Charles Ellicott Commentary Leviticus 19:13

"Thou shalt not oppress thy neighbor, nor rob him: the wages of a hired servant shall not abide with thee all night until the morning." — Leviticus 19:13 (ASV)

Thou shalt not defraud. —Here oppression by fraud and oppression by violence are forbidden. It is probably in allusion to this passage that John the Baptist warned the soldiers who came to him: “And he said to them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages” (Luke 3:14).

The wages of him that is hired. —From the declaration in the next clause, which forbids the retention of the wages overnight, it is evident that the day labourer is here spoken of. As he is dependent upon his wages for the support of himself and his family, the Law protects him by enjoining that the earnings of the hireling should be promptly paid.

This benign care for the labourer, and the denunciation against any attempt to defraud him, are again and again repeated in the Scriptures (Deuteronomy 24:14–15; Jeremiah 32:13; Malachi 3:5; James 5:4). Hence the humane interpretation of this law that prevailed during the Second Temple period: “He who treats a hireling with harshness sins as grievously as if he has taken away life, and transgresses five precepts.”