but you shall open your hand wide to him and willingly lend him sufficient for his need, whatever he needs.
Parallel translations
- WEB but you shall surely open your hand to him, and shall surely lend him sufficient for his need, which he lacks.
- KJV But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth.
- BSB Instead, you are to open your hand to him and freely loan him whatever he needs.
- NASB but you shall fully open your hand to him, and generously lend him enough for his need in whatever he lacks.
- NLT Instead, be generous and lend them whatever they need.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Instead of closing the hand, Israelites were to open it wide and lend enough to meet the poor brother's actual need. Generosity was to be real and sufficient.
Overview
God commands open-handed, sufficient provision measured by the neighbor's lack, not the giver's convenience. This goes beyond token charity to meeting genuine need. Such generosity reflects God's own abundant supply to his people and foreshadows the self-giving love modeled by Christ, who became poor so that we might become rich.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 2
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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Christ at the center
Moses promised a Prophet like himself to whom Israel must listen (18:15); Jesus is that Prophet, the one who keeps the covenant we broke and becomes the curse for us by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13).
How Deuteronomy 15:8 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.