Deuteronomy 15:12

12 If thy brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, have been sold unto thee, he shall serve thee six years, and in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee.

Deuteronomy 15:12 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 15:12

And if thy brother, an Hebrew man, or an Hebrew woman, be sold
unto thee
By others, as by the sanhedrim for theft, for which a man might be sold, but not a woman, as Jarchi observes; but then a father might sell his daughter for an handmaid, if little and under age; and to such cases this law is supposed to refer; see ( Exodus 21:2 Exodus 21:7 ) ( 22:3 ) though a man on account of poverty might sell himself:

and serve thee six years;
as he was bound to do, if his master lived so long; if he died before the six years were out, he was obliged to serve his son, but not his daughter, nor his brother, nor his heirs, as the Jewish writers affirm ^F7: then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee; that is, at the end of the sixth, and beginning of the seventh year; see ( Exodus 21:2 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F7 Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Kiddushin. c. 1. sect. 2.

Deuteronomy 15:12 In-Context

10 Thou shalt bountifully give unto him, and thy heart shall not be evil-disposed when thou givest unto him; because for this thing Jehovah thy God will bless thee in all thy works, and in all the business of thy hand.

11 For the needy shall never cease from within the land; therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thy hand bountifully unto thy brother, to thy poor and to thy needy, in thy land.

12 If thy brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, have been sold unto thee, he shall serve thee six years, and in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee.

13 And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty;

14 thou shalt certainly furnish him from thy sheep, and out of thy floor, and out of thy winepress: of what Jehovah thy God hath blessed thee with shalt thou give unto him.