Protection of the poor, the widow, and the orphan is one of the Hebrew Bible’s most enduring commands. Articulated multiple times in the Torah’s legal codes, this moral obligation appears prominently in texts like Exodus and Deuteronomy, where divine authority explicitly commands protection for these historically marginalized groups, those who would fall in the cracks outside of established social and family organization. Deuteronomy’s language extends this care to the “resident foreigner”, further framing this requirement for compassion not as mere charity but as fundamental justice reflecting God’s own character.
Later in the Hebrew Bible, the prophetic writings sharply critique Israel’s failure to uphold this responsibility, echoing the exact language and concerns found in the Torah when doing so. Functioning similarly to prosecuting attorneys, figures like Zechariah and Micah call out how Israel has failed to uphold this specific requirement. The prophetic criticism reveals that care for these vulnerable groups served as one of the primary measures of Israel’s calling, and the failure to protect, and in turn, enabling their exploitation indicated not merely social neglect but covenantal failure. The prophets consistently portrayed this ethical failure as central to Israel’s broken covenant as defined in the Torah.
Behind this legal and ethical paradigm we find some of the ancient Near East’s earliest writings and traditions. Law codes and wisdom texts, found throughout broader Mesopotamia from as early as the third millennium BCE, describe similar protection for widows, orphans, and the poor against exploitation by the wealthy. Babylonian laws similarly champion “the widows and orphans” against injury by the more powerful. Egyptian wisdom literature enjoins readers to “not misuse a widow” and to care for “the ruined and poor.” This legal and ethical appears to have flowed from these early sources directly into the Hebrew Bible, subsequently, and deeply, influencing every derivative tradition, appearing throughout the Dead Sea Scrolls, early Hellenistic Jewish texts, Pseudepigraphical texts, the New Testament, and Rabbinic literature.
By granting immunity in Akkad to the maritime trade from the seafarers’ overseer, and to the herdsman from the “oxen-taker,” the “sheep-taker,” and the “donkey-taker,” he set Sumer and Akkad free. At that time, he established standardized weights and measures. He fashioned the bronze silé-measure, standardized the one mina weight, and set the stone-weight of a shekel of silver in relation to one mina. The orphan was not delivered up to the rich man; the widow was not delivered up to the mighty man; the poor man with one shekel was not delivered up to the man of one mina. If a man plants for another without the owner's knowledge, he must bring in the produce. (Code of Ur-Nammu)
“You must not wrong a resident foreigner nor oppress him, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. “You must not afflict any widow or orphan. If you afflict them in any way and they cry to me, I will surely hear their cry, and my anger will burn and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives will be widows and your children will be fatherless. (Exodus 22:21-24)1
For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God who is unbiased and takes no bribe, who justly treats the orphan and widow, and who loves resident foreigners, giving them food and clothing. So you must love the resident foreigner because you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. (Deuteronomy 10:17-19)2
The earliest known reference where this imperative is found is in the Code of Ur-Nammu, one of the earliest, if not the earliest, surviving written legal texts. Dating to approximately 2100 BCE, its concern with the same class of poor, widow, and orphan matches the Hebrew Bible with remarkable similarity. This language appears alongside other legal protections in a text primarily focused on commercial regulations and social order. The presence of this ethical principle in such an early text demonstrates that concern for vulnerable populations represents one of humanity’s oldest written moral concepts, predating biblical expressions by centuries, if not more.
This literary formula later appears in formative fashion in both Exodus 22 and Deuteronomy 10. The legal style itself shows connections with the case law “if-then” formulation of Sumerian royal legislation finding parallels in biblical texts like the Book of the Covenant in Exodus 21-243. While there are subtle differences in classification between those referred to in Exodus and Deuteronomy, what appears in Ur-Nammu as royal proclamation is later re-expressed in the biblical context as a direct divine command while maintaining the similarities in structure and ethical concern - offering a rare window into literary transmission in the ancient Near East.4
The great gods have called me, I am the salvation-bearing shepherd, whose staff is straight, the good shadow that is spread over my city; on my breast I cherish the inhabitants of the land of Sumer and Akkad; in my shelter I have let them repose in peace; in my deep wisdom have I enclosed them. That the strong might not injure the weak, in order to protect the widows and orphans, I have in Babylon the city where Anu and Bel raise high their head, in E-Sagil, the Temple, whose foundations stand firm as heaven and earth, in order to bespeak justice in the land, to settle all disputes, and heal all injuries, set up these my precious words, written upon my memorial stone, before the image of me, as king of righteousness. (Code of Hammurabi)5
Perhaps more directly influential on biblical literature was the Code of Hammurabi, composed around 1755 BCE and more widely known among ancient Near Eastern texts. The structural parallels between Hammurabi's Code and the biblical Covenant Code in Exodus are notable as both feature casuistic laws framed by declarative statements about justice and protection for vulnerable groups. The entire section from Exodus 20:23 to 23:19 mirrors Hammurabi’s arrangement with two sets of “apodictic”, or direct command, laws surrounding case law provisions, strongly suggesting a direct literary connection.6
The connection extends to both specific content and sequence, with the prologue for Hammurabi and the biblical laws expressing concern for protecting the vulnerable against exploitation. Where Hammurabi invokes divine authorization to “protect the widows and orphans,” Exodus 22:21-24 likewise threatens direct divine action against those who “afflict any widow or orphan.” This pattern of adaptation shows how ancient Israelite writers transformed earlier royal legislation into theological language. The literary journey from both Ur-Nammu through Hammurabi to biblical texts represents an enduring example of cultural transmission.
Yassib the Lad goes to his father. He enters and raises his voice: “Listen, please, Keret the Noble. Hear me. You’ve let yourself fall into wrongdoing. You used to judge the widow’s case, to defend the oppressed, to drive out those who prey on the poor, to feed the orphan, to support the widow. But now you’ve become a brother to the bed of sickness, a companion of suffering. Step down from the kingship. I will be king. With your authority, I will sit.” (Legend of King Keret)
A psalm of Asaph. God stands in the assembly of El; in the midst of the gods he renders judgment. He says, “How long will you make unjust legal decisions and show favoritism to the wicked? (Selah) Defend the cause of the poor and the fatherless. Vindicate the oppressed and suffering. Rescue the poor and needy. Deliver them from the power of the wicked. They neither know nor understand. They stumble around in the dark, while all the foundations of the earth crumble. (Psalm 82:1-5)7
This paradigm underwent further literary evolution in its early expressions as evidenced in the Ugaritic Legend of King Keret. In this narrative, King Keret’s son challenges his father’s fitness to rule precisely because the ailing king has failed to “judge the widow's case... feed the orphan, to support the widow.” The text presents care for vulnerable populations not merely as a moral ideal but as a fundamental qualification for legitimate kingship - a ruler who neglects this duty forfeits his right to rule. This connection between royal responsibility and protection of the vulnerable becomes a recurring literary motif across the ancient world, appearing in various texts with remarkably consistent language despite cultural and temporal differences.
Psalm 82 represents another significant connection to this paradigm, placing it within the dramatic setting of divine council imagery. The psalm connects one well-established literary motif with another, the cosmic yet bureaucratic drama where the high God judges the other gods in the council for their failure to “defend the cause of the poor and the fatherless” and “vindicate the oppressed and suffering.” This elevates the ethical concern for the vulnerable from human-oriented legal codes to a universal principle woven into the cosmos itself, where divine beings themselves are judged by their failure to protect those under their charge.
Remember, the dependent is dog of his master, he barks for the one who feeds him. Do not misuse a widow if you find her in the fields nor fail to set aside your work to speak with her; Do not let a stranger pass your beer jug thirsty, refill it time and time again before your friends— Give love to the god of the ruined and poor far exceeding your debt to the eminent. Leave no one behind for the River crossing as you maneuver to launch the ferry. (Instruction of Amenemope)8
Finally, this paradigm also extended beyond legal codes and is found in early wisdom literature, most notably in the Egyptian Instruction of Amenemope. This text offers practical guidance that finds connection with Biblical proverbs and aphorisms. Notably, the Instruction of Amenemope also directly connects the language of the “stranger” more closely with what is found in the Torah, especially compared with the prior legal texts, making the final connection with what would eventually be found in the Hebrew Bible.9
Hallo, William W. The World’s Oldest Literature: Studies in Sumerian Belles-Lettres (p. 671) Brill, 2010
Dunahoo, Josh The Ger in Deuteronomy: Expanding Ancient Near Eastern Precedent for the Protection of Vulnerable Classes (pp. 13-14) George Fox University, 2020
McLaughlin, John L. The Ancient Near East: An Essential Guide (pp. 21-22) Abingdon Press, 2012
Dunahoo, Josh The Ger in Deuteronomy: Expanding Ancient Near Eastern Precedent for the Protection of Vulnerable Classes (pp. 13-14) George Fox University, 2020