do.Nav	H113	sovereign · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
servant	עֶ֖בֶד 'E.ved	H5650	a servant · noun, common masculine singular absolute
escaped	יִנָּצֵ֥ל yi.na.Tzel	H5337	to snatch away · verb, niphal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
master	אֲדֹנָֽיו 'a.do.Nav	H113	sovereign · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

1 Samuel 30:15 And David said to him, Canst thou bring me down to this company? And he said, Swear unto me by God, that thou wilt neither kill me, nor deli…
Obadiah 1:14 Neither shouldest thou have stood in the crossway, to cut off those of his that did escape; neither shouldest thou have delivered up those o…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Deuteronomy 23:15–end

Orders are here given about five several things which have no relation one to another: - I. The land of Israel is here made a sanctuary, or city of refuge, for servants that were wronged and abused by their masters, and fled thither for shelter from the neighbouring countries, Deu 23:15, Deu 23:16. We cannot suppose that they were hereby obliged to give entertainment to all the unprincipled men that ran from service; Israel needed not (as Rome at first did) to be thus peopled. But, 1. They must not deliver up the trembling servant to his enraged master, till upon trial it appeared that the servant has wronged his master and was justly liable to punishment. Note, It is an honourable thing to…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Deuteronomy 23:15

Thou shalt not deliver unto his master the servant which has escaped from his master unto thee--evidently a servant of the Canaanites or some of the neighboring people, who was driven by tyrannical oppression, or induced, with a view of embracing the true religion, to take refuge in Israel.

John Gill on Deuteronomy 23:15

Thou shall not deliver unto his master the servant which is escaped from his master unto thee. That is, one that has been used ill by a cruel and tyrannical master, and was in danger of his life with him, or of being lamed by him, and therefore obliged to make his escape from him on that account; such an one, when he fell into the hands of an Israelite, was not to be taken and bound, and sent back to his master again, but was to be retained till his master's anger subsided; or however until inquiry could be made into the cause of the difference between him and his master, and matters be made up between them to mutual satisfaction; or if it appeared that the flight of the servant was just, an…

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John Calvin on Deuteronomy 23:15-16

Deuteronomy 23:15, 16 15. Thou shalt not deliver unto his master the servant which is escaped from his master unto thee: 15. Non trades servum domino suo, qui se ad te eripuerit a domino suo. 16. 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. 16. Tecum habitabit in medio tui, in loco quem elegerit in una urbium tuarum prout placuerit, nec vim inferes ei. Although this Law has a tendency to humanity and kindness, it still does not appear to be altogether just. Since many masters oppressed their slaves with tyrannical arrogance, their wickedness rendered it necessary to afford some a…

The Church Fathers

You will not surrender to your master the slave who has joined you, fleeing from his master. It is not that his master has united him, that is, entrusted to him -because he would say he would rather have placed him-, but that he has come together, coming from his master, that is, united with him after have moved away from him. The law does not prohibit, therefore, receive fugitives. It forbids rather to return them. It could be thought that way, if we did not understand that all this is said to the nation and the people, and not to a particular man. That is why it has been forbidden to return a man who fled from his master, that is, from his king, from another nation, and who seeks refuge in the nation to which he refers. Thus the foreigner Amman, king of Gat, kept David, when he took refuge in his territory, fleeing from the presence of his master, King Saul. The Scripture explains it clearly when it says about the one who seeks refuge: He will live among you, wherever he pleases.
— Augustine of Hippo, QUESTIONS ON DEUTERONOMY, Q. 36 (tr. J. Litteral, draft)

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Fugitives · From servitu — From servitu
Refugee Slaves · Laws concerning — Laws concerning
Servant · .Fugitive, not to be returned to his master — .Fugitive, not to be returned to his master
Servants · Slaves or bond: Seeking protection not to be delivered up to masters — Slaves or bond: Seeking protection not to be delivered up to masters

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Deuteronomy 23:15

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Deuteronomy 23:15–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Deuteronomy 23:15

John Gill on Deuteronomy 23:15

John Calvin on Deuteronomy 23:15-16

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Deuteronomy 23:15

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Deuteronomy 23:15–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Deuteronomy 23:15

John Gill on Deuteronomy 23:15

John Calvin on Deuteronomy 23:15-16

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Deuteronomy 23:15-16

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Deuteronomy 23:14

Rashi on Deuteronomy 23:15