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how did the israelite legal and religious systems theoretically protect the poor from such practices?

The passage, plainly, with room to sit with it.

Deuteronomy 15:7-8

If there is with you a poor man, any 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; but you shall open your hand wide to him, and shall surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wants.

Deuteronomy is presented as Moses' farewell address to the Israelites on the plains of Moab, before they enter the Promised Land. It re-states and elaborates on laws given at Mount Sinai, aiming to shape a just society under God's covenant.

What does 'sufficient for his need' mean in your own context?

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Read alongside it

  • Leviticus 19:9-10

    This passage commands farmers to leave gleanings in their fields for the poor and the foreigner.

  • Exodus 22:25

    This law prohibits charging interest on loans to fellow Israelites, especially the poor.

  • Luke 12:33

    Jesus encourages selling possessions and giving to the poor, echoing a similar spirit of generosity.

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