Deuteronomy 23:19

Thy brother] i.e. a fellow Israelite. In Deuteronomy 23:20 stranger means foreigner. The Jews have always been noted as money lenders: see on Exodus 22:25.

21-23. On vows see Numbers 30, and cp. Ecclesiastes 5:4; Ecclesiastes 5:5.

24, 25. Jewish commentators limit the application of this rule to harvest labourers, thus making it analogous to that prohibiting the muzzling of the ox 'when he treadeth out the corn' (Deuteronomy 25:4). But there seems no reason for limiting the natural interpretation of the precept, which like the law of the gleaner (Deuteronomy 24:19) is prompted by a spirit of generosity towards wayfarers and poor persons. The restrictions at the end of Deuteronomy 23:24 would protect the law from abuse. The Pharisees did not accuse our Lord's disciples of the sin of theft but of working on the sabbath day, rubbing the ears of corn being equivalent in their opinion to harvesting: see Matthew 12:1.