John Gill Commentary Exodus 22:23

"If thou afflict them at all, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry;" — Exodus 22:23 (ASV)

If you afflict them in any wise. In any way, or by any means whatever; whether in their minds (by reproaches, censures, insults), their bodies (by stripes, false imprisonment), or their substance (by withholding what belongs to them, taking what they have, or cheating and defrauding them in any respect); or, "in afflicting afflict them"^F5; afflict them much, and continue to do so:

and they cry at all unto me; in prayer, as the Targum of Jonathan; or, "in crying cry"^F6; cry vehemently, or importunately, and with constancy, or rather, cry ever so little:

I will surely hear their cry; the voice of their prayer, as the same Targum; or, "in hearing I will hear"^F7; will certainly take notice of their cries, and return an answer to them, by appearing on their side, and avenging their injuries; for God is the Father of the fatherless, and the husband of the widow, and the Judge of them both: the manner of speaking or form of expression is the same in all these clauses, the words being doubled.

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FOOTNOTES:

• F5: (hnet hne) "affligendo afflixeris", Pagninus, Piscator, Ainsworth, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius.
• F6: (qeuy qeu) "clamando clamaverit", Pagninus, Montanus, Piscator, Ainsworth.
• F7: (emva emv) "audiendo audiam", Pagninus, Montanus, Piscator, Ainsworth.