Deuteronomy 10
Deuteronomy 10:17-19 | |
17. ...God,...regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward. | 17. Deus non accipit personam, neque recipit munus. |
18. He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment. | 18. Faciens judicium pupillo et viduae, diligens peregrinum, dando et panem et vestimentum. |
19. Love ye therefore the stranger; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt | 19. Diligite igitur peregrinum, quia peregrini fuistis in terra, AEgypti. |
He confirms the foregoing decree by a reference to the nature of God Himself; for the vile and abject condition of those with whom we have to do, causes us to injure them the more wantonly, because they seem to be altogether deserted. But God declares that their unhappy lot is no1obstacle to His administering succor to them; inasmuch as He has no regard to persons. By the word person is meant either splendor, or obscurity, and outward appearance, as it is commonly called, as we gather from many passages. In short, God distinguishes Himself from men, who are carried away by outward appearance, to hold the rich in honor, and the poor in contempt; to favor the beautiful or the eloquent, and to despise the unseemly.
1 The Fr. gives a different turn to this: "Or Dieu declare que leur pourete et misere n'empechera point de les secourir: d'autant qu'ils ne amusent point a la personne;" Now, God declares, that their poverty and misery shall not prevent their being succored; so that they should not be interested by their person.