Exodus 22:21
New International Version
“Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt.

New Living Translation
“You must not mistreat or oppress foreigners in any way. Remember, you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt.

English Standard Version
“You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.

Berean Standard Bible
You must not exploit or oppress a foreign resident, for you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

King James Bible
Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.

New King James Version
“You shall neither mistreat a stranger nor oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

New American Standard Bible
“You shall not oppress a stranger nor torment him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

NASB 1995
“You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

NASB 1977
“And you shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

Legacy Standard Bible
“You shall not mistreat a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.

Amplified Bible
“You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

Christian Standard Bible
“You must not exploit a resident alien or oppress him, since you were resident aliens in the land of Egypt.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
You must not exploit a foreign resident or oppress him, since you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.”

American Standard Version
And a sojourner shalt thou not wrong, neither shalt thou oppress him: for ye were sojourners in the land of Egypt.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And do not harm, neither distress settlers, because you were settlers in the land of Egypt.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And ye shall not hurt a stranger, nor afflict him; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.

Contemporary English Version
Do not mistreat or abuse foreigners who live among you. Remember, you were foreigners in Egypt.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Thou shalt not molest a stranger, nor afflict him: for yourselves also were strangers in the land of Egypt.

English Revised Version
And a stranger shalt thou not wrong, neither shalt thou oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
"Never mistreat or oppress foreigners, because you were foreigners living in Egypt.

Good News Translation
"Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner; remember that you were foreigners in Egypt.

International Standard Version
"You are not to wrong or oppress an alien, because you were aliens in the land of Egypt.

JPS Tanakh 1917
And a stranger shalt thou not wrong, neither shalt thou oppress him; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.

Literal Standard Version
And you do not oppress a sojourner, nor crush him, for you have been sojourners in the land of Egypt.

Majority Standard Bible
You must not exploit or oppress a foreign resident, for you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

New American Bible
You shall not oppress or afflict a resident alien, for you were once aliens residing in the land of Egypt.

NET Bible
"You must not wrong a foreigner nor oppress him, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

New Revised Standard Version
You shall not wrong or oppress a resident alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.

New Heart English Bible
"You shall not wrong a foreigner, neither shall you oppress him, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

Webster's Bible Translation
Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.

World English Bible
“You shall not wrong an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.

Young's Literal Translation
'And a sojourner thou dost not oppress, nor crush him, for sojourners ye have been in the land of Egypt.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Laws of Social Responsibility
20If anyone sacrifices to any god other than the LORD alone, he must be set apart for destruction. 21You must not exploit or oppress a foreign resident, for you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt. 22You must not mistreat any widow or orphan.…

Cross References
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.

Leviticus 19:13
You must not defraud your neighbor or rob him. You must not withhold until morning the wages due a hired hand.

Leviticus 19:33
When a foreigner resides with you in your land, you must not oppress him.

Leviticus 19:34
You must treat the foreigner living among you as native-born and love him as yourself, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.

Leviticus 25:35
Now if your countryman becomes destitute and cannot support himself among you, then you are to help him as you would a foreigner or stranger, so that he can continue to live among you.

Deuteronomy 1:16
At that time I charged your judges: "Hear the disputes between your brothers, and judge fairly between a man and his brother or a foreign resident.

Deuteronomy 10:19
So you also must love the foreigner, since you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt.


Treasury of Scripture

You shall neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

vex a stranger

Exodus 23:9
Also thou shalt not oppress a stranger: for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.

Leviticus 19:33
And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him.

Leviticus 25:35
And if thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen in decay with thee; then thou shalt relieve him: yea, though he be a stranger, or a sojourner; that he may live with thee.

for ye were strangers

Exodus 20:2
I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

Exodus 23:9
Also thou shalt not oppress a stranger: for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.

Deuteronomy 10:19
Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.

Jump to Previous
Alien Aliens Country Crush Egypt Hard Mistreat Oppress Sojourner Sojourners Strange Stranger Strangers Vex Wrong Yourselves
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Alien Aliens Country Crush Egypt Hard Mistreat Oppress Sojourner Sojourners Strange Stranger Strangers Vex Wrong Yourselves
Exodus 22
1. Of Theft
5. Of damage
7. Of trespasses
14. Of borrowing
16. Of fornication
18. Of witchcraft
19. Of bestiality
20. Of idolatry
21. Of strangers, widows, and fatherless
25. Of usury
26. Of pledges
28. Of reverence to magistrates
29. Of the first fruits
31. Of torn flesh














(21-24) The juxtaposition of laws against oppression with three crimes of the deepest dye seems intended to indicate that oppression is among the sins which are most hateful in God's sight. The lawgiver, however, does not say that it is to be punished capitally, nor, indeed, does he affix to it any legal penalty. Instead of so doing, he declares that God Himself will punish it "with the sword" (Exodus 22:24). Three classes of persons particularly liable to be oppressed are selected for mention--(1) Strangers, i.e., foreigners; (2) widows; and (3) orphans. Strangers have seldom been protected by any legislation, unless, indeed, they formed a class of permanent residents, like the Met?ci at Athens. The law of civilised communities has generally afforded some protection to the orphan and the widow, particularly in respect of rights of property. The protection given is, however, very generally insufficient; and it is of the highest importance that it should be supplemented by an assured belief that, beyond all legal penalties there lies the Divine sentence of wrath and punishment, certain to fall upon every one who, careless of law and right, makes the stranger, the widow, or the orphan to suffer wrong at his hands.

(21) For ye were strangers.--Ye should, therefore, sympathise with "strangers;" not "vex them," not "oppress them," but "love them as yourselves" (Leviticus 19:34). The condition of foreigners in Israel is shown to have been more than tolerable by the examples of the Kenites (Judges 1:16; Judges 4:11); of Araunah the Jebusite (2Samuel 24:18-24); of Uriah the Hittite (2Samuel 23:39), Zelek the Ammonite (2Samuel 23:37), and others. . . .

Verse 21. - Law against oppression of foreigners. It may be doubted whether such a law as this was ever made in any other country. Foreigners are generally looked upon as "fair game," whom the natives of a country may ridicule and annoy at their pleasure. Native politeness gives them an exceptional position in France; but elsewhere it is the general rule to "vex" them. The Mosaic legislation protested strongly against this practice (Exodus 23:9; Leviticus 19:33), and even required the Israelites to "love the stranger who dwelt with them as themselves" (Leviticus 19:34). For ye were strangers. Compare Leviticus 19:34, and Deuteronomy 10:19. In Exodus 23:9 the addition is made - "For ye know the heart of a stranger" - ye know; i.e., the feelings which strangers have when they are vexed and oppressed - ye know this by your own sad experience, and should therefore have a tenderness for strangers.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
You must not
לֹא־ (lō-)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

exploit
תוֹנֶ֖ה (ṯō·w·neh)
Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 3238: To rage, be violent, to suppress, to maltreat

or
וְלֹ֣א (wə·lō)
Conjunctive waw | Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

oppress
תִלְחָצֶ֑נּוּ (ṯil·ḥā·ṣen·nū)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine singular | third person masculine singular
Strong's 3905: To squeeze, press, oppress

a foreign resident,
וְגֵ֥ר (wə·ḡêr)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 1616: A guest, a foreigner

for
כִּֽי־ (kî-)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

you [yourselves] were
הֱיִיתֶ֖ם (hĕ·yî·ṯem)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - second person masculine plural
Strong's 1961: To fall out, come to pass, become, be

foreigners
גֵרִ֥ים (ḡê·rîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 1616: A guest, a foreigner

in the land
בְּאֶ֥רֶץ (bə·’e·reṣ)
Preposition-b | Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 776: Earth, land

of Egypt.
מִצְרָֽיִם׃ (miṣ·rā·yim)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 4714: Egypt -- a son of Ham, also his descendants and their country in Northwest Africa


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OT Law: Exodus 22:21 You shall not wrong an alien neither (Exo. Ex)
Exodus 22:20
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