Thou shalt surely give. — “Even a hundred times.”
Him. — “Between thee and him alone.” (Comp. “Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth” in Matthew 6:3). I have thought it worth while to borrow the comments of Rashi on these verses (Deuteronomy 15:7-10) almost entire, to show how well the Jews have understood the true principles of Christian charity from the law of Moses. That people has always been remarkable for kindness to its own poor.
For this thing. — Literally, this word, or this promise. And Rashi observes, “Even when thou hast promised to give, thou wilt receive the reward of the promise as well as the reward of the deed;” and we may compare St. Paul. “If there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not.” (2 Corinthians 8:12.)