The verses
What they are basically saying
- verses 9, 10 - Leave something for others.
- verse 11 - Don't steal through deceit.
- verse 12 - Don't lie especially swearing to God!
- verse 13 - Don't withhold what is supposed to go to someone - also Proverbs 3:27
- verse 14 - Don't harass those with special needs.
- verse 15 - Fairness to all, no special groups!
- verse 16 - Don't slander others to their possible harm.
- verses 17, 18 - Don't hold grudges, get issues resolved.
Derivation
What we might gather from these
- vss 9,10 - This is probably only natural that people aim to gather all they can from their harvest. That others might need the 'scraps' is probably simply not thought of most of the time.
- vs 11 - These are actually put as separate thoughts in the verse - don't steal; don't lie; don't deceive. But it strikes me as a connection being there as in not cheating a neighbor by lying either by comission or omission that causes the person to lose out somehow, thereby stealing or cheating them out of something.
- vs 12 - I think this is a case of something that could be harmful to a neighbor as usually a person 'swearing to God' is trying to convice others they're being seriously truthful, especially when they aren't being truthful. So I think this does extra damage to trust.
- vs 13 - Equating withholding something from someone for a time to robbing them suggests we should consider that our neighbor might need what should be given sooner than we might realize.
- vs 14 - This verse includes a 'fear God'! So it seems a particular warning which seems fitting here. Then we should take a good amount of care in this area.
- vs 15 - Whether someone is in a particular group should never be a factor in decision or judgement. Deciding or judging based on such will invariably be an injustice done to someone.
- vs 16 - In this age of easy false accusations, 'swatting' and other such practices, we should consider first what possible harm our actions may be doing to someone.
- vss 17,18 - Good instruction here in at least two ways. One in not letting unresolved grudges building up into even larger problems for the future. And secondly it's saying to go ahead and tell your neighbor of the problem you have with them. It may or may not resolve perfectly well from there, but at least then the problem is made known to both sides and not stewing inside of oneself.
Application
How we might put these to use
- vss 9,10 - Perhaps there should be some forethought as to how we approach our harvest and some type of reminder during the harvest to leave some behind.
- vs 11 - Probably we should practice being fully truthful to others - neither directly lying nor withholding information - so that we've rightly shared what we know.
- vs 12 - The best way to build trust with neighbors is to keep things simply truthful, without adding extra unecessary words to it.
- vs 13 - We should not be slow in or delay delivering to someone what they should be getting but consider that they may need it sooner.
- vs 14 - We should be particularly careful to maintain patience and consideration in dealing with anyone who might need such, especially guarding against any tendency or thought we might have or get to do these any harm.
- vs 15 - Never decide or judge based on anything other than whether a person actually is or did the thing in question.
- vs 16 - It's best to refrain from making accusations or taking such actions as 'swatting' or even being quick to call authorities on someone as it may end up causing more harm to them than warranted.
- vss 17,18 - Better to be honest and let a neighbor know of any problem you may have with them. It may be they weren't aware of it and may want to help resolve it, but if not it's at least brought to their attention and understood on both sides. It could lead to eventual if not immediate resolution. And also you know you've done what you can do to make it known.