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Exodus 22 Bible study: For I am gracious
The laws guarding the alien, the widow and the fatherless use the very Hebrew verbs of what Egypt did to Israel, oppress and afflict, and God promises to hear their cry as he heard Israel's. And the Hebrew Bible first uses chanun, "gracious", when God speaks up for a neighbor's garment taken as collateral (22:27); the next time, it's in his own name (34:6).
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“You shall not wrong an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.”
Try it · Did you catch it?
“Israel was told not to oppress foreigners because they had once been foreigners in Egypt.”
Is that in Exodus 22, or not? Make your call.
What's really going on
What Egypt did, Israel must not do
One law here comes with a reason: "You shall not wrong an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt" (22:21). The words carry Israel's own story. God had told Abram, "your offspring will live as foreigners in a land that is not theirs" (Genesis 15:13), using ger, the same Hebrew word as "alien" here. "Oppress" is the verb God used of Egypt: "I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them" (3:9). And "You shall not take advantage of any widow or fatherless child" (22:22) uses the verb of what Egypt's taskmasters were set over Israel to do, "to afflict them with their burdens" (1:11). What was done to Israel in Egypt, Israel is not to do to anyone.
Where it leads to Jesus
Those who devour widows' houses
Exodus 22:22leads toMark 12:38-40
"You shall not take advantage of any widow or fatherless child" (22:22). Jesus said, "Beware of the scribes" (Mark 12:38), "who devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation" (Mark 12:40). Jesus doesn't cite Exodus 22 there, so setting them side by side is a reading: some hear this law behind his warning; others read his words on their own.
Honest questions
Questions people ask about Exodus 22
That was a taste
The rest of Exodus 22 is waiting in Favor
- The cry God hears
- Paying back, and more
- Paul and the high priest
- Four sheep for a sheep
- The firstborn of your sons
- 13 questions as you read
- 13 more Hebrew words
- A short check at the end
- Your notes, saved as you go
Favor reads the Bible in order, so you'll reach Exodus 22 with everything before it in view. First week free, then $10 a month per person.
The Hebrew word behind it
חַנּוּןchanunsay chan-NOON
"Gracious" (Brown-Driver-Briggs; Strong's). If a neighbor's garment is taken as collateral, it goes back before sunset, "for that is his only covering", and God says, "when he cries to me, that I will hear, for I am gracious" (22:27). This is the first time the Hebrew Bible uses the word; it is used only thirteen times. The second is when the LORD passes before Moses and proclaims, "The LORD! The LORD, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth" (34:6). The same pairing comes back in "The LORD is merciful and gracious" (Psalm 103:8) and in Jonah's prayer, "I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful" (Jonah 4:2).
For your group
Exodus 22 Bible study questions
- 1Israel was told to treat the foreigner well because they had been foreigners in Egypt. How does remembering where you've been change the way you treat people who are new or on the edges?
- 2In this chapter a thief doesn't just give back what he took; he pays back more. When you've wronged someone, what has making it right looked like, or what would it look like now?
- 3God tells Israel to give a neighbor's garment taken as collateral back before sundown, "for I am gracious" (22:27). Who around you might be going without something basic this week, and what could you do before the day is out?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Exodus 22 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.
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Questions
What is Favor?
Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.
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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home