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Pentecost Season · Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time · Year A

Exodus 22:20-26

Social Responsibility

October 25, 2026

The Seven Works of Mercy, Caravaggio
The Seven Works of Mercy, Caravaggio, 1607Pio Monte della Misericordia, Naples
All seven works happen at once in a Neapolitan alley: a man is buried, a prisoner is fed at the breast by his own daughter, a corpse's feet stick out at the left. The painting has never left the building it was made for.If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food and you say, go in peace, keep warm and eat your fill, what is the good of that? James demands actions, and Caravaggio painted seven of them in one alley.CaravaggioThe painter who put street models and raking light into altarpieces, killed a man in a brawl, and changed European painting in under twenty years.Pio Monte della Misericordia, NaplesA charitable confraternity founded in 1602 and still operating, which commissioned the Caravaggio above its altar and has never let it leave.Pio Monte della Misericordia, Naples
Roman Lectionary
GospelMatt. 22:34-40Mt 22:34-40
Second Reading1 Thess. 1:5c-101 Thes 1:5c-10
First ReadingExod. 22:20-26Ex 22:20-26
Responsorial PsalmPs. 18:2-3a, 3b-4, 47+51 (2)Ps 18:2-3a, 3b-4, 47+51 (2)

Overview & Insights

“You shall not wrong or oppress a resident alien… you shall not abuse any widow or orphan.” (Exodus 22:21–22)

Exodus 22 deals with eleven casuistic laws of the book of the covenant. These case laws protected property in cases of theft or negligent damage and established civility between neighbors by setting limits of liability for another’s property. They continue through verse 17, after which the legal form changes to commandments (apodictic law). The commandments address three more capital offenses, limitation of the use of power with the vulnerable, and one’s relationship to God. The Lord established law and the rule of law through the courts and judges, building a just society under God’s rule.

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Take it further: Exodus 22:20-26

Commentary

Exodus 22 verse by verseEx 22 verse by verse Enduring Word · David Guzik

David Guzik's verse-by-verse commentary on the whole chapter.

Exodus 22:20 commentariesEx 22:20 commentaries BibleHub

A stack of classic commentaries gathered at these verses.

Exodus 22 commentariesEx 22 commentaries StudyLight

A second aggregator carrying a different set of classic commentators.

Exodus 22 commentaryEx 22 commentary Precept Austin

A deep well of cross-linked commentary quotations and study notes.

Thirtieth Sunday readings (Cycle A) Agape Bible Study

A Catholic verse-by-verse study that treats this First Reading in context.

Background & Word Study

Exodus 22 in HebrewEx 22 in Hebrew Sefaria

The Hebrew text with traditional Jewish commentary alongside.

Exodus 22 interlinearEx 22 interlinear BibleHub

The Hebrew text word by word with Strong's numbers.

The Church Fathers

Exodus 22 in the FathersEx 22 in the Fathers Catena

What the Church Fathers wrote on these verses, gathered in one place.

Questions preachers ask

What does this law protect?

The covenant code guards the vulnerable, the foreigner, the widow, the orphan, and the poor debtor, warning that God himself hears their cry, “for I am compassionate” (Exodus 22:20–26).

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