He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment.

DEUTERONOMY 10:18KJV
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Deuteronomy 10:18 (KJV)

What does Deuteronomy 10:18 mean?

Deuteronomy 10:18 describes God as a defender and provider for people who could be left without family support or secure standing in the community. His concern takes practical form: he upholds the case of the fatherless and widow and supplies the foreign resident with food and clothing.

Moses is speaking to the Israelites as they prepare to enter the land. Following the description of God’s greatness in verse 17, verse 18 shows how God acts toward people with little social power. “Judgment” here means a just decision or fair treatment, rather than punishment.

The Hebrew behind Deuteronomy 10:18

  • “judgment” — מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat): This word can mean justice or a legal decision. With “execute,” it pictures God taking action to secure a fair outcome for the fatherless and widow.
  • “stranger” — גֵּר (ger): This word often refers to a foreigner living among another people. The verse has a resident outsider in view, not merely someone passing through.
  • “food” — לֶחֶם (lechem): This word can mean bread or food more generally. Alongside “raiment,” the KJV’s word for clothing, it points to basic needs.

Why Deuteronomy 10:18 matters

  • God’s love is shown in material care. The verse connects “loveth the stranger” directly with giving food and clothing.
  • The passage connects God’s conduct with Israel’s own history. In verse 19, Moses tells the Israelites to love the stranger, recalling that they had been strangers in Egypt.

Where else these words appear

“raiment” Hebrew H8071 · used in 28 verses

  • Genesis 9:23 And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness.
  • Exodus 19:10 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes,
  • Judges 8:25 And they answered, We will willingly give them. And they spread a garment, and did cast therein every man the earrings of his prey.

“fatherless” Hebrew H3490 · used in 42 verses

  • Exodus 22:22 Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child.
  • Job 22:9 Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.
  • Proverbs 23:10 Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless:

“widow” Hebrew H490 · used in 54 verses

  • Genesis 38:11 Then said Judah to Tamar his daughter in law, Remain a widow at thy father's house, till Shelah my son be grown: for he said, Lest peradventure he die also, as his brethren did. And Tamar went and dwelt in her father's house.
  • 1 Kings 7:14 He was a widow's son of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in brass: and he was filled with wisdom, and understanding, and cunning to work all works in brass. And he came to king Solomon, and wrought all his work.
  • Isaiah 1:23 Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.

“stranger” Hebrew H1616 · used in 83 verses

  • Genesis 15:13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;
  • Leviticus 25:35 And if thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen in decay with thee; then thou shalt relieve him: yea, though he be a stranger, or a sojourner; that he may live with thee.
  • Deuteronomy 27:19 Cursed be he that perverteth the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow. And all the people shall say, Amen.